DT

Trial Card – Day 820

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Resilience Card – The Ocean Oracle by Susan Marte

Trial Card

I haven’t chosen a card for us to contemplate in quite a while. Given that as a nation we’re once again on the verge of being subjected to the chaotic drama that accumulated over the past four years and erupted on January 6th, 2021, tonight felt like a good night to choose a trial card.

The man has already been impeached. Not once, but twice. Technically this is not an impeachment trial. Rather, it’s a trial before the Senate on whether he should be convicted of the conduct he was impeached over (in this case, incitement of an insurrection).

Personally, the respite from having DT’s presence – in all its forms – largely absent from our day-to-day lives for the past four weeks has been restorative. I’m only just now finding myself able to hear the words, “And the president said today…” without every muscle in my body tensing up, bracing for the worst.

Resilience

So the appearance of the Resilience card from The Ocean Oracle felt entirely appropriate. Heck, I had no need to read the ‘lwb’ (oracle parlance for ‘little white book’ – a reference to the explanatory guide that accompanies most oracles) to easily grasp the wisdom inherent in bringing resilience to the fore. Surely the suggestion that our nation needs to bring a certain attitude of fortitude to facing the truth of what took place leading up to and including 1/6 is completely sensible.

And given the penchant DT’s defenders and allies have shown over the years for relentlessly battering us with lies and admonitions not to believe what’s right before our eyes, it only makes sense that we’re going to have to bring emotional and intellectual resilience to the party.

We’re going to have to hang tough. Endure the insanity yet again. Stand fast for what is right and just.

Interesting Take

And then I read the aforementioned ‘lwb’ (written by the deck’s creator, Susan Marte), and I found the accompanying ‘story’ and ‘messages’ to be different than I expected, so I offer them here for your consideration:

42 – Sea Heather – RESILIENCE

The Story

Her childhood had been rocky. She felt alone for much of it, coming into her life through the kindness of strangers. Those strangers were now mostly friends. They were lifelines to her and came at the most unexpected moments, in the most unexpected guises. Her life now was steady and she was proud of where she was. There had been struggles and triumphs, sadness and joy, grief and celebration. But she had trust and faith in life and that force now shone through her. One of her annual rituals to honour her resilience came at the flowering time of the sea heather. Each summer she would harvest a bunch of sea heather and gift it to someone in her life who had been inspirational to her during the past year. She chose sea heather because of its own resilience – it grew in salty areas, undeterred by the saline conditions. It was hearty and unassuming in its gifts and its flowers were subtle yet stunning. And even after it was harvested and out of its growing conditions, it continued to hold forth its grace and beauty.

The Messages

Do you need to toughen up against your environment? Are you wanting to hide your gifts because you do not feel strong enough? Let your beauty and grace shine through in even the most extreme environments. Do not let your resilience be unbecoming. Use it as a beautiful strength to get you through dark times. Remember that tenderness, grace and beauty reside in all.

Take Away

My sense is that there will be efforts to paint the proceedings this week as some partisan ‘witch hunt,’ since that’s been the rallying cry for years and years now. We will need to be resilient as a nation and as individuals to demand accountability in the face of actions and rhetoric that have tested us and the foundations of our democratic republic for far too long.

And in the midst of keeping our heads held high and our integrity intact, we will be wise to find and exhibit beauty and grace where we can. The process we will undergo as a nation this week (and possibly beyond) can elicit from all of us a ‘beautiful strength’ that will get us through these dark times.

We can do this. Demanding and seeking accountability will serve us all. We must have trust and faith in our healing process.

(T-291)

Overload – Day 793

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Falcon (Kestrel) – Photo: L. Weikel

Overload

Honestly, I’m struggling to come up with something to write about that has nothing to do with either the votes I see taking place on the floor of the House of Representatives tonight, or the insurrection that took place just six short days ago. It’s hard; let me tell you. I’m on overload.

From the looks of things, it appears that the House is first voting to urge Vice President Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment in order to effectively remove DT from office. Pence has pre-emptively sent Congress a letter advising that he has no intentions of doing so. Thus it is expected that tomorrow the House will vote to impeach Donald Trump for his part in inciting the insurrection we witnessed take place last Wednesday, January 6, 2021.

Reasons

There are myriad reasons why Congress is moving forward with this action so quickly. Not least of these reasons is that we probably came within five minutes or so of the mob of thousands of Trump supporters not only storming the Capitol at the urging and instigation of Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and others, but also taking hostages and possibly killing those in the line of succession to Donald Trump.

