perception

Shamanic Caravan – Day 780

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Mesa and Rattles – Photo: L. Weikel

Shamanic Caravan

If you’ve been following my 1111 Devotion posts, you may vaguely recall that in late August I asked Spirit what ‘we,’ as a collective, might be wise to bear in mind as we entered September (and all that came with that, from kids returning – or not – to school, keeping an eye on the unfolding development of the pandemic, the final two months of the election season, etc.).

As you can read about here, I selected an intriguing card from the Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Deck: Perception.

As some of you who’ve worked with me in the Merkabah Medicine Program know, for a couple thousand years, most people have been taught to live in and relate to the world through the lens of Precept or “law and order.” When living through precept, we are told: “Live your life this way and you’ll go to heaven, be a success, stay safe. Break the rules and you’ll fail, be punished, or otherwise find things not working out well for you.”

Perception

The way of shamanism, however, encourages experiencing the world through the lens of Percept – perception and attention. How we choose to perceive the world both within and around us can change our experience dramatically. Living life based on perception encourages all of us to take more responsibility for our lives.

Our perception, how we choose to perceive ourselves, our circumstances, the world, and our role in it, holds incredible power and opportunity. Yet few people know how to shift their perception in order to gain access to ‘new’ concepts and realities that lay waiting only to be discovered. Fewer still practice engaging in perception-shifting methods that provide them with direct access to guidance, wisdom, and answers to their own unique set of circumstances.

Guidance

The very day after I chose the Perception card and wrote about it, I received another powerful nudge from the Universe via the Tarot of the Crone, reminding me (and ‘us’) of the importance, right now especially, of minding our perceptions. I definitely got the impression that these messages were more than a passing reminder. They were a push to take responsibility for ourselves.

As I watch the events continuing to unfold not only here in our country but all over the world, I can feel the yearning so many of us have for answers and reassurance, for guidance about what we can, should, or would be wise to do – not only to keep ourselves ‘safe,’ but also to move forward in our lives with confidence and excitement. And the wisdom and necessity of going within – seeking and securing guidance tailored specifically to our unique talents, skills, and purposes in life – is what keeps coming back to me again and again.

Listening Retreats

One of the benefits of attending my Listening Retreats was learning how to take a shamanic journey. Journeying is a powerful practice that shifts your perception and grants you access to your unique guides, guardians, and allies.

Given the pandemic and the likelihood that I won’t be offering any Listening Retreats (in person, anyway) anytime soon, I feel it’s important to teach this skill to as many people as possible. But just because you know how to do something doesn’t mean you necessarily take the time to do it.

After knowing how to journey for over 30 years, one thing I can tell you is this: the art of journeying is just like any other skill. It improves with practice. And a corollary to that? It’s almost always easier to journey, especially as we’re becoming comfortable with the process as a practice, when we journey with other people. That’s why I enjoyed teaching people how to journey at my Listening Retreats.

Caravans

That week at the end of August began with two powerful nights of being reminded by Spirit of the power of perception and the importance of shifting our perceptions. It was clear from the cards presented that it is incumbent upon each of us to do our part to reclaim our individual power – and in so doing, create a greater and more diverse world in the process.

As I contemplated how I could foster putting into practice the shifting of our perceptions, the word and concept of caravans popped into my head. I balked. There’s a word that could use some shifting, eh? But the message kept coming to me. “Caravan. We need to create a caravan.”

So I looked the word up. And of course, I had to smile at Spirit’s crafty ways.

Merriam-Webster.com – caravan: noun 1. a company of travelers on a journey through desert or hostile regions.

Dictionary.com – caravan: noun 1. a group of travelers, as merchants or pilgrims, journeying together for safety in passing through deserts, hostile territory, etc.

Yes! Confirmation that we are being called to create an environment that embraces accessing our own unique inner support network, while engaging in that practice in the company of fellow journeyers! And goodness knows, 2020 had us traversing a desert or hostile territory.

Creating a Shamanic Caravan

And so it is coming to pass.

