Strength Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Special Insight

I’ve tried pulling cards for us over the past week or so, hoping to receive some special insight or a shift in perspective, but none of my usual ‘go-to’ decks felt right. Just as I mentioned last night, my unsettled feeling extended even to this part of my life. It felt weird to pick up one of my trusted advisors, settle my feet on the ground, close my eyes and ask for guidance – only to have the deck feel off. It’s hard to describe, other than to say it felt like I was getting a, “No,” either “Not today,” or “Not me.” (Meaning the deck was saying, “Don’t work with me tonight! Pick from another deck!”)

Maybe that seems odd, but over the years I’ve actually come to rely on those ‘weird’ feelings I get. Not only do I rely on them – I trust them. And amazingly, I can get a sense from all sorts of things: plants, animals, people, situations, so-called inanimate objects. You name it. As I sit here thinking about it, I suppose sometimes it’s actually difficult to isolate precisely what it is that’s ‘speaking’ to me (in a sense). Perhaps it’s simply my own spidey-sense.

Whatever it is, intuition or communication, I’ve come to trust it.

Forgotten Friend

I was thus filled with a sense of relief and, well, delight when I noticed the forest green velveteen pouch with the subtly embossed Celtic knot design. It was leaning casually against a ceramic coffee cup crammed with a multiplicity of pens, as well as a couple pairs of scissors and some random pencils. It was as if the bag materialized there; I don’t remember the last time I looked at it and really saw it, and I wonder how long it had been sitting on this small table.

When I picked up the soft pouch, I instantly recalled that it holds my Wildwood Tarot* deck. “Ah,
my senses said. Perhaps this is the deck that can give us some guidance. It’s definitely an old friend. So I drew the cards out of their resting place and started shuffling, holding that weird sense I’ve been feeling and just posing a “What is this/what do I do with this?” question to the cards.

I chose 5 of Stones (Pentacles in the traditional tarot) with 8 – The Stag (Strength in the traditional tarot) underneath.

Five of Stones

When I look at this card, I see what I feel like right now: I’m incredibly lucky to have shelter from the raging, scary, thunder and lightning storm ‘out there’ right now. I’m mostly safe, I am surrounded by massive stones that seem to hover over me, protectively. Indeed, I can even see faces in the stones, so the protection of these stones that form a cave behind me feels millennia old. I have a fire to keep me warm and I’m apparently unscathed (dry and healthy). I can always retreat deeper into the cave if I need to (although it is dark in there, so who knows what or who else might be in there!).

And the key word associated with the card is right there: Endurance.

Perhaps, right now, that is the name of the game. Keep the flame burning. Take shelter. Listen to the counsel of my ancestors through the wisdom of the stones.

8 – The Stag – The Wildwood Tarot

The Stag

Underneath that card was The Stag. Powerful and primal, this card speaks to me of power rooted in connection to Nature, to my roots, to what I know is powerful and true. This Being is grounded and can definitely protect itself, both offensively and defensively. His shield holds the Tree of Life – depicting the truth of “As above, so below.”

It looks like there’s a lot of tangled shit behind him, which I’m not sure how to interpret (other than how it may reflect the convoluted state of our minds, with all the propaganda inundating us).

Ultimately, I feel that the foundation of this message from the cards is that those of us who belong to the land (who are connected with and aware of it and all Nature), who remember their interconnectedness, will stand their ground and maintain their sovereignty. And I feel that applies to all of us, no matter where we live at the moment.

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(T+121)

Brutus Giving Us the Side-Eye – Photo: L. Weikel

Explosive Potential

What an amazing full moon we’re experiencing this month. Perhaps I’m appreciating its magnificence more acutely because of the almost summer-like weather over the past few days. Or maybe it’s just that when I walk outside it’s almost bright enough to read a book. The pull of her energy is palpable. Weirdly, I feel both a sense of momentary limbo and simultaneous explosive potential.

I’d like to think chickens are making their way back home and will shortly be roosting. But at the same time, like many, I’m almost afraid to hope. Accountability, it seems, has become a quaint concept, applicable only to those who hold little or no power.

And yet I feel that undercurrent of power held by this moon. It feels even more powerful than the last – and I’m reminded that our beloved Spartacus departed on the last full moon. It’s only been a month. That shocks my sensibilities.

