Raven

Dragon Blood – Day 944

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Iris Dragon – Photo: L. Weikel

Dragon Blood

It’s futile to dispute: Irises traffic in Dragon blood. They have to. They either traffic in it or have it coursing within themselves. There’s no way Dragons could feature so prominently in the visages of irises without there being a deep and abiding  – magical some might say – connection between the two.

They’re tricksters, too. I’ll give them that. Just take a look at this spray of irises emerging from a well-manicured garden along the path of my walk. Sure appears benign to me. In fact, it almost goes without saying that these flowers could call out in unison, “Nothing to see here!” and passersby would, well, pass by without nary a second look.

But of course, I’m not your ordinary passerby. I tend to linger a bit when I happen upon a thing of beauty. (Photos in my repertoire would suggest that I’m not only attracted to the beautiful. But I’ll leave that for another day.) When my attention is drawn to something, I tend to examine it from many angles and, if possible, get a couple good shots of it to share here in my 1111 Devotion.

So much beauty – with Dragons hiding in plain sight! Photo: L. Weikel

Magic Strikes Twice

As it happens, I’ve encountered these irises before. I wrote about them two years ago – almost to the day. I’m not sure if I even saw them bloom last year. But if I did, I apparently was too distracted by life to write about them.

From the quality of my photos, I’d say this year’s crop of Dragons is more blatant and ready to be identified and claimed. I’ll leave that assessment up to you, though. But I dare you to tell me this one isn’t pushing the sassy envelope. I can even read expressions on the face of this Nature Being.

Interesting Coincidence

I was pretty sure I wrote a post about these Iris Dragons a while ago. Turns out, as I mentioned above, it was two years ago – within two days or so of this exact date, not to put too fine a point on it.

When I researched that post, I was fascinated to be reminded of the appearance of Raven in my Medicine Card choice that day. Indeed, I’d chosen ‘Raven Squared,’ which means Raven was the main card that I chose, with only a blank card at the bottom of the deck.

Raven is often associated with magic and synchronicity. As a result, I wrote about the magic coursing through my life at that moment, which was exemplified by my discovery of these whimsical creatures ‘in plain sight.’

As it happens, I chose Swan reversed this morning. And underneath that choice? You guessed it: Raven.

A Magic Message

My Swan may have been telling me that I’ve been doubting myself and my intuition lately. I’ve been doubting what I know. I realize now that Raven came pecking at the door to my inner knowing through the appearance of the Iris Dragon. Raven shows up when we need to remember the magic – a timely reminder for all of us?

What an expression – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-167)

Dahlia? No, Iris! – Day 210

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Irises – Photo: L. Weikel

Dahlia? No, Iris!

The title to this post is actually an inside joke with someone who may or may not even read it. But I suspect it’ll be read, so I’m going to leave it.

Karl and I came across these exquisite blooms today on our walk. I was surprised – we’d walked past these clumps of green and white striped leaves for a couple weeks now, and I never had the slightest inkling they were irises – until today. I’d actually thought/assumed (always dangerous, I know) that they were just some type of pretty ornamental grasses.

So when we came upon them today, I had to celebrate their beauty and take their photo. They were simply too pretty not to share.

But then, when I walked up to the blossoms and took their photo, I was amazed.

Take a look at this closeup:

“Dragon” Iris – Photo: L. Weikel

This stunning flower is the spitting image of a fire-breathing dragon. And as soon as I saw this Dragon staring me in the face, I exclaimed with delight and knew I would share it with you this evening.

I chose Raven ‘squared’ today (once again, meaning I had a ‘blank’ card on the bottom of the deck when I chose Raven – upright, as it happened – on my day). Raven, as I’ve elaborated upon in a variety of posts (here, here, and here, to name just a few), is all about magic.

I’ll admit that I made some decisions today that have a somewhat magical tinge to them, and I even had some magical conversations, too. But when I looked at that iris head on, face-to-face, as it were, through my iPhone’s lens, I was bowled over by the face of the dragon staring back at me. And while I see it breathing fire, I also sensed it’s a tad playful and may even be laughing at me.