We’ve seen videos, heard chants, and read posts that establish these intentions. And we’ve witnessed DT telling these people, “We love you.” The outrage is not in an expression of unconditional love (which would have had to be coupled with a swift and harsh rebuke to stop the violence) but rather from the tacit implication, “We love your behavior.”

The behavior of the mob was, in a word, deplorable. Not to mention illegal. And utterly immoral and diametrically opposed to the fundamentals of democracy.

As DT is wont to do, he deliberately says something that means one thing but in actuality intends the opposite. It’s a trick of rhetoric that he constantly employs yet is probably unconscious of and unaware that he does it. He talks out of both sides of his mouth.

A Different Messenger Today

Given the manner in which events are unfolding, including the credible reports of (admittedly incredible) additional attacks on both the inauguration ceremony and state capitols around the country over the coming days, our country is on high alert. We are being placed in the stance and mindset of imminent threat.

All of this reminds me of the quite unexpected visitor that swooped and looped over my back yard and above my head this afternoon: a gorgeous falcon. Specifically, I believe it was a kestrel; also known as a sparrow hawk.

While I might be inclined to try to apply the attributes of Falcon to myself or my life, I actually feel this might be more of a confirmation of the best manner in which to deal with DT’s actions.

For instance, Ted Andrews, in his book Animal Speak*, states:

“The kestrel will usually plunge down upon its prey from a perch, or hover above it about twenty feet up before the plunge. This is unique among birds of prey, but also among most birds. (…) For those with a kestrel as a totem, this is very significant. It allows the movement to be performed with great speed and precision. It gives the kestrel a gracefulness. It implies the ability to stop and use the flight to its fullest advantage.

The kestrel teaches control of speed and movement. It teaches patience. The kestrel is often a symbol for recognizing opportunities and acting upon them at only the correct moment. It teaches speed and accuracy of action. (…) The kestrel and any falcon can teach us to know when to act but to fully commit to our actions for the greatest success.”

Accountability

All of this reminds me once again of how essential it is that those who participated in the attempted coup on our government be held accountable – swiftly and without equivocation. It is a sad testament to our current predicament that because accountability has been delayed, denied, or deflected up to this point, the infractions against our country and our people have only become more egregious.

We need to act quickly; we need to act decisively; and we need to hold all those who would rip apart our democratic republic through treachery and violence accountable.

Falcon reminds us.

*affiliate link

(T-318)

Same Basic Message – Day 693

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Susan Marte’s Ocean Oracle – Crab

Same Basic Message

Given that we’re starting a new week, I asked for some collective guidance, because surely we could all use something to hold onto amidst the insanity. Lo and behold – yet again, we receive the same basic message.

There’s no way anyone would’ve believed it if one of us had time-traveled back ten months to our naïve selves celebrating on New Year’s Eve and described what we just witnessed in the last six days. And I literally mean just the past six days – starting with the debate debacle, which is now taking on overtones of suspiciously germy intentions, and ending with the Ride to Nowhere DT indulged in early this evening.

Shifting Our Perceptions

I kid you not. I consulted the Ocean Oracle and simply asked what we need to keep in mind this week as we seek to maintain some semblance of balance and normality in these distinctly imbalanced and abnormal circumstances. I chose Crab – Lateral Thinking.

I’m going to quote the entire passage directly from the guidebook because, well, it all feels relevant. Do with it what you will:

26 – Crab – Lateral Thinking

The Story

“It just wasn’t working anymore. The way he was doing it was just not working. He had gone down to the beach to think. His head was full of ideas, different avenues, where to go, what was the best way, which way would work. Thought after thought after thought. Round and round and round. He settle himself by a rock pool and stared into the deep blue water left behind as the tide receded. Movement caught his eye. It was a crab, seemingly trapped in this space. He watched as the crab moved this way and that, trying to get himself out of the pool. Back and forth, round and round. Still, the crab could not breach this prison. He watched as the crab stilled itself and then began moving in a different pattern. This allowed him to break free and move off in an entirely new direction, freeing himself from that which confined him.

The Messages

Are you being pinched by a situation where your regular thought patterns, your regular mode of doing things, is not working? Incorporate lateral thinking, thinking outside the square. Remove yourself from how you usually attack situations. Shift your perceptions. Try a different tact to help come clear from what keeps you stuck.” (emphasis added)

One Short Month Ago

Only one short month ago, we received our first clear message that we are to begin shifting our perceptions if we’re to successfully navigate these extremely unsettling times.

