oracle cards

Celebrating with the Animals

Posted by Barbara Techel

This…the last year I will be in my fifth decade. Yup, celebrating my 59th birthday today, July 18th! What better way to celebrate than with the animals?!

Because today also marks the day I am getting ready to send the manuscript for my animal-themed oracle deck to my editor. And I’m also in the process of scanning and uploading all the artwork onto my computer which is 52 – 3 x 5 mini pieces of art work.

It’s been awhile since I’ve said this, but my birthday and the process of creating this deck reminds me of what I like to often say which is, “We are all a work in progress.”  Nothing can be rushed. Learning this thing called being human takes time as does any creative project. It’s all about the adventure, right?!

XO

Barb

                  

Another Milestone Reached for My Animal Reflections Oracle Deck

Posted by Barbara Techel
 
I’m happy to share that I’ve reached another milestone in the creation of the Animal Reflections Oracle Deck I’m working on.
 
This means draft two is complete and now draft three begins. Reading text on a computer is different when printed out and read, which I find fascinating in the writing process!
 
So that is where I’m at. I’ve dug out my red pen for such an occasion and the manuscript is printed and ready for me to start this phase of the creation process.
 
The more I work on this project, it seems the more I’m not quite sure of the release date as there are many more moving parts to this than I anticipated! But I will share updates as I can while I continue to lean into trusting the process and timing as it is meant to be.
 
Thank you again for the interest and support of this project that many of you have expressed!
 
XO
Barb
 

                  

Dragonfly Shares an Important Message About Transitional Times

Posted by Barbara Techel

There is a still spot in the center of transformation, a space in which we are betwixt and between — not really what we were, but not yet what we will become. Neither here nor there, this nor that, we touch the infinite expansiveness of creative potential. ~Dawn Brunke

In my last blog post I shared about how I’m feeling in the autumn of my life and how a friend lovingly said (about my almost fifty-nine years of age), “You’re only in August.” I’m still chuckling every time I think about her saying that.

After writing that post I read the above quote in a newsletter written by my friend Dawn. It struck me and confirmed for me yet again how yes, I may not quite be in the autumn of my life, though I feel myself gravitating toward it as it feels like a welcome space in which I want to inhabit.

This morning I was thinking of my same friend who said I’m only in August, and who is now two weeks from retiring. It’s been a trying last few years for her with her work. At times it has been painful to witness what she has gone through. But there is no doubt it is time for her to move into a new phase of her journey.

So thinking about her today as the countdown to her final days at her job is here, I decided to pull an oracle card for her as a way to show her some support as she begins to wind down and open herself to a new way of being.

The card I pulled is Time for a Nap from The Wisdom of the Oracle.

It couldn’t be more fitting. 

I took the card outside and posed it in a pot of pansies (one of my friend’s favorite flowers) and took a photo of it. I then texted it to my friend with a supportive message.

After I’d taken the picture, I noticed a dragonfly sitting on a post of our deck and positioned between two of the rail spindles.

It seemed so very still. I walked around the deck so the sun would be against my back so I could try and get a photo of it, yet, it still hadn’t moved.

I took the picture but felt concerned that perhaps it had died right where it was. However, I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to disturb it.

Curious about the stillness of the dragonfly I did a search on the internet. I discovered that dragonflies will rest after digesting a meal or it also said that they will gather energy from the warmth of the sun in order to fly off again.

It was then I realized that Dragonfly was confirming the card I’d just pulled for my friend who will soon retire. Soon she will have time to rest, reflect, regenerate and welcome a new way of being. This will no doubt will create a shift in her energy as she has felt depleted in many ways from her job.

She is excited about potential creative outlets she wishes to give thought to and pursue and will soon be able to dedicate more energy to that. But after working all her life, supporting herself as a single woman, it will take time to digest this new way of being before moving forward.

Rest will be important and thus my friend is now in this space Dawn so beautifully captured in these words:

There is a still spot in the center of transformation, a space in which we are betwixt and between — not really what we were, but not yet what we will become. Neither here nor there, this nor that, we touch the infinite expansiveness of creative potential.

This space of ‘betwixt and between’ can at times feel uncomfortable when we’ve been so used to going, going, going, or living our lives in a certain way we’ve grown comfortable with (though often when truthfully examined we realize it was a numb comfortable). The Time for a Nap card is the needed reminder that in order to truly know what is next for our journey, rest is vital to allow the next step to naturally and organically flow into our life.

While this plays out for my friend, and I feel it in many ways for myself too, I believe there are so many of us in this same liminal space. So I believe Dragonfly wanted me to share this with you so that we can all appreciate this in-between time that eventually reveals new growth and a deepening of understanding of all the phases of life.

Thank you, dear Dragonfly, for sharing your wisdom with us.

XO

Barb