While it may be ‘spooky season’, this week is a good time to remember that Divine is all treats and no tricks, so don’t let anyone tell you differently!
There are a few events coming up that have been traditionally associated with superstitions but are in fact opportunities for transformation.
This Saturday we begin the final eclipse season of 2023 with a ‘Ring of Fire’ Annular Eclipse, and this Friday is Friday the 13th.
It’s true the movie Friday the 13th is scary, and seeing an eclipse can be a wild experience, but there’s nothing to fear or be superstitious about with either.
In fact, both of these occurrences offer us a chance to reflect and change.
As we move towards Samhain (Halloween) and the final months of 2023, this eclipse season is an excellent time to consider — what wants to be released, what requires your attention for harvest, and what will bring you the greatest satisfaction in 2024?
To help explore the transformative power of eclipse season and the number 13, I’m calling upon Tarot’s cards Major Arcana XIII — Death, and the Queen of Wands.
Eclipse Season and the Ring of Fire
The Annular Eclipse this Saturday the 14th is known as the ‘Ring of Fire’ because the Moon will block out the sun, but not completely, leaving a ring of light around the outline of the Moon.
This eclipse will be visible in the United States, and if you’re in the Bay Area (like me) you can see the Moon will obscure about three-quarters of the sun at around 9:45 a.m.
On a primitive level, it makes a lot of sense that we’d have some fear about an eclipse. Seeing the sun blocked out by the Moon in the middle of the day is wild.
during
While many astrologers encourage caution during eclipse season, I can promise that there’s no reason to worry. Eclipses are not negative.
I know this because Divine is always an advocate for our highest and best. There’s no reason that an entire eclipse season would regularly show up, just to put us into contraction.
Solar eclipses are always accompanied by a new moon, and lunar eclipses are always accompanied by a full moon.
Normally we’d use the new moon phase for setting our new intentions for manifestation, but since we’ll get an entire lunar cycle in one night at the full moon/lunar eclipse, we can pause our manifestation efforts and just allow Divine to work on our behalf.
Instead of preparing for this eclipse season by flinching at its potential energetic shift, we can actually use this time to put all our fears and superstitions on the chopping block.
Imagine that Divine is showing up to remove whatever energetic obstacles you’ve amassed.
What fears and limitations would you like to have lifted? Are there fears that you are still attached to? What would it mean if they were also removed? Can you imagine?
Friday the 13th and Death
I can remember when I heard about the movie Friday the 13th, I was in the 2nd grade. That was it for me. I’ve never actually seen it, but that mask is still scary to me.
It’s hard to say when or why Friday the 13th became known as an unlucky day, but there’s even a name for fearing this date- paraskevidekatriaphobia.
We can probably attribute Friday the 13th’s bad rep to Christianity. Western cultures like the number 12. 12 months in a year, 12 Zodiac signs, 12 days of Christmas, and the 12 tribes of Israel to name a few.
Conversely in pagan traditions, the calendar followed the 13 moons of the year. At the last supper, there were 13 guests which was thought to be a bad omen. Apparently, seating arrangement etiquette goes way back. That Jesus was killed on a Friday may have something to do with do with the unlucky day of the week.
It makes sense then that 13 is also the number of the Major Arcana card Death.
If there was one thing I wish everyone knew about the Tarot, it’s that the Death card is not a ‘bad’ or ‘scary’ card!
The Death card does not arrive because someone is going to die. And, we all die, so death in itself isn’t bad or scary either.
It’s no accident that Scorpio season and the Death card show up at the same time we’re gathering fall leaves and carving pumpkins.
Like the fall season, the Death card and the number 13 represent a time of shedding and rebirth.
Instead of thinking of Friday the 13th as an unlucky day, we can use this day and the following eclipse season as a time to release our old habits so that we can be reborn.
We are constantly experiencing change, which is another word for death and rebirth.
It is only the ego that fears change and therefore fears death.
But by resisting and fearing death and change, we become stuck.
Depression and boredom are the ego’s way of hitting the breaks on our consciousness and our awakening. Those feelings of inertia often conceal an inner fear of the unknown.
This Friday the 13th, I invite you to kick off a season of change by examining your current habits.