I am offering 90 minute sessions (called ‘wagons’) at varying times each week. During these wagons, I will create sacred space, go over the ‘rules of the road,’ and then rattle or drum you on a journey. Each traveler will set their own unique, private intention but will be supported by and benefit from the fuel of the group energy.

I’ll initially limit each wagon of the Shamanic Caravan to 8-10 travelers, providing an opportunity to share our journeys (although that’s never a requirement) within the 90 minute time frame. As our work unfolds, if there’s time for a second journey during any particular wagon, we’ll take it.

Travelers can shift between wagons or be a part of lots of different ones. In other words, you can choose one day/time and stick with that on perhaps a weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly basis, or you can try a couple different days/times and see what works best for you. The early adopters (yes, we’ve been experimenting for a couple of months now) have gravitated to preferring a few favorite days and times.

Journeys

With respect to specific journeys, sometimes we’ll get very specific advice or guidance. Other times we may receive warnings to steer clear of certain activities or be given information that surprises or delights us. And occasionally people will find that our allies lead us to a place where we can just ‘be’ in a place of utter relaxation and respite, where we can rest, clear our minds, and replenish our energy.

Every journey is different. You will discover this for yourself once you start making journeying a regular practice in your life.

You’ll cultivate true relationships with your allies, be they power animals, guardians, guides, nature spirits, angelic beings, ascended masters, or whatever, whomever, or however they appear to you. You’ll also cultivate relationships with your fellow travelers, your compatriots in this Shamanic Caravan.

Pricing and Frequency

I’m initially offering this service – providing a safe and private space for like-minded people to journey together, sharing the collective power that comes with focused intention – at the price of $20 per wagon, $35 for couples.

You will receive unique invitations to join each Zoom wagon you request, (provided there is room).

Wagon reservations will be filled on a first come – first serve basis, with payment in advance required for a reservation.

I will be offering the ‘Wagons for the Week’ via email. Ideally, we’ll discover our rhythms and identify particular wagons that work for us on a long-term basis. I am currently exploring implementation of a monthly calendar accessible on my website. But until that happens, I’ll be making the weekly offerings via email.

Who’s With Me?

I believe the Shamanic Caravan concept provides us with the best of both worlds: accessing our own unique inner knowing and guidance while cultivating a community of fellow travelers. Together we’ll navigate these tumultuous times with unique insight, respect, awe, and a powerful shift in perception. Hopefully, we’ll also find some laughter sneaking in as well.

I’m really looking forward to providing fellow travelers with a framework to shift your perceptions and access your power, as well as a convenient means of bringing a little discipline and regularity to your practice.

Email me to let me know you want to be a Traveler in the Shamanic Caravan. Put “Shamanic Caravan” in the subject line and we’ll get this Caravan on the road as 2021 begins.

(T-331)

Worth a Listen – Day 695

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Wow – Photo: L. Weikel

Worth a Listen

I’m not big on speeches. I listen to them when they’re in my face or given at a time that commands attention, such as the State of the Union. But if given the option? I usually pass and wait for the highlights later in the evening. Today, though, a campaign speech was given that was well worth a listen.

That was the case with me again today. I heard that Joe Biden was going to give a speech at Gettysburg and even saw clips of Trump supporters, sadly fulfilling the stereotypes, out and about protesting Biden’s arrival in this small central Pennsylvania town. It didn’t even occur to me again, quite honestly, to pursue watching or listening to that speech.

Late this afternoon, someone I know and respect suggested that this was an outstanding speech, definitely worthy of attention. I started listening, but had errands. I didn’t even get into it far enough to give it a chance.

Then tonight, after our walk, Karl and I had the tv turned up loud so I could hear it while I made dinner. We were watching a taped segment, and surprisingly, the host aired the full Biden speech at Gettysburg.

All I can say is that I’m glad the powers that be kept thrusting this speech in front of my nose. And I’m glad I finally listened.

