Medicine Teachings of 2020

One year ago, it was December 2019, I was excited to get my “year ahead” Tarot Card reading.  I flipped through January and February, everything looked great and aligned.  When I moved into March, I gasped.

“What on Earth is happening in March?” 

March, April, May…the rest 2020 didn’t look so good.  Little did I know that it would be a year that would stretch my capacity in ways I didn’t know I was capable of.  All in the name of growth and evolution, right?  

At the beginning of this year, I was open to great possibilities.  I had taken some brave leaps and reciprocity was my word for 2020.

Frankly, I was a little nervous of what those cards revealed, I wanted a guarantee that everything was going to be okay.

Isn’t that what we all want to know?  

Was everything okay?  Not always.  There were moments that were hard and scary and tested my heart, which I think rings true for so many of us.  As I sit here to reflect, however, I can see that my Warrior self has become more clear, my Divine essence more Holy and my Medicine Women self, aligned.

2020, although you were intense, I can see how you’ve contributed to my becoming. 

Here are 4 Lessons from each of the Directions on the Medicine Wheel that came forward for me this year.  Each season, Animal Spirit and essence has brought their own wisdom and powerful energy.  I hope they speak to you in some way, too.

East (Wabanong)/Eagle (Migizi)

Lesson: You are worthy of taking up space to celebrate yourself.

This year I got a book deal and another dream is in the works.  These beautiful things happened at the same time that personal challenges occurred.  I was taken with grief and worry and at the same time celebrating a life time dream.  I took one day to celebrate and then moved on. 

Life dreams deserve huge energetic space of celebration.  I could feel my Ancestors and communities cheering for me, yet didn’t feel like I could hold all of their celebration.  Later in the year, I was reminded that I can be proud of myself, take big space to reflect on how far I’ve come and hold my accomplishments with great love and joy. 

Eagle Wisdom: Take the leap, spread your wings and allow Spirit to hold you.  You have earned this.  

South (Zhaawnong)/Deer (Waawashkeshi)

Lesson: In times of overwhelm, mind your capacity.

I admit that I tend to push past my capacity, often.  When someone asks me for something, my healer heart and empathic soul says yes before I have a chance to check in with whether or not I truly have space in my life.  This year brought forward emotional lessons for my family in many ways.  I learned who and what is worthy of my sacred energy. 

I learned to check in with my capacity first, before I moved forward with agreeing to an exchange of any sort.  While I might not have learned this perfectly, I find myself exercising deeper self care and love for myself, which ultimately pours out into my home and children.  When my priorities became clear, everything else could fall away.

Deer Wisdom:  One human can only hold so much.  Be gentle and release your over responsibility.  You matter too. 

West (Epingishmok)/Buffalo (Mashkode Bizhiki)

Lesson: Death brings rebirth.  Trust the cycle.

This year I feared death more than ever before.  I have faced death a few times in my life but this year left me anxious and highly sensitive to loss.  2020 brought forward a deep activation of intergenerational trauma from my bones.  It vibrated throughout the year. 

I realized just how much collective and ancestral trauma that I was carrying in my one system.  Bit by bit, I have let those parts die, bit by bit, I have released the suffering.  I am rewiring, remembering and reclaiming joy, vitality and abundance, so that I can live.

Buffalo Wisdom: You don’t have to carry it all.  Hand it over to the Earth, the Stars and the Ancestors.  Surrender and let it go.

North (Giiwednong)/Bear (Makwa)

Lesson: Rest is an act of resistance.  

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Audre Lorde

This year we had a much needed uprising of truth, voices, fire, courage and so much more as Black Lives Matter came into the forefront.  As an Indigenous Woman, I stand in Solidarity with my Black Kin, I marched, I spoke, I unravelled my own bias and continued to see how I could be the change.  I committed to walking this path every single day, to stand for all voices of those who are not heard, seen or acknowledged.  And I realized that if I don’t rest, I will not be able to hold the vision or keep taking the action. 

I felt saddened from speaking up about harm, I felt exhausted from those who felt entitled to keep asking me for more.  I wondered if anyone would truly ever get it, or see the atrocities that continue to happen to People of Colour.  After crashing and burning, I realized that I am truly not going to be able to stand for the souls I stand for, if I don’t rest.  So, I won’t quit.  But, I *will* rest.

Bear Wisdom:  As you rest, you become the dream.  Rest well, so that you can rise in greater ways.

The Medicine Wheel always holds such beautiful wisdom for me, when I take time to listen, and reflect.  Every season is equally as powerful and as I walk from one direction to the next, I gain deeper understanding.  

Wishing you all a beautiful remainder of 2020 as we sink into the medicine of liminal space. 

Chi Miigwetch,

Asha xo

p.s. if you’d like to find out which Direction and Animal Spirit guides you at this time, check out my quiz here:

ashafrost.com/quiz