The Only Way Out Is In: Sacred Spirals at the New Moon

Ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth? Join me  as we explore the profound wisdom of tarot and the transformative power of moon cycles. Through the sacred spiral of self-reflection, guided by the cards Contemplation, Five of Cups, and Four of Pentacles, we unravel the mysteries of our emotions and learn to embrace release and renewal. This episode invites you to connect with your innermost truths, using the symbolic imagery of a spiral labyrinth to trust the process of transformation and honor life's natural cycles.

But that's not all—our spiritual exploration extends beyond ourselves as we delve into the essence of community engagement and resilience. Informed by trustworthy news sources, we recognize the power of small acts of kindness and the impact of supporting each other through challenging times. By fostering connections within our community, we are reminded of the strength and unity needed to face local issues head-on. As we gather during each full and new moon, we set powerful intentions and affirmations, nurturing personal growth and self-care. Grab your journals, open your hearts, and join us in this sacred practice of reflection and transformation.

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Transcript

Sacred Spiral

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to Blooming Wand, your home for grounded and intuitive spiritual guidance. I'm Emily O'Neill, evidential Psychic Medium, intuitive Healer and Coach, and I'm here to guide you on a journey of self-reflection, using the wisdom of the tarot. As the moon waxes and wanes, so do our own inner tides, and as a way to honor moon cycles and life cycles. On each full and new moon, I pull three cards which inspire an intention and affirmation to illuminate our path. Think of them as themes to guide you as you move through coming days. So grab your journals, light a candle and settle into the present moment. Let's delve into the enchanting archetypes of the tarot, uncovering the magic and messages they hold for all of us. I'm so glad that you're here. Don't forget, friends, that if you want to get pictures of the cards that we've pulled sent right to your email inbox, and if you want to keep up with what's going on at Blooming Wand, be sure to sign up for my newsletter. You can do so at bloomingwandcom and wherever you are listening to or watching this episode, don't forget to like and subscribe and leave a comment or a review. It's super helpful to me, and why not help an old friend out? On January 29th we've got a new moon and this moon cycle is all about how sometimes the only way out is in, and we're going to be exploring sacred spirals. So I've drawn our three cards to craft our collective intention and affirmation, and what has emerged is an invitation to spiral inward, a gentle reminder that sometimes the only way out is in. I used the Starseeker Tarot deck and we pulled Contemplation. I used the Starseeker Tarot deck and we pulled Contemplation. I used the Starseeker Oracle deck as well, and Contemplation is from the Starseeker Oracle. We also pulled the Five of Cups and the Four of Pentacles. This would be from the Starseeker Tarot deck. You know I love to mix decks together, especially like Tarot and Oracle, and I've really been enjoying playing with these two decks. So be sure to have a look at the cards to see what they awaken in you, because it might be different than what it awakened in me and that is actually really cool.

Speaker 1 2:27

Our intention this moon cycle to explore the powerful symbolism of the spiral, especially the spiral inward, which is a sacred journey towards our center. Here's your affirmation as I spiral inward, I trust the process of release and renewal, I am safe to let go of rigid control and I allow new growth to emerge. Now let's take a deep dive into each one of the cards that we pulled, and let's start with the first card. Our first draw brought forward the Contemplation card from the Starseeker Oracle deck, which invites us to explore the powerful symbolism of the spiral. And, unlike the chaotic feeling of spiraling outward, this card invites us to spiral inward. And when looking at this card, the artist has us peering through a window towards a dream.

Speaker 1 3:14

Like Vista, a cloaked figure with a staff in hand stands at the heart of a spiral labyrinth, and the figure's journey to the center of this spiral labyrinth is marked by the winding path that lay behind them. Serene waters stretch out across the horizon, while ethereal clouds are drifting overhead, creating an atmosphere where the exploration of one's inner landscape merges with the magical realm, and the entire scene just radiates a sense of profound possibility, and it's as if the boundary between the spiritual and the physical worlds has momentarily dissolved. Now, in nature, we see spirals everywhere. We see them in shells, in the unfurling of ferns, in the dance of galaxies, and each spiral tells a story of growth that moves both outward and inward, reminding us that both directions hold a lot of wisdom. I've always felt that spirals speak nature's ancient language. And while the spirals go both like outward and inward, I feel like there is like a unique power to the inward journey. Like the moons, like especially the new moons, pull into darkness and stillness, we too are called to spiral inward on this new moon, toward our innermost truth, where wisdom gathers and ever tightening circles of understanding. And as a young person, younger person I had the privilege of going to Newgrange in Ireland, which is a sacred Neolithic site, and there are spirals everywhere, and they're ancient and they're old. So the spiral is a very ancient and old symbol and humans have been working with it for a long time, so it's powerful.

