TarotforGrowthNovember

Not Later… Now

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Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long, and was the next installment of the “how to” series I’ve been listening to.  The topic of today’s guided meditation was about the phrase “you are what you repeatedly do” and how that relates to meditation.

It went into the importance of filling your life with the habits, thoughts, and feelings that you want to perpetuate in your life, including making meditation a habit in order to bring the positive qualities into your life and incorporate them into a part of who you are.

Slow TarotToday’s draw is the Seven of Wands with the Knight of Swords as a jumper.  This is all about motivation and drive and being proactive about my goals.

This week my orders doubled, which is the beginning of the rush to come.  The Seven of Wands on its own is an indication of encouragement that now’s the time to amp myself up, get my ducks in a row, and start moving.   The fact that the Knight of Swords jumped out is a reinforcement not just of these things I need to do, but of the immediacy of it all.

This is not a “get ready” message.  It is a “get your ass moving” message.

Deck Used:  Slow Tarot

Bonus Reading – #TarotForGrowthNovember

Question: What can I do to better deal with emotional pain?

Sasuraibito TarotReading Summary: (There’s that Knight of Cups again.)  In the throes of emotional pain, I need to think first of grounding (The Empress), then seek a new more positive perspective of the situation (Ace of Swords).  Use my need to feel emotionally connected with those I love (Knight of Cups) as motivation to keep myself from closing off and building up my inner walls (Nine of Wands).

Side note on the above cards… just adding in: I like how the Knight and the Empress look IN on the two center cards. It feels…. good to me. Supportive. And I like the Nine of Wands in this deck in this instance, as I feel that the imagery fits well with what it represents in this reading, because to me it looks like ribs and a spine.

Take Away:  When I am hurt emotionally, my initial defense mechanism is to close myself off and bring up the walls that I learned to build so well during my childhood.  This doesn’t serve to heal anything, or help me in any way other than to make me “feel” a bit safe.  The pain is still there, and the wounds fester behind those walls instead of healing.   The cards are indicating that that discarding this pattern to seek out the comfort that my loved ones can provide while I ground myself and look for the silver lining is a far healthier way to deal with emotional pain.

Deck Used:  The Sasuraibito Tarot

 

Down Time is a Good Thing

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Today’s meditation was just over eleven minutes long, which is Day 4 in the ‘how to’ series, and focused on what the narrator called inner smoothness.  I’ve never really seen it that way, and I view “smooth” as being something solid with a surface that does not contain irregularities.    What he was speaking of in his narration is, to me, not smoothness, but rather transparency… like a window screen.  There, but transparent.

Essentially what this meditation was about was concerning how we react to the world around us.  Do we react and cringe from everything?  Or do we practice acceptance and allow the sensations (such as sound, for example) to flow around us and through us as we become part of the environment rather than separated from it?

In meditation, this sense of being “at one” is a key part of the practice.  Instead of being reactionary, you focus on being calm and at ease, no matter the distractions that may be present at the time.

Two of Cups - Tarot of the Unknown Today’s draw is the Two of Cups, which is in direct relation to me scolding myself for loafing off yesterday.  I just plain didn’t work at all once I got home yesterday, which means that I didn’t work in my home business for two days in a row.   Instead, I spent them playing with you.

This is really unheard of for me, as even when we play I often multitask and work on the side.  Today’s card is a reminder that it’s OKAY to need to spend time with you.  It’s OKAY to want to direct all of my energy and time and focus on you now and then.  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it builds good energy and good relationship by doing so.   It’s good for me, and it’s good for us as a couple.

So I need to take a breath and just relax and stop being so hard on myself for not being as productive as I absolutely, positively could be.

Deck Used:  Tarot of the Unknown

Bonus Reading – #TarotForGrowthNovember

Question: How can I be more decisive?

The Distant Past Tarot

Reading Summary:  Use a more stable energy (Queen of Cups) in reaction to my struggles (Five of Pentacles), and keep in mind when I’m dealing with uncertainty (The Moon), that turning inward isn’t always the answer (The Hermit).  Sometimes you have to remember to ask for help (back to the Five of Pentacles) and let other people’s input influence your decision (Four of Cups).

Take Away:  If I want to be more decisive, it helps to look outward rather than always depending upon the self alone. These cards are a reminder that there are an infinite amount of other perspectives out there to consider when making a decision, and the more information you have, the easier it is to make the right choices for yourself and the situation.

Deck Used:  The Distant Past Tarot

Resilience and Making Good Choices

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Today’s meditation was a little over ten minutes long, and  I took a break from the “how to” series to just do a quiet, relaxing body scan with extra focus and attention settled on my solar plexus and my soul beneath it.

Three of Wands - Slow TarotToday’s draw is the Three of Wands, which in the imagery of this card is a representation of collaboration, harmony, and cooperation in the area of one’s ambitions, passions, and drive.  This manifests in progress and planning towards one’s goals and ideals.

What really stands out to me is the busyness of the bees buzzing around the Eschscholzia californica in the foreground of this card.  California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) are a symbol of resiliency, and when combined with the meaning of this card, this message is one of strength and motivation.   It speaks of working toward your goals, even when roadblocks may make you have need to pause, regroup, and plot a new course to get there.

Deck Used:  Slow Tarot

Bonus Reading – #TarotForGrowthNovember

Question: Where do I need to stop stalling and just make a decision?

