Believe Nothing.
Entertain Possibilities.

However many rivers you have already crossed, a time will arrive when your tenacity and inner resolve are again put to the test. Such moments can be terribly disheartening and exhausting, and they threaten to destroy your sense of progress. You may feel as if you are in a confrontation with a brick wall, as the hurdles that seemed insignificant before appear insurmountable now. The tension is exacerbated by weakened resolve and the fear of making foolish decisions that could undermine what has been accomplished.

  

When you find yourself in a crisis where everything seems at the point of breakdown, avoid reacting aggressively, getting defensive, or trying to combat the problems head-on. Like being caught in quicksand, the more you struggle, the more you’ll be sucked in. Surviving difficult challenges depends upon your ability to stay centered, focused, and as calm as possible. Reacting emotionally to a crisis will only compound the difficulties. Be firm, yet flexible, and work steadily to resolve the situation. It may take a good deal more time and energy than you expected, but adopting a nondogmatic approach and keeping things in perspective is the solution now.

Trying to restore harmony and at the same time avoid extremes of attitude or behavior can feel like taming wild animals that are running in every direction at once. Nevertheless, what is really at issue is more subtle than you think. Can you remain uncompromisingly focused on your goal? Take time to examine what has been motivating you, and weed out any half-truths or grandiose and egoistic ideas you may have been harboring. Looking for the quickest way out of a bad situation isn’t necessarily going to help, and may actually divert you from the step-by-step work of taking responsibility for your actions. Any halfheartedness on your part will weaken your credibility and eventually create mistrust in others. Feigning aloofness, making a show of strength, or any other face-saving ploys aren’t going to help, either; you’ll just look foolish and will still have to deal with the real challenges.

  
Be as creative as possible and stay very alert while plotting a course through this minefield of difficulties. Only by deeply trusting in yourself and the power of intuitive guidance can you find a resolution. Even if you disagree with what others have to say, do not react or argue, but stay open and hear them out. When a breakthrough seems imminent, remember to remain alert. The real moment of resolution will become apparent in due course; it cannot be forced. Resoluteness requires cool detachment, patience, and unwavering purpose. Being flexible enough to move with the changes without compromising your vision is the key to success.

  
The image of Bodhidharma, the sage who carried the teachings of Buddha from India across the Himalayas to China, portrays the uncompromising integrity and absolute focus that is possible when we are deeply rooted in our truth. Thanks to Bodhidharma’s tenacity and strength of character, he finally reached his goal, and Buddhism took hold and spread throughout the East. This is resoluteness - the unwavering quality that makes it possible to endure all kinds of mental and physical handicaps, external pressures or emotional intrigues, whenever they arise on your path.    

If Raven appears in your spread, you are about to experience a change in consciousness. This may involve walking inside the Great Mystery on another path at the edge of time. It would portend a signal brought by the Raven that says, “You have earned the right to see and experience a little more of life’s magic.” Raven’s color is the color of the void - the black hole in space that holds all the energy of the creative source.

  
In Native teachings the color black means many things, but it does not mean evil. Black can mean the seeking of answers, the void, or the road of the spiritual or nonphysical. The blue-black of Raven contains an iridescence that speaks of the magic of darkness, and a changeability of form and shape that brings an awakening in the process.

  
Raven is the guardian of ceremonial magic and in absentia healing. In any healing circle, Raven is present. Raven guides the magic of healing and the change in consciousness that will bring about a new reality and dispel “dis-ease” or illness. Raven brings in the new state of wellness from the Void of Great Mystery and the field of plenty.

  
Raven is the messenger that carries all energy flows of ceremonial magic between the ceremony itself and the intended destination. For instance, if a ceremony is being performed to send energy to a disaster area where people need courage and strength, Raven would be the courier for that energy flow. The intention could be to allow the people of the devastated area to feel the concern and support of the participants in the ceremony.

  
If you have chosen Raven, magic is in the air. Do not try to figure it out; you cannot. It is the power of the unknown at work, and something special is about to happen. The deeper mystery, however, is how you will respond to the sparkling synchronicity of this alchemical moment. Will you recognize it and use it to further enhance your growth? Can you accept it as a gift from the Great Spirit? Or will you limit the power of the Great Mystery by explaining it away?

  
It may be time to call Raven as a courier to carry an intention, some healing energy, a thought, or a message. Raven is the patron of smoke signals or spirit messages represented by smoke. So if you want to send a message to the Blue Road of spirit, in order to contact the Ancients, call Raven. Or, who knows, the Ancients may be calling you.

