Alchemy

Image From the Sirian Starseed Tarot 

by Patricia Cori and Alysa Bartha

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

There is great alchemy at work on a grand and universal stage. Alchemy and the search for the secret of life is no less than than the process of seeking our own Divinity, our enlightenment. It already exists but we must go through the process of uncovering layers of dross and impurities to realize it. Even as each of us is an alchemical vessel in our individual laboratories of transformation, so the Earth is a Great Vessel in which the Great Work is being blended in a vast cosmic laboratory. We are all part of this process of change that is occurring on both the macrocosmic and microcosmic levels. Our personal process is both a reflection and a contribution to the bigger process.

Our physical bodies are made of the elements of air, fire, water and earth all blended together in unique forms. Each of the elements contributes to our alchemy as we learn to master how they function in our experiences and the process of learning from those experiences. Air teaches us of our mental attributes, thinking processes, gaining knowledge, our words and how what we say reverberates through our shared vessel of the Earth. Fire initiates us into the creative process of life and shows us how we both build and destroy with our power and how we interact with the powers of others. Water immerses us in feelings, emotions. We learn to trust our intuition and how our unacknowledged emotions can drown out reason and creativity.  The Earth teaches us to be grounded and how we share every part of creation with every being, whether they be human, plant, animal or mineral that is part of the whole. 

We can visualize and create a better whole when we understand that what appears to be functioning in opposition is actually the potential of blending different aspects and elements to create a new and better version of who we have been to now as individuals and as humanity. True resolution of polarities does not mean one side wins and the other loses. As we learn this we can set our intention to see ourselves as Divine beings rather that individuals divided by calamities of ego and mis-understandings. We can then take this understanding with us into the greater world of relationships with others and with our Earth to help restore balance so we can all move forward.

In the Tarot this card is traditionally called Temperance. It calls to mind the tempering process of steel where the carbon and metal is heated and cooled to remove impurities, which also strengthens the metal, so it can be crafted into a sword of beauty and precision. Swords represent the ability to cut through illusion to reveal truth - a perfect alchemical pursuit!

We come back to this Earth lab again and again to learn, understand, and perfect, even as the Earth continues her own alchemy. As the Earth is the Vessel for all of humanity living upon her, then we must be mindful of what we are cooking up in our own laboratories. Any explosions we create are not just our own problems - they affect everyone and the Earth. Our combined trials, failures, and transformations all blend into a new formula that must be played out and tested in this search for the Divine in us all. It behooves us to be mindful of the process and create formulas and processes that are beneficial not just to ourselves but to the whole. 

Where the Earth is in this alchemical process is unknown to us. Certainly we see drastic changes in action. Perhaps at some distant time humans may have mastered their own Great Work and the Earth will be free from mad scientists gone wrong. This could manifest in humanity expressing Divine Light and Love -  or we might still blow up the Earth lab and it will no longer hold us in the experiment. 

Never doubt this alchemical process always involves choice. Each choice we make contributes to the Great Work of who we are becoming. As humans, we stand between heaven and earth and are the conduit for both spirit and matter. How we refine the conduction of these great forces is up to us both individually and as a whole. May we choose with love, wisdom, joy, beauty and may the Great Work be most excellent indeed. 

...Kathryn Ravenwood  10-10- 2020

 

The Five of Wands

Strife and Conflict

From The Star Tarot, Cathy McClelland

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

The Five of Wands brings chaos and disruption with fire. Old forms and structures are burned away. Change is inevitable. Push comes to shove.

In the above image a volcanic eruption spews red-hot magma. It looks as though the stars are falling from the heavens. Sheltered in a green cloak, suggesting new life, a woman serenely holds white lilies giving a sense of hope that a purifying energy is enfolding her. The fiery power of life moves up through her chakras while she holds the balance of destruction and renewal in her heart. 

The force of fire is ultimately the Divine creative power of life. Transformation is a constant dynamic in the exterior world we live in as well as in our internal landscape. Ultimately they are connected; we are one with all of nature, one with the process of life as it manifests in our relationships, society, governments, and how we communicate with one another.

We are constantly creating with this fiery power whether it be our daily actions, a work of art, or an empire. But the life force needs to flow. When it becomes trapped in stagnant structures it pushes to find a release. Sometimes this shows up as a breakthrough in our way of living our life - a revelation that we need to liberate ourselves from rigid mind sets or habits into a rebirth of enthusiasm and activity. We start to recognize and use our creative power to express our talents and spend more time in activity that supports creativity in others. We also see that oppressing structures of government, society, even planetary cycles eventually fall to the fires of transformation. We are now witness to violent eruptions of change, upheaval and destruction. It is challenging to make sense of it all. We can feel burned-out, pushed to our limits.

