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Major Arcana VIII: Strength Part Two

Major Arcana VIII: Strength

Simple Ritual: Every Space an Altar

Prayers for Our Times

In these times of massive unearthing, we have all been contending with humanity’s history of shadows and false power plays that have harmed our relationships to ourselves, the earth, and each other. It also becomes more common for us to be confronted with visitations of dense energies—whether it’s our own unresolved pain, ancestral wounding, or the energies that attach to those wounds. It can be disruptive and confusing to experience, but excellent for practicing our work as energetic boundary artists and potent creator beings.

We are all processing big waves of energy that are nothing less than transformative—both external waves and the internal waves that rise up to meet them. It can feel overwhelming to the body & field, and often very confronting as what may have been hidden or suppressed for survival becomes lit up in our bodies.

Whether it’s an energetic distortion meant to be confounding, or it’s intentionally directed healing energy, upon relating to it we will face old patterning that has been roiling under the surface but hasn’t been quite tangible yet. There is a vulnerability in transformation, and that’s ok. It’s also where our skills can be honed, and where we can find true strength—with a solid support system and a dedicated practice to lean into.

Because you’re embodied, you have a powerful say! If an energy, a person, or situation feels off, you get to say no, I cannot and will not make space for this. You can parse through the relational complexity and layers of what is true in a larger context later; trust your instincts and get your space now. With self-granted permission to stand fully in your own energy, you may eventually move beyond any need to blame or create enemies out of other complex humans or energies. Take all the time needed. Being able to choose is the healing.

You can engage in what you feel safe enough to engage in. You can learn to discern what is yours to carry and what is not. This is all a part of the process of gaining capacity to hold more of you, from a foundation of self trust and acceptance, outside of any expectations or energies that are not supportive of your full expression.

You are capable of summoning tremendous strength & simultaneous softness. You can grow your capacity to integrate the most tender parts of you, that have dwelled mostly in shadow, by becoming a loving sanctuary for them. Holding hands with all the inner-yous, and the grand expanse of your spirit, all the love of the infinite golden sun vibrating in every cell.

You are in charge of yourself and responsible for maintaining healthy boundaries, which requires good energetic hygiene. Staying in your own energy and committing to your grounding rituals, whatever they may be, is an essential practice. There is no perfection, just presence.

A good first step when met with intensity (whether from within or externally or a combination,) is simply acknowledging, sensing and noticing what is coming up for you—not necessarily the story about it, but how it feels in your body. This begins the process of stewarding the physical through energetic shifts, becoming the embrace that can hold you through it.

Notice the color, texture, or quality of the energy present; maybe you also see or sense a picture associated with the sensations that you’re noticing. Notice what happens to the energy or picture of the energy as you notice it—Ask if it belongs to you. This ability to hold enough neutrality to “see something for what it is,” even if you’re seeing or noticing just one perspective now—is everything. This is the beginning of learning to discern what your own energy feels like, and what is yours to work through versus what isn’t your responsibility to hold.

I encourage you to create a prayer, maybe a written one, or a spoken one, a painted one, one you can dance or sing, or all of the above! An invocation for space-claiming can be fierce, or gentle, and it will change as you do. What matters most is that you feel it in your body and let it come alive through you. Creating a ritual around the prayer helps it settle into your cells. A ritual can be as simple as a breath, a movement, a lighting of a candle, a tone, a word, the creation of an altar or laying on the ground and feeling your body itself as an altar….a solidification of an inner desire, or deep pulsing need made physical through a simple action.

I say variations of this prayer below, channeling it depending on what is needed & what is present. I engage in ritual of some kind whether that is cleaning, meditation, visualization, walking, gardening, taking a flower essence or tincture, writing, burning sacred wood or herbs, salt & oil body scrubs, lighting candles, breathing, touch, intuitive movement such as shaking or slow unwinding that engages the limbs (physically if possible, through visualization if not,) etc. to help me clear, ground, embody the intentions, and direct the energy as it moves. I bring in color, rhythm, and sound frequencies as I am moved to. My intent is bringing the spiritual through the physical until there is a felt sense of communion, where true strength, beyond programs of domination, can emerge.

I call upon my Spirit, Guides, Teachers, Sacred Guardians & Holy Protectors, benevolent ancestors, benevolent elementals and guardians of the land— through the Unified Field through which all is made whole—I thank you and ask for your presence, assistance, and protection now.

That any and all energies not of love return to the Source of All that is, now. That any distortions, extractive and exploitative energies, known or unknown, across time and space, return to Source now.

That any and all contracts or agreements no longer relevant or resonant for my individual or our collective well being dissolve here now. I call all of me back to me now. Anything I am holding in my body or my field that is not mine to carry, I release and return to Source now.

May any and all energies that do not emerge from love dissolve here now, fully and completely, easily and without effort. May all parts of me, and all beings and their parts who I am in relationship with, be filled with the healing power of Divine light so they may find their own pathway home. May any aspects unwilling to emerge from hiding be protected against any actions or intentions of harm inward or outward. May all energies and patterning that perpetuate harm find a path of return—to the earth, to Source, to be transmuted for the highest good of all.

May joy, love, truth and beauty expand through every cell and may my presence be a healing to all I am in relationship with.

Changes that happen when we practice energetic clearing, grounding, and space-making:

• We give ourselves space to unwind, settle, & find regulation in the ebbs and flows of our body’s responses. We are able to practice self acceptance, compassion, and nonjudgement as we notice what is up for us.
• We lessen the charge around heightened emotional energy that may create an urge to shame, blame, fix, rescue, hope for rescue, or feel an energy or a person as an enemy. This removes the urge to punish, to perpetuate entanglements, and also engage in relating in less than authentic ways, like fawning, in order to feel safe. Nervous system healing is deep work that occurs over time, as we feel secure enough to move out of self protective responses that keep us in cycles that are draining and sometimes retraumatizing to the original wound (abandonment, rejection, war dynamics, etc.) No judgement on what has kept us safe, just an opening into something more nourishing for all.
• The action of choosing where we put our energy is immensely healing. Many ruptures occur because there wasn’t a choice available except surviving the moment. What is harmed in relationship is healed in relationship. That doesn’t mean we can always heal in the same relationship where a rupture occured, but there is an opportunity for repair when you choose yourself, & engage in relationships where loving presence is available. We get to practice saying “no” and saying “yes”—where protection is less about building a fortress and more about clearing out the old & amending the soil to create an enriching environment for something new to emerge.
• Boundaries are a practice for greater ability to move, think, feel, and exist more freely. They help us see ourselves and others more clearly too.
• As we grow our capacity to hold ourselves through the waves, we grow our capacity to hold others too. Boundaries “I am available for this/ I am not available for this,” do not have to be restrictive, although if we don’t have practice with space-making, the pendulum can easily swing from fully open to fully closed. Grace, time, space, titration, and love are needed here, becoming more fluid than rigid.