Seven of Swords + Rabbit Spirit
When Rabbit first met Fox, it did not go over very well. Rabbit had been ignorant, naive and blind to the truth behind Fox, and he had lost many of his kind as a result. Rabbit’s ancestors had grown up in these places, had learned to trust their ability to relax and be at ease in this space. But that had all needed to change when Fox came along. Fox who snuck into this place and pretended like nothing was the matter; Fox who sidled up to Rabbit and acted is though they were friends; Fox who eventually took advantage of Rabbit and chowed down on their kin.
Rabbit quickly adapted to this situation and began to pull one over on Fox. Rabbit who began to hide in the tall grasses and plentiful bushes; Rabbit who began to always perk up their long ears, always on guard; Rabbit who hopped off in a moment’s notice when danger appeared. And this left Fox with little. Fox had run Rabbit into the ground and now Fox found himself empty and wanting, he had acted too soon and too quick and now Rabbit was overly fearful.
Over the years Rabbit became skittish and jumpy; he began to fear his own shadow, constantly being on edge and on the look out for Fox. Rabbit quickly realized that this way of living was doing him no good. It caused him excess fear, worry and anxiety. And so Rabbit began to adapt again, began to change his approach and his understanding of Fox. Rabbit moved to a space where other prey lived, and Fox soon followed quickly beginning to feast on the other options instead. Rabbit realized that once Fox was full, together they could live in harmony and that their mutual co-existence wasn’t so bad. Rabbit realized that to live a life full of fear and vigilance paled far in comparison to adapting to the circumstance and living more fully and freely.
Here’s what we can take from The Rabbit and The Fox this month: it’s okay to be vigilant, it’s okay to be anxious, it’s okay to have fear; but don’t allow those traits to become overly controlling and dominant. We are currently being faced with circumstances in which we are constantly being asked to adapt and we find ourselves constantly changing our response and our behaviours as a result. This can cause a lot of fear and anxiety to bubble up to the surface and so many of us are probably living on the edge of our seats right now.
What our guides this month are urging us is to do is to draw awareness to these feelings and then begin to notice any deception or trickery they are trying to play on us. Notice if and when these states start to become the dominant force and thereby begin to take over control of your thoughts, your actions or even your life in general. By drawing awareness to our anxiety, or fear, or excessive worries, we can begin the process of adapting to and coping with them or our situation in order to reduce these emotions.
Friends, I urge you to do what you must in order to adapt to what is currently causing you any extreme feelings of discomfort or uneasiness. It is hard to be residing for too long in these spaces, and so it is important to adjust to them as you must. Whatever this needs to look like for you right now. Perhaps you need to scale it back and expect a little less, or just a little something different of yourself. Perhaps you need to be more patient, kinder and empathetic towards yourself (and others). Perhaps you need to give yourself permission to slow down some and be okay with redefining “productivity,” “success” or “staying busy.” Perhaps you need to make more time for soaking up sunshine, listening to Bob Marley and spending time with your plants (or your pets, or your kids, or your crystals, or yourself).
Rabbit and Fox alike are guiding us to notice the sneaky nature of our own uncomfortable feelings and lean more regularly and heavily on what we need to do to cope and adapt to them at this time. Some days these feelings are going to feel as though they are coming out of nowhere; and it’s okay to not always feel okay, but please take care of yourself and up the ante on tending to your needs throughout all this.
