Blooming Wand

New Moon Tarot Curated Insights: On the Power of Dreams

• Emily O'Neal • Season 2 • Episode 24

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Unlock the secrets of your subconscious and embrace the wisdom of tarot in our latest Blooming Wand Podcast episode. Imagine finding balance between giving and receiving through the guidance of tarot cards like the Six of Pentacles, King of Wands, and Nine of Swords. Join me, Emily O'Neal, as we navigate the complexities of external confidence versus internal anxieties, sharing an empowering affirmation: "I am strong and capable. I honor my feelings and approach them with compassion. I deserve peace and self-care."

Dive into the art of dream journaling, where we explore how to effectively document and interpret your dreams for deeper self-awareness. I share my personal journey with dream journaling, addressing fears of privacy and judgment while walking you through practical steps to capture the narrative, emotions, and symbols of your nocturnal adventures. Discover how your feelings within and upon waking from dreams can offer profound insights into your subconscious mind, often surpassing the symbolism itself.

Gain a fresh perspective on the diverse theories of dreaming, from ancient cultural beliefs to modern scientific studies, and how they can enrich your understanding of the dream world. Learn how to utilize tarot as a spiritual tool to nurture balance and self-care during the new moon cycle, while also receiving an invitation to explore personalized one-on-one mentoring for more tailored guidance on your journey. Embrace the adventure of self-discovery and spiritual growth, empowering yourself to nurture and honor your feelings with compassion and care.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Blooming Wand Podcast. I'm Emily O'Neill, evidential, psychic Medium, intuitive Healer and Coach. Here on this podcast, I guide you on a journey of self-reflection using the wisdom of the tarot. As the moon waxes and wanes, so do our own inner tides, and as a way to honor moon cycles and life cycles, on each full and new moon, I pull three cards which inspire an intention and affirmation to illuminate your path. Think of them as themes to guide you as you move through coming days. So grab your journals, light a candle and settle into the present moment. Let's delve into the enchanting archetypes of the tarot, uncovering the magic and messages they hold for all of us. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in. So new moon greetings. Friends. I've pulled our cards for this moon cycle and I've got some tarot curated insights to share this moon cycle. I used the Light Seers tarot deck and we pulled the Six of Pentacles, the King of Wands and the Nine of Swords. So let's dive in. Don't forget that you can get new and full moon tarot curated insights sent right to your email inbox by signing up for my newsletter at bloomingwandcom. You can also like and subscribe to this podcast, as well as the YouTube channel. I love to hear from you about what your thoughts are on the Tarot Curated Insights. So do leave a comment, share how you're feeling, what's going on with you, all that good stuff. And if you are new and you didn't see the cards and you want to don't forget, you can find them at bloomingwandcom. Just click, explore, go to the blog and you'll always find pictures of the cards there.

Speaker 1:

Now, this moon cycle, we've got some kind of deeper things to talk about, and this theme is really about how sometimes we appear to have it all together on the outside, but inside we're really struggling, and I noticed that when this happens to me, I don't sleep well and I often have dreams where I feel completely out of control or riddled with stress and anxiety, and I think a lot of us feel like we've got to keep it together for others because we're afraid what might happen if we fall apart or share our inner struggles. I know that if I'm having anxiety, I'll have this dream where I'm back at school, like junior high or high school, and I need to get into my locker to get my homework and I can't get into my locker and then I'm like panicking because I can't get my stuff. And then there's this part of me that's like you finished school, you don't need to worry about that, and I just I have that dream. And when I have it I know I'm like, oh, I need to check in because I'm starting to have anxiety. And this idea of like I don't know, keeping it together on the outside when inside we might be feeling stressed or worried, is really common. I know again for myself that sometimes I don't share everything with people because I feel like I'll be a burden to them or just a constant Debbie Downer or something. But I know that that's not true, but it is definitely how I feel and sometimes I'll act like I'm okay when I'm really not, and I'm wondering how many of you can relate to that. So here's our intention for this moon cycle. It's to cultivate a balance between giving and receiving and to address inner anxieties with compassion and understanding through dream journaling. And I can't wait to dive into dream journaling with you in a few minutes. Here's your affirmation I am strong and capable. I honor my feelings and approach them with compassion. I deserve peace and self-care, and you sure do.

