Parting the Mists

Happy Friday, everyone! Today, we have Ivy to offer us some inspiration, provided we are clear of the muck to be receptive.

Blessings,

Thistle

Ivy (Eidheann)

Prophecy, Connection, Death & Rebirth (also Ambivalence, Tenacity, Support)

The card shows Ivy growing beside a sacred pool. It’s black series will slowly ripen over the winter to provide food for birds, just as its flowers have offered the year’s last source of nectar and pollen for bees. Around the pool, we can see the carvings of a green man, a double spiral, and the Ogham glyph for Gort.

Meaning: Since classical times, Ivy has been associated with prophetic intoxication, sought by the Druids particularly for creativity so that their work is inspired by something greater than their own personalities alone. Selecting this card may mean that such inspiration is coming to you, or that you should seek it. To be receptive, you will need to still your mind, which will mean first resolving any conflict or confusion that is troubling you. The way to feel free and to forget yourself may be in the apparently opposite direction of becoming more aware of yourself and that which limits you. The poet Robert Frost says, “The best way out is always through,” and you may have to plumb the debts of the issues that trouble you before you can find yourself free of them.

Alternatively, the card may be reaffirming or you the belief that life is cyclical and that nothing is truly lost.

On the other side: Ivy flowers later than any other plant – providing bees with nectar and pollen at the very end of the season. Yet, its charms are hidden and many of us see only the dark, destructive side of its character – in its capacity to smother trees, render walls unstable and invade gardens. Each of us has the ability to bee destructive as well as creative, and both powers are necessary in order for life to flourish. This card may indicate that you should look at this ambivalence in your personality and your relationships, to determine whether you need to start behaving differently.

Ivy is an extraordinarily tenacious and vigorous plant. If you are able to channel both these forces within you, in appropriate ways, you will find it easier to pursue your goals and access your innate vitality.

The Druid Plant Oracle by authors Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm and artist Will Worthington