Five days ago, that message was reiterated, albeit simply via my own spontaneous suggestion that we engage in some deliberately thoughtful tracking of our perceptions as we encounter each day in this potentially provocative October – what with its two full moons and myriad other powerfully challenging astrological aspects.

No sooner had I spit those words out when, well, ‘just another day in 2020’ unfolded.

So let’s do this. We cannot shift our perceptions if we’re not aware of our initial perceptions. We must start questioning how we look at our world. What are we willing to accept as normal? Do our assumptions about people, institutions, structures in our society, still have validity?

What are we seeing? What are we hearing? Is it too difficult to believe our eyes or ears so we tell ourselves it’s not what is right in front of us?

Clearly, our perceptions are a key to navigating these times. To shift them, we first must know what and where they are now.

(T-418)

Another Shoe – Day 607

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Another Shoe

I was going to title this “There’s the Other Shoe!” or something like that, and then I realized all the crazy destruction of the Rule of Law in our country that’s flagrantly taking place in plain view of us and the rest of the world isn’t ‘THE’ other shoe. It’s just ‘another’ shoe.

Welcome to the apocalyptic Final Five Months. They’re either going to be the final five months of DT’s presidency or the final five months of the United States of America as we know it. And as I mentioned the other night, no matter what happens on election night (just like it didn’t matter how the Supreme Court ruled), if he wins: we lose; if he loses: we lose because he acts out, throws a bomb into the toilet (or worse), refuses to respect the election results, and dares anyone and everyone to remove him from office.

Whoa, Lisa. That’s dire. Aren’t you being just a tad hyperbolic?

No, actually. I don’t think I am.

Not the Half Of It

I sensed this week would be a challenge. The eclipse took place over the weekend, and it just felt to me as though it was going to kick off a month of unprecedented revelations and discoveries of corruption and rot throughout this Administration beyond our worst fears – including its malignant enablers in both Houses, but especially the Senate.

Sadly, I don’t think we’ve seen the half of it yet. (Then again, to be fair, it’s not even been a full week since the eclipse.)

But believe it or not, I’m trying to rein myself in. I’m trying to refrain from gaming out the repercussions of DT’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence and the effects it will have to the bigger picture.

I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that DT did this, tonight, when we also received confirmation that the number of positive Coronavirus cases in one single day in our country topped 70,000 tonight, too. In case you’re keeping track, only one week ago we were horrified that there were more than 50,000 positive cases diagnosed in one day.

These are daily cases. Over 70,000 people tested positive today. And our president just commuted the sentence of a man who said out loud just today (when requesting a commutation) that he deserved it because he resisted providing evidence of the president’s complicity in a crime.

Step Back – Re-think

I chose cards a few days ago requesting guidance on how we might want to view and respond to whatever unfolded this week. As you might recall, I chose Stingray – Flow the first night, and then followed up in the next post with Jellyfish – Hidden Gifts and Sea Glass -Transformation.

Choosing the Flow card was in itself a comfort. In some ways, every moment I deliberately chose to go with the flow and not worry over “What ifs” provided my nervous system with opportunities to remain peaceful, which in turn kept me centered and even hopeful every now and then.

The Hidden Gifts and Transformation cards were the ones I chose specifically for guidance on dealing with DT’s reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling on his tax return cases, so it feels incumbent upon me to actively resurrect them in our consciousness.

There are hidden gifts in the blatant erosion of the Rule of Law. Our country is being threatened from within in a way that rivals anything in our just-shy-of 250 years, with the possible exception of the Civil War – and it may even, pardon the irony, eclipse that.

Hope

But my eyes keep going back to a couple sentences in the accompanying text to The Ocean Oracle, in ‘The Story’ of the Sea Glass:

“(…) She thought of the journey the glass before her had taken, how these pieces were all parts of something else at one time. A bowl, a jar, a bottle – some sort of vessel. And how these vessels had been abandoned. Or lost, or broken; left to the rhythms of nature, broken down over time. And she thought of the forces which had shaped the sea glass in front of her – forces which broke down the original structure by pummeling, pulverizing, caressing into a shape which was softer, translucent, and more adept at change. (…)” (emphasis added)

I want to hold on to hope that our country and everything we stand for will, in the coming days, grow more translucent and adept at change as we face, head-on, the gifts that are hidden in the egregious behavior and neglect that’s being perpetrated on us and our system of government every day. Every day there seems to be another shoe dropping. Please let us discover the hidden gifts they reveal that lead to a transformation that benefits us all.

(T-504)