All’s Well – Day 744

Posted on November 25, 2020November 26, 2020 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

The Ocean Oracle – 16 – Octopus – All Encompassing

All’s Well

Truth be told, I’m not feeling all that much different tonight than I did when I sat down to write last night. I’m unsettled. In some ways, it feels like my mind is telling me I need to just chill out, step back, and realize all’s well that ends well.

But is it? My head may be telling me all is well, but my other means of perception aren’t as easily persuaded.

I ask myself, am I being alarmist? Paranoid? Is it possible I’m simply so used to relentless chaos and discord that the very prospect of returning to some sense of normalcy, at least with respect to the highest levels of our government, leaves me feeling…wary?

I don’t know. I’m an inherently optimistic person. I want to ride the waves of relief emanating from Delaware, where President-elect Biden held a public announcement of his incoming National Security team. I’m excited to learn who he intends to nominate as Attorney General, head of the EPA, and a variety of other cabinet posts. (And I can’t believe what a nerd I sound like.)

And yet…

Ocean Oracle

So I decide to pull a card. Perhaps I’ll glean some insight. My deck of The Ocean Oracle, by Susan Marte, beckons.

I chose the Octopus Card (All Encompassing). Because the background ‘Story’ of the card feels every bit as important as the ‘Message’ included in the booklet, I’m going to include the whole thing. It all feels somehow relevant:

“The Story –

She was walking along the rock pools, contemplating her situation. Something did not feel right but she was not sure if it was something within her or something inherent in the situation. She came to a deep, clear pool of water where the tide had deposited a small octopus on its way out towards low tide. The octopus had its tentacles wrapped around something which seemed to be struggling. She wanted to help the trapped creature but then saw a large crayfish heading towards the octopus. She could not tell whether the octopus was protecting what she was encompassing from the crayfish, or whether she was intending it as her own prey. There was no way to be sure so she stepped back, allowing the creatures to sort it out for themselves, just as she had to step back in order to sort out her own situation.

The Messages –

Too much or too little? Embracing or restricting? Everything held within can either be a blessing or a curse. Perspective helps here. The situation may be the same but how are you perceiving it? What is the intent behind the situation? Take a step back, gain perspective, notice the intent. If something is too much, loosen your grip. What has been struggling to fall away, to get out of your grasp, will lighten. This will help give you a different perspective.”

My Take

Perhaps we’re being encouraged to step back and just watch everything unfold. Maybe it’s time to stand back and rest up, gather our power. It’s important right now to maintain perspective, keep our distance, and keep our eyes and ears open. There’s certainly a lot of spectacle. But that’s actually a distraction. And we can get sucked into ‘rescuing’ or getting upset with one set of circumstances, when the true danger might appear benign and slip under our radar.

Perhaps we’re not seeing everything we need to see in order to make an informed judgment.

(T-367)

Ugh Oh – Day 732

Posted on November 13, 2020November 13, 2020 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Tree Huddle – Photo: L. Weikel

Ugh Oh

I just realized that about fifteen minutes from when I’m writing this, it’s going to be Friday the 13^th. Normally, I embrace the 13^th of anything – and I certainly do not ascribe any ill-fated inclinations to the number. As a matter of fact, I’ve considered the 13^th to be a fortunate number in my own life. It is historically associated with women and the moon, and best yet, my eldest son was born on the 13^th, albeit not a Friday. That said, when I saw that tomorrow is Friday the 13^th, my first thought was, “Ugh oh.”

Let’s not forget: it may be November, but it’s still 2020. I don’t think there’s been much of anything this year that’s not had a little bit of “ugh oh” associated with it. But the next several days are going to be particularly intense.

Jupiter Conjunct Pluto

In fact, one astrological aspect that occurred today and that’s impacting all of us is Jupiter conjuncting Pluto. This is an aspect that occurs every 13 years. It’s generally associated with big death or major (Jupiter) transformation (Pluto).

The unique specialness that we’ve come to know as 2020 brought us the tremendously lovely (eye roll) opportunity to experience this conjunction three times within seven months. Why? Because both planets went retrograde this year right around when they were aspecting each other in Capricorn.

That means that Jupiter and Pluto were conjunct (meaning occupying the same degree and sign at the same time) on April 4, 2020. It may be recalled, that’s right around when the pandemic started exploding in New York.

Both Pluto and Jupiter then stationed (appeared to ‘stop’) and went retrograde (an optical illusion that makes a planet appear to be going backwards in its usual orbit), Pluto at the end of April and then Jupiter in early May. This caused the two planets to meet up with each other and become conjunct again – on June 30^th. This coincided with another blip in the coronavirus spread.

And today, we just had the third conjunction of the two planets, as they both are moving forward again and have, once again, caught up with each other. Sad to report, but the pandemic is reaching crisis proportions here. Just today, I believe there were something like 158,000+ new positive cases. That’s more than 10,000 more cases today than yesterday. And hospitalizations and deaths are increasing as well, although they are, as always, ‘lagging’ indicators. (Because people don’t usually get hospitalized and rarely die the same day they’re diagnosed with Covid-19. That takes some time.)

On the Bright Side

We’ll be experiencing a new moon early Sunday morning (late Saturday evening for those on the west coast), so we might want to think about planting some fresh intentions geared toward keeping ourselves, our families, and everyone we come into contact with safer. It feels especially important to set such intentions this weekend because the next two weeks will encompass Thanksgiving. Remember: short term sacrifice for long-term gain.

There are other planetary aspects occurring over the next few days that could portend additional likelihood of volatility, rage, and acting out. Given that tomorrow is Friday the 13^th, then, it might behoove all of us to be mindful of everything that’s going on right now and just chill out.

We didn’t get a chance to walk today because every time we thought about setting out, it started to drizzle. Here’s hoping we get to walk tomorrow. Stay well, everyone.

(T-379)

Chill Out – Day 599

Posted on July 3, 2020July 3, 2020 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Old Man In Repose Among the Clouds – Photo: L. Weikel

Chill Out

Ha ha – I’m undoubtedly dating myself with the title to this post. Meh – that’s ok. There could be a lot worse phrases from my youth that I could proffer at this moment. “Chill out,” seems to be one of the most benign.

All the signs are here. We’re receiving a message. Are we listening?

Even the dramatic change we’re experiencing in the weather appears to be making a statement. (Of course, I’m speaking for eastern Pennsylvania, but I’m pretty sure many other places are getting a similar message.) It was oppressively hot today. And if the Weather Channel is worth its salt, we apparently have many more days ahead of us, all in a row, to practice our ability to remain calm, cool, and collected in the midst of one shit storm after another.

Even Walking Was Rough

We put off walking until the last possible moment this evening. And even then the heat took a toll on all of us. Spartacus panted the whole way and we only did our two mile jaunt.

Meanwhile, Sheila’s been sitting out on our walks for several days now, only managing to stroll up the road a piece and back again. Just enough to get her system moving enough to qualify as a ‘constitutional.’