Parting the Mists

Alright, today’s card seems fitting for a Monday, so I hope you all got some good rest. The Ace of Bows suggests the need to be ready to learn, adapt, and focus. Have a good day!

Ace of Bows: Spark of Life

Against a shimmering background of leaves and beaches, a stout, rough-hewn hunting bow shimmers with the fire of life itself. The tip of an arrow rests on a heap of kindling chaff, and curled bark is bursting into flame as the tip flashes with brilliant incandescent light.

Meaning: As the turning of the cosmic axis generates the spark of life, so the kindling of a flame sparks the necessary light and warmth in our lives. The drill-bow suggests the human element, our partnership with the environment in which we live and the mastery of its gifts. Be prepared to learn new skills, adapt to a changing environment, and focus and tune your instincts to the task at hand.

Reading Points: By shaping, directing, and persevering with the tool that both hunts and nutures fire, we kindle the spark that starts the process of creation and empowerment. This takes skill, effort, commitment, and persistence, but the universe always responds with enlightenment, challenge, and opportunity. This is the nature of the human relationship with creation, and leads to a deeper awareness of the part we must play in the great scheme of things.

Harnessing the energy inherent in the bow, and the skill and endurance needed to loose the hunter’s arrows accurately and efficiently, are as primal and ancient as human existence itself. Every native tribe on Earth developed the bow as a tool and choosing, shaping, and tuning the bow stave and the arrows is a time-consuming and demanding craft that hones our skills and widens our knowledge of all the materials required in the ancient art. This also includes the habits and patterns of nature associated with the prey the hunter seeks and may infuse the archer with a new respect and reverence for the creatures that inhabit the Wildwood.

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

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Now is not the time to hang back – move forward with plans and take productive and creavite ACTION today. The Archer is here to encourage us.

Blessings!

THE ARCHER

READING POINTS: The dawn of a new adventure, folded in the web of universal potential, waits for you to string the bow of your imagination and loose the arrows of creativity. This is the time to be bold and commit to the hunting of new life and a better relationship with the world, as well as the fulfilment of wholesome ambition. Take a moment to gather your tools and steady your state of mind. Take careful stock of what you want to achieve, why, and how you will go about it. Then harness your potential by filling your quiver with all the talents, knowledge, and cunning you possess and string the bow of burning gold” with the “arrows of desire.” Take a deep breath and be calm. I tis time to let your soul take flight.

MEANING: The bow’s importance for most of early mankind, both as a tool for survival and for defense, cannot be underestimated. It is for this reason, perhaps, that it has also become a spiritual symbol, and the drawing and releasing of an arrow is sometimes seen as a ritualistic practice in its own right. For many, the bow is a powerful link to our past, and the patience required to master it connects the Archer with ancient life-or-death experience.

The Celts placed written spells on their arrows and Sioux Indian “medicine” arrows were painted with geometric designs and held special ritual significance, so that from early times the use of the bow took on a role in the harnessing and transmission of the will. Stringing the bow gives the wood a potential for the release of energy, drawing the bow controls and harnesses that energy, and releasing the arrow with intent finally sends the archer’s will through the air to its target.

Just as spells and curses were loosed through the air by hunters and shamans, so we must ourselves tune in to this ancient process and become archers with quivers full of ideas and desires, capable of forming and focusing our aim in the steady drawing of our will and then loosing our creative and intellectual drive in a controlled and effective way.

The key to a smooth and accurate release of the arrow is a steady and relaxed state, both physically and mentally. As hunters in the forest, we need patience and cunning, as well as an intimate knowledge of the Wildwood, to move with stealth toward the quarry. Then, with a cool and deliberate aim, the arrow must be released, itself containing something of our will and of our spirit on its flight toward its goal.

DESCRIPTION: The Archer holds the broad longbow poised in the act of release. The bow is of the Meare Hearth design, the fletchings are of good feather, taken from the right wing, and the arrowhead is flint. The Archer’s gaze is focused and steady as she looks beyond the arrow into the sky, holding the tension between the bow and the sinew bowstring with controlled and relaxed intent. She wears a simple amulet and appears serene and confident yet full of purpose. By her side wait two great hunting dogs, messengers of the power she holds within herself.

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

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This card looks harsh, but it is saying not to fear nature and change – sometimes we must be stripped bare before a transformation can occur. Sometimes we must lose almost everything before we can rebuild things the way that will work best for us. Do not run away from this challenge – it will make you better and stronger.

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 Mark Ryan and John Matthews and artists Will Worthington

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Is it time to acknowledge past missteps or perhaps that you’ve just grown past a thing? It can be hard to face these things, but there is new opportunity and joys just beyond that.

Have a great Monday!

EIGHT OF VESSELS – REBIRTH

MEANING: By looking at the past, acknowledging our mistakes and learning from them, we grow and attain new wisdom. The future waits to be unfolded by our positive action as we become “The Eighth Vessel” and receive powerful rejuvenating energies of rebirth.

DESCRIPTION: From the middle of a fast-flowing stream, we see an ancient cauldron hanging form a great chain. In the trees above it are three smaller cauldrons. Water and energy flow from them, filling the great cauldron, which in turn overflows and fills four more, which sit on the rocks below and overflow into the stream.

READING POINTS: Rejoice! A time of renewal and potential is here. The cycle of rebirth and healing brings inner peace and confidence. Once you accept that all the blessings and gifts of life can be yours or, indeed, already belong to you, the fear of asking is gone. It is time to shed the skin of the past and accept and utilize the overflowing potential of the present that is freely available to you. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Do not be afraid to ask, “Why not me?” See potential where others only see barriers. See challenge as others see impossible odds. Apply all that you have learned through experience and toil to any problem and you will not fail. You have striven to survive and absorb insight; you have endured loss to retain your integrity. All of these trials have made you stronger, wiser, and more effective. Drink of this new fountain of opportunity and renew your life objectives. You have endured the past ¬– its gifts were hard won; now the challenge of the future unfolds. Grasp it and shape it in your hands as you would have it manifest in your life.

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

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