Throat of Dreams

Wild Unknown Tarot ~ Alchemist's Oracle

I got a busy start today and there was an appointment for my son some distance away that I needed to get him to. So my draw this morning was squeezed in between a yawn, a latte, and a dash out the door. I did have time to feel into the sense of invisibility that I awoke with, of questioning my voice, its strength, its ability. So imagine my surprise when I drew as my oracle card, Throat Chakra.

Throat Chakra ~ Alchemist's Oracle

The blues in this are lovely and soothing and the mandala is delicately drawn in white. The chunk of sodalite beside it feels substantial in contrast and yet that kind of substance is what I sense is being asked of me in this area.

The Throat chakra is the chakra of communication, obviously, but I imagine it plays a role, too, in mediating between the head and the heart. For Buddhists it is one of three holy states, Body, Speech and Mind and when doing prayers in that lineage the hands are brought together at the forehead, the throat and the heart as a way of honoring those sacred portals.

It's affirming to see it show up here on the day my own voice is feeling tenuous. The Sanskrit word for it is Vishuddha which loosely correlates with 'purification'. Its faculty is sound, its planet is Mercury and according to Caryn Sangster, author of the Chakra Insight Oracle, its archetype is The Teacher and The Hermit. Her suggestions for tending to this chakra involve reading aloud, speaking one's truth (!?) and communication in any form--singing, dancing, writing and the like.

I'm not keen on the suggestion that this is an opportunity to 'speak one's truth'. Aren't our bodies constantly speaking their truths independent of the conventions we impose on them? We say one thing while, independent of our ego, the body is saying another thing entirely. Speaking one's truth in this framework for me would involve listening first to what my body might be saying--is my jaw tight, is my breath in my throat, is it shallow, are my hands relaxed, what does my belly feel like, can I feel my feet on the earth--and then speaking from that place of somatic authenticity.

Clear broths are suggested as a nutritional way to enhance and support this chakra which feels quite random but sounds delicious. Miso soup for me today! Today I shall also spend some time listening to the tone associated with this chakra on my phone app as well as doing some sounding and singing and working with our Tibetan singing bowls. We are a very 'singy' family so none of that should be too hard. But the questions of visibility and silence will remain for me ongoing meditations.

The Tarot cards I drew today in relation to this question of where my voice might need visibility are a peculiar mix...Justice and the Ace of Pentacles. Seeing that Justice card show up again so soon on the heels of the Justice~Moon dalliance of several days ago didn't thrill me. Was there another $106 ticket in store for me? I have taken extra care in parking and driving today.

Justice ~ Wild Unknown Tarot

I wrote at some length about this specific card the last time it came up but one thing that only occurred to me much later in the author's use of cats was that they're known for their tremendous sense of balance. Using their tails they almost rarely make a misstep and when they do they certainly have their ways of making it look not only graceful but intentional as well as the inexplicable talent for making the observer look the fool for witnessing their gracelessness ;)

I love cats, Sealpoint Siamese being among my favorites but all of them, really, are such enriching familiars. So here this perfectly balanced pair gazes at me from a canvas of diagonal lines, the place in the middle being the nexus, the center, 'the still point of the turning world'. That's what we're aiming for and the cats, inscrutable as mystery, beckon. In relation to my voice, to the throat chakra what came up was the phrase 'doing justice to'. Perhaps this is a nudge to plunge in further rather than retreating to the familiar.

Ace of Pentacles ~ Wild Unknown Tarot

It's nice to see this kind of basic and rudimentary earthiness here following the more exalted and refined qualities of Justice. It's the first in its suit, a gift, an offering, an opportunity as yet manifested. It is initiating energy that is being given to me to use in relation to areas that are practical, the nuts and bolts of things. Pentacles are the suit of Earth which is interesting as the pentacle itself contains a star within it. This combination of earth and star energy suggests an exchange of energy between what grounds and what inspires.

In this particular depiction the orange Pentacle in the center is what draws my eye in first. Then gradually I become aware of the rings in the trunk, the starker lines spread across it in a larger star and then the leaves at the edges. Looked at that way it feels like a map for the journey, the rings telling me stories of the power of perseverance. All of it is contained within a series of luminous radiating rays implying that the seed of work is being held by something larger than what feels visible or accessible to the psyche, the sense that beginnings are a blend of the practical and the sacred, receptivity and power.

I do feel like I'm shifting into a more multi-dimensional mode in my life right now. I'm being asked to step up and share of myself and my experience in ways that aren't entirely comfortable though I recognize them as necessary for further unfolding. Today the theme in the cards feels like something along the lines of 'showing up for your life' with steps that are small but measured, radiating with intention and interest.