She of 10,000 Names

Several days this week I've gone to bed very late, my need for a silent house, no calls on my attention and the spaciousness that comes with being the only one awake has prevailed over my need for sleep. I pay for it in the morning. Lack of patience with and irritation at my limits, a version of a self I seem quite attached to. Sigh. Morning hikes with my pup on the ridge breathe some fresh air into my mood but not quite enough to blow them away completely. So we've been stumbling through the mornings, attachment and I, as best we can.

Isis Oracle ~ Alana Fairchild

Earlier in the week I dropped my son at his voice lesson and settled in to wait in the car. My pup was in the back seat keeping me company, reminding me of my own animal body with its unerring instincts for balance as long as I'm able to get out of the way.

I pulled out my Isis Oracle which I had specifically brought with me for a different perspective perhaps even some guidance. I shuffled the cards for a bit allowing whatever sensations and feelings were there to float to the surface to be met with awareness and then I drew a single card. I was looking for a wisdom that was rooted in an ancient femininity larger than the tightly held identity I have been choosing for myself lately. The universe offered me Goddess of 10,000 Names ~ Endless Emanations of the Priestess. Indeed just reading the word 'endless' gave me a glimpse of the expanse I was seeking. Her outstretched wings and the suggestion of her wide searching gaze behind the picture deepened this feeling.

Once home I set up my altar to reflect the Oracle card I pulled adding some flowers and light to honor this aspect of Isis. As I looked at it I felt a kind of settling, a slight widening in my heart simply at the sight of the beauty of this little arrangement. Such a simple thing, really, and yet beauty has that kind of profound effect.

My son was working on his homework and I had a bit of time to myself before heading out for another dog-walking session so I decided to do some drumming. It was wonderful to feel the vibrations of the drum seeping into my body, into my hara center, my breath, my heart. And Isis felt present in the freedom of allowing a perceived name and thus identity of myself to loosen a little with each beat of the drum, a beat I was co-creating with the instrument, a reality I was weaving with my intention.

When I was finished I felt just a little more spacious. I set out on my hike, pup in tow, Krista Tippet in the earbuds and made the conscious effort to be present to what was arising, feet hitting the earth, wind on the face, blue sky filling the eyes, discussion in the ears. It was a great hike. And then I walked into a house clamoring for dinner, pups and lads alike. Expansion and contraction, an ongoing theme lol.


Later once everyone had been fed, dishes washed up and evening music practices supervised I stole away to my office to do a little pathworking with Isis. Candles lit, incense burning and the altar aglow with beauty I put on a shamanic drum recording and settled in to connect with the beat of the Mother. I have found this a good way to enter more viscerally into what is asking for a voice. The drum gradually loosens what's extraneous making way for a more authentic response to arise. After the callback journey I watched my breath for a bit and then began working with She of 10,000 Names.

Goddess of 10,000 Names ~ Isis Oracle

This card has a Maiden~Mother-Crone feel to it, a Three of Cups feel, a Three Graces feel--all these threes reminding me of the multiplicity and mutability of the Goddess and of course, The Empress in the Tarot, Mother of Accommodation. At the same time the name of the card calls to mind Thousand-Armed Chenrezig from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a deity whose many arms allow for all-accomplishing bodhisattvic activity. The image of pebble-as-self tossed into the waters of awareness in ever-widening rings also comes to mind. All of these informed my thoughts as I allowed the image and name to sink in.

The LWB talks about this emanation of Isis as representative of the understanding that a name holds power, that it energizes and defines and yet also limits. To name is to claim. With this card I'm reminded not only of the names I'm called by, roles I inhabit, but also the names I call myself, the qualities I describe myself with in any given moment.

This aspect of Isis speaks to letting go of or stepping out of old identities as well as recognizing which ones feel true, authentic and worthy of our embodiment. The idea of a 'spiritual' name is raised in the LWB as well. Like most folks working intentionally within a sacred paradigm I have several, some spoken, some unspoken. Some given me by teachers others given me by the teacher within, all of them a practice, active or inactive. The meditation for this card is called Ritual of the Spiritual Name. I didn't feel particularly moved to inquire about another name but I liked what the author had to say about the process which left a lot of room for serendipity to arise.

Beginning with a short prayer of receptivity the visualization then moves into allowing various colors, sounds, patterns, images to arise in the heart space. You may hear, sense, perceive a name, sound, pattern or it may be happening beneath your level of consciousness. This kind of permission gave rise to a participation without expectation or judgement. And I liked the idea of a name being as subtle or oblique as a color or pattern. Dropping deeper into the visualization and I became aware of a creature appearing and moving towards me. A creature I feel a strong attunement to, have a long relationship with. I was so surprised to see Her here though I later learned that She is sacred to Isis. My egoic mind began trying to make various connections when all of a sudden the creature's sound arose in the atmosphere filling it completely. It was a sound typical to this animal but one I would never think to make on my own. It was so energizing. I could feel it moving through my body up my central channel as I opened my lips and released it in a long out-breath. I closed with an offering of gratitude and then spent some time allowing the experience to settle into my cellular awareness.

Minoan Snake Goddess ~ Isis Oracle

I found this to be a surprisingly moving meditation. I approached it somewhat cynically, trying to sidestep the inner critic and instead rooting my intention in openness of heart. What a tightrope walk and not always easy for my Swords-Cups self! The experience both surprised and enchanted me. And it was a gentle reminder that there is so much for me to grow into where the opening heart is concerned. Allowing this sound a voice in my body over the days following this experience has had the effect of creating a little space where that's needed. Being named in this way offers me a moment of revitalization, relaxation and centering in the midst of a busy day. The Goddess of 10,000 Names offered me a mystery that is actually a key, the door of which is me. Wherein I've stepped through the threshold of a self that is learning to embody a more authentic relationship with something approaching namelessness.