Melissa Cynova When I’m stressed, I re-read old favorites. My audible library is filled with them. Terry Pratchett, Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Butcher, Maggie Stiefvater. The two that I picked this week were Madeline L’engle and Orson Scott Card. (Yes, I know card is a hyper religious wackadoo, but he has solid fiction)
In The Wind in the Door, L’engle talks about Naming. To Name something is to know it’s complete essence. Yes, there are a million black cats in the world, and five in my house, but there is only one Leia. There is only one with those eyes, and that propensity for climbing on my pillow at 3am to headbutt me and tell me how much she loves me. She is Leia and she’s important.
It occurred to me while reading for someone the other day, that we’re not hearing our names as much lately. If you live alone, and if you’re working from home, you don’t get those moments of recognition when you walked into a diner or the office. It’s lonely and it’s been going on a while.
While I was working as a social worker, my dad, who is a retired police officer, gave me the advice to always get people’s names right. Even if it’s just in passing, to properly remember a name is to give the person dignity and respect.
In Orson Scott Card’s Seventh Son, we read about Alvin, who is the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, which brings with it the power of Making. Whenever evil happens, a little part of the world gets unmade. We can combat this by performing opposite actions. Cooking a meal. Making a witch knot, building something. All of these little energies stand together to create. To hold fast against the shadow of evil.
Naming and Making are both found in the suit of Pentacles. This is the suit of being grounded, and what makes us grounded? Certainty. Hard work. Investment of time and energy. The cards span from having a solid foundation, to steady teamwork, to realizing when you have enough to share. The pentacles ask you to clear away all of the mess and drama and focus on the things that will stand up to the test of time.
Pentacles support. They include all of the other elements within them. They hold space for our growth and are magical symbols in their own right. Pentacles ask you to walk before you run. Not the sexiest suit in the tarot, and I think one that is overlooked too often.
Right now, with our country on fire and the pandemic still damaging us and our lives, I encourage you to be a Namer. To be a Maker. What can you do to push back the darkness? Who can you call to remind them who they are? Can you say their names and remind them who they are?
While you might feel powerless right now, you have immense power within your own life. You can choose every day what you will put into the world. How to become the most YOU-est you that you can be. How to pare away anything that doesn’t serve you. How to create something new rather than hang out in the darkness because it’s easier or more comfortable. You Name yourself – you call yourself to the truest form of who you are. The most honest. The most authentic version. Name yourself.
When I pull a Pentacle during #WellCynova, I’m going to meditate, or clean, or build or make. I’m going to put something into the Universe that will give it structure and density, to combat those flimsy and flashy pieces of darkness that are usually less impressive than they appear.
Rob Breszny sent his horoscopes out today, and this was mine. He said it better than I can.
Our lives tend to be shaped by the
stories about ourselves that we create and harbor in our imaginations. The
adventures we actually experience, the problems we actually face, are
often (not always) in alignment with the tales we tell ourselves about our
epic fates. And here’s the crux of the matter: We can change the stories we
tell ourselves. We can discard tales that reinforce our pain, and dream up
revised tales that are more meaningful and pleasurable. I believe 2021
will be an excellent time for you to attend to this fun work. Your
assignment: Be a self-nurturing storyteller.
Rob Breszny