Sometimes life doesn’t go according to plan. I’m sure all of us have experienced this at some point!
Whether it’s going out to eat and finding out our favorite meal is no longer on the menu, or getting to the airport and learning our flight has been cancelled, life is full of unexpected turns of events.
Of course, not every shock or surprise is necessarily unpleasant, or at the very least without some kind of solution.
Oftentimes, there’s another way to achieve our goal, even if it’s not our first choice and it means taking a detour.
We order spaghetti instead of lasagne, or stay the night at a hotel at the expense of our airline and get a flight home the next day.
Without a doubt, each of us will experience this change of plans in a different way – some of us with more stress, and others with less.
But what happens when it’s not the first time our plans have gone awry, and we’ve exhausted different options to no avail?
What happens when it genuinely feels like something bigger than us is preventing us from reaching our goal?
It can seem impossible to know whether we should just keep trying a little longer or whether we should declare the matter a lost cause.
As witches, when we find ourselves questioning the plans we’ve laid, using divination can help us determine our next steps.
A trusted oracle can indicate whether we need to pull out all the stops to achieve our goal, take a break, or simply accept that something isn’t going to work out, no matter how much effort we put into it.
In the story that follows, I found myself in just such a predicament — a situation where I couldn’t see the way forward.
Frustrated and disheartened, I consulted The Faeries’ Oracle, and something truly miraculous happened.
The context
At the beginning of 2022, disillusioned with the cost of higher education in the United States, I moved back to Argentina to study psychology at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).
As a public university, classes at the UBA are completely free, for both Argentines and foreigners. To begin a major-level course of study like psychology, all students have to take six general education courses (called the Ciclo Básico Común or CBC for short).
Fortunately, I had already completed two of these courses, and by December of 2022 I had finished the remaining four.
To finish the CBC and begin the psychology major, I needed to present my Argentine ID card at the university, along with a number of other papers.
The problem, however, was that I hadn’t received my ID, despite having applied for it some six months earlier.
It wasn’t the first time I hadn’t received an ID card from the Argentine National Registry of Persons, and I was concerned I wouldn’t receive it before the deadline to register for the psychology major closed.
If the card didn’t come, and I wasn’t able to continue my studies, not only would I be unable to keep making progress towards my dream of becoming a psychologist, but I would be unable to renew my student visa, and lose my Argentine residency.
The prospect that I might have to start evaluating different ways to become a therapist after spending a year completing courses that I hadn’t particularly enjoyed was exasperating, and weighed on me heavily.
Argentina, for better or worse, was also my home, and I didn’t want to be forced to leave the country.
Desperate, I reached out to numerous university departments looking for a solution, but it seemed no one was able to help me. I felt hopelessly dejected by the situation and started to seriously question my life path.
Take a deep breath and divine
Remembering the items in my witch’s toolbox, I decided to consult The Faeries’ Oracle for advice.
For anyone who hasn’t heard of it, the The Faeries’ Oracle is a gorgeous deck featuring the art of renowned English artist, Brian Froud. Each card depicts one or more Faeries, each with a different energy and message.
Using one of the preliminary exercises in the accompanying book, I drew three cards representing my current goal, my strongest inner conflict, and the key to resolving this conflict.
The first two cards I drew had a powerful impact on me and spoke clearly to my goal and inner conflict. I found it easy to connect to each of their meanings and apply them to my life.
The third card, however, was more difficult for me to connect to, and I felt unsure of its meaning. The card I had drawn was “Iris of the Rainbows,” which I’ve included a picture of below:
I spent a great deal of time meditating on the card, and writing down my own interpretation.
One of the first things that struck me was the multitude of Faeries in the picture, and the sense of collaboration and teamwork in the vignette. I also took notice of the fact that the archers hadn’t let their arrows loose yet — they were taking aim, and standing at ready.
The rainbow in the card stumped me a bit. Did it represent some kind of bridge between the worlds? Iris, the Greek goddess of rainbows, was also the messenger of the gods. But what was the message?
After working out my own tentative meeting, I consulted the meaning given in the book. As you may have already read in the caption above, the rainbow in this card is a message of hope – a promise that no storm lasts forever.
A break in the clouds
While I initially felt silly that I had managed to overthink such simple message, I also felt deeply moved.
The Faeries in this card were speaking to exactly where I was in my life and were telling me to hold on and have hope. While the storm wasn’t quite over yet, I needed to hold onto optimism and exercise focus, strength, and patience.
To my surprise, about two weeks after this reading, a lawyer I had been working with got in touch with me to suggest a possible solution.
