Parting the Mists

I don’t think this card needs much in the way of an introduction. What are you waiting for? Begin whatever it is you want to do NOW. Blessings!

A New Day Dawns

Today is a new day. With the dawn comes an opportunity to begin again or to embrace something new. Create what you wish to create. Become the person who dreams of being. Do not allow your doubts or fears to hold you back for this day is bright with hope and good fortune. Go forth and greet it with a smile upon your lips and joy in your heart.

Messenger Oracle by Ravynne Phelan

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Always a card to help us consider our path and our control over it. What must you do for life to be what you want it to be?

The Wheel

Reading Points: The Wheel has turned; change is at hand. In all nature, there is a time and tide. The cyclic laws of birth, death, and rebirth are ever revolving and, without change, all things stagnate. How you dal with this change is the issue here. Within the tangled and tightly woven fabric of chance, you have the power to make a difference. By your own action you can change your life. You are not a prisoner of fate, but an integral part of it. Remember, this is not a dress rehearsal! Life is what happens to you while you are waiting for it to begin. Whether on the surface the change appears to be for better or worse, welcome it, be at peace with it and take control of your actions within it. All things must pass.

Meaning: The Wheel traditionally represents the cycles of eternal law and evolution that all living creatures are covered by. Change is unavoidable and necessary if the cycles of nature are to remain alive and regenerative. But on the human level, we are the weavers of our own destiny. Consciously or unconsciously, we make the patterns and possibilities that the universe has to offer and, although the seemingly random, chaotic nature of the universe always has the final world, we can affect our own life and that of the world by taking control of our destiny. Many believe that fate is set, that all things are predesigned no matter what we do in this human reality, but the weaver of the cloak can affect this ever-shifting metric of potential just by recognizing the pattern and making timely decisions. We can grasp the web of fate and weave in our own special, personal pattern.

Although the jigsaw puzzle of probability and possibility holds the universe together in a loose web of predictable events, nothing is set in stone. The very act of asking a question creates a whole new set of possible outcomes. But be aware! With this ability to weave our own destiny comes with responsibility. Our actions are not without risk. If things are out of balance with the universe, the Wheel will bring change in order to restore natural harmony to the web of fate.

Wildwood Tarot by authors Mark Ryan and John Matthews and artist Will Worthington

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So we are back from a three-day weekend, and this is a good card as we head into the full strength of summer. I know several folks currently doing good work on self-healing – this is so important for our mental and physical health. Love yourself enough to heal yourself.

The Journey part of the description has some particularly good words on reminding us of our own innate abilities. Blessings!

Medicine Man/Medicine Woman

Meaning: Profound inner and outer healing is occurring. You’re a natural healer. You’re on the mend and/or a situation is being resolved. Have faith that it’s happening. You are a sacred healer; you are a medicine woman/medicine man of the soul.

Native Spirit Wisdom: Every indigenous culture has a tradition of healers. Depending on the culture, they’re called medicine men or women, shamans, tohungas, kahunas, sangomas, curanderos, or root workers, among others. In every tradition, they’re the individuals who are able to step between worlds to gain information, wisdom and healing energies from their spirit allies. When this card chooses you, you’re at the advent of healing emotional, physical, and mental wounds. Additionally, a powerful healing force is activating within you.

The Journey: Nature is one of our greatest healers, so spend time with the trees, soak up the rays of the sun, and dance in the rain. Everything in nature has the intrinsic ability to restore itself. You’re a part of the natural world, so you also have this innate ability. Often healing needs to occur on the inner planes before it can manifest on the outside. To assist this process, focus on what’s great and let go of what isn’t working. Hold a vision of the solution that you desire, be patient, ant trust that recovery is occurring in its own time and way.

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It’s easy to always be looking for something better, whether that a romantic relationship, a job, a friendship, or whatever. Sometimes you have to slow down and explore and invest in what is before you. It might even blossom into something better than anything you could have found elsewhere.

Blessings and have a great weekend, everyone!

Hummingbird Spirit – Be Here Now!

