About half a year ago, I started hosting an international on line Pilgrim circle. The purpose of the Pilgrim circles is to explore ancient sources of wisdom through the Nan Yar – Who Am I cards for personal development and apply the salvaged insights on the pilgrim’s route each and every one of us takes in daily life.
When working with a group that way, people bond. Eventually it’s only natural the participating Pilgrims also want to meet each other in person, rather than on line only; so we set about to find a date when everybody had some time and space to get together. Since it is an international group and one of the participants had to come all the way from Scotland, we had to work our way around travels bans and availability. Halfway September an opportunity presented itself. We found a date on which everyone could attend on a location in The Hague.
Two days before the Pilgrim clan gathering would take place however, Fate intervened. Our Pilgrim who had especially flown over from the UK and around whom the date had more or less been scheduled, was confined to stay at her hosting address as a result of a possible covid scare in her inner circle. Collectively, we decided to still get together, including the group member who could not be physically present on line; simply placing the computer in our circle.
But then again; only hours before our now part on line/part real life meeting was supposed to take place, yet another member of the group was quarantined. Life it seemed…had other plans while we were making our own.
Now… there’s two things we could do;
- either get angry about the external circumstances hampering our plan, toss in the towel and cancel the whole gathering or
- simply make the best of it.
I decided to draw a Nan Yar- Who Am I card on the situation. The cards and how they help explore and find ones way in the settings life offers had after all been the subject of all our on line sessions. What better way to put them to the test, than to counsel them during an occurrence that concerned the whole group .
The card I drew was The King of Tools, titled Meditation, which says:
‘Every moment of reflection gives you a wealth of Time & Space in return’
My inner knowing responded with: so as long as I go within and reflect on what I really want, rather than allow my attention to be drawn to annoying circumstances outside of me , (over which I have no control anyway) I can use Time and Space to actually expand on what matters to me personally and affects the greater good.
I shared the “King of Tools’ with the other members of the Pilgrim circle in a text message. In turn everyone spontaneously drew their own card. Without exception all cards pointed towards: stay in communication; work with what is (possible), ; find new ways of looking at the situation you find yourself in; or as someone once told me:
You can never undo what befell you, but you can change the way you relate to it.
Thus the cards helped all of us to set a new tone to what was initially a disappointment. Those are the Gifts of Fate, the change of plans while we envision life differently; which can turn out to be an inspiration.
So… we ended up having an on line meeting again for al Pilgrims involved and actually had a fabulous time comparing notes and insights on how to stick to your intentions rather than having them deflated by disappointing outside influences.
In the context of all this, it’s interesting to look at how the some of the other cards drawn triggered the same sort of insight in light of the situation and how ‘coincidentally’ appropriate in they all were…
For instance: Number VI, relationships; with ‘6’ being the number of communication; and card number VI being the sixth card of the row of 7 cards all to do with the way we relate to each other during our life time on earth.
Number XII, the trials and tribulations card; the 5th card in the row of seven cards concerning the Journey of the Soul while on earth. Also known as ‘the emotional bungee jump'; inspiring the Pilgrim to look at life from a different angle
And one last:
The temperance card; the card that bridges the transfer from the 7 cards of the Journey of the Soul to the seven cards of the Spiritual World as it manifests on earth.
Temperance tells us to use the sources we are freely supplied with is such a way that it serves the greater good.
All food for thought 
Click the cards for more or draw your own card on the right of this blog to let your inner knowing resonate
Ingrid Schippers, September 29th 2020
