XIII Tarot by Neko

Planning Is Important

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Today’s meditation hasn’t happened yet.  I dozed off trying to do it this morning, and I haven’t made a second attempt yet.  I’m planning to try again before bed, that way if I doze off the next time, it won’t be cutting into more of my day with a second nap.

Madam Lydia Wilhelmina's Tarot - Seven of SwordsToday’s draw is the Seven of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of strategy and cunning, as well as deceit and betrayal… especially when it involves getting away with it.

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card is the vertical blade among those that the woman holds, and the two that have been left behind in the background.   This speaks to me not so much of good strategy, but greed.

Normally, in the Seven of Swords,  you see a couple of blades that appear to intentionally be left behind, as if they have only taken what they can carry.  But here, we see blades that look like they have been dropped along the way, and one still in her arms that appears about ready to drop as well.

The reminder here is two fold.  First…. if you’re going to do something, do it right.  Don’t half-ass it and drop things along the way.  And second?  A part of doing something well is planning ahead.  She could have solved this problem she’s having holding onto her bounty with a bit of strategy and planning.

DECK USED:  MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: Please send me your ancestral guidance from somewhere beyond the veil.

Zombie Tarot

Ace of Wands atop Knight of Hazards Rx – Think before you act.

Three of Wands atop Three of Swords Rx – Don’t carry your depression forward with you if you can leave it behind.

Death – Change is inevitable.

Take Away: It’s all good advice, and all advice that are things I need to keep in mind.  It came across a bit pithy and cliche, but that doesn’t make any of it any less on the nose.

DECK USED:  ZOMBIE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Your Strength / Your Weakness / Advice

Tarot of VampyresStrength – Queen of Knives – I have a sharp mind and a sharp tongue. These things allow me to cut through the bullshit and get to the core of a matter quickly and deal with it concisely. I’m also willing to use these qualities to help other.

Weakness – The Hermit Rx atop Nine of Skulls – My tendency to fall into a retreat into myself is unhealthy and holds me back from enjoying all I have achieved as well as potential successes that may lie before me.

Advice – The Priestess – Less logic, more intuition. There’s no point in pulling cards if you’re not going to listen to the advice they have to give.  Listening goes beyond just hearing what’s being said or even agreeing with it, it involves absorbing the advice and applying it in your life.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF VAMPYRES

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How do I send love and gratitude for all my Guides?

Tarot Z

Reading Summary: By leaning on them (Five of Pentacles) when I am feeling weak (The Emperor Rx) and trusting that spiritual connection (Temperance).

Take Away:  I can show my love and gratitude for my guides by making sure that I turn to them when I need them.  They want to help, and so by trusting and respecting that connection with them, I am both giving them what they want and showing them my love and gratitude at the same time.

DECK USED:  TAROT Z

Frowns Can Be Infectious Too

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IMG_7104Today’s meditation was ten minutes in length and was another of the guided meditations with interval timer for my piriformis stretching.  I can’t honestly say that I paid all that much attention to the guided part of the meditation today, and it might be time to switch back to non-guided meditations for a bit since I seem to have toned out the voice entirely through a good part of the meditation.

The part that I did hear was about not allowing reactivity and/or anxiety to spur you into making impulsive decisions and snap judgements. Instead, in those moments, it is a time to pause and take a moment to process.

Madam Lydia Wilhelmmina's Tarot - The SunToday’s draw is is the Sun card, which is traditionally a representation of optimism, joy, playfulness, and positive opportunities. It’s about all those upbeat things associated with fun, positivity, and success as well as youthful exuberance.

I don’t see much of anybody having all that much fun int his photo.  One kid’s looking back at the eldest with black eyes like there’s a serious problem, and the other is in the process of trying to squirm off their seat. It’s a family photoshoot gone wrong, and I feel like the contrast between the card’s imagery and its traditional meaning is where the message lies in today’s card.

The message here is to not let other’s attitudes or a crap-ass time drag you down into a place of pessimism and displeasure. Everyone has seen the truly optimistic as they move through the sludge of a bad day.  They remain optimistic even in the face of road blocks and naysayers.  Take a page from their book and keep your head up and a smile in your heart.

DECK USED:  MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: A thought, dream, or hope I am asked to work on.

Tarot of Vampyres - The World and TemperanceReading Summary: The foundation of transformation and growth (The World) is patience and moderation (Temperance).

Take Away:  Transformation is the thought, the dream, and the hope in this reading.  I truly desire to change how I’ve been handling my work and responsibilities (vs.) my self care over the majority of my life. I’ve made a lot of big leaps this year in that direction. 

The thing is, though?  It is important to remember is that transformation doesn’t happen overnight. It’s something you work at a little at a time, adjusting again and again along the way.  And then one day you look back and realize you’ve made it to an entirely different place than the one you were in when you started.  

