gifts

Hidden Gifts – Day 1021

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Jellyfish – Hidden Gifts – The Ocean Oracle by Susan Marte

Hidden Gifts

At least tonight drawing a few cards for wisdom and watchwords didn’t feel completely alien. The atmosphere surrounding life itself continues to feel out of sync to me. Things are off. Even the weather seems confused and ill-tempered. The temperature here dropped twenty degrees yesterday, but the humidity seemed to have increased, which seems impossible as everything’s sopping wet already. But could our inclination to withdraw into ourselves to escape lead to the discovery of hidden gifts?

That’s what a quick consultation with The Ocean Oracle would seem to suggest.

Instead of getting fancy, I asked the age-old cop-out question I use when I’m not sure what else to ask: “What do we need to know right now?”

Jellyfish – Hidden Gifts

“The Story

The florescence of the object drew her towards it. It was a jellyfish, washed up on the shore, its whole being spread upside down before her. She realized with some clarity the luck at the jellyfish being reversed. Upright and she would have risked stepping on it, not being able to distinguish its translucent shape with the beach around it. She bent down to study the still creature, noticed how out of its natural environment it instilled awe in her, and not fear. She thought how often we give more power to things through fear, things that out of context are diminished; safe; unalarming. She saw the intricate beauty as the jellyfish was laid bare before her. She was able to study the hidden side of this perceived danger with a sort of reverence – she never realized the beauty which resided in this creature, because she never had the opportunity, or took the time, to look. There were so many hidden gifts to be thankful for.

The Messages

Are you in a situation where you have to look deeper, or beneath, in order to see the hidden gifts before you? Even if you cannot physically remove yourself from the presence of what you perceive to be threatening or harmful, in your mind or heart remove yourself to equal ground. Turn the situation around to see the gifts being offered to you. There is huge fear around how things can hurt you, but do not let this distract from the gifts they offer. Edit the voice which tells us that what appears dangerous and poisonous and harmful we must stay away from or watch out for because it will hurt us. There are gifts in every situation.”

At the Foundation

Underneath the startlingly relevant card described above was the Shark card – Opportunity. The simple fact of Opportunity laying at the foundation of the Hidden Gifts speaks volumes.

For now, however, I leave us all to the ‘opportunity’ to contemplate what hidden gifts might be presenting themselves to each of us right now. Hidden gifts that we might otherwise be afraid of, but which are precisely what we require in the moment.

(T-90)

Auspicious – Day 870

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Turkey on 202 – Photo: L. Weikel

Auspicious

Balmy weather returned once again today and I admit to reveling in it. It’s amazing what an additional ten degrees can do to turn a chilly day into one that rivals perfection. And to top it off, I even encountered a turkey ‘crossing the road’ on Route 202 right in front of me. Given that she made it across four lanes of traffic and a concrete median unscathed, I’d give the day a solid 10 out of 10 on the Auspicious Scale.

The appearance of Turkey (capitalized because I am referencing it as an archetype, not just a single bird that happened to be crossing the road) tends to signify a gift or the act of giving to others selflessly (sometimes even of one’s self). Naturally, Karl and I felt especially lucky to have encountered a wild turkey hen in Doylestown of all places (including a gobbling commentary) as she trotted across the median and into oncoming lanes of traffic. Thankfully, she managed to get to the other side of those lanes of traffic before any too aggressively approached her.

I just wish you could hear the audio on the photo I’ve posted, above. It almost sounds like she’s talking to herself. She’s not engaging in indignant gobblings. It actually sounds more like she’s just mumbling to herself. Probably providing a commentary on stupid human drivers.

Even Fit In a Walk

We also managed to fit in a walk after our auspicious Turkey encounter. I’m pretty sure the stunning beauty of the evening was a big part of the ‘gift’ that this particular turkey was announcing in our lives.

I’m trying to figure out how to do justice to the pitched excitement of witnessing a battle between Crow nations that unfolded before our eyes on our walk this evening.

The photos just don’t do it justice.

So I’m going to end this post tonight with the gift of the sunset that graced us just as the policeman who investigated our smashed mailbox pulled up to us.

To be continued…

Sunset 30 March 2021 – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-241)

Gifts and Messages – Day 564

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Ancient Cave-Art – Photo: L. Weikel

Gifts and Messages

Just the other day, Karl and I were walking down the road when we came upon a series of gifts and messages.

Surely, as you can see from the photograph, above, we stumbled upon an artistic depiction of an ostrich or perhaps a velociraptor, crafted by one of our ancient cave-dwelling ancestors. Clearly a fiercesome beast, its long, ungainly legs obviously capable of crossing vast expanses of land at speeds no human could match.

But what was the message?

Run for the hills?

Make for the nearest ostrich farm and saddle up?

