Pele : Trusting Your Core

Dark Goddess Tarot ~ Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Yesterday I drew the Ten of Fire, Thyone, Greek Goddess of Divine Frenzy and today more Fire for us. Pele is the Dark Goddess wanting a voice. Hawaiian Goddess of the Volcano she is Amazon of Fire in this deck.

We lived in Hawaii for awhile on the island of Maui. We spent some time on the Big Island and it was there that I was introduced to Pele's presence in a visceral way while at Mauna Kea. Apart from watching the lava flowing into the ocean and having to be mindful of the effects of her potent gases on the lungs I also met her through the soles of my feet. Walking over her in the form of a'a and pahoehoe, the two different types of hardened lava that form much of the surface land in that area.

Pahoehoe Lava ~ image by Leigh Hilbert

I had the experience of the earth itself being in continual motion from the inside out. That though the surface felt static it was in fact constantly dancing, spiraling, twisting, turning, rolling, folding in on itself and unfolding. It was seeing the lava, pahoehoe in particular, that did it, seeing how it cooled and then hardened even as it flowed.




Looking at this card reminds me of this experience, reminds me that like Pele, I too, have an inner core that is constantly in motion. And that there are times it's necessary, vital even to respond from that place of simmer and bubble. It also encourages me to know that, like my meeting of that new landscape on Mauna Kea for the first time, I, too have new and undiscovered territory within, ancient, sacred, wild. It is land to trust, a fire to grow into, to make pilgrimage to breath by breath, sensation by sensation.

As I write this the rain is coming down buckets. Quite a contrast to the elemental energy of this card. But the elements call to all the different wildernesses of our being. The rain says flow, yield, find your level, just as Pele says rise, don't hold back, want what you want with your whole body. See what flame she leads you to be.

From There Come Maidens, Very Wise

Norns by Ludwig Burger {1882}

Today's Dark Goddess wisdom is the result of a slightly different focus question. After pulling cards for a week and posting the channeled response I was feeling less might be needed. There is so much info and advice 'out there' currently and frankly right now 'active silence' is the direction I'm drawn to. However I like to honor my commitments and I did commit to communing with this mandala of goddesses for the purposes of the collective. As such today's question focused around the need to continue sharing their wisdom, was it necessary, was it useful?

Dark Goddess Tarot ~ Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Three of Earth ~ The Norns. They are the Norse Goddesses of Destiny, and their pithy message is, 'Small stitches weave the world. Do your part.' Doesn't get much clearer than that. These three mysterious female beings are goddesses of Fate for the Norse and Germanic peoples. Named Urd {What Once Was}, Verdandi {What Is Coming Into Being}, and Skuld {What Is Yet To Come} they shape destiny by carving runes into the trunk of the tree, or, in some sagas and poems, by weaving destiny like a web or tapestry.

They live in the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree and their task is to tend to the tree maintaining its health until 'world's end' by drawing water from the Well of Urth to nourish the roots. The health of the tree and the lives of humanity are intertwined for the tree contains the worlds that humanity experiences. A dragon lurks below and gnaws away at the roots.

According to Norse mythology The Norns shape what will happen through pouring the sacred water, etching runes into the trunk and by spinning and weaving. They circumscribe what can be done, putting boundaries in place, laying down primal laws, creating the warp and weft of livingness. Ellen Lorenzi-Prince suggests that when they appear in a reading the focus is on cooperative effort. She says, "Offering what you have and can do may be a blessing for another. Look for opportunities to share your skills." As I asked about how useful my collective card pulling and channeling was this advice feels very on point. It's not for me to determine the worth of an intuitive message or offering. That is really none of my business, my business is simply to get on with it by sharing the fruits of my attunements. She goes on to warn of saboteurs, one's own inner ones, and advises not to feed that dragon through conflict or doubt. Hum a lullaby, she says, keep them calm and distracted and keep doing what you do.

Yggdrasil ~ Artist Unknown

From the Poetic Edda,

There stands an ash called Yggdrasil,
A mighty tree showered in white hail.
From there come the dews that fall in the valleys.
It stands evergreen above Urd's Well.

From there come maidens, very wise,
Three from the lake that stands beneath the pole.
One is called Urd, another Verdandi,
Skuld the third; they carve into the tree
The lives and destinies of children.











The practical suggestion for this card is to "write down what you want to happen as if it has already occurred. Be wise with your wishes. Make one for you, one for another and one for the Tree. See how, in the story of you create of your own life, goodness can grow from what you do." Not a few moments earlier I had written down a wild dream I have of traveling to Bohemia with some of my tea and tea sets and Tarot decks. No itinerary other than connecting with the natural landscape and its people through tea ceremony and cards. This confluence of my wild intention and the card felt like a generous affirming, nourishment, watering something deep and as-yet-to be seen but conscious nonetheless.

Last night I finished Uprooted by Naomi Novak. The theme had to do with a dark woods and something called the Heart Tree. The serendipity is not lost on me. In this case however the Heart Tree had been poisoned by hatred causing an insidious corruption to take root and spread throughout. It is written in the style of a fairy tale and as I read over the information on the Norns and Yggdrasil today I found the parallels striking. Not so much the story lines, there are only a few stories really, which are constantly being borrowed and repurposed, but more the timing of my finishing of this book colliding with my direct question and drawing of this card this morning.

