feelings

Tornado Warning – ND #115

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Ominous Arrival – ND #115

Tornado Warning

Happy very blustery first day of April. The post I started writing last night began with how we were under a tornado warning. Literally, here in eastern Pennsylvania, my cell phone began blaring a very abrasive sound and the words that popped onto the screen warned that I should immediately retreat to a cellar or basemen, or short of that, take shelter in a place devoid of windows or in the center of the house.

Karl was asleep on the couch, although the noxious noise did rouse him a little (although not enough to get up). The wind was wild and there was a lot of lightning, which felt ominous. (I can’t explain it, but it didn’t feel like a normal thunderstorm.) I was vigilant – monitoring the way the air felt and the way the wind sounded – and had already rehearsed in my head the tenor of voice I’d use to get Karl on his feet in a split second and how we would each scoop up an animal or two to get them into the cellar with us.

For about ten minutes, I kept saying out loud, “That doesn’t sound right.” I’d mute the tv so I could track the storm even better. And yet through it all, I kept hearing my own train of thought telling me there was no way we’d be hit by a tornado.

Guess I was wrong. (This was only a couple miles from our house.) Or maybe my intuition was right to make a plan in my head as to the quickest way to bolt into the cellar – in spite of my skepticism!

A Bouquet of Crocuses from the Spirits of the Land – Photo: L. Weikel

Had a Conversation

I had a little chat with the Spirits of my land today while I performed my EoP Biodiversity Process. It always warms my heart to have a heartfelt conversation with the Spirits of our land. I think it’s because I sense that it still surprises them to actually have a human paying attention to them and speaking to them with specificity, intention, and gratitude.

I’d hoped to have a new moon fire today, but it was far too windy. Maybe tomorrow. Just in case you haven’t yet given yourself permission to sit quietly and contemplate the opportunities you’d like to pursue (or perhaps even more powerfully, the feelings you’d like to bring into your life) over the next month and two plus years, you still have time. Everything doesn’t have to be set in stone by the moment the sun and moon conjunct each other. No, the energies of a new moon begin shortly before the astronomical occurrence and last for a few days afterward.

So I encourage you: get real with yourself. Have a think this weekend. How do you want to feel at the end of this month? What would you love to manifest in your life by June of 2024?

(T+115)

Our Collective Feelings – Day 940

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
9 of Cups – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Our Collective Feelings

If you’re feeling edgy or antsy, I want you to know you’re not alone. Not by a long shot. If you feel like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop or perhaps sense some inchoate dread percolating just under the surface, you’ve got company. And the weather – I swear, it’s mirroring the reality of what so many of us are experiencing emotionally. The heat of summer is here too soon. It’s breaking records. And the humidity is oppressive, plain and simple. Our collective feelings are on display for all of us to enjoy.

Realizing we’re not in this alone can be helpful. There is comfort in shared concern.

I decided to ask the Crone to share some wisdom with us tonight. Of course, I’m referring to my Tarot of the Crone deck by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince.

As usual, my question was straightforward: What is our best strategy to navigate what we’re about to encounter?

I chose the 9 of Cups, with the IX Hermit underneath, giving the entire situation context.

The first thing I notice is that both cards are 9s, which generally represent completion and endings. And we’ve had this card appear to us before (last July).

Nine of Cups ~ Healing

“I am the Many and One

I am whole who has been broken

I am the power of redemption

I am the renewal of creation

Two unusual beings, with ribbons of red life spiraling through the serene lavender of their skin-like cloaks, touch and twist and merge in the creation of something wonderful, whole and new. The Nine of Cups represents healing of the heart and soul: when what has been separated comes together again, when feeling flows free and true, when you are aligned with your greatest good, when you become more than you believed you could. The authenticity of your self is not subsumed by bonds with others, but is enhanced through acting with integrity and love.”

Underneath this card that’s enticing us to embrace a state of healing is the Hermit card. I love the perspective on this card that the author/creator gives us:

IX – Hermit – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

IX – Hermit

“I speak

No one listens

But I know what I know

The Hermit is a bag lady rejected by and rejecting comfortable society. She stands on the street of a faceless city, her own face exposed and eloquent. Her dress is a blue that recalls the depths of ocean and sky and the boundlessness that lies beyond their shallow edges. She carries her bags in both hands because she’s learned that balance gives her endurance. She is alone but her isolation is the result not the goal of her journey. Where she goes, others cannot follow. She seeks the mystery at the core of life, at the core of herself. She looks for the magic that exists even in the most artificial environment. She seeks answers to questions that have not yet been born.
The Hermit says look to yourself for the answers, look into the worlds inside you and the uncharted realms within, behind and beyond the ordinary. There are secrets only you are meant to discover and truths only you can divine.”

