foundations

Big Week – ND #10

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Initiation – Witches’ Wisdom Tarot* by Phyllis Curott

Big Week

From the full moon tomorrow (Saturday) night at 11:35 p.m. EST to the final Saturn square Uranus of the year next Thursday (23 December 2021), and a myriad other somewhat provocative aspects, this could prove to be an especially challenging several days. I’d say we definitely have a big week coming up. And while we’ll probably witness the foundational disruptions most dramatically in the ‘outside world,’ many of us will also experience this grand finale to our calendar year personally, as well.

You may recall that the theme of 2021 was pretty well set by the unusual circumstance of Saturn squaring (being in a 90 degree aspect to) Uranus not only once but three distinct times this year. The first one occurred in February (17th), the second in June (14th), and now this final one next week (the 23rd//24th). And to think, this specific tango between Saturn and Uranus only occurs once every 22 years.

As I understand it, usually this square happens once in its cycle. The fact that it happened three times this year (due to retrograde motion of the planets) made this struggle or challenge occurring between the old and the new all the more powerful, acute, and, well, potentially utterly transformational (or devastating, depending upon your perspective).

The fundamental natures of these two huge outer planets and how they’re in a challenging position with each other indicated that we would all be faced with taking stock of our core values and other foundational aspects of our lives. And along with that, challenged to allow those foundations to suddenly collapse or explode (the lightning-like, disruptive aspect of Uranus).

Resistance

On a societal level, all year we’ve been challenged to look at how the systems upon which our nation is built may be unstable and in need of reform or even complete rebuilding. It’s not been easy and there is a ton of resistance to even believing that our three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) might have become corrupted over the years. But we’ve seen a lot this year. And the Uranian energies of illumination, revelation, and radical transformation just keep pounding on the doors of our consciousness.

My sense (and I’m the first to admit, I’m no amazing ‘seer,’ I’m simply paying attention) is that we’re in for a lot more disruption before we stabilize.

Personal Ramifications

While what happens on a national level (or even state or local level) affects us all, especially when we’re talking about the underpinnings of our very democracy, the fact remains that many people are also experiencing radical transformations to their foundations on a personal level. From the ravaging effects of Covid (we reached the awful level of 800,000 deaths this week) to the decimation of voting rights and the right for women to have bodily autonomy, our assumptions about the permanence and stability of our health or our rights in this country have been blown up. Right down to the thousands of people who literally had their homes ripped up and spit out by monster tornadoes. Things we believed stable and rock solid have been proved otherwise.

Guidance

So like I did back in May, just before the second Saturn square Uranus, I’m going to pick a card tonight for us to contemplate and reflect upon over the coming week. (I recommend you check out the card I chose for that post. It’s interesting to read it, knowing how things have played out so far.)

Oddly, the deck I chose from in May (Tarot of the Crone) has gone missing for the moment. (I know it’s around here somewhere – aargh! I’m so frustrated.) But I take my inability to locate that deck as a push to choose from another deck. So here goes. I’m choosing from a deck I’ve been working with all year: Witches’ Wisdom Tarot* by Phyllis Curott.

Initiation – Witches’ Wisdom Tarot* by Phyllis Curott

Initiation

Wisdom: There’s an ancient path for becoming human, for finding freedom and our own selves; there’s a way to heal and to become whole, to discover who we are, where we are, and why we’re here. From the moment of our first awakening, we have created rites of revelation, Initiations into the Mysteries hiding in plain sight.

(…) Trees stir and breathe. Birds sing in their branches as the leaves rustle and dance. The Pilgrim kneels beside a stream to drink, washes her face, sees herself reflected in the Water cupped in her hands. A sign of her quest hangs from her neck, five seed-shaped spaces waiting to be filled. A Crow plucks off her hat, two Fox cubs play and tear at her pack, a Badger carries her past away.

