Happy August!


It's August 2, 6:46 a.m. as I write from Colorado. In a month, September 3, I leave for Spain. It's becoming more real by the day. There is so much to do, and I am constantly thinking and re-thinking. Of course, this week I am having my period. I suppose that is what is first and foremost on my mind, where will I be able to take care of those needs, etc. Once again, I am so grateful for having gone on the Vision Quest before taking this longer trip because of everything that I dealt with there. Somehow, I will manage. That's just all there is to it. Not doing this isn't an option. It has nothing to do with what anyone else might think, or even the loss of the money on the plane ticket...it's that I would have let myself down more profoundly than I ever have before in my life. And I can't, I won't, live with that. So, I'm going. I realize I may not finish, due to time, or other unforeseen circumstances. That is all right. At least I will have gone and made and honest attempt. So, when the doubts rush in, and they do, that is what I tell myself, and I feel better immediately. I AM ready to do this trip emotionally.


Physcially, I'm working on it. Yesterday was just too "draining" of a day to walk, so I did yoga instead, and meditation. I firmly believe that each are equally important. Yoga definitely helps build my core strength and focus, as well as helping my balance. This morning, I woke up early, before 5am, and just went ahead and got up and took the dog for a walk. We did our usual route, down to the hospital, across and back, about 20 square blocks, and I have no idea what the distance it. I would say between 2 and 3 miles. I'll do mostly the same walk in reverse tomorrow, even though I don't like going clockwise, because of having to walk on the wrong side of the road.


Then, on Saturday, I am thinking of walking solo (dog will be SOOOOO unhappy) down to a little coffee shop further away, and taking the cell phone to call Glena when I get there to see if she would want to join me (and, yeah, give me a ride back). I'm getting a bit of a hot spot under the 2nd and 3rd toes of my right foot, and I don't want to aggravate it into a blister before I even leave! However, I did make my magic foot ointment yesterday, another batch with NO honey this time, and it's perfect! Well, it could probably use a little bit more beeswax, but it spreads on the skin beautifully. I put in cypress oil for circulation, geranium oil for skin, lavender for all over marvelous properties and clove oil for a bit of antifungal. Oh, plus vitamin E oil. It's luxurious! All combined in infused oils of calendula, comfrey, and plantain, every one of those fabulous for healing skin and keeping it healthy.


The morning walks are really good for me. This is a seasonal transition time, where, if you pay the slightest bit of attention, you will notice the days getting shorter, and even cooler (yes, even under the summer heat it is there!). I love the quiet of the early mornings, and Peaches is a good walking companion--she rarely if ever barks at anything, even tho all the other dogs love to bark at her, and she keeps me going


Today's card is a Major Arcana card, Number VII - Awareness. As always, these cards just pop out a message that need to hear right at the moment. The card shows a figure pushing through a veil, or rather, burning through it. The veil is illusion, but the fire is blue, cool. The flame is not the hot flame of passion, but the cool flame of awareness. The message is "...Let yourself settle, and remember that deep inside you are just a witness, eternally silent, aware, and unchanged. A channel is now opening from the circumference of activity to that center of witnessing It will help you become detached, and a new awareness will lift the veil from your eyes."
True, true, and true. I am learning detachment. I have been a student of that for a while, with my own small Buddhist studies, and we worked on it quite a bit in the Directions of the Medicine Wheel in my Shamanic studies, and now this. I must remain detached from everything that is going on for this trip, even my physical condition, even my excitement, nervousness, and fear. That detachment will allow me to keep my "self" open and available for whatever miraculous thing I may encounter, both on the Way, before I leave, and after I return. Faith. It's always about faith, and staying out of the way long enough to allow it to work.
Blessings of Awareness,
Crone

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