Keystone Tarot

I spotted owl on a branch in the woods last weekend. Some clear message from within me brought my gaze to him, sitting motionless in the misty forest. Moments later, after the whole group had a chance to see him, he spread his wings and disappeared. The inner calling is part of his medicine, for he cuts through illusion, allowing us to see the truth in all things. The following day, he jumped out of the deck so I could work consciously with his medicine of Deception. Interest...ingly, much of what came up for me to review was to see the ways I was allowing others to deceive me... because I was already deceiving myself. When I take someone else's word as fact or law over my own, that is my choice to make, my self-deception. Instead of outsourcing authority, I was invited to trust my inner wisdom and intuition to guide my way. I was able to recognize that others sometimes have hidden motives, which is natural; no one is expected to show all their cards. Instead of judging them for it, or guilting myself for thinking they have ill-will, I can trust my senses to tell me that a situation is not right for me. Saying "no" becomes an empowered way to honor my needs. I am also learning to clarify my intentions and to be honest with myself. What was my main motivation? Who was I really doing this for? Am I scared of something that I'm not paying attention to? When I accept how I feel, I can integrate and move on, no longer driven unconsciously by desires/needs I was previously ashamed to admit I had. By recognizing that they are just as important as any other needs, I no longer have to pretend they are not important to me. And so comes the task of aligning with that truth, of finding inner strength and other allies who can support me to being more whole. One humbling step at a time. #tarot #tarostrology #weeklymedicine #weeklyreading #medicinecards #owl #owlmedicine #deception #selfdeception #illusion #truth #innerwisdom #wisdom #clarity #intuition

I've been working with this one for a while now, and for good reason! Frog brings the medicine of Cleansing and I've been learning that there is no shortage of applications of this principle in my life. One powerful message that I received last year in Peru is the importance, value and honor of cleaning and restoration after allowing myself to be messy. Because, let's face it: being human is anything but neat and tidy. As usual, we find ourselves in the constant dance (and pa...radox) of being messy and cleaning ourselves up... so we can be messy all over again! We learned that it's important to show our "best self"... all the time. This is not sustainable. In order to express and share my beauty, I must acknowledge the messiness of my emotional, intellectual, physiological and spiritual unfolding! Without that, all I'm showing is a veneer that exacerbates a sense of disconnection with the reality of my experience. I now know that by bringing intention and appreciation to the process of cleansing, I allow space for my whole system to breathe, make mistakes and be messy (thanks Ms. Frizzle!) Frog specifically invokes the power of water to cleanse and clear. Standing in the shower and imagining the water washing my doubts away, running the stress out of my nervous system. Drinking water has become a ritual blessing for my body, imbuing it with love and gratitude, replenishing this vital fluid that keeps my temple moving. I have also been working with smoke cleansing (sage) almost every morning, honoring my body and balancing my energy field. I've been observing and releasing the way I give meaning to unpleasant experiences, as though I'm guilty/lazy/ignorant for letting them happen... I am reminded of cleaning up after children's play; the light, fun way they make a mess and the privilege I have of preparing a space for them to continue to create and explore the world. May we take care of our environments, both personal and collective, so that we can continue to evolve from the vicissitudes of life! #tarot #tarostrology #weeklymedicine #weeklyreading #medicinecards #frogmedicine #cleansing #clearing #cleaning #frog #sage #water #messy #honor #blessing