Speaker 1:

Now, the six of pentacles. When I look at this card, you see two hands, one from above and one from below, and they're these circles or pentacles kind of flowing from one hand to another and there's also a faint symbol of the infinity sign in the background or it's kind of both in the foreground and the background. So you get this sense of giving and receiving an exchange of energy right. And when I look at the King of Wands, particularly in this Lightseer's tarot deck, it's a very confident, masculine figure who's got his wand. It has a little crown on the top of it. There is a lion in the background and I mean lion to me always means confidence, right, this bold energy. And I'd be curious to know you know kind of what you see when you look at this card, but I mean it screams to me I'm capable of doing the things that I want to do.

Speaker 1:

When I look at the nine of swords, I see something very different. It's not confident. I see somebody on their knees crying. There's a pillow next to them and there are the faint lines of a bed in the background. So you get this sense of disturbed sleep, sleepless nights, being riddled with anxiety. There are crows floating above, at the top of the card, which to me indicates maybe racing thoughts or things you know, kind of pecking at you from what feels like from the outside.

Speaker 1:

Now, the Six of Pentacles suggests a balance of give and take, reminding us to be generous not just with others but with ourselves. And the King of Wands embodies outward confidence and leadership. Yet the strong exterior might be hiding inner turmoil, as seen with the Nine of Swords, which this card points to anxiety and worry, as I've said before, often manifesting in disturbed sleep and very vivid dreams. Now, for those who are hypervigilant, which is basically you're always on alert and sensitive to the potential of threat, so worries, you're worried about stuff and anticipating that said, things that you're worried about may happen and then you prepare for them. So this spread highlights the struggle of maintaining an outward appearance of control while grappling with inner anxiety. And this really came to me when I compared the King of Wands and the Nine of Swords together. I mean you can really see they contrast each other quite a bit when you look at these cards.

Speaker 1:

So this new moon will become an opportunity for us to address these worried parts of ourselves with compassion instead of just pushing through. So we want to take time to understand and soothe our anxieties, creating a more harmonious balance between your external confidence and your internal peace. So you can think of this six of pentacles energy being with us this moon cycle to help us find that balance of internal peace and external confidence. Now, the message of these cards is clear it's vital to not only acknowledge but also nurture the anxious parts of yourself, and this journey involves recognizing the strength in vulnerability. That there is strength in vulnerability and the power of self-care is really in how we can achieve balance. So taking care of ourselves in the ways that only we can and sometimes taking care of ourselves does mean reaching out to other people so we can talk to them or have someone to talk to about the things that are bothering us or that we're worried about. And if you just need somebody to listen and not respond, react or try to fix, just let them know. I really just need a friend to listen.

Speaker 1:

Now, together, these cards may suggest a journey where there's a balancing of generosity with leadership responsibility. So whenever I see the King of Wands, I do tend to think of a leader, and with the Six of Pentacles, it could imply that you want to be a generous leader, but you're also facing and overcoming personal anxiety. So those of us who've held leadership positions or feel that we are leaders in certain circles or areas of our lives. I think we can understand that we want to be giving to our communities and to the people that we're working with. But sometimes it's hard because we're having a hard time, and so I wanted to kind of throw that idea into this moon cycles theme as well, and I kind of see this as a prompt to act with confidence and to share your resources wisely, but not let your fears hold you back. So just there's another little way we can look at this tarot, these tarot cards together. Let's dive into each archetype and break them down, and then we'll move more towards dream journaling and thinking about dreams.

Speaker 1:

So, with the six of pentacles, this card often signifies generosity, giving and receiving. It suggests a balance of give and take in your life. You might be able to share your resources or you might find yourself on the receiving end of somebody's generosity, and it's a reminder of the importance of charity and kindness. And the King of Wands is a card that represents a charismatic and dynamic leader. It signifies vision, boldness and taking charge with passion and confidence. It encourages us to harness our inner fire and take decisive action towards our goals Now.

