Crow Calls: Nov 22 24
and our journey into the third chakra
Hello!
Autumnal-Winter continues and the yard is still filled with pine needles from storm winds that come and go as they please.
Quick Note on Links: I've provided website addresses where I can. I only have my phone right now for typing all this up, and can't seem to make the fancy links option work, so you will need to manually copy and paste, or manually go to my Archives to read past Devotional Letters. Thank you for your understanding, patience and dedication to follow the breadcrumbs and pin-cushions within your own journey! ❤️
Today's missive comes from the Lenormand Deck by MJ Cullinane (See Devotional Resources for link). You can re-read the Crow Calls from July 2024 for the beginning of our story in the archives.
You will notice that many of the same cards showed up in this reading from the July 2024 reading too. I shuffle the deck really well and had readings with it in-between Crow Calls…. soooo…
Coincidence, or, Divinely Guided?
When I started Crow Calls with this deck, I didn't realize it would take on a whole story that would keep going. I'm excited to see where we end up as we continue our work into the upper chakras! ❤️
Ooooo! Enjoy!
The Call to Live Deeply
Sweetest Grass Roots Devotionals is about making a promise to devote time and give sacred space to our healing, our internal processes. I share my practice with you in hopes it inspires you to create your own. To show the way with words and images steeped within my subconscious tea brought to life on canvas, in songs, stories and spirit journeys. How to live more deeply within your awareness and connection of the microcosmic world, and in turn our macrocosmic universe.
I wish I could promise you that every letter I write will contain perfectly organized subjects with perfect grammar and punctuation that obviously connect the dots for you. This is a promise that I simply cannot make.
What I can hope for… is to bring you along on my adventure into spirit, to show you how simple it can be, and to share in the beauty of my liminal spaces while you learn how to find your own… to make available sign posts, trail markers, bread crumbs and pin cushions.
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Because I will not pretend to know your journey more than I know my own, I write within my experience as woman. Please change as needed for your experience on this journey… for such teachings apply to us all.
Grab a cup of tea or hot cocoa, plate of warm cookies and sit by the window listening to winter winds while you read… for we are going on an adventure!
Love, Light & Shadows…
Isabella, Pups & Family
Crow Calls
In our last Crow Calls (Oct 2024 Letter), we left off with giving up our domesticated selves represented by the Dog (18) to run free with our Wild Nature, the Fox (14).
By divine guidance, we start right where we left off with Fox now at the center of our Story.
Moving to our left, then upward and to the right we walk the spiral path.
Finally, we have embraced our Wild Nature and look longingly to the forest ready to return home to our natural habitat, our wild life and sense of self.
BUT we still have unfinished business and must set our domestic affairs in order before we can fully express and live within our wild skins, in our wild life, and our authentic self.
There is a house next in our path — the life we have built — for better or worse. We could say it was built for us, that someone else set the trap, BUT we also hold the keys of responsibility as participants. We need to own this in order to leave it behind us.
The domesticated Dog (18) — our comfortable life with all the rules that chaffe at our skin — itching to be shed.
The Tree (5). The same one from where our journey started in July 2024, but now upright with all its world aglow. Our Dreaming Tree.
Our roots have grown deep and strong, Our trunk and leaves tall and broad, Sweetly flowered — aglow in fireflies — our dreams — our creations -- our worlds.
This time Hare waits at the doorway within the roots leading deep into the warrens below — our gateway into the underworld. The moon is full and lighting our way through the dirt and soil to the world underneath this one. Perhaps, even, to the River Beneath the River.
Getting past the shock and morbidity of the Raven on the Cross (36) walking our path with the Coffin (8), the Ship (3) and the Scythe (10) — forcing us to face our own mortality on this journey as we shed our domesticated skin, so we may dress in our true wild one (what skin do you feel adorns your true self?).
Calming our breathing, we understand this as a very real and yet metaphorical death journey.
One cannot start a new life without burying the old one. Without our old life dying, as it should, we cannot start completely fresh and unhindered in our new life — our wild life — our free life.
We put it in the ground (metaphorical ceremony), we bury it, erect a headstone and hold a funeral. We speak the truth about what happened, who we were, why we made the choices we did, we own our part, why its necessary to let go and move on from it.
The Ship (3). The River Beneath the River has its own ship. Is it a ghost ship like in the pirate movies? Or just a representation of movement?
In the Oct 2024 Crow Calls we moved across land on a horse. Now we find ourselves riding the currents of the River Beneath the River on a Ghost Ship beneath the living landscape — shrouded in mist and accompanied by our spirit guides (ancestors), while a full moon sinks below the horizon. This part of the journey begins our return to the world above the topsoil.