Perhaps we are the World Tree, the clear stream of consciousness running through the roots of our collective psyche and the need to purify it with continual attention to detail, to the heart, to silence and the messages it contains. To fight against doubt, against the divisive and poisonous fires of dualistic thinking. Something about interdependence, about the part we all play in each others' lives and the constant tending to and awareness of the grace of these roles, their sacredness, their vital life-giving energy.

Labyrinth of The World Tree by Yuji Himukai, 2014

Witch of Water :: Purification of the Elements

Dark Goddess Tarot ~ Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Over on my IG account I've been pulling a card from the Dark Goddess Tarot each day for the collective, as a way to navigate the times we find ourselves in from the wisdom of the divine feminine in her warrior form. Becoming more aware of what nourishes the body and what detracts from it I asked about self-care and what that would look like today for those of us attuning to dark goddess wisdom. Today's Dark Goddess wisdom comes from Haya-Akitsu-Hine, Shinto Goddess of the Sea. She is the Witch of Water, Witches in this deck being the equivalent of Queens in a RWS deck.

Haya-Akitsu-Hine encourages us to "live our ethics and beliefs on a regular basis to walk the blessed way." In this way standing for truth and justice is its own blessing, she says, its own holiness, because it is alive with the sacred ground of your breath and body. She suggests that to see where power lies look beneath the form to its essence. When form dissolves energy remains to be reshaped and created anew. I have an image of dissolution when I read this, of crystals dissolving into liquid form.

Being a goddess of the sea, Haya-Akitsu-Hine's wisdom on a practical level means it's a day for the alchemy of salt and water. I'm reminded of Karen Blixen's truth that, 'The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea.' Today I'll be heading to the ocean to immerse myself in its untamed energy--wind, sand, sky, saltwater, to receive her blessing with my own wilderness body.

If the ocean isn't available to you a bath with salt in the water or other cleansing herbs is a fine way to purify. The point is to immerse yourself in the salinity of the elemental moment, to give yourself over to saltwater and ask that the life-draining particles of shame, fear and negativity you carry be cleansed, dissolved and carried away. Before posting this I stood out in the pouring rain and blew the conch, sound being another way to purify atmosphere, it both calls and dispels. Life energy abounded as I felt the vitality of elemental energy streaming in through the sound of the conch, responding to its call. May your day be blessed with life-giving energy.

Sacred Conch ~ All being comes into form through sound.

Kali Yuga :: Our Own Face

Destruction ~ Kali || Dark Goddess Tarot by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

On my Instagram page I've posting a single card drawn each day from the Dark Goddess Tarot by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince. I'm committed to doing so until the next New Moon so as to hear the wisdom of these dark sisters, mothers, daughters during times when that feels so integral to our awakening as a culture, a cosmos. Today's Dark Goddess wisdom comes through Kali, Hindu Goddess of Time, Creation, Destruction and Regeneration through Fire, traditionally entitled The Tower in the RWS Tarot.

I pulled this after reading today's headlines, asking the question what do we need to hear, what wisdom is asking for a voice. Of course Kali seems less about asking and more about announcing, declaring, commanding and there are so many ways her presence today could be interpreted. My own views could shape it one way, opposing views could shape it 180 degrees the other way. I don't think that's the point, our lens is just that, subjective and thus only a partial view. But beyond 'subjectivity' and 'objectivity' is another realm, untraveled country for the most part. I see her presence here today as partially lifting the veil on the severity of the confusion we are immersed in. Remember, she says, this is my age, the Kali Yuga, 'the age of vice', the face of each of us. Each. Of. Us. All-inclusive.

Drunk with slaughter, she dances crushing all beneath her furious feet until finally Shiva, Lord of the Dance of Life, throws himself beneath her steps and she awakens, her wild dance slowing. None of us are immune because none of us are willing to give up our cherished illusions easily, generously, wholeheartedly. It's these illusions she dances upon, crushing and destroying them out of necessity. Terrible, horrifying, liberating. I don't imagine for a second that awakening comes easily, softly, gently. The Beloved wants all of us. I'm not ready for that kind of offering. And though she defies the circumscription of words, Kali's presence here today is a reminder of how destructive attachment to and identification with the egoic self is.

It's true that we seem to need less reminder of that these past weeks but beyond notions and experiences of 'other' and 'them', where is my own ego so entrenched that only dissolution's dance can purify it? Sobering questions to hold as I navigate my own small, transient but articulated place within this larger and longer Kaliyuga.

Let Yourself Be Silently Drawn

Dark Goddess Tarot ~ Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

This draw feels intimately relevant and resonant to my journey right now. I drew this pair a couple of days ago and didn't have time to work with them until just a little bit ago. The Dark Goddess Tarot is proving to be a wonderful companion during this season. One or two cards suffice as there is so much teaching and wisdom to be gleaned from a single goddess. Both of these cards slipped from the deck as I was shuffling and I bowed to their proffered presence.

