Death comes in the middle.

When we return year after year to seasons that evoke recurring themes, we learn the same lesson in new ways. We are tempered by time and our wisdom deepened.

Following the moon’s cyclical shifting through the consistent solar year invites us to step on a path of spiraling, ever evolving learning. And so now, as we do each year, we encounter Death—through this Tarot card’s correspondence to the astrological sign of Scorpio—to be changed and shaped again by the symbols, wisdom figures, and layered meanings offered by this image. This soul shaping path of Death opens up for us starting with the new moon arriving overnight Wednesday, the 19th into Thursday, the 20th (exact at 1:48 am ET, time zone converter).

Death comes again. Yes, death comes in the middle of our lives.

This has long been a description of the Death card that I have offered to people confronting one of the Tarot’s most notorious cards. When I taught a class or welcomed visitors during open houses at my studio, I’d point out the 21 super-sized Major Arcana cards displayed on a wall, and, yes, at card number 13 Death pretty much was in the middle. Of course, I’d follow up with the usual caveat that the Death card’s meaning isn’t really about physical death, but more about transformations that renew our lives and society.

But in November 2012 Death broke into my life. My partner John died in a car crash and I encountered Nothing. He was utterly gone. Death in my life had brought me to the End. Hard stop.

Death shattered my beliefs. I hadn’t thought that we retained our earthly personalities after death, but I thought there would be Something. Instead Nothing closed around me.

And then I had a dream.

I dream a field of wild grass blowing, dry, but with the slow whoosh of blades bowing.

A cottontail crosses my path.

I follow the rabbit to a room without walls. Rise up into this place with a table, old wood polished. I leave something on the table as I pass through the room. I hear it land with a clank.

And beyond, finally, John is sitting there wearing an electric blue T-shirt, the usual cap.

He is holding a box. He is reading a food label. He is saying: “There can’t possibly be any tomato in this thing – and it’s not organic.”

And I am moving toward him as he is reading and talking. I am reaching like you would reach for a cat you don’t want to escape under the couch. I am grasping his arms and looking into his eyes, saying: “I love you. I love you forever.”

He looks a little surprised. He had, after all, only been talking about a tomato.

I woke with a wet face, but these tears were refreshing. So absolutely himself from his cap to his tomato reprimand, John was there. He wasn’t alive in body, but I had encountered him in a distinct way. A feeling of connection was as bright within me as his blue shirt. Nothing became Something.

The Something that came from the Dream was Love. Death doesn’t end Love. Love returned Death to the middle of my life. I began moving again, feeling my way toward tending this loving flow between John and me. (More of this story and practice prompts for doing the same with your beloved dead are in Speak Soul to Soul in the Soul Path Sanctuary Library.)

I am telling you this personal story because it aligns with this new moon’s invitation to the collective, to all of us. This moonth’s path of Death passes through the place on the seasonal Wheel associated with the 7 of Cups. This is the card of dreams and fantasies, those strange visions that arise from the depths of our desires and bring us to new places.

Dreams and fantasies are derided by mainstream society’s rational culture and norms. The powers that be frown upon daydreaming and reading fantasy novels. They’d rather we were productive. Why? Maybe deep in their subconscious they know that dreams and fantasies are truly powerful. They break the spell of control they’d like to exert over us. When we dream beyond the way things are, we lay the foundation for transformation of current reality.

In recent years the convulsions of our collective death experiences are shaking the foundations of systems that once seemed secure. For some this is frightening, an end to the only life they have known. Others never experienced the security and have known the foundations were weak. They’ve long been the dreamers of a new life emerging. The opening is now there for more and more people to join in the imagining of Something Else.

Artists and writers have been spokespersons of the Something Else. When the science writer and poet Ursula K. Le Guin accepted a lifetime achievement award in 2014, she cautioned against the commodification of literature and reminded those gathered:

“We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.”

This moonth the 7 of Cups invites us to dream the Something Else that exists beyond Death.

Of course, dreaming alone does not complete the transformation. We must act. The model for our action this moonth is the Knight of Wands, known as the Explorer of Fire in the Gaian Tarot.

Knights are dedicated to their causes. They move at different speeds, motivated by different elemental forces, but they are united in constant movement toward what serves the good of the Whole.

Knights of Wands, when they are in their most powerful flow, are in touch with their passions, own even their wildest desires. They are undeterred by being told: that is not realistic. They gather their energy and move out into the world willing to act, to speak, and to experiment.

Knights of Wands bring their dreams out into the world and unite their energy with others to make those dreams real.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS / READING FOR THE MOONTH

These questions are offered for reflection and to spark practice throughout the moonth. Pulling Tarot and oracle cards in connection to these questions is appropriate, but not absolutely necessary. You might carry a question with you on a walk for example and observe what is happening in the natural world as a way to find insight into the answer to the question.

DEATH: What ending is opening up in the middle of my life?

DREAM: What dream can come through the opening made by Death?

REALIZING: How can I best step into making the dream real during this moonth?

I do offer this as an e-reading in my collaborative intuitive format for $32. Sign up with PayPal or email me about sending a check. When I receive notification, I’ll be in touch to let you know about when to expect to receive your reading by email. I generally have openings to do these readings on Mondays and Saturdays … but not this Saturday as I will be sharing poems and strategies at From Protest to Action.