It always amazes me how nature speaks to our hearts when we need it most. I have a little ritual I do almost every morning. I wake up and open my altar, say my prayers and then have my cup of coffee or tea and I pull tarot cards for daily guidance, focus and reflection. With these cards in mind I go for a run through the woods and contemplate the cards I pulled and the messages they want to reveal to me. I'm familiar with what the book says about the card, but I'm actually more interested in how the picture on the card and my real experience in nature tells me a story and truly reveals what it wants me to glean from the day.
Today, the two cards I pulled for the 5th position of my query were the Queen of Vessels with a picture of a salmon leaping up a waterfall, and the essence card behind that was the hummingbird. Looking at these two pictures I notice how the bodies of these two animals were depicted almost identically and that always tells me its telling me the same thing. As I was running I dare not stop for fear of being mauled by mosquitoes. Then I tried my best to avoid some snails and doodlebugs that were crawling slowly along the path. I started musing - what are mosquitoes for? What good are deer fly? How do snails contribute to the world? Why did God create them? What would our world be like without them? Then all the questions of life started filling up my thoughts. Why did he have to get cancer? Why did things turn out like this? Why? why? why?
Then I remembered my cards - the salmon and the hummingbird.. these are two very different species that have something in common - and not just the shape that they were in on the card. Both the salmon and hummingbird listen to a call deep within their spirit, a call to migrate and make a treacherous journey to some type of nesting place - a place to have their young or spend the cold of winter. Do they even know the deep longing and pull of their soul that calls them forward - singing to something so deep within their soul that they are compelled to follow the call. Something that says yes to the epic journey - the struggle, the long flight, the hard swim, the dangers and perils along the way. They don't sit and analyze. They follow the call without asking why.
As humans, its our critical thinking skills that sets us apart from the animals, but it can be those exact same skills that also keep up locked up in the fear of following the pull that nature is putting on our hearts. It can be that same thinking nature that makes us angry at situations in our lives. We feel like there is something to do, some place we need to go, a business we need to start, a book we need to write, a song we need to sing. But we are afraid. Afraid of judgement, afraid of failure. Afraid of being seen. And things happen in our life and we want to know why. Why did this person live and that one die. Why are they successful and this one not. Why didn't this work out like I had hoped? The message found on my trails today said we might not ever know the reason - the answer to the why. But we can be sure that there is a reason, even if its beyond our sight, comprehension or understanding. Our job is to say yes.. say yes to the epic journey - be willing to witness what unfolds along the way. Say yes to the adventure calling us. Trust that the yearning, the calling is coming from deep withing.. follow the call. Trust that you will have everything you need - even if you feel too small, too weak - the journey too tired and you don't understand why you have to do it - or why it compels you forward. Just say yes. and don't worry about the why. Trust your instinct and take the journey, and know that the why's will sort them out along the way. and even if they don't, that's ok too. It serves a purpose in a higher realm. Your job is to be courageously joyful and live in awe and wonder of the mystery of it all. And hey, don't step on the doodlebugs.. we all are just making our way back home..
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