{"id":63345,"date":"2026-01-31T07:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T13:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=63345"},"modified":"2026-01-31T07:42:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T13:42:34","slug":"63345","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=63345","title":{"rendered":"We Are the North Star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yule and the Moon of Deep Friendship<\/p>\n<p>Shabbat gratefuls: A day of peace. Shadow and her cone, her brightly taped leg. Roxann. Tom. Jessie. Minneapolis. Resistance. In song and action. Red tie guy who could end this. The Federal Reserve. Washington Post reporters. Don Lemon. Cell phone videos. ICE. Border Patrol. Our poor benighted Republic.<\/p>\n<p>Sparks of Joy and Awe: Dr. Josy, caring vet<\/p>\n<p>Life Kavannah: Wu Wei\u00a0 \u00a0 Shadow, my Wu Wei mistress<\/p>\n<p>Year Kavannah: Creativity.\u00a0 \u00a0Yetziratiut.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cInspiration exists, but\u00a0it has to find you working.\u201d\u00a0<em>\u2015<\/em>\u00a0<em>Pablo Picasso<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Week Kavannah: Tikkun\u00a0 Olam. Repairing the world.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"KsbFXc U6u95\" data-complete=\"true\">\n<li data-hveid=\"CAUQAw\" data-complete=\"true\" data-sae=\"\"><span class=\"T286Pc\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-complete=\"true\"><strong class=\"Yjhzub\" data-complete=\"true\">Lurianic Kabbalah:<\/strong>\u00a0A 16th-century mystical belief that the world was created by divine vessels that shattered, scattering &#8220;sparks&#8221; of divine light. Humans perform\u00a0<em class=\"eujQNb\" data-complete=\"true\">tikkun<\/em>\u00a0by gathering these sparks through\u00a0<span data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-complete=\"true\"><a class=\"H23r4e\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/tikkun-in-lurianic-kabbalah\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-hveid=\"CAUQBA\">prayer and mitzvot<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-hveid=\"CAUQBQ\" data-complete=\"true\" data-sae=\"\"><span class=\"T286Pc\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-complete=\"true\"><strong class=\"Yjhzub\" data-complete=\"true\">Modern Social Justice:<\/strong>\u00a0Since the 1950s, the term has become a shorthand for\u00a0<span data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-complete=\"true\"><a class=\"H23r4e\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brandeis.edu\/jewish-experience\/history-culture\/2023\/may\/tikkun-olam-history.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-hveid=\"CAUQBg\">social action and progressive activism<\/a><\/span>, such as environmentalism and human rights.<\/span><span class=\"uJ19be notranslate\" data-wiz-uids=\"ihN0eb_1t,ihN0eb_1u\" data-complete=\"true\"><span class=\"vKEkVd\" data-animation-atomic=\"\" data-wiz-attrbind=\"class=ihN0eb_1s\/TKHnVd\" data-sae=\"\" aria-owns=\"action-menu-toolbar\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"Y3BBE\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-hveid=\"CAEIDxAA\" data-complete=\"true\" data-processed=\"true\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/nine-of-vessels-wildwood.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-56043\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/nine-of-vessels-wildwood-420x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"155\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/nine-of-vessels-wildwood-420x574.jpg 420w, https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/nine-of-vessels-wildwood.jpg 431w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 155px) 100vw, 155px\" \/><\/a>Tarot: Nine of Vessels, Generosity<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"Yjhzub\" data-processed=\"true\">Generosity of Spirit:<\/strong> This card represents a deep, selfless love (agape) and a willingness to share one&#8217;s inner resources, compassion, and joy with the world.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"T286Pc\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-processed=\"true\"><strong class=\"Yjhzub\" data-processed=\"true\">Connection:<\/strong>\u00a0This card emphasizes that sharing your emotional abundance fosters deeper connections with companions and the surrounding environment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>One brief shining: Non-violent resistance flows from nine of vessel&#8217;s energy, linking this peace seeker with that peace seeker in a chain powerful enough to hold back cruelty and hate, yet soft enough to ensure the well-being of neighbors in distress, and loving enough to re-place power where it belongs, in the hands of just folks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPTImageJan31202606_35_53AM-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-63346\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPTImageJan31202606_35_53AM-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter-420x630.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"332\" height=\"498\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPTImageJan31202606_35_53AM-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter-420x630.jpg 420w, https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPTImageJan31202606_35_53AM-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter-744x1116.jpg 744w, https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPTImageJan31202606_35_53AM-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPTImageJan31202606_35_53AM-ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-converter.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 332px) 100vw, 332px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dog journal: Beginning the fourth day A.C. After the cone went on. Neither one of us like it much, only its proven medical purpose makes it and Shadow&#8217;s bandage bearable.<\/p>\n<p>Going outside has become a chore. The bandage can&#8217;t get wet. That means I had to place the makeshift IV bag solution on Shadow&#8217;s injured leg. Difficult. I bought and received booties which are somewhat easier, but both require a lot of bending over and my right lower back does not like that. At all.<\/p>\n<p>Only eleven days to go.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Just a moment: I can&#8217;t improve on this excerpt from a Krista Tippet Substack post forwarded by friend Paul Strickland. Her credo nourishes and promotes a way to heal our sore hearts:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<table role=\"presentation\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\" width=\"550\">\n<div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>&#8230;this is one of those moments when the strange and beautiful reality of the human condition rises in the face of what would deny it. In Minnesota, where I raised my children and grew this On Being Project, a world of care and dignity one human being towards another has flourished within and around all the images coming to us of violence and protest and despair. There are churches converted to food banks. There are families accompanying other families and neighbors delivering meals and other essentials to individuals who feel vulnerable for multitudes of reasons. There are strangers bearing witness, non-violently, as homes are approached and doors beaten down. There are teachers and librarians and healers stepping up to care for children and teenagers who are traumatized by all of this. I am hearing a thousand stories that are not making the \u201cnews\u201d as I\u2019m trying to follow it, but they too are the story of our time, and they are stories of what makes us human and humane.<\/p>\n<p>I repeat: I cannot believe that this beautiful strangeness and complexity reside on one side of our political lines and not the other. A few years ago, I penned a few lines in this newsletter that have become my credo:<\/p>\n<p>Enough of us see that we have a world to remake.<\/p>\n<p>We want to meet what is hard and hurting.<\/p>\n<p>We want to rise to what is beautiful and life-giving.<\/p>\n<p>We want to do that where we live, and we want to do it walking alongside others.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re asking, where to begin?<\/p>\n<p>We have a long way to go to find our way back to feeling our belonging to each other that has never stopped being true. But it is what we are called to. I cleave to my faith that there are \u201cenough of us\u201d longing to meet this calling.<\/p>\n<p>The common ground of our sore hearts may be the place to begin, and return, and ever begin again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yule and the Moon of Deep Friendship Shabbat gratefuls: A day of peace. Shadow and her cone, her brightly taped leg. Roxann. Tom. Jessie. Minneapolis. Resistance. In song and action. Red tie guy who could end this. The Federal Reserve. Washington Post reporters. Don Lemon. Cell phone videos. ICE. Border Patrol. Our poor benighted Republic. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=63345\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">We Are the North Star<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,246,100,4405,4393,1885],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dogs","category-minnesota","category-politics","category-seed-keepers","category-tarot","category-us-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63345"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63350,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63345\/revisions\/63350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}