Easter Tidings: A Call for Healing

Today is Easter. While not all celebrate it, I find that most holidays have something positive to offer everyone, if we take the time to look. For today I decided to pull a card or two on the following question:

"What is the essence of Easter time?"

I drew a single card from the Wildwood Tarot, and an additional card from the Halloween Oracle:

7 of Stones - Owl

Wildwood Tarot (W. Worthington, M. Ryan, J. Matthews)
Halloween Oracle (S. Demarco, J. Manton)

I found it to be an interesting draw, in part because both cards have some important elements in common. Both call us to pause a moment, to reflect on what is happening in our lives, so that our responses, decisions, and path forward will be a product of our wisest, most thoughtful selves, rather than our impulses.

An important element of the Wildwood 7 of Stones is that of healing and forgiveness. What weight of regret, sorrow or pain are you carrying in your heart and soul, and how can you accept it and let it go so that you may become a happier, healthier person? This card highlights the importance of making time in your life for quiet reflection and careful consideration; making space to nurture yourself.

The owl is often seen in the Justice card in the Tarot, as associated with Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war. The owl asks you to detach yourself from your emotional reactions and responses, and view your circumstances with an objective eye. You are far harder on yourself than you would be on others. Owl asks you to be as fair with yourself as you are with those you relate to; honor your experiences for the wisdom they've given you, add the notches to your belt, and then keep walking on.

Where are you now? Where do you want to be? What road(s) will take you there?

These cards resonate well with Easter's sense of renewal. Springtime as a whole is a time of shedding our old skins and embracing fresh perspectives, mindsets, and possibilities. Many households will throw windows ajar to allow the brisk breeze to whisk stale, inside air out and away, as "spring cleaning" ensues - out with the old, in with the new. Easter is a wonderful time for inner spring cleaning as well - what's holding you back? What burdens are pulling you down? What "should haves" are still buzzing around your head?

Today is a great day to commit yourself to personal wisdom, healing and renewal.

Crow's Easter Message

Today's Easter, an overcast, cool morning. The kids are slightly hung-over on a dawn feast of far too much candy, and I'm on my second cup of coffee. Later this afternoon we'll have an egg hunt, with the little ones wading through purple wildflowers in the back yard in search of one of their magical, painted masterpieces created the day before in anticipation of this annual event.

I participated in the Ostara blog hop several weeks ago which focused on rebirth as a theme. This year Ostara and Easter, due to the transient lunar calendar, fall at some distance from each other, so once again I find myself considering death, resurrection, and the ever-spiraling cycle of life. These are universal truths that accompany us always. We tend to think of them in terms of major life events - death, divorce, house moves, births of children, leaving an old job for a new career or educational path, major work transfers that include an overseas relocation, and on and on and on.

In truth, death and rebirth are constants, and on a minute scale we are always experiencing them….when you learn something new about an important person in your life, when you mull something over and make a decision, when your plans change and you adjust to your new course, when new information or a sudden whim cause you to change your mind about an idea, belief or behavior - shifts in perspective. In these smaller contexts death takes the form of transition, the change inherent in life, the momentum that keeps our universe in flux. Without movement things stagnate - we thrive on change, even if it's hard to embrace at times - this is requisite for growth.

Today, in honor of change, transition, death and rebirth, I pulled a card from my Medicine Cards, asking for insights into what new era is unfurling for me now. I know that change is happening in my life, in some ways both big and small. I feel it trembling around me, the earthly manifestation of the 2 of Disks. The card I pulled was Crow.

Medicine Cards - J. Sams, D. Carson

The first thought I had when I turned the card over was: change. Right on cue! On page 134 of the book, it says, "Crow is an omen of change. Crow lives in the void and has no sense of time. The Ancient Chiefs tell us that Crow sees simultaneously the three fates - past, present and future. Crow merges light and darkness, seeing both inner and outer reality."

It goes on to say, on page 135: "Be willing to walk your talk, speak your truth, know your life's mission, and balance past, present, and future in the now. Shape shift that old reality and become your future self. Allow the bending of physical laws to aid in creating the shape shifted world of peace."

Sigh. It's a profound energy, so vital and pertinent to this moment, and yet not without some degree of pain - like all change. The Crow on the card peers at its own reflection, looking deeply within, facing truth with honesty, embracing - and really embodying - sacred Death.

As I move through my Easter Sunday, I'll hold these thoughts within me, pondering, processing, and reflecting on how Death, transition and truth are impacting me at this moment - somehow a perfect match to the energies being cradled and nurtured and honored across the globe on this holy-day.