Sedna ~ Eight of Water ~ Dark Goddess Tarot

Here we see Sedna, Eight of Water (Cups). She is the Inuit Goddess of the Ocean, Mother of the animals of the sea and Queen of the Underworld. She holds multitudes in her tangled hair and her reign is located beyond breath, in the dark, arctic seas. She created this queendom by leaving her life behind her. A sobering and challenging reality. The phrase that came to me for this card was, unfold your own myth.

While out on the ocean with her father Sedna falls into the water and her father, in an effort to save himself, hits and/or chops off her fingers to free his kayak from her grip. Echoes of The Handless Maiden here.

She dies at the hands of the one she trusted to care for her, a chilling realization. But her amputated fingers become the creatures of the ocean as seen in this card. In the depths her mutilation is transformed. Dismemberment does not break her, it multiplies her. Such power in this statement and one to take to heart when journeying into the shadow realms to retrieve those lost parts of the self.

The LWB suggests caring for the inner child, the one who has been betrayed, who feels alone. Listen to her stories, tell her some stories, tuck her in. These are all such wise offerings to make to the young aspects of the soul wanting integration. And I anticipate some intentional time spent in the presence of this young self, time in which to see what old wounds are operating below the surface of the manifest...those areas of irritation, compulsion, aversion that are actually a way of asking for attention. Even a change in awareness becomes a pathway to healing the deeper wound though the path may take us thick into the forests of the night before coming out the other side.

The Black Madonna ~ The Empress ~ Dark Goddess Tarot

And here She is, the one whose embrace my Sedna-self is swimming towards. The Empress as embodied by the Black Madonna whose darkness is womb-rooted. My relationship with this goddess goes back several decades and she continues to inform my journey. In Europe she is sometimes called The Mother of Miracles, venerated more for her magical power than her spiritual blessing.

She embodies the primacy of darkness and inspires one to look beyond the surface of things to accept the full glory of that multi-contextual reality. The author suggests in relation to this card to assess things with an open heart and not allow our definition of 'best' limit the outcome for good.

Whenever I interface with the Black Madonna even if it's just a glance at a passing image of Her, I'm reminded of the power of the shadow body, of the redemptive grace inherent in its wisdom when reclaimed with love and awareness. She is there, a warm, dark, knowing receptivity to be enfolded into.

The two cards together brought forth a phrase from one of Rumi's poems...Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. I feel these words as Hecate's torches shining their light upon the pitch and ebon darkness of the unknown path I'm treading, feeling my way step by step...hand over hand...breath by breath.

You Are Your Deepest Intention

Dark Goddess Tarot ~ Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

In the now lighter morning glow I drew from the Dark Goddess Tarot, a deck I've had a while but haven't delved into much. This time of year feels perfect to travel with these dark ladies. Today a simple two card draw and yet the wonderful and not so little LWB gives such a depth of material to work with that a two card draw becomes a journey in itself.

The Moon ~ Arianhrod ~ Dark Goddess Tarot

I drew The Moon first, on this day to honor the dead. In this depiction we see Arianhrod, whose name means Silver Wheel, the Welsh Mother of the Night, goddess of the moon, sky and stars. She shifts shape into an owl of the night who sees in the dark, who sees ahead and behind. Silence is her language as embodied through wings that are soft and noiseless.

Change arrives bit by bit over time, suggests Ellen. I draw comfort from the encouragement to maintain my intention and stay with the process as well as the recognition that deep forces and feelings are involved. Journeying with Hecate I can't help but feel the relevance of this advice. The gentle encouragement from this card to let things unfold, to follow those inner quickenings no matter that they look different than what I may have planned is a comfort. Trusting the guides, signs and gleanings along the way is key.

The suggestion is to wear moonstone and silver today. As well as to get more sleep so the mind can be washed in the element of dreams. With the clocks being turned back and myself waking at 2:30 I feel this advice on a practical level. She goes on to say that "listening to the intimate and innate knowledge of your physical being brings celestial wisdom into embodiment."

Sitting with The Moon, allowing its light to wash over me feels nourishing today. There are the usual calls on my attention and they're at odds with the more reflective energy this card exudes. The next card though brings it all down to earth.

Gaia ~ Ace of Earth ~ Dark Goddess Tarot

The Ace of Earth, Mother Gaia herself calling gently to me to bring my dreams into reality, my imaginative wanderings, intuitive body and creativity into the ground of everyday life. Not an easy task for me.

The keyphrases are, The Earth gives birth to giants. Time to grow. Here we see her inseparable from her element, rising up out of the earth, blessing everything within her gaze. She is the Mother of All.

Going out into the natural world feels like something to do to acknowledge her presence. Stone holding, river watching, lying on the ground and letting the clouds drift through the sky of the body all are ways to honor her. I like what Ellen has to say here, Embracing your life is not a one-time task. For best results, keep your arms open and keep going. Be brave enough to work on your big dream.

I think of all the small seeds I am planting in relation to my 'big dream'. Of course *I* am my big dream, as are we all, each and everyone of us is the dream we're unerringly seeking...

Your body is a heaven arising 
as the ellipse of its own earth.
A celestial bending of light,
You are your deepest intention.