Speaker 1:

The Knight of Swords. This card commonly reflects anxiety, worry and sleepless nights. It can indicate mental anguish and the weight of personal fears. It's a call to confront and address your worries instead of letting them consume you. One way you might do this is by, like I said, starting a dream journal, because this really is the card of disturbed sleep. So paying attention to our dreams can be a powerful tool for self-care and exploration. Dreams can help us understand the fears and anxieties that lurk in our subconscious and impact our waking life in profound ways. By journaling our dreams, we can gain insights into our subconscious mind, uncover hidden emotions and identify patterns that may be influencing our waking life. Dreams are so interesting because they often serve as a mirror reflecting our innermost thoughts, emotions and experiences. While we sleep, our subconscious mind processes and replays the events of our waking life, and sometimes does this in symbolic and abstract, abstract ways. Now, reflecting on our dreams can reveal our hidden fears, desires and unresolved conflicts, offering insights into our true emotional state, which is really the crux of this.

Speaker 1:

Moon cycle's theme is like I look okay on the outside, or maybe when I'm going through my day, I feel fine, but then I go to sleep and I'm having all these anxious dreams or my sleep is disturbed. So that's kind of the key, right. So by examining our dreams, we can understand the underlying issues that are affecting us in our daily lives and then gain clarity and awareness that could elude us when we are awake. So back to what I said a couple of minutes ago, I know that when I start having anxiety dreams but like I feel fine during the day, it's like, hmm, what's that about? If I'm fine during the day but at night I'm having all of these anxious dreams, then maybe I do have some anxieties that need some attention. So it's just, I just think that that's really interesting. It's like I think that that's probably the number one way I realize that I'm having anxiety, now that I'm talking to you guys and reflecting on that. And I do think that dreams act as a bridge between our conscious and unconscious minds and it helps us to get I don't know more self-awareness and personal growth when we pay closer attention to them.

Speaker 1:

And I did a little bit of digging around and studies have shown that dream journaling can help reduce stress, improve mood and enhance creativity. And I did a little bit of digging around and studies have shown that dream journaling can help reduce stress, improve mood and enhance creativity. And I want to know have you ever thought of keeping a dream journal? And if you did, how'd it go? Do share, I'd love to hear from you.

Speaker 1:

I've talked to some people about dream journaling and some people are like, oh my gosh, I don't want to write any of my dreams down because I'm afraid that someone will come and read my journal and there'll be all this weird stuff in it. And I'm like, yeah, me too. I have some really weird dreams, and when I write them down and I kind of laugh sometimes I'm like, gosh, if somebody ever saw this, they'd think I was out of my mind. But I don't know. My fear of somebody reading it does not exceed my desire to understand myself, and so I just have gotten over that worry. But I understand people that are still kind of struggling with it. Dream journaling it's something I do sometimes. There is some consistency there, but I wouldn't say that I'm great about documenting every dream that I have, but when they're particularly intense, I will say that I'm pretty good about being like I better go write that down. So let's talk about dream journaling and how we can go about doing it, and I'll give you a little outline of the way that I've been doing it and we'll see how it goes for you if you want to try it.

Speaker 1:

So dream journaling, as we've established, can be a powerful tool for self-reflection and understanding your subconscious mind. So here's a guide to help you document your dreams effectively. The first thing you kind of want to do is keep your journal really close so that when you wake up, if you really want to write something down, you can. You can keep your dream journal and a pen by your bedside and this way you can quickly jot down your dreams as soon as you wake up. Some people like to use voice memos on their phone, to immediately just hit on the voice memo, talk about what their dream was, so they can return to it and journal with it at a later time. I think that's a great idea. You can also just hit the video recording and record yourself talking about your dream using your photo or video app and then return to it and journal it at a later time. But I do feel like documenting as quickly as possible is super duper helpful, because I'm sure you've experienced this you dream and it's really vivid, right, when you wake up and then you forget it. There's been so many like pretty cool dreams that I didn't jot down and then I went to go do it at a later time and I'm like I forgot my dream dream. So they do slip away pretty quickly after we wake, much of the time not all the time, but much of the time. So the second thing I want to say is start each entry by noting the date, because this can be really helpful down the line. It helps you track your dreams over time and notice patterns if you document the date. So if you're using your phone to create a video, I'm wondering if it will automatically give you a date and time on that, which would be great, super easy, right. But do make sure you note the date and the time and capture, like I said earlier, this other third thing I want to mention.

