I love this card.  I bought it on a walk with Liz at the coffee shop on Ynyslas.  I love how curled and cozy the red is.

I saw a mother and her cub on a spring dawn, in a dingle, leafy-dark, but then, within the last 3 weeks, 5 foxes more.

One I missed her/his head and forelegs, catching only tail and hindquarters as it crossed the road ahead of me on a crepuscular walk.

Another in the distance, up a hill, across a field.

Then two driving at some ungodly hour through the suburbs of Bristol, healthy, urban foxes, swaggering and outstaring my headlamps.

Then the most golden, across the cut corn field into a dazzle of setting sun, iridescent titian, chestnut, sparkling, strong. We stopped and shared stares, breathless, heart pumping, then gone.

‘Five’ said Liz. ‘Five alive?’ She who stands against the hunt baying to cross her field. ‘Five. Alive!’

So I Googled. As you do. Not habitat or bodyweight, not diet or lifespan, but totemic meaning, shamanic guide, spirit animal.

So roll your eyes, but what it said was ‘Be discerning. Sniff out deception and trickery. Clear out past illusions, seek flawless clarity. Step back from ill-conceived projects, habits, expectations and relationships. Demand more, make good choices, act quickly, take action, be awake, alert.  Energy. Autonomy. Adaptable. Self-care.’

Which you have to admit, is pretty good advice for any new start of year. It fitted for me.

I have walked and journaled, talked and journaled more. Clean sheet. New page. New Year. Not quite ready for the big spring clean but heading that way. Illusions scattering like the pine needles on the floor.

I become alert to my own clarity so I can make good choices and act with energy as I step further into 2024.

I saw 5 foxes.  Real foxes. The rest may be just metaphor. But life is more than one it is, it is the meaning we make of it, the filters we use to help and deceive ourselves. Only by turning inward, curling round in our dens, can we be sure.

If you enjoyed reading this please share it with friends. You might also be interested in talking to me about coaching , or maybe try some of my online courses (some are free), or treat yourself to a climate protecting pamper with vegan friendly, organic Tropic which supports the planting of forests and education in deprived areas.
Thanks for being here.
Julie