We Really Truly Need This

And so, on the off chance that any of you may have eschewed the opportunity to listen to Joe Biden’s speech at Gettysburg on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 6th – exactly four weeks before election day – I am providing a link here. Note: the speech doesn’t begin until the 3:00 minute mark.

It’s only about 22 minutes long. I think you’ll find it’s worth it.

It’s a speech aimed at shifting perceptions, expectations, and aspirations.

If nothing else, we owe it to ourselves to allow for the possibility that it’s not too late to save our country from the carnage DT is relentlessly trying to wreak upon us. We owe it to each other, ourselves, and our children to dream this vision of our country into being: stronger, more diverse, more free than we’ve ever been in our history.

A Reminder

October’s not over yet, my friends. In fact, we’re only hitting the one week mark tomorrow. I’m guessing you’re possibly rethinking my entreaty to keep track of your perceptions of what’s going on all around us this month. If you haven’t been writing things down and keeping track yet…I challenge you to reflect upon the myriad of shockers we’ve survived already in the past seven days.

Time’s not up yet.

And as we continue to negotiate these turbulent beyond measure times, keep the embers of hope and determination reflected in Biden’s ‘Battle for the Soul of the Nation’ speech tucked away in your heart, refusing to be doused by all the awfulness being heaped upon us right now.

We will persist and we will prevail. We must.

(T-416)

Same Basic Message – Day 693

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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)

Big Week Ahead – Day 686

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“Guardians” – Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards by Cher Lyn

Big Week Ahead

Although I haven’t mentioned it a lot this year, 2020 has so far unfolded pretty much as expected by those who follow the movements of the planets, sun, and moon. We have some configurations in the sky that haven’t occurred in hundreds of years, and when they last did, major disruptions in societies and humanity as a whole often resulted. There are a lot of aspects occurring over the next several days that portend a very big week ahead.

Maybe I’ll get into some specifics later in the week, but suffice it to say, on Tuesday the planet Saturn stations and goes ‘direct’ once again. It’s been retrograde (with Jupiter and Pluto also retrograde) in the sign of Capricorn since late April/early May. Jupiter ‘went direct’ about 8 days ago, I believe, and Pluto will go direct next Sunday.

Suffice it to say, this week is teeing up to be a blockbuster of a ballbuster. Sorry. But it’s the truth. It was interesting to me that Saturn is going direct on the day of the first presidential debate of this election season even before the news broke this evening that the New York Times has finally obtained copies of DT’s tax returns for the past two decades or so.

I can only imagine – actually, no, I can’t – the reaction this is engendering in the White House tonight. And surely it will have an impact on the debate, making it more, dare I say it, incendiary than it was sure to be anyway?

With all this in mind, and being tired from the emotional toll of the past few days in my own life, I thought it would be instructive to ask for some guidance on what might be best for all of us to focus upon this week. So I broke out my Mystic Medicine Art Oracle Cards by Cher Lyn and started shuffling. I asked: What should we strive to keep in mind as events unfold in the world this week?

Guardians

The top card I chose was Guardians. If you can zoom in on the intricacies of this card, you’ll see some fascinating glyphs and symbols in the details. I’m going to share with you the text Cher Lyn provided with this card so you can consider what feels appropriate to you:

Guardians – “Cosmic Connections”

A dance to heal it all…repair the fall

Cosmic connections…mirror reflections

Copper metal crease, spin the void…Release

Taken to the stars and out beyond,

To the Guardians

Ancient Symbols speak it seems…

We awaken from the dream.

—-Cher Lyn

“The Beings in the painting of “Cosmic Connections” are Apache dancers in ceremonial spirit. Glowing symbols are floating and spinning, emerging out of the vortex and off the dancers’ bodies themselves. They are the embodiment of our star brothers who watch over us. The blue flowers are from a dreamtime journey into another dimension on another planet, the star brother holds them as a gift he brings from home. The others hold curative tools of power from other worlds, gifts to channel and aid.

