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Hello, my fellow Soul explorers,
I hope you’ve had a good two weeks. I was meant to send this newsletter last Monday, but my humanness decided to be extra human, so I needed a couple days off to recharge.
In the last article I looked at the Knight of Wands as the energy for July. I wrote about unbridled passion, taking confident action, and walking through fire without getting burnt. It was super energizing for me to share that message, and I hope it felt the same to receive it. 🌻
So when I pulled a companion card for the Knight of Wands, something to help us really ground into that energy and embody it in our lives, I had to laugh at what came up:
This is the Wu Wei card, a special extra card included in the Luna Sol Tarot.
For those of you familiar with the Eastern philosophy of Taoism, Wu Wei is probably a concept you’ve heard of before. It means inaction. Or more accurately, non-action.
And if you remember from the last post, the Knight of Wands is all about making things happen through the sheer force of your will. It's the energy of kicking ass and taking names. So at first glance, this totally seems like a contradictory card to pair with the Knight of Wands.
But if you look deeper, the two actually go really well together. Because moving forward through sheer willpower alone can eventually lead to an empty tank. Like everything else in life, balance is demanded.
That’s what we’re going to explore in this week’s article. It’s my hope that when you reach the last word, you’ll understand why non-action is actually a crucial step to be able to keep moving forward with the stamina called for in the Knight of Wands.
But before I get ahead of myself, let's get clear on what wu wei really even means in the first place...
What is wu wei?
Wu wei is ‘learning to allow’, letting things develop in their own way and in their own time. We are able to adapt and, like water, to take the shape of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in – Solala Towler.
I love the description above, adapting like water. It represents a sort of submission to the universe; allowing what wants to be, to be.
Picture the stream. It flows across the land, adapting to the contours, with the rocks and valleys. And slowly, gently, with an almost invisible display of force, the land erodes and submits to the way of the stream – Luna Sol Tarot
The Knight of Wands is symbolic of letting Soul lead the way. And if you ask yourself what it means to be led by Soul, a lot of us will respond with grand visions and dreams we've kept hidden for a lifetime; big, courageous, audacious changes we'd love to make in our lives but can't for some reason.
But when you read between the lines of the quote above, it hints that maybe Soul-led movement isn’t about making the biggest moves.
Maybe letting Soul lead means allowing life to steer you wherever it goes, without raging, complaining, or giving up and wishing it had led you to a different room.
At the end of the day, you don't control exactly where you end up. And that's a really difficult thing for your human mind to accept, which is why you fight so hard against it.
But, the silver lining is that what you do control, what is in fact 100% in your power is the choice of what version of you shows up.
That's the truest definition of doing your best. In a way, that's really the essence of the Knight of Wands. It's not about getting exactly where you want to be, exactly when you want to be there. It's about bringing your best self into every damn room, even if it wouldn't have been your first choice. And if you can do this over a lifetime, you save yourself from future regret.
Because–and I hope you're not tired of my little room analogy–when you're too busy feeling hurt or disappointed that life put you in a room you didn't want to be in, you end up missing out on all the lovely opportunities that that room had to offer. And then years later, you look back on your life and realize how much you could have accomplished if only you had been open to it.
You must be willing to act in accordance with your own destiny. Nothing is simpler than this and nothing is more difficult – Chuang Tzu.
Really think about it: how much energy do we waste on wanting things to be different, wishing we could uproot and replant ourselves elsewhere?
How many people neglect to nurture their own gardens because they’re convinced that they would be so much happier if they could just move to a different one?
And maybe their garden isn’t even that bad to begin with. Maybe it just needs to have the weeds cleared out. Which, to be frank, it might be a ton of weeds that need clearing, and I acknowledge that. But how will you have the stamina to clear the weeds if you pour most of your energy into resenting life for putting you where it did? You'd be worn out before you could do anything tangible.
Ambition + humility = the sweet spot
This is why willpower and ambition need to be tempered with humility and surrender. Hustle, despite what Father Capitalism wants us to believe, is not the be all and end all for a fulfilled life.
To say the same thing in different words: consistently moving forward is admirable. But consistently moving forward to keep walking into a locked door is foolish.
The Mantra:
Use the mantra below to remind yourself to be more flexible, more humble, more accepting of life. When you find yourself getting tight with frustration, when your chest constricts because of unnecessary worry, remind yourself that non-action allows you to direct your energy towards what you can control, rather than what's outside your human hands.
Be ambitious, be goal-driven, be determined, but also strive to be more fluid.
Move with ease.
Allow yourself to flow with life.
Eventually, you’ll look back and find that your humility and surrender soothe the friction of continuously rubbing against the sharp parts of life, just like water smooths over the rough edges of stone.
This, dear reader, is true balance; the most ideal collaboration of man and spirit. The yin moves in harmony with the yang, with mutual respect for each other. 🌙
So I hope this reading helps you in whatever you may be facing right now. If you want to chat about it, or if you have any questions about the cards, feel free to shoot me an email at me@terriwanjiku.com. I love hearing from you guys. And shout out to the latest subscriber, Paula! So happy to have you here. :) :)