Do Now Ask Later

Decks used are the Elle Qui Oracle by Arwen Lynch-Poe and Melanie Delon, the Kali Oracle by Alana Fairchild and Kuan Yin Oracle by Alana Fairchild

Photo credits can be found here and here

Okay so for this month, I decided to do some exploring of the Chinese myth of Quan Yin and the Hindu myth of Kali Ma. I have two oracle decks centered around their stories and I wanted to lean into them a bit. I didn’t know much about these two figures before I did the readings for this month, and I am excited to see where things go with them. So, let's get started with the story of Quan Yin. Also, the sources I used for this month is linked above so you have a reference for new work. Any feedback, comments, questions and concerns are welcomed.

Quan Yin

In Chinese mythology, Guan Yin is known as the goddess of mercy and compassion. She is characterized by great benevolence and offers protection to those who are suffering. Originally based off the Hindu god of Avalokitsevara, the myth spread in China during the advent of Buddhism. As folklore got mixed in, the modern conception of Guan Yin was born and has since persisted. In some cases, Guan Yin can take the physical forms of both male and female bodies, though she is often presented as female. This is in part why I’m using she/her pronouns in this introduction, however, since I mention Avalokitsevara, I feel it’s prudent to mention that Guan Yin takes her myth from a translation of the original Sanskrit name which means “he who hears the voices of the suffering.” The Chinese name was originally Guan Shiyin but eventually got shortened to Guan Yin (or Quan Yin depending on what version you’re reading.) I admit to speculating here, but I believe this is why it’s suggested that Quan Yin can take both male and female forms.

Kali is a Hindu goddess considered to be the goddess of death, war, time and change. The earliest appearance is when she appeared from Shiva. She is also the ultimate manifestation of Shakti (primordial cosmic energy) and the mother of all living things. She is also the destroyer of evils to protect the innocent.

Kali Ma

Kali appears as early as the Atharva Veda and was first mentioned in Hindu tradition as a distinct goddess around 600 AD on the periphery of Hindu society or on the battlefield. She has two common forms; one is called Bhima Kali which is the popular 4-armed form and the Mahakali which consists of 10 arms. Terrifyingly enough this depiction of her has multiple faces, feet and eyes as well. Most of her iconography consists of her holding a severed head with a bowl underneath it to collect the blood drips and two tridents called khadga. She is most often black in color but is often represented in Indian art as being blue. She is also seen with red eyes to represent her rage, fangs, lolling tongue and disheveled hair. She is often wearing a skirt of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also seen in artistic representations as being accompanied by serpents and a jackal.

With this first reading, I’m curious to find out if you ever had it where you’re in a situation where you’re just going along on autopilot, and you say and do something you and the people you’re interacting with are taken aback by? Yeah, so have I. Me being me, I’ve always gotten a bit of social anxiety and ruminating thoughts after the fact and so what I’d like to do with this reading is to look at what we can do to help ourselves get through the stranger parts of who and how we are.

cards pulled from various decks

Sauvage- She who is wild: untamed, wild, mysterious

Shining Lotus: it is best to be discreate until your fin your inner strength and empowerment to share your thoughts and beliefs without wavering

Yuga Shakti: Compassionate wisdom, understanding, a surrender of futile attempts to control what is beyond to control what is beyond understanding so you can experience release

So, what I’m seeing here is that there are some things in you that perhaps lead you to perhaps act impulsively and without care for what others may be seeing or feeling when they come into your space. While it’s always best to act within your authenticity and light, it’s perhaps best to take some time to self-reflect and move with discretion until you can come into an understanding of how your behavior may affect others. What will help you here is acting with compassionate wisdom and understanding that you are only human and in that, you’re imperfectly perfect. Please know that perhaps a trigger for you, might be that you feel out of control of a situation, but perhaps control is just what you need to surrender in this situation so that you can gain some clarity about what you’re experiencing in your situation.