Message: The hummingbird’s wings beat so swiftly it can hover in seeming stillness as it drinks deeply from a flower. Hummingbird Spirit comes to remind you that the beauty and sweetness of life is in the eternal now, the timeless present. Here and now, you are becoming the person you wish to be to have the experiences you wish to have. Focus your energy on the flower before you, for what you desire is being provided.

Yes, there are blossoms everywhere – the choices can be dazzling! Hummingbird Spirit’s message is that you have no need to go about in search of something better, for all that you require and desire is before you. You will know this as you become still, feeling your connection to Spirit who loves you unconditionally and will always provide for you.

Protection Message: Nectar is everywhere, but Hummingbird Spirit is here to remind you that flying from flower to flower and being all over the place wastes precious energy. Be still. Be here, now, in the present moment, enjoying the sweetness and sustenance available to you.

Focus on one flower today – just one. Nectar is there for you, and Hummingbird Spirit’s message is that wherever you put your attention, there your energy flows. Are you focused on the sweetness or on finding something better somewhere else, always yearning and feeling that life is not enough and you are not enough? All you seek is right here, right now. Appreciate the present, and you will see that you are where you need to be and enjoying what you are entitled to enjoy in this timeless and perfect moment.

Spirit Animal Oracle by author Colette Baron-Reid and artists Jena DellaGrotaglia

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Not sure why, but the Halloween oracle has been calling me the last couple days. I resisted it the last two mornings because it just didn’t seem the right time, but I finally just shrugged and went with it. Ancestors are an important spiritual key regardless of the season, and I’m certainly feeling this card (though that could partially because we’ve just had Mother’s Day; always an emotional time for me).

ANCESTORS – The love and legacy of our DNA

I walk in their footsteps
Their wisdom inside me remains
I am unique, yet carry a legacy
Their blood runs in my veins

Whether or not we know our ancestors, we are the product of those who have lived before us, DNA-wise. Externally, we may have the body type of our father, our mother’s eyes, our grandmother’s nose, our great-grandfather’s skin tone.

On the inside, it gets even more interesting. We know now that we can “inherit” the way our body works, blood types, genetic disorders, even propensities for aspects of brain function like introversion, musicality, and mathematics.

Many Pagan paths associated with Halloween believe that we are born perfectly imperfect to be exactly what we are meant to be. What does this mean? It means that the gifts our ancestors left us and the unique synergy of the combination of the physical, mental, and physical that is created within us, sets us up perfectly to achieve our ultimate purpose.

Should the Ancestor card bring itself to your attention, know that you are ready and able to action your birthright of power. You have the support of those who came before you. There may be challenges or struggles but you have everything you need to overcome them. You will prevail!

The Halloween Oracle by author Stacey Demarco and artist Jimmy Manton

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Good morning, everyone! In our area, we’ve had a lot of flooding and minor tornado damage from storm’s last night. To all of you affected, I hope you are all safe.

To everyone else, today’s card is serious but not bad. It’s this deck’s version of the Death card, and as we know, the Death card isn’t literal. Change is coming, but remember to be open to it. Blessings!

The Journey

Reading Points: It is time to face the inevitable to let the bones be laid bare and acknowledge the deepest aspects of your fears and desires. Do not fear change, because this is also a time of purification and realignment. This change may seem extreme and destructive, but old crops must be cleared for new growth to thrive and static or sterile modes and concepts must perish. A celebration of the past or an acknowledgment of the passing of one part of life may be required. Let the threads of the old slip from your fingers with joyful remembrance and enter this time of withdrawal and renewal with patience and calm.

Roots and Branches: the leap in the dark, the funeral of illusion, Wayland Smith, The dance of death, The Washer at the Ford and the Dark Mother, defleshing the corpse, purification by fire.

The Wildwood Tarot by authors Mary Ryan and John Matthews and artist Will Worthington

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This plant is not a familiar one to me, but its themes certainly are. Sometimes we struggle with our roots and ties, and sometimes we rejoice and embrace them. Roots cannot really be changed, but it is within our control how we progress through life and what we embrace and affiliate with. Are you making the right choices for yourself?

