Five of Stones – The Wildwood Tarot*

Special Insight

I’ve tried pulling cards for us over the past week or so, hoping to receive some special insight or a shift in perspective, but none of my usual ‘go-to’ decks felt right. Just as I mentioned last night, my unsettled feeling extended even to this part of my life. It felt weird to pick up one of my trusted advisors, settle my feet on the ground, close my eyes and ask for guidance – only to have the deck feel off. It’s hard to describe, other than to say it felt like I was getting a, “No,” either “Not today,” or “Not me.” (Meaning the deck was saying, “Don’t work with me tonight! Pick from another deck!”)

Maybe that seems odd, but over the years I’ve actually come to rely on those ‘weird’ feelings I get. Not only do I rely on them – I trust them. And amazingly, I can get a sense from all sorts of things: plants, animals, people, situations, so-called inanimate objects. You name it. As I sit here thinking about it, I suppose sometimes it’s actually difficult to isolate precisely what it is that’s ‘speaking’ to me (in a sense). Perhaps it’s simply my own spidey-sense.

Whatever it is, intuition or communication, I’ve come to trust it.

Forgotten Friend

I was thus filled with a sense of relief and, well, delight when I noticed the forest green velveteen pouch with the subtly embossed Celtic knot design. It was leaning casually against a ceramic coffee cup crammed with a multiplicity of pens, as well as a couple pairs of scissors and some random pencils. It was as if the bag materialized there; I don’t remember the last time I looked at it and really saw it, and I wonder how long it had been sitting on this small table.

When I picked up the soft pouch, I instantly recalled that it holds my Wildwood Tarot* deck. “Ah,
my senses said. Perhaps this is the deck that can give us some guidance. It’s definitely an old friend. So I drew the cards out of their resting place and started shuffling, holding that weird sense I’ve been feeling and just posing a “What is this/what do I do with this?” question to the cards.

I chose 5 of Stones (Pentacles in the traditional tarot) with 8 – The Stag (Strength in the traditional tarot) underneath.

Five of Stones

When I look at this card, I see what I feel like right now: I’m incredibly lucky to have shelter from the raging, scary, thunder and lightning storm ‘out there’ right now. I’m mostly safe, I am surrounded by massive stones that seem to hover over me, protectively. Indeed, I can even see faces in the stones, so the protection of these stones that form a cave behind me feels millennia old. I have a fire to keep me warm and I’m apparently unscathed (dry and healthy). I can always retreat deeper into the cave if I need to (although it is dark in there, so who knows what or who else might be in there!).

And the key word associated with the card is right there: Endurance.

Perhaps, right now, that is the name of the game. Keep the flame burning. Take shelter. Listen to the counsel of my ancestors through the wisdom of the stones.

The Stag

Underneath that card was The Stag. Powerful and primal, this card speaks to me of power rooted in connection to Nature, to my roots, to what I know is powerful and true. This Being is grounded and can definitely protect itself, both offensively and defensively.  His shield holds the Tree of Life – depicting the truth of “As above, so below.”

It looks like there’s a lot of tangled shit behind him, which I’m not sure how to interpret (other than how it may reflect the convoluted state of our minds, with all the propaganda inundating us).

Ultimately, I feel that the foundation of this message from the cards is that those of us who belong to the land (who are connected with and aware of it and all Nature), who remember their interconnectedness, will stand their ground and maintain their sovereignty. And I feel that applies to all of us, no matter where we live at the moment.

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(T+121)