Five of Wands ~ Friction Dances

World Spirit Tarot ~ Lauren Onça O'Leary

It all hinges on that annoying Five of Wands which continues to make appearances in my daily draws. So done with seeing this energy show up but apparently not done enough says Spirit. What's interesting here though is the theme of two--two Wands, two combatants, and the two vessels Temperance pours from. In my experience Two speaks to thresholds. The Two of Wands and Temperance mirror that quality and each other beautifully. But that pesky Five stands between them, between the self that is a channel ready to manifest energy and that healing energy going out actively, intentionally into the world.

Sigh. Not only has this card has appeared so often lately but today's draw speaker to deeper themes I'm working with. Fives are all about stagnant energy, energy built up by resistance and fear such that its outlet has been externalized either as friction that radiates outwards as in the Swords and Wands or internalized as victim in the Cups and Pents. Either way the gathering nexus of energy is the ego's contraction, its need to defend/protect itself.

The Dance of Healing

Thankfully Temperance has chosen to step in here to remind me of a deeper/wider perspective. That this is a Major speaks to archetypal energies that are at play within, often times energies that we have less influence over than we might in the Minors.

The two Wands here become two combatants as a result of shadow energy getting hold of the raw potential in that initial card. It's not given any room to manifest, blocking the flow, literally. Step out of the way and allow it, which is to say, let yourself move through the world of earth and water, body and heart, with ease. But perhaps more importantly let that world move through you, through the two vessels of your wisdom and compassion, your intention and manifestation. Sometimes the very movement itself is the healing agent.

My draw from the Devas of Creation deck by Cilla Conway today was the Deva of Spring and its body language mirrors Temperance so beautifully that I couldn't help but notice it. Clearly they are different rays from the same etheric tribe. Spring brings with it new eyes, a vision that is suddenly alive to color, to detail--the pink flame of cherry blossom, the tiny bud. This kind of presence with the wonder of the burgeoning moment is medicine that restores, that heals. And all over the city here the cherry blossoms are alive to remind me of that, sending out their gorgeous song of hope and heart. Pink, pink, pink everywhere...

When Truth becomes Trope

World Spirit Tarot ~ Lauren Onça O'Leary

"What you seek is seeking you."

This oft-quoted line of Rumi's filtered through my awareness as I contemplated this morning's draw. So often when truth becomes trope the tendency is to gradually stop hearing it. And that is the case with this line. I came upon Rumi's poetry 25 years ago and immersed myself in its dazzle and passion. Now Mevlana is everywhere. It's wonderful that his message of universality, of Love's effacing power, and the dance with the Beloved is so prevalent. And it also means that for me the dazzle has dimmed considerably.

Vagabond Heart

But writing about something often breathes new life into it so....What exactly, or if not exactly then thematically am I seeking? Honestly at this point in my life the question feels...so innocent. But the cards offer me a way in. Clearly there is the desire to refind the lineage of simple joy, an embodiment of the teachings of wonder, fresh-eyes, warmth. The most compelling figure in this trio of cards is the beautiful white horse that the Seeker of Cups rides. It echoes the archetypal energies of the unicorn in the Sun card.

I love the way the horse is so attuned to its rider as to be focused on the Cup the Seeker is looking at with equal intensity. The curve of its neck, its solidly planted legs, partially in and partially out of the stream, as if to say I can help you navigate earth and water, the body and the heart. And the openness of the Seeker's throat chakra, so wide, so spacious, so receptive. And the rolling hills, flowing water and sky-swirled heavens mirroring the wild ride of the heart. They are utterly immersed here, both rider and horse.

It's true that the more I go along in life the more my own horse feels so important, that which carries me...body, intention, momentum. All of these things feel integral to the journey, in fact they are the journey at this point, as well as arrival. More and more it feels like I am it.

Shine!

The Sun, here, is so raw, so full, so viscerally alive with life and light. Again it's the creature who draws my eye, the beautifully strong unicorn whose head is bowed in service to the light, to its rider, to the moment. The sunflowers open as they pass, and the sun itself one giant sunflower in bloom. 

