It's the Maverick New Year

This means it's time for a new Year Ahead Spread, a brand new Year's Theme and the first Oracle card of the month in my Year Ahead for October 2022 - September 2023. This year holds some particularly exciting cards for me. The return of some lessons and the new appearance of other animal guides.

Year of the Crow; Month of the Moth

For the first month of my personal new year, I am in double Air energy. The green luna moth is depicted with its wings outstretched, flying towards the white light and leaving the darkness behind it. The crow perches on a rainbow orb, a symbol of the spirit element. Air is the element of wisdom, power, mental processes, communication and also sustained changes. Having Air support Air means a time to really pay attention to where I am putting my mental energy and what thoughts I am thinking.

Our thoughts have a ripple effect.

What we think about our Self, the people around us, and the world; becomes what we notice. Common self-talk I have had is that "I am a terrible person." and thus "I am unlovable." This has been something I have been actively shifting. I take time to affirm to my Self why I am lovable and how I'm just a person (no need for judgements any which way). One who makes mistakes like any other. One who stays true to what I believe in and value, regardless of how that aligns with others around me.

I am on a journey of embracing and loving all that I am. (Self-love is very cool actually, and the days of self-deprecating humour are over). I believe that we can experience the liberated and connected worlds we dream of right now. In spite of oppressive systems and societal norms, we can be in love, joy, and reverent connection with our Self, others, and the Earth. And to me, that starts with changing how I think about my circumstances, my loved ones, and my Self. By choosing to align with this belief, I find my Self noticing these joyful moments more. By choosing to align with liberation in the present, not as a distant future, I feel freer.

My nervous system is calmer. My capacity for life is greater. And for the first time in my life, I have felt an embodied sense of peace. My suicidal thoughts have decreased considerably and when they do pop up I am not afraid of what I might do. I can breathe easy knowing that I will live on for many more years.

This is some of the wisdom that this Crow year will bring me.

The Corvidae family is thought to have originated in the Miocene period, about 24 to 5 million years ago (Hudon & D'agincourt, 2012). Meaning that Crow wisdom is ancient. This Year Ahead Spread is a call to return to the ancient, Earth-offered wisdom that exists all around me. It is potent. Which will ask me to stay grounded and connected to my body, and to Love, in order to really integrate it.

The Crow looks off to the distant East, along with the Lion (December), the Frog (January), and the Scorpion (February). I foresee those 3 months to be a time when my worldview, my philosophy, and my understandings, really expand.

To have this ancient wisdom alongside a such short-lived moth for October, however, is quite the duality. Luna Moths tend to live for around 1 week as adults (Hadley, 2017). To me, this speaks to how I am meant to digest this wisdom in small bursts. October is the induction into my Year Ahead. Induction in this case is the beginning process where a hypnotist sets the conditions for hypnosis to occur.

When I look at my coming year as a time where I am meant to be hypnotized by the Crow's wisdom. Where I am meant to experience life through an altered state of sorts; having October be this induction makes sense. Throughout this month, and perhaps the next as well, I am meant to set the stage for me to be able to experience all this year has to offer me.

Where setting the stage will be shaping my thoughts, choosing my actions, and creating habits that will allow me to step into all this Year Ahead has to offer in an embodied and grounded way.

TLDR; The rest of the year 2022, and the coming year 2023, will bring me a new sense of wisdom and understanding brought forward from the Earth and my ancestors. So mote it be.