Stop hiding our heads in the sand?

Oh dear Goddess, surely it wasn’t a depiction of an emu ?!? (NO. I refuse to believe getting anywhere near an emu was part of any message my ancestors might have wished to convey.)

You Mentioned Gifts

Ancient ostrich feather? Peace Eagle (vulture) feather? Photo: L. Weikel

Ah yes. Besides discovering precious cave art in the midst of our ambulatory travels, we were also gifted a massive feather, curiously not far from the ancient artistry. Surely this was a sign that the great beast depicted in the artistic rendering was choosing to enter our lives as a sacred power animal!

Our ancestors were speaking to us from beyond the grave! Through eons of generations!

The sheer power of our ancestors’ depiction had brought the creature alive in this time and space, where it left us a piece of itself to treasure and honor. Perhaps it was gifting us with a physical memento of its power and prowess as a conveyor of early humans. Perhaps it was reminding us of the benefits of mounting ostriches (or emus) for transportation?

Or maybe the feather could be used to remind us to swiftly flee other humans who might be sticking their heads in the sand?

Gifts and messages abound. We just need to pay attention, be grateful, and listen.

(T-547)

All’s Quiet – Day 407

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

All’s Quiet    

I’m sitting here in the silence of my living room (if you don’t count the snoring of Sheila and Precious) – and it is exquisitely delicious.

Karl and I took a walk tonight, once I finally got home from doing some errands. The sky had a smattering of clouds, but we could still see a vast array of stars splashed from one horizon to the other. What we really noticed the most, though, was how quiet everything was.

It almost felt as though we were walking during a snowstorm. You know, that muffled silence that always accompanies falling or freshly fallen snow? In fact, I just read something about that the other day. The muffling of ambient noise is attributed to the fluffiness of the snow, I think – the air trapped between the flakes.

I don’t know; I can’t really remember. It doesn’t actually matter, since snow was not the cause of the quiet tonight. Perhaps it was the sound of people starting to slow down, to take a breather from the inevitable frantic pace that precedes this time of year in particular.

What We Really Want

It’s easy to pick on the materialism of our society and criticize the obligation so many people feel to give gifts to ‘everyone on their list.’ We’re a consumptive society. It’s been ingrained in us all our lives that the way to show someone you care about or love them is to buy them something. And even worse is when people equate the depth of the love to the cost of the gifts.

We’re bombarded from every direction with messages barking at us that this widget or that doodad will make the difference. We’ll know we’re loved or, perhaps even more importantly, we’ll know we’ve made it (or at least tell ourselves we have) if we can give that impressive doodad. And if we can’t? Well. Many feel an overwhelming desire to fake it – and there are lots of ways to fake it.

But I think the real burden is the desire to express heartfelt caring and not knowing, really, how to give that feeling. How do we go about bringing light into someone’s life?

Maybe it’s by sitting quietly and figuring out what would bring light into our own life. Maybe it’s by listening to what our heart is saying over and over and over again – hoping that one day we’ll actually stop and listen.

Time

As we were walking in the starlight this evening, Karl and I talked yet again about having – or, rather, not having – gifts to give each other this year. Neither one of us wants for anything. We are surrounded by an abundance of comfort; indeed, we have too many ‘things,’ if we’re honest. And we have zero desire to buy stuff just because – whether it’s because we don’t want to or because it’s expected.

We don’t need new clothes. In truth, we don’t need anything that can be bought in a store (besides groceries; we do love to eat). Even the most exotic boutique of hand-crafted amazingness would fail to provide the gift that is most precious to both of us. And that is time. Time together. Time to create. Time to read. Time to listen to music. Time to feed our souls. Time to allow ourselves to stop thinking about selling or buying or going to meetings or paying the bills, but instead to stop thinking altogether.

Our greatest gift to each other is making – and taking – time to walk under the stars and listen to the silence. Time to notice and appreciate the quiet, together.

(T-704)

Tree Owl – Day 392

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Tree Owl from afar – Photo: L. Weikel

Tree Owl

Funnily enough, it seems that Turkey just keeps on giving. Indeed, it showed up in my cards again today, and I feel compelled to share something very cool from yesterday: a tree owl.

Today I chose Skunk/Turkey (meaning Skunk was the card I chose – from the deck, face down – in case there’s any confusion on that score) and Turkey was on the bottom of the deck. So, while Skunk was essentially the primary card for me to pay attention to today, Turkey was still playing a role somehow.

Yet again, as I did yesterday, I could recount for you a number of experiences or situations I encountered today that could qualify as ‘gifts.’ But instead, I want to show you something really cool that I discovered yesterday, on the day I picked Turkey squared.