Speaker 1 5:10

Now we also drew the five of cups and, you're right, we saw this on the full moon. So who's in their feels right now? Because the five of cups is all about those hard feelings of sadness and grief. And all I have to say is, when an archetype repeats itself, the universe is gently or not so gently, trying to ask us to pay attention. And this card invites us to wade into the depths of our emotional waters to face sadness, grief, depression and other heavy emotions that we often, frankly, try to avoid. And these feelings, though challenging. They're not our enemies. They are teachers, they are guides, they are parts of ourselves that are asking to be acknowledged and held with compassion. And moving towards these emotions, rather than away from them or bypassing them, is an act of courage and self-love. Don't be afraid of your depths. Don't be afraid of the depths that these emotions hold. Just as the figure in the five of cups must eventually so the figure in the five of cups has got to eventually turn around. They're going to turn around and see away from the spilled cups towards the two that remain standing, and they just were. They're going to get up. They're going to get up, they're going to move on, and they're going to see that there are two full cups behind them. And I feel like this is saying hey, we've got to fully acknowledge our losses and our pain before we can recognize that what remains in us is still precious and whole. So, even if we have lost something, even if we're in pain, even if we're in grief, there is something that remains whole and precious within us, and these emotions are the guides that help us to actually find that, and I think that that is a wonderful thing.

Speaker 1 7:00

Now, moving on to the four of pentacles, which completes our Trinity. This archetype is a little bit different. It brings awareness to how we might be gripping too tightly to our practices or beliefs, and in this card we see a figure completely absorbed in keeping their pentacles afloat. And this is a perfect mirror to how we sometimes approach our spiritual practices or daily rituals. We become really tied up in them and then we forget that we can try new things. So this is a figure that's really tied up in maintaining things the way that they are. Maybe it's time for things to change right, and if we're too wrapped up in what is, maybe we can't see what is meant to be. And so while the devotion that this card speaks to is admirable and implies qualities such as diligence and discipline and reliability, it also reveals a hidden cost. When we pour all of our energy into maintaining what is like it's got to be this way and I've always done it this way we leave no space for what could be, and, like the figure in the card, we become so consumed with keeping everything perfectly balanced that we exhaust our resources for reinvention, renewal and rejuvenation. And I know that there's another way that you could look at this is that the figure does appear at ease, but they are fully consumed and might be good for us to look at where we feel fully consumed right now. So what's the medicine for this moon cycle? So these cards are really weaving together a story of transformation through mindful release, and they remind us that true spiritual growth often requires us to loosen our grip on what we think we know, while maintaining enough structure to hold sacred space for our evolution. So some structure is good, but not tight structure, not restrictive structure.

Speaker 1 9:13

Always say if you don't like journaling, maybe use voice memos or videos to work with these prompts that I'm about to give you, because this is your opportunity to spiral inward using these prompts. They are intended to help you do just that and I've divided them into morning questions and evening reflections, but use them however you want. So here are some morning questions for you. Here's the first one. What part of myself feels like it's curling inward, seeking quiet? Describe the sensation. If I traced today's anxiety, excitement and hesitation back to its source, where would the spiral lead? Finally, draw a spiral on your page, start from the outer edge and then write words that represent what you're ready to release and, as you move inward, write what you want to cultivate. And that really gets to engaging the sacred spiral. And when you're done, you can even trace your finger and begin to read aloud what you've done, what you've written. Maybe you want to light a candle and make a ritual out of that, because creating sacred space is really helpful. You're sacred, so why not make a little ritual about out of doing these explorations or following through with these prompts?