And all of this reminded me of a certain Dahlia I know; a courageous, ferocious – and most definitely magical – beast… And I had to laugh at the floral ambiguity I could playfully create in this post.    

As we begin a new week, may you find the magic in your life – and don’t be surprised if it’s hiding in plain sight.

(T-901)

Tornado Watch – Day 198

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Cloud Bank – Photo: L. Weikel

Tornado Watch? Warnings?

Just last Sunday a tornado touched down only a few miles from our home.  It was the first tornado to land in Bucks County in 22 years.

When I left Medicine in Balance earlier this evening, I was bowled over by the wet blanket of dank air that draped over my shoulders as soon as I walked out of the air-conditioned building. It felt like I was walking through warm, musty soup. Looking south, I saw massive thunderheads building.

As I slid into the driver’s seat of my car, I reached into my purse and pulled out my cell phone, switching it from ‘silent.’ My cricket signal for text messages chirped within seconds – a text message from Karl alerting me that our area was under a Tornado Watch until 10:00 p.m. this evening.

It’s Still Wild Out Now

While I am the first to admit that I love wild weather, especially thunderstorms, I also readily acknowledge the unsettled, prickly, hair standing slightly on end feeling that comes with precipitous drops in air pressure that accompany such major storms. It’s a little exciting and scary.

My drive home was highlighted by gorgeous lightning displays. Massive cloud banks flickering pink with slate blue outlines were mesmerizing. The telltale zig-zag of chain lightning also warranted top billing in tonight’s show. Indeed, even as I sat pondering what I might write about tonight, my attention kept getting grabbed by the relentless flashes of light visible through our windows.

We have our whole house fan on and despite that, even as I sit here now, I can hear rain falling from the sky in sheets – but across the road, in the field and trees. All of a sudden the air being pulled in by the fan is 15 degrees cooler. And our wind chimes are crankily clanging one single note; it’s as if they’re stuck in a single-minded, close-loop state.

What Was It I Picked Today?

I’m reminded of the Medicine Cards I chose on my day: Grouse/Raven. I was so preoccupied with my client, and then the other responsibilities of my day that I hadn’t given them a single thought throughout the day.

The key words for Grouse are ‘Sacred Spiral.’ And the pertinent aspect of this card that I was reminded of just moments ago is this:

“…The sacred Spiral is also one of the oldest known symbols for personal power. When you think of Grouse medicine, visualize a whirlpool or even a tornado, for the Sacred Spiral will take you to the center. The spiral is a metaphor for personal vision and enlightenment. Many initiates on Vision Quests pain spiral on their bodies and believe that the Great Mystery will favor them with visions of power and purpose because of this symbol.”

Not sure if there’s any connection here. Or if there’s any significance or message whatsoever. Probably not. But hey – tornadoes are showing up in my life. I’m even being told to watch for them. I’m hoping they start bringing bright flashes of illumination to me and my perspective on my life. I’m craving some new insights.

(T-913)

Raven’s Cryptic Message – Day 164

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Raven Grokking – Photo: sciencenordic.com

Raven’s Cryptic Message           

For someone who is genuinely and enthusiastically gung-ho over listening and acting upon the messages we receive, sometimes I can be as thick as two planks.

The frustrating truth is that it is nearly impossible for me to do for myself what I’m pretty good at doing for others: seeing things from a different perspective and intuiting the messages being presented so they can be implemented.

I try to exercise patience with myself, but I assure you, it’s not easy.

Waiting For Clarity

I’ve been on the receiving end of so many messages this year, it’s hard to keep track. But since the start of 2019 in particular, I’ve felt a major shift on my horizon. I’ve sort of been flailing about a little – guessing what some of the ‘signs’ might mean. But it’s also just not felt ‘right’ yet. Sort of like my life is like a brilliant orange-yoked egg sprung from a very happy, free-range hen. This glorious egg is sizzling in butter in a cast-iron pan – but still has a lot of slimy, only slightly opaque, ‘white’ groovin’ around its solar yolk.

It looks so enticing, but you either need to flip it quickly (making it ‘over easy’) or let it fry its course. Congeal a bit more. Don’t want to be too hasty in putting that baby on your plate.