Weisel Hostel

Our tour of the campus of the Fraternity of Rosicrucians yesterday took us basically across the street from the Weisel Hostel, where I’ve held probably half a dozen Listening Retreats, an entire 18 month Merkabah Medicine Program, and a couple Aspiration-Setting retreats over the past six years or so.

Sadly, the Weisel Hostel is no longer, technically, a hostel. Toward the end of 2018, Hostelling International decided to discontinue its relationship with Bucks County at the Weisel premises. As a result of that decision (and perhaps other factors, who knows?), the Weisel hasn’t been available for any retreats there for over a year.

Personally, this has been a great loss. My beloved Tohickon Creek begins up in that area, and a huge draw for me, and my participants once they got to experience it, was the fact that the creek flowed right beside the hostel. You could hear her voice singing at night when we had all the windows open.

Naturally, I couldn’t be ‘in the neighborhood’ of the Weisel without stopping by and saying hello to all the Spirits of the Land, the creek, and the path that led to the fire pit where we had many sacred fires through the years. So Karl and I did just that: paid a visit to the Weisel.

Major Changes

There were a lot of changes to the premises that I’m not going to enumerate now. The creek itself seemed to be flowing unnaturally (perhaps a better description would be that it was barely trickling). We walked the path that we’d trod so many times in the dark, leading us to the fire pit, and were aghast at what we found. In all the years we held retreats there, I never saw so much of the bottom of the pond exposed. Most of the water was gone. But there was also a lot of devastation of the creek bed.

Devastated dam – Photo: L. Weikel

A huge ash had snapped 25 or so feet above the ground, and the massive (and extremely heavy and dense) part of the trunk that had snapped off was slammed into the grass near the fire pit. Karl and I just stood at the edge of the pond where so many water birds, beaver, deer, and foxes had been spotted, where so many precious and sacred moments had been shared with amazing people, and felt grief.

Snapped tree – Photo: L. Weikel

Tree Owl

And that’s when I did a double-take. I saw what looked like an alabaster or crystalline owl nestled in a tree. I took it as  a gift; a small sign, to me, that our presence at the hostel all those years had been felt.

I’m calling it a tree owl, but really it’s ‘just’ a weird patch in the bark of a tree. (Right?) It’s one of the trees that bore witness to all of the sacred fires we held at the Weisel through the years.

Perhaps the Tree Owl is telling me to take heart and have hope. Perhaps it’s serving as a ghostly sentinel, keeping watch until we return. Perhaps the gift in finding the Tree Owl is that it’s a sign that there are better days ahead for the Weisel House* and perhaps, just maybe, a day will come when we can resume our work there, too.

That, indeed, would be a most precious gift.

Tree Owl up close – Photo: L. Weikel

*I’m shifting the name from Weisel Hostel to Weisel House.

(T-719)

Turkey Squared – Day 391

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

Turkey Squared

I haven’t written many posts lately referencing my Medicine Card® * picks. That doesn’t mean Karl and I haven’t been choosing a card on our day each and every morning. It’s just that sometimes the applicability to my day isn’t all that interesting. Or at least interesting enough to warrant sharing with you.

As the title to this post indicates, I chose Turkey squared this morning. (As you may recall, when I say I chose a card “squared,” that means there was a blank card on the bottom of the deck, which I interpret as ‘squaring’ the impact of the top card – or the card I ‘chose’ as my main card.)

Oooh, that piqued my interest! A day with double the opportunity to experience a gift of some sort!

Turkey’s Meaning

Of course, I anticipated I might experience a gift as a result of choosing Turkey squared because Turkey is considered to be the ‘giveaway eagle’ by many Native American people, as it sacrifices its life to sustain us.

Sitting here contemplating what I might write about this evening (since, no, if you must ask, I haven’t remembered all three things referenced last night), I realized the many gifts I’d received today – and then recalled that I’d chosen Turkey squared while having coffee with Karl this morning.

First Gift

Not to sound trite, but the first gift I experienced this morning was that very act of sitting here in our living room with Karl, all five of our pets in various states of repose on blankets and couches and pillows. Our fireplace was burning, wrapping us all in toasty warmth, and Karl was exclaiming how delicious his freshly brewed coffee tasted, having just bought a pound of his favorite roast only yesterday.

There was something so wonderful in that moment, and I just felt so…lucky. This was before I chose my Turkey card, too, by the way. So yeah, maybe my choice of Turkey was influenced by the fact that I was already feeling permeated by a sense of gratitude.

Second Gift

We had an opportunity to listen to a presentation and take a tour of the grounds of the authentic Rosicrucian Fraternity in Quakertown. This is actually the world headquarters for this organization, which was first established in Germany in 1614. The purpose of this Fraternity was to bring together into one organization the various associations of individuals previously known as the Hermetists, Pythagoreans, Magi , Platonists, Gnostics, Alchemists, and Paracelsians.

