Oh wow! This is wonderful Jenna. I love your words "The Mentor is truly interested in the mentees greatness" Oh how selfless! How empowering! How liberating! How freeing! Imagine if the world was like this...to share one's skills like a gift knowing that one day someone will be actually better than you and can hold your banner and their banner higher and higher.
Thank you also for the reminder that when the thoughts become too much, there is the foundation sword that grounds all those other "loose ends" and holds us in a space of stillness. Maybe we need to lay down, die that ego death, sit at the feet of our mentor, to be able then to stand tall in all that we are.
Thank you for this reflection, Sam! 💕 I so agree. I think if we were all genuinely interested in the greatness of others, we could so clearly see the thread of connection. That everyone's success is a win for the collective, and everyone's greatness benefits us all. How wonderful would that be?! (And thank you so much for your meditation series. I'm loving it more than words can say!)
So much stirs reading this week's post that I'm sure to barely scratch the surface.
This pair comes at a time that I have been reflecting with immense gratitude on the mentors who have appeared and walked, guiding quietly and lovingly for years, decades even, and for no reason than that they care. That this is so has been one of life's great mysteries. I see the Four of Swords as foundational to this fact of mentors appearing. It seems to me, in reflection on your reflections and my own experience, the mentee can only open to the mentor when the mentee is in 'repose'.
So perfectly said, and so true, Renee! A true mentor is a treasure. So often they teach us more through the simple fact of who they are than even through the knowledge they impart. Interestingly, as I read your words, I realized that most of the mentors in my life are in spirit form (ancestor guides in particular). Huh. I'll have to think about that some more. And, at the risk of being presumptuous, I do hold you as a true mentor in my life. Thank you so much for "appearing and guiding" me! ❤️
If there is any way that what has been and is given and guided through me nurtures your own life, I am grateful to stand in those shoes, walking alongside you, knowing just as well that you are doing the same in my own life. 🙏❤️
There seems to be some magnetic force in the universe that brings souls together . . . to co-mentor in a magical hand-holding. Amazing is the moment of recognition that this is so!
"Unable to figure out how to reach greatness for ourselves anymore, we surrender to receive the guidance we need". This is what I needed to hear Jenna, the guidance was getting lost in my own need for answers. Thank you xx
That's me too, Louise! So much so that in a separate spread I did for myself afterwards, I drew a card called The Empty Room, which carried the advice of being still, silent, and learning to be okay with the emptiness of not knowing. It was like a double emphasis for me to mute my own mind.
Loved this Jenna! I love seeing the 4ofS as a Mentor/Mentee card. The invitation to rest, be in solitude, be still, meditate, contemplate. The mentor is like the present moment, guiding the mentee into it. Breathing with them, helping them quiet the over active mind. Till there is a deeper silence. Then the mentee becomes their own mentor. Where the moment informs, deeper insights arise, dysfunctions revealed, Maybe even answers and/or new means of actions or shown. Whether in deep reflection or in the dream world, our inner life is like an Oracle. Languages of mystery, archetypes and symbols. All for us to find the deeper meaning in our own lives. Then the outer Mentor can help us interpret them.
Wow, Julie, this is perfect! I LOVE the image of mentor as the present moment. In fact, I love everything you've said here. (I might just have you write these posts going forward. 😁🤗) Our inner life is like an Oracle...that's incredible. And that inner oracle being a mentor for us really captures the essence of the mentor with the four of swords. I hope it's okay, I'm going to restack your amazing comment here. ❤️
"This is a call to give our minds a time out. Meditate, pray, take a nap on the earth, practice trance postures, do a plant medicine journey…whatever is your preferred way of quieting the mind and opening to receive guidance. In stillness, let’s allow the fourth sword to come in and be the new perspective that lovingly supports our path to greatness."
Both you and Julie added depth to my learnings during a plant medicine journey this weekend!
Oh yay! That's so wonderful to hear, Marie! If it feels good to share, I'd love to hear any insights you received on your journey (but definitely no pressure, I completely understand keeping things close sometimes).
I have some time to respond because I'm sitting next to my sister's bed in the hospital. She will be starting hospice care soon and I didn't want her be alone.
This weekend I realized how well my body and thoughts protect me from knowing and expecting I deserve (and need to) believe I'm worthy of a whole bunch of things I typically offer freely to others. I can not see, empathize, love and hold space for others thinking that is the only way I will deserve them myself. If I support everyone else maybe then they will offer then same to me. There is no if/than timeline. Love and caring are not in finite quantities. They are not pies that have only so many slices and then they are gone. I can make space for, and within, myself without creating a deficiency for others.