(We had a delicious dinner tonight; I don’t know why I’m writing as if I’m starving and eating vicariously through my words.)

Anyway, my point is that the messages coming to me of impending change have come from all directions. Even son Karl, for whom I engage in this 1111 Devotion every single night, has seen fit to muscle his way back into this Middle World to give me a good push.

Ravens Ravens Everywhere

Something new this year is that Ravens have made a nest high within the crook of a tall evergreen across the road from our house. These birds are incredibly noisy and gregarious. I’m pretty sure these grokking, midnight-feathered, winged ones are Ravens – either that or ‘Fish Crows.’ I know I should be able to tell by their tails, but they’re mostly hopping around a lot lately, building their nests and yakking at each other.

As I’ve written before, Ravens are all about ‘magic.’ I picked it reversed and squared today, which you’ll recall in the ‘Weikel Way’ means it was reversed and the card on the bottom of the deck was a blank. So – extra powerful.

Now this could have freaked me out, since choosing Raven reversed can portend that there’s been an abuse of power, a wishing of ill toward another that’s coming back to haunt the ‘wisher,’  or a general smoky confusion.

When I read my card this morning, I was pretty confident that I’d not been wishing ill on anyone or abusing my power. But I did feel it might in some way be related to my uncertainty how to proceed in the face of all this recent pushing for me to ‘change things up’ and, as another message Karl gave through the three messengers I mentioned the other day, ‘take things to the next level.’

I felt like I was ‘on the brink.’

On the Precipice of Making a Leap

And so it was as the sun started slipping below the horizon this evening that I found myself fleshing out in my own mind some big changes I’m going to implement in the way I’m going to approach my Work and my life.

I started writing out some specific ideas. Then Karl suggested we take a walk and I continued fleshing out my sense of when and how and why I was ready to make some major changes. The sense of excitement and perhaps even of a ‘breakthrough’ in consciousness was flirting with us both.

As we strode along the newer, longer leg of our path (in keeping with my desire to add more mileage to my daily walks), I stopped at one point to take some photos of the clouds that just seemed to resonate with this pervasive sense of delight (and relief).

While the clouds themselves did not so obviously reflect what’s pretty clearly depicted in the following photos, the perspective lent by the iPhone captured the joy and forward movement of a figure, arms raised, skipping happily into the future.

Clearing the Smoky Doubt

My conclusion is that in making the firm decision to move forward with some serious changes in my practice and my life, removing myself from a rut I’ve obviously been reveling in for some time, I cleared away the smoky doubt that Raven reversed was warning me about.

I know I’m being a bit coy about revealing the changes that are coming. But check out these photos. See if you don’t see the joy in the figure running across the sky, breaking free of old habits, mental blocks, and self-imposed doubt and restrictions.

I need to get some sleep. As I’ve been told before, there’s work to be done!

Joyfully running and leaping into the future – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-947)

 

Found Magic – Day 152

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 3 Comments
Found Magic: Faerie House – Photo: L.Weikel

Found Magic

Karl left for appointments at the crack of dawn this morning, so we didn’t get a chance to have our coffee together and pick cards the way we usually do. Nevertheless, he did text me later in the morning to let me know what he’d chosen on his day.

Meanwhile, I knew it was supposed to rain later in the day, so I made a point of getting out earlier than I usually do to take a walk. Before I left, I chose a Medicine Card® for my day: I chose Raven with Mouse underneath.

Raven/Mouse

As I’ve had occasion to discuss a few times already, (here, here, and here) Raven is associated with the concept of Magic. I capitalize the ‘M’ in Magic in this context because it is different than your normal, hokus pokus, pull a rabbit out of a hat type of magic. It’s way bigger than that. Or sometimes much smaller.

I’ve had some pretty cool experiences this week, which, again, I’m digesting and contemplating how and when to share with all of you. It’s not that I’m hoarding my experiences. At least that’s not my intention. Rather, I’m holding them close to the vest, so to speak, until I’ve integrated them, making an effort not to dilute them by sharing them too quickly and thus not appreciating their ‘Magic.’

