steampunk tarot Archives < Arwen, Professional Joy Seeker

But I Don’t Wanna Go To Work!

Today’s card reminds me that I’m lucky. Blessed, in fact. It also reminds me that sometimes I forget this fact. I woke up wanting to call out. Was it because I didn’t feel well? Was it because I was in pain? Was it because there was some fun thing I’d rather be doing?

Nope. None of the above. I simply didn’t feel like going to work. It was just going to be another day of the same old shit. People complaining. Co-workers bitching. Sometimes the negativity at my office makes me want to run screaming into traffic.

So I laid in bed (after calling in and finding out that, once again, there was no time available) trying to reset my mind. What was one positive thing I could find to hold on to?

Then it hit me.

I had a job.

Period. End of story. I have a job that helps pay my bills, put food on my table. I have a job that doesn’t make me do hard labor. I have a job.

And that, y’all, was how I reset my mind. I got out of bed knowing which card I wanted…or at least which suit. It had to be Pentacles since that is the suit of physical labor (as well as other things). And the Steampunk Tarot was what I worked with for yesterday’s weekly Tarotscopes.

I love this card. The task seems endless and mindlessly repetitive, right? Unending. Same old shit.

But our girl has made it her own. She has created each disk with a different flair. She’s put herself into her task. Her focus is on how to make each piece uniquely hers.

I can do that. I can make each interaction with my customers uniquely mine. I can take pride in what I do.

I still may need ear plugs to divert the continual kvetching from so many of my co-workers, but that’s okay. I’m also blessed to have a job that pays me enough to indulge in Bose® QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphonesnoise-cancelling headphones. (I got a deal and found these for $79 on some group thingy last year.)

Find joy in the mundane, everyday tasks today. That’s your 180 second challenge, y’all. Three minutes of acknowledging that what you do for your job is worth it on some level.

And if it isn’t? If there is truly no joy in your job? Use that 180 seconds for brushing up your resume and get the hell out. Don’t be that black hole of negativity that others have to avoid. Please.

Eight of Pentacles, , Llewellyn [aff]

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

Tarotscopes for July 14-20, 2013

AQUARIUS QUEEN OF PENTACLES Oh my! Time to let them see your beauty. Don’t hold back. Indulge in beautiful things, long soaks + good friends. Rule your world.
PISCES CHARIOT Juggernaut. Once you start, you can’t be stopped. Get in the driver’s seat. Your focus must be forward. They’ll have to move.
ARIES PAGE OF PENTACLES That adventure? It takes money. More importantly? It takes fierce determination. Each step forward is a goal accomplished.

There are two women whose online classes encouraged me to take an art class. I didn’t care what it was. I set my goal to take one art class. I actually thought I would take a watercolor class. Instead I took a Zentangle class with Ginny K, CZT. The two classes that I took are being offered again. I hope you will give yourself the gift of opening up new creative paths. Joanna P. Colbert’s is one. The other is Leonie Dawson’s . I’m retaking both because I just loved them so much. Join me?

TAURUS PAGE OF SWORDS Mental preparation done. Time to launch your shiny new self into the world. Time to put to use what you’ve learned.
GEMINI SIX OF PENTACLES Hang in there. What you need is coming. Don’t stop the flow by not giving. Give to get, darlings. Get to give.
CANCER TWO OF CUPS Put all of you in. Let it blend with them. Open to the idea that this partnership will create something new. Yin/Yang

Do you love fairy tales like me? I’ve taken ten world tales (I’ll be you aren’t familiar with all of them) and translated them into Tarot spreads. You can grab your copy here.

LEO FIVE OF CUPS Don’t indulge their need to wallow. Check your enabler license please. If they can’t see what you offer, offer elsewhere.
VIRGO NINE OF CUPS L’chaim! Celebrate life. Appreciate all your dreams already come true. Indulge a bit. Good week for making wishes come true.
LIBRA KING OF WANDS Get ready to make magic. Mental preparation puts you ahead of the pack. Don’t sit. Lead. The wheel is turned by you.

I invite you to answer this question with me. Will You Fly Or Will You Fall?

SCORPIO HANGED MAN Time out now will bring enlightenment. Give your some busy, monkey mind time for quiet meditation. BOOM. There it is.
SAGITTARIUS ACE OF SWORDS Go for it. That idea? That concept? It’s good. Sparks now create steam power. Mental preparation’s fine, but take action.
CAPRICORN TWO OF WANDS The hardest thing is to choose between tow good things. Choose or be stuck there forever. You can’t start until you choose. 😀

Oh yeah…the July newsletter is waaaaaaaaay delayed.:D That’s good news for you if you aren’t a subscriber. I pick a name from the subscriber list. That person wins a reading. This month I’m actually picking from those who leave comments on any of my review videos. So go leave a comment if you want to be in the running. Oh! I’m a tricksy tricksy hobbit, y’all! I only announce it in the newsletter so you’ll want to be subscribed. GRIN!

