Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Think meditation is hard. Do me a favor, take a slow, deep breath in.
[00:00:09] And now breathe out. Congratulations. You just meditated. Hi, I'm Crystal Jakowski and this is Breathe In, Breathe Out, a weekly mindfulness and meditation podcast for anyone ready to own their own shit and find a little peace while doing it.
[00:00:30] Welcome back to breathe in, breathe out. I'm Crystal Jaikowski and I'm excited about this week. We are doing the 8th episode of the meditation on the Oracle.
[00:00:42] And I'm excited about this week because it is one of my Native American decks. I've always been drawn to things of the Native American culture.
[00:00:55] I have a shaman drum and a rattle that I purchased from a shaman and I've always just wanted to bounce to that rhythm and spend time in their way of worship, their way of connecting with Mother Earth. And so today I was just so drawn to this one specific deck and decided it is time to pull it out. So this deck is called native spirit oracle Cards, and it's done by Denise Lin. Now, Denise Lin is a member of the Cherokee Nation and she's also the founder of the International Institute of Soul Coaching, which is a professional certification course.
[00:01:39] I was reading her introduction as I was just reacquainting myself with these cards. I was reading her introduction and her energy and her intention is so beautiful. And I just want to read a little bit of the introduction to you. She says, as she stood facing Mount Kachuma at dawn, she asked the Creator to bless these cards and bless each individual who uses them. She also called upon the mountain to infuse them with the native spirit. Her prayer is that this deck leads us into wondrous realms where we can explore our lives, journey, and understand our destiny more deeply.
[00:02:24] Additionally, her prayer is that this deck will support us in giving accurate heartfelt readings for ourselves and others.
[00:02:32] The Native Spirit Oracle Cards are our keys to unlocking a mystical portal into the inner knowing and ancient wisdom within ourselves and others. A profound journey awaits us. May the Creator guide us and shower us with love. And I just feel so hugged, for lack of a better word, by her energy and her nature. So I'm excited to do these cards. She does have a little bit of a different take on the three card reading. I'm going to use hers today. Instead of the past, current and where we're going, hers is more of a you choose three cards and the first one is something that needs to be healed.
[00:03:22] It indicates a block that we have and needs that need to be resolved. And then the second card is how do we heal that blockage, how do we move forward? What will help resolve and fix the obstacle? And then the third card is the future outcome. It represents how it will be resolved if we follow the advice given in the previous two cards. So let's do this. What is the one thing that needs to be healed? And we pull the tribal spirit. Dancer, gosh. This is a beautiful, beautiful picture in the forefront. At the bottom of the picture is like a sandy beach. And then you can see the white frothy waves and the beach is more of a burnt orange.
[00:04:20] And as you go across the waves and into the middle of the card, it is the sunset and it's very dark on the horizon with orange kind of growing out of that. And the sun is setting off to the right, and there are these beautiful black birds just flying around in the sky. And I love the colors. It feels so good with the oranges and the white clouds and the birds. It feels very right for right now in this season of fall and change. So let's look up in the book. What does it have to say?
[00:05:01] The meaning is this.
[00:05:04] Let go.
[00:05:07] Say yes to life. Be daring. Dance to your heart's desire. Unfurl your wings and fly.
[00:05:14] Cast aside conventions and restrictions. Tune into the rhythm of life.
[00:05:19] Laugh. Explore. Go beyond your predictable behavior. Sometimes life is messy and chaotic, and that's okay.
[00:05:28] Leave the dishes, run outside in the sprinklers.
[00:05:32] Your native spirit wants you to know that you are on this planet. To be free, you don't always need to meet the expectations of others. You are here to explore, expand and step into your extraordinary self.
[00:05:48] Of course, there are times to live an ordinary life, but there are also times to joyously fling your arms to the heavens and dance.
[00:05:56] Choose life on your terms. Clear out mental and emotional clutter. Move beyond those situations that you have outgrown. Don't accept the rules that you have placed upon yourself or that others have placed on you. This is your time. Don't delay listening to the rhythm of your heart and following your dreams and the journey, the action.
[00:06:19] Turn on music and move.
[00:06:21] Tribal dance isn't about looking good. It's about feeling the beat inside your heart and expressing this with your body and your emotions. If you want to break free, then start by expressing yourself wild and free, and the circumstances of your life will transform what needs to be healed. We need to let go break from our own rules and bindings that we've placed upon ourselves or the bindings that others have placed upon us.
[00:06:53] Dance. Be free and wild.
[00:06:57] So if that's what needs to be healed, the next card is how do we heal that?
[00:07:06] The answer is the medicine bag. And this is another beautiful card.
[00:07:12] It is a white leather medicine bag sitting on a pink rock with a lake and some waterfalls in the background.
[00:07:30] The card meaning is this gather your resources. Be discerning. Vast inner power is growing in your life. Step back and let it grow. There are times to shine brightly for all to see. And there are also times to choose carefully who sees your true self. Choose wisely. Do not make hasty decisions. If it doesn't feel right, hold back. You're protected from any less than positive outside influences. Your capacity and potential are growing in leaps and bounds. Your native spirits wants you to know. It's traditional in indigenous cultures to carry a medicine bag or medicine bundle as a form of protection and also as a way to access your personal power through the sacred objects that are held inside.
[00:08:19] The items in the medicine bag each contain potent qualities that allow one's abilities to magnify and also help one commune with the creator.
[00:08:29] As your power grows, take time to protect it, just as you protect a seedling in the early months and then later, once it's an established tree, it can withstand the storms of time. Protect your growing power and it will become as mighty as an ancient oak.
