Growing Wings

This is the Death XIII card in Lane's Greenwitch Tarot:

Someday we will each transition out of these bodies. We wear these skin suits only temporarily. Our physical self will surrender into Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Our Souls will slip back into the mystery of the Spirit World. Perhaps to communicate with those left behind. Perhaps to be reborn if we so choose. The caterpillar turns into the goo and uncertainty of the chrysalis and then struggles to emerge as the sweet joyous butterfly. Indeed butterflies are often messages from departed loved ones. This card does not presage a literal death. In fact it’s about the many ways we die to be reborn every day. We leave behind what no longer serves us to grow new wings, to shed the masks and husks of old selves as we do the work. Raven whispers of deep magic in our ears. Can the disparate parts of the Self unite? Our culture despairs of this process and of physical death itself. We’ll do anything to avoid looking at it much less act on the insights available to us. Yet such riches abound in this journey! Think of the Autumn season when our gardens taper to lie fallow. Remember the falling leaves that must die in order for the new life to come in the Spring.

There is a Native Americans expression: “Today is a good day to die.” What would you do differently if you knew your physical death was imminent? Yet perhaps more importantly, how many deaths have you already endured in this lifetime? How many deaths in a given day? What would you like to shed today? How do you choose to be reborn today? What small change can ignite the new life that awaits you in each moment? What mask needs to come off?  What do your wings look like? Datura Essence aka Angel’s Trumpet can help with the process and implications of important transitions.