While she couldn’t do anything to expedite the arrival of my national identity card, if I could obtain a certificate from the police stating my ID had been lost, the university would accept this in lieu of the physical card.
Following her instructions, I went to my local police station and managed to get the certificate. We then turned our attention towards getting the last paper I needed to complete my enrollment.
Bariloche
In the midst of the anxiety and uncertainty generated by this situation, I took a vacation to Bariloche. The trip, which I had planned back in December, had been my mother’s Christmas gift to me and was the first holiday I had been on in over a year.
It was also my first-ever trip to Patagonia, a region of stunning natural beauty, steeped in indigenous folklore and mythology. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to explore the woods, mountains, and glacial lakes, and reconnect with nature.
As we flew south over Argentina, further south than I had ever been in my life, I looked out of the window at the changing landscape and noticed multiple circular rainbows in the clouds under our plane.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen a rainbow in real life, and it felt like what I was seeing was special. Immediately, I remembered the message from The Faeries’ Oracle, and reminded myself to have hope.
Later, I would learn these rainbows are a rare optical phenomenon called glories (or pilot’s glories).
The breakthrough
Despite my fears about money, transportation, and even feeling lonely while travelling on my own, everything during my trip turned out to be okay. The room in my hostel was a little noisier than I had expected, but I could handle that. I wasn’t planning on spending much time indoors anyway!
Mid-week, I went for a hike in the Llao Llao Municipal Park and ended up on a beautiful beach by Moreno Lake. Laying there in the summer sunlight, the sound of the waves and wind soothed my anxiety. I felt like things were going to be okay.
I checked my phone and noticed my lawyer had sent me several text messages. My heart rate increased as I unlocked the screen and read what she had sent me. She was telling me I needed to go to the UBA in person, right now, to present the certificate the police had given me in order to get the last paper I needed for registration.
My heart sank as I realized that there was no way I’d be able to make it back to Buenos Aires and sort out the paperwork in time. I’d known it was risky to come to Bariloche when things were still up in the air, but I hadn’t had it in me to cancel the trip.
With tears in my eyes, I explained the situation to her, wondering how I was going to find a way forward now. My lawyer agreed that the situation was further complicated by my absence and that finding a solution was looking less likely.
A couple of minutes passed when I noticed more messages from my lawyer – one appearing to be an official-looking document. As I downloaded the attachment, my tears of anguish turned to sobs of joy – it was the last paper I needed to finish my registration.
A friend of hers at the UBA had come through for me at the last moment.
I sat on the beach for several minutes crying, and shouting out my thanks into the Patagonian wind. I had the feeling that I was exactly where I need to be, and that things were going to work out.
The day I saw the rainbow
Later that day, I booted up my laptop and completed my enrollment in the UBA’s psychology major. All there was to do now was wait, and see if my paperwork was accepted.
The next morning I woke up early for a group excursion to Mount Tronador. As we headed west out of Bariloche, I stared out of the van window, drinking in the view of the alpine-style houses, and wave-tipped waters of Lake Nahuel Huapi. I let out a gasp of disbelief as I noticed an immense rainbow arcing across the partly cloudy sky.
In that moment, I felt touched by the Faeries, and in particular, by Iris of the Rainbows. Again, I had a strong sense that this time, things were really going to be okay. This battle, at least, had ended.
Later that day, after I had returned from the excursion, I received an email confirming my admission into the psychology major had been successful.
Not only did I feel a huge weight lift from my shoulders, but I felt that my faith in the Unseen World had been validated and replenished. I experienced a solid knowing, deep within, that I was not alone in the Universe, and that knowledge was profoundly healing.
It might sound silly, coming from a Pagan priest – someone who professes to believe in an animate, interconnected universe – but I can assure you that even those of us who have dedicated our lives to the Gods have crises of faith.
Life’s trials test us, time and time again, and make us question our beliefs and worldview.
What is important, when experiencing these trials, is to not withdraw from the Unseen World, but to double down on the relationships we have with our spirit allies, and actively strengthen our bonds.
To do this, we can pray, make offerings, do meditation and trance work, and use our preferred methods of divination. We can also reach out to our teachers and spiritual mentors to guide us through this process or simply hold space for us, and encourage us not to give up hope.
It is my firm belief, that when we reach out to the Otherworld, we always receive an answer. Sometimes we can’t perceive it, but the invisible world is still there, supporting us in ways we can’t fathom.
If you’re struggling to have hope in your own life, and feel you would benefit from consulting The Faeries’ Oracle or the Tarot, please contact me and let me know you’re interested a reading.
Together, I’m positive we can commune with the Unseen World to bring you clarity and comfort, as I have done for myself and others many times before.