Tarot for Self-Care: The Lovers

        

    

Choices embrace love

Attracted to the angels

Searching for sacred

The Lovers remind us that everyone needs to love and be loved.  Make all of your decisions from a loving place. The Beatles' tune, "All you Need is Love," comes to mind.  Unconditional love of self and others will attract more love into your life.  Love yourself for all of your unique eccentricities, imperfections, and gifts.  Accept yourself for who you are today.  Realize that you are enough, just the way you are.  When setting goals for personal growth and development, do so from a place of love.  Never speak badly of yourself.  Love heals.

Ask yourself if you are truly open to giving and receiving love?  Love only comes when you believe that it exists, when you're open to giving and receiving it, and when you know you are worthy.  You can experience romantic love, familial love, community love, career love, environmental love, and many other great loves in your life.

Tarot for Self-Care: The Hierophant

          

  

Share humanity

We are all part of the dance

Creating culture

The Hierophant represents social spirituality and your connection with humanity.  Make sure that your self-care plan includes spending time with your community, friends, and family.  Humans are social beings!  What do you believe in?  Share your family traditions, cultural beliefs, and individual spiritual practices proudly!  Observe and learn how other people express their spirituality.  Witness the vast diversity and beauty in humanity.  By understanding how other people connect with the divine, you become more tolerant, accepting, worldly, and connected to the universe.  It is important to keep a positive view of humanity.  This positive outlook is essential to loving your life and yourself.  "Power is not personal.  It can only come from a tradition, one with great meaning and deep roots." (Pollack, Tarot Wisdom, 76).

Consider the traditions that you practice including the holidays you observe, the mottos you recite, and the ways you greet others.  What beliefs and values do they honor?  Would you want to change or update any of these traditions?  With your community create new traditions and rituals to honor community values and beliefs.  You could organize an annual parade, create an organizational motto, or make a secret handshake.  Interactions based on shared beliefs and common interests reinforce our social fabric.  By acknowledging and honoring our connection to community and humanity we can confront conflict from a position of strength, consideration, and respect. 

Tarot for Self-Care: The Emperor

          

Strong hands holding time

And the empire responds

Stand on stable ground

The Emperor encourages us to have structure and organization. Now is the time to introduce structure and stick to a schedule.  Set goals and establish timelines to accomplish them.  Following a routine will help you build great things!  Following the rules will ensure that you have solid and sustainable progress.  Be professional and rule your empire with dignity.  Strive to be fair and objective.  Lead by example.  Protect yourself and the things you care about.  

What people, places, and things are stable in your life?  Meditate on these questions.  When times of change, flux, or turmoil approach, you rely on your foundations to bring you stability and return you to your center.  The Emperor has great plans for the future, and he is also prepared for dark days ahead.  He has a strategy for growth and prosperity.  Create your own self-care strategy and put it into practice.  Revisit your strategy periodically and make adjustments as needed.  

Tarot for Self-Care: The Empress

        

   

Nature's healthy home

Breath in beauty, abundance

sweet blessings to you

The Empress represents Mother Nature.  She offers limitless opportunities to experience the rich and abundant world we share.  The Empress reminds us to say yes to life.  Have an open mind and an open heart.  Find excitement and joy in starting new endeavors.  Take an adventure outside.  Connect with nature.  Take pleasure in all of the things that bless your everyday life.  Pamper yourself and enjoy simple comforts.  Tap into your feminine energy and your receptivity to the world around you.  Take time to nurture others and yourself.  Do something sweet for someone you care about.  Approach the world with soft motherly care.

Tap into the natural world as a source of energy, guidance, and healing.  Honor Mother Earth as a living, breathing entity, and recognize that we are privileged to be here as her guests.  Find ways to honor nature each day by recycling, using environmentally friendly products, trying organic products, growing your own food, or cleaning up natural habitats.  By recognizing and appreciating your connection with nature, the Animal Kingdom, and Mother Earth, you align yourself with the universe and the essence of  your soul.

Tarot for Self-Care: The High Priestess

      

Intuitive soul

Whisper mysterious words

Call the spirit near

The High Priestess is the Fool's spiritual mother.  She reminds us that as spiritual beings, we have an exciting and mysterious connection with the universe, the source, and the divine.  Spirituality is a journey of discovery and transformation.  Tune into your intuition.  You already have the answers to most of the questions you ask.  “Most of us only access our intuition or ‘gut feeling’ in times of crisis… become more conscious of energy, trust your intuitive skills beyond self-preservation” (Antennucci, Psychic Tarot, 56)

Take time to reflect on your spiritual wisdom in a dark, quiet, and peaceful place.  What are your personal truths?  What do you hold sacred?  Honor the sacred in your life by keeping a journal, building an alter, or creating a ritual which you can revisit to deepen your spiritual connection.

Tarot for Self-Care: The Magician

       

   

Creating magic

Express yourself in the world

Senses opening

The Magician is the artist who exists inside every person.  You have the power of creativity and the gift of imagination.  Use both of these together to make magic happen!  Express yourself in any and every way you can!  Make some art, play some music, speak your truth.  Invent something new.  Make your mark in the world.  You have wonderful ideas and the ability to make things happen.  Don't wait.  The time is now.  Harness the energy of the universe to turn your ideas into reality.  It is said that magic is found in the mundane.  Open your senses to all of the magic potential constantly surrounding you.  Find creative ways to bring out the magic in everyday life.

Assume the stance of the magician by standing with both feet flat on the ground and both hands reaching up towards the sky.  Feel your feet rooted in the earth.  And feel the strong, stable, earthly energy entering your body.  Visualize the heat from the center of the earth traveling through the earth's core, through layers of rock and dirt, past fossils and roots into the base of your feet and rising.  Reach your hands up to the sky and feel the energy of the infinite space above you.  Imagine the depths of outer space, the stars, the planets, and the asteroids moving together in constellations and cycles.  Imagine this cosmic energy drawing down through the protective ozone layer, through the earth's atmosphere, past the clouds and the wind and entering through your fingertips.  Feel the vast universal energy that you gather and allow it to propel you into creating something wonderful.

Tarot for Self-Care: The Fool

         

 

Trust the universe

Begin spontaneously

Journey with laughter

The Fool signals that it is time to step outside your comfort zone.  Say yes.  Be spontaneous.  Take a leap of faith.  Trust that the universe will provide everything you need.  Dare to dream big and achieve your goals.  Every new beginning starts with the first step.  So don't wait, take that first step right now!  Be young, free, and open-minded.  Enjoy light-hearted fun, good humor, and laughter.  See the positive aspects of any situation.  Have a can-do attitude.  Try something fresh and new.  Learn all that you can learn.  It is okay to feel foolish and make mistakes so do not be afraid to try something different and expand your horizons.  Anything is possible.  There is no place for boredom now because the whole world is yours to explore.

The Fool's dog reminds you to look before you leap.  Take a look at where you are headed.  Be aware of your surroundings and the impact you make.  Be aware of your actions and how they affect others.  Stay loyal to the people and places who helped you start your journey.  Take care of animals and the environment.  Be aware of your intentions and your biases.  Remember that as a human, you are part of the animal kingdom.  On your journey you will gain much wisdom from the civilized world.  But your primal, animal instincts will always be a part of you and they too serve a source of wisdom throughout your life.