Starfish- A Journey Through The Darkness

Spirit Animal Oracle with guidebook- Colette Baron Reid and the Chrysalis Tarot by Toney Brooks Research credits can be found here and here

So today’s animal is the Starfish. I need to admit that in doing research for this animal, I found myself simultaneously fascinated and creeped out by this creature. These are actually one of my favorite ocean creatures, however, and I think it’s because of the association I have with mermaids and fantasy creatures of the deep like that. Realistically though, the starfish has some interesting adaptations that make them especially suited to living under the sea, so let's see what’s up with these cool creatures, shall we?

In terms of symbolism, the starfish can represent the idea of duality and is the epitome of the axiom “as above, so below.” Originally, the alchemist Hermes Trismegistus postulated that all cosmic energies have an earthly mirror and in a way, this can be seen with the starfish. Let me explain a bit here. The starfish doesn’t have a brain as such and therefore must rely on their senses to navigate their surroundings. They use light and dark sensing cells on the ends of their arms to navigate and interestingly enough, they don’t really have a circulatory system either because most of what is pumping through their bodies happen to be seawater. Starfish are also surprisingly agile creatures due to the fact that they have “fibers” on the underside of their bellies that allow them to move and help them eat when they need to (I’m calling them fibers because I’ve forgotten what the actual name for these are.) Other symbols that can come up for starfish include trusting your intuition, regeneration, as well as action, non-conformity, and independence.

these creatures have a dual means of reproduction in that they can detach their limbs and regrow them should they lose one. In the case of perpetuating their species, the starfish can either do this sexually (through combining cells from female and male starfish and expelling egg and sperm cells into the surrounding water) or asexually through dividing themselves and through the process of regenerating lost limbs.

In the spirit of our intrepid starfish, let's get to some cards and see what we’re likely to have in store, shall we? here we go.

cards pulled from various decks

starfish: be open to infinite possibilities

The Muse (Queen of Spirals[wands]): nurturing, passionate and inspiring, someone who helps others recognize and act on their passions and inspirations.

Moon: dark, dreams, creativity versus ego, fear and not seeing the pathway through the night.

6 of scrolls (swords): transition, movement, not making this journey alone.

So what I’m seeing here is that in order to be open to the possibilities we have in our lives, we need to recognize that we are in a period of transition and movement. this could be away from things that hold us back and keep us bound in our comfort zone. This could be a call to move toward what is keeping us in line with our highest good. Whatever this may mean for us, we need to know that we’re not going on this journey alone. there are so many things in front of us that seem scary at first. But I think this is due to the darkness around us because perhaps our ego is screaming at us and telling us how dangerous it is to go forward because we don’t see the way through. Okay. Let's internalize this for a moment because the emotions attached to this thought are valid and real. However, I did say we’re not traveling this road alone. We need to know that whether we’re doing this for ourselves, or whether we have an external or spiritual guide with us, there is energy on our side that is helping us recognize and take action on what drives our passions and inspirations.