wisdom of the oracle

Just For Fun – Animalscopes – 2019 Animal Wisdom For Your Zodiac Sign

Posted by Barbara Techel

Animals central to guiding me to new perspectives is something I continue to feel grateful for. What better way to honor them than to tap into their wisdom and allow them to guide us. For when we open our hearts to their messages and allow their beautiful teachings into our lives, we ALL do better.

While I know you’ve heard of horoscopes and possibly tarotscopes, I thought, why not Animalscopes?

While I’m not about predicting the future with my oracle readings, but instead working with the cards as reflection, intuitive insight, and personal growth, these Animalscopes  I put together below are really just for fun.

As I move toward 2019 with my two words I chose as Grace Becoming, it’s with the utmost depth of love and gratitude to my sweet and wise dog Gidget and what she taught me this year, that tears well to my eyes as she is my inspiration.

May we each move with grace into 2019 as we renew our commitment to living a life full of wonder, magic, gratitude, and meaning…

XO,

Barb

2019 ANIMAL & ORACLE GUIDANCE

I pulled two cards for each Zodiac sign using the Spirit Animal Oracle and The Wisdom of the Oracle as a way to discover what 2019 may hold in store for you.

It’s interesting to note that Whale Spirit showed up three times in succession for the zodiac sign that begins in May and the signs that take us into summer. I see this as an invitation for all of us to bring ancient wisdom back into our lives, not perhaps exactly as it was then, but what we learned from it, and how we can incorporate it in a new way to serve the planet in a beneficial way for all.

CAPRICORN

Brown Bear Spirit invites you to let go of what no longer serves you to allow in the new. Staying grounded and connected to your heart, Brown Bear reminds you to take time in daily stillness, meditation, walks in nature, or anything that allows your mind to rest and brings you into a state of just being.

AQUARIUS


Bee Spirit invites you to see relationships and/or friendships from the perspective that each connection, past, present, and future serves as a vital part of your journey. Bee Spirit reminds you that they all matter, whether you remain physically connected or not and that connection is important to your well-being.

PISCES

Wolf Spirit invites you to look at the wisdom you’ve earned that brought you to a new way of seeing your life and new opportunities. Wolf Spirit reminds you that it’s the trusting of the mystery and mystical of life, and that you don’t have to have everything figured out right away, that deeper and true wisdom will continue to serve you well.

ARIES

Porcupine Spirit invites you to bring attention to areas of your life that need cleaning up, even though it may feel painful and prickly.  Porcupine Spirit reminds you that just like their quills that are full of air which makes them float, so too can you learn to go with the flow through times that feel difficult, and remember that they are only temporary. Porcupine encourages you to not see something as a burden, but rather, from beginners mind and with curiosity.

TAURUS

Armadillo Spirit invites you to allow those you love and care about to walk their own journey without the need to feel you need to rescue them.  Armadillo Spirit encourages you that like their tough outer shell that protects them, to protect your own heart by setting heathy boundaries in relationships and/or friendships. Not only will that serve others in a positive way, but will also benefit you greatly, and allow you to enjoy your life more fully.

GEMINI


Whale Spirit invites you that when faced with a decision you are unsure of to tap into the wisdom you’ve gained along the way, plus trust in the Universe/Spirit/Creator/God, that you will be divinely guided and in just the right time. When presented with a fork in the road, remember you don’t have to know an answer right away, but instead allow life to flow to you.

CANCER


Whale Spirit invites you to stay connected with what truly matters to you instead of chasing after shiny, new objects.  Whale Spirit will gently nudge you to trust and tap into the wisdom that is already within you. Take time to be with all of what you are feeling, the joy and the sorrow, so that what really matters to your heart can bubble to the surface as the truth of who you are.

LEO

Whale Spirit invites you remember that as you continue to build upon the momentum of what you are creating for your life, one action at a time, that those actions first began with a spark of thought that came from your intuition. When you feel stuck, it’s times of going back to marinating inwardly that the next step in your journey is allowed to make itself known in an organic way.

VIRGO


White Raven Spirit invites you to set yourself free from what you know in your heart no longer serves you, but you hold onto for fear of speaking your truth.  White Raven Spirit is your reminder that nothing is coincidence and within each synchronicity there is a message that will guide you to align with what is true for you. Follow that light of truth and you will be supported.

LIBRA


Brown Bear Spirit invites you to bring more balance into your life.  With Brown Bear Spirit as your reminder that when you feel out of sync, experience fatigue, or are feeling a loss of which way to go next, it’s a clear signal to take time to rest. Pushing forward for the sake of trying to force an outcome won’t work.

SCORPIO

Otter Spirit invites you to look at where you may have felt, or feel, you aren’t enough or feeling you are alone. Otter Spirit is your reminder that staying in connection with like-minded people and reaching out to those that matter to you are just what you need as gentle nudges that others do care and love you, and are here to support you.

SAGITTARIUS


Bat Spirit invites you to look where your life may be out of balance and what it is that you are afraid to let go of. Bat Spirit reminds you that within all dark times and uncertainty that when you allow what no longer feels right for you that you must let it go so that a new perspective is allowed to come in which will guide you into the light once again.

 

 

On Becoming and Making it “Official”

Posted by Barbara Techel

On Becoming and Making it "Official"

While it’s been official for some time now, and while a certificate is simply a piece of paper which I received yesterday, this acknowledgement of the deep personal work I accomplished since Fall of 2017, ….well, I must say, it made my heart smile.

It’s not always an easy road to travel when looking at what causes us pain, for we don’t always remember that on the other side, what is waiting for us is a new and improved version of ourselves, not to mention a new found sense of peace!

