Blue Feathers

I've never been crazy about this painting, done quickly on cardboard. Didn’t have the patience to get the feathers right. I wasn't even going to photograph it but Abram Harris made me include it in the early paintings he was documenting for me. But people seem to love it and it’s often commented on in the deck. A blue feather appeared very mysteriously in one of the very earliest paintings (Ova 1995). For a long time the painting made me cry whenever I looked at it and I didn't know why. Finally at some point I realized the feather meant I was that I was meant to be writing....

In Lane’s Greenwitch Tarot this is the Ace of Air.

Sometimes when we don’t know which way to turn in life or in the moment, we can simply lie on the earth and wait to receive inspiration or guidance, i.e. as literally as possible to stay grounded and centered. Air is the element of ideas and clarity. New beginnings. Breath and inspiration. But it can also be about over-thinking or giving in to fears. Birds and their feathers are definitely creatures of Air Magic and appear often in this deck (and in my life) as messengers. To be inspired is to breathe in what comes.

Can you open to slowing down and breathing in if you are stuck? What are the omens you pay attention to? Perhaps this is about seeking out new ways to receive suggestions, as cryptic, irritating and confusing as they may be to the rational mind. Let go and let it come even if an answer makes you cranky!