Tarot De Aux ArcsReading Summary:  This is about my decision on whether I want to speak to my employer or not about his new manager and her performance issues at one of my part time jobs.  I have been weighing whether I want to have a discussion with the owner which may allow me to stay in a job that I enjoy (Two of Wands), or just detach emotionally from the job as a whole and walk away (Eight of Cups).  The judgement card in the center encourages taking a close look at the actual results of both actions and use that perspective in making the decision.

Take Away:   I need to talk to the owner.   Emotionally speaking, my first instinct is to just walk away.  The fact is, though, that I have been working for him for a very long time and we have built up a trust between us.  I may dislike confrontation in the workplace, but the relationship of trust I’ve built with the owner combined with the comfort and enjoyment I find in the work means that I would regret walking away if i don’t try to talk with him about the issue first.

Deck Used:  Tarot de Aux Arcs

Taking In Perspectives

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Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long and focused on the technique of ‘taking a step back’ from your thoughts during meditation, rather than trying to squelch them.   This is very similar to how I used to deal with my emotions, and I can see how while in meditation, taking that step back to view your thoughts from the outside can help, as it would keep you from getting wrapped up in them and carried away by them.

I forgot to mention yesterday, but I really liked the part of the meditation where he likened the act of bringing your mind back to the breath (or whatever your focus is) to lifting weights.   That the act of meditation and that bringing your focus back to the now is the “reps” that meditation is all about.

Tarot of the Unknown Today’s draw is a double without a jumper, meaning that they both fell out of the deck together.  The cards in today’s draw are the Nine of Axes (Swords) and the Page of Wands.

The message in this draw is that sometimes shit hits the fan and you feel like the world is coming to an end, but if you just take a step back to gain a bit of perspective and sort out the big picture, a lot of times what seems like the end of the world isn’t as bad as it seems.

Like most people, when things start to fall apart, sometimes I get so focused on the problem I forget to take that step back and look in from the outside.  This approach to gaining  different perspectives was also the focus of my meditation today, and it repeats again in the Tarot for Growth read I did today as well.

Deck Used: Tarot of the Unknown

Bonus Reading – #TarotForGrowthNovember

Question: What insight does the universe want to reveal to me at this time?

Wooden TarotReading Summary:  If I want success (Six of Stones) in finding a different way to organize my finances (Page of Bones), I’m going to have to keep my eye on the ball (Knight of Plumes) in dealing with the fires of conflict and struggle that are lit along the way (Five of Stones).

Take Away:  With L about to walk out on her job any day now, and me considering shifting around my part time jobs as well, there’s a fair bit of uncertainty going on in my finances right now.  The message in these cards is that there is definitely going to be some conflict and disruption, but if I stay focused and proactive about the hurdles that come up, it’ll work itself out.

Deck Used:  Wooden Tarot

Casanova… or “What the Heart Wants”?

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and the second installment of the “how to meditate” series that I’m currently listening to.   The topic of today’s guided meditation had to do with finding your focus.   As in, the thing that you bring your straying mind back to again and again when it starts to wander.

This, for me, is often the breath.  Although I have found more recently that I get even better results if I focus, instead, on the solar plexus and that sensation of “soul” that resides within there.

Knight of Cups - Slow TarotToday’s draw is the Knight of Cups, which feels like I seem to be seeing a lot of lately. Maybe it is because I don’t have the highest opinion of the Knight of Cups, and he’s trying to change my mind.

As I’ve mentioned before, when I see the Knight of Cups, I often see a manipulator.  Not in a bad way necessarily, but one of those guys that tells you what you want to hear because it makes you feel good and, in turn, that makes him feel good.   It’s all in the motivation behind the act, and this motivation isn’t really about you at all.  It’s about them.   I am aware that this is not a traditional read on this card, but that is what this card so often speaks to me.

What the Knight of Cups can also represent is a person, personality, or energy with a go-get’em attitude about romance and relationships. There is romance, creativity, and charm.  That active beta energy of the knights means that they’re going after what tugs at their heartstrings rather than standing back to let it come to them or walk away.

Everyone needs a bit of that energy sometimes, and maybe that’s the positive for today.  Get in touch with what makes your heart sing and be proactive about fostering the presence in your life of those things and people.

Deck Used: Slow Tarot

Bonus Reading

I’ve decided that for the time being I’m going to continue with the Tarot for Growth prompts, so with the new month comes a new list of prompts for what is now #TarotForGrowthNovember.

Question: How can I increase my mental clarity?

Delos TarotReading Summary:  A lack of connection (Six of Swords) between my deep seated ambitions (King of Wands) and my emotional well being (King of Cups). For clarity focus on others instead of myself (Six of Pentacles) and foster what is important to me in that area (Queen of Pentacles).

Take Away: I’m being reminded again that there are good and bad that come with the marriage of one’s passions with one’s emotions. Creatively speaking, this is great, but it can also mean that it might be hard to get inspired if I’m too connected to my emotions.   A better path for clarity is to focus my energy outward toward others and on nurturing my day-to-day rather than digging into the murkiness that emotions, and especially emotional upheaval, can bring.

In other words?  Stop being so self centered.  It’s time to pull myself out of the self-reflective inner-focused mire that the new depth of emotions I’ve been experiencing lately swamped me with, and if I want to do that I need turn my focus to those around me rather than upon myself.

Deck Used: Delos Tarot 2nd Ed