Card imagery by Ravynne Phelan
The great and inspiring Persian poet Rumi said; “Do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come”.
2020 has been one hell of a ride for all of us. A year that has certainly pushed us out of comfort zone, tested our resilience and our patience to the max and even at times challenged our sanity and resolve.
But like a movie script playing out in the heavens, we get to write another ‘new scene’ … an unspoiled act in the grand unfolding collective drama.
I drew the three cards above after meditating last night on the eve of the New Year. The meditation gave me pause for thought and I was instantly struck by the power of language, the power of our words. New is such a lovely, albeit small word, but one that holds within it much power and potential. Something ‘new’ tells us that something that has never existed before …is coming.
If you flip it backwards it spells (badly) ‘wen’… begging the question we have all been asking; “When, when, when!” “When will things get better?”
Well…
Look at the card on the left, bearing witness to what is now seemingly behind us (that is, if we take for a moment the old world view that time runs in chronological order, when in fact most of us know now that time flows backwards and forwards, like the never ending ebb and flow of the tide).
The figure in the foreground is searching through the pages of a large book, whilst an Owl, symbolising the wisdom sought and learned from the past year, perches on its open pages. The ‘light of illumination’ surrounds the figure suggesting ‘greater awareness’ and increased perception, whilst a supernatural being in the form of a dragon appears from an open gateway or portal and looks on knowingly. The open book on the elaborately carved table seems to contain imagery that reminds us of sacred symbols or the sacred geometry that teaches us about ‘time’ and ‘space’, our ‘energetic’ make up and our place in the cosmos.
The card is teaching us to no longer stand in the shadows in blind ignorance (there is no glory in ignorance), but to educate ourselves about what is going on right before our eyes. Our precious world is in a shocking state, war, famine, poverty, oppression, tyranny and unspeakable crimes that are happening around the world every single minute of every single day. It is only in opening our eyes and our minds and hearts and stepping outside our comfort zone that we can truly see. The skull to the right of the image speaks to us of ‘death and transformation’.
2020 was a wake-up call for all of humanity! When we truly see, we become ‘informed’ and then we are better able to participate and play our part in carving out a better future.
The second card holds a very powerful (and somewhat foreboding) image of a supernatural being (a Timelord perhaps? A Dragon? Extra-terrestrial in nature?). A heart appears to be resting inside its monstrous claws. But when we look closer, the heart is not chained or anchored in any way, rather it is surrounded and floating in golden light. It is FREE!
I see this image as a metaphor for the human condition. When we fall prey to the influence of fear, we are effectively enslaved; trapped (even paralysed) in our own debilitating and destructive emotions. The emotional repertoire of the heart can both thrill and terrify us at the same time …this is the paradox.
This card in the present position is a reminder for the coming year to think with our hearts and feel with our minds. The heart is our inner sanctuary, not the domain of reason and logic, rather the place of central wisdom that guides us on our path through life. Love is the only emotion stronger than fear.
Release your fears and listen to the wisdom of your heart …
In the final card, a child stands on a white pillar, surrounded by the most delicate and beautiful lilac/pink roses. A golden/white matrix of divine light streams from the heavens, encircling her and illuminating her, emphasising her innocence, serenity and purity. She is both magic and magical.
In many ways this is a card of healing. In the past year there has been much pain, suffering and hardship and our expectations for a better future have at times been shattered, like a wrecked ship dashed across the rocks. Heartbreak and loss steals our innocence, our capacity for joy and silences our laughter. Cynicism and apathy creeps in and hardens the heart… We lose faith.
The symbolism of this card in a ‘future’ position holds the rich potential for regaining and reclaiming our lost childlike innocence. In a sense it is a metaphor which heralds in, like a lighted beacon… the hope of a return to Eden. In the ancient creation story of Eden, there was no misery, evil or destruction on earth … only love, mercy, and wholeness. In Eden we were not at ‘odds’ with the world or nature, we were at one with it.
We only need to look around to see how deeply and heavily we have as a species, fallen from Grace…
Does an image of a ‘utopian’ world seem possible? Yes I believe so. The Great Awakening is happening on planet earth right now. The great Re-Set button of 2020 has already been pressed. In the wake of the mother of all storms, we may still be riding out the waves, but every single day more falsity, tyranny, corruption and evil is ‘exposed’ and brought out into the open. Within this ‘transparency’ of Truth, we can find renewed strength and unity.
We are the innocent child and the wise counsel.
Be Both.
I’m going to sign off this blog with a quote from Corinthians 2, verse 10, which pretty much sums up the underlying message here.
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds”.
Be kind, stay safe… and keep the faith.
Wishing you a Very Happy New Year!
Jacky.