There is more to sight than just physical seeing. Human sight creates its own obstacles. We stop seeing where the general consensus says we should. There is much more to this dimension than meets the eye. We are often if not always being watched by Beings that we ourselves cannot see with our naked eye.

The Guardians are here to support you in a number of ways, to include bringing you power to connect to multidimensional realities, ’comprehended.’ You are Ancient, Wise, and Awake. Take notice of your imagination expanding and maturing. The Guardians are opening your vision to help you remember why you’ve embarked upon your journey here on Earth. Communication of thoughts and feelings in your heart give fresh insights. Your higher knowledge becomes easily accessible as you let go of any fear or preconceived ideas of how limited you thought you were. Surrender into your highest good and relax into the vastness of Creation.

There seems to be something secret about everything and everybody, a mystery to behold within your perception. What you see in everyday life is not the natural world deceiving you, but nature encoding reality in ways you can come to terms with. The natural world looks the way it looks because of the way you have been taught.

If you’ve chosen Guardians, study the Ancient Symbols of the Star glyphs, the images of the crop circles. Place your attention upon the stars at night, and spend quality time in medication exploring the universal void inside your own soul. The guardians are ready to telepathically assist you.”

Quick Reflection

I’m in awe at how this card reinforces my posts of a few days ago, when I sensed “Watchers” keeping an eye on us as events seem to swirl more and more out of control. I love that this card suggests we consider expanding our vision to See more of what’s right before our eyes that perhaps we’ve been trained not to see.

And I find it particularly important to heed the advice that we ask for assistance and guidance from these Guardians who are watching us.

“Perception” – Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards by Cher Lyn

Card Underneath – the Foundation

So of course, Spirit loves to tantalize us with continuing examples of YCMTSU (you can’t make this ‘stuff’ up) by reinforcing the guidance we were given at the beginning of this month. Of course, the card at the foundation of this question was Perception.

Check out this post from earlier this month, where I quoted the text for this card, which absolutely bears further reflection. Only this time, it’s important to keep in mind that it is providing the underpinning for the top card: Guardians. One possible interpretation might be for us to pay particular, conscious, attention to our powers of perception. Perhaps those Watchers I’ve been sensing are answering our calls for guidance – but we need to shift our perceptions ever so slightly (sort of like how we used to turn the dial on a radio just a teeny tiny bit to hit the sweet spot/frequency that would get a station to come in clearly) in order to perceive them.

Good stuff to keep in mind as we embark on a week like no other.

(T-425)

Unexpected Message – Day 670

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Komodo Dragon in the Sky – Photo: L. Weikel

Unexpected Message

I was on a mission today, a quest of sorts. And in my travels I came upon an astonishingly unexpected message from a source equally unexpected. But in hindsight…

As I drove home in the very late afternoon, I happened to glance into the sky. And there was the biggest Komodo Dragon I’ve ever seen. As I’m wont to do, I checked my rear view mirror and, seeing I was all by my lonesome on this country road, pulled over to whip out my iPhone.

There it was. Clear as day. A Komodo Dragon. A Monitor Lizard.

Bigger Surprise

Imagine my surprise when I got home this evening and looked up Komodo Dragon. To be honest, I didn’t find anything specifically under either Komodo Dragon or Monitor Lizard, but I did find a photo of one in my trusty Animal Speak* (by Ted Andrews) under the generic entry of “Lizard.” And the photo provided clear confirmation that this was indeed the creature the Cloud Beings were forming for my – ahem – perception.

And therein lies the unsubtle persistence of Spirit when it wants me (any of us) to pay attention and listen.

The literal “keynote” associated with Lizards? Subtlety of Perception.

So there it is. I’m being hounded by the need to pay attention to my perceptions.

A Couple of Quick Hits

I suspect I should devote additional time and space to deciphering precisely why perception continues to be highlighted as something I (we?) need to pay attention to. But in the few moments I have left this evening, I’ll share two short passages from the entry under Lizards.

