Tarot and Motherhood

[baconwaffles]

I should start by saying, I have a 10 month old baby. I was curious to know from others how you manage your time between a baby, for example, which in my case consumes a lot of my time plus I am a stay at home mother, and dedicate time to the tarot. I'm fairly new to learning the tarot and there is a lot of studying and practice involved, how do you accomodate your time? Any tips for this frazzled mom?

 

[Disa]

Congrats on your precious baby. Though I did not read cards when my daughter was that young(I had not discovered them yet), I think it's common to be frazzled no matter what activities you attempt.

Study when the baby is sleeping, at night or naptime-unless you need sleep too- then do that. At least now there is youtube. You could even have some of that playing as you go about your day.

Later, when the baby is older, you can use Tarot together as a sort of play time, story telling thing. You'll be learning and practicing to some degree, and the baby will be getting a story

The main thing is to not get discouraged. Treat the tarot for now as your own private time and engage whenever you have a free moment. Just remember, it can be a slow process to learn for any of us, so just enjoy the journey...and don't miss out on a second of the baby's journey, either

Best of luck to you xoxox

 

[baconwaffles]

Congrats on your precious baby. Though I did not read cards when my daughter was that young(I had not discovered them yet), I think it's common to be frazzled no matter what activities you attempt.

Study when the baby is sleeping, at night or naptime-unless you need sleep too- then do that. At least now there is youtube. You could even have some of that playing as you go about your day.

Later, when the baby is older, you can use Tarot together as a sort of play time, story telling thing. You'll be learning and practicing to some degree, and the baby will be getting a story

The main thing is to not get discouraged. Treat the tarot for now as your own private time and engage whenever you have a free moment. Just remember, it can be a slow process to learn for any of us, so just enjoy the journey...and don't miss out on a second of the baby's journey, either

Best of luck to you xoxox

Thank you, I had not thought of integrating tarot anf story time for the baby when grows up. That is a great idea and one I definitely look forward to using.

And that is true, I need to remember to enjoy the journey, I'm not going to be able know everything instantly. It is a process and a journey. Thank you for your words.

 

[Nemia]

I started my tarot journey before I had children and I must admit, when I had three children under the age of five, I had no time for tarot or much else. And I didn't have interest in many things that had interested me before. After my fourth baby, my interest in the world and tarot returned, and then my tarot journey started in serious (but took another break when I completed my academic education and started an intensive new job). In the last few years, tarot is among the Top Ten of interest in my life, and that's wonderful.

I everybody's biographies, shifts of focus are one of the things that make life so interesting. Don't feel bad if you can't seem to "return" to life as it was before. It won't. Having children is not only time-consuming, it's also a deep emotional change. The overwhelming wish to protect them makes many fresh parents very vulnerable and sensitive to sufferings everywhere. For me, it was as though the colour saturation of my life had become much stronger. That greater sensitivity and care has influenced my relation to tarot, too. All in all, I can say motherhood has enriched my life greatly although it took up much energy, time and everything else.

So it's empowering in the long run. So take a long-headed view. At 10 months, you have a very young baby who's dependent on you for everything he or she needs. In ten years, you'll have much more time and energy to focus on other things, but the emotional intensity of life will stay with you and you will have a young pair of eyes in addition to your own, which is wonderful. And in 15 years, your child will look at you with critical eyes and that will hurt but also enrich you.

One of my daughters especially loved my inner child cards. When she was angry or hurt, I let her play on our bed with the cards and pick those cards that showed most clearly how she felt. Then she could invite me to tell her which cards she had picked and why. This little ritual was very healing for her and very bonding. She remembers it until today and sometimes asks to see the Child of the World card from the Inner Child deck again. That meant for her that everything will be fine again.

She's a teenager now and from time to time, asks for a reading with the Anna K. or Silhouettes or Dreaming Way or some other "gentle" but honest deck. My eldest son asks for Thoth readings (he identifies the Thoth as "Mama's deck" since it was for many years my only and then my main reading deck) when he's at important crossroads in his life.

So enjoy your life as mother and don't worry. You will find time for everything again and find the right balance (right for YOU) between flexibility and structure. Both is important, for your family life and your tarot work, too.

 

[baconwaffles]

I started my tarot journey before I had children and I must admit, when I had three children under the age of five, I had no time for tarot or much else. And I didn't have interest in many things that had interested me before. After my fourth baby, my interest in the world and tarot returned, and then my tarot journey started in serious (but took another break when I completed my academic education and started an intensive new job). In the last few years, tarot is among the Top Ten of interest in my life, and that's wonderful.

I everybody's biographies, shifts of focus are one of the things that make life so interesting. Don't feel bad if you can't seem to "return" to life as it was before. It won't. Having children is not only time-consuming, it's also a deep emotional change. The overwhelming wish to protect them makes many fresh parents very vulnerable and sensitive to sufferings everywhere. For me, it was as though the colour saturation of my life had become much stronger. That greater sensitivity and care has influenced my relation to tarot, too. All in all, I can say motherhood has enriched my life greatly although it took up much energy, time and everything else.

So it's empowering in the long run. So take a long-headed view. At 10 months, you have a very young baby who's dependent on you for everything he or she needs. In ten years, you'll have much more time and energy to focus on other things, but the emotional intensity of life will stay with you and you will have a young pair of eyes in addition to your own, which is wonderful. And in 15 years, your child will look at you with critical eyes and that will hurt but also enrich you.

One of my daughters especially loved my inner child cards. When she was angry or hurt, I let her play on our bed with the cards and pick those cards that showed most clearly how she felt. Then she could invite me to tell her which cards she had picked and why. This little ritual was very healing for her and very bonding. She remembers it until today and sometimes asks to see the Child of the World card from the Inner Child deck again. That meant for her that everything will be fine again.

She's a teenager now and from time to time, asks for a reading with the Anna K. or Silhouettes or Dreaming Way or some other "gentle" but honest deck. My eldest son asks for Thoth readings (he identifies the Thoth as "Mama's deck" since it was for many years my only and then my main reading deck) when he's at important crossroads in his life.

So enjoy your life as mother and don't worry. You will find time for everything again and find the right balance (right for YOU) between flexibility and structure. Both is important, for your family life and your tarot work, too.

It's comforting to hear your journey, as a new mother, I find myself struggling with time management and also my new identity and how that fits with who I am and what all these changes signify. I worry sometimes about my dreams but I wouldn't trade the me now for anything in the world. Thank you for your kind words.