The Jeweled Web
Interconnectivity has been showing up strongly for me in my immediate environment while simultaneously, I've been drawn to literature about animism, the idea that there is no fundamental separation between humans and the more-than-human world.
Plants, animals, bodies of water, trees, rocks, landscapes, stars and planets are not simply things existing around us. They are part of our larger conversation reminding me that nothing exists in isolation.
I spent a lot of time recently grieving a bush outside our home that because it looked "dead" from the outside (but still had hints of green life within its structure and its tiny buds), had to be taken down to comply with HOA standards. Ahh, rules. The ones dictating aesthetics and "proper maintenance" were in direct opposition to my values and my sense that this was still a living being with a possibility of revival.
Aside: We honored the emptiness of the bush's former self for a short time and later created a small tower of rocks in its place, where we rested one of many lanterns that illuminates our front yard. A gentle reminder that there was once life in that spot.
As our collective consciousness continues to shift, I wonder if we are beginning to tune into these other ways of knowing and connecting that fall outside mainstream, left-brain, logic-oriented ways of knowing. Rather, these are the long held ways of knowing long held within Indigenous traditions and by mystics and other wisdom keepers that many of us are beginning to rediscover.
We are moving into the Age of Aquarius, a time that places enormous emphasis on the individual within the collective, and on interconnected systems and communities. Pluto's ongoing journey through Aquarius, lasting until 2044, is one expression of this larger shift. Uranus and Sedna moving through Gemini bring another layer, asking us to reconsider how we communicate, perceive, listen and share information. All in air signs!
I am especially intrigued by the possibility of becoming more receptive to non-human communication, from galactic intelligence, spirit guides, whales, which carry a strong symbolic connection to dwarf planet Sedna in astrology, and other animals. My wife converses with local wildlife and with our dogs which brings about such sacred forms of connection. And then of course there is AI, another form of intelligence entering the web and changing the way information moves between us.
Perhaps this is part of why, a few years ago, I felt a strong urge to activate my throat chakra as a way to heal some wounds around not speaking up or being reprimanded for sharing my voice as a child. I decided that tattooing an image on the back of this center might help awaken these dormant gifts.
The image I chose was Indra's Net, an ancient metaphor, later developed as a Buddhist image, of an infinitely interconnected web where every jewel reflects every other jewel. I added the heart at the center to anchor myself in the field of love and to remind me to speak and listen from that place.
I chose it because it feels like a visual representation of something I have been sensing more deeply in my life: that none of us exists separately. We are each a jewel in an infinite web, reflecting and influencing every other jewel around us. When one jewel moves, the entire net moves. We are constantly participating in the field around us, whether we realize it or not.
And that is the web of life.
My astrology teacher, Iris J. Gildea, has also been speaking about Indra’s Net in some recent videos, and one idea she shared really stayed with me: that each of us is a jewel, shining through our own deeply personal story while simultaneously reflecting something larger and archetypal. We are both uniquely ourselves and intimately linked to the greater process of being human. Iris touches on this idea in her recent video about the Virgo New Moon.
Because this tattoo sits at the portal of communication, it reminds me that my words enter the web. Words can soothe, awaken, inspire and create, and they can also wound or hurt. They can become spells, shaping the field around us and, ultimately, our reality.
So what are we sending into the web?
Jeweled blessings,
xx Kris
