animal guides

A Reading for the Fall Equinox with My Deck – Animal Reflections Healing Oracle

Posted by Barbara Techel

Happy Fall Equinox!

A time of inward reflection on what the year has taught us so far and how we wish to not only move through these last few months but in the next year too.

With this in mind here are three questions I asked for us all to contemplate and relate to in our own lives.

🍁What needs our inward attention at this time?

Kangaroo – Honor: How often we want to just leap forward and we get caught in the illusion that we are running out of time and that we must keep moving and make things happen. But we are being reminded to honor our own inward flow instead of the cultural conditioning that keeps us stuck in a maddening loop.

Any time of introspection always pays off in the way of knowing more deeply who we really are, which gives us the courage to move forward when it is time.

Honoring the cycles of the seasons is what helps us connect deeper to our true selves.

🍁What is it that our hearts know?

Llama – Healer: Our minds are a powerful part of us that work hard to convince us that it knows what is best (which often comes from a place of protecting us from pain). But within our hearts lies our true healer.

Llama reminds us how it is that at times we default to a guru or other external influence for the answer because this is what we’ve been conditioned to believe. But Llama is here to assure us that we are our own best healers.

🍁What is our most meaningful way forward at this time?

Lion – Courage: Following the call and the roar of our hearts – whether that is a loud or gentle roar – it’s about sharing who we authentically are.

Yes, this does take courage. But Lion walks beside us with the reminder that when we do the brave and courageous inner work of examining and releasing emotional wounds that kept us bonded to fear, we are granted the gift of clarity and a sanctuary of inner peace.

We can then stand in our power and welcome in a rush of acceptance for our lives instead of engaging in the angst of struggle.

***

Just an update that I received the first prototype of my Animal Reflections Healing Oracle deck! I did have to make some minor adjustments so it is back out to the printers and I await the second prototype. Inching closer to having the editing done for the booklet also and then that can go into design mode. I’m aiming for the early part of 2023 to have my deck available while realizing I have to stay fluid to changes that may occur! 🙂

But I was excited to be able to use the first prototype set of cards to do this reading and share it with you! I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful.

XO

Barb

    

More Reflection on Firefly Symbolism from an Intuitive Art Experience

Posted by Barbara Techel

Firefly sure seems to be flying alongside me these days!

I recently shared the cover reveal of my Animal Reflections Healing Oracle deck and how firefly is represented in the design and why.

Then early last week someone by the name of Hello From the Cocoon left a comment on a post I shared about my donkey card from my upcoming deck. One thing led to another quite quickly and with many synchronicities, and I ended up taking the self-paced online workshop to do a firefly painting facilitated by an inspiring and sweet woman named, Laurie who is from Hello From the Cocoon.

After painting the top half and then the bottom section with most of the reflective pond I turned off the light, closed the Victorian screen door to Joyful Pause Cottage studio, and went into my house for the evening.

Early the next morning the painting was on my mind. I could hardly wait to get out to my studio to work on it some more!

Shining the ott light onto the painting once again I realized how small I’d made my reflecting pond. Huh. That is interesting, I thought.

My Animal Reflections Healing Oracle deck is about helping others deepen their own insights and heal parts of themselves that need attention. It’s also about reflecting on situations and issues they feel challenged by and doing the inner work to discover why.

So why had I made the reflecting pond so small? This was an intriguing clue for me to ponder about. But one thing I knew was I needed to make that reflective pond larger. What was it I didn’t want to see as a reflection?

While Laurie’s tutorial was all about painting, I felt called to add elements from nature as I like to do in my own artwork I offer for sale.

After adding dried florals I collect on my walks plus a few stones, it was then I intuitively felt called to add a frog to sit along the water’s edge and a moth to hang out around the flowers.

When the painting was complete I know that Firefly is about continuing to shine my light out into the world (even when at times I wish to stay too long in my cocoon out of fear) and helping others do the same. While frog for me represents change and moth speaks to me about letting go – as in the sense of the death of something.

While I don’t have complete clarity about this yet, I will continue to simmer in the healing waters of that reflective pond and pay attention to any additional insight.

For now, I’ve hung the painting on a wall in my cottage and look forward to what may be revealed next.

XO

Barb

    

The Patient Wolf with a Big Heart

Posted by Barbara Techel
Patiently Waiting Inner Wolf potholder by Maria Wulf and wolf card as represented in my Animal Reflections upcoming oracle deck.

Three days had passed since I’d read the post on artist, Maria Wulf’s blog sharing she had some new potholders for sale she’d just created. She named them, Inner Wolf.

I couldn’t get them out of my head. Wolf spirit kept nudging me to go back and see if any of the designs were still available.

I believe that our spirit animal guides speak to us in a variety of different ways as I’ve had many different experiences over the years. And this time, though it may seem unusual, Wolf spirit, a guide who has been with me for quite a few years now, was trying to get my attention once again through Maria’s new creation.

With a final nudge from Wolf I revisited Maria’s post. It was the potholder Maria had named Patiently Waiting that spoke to me and actually brought tears to my eyes. I was happy when I reached out to Maria to find that particular potholder was still available. It was meant to be.

It was later, after receiving it in the mail, and had it sitting on my writing desk for a few days, that I’d realize why this one spoke to me. I reflected on when the spirit of a white wolf came to me during a guided meditation about seven years ago. She came at a time when my heart was shattered from the ending of a friendship I’d given a big piece of my time and heart to. The friendship ended abruptly feeling like it came out of nowhere, though looking back since then I came to understand with more clarity why it had to end when it did.

Wolf spirit was reminding me at that time when my heart was deeply hurting that I still had compassion in my heart, even though I wanted to shut it down so I’d never have to experience that kind of pain again. But white Wolf, while honoring the pain I was experiencing was encouraging me to keep my heart open because it would not only hurt me personally going forward if I didn’t, but could negatively affect my current and future relationships.

Reflecting back on this time and then thinking about the patiently waiting wolf potholder, I realized I was being reminded again about keeping my heart open and not protecting it so fiercely I don’t allow anything in. I felt such love and compassion coming from the image of the wolf on the potholder.

While I don’t wish to share personal details, I realized Wolf’s appearance in this way was about a friendship that is changing in the near future with a friend that will be moving many states away next spring or early summer.

I’d been struggling with my feelings about it, but Wolf spirit, as she has always been for me, was standing patiently by my side, loving me through every emotion that was being stirred within me. I felt her big heart radiating love to me encouraging me to be gentle with myself as I process what will be a new change in my life.

I took note again of the fact that Maria named the post, Inner Wolf. We all have a fierceness, protectiveness, and a loving aspect of ourselves. It’s important to acknowledge all of them and honor each of their processes in order to move through difficulties. So howl when you need to, but also be gentle and loving toward yourself, too.

So in honor of Wolf spirit I’m happy to also share that I have a card in my upcoming Animal Reflections oracle deck to represent her wisdom. You can see the card in the photo above with my now treasured patiently waiting wolf potholder. 

Another way I thought I’d also honor this recent reminder from Wolf spirit is to share an excerpt from my book, I’m Fine Just the Way I Am and the chapter about the white Wolf that came to me and how she eventually shared her name with me.

You can read that excerpt and see the collage card I created to honor that experience here.

XO

Barb