Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Horoscopes and Tarot Cards: Handling Daily Readings

   Horoscope and Tarot Card readings are both forms of divination, and divination is the ability to tell the future. But how seriously are we to take these readings? And how are we to, in effect, to use this foretold information, to our advantage? 
   Millions of people read their horoscopes on a daily basis, most of the time at the beginning of the day. So at the end of the day they say to themselves, "Well, my scope was a little off today." These people don't realize that they might have somehow twisted their own fate just a bit that day. If someone has had a negative reading it makes them think in some way they are going to have a bad day. This sort of thinking sometimes makes some people put the day's readings in the back of their heads, but subconsciously  they are telling themselves, "I'm not going to have a bad day." The same can be said for anticipating something good to happen. It kills the moment, sometimes making the outcome different then expected.
   The way to take advantage of a reading is to make those subconscious  decisions, conscious ones. One thing I have learned is to not associate a reading with your day as a whole. It could very well represent one solitary event. But also don't look for things to happen! Don't expect anything, do quite the opposite, live your normal life and stop living like a paranoid schitzo!
   No, I'm just kidding. Serious, in essence, but kidding about the whole paranoid schitzo thing. :) So… first thing in the morning, we read our divination readings of choice, absorb what it could all mean, how it pertains to what is happening in the present, and once absorbed completely, forget. Forget what you read this morning off of the newspaper right next to the comics section under Dear Abby, for at least the next twelve hours. Did the undesired happen?  Perhaps it passed you by. Or the worst thing that happened to you was traffic on the way home. You'll find that when you don't dread on things, like having just read your fortunate or unfortunate fate, they pop out when they have to.
   Throughout the day, follow your routine as you normally would. If and when any situations make it so that something in your readings "pops up" in a way, make a note of it, and save it for later. At the end of your day, reflect on your day altogether. The ups. The downs. Now make any connections between your reading earlier that morning. Compare notes with your day, bring up your "pop up" moments, whether it be one simple word or phrase, or the entire reading altogether.


For Example, here is an example of how I handle my daily readings:

[NOTE: In terms of the way I define my tarot card reading, this is simply an example of how I perceive the cards. The meaning of any one card may vary slightly amongst psychics. This is why it is often said that art of divination is purely subjective; identifying the meaning in any one card is identified through one's own perception of what is going on in that particular moment during that particular reading.]


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October 25, 2010

Daily Horoscope (From "The Daily" News for iPad)- Capricorn: What occurs over the next few days will prompt you to accept that maybe you don't know it all. It will force you to consider the possibility that what you call "truth" is in fact a rather fluid concept.

Tarot Card of the Day- XVI The Tower: Quarrel. Combat. Danger. Ruin. Destruction of plans. / Ambition. Courage. Sudden death. Escape from prison and all it implies.


Morning "at a glance" Thoughts

   At first glance I can already see that I am going to go through a sort coming of realization according to the horoscope reading. Connecting that with actual events in my everyday life, I can say that I have been doing a lot of reading lately, mostly pagan articles. I have also been wanting to start a daily exercise routine, and I have also been wanting to start up my hobbies as I once did.
   I just moved to Texas a couple of months ago, and have been doing little to nothing out doors since I have been here. In the last few days, I have come up with the resolution that exercise, hobbies such as blogging and geocaching, re-engaging in pagan practice, and taking care of myself are things I have to do to get out of what I felt like, has been a rut since I've been here. In the past few days, those are the truths I have come up with for myself.
   Even though I know these truths, I have been a bit shy, and in some instances, pretty much scared, to begin my journey into re-establishing who I once was. All of last week I did my crunches, telling myself, that starting this week, I would start going to the gym (which I have available to me in my complex!) for AT LEAST 20 minutes. Monday, which was yesterday, came, and I didn't go to the gym. And today is gonna pass and I still haven't gone. Out of fear of being seen, or not being able to finish the 20 minute session because I haven't worked out in over a year, or fear of starting and not continuing day after day.  Who knows... XVI The Tower: Ruin and Destruction of plans. 


End of the Day Reflections

   There are two views or sides to every tarot card.  The trump card of The Tower possesses the negatives aspects such as combat and ruin, but it also possess the positive aspects of ambition, courage, and escape. So a way for me to have consciously turned  the fate of the card that was dealt to me today, per say, would be for me to go ahead and have gone to the gym tonight, even though I usually like the morning, when its empty. I, in a sense, (If I were to have gone.) possessed the courage to go on with my plans and perhaps upon going, I would have escaped from the "imprisonment" of the fear I once had of going. But lets be honest, I didn't go  to the gym today either. Returning to it's main negative aspect- Ruin and destruction of plans. 
   About an hour after my morning reading, I found myself in a sort of "lover's quarrel". But that was only brought on by my partner's combative nature, and I had no way of going around it.  This is an instance of a fortune unfolding itself, leaving me to deal with the situation. I quickly and swiftly corrected the situation upon remembering my earlier reading (ya, know, the one we are suppose to ignore till the end of the day. Well… you are supposed to put her back there because she comes in handy! I wasn't thinking about it, but it came up.) In this situation I believe that I did not let the negative aspect of The Tower take control of my life in this particular moment in time by putting an end to what would have been a sizable argument. I, in a sense put "sudden death" to anything that would cause "destruction" or "ruin", and then the situation was put behind us.
  Even though we consciously try to live our lives to the best of our intentions, there are still times when what is foretold, whether positive or negative, cannot be bent around or changed.
   Later on in the evening, my boyfriend's uncle came by with his 3 year old daughter, asking me if I would be willing to braid her hair this weekend. An escape from prison and all it implies. I can't seem to get myself into the groove, so fate has brought it to me regardless!
   If there is one thing I love, but haven't done in ages, it's braids! If I do a fair job, I will be doing her hair on a weekly basis for a small price. I was willing to do it for free, might I add! It was so strange how just seeing the little girl enlightened me in some way. I automatically wanted to just follow her around. I kept patting and touching her little hair bun, lol. I was asking myself, "How would I part her hair to trail out the braids? Would it look better this way? That way? She's a little baby so I have to do as little as possible…" I felt myself WANTING to do something. A sense of ambition.
 