Just before leaving the farm, I encountered Lizard, reminding me to pay attention to my dreams. Only a few years ago, I started having and remembering vivid dreams which was a new experience for me. I journaled and reflected upon them; sometimes gleaning insights and sometimes not. Over the years, I stopped remembering them so clearly and lost motivation to write them down. No surprise that it didn't take long for these dreams to return full force! This past week has certainl...y conjured fantastical scenes while I was sleeping, and it's been fun to recall, share and interpret them. Always rich symbolism that our unconscious mind is receiving, processing and integrating. It can be very helpful to contemplate our dreams, bolstering our intuitive capacities. Dreams have a surreal quality to them, with combinations of sensations that dont seem to appear in the waking life. These odd combinations can show us alternative paths and clever solutions to tricky situations. We also dream awake all the time! We have a dream home, career, partner... and these are just as important to nourish, refine and develop! This was my edge with Lizard medicine; to fully appreciate what my dreams are made of. To ~feel~ what it would be like to have them fulfilled and to honor them as my soul's deeper desire to experience health, connection, abundance and peace. Dreams allow us to access our creative power when we make choices toward their realization; from sur-real to very real. #tarot #tarostrology #weeklymedicine #weeklyreading #medicinecards #lizardmedicine #lizard #dreams #dreamer #dreamon #manifestation #realization #reality

Now this was quite the unconventional medicine. Hidden and not wanting to be seen, Rabbit unconsciously attracts attention from the very thing it avoids; Fear. We all experience fear and our psycho-physiological system is very good at ignoring it. So it was an extra challenge to not only become aware of what I'm afraid of, but to keep it front and centre in my mind's eye. Rabbit teaches us that the more we actively fear something, the more it takes a hold of our experience. T...he key is to face and accept its presence instead of claiming that we are not under its effects... This was honestly a very elusive exercise that felt futile and void of progress. I came to recognize a fear or two and promptly forgot to pay attention to their influence. So instead of staying with a theme, I paid closer attention to "minor fears" and sensations of disempowerment, especially in my relationships. Was I afraid to talk to someone because I was anticipating a certain outcome? Did I feel guilt about not engaging in a certain way? Was I blaming someone for a lack of nourishing connection between us? Of course these surface fears tap into deeper veins, as I have been around my family for months now. These are fears that I unconsciously learned from them, after all. Fear of abandonment and rejection, fear of lack and weakness, fear of failure and loss. I was reinventing how I related to my safety net and realized that these fears had so much to do with my expectations; both of myself and of my family. By acknowledging that they cannot provide me with some things that I need, I was able to appreciate the wealth that they are providing for me already. Instead of being afraid of rejection when I didn't agree with someone, I allowed my worldview to distinguish myself from them and release them from the responsibility of making me feel seen and understood. Simply because they are not able to do so in their current capacity. And now I'm more free to be authentic, regardless of what others think! #tarot #tarostrology #weeklymedicine #weeklyreading #medicinecards #rabbit #rabbitmedicine #fear #fearisafriend #perspective #faceyourfears #noexpectations #shadowwork

Naturally, the longer I sit with an animal, the more layers its medicine can reach. It's not that I am "being healed", but that I recognize the ways the teaching is relevant to more than one area of my life. Opossum is a crafty illusionist with his gift of Diversion by "playing dead". On one level, he taught me to strategize the way I respond in order to avoid being negatively affected by others' projections and judgments. By pretending not to care, others stop poking and pro...dding. I felt less of a need to engage and take on others' issues as my own, trying to problem-solve without their requesting it. An old pattern of mine is crumbling! I'm also learning how a contrary/reversed card does not mean a lack of awareness, something going wrong or an opposite energy. In this case, I resonated much more with contrary Opossum who reminded me that I don't need to care what others think of me. I don't need to explain myself, my desires or my boundaries to anyone in order to be understood. It allowed me a freedom to relax when I wanted to without being at the ready with a reason for such behavior. It also helped me to be less concerned with what others were doing and how they chose to spend their time. I observed how family members employed Opossum medicine in their unique ways by dodging, ignoring, avoiding certain subjects. I could observe reactions without feeling that I was the cause of them. Overall, much less drama! And a deeper appreciation for the way each took care of themselves. I found this medicine to be closely connected to self-care and our system's ability to cope with overwhelm in unconscious ways. Also related to trauma, habits and reactivity, it was appropriate to practice detachment and objectivity to curb these patterns. It's amazing how adaptive our bodies and minds are! #weeklymedicine #tarot #tarostrology #medicinecards #opossum #opossummedicine #diversion #distraction #nodrama #selfcare