Blessings!

Water Arum – Roots & Ties

Keywords: Foundations, Family, Community, Roots, Identity, Home, Belonging

The Water Arum is a kind of lily, and a striking plant. It is native to the cool parts of North America but grows all over the northern hemisphere. It grows wild in marshes and bogs, but some gardeners plant it in water gardens.

Interpretation: Here, Water Arum is tangled up in her own roots, and she looks none too happy about it. If she can extricate herself, it is not clear how. The fish appear sympathetic but they are not in a position to actually help.

The card is about identity. Roots can go very deep, whether they are ethnic or geographical, or both. If our ancestors, going back hundreds of years have all been Londoners, or Irish, we are likely to feel a strong bond with London or Ireland. We may love it or hate it, it may delight or infuriate us, but we are not neutral about it. The place contains our past, not only our present. Unlike plants, we can move about, settle elsewhere, possibly preferring the elsewhere. But the roots are always with us.

Ties are different. We may have ties to a school we attended, or to a particular religious or political group, or to a place where we have enjoyed holidays. Ties involve choices. They can also be broken. Whatever your family background, you can still establish ties that express your passions, your personality, your values. Ties are about being an individual.

Roots and ties often provide strength. But in some cases, such as in Grandville’s picture, they can feel restricting and oppressive. When this happens, as yourself: How can I free myself up? Total freedom is not possible – in any case, it would mean a disconnection from everyone and everything, permanently, and who wants that? Within the limitations, however, we can seek and celebrate freedom.

The Victorian Flower Oracle by Sheila Hamilton and artists J.J. Grandville, Karen Mahony, and Alex Ukolov

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We are heading into the Full Moon this weekend, so this card comes at a time when people often notice the Moon’s affect on them the most. This is the Flower Moon, and will be one of four FMs in this spring season. Some are calling it a seasonal Blue Moon, though I’m not sure why that isn’t being applied instead to next month’s FM. (If you know why, please let me know!) Perhaps this FM is meant to bring in a different energy for us. Consider what she feels like to you as you go through this weekend.

Blessings!

FOLLOW THE MOON

Three quarters of Gaia’s surface is covered in water and the Moon’s pull can lift the Earth’s oceans at the Equator and carry them along in her wake. Two thirds of the human body is also water, therefore you also are subject to her power. As she waxes and wanes, so do you. Take note. Follow the moon cycles and take note of how you think and feel as her light increases and decreases. Take time to explore and understand her influence upon both your body and your emotions.

Messenger Oracle by Ravynne Phelan

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A challenge, eh? The idea of equality and being kind is certainly being challenged for many of us right now, the question is how do we handle it? How do we meet the challenge to effect change to benefit all instead of a few? Same questions apply if your challenge is more personal. Much to consider.

Blessings.

THE GUARDIAN

READING POINTS: A challenge has arrived in your life. The situation may be very complex. It may even have profound implications for your life and how you deal with the world. It may manifest itself in the form of a profound inner realignment or the facing of some physical outer predicament. Whether from the labyrinth that is the human mind or from some external source, the challenge that presents itself now must be seen for what it is: an opportunity. If something has been hidden or repressed, if a situation has been left to decay or become unhealthy, now is the time to take control of your fears and deal with the insecurity with courage and integrity. Always be aware that however threatening or difficult this situation is, you can only become stronger and more resilient from the experience of understanding and accepting inner darkness.

DESCRIPTION: The bleached white skeleton of a great cave bear stands sentinel in the night, guarding the entrance to a cave. The guardian spirit of the bear challenges those who would enter the cave of ancestral memory without understanding the nature of their own darkness. Within the cave’s open maw, filled with jagged and sharp stalactites, is an unknown and untrodden path. Its destination is shrouded in gloom. No inner light burns to show a way through. Before the path may be followed, the Guardian must be faced and mastery of one’s own fears achieved.

