We have arrived at the end of the water element. The animals that have journeyed with us have taught us how to move in the flow of life, express our emotions with awareness, and create from the center within that is connected to the world at large.
Our last card in the water element is the Whale. These gentle giants move our hearts in profound ways. They remind us that a world of beauty, grace, peace, and deep emotional capacity is possible.
The card that precedes the Whale is the Dolphin, and the Dolphin brings invitations of spiritual healing through play, communication, acts of service, and energetic shifts in the way of Dharma. We all have a responsibility to make the world better for someone or something else.
Once we arrive at this awareness with the Dolphin, the Whale teaches us how to hold, measure, and give from that emotional space. Whale energy provides us the emotional resonance that at any given point, our hearts can lead the way to a better, more compassionate space. The energy and situations naturally transform for the better. The ego is quiet, and the heart leads the way with strength, wisdom, and trust in the universe.
Letting the Heart Lead the Way to Peace
With the Whale being the last card in the water element, we are invited to create a sense of mastery, leadership, and example; think of the Kings in the tarot. The Whale in this personified setting doesn’t move with compassion and grace as a way to tally the scores of life, to hold its report card against something else. It embodies this emotional understanding and capacity because that is where the best things in life are.
I think of this quote from Brene Brown’s book, Daring Greatly, “To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly.” This is the teaching of the Whale, that being authentic and vulnerable is one of the greatest and oldest teachings there is.
We can only find that emotional depth by giving it to ourselves in how we move and flow through this world. Learning how to hold that space and create that mastery means that we naturally hold that space for others. We lead by example, showing others that they don’t need a permission slip to be authentic, beautiful, unique, or vulnerable.
In a world of ugliness, Whale will bring the softness. The Whale card reminds us that compassion, grace, serenity, and a beautiful world are always worth fighting for, especially now.
The Whale is a card of emotional bravery. It takes a lot of courage to rewrite the story and bring the love, the humanity, and the heart back in. Everyone has experienced moments of pain and situations that have caused feelings of anger, shame, grief, or betrayal. It is so easy to start to close off to potentials when our memory is replaying the moments we have been hurt. It is easy to remember the experiences that cast a shadow on your heart. True emotional courage is taking the risk of the pain to stay open to love, compassion, and connection.
Guidance from the guidebook
]Some key references from the guidebook
Keywords / phrases: Desire to Delve Deeper, Profound Peace, Ancient Wisdom
When in balance: calm, steady, deeply compassionate
When out of balance: heavy, slips into the “old story”
To bring into balance: regular self care
Following the guidance from the guidebook, working with the Whale is an invitation to dive deeper emotionally into a situation, memory, moment, or the self for a deeper understanding. This understanding takes us to very tender places, but it is here that compassion and love can be found and are needed. In this place, within the depths of the soul, we move past the immediate, reactive, or defensive emotions and get into the truth.
We find the more innocent, pure, cherished, and good parts of ourselves. Unfortunately, these are the parts that often get hurt, used, or abandoned in life. That is why the guidebook says that when the whale energy within is out of balance, it can feel heavy, and the old story starts coming out. The repeated narratives of victimhood, self vs. others, or toxicity start to come forward. It’s not wrong to ever slip into the moments, we ALL do. What is important is to use that desire to delve deeper to see WHY we are slipping into the old narratives, and then attempt to rewrite the story.
Doing this allows balance the energies out, finding a sense of calm when we would normally react hastily. We find a sense of support and confidence within the self to not take everything so personally, and that opens us into the compassion, peace, and wisdom that the Whale puts out into the world every day.
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Ashlie McDiarmid
Hello there! I hope you liked this blog post. As a tarot and oracle reader, my goal with my blogs is to offer you content, resources, and access to the tools that have transformed my life.
I believe that your own intuition is the deepest form of knowing, but here in my little corner of the internet, I share insights based in intuition and instinct. I share my love for nature, witchcraft, and the wild spirit.
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