Not listening to those needs has forced my body to scream for attention. I store all I absorb from others in my body but I haven't learned what to do with it. I distract myself from or simply ignore my bodiy's warning signs until they are red flags.
The weekend journey provided a safe container to ask my mind to please STFU long enough I could have a bit of a heart to heart. I actually listened to my heart's guidance to tap in to the sensations around my heart without my brain needing to give the play-by-play. I had an extended time of exploring where I was holding tension physically, hang out there a while to then ask them to relax and release, instead of my mind racing to understand and place blame: anything to distract me from acknowledging or addressing what emotions might be buried there.
I never remember feeling like a young person, or feeling like I spent any time in my body. The experience felt novel and uncomfortable.
After finally visiting a place within me that felt whole, I can see a way forward to be a container to hold space for others that is less toxic. Creating a container for myself provides more heart space to offer space to others.
I'm not sure how clear this is. It may come off as a ramble. It's been a long day.
Long story short, I haven't been able to visit my sister in the hospital since before Christmas. The emotions were too high. By carving out space through healing my heart I am able to spent one of her last nights with her. I can be here as I whole person without the fear of being broken by it.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Marie! Truly, it felt like reading a page out of my own journal. I resonate with so much of what you said here. I had had such a habit of ignoring my body (and being in my mind) that I actually got very sick about twenty years ago. I was forced into relearning how to be, to listen to my heart and body...especially before taking care of others' needs. It turned out to be one of the biggest blessings of my life, though I think a plant medicine journey would've a preferable route over that illness. And it's a daily work in progress for me still. I am continuing to send you and your sister prayers during this difficult time of transition. Blessings upon blessings to you both!
Yes that is totally fine! Yes our inner life is truly like an Oracle. Literally in our dreams. But also I have done waking practices to bring forward Oracle/Mentor information from the body/mind/heart. The inner truth is always with us. Thanks for the share Jenna!
I don't believe freaky things exist, rather those strange incidents are the truth shown to us in unexpected ways. This teaching, on the heels of what I spoke about in my presentation today, is a pretty mind-blowing synchronicity! (Thank you for being there BTW)❤
I would always like to be both the mentor and the mentee.
Thank you for this insightful and timely piece Jenna.
I know! 🤗❤️ I was thinking the same thing during your presentation yesterday, knowing this post was about to come out. When you said that you so clearly heard the voice say, "Wait." I got chills. I loved your whole presentation, Donna, and think you're a fantastic mentor.
“In fact, this card calls us to stop thinking and stop doing, to enter a time of silent repose. It is only in stillness that we find our fourth sword.” Yes very interesting as I had read somewhere that boredom can be good for you because that is what makes you reflect.
I totally agree, Miriam! For me, boredom usually means that I can't distract myself for whatever reason, and so I have to simply be still and be present. Despite any complaints I might make at the time, it's usually a good thing.
Jenna, as ever you are so spookily accurate with your timing it made me write! ✍️
I had initially sat down to warm up before going back to writing in my notebook when the email arrived to notify me of this post, so as I was already comfortable, I began to read - and thought about how this week I’ve sent something akin to a dissertation to my unwitting mentor, Freddy Silva.
It was his documentary on Gaia, “The 900-Year Secret of the Knights Templar” that had opened up my thought processes, and the essay he received - despite the error I noticed too late 😂 but which in no way detracts from the points I made. If anything, the error reinforced my points!
Anyway, the resting knight and the foundation sword, along with the other 3 on the wall have all added up to even more now - and here I am on my chair 😆
The fourth sword
The fourth’s word
The force word
The Force
May the 4th was one of the dates contained within my 4 part essay - along with a map of Darth Vader’s helmet in a Northern Den, dreaming of Eden - and the 4th section was sent from a mirror on a cloud
I wonder what Mr Silva will make of my alchemical content - and the Golden Retriever I so easily connected to him 🤔 🌟👑
That does sound like uncanny timing, Sally! Really incredible synchronicities! It never ceases to amaze me how the universe knows exactly what cards for me to choose each week. Keep me posted on what Mr. Silva has to say on your essay. I'll be eager to hear!
Beautiful, and insightful as ever! I will sit with this message this week, quietly, on the ground, and receive! Your insights are truly Magickal Jenna! And the timing always so Divine! XO
Oh wow! This is wonderful Jenna. I love your words "The Mentor is truly interested in the mentees greatness" Oh how selfless! How empowering! How liberating! How freeing! Imagine if the world was like this...to share one's skills like a gift knowing that one day someone will be actually better than you and can hold your banner and their banner higher and higher.
