Support Staff – Day 1099

Burning Sunset – Photo: L. Weikel

Support Staff

It’s been a while since I chose a card to guide us through the week ahead. And as I approach the end of my 1111 Devotion, I am reflecting on the assistance and inspiration I’ve received from the handful of tarot and other oracle decks that became my ‘go-to’ support staff.

I’ve been trying extra hard over the past week or two to steer clear of watching anything but the barest bones of news. The trials going on in various parts of our country feel like we’re witnessing Theater of the Absurd. As an attorney, I’m appalled at the behavior of the judge in Wisconsin. His rulings, his behavior, his attitudes all embody impropriety. Right now, right when our institutions are perilously close to crashing all around us, this petty, vindictive, obviously biased man pollutes our nation’s belief in justice.

Right when we need them most, our systems are failing us.

And it goes without saying that this includes Congress. Good grief. I know I don’t even need to write a word on that subject. It’s painful to watch each day tick by without the egregious and unprofessional behavior of a faction of Congress create a mockery of this essential branch of government.

Accountability

There’s a word that all of us are probably feeling pretty obviously doesn’t apply to the rich and powerful in our country. First of all, it barely seems as if anyone is even made to break a sweat when they brazenly lie, cheat, and steal while holding public office (or fraternize with those who do). And then, even when an occasional subpoena is issued or indictment is handed down, we get a front row seat to all the tricks of the trade that the wealthy use to delay and obstruct justice in our country.

I used to see it when I practiced family law. Money used as a bludgeon to maintain an untenable status quo. And when that doesn’t work? Delay, obstruct, and bleed the weaker side dry.

January 6th was a failed coup attempt. You know it; I know it. We all know it. But every single day that goes by and people keep pretending it wasn’t exactly what it was, our country becomes that much weaker. Every day. Drip by drip.

Despair

I don’t want to give in to despair. And the last think I want to do is promote it. But at the same time, I feel like most of us who kept the faith through the debacle that was the Trump Administration are losing hope that our country can be reunited. There is precious little overlap between realities anymore. And without common ground? How do we salvage what’s left of our country’s future?

The Ocean Oracle

I turn to a deck created by a wonderfully creative friend of mine, Susan Marte, for inspiration and perhaps a way forward. Susan is the creator of The Ocean Oracle.

Holding the energy of my words in my heart as I shuffle, I seek a way forward. What do we need to know? How can we help ourselves?

The two cards that appear make me catch my breath.

Alas, I don’t have time to upload the images or share the wisdom of the cards in this moment. But I promise to share them tomorrow night.

I will tell you this: The top card was Nautilus and the foundational card, the card holding space at the bottom of the deck, was Sea Urchin. When you hear what they represent, I suspect you, too, will see and feel both the promise as well as the turbulent path we’ll need to navigate in order to ‘get there.’

Until tomorrow, then. Remember: Nautilus/Sea Urchin.

Tohickon Creek- A Fork in the Path
(11 November 2018) Photo: L. Weikel

(T-12)

Trouble – Day 1081

Trouble – Photo: L. Weikel

Trouble

Look at the photo above. Brutus is flirting with disaster. And Cletus is providing an almost irresistible target. No matter which way you look at it, trouble seems to be the most probable outcome.

While the expression on Brutus’s face is kind of cute, the energy of this photo sort of captures how I’m feeling at the moment. I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it almost physically painful to even look at headlines.

With all the harbingers of a truly horrific downfall of our country beating us over the head, day after day, I am gobsmacked that a handful of people are essentially holding us back from taking a huge leap forward in reclaiming our status as an enlightened country. It literally hurts my heart to contemplate how selfish and bought these so-called representatives (Senators) are to be refusing to allow progressive ideals even the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives.

Honestly, I find myself without words and feeling despair in my heart.

Anyone Else?

It just feels like we’ve been through so much – and there’s no respite, no blue sky. We never get the chance to see our ideas and ideals implemented. We never get to see what exercising compassion at the root of our country’s actions would yield.

And all the while, the rich not only get richer – they get obscenely richer. And two people who profess to be part of the party that wants to implement change for the vast majority of our country – just two – have the power to derail what millions of people voted for last year.

There’s no point in me even writing about any of this. I know. And that simple fact takes my breath away.

That Light

I don’t know why I’m compelled to write from such a dismal place this evening. Thank goodness I’ve had puppies to focus upon lately, I guess. Because Spartacus’s sudden death knocked the wind out of me. And the utter intransigence we’re witnessing in Washington D.C. right now is having a similar effect. It’s sucking the hope right out of my sails.

The light I think so many of us felt last November is turning out to be, in all seriousness, the headlight of an oncoming bullet train that’s going to demolish the United States – at least the U.S. we were raised to believe we were.

I feel powerless to stop it and – damn, I have to say – I loathe feeling powerless.

Something needs to change. The system as it exists now has been so corrupted by dark money (and light money – and money of every shade in between) that the country we thought we had no longer exists. And if hope is extinguished in most of us?

Trouble will have found its home.

