Preparing for Incredible 2013

I've bought Leonie Dawson's Your Incredible 2013 Workbook and Calendar and thought I'd do a spread about the prospect of making 2013 'My Incredible Year', using Celtic Wisdom Oracle (Watkins, 2011):

Celtic Wisdom Oracle, Watkins 2011

 What should I keep faith with in 2013? - The Queen

What should I leave behind? - The Princess

How do I keep balance? - The Protector

What do I need to learn? - Druid Reversed

What guidance is offered? - Lord of Love, or Autumn Equinox

The Queen. Just yesterday I was talking to a friend about Maid - Mother - Crone, and how I think I prefer the names Maiden - Queen - Goddess. I was saying that I feel these years I'm in now are the run-up to the Crone years -- what I like to call the Goddess years. And now today, when I ask the oracle what I should not break faith with, who should turn up but the Queen, offering up to me a silver cauldron full of a red liquid, which instantly struck me as, well, a fertile womb and the richness therein (okay, it reminded me of a bowl of blood, but I thought that might be a bit too literal and gross for the squeamish, but there, I said it). The Queen is holding this object up toward me, with an earnest look on her face, as if to say, 'Do not be too hasty to leave behind the abundance and beauty of this time. Do not abandon your identity as Queen. You are still Queen.' As my friend reminded me, when is there ever a time when we are not Maid - Mother - Crone, all at the same time? But I think there are definitely times in our lives when one dominates the other. Perhaps, though, not yet. Not quite yet. 

The Princess. She sits in the snow, watching a magpie eat a mouse. To me, this symbolizes something I've been thinking about a lot lately. The black-and-white is eating up the timid, while a youthful girl looks on with a resigned expression. The black and white of the bird seems to me to represent perceptions of good vs bad, as in 'good me' vs 'bad me', good choices vs bad choices, success vs failure, all or nothing. And the mouse is the timid little self inside, the 'little one' or inner child who has been the victim of so many good girl/bad girl messages. It's time to leave this barren landscape of self judgement and woe, to stop watching the Big Bad Black-and-White slay the Little Mouse of Inner Child. 

The Protector. Interesting that the card that falls next is about protection, because that Little Mouse does need protection, so that it can become Mighty Mouse. :) I achieve balance in 2013 by being faithful (symbolised by the dog) to myself,  and by being my own protector. In this case, protecting myself from myself: from my own self-judgement and from those old tapes that play over and over and over in my mind. The Protector is strong, stalwart and true. He is the part of me that wants to take care of me. Let him come forth in 2013. 

The Druid. The thing about Druids is, I always associate them with organization, discipline, and ceremony. There's something very orderly and regimented, in my perception, about Druids. And here we see the Druid turned on its head. So maybe the card is saying, I need to learn to do things without making into a Big Thing That Needs a Plan and a Chart. Upside down, the Druid will fall out of his noble-looking pose and go flying through the air, hair going in all directions, arms and legs flailing, just falling through those colours on the card. It's time for me to learn to colour outside the lines for a change. Make a mess. Wear mismatched socks. Walk to work down a different street. Say 'ahoy' when I answer the phone instead of 'hello'. Break out a little. Break out a LOT!

Lord of Love. Autumn Equinox. The Lord of Love card is meant to represent the Autumn Equinox, which is a time of completion. The year is done, all the awakening of Imbolc, blossoming of Vernal Equinox, fire of Beltane, all the incredible growth and light of Summer Solstice, the bounty of Lammas, all accomplished. The Autumn Equinox is a time of great thanksgiving for all that has gone before and been accomplished, a time of satisfaction, a time to revel in all these wonderful gifts. It's like a time of Full Fruits and Great Bounty. 2013 -- will it be my year of Full Fruits and Great Bounty? Could well be! 

So that's my first reading with the Celtic Wisdom Oracle. :)