Runa Posted October 25, 2022 Posted October 25, 2022 Hello friends, I have these questions on my mind today. How do you use your tarot practice in the more difficult times of your life? Are there spreads that you like, questions that you ask, do you take a break from the cards completely? I lost two pets this year, they were my best friends and the loss weighs heavily on me despite the passage of time. Sometimes it's less hard, sometimes all I can do is think about the empty space in my life and how much I miss them. I've done the usual things, talked to my therapist, my friends, I've made small memorials, written in my journal, looked at the pictures and videos in my phone... I'm wondering how I can use tarot as another thing to further my healing. It just seems like this week they are all I can think about and none of the other methods I normally turn to have been satisfying me. Maybe tarot can help me in a way that the other things haven't been able to. It will at least make me think in a new way as tarot always does.
Michelle Ojeda Posted October 25, 2022 Posted October 25, 2022 Runa, Sorry for your loss. One way that just came to mind would be to use tarot everyday as a gratitude tool. Some ideas would be : " What am I grateful for today" " What should I look forward to today" What should I avoid today" . When you find yourself in that empty space, remind yourself what your grateful for that day. Remember they are never gone, their just not in physical form. Sending you much healing love
DanielJUK Posted October 26, 2022 Posted October 26, 2022 I am very sorry for the loss of your two pets @Runa 💕 Be really kind to yourself and there are many ways you can use tarot and oracle cards but I think to find ways which personally would help you here are some suggestions from me, based on my own experiences.... - when I am going through an emotional situation of difficulties, I find it hard to do a lot of readings. So use self-care, if you read for others or anyone else, I would concentrate on yourself. Just read for yourself if you feel you want to do that because helping and giving advice to other people takes your energy. Sometimes you have to give that a rest and only spend energy on yourself. - sometimes you should just put the cards away and have a break! But only you can know that but it's okay to have a reading rest and come back to it. If you find you are doing a lot of the same reading on your pets, I would put the cards away for a while. Readings should help you heal at this time, not become a crutch with them - @Michelle Ojeda gave a great idea about using it for gratitude. Another idea is to take a card for a positive message. Often oracle decks are better at this. I went through a period of depression around ten years ago and I took an oracle card for a positive message each day. You can also do positive only readings to cheer yourself up and give yourself hope. Like what good new things are coming my way? - some people want to talk to their pet or get a message with a reading. Some people don't want to do this but there are spreads if you want to read on them. But if you want to go in that direction, here are some deceased pet spreads.... with these ones just change to a pet, rather than a person.... https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/message-to-a-deceased-love-one.46689/ https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/a-spread-for-a-memory-of-a-loved-one.110462/ there are many more in our old forum's archive here scroll down the page to Death and Bereavement. There are a few good healing ones in that mix this is a specific spread for a pet - https://www.emeraldlotusdivination.com/blog/2022/1/18/communicating-with-pets-after-death-tarot-spread - perhaps look up some healing from grief spreads if they might help you. There are many on google but a few ideas... a large spread for dealing with the loss of a pet and grief - https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/spread-for-dealing-with-grief-loss-of-a-pet.127012/ a general grief spread - https://www.emeraldlotusdivination.com/blog/2018/09/07/tarot-spread-grief - ask directly, design a spread with a good question. What will help me remember my pets but help heal my heart? Something like that. These are just ideas, take what will work from you 🙂 We always heal in time and never forget them, so just give yourself time and be very gentle and positive to yourself ❤️
djat1984 Posted October 26, 2022 Posted October 26, 2022 Hello, This is a strange coincidence... I have just lost my dog (my best friend) 2 days ago and I was also wondering if the Tarot could advise me on how to cope. First of all, I am terribly sorry for your losses. I am going through grief at the moment, so I know how difficult this is. I think using the Tarot only on yourself right now could give you some different perspectives on these departures. I'm with you.
Runa Posted October 28, 2022 Author Posted October 28, 2022 @Michelle Ojeda I really like this idea, thank you. To be honest I haven't done my daily draw since the day my cat had his health emergency, I drew the 3 of Swords. I typically do not see my daily card as a portent of the day to come, more as a "study card of the day" but one trip to the emergency vet later and I couldn't stop thinking about that card. He stayed there overnight for treatment, then I brought him home and he was supposed to be fine but within a few days he took a turn for the worse and was suddenly gone. I know there wasn't anything I could do, and I'm glad he departed when he was at home with me instead of at the vet facility around strangers. But I'm feeling ready to use my cards again and this sounds like a good way to dip my toes back into it, so I really appreciate the suggestion. @DanielJUK Thank you so much for the links! You're absolutely right about now not being the time to read for others. Thankfully I've not bothered doing that since I'm still learning lol. I'm not sure if I'm interested in reading for other people at all, tarot is more a thing for just me. They're like my secret little friends (well I don't keep my tarot secret but you get what I mean). These spreads look interesting indeed. I had been curious about doing a reading for them, but I've been so scared that the cards would tell me that they were afraid or in pain. But I know that part of tarot is being willing to read things that you don't necessarily want to hear. Again, I greatly appreciate you taking the time to find these spreads for me, and your kind words. I hope you encounter some incredibly random good fortune today 🙂 @djat1984 I'm so sorry. My two cats, they were also my best friends. It's a peculiar thing that nobody can understand this specific kind of grief unless they've gone through it themselves, it's so different than losing a human. Both things are terrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it's the most inevitable thing in life. I'm thankful that I'm left with one cat still, who I raised from birth and consider my soulmate. Since Samhain/Halloween is coming up I'm planning to spend some time reflecting and honoring their lives, maybe lighting some candles for them and setting up an altar space of sorts on my book shelf for them with their photos, and maybe doing one of the spreads that DanielJUK linked above. Maybe you can do something similar, even if you're not particularly spiritual. I'm not myself, at least I don't think, but I think it would be therapeutic and the timing is appropriate. Thanks so much for your response, here's to our healing!
djat1984 Posted October 28, 2022 Posted October 28, 2022 Dear @Runa, Thanks for your support. You are absolutely right when you say that losing a pet is different from losing a fellow human. I don't know why, though. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we invest in them and they become a reflection of ourselves or maybe it' because of their innate innocence, but I wouldn't be sure. In any case, I think I will follow your advise and do an honouring ritual for him. Hopefully, this will bring me some closure. Here's my baby.
Runa Posted October 28, 2022 Author Posted October 28, 2022 Just now, djat1984 said: Dear @Runa, Thanks for your support. You are absolutely right when you say that losing a pet is different from losing a fellow human. I don't know why, though. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we invest in them and they become a reflection of ourselves or maybe it' because of their innate innocence, but I wouldn't be sure. In any case, I think I will follow your advise and do an honouring ritual for him. Hopefully, this will bring me some closure. Here's my baby. I agree, I think sometimes we just form closer bonds with our animal companions, because (at least in my case) we spend almost all of our time with them. I spend more time with my cat than even my husband, because I work from home so she's here with me all day every day while he works his normal job haha. And the innate innocence plays a huge role too, I've always said that the purity of their souls attracts me more to them than to people. Your dog looks so sweet! You were at least very fortunate to be able to share his/her life and heart while they were here, and you were their entire world for that time. Good luck with your ritual, I hope it helps.
Shadow Posted November 9, 2022 Posted November 9, 2022 On 10/26/2022 at 4:16 AM, Michelle Ojeda said: Some ideas would be : " What am I grateful for today" " What should I look forward to today" What should I avoid today" . When you find yourself in that empty space, remind yourself what your grateful for that day. This is such a beautiful idea, I really appreciate it. Thank you 😊
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