This week, I’m guest posting over at Essence of Wild, on the Gaian Tarot and Becoming Native to our Place.
Essence of Wild is the home of Jackie and Jason, and their wonderful Barefoot Breathing e-course.
Green and Barefoot Blessings!
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From the category archives:
Tarot
“Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
— Rumi
This Valentine’s Day, let’s consider the multiplicity of ways that we open our hearts. How fortunate we are, to have so many opportunities to love.
Love for one’s self.
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Love for friends.
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Love for our mates.
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Love for our children.
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Love for our animals.
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Love for our Place.
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Love for family.
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Love for community.
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Love for our creative passions.
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Love for our work.
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Love for our planet.
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Love for the Great Mystery.
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“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth ‘You owe me.’
Look what happens with a love like that. It lights up the whole sky.”
- Hafiz
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“Blessed be the precious and preserving water,
the water of life, our cleansing guest.”
- Caitlin Matthews
This week, over in my “Gaian Soul Practices for Candlemas” e-course, we are considering the theme of “Cleansing and Purification.” So there’s a water theme weaving its way through the material.
Today’s journal prompt is:
What bodies of water (lake, sea, river) do you hold as sacred?
For me, the waters I hold as most sacred are:
- The waters of the Salish Sea, especially around Lummi Island and Orcas Island.
- The Nooksack River, as it winds its way down from Komo Kulshan (Mt Baker) to Bellingham Bay.
- Bellingham Bay itself, where we left a cedar wreath symbolizing my father, thrown from a US Coast Guard cutter, a few days after his memorial service in August of 1996. (USCG would not allow us to scatter his ashes.)
- Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England.
- The beach near Merlin’s Cave, Tintagel, Cornwall, England.
- The waters off the California coast between Monterey and Big Sur.
It’s not so surprising then, that many of these waters found their way into the imagery of the Gaian Tarot.
The Ace of Water shows a young salmon emerging from a deep pool in the Nooksack River.
The Elder of Water shows a man in a skiff in Hale Passage (in the Salish Sea) between Lummi Island and the mainland.
The Nine of Water shows me in Merlin’s Cave, Tintagel, Cornwall.
The Four of Water shows a woman kneeling by the side of Chalice Well.
In the Gaian Tarot, the suit of Water stands in for the traditional suit of Cups. Water in the tarot embodies emotions (bliss, love, sorrow, joy, grief, disappointment), inner depths, dreams, fantasies, imagination, healing, spirituality and mysticism.
Oh yes, and — cleansing.
When it comes to our relationship with Mama Gaia and Mama Ocean, it’s all about reciprocity. So yes, Her waters cleanse us — and we have a responsibility to protect and cleanse Her waters as well. So we get to know our own watersheds, and we contribute to organizations we trust who are doing the work. We get our hands dirty (literally) and do what we can.
I love Dr. Emoto’s simple prayer for the waters of the world:
We’re sorry, Water.
Please forgive us, Water.
We thank you, Water.
We love you, Water.
Dear Reader, what bodies of water do you hold as sacred? How do they cleanse you, and how do you, in turn, protect them?
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(This post is part of a Tarot Blog Hop, the brainchild of Stephanie Arwen Lynch. A group of tarot bloggers are all blogging on the same topic today, “How can I be the best candle?” in honor of Candlemas.
The blogger before me is the lovely Jaymi Elford, and the one after me is the astounding Jordan Hoggard. Be sure to check their blogs out, and hop on through to the others!)
“How can I be the best candle?” I mused, and immediately flashed on one of my favorite poems by Rumi:
There is a candle in your heart,
ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul,
ready to be filled.
You feel it, don’t you?
You feel the separation
from the Beloved.
Invite Her* to fill you up,
embrace the fire.
Remind those who tell you otherwise that
Love
comes to you of its own accord,
and the yearning for it
cannot be learned in any school.
In the Gaian Tarot Four of Fire, a woman stands within a sacred circle, the four directions marked by tall votive candles. A dozen smaller candles mark the rim of the circle. She is breathing deeply, allowing the energy of the desert night to flood her body. Energy moves up from the earth and down from the sky into her body. Kundalini rises, power flows, all blocks are gone. She is marking a personal rite of passage and exulting in her own empowerment.