So when I got this combo of Raven/Mouse today, I thought it might be an indication that it’s time for me to start sharing some of the experiences I’ve had over the past several weeks.

Alas, that’s not how it’s playing out.

Not What I Expected

For when I was walking today, I came upon a setting that screamed, “MAGIC!” to me. So much so, in fact, that I had to stop and take a photo with my iPhone to share with you.

Take a look at the photo that’s accompanying this post and tell me I did not stumble upon some Magic right in the middle of regular life. This faerie house is completely and totally natural. It’s growing out of the bark on a tree that’s just growing tall beside the road.

And part of the Magic, in my mind at least, is that I actually saw it. Out of all the myriad sights and sounds and odors, from screeching hawks to trucks with confederate flags in their back window to cigarette butts, the occasional fast food container and a beer bottle or two, and a Boston Terrier named Spartacus excitedly marking his territory on all sorts of new logs and piles of leaves – I noticed this exquisite piece of faerie real estate.

It felt like a gift. Just look at the detail, the colors, the exquisite natural beauty.

Stuff I Didn’t Get Done vs. Magic

There were tasks I had set for myself to accomplish today that I did not manage to complete. And a couple of times, I started in on lamenting that I’d walked instead of doing those things first. But then I was reminded of two other amazing discoveries I’d made this week – both on Wednesday – and both of which I would have completely missed had I not walked precisely when I did that day. Not only were they amazing discoveries in and of themselves, but the township literally scraped the dirt road upon which I’d found both of them the very next day. So my timing had been perfect.

And that’s how I felt about my discovery of the faerie house earlier today. It was all about timing and paying attention (Mouse) and being open to the myriad little things in life that bring us joy and arouse our awareness of the Magic that surrounds all of us if we open our hearts and eyes and ears.

And if we simply give ourselves the chance to just be.

(T-959)

Waiting – Day Sixty Three

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Photo by kids.nationalgeographic.com

Waiting

Man, waiting has to be one of the hardest things to do. Because, obviously, it requires us to not do. And for people who have been taught that not doing is lazy, uninspired, weak, or somehow obviously lacking in the qualities that make one a ‘winner,’ waiting can feel like torture.

Waiting requires patience and, to a certain extent, faith. Faith that in making the conscious decision to step back from activity, from taking action or doing something to change a situation in some tangible, affirmative way (move it forward, take it in a different direction, bring in a new catalyst), you are in fact ‘doing’ the right thing.

And that’s the tricky part, isn’t it?

Doing by not doing?

And Yoda Says…

Sounds so zen and new age-y. Or for those of us who love Star Wars, Yoda-like.

But there’s a huge wisdom to the concept. (Which, duh, is why Yoda espoused it.) And because our society positively reveres action, striving, leaning into, hurdling over, and winning!, waiting can feel like losing. Or giving up.

It can feel like suicide.

So when we’re asked to wait – by other people, institutions, circumstances, or Spirit – we can actually feel more stressed over standing down than we would if we were given a task universally thought to be impossible to achieve. Because doing is better than not doing. Because when asked to do the impossible, we rise to the challenge like starving goldfish to the fish food dispenser. Because even if we fail to achieve that (impossible) goal, if we tried really hard, if we did our best, if we gave it our all, then at least we couldn’t be blamed for not succeeding. Right?

In an informal survey of people close to me, there are a startlingly large number of people being asked to wait as we begin living our version of 2019. I can think of at least a dozen people I know (myself being one of them) being asked – no, directed – to be patient. To wait.

Perhaps we are being asked to allow the rest of the world to catch up to us.

Perhaps the circumstances that we will need to make the most out of the idea we’re percolating, or the deal we know is perfect, haven’t fallen into place yet. Maybe we don’t even know yet what those missing pieces are. And maybe we will never know.

We Need to Trust

Yet they need to fall into place for the rest of our vision to come into being. If we don’t know what they are, but they’re essential to the ‘mission,’ then we need to trust. And wait.

Maybe we’re being asked to give ourselves the opportunity to muster our inner and/or outer resources so that when it comes time to deploy them, they are fully replenished and abundantly accessible and renewable. So we wait.

