The Moon  - Peace in the Darkness

Tarot of Transformation

Willow Arlenea and Jasmine Lee Cori

Original writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

The full light of day has a way of exposing the cold, facts of life. With no shadows to filter the constant incoming stimulation, information, and interactions of life we are vulnerable. Fantasies and dreams spill out unprotected. Disappointments can cause us to feel overextended and unprotected. Some days we just want to crawl away and and shield ourselves from the glaring and unrelenting light. Instead of celebrating life and its joys we can find ourselves running for cover.

Fortunately, there is relief. The great Queen of the Night, the Moon comes to wrap her mantle of darkness and shadow around us to provide shelter and allow us time to slow down and reflect. The moon calls us to go within and to follow her filtered light to illuminate and guide us.

The moon invites us to awareness of our own presence, to let the shadows provide shelter for us to let down our masks and armor as we receive her light and recognize our own wisdom. Here in the quiet shadows we can more safely open our hearts and delve below the surface to discover what might be hidden in the waters of our emotions.

As we observe the images being shown to us it is like looking into a still pool; we might see our own reflection but also reflections of what is around us - especially behind us that we cannot see without the water’s mirror. The surface image reveals a bigger picture but we have to be still in order to see it. If we roil the waters we cannot see any images at all. We must wait for the waters to calm to allow us to see through the shimmering, moonlit surface. As the moon reflects the light of the sun we realize we could easily be reflecting other people’s light - and darkness - rather than holding our own light up to shine. Do  those feelings and moods belong to our own self or have we been mirroring what others feel and do?

Our emotions are a deep pool of hidden  memories, fears, dreams, joys, and experiences. As we embrace the shadows and surrender to the journey, we can come to a place of peace. We can rest from chasing dramas and reacting to the outer world’s chaos and confusion.  It is “just me and the moon” and the waters, quieting now that stillness is present. If we listen, we begin to hear our voice of wisdom that comes in peace and silence, rising up through the waters of our emotions and feelings as we take time out to sit and be still and reflect. That inner knowing, which is now illuminated by the moon’s soft light, can rise and teach us what is most appropriate for us now.

The moon reminds us that we are always in change, always in the midst of a cycle that will complete even as a new cycle is rising up to new momentum. We cannot control the moon and we cannot control our emotions but as we learn to align ourselves with the rhythms of the moon and attune to her cycles, we learn to allow and be present with our own cycles and know that, as the moon,  we are always in flux and always in change. As we learn to trust our own intuition we can better navigate the shadows, the changes, and the unknown. We connect to a larger picture, a bigger sense of our own process and can find comfort in understanding that not all problems, grief, or even fantasies will be resolved today.  The harsh lessons and challenges are softened with compassion for ourselves and others.

We can find peace in the darkness.

......Kathryn Ravenwood 7.18.20

AWARENESS/THE CHARIOT

From the Osho Zen Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

Awareness is the chariot we drive through our Consciousness Journey. We are the single navigator of this process; no one else moves us along. It is our choice which direction we move, all of them eventually leading to wisdom and higher knowing.  

Traditionally, this card depicts a charioteer holding the reins of two horses, one black and one white, which indicate the duality of our world. The charioteer must learn, through her own will and strength, to to direct the steeds to hold them to the course she chooses. The road opens ahead as the journey progresses. The choice to go forward, take a side road or stop and turn around is always an option. Perils and possibilities are always a present issue. An inattentive charioteer risks danger to herself, the vehicle,  as well as the horses. 

The above image is powerful in reminding us that the charioteer’s journey is also an internal one. The shadow figure, who seems to be in distress, is enveloped in a deep fog. Fogs are made of water. Here the challenge of awareness is to navigate through the fog, recognizing that each droplet is a hologram of the whole. To focus on each individual drop skews our vision toward duality while embracing the wholeness moves us through the fog to higher possibilities. The fiery presence of self awareness we see in the image then serenely emerges as layers of the old form are burned away. 

Basic motoring skills tell us that when driving in a fog we dim the lights. When I was learning to drive this seemed counterintuitive to me until I actually experienced it and found the advice to be absolutely true. The high beams cannot effectively penetrate the fog as well as the low beams which give a wider and deeper vision by which to navigate. When we only  focus on the road right in front of us we can miss important information about the rest of the environment behind and to the sides and even above us. I am reminded of a magical full moon night in Wyoming driving on an open, empty road and turning off the lights to allow my moon vision to guide me. It provided a completely different perception of that part of the journey. I truly felt a part of the whole landscape and not just an observer passing through.

Awareness is not reached on auto pilot. We must remember that as we keep our hands on the wheel of our chariot we cannot control the outside environment but we can learn to master our navigation of it. The same is true for the inner landscape. As we experience change and transition in our lives old versions and forms must fall away. Layers of fog burn off in the emerging light. We are basically creating a new road map of our journey even as we travel on it. We can feel lost even as we are aligning to our new course. Our awareness is what guides us through such challenging passages.

In these days we are navigating unknown territory. The planets are aligning in powerful ways that mark 2020 as a year of challenges never seen in our lifetimes. It is a time when both the physical threats of a virus and fear are pandemic. There are as many versions of truth as there are people. No one seems to be in charge. The fog is dense and people seem to be barreling down the road with their high beams on crashing all around us. We have been told to stay home keep our distance from one another. It seems a perfect time to put the car in the garage, hitch up the Awareness Chariot and go for a cosmic ride in the moonlight.

May your journey be magical and may you emerge in beauty.

....Kathryn Ravenwood  July 4, 2020