Speaker 1 10:24

Here are some evening reflections, and I always find morning and evening reflections to be really helpful because I'm in such a different place from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. I wonder if that's how you feel too. So your first prompt for your evening reflection is where did I feel resistance today, and what's at the center of that tightness? Your second prompt is what patterns am I noticing in my life right now, and which ones are asking to be unwound? Your third one is if my heart could speak from its innermost chamber, what would it say? And now I've got some deeper explorations for you.

Speaker 1 11:04

If you want to take things a little bit further. Your bonus prompts, so to speak. And here's the first one what cycles do I observe in my life right now, and which phase feels most present. So think about cycles and phases, and are there certain phases that feel more present than others for you right now? And when I think about cycles, I can think about a cycle in a month, a cycle in a week, a cycle in a day, where I am from the beginning of an hour to the end of an hour. So approach this however you want Be creative. There's no right or wrong way to do it. Here's another prompt, and this is a good one, and this is one I am working on right now. What am I protecting at my center? What guards that entrance? Here's a third one. If this moment of pause was a shell spiraling inward, what would I find at its heart? I really like that one.

Speaker 1 12:10

Now remember to write without judgment. Allow your thoughts to spiral naturally onto the page and return to earlier entries or other places where maybe you've documented your experience and see if you notice any patterns. That's how I've figured out. A lot is because I have a pretty robust writing practice. I've been able to go back and look at things and notice I've been saying some of the same things in a lot of different ways, and maybe that's a pattern. Maybe I'm trying to tell myself something and I'm just not really taking it fully on board. I don't know. That's something that I need to explore, be curious to know what's coming up for you and what you're exploring, and just remember like we can honor the clarity and the confusion that can emerge from engaging with these prompts or doing any kind of self-care or spiritual practice. Sometimes they bring clarity, sometimes they bring confusion, sometimes they bring other things and it's all good. Okay, it's all good, it's all there for a reason.

Community Engagement and Resilience

Speaker 1 13:08

Now, kind of moving on, and I am shifting gears a little bit and I felt like I really wanted to say this that I know that the world feels kind of heavy right now for some of us, and you know, from the wildfires in LA to global conflicts, to environmental challenges and frustrating systemic issues that threaten our values of peace, love and equality there's a lot going on and it's easy to feel really overwhelmed and powerless. But I wanted to tell you that I've learned something important and that's that when I focus on what's right in front of me every day and get involved in my local community, I find hope and purpose, and sometimes that means that I'm volunteering, sometimes it means that I'm just being present for my neighbors or helping somebody at the grocery store, and sometimes it's simply taking care of myself so that I can show up better for others. I used to do this for many, many years and COVID did disrupt that. I've finally gotten to go back and just the simple task of helping kids learn to read that when that task is right in front of me, I do find hope and purpose. And I don't know about you, but I really need that right now. And I want to tell you something Research shows that local engagement helps us combat feelings of helplessness and creates positive ripple effects.

Speaker 1 14:32

So, whatever you can do, at whatever scale, it does matter. And I want to say that, yes, it's important to stay informed. It is, but we've got to engage with what we find to be somewhat trustworthy news sources, both local and global. We've got to fact check and use our common sense when we explore what we're coming across. We need to think critically. There's a lot of gaslighting happening out there and the media trying to tell us that what we saw isn't what we saw, but we saw it with our own eyes. It's important to talk to people, but avoid doom scrolling the internet. It's so easy to do, but it can wreck your mental health and make it harder for you to help anyone, but it can wreck your mental health and make it harder for you to help anyone.

Speaker 1 15:13

Balance really is key and for my local Vancouver Washington peeps that live here in Vancouver or Clark County or elsewhere, we've got an independently owned and operated local newspaper where they have real people who really live here going out. These are boots on the ground gathering information about this community, what's happening with the legislature, all the efforts that are going into helping deal with the houseless population. It's cold outside right now. You know there's a lot going on there and I don't know what I would do if I didn't subscribe to the paper. I don't know how I would keep up to speed with what's happening in my community. They have lists of community gatherings that have been really helpful to me, where you can meet up with real people. They have a list of local churches. It's all just community oriented.

