Incubate

Turtle. It's turtles all the way down, no really. Turtles are the ultimate survivors. If you find a turtle fossil it might be from 230 million years ago to now. Nature figured out that carrying your house with you everywhere you go works out pretty well. They survive even when all their neighbors get starved or smooshed. Sturdy wins in the end. Turtles are at home wherever they find themselves. If they feel threatened, they close up, shop and pull down the shutters.

Even those that lack such sturdy physical armor would do well to remind ourselves that we are equally at home in our bodies. When we get panicked, we can find safety for our minds by directing our awareness back inside, paying attention to our breath, feeling the boundaries of our skin and bone against the support under us. If you have unresolved trauma, you may not feel like your body is a safe place to inhabit and disassociate from it. With time and support though, you can find home.

The turtle advises the slow and steady approach. Genetics researchers are studying the turtles DNA for clues as to why they have no natural age to die. Unlike most other animals whose cells send a signal when it's time to die, turtles appear have no upper limit on how old they can live to be. The turtle has thus come to symbolize wisdom due to their great age and sturdiness.

This card councils to know when to turn inward and rest, trusting that the external world will solve its own problems. When you come out of your shell again, the world will be different whether or not you have done anything to move it. When a dog comes upon a turtle and starts pawing and barking, the turtle closes up. The dog might continue to nip its sharp teeth, but finding no purchase it eventually moves on. If someone is nipping at you, you can become as boring as possible by not responding. Eventually they will get distracted by drama elsewhere and move along.

Never underestimate the power of slow and boring.

See the shadow reversal > PANIC