My point is that we simply Do. Not. Know. And it’s an illusion to always think we know best; that we know how things are supposed to unfold. We know what comes next in our Grand Plan.

If this dance with doing/not doing feels uncomfortably familiar, I feel you.

Last year, on New Year’s Day 2018, Karl and I chose our Medicine Cards like we do every other day. But of course, when we choose on New Year’s Day we accord it special meaning. We ascribe to that pick our theme for the year.

A Prairie Dog Year – Last Year

In 2018, I chose Prairie Dog/Raven.

Prairie Dog’s key word is Retreat. And Raven’s key word is Magic.

To be honest, I was psyched. Toward the end of 2017, I’d started getting the feeling that 2018 was going to be the year I finally, finally stopped talking about it and devoted my time to digging deep into writing the sequel to Owl Medicine.

Good Goddess. I’ve only known the essence of that sequel since I lived it a million years ago.

But it didn’t happen. Instead, it was a really rough year for us in a myriad of ways. It took a lot of my focus to just keep us on track and our eyes forward. There was not a lot of opportunity to give myself the inner seclusion I need to write. No opportunity to retreat – at least, in the way I had envisioned I would, or for the purpose I assumed.

Eventually I had to let go of my certainty that 2018 was the year of writing my next book. (Indeed, I’m so damn tired of even thinking there will be a sequel, I hesitate to even bring it up here.)

I was forced to wait. And wait some more. And pivot. Put out fires. Dance around and make things work, but wait on the urge to complete my manuscript. My work was to keep our collective act together and wait for the Universe to move things – people and opportunities –  I had not notion of a year ago into place that would allow forward movement when the time was right.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I picked my cards for 2019.

(T-1048)

Photo: defendersblog.org

Magic – Day Thirty One

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 Magic

Once again, if you’d asked me this morning what tonight’s post would be about, ‘magic’ would not have occurred to me, just as ‘trust’ wasn’t on my radar yesterday.

In case you didn’t notice, I was feeling a bit…passionate when I wrote last night’s post. Hard as it may be to believe, I’d actually brought it down a couple notches by the time I wrote the post. (You can imagine what it was like earlier that evening; it wasn’t pretty.) Indeed, I actually think I’ve been suffering from an adrenaline hangover all day today. My body aches and I’ve felt exhausted. Like a wet dishrag, actually. Just wrung the heck out.

Anyway, although Raven (which is associated with ‘Magic’ in the Medicine Cards), was not what I picked on my day this morning, it did end up being chosen by me in another context. And as the day unfolded, I honestly could feel Raven exercising its influence, even after the primary purpose for choosing it had passed. Indeed, I felt it working with the situation about which I was so upset yesterday.

While there are a couple of particularly salient paragraphs I could quote, I’m going to settle for just a few portions:

“If you have chosen Raven, magic is in the air. Do not try to figure it out; you cannot. It is the power of the unknown at work, and something special is about to happen. (…)

It may be time to call Raven as a courier to carry an intention, some healing energy, a thought, or a message. Raven is the patron of smoke signals or spirit messages represented by smoke. (…)

Remember, this magic moment came from the void of darkness, and the challenge is to bring it to light. In doing so you will have honored the magician within.”

Hurt Feelings Abounded

As it turns out, hurt feelings abounded last night, and not just on my end. Out of the darkness of that sense that I had unwittingly uncovered a betrayal from a completely unexpected source, the two of us were able to bring light to the situation.

Reflecting on the heartfelt emails that went back and forth between us today, I can only say that I know for certain both of us encountered magic. The volcanic eruption that occurred yesterday took us both completely by surprise. And yet, because we do have the level of trust that I described as only one tier below that of my inner circle of closest family, we each cared enough to express ourselves with utter vulnerability and honesty.

Need I say how startlingly rare that is in the world?

In the end, I am called upon to trust. I do not need the documentary proof that may or may not exist. I choose to rely on my instincts, and trust. I choose to listen to Raven, and embrace the magic.

Oh – one last thing? Moose was underneath that Raven. Wow.

(T-1080)