Every day, I walk with Brutus and Pacha back behind our barn. We make a point of stopping to say hi to Sheila and Spartacus – their ancestors, in a sense. If Sheila hadn’t been as amazing a dog as she was, we never would have had Spartacus – and we certainly never would’ve heeded his dream message and sought out these two pup-tarts.

All Over the Place

I realize my musings may seem all over the place this evening. For several days, I’ve wanted to pick a card to guide us through what’s coming, but was told to wait. Tonight feels different. Perhaps it’s the culmination of energies that a full moon represents. Maybe it’s just time.

What do we need to know right now and moving forward as we close out the month of October? I consulted the Witches’ Wisdom Tarot* by Phyllis Curott.

Strength – The Witches’ Wisdom Tarot by Phyllis Curott

Strength

Wisdom: The Pilgrim is awakening to her power. It courses through her from the ground up, sustaining and absolute. This force of Creation is an unfamiliar feeling and yet she knows it to be real and essential. It’s hope fulfilled, potential recognized, and all that is right in the world, and in her. But how does she summon it? Wield it? What purpose does it serve? Until she has the answers, she can’t unlock its magic.

There are challenges before her and time is growing short. For too long we have reared the force of nature, thought it red in tooth and claw, or thought ourselves uniquely superior. Separated from the Sacred, we have become wounded, unconcerned, and cruel. We have ascended through deomination – the mightiest predator of all – and now the world lies dying at our feet.

But Nature can’t be conquered, nor is there need to do so. The Pilgrim’s path has given her the Strength of the Goddess Artemis to heal what we have broken. She stands amid Nature’s glory and knows where real Strength comes from and whom it’s meant to serve: Creation’s infinite expressions that teach us of their divinity, and our own.

A quiet, hidden wood mouse, a blue-winged butterfly, an owl, a cat curled in the sunlight, an oak tree in the garden, the heather on the hill all guide the Pilgrim now, and she plunges into Life. She becomes a salmon, swimming strongly upstream, then, scrambling to a wooded shore, becomes a bear, a wolf, a moose, a black crow flying through the Air. Fit, strong, and confident, she is able to call upon the elements, upon wind and flame, Earth and rain, to dance with them, become like them, draw power from them. We wield unwavering sovereignty when the Earth and our body are inseparable.

The Pilgrim steps out of the shadows and into view. Humble and open-hearted, she has become a Speaker for Mother Earth, for her children, for all the peoples who cannot speak for themselves, but who can teach us what it means to live rightly to live as One. Her purpose is her Strength.

Essence: Challenges, courage, care. Hearth path. Purpose, action, service. Empowerment.

Counsel: Life is full of challenges that can fill you with doubt and fear. Are you good enough? Smart enough? If you wait to feel courageous, you may never act at all. Here’s the magic trick: Act even if you feel afraid and you will become strong. Leap, and on the other side you’ll find your courage. Face the worst and it will bring out your best. You’ll discover what you believe in and that you have power to do what’s right, even if it seems to put you on the losing side. Stand strong, stand for what’s right, speak from your heart. The path of the heart is the path of Strength. And whenever you doubt this, spend time in Nature. Let your heart open and feel yourself part of the whole Earth community that loves you, supports you, and knows what you really are: strong.

Magic: What do you believe in? Find that and you’ll find your magic and your Strength.

And underneath this magnificent card?

Ace of Water – The Witches’ Wisdom Tarot by Phyllis Curott

Ace of Water (Memory)

For the sake of brevity, and to promote perhaps a deeper reflection on the main card selected, I’m only going to offer the briefest recitation of the author’s explanation of this card.

Essence: Be fully present in your feelings – emotional, physical, instinctual

My sense

What better way for us to tap into what we truly believe in and value but to be fully present in our feelings? Over the next several days we may see the writing on the wall. We may realize at a gut-punch level that the status quo is truly unsustainable. We may find ourselves staring our destinies in the face and feeling, for possibly the first time ever, the utter make-or-break calamity unfolding all around us.

What is this full moon enlightening and revealing within each one of us? We must take a risk, look within, and embrace our purpose. We may discover it holds explosive potential.