Each week I pull Tarot cards to inspire practice that cultivates soul wisdom for readers of the blog as a group using the Gaian Tarot.  (If you want to read more about the process, check out Sacred Practices of the Gaian Tarot: The 3 P’s).You are invited to use the cards below to inspire your practice, and, if you like, share your reflections in the comments.  You are also free to draw your own cards and share them in the comments.

PATH:  Use Pile 1 / Majors and Aces to pull a card for the question:  What path would it best serve us to walk this week? THE MOON  invites us to walk this week on pathways of  …

• Honoring natural cycles, particularly those which the moon shows us of dark to new, from waxing to full, from waning to back again to dark.  (MoonCircles is a favorite site of mine for moon cycle information).
• Remembering “that one stage of life always succeeds another, and that a time of darkness is always followed by renewal” (quoted from Joanna Powell Colbert’s Gaian Tarot companion book).
• Tuning into the realms beyond through dreams, connecting with the ancestors, letting the natural world be your guide, or recognizing psychic messages.

PRACTICE:  Use Pile 2 / numbered cards for this question:  What practice(s) will best serve us to move along this path this week?  FIVE OF AIR  invites us to practices such as …

• Create a fith-fath, the Gaelic practice of creating a shape shifting spell for times of danger or vulnerability.
• Observe how you react to conflict with and between others without judgment. Then consider how you want to be with conflict in the future. Gather tools to help you with this new relationship with conflict.
• To find a practice that best fits for you, you could pick out the bird in the image that you most identify with first and then…

         Defend or Protect: If you are relating to the birds at the bottom, on the branches, near the nest, you may need to defend or protect something important. Perhaps there is a value or cause that is under attack and you are called to defend it. You may need to active by attending a rally or vigil, writing a letter to the editor, or lobbying a politician. Or you might need to protect space and time for dreaming, devotion to art and writing, or for spiritual practice These can easily be eaten up by everyday demands to take action to guard this time: write it in your calendar, close a door for privacy, silence the cell phone.  Perhaps these callings are combined: you are called to create art or write about an injustice.

         Engage: Is someone in your life acting in an aggressive or unhelpful way? What would it be like to ask them what they need? What would be like to identify what you need? Then perhaps you can dance with that together like the two birds flying around at the center of the card.

         Rise Above: If you are drawn to the bird soaring above at the top of the image, just sitting and observing your thoughts while you shut your eyes and breathe, can help you to see them, be more objective, and let the unnecessary ones go. Than an open space the wider perspective can emerge.

POSTURE:  Use Pile 3 / People cards for a question such as:  What attitudes and behaviors will be most helpful to undertake this practice and walk with path?  EXPLORER OF EARTH  invites you to follow your path and practices with attitudes of …

• Being active in our questing
• Commitment and intensity
• Knowing that there are gifts in the wild places waiting for you
• Grounding yourself fully in the earth so you can listen for what is below the surface or coming from Spirit realm.

OVERALL MUSINGS:  This is the second week in a row that the Moon has appeared. (The Fire Wisdom Walk took the place of last week’s post, but I still drew and worked with the cards.) Last week’s Moon appeared during a week that held both the Summer Solstice and the attack on Charleston’s Emmanuel AME Church in which nine people were murdered because of they were African American. On the Summer Solstice at noon we cast the least shadow of any time of the year, but that doesn’t mean we are absolved of shadow elements. There is just no where left for them to hide. This act of terror exposes many of our national shadows: racism, white supremacy, violence. We can’t ignore the darkness any more than we can ignore the dark moon. But we can dare to look into the dark, acknowledge its source, and respond to that reality in order to move toward change. This week’s practice card suggests that fierce work is an appropriate response, and the Explorer of Earth, too, demonstrates an intense commitment to what calls here. What calls you this week? How can you play a role in healing and renewing your community and the wider world?