Forget the Magic Wand

The tarot I'll be working with this week is the Shining Tribe, a deck and book set created by Rachel Pollack and published by Llewellyn.  Today's draw is the Magician:

Outside a village, a shaman stands with one hand pointing to a red flower and the other raised holding a wand.  He has connected with his purusa, his pure, inner light of awareness; from this place, he can tap into isvara, the unlimited, universal intelligence.  From these, he receives knowledge and inspirational energy that can be used to create in the physical world (the flower).  But there's no magic trick here that produces something from nothing.  Beside the shaman are a flute, bowl and a stone that represent the resources he'll need to create the vision he holds.  No simple "abra-cadabra" is going to do it - he's going to have to combine the knowledge he's received with the tools he has and do it himself.

The oracle I'll be using this week was created by my multi-talented friend Carole, who painstakingly pyroetched animals on wooden tiles.  Today's animal is the "Box Turtle:"

The eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina, is primarily a land turtle though it prefers moist habitats.  Slow to mature, it is extremely long-lived - the average life span is 50 years, but a significant number live to be over 100 years old.  The box turtle's dome-shaped shell is unique in that its bottom is hinged, allowing it to close itself off from predators.  Like the Magician-Shaman who is alone outside the village, this turtle reminds me that sometimes I must close myself off too.  Although I don't have predators, there are people who will "eat" my time and provide plenty of unwanted distractions.  My solitude will help me maintain my focus, enabling me to make progress on my projects or goals.