Tomato... Tomatoe
  
   It is important not to be looking for things to happen! For example: I woke up this morning and Im out of toilet paper because my cat decided to teepee to living room (mistake for RUIN by the paranoid), true story, btw. Or my Netflix got cut off (SUDDEN DEATH). Also, did happen today. (-__-).  Not everything has something to do with that pesky little paragraph you read this morning! And not everything you read is LITERAL. "An escape from prison and all it implies," does not mean you are gonna get locked up today, and escape. "Sudden death" doesn't mean that someone or something is gonna drop at any second. Your escape could just as well mean you finally were able to get out of the house to go get that mani/pedi you've been dying for. As a matter of fact, the definitions I posted for the tarot reading are not concrete definitions.
   As I have mentioned before, divination is a practice that is subjective. The meaning of any one particular card changes from one person to the next depending on his or her own perception and concepts. One word can bring about different emotions and feeling amongst different people. The Tower card, to me, is entrapment and irritation, needing to find a sense of release but not being able to find one. Kind of like Rapunzel, stuck up in a tower, looking out into the world and all it's beauty, but not being able to experience any of it. On the opposite side I see an escape by jumping off the side,  or climbing down, which takes major courage and true deep desire for freedom and/or exploration. Is my form of expression in any way similar to what is written in text? I may say it differently, but the symbolism turns out somewhat the same. Tomato… Tomatoe…

Friday, October 14, 2011

The wonders of herbal remedies!

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     Today I experimented with a little bit of "herbal self medicating" :). My dilemma started the day before yesterday... When I woke up with a small rash on my left arm. At first I thought maybe I brushed up against something and it was slight irritation. But it started to get itchy, and well... I've always been one to scratch an itch. It wasn't a bit... There were no puncture wounds... No visible scrapes or scratches (Yet). I ignored it thinking that maybe it would go away on it's own.
     I woke yesterday morning with an even larger irritation area, hard to the touch... And on one end of the irritation there was a faint little scratch! All at once It came to me what the irritation was... And why it got so much larger so quickly (not that scratching helped :/). My kitten must have accidentally swiped me with one of his claws as he was jumping off of me. The scratch was so faint! I mean it didn't show up till more then 24 hours after it was made!
     And just to catch you up really quick... I have a moderate allergy to felines. I have my kitten, Brownie, but I keep him brushed to reduce shedding, and I wipe him down with "hypoallergenic, shed control" cat wipes at least twice a week to reduce and pretty much eliminate sneezing. If he licks me... I get an itch... irritation comes from a scratch ... It's never gotten this big though...
     First thing I did upon getting up and discovering my tomato red arm, was take a couple benadryl, and apply on an antihistamine spray for what appears to be a rash forming! Antihistamines...ATTACK!!!
     I waited all day... But the allergy seemed to be crawling towards broader seas, if you know what I mean. Then I remembered that chamomile had antihistamine properties. But since I don't have access to a plant to make a truly natural herbal tincture, my second choice was to depend on good old processed tea bags. Luckily, I had a stash of chamomile tea bags that actually had just chamomile in it! For some reason some companies claim that the tea is just of one herb... But if you look at the ingredients you find five other herbs listed too...

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      The first thing I did was simply drink a cup of tea... Made it strong... Soaked two bags in one cup for ten minutes and drank it. And when I took out the bags and expunged the excess water, I ran the tea bags over the irritated area of my arm and left the area wet for a few minutes before drying it off. I was surprised at how quickly the itching went away... But the rash remained throughout day two...
     So now we are down to today! Day three with a deadly rash on my arm... The itching managed to stay away until I woke up today! But I figured I didn't give the chamomile enough time to soak. Into the skin to actually do anything other then get rid of the itch of the rash... Maybe I need to let it soak longer... Or better yet... Maybe I need to have the chamomile directly on the skin. I did two applications, one in the morning, and one in the evening. So this was my process:
(Please note that to some with sensitive skin, this might actually irritate the skin further, so if skin becomes more irritated after applying, do not continue this remedy.)

   1. soak 2 tea bags of chamomile in one cup of hot water for ten minutes, then take out tea bags and expunge excess water.
   2. Rip open tea bags and apply chamomile directly onto the entire affected area.

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   3. Soak a towel or even a paper towel, in the chamomile tea water and place over the area with chamomile yo keep it moist with the tea water.

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   4. leave the application on for 15 minutes, occasionally re soaking towel with tea water to keep moist. It is normal to feel a cool tingling sensation, that means it's doing it's job.
   5. Take off application, but don't rinse it off. Simply dry it off.

Before application:

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After first application:

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After second application:
 

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The wonders of herbal remedies! I suffered with this massive allergic reaction for 2 whole days before today! And after two fifteen minute applications, about 7 hours apart, I am getting results that not even oral medication and an antihistamine spray could fix! All I need is one more application before bedtime today, and this monstrosity will be gone by tomorrow. :)