[00:08:46] And here's the journey.
[00:08:48] Consider obtaining or creating your own medicine bag or bundle.
[00:08:53] Put objects in it that are meaningful to you and make you feel strong and vital whenever you look at them or hold them. Traditionally, one's medicine bag was not worn for display, but often hidden from view or kept in a very sacred place.
[00:09:10] So we need to let go. We need to say yes. We need to embrace a new way of being our own power and shed the bonds that we and others have given to ourselves. And the way we do that is reminding ourselves of the beauty that's there and finding our own power and strength. We can create a medicine bag to remind us of those.
[00:09:35] And then the third card is always the future outcome. If we make that medicine bag and we hold the intention of saying yes instead of no to life, then what the answer is the card is the trickster. And this is a very beautiful winter picture.
[00:09:59] In the front, it's got beautiful snow, and there's this wolf walking across from left to right. And there's a big white flocked tree just behind the wolf. And there are a whole bunch of other little flocked trees further back on the right side of the card, the trickster.
[00:10:22] This card, meaning things are not as they seem. Something that seems bad may in fact be good and vice versa. Don't take everything at face value.
[00:10:34] Look beneath the surface. This card encourages you to try to find humor or gentle amusement in seemingly difficult situations. It also encourages you to have irrepressible fun. Step out of the mold your native spirit wants you to know. In indigenous traditions, there is the concept of the tricksters. In Native American traditions, the trickster is often depicted as a wily coyote, but sometimes the trickster is a human called hayoka. There is a light hearted, fun aspect of the trickster, but there's also the caution to tread carefully because things are not always as they seem, be discerning. What appears to be a good opportunity may in fact, not be. The wonderful aspect of this card choosing you is that it offers the opportunity to step out of the old outmoded ways of perceiving yourself. The trickster allows you to see yourself in an entirely new way and asks you to step out of old routines and habits that might be keeping you stagnant the journey. It might sound very strange, but the easiest way to activate the energy of this card is to howl like a coyote. If you can, it's even better to do it during the light of the full moon. This breaks up stagnant energies and brings in fresh vitality.
[00:11:55] Okay, do you see how these three cards go together? We are supposed to say yes. We are supposed to break free from the things that are holding us back and don't serve us.
[00:12:07] We are to do this by creating a medicine bag, something that can help remind us of our amazing nature and the gifts that we are.
[00:12:20] And once we have created this bag, we are to recognize that things are not always as they seem, have a little bit of fun, howl at the moon and see things from a new perspective.
[00:12:39] I'm reminded that everything that we go through, every experience that is brought to us, is brought to us so that we can learn and grow. So on the one hand, it might be weighty and heavy and challenging, and on the other hand, it's helping us grow. So what's the positive good fun in it? And if you pull that trickster in, it may be even easier to find that fun.
[00:13:01] Even though she looks at this different, with what needs to be healed, how to heal it, and then the future outcome. I want you to take a moment and think about this.
[00:13:13] Our last card, last time was smoke and mirrors. It was letting us know that a difficult time could be coming and that it may not be as difficult as we think that it would be. And in this reading, the first card, which naturally nests with the last card of the previous one, is the tribal spirit dancer helping us, reminding us that it is time to say yes instead of no. Is that not scary? Can that not be overwhelming? And does that not very beautifully go hand in hand with the smoke and mirrors? The fact that we have told ourselves that we need to be a certain way and yet that is not necessarily the way we need to be.
[00:14:07] Get rid of those bonds. Do that by reminding yourself of the divinity of who you are.
[00:14:17] Now, if you don't want to make a medicine bag that you carry around, this can also be journaling. This can be writing a note and posting it on your fridge or your laptop or your bathroom mirror, reminding you it may be that you're drawn to a specific stone and that that stone is what helps remind you of your real self and not the mask that you've placed out there. What is it that you can bring in and help to give you additional boosts as needed?
[00:14:56] What will remind you when you begin to choose to go back into the old you?
[00:15:05] That little tree. It talked about planting a tree and how we protect that, and I want you to think about it. In the very beginning, you do need to be very diligent because a big wind could come and blow it over as we shift and change, as we embrace our beauty and our authenticity.
[00:15:31] It's hard and yet we have to protect that path because if we don't, it's easy to slide back into where we were before creating that medicine bag. Creating those reminders are like those guy wires that helped keep the tree strong and steady. They are a constant, ever present force in encouraging that tree to stand strong and tall.
[00:16:03] So what are your guy wires? Are they reminders? Are they actual objects?
[00:16:11] Is it literally carrying something with you at all times as a reminder and then find the joy in it?
[00:16:23] Be mischievous, dance and shake it off. I just had this picture of one of the Native Americans doing beautiful dance and how they stomp on the ground. And that stomping is like shedding the negative energy, shaking it off.
[00:16:44] You don't need to carry it. So maybe one of your guy wires is dancing so that you can shake off and remove the old shed off the dry mud so that you can now be clean and true and pure.
[00:17:04] Gosh, that's just beautiful day and I'm so very grateful for it and I hope it uplifts you and encourages you and inspires you as much as it did me.
[00:17:18] I look forward to having you here again next week on Breathe In, Breathe Out.
[00:17:30] I hope this moment of self care and healing brought you some hope and peace. I'm Crystal Daikowski on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and I hope you check us out and follow along for more content coming soon. I look forward to being with you again here on Breathe In, Breathe Out. Until next time. Take care.