Thank you also for the reminder that when the thoughts become too much, there is the foundation sword that grounds all those other "loose ends" and holds us in a space of stillness. Maybe we need to lay down, die that ego death, sit at the feet of our mentor, to be able then to stand tall in all that we are.
Ahh to be human!
Thank you Jenna for your wisdom once again.
Thank you for this reflection, Sam! 💕 I so agree. I think if we were all genuinely interested in the greatness of others, we could so clearly see the thread of connection. That everyone's success is a win for the collective, and everyone's greatness benefits us all. How wonderful would that be?! (And thank you so much for your meditation series. I'm loving it more than words can say!)
Yes, the world would be a magical place!!!
Jenna, thank you so much for joining my series and for your beautiful kind words. My heart feels so full and I am smiling from ear to ear. Bless you!
Jenna,
So much stirs reading this week's post that I'm sure to barely scratch the surface.
This pair comes at a time that I have been reflecting with immense gratitude on the mentors who have appeared and walked, guiding quietly and lovingly for years, decades even, and for no reason than that they care. That this is so has been one of life's great mysteries. I see the Four of Swords as foundational to this fact of mentors appearing. It seems to me, in reflection on your reflections and my own experience, the mentee can only open to the mentor when the mentee is in 'repose'.
What a gift is a true mentor.
So perfectly said, and so true, Renee! A true mentor is a treasure. So often they teach us more through the simple fact of who they are than even through the knowledge they impart. Interestingly, as I read your words, I realized that most of the mentors in my life are in spirit form (ancestor guides in particular). Huh. I'll have to think about that some more. And, at the risk of being presumptuous, I do hold you as a true mentor in my life. Thank you so much for "appearing and guiding" me! ❤️
Jenna,
If there is any way that what has been and is given and guided through me nurtures your own life, I am grateful to stand in those shoes, walking alongside you, knowing just as well that you are doing the same in my own life. 🙏❤️
There seems to be some magnetic force in the universe that brings souls together . . . to co-mentor in a magical hand-holding. Amazing is the moment of recognition that this is so!
With love,
Renée
"Unable to figure out how to reach greatness for ourselves anymore, we surrender to receive the guidance we need". This is what I needed to hear Jenna, the guidance was getting lost in my own need for answers. Thank you xx
That's me too, Louise! So much so that in a separate spread I did for myself afterwards, I drew a card called The Empty Room, which carried the advice of being still, silent, and learning to be okay with the emptiness of not knowing. It was like a double emphasis for me to mute my own mind.
Loved this Jenna! I love seeing the 4ofS as a Mentor/Mentee card. The invitation to rest, be in solitude, be still, meditate, contemplate. The mentor is like the present moment, guiding the mentee into it. Breathing with them, helping them quiet the over active mind. Till there is a deeper silence. Then the mentee becomes their own mentor. Where the moment informs, deeper insights arise, dysfunctions revealed, Maybe even answers and/or new means of actions or shown. Whether in deep reflection or in the dream world, our inner life is like an Oracle. Languages of mystery, archetypes and symbols. All for us to find the deeper meaning in our own lives. Then the outer Mentor can help us interpret them.
Wow, Julie, this is perfect! I LOVE the image of mentor as the present moment. In fact, I love everything you've said here. (I might just have you write these posts going forward. 😁🤗) Our inner life is like an Oracle...that's incredible. And that inner oracle being a mentor for us really captures the essence of the mentor with the four of swords. I hope it's okay, I'm going to restack your amazing comment here. ❤️
"This is a call to give our minds a time out. Meditate, pray, take a nap on the earth, practice trance postures, do a plant medicine journey…whatever is your preferred way of quieting the mind and opening to receive guidance. In stillness, let’s allow the fourth sword to come in and be the new perspective that lovingly supports our path to greatness."
Both you and Julie added depth to my learnings during a plant medicine journey this weekend!
Thank you both for mirroring this back to me!!
Oh yay! That's so wonderful to hear, Marie! If it feels good to share, I'd love to hear any insights you received on your journey (but definitely no pressure, I completely understand keeping things close sometimes).
I have some time to respond because I'm sitting next to my sister's bed in the hospital. She will be starting hospice care soon and I didn't want her be alone.
This weekend I realized how well my body and thoughts protect me from knowing and expecting I deserve (and need to) believe I'm worthy of a whole bunch of things I typically offer freely to others. I can not see, empathize, love and hold space for others thinking that is the only way I will deserve them myself. If I support everyone else maybe then they will offer then same to me. There is no if/than timeline. Love and caring are not in finite quantities. They are not pies that have only so many slices and then they are gone. I can make space for, and within, myself without creating a deficiency for others.
