Part of my new daily practice is to make two requests of the Oracle to help me get in the proper mental space for the day: (1) Please tell me what I most need to know today for the highest outcome for myself and my family, and (2) Please tell me what I most need to do today for the highest outcome.
One day in mid-May when I asked what I most needed to know, I drew the rune Eihwaz. (You can read about the lessons of Eihwaz here.) The general takeaway of Eihwaz during that time—when most of the United States was still under shelter-in-place recommendations—was this:
Receiving Eihwaz, you are put on notice that, through inconvenience and discomfort, growth is promoted. This may well be a trying time; certainly it is a meaningful one. So set your house in order, tend to business, be clear, and wait on the Will of Heaven.[1]
That same day, when I asked what I most needed to know, my Gilded Reverie Lenormand deck gave me the Dice. The Dice indicate a certain amount of risk—things that are up to chance. That day, the message of the Dice was essentially “No matter what you do, the outcome could be favorable or not favorable.”
In early June, while both peaceful protests and violence were occurring in cities across the United States, I reviewed my notes from that mid-May day. The combined message from Eihwaz and the Dice on that May day was “There’s too much activity going on right now, and too many actors, to see the result just yet. The best you can do is stick to the plan created in a clear frame of mind, do your best, and wait to see what happens.”
Obviously, this message was given to me on a day very different from the June day on which I drafted this post. In mid-May, “all” we had to cope with was SARS-CoV-2, domestic toilet paper shortages, and the occasional murder hornet—so the specifics of what to do don’t fit, but the overall message conveyed is still sound in the wake of protest—and in general, if you really pause to consider it—so please bear with me.
I think sticking to a plan created in a clear frame of mind (the counsel of Eihwaz) was particularly difficult for a lot of us on even a normal day (read: before COVID-19 arrived on American shores), given how Western society urges us to do, do, do. We are often told to pick what we want and where we want to be, and to do whatever it takes to get what and where we want. It’s a very masculine, or yang, approach. With all of the disruption, fear, and anger in the world—especially the United States—right now, it can be nearly impossible for us to even remember what a clear frame of mind is like. And when that happens, we tend to default to that very yang approach: Do something. Anything. Doing something gives us a feeling of control, even when there is no real control to be had.
Eihwaz councils—especially when supported by the Dice—a more feminine, or yin, approach. With the yin/feminine approach, there’s a certain amount of flow, of rolling with the tide around or through obstacles, rather than jumping over or knocking obstacles out of the way.
The message of Eihwaz and the Dice together is not all yin, however, but a gentle, relaxed blending of the masculine and the feminine (always a fantastic approach for balance, in my opinion). On that May day, the message was “Do what you planned to do when your mind was clearer, and keep doing it (yang), but don’t try to force it (yin).” In other words, in the absence of better information and a clearer picture, “just keep swimming,” because slow and steady may win the race—but nothing’s guaranteed, because there are too many actors, all with free will.
When protestors and police clash and a protest becomes a riot, this can be seen as very yang, very masculine, very forceful—the very worst of yang energy has taken over. It is domineering, controlling. In contrast, when the oppressed roll into a ball and accept the kicks and insults hurled at them, simply trying to hide, this can be seen as the worst of yin energy; it is passive, submissive—too passive and too submissive, stifling and silencing healthy expressions of anger.
A gentle, relaxed blending of masculine and feminine, in contrast, watches and waits carefully (yin) for opportune moments in which to take decisive action (yang) that is proper and in accordance with those plans created when minds were clearer and heads were cooler.
Sometimes—especially when we are offered the chance for momentous change toward either good or ill—we are faced with what seem like only bad choices that leave no one feeling good.
The only answers I believe are right in all situations, even when all options presented to us seem bad, are love and respect. These two can infuse and inform everything we do.
Note
[1] Ralph H. Blum, The Book of Runes. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993 (p. 110).
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