It's a lovely thought to imagine this is seeking me. And it gives a slightly different spin on things to phrase it this way, less that I'm trying to move away from shadow/negativity/despair and more that light is searching me out. Like two lovers moving closer and closer to each other to finally collide into each others' arms. 

And finally we have The Hierophant, holder of tradition, lineage, interpreter of the Oracle, confidante of the High Priestess. While she is the Mystery, he is the Teachings. He fosters the spiritual growth of his community much the way The Emperor looks to the secular lives of his subjects. 

The Hierophant is much maligned, IMO, and I've always had and continue to have a good relationship with him. I like that he is seeking me out, through of the energies of Brilliance, Joy and the Vagabond Heart. These are all wonderful qualities to see one along the path. Here he is portrayed as an Aztec priest. His finger pointing to the sky, and flaming torch bring to mind Moses, that great desert dervish. His supplicants kneel, not so much to him, as to the earth he stands on, the ground of being that we all share. An opportunity to place one's forehead on the Mother is a sacred one. The dervishes do this before any whirling they do as reminder of the ground of being, that which supports us, that which we all share. The Earth is humility Herself and when I place my own forehead on the ground I do so with the sense of receiving teachings from a great Wisdom-Holder. She is seeking me, she is seeking me...

Interpreter of the Oracle

The Heart Is Her Hermitage

World Spirit Tarot ~ Lauren Onça O'Leary

I've been really enjoying the revised World Spirit Tarot lately. Something so muscular and earthy about the imagery. This morning's draw focused on a theme for today and how to work with it. I pulled the Ace of Cups and The Hermit respectively.

First off, a female Hermit 💙Being a double Hermit myself and now two days into my 'Hermit Year' I was thrilled to see this card appear. That my first Hermit card is depicted as a woman feels so...auspicious, so affirming. I don't usually ascribe positions to my daily draws rather I tend to read the overall energy. But this morning's question of the day's theme, formulated itself. Seeing the Ace of Cups had me doing a metaphorical happy dance. And this one is so resonant.

~ Opening ~

A mythic yoni serves as gateway to this energy, energy that is receptivity and offering both. If the Soul were to have a shape I think it would be this cup, this bowl-like form. The Soul itself as the emptiness that shapes the cup as well as the potential that fills it. Form and emptiness continually in dialogue, in partnership with each other. 

The LWB gives the card the title, Opening, and this is a lovely way to work with this energy. Being the opening, opening to, opening for...so many ways to experience opening. How often am I truly open, how often do I open into, how often do create an opening for another? These are good questions for my hermetic self to reflect on.

And implicit in opening is softening, is vulnerability which is perhaps why it so often feels easier to give than to receive, easier to observe than open into. 

The way to work with the magnitude of this universal, creating, softening energy, say the cards, is through The Hermit. If the Ace of Cups is the doorway to the inner world she has internalized this knowledge, lives the truth that Love is what holds atoms together, is what generates form and the necessary outbreath of its absence. As I continue my chakra work I'm drawn to her lantern, its yellow glow shining directly from her solar plexus chakra whose color is also yellow. As if to say, while she is solitary and removed from the hustle of life she has full ownership and awareness of her personal power as it is used in service to something larger than herself.

Her hermitage is the Heart.

I love her expression, a blend of crone and maiden. She wears red shoes that have seen many travels. Their color makes me think of the amount of will required to stay true to a path so...at odds with the norm. Each day is virgin, opportunity to remember the path, to live the vows of wisdom and compassion, the laws of interdependence, to be in the world but not of it. Her hermitage is the Heart, her wanderings take her through her inner landscape, its peaks and valleys, its caves and meadows. 

And do you see the little rabbit sitting at her feet? As a Rabbit myself I can't help but feel a resonance here. I associate them with the goddess, with fertility, travel, community and refined energy. 

I love the inclusion of this energy, as if to say far from being a dry, lonely path the path of the Hermit is rich with the creativity of Beloved, it is generative and active and subtle and above all it is a path of love, of joy.