It’s Been a While – Day 842

The Ocean Oracle by Susan Marte – 12 – Shark – Opportunities

It’s Been a While

It’s been a while since I chose an Ocean Oracle card for us to contemplate. While there is the possibility that in a couple of days we may have to deal with some weird hangover stuff still lurking in some people’s minds following the insurrection attempt on January 6th, I’m holding out hope that it’ll all blow over. Maybe that’s what that wild wind last night was trying to sweep away.

We can hope.

New Card

I cleared my mind and shuffled the deck. If I held anything in my mind, I guess I’d describe it as mostly a feeling, a sort of ‘holding’ the idea of March in my consciousness and just asking for a word or an idea that could be our collective March ‘watchword.’

12 ~ Shark ~ Opportunity

The Story:

Once upon a time in the watery depths of a great ocean long ago forgotten, there lived a community of sea creatures. They lived together in peaceful harmony. Their community was abundant and prosperous and provided for all their needs. One day a neighbouring shark came by, telling them of an opportunity that would enhance their lives even more. Since the community could not fathom what else they may need, they let the opportunity pass them by. The shark swam away. Time passed and the community started to hear about other communities, who had taken a chance with the opportunities the shark offered them, and how their communities had become even more abundant and prosperous. The shark came again to the community, and again offered them an opportunity to enhance their lives. They were hesitant. They knew what they had and they were happy. Could there really be more out there? When the shark came for the third time the community decided to take the opportunity presented to them, this time not letting their fear stop them. Although at first it was scary and there was some hesitation, when the community whole-heartedly embraced the opportunity, they found their community grew and expanded in ways they never dreamed possible.

The Messages:

Is opportunity knocking? Be aware it doesn’t not knock forever. If you do not take the opportunity it could pass you by. Is this an acceptable option? This card could be a reminder that there are opportunities and you need to grab hold and shape what comes your way and make it yours and make what you will of it. Opportunities may or may not be straightforward. They may be in the murky depths. They may come at dawn or dusk or be just out of vision or tangible reach. Opportunities about. Take the fullness of the possibility and open up to the potential it holds.”

At the Foundation

Underneath (on the bottom of the deck) when I chose the Shark card was – surprise surprise – the same card we’ve had sitting in counsel with us for months now: Sea Heather – Resilience.

As it has indeed shown up before, you can read about Resilience here.

My Take

While I provided the link to the specific description of Resilience in the Ocean Oracle from when I chose it for us last time, I have to admit, I wasn’t at all surprised for the concept to be underneath and holding up everything around us. Resilience is essential if we are going to survive.

In many ways, I think most of us hoped that we would be able to let our guards down at least a little once President Biden was elected. That’s because we knew, among other changes, a serious fight would begin to be waged on the Covid-19 pandemic and its pernicious threat to our health, lives, and livelihoods. In some ways, our internal holding ourselves at ‘defcon 5’ all the time has subsided at least a little bit.

But the truth is that – above all else, or fundamentally (underpinning all else) – we know and are being shown every day that there are a tremendous amount of threats facing us at the moment. With the Opportunities Shark is telling us to look around for and consider embracing, we must always hold fast to what is true. We must stay strong in ourselves and remain open-minded; if we do, we just may see opportunity in a whole lot more situations than we ever might have imagined just a month or two or six ago.

There’s a lot of upheaval still simmering just under the surface. Unexpected opportunities to make a difference will come and go, especially this month. We need to consider them. Entertain them. Quite possibly seize them. But throughout it all, we must keep our roots planted deep enough to foster our resilience.

(T-269)

Trial Card – Day 820

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)