The path leads down, deep beneath the surface, and inward to the very center of her soul. Those who are becoming wise willingly descend, ready to be unmade in order to be made again. It’s time for unburdening, for cleansing the unreal and unwanted, for shedding all that separates you from your sacred self, from the Sacred that surrounds, sustains, and summons you. It’s time to di and be reborn.

(…)

Essence: Purification. Initiation. Trust. Let go of the past. Go within. Plunge into the unknown.

Counsel: What’s behind you? What are you carrying with you? What do you need to unpack? To leave behind? Life will initiate you, and when that journey begins, you must be ready to confront the emptiness of a socially dictated life and the constraints of family conditioning. You must face your fears and self-doubts, your shadows and your ‘kark’ side. You must release what imprisons you. It’s difficult, but it’s joyful. It begins with a single step,a leap of faith that although the old will fall away, something new, true, and beautiful will take its place. Plunge into the Water, into the cave. Plunge into your life. Everything will teach you, once you are open.

My Take

We can’t make this stuff up, my friends.

Buckle up. Let’s do this work: and remember we’re doing it together – and we have each other.

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(T+10)

In For a Landing – Day 1020

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Snowy Owl Coming In For a Landing – Photo: L. Weikel

In For a Landing

A line of thunderstorms came through our area just as the sun was contemplating setting. Besides billowing harbingers of potential mayhem and torrential downpours, one scenario depicted in the sky was a snowy owl coming in for a landing.

I’d actually just completed closing Sacred Space following a session with a client when a deep and prolonged rumble of thunder rippled out across the sky. Stepping outside, I got goosebumps when I took in the scenario unfolding above my head.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter whether anyone else can see what you see. Not if the magic of a moment infuses with you awe. Or hope. Or maybe even the tiniest sliver of a sense of being part of something much greater than the superficial illusions that we normally chase and often cherish.

Besides these clouds, there were a few rainbow moments that, oddly, appeared to be less a rainbow and more a multicolored bar. I couldn’t manage to get a photo of it fast enough, but the traditional colors of a rainbow made a brief appearance in the sky sporting the sharp, clean, rectangular edges of…a flag. Or a banner. It seemed more a statement than a wish.

I was so frustrated that I missed the shot.

Speaking the Truth – Photo: L. Weikel

An Evening Chorus

The last several nights have been deathly silent as I wrote my posts. Those moments when the rain wasn’t falling and tink, tink, tinking on the metal casing of our window air conditioner, the air was still and close. The atmosphere was super-saturated (my skin’s assessment, not a meteorologically defined status statement) and no self-respecting insect, plant, or animal wanted to exert an ounce of unnecessary energy in pursuit of movement or song.

But tonight is different. Perhaps this shift will last and the weight of fearing to embrace change will lift from our psyches. It’s up to us to give our true selves permission to sing, just as the voices of the katydids, crickets, and annual cicadas are nearly deafening this evening.

We’re being pushed to question the way we’ve been doing a lot in our lives. What beliefs do we hold onto until our fingers bleed? Where do we place our faith? How do we know what’s true? What approaches to life are we so sure about that we’re willing to build our reputations on them?

What principles do we believe in so passionately that we’re finally going to risk finding our voice and speaking out?

Conversations – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-91)

Raw Truth – Day 1011

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Four of Swords – The Naked Heart Tarot* by Jillian C. Wilde

Raw Truth

It seems my post from last night struck a chord with many of you. As shocking as the image of that poor rat, impaled by ten swords as it was, the raw truth of its message feels undeniable. After all – it took ten swords to kill that rat, that persistent story, that frame through which we observe and judge ourselves, our family, our country, or maybe even the whole world. The time has come for us to ‘stick a fork’ in old paradigms that no longer work and which, maybe, stopped working a long time ago.

It’s hard to let go of cherished versions of the way things are. In fact, a lot of times we don’t even realize that what we believe or tell ourselves is so, isn’t (and maybe never was).

