Stirring the Pot

Halloween Tarot ~ Halloween Oracle

As I was casting about for a deck to use with my daily draw I spied the happy pumpkins of The Halloween Tarot by Wes Kipling and felt drawn to their levity...apparently I was mistaken in my estimation of this deck. If this draw is any indication it pulls no punches. And to top it off the shadow card was the Eight of Swords. Sigh...and yet I journeyed with these cards, traveled into deserts I'd not anticipated and came away feeling renewed and lighter.

As I was looking at the cards came the line...loosen the ties that bind us. As with my draw earlier in the week I knew I'd heard the line before and as with the earlier draw it turned out to be a line from the Aramaic Lord's Prayer. I've worked with the Aramaic interpretation of this prayer off and on for almost two decades and while I'm intrigued as to why it's suddenly so determined to announce itself into my consciousness I'm not going to refuse its wisdom...

Cauldron ~ Synergy and Healing ~ Halloween Oracle

The sixth line of the KJV version talks of forgiveness, debts and the people we feel beholden to. Feeling one's lack, coming up short, blame and shame, and reciprocity's absence are all themes that we're invited to offer up into the cauldron of forgiveness such that we ourselves may be stirred and blended into the awareness that we are all one body. Neil Douglas-Klotz, author of Prayers of the Cosmos, describes it this way...

Loose the cords of mistakes binding us
as we release the strands we hold
of others' guilt.

Forgive our hidden past, the secret shames,
as we consistently forgive
what others hide.

Absorb our frustrated hopes and dreams,
as we embrace those of others
with emptiness.



This line of the prayer asks us to invoke a deeply embodied forgiveness. When sung and danced in Aramaic it is hauntingly beautiful, sober and yet invites a depth of connection with all beings as well as with the emptiness that allows us to experience each other's suffering.

Ten of Imps ~ Halloween Tarot

This figure in the Ten of Imps aka Wands looks like he is in need of this kind of compassionate embrace. The theme of forgiveness, of release continues....

Lighten our load of secret debts as
we consistently forgive
what others hide.

How often do I feel this way? How often are my loads self-imposed rather than external? These are questions to journey with when this card comes up for me. It's a mix as day-to-day duties naturally come with responsibilities that sometimes pile up but the loads that are heaviest to bear are those I place upon myself, those I keep to myself, those I close my heart around, a cross between this card and the Eight of Swords in many ways.

Untangle the knots within
so that we can mend our hearts'
simple ties to others.


The little stone heart pictured with the Ten of Imps is unakite. It derives its name from the Greek for 'growing together'. I reached for it intuitively on this day wanting its gentle beauty on my altar so I could see it often through the day. And how relevant it is to my draw as I look to the areas, the burdens that are asking for integration.

King of Bats ~ Halloween Tarot

And in comes The King of Bats traditionally the King of Swords...appearing in his role of arbiter, discriminating wisdom, Manjusri-like in his ability to discern wheat from chaff, the one who will guide us.

One of the words in the Aramaic version of the prayer is the word aykanna which translates to 'just as' in English...just as we forgive our debtors. It brings with it the quality of effort and intention, the desire for consistency and stability and reminds us that release is an ongoing practice, one that must be done regularly if our tangled relationships are to become whole and balanced again.

The King of Bats is a good role model for this kind of rigorous and stabilizing force to draw from. We need that kind of strength and confidence. We need his sword to untangle the inner knots.




The cauldron of God holds it all. She is the emptiness that gives shape to our longing for wholeness, for renewal and She is the very form of our suffering leading us back to Her. The happy little pumpkins, ghosts, bats and imps have taken me on travels I didn't anticipate. May each of us journey into the heart of our own unique and perfect longing.