We are living in complex and confusing times when we hear many voices defending personal beliefs and insisting that others should follow. I am frightened when someone else inflicts their opinions and rules on me, but I also feel the call to defend to the end the worthwhile. As much as I don’t want others to tell me what to do, I have strong preferences based on what I consider good evidence.
The fact that I live alone in a small town where I can generally live as I please doesn’t let me out of the philosophical quandary. How can I defend the worthwhile while allowing others to live as they feel they must?
The picture on the Sacred Rebels #23 card gives some clues. It shows a woman with her eyes wide open. In her pupils, one can see the outside world reflected. Darkness streams from her eyes as if she is grieving. Her lips are full and abundant, indicating that she knows pleasure and how to give and receive. Her face is surrounded by feathers, making it appear she is looking through a round porthole. She is an observer of this world, not simply an actor.
On her third eye is the head of an owl, the hunter who listens with acute hearing, can see in the dark, and is often the symbol of wisdom. Wisdom is not the collection of data. Wisdom is taking in information from myriad sources and finding a solution that best fulfills the need for the self and the environment in which one lives. Two feathers that remind me of the wings on Mercury’s heels sprout above the beak. This signifies that the wisdom of the owl uses the messaging skills of the God Mercury to create dialogue in the self and with others in the world. The figure in the picture functions as an individual in the world, but she also knows she is part of a whole. Above the owl’s head emerges a crystal fire that reaches beyond the edges of the card into the beyond.
What, then, is worthwhile? Undoubtedly, that is a question that is unique to every human being. I find it worthwhile to nourish my life and the lives of those around me. I find it worthwhile to bring beauty into my life and environment. I find it worthwhile to nurture the land, the plants, and the animals with whom I share this earth.
I try to live gently with the humans in my life, but there are times when defending to the end what is worthwhile to me is in conflict with someone in my life. It is difficult for me to justify my needs over another’s, and sometimes I do it unthinkingly. There are times when I am called by a voice that does not offer the possibility of my saying no. At these times, I have to trust that I can follow the call while remaining compassionate to those frightened or wounded by my actions. Sometimes, conversation can heal, and sometimes, it can’t. Sometimes, the best I can do is trust the alignment that I feel in my body and take the best action I can, even if those around me complain.
The picture representing defending to the end shows a woman with tears in her eyes. Defending to the end the worthwhile is not for sissies. It requires the whole gamut of human emotion.
Sacred Rebels Oracle — Alana Fairchild and Autumn Skye Morrison, authors