oracle reflections : increase + natural cycles
::: lunar eclipse + full moon in virgo currents
on thursday, march 19 from 5:30-7pm, i’m teaching a basic i ching adventuring workshop at The Ground Floor in NE Portland. learn to cast coins and seek wise, elemental counsel from this 3000 year old divination practice in a playful, low stakes space. coins and resources provided, including my mini zine introduction to the i ching pack. this workshop is free or by donation. learn more + save your spot.
on the new moon in aquarius and solar eclipse a couple of weeks ago, i shared my first i ching cast and celtic oracle for the community of readers here (below). here are some reflections on that cast as we reach this virgo moon’s eclipse pinnacle on the third day of the third month at 3:33pm PST (3/3 3:33 — that’s a lot of 3’s…). we’re in apex astrology and the world’s stage reflects it. what supportive guidance resonates for you here?
🌕 the full moon in virgo + lunar eclipse reflections
what guidance will best support the forces of courageous love in this year of the fire horse?
hexagram 42 : increase || above the gentle wind | below arousing thunder
above the gentle wind | below arousing thunder
in the i ching, thunder is both a destructive and constructive force. its the rumbling of change, the unsettling quake of an antiquated global order collapsing. we see this everywhere outside, and we feel it inside, too. the direction we thought we were going, we are not going anymore. the ground we thought we were standing on has become shifting sand. we can jump in there with that mess. get shaken and stirred and spit out in the chaos of it, but this oracle suggests we include the wind.
in the i ching, wind is a permeating, gentle force. it moves blades of grass and leaves of trees. wind is the entrance to something, a place of flexibility where breeze over time shapes arches of stone and reforms desert dunes into new peaks and valleys. in a time of increase, with energy moving rapidly with rage and chaos through the structures of our internal and external lives, can we be gentle? can we move with increase and not become a dragon about it? can we allow the wind and thunder to strengthen one another towards personal self increase and self improvement?
to rule truly is to serve
this wisdom is an answer to the question: how should we lead? or, perhaps better suited for a time when we’re beginning to understand that we are the leaders: how should I lead?
we must demand our leaders serve the people as much as we practice Self leadership that serves the ecosystems in which we are connected. some of us are in roles of active service and care. some of us are over-giving in those roles and have forgotten to nourish ourselves for the long road ahead. some of us may be walking the precarious tightrope of service in service to ego. we may have become saviors about it. we may have become performers performing because we are pursuing a traditional version success as the way to our collective liberation. not only is that exhausting, it just a lot of pressure, friends. it’s a lot of up and out energy. i know it well. recently, i’m curious about the down and out energy, the lateral, gentle service. i’ll be a student with you.
cross the great water
water in the i ching is the abyss. the dark. the primordial waters of creation. we have entered a period of time that psychotherapist, soul activist, and author of In the Absence of the Ordinary, Francis Weller calls, “the long dark.” this is a sacred initiation. a time of personal and collective descent that will illuminate exquisite creative forces of renaissance at the same time it reveals great horrors and tremendous loss. we will need to remember how to grieve together. we will need to remember how to embrace sorrow and spark joy. this is the passage of reunion with soul. it is the journey of awakening to our interwoven divinity and our inevitable mortality. crossing the water is how we return home to ourselves, individually and collectively. this is the cycle of sky (heaven) and earth birthing a new world.
:::
celtic oracle : chambers in the earth | rhythms of the otherworld | invoking a slow and steady course of action
this oracle echoes with wisdom from the i ching’s gentle wind. there will be times we are called to swift action through this year. and certainly, the year of the horse wants us to gallop ahead of full steam. fire horse energy through the lens of exploitative capitalism, war, and empire is just a violent warrior pouring gasoline on the fires burning in the world.
since time immemorial, indigenous communities have intentionally burned fields as a process of renewal for crops and the health of ecosystems. it was intentional, slow, controlled, watched over and tended. it was in response to the natural cycles of the earth. it was in partnership with the earth. an act of care.
to move through this year with courageous love, we must be mindful of the forces and impulses conditioned inside of us towards destructive change, and re-align with the rhythm of the natural world and our own lives. we must slow. we must pause. we must breathe. we must learn to notice what is going on in our bodies when we are out in the streets or when we are working with a team on a project or towards a new course of action. there is nothing easy about this. we will not always do it well. and we may fail. but it is the trying that tells us what we love. it is the practice that moves with courageous love.
🌑 the new moon in aquarius + solar eclipse cast
what guidance will best support the forces of courageous love in this year of the fire horse?
hexagram 42 : increase || above the gentle wind | below arousing thunder
notes*::: this hexagram is based on a foundational principle of the i ching: to rule truly is to serve. spirit alone has the power to help the world, and to undertake this endeavor, it furthers one to cross the great water. this includes sacrifice of those above for those below. it points to a time when the earth partakes in the creative power of heaven, forming and bringing forth new life. this time must be utilized while it lasts.
the wind and thunder increase and strengthen one another towards our personal self-increase and self-improvement. when we discover good in others, we must imitate it. when we perceive something bad in ourselves, we must rid ourselves of it. ethical change represents the most important increase.
six in the third place* means: one is enriched through unfortunate events. / no blame if you are sincere / and walk in the middle. blessings and enrichment have such powerful effects that unfortunate events turn out to be advantageous.
celtic oracle** ::: chambers in the earth | rhythms of the otherworld | invoking a slow and stead course of action
the Iron Age Celts used caves for protection, ritual, and shelter. these caves provided refuge from the outer world and connection with the never-ending pulse of life within the earth’s interior.
steadiness and consistency will bring success. stabilize ideas and energies on the rhythms common to the earth and practical aspects of human life, projects, and work relationships and bring balance between the creative forces of earth and sky (hello, hexagram 42). its okay to be slow, relaxed, and still. it’s okay to shut down mental chatter to renew from within.