Some time after our beautiful dog Hope disappeared, we were offered her sister by a neighbor who couldn't cope with a large young dog and their small child. We looked and looked for our Hope, and then on Halloween night, this image emerged from the rawhide disc I was painting for the oracle card representing this earth holiday of Samhain. There was our new dog Lochi with her bright gold nose, and fading behind her was her sister--almost out of view. This gift of life during death was that I could not mourn the one without feeling the joy of the other.
One of the women who helped speak the magical phrases that accompany each oracle card came for a visit during the July full moon. She is both blessed and cursed with the ability to receive messages from spirits. She told me that once during a session to help a young man, she was visited by the Spirit of Disease. Quite a shocking experience! Soon afterwards, I was painting this oracle card image, and there was her story. In the heart of summer, the decay of autumn begins.
Perhaps the most dramatic oracle card image from the other side came when I was staying in my Mother's home to care for her cat after she had suffered a stroke. It was Spring Equinox, and because I knew that if I missed the energy connection between the card and the calendar, I would have to wait a year, I decided to paint the card even though the situation was difficult. This is the oracle image that emerged from the dried rawhide. I believe I learned from her that even when we cannot be physically present to those we love, we find a way to show ourselves.