Speaker 1:

Step three, I guess, is capture your dream immediately. So, upon waking, try to recall your dream and write down everything you remember. Include as many details as possible, even if they seem insignificant. I like to describe the scenes, the people, the objects, the events and how the dream made me feel. And that brings me to sort of step four, which events and how the dream made me feel. And that brings me to sort of step four, which is document feelings during the dream. So, as you're kind of processing your dream and writing it out, pay attention to and note the emotions you felt within the dream. Were you scared or happy, confused or calm? And again, you want to know all of your sensations. So if you experienced any physical sensations in the dream, like feeling warm, heavy or light, document those as well. Now you're also going to want to detail the dream narrative. So write out the sequence of events in your dream as clearly as possible and focus on the beginning, the key actions and how the dream ended. So beginning, middle and end.

Speaker 1:

The seventh step is post dream reflection. So, after you've written down the dream, take a moment to reflect on how you feel upon waking. So there's how you felt in the dream and then there's how you felt after waking up. Are you feeling anxious, relieved or puzzled? Note these emotions in your journal, because it's my personal opinion that how dreams, how we feel in the dream, and then how we feel when we wake up from the dream, are really the keys to the meaning of the dream. I know people really like to dive into the symbol, symbolism, and then look up. You know what does a snake mean, or what does a tree mean or what does a raven mean, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But just from my dream journaling practice, it's not been so much the symbolism that clued me into what was going on in my subconscious as much as how I felt.

Speaker 1:

But step eight is identifying symbols and themes. So identify any reoccurring symbols, themes or motifs in the dream and write about why they might be significant to you. Another thing to think about is personal associations. Consider what aspects of your waking life might be connected to the dream. Are there any recent events, thoughts or stresses that could have influenced this dream? And here's the thing that I think probably helped me the most was title your dream. Give your dream a title or a few keywords that capture its essence, and this can make it easier to refer to that specific dream later. Also, if you find yourself titling dreams similarly, it can help you identify a pattern, and that's sort of.

Speaker 1:

The final step is analyzing patterns. So over time, read through your dream journal entries and look for patterns or reoccurring themes, because this can provide deeper insights into your subconscious mind and your emotional state. So you're going to do these steps. You're gonna wake up, grab your dream journal, write the date and time down. You're gonna give your dream description. What's gonna document your feelings during the dream, your sensations during the dream? You're going to consider symbols and themes. You're gonna do your post a dream reflection, so how you feel after waking up from the dream. If there are any personal associations with any of the themes, symbols or feelings like is how is your waking life influencing this? And then giving your dream a title? And, to be honest with you, when you wake up first thing in the morning, are you gonna think about all of this stuff? Probably not. If you can just, at minimum, grab your journal, put the date down and start documenting the dream, that's good enough. You can go at minimum, grab your journal, put the date down and start documenting the dream, that's good enough. You can go back to these other steps at a later time, but the first thing is really just get the dream down and get in a practice of doing that, and then you can go back and do some of these other things. Now I will say that by consistently following this process, you'll develop a richer understanding of your dreams and how they relate to your everyday life. It just happens naturally. This is why I know, when I have a locker dream that I'm back in school and can't get into my locker, that anxiety is starting to brew within me, usually around performance, doing things in a timely fashion, having control things like that. So I've learned that what that dream is indicating about what's going on within me. And there are other dreams, other than the locker dream, that I know are going to signal some certain things that are going on with me that I need to tend to Now.

Speaker 1:

I wanted to. You know I was thinking about dreams and how different cultures have thought about dreams, and so I did a little digging. And dreams have fascinated humans forever, and various cultures and traditions have developed a diverse belief system around their purpose. So everybody believes that dreams are important for the most part, although I'm going to talk about a few schools of thought that don't think of them that way. But one of the things I wanted to talk about were in ancient civilizations like Egypt. So ancient Egyptians viewed dreams as messages from the gods and a means to access divine wisdom, and they practiced dream interpretation and had dedicated priests that were deciphering dreams, and I thought that that was pretty cool. Now, from a Greek and Roman perspective and we're talking about ancient Greek and Rome here dreams were seen as prophecies and omens. Figures like Aristotle and Hippocrates viewed dreams as reflections of the dreamer's physical and mental state. So even way back during the ancient Egyptian, the ancient Greek and Roman times, dreams were something that people were pondering and thinking about.