We are all part of the change. Every level of our life is being burned to some degree with the purifying fires. To recognize the process as a purification is difficult. It took awhile for the pressure to build enough for all the disruption to happen and then create what seems like an explosive chain reaction. Fire burns away so new life can emerge. It can result in an epiphany or revelation of our spiritual awareness, but when a forest goes up in flames it is very hard indeed to see beyond the devastation.

As the image above reminds us, the sacred fire of our heart is where we seek refuge and find our center, our balance. This is where we can find shelter from the raging storms, create a haven for ourselves and others. We learn to live more in our heart energy, find courage, compassion, and are more able to reconnect with our creativity to bring something new into our own life and to the world we live in. 

During these challenging times may we remember to call upon the Divine Fire and to trust in renewal. May we find peace and shelter in the love we can give to one another. 

...Kathryn Ravenwood September 21, 2020

 

 

The Tower of Destruction: 2020

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

A shining, solitary tower sits high on a mountain peak with a golden crown topping its splendor. Suddenly, perfection is devastated by a bolt of lightening. The crown is split away, the tower burns and two desolate figures fall from the devastation. Disaster has struck. All is lost. Or is it?

The tower warns us against the false security of building structures that separate us from a balanced life on Mother Earth. Each brick is part of the mindset seeking to create a facade, a barrier against the “other” the unknown, the scary monsters under the bed that threaten some imagined sense of safety and protection created by fear (the preceding card in the Tarot is the Devil - Fear). A brick originally laid down as security has multiplied into layers of greed and avarice.  Reliance on leadership has morphed into authoritarianism. If one layer or level is good then surely another and another are better until the builder has locked himself into a lofty tower on a mountain top completely isolated from the world below. He may feel safe but the shelter he so carefully pulled around him has made life stagnant. The tower has isolated him from creative activity and interaction. Security has become a prison, protection has turned to illusion. Each brick was laid with a  tunnel vision of ideas, viewpoints, a controlling and even self-righteous behavior to protect the identify crafted along with the tower. The work became a tribute to an ego that is now fully invested in all the irrationalities of building and maintaining this monstrosity. The associated consciousness of this delusion is restricted and has shifted to everything “out there” rather than what is inside.

Nothing is forever. The Universe demands change to keep the energy flowing, to prevent stagnation, to provide for new growth. When things start to get stuck the Universe will send warnings. Yet, even as tremors and storms threaten, the invested ego of the tower builder ignores the pending doom and puts up more layers of hatred, illusion, barriers against change. Finally the stuck energy has to go somewhere and it bursts out in a fiery explosion. The fall of the tower is traumatic. it is not possible to hold it up with the actions of the past. 

In the image of the card we see small flames falling from the sky. These are the Hebrew letter Yod. Yod creates the world to come. Each Yod is a transformational force propelling us to new levels of experience. The falling figures’ hands are stretched out as if to reach for the ground below, directing this new experience into the currently unknown outcome of the fall. The golden crown blows off the top inviting a higher consciousness to replace the restricted and ego based focus of separateness, false science and reasoning, fake news, and irrational fantasies of will and power.

When the fire has burned the old forms and the devastation begins to be fully realized, Yods’ promise of new experience is available. How it will be used depends on the new consciousness, awareness and lessons learned. 

Are we out of warnings or do we still have time to come down from the Tower and live in harmony with one another and our Earth? Can we use communication from the the heart to bridge the gaps of separation and division? Can we raise our own consciousness to a higher level to embrace love and kindness without the ego being offended? Can we lay aside the tools of pending destruction and plant gardens?

 

There is always hope if we but call it to us. With the tower out of the way, we may  be able to see our path more clearly. 

....Kathryn Ravenwood  9.2.20

 The Star

Compassionate Action

From Science Tarot

 The Star is that wonderful card of hope in the Tarot. It suggests inspiration and the outpouring of Divine Guidance to lead us through even the darkest night. When we gaze at the stars we feel a connection to the solar system, to the universe, to the whole. The Star reminds us to tune in to a higher vision  to something grander than our own existence. It is a reminder that even after disasters and upheavals may plague us there is a calm after the storm when chaos is replaced by cathartic cleansing and peace.

All of these qualities are always here with us on our earthly walk. They are within each of us as we are all expressions of divinity in the physical realm. Our every thought and action is a channeling and manifesting of the creative power that made the entire universe whether we are consciously aware or on autopilot. When we turn our attention to the wisdom of being in alignment with those qualities that support ourselves and each other we can clear out negative and destructive tendencies within us that broadcast out to the world. and start to shine the light of hope, wisdom, and love.

The Star reminds us that we are called to be in harmony with both the Above and Below, that the natural laws of the universe are not minor suggestions that we can take or leave at our whim. We are living in a constantly creative state. How we interact has impact every moment. We each are responsible for our own thoughts, actions, and the resulting  consequences.  We can easily see that humanity has not been practicing good stewardship of our planet. Destruction of habitats, mass extinctions, and overpopulation is devastating. It seems our Mother Earth is lately issuing more stern warnings than ever before. We can be overwhelmed with all that is happening right now- pandemics, fires, storms that get more severe each season, drought and more. Basic human sense seems to be thrown to the winds that feed the flames and muffle out the voice of wisdom and truth. 

