Coyote – Photo: City of Lubbock, TX

My Cards Say It All

I’ve been keeping pretty quiet about the Medicine Cards^®* I’ve been choosing lately, mostly because they’ve been cosmic pokes in my side. Either that or they’ve been hard to figure out.

For instance, I picked Coyote reversed twice in the past five days. Coyote reversed is tough, because by its very nature, it is inscrutable and hard to figure out. It also comes with the explicit admonition:

“Contrary Coyote may signal a time when everything you touch backfires.”

Trust me, when I choose Coyote reversed, I do my best to lay low and refrain from engaging in anything too sensitive.

When Coyote reversed shows up in my life, I make a point of choosing activities in which I have as little contact with the outside world as possible. That’s not always possible, but it’s generally a good rule of thumb. Let me hasten to add, though: I don’t go traveling into other worlds, either. No, a Coyote reversed day usually calls for channeling my energy into mundane, tangible activities such as clearing away clutter, vacuuming, and doing my best to gain internal awareness of what’s going on within myself, so I can bounce back into the game the next day with greater clarity.

Salmon Reversed

So after not choosing Coyote for a very long time – quite possibly since before I even began my 1111 Devotion – I find it fascinating to have chosen it twice in the past five days (and technically, it was twice in four days, since I chose it last Friday and then again this past Monday).

But today? Today I chose Salmon reversed with Butterfly underneath. And I have to tell you, it so accurately captures my feelings of late, particularly this morning as I struggled to swim to the surface of my consciousness as I woke from a deep sleep.

Salmon, which has as its key words “Wisdom/Inner Knowing” is not, as one might be tempted to assume, about struggling upstream. It’s not about struggle at all (in the upright position, anyway). Indeed, I love the first paragraph of Salmon:

“Salmon is the sacred keeper of wisdom and inner knowing who, despite strong river currents, will always return to the place of its creation. Its determination is driven by the wisdom of instinct and inner knowing, which yields a sense of purpose that cannot be thwarted by external forces. Coming full circle, Salmon medicine people finish what they begin, bringing life’s events and cycles to closure.”

At First Glance

Superficially, I’ll admit, I may have felt as though I was struggling to “return to the place of (my) creation” today. Everything sort of felt like a hassle, and I wasn’t sure if it was my own frustrations with certain situations in my life or if I might just be sensitive to and reflecting the energies ‘out there.’

That might seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes direct action mitigates a sense of overwhelm. I care about what’s going on in Washington D.C., and yet I feel stymied by just how little I’m able to actually do to contribute to a solution to that situation. I envy those attorneys, representatives, and their staffs that are involved in the process because they know they are fighting the good fight. They’re actively engaging in work that makes a difference.

For myself, I know that my greatest joy comes from being of service to others, whether it’s by direct one-on-one work or engaging in efforts that benefit many at once.

My sense of self resonated today with these words contained within Salmon reversed:

“If you have been seeking the approval of others by being a follower instead of listening to your personal knowing, it may be time to reclaim you own authority. (…)  If so, get out of your head and get back to the wisdom found in your heart and feelings. Like Salmon, people sometimes need to backtrack upstream to see where life’s meandering tributaries flowed away from the original headwaters of their certainty, wisdom, instinct, and inner knowing.”

Yes, these words struck a chord. And underneath that Salmon reversed? Butterfly. CHANGE.

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(T-668)