Swan

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)

Nope – Day 265

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From afar – Photo: L. Weikel

Nope. Not Yet.

No, I didn’t suss out the message being brought to me by Swan and Skunk. Not today, anyway. Not yet.

Rather than pondering that mystery, I became distracted by an unexpected sighting as I was sitting, yet again, by the creek. In fact, I was sitting in exactly the same spot I’d been sitting days ago when the Golden Vinyl Swan became marooned before me.

I don’t even know how I initially spotted it, to be honest. It’s quite unobtrusive, when viewed from afar. In fact, the leaves of the weeds it was climbing hid it from view from many angles. I just happened to see it because of the unique perspective I had, sitting where I was.

Greater My Willingness, Better the Shots

I think what was coolest about this distraction was how my willingness to get closer and closer to my subject kept yielding better and better photos.

The photo I placed at the top of this post was, in my estimation, decent enough. More than decent, in fact! I was pleased by how sharp the shot was and how lovely my caterpillar friend appeared.

Perspective – Photo: L. Weikel

Then I realized all at once that this caterpillar was very unlikely to move quickly. I might actually not only get closer but also zoom in to discover even more loveliness.

And so it came to pass.

I absolutely love my iPhone and the quality of photos I’m able to take with it.

From my vantage point, all I saw was the form of a caterpillar walking up the stalk of a rather large wildflower. Had I not undertaken an impromptu ‘study’ of this leaf muncher, I never would have had the opportunity to revel in its beauty – or share it with all of you.

The whole experience of this discovery made my afternoon. Even if it did distract me from contemplating the Swan/Skunk mystery. Perhaps the understanding of that will reveal itself tomorrow.

(T-846)

What’s the Message? – Day 264

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I Better Pay Attention

Anyone who makes an effort to pick Medicine Cards®on a regular basis knows how odd – but almost always significant – it is to go weeks or months or perhaps even longer without choosing a particular card, only to suddenly begin doing so. And it’s even weirder when you start choosing that card repeatedly, whether it be ‘on the top’ (meaning it’s the primary card you chose) or ‘on the bottom’ (meaning it’s literally the card on the bottom of the deck no matter where in the deck you chose your ‘main’ card from). The ‘bottom’ card is used to add context or sometimes a hint or clue as to what area in your life to which the main card might apply.

Well, over the past week, I chose Swan for the first time in a very, very long time. Specifically, the first time, I chose Swan/Weasel. Then I chose it again today. Swan/Skunk.

Two days before the first time I chose Swan (six days ago), Skunk started showing up, too. Indeed, Skunk showed up two days before Swan appeared, then for two days running a few days later, then one last time again – today.

My apologies if this seems a bit ‘in the weeds.’ My point is to show that Swan has not been an integral player in my life for a very long time, nor has Skunk – but now they’re both showing up. And I think I better pay attention. So I do…

Spirit’s Not So Sure

I assert (to myself, to Spirit) that I’m paying attention; I’m ‘all good,’ and indeed, I’m doing just fine thank you very much.

Yes, hmm. Swan has shown up in my life. OK. I’m supposed to ‘trust’ and ‘surrender’ – perhaps even literally journey for myself (as opposed to all the journeying I do on behalf of clients), in order to determine what my ‘next steps’ are.

I wrote about it a bit in my journal. But I’ll confess: I did not write much. I was sort of blowing it off; thinking I knew what it was driving at. Assuming. Indeed, I was acting as if I knew, at least superficially, what message Swan was bringing me.

Smack Upside the Head

Imagine my surprise, then, the other day, when I was sitting by the creek writing in my journal, when the following vision appeared before my eyes:

Special Delivery Messenger? – Photo: L. Weikel

I’ll be honest: this felt pretty freaking momentous. It felt playful – but insistent. After all, in some ways, a big blow-up golden Swan floating into my life was even more startling and clearly a message than had a regular, full-feathered Swan made an appearance.

Nevertheless (I’ll admit it), I blew that off, too. Well. Not entirely. I took a photo of it. I wrote about it in my journal. But I didn’t sit with it in all seriousness. I didn’t truly reflect on its meaning.

Which Brings Me To Today

Yet again, I chose Swan/Skunk today. These two archetypal energies have been hanging around me now for about two good weeks. Slipping in and out of my daily picks, flirting with my consciousness, floating down the Tohickon in real life and marooning itself on a rock right in front of where I was sitting and writing.

Yeah. I’m thinking there’s a message Spirit wants me to pay attention to and receive. Perhaps, if I’m diligent, I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

Photo: wildsafebc.com

(T-847)