#nbntc

Saturday November 10th – Childhood

Shuffle your deck and find the Six of Cups. The card to the left is what baggage you still need to unpack and the one on the right is how to heal it; this is in relation to gender.

My cards:

Left- Temperance: Moderation, Hope, Reconciliation

Right- The Moon (Reversed): A failure of nerve

Interpretation:

*Yes this is late, and we’re no longer in November, but I wanted to finish what I started. Shoutout to @hillbillyoracle for creating this challenge!

Friday November 30th – Affirmation

Shuffle your deck. Draw 3 cards. Turn each one into a positive affirmation (a positive “I AM…” statement) to use going forward.

My Cards:

Nine of Wands: Resourcefulness

Five of Swords (Reversed): Exposure

The Lovers: Growth, Maturity

Interpretation:

The nine is fairly direct as an affirmative statement. The (reversed) five carries the meaning of owning up to one’s mistakes. So for that statement, I wanted to express not just personal visibility, but doing away with illusions about my own flaws and errors. The Lovers, despite their stereotypes and appearance, have very little to do with romantic love (that’s what a lot of the Cups are for). Rather, they are about making decisions based on experience and foresight, taking a leap of faith into progress, and a person becoming independent. So, with that in mind, my statements are:

I am resourceful.

I am honest.

I am growing.

*Yes this is late, and we’re no longer in November, but I wanted to finish what I started.

Thursday November 29th – Future

Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Star. The cards on either side speak to how to take what you’ve discovered during this challenge and apply it going forward.

My Cards:

Six of Swords: Peace Restored

The Chariot: Journey, Determination

Popout while shuffling- The High Priestess: Wisdom, Intuition

Interpretation:

Week 5 – Spirituality and Self Care

Monday November 26th – Gender and Spirituality

Shuffle your deck. Draw a card for each of the following questions: How does my gender positively influence my approach to spirituality? How does my gender negatively influence my approach to spirituality? How does my spirituality influence my approach to gender?

four of swords (r) . ten of wands (r) - ace of wands

Tuesday November 27th – Tradition

Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Hierophant. The cards to either side speak to how older ideas about religion are influencing your gender.

nine of wands (r) - the hierophant (r) - king of cups (r)

Wednesday November 28th – Spiritual Healing

Shuffle your deck. Draw three cards. These cards speak to how you can begin to heal what was brought up in yesterday’s spread.

seven of pentacles (r) - king of pentacles - six of pentacles

Thursday November 29th – Future

Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Star. The cards on either side speak to how to take what you’ve discovered during this challenge and apply it going forward.

seven of cups (r) - the star (r) - five of wands

Friday November 30th – Affirmation

Shuffle your deck. Draw 3 cards. Turn each one into a positive affirmation (a positive “I AM…” statement) to use going forward.

Week 4 – Solidarity

Monday November 19th – Celebrate

Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Three of Cups. The card on the left speaks to how to celebrate yourself. The card on the right speaks to how to celebrate your community.

three of pentacles (r) - three of cups - two of wands (r)

Tuesday November 20th – Heal

Shuffle your deck. Draw one card for each of the following questions: What needs healed in my community? How can I help heal it? What should my next step be?

five of pentacles - page of pentacles (r) - seven of cups

Wednesday November 21st – Strengths

Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Strength card. The cards on either side speak to how you strengthen your community.

the chariot (r) - strenght - page of wands

Thursday November 22nd – Gratitude

Shuffle your deck and draw three cards. These cards represent what your community gives you.

four of cups (r) - nine of cups (r) - king of swords

Friday November 23nd – Give

Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Six of Pentacles. The card on the left is what you can give back to your community. The card on the right is how to begin to give it.

the devil - six of pentacles (r) - the moon

Saturday November 24th – Bracing for Change

Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Wheel of Fortune. The card on the left represents the challenges your community will soon face. The card on the right is how to help your community prepare for it.

the moon - wheel of fortune - the star

Sunday November 25th – Free Read

Shuffle your deck and draw as many cards as you feel lead to. Reflect on the cards in light of what came up in the challenge readings for you this week.

Wednesday November 28th – Spiritual Healing

Shuffle your deck. Draw three cards. These cards speak to how you can begin to heal what was brought up in yesterday’s spread.

My Cards:

Seven of Cups (Reversed): Illusion

Ace of Cups (Reversed): Stagnation

Knight of Swords: A Battle

Popout while shuffling- Ace of Pentacles: Material Success

Interpretation:

Tuesday November 27th – Tradition

Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Hierophant. The cards to either side speak to how older ideas about religion are influencing your gender.

My Cards:

Two of Wands (Reversed): Inequality

The Hermit: Withdrawal, Inner Knowledge

Interpretation:

Monday November 26th – Gender and Spirituality

Shuffle your deck. Draw a card for each of the following questions: How does my gender positively influence my approach to spirituality? How does my gender negatively influence my approach to spirituality? How does my spirituality influence my approach to gender?

My Cards:

The Chariot: Journey, Determination, Self-Control

The Tower (Reversed): An avoidable disaster

Death: Change, Endings, Resolution

Interpretation:

For context, I currently identify as a Romuva (Lithuanian) pagan. But I was raised as a Catholic, went through an exploratory period, and still struggle to find an actual Romuva community to engage with outside of reading books and articles.