Gaia talks to us all the time. After all, we are subject to life on her skin, and she is subject to our doing that living on her skin. Try to imagine it from her point of view for a moment. All of us - billions of us - scrabble around daily on her skin with our toys and machines and chemicals... that would get a bit itchy, don't you think?

Now, even though I love it here and feel a great affinity for this planet, some of us do not. Some of us feel alien here, as though we're from somewhere else entirely, as though we don't belong or aren't wanted. Whether that feeling comes from significant physical trouble - allergies to pollens, foods, dust, etc. - or the misunderstanding of other people, or difficulty assimilating the energy of this place... I believe Gaia does her part every day to communicate with us. I believe she is doing her best help us make sense of our daily experience.

I believe that Gaia shows us, every day, in her inimitable way, how energy moves in Her Natural world outside our buildings and cars and suits. Think of it... she is a PLANET! She experiences energy and life force on a whole different level. She perceives the energy that moves in our small, synthetic world very differently than we do and she wants to make our stay as comfortable as possible - for BOTH of us.

Whether or not you feel any affinity for this planet, it is the elements of her body that provide your physical vehicle. It is the cycle of her warmth/chill, wet/dry, light/dark that forms the structure of your daily routine. She is the mother, the lady of the house, and it is her rules that we must live by.

Let's have a listen, shall we? 

THERE ARE TWO PARTS to this article. The first is the energy of the "Moons" through which we are moving. The Moon is the fastest moving heavenly body in our sky. Its movement influences the tides of our planet, and, since our physical bodies are made up of mostly water, it influences us, too. Most directly, we feel the Moon in our emotional state. It can be revealing - and quite helpful - to consider the way our experience "flows" with the Moon.

Technically, there are 13 moons in each year, but for our purposes, we'll be using twelve, which correspond to the astrological cycle and our western calendar. This means there are three for each season, and, if we pay attention, we will see the arc of influence and how it correlates with our experience. For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, I've reversed the cycle... just scroll down.

The second part of the article is the Reading. In our Reading, we're using the Sacred Path Cards, by Jamie Sams. This is one of the most remarkable decks I've ever, personally, had the pleasure of using. If you're interested, you can find a copy on Amazon.com. The symbology of these cards is Native North American and I use a spread called the Inner Spiral to seek insight into the particular challenges that face us at this time.

 
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

From Big Winds...
In the end of February, we transitioned to a time of intuition, inspiration, and great courage. Winter began to draw to a close, and the energy began to shift again toward growth.

Whenever we make a transition like this, we step into the unknown. Who can know what the new season will bring? Will it be soft or harsh? Will we be sustained or overwhelmed? This is a time of heightened senses... partly because of anxiety and partly because of excitement. Listen to your intuition! Your spirit stirs, speaks, and guides you! Let it show you the way, and trust in its wisdom.

... Into Budding Trees
Later this month (March), we will transition into the Budding Trees Moon. As the name suggests, this is Spring in full force. This is when the trees put their clothes back on... when they yawn, stretch, and encourage their juices to FLOW. This is when animals come out of their dens and set out to establish their Summer hunting ground.

It is a time of high hopes, and great expectations for the new season.

Remember that there is a process within the cycle. Yes, Spring is about new beginnings, and the energy is rising to fuel a grand new day! Tuning into that cycle, we are inspired to launch new projects and throw ourselves bodily into new endeavors. Do you remember the winds of change, stirring your hair back in February? This is it! The snow is melting, the roads are clearing, and you can see your way to a new tomorrow.

Have you ever watched cattle in Spring? They get a little nuts, frolicking and kicking up their heels. Sometimes, they take off running at full speed simply because they can (I know - it doesn't sound very "cow" like, but that's Spring). Sometimes, that same silly cow runs full tilt into the side of a barn, clocks herself right in the head and gets badly injured.

Be still. Close your eyes. Breathe. Smell the warmth in the air and the moisture. Listen to the breeze stirring the new leaves... Slow down...

Now, check yourself. Be sure that your expectations are reasonable. Set goals - what fruit would you like to see when the Strong Sun returns? What harvest would you like to enjoy, later? Remember that the energy will arc upward toward harvest and then drop off again... Trust in your inspiration, and stay focused. Make a plan to reach those goals using the natural arc of energy.

Then - with your plan in your hand - flex your winter-cramped muscles and stretch... feel that new energy singing into your veins, envision it lending sweet life to your plans, and forge ahead!

