Medicine Cards

Somewhere in the early 90’s. I am living in a studio apartment with Kim.
Feeling tarnished from my marriage to Terry, working through grief, and
gaining much spiritual insight. At this point my relationship with Kim
is on a downside, my relationship to myself though, is on an upswing. I
am waiting for my friends to show up in the VW Bus for a trip from Tempe
Az to Las Vegas Nv. We are going to a Grateful Dead and Santana Concert.
I am thin, with long golden brown hair and beard.
I gather my small duffle bag, as I hear the clicking sounds of the VW
engine outside the apartment. Kim relaxes, and I can see in her eyes,
she is happy to see me go, and wishes that she could go in some ways. It
is time for us to part, and she has found someone new, and is ready to
let me go. We hug, and I open the door, to be greeted by my friend
Solan, Carlton, and Scott. They grab my bag, toss it in the back, and
the door slides open, inviting me to enter. Beth says hello and hands me
a loaded pipe, the smell of grass wafts throughout the van, Jim turns
and and smiles “ Are you Ready”. I sit back on the mattress, smile and
reply by taking a hit off the pipe, a little cough, and say “Lets hit
the road”. Jim backs the bus out and Carlton shuffles the cards.
These are the Medicine Cards, and it has only been recently that I have
had the chance to see and use this Oracle. They are rather large cards,
perhaps twice the size of normal playing cards, with a blue back, in the
middle a yellow lightening bolt. On the front of the cards are North
American Animals in an art form of a Dream Catcher. 52 cards with
different animals that represent different mythologies of these North
American Animals. Carlton picks a card for himself, looks like an Owl
from my point of view. The hands the deck to his girlfriend Beth, she
shuffles, placing the cards out on the mattress, spreading them all
over, and making a large swirling mass of blue with yellow lightening
bolts. She gathers them into the pile as we cruise down the highway to
Vegas, following a long line of cars going to see the Dead. Beth flips
over the Butterfly and then hands the deck to me. I shuffle the cards,
and cut the deck 9 times, and pick the Beaver card. Carlton is reading
the dark blue Medicine Card book, he has turned to the page that talks
about the Owl and gives us a basic look at his card with his words.
“Owl, Magic, Omens, Time and space. Does the truth emerge? Casting out
deception, Silent flight, Sacred Medicine Bird.” He passes the book to
Beth and she flips through it pages to find the Butterfly. Beth speaks
“Butterfly ... that flutters in the morning light, You have known many
forms, Before you ever took flight.” She reads the page that describes
the card to herself, and then passes the book to me. Carlton unwraps
some wax paper to expose several small sheets of white paper, he pulls
out from a black pouch some small scissors and cuts a few small squares
out of a sheet. He puts a the tiny white flake of paper in his mouth,
Beth leans over and under Carlton, opens her mouth, and a white flake
descends to land on her tongue. I lean over, open my mouth, stick out my
tongue and gladly greet this white tab. Flipping through the pages, I
quickly find the Beaver. Flicking the blotter around my mouth and
storing it in my cheek for a moment, I read a little bit aloud about the
Beaver. “Beaver ... Teach me to build my dreams, Including others too.
One mind, One thought, Hearts as one, Lessons learned from you.” I read
the rest of the mythos and sit back, and enjoy the electric ride, as a
F16 Fighter Jet Buzzes over our Dead Head Bus, flies away and then comes
back to fly by ,very low to the ground next to us, then is off with a
sonic boom that rattles our wayward vehicle. We all laugh, and smiles
abound as we approach the Vegas town.
We all picked cards from the Medicine Deck all weekend long.
Its now in the latter half of the 1990’s, and I am in the town known as
Jackson Hole Wyoming. I am visiting a book store I enjoy, in their
upstairs area, which is the occult and new age section. I see a small
packet of Medicine Cards. And remember using them in the early 90’s and
what great insights and inspiration they provided me in times of
trouble, as well as times that were grand and good. These cards are the
size of normal playing cards, with a dark blue back and a white
lightening bolt placed in the center of the card. There are 52 cards,
and each has a North American Animal on it, but also little sayings that
explain each mythos of the card, and will give insight to any one that
picks them. I gladly pick up and purchase this deck (to my surprise now,
they do not make this deck anymore). This is the one deck I choose cards
from more than any of my other Tarot Decks. I have taken this one on
camping trips, and shared its wisdom with many people, and even a few
critters.
You can find many cards of inspiration out there, they all have
something wonderful to offer someone’s spirit and soul, if you are open
to the experience. There is nothing evil about these decks, in fact all
playing cards were originally used as Tarot. So if you play any card
games, you in fact are messing with a modern Tarot Deck of sorts. If you
have an open and free spirit, or you may be looking for some insight
into your life and questions you have, feel free to pick a card. Perhaps
you will come across a Medicine Card Deck, or maybe even let me pick a
card for you. Whatever you find, can give you some information of that
time, and perhaps help you get out of a bind! Realize you create the
Magick in your life! These cards are only Magickal if you make them that
way! If not, then you have a deck of cards that can give you daily
positive Affirmations in life, if you choose so.