Madrigal
The Happy Squirrel was curious about the Mother Mary Oracle and I offered to do a reading with that as a focus. Okay, Happy Squirrel, here's your reading. My question was framed in a way that addressed it directly to Mother Mary :: What does HS need to know about deepening a relationship with You through this deck? The card I drew for you, Our Lady with the Moon at Her Feet, is the wild card of the deck, the oracle equivalent of the Happy Squirrel Tarot card. So that seems direct in a personal-to-you kind of way. It talked about this card empowering and strengthening the messages from any other cards you receive. It went on to say that if you receive this card on its own it's enough but if you draw another card as well, the wild card asks you to pay special attention to the guidance in the second card. So being curious I drew another one...Our Lady Who Gives Peace. Rather than interpret the cards for you I'm going to paraphrase and cut and paste various aspects of the LWB and you'll be able to make up your own mind based on the way you feel about the message you receive. I bristled at some of the dualistic language and used my own creative imperative to re-frame some of it without losing the original meaning. And to keep it fun, lots of pics
Here we go...
~ Our Lady with the Moon at Her Feet ~
The power of habitual consciousness is mighty indeed. Even if we know we want to change, and even if we've taken practical steps to change, the challenge of sustaining ourselves in a new way, without falling back into old emotional patterns can be extremely difficult. To be able to grow in life requires that we be able to intelligently respond to the challenges that a natural part of being human. Sometimes those challenges will be self-created and we will want to let them go. These might include coping mechanisms that aren't helpful for us, such as addictions, or shutting people out and withdrawing into a solitude of suffering, or dissociating through compulsive behaviors that undermine our self-esteem and emotional, or even financial, wellbeing.
Our Lady with the Moon at Her Feet comes to us when we are attempting to outgrow--through inspiration, hope, love, bold spiritual daring or big dreams--that which seems to be holding us back or impossible to change. She tells us that through her presence, we can find the support that we need as we face the challenges of growth, and she will embody us with her power to reach beyond our small self into something that encompasses a fuller way of living. She asks us to meditate with her and to recognize that what is now is not what must always be. She is mutability, the alchemical impulse and her presence enlivens the truth that transformation and healing are possible through attunement to her.
The author then goes on to include a Healing Process and Affirmation. Not sure if that's your kind of thing but I'll include it, paraphrased, anyway...
Sense of perceive that it's darkest night all around you. Quiet, open space extends around in all directions. You become aware of a magnificent holy woman, lit up like a star in the night sky. She stands with bare feet upon a crescent moon. You notice the moon under feet, it has a fascinating glow and then you become aware of the feet of the holy woman. As you gaze at her feet the dark night and moon fade away and her feet remain glowing radiantly. A white sun burns in each foot. The light and warmth of those suns shines on you. Feel the light filling your whole body, allowing yourself to receive it. Complete the process with this affirmation...
Holy Mother Mary, Our Lady with the Moon at Her Feet, surround me with your heavenly grace. Where I would stumble your love uplifts me. Where I would fail to see, your love opens the eye of my heart and gives me vision...
~ Our Lady Who Gives Peace ~
In a rather graceful succession the card following this was Our Lady Who Gives Peace. The sense that opening to or surrendering to the inner divine feminine, seeing with those eyes brings with it the blessing and gift of equanimity.
The Mother speaks...you have been holding on to a deep concern and I ask you to hand it over to me now. Allow me to offer you a gift in exchange for your devotion and trust. I offer you the gift of peace...
In times of great spiritual growth there is near constant uncertainty (I would suggest that uncertainty is a given, spiritual growth or not) Mother Mary comes to you through this oracle (the card) with a message to be heeded. You are in a situation now where you feel challenged and are uncertain as to whether or not you should be worried. She says this, I am with you as the eye of your heart that pierces the fog, shows you the way through.
The meditation that follows this involves visualizing yourself in a bright, beautiful place in nature. As you explore this setting a woman in long white robes appears holding our her hands. As you move towards her you see that she is smiling at you and as you look down at her hands white roses appear. It goes on to describe a dialogue between you and the Mother in which you share what's troubling you. You share, she receives, shares some words with you and then raises her hands to release a cascade of white rose petals around you, perfuming the air with their fragrance. One stays with the visceral sensation of the rose petals falling, their fragrance, their touch on your skin, the shift in wind as they fall and the feeling as they land around your feet. It closes with an affirmation.
So that's it, Happy Squirrel. As Dark Victory '39 said, sometimes just one phrase speaks volumes while the others recede. Without projecting too much into this reading I would say that Mother Mary is patiently waiting for you to realize that she never left you all those years ago when you were a child. I don't interface with her as an outer deity to pray to but rather as an indwelling Immanence to move within. When I extend my hand in kindness I find her in the sinew and grace of my own fingers.