“(…)The lizard is the expert at subtle perception. It can sense vibrations through the ground. Its eyes can detect the subtlest of movements, and it has extremely acute hearing. All of these are symbolic of specific forms of clairvoyance practiced in many societies.

(…)

Individuals with a lizard totem should listen to their own intuition over anyone else’s. Lizard usually reflects heightened sensitivity. You feel what others may not. You will see things that others may miss. You will hear things that are not being said. No matter how strange it may seem, learning to follow those perceptions is what will enable you to succeed most frequently.

One of the most significant characteristics of some lizards and their claim to fame is the ability of the tail to come off. A predator may grab for it, its paw landing upon the tail, only to be surprised as the tail breaks off and the lizard scampers to freedom. The lizard then begins the process of growing another in its place.

This detachment is also part of what lizard can teach. They can help us to become more detached in life to survive. Sometimes it is necessary to separate ourselves or part of ourselves from others to be able to do the things we must desire to do. The lizard helps us to awaken that ability for objective detachment so that it can occur with the least amount of difficulty. Lizard can show up to help us break from the past. It may even indicate a need to explore ne realms and follow your own impulses before you get swallowed up in what is not beneficial for you.”

This is definitely significant. Not only to me but to us.

I will share more tomorrow.

Photo: CNTraveler.com

*affiliate link

(T-441)

Another World – Day 669

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M’s Magic Garden – Photo: L. Weikel

Another World

Yesterday I wrote about how getting a wider view of a situation can sometimes yield a bit more of a distressing perspective than expected. I think part of the reason the revelations made in Bob Woodward’s soon-to-be-released book, Rage*, were so jarring to me was the fact that I’d just spent several hours in another world.

Many of you may be thinking I’m referring to journeying, as in I’d taken a shamanic journey, and therefore my consciousness was literally in another world that afternoon. While that could easily hold true on any given day, that wasn’t the case yesterday.

No, prior to the walk on which I took the photos of the clouds in yesterday’s post, I’d driven not ten miles away from my home and entered a paradise. Upon my arrival, I stepped out of my car and yelped in joy over the calliope of life and color bombarding my senses.

Dahlia – photo: L. Weikel

Only Fair

It seems only fair that I share with you the source of the open-hearted joy I felt earlier yesterday – before I returned home. Sadly, it was hard for me to recapture last night the essence of what I felt when I stepped into this wonderland earlier in the day. I allowed my perception of national events to suck almost all of the magic out of my day.

M’s Garden – Photo: L. Weikel

 

But luckily, I remembered. And I’m reclaiming that joyful life essence now – and want to share it with you.

Some of the dahlias remind me of the glass artistry of Chihuly that Karl and I saw when we were in Seattle a few years ago.

Chihuly Garden and Glass (Seattle) – Photo: L. Weikel

There’s so much beauty in the world, whether it’s Mother Nature bursting forth in multicolored dahlias to blown glass artistry that bursts the imagination. In the midst of the dark and ominous clouds that are approaching we must not forget how things look different in this direction, too.

*affiliate link

(T-442)

Expansion of My Yet Again – Day 661

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XXI ~ World  – from Tarot of the Crone – Photo: L. Weikel

Expansion Of My Yet Again

A few days ago I wrote a post that described an additional message I received through two cards I chose from my Tarot of the Crone deck. As I was writing my post that night, sharing the astonishing synchronicity of the messages I received on my walk that night with the card I’d chosen for ‘all of us’ the night before, I started pushing up against my ‘witching time’ of having to post by 1:00 a.m. As a result, I chose to leave out a paragraph from one of the card descriptions, figuring it wasn’t as important as the paragraph I did include. Well, that card appeared again today, and in re-reading it, yet again, I feel it’s important for me to create this expansion of my Yet Again post.

I’m hoping you’re allowing my posts on Perception and Yet Again to percolate within your consciousness as this week unfolds. There’s a lot going on in our lives and in the world, and it’s important for us to be mindful of how we’re perceiving it all.