  
Remember, this magic moment came from the void of darkness, and the challenge is to bring it to light. In doing so you will have honored the magician within.

Nevertheless, when we do hear of some act of inexplicable generosity and caring, we pause, we are moved, and our lives somehow seem benefitted by it. It doesn’t make sense that some goodness that happens on the other side of the world should touch our own hearts, but it does. It seems to be a cosmic law that kindness freely given has a potential for expanding exponentially. It seems to go a long way toward healing ourselves and our planet.

  
Generosity is a simple affair, and the true benefits are primarily experienced within. They are revealed when spirit is unbounded, not constrained by greed or small-mindedness. Then giving becomes receiving, expanding and enriching our hearts. It’s tragic to be shrunken and contracted; it’s magic to experience inner richness and to spread it around without reservation. So much more is available when we come from a place of “plus” rather than “minus”.

  
Take a walk somewhere in nature during the fullness of spring, preferably in a place teeming with flowers. Consider how all that richness, that beauty and grandeur, is made available for all to enjoy whether they deserve it or not. Nature doesn’t hold back; she’s never miserly. Her times of increase are times that benefit all life, not just a chosen few. She is the ultimate benefactress. She grows flowers at our feet, brings rain to quench our thirst and songbirds to delight our ears, and paints the sky with so many stars we’re not able to count them. We humans reap the rewards of that abundance when we function from a willingness to share.

  
The time of Increase is a time to look to Nature for guidance, to learn from that abundant and generous source. Following in her footsteps, you will come to understand compassion, to experience serenity, and discover your own unlimited capacity to nurture yourself and others. By really taking her lessons to heart, you can’t help but be inspired to become the best you can be, and in turn to support others to grow to the fullest realizations of their potential.

Your manner of approaching the well is critical to what you will bring up. If you are denied sustenance, it is because of your attitude, for only with deep sincerity and receptivity can you partake of its timeless wisdom. To approach casually or halfheartedly is like attempting to draw water up in a cracked or broken bucket: it may be possible to gather a few drops, but your longing can never be quenched. The well is truth. Drinking from it takes time and patience and your full attention.

  

They journey toward self-knowledge requires that we willingly enter the darkness of uncertainty. Becoming more aware has its own timing, profound in its perfection, that has nothing to do with our personal preferences.

   
Impatiently pushing for answers or seeking to hurry things along in the quest for knowledge invariably leads to dead ends. Nevertheless, all the apparent mistakes and wrong turns are an essential part of each person’s unique process and cannot be avoided. Insight only ever comes from totally living your own experience and being guided by your own heart.

  
Sometimes, in the quest for truth, a rare opportunity occurs when we meet an individual whose deep wisdom touches our own being to the very core. The experience of their compassion and understanding can profoundly affect the course of our lives. In their presence, serenity, grace, and wisdom seem to be reflected back to us, as though we are gazing into a mirror and seeing the face of our ultimate potential. Their outpouring of wisdom seems effortless and inexhaustible: however much we partake of it, the wellspring of grace never seems to run dry.

  
Ultimately, however, this passage with another must take us back to the heart of our own consciousness, for the final steps toward the recognition of truth can only be taken alone. We gradually come to realize that understanding surfaces from within our own self and cannot ever be supplied by another. We are blessed to be lovingly guided on the path by a spiritual teacher or wise friend, but they can never walk our walk for us. It is a little like finally riding a bike without guardwheels - at first it’s pretty shaky, but gradually we get the hang of it and then never turn back.

  
To drink from the source of clarity within the depths of the self is to know the taste of Tao. It is available to all those who thirst and are willing to dive into the core of being to be nourished. Once you have tasted from the clear waters of consciousness, you will return to it often. It is the source that sustains and refreshes, eternally flowing like a clear spring through the whole of existence.

  

OTTER (#8) ~ Woman Medicine

  

The medicine held by Otter is a set of lessons in female energy. This applies to both men and women, as all of us have female sides. The Otter’s hide is very often used to make medicine bags for powerful women because it represents balanced female energy.

  
Otter is very caring of its young and will play for hours, performing all types of acrobatics. It lives on land but always has its home on water. The elements of Earth and Water are the female elements. At home in both of these elements, Otter is the personification of femininity: long, sleek and graceful, Otter is the true coquette of the animal world.

Otter is always on the move and very curious. Unlike other animals, Otter will not start a fight unless it is attacked first. This joyful little creature is adventuresome and assumes that all other creatures are friendly – until proven otherwise.

