Portal Week 1

0: The Fool, Taking the Risk

We are in Fool energy right now. - not just when you pull a card, but we can see the energy of the cards at different times. 

What does it mean to embrace something new, what is blocking that as well? 

We are in a time of limitless possibility

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Week 2

1: The Magician, Stepping Into Your Power

Holding that wand can also be scary, we give our power away to others. What does it mean to embrace our own power? 

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Foundational Principle 1: Tarot is an invitation

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Brain chemistry 101

Negativity Bias - brains trained to notice the negative as a way of protecting us from harm. This keeps us from seeing what's good, it sends our brain on a space of contraction - that is all we can focus on (the negative). Once we get into that threatened state, that's all we can see. That's not the best state to find solutions to our problems, or find/make new neural connections in our brains. 

Second arrow- self-judgment for having / succumbing to negativity bias. Becomes spiral.

SCARF - things that trigger/activate us usually from one of five things:

Status 

Certainty

Autonomy

Relatedness

Fairness

When you can identify what/how you are triggered (is there a SCARF threat that is happening?), you can validate yourself for having that feeling. If we know, that might help us stop the second arrow (further activation). 

Foundational Principle 2: With expansion comes contraction

- with growth we also recoil a bit, get activated. What is the thing that could help ease the contraction, while recognizing it's still ok be in it. 

https://www.tarabrach.com/meditation-rain-self-compassion/

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Foundational Principle 3: evolution is spiralic

sometimes it feels like we are moving backwards, or that we've been there before. our brains can freak out about that- and get activated. just because something feels familiar or similar to previous circumstances, that doesn't necessarily mean that something is wrong. we can't control external things but we can control how our brains respond. 

we can try to practice letting go of control. 

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Wrap Up

1. Takeaway from today - that I am frequently triggered by certainty / relatedness causes! 

2. One intention you want to set - to be mindful of my triggers and to learn better strategies of responding to them, so I can foster better relationships to myself and to others I care about

3. One question you have - How can I more gracefully lean into the Fool energy that is pervading this collective time, instead of being fearful or recoiling from it?