When I’m stressed, I suffer from an illusion there’s no time to slow down and consult my intuition. Plus, busy-buzzy mind chatter interferes with my confidence in receiving answers.
For many years, I often ignored my spirit nudging me to chill, even for five minutes, to catch my breath and check in. Instead, I’d soldier on until confronted with a circumstance that forced me to— usually involving crashing and crying.
Sound familar?
With awareness and practice, it’s become easier to identify this fog, to stop and reorient so I don’t lose sight of myself and my priorities.
Even so, I still feel some resistance to the message: Go inside and ask for help already!
Some part of me still believes that’s “harder” than focusing on my endless physical realm to-do list. I tend to crave the satisfaction of checking things off.
My first card pull for us today offers an opportunity to dissolve that resistance, in case you feel it, too.
Quick reminders:
Prairie Majesty Oracle cards are like doorways. The reflection question gives us a key to unlock and explore what’s inside.
Song of the Grandmothers cards represent helpers waiting inside those rooms. They encourage entrance, followed by presence and contemplation instead of running away from whatever we find.
Here, Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel is in the pink Know category for PMO. They ask us, “What eternal knowing can I access in human form?” as a way to REMEMBER the wisdom of our vast, intelligent, eternal selves.
Our friend Squirrel’s thirteen stripes offer numerological significance because 13 is the Death card in tarot. It represents a time of letting go, change, growth, and rebirth.
A true hibernator, Squirrel anchors this energy by burrowing in for the winter.
Guidebook excerpt:
Everyone on the Earth now is living through a pivotal evolution in consciousness.
We have the opportunity for greater access to and comprehension of higher dimensional Knowing while incarnate. Before now, certain frequencies and understandings were largely unavailable to experience and embody. In order to regain our memory of them, it was usually necessary to transition through the death process, returning to soul form of pure consciousness.
If you’re reading this, you’re ready to explore what this time signifies for you personally. How are you being called to level up?
If you feel reluctant or confused about how to accept Squirrel’s invitation to slow down and burrow into your inner sanctuary, look no further than Grandmother Violet for help. A green Growth Grandmother, her theme is introspection.
Guidebook excerpt:
Inquire WITHIN
The DOOR OPENS at your touch
Revealing AnswersInstead of looking to the external world for answers or validation in your personal development, consider a walk in the woods of your own Knowing. Finding the way to enter may require experimentation.
Try meditation, walking in nature, listening to music, coloring, journaling, exercising, praying, dancing — whatever feels instinctive and natural to you. What matters is that you give yourself the opportunity to discover the path and follow it once you’ve found it.
I especially love Grandmother Violet’s recognition that there are many ways to access your inner Knowing. You can’t get it “wrong” and you’re free to find what works for you through practice.
My second card pull for us today offers incentive to undertake this process.
Bobcat is in the yellow Do category for PMO. They prioritize conscious, active choice through the question, “How can I go higher?” In the wild, Bobcat extends his claws to CLIMB into a tree for a better look-out, hunting advantage, safety, or rest.
Guidebook excerpt:
Bobcat’s recommendation may be to actively expand your intake of the issue on your mind. You may need to see things from a higher place, through the lens of your spirit self, to enlighten your aproach. Strengthening this ability by practice, whether through meditation or quiet reflection, will serve you well and become a reliable tool in making decisions.
Other times, Bobcat may be signaling a need to retreat. In some situations, disengaging is the best way to shift your energy. Remaining in your current circumstances may be harmful, or maybe it’s just not yours to live through or fix. Regardless, consider taking the high road and removing yourself altogether.
I’ve never pulled Bobcat with Grandmother Redwood, from the yellow Service category, but I’m loving their pairing. Together, they offer us a potent reminder on perspective and an elucidating exercise!
Going inside with Squirrel and Grandmother Violet is worth it because it opens our ability to connect the dots in new ways.
Grandmother Redwood is a storyteller who scans the world from her aerial view and observes everything playing out below her in order to ascribe meaning and preserve/share the wisdom.
Guidebook excerpt:
WITNESS and RECORD
Storytellers Persevere
LESSONS passed alongFrom hundreds of feet in the air, Grandmother Redwood coaxes you to scan the landscape for clues that divulge the larger picture. Is there an allegory underlying the narrative arc of whatever you see playing out? What is it trying to teach you? Try journaling or free writing to unlock understanding, even if you’re the only person who will ever read it.
The take-home message here is actively do something with whatever your Knowing tells you. Writing it down is one way to physicalize and make real the insights you receive, a second step of the process and another way to make time for reflection.
If any of this sparks for you, I’d love to hear about your personal experiences!
Please share below if you feel so inclined. Talking about this internal process with each other helps normalize it, since most of us probably grew up with a focus on the external stuff.
Project Updates
Production is going great for Song of the Grandmothers! I’ll be sharing a timeline update with Kickstarter backers soon. In the meantime, pre-order links are here.
I'm still plugging away on my book. Last month I received word of a potential publishing opportunity, but I know I need to finish my first draft before trying to pitch again. I took a huge leap of faith to engage help for finding an agent in the first part of next year. I’m really, really excited for everything to come!
I have limited availability for card readings and private guided meditation workshops as we approach the last quarter of 2022. Please reach out for more info.
I’m returning to Jester Park Nature Center for a special Raven-centric workshop on November 9. Register here.
Much love!
Your whole article sparked a stirring in me, along with cleansing tears. I especially enjoyed the reading with thirteen-lined squirrel and grandmother Violet. Definitely a time of letting go, though feeling uncertain about what is coming in as it is still yet unseen, but a stirring of something there none-the-less. But grandmother Violet feels comforting to me while at the same time reminding me to trust in the process.
I'm reminded of the family of thirteen-lined squirrels that were born and took up residence under our front stoop this summer. Oh, the joy they brought - their tiny selves learning to navigate the world. There were at least seven babies I counted! Until one day, I saw the neighbor's cat, sitting on our front stoop, peering with intent over the hole the squirrels came and went from.
I was starkly reminded of the nature of life and the cycles of it. Each serves a purpose - life and death - each nourishment in its own way. And learning to balance both within ourselves.
I'm going to need to add your Grandmother deck to my collection after reading this.
Thank you for your beautiful work in the world! I often resonate with what you share.