Season- Spring

Here is a card that showed up a few weeks ago in one of my daily readings, very appropriate since here in New England, everything is bursting into full greening spring.  In journaling with this card, I learned something about spring on the INSIDE as well!

I am the one who is new growth, pushing up out of the ground.  I am the one who is pure and new and vibrant and clean.  I am the one who is leaving the icy snow of winter behind and warming to the new spring sun. 

My message for you today is this: you are like this new flower sprouting, pushing up through the dirt/soil and into the new light of spring.  Your time of darkness is over.  Your time in the coolness of the underground was necessary and healing.  Now is the time to burst forth and revel in the sun’s warmth and the beauty that is all around you.

Breaking Through

I made this card well over a year ago, more like two years.  And it has just now shown up in a daily reading!  I’ve been away from this blog for several months as I put aside several tasks in order to let my body and mind rest from the cancer treatments and surgeries.

So it’s especially poignant to me, that THIS is the card that showed up the week I decided to start sharing my cards in this blog again!

If you click on the card, you can see a larger version of it. You’ll see words on both sides of the image- negative, destructive, fearful words on the left side in black and white, and brighter, more positive words on the right, more colorful side.

I am the one who is finally breaking through a wall that previously I’ve been unable to get through.  I am the one who now finds this wall transparent and fluid- and easy to break through.

I am the one who is calm and serene as I break away from the old black and white fears and angers and insecurities and into this bright new world of strength and divinity and the deep inner wisdom of my body.

My message for you today is this- this is not something that you have to do again and again and again.  You have broken through the wall and there is no going back.  Your body is reflecting this new movement forward.  Smile!  Rejoice!  Be grateful.  You are now lighter and stronger than ever before!

I am especially feeling lots of strong emotion right now because I worked for almost 2 years as co-chair of the Planning Circle team to bring this Conference to life, and today is the day that everyone is gathering for lots of SoulCollage workshops, ceremonies, learning, fun, joy, camaraderie and blessings of community.

So I drew two cards from my deck this morning to see what they had to share with me.  As usual, I got just what I needed!

Person huddled in orange blanket, fire, white/clear vases in background-

Untitled SoulCollage Card

I am the one who is warm, who is basking in the glow of the fire and flames in front of me. I am the one who is wrapped in the fiery color of orange, the color of heat and life and joy.  I am the one who is standing in front of vases and containers made of milk glass and clear glass.  I am the one whose back is turned to the fragile glass containers.  I am the one who is focusing on the heat, on the light, on the fire.

My message to you today is this: Even though you are alone, you are wrapped in the soft blanket of community warmth and spirit.  The fire you are focusing on is the same fire that those at the Conference are focusing on: the fire of passion for this process (SoulCollage) and this community.

Keep your back to that which is fragile and self-contained and will easily shatter.  Keep yourself wrapped in this blanket of joyful community and warm fire. You are not alone, never alone. Just keep the focus where it should be.

Crow Woman

Crow Woman

I am the one who is surrounded by crows- one is on top of the Book of All Knowing.  Many are flying in heart formation beside me. And I have warrior painted crows on my face and neck and chest.  I am the one who is adorned with, surrounded by and infused with Crow Medicine, Crow Energy. 

My message for you today is this: Crow is your Animal Medicine of the heart chakra.  Take some time today with sit with Crow as you meditate. Invite Crow into your imagery this afternoon.  Listen to what Crow tells you. Listen to what your Heart tells you. 

I know that you are feeling lonely today because you are not at the conference with everyone else. The secret to lifting this feeling of loneliness is to acknowledge it, welcome it into your heart. Crow symbolizes community and in your heart, know that you are connected to this SoulCollage community in the deepest, most visceral of ways.  You are not alone, dear one, you are part of Crow Tribe also.

Divine Child

As some of you know, I have had an emotionally and physically tumultuous summer (and that’s putting it mildly).  At the end of August I finally started doing my Every-Other-Daily readings again and here are the  two cards that showed up for me.

Very comforting and enlightening!

Divine Child:

I am the one who is full of simplicity and joy.  I am the one who is held by the Mother.  I am the one who brings gifts.  I am the one who is comfortable in my nakedness.

My message for you today is this: Smile. Notice what gifts you are carrying in your arms.  Allow yourself to be held by Great Mother.  Rest. Go to the ocean and sit. Smile again.

Journeyer

Journeyer

I am the one who moves forward, no matter the weather.  I am the one who sometimes sits and rests and thinks about the Journey.  I am the one who makes my own trail. 

My message for you today is this: Journey is not always about movement. Sometimes you need to pause and rest and give yourself time and space before moving on.

I am the one who is running out of time. I am the one who knows that I don’t have all the time in the world.  I am the one who is afraid that I can’t get everything done in time.

I am the one who has so much to do and to share with the world and not enough time to do it. I am the one who tries to capture time and save it, hoard it, hang on to it because I think I can control it better this way.

My message for you today is this: Pay attention to your relationship with time. You are hurting yourself with your attitude towards time. Time keeps ticking on, even if you hoard all of the clocks in the world into locked jars and cabinets.

This card is one that I made several years ago and it accurately reflects exactly how I feel about the passing of time.  Sometimes I look at it and think that the large image of the woman in the top right corner might be the Keeper of Time, but whenever I read from it, I tap into the energy of the sadness of time passing. So here it came to me again, last week, in one of my daily readings, and after I had just gone on at length in my journal about how there is so much to get done, and how am I going to get it all done..etc. You know the drill!