And we humans can be so amazingly stubborn. It doesn’t matter how many times we may be shown exactly how circumstances or relationships are not as we imagine them to be, we persist in seeing what we want to see rather than what’s actually there (or isn’t). Hence why we need all those swords to finally get the message across.

The Foundation

We’re being asked and, if we don’t comply, forced to reassess some pretty fundamental and core beliefs this year. I’ve been suggesting that this drastic disruption of our foundations is reflected in the planets, specifically how Saturn is squaring Uranus three times throughout 2021. As energies that influence us wax and wane, it’s easy to tell ourselves we’ve done the work being asked of us – only to discover, like the unexpected kick of a mule (not one of my precious donkeys!), that we were only telling ourselves we’d shed those beliefs. Turns out we do still believe the stories we’ve been telling ourselves all this time.

The longer we persist in playing this game with ourselves, the longer we avoid taking our place at the helm of our lives.

All of which brings me back to the card I chose last Saturday (The Hermit) and the card that supported and gave context and foundation to yesterday’s 10 of Swords: the 4 of Swords.

Time and Space

Now more than ever we need to give ourselves space to simply be with our own thoughts and feelings. It seems so simple, doesn’t it? And yet, at least for me, it is one of the hardest things to actually permit myself to experience. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to look at how some of the beliefs I’ve held all my life aren’t true. Or how some of the relationships I thought were rock solid turned out to be ephemeral.

The truth is, we all require a safe place where we can simply be; a place where we can look at what is no longer solid and decide to build new foundations elsewhere.

Don’t forget to give yourselves that safe place as we navigate these turbulent circumstances. Find that place of stillness. Don’t be afraid to look and see what’s really there. Then we won’t be nearly as surprised when (and if) the structures we though were there crumble before our eyes.

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(T-100)

Rebirth – Day 979

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Bat Front Approaching – Photo: L.Weikel

Rebirth

It just so happens my Medicine Card* ‘pick’ for the day today was Bat/Armadillo. Simply stated, Bat is often associated with the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The single key word given for Bat in the book that accompanies the Medicine Cards is ‘rebirth.’ But truth be told, no one ever gets to rebirth without first experiencing ‘death.’ And that’s simply not a truth our culture feels comfortable acknowledging or accepting.

The fact that Bat showed up for me today felt affirming, to be honest. I feel surrounded by messages and signs of impending death or the crumbling of systems, norms, traditions, and foundations at not only personal but also cultural, systemic, and global levels.

Yeah, I’ve written periodically about the ‘theme’ of this year (2021) being tearing down the old structures and foundations in order to usher in radical transformation. Mostly I’ve addressed this in terms of how this is reflected in the stars (technically, the planets). Specifically, I’ve suggested that Saturn ‘squaring’ Uranus three times this year is the ‘tell’ for this cataclysmic shifting taking place on our planet and in our lives.

I’m not saying the movement of these planets and the way they’re aspecting each other is causing this to happen here on Earth. But perhaps the adage ‘as above, so below’ plays a role here.

Patterns, Sequences, and Harmonies

I’m suggesting that the movement of these huge outer planets is reflecting an energetic interaction or pattern that’s playing out on many levels of magnitude, right down to the microscopic, here on Earth. “From the macrocosm to the microcosm,” as they say. My approach to all of this is that the Universe provides us with a vast array of roadmaps and suggested operating procedures to help us navigate through our lives and through the millennia.

So when those who study the movements taking place within our solar system suggest that the underpinnings of many of our institutions and beliefs are going to crumble or be destroyed and replaced with concepts or approaches that feel like radical transformations, like ‘lightning bolts out of the blue,’ we might want to stop for a second. Look around. Pay attention.

What’s happening all around us? Fundamental concepts are being shredded. Institutions we thought inviolable are being violated. And on a personal level, perhaps, beliefs and relationships we thought were true and forever are also struck by lightning and either shattered or energized in a whole new way.