Revisiting my journal entry from October 9th, 2017, the second week into Oracle School and the first phase being the foundation called Personal Mastery, we were asked to pick four cards from The Wisdom of the Oracle Deck and do a “Becoming” reading.

It began with what part of my becoming needed the most healing?I pulled Never-Ending Story. In order to become who I wanted to be, I would need to let go of past pain, transform it, and learn to see it as a gift of how it helped make me who I am. As so often happens, and we don’t often recognize it, but we do get stuck in our never-ending stories and thus find it difficult to move forward.

The next card representing what aspect of my healing needs the most encouragement I pulled Peace in protection (reversed). I was being called to trust that if I worked with what it was I felt wounded by, brought it into the light, and witnessed it without judgement, that I could find my way toward more peace for my life. I had to believe that if I walked through the pain, I’d find peace on the other side.

The third card was about what aspect of my healing needs the most effort. I pulled A Change in the Wind. I can still feel the resistance I felt when I pulled this card that day. We humans don’t always like change and oh, do we like to resist it. But I knew that if I wanted to achieve more lasting inner peace, I’d have to accept that change was needed and that indeed it would take effort on my part.

The last card pulled was about what aspect of my past story is the biggest obstacle to my becoming? I pulled Unfinished Symphony in protection (reversed). How often we get so close to the finish line of making a breakthrough, but then we quit out of fear or lack of confidence thus missing out on the big teaching and the thing that will catapult us forward and living from a new place of awareness.

I look at this reading today of what it would take to Become and clearly see I was being supported during the deep dive into my inner world this past year… and why receiving this certificate means so much to me…because I can say I busted through and had tremendous growth. I am not the same woman I was a year ago. And I’ve become the woman I knew I wanted to be. I’m dang proud of this.

It took tears, anger, stubbornness, believing, trusting, and faith…but I made it!

And while I’ll always be a work in progress, as we all are, it’s the new awareness I now carry with me that helps illuminate the way. And while I’ll still have challenges, it’s the remembering they are signposts to something greater to deepen my understanding about this journey I travel on planet earth.

It’s also been so rewarding to now encourage women through areas they feel stuck, gently invite them to open to change, and support them to become who they truly wish to be through my Oracle Guidance Sessions. If I can be of support to you, I’d be honored to do so.

XO,

Barb

Oracle Cards as Self-care for My Soul

Posted by Barbara Techel
Oracle Cards as Self Care for My Soul
Cards from Wisdom of the Oracle

If you’d like to listen to this post as an audio, I’m beginning an experiment and recording some of my posts. You can listen here.

Life isn’t fair. It’s all I could think about after adopting a special needs dog, Joie, and her passing away ten months later.

I was numb. I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t understand. A writer, author, and blogger for over six years, I suddenly had nothing left to say. I was scared and didn’t know what my future would look like.

The truth was I’d been ignoring that voice within that had been urging me to slow down, take a break, and re-evaluate what it was I wanted next for my life. But I ignored it.

Until now. Here I was in this space with the one thing I needed to do, but pushed away for the past two years because I was afraid to look because of fear—fear of the unknown and fear of judgement.

The best thing I could do, and I now know looking back, was to honor that nudge that had been trying desperately to get my attention. And so I dropped everything in my professional life, and took a two month sabbatical. Even though it felt extremely uncomfortable the first two weeks to do what felt like nothing. 

But with an empty calendar and hours looming before me each day, I made the commitment to journal my thoughts, feelings, challenges, and disappointments in hopes the excavation would reveal my next best step.

It was on the second day of this sacred time that I was guided to pick up a card deck I’d had for quite some time called Grace Cards. While I’d not classify them specifically as an oracle deck, they would introduce me to how there is always a benevolent force of energy guiding us.

Just like many of the dogs in my life have been a reflection for me, guiding me to be my best self, the cards were uncanny in matching my words on the page and what was going on in my inner world as I moved through this time of learning to just be.

It was during this time of transition I’d come to see a deeper meaning to true self-care. While bubble baths, spending time in nature, yoga, and meditation is part of my self-care routine, it was pulling a daily oracle card and journaling with it I was able to move deeper into finding the courage to express what mattered to me.

While I’d write and publish, Wisdom Found in the Pause – Joie’s Gift about this inward journey I took in 2013,  I didn’t put any effort into marketing it like I’d done with my previous books. I’d eventually come to realize it was because of fear of judgement that people would think I was wonky for working with oracle cards as a tool for personal growth, as if it wasn’t valid. I’m grateful I now know better!

And it would be over the next few years, and continuing the journey of going inward, working with an animal communicator, a therapist, a pet counselor, and going through Oracle School, I would come to understand how old stories and past wounds I’d carried with me for far too long caused me to repeat patterns with my inner critic leading the way. The one who wanted me to believe I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, that others would judge me, and that what I said and believed didn’t matter.

Self-care came to be about owning all my feelings and emotions and then working to integrate them into pearls of wisdom. And that the wisdom I’d gained from those past hurts and old stories were part of what was integral in helping shape me into who I am. Without those experiences I wouldn’t be the person I am. So I could either continue to curse them, or I could learn from them, understand how they influenced my life, and then release them.

This is what true self-care means to me now. It’s about the willingness to continue to be with my feelings and emotions, even those times when it’s uncomfortable and I’d rather resist and push them away. While I’m not perfect at this, I continue to be in awareness of the gift of this new perspective and trust that these are signposts are guiding me to more compassion, love, and understanding of self.

The three cards I purposely chose to go along with my thoughts on true self care are from The Wisdom of the Oracle deck. They speak to how different our lives can be if we open to the truth in our hearts, remember that a higher power has our back, and how we are then granted more blessed moments when we live in this way.

XO,

Barb

Oracle Card as Self Care for My Soul