transform

There are so many butterflies on this card and we often associate butterflies with transformation.

Whenever you see a butterfly flying by, you consider it a message for yourself to be invited to transform in some way; transform an area of your life, for example. Because butterflies go through such a challenging life to become a butterfly; from the caterpillar to the pupae until it reaches the butterfly stage, it goes through an intense life. And to transform means that you will turn into something beautiful, like the butterfly, but transformation can also be quite challenging because you will have come from somewhere that may be a bit more dark, a bit more uncomfortable to something new and wonderful. But it's not the easiest of life-cycles. It's not simply one day you waken up and you suddenly transform, it can be a challenging life cycle and that's what I feel we're being reminded of in this card.

There are quite a few things that have stood out for me on this card.

The first thing that caught my attention was the dome. And inside the dome are butterflies. There's lightning striking the dome. And the lady is very carefully removing the dome so that the butterflies can go free. We already have a lot of butterflies to the right, flying free.

The message that it's actually been saying to me, connecting all that together, is that you cannot transform while you stay safe, while you stay overly protected, while you stay in your comfort zone. Miracles only happen outside of your comfort zone. So I feel with regards the dome, she's been wanting to keep these butterflies in a beautiful sanctuary, in a beautiful place where she can admire them, but they're not free to fly because they have very limited space in the dome. And although she didn't want them to go, in order to fully transform and live life to the full, they need to be free. They're flyihng insects, they need to be able to fly.

It's as if, in order for her to transform, she has to do the same thing: she needs to fly. It's not good just sitting in your comfort zone and thinking that you have turned into a butterly when actually your comfort zone restricts you and it keeps you small and it keeps you safe. You need to step outside of your comfort zone.

I feel this is the strongest message on this card: you've got to step out of your comfort zone in order for you to fully transform and fly free.

I mentioned the lightning bolt striking the dome. Whenever I saw the ilghtning bolt,  I thought of the phrase, "a lightning bolt moment". It's like a moment of inspiration. It's like something just strikes you. And that's what I feel has happened to this woman. She's been admiring these beautiful butterflies in the dome and how they've been fluttering around, and they're all very pretty. And then this lightning bolt has struck like inspiration. And that's whenever she's realised, "hang on, they may be pretty and they may be fluttering around, and it's lovely to look at them in the dome, but they're not free. They're not living the life they're supposed to live. And I need to set them free." It's almost like the lightning bolt moment had to strike in order for her to have that inspiration.

If you think of lightning. Usually lightning happens in a very dark sky because all clouds start to come in and cover the sun, if it's daytime. Or, quite often, lightning happens in the evening. And that strike of lightning suddenly lights up the sky and, for a split second, you can see what's around you, you can see everything that's there. It took that split second, that lightning bolt moment, for her to realise that keeping these butterflies in the dome, keeping herself in her comfort zone, is actually very restrictive and not how the butterflies, or she, should be living. They should all be free. Free to follow their path, free to do what they're supposed to do here on earth. And that's why she's lifting the dome.

She's also lifting it tentatively. She's not just whipping it off after the flash of inspiration, she's not just taking the dome and lifting it off quickly, she's lifting it tentatively. And I feel there's an advisement, a warning about this. You don't want to lift the dome off all of a sudden because if you suddenly lift it, you could damage and hurt the fragile little butterflies that are inside. You do want to lift it off gently, but you do want to lift it off so gently and so slowly that only one butterfly is getting out at a time. You want to gently lift that dome off and set it aside so all the butterflies can fly free at once. In other words, you want to get out of your comfort zone completely. You don't want to keep a foot in your comfort zone, where the other foot is outside, You don't want to keep your big toe in the comfort zone while the rest of you is outside. You want to fully step out of your comfort zone. And you may, at the start, do so a little bit cautiously, but you need to do it. Because, otherwise, your fully transformation cannot happen while you've still got a big toe or a foot still set in your comfort zone.

We see also there are a few fairies, a few onlookers. Fairies have this magical feeling about them. It's almost as if they're expecting this magical moment to happen. And they're watching on. And it's the same with you. You have so many spiritual beings, angelic beings, fairies, whichever you connect with closest. And they're all watching you. They getting excited because they can see that you have realised that to fully transform, you need to get out of your comfort zone completely; you need to place both feet, your whole body, and walk away from your comfort zone so you can fully transform. There's almost like an excitement and a magical atmosphere about this because of this.

Because, if we look at how she's dressed. She's dressed in beige. Think of the colour beige. It's pretty boring, it's pretty conservative. And it's reinforcing that you've been a little bit too conservative, you've been a little bit (dare I say) boring. We need to shift this up a gear. We need to bring in some excitement. We need to bring in a little big of magic. We need to bring in a lot of transformation. And you can only do that when you're outside of your comfort zone.

Again, another reference to the comfort zone. If you look round the edge of the card, it makes me feel like she's inside a cave and that the dome is at the very edge of the cave, leading out to a brand new world. Have you hidden yourself in a cave? Have you hidden yourself from the world? Maybe you feel you don't fit in with the world, you've struggled with the world, and you've hidden yourself away.

However, for you to have an impact, a positive impact on those around you. You need to step out of your cave, you need to let yourself transform, not just outside of your comfort zone, but so other people can see also. Because, when you do, you will inspire others to transform and follow their path also. It's really important to inspire those around us. There will be some people who don't get you, some people who don't agree, and that's fine. Just walk on past them. It's the people who are inspired by what you are doing - those are the people you want to work with and be around, because they have such a beautiful and positive energy about them, a bit like the fairies. There's something magical about them. It's as if they're also on the cusp of transformation. They're not quite there yet. But as soon as you leap out of your comfort zone and say, "I am here. I am ready to be transformed. I am ready to do what I am meant to do here on earth", you'll inspire those around you and they'll start stepping forward too.

This card is all about transforming, transformation, and the invitation to transform. However, what I have felt has been strongest about this card is the fact that you can't transform while you're stuck in your comfort zone, you can't transform when you're being overly protective of yourself, you can't transform whenever you've pulled yourself away from society or hidden yourself away from people, you can't fully transform while you're being conservative and a little bit boring, playing it a little bit too safe, you can't fully transform. You may transform a little because little by little your comfort zone will expand so you will be transforming little by little. However, for you to fully transform, you need to fly free, you need to be set free, and you need to get out of your comfort zone.

Reference: This beautiful card is from Whispers of Healing Oracle Deck by Angela Hartfield, artwork by Josephine Wall