17/09/25
(attention - this post contains descriptions of animal remains. it's the last paragraph so you won't miss anything else if you skip the part after the paw.)
i've been learning a lot since the spiritual renewal of the eclipse. aside from the basic role/aspect of confidante, home, the promised embrace, my understanding of the lady expanded to include initiator. not only does she walk with us since the very moment the possibility of a life arises, shepherding us through life, a constant companion, until we embrace her at the end. but she also initiates - into the mysteries of the afterlife, she ushers you through that door. but also - into anything unknown. into magic. any threshold between knowing and not-knowing. the one way street of awakening to a truth, the bliss of ignorance forever lost. (addendum: now she's the guardian of all barriers, including interpersonal boundaries).
combine eternal companion with all-seeing crosser of barriers and you get a guide. i am immediately feeling guided. i'm seeing videos from people sharing their devotional and priesthood practices. i'm listening to philosophers and soul-seekers interviews. i'm finding new and inspiring writing about tarot practices, my own preferred method of veil parting.
as an additional gift, this early autumn i returned to a special site. i had the privilege of observing a decomposing cat at relatively regular, if sparse, intervals. starting with the entire being just lying there under a fragrant bush flowering in early spring. through the sagging and the patchy fur to the mummified dry skin look in summer, shrink-wrapped in leather. now the skin recedes, flecks away and the bones are appearing. last tufts of fur on the little feet. the gut blackened with bacteria. i'm amazed it's been preserved for so long, with off-leash dogs roaming around 24/7, rats, crows, birds of prey, human maintenance of the grounds. nothing's disturbed the body and it continues to teach all these months after their final breath. they're still here, they belong even as they're returning to the earth. there is no hard line.