Speaker 1:

Now the other thing that I thought about was in religious and spiritual perspectives, and immediately I thought about I'm not super familiar with everything in the Bible, but I do remember being a kid and we had a book of I think it was children's Bible stories, and I thought I remember hearing about somebody having dreams, and so in terms of Christianity, dreams are sometimes seen as a divine revelations or messages from God, and I remember who had the dream. It was Joseph's dreams in the book of Genesis that were. They were kind of prophetic dreams, and I know that there are other instances in the Bible where dreams are significant. In Hindu beliefs, dreams are considered an interplay of the subconscious mind and can provide insight into one's desires and spiritual state. So this is an idea that I'm more familiar with. For whatever reason. I'd be curious to know which ones are familiar to you.

Speaker 1:

And then, in Islam, dreams are believed to be messages from Allah, while others might be influenced by personal thoughts or even from external spiritual entities. So this is one that I'm less familiar with, but I just wanted to kind of point out that there are sort of these beliefs from ancient civilizations, but also these religious and spiritual perspectives, and you know, then we kind of come into the psychological theories which Sigmund Freud viewed dreams as a window to the unconscious mind, which is basically what I've been talking about on this podcast, revealing hidden desires, anxieties and unresolved conflicts. Carl Jung believed that dreams were a means of communication from the collective unconscious, containing archetypes and symbols that provide insights into the individual's psyche. And this idea of the collective unconscious is really interesting to me, that we're all tapped into this collective consciousness or unconscious, where there are themes, and I think there's something to that.

Speaker 1:

There are other contemporary views in modern psychology that see dreams as a way for the brain to process emotions, experiences and memories, aiding in problem solving and emotional regulation. Now I wanted to think about indigenous and other cultural beliefs, and I know that some Native American tribes consider dreams to be spiritual experiences that connect the dreamer to their ancestors in the natural world. I find that very appealing. Aboriginal Australians aboriginal Australians so aboriginal Australian cultures saw dreams as a part of the dream time. They actually call it dream time, which is a spiritual where the past, the present and the future converge and where ancestral beings continue to live. So there's this idea of the dream time and I just that's also a really appealing belief to me, because I have felt sometimes like dreams are where the past, the present and the future converge. I don't know why I felt that way, but I have. I wonder if you have too.

Speaker 1:

Now there are scientific theories about dreams, so memory consolidation is one of those, which is that some neuroscientists believe that dreams play a role in memory consolidation, helping the brain organize and store information. Another scientific theory is emotional regulation, so other scientists have theorized that dreams help process and regulate emotions, contributing to mental health and well-being. Cognitive problem solving is another scientific theory, which is one that suggests dreams aid in cognitive functions like problem solving, by allowing the brain to work through challenges in a creative way, and I find this very interesting. And then I started you know I was digging around thinking about all these ideas, scientific theories on dreams, and I thought, you know, I remember learning about this in a psychology class that I took while I was in college and I remembered like four or five dream theories that they taught us. And so I did a little Google search and it's true, there really are five prominent dream theories.

Speaker 1:

Which is the wish fulfillment theory, which is associated with Freud, which says that dreams represent unconscious desires and repressed wishes, while acting as a form of wish fulfillment, and I mean I think that he explores this in his book the Interpretation of Dreams, and as soon as I heard this about dreams being wish fulfillment, I was like, well, all my anxiety, dreams don't feel very wish fulfillment to me, like fulfilling of any kind of wish to me at all, and I've had dreams where, like, bad things happen to me, and so I'm like I don't know about this wish fulfillment thing. I mean it seems too one dimensional to me, but if you're interested in this theory, I would say go read a book about it and see what you, what you think. There's also the activation synthesis theory, which is that dreams are the brain's attempt to make sense of random neural activity during REM sleep, resulting in seemingly illogical dream content, and this was proposed by Harvard psychiatrist J Allen Hobson and Robert McCarley in the 70s I think it was around 1977. I don't know. I mean, I don't really feel like my dreams are totally illogical, but that's a good idea and definitely one that I would, you know, take into consideration.

