Cult of Tarot Forum

Birth of the Muses – June 14: This card shows how your inspiration and creativity is manifesting.

I know I said I'd work with the Shadowscapes deck for this challenge, but I felt called to work with the Modern Witch tarot for this draw today. Today was a bit of a downer and the colour palette of the Modern Witch cheers me. I might not stick to one deck throughout the challenge, I might work with the Modern Witch and Shadowscapes deck in rotation–we'll see.
The card I drew is the Eight of Swords, which depicts the space I'm in creatively right now, so accurately. I'm struggling with writer's block and a general creative block. I feel stuck with my writing projects, including a commission I want to finish. I also feel stuck in life, because I've graduated and the job search has been unavailing so far. I've been feeling helpless, but now this card showed up, the Modern Witch is telling me what's what. I'm not as helpless as I feel. I have the ability to free myself, the skills to get my inspiration and my life flowing again. I may not be able to see a way out right now, but there is one, and if I just took off the blindfold, I'd be able to see it. I'd be able to see the opportunities available to me even under restrictions in my life, and I'd be able to make space for creativity to flow into my life again. I have to actually struggle against my bindings for that to happen, for the loose bindings to fall off.
I have to actually try.

Vestalia – June 15: An ancient Roman festival dedicated to Vesta, Goddess of the Hearth. This card shows you your hearth, the fire at the center of your life and home, and how to tend to it.

I drew the Eight of Wands, and the first thing that strikes me is that yesterday's card was also an Eight. It seems as though I have the energy of journey and change, cycles and expansion in my life right now. I must confess, I don't feel it right now. Usually I read the Eight of Wands as the universe hurling events at you, 'the cosmic UPS' as Nancy Antenucci calls it. But in this deck there's a girl (representing me) who is speeding away on her bike as fast as the wands are falling. She's speeding for free will. She's going to get there before the wands do. Or the wands are just a metaphor for what she's going to do, going to make happen in her life.
I can't help feeling as though this card is telling me I'll be leaving home? That's a welcome change, if so. I'd like to leave this 'home' I'm in right now where I'll never truly be comfortable, leave and make a home of my own, a safe and sacred space for myself.
The fire at the center of my life and home is the fuel I'll use to speed away.

3. Night of the Teardrop – June 16: Remembrance of the tears of Isis causing the Nile River to overflow. This card shows what your emotions are telling you at this time.

I don't know what's going on, to be honest. Are my emotions telling me I am a winner? Is this card telling me to feel like a winner, look back at what I've accomplished and feel confident about my future?
I don't know. Right now, things are really uncertain for me. The girl in this card is marching unhurriedly, because she knows she's already won, this is the celebratory parade. Her horse is taking it easy too. Maybe I should feel like a winner and take it easy... the exact opposite of what I'm doing right now.
What I'm doing right now hasn't been good for my emotional health, so it's time to do the opposite.

4. Juno, Goddess of Fertility and Union – June 17: Celebrating the ancient Roman goddess for whom the month of June is named. This card shows you an area of fertile growth in your life.

Wow. The Queen of Pentacles! The material aspect of my life, my finances, my creaturely comforts, my health and my hearth, my sensuality... it's this earthy aspect of my life where I can expect fertile growth. I'm beginning to see a pattern here from my previous draws, because this is exactly the aspect of my life where I'm impatient for growth, and where I feel stuck. But a seed lays dormant even in fertile ground until it is time to break out. Growth is happening, even if I can't see it yet; perhaps I can't see the forest for the trees.
This is such a heartening card to show up for this prompt. I'm basically being told: Yes, you'll get what you want! Health, comfort and independence!
You'll grow into it.

5. Festival of Strawberries – June 18: As the strawberries ripen, this card shows you the sweetness in your life and encourages you to live in the moment.

I have the tarot, and I have my energy work. I've got everything I need for psychic development and self-empowerment. I also have my writing, which I too often take for granted. The High Priestess has her laptop open: most of my spiritual resources came from the internet, and I do most of my writing on my computer.
At times when I feel helpless I should remember that I'm really not helpless. I'm so grateful that these tools and skills are now a part of my life. They're so full of possibility that I can't even measure what they mean to me. They'll always be there when I need them, filling me with purpose and wonderment. They've bettered my relationship with my body, identity, reality, everything.
I'm worried about unlocking certain doors, but I've got the keys to deeper ones.

6. Oak King – June 19: A dedication to the Oak King, who is now near the height of his power in his battle with the Holly King. This card shows you your strength.

My strength is my rationality and balance (I'm a Libra). Everyone has a certain point crossing which they're irrational, but I like being aware of mine. I like thinking even when it makes me uncomfortable, and I'd rather go through a difficult or uncomfortable thought process to figure something out for myself. For me, rationality and morality are not mutually exclusive, so I'd rather think something through than do something wrong.
There's a lot of things I'd probably be happier not thinking about, but I'll still make the choice to think about them and also figure out healthier thought processes that aren't based on avoidance or toxic positivity. The Queen of Swords gives me strength on that.

7. Scrying – June 20: In the tradition of scrying at the time of Midsummer, this card shows you a blessing to come.

The Eight of Pentacles. I'm going through a strange exhaustion right now but my creativity and inspiration will flow back to me. I'll be able to write in earnest again, and experience the joy and the struggle of writing again, instead of doing none of that.
I'll be able to do what I want to do. The work which I find meaningful to do. And the more I write, the more I'll improve, and the more my skill as well as my love for writing will grow. This is truly something to look forward to, something that motivates and uplifts me.

8. Summer Solstice – June 21: We are at the height of the sun’s power, the longest day, in the Northern Hemisphere; OR in the Southern Hemisphere this day is the turning point for the days to get longer. This card shows you how to shine your own light like the Sun.

I was surprised when I drew this card, but it also immediately made sense and confirmed something for me. In my other recent tarot draws (not the ones part of this challenge but my spreads for personal work) I have been repeatedly drawing the World and the Wheel of Fortune. This is a time in my life between the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. This involves uncertainty, changes, challenges and natural discomfort. The Death card showed up today to tell me to embrace the change, and transform with it. I'll be able to shine like I'm called to, share my soul's gifts, by being malleable to this time of transformation in my life. The sun rising between the pillars in the corner is telling me that I'll rise into my light after a difficult and necessary transformation.

9. Honey Moon – June 22: This card shows you how to release anxieties or worries, how to enjoy yourself.

I mentioned in my previous post that I have had The World show up for me repeatedly. I have to release my hold on the current cycle that's coming to an end, thereby releasing my anxieties and worries, because I know to embrace the beginning of the next cycle without overly worrying about what the next cycle is going to look like and how I'd like to move through it. If I allow myself to enjoy the experiences that come my way, I'll feel fulfilled in the moment, content with where I happen to be, hopeful and happy.

10. Saint John’s Eve – June 23: Like the herbs traditionally gathered on St. John’s Eve, this card shows what protects or heals you.

The Knight of Wands. Action and movement is what helps me feel secure during times when I think I'm stuck. I thought I was stuck all this time but then I got a part-time job, and at an organisation I really like. I'm teaching creative writing to children and teenagers, and the pay is good for the number of hours per week. I can tell that my coworkers and employers will be people I like and respect, because they don't throw their weight around and they're sincere.
Another thing that protects me is decisive action. I had ordered a dress online which was hideous when it arrived, so I made sure to send it back as a return yesterday. This was despite family telling me it was not that bad and customer service actually lying about the policies (which I could clearly read on their website). I'm glad it's gone, and I'm glad I'm getting a refund, because it was pricey.