Even as I track my progress, I need to keep in mind that it’s okay to take my time.  It’s okay to backslide now and then, just as long as I catch myself and continue forward.  This effort is not a sprint but a journey and it’s going to take time and patience as I move along that path.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF VAMPYRES

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What needs… revealed / concealed / discarded

XIII TarotRevealed – Knave of Cups – Sometimes when I express my emotions, I feel as if I’m speaking into a bucket. My own voice reverberates back at me, but that’s the only feedback I get.  I struggle with my emotions, even the good ones… even now.  I struggle with being in touch with them, with expressing them clearly, and with understanding them.  Sometimes I have no idea what the emotions I feel actually are or what the words are to express them. I know that this is a part of the learning process, but this is my confession.  My vulnerability on this path of emotional growth revealed.   I hate feeling lost and confused…. and sometimes on this journey, those feelings are the most overwhelming of them all.

Concealed – Seven of Wands atop Ace of Swords – I need to make sure that I’m fighting back against my negative inner dialogue as it tries to dig in and get a handhold.  Every time those fingers curl on the edge of that rocky shelf, I need to make sure I’m smashing them back.  This battle isn’t really something that needs sharing with others, as speaking what that negative inner voice is saying aloud will only give the words more power.  Instead, remember that it is important to pay attention and stay on the defensive with that pessimistic voice.  Be diligent and keep it in line.

Discarded – Six of Pentacles – You spend a massive amount of time throughout the year focused on others, giving your time to helping others and making time for others to come to you.  At this time when you’re moving into the holiday rush?  It’s just not the time for this sort of thing.  You need to be focused on yourself and your business and not worry so much about others.  You can go back to being your generous and giving self again after the holiday rush has come to an end.

DECK USED:  XIII TAROT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: What is the significance on my journey of the lesson revealed yesterday?

Twisted Tarot Tales - The Moon, Page of Swords

Reading Summary: Holy crap to the double moon cards. Your uncertainties and fears (double Moons indicating an overwhelming power in these concepts) can lead to misguided thoughts and bad ideas to get interjected in your learning process (Page of Swords… partially based off imagery).

Take Away:  Yesterday’s message was about staying focused upon and connected to my hope, to my spirituality, and to my progress through the transformation I’m working on, and not give up.

Fear, uncertainty, illusion, and confusion are all a part of changes and transformations. The thing is though?  If you give these concepts/feelings power they will take over and you will become lost in them.  The are them able to derail not just your trajectory on the path forward, but all of the progress you’ve made along the way.

By focusing on the optimistic side of things and staying connected to your hope, spirituality, and the progress you want to make, it helps in keeping those more negative emotions and fears reigned in so that they don’t cause you to fall off track.

DECK USED:  TWISTED TAROT TALES

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I use Tarot and crystals together more effectively?

Luis Royo's Labyrinth Tarot

Reading Summary:  When you are in conflict over which stones to use in your readings (Five of Wands), lean into learning to communicate more effectively (Jack of Spades) as opposed to allowing aesthetic to weigh in (Six of Wands).

Take Away:  I regularly use crystals and stones in my readings.  Sometimes my personal readings, but always my client readings.  Sometimes?  It’s true that I have a little bit of a debate going on as I pick the stones.  “This one is more apt… but this one will look better with the cards and could also work.”   The thing is?  I could improve my use of crystals (and plant matter as well) in my readings if I let go of the aesthetic aspect and simply went with what will work best for the purpose needed.

DECK USED:  LUIS ROYO’S LABYRINTH TAROT

Making Yourself The Outsider

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Today’s meditation was skipped again today. I probably shouldn’t have, but I had so much crap to get done, plus a phone appointment with my shrink… and everything just got away with me a bit.  So.. it didn’t get done.  I do plan on giving it a go when I lie down to go to bed tho.

Tarot of Haunted House - Four of WandsToday’s draw is the Four of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of homecomings and celebration…. and celebratory homecomings.  There is a stability to this theme, and comfort as well.

There aren’t many cards in this deck I feel this way about, but I’m not really sure about the imagery for this card in this deck.  What I see here feels a lot more like a Hierophant card than the Four of Wands.  

That said, what really stands out to me in this card today is the four pillars and the burst of flame atop each of them.  That imagery of stability and celebration then draws my eye down to the knife held in a sacrificial downward angle, which then draws my eye down to the two figures that appear to have turned to look back at the viewer.

These three points feel like levels in this card, and what I see here is more about -not- feeling welcome.  It’s about feeling like an outsider. An outlier.  You can see the stability and the celebration in the distance, but there are forbidding obstacles between where you now stand and that comfort hinted at in the four pillars. 

The message here is to not allow issues with self worth or confidence cut you out of the places where you should belong.  These negative feelings and derogatory self-narratives that make you feel like an outsider?  They aren’t what others are thinking.  They are only what you are thinking.  Don’t project your self-worth issues on others and assume that they perceive you as you see yourself.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF HAUNTED HOUSE

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus, this card today will be my focus.

Grim Tarock - Five of CitadelsThe collection of buildings along the cliff’s face are piled atop each other and disintegrating under the wear of time.  Rocks tumble  and foundations crumble.

The Five of Citadels is a reminder about upkeep.

When you do a little each day to care for the upkeep of those things that are important to you, over time these things wear well and remain in good condition, creating a long future.

