Embracing Change & Midlife Marvels: Lessons from the Wheel of Fortune
life lessons
from pausing periods
As the moon eclipsed early Monday morning while I slept, I felt my energy draining since Saturday. The full impact of this shift hit me on Sunday night after leading my breathwork circle.
I woke up on Monday and pulled three tarot cards: the Wheel of Fortune, Death, and the Ace of Wands. These cards confirmed what I've been feeling energetically.
Change is in the air; we're cycling through it. The Death card signals the end of the old way, inviting us to surrender to transformation and new opportunities. The Ace of Wands promises a fiery adventure, a spark of new life, now that the blocks of distraction no longer hold us back. It's a time to trust in this renewed sense of being.
While I've been inviting change, I'm surprised by how it manifests. Lately, change feels like clients canceling sessions, sleepless nights, moody children - the list goes on.
These changes can bring about a sullen mood or a contracted chest. I can choose to stay here in the hints of despair and irritation or view change through the lens of challenge, allowing curiosity to thrive, living in the land of both/and.
I've been contemplating how to align more with my soul daily, wondering what needs to change to feel more supported, less exhausted, and more inspired. It has meant taking more risks, trusting others, asking for love, and leading with my heart. I'm challenging myself to embrace that I am capable of much more than I've ever given myself credit for. I'm working on letting go of the idea that my voice isn't unique enough to be heard.
A Changing Landscape
I've also been feeling the stagnation of a changing body, a body entering midlife with less predictable cycles, a body that often feels unfamiliar. This change requires me to face my attachments to the familiar and confront how I constrict against modulation.
If nature resisted evolving, changing, and adjusting, it would lead to a lack of variation and, ultimately, extinction. So why should I be different? What if I saw the natural change process as a gift through loss? What if my changing cycles, aging body, slower movements, and pivoting workflow were evidence of evolution? What if I approached this change as necessary for my and future generations’ continued vitality?
At this point, I know I am beyond having to survive in this body. I now have space to create and construct new worlds. I feel called to consider what limitless possibilities exist within my reach. I feel committed to showing up with more heart and surrendering with trust, knowing I am transforming with purpose.
As a woman, I am learning the lessons from the Wheel of Fortune in Tarot by entering mid-life in this body. The Wheel of Fortune conveys that everything cycles through change, evoking various sensations and feelings. We are conditioned to resist change, overly invested in retaining youth, and bombarded with daily messages about the problems with aging. Women, especially, are undervalued, under-resourced, and often misinformed about their changing bodies. Others attempt to control our bodies, and we can fall victim to this narrative, constricting our self-expression and natural evolution. As I embrace my changing body and allow myself to be less controlled, I am discovering the gifts within this pausing period.
Pausing Periods
I wonder if this period of pause is where I begin the journey to my most soul-filled embodiment. If I can no longer produce offspring biologically, my reproductive energy is now directed at other ways of creating. It has always been possible to tap into this energy of design. Still, binary thinking creates a dividing line, a perception regarding creativity that would have us believe our birthing potential is anchored in our biology. Life force, the energy of vitality and creativity, is soul energy, not a gendered condition.
I am capable of much more than I ever imagined. I am the midwife that holds space for the entering of new life and new creative possibilities. I am so firmly rooted in this earth that I can now travel to other dimensions and pull from the energy of my spiritual elders. I can call on the crone goddesses to guide me through this change cycle and bring forth the wisdom they carry, the power of the mighty mountains.
As I detach myself from the ideas of my existence, worth, and value tethered to my body, I become more ethereal. My body becomes a symbol of my power; my sensuality is not tied to my youth, and my pleasure is my love-driven chariot fueling my imaginings. This is the truth of my being, my essence as a channel for divine communication and expression in all forms and ways.
“A life truly lived constantly burns away veils of illusion, burns away what is no longer relevant, and gradually reveals our essence until, at last, we are strong enough to stand in our naked truth.”
Wheel of Fortune
This card is an invitation to reconsider how we respond to the inevitability of change. As everything is always in motion and we are a part of everything, the forces of flow require our genuine participation. This reminder of the rhythm of change allows us to re-examine how we react when met with disruption, disappointment, difficulty, and death. When this card speaks of change as death, it reveals how we could learn to adapt to the dying of illusions, old patterns, and worn identities. This cycle invites us to deepen our connection to our inner voice and intuitive gifts. Can we seek grounding from spirit and choose to meet the challenge of change with curiosity and compassion?