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

From Harvest...
In February, we turned the corner into Harvest. How have you done, this harvest? Have you gathered up your resources? Is your larder well-stocked? Are you ready for the coming winter?

Winter IS coming; don't be fooled by these delicious end-of-summer days. This is the arc of the season... after a time of abundance comes a time of resting and recovery. Are you ready for the waning of the energy? Have you replenished your strength, and prepared yourself for the lean months ahead? Learning, healing, cleansing, inspiration... Now is the time to seek the resources that will nourish your soul!

...Into Ducks Fly
Toward the end of March, we will head into the Ducks Fly Moon. This transition is all about re-claiming balance within yourself. Transition always brings a need for readjustment, and the warmth of Summer tends to make us just a little sedentary. We LIKE it, we want to STAY. So, with the end of the season, we resist the change. We fall further out of balance.

Don't beat yourself up over it; it's perfectly natural. But do understand that Nature has built into us a NEED to stay in balance. For millenia, trying to pretend Summer isn't over has been a (potentially) fatal mistake. Remember the parable of the ant and the grasshopper? The ant stored up food while the grasshopper played the days away. Then when Winter came, he had to come to his neighbor the ant and beg for crumbs. Your cellular memory will want to panic... Thus, falling out of balance during this transition will feel particularly rough. Even if things are only "off" by a very slight margin, you're likely to feel completely out of sorts.

Stop for a moment and consider the duck. This time of year she must leave her pond - the place that has been her certainty. To remain safe, she must go in search of a new place for the coming season. And, to get there, she must take to the air.

Remember that the Earth is your Mother, grounding you, nurturing you. Remember, too, that you require the inspiration of Heaven - sky, air, wind - to successfully navigate the seasonal changes. Go ahead, hold the Mother's hand. Let her steady you while you allow your spirit to soar. Now, keep your eyes open for the messages of Heaven: miracles, synchronicities, those rare moments of utter peace and radiant joy. Don't scoff at these gifts! Cherish them; hold them close and let them fuel your certainty that this change is necessary and good.

Take time to rebalance. Take time to find your Source. Let the transition happen as it is supposed to, without hurry or anxiety.

March, 2009

The most notable of this month's repeated cards is Counting Coup, showing for the third month in a row. You'll see that it shows this time as The Mother... apparently, on the level of Divine Guidance, we're not getting the message. We are asked to turn within to examine it further on a deeply personal level.

Also, we see Painted Face again, this time not as an obstacle, but a directive! The time for bashfulness and hiding our gifts under a basket has long passed. The Father tells us in no uncertain terms to stand up and declare ourselves.

Coral reappears this month, as well, in the very same place that we saw it in January. It shows up in the message of the Frog - an obstacle that may be making things difficult. Coral's message is about feeling, tuning in and, therefore, healing. Notice that one must FEEL in order to heal...

The CREATOR Offers Divine Guidance
GIVE-AWAY CEREMONY - The Give-Away card tells us to let go. In particular, we need to let go of anything that holds us captive. This may be an idea, a relationship, a possession, a belief... We are encouraged to release our grip - not as a punishment, but as a relief. If a thing no longer serves you or has become unable to serve its purpose, it is a waste of energy to clutch it to ourselves.

Consider your circumstances. Is there an attitude that no longer serves you? Do you have a possession that might better serve someone else? Where could you facilitate a freer flow of energy by practicing release?

The MOTHER Suggests Where You Should Turn Within
COUNTING COUP - Another great victory has been won! Spirit reminds you that with celebration comes storytelling; be certain that your stories are truthful. Conduct yourself with the greatest integrity and honor. Give credit where credit is due, and share the wealth of your victory (material, intellectual, or spiritual) with those in need.

Drawn in the position of The Mother, we are prompted to consider the inner aspects of "Counting Coup". On a purely personal level, Counting Coup is about honor - not adulation, not power or wealth. Counting Coup is about being the best you can be, doing your part to support the family/community, and conducting yourself with integrity.

Check yourself. Where might you be compromising your integrity? Your authenticity?

The FATHER Directs You To Act Decisively
PAINTED FACE - Our painted face declares who we are and the gifts we offer to those around us. A gift so declared is the property of the community - given freely for the benefit of all.

Drawn in the position of The Father, we are directed to declare ourselves. Perhaps we have been shy about our gifts; perhaps we have been selfish or even lazy. It is time to paint our faces. It is time to claim our power, offer our services, and get off our backsides.