I find great comfort in this card, even though it seems to remind me of my powerlessness in the face of Time.  It helps me to remember that time is just a mental construct, and that as long as I keep myself in THIS moment, right now, that is all that matters.

And when I CAN do this… stay in the present moment…. then I find deep peace, and my worries and fears about getting everything done (or not done!) simply fade away.

I love it when a card comes together like this… a balance of one energy with another. I really had no idea what it was while I was making it…. and it’s taken me several months to actually sit down with it and see what it has to say.

In a card like this one, I found it helpful to do “I Am The One Who…” from the points of view of all three of the beings on this card.

I am the one who is looking forward and up, who is reflecting light back. I am the one who is outlined in light. I am the one who is opening my arms as if to embrace whatever it is that I am seeing. I am the one who is emerging into the light from a white wrapped and tied package. I have been covered, wrapped and tied and hidden away and now I am escaping into the open.

I am also the one who is walking into a new open door, going from the bright light into the darkness.

And I am the one (lower left corner) who offers this to you as a gift: it is a lovely balance, this work that you are doing- going from darkness into the light and from the light into the darkness. It is all necessary and it is all good. And the light is with you in all places.

Lately, I have been identifying more and more with the archetype of Persephone (see blog entry below), and because of this I am more comfortable now with the concept of going into those darker places.  It’s all a matter of balance!

Have you registered for REBIRTHING THE DIVINE?
7 Week Tele-Series with Cat Meehan Carcelo
Restoring the Mother-Daughter Aspects of Yourself
http://www.kaleidosoul.com/rebirthing.html

I took the Goddess Quiz on the site that she recommended, and discovered that my own top three personal goddess archetypes, expressing themselves in my life right now are: Persephone, Artemis, and Hestia.

After reading more about Hestia on the recommended site, I suddenly realized that I already have a SoulCollage® card for her, and this is it!

I am thinking that I MIGHT have one for Artemis as well, but I have to sit with that a while longer before sharing because I’m not entirely sure.

NOTE: If you are a Kindred Spirit Member, you can listen to Kathryn’s tele-class in the Members Only Audio Library.  If you’re not a Member yet, what are you waiting for? Visit this page for more info.

So when I made this card, I thought it was to honor the part of me who wants to put a halt to any more wounding.

I thought that was odd, because I’ve done SO much work on past emotional wounds and scarring.  So I was only a little surprised to discover what this image was REALLY saying to me!

Here is my journaling so far with this amazing card. I have the feeling she still has LOTS to say to me and I will be listening!

Who are you?
I am the one who is saying don’t come near to my scars. Don’t come near to my brilliance either. I am the one who is larger than the scar.  I am the one who doesn’t want people to see my wounds. I am the one who also doesn’t want people to see my bright and shining self.  I am the one who MEANS IT!!!

What do you have to give me?
I give you protection.  I keep people away from the real, true, inner you.  I keep you safe from those who would make your wounds deeper. I also keep you away from people who would be hurt by your brilliance.

What do you need from me?
I need you to be careful who and what you are allowing into our life.  I need you to be watchful of your physical and emotional energy field.

Is there anything else you have to say to me?
Yes!  My original intention was only to keep away anyone and anything that might open up old wounds and undo the emotional healing you have worked so hard at. But in doing that, sometimes I don’t discriminate. Sometimes I just keep everyone away. It’s hard work, letting people see only the bright side of you and not the woundedness, so sometimes I get mixed up and don’t let them in at all.

I am the one who leans back and trusts.

At our SoulCollage® and Poetry tele-class last month, Gail Warner gave us some beautiful time and space to write a poem based on one of our SoulCollage® cards.

Here is the card I drew and the poem I wrote:

Leaning back into joy
I am not afraid
Leaning back
I fall
I rest
I smile
I trust

Walking forward towards the light
I am not afraid
Walking forward
I move
with ease
I see
I trust

And so it is true
that leaning back
and walking forward
are exactly the same.

I encourage you to draw a card from your deck today and just jot down some words and phrases to create a simple poem either ABOUT the card or FROM the voice of the card. Go ahead… it’s easy!

This article is about a reading I did with my deck. The question I asked was:

Who has wisdom to offer me about transforming my fear?

GRATITUDE

I wanted to be given some simple ways that, when faced with fearful thoughts and fear energy, I can “snap out of it.”  Here are the three cards I drew, and what each one said to me:

GRATITUDE

I am the one who leans back and opens my hands and arms to receive the gifts that freely fall from heaven.  I am the one who says Thank You, and often. I am the one who is surrounded by the light and voices of grace.

My guidance is to focus on GRATITUDE instead of fear. Gratitude transmutes fear immediately.  As soon as you hear the fearful thought(s) in your mind, replace it with a thought of gratitude.

Fear and gratitude cannot exist energetically at the same time in your mind or body.

There is nothing else you need to know!

CRONE

CRONE

I am the one who is in the last season of my life. I am the one who is healthy and strong and who creates colorful things, who lets birds nest in my hat.

Here is how to transmute your fears: smile, pay attention to the little things, and go create something that makes your heart sing.

*

BODACIOUS BOD

Bodacious Bod

I am the one who is in tune with my body and the energy of my body. I am the one who moves with joy and confidence.

Here is what I say about transmuting your fears: Stay in touch with your body. Feel your own physical strength.

To stay in touch with your body, you have to be in the present moment. In the present moment there is no room for fear or worry. None!