MEANING: Over the centuries, there has been much cynical manipulation of the concept of “the Devil” for political, religious, and doctrinal purposes, leading to the demonizing of this complex, pagan nature spirit. Yet the prime role of such archetypes is one of protection and initiation and is the human link to wilderness, nature, and fertility, sometimes manifested as fierceness, ecstasy and sexuality. However, the fear engendered by the warping of this archetype will be with us for a long time to come.

The Guardian stirs irrational fears from the muddy bottom of the human subconscious and fills the timid soul with foreboding. He is charged with an inhuman subconscious and unseen sentience, feeding off of fear and panic with a malevolent joy. But within this sardonic and chaotic energy lie wisdom, courage, and strength. The human survival instinct was geared for fight or flight, yet we have learned to rationalize our darkest fears and deal with unknown dangers with intellectual insight. As we have evolved our understanding of the unknown, we have learned that no diabolical or supernatural force in the universe is as frightening as the human imagination.

If the Guardian is frightening, it is because we are frightened by our own reflection, our own dark shadow, and it this element of ourselves that we must master. Within this process is the stripping away of conditioning and the distilling of absolute essentials within ourselves. Much can be gained by facing our most deeply hidden and suppressed fears, which usually stem from our own deepest instincts and desires. Once this truth has been absorbed and utilized for our own defense, the darkest of places and the most challenging of forest guardians can be looked in the eye without fear.

The Wildwood Tarot by authors Mark Ryan and John Matthews and artist Will Worthington

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OK, we’ve been preparing for two days, and now the Green Man is challenging us to start something. What do you need to start? It’s time to take action.

Blessings!

THE GREEN MAN

READING POINTS: The Green Man is generous in his bestowal of creative, fertile energy and he will move you to a new level of confident and assertive dynamism. This is a time for both giving and receiving the natural flow of life both inwardly and outwardly. Be prepared to find a new and thriving drive to begin projects, relationships, and even new ways of living your life and fulfilling your world. Now is the time to experience being at the apex of the cycle of life. Enjoy it!

DESCRIPTION: The face of the Green Man gazes from this card with a challenging and blazing stare. Golden summer sunlight radiates from the leaves that burst abundantly across his glowing face and reach across the heart of the sacred land. In front of him is the cauldron of thriving and regenerating nature, which is both a preserved and storehouse of the vital energy of creation and stability. It represents the throne of kingship, currently empty, and the Green Man guards it with the spear of power and the horn of plenty, ready for the king who will take his place and stand as defender of the land.

MEANING: The Green Man is a symbol of the flourishing heart of the male aspect of nature. One of the most ancient images of the connection between mankind and nature, his face has looked out from the stones of temples and churches for centuries. Even in the dim and chilly heights of Christian cathedrals, he looks down, often sardonically, on the people far below. Constantly returning in thinly disguised ciphers such as the Green Knight, Jack in the Green, and Robin Hood, his face, disgorging leaves, peers out from the rich, dark, fertile heart of the forest and challenges you to respect and revel in the joys of the natural world. His aspect can be fearsome and frightening as he protects the wild beasts of the forest. They know his voice and his presence well, for he is a much one of them as he is the conscious spirit of the land, and the interaction between nature and beast is constant and intertwined.

The fecund cauldron is under his ever-watchful eye and the joyful exultation of creation and fertility are seen the Cerne Abbas giant, proud both in his manhood and his protective power. He is a giant figure indeed, mature in his power and patient in his resolution.

The Green Man is every vigilant and unerringly stoical in his guardianship of the sacred land. His warning to respect the laws of nature and the beast of the forest area best heeded, as his challenge to those who abuse his generosity can be fierce and severe indeed. Yet his heart is great and his spirit is warm and full of primal joy. His face is not hidden from those who can see through the thickly tangled fronds that encompass and enfold the Earth. His bounty is rich and nutritious and soaked in the golden rays of a fertile summer sun.

The Wildwood Tarot by authors Mark Ryan and John Matthews and artists Will Worthington

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