I believe it was established in North America well before the Revolution, but in 1774, the governing body (Council of Three) was composed of Benjamin Franklin, George Clymer, and Thomas Paine.

There is much to be explored and understood about this Fraternity, and I found the ‘taste’ of their teachings to be very much in line with much of what I’ve learned through the years through my exposure not only to ancient wisdom teachings (through the auspices of the teacher Karl and I studied with and about whom I wrote in Owl Medicine), but also to the varied indigenous traditions I’ve had the honor of being introduced to and in some cases initiated into.

It was a unique pleasure to walk the grounds and observe the fascinating architecture with our host, the Rev. Arlene Curley, Ph.D., and I’d like to thank her for the introduction (and Susan Duval, for arranging it).

Third Gift

The sunset this evening was an exquisite blend of deep oranges and blazing reds. The colors were so rich it was hard not to taste them.

Alas, none of the photos I sent myself from my phone have come through. Thanks again, Verizon Wireless, for your inconsistency. Maybe I’ll include some in tomorrow’s post!

*affiliate link

(T-720)

When We Become Saturated – Day 112

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

 

When We Become Saturated

Earlier today, I was sitting by my Sacred Tohickon, trying to ‘make effective use of my time.’ I’d brought my laptop with me, forgetting that I don’t have access to the internet when I’m at the creek.

How could I forget such an obvious and essential bit of information?

I think sometimes we forget things when we become saturated. At least I do. Saturated with thoughts, feelings, worries, to-do lists; internal chatter that runs the gamut from small anxieties to existential concerns.

And I have to wonder what internal trigger finally needs to get reached that pulls the emergency cord.

Perhaps it isn’t an internal trigger. Maybe it’s external. External – but not visible. Or at least not self-originating. And by that, I mean maybe we have guides or guardians who, when they see us approaching meltdown, pull the emergency cord on our behalf.

I do know that I chose Elk reversed today. So on some level, somebody (perhaps my own soul) was yanking on the cord that triggers the emergency brake. Indeed, I chose Elk reversed with Blue Heron underneath: Self Reflection.

The key word for Elk is “Stamina.” Thus, while Elk reversed can be interpreted a couple of different ways, it usually means (again, for me anyway) I’ve been burning the candle at both ends and I need to stop. I need to stop before circumstances knock me down.

Specifically, the words that jumped out at me from the Medicine Cards® book are:

“If Elk has appeared in the reverse position, you may be stretching the rubber band to the breaking point. Be careful of undue stress levels, or you might just create an illness to force you to take a break.

(…)

In all cases, Elk is telling you to look at how you choose to create your present pathway, and how you intend to perpetuate it to reach your goal. Your best weapon is the same as Elk’s: to stop when you need to, to persist when you need to, and to allow room for change and exchange of energies.”

And as I said above, underneath my Elk reversed was Blue Heron, whose keyword is “Self-Reflection.”

The very first line of Blue Heron is as follows:

“Heron medicine is the power of knowing the self by discovering its gifts and facing its challenges.”

Facing My Challenges

I readily admit, one of my greatest challenges is learning how to take true quality time for myself. And I think that’s because it’s rarely ‘convenient’ to do so. And by convenient, I don’t necessarily mean ‘easy.’ But I do mean ‘it won’t make me feel like I’m selfishly taking time away from someone who does not have the luxury of choosing what they’re dealing with.’

For all my laughable travails with cars that flash the RT of D, or whose back ends come off in my hands, I feel profoundly grateful for the abundance of love, great health, and opportunity that I enjoy in my life.

And yet…I know I need to stop. I need to take a breather. I need to gather up my energy, consolidate it, and decide where I want to focus it next.

So – here’s the deal. For all that I just wrote above, I’m being challenged once again (quite literally) in this very moment:

The Gifts – and Challenges – of Sticky Wet Snow

I was going to write about how the gorgeous wet snow, which is piling up on all the branches in exquisite outlines of every crook and twig, is reinforcing within m the essential nature of stopping and consolidating myself and my energy. And I was going to include two beautiful photos I just took as I was standing on my porch.

But no. The electricity just went out. I can feel the cold seeping into the house – and this room in particular – already. And I am thwarted from uploading my photos as well as publishing this post in a timely fashion.

So I will take this time to honor my self and my allies. It’s time to step back from the grind and give myself permission to be tired. And as soon as I am able, I will reconnect with you, my precious readers, my fellow devotional travelers.

Wishing you peace – and the gift of self-reflection and understanding.

Night Snowfall -Photo: L.Weikel

(T- 999) P.S.: It’s been almost 13 hours now (1:03 p.m.) and I’m at a Starbucks. We still have no electricity at home. Hoping to have it restored by 8:00 p.m.