As I’ve shared before, when I need some inspiration, or a random pick-me-up, I’ll look at pictures (or videos) of dolphins. Whales and sharks are also good. Rarely can I find seahorses, but they’re sometimes the best.
The other day, as I was watching marine life cavort while trying to move my mood meter out of the negative numbers, I had this thought. If you’ve ever looked closely at these animals (the big whales, more than any other) they all have marks or blemishes, scars and imperfections. All of them have a uniqueness to them, an individuality in their outer guise.
My mind went immediately to the Body Positive movement, because, as much as I say “embrace your flaws” it’s still difficult for me to actually do that. This cultural shift that’s happening, this mass enlightenment, is what’s helped me overcome so much of the shit I’ve been hauling around for decades.
And then, my beloved sea friends, moved me another step closer to appreciation and Self-Love. Right now, what we want to focus on is;
Acceptance Lessons.
One of the only things we can can alter, mold, or shift is our own attitude. We can whine, or we can understand. We can complain, or we can honour that which brings us strength. We can accept.
Don’t forget, acceptance has nothing to do with giving in. It has nothing to do with allowing others to have power over us. It is the opposite of that. It is about our own inner peace. Because truthfully, we don’t need to even worry about anyone else. When we find our zen, our center, the very core of our inner power, we have automatically and authentically shared that with our loved ones.
We have chosen this path. We know we can handle it. We understand that it is the very best journey for our soul. Showing compassion for ourselves, and giving our bodies the respect they are due is the best gift of all. To us personally, and to everyone we care about.
Here is the most lovely validation. There are layers/levels of insight and meaning, as to why this card popped up for us. Read the story of one brave and determined woman. Know that she was real, she had a life, she had hope, she had strength.
She arrived today as a reminder for us:
we have all of this, too.
“Pope Joan ~ The Pontiff of Possibilities
‘The possibilities are limitless,
because the soul is limitless.’
Who She Is:
Pope Joan embodies the truth that all things are possible. According to popular legend, there was a female pope who reigned for three years in the 9th century.
She was a brilliant, highly educated woman who entered the Catholic Church in Rome by cross-dressing as a man so she could be with her lover. Intelligent and quick-witted, she rose through the ranks of the Church hierarchy and was eventually elected as Pope.
Three years into her reign, she was in a procession from Saint Peter’s to the Lateran in a lane once known as Via Sacra (the sacred way). Her true gender was dramatically revealed when she game birth surrounded by a shocked and astonished crowd.
. . . all subsequent cardinals had to sit on the sedes stercoraria (a throne with a conspicuous hole in the middle of the seat) to get a confirmation of sex before being named as the next pope.
In the 13th century, Jean de Mailly wrote a chronicle which contains the first written mention of an unnamed female pope. This inspired a wildfire of interest that spread throughout Europe. To this day, the story of Pope Joan is widely believed.
When Your Soul Selects Her Card:
We can so easily get caught beneath the glass ceiling of what we think is possible. But the truth is that everything is possible.
It’s hard for us to imagine just how much the divine wants for our lives; much more than we could ever hope. Pope Joan reminds us that even if we think that what we want isn’t possible, it is.
Or, even better, there is something our soul wants for us which will give us more than we can think to ask for.
Pope Joan is a sign to trust in what you believe about yourself. Trust what’s within you. Don’t rely on what you see around you.
Have faith. Know that the circumstances you are currently in are transformed from within. Begin to believe in a vision of your life, cultivate the capacity to see it, to really imagine it with all of your senses, and you will live into the day it exists as the reality that now surrounds you.
Pope Joan’s right hand is held in the papal blessing, a Christian mudra of benediction. The two fingers which point downward represent Christ’s dual nature as both fully human and fully divine. The human ego is limited, and lives beneath a glass ceiling.
Joan demonstrates to us though, that for the soul, the glass ceiling doesn’t even exist
Trust in what the soul knows is possible for you; this is what Joan’s wry smile reminds us.
Soul-Voice Meditation:
What helps me remember that all things are still possible for me?
Intention:
The possibilities are limitless,
because the soul is limitless.”
Today’s Deck:
The Divine Feminine Oracle by Meggan Watterson and Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman
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