Journey of Opening

From the Greenwood Tarot, the Guardian (Devil); from the Rune Cards, Sun/Sigel:

Potter's Devil shows the skeleton of an animated cave bear, a prehistoric species that became extinct about 24,000 years ago. He represents a guardian of the past and an initiator into its memories. He naturally elicits fear, but befriending him can help us face our past and heal. We all have 'skeletons' in our closet that we hide in shame, worrying that someone will discover them. But when we open that door and introduce them to someone trustworthy, we might find out that others have very similar beings dwelling in their closet. The Anglo-Saxon rune poem for Sigel (Sun) describes how welcome the sun is as seafarers make their way back to land. It represented both the clarity of light and well-being. It seems to emphasize that bringing our past to light (which often is an unconscious trigger for present day behavior) can help us be free of the chains that bind us.

On our journey of opening, we come to the boundaries of what is familiar or what is comfortable. It’s precisely at these boundaries that the deeply conditioned pattern of fear begins to emerge.That’s exactly the place we want to be, a place of further acceptance and opening. We need to learn how to work with this fear. Otherwise, our lives become fragmented; we split off from parts of ourselves, from parts of what is true in experience. ~Joseph Goldstein

Pocket of Light

This week I'll be using the Greenwood Tarot, created by Chesca Potter and published by Thorsons. The oracle I'll be using is the Rune Cards, created by Tony Linsell and Brian Partridge and published by Anglo-Saxon Books. Today's draws are the Eight of Arrows (Swords) and Sigel/Sowilo:

          This card accurately depicts the darkness of last night; the Dragon returned to the South, bringing strong storms, tornadoes and flash flooding. I finally fell asleep around 5 a.m. this morning after being on watch all night. Potter describes it as thoughts of loneliness and struggle with a need to reach out. I will admit to thinking "We're going to get walloped again," as I watched the continuous lighting and listened to the hail hit the roof and windows. My support and connection was weather.com on my phone; in the darkness it allowed me to "see" what was going on. Thankfully this morning we still have electricity and no trees down (though we do have a moat around the house). The Dragon is supposed to reawaken later today, but at least the sun will be out when it returns. Sigel/Sowilo means 'sun,' and the poem associated with this rune is welcome today:

Sun ever proves a joy to seamen

when they cross the fishes' bath

Till the brine-steed brings them to land.

The warmth and clarity of the sun does chase away the negative thoughts that tie my insides into knots. Symbolically it reminds me not to give in to paranoia or despair in those dark nights, but to keep my pockets full of light too.