Living Like a Saguaro

While on my first visit to Arizona, the friend who picked me up commented that we were driving through a saguaro forest. I'd never heard that term. When considering cacti, even ones as large as the saguaro, the term forest was an alien concept. So I asked her to pull over somewhere so I could take a picture. The do indeed grow in groupings akin to a forest of trees. The differences I noticed made me think about how we humans live together.

Look at how they form community: close, yet not. Much like the way we live. If we have choice, we move into neighborhoods because of their reputation for safety or friendliness. Yet we remain separate. We get to​ know our neighbors, yes, but we keep our prickly selves a bit apart, slightly distant.

The saguaros are also tall and erect. If I were to anthropomorphize them, I'd say they look proud. Which is also a trait we exhibit in community. Sometimes, that's an important stance to take. We show we can make it, we have a strong sense of ourselves, we are productive members of society. On the other hand, there are times when that pride can separate us, keep us from speaking our truth, telling of our need of others.

Also like the saguaro, we embrace the conditions around us and offer shelter for those who peck their way into our core. With no defense to keep them out, we take them on and protect them. We offer the deepest part of ourselves, no matter the cost to us. We share much in common with these stately, sometimes comical cacti.

What keeps you apart from others? What keeps you rooted in community? How does your prickly self show up? How do you act when it does? What do you do to change it? Or do you embrace it and remain apart? Who's made their way into your heart, you life, despite your prickly effort to keep them out?

Chaos and Conflict

Wisdom of the Oracle by Colette Barron-Reid

From the guide book:

The value of chaos before order.

The Oracle's message: Opposing forces come together to create a turbulent atmosphere. But consider the value of chaos that serves you well, as you become unmoored by it. Scattered to the winds, you leave behind the parts of yourself you no longer need and disperse seeds to reinvent yourself anew. Although the conflict appears to exist externally, its essence is also internal, projected outward and causing disarray. You may find yourself at cross-purposes with someone else, facing a storm you feel you can't control. Yet every storm passes, and chaos leads to a reordering of things. Conflict provides a way to see more than one side of a situation. Look upon this as just a moment in time when you may need to take shelter and step away from the fray. Don't be too eager to fight. This is a time to understand rather than to be understood.



Change seasons. In the Northern Hemisphere, deepening into the Darkness of Fall and Winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, birthing into the Light of Spring and Summer. Both places of chaos and conflict. Fall and Spring bring strong, visible changes ~ mostly in the colors bursting forth. Times to face elemental chaos and conflict.

These elemental changes show up internally for each of us as well. The recent Full Moon blossoms with change ~ opportunities we can choose to either hunker down or battle. Either way, change, chaos and conflict will arrive. We feel the movement, the gusts and gales within us.

If change is to come, chaos necessarily precedes it. Consider the struggle of birthing. Or the controlled burn preparation of the ground for planting. Or the messiness of a kitchen when preparing a meal. Observing each of these, we see chaos ~ within which lies a plan we may or may not understand at the time. Yet out of those chaotic moments comes something wonderful.

This card, arriving as it has for me personally, is perfect. I am in a change place in my life. Time often feels chaotic as though I should be doing something which is not in my momentum to do. My life appears in slow motion disarray like waving a lantern in a storm, in and out of focus. I chuckle deep within ~ quietly recognizing the storm for what it is: the bringer of newness. I am grateful.

What is changing in your life? Is the change only external? How do you face the internal chaos when it shows up? What do you do with conflict? How does the storminess of life affect you?