COM|PASSionate Events

Oh, hello friends! We're back from our travels and the summer is starting to cool down. It's not here quite yet but we can feel the change in the seasons hovering just around the corner. We're still  sweating around midday but there are these moments in the morning while we're drinking our coffee (and moments in the evening when we're drinking our whiskey) where you get this little crisp whisper beckoning in the Fall.

Take a lesson from the Fall breeze, friends. Take a moment in the mornings to look out on the horizon, take a moment in the evenings to look up at the stars, take a moment when the world feels like it's rushing by to take a long deep breath.

Sure, it's hot, but it's summer! Don't rush through it. Change is coming. Don't be scared of it. Everything is cycle. Seasons change, identities transform, day turns to night. Sink into it with peace and contentment. Breathe it in and let it fill your lungs with stars.

EVENTS

Get out, take care of yourself and heal in community!

• SATURDAY 9.5.15 Greet the Day Yoga, Deep Dog, Yorba Linda*
• MONDAY 9.7.15 Summer Flow, Deep Dog, Yorba Linda*
• WEDNESDAY 9.9.15 Midweek Mindfulness Practice, Deep Dog, Yorba Linda*
• THURSDAY 9.10.15 Bones + Breath Yoga, Deep Dog, Yorba Linda*

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Don't forget there's lots of upcoming ways to get involved!

• Long Beach First Fridays! Art Walk, Shop, and Dine! Spend some time outdoors enjoying the summer nights. Tonight's the night!
• Downtown Santa Ana Artwalk! Already have plans for tonight? How about Santa Ana's September Art Walk tomorrow night 9.5.15 or September Artwalk After Party Sunday night 9.6.15???
• OCFTM Annual Beach Party coming up on September 19th!

RECOMMENDATIONS

Is all this feeling like too much? Do you feel weighted down, discontent, lacking in access to light? We would love for you to sit in the abundance and potential of the changing seasons with us but want to validate that there are multiple things that bedevil our potential and agency which in turn instigate our scarcity anxiety.

If you're feeling the weight of other oppressive forces getting in the way of enjoying the night as much as you enjoy the stars or breathing in the fall breeze as deeply as you soak up the summer sun, meditate on how to expunge oppression from your life while you listen to this playlist from The Collective Tarot's interpretation of The Devil/Oppression.

spotify:user:compassionaterevolt:playlist:1Cf5TCOMgJMb1jS5Gr7GUT

Deep breaths,

The COM|PASSionate REVOLT Community<3

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*Events are put on by the CR Community/CR Community members. Other events are by friends of the CR Community or of interest to the CR Community. Feeling a little nervous about getting out and involved? Email us and if we can we'll make some introductions so you have a friendly face to say "Hi" to when you get there!

**Most of these events will be local to Southern CA (unless we notice an event that sets us off into road trip dreamland.) If you want to do a COM|PASSionate event round-up for your local area let us know!

***Are you an individual, meet-up or community group that has some COM|PASSionate events of your own? Email us for details on how to submit your event to our calendar!

****Have your own story about healing or thoughts on healing? Are you a queer vegan healer? Want to talk to your community about ways you're living consciously and connected? Do you want your blog, org, or event to be featured on one of our running series or want to do an interview introducing yourself to the COM|PASSionate REVOLT Community? Are you a unicorn in a pony world disguising your magickal star dust sprinkling mane to live amongst the commoners?

Pitch us a blog series or interview idea!! Contact us at compassionaterevolt@gmail.com!

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There are photographs in this post that were borrowed lovingly from the internet and do not belong to us. All are linked and credited to the best of our abilities in hopes of attracting more traffic to the photographers and websites who have blessed us with this imagery. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the subject's or artist's identity or beliefs. If there is a photo included here that belongs to you and you want it removed, please email compassionaterevolt@gmail.com and it will be removed promptly, no questions asked.

Tarot Tuesday: Accountability + Boundaries

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope everyone had a lovely start to their August. The past month and a half has been a whirlwind of activity, re-structuring, and schedule changes for me. I finally came into a (partially body induced/mandated) slow down this weekend. It was unfamiliar and really lovely. I got to pull quite a bit of tarot.

Two things continued to come up: Accountability and Boundaries.

I got to thinking about the intersection of these two themes as I started to write Tarot Tuesday this morning. I thought about the ways that we are accountable for the time we put (or don't put) to our healing, the type of healing we utilize, the way that we have to set boundaries for our self care versus the way we are accountable for our interactions with others, and the way that the guidance of tarot resides in between these two places.

