For a couple weeks I have been wondering about the divine message brought to me by squirrels. I was going to ask my wonderful angel friend Allison for her take, but we had a scheduled time to talk (tomorrow) and I didn't want to call for such a seemingly inconsequential question.
So today, I was compelled to join db in going to campus to do his stats homework. For some reason we were looking up books and I jotted down a couple call numbers to occupy me while he went to the computer lab. After grabbing a couple books, I was attracted to The Oracle of the Goddess by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber, and pulled it from the shelf above my head.
Oh, its a deck of cards, I thought and started to untie the yellow ribbon.
Wait, I know what tarot cards look like and don't need to look at these, I thought and started to put the box back, but stopped. Something compelled me to add them to my small pile of books.
After sitting down in a comfy chair where DB could easily find me, I opened the cards and read the instructions. These weren't ordinary tarot cards. There were three colors, amythest for head, red for heart and turquoise for body. I took one card from each color pile, as indicated by the instructions and received the following:
- Head- Artemis, the Goddess of Discernment
- Heart- Romi Kumu the Goddess of Willpower, and Pasowee the Goddess of Endurance (I was guided to pull two cards)
- Body- Artemis. To my amazement, on the card was the image of a little squirrel!
According to the accompanying book, Artemis' sacred animal is the squirrel "who concentrates on burying one acorn at a time and thereby perpetuates a whole forest of oak trees."
What a wonderful message the squirrel brings to me. Plant one new seed each day, not worrying about whether or not a forest will come of it, and knowing one will. Every moment I am sewing new seeds that I may reap the benefits later on - whether it be tomorrow or ten years from now. I need not stress or worry, so long as I am taking steps. It will all work out perfectly.
How interesting that Artemis was so prominent in my cards. Especially when I've been thinking about my wonderful friend Jennifer lately. We met at a goddess retreat two years ago and she portrayed Artemis in costume, spirit and play. What a wonderful connection to find.
Reading the story of Artemis, as written in The Oracle of the Goddess, I find so many similarities in our story and personalities. Perhaps Artemis is my new goddess name.
"Artemis was the very independent Goddess of the Moon and the woods, born of Zeus, the Greek God and Leto, and earlier Goddess of Fertility. Her twin brother was Apollo, God of the Sun. Artemis wished for the freedom Apollo enjoyed. She asked Zeus for a bow and arrow and a short, masculine tunic so that she might pursue a life of hunting in the forest. In her Huntress aspect, she represented the Goddess as the Destroyer of Life.
"However, she was quite protective of her mother, even helping her later in childbirth. This tenderness also extended to animal mothers and their offspring.
"Full of freshness and newness, unbound by the conventional subservient role played by the women of Greece, she roamed the woods with her band of Nymphs. Though she possessed a seductive innocence, she would strick out mercilessly if anything threatened her feelings of integrity and self-worth. Once caught bathing in a mountain stream, she turned the man who had spied up on her into a stag and had him torn apart by his own dogs.
"Artemis ruled a primeval, natural world of perfection unknown in the cities. She followed her own path and felt perfectly complete without a man. When she chose one she would always be on equal footing with him.
"Her joy was to fall asleep without any worries under the stars, to excel physically and to seek her own destiny with all the ardor and the almost obsessively narrow focus of youth." p52
The Head affirmation for Artimus is:- "I clear my mind of complex thinking, worry and perfectionism to best attain my goal."
The Heart affirmation for Artimus is:
- "I feel all my past anxiety has been a waste of time. I always deal successfully with whatever circumstances arise."
The Body affirmation for Artimus is:
- "I focus all the skills at my disposal to analyze my situation. I act to change it by isolating and taking care of every detail, one step at a time."
The Heart affirmation for Romi Kumi, Brazilian Shaman, is:
- "I feel certain that I am powerful enough to materialize my heart's desires."
The Heart affirmation for Pasowee, Kiowa (Native American Tribe) Goddess, is:
- "I feel centered and grounded by my connection to Mother Earth and Her ceaseless cycles, rhythms and seasons."
These affirmations are perfect reminders for me that I am creating my present and my future, and as long as I am being true to myself, there is divine order.
