Power Animal Oracle Readings

October 5 & 6, 2008

Deer came and Opossum came.

Mother Deer and Brother Opossum are teaching us about the ways we engage with other people. For now some are probably caught in situations that require strategies and rescue. Our beloved friends tell us that it is fine to at times have a few tricks up our sleeves to distract our opponent. This is not cheating but ingenuity. For Brother Opossum his greatest tactic is to play dead! When he senses that there is no way of escaping, he lies down quickly on the ground motionless. When the enemy sees him in this state, he normally pauses or would look away for a second. The moment the enemy is sidetracked by his acting, he quickly gets up to run away to safety.

What does this tell us? It tells us that we don’t have to fight every battle and always have the last say. If your neighbour is constantly boasting or talking down to you, maybe the best way is to ignore him and play dead. When he sees that we don’t respond to his dramas, then he will stop. “Gently step way,” says Mother Deer. She is here to show us the path of grace. Sometimes we are very harsh on ourselves and indirectly expose ourselves to bitter and demanding situations. At times to fulfill our egoistical need to appear strong, righteous and our inabilities to tolerate the discomforts trigger our need to battle and wrangle. At times we do not know how to say tenderly say “No!”

It is perfectly fine to get angry with someone too and to raise our voice to be heard. But this should not be a constant habit. It is dangerous when we rigidly react to every situation out of anger and from our injured ego. The ego is easily slighted and when it is we might unknowingly take revenge. We begin to harbour jealousy and hatred toward a friend who is doing better than us. Thus Mother Deer and Brother Opossum remind us that we must respond to every situation in full control of our emotions and thoughts. When we react blindly, we do so because we are angry. But if we are aware of our emotions and thoughts, we direct our anger to drive a point across to someone who cannot understand us otherwise. And when it is not necessary to retort, we just gently walk away or play dead. And so it is.

Blessings on our journey. Aho!