Tarot can offer us guidance and direction for our awareness but, ultimately, it is our responsibility to integrate that information however we choose. Tarot might invite us to set some healthy boundaries, but only we will be able to truly discern what those boundaries will need to look like. With this in mind I decided to create a spread to help offer guidance on the common struggle of this intersection.

This spread will be helpful if you feel like you need to set some boundaries in your life. Beyond some awareness around helpful boundaries it will support your consciousness around your place and accountability in the manifesting of these healthy structures. Card 1 and Card 2 signify the intersection while Card 3 and Card 4 support the question at hand in the stable structure of a triangle to offer specific guidance.

Here is the spread I pulled for myself:

Card 1: Major Arcana 7, The Chariot or The Conductor (Inverted)

The Collective Tarot describes The Conductor... "The Conductor is victory, steadfastness, control, movement, strength, a plan, a direction, and riding the wave. This warrior is fierce , yet confident and relaxed." Prior to the last re-paint of my room this reminder graced my wall and during a recent tromp through the House of Intuition in LA I flipped through the pages of The Secret Language of Birthdays and was unsurprised to see The Chariot staring back at me. In best forms, this individual is balanced, powerful, and confident in their abilities. Their power is something that is already familiar in my tarot reads and my life. The way that they showed up inverted in this spread, perhaps less than confident, less than trusting of these gifts, is also something familiar. What do I need to hold myself accountable for in the way that I set boundaries in my relationships is a conflict that is often hovering near the surface of my interactions. At the center of this intersection, perhaps The Conductor is reminding me that content is there if only I can find contentment in it?

Card 2: Major Arcana 9, The Hermit

The Hermit crosses my intersection as the central challenge. Why would The Hermit, "with the demented smile and candor of a master hold the message of challenge for me? She is both "map and compass to the human heart," she trusts her intuition, and distinguishes loneliness from being comfortable being alone. I think that perhaps her lantern of illumination is drawing my attention to the ways that my people pleasing and friendliness can come off as extroverted gregariousness taking a heavy toll on my introverted spirit.

Card 3: Major Arcana 20, Judgment or Liberation (Inverted)

A card of transformation sits at the cornerstone of my accountability support in this spread. The center point of this transformation is taking off the mask, releasing expectation, and sinking into the truest self. It is a card that reminds us of the metaphorical truth that "the cards have been dealt," and only we are accountable for how we decide to play them. While daunting, once this is accepted, we can find "A kind of letting go that is so vast and profound and honest that it reduces you down to your most basic raw child-like elemental self... A letting go that begins to dissolve the boundaries of our social and material constructs, so that we are no longer so separate and disconnected, but instead are more integrated and whole. Inverted, I wonder if it signifies the heartbreak that can only come from holding on too tightly to past versions of the self and how it keeps us from being accountable to our present/future integration.

Card 4 Major Arcana 15, The Devil or Oppression (Inverted)

The Devil or Oppression reminds us of difficult times where we feel drained by the way that we are confined and sometimes actively pushed down. It also requests that we stay wary that we are not oppressing others. My awareness of boundaries can often be draining, especially when I see them being impeded upon. With accountability close at hand, perhaps the Inverted Devil offers me a gentle reminder to shift my focus from others impeding on my boundaries to how I hold my own.

Overall, I really enjoyed building this spread with a theme in mind and feel like this is one I may come back to for insight into this intersection as well as the holding triangular structure supporting a central issue and challenge. While you can pull tarot in any way that feels right to you, you may also want to play with the extra information that comes with spreads or even create your own.

Happy Tuesday!

In accountability,

Traci

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Traci {She|Her|Hers|They|Them|Theirs} is a yoga teacher, therapist and amateur tarot enthusiast! They try to believe in the power of their inner Magician, stay inspired by the Fool’s spirit, understand struggle through the lens of The Tower/Disaster and always stay reminded that, “The Star Awaits…”

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There are photographs in this post that were borrowed lovingly from the internet and do not belong to us. All are linked and credited to the best of our abilities in hopes of attracting more traffic to the photographers and websites who have blessed us with this imagery. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the subject’s or artist’s identity or beliefs. If there is a photo included here that belongs to you and you want it removed, please email compassionaterevolt@gmail.com and it will be removed promptly, no questions asked.

Tarot Tuesday: The Fool's Journey

Hey there Tarot Tuesday fans!

So lovely to see everyone! Traci here of Picnic Lunch, COM|PASSionate Inspiration and general blog/website upkeep. Kaeti's still out of town so I'll be pinch hitting on this one.