Speaker 1 16:06

And is any news source perfect? No, but one of the things I appreciate about my local newspaper, the Columbian, is that if they make a mistake they'll publish a fix for it. They'll own it. They publish all kinds of editorials from all kinds of backgrounds, so you really do get a taste of different voices within the community. I have learned so much about the local community from the paper and I'm grateful for it. So if you live in a place where you have a local paper and find out, is it still independently owned and operated? It might have been bought out by some conglomerate A lot of them have been but I'm fortunate to say that ours hasn't yet, and I would really like to keep it that way.

Speaker 1 16:52

So, moving on, I just want to also add that I'm constantly, right now, having to remind myself that the change we're looking for it's not going to happen overnight, and the work we do is for generations to come, and we may never see the changes we hope for in our lifetime, but we owe it to the kids, to our friends, to the trees, to the water, to this beautiful planet and all who dwell here to do our best. And something weird just happened A meditation just went off. I think that's interesting. I don't know why, so pardon the sound if you heard that, but I also want to say that things are probably going to be intense for a while, so we've got to look out for each other and supporting one another through tough times it does make us stronger, and, as a psychic medium and intuitive healer, I've noticed that a lot of people in the spiritual community a lot of people that I would have hoped would be talking about some of this stuff they shy away from discussing any current events or challenging events, and I believe we need to acknowledge and address these issues openly and that by doing so, we can foster resilience and find collective strength in our shared experience.

Speaker 1 18:09

And I am writing this from a place of relative comfort, but I also know that that could change and it likely will at some point. And I also know, hey, we're all connected and we feel each other's pain on some level, so let's look out for one another. We drink the same water, we breathe the same air, we need love and connection, and when others don't have that, we all experience the consequences. And I have to also say I have to tell myself this too helping others isn't usually about some grand gesture. It's often doing what you can when you can, with what you got, and bearing witness to what's unfolding without completely being consumed by it, which is a practice, and sometimes we are consumed by it. But if you need help, find your friends, and you know I'm here for you and listen. When tomorrow comes, I'm going to do what the day asks of me and I know you'll be doing the very same thing right along with me, and that gives me a lot of hope and comfort. We have a great community here at Blooming Wanda. I'm so grateful for you.

Speaker 1 19:15

And so, on that note, if you don't know, I write poems, I write prayers. They've been so helpful to me, They've been good friends to me. Other people's poems and prayers, and I thought I've been working on one for troubled times. I've changed it up a few times and this is the latest iteration and I thought I would share it with you in support of your self-care and spiritual practices.

Speaker 1 19:38

And this is for troubled times. In this fragile hour, we call upon the power of unity. May the earth beneath our feet remind us of roots that run deeper than differences. Beneath our feet remind us of roots that run deeper than differences, of strength that transcends turmoil. May our hearts trace the unbreakable threads of our interconnection. When tragedy strikes and hearts break open, may we glimpse the truth of our shared journey. Each of us will walk through darkness, each of us will know sorrow's weight and each of us will face a choice to look or look away. In this understanding, may we find connection and communion, knowing we were never meant to carry our burdens alone. Remember we are stars joined in constellation, unique connections divining a bright new future.

Moon Cycles and Spiritual Practice

Speaker 1 20:48

In this prayer, we hold those in harm's way. In this prayer, we hold those who suffer. In this prayer, we offer comfort and solace. And so it shall be from this breath to the next, from this heart to all hearts, now and always. All hearts now and always.

Speaker 1 21:18

All right, friends, let's loop back one last time to explore this moon cycles, intention and affirmation, knowing that it may be helpful to get your journals out and think about what we've talked about today, know that I'll be doing the same right alongside you. And if you think that our practice of coming together each full and new moon doesn't have an impact, I hope you'd reconsider that and think again. This is a form of self care and it is a spiritual practice and it does have ripple effects. Here's your intention to explore the powerful symbolism of the spiral inward, a sacred journey towards your center. Here's your affirmation as I spiral inward, I trust the process of release and renewal. I am safe to let go of rigid control and allow new growth to emerge. Well, take good care of yourselves, get those journals out, and until next time, friends.