Happy Venus Day! With Valentine’s right around the corner, it feels apropos to share a bit of love today…
Last weekend I had the great pleasure of watching an evening of lectures, offered for free online by @witchwindstarot. I always appreciate hearing other tarot readers offer their unique insights into the cards, and like their past zoom events, all of the speakers were great. (Well done all!) But I’ve found myself thinking about one talk by @fairweathermoon in particular, focused on the 3 of Cups. It was a beautiful meditation on what it means to be truly “in communion” with one another, on the emotional wellspring to be found when in the company of like minds, and how community serves as a source of inspiration, joy, and hope.
As a metaphor for the event it was lovely and apt, in more ways than one. While zoom has become a new normal for us, I felt acutely aware of my intense gratitude to be able to be in community with these people in that moment. The pandemic has provided many of us with opportunities to reflect on what it means to be part of a community, both on macro and micro levels, while also bringing to light many issues of accessibility, who gets to be part of a community and who doesn’t, etc. (Don’t even get me ~started~ on the abject shitty-ness and ableism of anti-maskers.)
But even before covid, access to programming like this has felt like a lifeline for many, myself included. While NY may be called a “blue state,” I have occasionally referred to where I live as the “Deep North.” It is a place of incredible natural beauty and pernicious racism. Our county went to tr*mp 2 to 1, and our congressional representative remains one of his vocal supporters. I had lived here for less than a month before I heard an anti-queer slur directed at me by a complete stranger. Because of this climate, I count myself very lucky that I have found some true “3 of Cups” people here.
While I fully recognize the harmful effects of social media, I think online communities are often denigrated by those with privilege of easy access to community, ie, those who often see themselves reflected in traditional narratives, and those who have easy access to community spaces, be it physically, economically, socially, etc. (I think it’s partly because of my internalizing this denigration that over the years I’ve made subtle distinctions between “friends” and “online friends,” despite some truly deep connections I’ve established. Now, in a time when even my “nearest and dearest” are distant, not only do these distinctions feel less relevant than ever to me, they feel ableist.)
As vaccines become more available over time and as we begin to imagine rebuilding both as ~a~ community and as ~communities~ post-covid, it’s important to me to carry forward the lessons I’ve learned in the past year, and to continue learning about and addressing issues of accessibility.
So thank you, Witch Winds et al, for making your beautiful offering so accessible. It truly felt like big 3 of Cups energy. And from the bottom of my witchy heart, to all of you reading this and in community with me through Hedge Witch Botanicals, thank you for being part of this.