Beauty in spite of it all – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-30)

Walking Through Mud – Day 789

Muddy Upstream – Photo: L. Weikel

Walking Through Mud

So, how’s 2021 working out for all of us so far? Honestly, this first week of January has felt like the emotional equivalent of experiencing an entire year (of horror) in warp speed. And yet the past two days have felt, to me, like I was walking through mud.

I have to wonder if I’m the only one who’s experiencing this paradoxical sensation.

I’m feeling incredible outrage coursing through me as I contemplate the audacity of the people who stormed our halls of Congress. It would appear at first glance as though they’ve perpetrated this assault with impunity, although I’m aware there are many arrests yet to occur and crimes to be charged. As we witnessed the mob violence unfold on Wednesday, though, it was beyond upsetting to see the marauders almost stroll out of the Capitol with admonitions to honor the 6:00 p.m. curfew.

When we subject ourselves to the images of that fateful day (which are admittedly hard to avoid in the aftermath), how do we reconcile within our own psyches the hundreds upon hundreds of bodies streaming through those marbled halls, smashing windows and battering down doors with the reality that only 15 arrests were made that day? Yes, more have occurred since then. But the sheer incongruity of it all, especially after witnessing the predominantly peaceful protests following George Floyd’s murder this past summer and the oppressively militaristic response to them is overwhelming and depressing.

Bar the Doors

Ever since I woke up yesterday (Thursday), I’ve felt as though I were living in a different world. Accomplishing the tasks on my agenda the past two days has felt like it took Herculean effort. Again, my movements – heck, even my thoughts – felt like they were struggling to swim upstream, pushing against a thick current of despair and revulsion prompted by the chaos and malignant intentions unleashed on the symbols and representatives of our government.

It feels as though something needs to be done to protect us from the worst impulses of the current occupant of the White House – and they need to happen immediately. Even taking a ‘wait until Monday’ approach feels perilously risky. I feel as though we need to bar the doors and grab the oxygen masks – all while running through waist-high mud.

The End and the Beginning

It feels like it might be a good thing to revisit the advice we received from The Crone just four short days ago. We are indeed living through ‘the End’ of a cycle. Perhaps over the next several days, those of us who have no real power or influence over what gets done procedurally or even practically in dealing with the imminent threat DT and his followers pose to our democracy might want to take some time to sit quietly and envision what we want to create.

How can we improve our country? Get the money out of politics? That might be a great place to start. How could we best accomplish that? Just imagining trying to bring such a reality into being might feel like we’re still running through mud. But what a difference this could make.

That’s just one thought that occurs to me this evening as I try to shift my thoughts from despair to a new day.

But first we need to get through the weekend.

(T-322)

Schitt’s Creek – Day 653

Promise on the Horizon – Photo: L. Weikel

Schitt’s Creek

In an effort to avoid as much deliberately-induced anxiety as possible, Karl and I decided to abstain from political fare this week. We’re choosing instead to rely primarily on video clips embedded in news articles for a recap of the state of our country as viewed by the Republican Party. Which brings me to what we’ve been watching instead: Schitt’s Creek.

We only started watching this show, which ran for five seasons, about six weeks ago. It just aired its last episode on Netflix this past April – and I’m pretty sure we started watching it because of the affection expressed by viewers who seemed genuinely sad to see it end.

It took us a couple episodes to get into it, but the campy characters and their affectations are both over-the-top and endearing. There’s no violence or ugliness. It’s mostly about relationships, primarily superficial ones, but some of them are particularly playful and truly fun to watch develop.

Most importantly, though, the show is an easy, light, and playful escape from, well, the shit’s creek we find ourselves up, especially as Americans, if we’re clear-eyed and honest. And just catching some of the clips from the two evenings of the RNC extravaganza so far, makes it clear (if it wasn’t already) that we’re navigating without a paddle.

(No. I couldn’t leave it. It had to be said. You knew it was coming. I tried to muzzle myself but, in the end, I couldn’t resist.)

The truth is, we’ve streamed an especially generous number of episodes of Schitt’s Creek over the past couple of days – and the irony just had to translate into a blog post.

The Alternative

The alternative to me making lame jokes about the name of a television series and extolling its efficacy in allowing our minds to slip into neutral for an evening is – you guessed it – more cloud sharing.

Tonight we witnessed some towering specimens of magnificence, which then gradually gave forth to some startlingly ominous and threatening banks of darkness. And yes, the metaphors weren’t lost on us.

It was as if we were witnessing a water vapor enhanced exposition of the soaring visions painted last week juxtaposed against the oppressive boogeymen of fear and oppression on offer this week. What was most remarkable, perhaps, was the rapidity with which the transformation occurred.

Looking NW – Photo: L. Weikel

A Warning

All of which feels like an essential reminder and warning to all of us. Things can change dramatically (in a myriad of ways) in the blink of an eye. We make assumptions at our peril.

We mustn’t be afraid – but we also must, at the same time, remain vigilant and steadfast in what we know to be of greatest importance in life. We’re living in unprecedented times, and we’re being asked to choose the world we want to both create and leave as our legacy.

Do we choose to see and build on the beauty? On love? Or will we focus on the darkness, the fear, and the division?

It’s up to us. And our choices are our paddle.

Looking NE – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-458)