Lunaea Weatherstone's Blogue

What don't you know?

In the last presidential debate, the final question was "What don't you know, and how will you learn it?" Both candidates dodged the question, but it's stayed with me and I've been asking it of myself. At first I came up with things like "I don't know how to knot strings of pearls, and I can learn it at the bead store." When I was younger I used to set myself tasks to learn new things, how to play chess or do needlepoint or folk dance. It's been a long time since I gave myself the gift of learning new skills, and it's a pleasure I want to get back to.

Turning this question over in my mind, I found all kinds of things I don't know. On a practical, earthy level, I don't know why I have so much resistance to cooking and eating healthier foods. I don't know why I struggle so with issues of time management and money management and clutter and chaos, why these keep coming up for me as challenges and lessons. How will I learn these practical things? By simply doing them, I suppose. The second part of the question is much harder! Which is undoubtedly why the candidates didn't answer. We learn from our mistakes, and "by trial and error" isn't something most people are willing to hear from their future president. Am I willing to say it for myself, and believe it? To have the courage to try new things, push through, fall down, get back up?

But the question was meant to be more profound than just earthly concerns. What don't I know on a deeper level, and how will I learn it? This is the time of year when the ancestors offer their wisdom most clearly. Grandmothers, what don't I know, and how will I learn it? These are questions to be answered in divination, when the veil is thin and my heart is open to hear the answers. What don't I know about community, and how will I learn it? What don't I know about home, and how will I learn it? What don't I know about faith, love, creativity, vocation, my true self? This whole life's journey -- the Fool's journey -- is about what I don't know, and how I will learn it. I invite you to ask yourself the question too, and share your thoughts.

Nancy Drew and the Mystery of. . .

Tarot is my usual divination tool, but little omens and auguries and such come to all of us in the course of everyday life, too. This morning, for example, I woke up with a phrase of music in my head, which is often how the Fates whisper a thought-for-the-day, although it’s up to me to divine its deeper meaning. In this case, the musical phrase was The Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” which is much nicer to wake up to than some of my other Musical Messages from the Beyond (“Too Much Booty in da Pants” comes to mind). This gentle reminder from the cosmos that I am a magic-maker, that I influence the flow of energy around me, helps sharpen my awareness as I move through my day. What's playing on your brain radio today? And what is it trying to tell you?

Another everyday oracle I like to play with is bibliomancy — opening a book at random and letting a sentence jump out at me, then interpreting its possible meaning. One of my favorite variations on this was invented by mistress of bardery Anne Markel. She suggests using any vintage Nancy Drew book as your bibliomancy source — it’s Nancy-mancy! Here’s my Nancy-mancy for the day, from The Haunted Bridge: “At the bridge, Nancy found her worried chums.” I do have several worried chums today, as it happens, friends who are concerned about loved ones who are very ill, and this is a good reminder to hold them in my thoughts and prayers, to meet them at the “bridge” between our hearts, with compassion and faith. Here’s another: “Even Nancy could think of nothing to say or do in such a crisis.” It’s true — sometimes just being with someone in silent support is the very best thing we can do. Life is a mystery!

In honor of the new Nancy Drew movie opening today (even if it turns out to be dreadful, we still like Nancy herself!), I invite you to open a volume at random and share some Drewish wisdom!