Samain and the Moon of Holiseason
Sunday gratefuls: Bean and cheese burritos. They’re what’s for breakfast. Jon. Struggling again. Shared steaks last night. Gave him my pre-induction pots and pans. Rigel is in the house. Won’t bug me until lunchtime. Kep wanders the yard. He’s outside more these days. Also getting a bit weird about coming inside. ? Tarot. Deeper. Astrology. Stranger. Kabbalah. Mystical.
Sparks of Joy and Awe: Steak
Tarot: This week pathway spread: Three of Vessels, Joy. Six of Stones, Exploitation. The Hooded Man, #9 of the Major Arcana. Wildwood Tarot.
The Wildwood book has sample spreads, one of which they call, The Pathway. It’s tree cards laid out in a row: middle first, left second, right third. The middle card is the issue. The left card is what to avoid. The right is action to take.
You might imagine my puzzlement when the left hand card, the action to avoid, came up Joy. Well, still puzzled. Though. The central card, the issue for the week, Exploitation, puzzled me, too, until I read the Wildwood’s explanation. The exploitation refers to our ruination of the planet as a human home. The action to take made sense to me and is one of multiple times I have drawn the Hermit/Hooded Man in the last few weeks.
Let’s take one shot at it, then I’ll leave it for you to ponder, read.
The three of vessels, Joy, focuses, in its explanation, on family. But, it also recognizes “From time to time, we need to relax in order to fully enjoy and experience inspiration again. From there, there is enough strength and patience to go through all the trials and sorrows as well as the blessings and gifts of life.” I believe this card cautions me to restrict my out of the house time, encourages me to stay home, nourish myself and others from home base.
I’ve been considering a limit on outside of the house activities, a quasi-rule to guide the making of appointments, agreements to do something. I said two at one point, now I’m looking at four, maximum. And, if I have five, eliminating one. Two is optimum. The key is to not wear myself out. Introverted me finds appointments, lunches, even shopping tiring. Good, but tiring. To maintain Joy I need to restrain myself. Avoid energy drains in too great a number.
The week’s issue: The six of stones. Exploitation. Points the finger at me, interrogates my reaction to the Glasgow conference. Underscores the induction stove decision. Makes looking for an electric vehicle a higher priority. Encourages me to reconsider my engagement in the Climate fight. Given my current circumstances, my moving toward a hermit’s life, the fourth phase of sannyasa, what makes sense for me?
Action to take: The Hooded Man. Move more deeply into my hermitage, into my role as hermit. Get clearer about what it means. How it can enhance joy, maintain a lifelong thread of activism, one focused on Mother Earth and her pain.
