07 Aug Birds + Fire Quartz say: It’s Time to Decide; Ground and Expand!

Alaafia Family! Our weekly Message is a little tardy this week but always right on time *smile* this has been a fiery few days with the sun now in the sign of Leo, our Sunday meditation focused on Oya, and our Wednesday Recharge focused on Ogun. The two messages from Sunday and Wednesday intersected beautifully, just as spirit orchestrated. I truly love how spirit moves! I never know what they’re gonna bring me to say before I say it. I have a loose outline, but I can never fully conceive of the messages and connections they’ll lead me to make until they’re being made.

Sunday’s message from Oya encouraged us to exercise our will and stop “should-ing” ourselves out of the responsibility of making choices in our lives. I called on us to banish “should” from our vocabulary for a while, noting that some of us use the idea of a predetermined reality that we “should” be adhering to–and an inability to identify that reality–as a crutch that keeps us stuck and stagnant. Deciding what you want to do and doing it is as powerful, and much more accessible, than waiting on some magical realization of a “should” that may never come.

Ogun came in to reinforce the message and added that accomplishment comes not only from making a decision on our course of action, but staying the path once we’ve started. The closer we get to our goal the more–not less–likely it is that that things will come trying to knock us off course. Naysayers, misunderstanders, betrayers, and plain ole haters will come! It’s not a matter of “if”, but “when,” so it’s important to remember that, as I shared on Twitter, even for twins and triplets, the actual moment of birth is solitary. Only one comes through at a time. Stay focused on the goal and let the birth and rebirth happen, knowing sometimes that will mean the rebirth of relationships and many other aspects of life.

Our card of the week is “Birds” from the Tongues of the Mother tarot deck. This card corresponds to the lovers in the classic tarot, but more than the romantic love often associated with this card, the larger message is about making choices. Similarly to the message from Oya, “Birds” encourages us to stop letting love and life just happen to us–stop waiting to just fall in love and stop waiting for things to just happen to you. Choose who (and what) you want to love and why. Choose what you want to happen in the next chapter of your life, remembering we open a new chapter every day!

Our crystal companion in all of this choosing is fire quartz, also known as hematoid quartz, which is clear quartz combined with hematite. The effect of this combination is a stabilization of our root, coupled with an expansion of our crown. This enhances our feelings of safety, while simultaneously stimulating us to higher realms of consciousness beyond our usual. This is a perfect stone for feeling stable enough and open enough to make the choices Oya and Ogun call on from us in the moment, and sticking to them.

Sending you abundant love and blessings always! I’ll see you at our events around the temple, you take care until then!

~Iya Funlayo

PS: Communiversity registration ends Monday, there’s still time for you to join us!