Peaceful Empress and Tending both Mothers

August Break's prompt was peaceful. I wanted to take a picture of myself meditating but my arms aren't long enough to zen out and take a selfie at the same time. So instead I snapped some shots of things around me that made me feel peaceful. 

A peaceful bowl of chicken and dumpling soup at Next Door Espresso for lunch.

A peaceful moment with today's tarot deck.

A peaceful walk back to my work after my peaceful lunch. I love the curve of the building, makes this shot look much more intense than it really is.

Rarity's cutie mark, a pleasant and peaceful reminder of generosity. It was made by a local vendor called Skullflake Studios.

And a couple of peaceful microcosms in my boss's office.

My tarot deck today was the Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan.  I drew from the Major Arcana today! It was the Empress. This card traditionally means being motherly affection, generosity, and fertility (physically, sexually, creatively). I was curious about what this card meant for me today. I thought, well, sure I need to 'birth' my creative ideas into words and novels, but the image of the mother was very striking and spoke to me above the creative fertility. 

I understand it now: on my way home from work I called my mother and asked if Hannah and I could come over tonight so that she and I could make a cake together tomorrow and so that Dad and I could watch a movie together. I called her and I understood right away that it was my turn to be generous and motherly. She confessed how hard up they are right now and how they had to go to the food bank the other day. Mother told me that she cried after going. All she wanted, she told me, was something fresh. And they don't get their money until much, much later. 

Tonight I'm bringing my Mommy and Daddy fresh cherry tomatoes from my garden, as well as my large lemon boy tomato. I'm also bringing them some kiwi, bananas, a few oranges, and bagels. Also, because she asked so cutely if I had any ice cream, I am bringing the left over vanilla from the soda floats that I made on for the Sturgeon Moon Esbat. We'll doctor up the ice cream with some frozen fruit and chocolate syrup. It won't feel as much like a food bank week if we eat a banana split or two I surmise. It feel good to tend to mom and to help her out a bit. 

My parents are amazing people and do their best to help me out whenever I need a little money or food or company and I'm happy to return the favor. And there's something especially nice about bringing them food from my garden, from Mother Earth. The first thing I did when I got home today was go out and chop away the dying vines off the pumpkin. I trimmed down the bachelor buttons and the forget-me-nots (both are all done with their blooming at this point) and watered all the green babies. Today I am the Empress. I'm a generous motherly woman tending to both my mothers. 

A day late: August Break 6 and Arthurian Advice on Cats

I wrote most of this blog last night but was just too tired to post it. Sorry, it's coming a day late but here you go:

We never made it down to the family reunion. We called Mom on Friday and asked her if it would be okay to skip and she said not to worry about it. The truth is, before we ever even left for the trip I had a bad gut feeling about the drive a sort of vision of us crashing into the river. Probably just being a worry-wort. Well Hannah also had a really bad feeling about the drive. And when we got to the Twins' house they sort of begged and pleaded for us to stay. And we got a text from our friend Fiona asking if we were alright and if we'd made it to the family reunion. Turns out she'd have a horrible nightmare about the situation and was worried about us. With all of this negative worry concerning the trip down to Kamiah, Hannah and I opted to stay and play an extra day with the Twins and then head home as planned. So that's exactly what we did. Today we went to a farmer's market and ate some really fun foods. We watched the second movie that we rented the night before and we visited Hastings again for a second pillage of the discounted goods. 

For August Break, the prompt today was "I'm reading...." and I don't have a really swell picture to show (at least not one that I took myself - the Blackberry can only do so much!) but here is what I've been reading yesterday and today: Phntasmagoria by Ian Daniels. This is the book that accompanies the Vampire Tarot Deck. There are several cool things about this deck and book. It goes past the regular tarot meanings and speaks to your astrological signs as well as your Vampire Clan and Court. The book helps you make a Vampire Profile for yourself so that you can use the cards to better examine personal issues and track your progress in dealing with large projects or decisions. It's really cool. The book also talks about how the Major Arcana relate to the Sephirots of the Tree of Life. 

Now as much as I am in love with this book and the new deck, I'm going to hold off on doing a daily draw from this deck until a little later in the month. For today I drew from Legend: The Arthurian Tarot. This deck belongs to Twin B who is a really huge on Arthurian Lore. I drew the Six of Spears (wands). 

The Return of Ambrosius:
Upright: A deserved victory; accolades; resolution of a problem; success achieved by hard work and careful planning; endearing supporters.

Reversed: Apprehension; low morale; inconclusive results.

When I picked this card I had a very specific question in mind. I was asking about our decision to bring a new kitty into the household. I don't want to upset Narcisa (which is inevitable with Queen kitties) but at the same time we really want to expand our family. The card for me immediately spoke of something coming home. A cat perhaps. And we've been looking at a little Russian Blue baby in Rathdrum and also an orange tabby. This card is covered in blue and orange hues. If Ambrosius is the cat then it's clear that the Blue Russian will be coming home with us. But it is an orange flag hailing the victor's return. I feel like this card says go for it. Be victorious. Your supporters will be there for you. The kingly figure of Ambrosius looks a little weary, but after a hard fought victory it makes  sense for the hero to be a little on the solemn side. This card warns that victory, that decision making, isn't without consequence. If you win; someone else loses. This is going to be a long haul with Narcisa keeping her happy with our decision but in the end I think we can meet a happy middle ground. 

Here are some fun pictures from yesterday that don't really cover the August Break prompt but definitely satisfy the August Break purpose: stop and smell/photograph the fun!

Hannah sitting by the fountain in downtown Moscow, ID. We went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday.

Note the size of these chess pieces. That is a child in the picture and the pieces are almost as big as he is! These were for sale at the Farmer's Market and if I were a rich Manda I'd have me a set of ginormous chess set right now!

These spices were formulated based on the four elements. The witch in me needs these! But the poor girl in me says I'll make my own set and put cute symbols on the bottles. What a great idea though! I love this set of spices. If I could find them cheaper as a set online I think I would go ahead and grab them.

Huckleberry Crispin. Can't wait to try it later with Hannah.

A little piece of sunshine. Love this pretty flower.

Some more pretty flowers from downtown Moscow area.

Blue flowers outside the Starbucks in the Vandal Store on the U of I campus. This is where Twin B works.