How do we continue to step into our power? An important topic right now given the current intense energies.
I hope you find the reading helpful and a soft place to land during this transformational time. Click on graphic above to listen on my YouTube Channel.
Lots of extra love to you this month,
Barb
It was “Graceful Spinner” that tugged at my heart.
This term is a translation to describe a minor planet that was discovered in our galaxies in 1997 called Chariklo.
While I’m not an expert in astrology, I enjoy exploring what the planets, signs, and houses have to offer that help paint a picture of who I am and qualities I wish to hone in on.
In Greek Mythology Chariklo was wife to Chiron – who was known as the wounded healer. We all have Chiron in our birthchart which helps us to understand what we are here to heal.
But Chariklo intrigued me which led me to purchase a guided meditation called Chiron and Chariklo – An Inner Journey, from astrologer, Melanie Reinhart.
In the meditation we are invited by Chiron to sit alone in a cave, but I felt nervous to be there by myself. But then we were guided to notice the crystal walls. They were so beautiful!
As I was loving the sparkle and brightness of the cave it was then I felt the presence of a large brown spider. Recluse is the word that came to mind and I wondered if that was a type of spider.
But I felt some fear having spider in the cave with me. I wanted to turn away. But then all of a sudden I noticed the center of the spiders body was the most lovely aqua colored gem. This brought me comfort. Spider then faded away and I was left holding this aqua gem in my hand.
A day later I did some research about Chariklo to discover the translation of her name as Graceful Spinner. The article also mentioned to think of this in terms of Grandmother Spider – symbolic as the Great Weaver.
I then found that yes, there is a type of spider called Recluse. Known for its solitary nature and symbolic of the importance of quiet introspection and self-reflection. And spider showing up in a dream or as in my case during the inner journey, is generally a symbol of internal struggle.
Spider – Great Weaver and Chariklo – Graceful Spinner – then became inspirations for me to dig deeper.
Some of the qualities of Chariklo as noted in an article by Melanie Reinhart is that she has the ability to witness and hold sacred space for those in transition – whether literally or dealing with challenges in life. She is often seen as doing the “invisible work.”
And this has been an internal challenge of mine of late. This invisible work for me is about the inner work I continue to do for myself, but how often it can feel like it isn’t seen and not valued in society as I wish it was. But something I can’t not do even though it isn’t easy at times, because the rewards from it have helped me to find more peace and acceptance in myself.
Recluse Spider also represents patience, resilience, and self-protection, and one who can also regenerate lost limbs.
I realized in my inner work how often it is that I am embodying the energy of Chariklo – holding sacred space for myself – and Spider – who helps me weave together the many aspects of who I am. This takes patience and resilience and how important it is to have boundaries to protect oneself when doing the inner work. And from this space Spider helps us to open to the lost parts of ourselves and when we acknowledge them we are able to feel more whole.
And the aqua gem I was left holding in my hand during the meditation? The color symbolizes freedom, liberation of the soul, and guides one toward self-discovery.
Thank you, Chariklo and Spider for helping me through my sometimes feeling alone and not feeling seen and reminding me that what I am doing is important and that it does make a difference in the world.
Once this piece is complete I’ll share in a new blog post in case you are interested in purchasing this.
XO
Barb
Late December I started to see the familiar offerings to take part in creating a word or vision board for the New Year. But it didn’t particularly call to me and I had no plans to do this. Vision boards, especially, I’d found to have become too focused on material things though I’d certainly participated in doing them a few times.
Not that I don’t like material things, as I do. But, let’s just say that they aren’t quite as important to me as they used to be. I realized that over the years, buying things was sometimes more about not dealing with my inner emotions.
It was during two oracle readings in December that I did for myself on the new moon and then the full moon and the card I pulled from my Animal Reflections Healing Oracle that Deer presented herself each time. In my deck, Deer represents gentleness. Both times I pulled the card, tears immediately pooled in my eyes.
I can still be hard on myself at times. I realized Deer was reminding me of the importance of checking in and examining why I get lost within myself at times.
From my guidebook: Deer, gentle and sweet, is a reminder you are your own gentle and powerful healer with the ability to regenerate new roots as you heal your wounded parts. As you become adept at making positive changes you are then able to connect with your empathetic nature, becoming a thoughtful and skilled listener for others who are also in need of some gentle care, understanding, and love.
The more I sat with the word gentleness, the more it moved into my being as a personal focus I wish to live from on a more consistent basis. It fits those areas I can still feel challenged by.
Then came along an offering to do a vision board based on how one wants to feel in the New Year. Now that spoke to me.
And from that experience came my vision board, incorporated with my word for the year, which you can see in the photo above. Then just this morning during my breathwork session, I saw the vision for pulling an animal guide for each of the categories I’d created for my board.
We could choose from a total of eight categories and could do all of them, or pick the ones that most spoke to us. I chose four: family/pets, health/well-being, love/friends, and passion/creativity. I also chose to try and find just one image to convey what I want to feel in each of the categories.
Dragonfly with the message of graceful reminds me that when I move from a place of ease and trust that life flows in such a magical way.
Cat with the message of choice says to me that I always have a choice – I can feel frustrated by my breathing challenges and go down the rabbit hole of internally beating myself up, or I can pause, check in with my breath, allow myself the space to do some breathwork, and check in with where I’m at. This is what helps not only allow my lungs to expand but for my mind to expand and let go of any negative thoughts.
Hummingbird with the message of believe reminds me to continue to focus on my own north star and that when I do the rest of my life falls into place just as it’s meant to be.
Vulture with the message of poised is so perfect. I know that when I continue to do my inner work this is what joyfully and passionately feeds my creativity for all that I do, not only for others but in my personal life too. The more I put my focus first and foremost on taking care of myself, the more I am poised to be of service to those that need my guidance.
And just like that. I have a word for 2023 and a vision that feels in alignment with who I already am and who I will deepen into becoming. And best of all? I really appreciate how it evolved in the most organic way.
XO
Barb
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