I don't have nearly as much experience or knowledge as Kaeti with tarot, but it has been extremely powerful in my life. So I thought this would be a great time to do a post about how someone interested in tarot might get started exploring doing their own readings. Here's my first (and only) tip:

Start at the beginning. Engage in your journey through tarot as the Major Arcana would lead you through it... from 0... with The Fool as your inspiration and guide. The Collective Tarot describes the fool as a "hopeful and trusting traveler... perhaps ill-prepared and going solo." The Fool encourages us to leap forth into life as one would into a spontaneous roadtrip- "leaving lots of room for improvisation and spontaneity." You don't have to have packed everything you need (or even studied tarot as a long time dedicated student) you just need to "loosen up your expectations and open yourself up to chance. Intuition is a voice which speaks louder the more carefully you listen, and the Fool trusts her heart first in all matters. She is our first curious tendril stretched out to the universe, green and new."

I was lucky enough to have some wonderful human guides into my relationship with tarot. They encouraged me to find a deck that resonated with me and to shuffle, pull and make spreads that felt like conversations. When I drew a card and looked towards them wide-eyed for answers they asked, "What do you see?" When my Aries nature bowed down her horns, furrowed her brow and complained in exasperation, "BUT I don't know what the right answer is!" They smiled and said, "Sure you do, you pulled it."

I started to slow down, to let the art in front of me wash over me and through me. I took a breath and asked myself how the cards felt? I asked myself how they made me feel? I let the images, colors and symbols link back to my own set of memories, experiences and the lens throughout which I saw the world. The cards started to come alive, to talk to me and only when I felt like I had finished conversing with them did I look back through the deck books or start to google on the internet.

Each time I pull I learn a little bit more about myself and tarot. I've done a bit of study here and there and still sometimes have the urge to ask those with more knowledge for validation about my understanding of the cards but mostly I'm really grateful to always come to my deck as The Fool.

This wide eyed naivete has served me well. I've seen things along my journey that I wouldn't have if I knew what direction I should be looking.

So if you're interested (but mystified) in tarot I encourage you to find a deck that you like (whether it be the colors, the pictures or the meanings), borrow one from a friend or use an online card generator. Whether you're shuffling or clicking take a moment to set intention. As you take in your cards- take them in for what they mean to you. Then if you would like to also consult the internet googling gods- have at it! Pulling tarot doesn't give us answers anyway- it serves us with more to process.

Enjoy your tarot readings!

Your fellow fool,

Traci

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Traci {She|Her|Hers|They|Them|Theirs} is a yoga teacher, therapist and amateur tarot enthusiast! They try to believe in the power of their inner Magician, stay inspired by the Fool's spirit, understand struggle through the lens of The Tower/Disaster and always stay reminded that, "The Star Awaits..."

When Traci sat down to write this blog, in the intimidating shadow of Kaeti's illustrious magick and wisdom, they asked the cards for guidance + the heart of the matter. This is what they drew...

Of course I would pull The Code + Oppression. I had finished most of this post when I stopped to draw cards. I felt pretty darn good about it.. but I thought... I should maybe add just one more disclaimer that I don't know what I'm doing! My writing on the subject of tarot has no relevance! Use at your own risk!

I asked the cards for guidance/support. The Collective Tarot sets the scene for The Code/The Emperor as you navigating a "steam, sweaty bar on queer night. You are feeling good, looking good," when suddenly you "lock eyes with the pretty boi at the bar.. the one with the confident gaze and all the appropriate accoutrements." Eeks! Shut-up tarot... you don't know me! You're suddenly hit with a "wave of insecurity." This card invites us to challenge the way we identify, the way we understand ourselves, the way these self claimed labels support and confine us. Am I someone who can write about tarot? What is my responsibility to communicating this healing process to my community?

I laughed a little and blushed turning away from the lascivious and familiar stare of The Code's boi at the bar and back to my tarot deck. I'm sure they could see my breath quicken and heart rate race from across the room (read my computer screen.) I pulled once more. What was the heart of the matter?

Oppression/The Devil stared back at me. Was I the perpetrator or victim? What are the "discriminatory ideas or preconceived notions.. at play" in this situation. Oppression reminded me of something I'm all too familiar with in my personal life and work-- that it is everywhere. It can question and invalidate everything we do- especially when our experiences are marginalized ones. It's the reason why I've noticed that for myself, and a lot of queer folks, starting statements with "I don't know..." is a common part of our vocabulary. The Collective Tarot with it's always reflective and affirming hand reminded me gently to "Take comfort in the validation of your experience."

**Deep sigh**

... and that my friends is the magic of The Fool's Journey in reading tarot...