Are there habits that you know aren’t serving you? Have you become so comfortable that you’re afraid of growth? Is there a way for you to confront complacency with novelty, and thereby face a fear of change?
The Queen of Wands
To help us work through these invitations for rebirth and transformation, I’m calling on the wisdom of the Queen of Wands.
The Queen of Wands is often described as the ‘witchiest’ card in the deck, and with good reason.
Going back to the number 13, if we were to number the Minor Arcana cards up through the Court Cards, the Queens would be 13. Pagans honor the 13 lunations of the year, and there are 13 witches in a coven.
All the Queens can be conceived of as witches, but the Queen of Wands most of all, because she is an alchemist.
We know the Queen of Wands is an alchemist because Wands are ruled by Fire and Queens are ruled by Water. Without some magic, there’s no way to hold both elements together.
And, with her black cat at her feet and the sunflower in her wand, she’s got a powerful witch appearance.
She’s strong and playful, but her little black cat familiar informs you that you’d be wise not to cross her. By standing in her own power and greatness, she demonstrates to others how to inhabit their own magic, and that’s just what she is here to offer you.
Putting it All Together: A ‘Reign of Fire’ Recipe
As I promised at the top, there is an opportunity for real transformation in this eclipse season.
When we call on the Queen of Wands, we are calling in the courage to believe in our own magic.
Courage isn’t something that comes in the absence of fear, it comes in spite of it.
You may or may not hold any superstitious beliefs around Friday the 13th, but we all have fears, especially when it comes to change.
Starting Friday the 13th, I invite you to begin a practice of conscientiously confronting whatever fearful thoughts you have, especially those that want to resist change. Consider these your superstitions.
Using the Queen of Wands as your anchor card between Friday the 13th and the close of the eclipse season on Saturday, October 28th (when there will be a lunar eclipse), I invite you to welcome, observe, and engage in an energetic transformation.
TO BEGIN
Spend some time thinking and journaling on the questions I posed earlier:
What is ready to be released?
What requires your attention to be harvested?
What will bring you the most satisfaction in 2024?
Then, take some additional time to write and explore:
Where are you holding onto a fear?
What more can you turn over to the Divine for assistance?
Why have you held onto that fear for this long?
Is there an additional fear that if that worry were to be removed, you would be in the unknown?
What would that mean? What would it look like?
Just as the eclipse removes the sun’s light, we can use the Queen of Wands’ energy to illuminate the shadows within ourselves, shedding light on what no longer serves us.
Remember that the Queen of Wands is passionate, and unapologetically herself.
When you think of what will bring you the most satisfaction at the close of this year, know that everything you started in January isn’t supposed to come with you. Some projects will make great compost for the next season.
BRINGING TOGETHER FIRE & WATER
Just like our Queen of Wands, we’re going to call on the element of fire to support our passions and bring us strength, and water to support our love and intuition.
The Death card is an invitation to metaphorically place everything in your life on the funeral pyre. Today we’ll literally light our fears into flames.
You don’t need to have an actual cauldron (but good for you if you do!), you can use a regular pot over the stove.
Summarize what fears you identified in your journaling and write each of them down on a slip of paper.
Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Add black ink until you can visualize that the water’s surface is a black hole. If you want, you can also add some essential oils or spices to make this brew aromatic. Feel free to light colored and scented candles and burn incense. Remember that we’re calling in some beautiful Queen of Wands witch energy for this ritual.
With the flame (or a match if your stove is electric) you are going to light your fears on fire, and then extinguish them in the black water. When you light your fears, feel yourself offering them to Spirit for removal.
Watch as they disappear. Allow that energy to sink into your body.
When your ritual is complete, take your water and flush it down the toilet.
As an adult, you have a healthy respect for fire. You know how not to get burned, and so you aren’t afraid.
Similarly, we establish our fears in an effort to keep ourselves safe. But when it comes to embracing growth and change, you’re already safe.
I encourage you to begin this ritual on Friday the 13th or at the Solar eclipse on Saturday. Between then and the 28th, revisit this practice of surrender each time you boil water or light a flame. Stay conscious and observe what this engagement to transformation feels like until the Lunar eclipse on the 28th.
It may not feel comfortable, but when we surrender our defenses and trust the Divine with our safety, we can walk through the flames of fear. What is truly meant for you will always be there on the other side.