  
These character traits are the beauty of a balanced female side, the side of ourselves that creates a space for others to enter our lives without preconceptions or suspicions. Otter teaches us that balanced female energy is not jealous or catty. It is sisterhood, content to enjoy and share the good fortune of others. Anchored in the understanding that all accomplishments are good for the whole tribe, Otter people express joy for others.

  
Long ago, in tribal law, if a woman were widowed, her sister would offer her own husband to the widow as a lover to keep her from drying up and not using her creative urges. This is Otter’s medicine, too. Envy, or the fear of being replaced, has no space in Otter’s balanced understanding of sharing goodness.

  
Woman energy without games or control is a beautiful experience. It is the freeness of love without jealousy. It is the joy of loving other people’s children and their accomplishments as much as you love your own.

  
It may be time to examine your feelings about sharing the bounty of your life with others. Otter may be saying that the finer qualities of woman need to be striven for in both men and women so that a unity of spirit can be achieved. This would involve the destruction of jealously and of all the acts of anger which stem from that fear. It would mean keeping a Hawk-eye on your ego and maintaining total trust. It would mean a world full of people coming together to honor the right of each person to be.

  
If you have drawn this symbol, Otter may be telling you to become the playful child and to simply allow things to unfold in your life. It may be time to stop your addiction to worrying. Otter also teaches the importance of not hanging on to material things that would bind you or become a burden. In looking at how you can learn from Otters habits. You might look at the joyousness of the receptive side of your nature. Have you given yourself a gift recently? Have you received any messages in your meditations? Become Otter and move gently into the river of life. Flow with the waters of the Universe…this is the way of balanced female receptive energy. Honor it! In doing so, you will discover the power of woman.

   

CONTRARY: If you are operating from Shadow ...

   
If the Otter card appears reversed, you may be running from one idea to another without focus. This could also imply that you have forgotten how to receive, and are blocking a gift from the Universe with your male side. If this is the case, you may be embarrassed to receive compliments, to have someone hug you, or to allow your genuine personality to come out. Fear of being rejected is the contrary message of Otter. Drop the seriousness on all levels and play at life so that the fear rolls off your back. Realize that the ONLY flow is the flow of love from the Great Spirit to you, from you to others, and from others back to you.    

       

~ DISPERSION (#59) ~

   

The time of dispersion is a subtle but potent influence that works toward wholeness. It has the capacity to melt, scatter, or dislodge whatever obstacles and rigidities have been hindering unity. When communication breaks down within the self, when we have compartmentalized and denied our own feelings or thoughts. Withdrawal and alienation are the result, whether the symptoms manifest within ourselves, in our work, or in our relationships with others. In the most profound sense, the opportunity presented by a time of dispersion is to reunite us with spirit, reawakening our capacity to experience wonder and igniting our desire to express the inexpressible.

Dissolving any rigidity that has been in place for some time will require a lot of patience and tact. It makes little difference whether the symptoms lie within your own thinking, or have been generated by external circumstances. The effect is the same: you have become cut off from your own natural flow, and as a result disharmony has grown in your relationship to your work, your partner, or your own nature. Becoming aware that there are snags in the communication flow is the first step toward restoring that lost harmony. You must also have a sincere willingness to persevere toward reconciliation, however long it takes.

Be aware that the process of dissolving rigidity benefits from warmth - but not a blow torch! No matter how intolerable the situation may have become, applying too much pressure will have the opposite effect from what you desire and will only provoke defensiveness and resistance. Your first task is to back away from the tangle to gain some perspective on what it will take to untie the knots. If you find yourself in a pattern of reacting and placing blame, immediately pull the plug on it.

  
Returning to openness and trust means being strong enough to withdraw from anything that perpetuates the status quo. Indulging in temper tantrums and threats will only make things worse. Real strength is possible only when we trust that unity can be restored through gentleness. A sincere attempt to understand the other’s feelings - or your own, for that matter - can disperse all kinds of emotional logjams and melt the hardest heart. Once you have found your sincere intention and devotion to the task within, and can express it through a relaxed and sympathetic outer demeanor, it can be surprising how easily negative attitudes and behaviors melt away.

  
It is pointless to attempt reunification while any of the parties are still suffering from emotional chaos. It’s a little like trying to hit a bull’s-eye from the other side of a busy freeway - blindfolded. You could stand there forever shooting arrows and never even get close to the mark. But this is the kind of childish nonsense that the ego often proposes when it is scrambling to appear on top of the situation and save face. Forget the face, and allow yourself to simply be equal to the situation rather than on top of it.