Wild Wisdom of the Faery Oracle - 45 Gatekeeper

lalalibra

45. Gatekeeper "Faery time, Time shifts, Dimensional slips"

I actually drew a card from my deck in order to choose which one I wanted to start writing about for this new study group, and I got "45 The Gatekeeper." And then I got really excited because I had already started writing about this card a bit earlier in another thread ...so here, I will get this started by further expanding on some of those thoughts.

Gatekeeper - "Faery time, Time shifts, Dimensional slips"
Other dimensions, other realities, etc... One way I personally interpret this card is noting the opportunity to break through into a new level of being, shifting your awareness/consciousness in such a way that your whole experience of your reality is altered and you recognize a higher potential within the present moment. almost like "travelling" to a different place in your own self... so, "self-discovery," seeing your opportunity as a spirit experiencing the physical, etc.

If anyone has the Faeries' Oracle by Brian Froud and Jessica Macbeth -- I have actually looked at the "Gatekeeper" card in the Wild Wisdom of the Faery Oracle as having a lot of similarities to "3 The Guardian of the Gate" in the Faeries' Oracle in that they both relate to this whole idea of accepting the fact that there is a sort of open gate; a passage to be made. And we are ready for it as much as we allow ourselves to be. And so how do we allow ourselves to be ready? By perceiving ourselves as fully capable and magickal and powerful; by understanding ourselves well enough to not give our power/energy to whatever gets in the way of our ability to live fully in the present moment... and that really has everything to do with self-observation.

The whole understanding of time as something that is not linear has always been one of the most interesting and perplexing things for me to ponder and experience in life! I don't think there is anything that has boggled my mind more than the idea of time. And yet it's a subject that's pretty much all-encompassing as far as pondering the meaning of life because our perception of time is so integral to our life experience.

Excuse my generalization, but I do find that in our modern culture, people often dismiss giving much thought to the idea of time as not being linear because it isn't always readily apparent, and it takes an openness to actually see how it applies to our lives and what use it actually has. We don't realize how this is a fact and that it's something we all know deep in our heart if we would just access that knowledge about the Universe and our place in it. If it's something we are experiencing, then the evidence should be all around us - but that's just it, we have to see it, we have to recognize it. But it's difficult to even begin to try to wrap your mind around time as being not linear if that is the only way that you believe your self to have perceived it. And yet, that isn't true - not for anyone. We have all experienced alternate perceptions of time - whether it's getting lost in something we love doing and having hours go by in the blink of an eye, or dozing off for ten minutes only to wake up from a dream that seems to have lasted for days, or a psychedelic experience, or thinking about a memory from the past so much that we forget what we were just doing in the moment, or even experiencing time in slow motion during a severely stressful situation (like a car crash) - we have all experienced time/timelessness in different ways. And animals also experience time of varying speeds; they often move at different speeds for example. Time is just... a very weird thing! And there's really so much more that could be said about it (and this card).

So time has no solid structure; it's a subjective experience, a mental construct. Time is like a lens through which we observe all the energy that is here now in a certain form that we perceive but that is essentially eternal and shifting in a way that is dependent upon our level of awareness. Now what do we with this lovely bit of information? Well if time does not really exist in the way of having a linear structure, then what is our life? What are we doing here with our "time"?

I do personally find that one of the main messages of this card is to really see the infinite potential within the present moment. To rise above any limited context that time may give you (or really, that you give to time), and to access a part of yourself that is timeless and eternal; that is beyond the past, the present, and the future. The now is where the magick happens. The now is where we can create and invite all kinds of change into our experience of ourselves and of life. That is where we can align ourselves with who we are - beyond time; beyond all the ideas and memories and thoughts and events contained within it.

Since how we look at time (how we see the present moment) is shaped by our perception, I look at this card as relating very much to our internal experience, to our chosen mentality. Getting this card is a love note from the Universe (really, every card is) reminding you to remember who you are (or who/what you aren't), to examine your focus as far as what you believe is possible for you, to take a step back and see what you are trying to achieve in your "day-to-day" life, and to release whatever mental constructs that don't match up with your infinite potential.
 

sonjasingh

lalalibra: Thanks a ton for opening this thread and writing this post. I recently purchased the Wild Wisdom of the Faery Oracle deck and when this card turned up in my daily draw, it left me perplexed. I read the guidebook, but I was finding it hard to relate the meaning to the everyday practical existence of my life. Your post here definitely offers a unique and meaningful perspective.

THANK YOU!
 

lalalibra

Aww that's great, thank you sonjasingh! I've posted a couple of cards for the study group here and there with the intention of getting around to all of them, but I got side-tracked. I am glad this was here to help you find a way to expand your view of the card and I hope you keep having fun with the deck! :)