I part the thrusting branches
and come in beneath
and come in beneath
the blessed and blessing trees.
Though I am silent
there is singing around me.
Though I am dark
there is vision around me.
Though I am heavy
there is flight around me.
Wendell Berry
I seem to be on a male poet kick these days. So unusual for me but there you have it. Wendell Berry says it well for me today. I awoke later than my norm and while my night was good I felt restless as I lay there watching the cool, grey light already born into form. I thanked the light and the morning, my restlessness and the breath beneath it and then I got up and drew my cards.
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| Eight of Swords ~ Communication ~ Ace of Swords Rx |
As I was shuffling I was feeling into this blog, into my writing, into my intention and sensed myself coming up short--for reasons that have little to do with the present moment and everything to do with currents that are already finding their way into the sea. Seeing that oracle card, Communication, felt like a little piece of sunlight piercing the haze.
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| Communication ~ Alchemist's Oracle |
A corvid, a favorite of mine, sits with her back to us. Her feathers are beautifully intricate, her knowing eye looks back at us and her beak is pronounced and wonderful, pointing the way. 'Thataway', she seems to be saying, gesturing towards the boundless. She is haloed in a soft orange and beside and above her two mystical eyes peer out at us. I'm aware of her claw and leg poised to balance and earth her. She feels both solid and mercurial. Has she just landed or is she about to take off? The LWB tells me...
You are being called to communicate your truth and vision, actively initiating conversations, meetings, agreements or new connections. Be confident that your voice will be heard with the desired results flowing to you.
This felt affirming in relation to my ambivalence about going public with this blog. And the phrase 'desired results flowing to you' was a good phrase for me to feel into. What desired results do I have for this blog? Do I have any? Aside from being a place for my voice to land I think my hope is that some of what I write might resonate with one or two souls. But deeper even than that is that I write authentically and freely from a place that feels genuine. Always that is what underlies my aspirations when I write. So how fascinated I was when I drew my two Tarot cards today, both Swords, a suit I often associate with the written word and communicating that with skill.
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| Wild Unknown Tarot |
One of the cards was reversed. I do read with reversals but I have a very specific and somatic way of doing so that has more to do with the physicality of the card in relation to the others than reversed or muted meanings.
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| Eight of Swords ~ Wild Unknown Tarot |
Ah, the card of self-imposed restriction, of limit, of being unable to take that first step, of being tied to traditional belief systems. Because this card is usually depicted with a woman surrounded by swords I also feel this as a conflict between the feeling and thinking aspects of ourselves. There is much emphasis placed on the woman being able to step out of the enclosure but not being aware that she can. As such this card speaks to restriction and indecision that is largely self-imposed, brought on by a lack of confidence in our own ability to navigate the issue.
In this version of the card we see a bright orange-red chrysalis hanging from a horizontal sword. Seven black swords are pointed blade-up towards the chrysalis. With spare lines and spare use of color this card manages to convey that sense of restriction and potential for freedom, the conflict between feeling, seen in the vibrant red of the chrysalis, and thinking, seen in the stark black of the swords surrounding it. Today I can identify with that feeling chrysalis as I navigate my way through a sense of lack around my ability to communicate. I recognize that undermining voice for what it is but nevertheless it has shown up wanting attention and ignoring it doesn't feel skillful.
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| Machig Labdron |
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| Ace of Swords Rx ~ Wild Unknown Tarot |
I was so interested to see this reversed image of the Ace of Swords. It feels quite different than its upright counterpart, arising as it does out of the earth rather than aiming towards the sky. The bolts of light coming off it make it feel as though it's just been pulled from the earth, from the prima materia where all the gems and jewels and shiny bits are buried. And it has taken on the shape of a cross rather than a sword now, hinting at internal transformational shifts. The wonderful rainbow-hued ouroboros or leminscate encircling the potent meeting of the horizontal and vertical, the masculine and feminine, the heart's fulcrum, draws my eye inward.
Aces introduce the basic message and essence of the suit. And they are unmanifest energies, the element in potentia inviting us to step across the threshold into manifesting. As such I look at this Ace, in this particular configuration, and see something quite different than I would were it upright. I see the intellect needing the ground and blessing of the earth. I see reason rising from the depths into an atmosphere of more light. I feel the effort of hands that might have released that sword, I feel the blessing of the Phoenix, the Dragon and the Snake of eternal return around the nexus of the sword-cross, the heart and I feel the magic of spectrummed light in the rainbow colors.
What am I to make of these three together? I'm being asked to go back to basics, invited to step out of the restriction of the Eight of Swords, allow my wings some space and air and to start anew. Perhaps the horizontal sword the chrysalis hangs from in the Eight has become the dynamic singular sword in the Ace. Is the chrysalis now the infinite potential of the ouroboros? Can I simply begin again, renewing my intention to communicate from a place of authenticity? Yes, I think so, say the cards, remembering my connection to the earth, to the body, to the 'little children' who want a voice...
Between Hammers Pounding
Between hammers pounding,
the heart exists, like the tongue
between the teeth--which still
however, does the praising.
Rilke, from the Ninth Duino Elegy
I feel a bit silly to comment, but something occurred to me with regard to the Eight of Swords and the Ace of Swords...I often call the Ace the "Reach" card, so in seeing it reversed it says you might be exceeding your reach in some way, strangling yourself unnecessarily.
ReplyDeleteThe Eight reversed, as if you are too out there, you went from hiding and restraining yourself to being too out there. I would worry about burnout.
Sometimes you can have a voice, an authentic voice, in a subdued way, this is still authentic, just a different day, a different choice of communication. The reason I felt worried is that many people blog and burn out, finding it all a bit too much, so there's a balance to it that takes time, this too is part of authenticity.
I find blogging a bit like poetry, sometimes obscuring , like drifting fog, the ambiguity of meaning feeling natural some days and no less authentic. You don't have to put it all OUT on every post. Do you know what I mean? On days when you feel hesitant, that's still authentic, you can go with that and not be perceived as inauthentic.
My dictionary states that the root of the word authentic is from the Greek for "doer of a deed" and deeds can be quiet jaunts or long journeys. Being genuine, being sincere, does not always require the big gesture, the dramatic, the long trek through many adventures.
On and on, I could blather about this endlessly. ;-)
I love your snake figure, I often buy little figures to go with decks--that's a goodie.
This is lovely, thank you, and your comments about the grand gesture and rhythm are much appreciated--something I shall ruminate on. I've blogged privately for awhile now so the writing part is natural but only off and on have I gone public with it. Being a fairly contained person I'm both amused and intrigued by my current more visible status. Because, ya know, human beings are so mutable ;)
DeleteAt any rate, thanks for stopping by and sharing a bit of your wisdom here.
Thank you for sharing that poem by Wendell Berry; his poetry is so earthy yet with a side of mysticism as well. :) I can almost imagine peering through the branches before dawn's light, listening to bird song. One of my favorites by him:
ReplyDeleteWhen I rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird.
When I fall
let me fall without regret
like a leaf.
I am selfishly happy that you've made your blog public. :)
You're a dear, Bev, thank you! And thanks for sharing those WB lines...pithy and beautiful.
Delete"But deeper even than that is that I write authentically and freely from a place that feels genuine." My, you do have a way with words. I hope that going public with your writing gives you a sense of freeing yourself, and somehow empowers your creativeness. I really enjoy reading what you write, and how you weave your ideas into the cards.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bridgett, for your kind words.
Delete