If ever we have been challenged to follow the Star’s message of Compassionate Action it is now. We are called to remember that there is no difference between Spirit and Matter and embrace and understand that each of us is a living expression of the sacred. This can help us define how we move and express ourselves through our day. No matter how overwhelming it gets, non matter how out of control we feel, we always have a choice as to how we respond. We can never know the full impact of our interactions with others. One act of kindness can make a huge difference in someone’s life the results of which may never be connected to that action or even remembered. Each time we make a conscious action of prayer, blessings, or make a physical adjustment to how we consume and relate to the planet affect us inwardly as we as the outward action. We are all connected. There is no way we are independent of every other living presence and that includes humans, trees, water and animals. 

May we dig in deep and go beyond the current mass confusion and misinformation swirling around us. May we connect with that place of compassion for ourselves, each other and for all beings. May we take the action that promotes hope, peace, and healing.  

Shine your light.

...Kathryn Ravenwood  8/25/20

 The Hierophant

from the Housewives Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood 

 

The Hierophant is card #5 in the tarot. It is the number of man, struggle, strife, and conflict, the number of the spiritual self seeking expression in its human form. As humans we seek to understand the practicalities, mysteries, the secrets of the universe, and, sometimes, just to understand what the heck is going on!

Traditionally the Hierophant is a figure of religious import such as a pope or a great teacher and is associated with orthodoxy and is traditionally the intermediary between us and god/goddess. The priests/priestesses of the past officiated as oracles, diviners, ritualists. They performed the ordained and guarded the secrets and mysteries. Teachings and traditions were passed on to initiates in mystery schools to those deemed worthy of understanding. The general public was told to be obedient to these authority figures to assure salvation and a better life to come. If things did not work out well, then there must have been a mistake or a sin involved.  Now go repent. Shame, guilt, and control were the rulers rapped on our collective knuckles.

Over the centuries we have expanded our ability to gain information and gradually became better educated. With education came questions, seeking answers, and for as many viewpoints that emerged there was an expert, a guru. The role of the Hierophant has not changed much but its way of communicating and teaching certainly has.

In the above image we see a 1950’s radio. In addition to news reports, the public began to have a huge exposure to recreational information.  Advertisements, weekly or daily programs introduced characters and stories that became cultural lore. We listened endlessly to songs of pain, suffering, love gone wrong. Add movies and television and the average person was totally inundated with the Hierophant in all its guises relating every possible piece of information. 

Today we have the internet and instant communication across the world. It is impossible to know what is true or false. Even images are altered to redefine someone’s desire of how a scene is presented. Spiritual and religious opinions are offered up as gospel with a new prophet or guru riding the highs of exposure only to drop into oblivion or disgrace. The Hierophant has become a hungry, insatiable machine churning out opinions, doctrine, dogma, fear, false hope, lies, truth, and the entire gamut of human opinion. We can learn how to fix our clogged sink drain from YouTube,  access a course and become fluent in a foreign language, or fall into the vast wormholes of conspiracy theories. All in the comfort of our own living rooms.

Sometimes we need to take a time out, take a break from the onslaught of information. As we explore information we see the exposed dualities and can take a breath and process, do our homework. The true nature of the Hierophant is to open our eyes so we can learn to view the universe for ourselves. We need education, training, and exposure to many ideas and viewpoints but with all that information is the ever present possibility of corruption through power, manipulation to gain control, all dosed in the vanity and ego of self importance. 

Ultimately, it is up to us to navigate the sea of information and find our own way. The Hierophant is a teacher but what I decide to follow is up to me.  The Hierophant reveals but I choose through my own intuition, my own connection to divinity, my own ability to discern. I may change my mind and point of view but that is part of learning and growth. We build on experience. We test and accept or reject. We create our own ethos, our own platforms, all based on collective information be it of family, church, or the school system.

As we become increasingly open to receive and learn we are wise to remember to keep our discernment and filters working. Just because you resonate with some information does not mean it is true. It is good to monitor how this information effects you - does it put you into fear and anger or does it bring a sense of calm and peace?

Our time of the Earth is an opportunity to seek union with the divine in however that is possible for us. To find the truth often lies in neutrality rather than plunging from one polarity of opinion to another. The true guru is the one that teaches us to go within, to be still, ask, and then wait and listen for our own guidance to come through.  

Sometimes we just need to turn off and tune in.  I share what came to me once in prayer, 

“In the silence, all are present.

In the silence, all are at peace.

In the silence, all is forgiven.

In the silence, all is love.”

May your studies bring you illumination and may you have the generous heart to share that light with the world.

...Kathryn Ravenwood   8-9-20

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