In fact, we might even want to consider whether the ‘foundation’ of pooh-poohing systems of study such as astrology needs to be torn down and replaced with an open-minded willingness to consider there just might be something to these recurring patterns.

Bats, Death, and Rebirth

It’s time to publish this post and I feel like I’m only scratching the surface of my contemplations. Late this afternoon I was reminded that I’d picked Bat today when I saw this huge one looming on the horizon. This Bat brought torrential rains, flooding, and a clearing of the way for something new.

Perspective on the Bat Front – Photo: L.Weikel

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(T-132)

Crone Calling – Day 968

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Photo: L. Weikel

Crone Calling

Or should I say, “Calling all Crones?” No, even though I embrace my personal status as a Crone (and therefore prefer to capitalize it), I’m not writing this post as a rallying cry solely to my sisters. Rather, I’m excited to announce that there’s a crone calling all of us right now in the form of a brand spanking new, hot off the presses, limited run of 250 Tarot of the Crone decks.

I’ve written many posts (here, here, and here, for instance) in the past 967 days that make reference to my much-loved Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince. These cards always seem to bring an eerily accurate message when I consult them. And beyond whatever intuitive sense I may receive from the cards when I choose them – based simply on either the image itself or my pretty limited knowledge of tarot in general – the narrative provided by the deck’s creator is uncanny.

The exciting news I’m sharing today is that the deck, which has been out of print for a couple of years, I believe, is now available for pre-order.

Guidance for the Coming New Moon

Naturally, then, it feels only fitting that I consult the Crone for some guidance or insight on what to keep in mind as we approach this new moon in Cancer. Again – fundamental beliefs and structures are being challenged. Institutions we thought would always be part of our lives either no longer are or are on their way out. And we’re being asked to contemplate what we want to seed in their place.

As I write these words, I’ve not yet ‘picked.’ So I have no idea whether we’ll be given guidance on what is or needs to be ‘blown up’ (metaphorically, of course), radically changed, or suddenly exposed, or whether we’ll be shown what is waiting in the wings to be seeded as the structure or foundation of the next phase of our lives.

How and What I Chose

I decided to go a little rogue on all of us and instead of just choosing one card (and taking note of the card at the bottom of the deck – giving foundation or context to the ‘top’ card), I decided to pick three cards. The first card for insight into our ‘Saturn’ (i.e., the underlying, fundamental beliefs or structures that operate in our lives that need to be examined, perhaps challenged, and possibly torn down); the second card for insight into our ‘Uranus’ (i.e., how or in what way can or will sudden illumination strike or challenge that Saturn; how or in what area might we benefit from radical transformation); and the third card for insight into what seeds might be planted where the old foundations or beliefs we held (or were told) used to be.

Saturn – Uranus – Seed(s)

  1. (Representing Saturn): Ten of Disks ~ Age

    Ten of Disks – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

“My world is smaller

But my soul is not

My world is harder

But I survive

A figure with knobby knees and a sunken aged face sits with her thoughts in a throne-like chair. As the body is the root of life, age is the result. Hers is the voice of experience and the understanding of physical limitations. She may be valued for her wisdom, but her no-nonsense views often set her apart and keep her alone. Like her, know that life occurs mostly inside you. Value your own experience and the wisdom of your body.”

 

 

 

 

  1. (Representing Uranus): Witch of Cups ~ Siren

    “Where the waves dance

    Where the stars and tides align

    There I celebrate my passion

    There I abandon restraint

    There I create movement

    That will last a thousand years

    A red figure, whose body echoes the curl of the purple waves around her, reaches with them for the stars that arch overhead. The Siren flows with the power of water to move and transform. She draws to her what she desires from the strength of her own desire, like calling out to like to join in the dance. She sings with the power to carry you away to worlds where love reigns, souls merge and blood, the juice of your life, runs full and free.”