To that end, you may recall that the primary card I chose a few days ago was the World.

I’m getting the sense that it’s important for our contemplation to consider the entire reflection on this card, so I offer it here:

XXI ~ World

I am all you have been

And all you will become

 

I am the exercise

Of your power

 

And the key

To your future

“In the World, a large black figure holds twenty-one smaller figures within her. Each of the smaller figures has a face colored to represent the special power she possesses. The face of the larger World, however, is transparent. Through it and haloed around her is the swirling blue and white of a beautiful brave new world. The overall shape evokes a keyhole, outlined in a glow of blue against rich black.

The entry to a new world and your ability to create it, is in giving all that you are a place, Devil and Empress and Fool. Forget none of their lessons. Give up none of your power. Within your World, all of them come together and create a whole more than the sum of any amount of parts. More than a balance, more than integration like some locking together of pieces, when you are all, you are on another scale entirely.”

My Perspective

As I read this card yet again today against the backdrop of so much that we see unfolding in our country right now, it was obvious to me that the highlighted paragraph, above, is an essential component of the process of shifting our perception that we’re being called to undertake. Not only must we claim and integrate the various and unique powers we hold within ourselves, we must also honor, claim, and integrate the unique powers and identities of those with whom we share this planet.

I hope this adds to the richness of your reflections this week.

(T-450)

Yet Again – Day 659

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Ace of Swords Tarot of the Crone – Photo: L. Weikel

Yet Again

I found the appearance of the Perception card* in last night’s post thought provoking. The encouragement it gave us to pay attention to how and why our perceptions influence what we see and hear and are influenced by what we experience or believe was powerful. I found myself circling these ideas all day. It seems Spirit felt the need to reinforce these ponderings, though, because I received the message yet again – but from an entirely different source.

I love it when this happens! It’s harder to deny the existence of interconnecting and unifying threads within our lives when these types of experiences occur.

Another Walk

Karl and I were taking a walk early this evening, luckily managing to get two miles in before raindrops started splattering around us as we approached the house. Not only had we managed to get all the way around our shorter loop, but we’d also managed to pick cards from another one of my favorite decks, Ellen Lorenzi-Prince’s Tarot of the Crone.

Karl’s choices were clear entreaties for him to continue exploring and honoring his creative process. My choices, on the other hand, were such obvious affirmations of the message I received and shared last night that we both just shook our heads and said, “Wow.”

The foundational card I chose (i.e., the ‘bottom’ card) was the Ace of Swords. I offer you the author’s words, verbatim, because YCMTSU**:

Ace of Swords~Thought

In my Sight

In my Mind

Is the Power to Perceive

The One or the Many

Worlds of Creation

 

“A great blue eye shines with stars within and reaches out to a piercing point. The Ace of Swords, the root power of the Mind is Thought. See now with fresh eyes. Hear with new ears. Perception is a power not to inhibit or to take lightly. Strive now for lucidity. Foresee what may be and speak your truth. Settle for nothing less than original thought. What is your vision? It is time to share what you see, what you know. Let the world not be diminished by the lack of your voice.”

Perception. Its power. Seeing with fresh eyes and hearing with new ears. The power inherent in the words we choose.

78 Cards

It occurs to me that it might be worth remembering that traditional tarot decks contain 78 cards. While certainly the suit of Swords in any deck is associated with the element of air and the powers of the mind and thought, it cannot be said that every person ‘reading’ the Ace of Swords would necessarily utilize the word ‘perception’ in this way or urge us to refresh and renew the lenses through which we perceive the world.

Seriously. What are the chances that perception would be the prominent, foundational message of the cards today?

Quite honestly, it makes me a little uneasy. The power of our perception is being emphasized so profoundly that I worry that I’m not quite ‘getting it.’ It feels like Spirit is saying, “Yeah, you get that this is a powerful concept. And you understand – to a point – the power all of you hold to shape and create your individual and shared worlds. But do you really get how big a deal this is at this particular moment? Do you really comprehend the point at which all of you find yourselves, collectively, at this moment?”