However, if you declare yourself to have a gift you do not, you may find yourself in the embarrassing position of having to wash your face. Remember The Mother's admonition above.

The GRANDMOTHER Speaks With the Voice of Your Past
GREAT MYSTERY - This card's interpretation is so beautifully stated by the author, Jamie Sams, that I will quote it here:

The Great Mystery card tells us the Original Source is the Creator of all life and that we are created in that likeness. We are free-willed co-creators who become the source of all we choose to experience in life. The buck stops here. We are totally responsible for all our joys and all our pain.

In short, no matter how painful your lessons have been, you've survived. You've grown. You've learned. The Grandmother tells us to be grateful for that much, and choose to use the wisdom we've gained to create a better tomorrow.

Turtle Card (EARTH) - Represents Your Current Position, Focus
MOON LODGE - The Moon Lodge is a place of retreat, renewal and replenishment. You are in a state of depletion, needing to step back and care for yourself. The Native American culture teaches that retreat is an act of strength. It is through retreat that the future is allowed to take root in the present. If we will not step back, if we will not get out of the way, we deny ourselves that future.

Drawn here as the Earth card, the Moon Lodge suggests that perhaps you have not paid attention to the needs of your own Being. Perhaps you are already in retreat (which is a good thing). Or, perhaps you have fixated on your feeling of depletion and you need this nudge to do something about it.

Frog Card (WATER) - Represents The Obstacles You Face
CORAL - To feel is to heal... take a moment to feel where you are in your body. Physically, is your body energized and healthy? Or are you run down? Emotionally, are you happy and peaceful? Or is there angst, anxiety, fear, or depression? You are at a place where some part of you requires nurturing; ignore this need at your peril.

Drawn here as the Water card, Coral suggests that the ascension process may be taking its toll on you. Be good to yourself. Support yourself. You are no good to anyone if you're too ill in body or spirit to be of service.

Thunderbird Card (FIRE) - Represents The Energies In Motion
CRADLEBOARD - What do you think of when you read "cradleboard"? Do you think of babies? A papoose? Do you think of a young Indian mother carrying her child with her everywhere she goes? In Native American tradition, "responsibility" is, literally, the ability to respond. The job of the cradleboard is to protect the child from injury, rain, sunburn and the like - a job it performs admirably.

Drawn here as the Fire card, the Cradleboard tells us that we are carrying a papoose... a future... on our backs. Are we taking full responsibility? Are we considering the long-term effects of our decisions? Are we able to respond?

Butterfly Card (AIR) - Represents The Future Coming To You
SUN DANCE - Here again we see a call to regain balance. The Sun Dance is a sacred event in which warriors give of their blood and their pain in order to better understand the female relationship with Earth. They do it not as torture or mutilation, but as a quest... prepared for with fasting, prayers, and many secret rituals. We in the west might understand it better if we were able to think of it as a kind of catechism or baptism. But the fact is that it is much, much more than that.

Drawn here as the Air card, the Sun Dance calls us to demonstrate the truth of our convictions. Maybe you are a recycler. Maybe you buy organic. Maybe your conviction has less to do with ecology and more to do with community... Maybe you are about animal treatment, or fair trade policy, or gasoline prices. What are you willing to sacrifice to demonstrate the weight of your convictions? How will you take your words of conviction and transform them into sacred fire?

© Vara LorEl, 2009

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 
Vara LorEl is a model builder at heart, an Exec Admin by training, and a Graphic Designer by experience. She has also worked in a grocery store, a greenhouse, a bank and a bookstore. She's done Customer Service, Construction, Missions and Marketing... and let's not forget the years she studied Bonsai or the uncounted hours spent in a saddle.

Chinking the spaces between, she engages in an ongoing little exercise she likes to call Spiritual Cartography... studying the archetypes found (again and again) in Mythology, I-Ching, and Shamanism, also poking about in Astrology, Numerology, and Tarot, as well as study of the Chakras and eastern philosophies. It could also be noted that she considers Cooking and Gardening to be some of the richest meditational spaces anywhere.

Over the years, she has lived all across these grand United States - from California to Georgia - currently calling Alaska home. When not up to her eyebrows in the next issue of PLW, she can be found in her home office playing Oblivion (way to go Bethesda Softworks!), on her couch reading a good book (with her cats curled nearby), on her soap box talking about any one of a dozen esoteric subjects... or, on her knees thanking GOD for the best life partner to ever embrace her nomadic heart.