The Scythe (10). The dreaded Scythe we have long associated with the grim reaper wielded by a Crow at the top of a stone mountain. If we read this like the Ace of Swords tarot card, we are cutting through air, intellect, brain fog, memory loss, illusion, and spiritual amnesia in order to find clarity. These clouds fill our domesticated lives and we must cut through them as we return from our journey through the world beneath this one.
BUT be careful! It is also the Joker card, so the trickster is a-foot! Slicing through the illusions we've become attached to living with in our domesticated life will have to be left behind. Once seen, they cannot be unseen and changes will follow, so that we may truly live our wild life free. The life our souls have been yearning and searching for all these years. Perhaps, even, for a lifetime.
The Stars (16). Our guiding star lights are above the ground, above the homes as they sleep. Burning brightly in the sky un-hindered by moon light. We have returned to our world above the topsoil! Returned to Life! Although our feet have yet to touch dry land, as we continue to ride our Ghost Ship through the waters of transformation guided by the Northern Star.
The Moon (32). Time between the Stars and Moon cards is marked by the liminal space betwixt and between the Dark Moon becoming New with a waxing crescent in the sky. The waters below our Ghost Ship still hold their secrets and magic, as this card marks our new arrival time to…
The Tower (19). Our center core that must be lit from our internal cauldron of sacred oil. Surrounded by the boundaries we set into motion with the act of dispersing our illusions like the sun shining through cloud cover on a rainy day.
Remembering back to the Tower card when our story first started (with small edits)…
“From the Crow's Nest, I can feel the birds flying, circling, wing tips brushing against my skin for reassurance —
and in the distance, I can see, or more accurately hear and feel, dolphins swimming and dancing at the prow of the ship. My Mother's spirit animal. I am not alone. My ancestors are with me.
I reach my destination of the Tower surrounded by poppies portending dreaming, and spirit travel. Perhaps, the last boundary to keep wandering unkept souls from entering my intimate domain.
The Tower is made of cool marble stone, intact and not on fire, but it also resembles a tomb, a mausoleum with a great wide gaping mouth. 6 crows depart the top of the Tower as I arrive, as I cross the threshold. The myriad flap of wings and cawing cries out into the night, while catching the updraft of a non-existent wind. Ominous indeed.
The world around me is steeped in darkness, in sorrow, in overwhelming grief.
I fully cross the threshold now and stand within the marble Tower.
There will be time later to explore, for I feel the depths to which the bottom staircase plunges, much like the spirit river beneath the Ghost Ship.
So I ascend to the top of the staircase instead. Walking over to the window on the far side of the room overlooking the town. I cannot yet tell how big it is in the darkness.
I watch as shadows move across the rooftops. Gargoyles? Statues? Night specters? Or something more sinister?
I understand now why I'm here, why I have been brought to this Tower. Presumably all alone, isolated, surrounded by a field of poppies that serves as a warning not to cross, as much as it is a protective boundary to keep shadows out.
I turn around, away from the windows and walk to the center of the room. You can't yet tell from outside the windows. It may not be recognized for awhile. The outside of the Tower frozen in place, the town’s inhabitants still too afraid to look out their own windows to see…
BUT…
My purpose clear, I turn to light the oil, smokeless light rising up from a massive copper cauldron, the room aglow in mystical flame — fire.
And I can't help but smile as I realize that even though my contribution feels so small —
Wandering around this tower all alone —
Holding space with prayers, writing and communing with spirits, ancestors —
I am still a light in the darkness, aglow in copper flame, my Beacon has been lit.
🌙
There is an adventure to be had in this tower —
at least until the world turns again — until then — holding faith within my center core, shining brightly into the darkened world, a beacon standing tall for all of those like me to see.”
As below, all of our beacons lit, so above, like so many seed stars in the sky… Dandelion Dreams upon the wind.
Mantra: “I am safe, healthy, protected. My Boundaries are Strong!”
Your Crow Calls
Journal Prompts: Write in a free flow style without censorship in your journal. Choose from as many of the below options as you wish!
The Third Chakra, the Solar Plexus, is the internal identity of self that you carry forward into the world with you. Your Self Esteem, Self Worth, Sovereignty, and more. Reading back through the Crow Calls, how does this journey relate to coming into your core identity (the unlit and intact tower; 19)? What wild skin do you feel adorns your true self?
Do you see something differently in the reading than I do? Everyone operates from their own core identity and communication with self via symbols, so it’s easy for two people to see two different readings in a spread.
Let's follow the timeline from the reading and figure out where we are in our journey right now. What big or small events occurred on the following dates? Did something significant happen that you can link to your journey into your Wild Self?