My Take

We’re all in this together, and if we recognize the power of our interdependence, we can heal the pain, discord, and chaos we’re creating. Yet we’re each responsible for our own perspective, as well as the decisions that flow from how we interpret all that’s occurring around us. This is a time for all of us to step up and take responsibility for ourselves and, yes, each other.

We can do this. It’s time to end the insanity. But in order to achieve a state of healing we need to sit alone with ourselves and take an honest look at what lies within our core – each one of us, individually. It’s time to discover the secrets we’ve been hiding from ourselves. Only then can we move forward together.

(T-171)

Remember to Heal – Day 800

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: L. Weikel

Remember to Heal

No, I’m not suggesting that you’ve forgotten that you need to heal something you’ve put on the back burner. The title I chose for tonight’s post is a reminder of the words President-elect Biden used early this evening when he and Vice President-elect Harris, along with their spouses, paid tribute to the over 400,000 people who’ve lost their lives to Covid-19 over the past year. We must remember to heal. The crux of his speech was that healing cannot take place without embracing our memories and allowing ourselves to feel. We must remember in order to heal.

When we sustain the loss of someone we love and cherish, it can feel like we’ve been burned. We shy away from the flame. We don’t want to go there again. It hurts too much.

But the truth of life and love is that we cannot separate our emotions. It’s impossible to parse out only the so-called ‘good’ feelings and emotions and simultaneously refuse the existence of the harder, more painful ones. You simply cannot have one without the other. They truly are two sides of the same coin.

Yet We Try

Just because the pain comes with the joy, the delight comes with the sorrow, doesn’t mean we won’t try to separate them. Of course we will – at least, most of us will try. As humans, that seems to be our default nature.

And that’s pretty much been our national reaction to this pandemic up to this point. There’s been a denial by many of the devastating loss. The deaths – so many, so staggeringly predictable, yet callously rejected as true. And the utter loneliness in which so many were forced to endure these losses.

Now, We Remember

This evening we were finally given permission to acknowledge the losses many of us, and so very many of our brothers and sisters, have sustained – and are enduring at this very moment. We remember. We know. We acknowledge the truth of our love, our relationships, our heartbreak, our loss.

Now, we start to heal.

(T-311)

Cards for the Eclipse – Day 763

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Dreamtime – Mystic Art Medicine Orace Cards by Cher Lyn

Cards for the Eclipse

Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. ET a total solar eclipse will occur. This celestial event will kick off an almost relentless series of profoundly challenging aspects over the weeks ahead. Indeed, as we embark upon the next six weeks or so of our lives, we’re going to need to do everything in our power to keep our wits about us. Thus, it feels important to choose a few cards for the eclipse: something to bear in mind, hold onto, or just plain repeat as centering reminders as the week unfolds.

The top card I chose was Dreamtime – exactly the same one I chose on the eve of Halloween this year, on the eve of the blue full moon (the second full moon occurring in the month of October). Check out what I wrote but six short weeks ago, the upshot being: we must hold fast to the dream we have for the future. We are creating the reality we live in; it is up to us to dream a new dream.

Miracles – Mystic Art Medicine Oracle Cards by Cher Lyn

Underneath: Miracles

The card that lay at the foundation of these ‘choices’ that I made for us was the Miracles card. My heart skipped when I saw it; it does appear quite bleak, reflecting my sense of what may unfold before us in the near future.

The author, Cher Lyn, described the card as follows:

“In the painting, ‘Vision of Mary,’ it is you who stands at the frozen river’s edge, an icy wind bites to the bone. The trees are barren. All is as if lifeless. Yet you are composed. You have faith and in this knowingness a fire emanates from within. A vision soon appears of the Divine compassionate Mother. She hovers above your frozen sea. The light of the snowy moon glows once again reminding you, “You are not alone. You’ve called on me, I am here, I am always with you my dear.”

Beliefs come from feelings. From somewhere inside, you hear a call. The hearing becomes a feeling connecting you to your truth and this is when Miracles appear. Although you may not be able to say why you feel something is so, your belief is true for you and that truth is your foundation for Miracles. (…)

Miracles happen, not in opposition to nature, but in opposition to what we are conditioned to believe. The universe cannot help unless you hold strong intention and focus. Love is the key and truly the only thing that really heals. Let go of what you think. Trust, and know who you are. (…) Remind yourself you are supported, that you are not doing it alone on this Earth.

This card speaks of a Miracle on its way to you. Disharmony creates disease, and harmony creates beauty with ease. Imagine a Miracle and remain open to a surprise.”

My Take

Events and actions we thought we’d only ever see in movies or read about in books are very likely to occur in the not-too-distant future. No matter how balanced we are or strive to keep ourselves, achieving and maintaining our equanimity is going to be a challenge.

It feels like we’re being encouraged to envision our highest aspirations for ourselves, our country, and our world. Hold on to those dreams and not only ask for, but work toward manifesting them – and then believe in miracles.

(T-348

Magic – Day Thirty One

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

 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)