More Challenges – Day 792

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

More Challenges

I’m willing to bet most of you join me in feeling the weight of this week hanging on our collective shoulders. A sense of foreboding is starting to permeate everything. It doesn’t help when the FBI warns that even more challenges may erupt in all 50 states, as well as the nation’s capital, at any moment.

As I sat down to write this evening, I wanted to provide something for us to ponder or perhaps use as inspiration or, dare I say it, hope. I feel as though the Crone cards I chose last week are still formidable guides for the entire month, so I feel like we should ‘stand pat’ on those.

My gaze went to my Mystic Art Medicine Cards deck by Cher Lyn. Do they have something to impart that might provide an assist as we deal with the after-effects of an attempted coup?

Perhaps.

Medicine Power

I shuffled gently and calmly, opening my heart and asking what might serve us to focus upon tomorrow, or perhaps as the week plays out. I felt quite peaceful as I shuffled, so I was surprised when one card literally jumped out of the deck and fell to the floor, face up. Hmm. Medicine Power. Flipping the deck over to see what was on the bottom, I again felt a sense of awe: Transformation. A card and a concept that, like the Eagles I wrote about yesterday, has been stalking us.

As soon as I looked it up and started reading, I realized the craftiness of Spirit.

Medicine Power – “Crazy Horse”

Eagle awakens vision eye,

Medicine power, ancient master wise.

Spin the cosmic portal

Unveil the secrets to be immortal.

~ Cher Lyn

“In the painting of “Crazy Horse,” one side of his head is donned with a white eagle feather, a sign of pure power bridging the spirit world to the physical plane here on Earth. On the other side is blazing firepower for transformation. Crazy Horse possessed Medicine Power as a prophet, seer, leader, and spiritual healer. He had the ability to commune with spirits dwelling on all levels of Creation. His face painted with the six-pointed star is a key of ancient cultures, Sacred Geometry come together and in itself is a Medicine Power. Conveying balance of the masculine and feminine within the infinite circle.

The dictionary acknowledges medicine as a synonym for magic, relating to magical forms of healing. Medicine Power doesn’t only represent healing the body from illness, but includes the design of finding all things of the Earth and Cosmos a gift. Native Americans use the word medicine to describe inexplicable forces beyond human perception. Medicine Power can be a stone, bone, plane, animal, or even a paintbrush. Everything is alive with spirit and potential medicine. Love is the most powerful Medicine. Your Medicine Power is innately always in you without a talisman, still a talisman helps you remember.

Wake up, take notice, and watch for omens and signs for the gifts of Medicine Power are always available to you. Don’t be fooled by medicine just because it seems small to your ego; the ant is a very powerful medicine.

Drawing the Medicine Power card is not to be taken lightly. Watch for signs. This card signifies an important medicine gift coming your way. In your heart, you have all the Medicine Power you need to heal your world.” (emphasis added)

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

The Foundation – Underneath: Transformation

Transformation – “Egyptian Magic”

“ (…) All things form and transform within the mysterious cycles of birth, life, and death. Instead of fearing the darkness you can bless it, learn from it, and embrace it. It is both your humanness and your light. The shadow you fear is powerless without the interpretation of your beliefs, thoughts, and desires. The power of Transformation lies in your ability to find the light within the shadow and make the connection, infusing focus on its light quality instead of the darkness.

Everything you think, feel, and do creates your lessons in the world you live in. Inside you great intelligence, wisdom, and love are ever present. It is the beliefs you have been taught that are the hindering factor here. Let the fire in your heart inspire you for Transformation. Perfecting your character and at the same time helping you let go while allowing any pain, sorrow, or difficulty to just be there. Allow the alchemical change to unfold and evolve you in its own time as you journey through your world with the power of intentions.

The Transformation card suggests that you be in touch with both your shadow side and your spiritual side. True Transformation can only happen in connection with your heart. Setting in motion authentic spiritual alchemy you will see a change in you, like base metal into gold. Essentially shifting your whole perspective.” (emphasis added)

A Reminder

I cannot love enough how Eagle managed to show up again for me today. Not literally in the feather, but in this main card for us – Medicine Power – reminding us of the power of paying attention to the messages being sent our way. It’s also reminding us of how essential it is that we discern within ourselves what unique gifts we can bring to shifting and transforming our world – right now.