  2. (Representing the Seeds to be Planted): Nine of Disks ~ Community

Nine of Disks – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

“Together we build

Home for us all

Nine homes with open doors are gathered on a rich brown hillside beneath a field of stars. Here connection reaches farther than family. It is not so personal a relationship, but it is quite as necessary. There are others who share your air, your earth, your dreams and there always will be. Each one is part of the whole. Acknowledge the endeavors that support your living. Consider your own contribution. The antidote to isolation is sharing. How do you want to touch this world?”

Food For Thought

The connection of each card with each ‘subject’ is fascinating to me. As is always true, we each bring to the table our own unique set of life circumstances and perspectives to interpreting the message of each card.

I invite you to sit with each card. Notice how you feel when you simply look at the image; then notice and pay attention to the words written by the deck’s creator. Which words jump out at you – and how do they make you feel?

Allow yourself to contemplate (and dare I suggest – write out in a journal?) a coherent message between the cards. Remember, Saturn (structure) being challenged by Uranus (transformation) could indicate that in order to achieve transformation we may need to bring more structure to our lives. Cultivate a secure environment in which to plant those new seeds.

In other words, don’t assume that Uranus always means things need to get flipped upside down and inside out. They could just need to be radically changed. And that can (almost certainly will) look completely different for each one of us.

Have fun with this. It’s time to shake stuff up one way or another. We might as well be active and conscious participants in the reshaping of our lives, don’t you think?

Finally, don’t forget to order your own Tarot of the Crone deck if you feel an affinity with these cards!

(T-143)

New Moon Approaching – Day 967

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New Moon Approaching – Photo: astrologyally.com

New Moon Approaching

As we allow this post-holiday second week of July to play itself out, I’m reminded that there’s a new moon approaching that will arrive this Friday evening at 9:16 p.m. EDT. As always, because a new moon (also known as the dark moon) is exactly conjunct the Sun, then whatever sign the sun is in, the moon is too. Thus, this will be a Cancer new moon because the Sun is in Cancer too.

Please forgive me if my explanation is too basic for you. But for the longest time, I never really paid attention to the technicalities of what makes a moon new or full, or what a conjunction, opposition, square, or trine of planets (and the luminaries: Sun and Moon) means. And even after all the books I’ve read, readings I’ve had, and podcasts I’ve listened to, I still need to stop and think about it. So when I’m moved to write about astrological stuff in my posts, I like to explain it as best as I can so you can visualize it.

Thus experiencing a new moon this Friday evening means both the Moon and the Sun are in the sign of Cancer. And among other attributes, Cancer is the sign in which the Moon is very much at home. It’s a sign that is intimately connected to our emotions, nurturing, care and compassion – and the concepts of family and home.

As with all new moons, it marks a new beginning. The time of a new moon is the best and most powerful time to plant the seeds of new ideas or ways of being, start new jobs, begin new projects, strike out on fresh new adventures, and set powerful intentions.

Other Players, Too

As I’ve written about a number of times already (and linked to a number of astrologers who’ve explained it a lot better than I can even synopsize), this year’s theme, if you will, has been centered on Saturn ‘squaring’ Uranus. In point of fact, these two massive planets exactly square each other three times in 2021. The second of these three exact squares was on June 14th, and the final square will occur on December 23rd.

Saturn is the planet associated with rules, foundations, laws, patriarchy, the ‘way things have always been done,’ and structure.

It’s also associated with shame and ‘shoulds,’ which kind of makes sense. If we don’t follow the rules or do things the way they’ve always been done (or the way we’ve been told), then those in a position of power to punish or judge us can heap guilt or shame on our heads. It’s important to note here that we hold the power of shame and guilt over our own selves – just as much as any external authority can wield it against us.

In the wider world, Saturn can represent the foundations of society, our government, ‘The Law,’ hierarchies of power, etc.