Today’s featured deck is the . It’s a terrific interpretation of the Steampunk movement as translated through Tarot. Androgyny abounds as women dress like men to take on machines and magic. Men are not left out either. I love this deck a lot. Reads very well for me. Get you some gears, bustles and magic, y’all! Seek joy!

Storm Coming? Passing?

Today’s card reminds me of something I heard today. The quote was by a man named John O’Donohue who died in 2008. He said

“The normal way never leads home.”

I learned two things when I heard that. The first was that I needed to get his work. The second was that I had no definition of what home might mean in that quote.

Living in Austin, I can certainly identify with the idea of not being normal. I’ve decided that if I ever do leave this mecca of weird, I will go to another mecca of diversity and unusual. I need to be where the norm is to be uniquely myself.

I am not like you. You are not like me. Like everyone else, we are unique. Isn’t that an amazing concept? Consider it for just a minute. No one on earth is just like you. No one has your life experiences or your truths or sorrows or joys.

Many of us have similar. Many of us have shared in the same experience. But how many of us have come away from those shared experiences with different outlooks?

When I went ocean kayaking with my best friend, we fell in. Whether we fell in courtesy of me or her is a matter of opinion. I’m willing to believe her when she says I tumped us in. I saw a WHALE. (Tumping is what I was taught you do when you turn a boat over. 😀 )

So my experience of being in the water THISCLOSE to a humpback was thrilling as well as humorous. But what was Cai’s experience? I know that when I was pointing out how close the whale was, she somewhat tartly pointed out that I should be getting back in the kayak so she could too.

It may have been April and it may have been slightly brisk in the water that day.

But our experiences were not the same. Neither of us was angry at the other. Far from it! We laughed our butts off. But I think you would hear two different stories from that day that we went swimming quite unexpectedly with whales.

The Two of Pentacles from Aly Fell and Barbara Moore’s fantastic Steampunk Tarot shows a woman on an old-fashioned bicycle. There is a neon lemniscate acting as the chain. She appears to be riding on water or clouds. The sky above her shows a storm breaking. Or is it gathering? Is she finally leaving shelter to head on her way? Is she hurrying for shelter before the storm hits?

Your personal story will lend flavor to this card and every card in a spread. As a reader, you must acknowledge that. Some of it will need to be put aside if you are reading for another, but if you are reading for yourself, understanding how your own mood can blend into the cards is key.

So, when you look at this card, given your current mood and understanding of where you are, is she fleeing the storm or has the storm passed?

Here’s some of John O’Donohue’s work [aff].

Two of Pentacles, Steampunk Tarot, 2012 [aff]

Is This The Answer?

So the other day, Jodi Chapman’s blog turned two. She shared a video in which she asked three questions. So I turned those questions into a Tarot spread.

The Jodi Chapman Asks Spread

1. What does your soul want you to know?

This terrific Three of Cups tells me that my soul wants me to know that it is okay to trust and to love. It is more than okay. It is satisfying and fulfilling to have deeper, more meaningful relationships with others.

There’s a fear somewhere in the back of my heart still that I’m not enough. It’s one I fight every day. Do you? Some of the tricks I use are to face that fear squarely. I tell it out loud that I’m more than okay and that I’m more than good enough. I work on myself to stay positive.

It occurs to me that I don’t do that always. There’s a group of friends who like to trash talk one another–and I’m in the thick of it when it gets going. I have to decide if that is okay or if it is not working for me.

I love that the three characters here each have a different tool in front of them. Not your average three gals, are they?

2. What makes your soul sing?

Oh the Six of Swords and the fabulous flying machine! They are off on an adventure, aren’t they? I love this card of high-flying thoughts and focused forward movement.

It does make my soul sing when I look at my goals. When I review what dreams I’m working on bringing into fruition. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! The Create Your Incredible Year Workbook+Planner has galvanized my life, y’all.

I can see where I’m going and have steps on how to get there. Want to join me? You can. It’s never too late to start building, creating, .

3. What dream are you ready to leap into?

Now here’s an interesting response. Another Cup card (emotions rule the Cups) but one of the more morose ones, generally speaking. Yet I see this as truly one of my dreams.

Why?

