Today I opened my email to read one of my favorite newsletters which I subscribe to and shows up twice-monthly called, Animal Voices.

In each issue Dawn shares one of her animal wisdom tarot cards,  sharing the beautiful illustration and the message of which animal presented itself. Today was the octopus. Immediately my mind flashed back to when I was a little girl.

I’ve not thought about this in a long time. But I remember wanting this bright pink stuffed octopus with its lime green underside. This promoted me to open up a disk I have that my mom gave me a few years ago— photos of me from my earlier years. I recalled the photo above being on the disk.

I’m not recalling exactly why I wanted this octopus, but perhaps my mom can shed some light on this.

Reading the tarot card for octopus had me wondering if perhaps I was a soul here once before and now reside in this body that I am today. Was I in some ways a spiritual seeker at this young age already?

This card suggests the start of a soul-searching journey. You may not know what you are looking for — expanded awareness? spiritual fulfillment? — and your travels may not be easy, but you have the fortitude to find what you need.An ancient creature, intelligent, creative and complex, Octopus is an excellent guide to exploring the dark unknown of Self.

Unpredictable with an uncanny ability to strategize, Octopus can help us to get what we want in efficient, though often unusual, ways.

Message: When looking for answers, deepen and observe.

Dawn went on to share this from her Animal Teachings book, which really resonated with me: Their spiral imagery suggests the universe expanding, creation unfolding, consciousness opening wide. Octopus encourages us to be curious, to see more and feel more, and to expand ourselves through knowledge, experience and creative expression.

I really feel like this is exactly where I am right now in my life. This yearning to deepen more and wanting to understand more about the teachings of animals. I don’t know where this is leading me, but I just have this fascination with wanting to know more.

When moments like this happen and reading the octopus tarot card and the image of when I was a little girl coming immediately to mind holding my stuffed pink octopus, I don’t dismiss it so easily as I would have in the past. Just like other animal messages I’ve been getting in unusual ways lately. Or perhaps it is not so unusual, but just that I am opening more to what is all around me.

Just acknowledging this and writing about it makes me feel so alive and wanting to be even more curious. Will see what comes next!