Goosebumps

Which leads me to share the top card I chose as we walked today. Unlike the Ace of Swords, which is only one of 56 cards that comprise the four ‘suits’ of the Minor Arcana, the main card I chose was a ‘Major.’ The 22 ‘Majors” in a tarot deck are the archetypal representatives of the story of our spiritual evolution.

The card I chose on top was the World – the final card of all the Major Arcana – the culmination of our evolution.

World – Tarot of the Crone; Photo: L. Weikel

XXI ~World

I am all you have been

And all you will become

I am the exercise

Of your power

And the key

To your future

“(…) The entry to a new world and your ability to create it, is in giving all that you are a place, Devil and Empress and Fool. Forget none of their lessons. Give up none of your power. Within your World, all of them come together and create a whole more than the sum of any amount of parts. More than a balance, more than integration like some locking together of pieces, when you are all, you are on another scale entirely.”

We are such complex, creative creatures. Our realities are like tapestries woven by the warp and weft of what we perceive and what we create as a result of those perceptions.

This feels big. We have a huge responsibility right now – to ourselves and to each other.

* Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards
** YCMTSU = You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

(T-452)

Perception – Day 658

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Karl’s Magic Ball – Photo: L. Weikel

Perception

After one of my posts last week, a number of people suggested that I take a ‘news fast’ or otherwise not pay attention to what’s going on in the world, and in particular our country, at the moment. There are a number of rabbit holes I could go down in response. But for now, I want to focus on choosing a card for all of us to contemplate as we enter the first week ‘post-convention.’ Knowing things will only escalate exponentially (why would things change now?) as we start the final countdown to the election, I asked for a guiding concept for us to focus upon this week. The card I chose: Perception.

I’ve chosen and posted cards from this deck before. It’s the Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards/Tools for Transformation deck by Cher Lyn.

The imagery on this card feels particularly appropriate for the times we’re experiencing, especially the inclusion of the White Buffalo, which has been a fundamental aspect of prophecy for native North Americans for millennia. I hope you’ll take a moment to really zoom in on the details of Cher Lyn’s artwork and allow it to speak to you.

Here are the words she shared with this card:

Perception – “Blue Star Pe’Tanka”

The Star people watch, a new cycle birth

White Buffalo appears …good ways return to Earth.

Anticipate this Creation, it’s shifting,

All illusions, the veil is thinning and lifting.    

– Cher Lyn

“In the painting “Blue Star Pe’Tanka,” you see the spirit of a White Buffalo in gestation readying to birth abundance into the new world. She floats in the cosmos of non-linear time and space. The white owl flies in and brushes her wing through the symbol of creation to spin the wheel round again in a forward motion. The void is the cosmic eye of the buffalo, a portal into other worlds of untapped potential and adventure.

All humans see differently. You see one thing and someone right next to you can see something completely different. Everyone sees through his or her own eyes their own personal movie. See the diamond facet of yourself that is clear vision. It is here you find the Perception of the Divine…all of us has it. Sometimes it’s just covered up with dust, or emotional misinformation, attachments, or unconscious motives.

An ordinary mirror simply reflects back what it has been shown, but the mirror to your soul has a far more transformative multifaceted viewpoint with infinite potential. As you continue to heal, forgive, accept and love yourself you gain wisdom and can release the “you, who is not you.” You break through the conditionings and the dust of your illusions.

The appearances and experiences in your world are your personal mirrors of your creation. Every simple thought you have, every moment of appreciation or angry projected expression, every breath you take or scream you make, any kindness you give, and every moment of joy alters the world in some way and creates a future scene in the movie of your life.

With the Perception medicine card comes informational codes, which provide opportunity for clear vision. In your meditation allow for the intelligence of this concept, clear Perception, to reflect onto all the facets in the diamond of your life lens, projecting conscious truth and light into your personal movie called life.”