Do you see his position? He’s relaxed. He’s settled back. True, his expression might be that of a pouty baby, but his feet are up. For me, I’ll forgo his facial whine and focus on his posture.

Those two books on the desk are very important as is the scroll to his far right. The books are the two I have in progress–both are non-fiction Tarot books. The scroll represents four letters I must write if I am to take the first step of one of my other Scary Big Dreams.

And see the fourth cup? Up on the shelf behind him? That one is so beautiful compared to the plain ones on the desk. I am ready to grab that cup and fill it up with even more joy. That’s the dream I’m ready to leap into.

To show you how to seek your own joy using Tarot as a tool.

Do you want to have a conversation with me about how to seek your joy? About how to find your bliss? Are you ready to get honest with yourself and do the work?

I’m here when you need me. Contact me and let’s set up a time to spread the cards to see where you need to correct your own course.

If you join my newsletter, you will be able to take advantage of the newsletter-only discounts I sometimes offer.

I really think Jodi asked some great questions, don’t you? Check out her Coming Back to Life eCourse here.

Now tell me what your dream are you ready to leap into?

Steampunk Tarot, Llewellyn Tarot, 2012

Seek Joy Y’all, Pass it on!

Burned, Awake & Focused

Today’s card is a reminder about focusing. In yesterday’s weekly @Tarotscopes, focus seemed to be a theme. This could be because my own mind is on an upcoming trip. I just know that when I pulled today’s card, I sighed and laughed.

Look at this worker. He’s in charge of so much machinery here. All the dials and levers and cogs must be maintained. Yet he uses the brass telescope to scan the horizon. Why, I wonder. Is he so focused on his next project that he doesn’t realize the wand in his hand is thisclose to burning him?

The Buddhist teaching of being awake in the moment is deceptively simple, but I think it’s a good one for this card. How often do we forget the here and now for the what we have to do next.

Shoddy workmanship can hurt. He’s already got a bandage around his head. Who wants to bet he’s going to need one on his hand soon? And what happens when he DROPS the fiery wand? The whole place is going to go up.

He has to learn to focus on the task at hand. Otherwise he’s going to be doing the “two steps forward, one step back” dance.

What about you? Do you have something coming that you are excited about? Is it causing you to lose focus on the here and now? For today, try to let your monkey mind tackle what is in front of you. Don’t worry about what’s down the road. Just for now, do what you can do.

And for goodness sake, pay attention to the sharp, pointy things and burning things, darlings! No need to cause yourself more work just because you didn’t focus on the right things.

Seek joy, y’all! Pass it on.

9 of Wands, Steampunk Tarot, Llewellyn Publishing, 2012

Tarotscopes for 9/9 – 9/15/2012

I hope you have an awesome week. Let me know how last week was. Thanks so much for sharing this as well.

AQ 10P Celebrate hard work. Success is in the bag. Future requires sunglasses. Dedicate yrslf to family/community for biggest reward.

PIC 8P Get to it. Stop procrastinating. Learn yr craft. Take that class. Each piece better than the last. Apprentice yrslf to life.

ARI 8W They’ll throw it all at U this wk. Remember U can (& should) delegate. Trip might be necessary. Fast & furious is the theme.

TAU Sun Embrace life. Let yrslf shine. Focus on home/hearth for best results. Health important so make that appt, procrastinator!

GEM 7Swd U steal from yr own joy when U overfocus on self-criticism. Mind yr own hula hoop. Don’t let others take away yr focus.

CAN KnSwd Be ready. Mental challenges coming yr way. Rise above petty quarrels. STAY OUT OF OFFICE POLITICS. Move yr thoughts higher.

LEO KP Ruler of yr castle. Focus on budget & making money grow. Yes, U can buy that 1 indulgence. Others ask for $. Just say no.

VIR KCps Enjoy yr moment. Indulge in a bit of libation. Accept what is brought to U. No time to be shy. Family & friends support you.

LIB QCps Emotions shouldn’t own U. Don’t allow anyone to upset yr equilibrium. ESPECIALLY U. Guide w/ love. Avoid manipulation.

SCO 3Wnd It will all come together. Have all the pieces in place. Use this time to prepare for what U really want. Focus forward.

SAG PCps Dreaming of getting away only works if U book a ticket. Don’t waste tears on those who don’t care. Lift a glass w/ friends.

CAP PSwd Where can yr thoughts take U? Sharpen yr focus to go higher. Dedicated attention will be rewarded. Up up & away is imminent. (featured image on today’s blog post)

Today’s deck? from Llewellyn Books (2011) & Barbara Moore. Gears, bustles & magic! Seek Joy, y’all.