The devil card and dead leaves
Plus journal prompts and a tarot spread inspired by autumn gardening
Hello there
The devil and dead leaves
This morning I drew a single card for myself. The devil, which is always an interesting way start to the day to say the least.
I mean I don't feel scared of the devil card. For me the devil usually comes with a feeling of being stuck in old ways of thinking, unable to move forward. It's the moment the old worn out habits seem to come back to the surface and have us believing them again.
As with all my daily cards, I kept the devil in my mind, watching for how the energy would appear for me through my day. I find real life connections the best way to really understand my daily card pull. Do you?
Anyway, it wasn't until I was raking up dead leaves this afternoon that I had a fresh insight into the devil.
As it happens, on my devil card from the Heartwood tarot there are dead leaves, peeling wallpaper and a dead moth on the card. You'll be able to see this in the photo above.
I remember the dead leaves in the card as I rake the leaves.
I rake the leaves into the middle of the garden.This pile of rotting leaves, although withered and fallen from the tree, is still very real, still takes up space on my lawn. Can still provide shelter for animals or mulch for the garden even. Death serves on.
Dead leaves don't just disappear. They hang around. Even as you rake over the grass they cling to the ground. You sweep them onto your borders and they attach themselves to the bristles of your broom.
Just like dead leaves on the rake, in your broom and stuck to the bottom of your wellies old habits can still seem very much alive. Dead things might take time to go but as they rot more and more they become compost for new life.
Journal prompts
Is there a habit you've worked on for a long time that still rears its head when you thought it had gone?
How would your perspective change if you saw the return of the habit as just some of the dead leaves hanging on?
In what ways do old habits provide mulch for you?
3 card spread inspired by dead leaves and the devil
The mulch spread
Take some time out with your cards. If it's getting dark use it as a good reason to light a candle.
Breathe and shuffle taking your top 3 cards to do this spread in a row. Of course the tarot spread is a metaphor here.
Card 1
What ‘leaves’ are hanging on?
Card 2
How can I surrender more to the stragglers?
Card 3
How will I grow if I allow dead leaves to provide mulch.
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And remember to do this with the spirit of connecting with yourself rather than desperately searching for answers. Have fun writing.
If you loved my devil and dead leaves reflection perhaps you'd consider pressing the heart, restacking or chatting with me in the comments. It's always a bit crummy to have to ask but it helps me grow my publication. Thank you
Claire Amritavani Brown
I traveled for the first time without bringing cards in a looong time and I’ve been missing them this week. This makes me miss them even more! Looking forward to the spread when I get back.
Such a great input, and I read it just after a workshop about quantum computers. The idea of a byte that can be 1, 0 but also both, is actually the way we can look at the leaves: not death, or alive, but both, as superposition. And I pick up Temperance, as the first card of the spread you so generous offered. It was like the perfect card for superposition.