Full Moon Oct 17th
Full Moon Nov 15th
Full Moon Dec 15th
Dark Moon Dec 30th
New Moon Waxing Crescent Dec 31 24 through Jan 5 25
When our story first started in July, our timeline for reaching the tower was the full moon before winter started, and now our arrival is between Dec 31, 2024 and Jan 5, 2025. So what caused the delay?
Did we get lost in our under-world journey?
Or was there simply more work to do than originally anticipated?
Let's not forget the numerology aspects at each leg of our walking this spiral path:
Fox (14) + Letter (27) + House (4) = 1+4+2+7+4 = 18 = 1+8 = 9 = Completion of one cycle (our domesticated life) and preparing to act on entering the next cycle (building our wild life).
Dog (18) + Tree (5) + Cross (36) = 1+8+5+3+6 = 23 = 2+3 = 5 = Mastering Change, being able to go with the flow, protection, the 5-Elements of health and life in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Coffin (8) + Ghost Ship (3) + Scyth (10) = 8+3+1+0 = 12 = 1+2 = 3 = Sacred Trinity, Creation Catalyst, 3 cubed equals 9 so it can also be seen as completing a smaller action step towards the completion of a bigger cycle (big picture), ie. I planted a tree (action) to help create my new forest (completed cycle).
Stars (16) + Crescent Moon (32) + Tower (19) = 1+6+3+2+1+9 = 22 = 2+2 = 4 = Sacred number representing the 4 elements that make up life; stability, the 4 legs of a table. Consistency and Discipline are necessary to create a Functional and Stable Life, ie. We want out Wild Life to be an actual stable world on our Dreaming Tree and not constantly in flux at the whims of modern society. Are your table legs even and properly secured? Or are they uneven, loose and wobbly?
Overall Numerology Message = 9+5+3+4 = 21 = 2+1 = 3 = This part of our Sacred Journey — finding our Wild Skins, our Wild Life, Lighting our Core Energy of Light while putting to rest our old, worn out, domesticated life — as BIG of a project as this feels right now — it's just a partial step, perhaps a FIRST step, in the BIGGER picture of who we are becoming, our new life we are building and all the adventures and friendships yet to come! ❤️
Secret Messages: Are there any keywords that pop out at you to circle? Any secret or plainly written messages from your subconscious? From Spirit? Place your hand over the center of your abdomen — how does it feel — what does your Solar Plexus have to say?
Is there a particular image or phrase in Crow Calls that pulls you into your own journey? Write it down quick before you lose it!
How does what you've written make you feel? How does it apply to your own journey? Do you have a therapist or friend with whom you can talk about it? Do you have more to say in your journal or want to start a conversation here?
Devotional Resources
Line “…to make available sign posts, trail markers, bread crumbs and pin cushions.” : Refers to all the different sign posts and trail markers that you might find in fairy tales and wisdom stories. Bread crumbs famously found in Hansel and Gretel, and following the pin cushion comes from my family’s deep dark forest roots across the ocean.
Poetry/Quotes: Unless otherwise stated, I wrote it :) IEM 2024
My Journal Entries: Dated Nov 2024.
Previous Devotional Letters (Archives): July 2024: Crow Calls where our story begins, and the 3 card draw moving from domestic life to wild life inside the Oct 2024 letter.
Crow Calls Card Deck: Today's Lenormand Deck by MJ Cullinane can be found at https://crowtarotshop.com/
Books:
‘Lighting the Beacon, Becoming the Beacon…’: Concepts from the Wild Grove Series by Katherine Genet. She has a new one about ready to publish! Check it out online! https://katherinegenet.online/
PS… I LOVE HER BOOKS! ❤️
Chakras: Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith.
Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola-Estes (the river beneath the river).
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland (identity of self as different skins we wear and shed through our soul-filled journey of self and belonging to the world).
The Dreaming Tree as reference to: Kabbalah Tree, Tree of Life, the Shamanic Traveling Tree, and my own series of paintings/ spiritual/ dreaming practices.
What We’ve been up to
Reading:
Carlos Castaneda Series, The Wheel of Time
Listening to:
Everything Stevie Nicks and the movie soundtracks to Practical Magic.
General Life:
Keeping our heads and hearts on straight through the cascade of it all, while re-designing my neuro-physical therapy, re-arranging furniture into clean lines, packing up mementos that take up too much visual brain space, and continuing to heal my body-brain connection. *Fingers Crossed*
Re-Membering strong neuro-pathways to by-pass the damage from injury and illness.
Dancing, Singing and Praying my way to recovery Body, Mind, Heart and Soul with the help of my Ancestors and Nuero-PT.
Love, Light & Shadows,
Isabella, Pups & Family
Thank YOU again for helping to support my Great Works!
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