The Vulture, Writers Block, and Mercury Retrograde

I have got to be honest with you: I have had writers block for a while.

Of course, this happens from time to time for any writer, and this is almost to be expected when going through a major life change like I am now…being 6 months pregnant is a lot to think about at times, but no less worth it because of that.

You see, I have been struggling with finding my authentic voice when it comes to writing my blog. At a certain point “living in the moment” and focusing on my daily routine and health has somewhat separated me from a part of myself that I used to regularly meet with when writing. This is not a bad thing, but it has gotten me thinking lately.

When I started this journey nearly three years ago, I had all of these grand ideas about what I wanted to do with this project and not a clear vision of what it would become or how I would get it there. Add into the mix the pressures of life and a desire to become something more without a clear vision of exactly what “more” is doesn’t help at all. I think it’s natural to get caught up sometimes in ideas, but when they don’t match up with what I can actually accomplish, it hampers my creativity and authentic voice. Times like these are when we sometimes need to use tools to help us see clearly.

So this morning, eager to get to the bottom of this feeling, I wanted to do an exercise. I do this every once in a while, just for fun or when I need a creative inspiration boost: I drew a card from my trusty oracle deck by Kim Krans: The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck. ( Find it here.) I have a few other posts about this deck, which you can find Here and Here.

What struck me the most about the card I drew today was that this card was the first card I ever drew from the deck! What an exciting coincidence!

Back in September 2019, my husband and I popped into a little herb shop on my birthday after grabbing some lunch at a nearby Irish pub. It had the vibe of any other herb shop- a small mom and pop shop in Portland with wood floors and a billion canisters lined up on the walls. Candles and incense were displayed on small tables, tinctures glittered in their dark bottles from the shelves, and a smattering of crystals and other metaphysical doodads were littered throughout the small space. We snooped around, browsing, and I came upon their selection of tarot and oracle cards displayed by the front window.

I had owned oracle cards before-I received a deck of Doreen Virtue’s Healing with the Fairies oracle cards as a gift from my high school sweetheart’s mom a number of years ago. (I still have it and use it to this day 😇) The Animal Spirit deck seemed to jump out at me with its with its glittering holographic scaled design. It grabbed my attention and I did not hesitate to draw a card from the sample they had laying out on the small shelf.

The card I drew? The Vulture.

Somewhat of an ominous creature, the vulture is nature’s clean-up crew. It takes care of all the things that we don’t want to-roadkill, mainly-but we still view it as a dirty and somewhat dangerous animal. Scavengers have a bad reputation in the human realm, associated with rot and disease and misfortune.

Vultures have been depicted all across the world in a variety of ways, from the carvings on the ever-mysterious Gobekli Tepe ruins (the oldest ruins in the known world) to cartoons filled with tumbleweeds, the emaciated birds glowering from atop a cow’s bleached skull, its brethren making wide circles in the sky overhead. Its no wonder we think of vultures as a somewhat scary thing-just look at them! Their colored bald heads and puffed up chests make them look like a strange and otherworldly creature, and the fact that they eat garbage and carnage doesn’t really seem to boost our confidence in them. But! Like always, looks are deceiving.

In the Animal Spirit Guidebook Kim Krans writes:

"The vulture is perhaps the most misunderstood creature of all.... It does the dirty work that no one else wants to do and cleans up our messes. The vulture appears when there's a situation that needs to be purified of brought back into balance. Remember.....What you thought was a mistake or tragedy is a blessing in disguise."

So it calls into question: what do we need to bring to light, rebalance, or purify? What mistakes or tragedies can we re-frame our thinking about? What curses in our worlds can we realize are actually blessings?

I find this card and animal spirit especially poignant at this time because we are in our second Mercury Retrograde of the year, heading into summer, and coming out of an especially trying time in the world.

For me, this animal spirit helper calls me to return to my authentic voice and just write, regardless of how it turns out! Mercury Retrograde is a time when communications are turned on their heads-and sometimes that is exactly what a person needs to return to their authentic self and remember their voice.

Like a purifying spring rain, this time of Mercury Retrograde can be best used to clean and rebalance your space, get priorities straight, and rebalance parts of your life that you have been out of equilibrium. It is a time for discovering authenticity: recover your true self; rekindle old hobbies, activities, and passions. Sit in the sun, read, meditate, pursue small daily activities that you used to enjoy. Clear up any small domestic issues in your daily routine, do the dishes for God’s sake, declutter and sort through any junk mail you may have piling up. Get your life in order so when you are asked to deal with the big issues life will throw your way, you will be ready.

(If you would like to read more about Mercury Retrograde, read Mercury Retrograde and the Hanged Man, or An Imperfect Guide to Mercury Retrograde.)

Part of rediscovering your authenticity is having a sense of trust in God and the universe. With the Vulture as help, we can use this powerful yet misunderstood animal helper to bring essential rebalance to our lives, to re-learn trust, and to discover what we need to work on. Life is an ever-going process with changing seasons which include different levels of energy: own it!

Know that everything which is unclear now will be clarified and brought to the surface in your quest for authenticity.

JJC

Originally published at http://imperfectionfreak.wordpress.com on June 5, 2021.