Speaker 1:

Now there's another theory called the information processing theory, which is that dreams function to process and consolidate memories from the day, helping with memory retention, and this was developed by various cognitive psychologists with significant contributions from researchers like Donald Hebb in the 1940s and 50s. So you can see that some of these ideas they're old and maybe they don't ring so true anymore, but I would imagine that studying dreams or trying to find a scientific way to understand them would be really hard. I mean, I don't know how people would do that. I guess you'd have to be smarter than me to be able to figure that out. There's also the physiological function theory, which is that dreaming serves to maintain neural pathways and keep the brain active during sleep, and I guess this emerged from neuroscience research, with contributions from multiple researchers studying the brain function during sleep. So there's a theory for you there too.

Speaker 1:

And then the last one that I remember hearing about when I was in school way back in the day, was the threat simulation theory, which is that dreams act as a practice ground for dealing with potential threats, allowing the brain to simulate dangerous scenarios potential threats, allowing the brain to simulate dangerous scenarios and I believe that this was developed by Finnish cognitive neuroscientists, antti Revonsuo, r-e-v-o-n-s-u-o in the late 1900s and specifically proposed in a 2015 paper year 2000 paper on evolutionary psychology. So very interesting stuff. And I feel like each theory represents a different perspective on the purpose and mechanisms of dreaming and it reflects the evolving scientific understanding of brain function, memory and psychological processes. So I feel like all of these beliefs, from ancient civilization down to psychological perspectives, highlight the multifaceted nature of dreams and their perceived purposes, reflecting cultural, religious, psychological and scientific perspectives.

Speaker 1:

Right, there's so many ways to think about dreams and I think it's fun to begin to have a practice within our own self-care and spiritual practices to take care of our dreams, to tend our dreams, to pay attention to them, to write them down, and I'd be curious which of the perspectives that I've just outlined resonate with your own beliefs and experiences. But at minimum, really, this moon cycle is all about understanding that sometimes we act like we're fine and we do maybe seem fine in our waking life, but we go to sleep and then all of a sudden we're having these weird, crazy, stressful dreams and we're thinking like, why is that? And my proposal to you is to begin to bring balance to like waking life and dreaming life, if there's a contrast between the two, that maybe dream journaling would be a beneficial practice, and I feel like it's been beneficial to me and I think that just especially this idea from Aboriginal Australians that talks about the dream time, which is this sacred spiritual space where all things can meet and be seen and interact, is extremely fascinating to me. Seen and interact is extremely fascinating to me and, like I said, let me know which ones are fascinating to you, because I think this is just a fun and interesting topic and you can always, obviously, leave comments on my YouTube channel If you want to share your insights and you're not getting the newsletter, because if you are, you can just respond to the newsletter and let me know how it's going. You can share your thoughts with to me at emily at bloomingwancom, or you can go to bloomingwancom, click explore, go to the podcast page and I have a form you can fill out to share, like what your thoughts and feedback are about some of the topics that we cover, and I really do invite you to share. I love to hear from all of you and I want this to be an engaging and fun experience to explore these tarot curated insights together.

Speaker 1:

It never ceases to amaze me that every full new moon I pull three cards and I'm able to come up with a theme that really helps me learn and grow it just from looking at some tarot archetypes.

Speaker 1:

So it's just a reminder that tarot is a spiritual practice, if you want it to be and it doesn't have to be all about fate and fortune telling, but if that's how you like to use it, great, that's fine too. But let's loop back one more time to our intention and affirmation for this new moon. Here's our intention To cultivate a balance between giving and receiving and to address inner anxieties with compassion and understanding through dream journaling. Here's your affirmation I am strong and capable. I honor my feelings and approach them with compassion. I deserve peace and self-care. So get those journals out, take good care of yourselves and I'll see you on the full moon. And don't forget that if you're interested in one-on-one mentoring opportunities with me reach out. I've got a couple of options for you to explore and we can really tailor the experience to meet your needs. So thanks for listening. I'll see you guys in two weeks.