My Take

The sense I get from this card is that it would be fruitful for us to reflect upon what might be coloring our perceptions of the events that unfold this week. How might our past experiences be shading or influencing how we process the information we’re hearing and seeing projected to us now.

Is there a way for each of us – in any given moment – to consciously rise above the emotional charge of whatever it is we’re being told or shown and See things from a higher perspective? Perhaps now more than ever we’re being called to be vigilant over the use of our creative abilities: the immense power that is inherent in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

Ultimately, we’re all living in our own unique bubbles of perception. But we are also combining our perceptions to create our shared reality. First and foremost, each of us must take responsibility for our own unique thoughts, words, actions and, perhaps even more importantly, our choices of how we want to perceive the world.

Things are gestating. Change is coming. In the midst of the chaos maybe we can “mind our perception” and each do our best to perceive within the chaos the seeds of a new world that’s just, compassionate, and based on love and mutual respect.

It behooves us to pay attention to our perception.

(T-453)

I Got Nothin’ – Day Fifty Nine

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

I Got Nothin’

I’ve shown up every night for 59 days, trusting I would have something to write about. But tonight? I got nothing’. I know I said at the very beginning of this 1111 Devotion journey that there might be days when I would write one sentence and that would have to suffice.

But I hoped it wouldn’t actually come to that.

And I guess it hasn’t literally come to that today, either, since I’ve obviously written more than one sentence. (Umm, yea for me?)

Get Out Of Jail Free Card

So I’m in the clear. I’ve saved myself from using my Get Out Of Jail Free card tonight.

Which makes me wonder: How many GOOJF cards do I get in the 1111 Devotion? Since I’m making up the rules as I go along, I’d say 111 seems fair. Ten percent. What do you think?

In the grand scheme of things, that might appear reasonable (10%). But wow. Looking at it from the perspective that 10% would give me 111 whole, actual, days of only writing one sentence seems crazily over the top. That’s just shy of four months if I strung them all together.

Funny how perspective can shift everything, isn’t it?

That’s the cool thing about shamanic work, actually. (Bet you didn’t see that correlation coming out of left field, did you?)

Perception and Perspective

But it’s true. So much of what we experience in our day-to-day lives and in our world in general is rooted in our perceptions. And as we learn and grow more adept at shifting our perception, we actually gain the ability to begin shifting our reality in ways we might never have imagined.

And part of how we perceive anything is the perspective from which we look at it. But obviously, before we can shift our perspective, we have to realize what our present one is. How are we looking at something? Is it from a place of fear? Of feeling magnanimous and abundant? Is it from a place of feeling centered and at peace?

There are those varying perspectives we can consider, and then there are different levels of perception we can employ to shift our reality. But again, we first have to train ourselves to become aware of the different levels so we can identify what one we are looking at or perceiving from at any given moment.

So here I am, starting a conversation on how important both perspective and differing levels of perception can completely influence our experience of ‘reality.’ And I’m also suggesting that shamanic work can result in dramatic shifts in not only our perceptions, and perspectives, but also our realities.

That’s some pretty heady stuff to be contemplating right around midnight. Or the crack of dawn, if that’s when you’re reading this.

Checking Our Perspective – Occasionally

Just think about it. If you were told you had only one more month to live, would you look at anything the same way as you are in this present moment? That’s a radical question to ask any of us to contemplate, even if it might be some people’s actual reality. And we might be inclined to judge it as just a dumb intellectual exercise, since it can feel like we are bullshitting ourselves if we really try to imagine looking at ourselves from the perspective of knowing we only have one more month (or week, or day) to live.

But I do think it is helpful, sometimes, to take a personal re-set. To really sit down and think about how we are choosing to perceive our life, our circumstances, our relationships, and even our world, at any given time. Are we looking at these things from the default perspective that ‘things will never change?’ That, it seems to me, is an even greater bullshitting of ourselves than the former.

Ha ha – maybe I should’ve stopped at that one sentence and let things be.

Naaah. I still have 111 in my back pocket. Or do I?

(T-1052)