Presence
Kayce S. Hughlett
Each day and moment of the day, it seems as if I’m seeking what it means to be present. This has been happening for years now. It begins with an unsettled feeling as if I’ve only put on one shoe or forgotten my wedding ring. Something feels off. It happens when I travel and when I arrive back home. Often the answer to the imbalance is simple, I’ve forgotten to breathe and ground myself into my surroundings.
Recently my travels led me to Australia. We left on November 5 (Election Day in the US) and landed on November 7 to news that, yet again, a white male had been elected to our country’s highest office. I couldn’t discern whether my more-than-normal imbalance was due to jet lag, disappointment, or rage. I wrestled for several days with thoughts, emotions, and strange sleep patterns until finally I sat down and did a tarot spread for interacting with this collective moment in history provided by the lovely Joanna Powell Colbert . Her post is here.
Today I share with you a few words that came from my spread that included the DEATH card, Queen of Cups, TEMPERANCE, THE EMPEROR (reversed) and the Page of Pentacles. Somehow this experience brought me back to presence and hope. Since it continues to linger and ask for “air time,” I thought I’d share a slightly edited version here in the Garden, just in case there might be a message for you too.
to be present is to embrace compassion, love, mystery. to hold the cauldron in your arms and believe in the power of manifestation. to know that we die small and large deaths every day. we are resilient people. we’ve been here one thousand times before - maybe more.
to feel all the feels. to move the cup from one side to the other. to know that compassion holds us. LOVE is the way to reverse an egotistical power. the power that flips and folds and burns sh*t down.
I sit in this land of old and ancient ways. the Aboriginals know that forests must be burned with care to regenerate and rejuvenate. I don’t love this current burning. This death that feels huge and hard. Temperance is the only one with eyes open. The Emperor has no head. Death and the Queen of Cups both hold their hearts. The Page of Pentacles invites me to be curious, ground and play.
We are here now. This is presence. Connection. Belief. Trust. Magic. I believe in Love and Matriarchal power. Don’t let anyone take that away. Believe in the power of Magic and the unseen realms. Call upon your bravest angels.
So that, dear one, is what I have to offer today. As always, I’d love to know what resonates for you. What brings you to presence? What are you wrestling with regarding small and large deaths?