If, on the other hand, you do not do that little bit of care each day, over time things deteriorate a little at a time.  And soon, you find that those things you care about have fallen apart and no longer hold value.

The focus that this card prompts for me today is to make sure I’m doing the little work.  One small thing a day is enough to help keep things from falling apart… whether that’s self care, or home care, or relationships…. or anything of value.

DECK USED:  GRIM TAROCK

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question: Where do you find meaning in your life?

Hephoe TapoQueen of Wands atop The Hierophant – Through my passion for teaching and guiding others. I have found, especially as I’ve gotten older, that I greatly enjoy guiding others to help them in finding their own unique path, and teaching them in different skills and knowledge that I’ve collected along the way in my own life.  I want to help others in finding their own passions, their own interests, and their own beliefs.  I love occasionally hearing when something I’ve offered up “clicks” for someone and helps them in their own journey, or just knowing that I’ve helped in some way in making their life “fit” them better in some way.

The Emperor – Having a sense of independence and control.  These are things I need in my life. I require them.  And, in fact, it is a need that I have built a good deal of my life around, from how I am employed to how my relationships with others work, and even in how I relate to people and the world around me. 

Knight of Swords atop Ten of Pentacles – Going after my ambitions towards stability, security, and a comfortable living.  I feel that this answer is as much about the “going after” as it is about the obtaining of this goal. While I feel a need for stability and structure?  I also feel that need to strive for something, to push for something.  This stability and security is a sort of “moving target” that constantly stimulates that need to strive for something… and at the same time manage to accomplish just enough to fulfill that constant need for security.

DECK USED:  HEPHOE TAPO

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: What is the significance behind this missed message from yesterday?

Dark Grimoire Tarot

Reading Summary: Lean on others (Three of Pentacles) instead of killing yourself trying to juggle everything on your own (Two of Pentacles). Depending on others is a choice that you have to consciously make for yourself (The Lovers)… and it will make your life better and more emotionally fulfilling in the end (Nine of Cups).

Take Away:  What these cards are saying is that I need to fill my life with people that love me and want to help.  By doing this, as time goes on, I will find the benefits spill over from my work and into my life at large and that even if I one day grown into a lonely old man alone in the world, I will feel emotionally fulfilled by all those past people that were a part of my life. The key here is that this is a choice.  A choice you make for yourself.  Letting people in is a choice that you have to start early and allow to then carry forward through the years ahead.

DECK USED:  DARK GRIMOIRE TAROT

Personal Accomplishments

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Today’s meditation was just under twelve minutes long, and was another continuation of the Managing Stress series that I’ve been following over the past few days.   Today’s focus was centered upon negative self talk, and methods to catch yourself in the act so that you can curtail these habits into a more positive direction.

The method specifically that was focused upon in this meditation was when you find yourself having negative thoughts, instead of interacting with them to either agree or disagree or reason through them, simply say “oh, look, that is a negative thought” and then set it aside.  In this way, it explains that you do not give these thoughts credence or lend them power through feeding them further attention.

Seven of Pumpkins Halloween Tarot Today’s draw is the Seven of Pumpkins (Pentacles) and spoke to me immediately. It said, “Don’t discount your accomplishments and the progress you’ve made.”

This is a valuable message and one that I need to work more on.  Like many, I’m often so focused on where I’m going and what I want to accomplish, as well as on where I need to improve, that I forget to look at what I have actually  managed to accomplish and how far I’ve come.

Against staggering odds and catastrophic road blocks, I have managed to come so far in my life and accomplish much of the things that really matter to me.  I’ve grown and learned lessons from these hurdles, and adapted to find what is right for me through it all.   This is no small feat, and I shouldn’t discount it as nothing, or just “shrug it off” as without value.

I say this now as I take a minute to appreciate these things, although I know that in the future I will need this reminder again.  And again.  Because my natural inclination isn’t to give myself praise or appreciation, but to push myself harder…. always harder.

The traditional meaning of the Seven of Pentacles involves progress (especially concerning leaps ahead), the entrance of spirituality into a situation, and the unknown in the area of resources, the physical world, manifestation, and finances.  This includes themes having to do with perseverance and focusing on long term sustainability, as well as the lack thereof in some cases.

Deck Used: Halloween Tarot

Bonus Reading

Another #TarotForGrowthOctober prompt.

Question: Where is it important for me to stand my ground?

XIII Tarot by Neko Reading Summary: These cards are an intuitive hit about my values, although I’m having a hard time articulating how I drew this out of the imagery.  Something about coming up against pushy people and knowing where my values truly lie and sticking to them even when it takes me on a different path than most. It’s all about imagery, as I haven’t even looked at the titles on the cards yet to figure out what they are (and I don’t think I’m going to, because this intuitive hit from the imagery is too strong for it to be anything else).

Take Away: Sometimes you run up against people that have a very strong and persuasive presence and in the interest of wanting to align with them or “fit in”  you can sometimes lose sight of what’s of most important to you. It’s important, at these times, to take a moment and connect with your personal values and moral compass and stand behind them, even if it means you have to leave these people behind and walk your own path on your own.

Deck Used: XIII Tarot by Neko