It’s also uncanny how the Transformation card has been following us around like an obedient dog over the past many weeks and months. It was the foundational concept (watchword) when we were tasked with Perseverance not two weeks before the election.

Some good stuff to contemplate as we do our best to stay the course and witness the transformation of our country and our world.

(T-319)

Perseverance Pays Off – Day 713

Photo: Nationalgeographic.com

Perseverance Pays Off

If you read my post on Watchwords the other day, you’ll recognize one of them in the title above. I’ve noticed the word in recent articles or popping up in conversations over the past few days, but this evening I actually experienced first hand the wisdom in trusting that perseverance pays off.

And no, it’s not what you think. My epiphany has nothing to do with internal fortitude or relentlessly putting my shoulder to the wheel, pushing forward in the face of dire circumstances or daunting poll numbers. My appreciation for the benefits that perseverance can bring to our lives is much simpler and mundane.

Yet it made our evening.

In the midst of all the anxiety and insanity surrounding the election and – perhaps even worse, the worry over how things will unfold post-election – Karl and I persevered. And it paid off.

Embracing Distraction

The weather where I live shifted dramatically late this afternoon. It felt like the temperature dropped about 20 degrees within the span of half an hour. I’d been working at my usual perch on our porch, engaging in a long distance reading for a client and friend, when all of a sudden I realized that the wind had shifted and I was cold. Shifting my workspace inside, I completed the session, but I was chilled to the bone.

I flirted with the idea of taking a long, hot bath and just settling in to crack open a book I picked up at the library just yesterday. But Karl was the pushy one tonight, prodding me to take a walk, even if it was just our shorter two mile jaunt.

Upon our return, we agreed that we just wanted to hunker down, get warm, pig out (no, I’m not going there), and lose ourselves in a distracting movie – ideally a feel-good one.

Karl suggested a movie that looked light and might have potential. I think it was called The Prince & Me, and it was airing on Netflix. Good grief; it was awful. The dialogue was stilted, the premise formulaic. And while I don’t claim to be a film connoisseur, even I have my limit. We gave it a total of about 20 minutes and had to just let it die on the vine.

We surfed the movie lineups on a couple of channels. (It should be noted here that Karl was hell-bent on watching a movie. We’re actually in the middle of a couple of really great series, but he wanted a movie.) We saw one that had Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in it: Downhill, and gave it a try. Oh my. It was a downer. We like both actors and wanted to like the movie, but no. No. We wanted to laugh. Or at least not feel like we were being forced to watch a marriage plunge off the side of a mountain in slow motion.

Out of Character

Once again, we gave the movie a good 35-40 minutes or so to redeem itself and give us a reason to stick with it. (Yes, we gave it a slightly longer opportunity than we gave the other. The writing – and acting – were both significantly better than the first debacle.) But alas, as out of character as it was for us not to just ‘stick with it’ (and suffer), we persevered in our quest to find a movie that would lift us out of our routine thoughts and existential concerns. We turned off Downhill and resumed our search for a movie that would fit the bill.

And we prevailed.

Karl had another suggestion. One we had to dig for because he misremembered the title and our search kept coming up empty. But then he remembered enough of the title for us to ultimately zero in on it: Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Watch the trailer.

Quirky for sure, but most definitely a worthy distraction. I recommend it for many reasons: amazing scenery (you can’t beat New Zealand for stunning scenery), the accents, a plot line that held a number of surprises, and heart. The movie definitely has heart.

So while our perseverance tonight may not have yielded transformation, it did put smiles on both of our faces. Our moods most definitely shifted as a result of our relentless pursuit of a movie to take our minds off the utter awfulness in the outside world, if only for a couple hours. If you watch it, you won’t regret it.

And it just goes to show: you never know how or when the Watchwords we’re given will come in handy.

(T-398)