This woman has, in Rumi’s words, embraced the sacred fire. She is no longer separate from the Beloved, but instead is filled with Her. Indeed, the Beloved has taken up residence as the candle in her heart.
How can I be the best candle? By opening my heart to the Beloved and embracing the sacred flame of passion, creativity and love.
How about you, dear Reader? How might you be the best candle?
Do the Tarot Blog Hop!
>>>Click here to hop backward to Jaymi Elford’s blog, Inner Compass Tarot Coaching.
>>>Click here to hop forward to Jordan Hoggard’s blog, The Land of Mystereum.
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*Since I am a devotee of the Great Mother, I changed Rumi’s “Him” to “Her.”
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In my Gaian Soul Practices classes, I send out an email every day with a journaling prompt. The folks in the current class are preparing to dedicate themselves to their own True Paths at Candlemas / Imbolc next week, so this week’s journal prompts are in preparation for that.
This morning’s question was: What is it I am meant to do in this lifetime?
Even though I am already pretty certain of the answer to that question, I think it never hurts to go back to it on a regular basis, to get in touch with the refinements to our soul’s calling as we age and grow.
(One woman in the class, Maria, answered this question on her own blog this morning.)
We can journal in response to these questions, of course, without pulling a tarot or oracle card. But pulling a card often sparks us in such delightful, unexpected ways!
In answer to my question, I pulled . . . The Hermit. And I had to laugh, because I am spending a lot of time writing and making art in my journal these days, and teaching the folks in my classes to do the same. Journaling (with words, art and photography) is one of the core Gaian Soul Practices.
And my Gaian Hermit, of course, is writing in his nature journal, listening to birdsong, and turning his inner eye to the unseen world.
Here is what I wrote in my own journal this morning:
“I am meant to have times of retreat and getting away from the world, in order to connect with who I am truly am, with my Muse, my Goddess, and my own deep desires, so that I can come back and hold up a metaphorical lamp for others, to light the way for them.
I am Teacher and Healer and Artist. I have much to share. Others follow and learn from me.
As I follow and learn from others.
Still, that time alone, with journal and pen and paper, is crucial — critical — to hearing my own inner voice and the voice of Spirit.
Blessed be for time alone. Blessed be for time with others.”
Here’s what I wrote about the Hermit in the Gaian Tarot companion book:
The Hermit retreats from the company of others to replenish his soul in solitude as he communes with the natural world. He listens to the calls of birds as he writes and sketches in his journal at twilight time. He ponders his own mortality, and the gifts and challenges of aging.
His guardian is the Barred Owl, who sees keenly in the darkness and embodies silent wisdom. From the sacred smoke of burning sage, visions rise of spirit animals. The Loon, with its primal eerie call, leads the Hermit into the waters of his dreams and ancestral memories. Wolf, the moon’s ally, reminds the Hermit that he is part of a pack or tribe, even when he spends time apart from it. The Merlin is a magical, shapeshifting raptor who shares its name with the Wise Old Man of Arthurian legend. All three are teachers of the Hermit’s soul.
When you get this card in a reading . . .
Your spirit is crying out for a time of sacred solitude. You need to withdraw from the world to focus on your inner life and spirituality. Perhaps you have been wounded in the “wars of the world,” or perhaps you are fatigued and empty from putting out so much energy, especially if you are a caregiver. Your well is empty and it needs to be filled.
Take some time out for a retreat. Go away to the mountains or the sea, by yourself, without partner or friends. Spend time outside in nature, observing the changes in your environment day by day. Your inner wisdom and sense of well-being will grow effortlessly the more time you spend outside. When you once again enter community life, others will be drawn to the light they see inside you and may come to you for guidance. For part of your purpose is to share what you’ve learned with others.
Affirmation
I retreat from the world in order to refresh my spirit.
What does the Hermit say to you, dear Readers?
And . . . what card do you pull in answer to the question: What is it I am meant to do in this lifetime?
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