As I mentioned, Saturn is squaring (or another way of looking at it is challenging or provoking) the planet of Uranus pretty much all year, but we had a direct ‘hit’ on June 14th and we’re still feeling the effects of that because these outer planets move so slowly. Uranus is associated with radical transformation, sudden illumination, explosive shifts or changes in perspective and is often depicted in association with lightning. When these two planets are in square aspect to each other, it’s not hard to see where this could lead.

My Feeling

I have to laugh when I write ‘my feeling,’ since the sign of Cancer is all about feelings. But it feels to me as if this new moon is asking us to acknowledge those places in our lives where some major shaking of foundations has taken place – and to decide how and what we want to start building anew. What seeds do we want to plant that will replace those old structures, foundations, beliefs, or stories that we told ourselves (and based our lives upon) that have essentially been shaken or, in some cases, struck by lightning and blown up.

It feels really important that we all give ourselves the chance to sit quietly, take stock and honestly look at what has left us or fallen down or away in our lives over the past six months (representing the first two of the three squares of Saturn and Uranus).

And we need to ask ourselves: what do we want to plant after we clear away the rubble? It feels especially important for us to pay attention to our emotions as we engage in this reflection. What do we want to feel as we move forward? Who will we consider to be our ‘family?’ What do family and the foundations family represents mean to us moving forward?

I’m mentioning this now because the new moon isn’t until Friday. I don’t know about you, but I need a few days to really sit with this and make some choices.

(T-144)

Tooth String – Day 962

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Mouth Guard – Photo: L. Weikel

Tooth String

Technically this post is not about the floss I got stuck between my molars last night. Can I tell you, though, how maddening it’s been to have my tongue relentlessly trying to dislodge this errant piece of tooth string? All day. Ugh.

Every once in a while I manage to snag with my fingers a shred of the material – and I literally mean a shred – that’s stuck between my teeth.

But the kicker is the pressure I feel between my teeth. You know – that weird achy pressure that’s hard to describe, but might best be understood by anyone who’s had braces on their teeth. I’m reminded of when my braces would get tightened and I would feel my teeth moving at a glacial pace. I feel the soreness of the floss trying to force a space between my teeth.

Weird Coincidence

In my post last night I mentioned a weird coincidence that I’d not even realized was occurring until I searched for the post I wrote about my broken tooth earlier this year. Honestly, I’d even forgot it happened in January, much less right around the insurrection.

What I realized, and find fascinating, is that I was clenching my teeth so hard at that time in January that I broke off a cracked chunk of tooth and filling in a molar. And believe it or not, there’s an astrological connection.

Don’t roll your eyes. Right now – tomorrow, in fact, at 9:08 a.m. EDT – Mars will be exactly opposite Saturn. Mars is a planet associated with aggressive action, war, forcefulness, willful pushiness, etc. Saturn is associated with structure, foundation, tradition, limitations (teeth/skeleton). Obviously, when Mars is opposing Saturn, there’s a push/pull, clash, confrontation of these two archetypes. Some might describe it as powerful aggression meeting an unmovable object.

Physical/Political

A physical manifestation of when Mars and Saturn meet in challenging aspects such as either an opposition or a square could be an impact such as when one grinds their teeth – to the unhealthy degree that a tooth (Saturn) actually cracks, breaks, or explodes from the unrelenting pressure (Mars). This could happen with either an opposition (when the planets are 180 degrees apart) or a square (when the planets are 90 apart).

A political or outer world manifestation obviously played out most recently in the January 6th insurrection. Aggressive, unrestrained movement rendered an assault on the bastion of our democracy – the body of our country.

What I find interesting, and didn’t realize until last night, was that my tooth issue in January coincided with the insurrection, and both occurred within a few days of Mars squaring Saturn.

There are other aspects happening within the next few days that are distinctly tied in with last January as well. I’ll write about them later; maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’m making another mouth guard for myself. I think I’m going to need it as events unfold over the next several days. Hopefully I’ll get an appointment with the dentist, too. They were closed today, which was a bummer!

(T-149)