It’s been a while since a tarot pull has so completely challenged and confirmed, both at the same time, invited as I was to pull some cards “for this collective moment.” I was drawn to the Herbcrafter’s Tarot [Joanna Powell Colbert (artwork) and Latisha Guthrie (writing)], probably because of its earth-wisdom amidst what another friend calls Plant Nation. I wanted to have my feet on the ground and listen to the wisdom of plants for this disorienting season.
I gasped aloud when I turned over the first card, feeling into the question “What do I most need to know about this collective post-election moment?” The Sun, St. John’s Wort. A stunning collection of colors–blossoms, ointments, tincture, resting upon what I learn is a Miztec Sun Stone, and ancient symbol of the cyclical nature of time. The card’s interpretations jolt amidst deep grief and rage in my belly: Cultivate happiness, vitality, and joy. Fully experience the sheer gift of being alive. Seek vibrant people and healing experiences that build good energy and boost your power.
Second question: What practices will get me through the coming months and years? Four of Fire/Elder arrived. Besides the richness of the image, which would take paragraphs to really honor, I was struck remembering the structure of this deck. “The Fours ask the herbcrafter to create a threshold and walk through it.” All the plants of the Fours are used as border or hedgerow plants. Shaped and managed to keep what is wanted inside the space and what is not wanted outside the space. Elder provides protection from stormy weather to small creatures and tender plants. YES. The practices in this new phase of my life will be boundaried ones, whatever that may come to mean.
I gasped again when I turned over the third card, toward “What is my path/my part in making a difference?” The Tower/Mushroom. This is a tarot-major with the felt sense of tectonic shift, lightning strike, rupture into unexpected change. In this deck, “Let tragedy nourish the soil of rebirth. … Be liberated by your acceptance of profound change.” The writing reminds: “Sudden change leads to destruction and upheaval.” “Let the current crisis consume the false narratives you have created, and rewrite your story. Now is your chance to play at the game of life anew.” I have felt that in these weeks AND I wonder what it may come to mean as well. Often my strategic sense of it–outwardly focused and a bit ragey–bears little resemblance to the wisdom-walk of surrendering into upheaval, even destruction. But I’m listening.
Curandera of Fire/Damiana is “what I’m not seeing,” pulling this card from the bottom of the deck. I laughed aloud. Elder, sensuous Feminine. Everything about it a luscious invitation to body-wisdom, passion, healed/healing from or within tragedy. Center light and bodacious flowers, tinctures, even wine. Inviting exploration of the world by listening to magic, says the text. “She know a passionate life comes from living what you love; thus she honors her creative cauldron with luxurious ceremony. She says, “Delight in yourself.”
Final question then: What counsel does Spirit have for me in this moment? Ace of Air/Yarrow. A barbed wire fence with the white-blossomed stalks of yarrow says “Don’t fence me in. Discernment is necessary for survival. Know your wounds; identify your medicine.” Then I read “Take a fresh look at an ancient calling from Spirit.” “It is important to positively identify yarrow because lookalikes can be deadly.” “Start with what you already know. Seek vision from your ancestors.”
All in all, I sense a vibrant invitation into Life unleashed–cultivating happiness, vitality and joy. It will require reframed boundaries, protecting relationships and possible future ones rooted in shared reciprocity and relinquishment-surrender-courage to act, or not act yet, sitting in the Silence(s) that may finally find me. Willingness for deeply tectonic change. Remembering my own impassioned Feminine, deep body wisdom(s). So to take a fresh look at Spirit’s calling(s) in my life.
Start with what you already know. Seek vision from your ancestors. St. John’s wort. Elder. Mushroom. Damiana. Yarrow. I am listening…
Kommentare