wanderer

If you notice, the subtitle of this card says the spirit (or soul) needs movement. So this card isn't necessarily talking about you going on a physical journey. It's talking about something spiritual, that your soul needs to keep moving.

If the water is stagnant around your soul, your soul has got no room to grow, it has got no room to flourish and blossom. You want the water, the river in the picture, to be flowing. And, yes, it is a little bit choppy, a little bit wavy. But that just means that whenever you do choose to listen to your soul, whenever you choose to step out of your comfort zone, to grow and to develop, it doesn't mean to say everything's going to run smoothly, but it does say (through the waves) that change is going to take place. And change is always good. Whether it may initially feel like negative change or positive change, change always helps us to grow and to develop and to keep moving forward.

And that's what this card is all about: moving forward. The spirit needs movement. Don't stand still. Your spirit doesn't want to stand still. Your soul doesn't want to stand still.

We can see on the card, the very large image of a cat. And then this other creature in a kind-of basket, is setting sail. It would make sense that these two creatures are both cats, both alike. However, whenever I look at the smaller creature in the basket, it looks more like a fox to me. So that's how I'm going to interpret them. It's important when you interpret cards to interpret what you see. It doesn't need to be the same as what the deck's creator has seen. It's what you see because that's where you get your message.

If we look at the little fox, to start with. A beautiful, orange fox. Orange is all about spiritual growth, for me. And the fox: what are the characteristics of a fox? Well, a fox is intelligent, resourceful, patient, cunning, shrewd, a calculated risk-taker. The fox is, in my eyes, representing your soul, representing your spirit when it wants to move forward and move forward on a journey. It needs to be resourceful. It needs to take calculated risks otherwise it won't get anywhere; it'll stay still. It needs be patient because not everything comes at once. It needs to be a little bit cunning because sometimes you have to decipher, whenever you are traveling down a river in a lovely basket, will I take this branch or will I take that branch of the river? And only you can decide. The river may be moving you towards a certain branch but if it doesn't feel right for you, you may choose to go down another one.

We also see the fox's eyes are wide open. Don't go into this with your eyes closed. You are your soul. Your soul has taken on a physical form. This is you as a human being. So don't pretend to yourself that your soul needs to go on a journey and you, your human-ness, you are quite happy to be left behind in your comfort zone. You come as one package. So you enter this with open eyes.

And whenever your eyes are open, you see so much more around you. There's enthusiasm as well whenever you open your eyes and see the world around you. The angels want you to be enthusiastic and to see more and envision more than what maybe you could if your eyes weren't fully open, whenever you go on this soul journey.

The vessel that the fox is traveling in is a woven basket. What that's saying to me is, the fox hasn't taken the time to build a raft or to build a boat - the normal vessel for traveling on water. It's got a basket. It's looked at that basket and thought, that's water-proof enough, it's light, it will carry me, it won't sink; so I'm going to use that basket. The message here is, don't waste time, don't waste precious time trying to find the perfect vessel to go on your soul travels in. Choose something that will work. When you waste time, you're wasting precious time. Your soul wants to travel, it wants to explore, it wants to grow, it wants to develop. And if you're making excuses and looking around for best, most waterproof boat that you can find, you'll simply finding excuses, you're simply postponing what you should be doing, you're simply procrastinating becasue of fear or worry about what may come.

Don't just grab anything to go sailing in, grab something that will support you, that will be buoyant, that will be waterproof. But it doesn't have to be perfect. What the angels want you to do is simply to move forward so your soul can grow and expand.

Let's look at the cat. The cat is coloured, mostly, in purple. Purple, for me, is the colour of angelic connection, spiritual connection. The little fox is all about spiritual growth and it's going on an adventure being sent forth by spiritual and angelic connection. And I almost feel that the fox will return and, when the fox returns, it will have become this bigger version of the cat where it has, through its spiritual growth, connected closely with the angels and the spiritual realm. It's developed this connection, it has grown. That's why its soul wants to travel and to move forward, because it wants to develop that connection. It's almost like, this is what you're going to come back as eventually, this fully grown cat.

What I also like about the cat is its tail. Its stripey tail. It reminds me so much of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. And, apart from his grin, what do we know about the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland? Well, a lot of people would say that the Cheshire Cat was representative of Alice's spirit guide or, indeed, her subconscious. It's the one creature in Alice in Wonderland that gives her guidance that she can listen to and follow. Yes, it can be a little bit naughty and cunning at times, but it does give her guidance. And, every time she travels further in Wonderland, she's always seeking out her Cheshire Cat for support and for guidance. The angels are similarly saying, seek us out all the time for support and guidance. We will speak through your subconscious, we will speak through your soul, and we will support and guide you whenever you needs us.

The other thing about the Cheshire Cat is, no matter what the Cheshire Cat tells or advises Alice, it's true. Others may play around but what the Cheshire Cat says is true. And of all characters in Alice in Wonderland, it's the one character that actually listens to Alice. When Alice wants to say something, it she talks to the Mad Hatter or anybody else, they're all off doing something else, nobody's listening. The Cheshire Cat, however, always listens to her, it's like her protector, her angel, her spirit guide. It's always listening. Again, that's a reminder, when you go on this travel, when your soul moves forward, you're not moving forward alone. You always have the angels with you, your spirit guides with you to support you, to guide you and to hold you. You're not alone on this journey. And, as a result, whenever you turn to them and look for them and ask for their guidance, they will always be there for you. As you do that, you will grow spiritually until you have this really strong connection with them.

The final thing I want to talk about on this card is the lantern which seems to be attached to... You know whenever you grew up as a child and you wanted to become a ghost, you'd put a sheet over your head, that's what that ghost-like figure on the card is reminding me of. It's saying again to me, that it's like a spirit guiding this fox forward as its soul goes on this journey. It's nothing scary. Whenever you were a child and you dressed up as a ghost and you put a sheet on, everybody knew it was you, nobody was scared. It's carrying a lantern, it's saying again, that this spirit, your guides, will be with you on this journey as you move forward. So continue to move forward because they are with you and there's nothing to be scared of; they're nothing to be scared of. They want to help you, they want to protect you, they want to support you. And they're bringing with them this little lantern to help light the way for you, to give you a guiding light to follow so that you're not going into darkness, you're not entering anything scary. They're reminding you that they are here and they'll shine the light for you so you can see where you're going. It doesn't mean to say you can see very far ahead, and that's fine. As long as you see each moment in time that you need to see and you can make your decisions based on that, that you see enough of the picture. You don't need to see your final destination, although I do feel we're going to go full-circle on this journey and we're going to come back here and the big purple cat is what you're going to look like.

This card is really uplifting and it's saying, don't keep your soul in your comfort zone because you're too scared or worried or afraid to step forward. Your soul needs to grow. It needs to expand. Your body is within your soul but don't let it restrict your soul. Let your soul move forward, let it flow, because your soul brings life to your body. We think of water as the flowing of life as well, and your soul is bringing life to your body. It needs to move forward, it needs to keep traveling, it needs to wander, it needs to explore, it needs to see the beauty of the world around you, and experience as much as possible in order for you to grow spiritually and create this beautiful angelic connection.

Reference: This beautiful card is from Secret Woods Oracle Deck by Kelly Patton