Not listening to those needs has forced my body to scream for attention. I store all I absorb from others in my body but I haven't learned what to do with it. I distract myself from or simply ignore my bodiy's warning signs until they are red flags.
The weekend journey provided a safe container to ask my mind to please STFU long enough I could have a bit of a heart to heart. I actually listened to my heart's guidance to tap in to the sensations around my heart without my brain needing to give the play-by-play. I had an extended time of exploring where I was holding tension physically, hang out there a while to then ask them to relax and release, instead of my mind racing to understand and place blame: anything to distract me from acknowledging or addressing what emotions might be buried there.
I never remember feeling like a young person, or feeling like I spent any time in my body. The experience felt novel and uncomfortable.
After finally visiting a place within me that felt whole, I can see a way forward to be a container to hold space for others that is less toxic. Creating a container for myself provides more heart space to offer space to others.
I'm not sure how clear this is. It may come off as a ramble. It's been a long day.
Long story short, I haven't been able to visit my sister in the hospital since before Christmas. The emotions were too high. By carving out space through healing my heart I am able to spent one of her last nights with her. I can be here as I whole person without the fear of being broken by it.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Marie! Truly, it felt like reading a page out of my own journal. I resonate with so much of what you said here. I had had such a habit of ignoring my body (and being in my mind) that I actually got very sick about twenty years ago. I was forced into relearning how to be, to listen to my heart and body...especially before taking care of others' needs. It turned out to be one of the biggest blessings of my life, though I think a plant medicine journey would've a preferable route over that illness. And it's a daily work in progress for me still. I am continuing to send you and your sister prayers during this difficult time of transition. Blessings upon blessings to you both!
Yes that is totally fine! Yes our inner life is truly like an Oracle. Literally in our dreams. But also I have done waking practices to bring forward Oracle/Mentor information from the body/mind/heart. The inner truth is always with us. Thanks for the share Jenna!
I don't believe freaky things exist, rather those strange incidents are the truth shown to us in unexpected ways. This teaching, on the heels of what I spoke about in my presentation today, is a pretty mind-blowing synchronicity! (Thank you for being there BTW)❤
I would always like to be both the mentor and the mentee.
Thank you for this insightful and timely piece Jenna.
I know! 🤗❤️ I was thinking the same thing during your presentation yesterday, knowing this post was about to come out. When you said that you so clearly heard the voice say, "Wait." I got chills. I loved your whole presentation, Donna, and think you're a fantastic mentor.
“In fact, this card calls us to stop thinking and stop doing, to enter a time of silent repose. It is only in stillness that we find our fourth sword.” Yes very interesting as I had read somewhere that boredom can be good for you because that is what makes you reflect.
I totally agree, Miriam! For me, boredom usually means that I can't distract myself for whatever reason, and so I have to simply be still and be present. Despite any complaints I might make at the time, it's usually a good thing.
Jenna, as ever you are so spookily accurate with your timing it made me write! ✍️
I had initially sat down to warm up before going back to writing in my notebook when the email arrived to notify me of this post, so as I was already comfortable, I began to read - and thought about how this week I’ve sent something akin to a dissertation to my unwitting mentor, Freddy Silva.
It was his documentary on Gaia, “The 900-Year Secret of the Knights Templar” that had opened up my thought processes, and the essay he received - despite the error I noticed too late 😂 but which in no way detracts from the points I made. If anything, the error reinforced my points!
Anyway, the resting knight and the foundation sword, along with the other 3 on the wall have all added up to even more now - and here I am on my chair 😆
The fourth sword
The fourth’s word
The force word
The Force
May the 4th was one of the dates contained within my 4 part essay - along with a map of Darth Vader’s helmet in a Northern Den, dreaming of Eden - and the 4th section was sent from a mirror on a cloud
I wonder what Mr Silva will make of my alchemical content - and the Golden Retriever I so easily connected to him 🤔 🌟👑
That does sound like uncanny timing, Sally! Really incredible synchronicities! It never ceases to amaze me how the universe knows exactly what cards for me to choose each week. Keep me posted on what Mr. Silva has to say on your essay. I'll be eager to hear!
Beautiful, and insightful as ever! I will sit with this message this week, quietly, on the ground, and receive! Your insights are truly Magickal Jenna! And the timing always so Divine! XO
Thanks, Rom! ❤️ I hope you get lots and lots of solitude time this week!
Wow Jenna, this one is soooo spot on for me right now. How beautiful to read these words. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom in the world!❤️🙏🕊
Thank you so much, Camilla! Wishing you a restful week! ❤️