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the Family of Transition
The House of Change
Transformation
The Family of Transition live in the House of Change. It is odd, but the only thing we can ever really be sure of is that things are always changing and yet the greatest reason for uncertainty is the possibility that they might. It seems that a key to a happier life is how flexible we are able to be in accepting the inevitable changes which affect us.
The Nomadic Oracle seeks a deep and compassionate relationship with change through an understanding of transition at the personal level. The term is commonly used in some places to describe the stages in a process of transformation, a state of continuous becoming or a step in an individual's path to greater consciousness. It is a process many people are experiencing now, as we have done at any point in our history.
It can be a very 'hot' process for some people and may appear to be compulsive. Because of a lack of acknowledgment of this event within the cultural 'flux', especially in urban society, what should bring great joy often brings suffering and pain to family, friends and colleagues through misunderstanding and disorientation. It can also be an extraordinarily isolating experience for the individual concerned.
The Shadow
The Nomadic Oracle considers all aspects of life in terms of their energy. It separates the frequencies of this energy into five, which it relates both to the Aura and to the Senses. They are Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Consciousness which the Oracle names the fifth element. Explanations are offered variously in the Senses, the Elements & Spirits, the Family of the Emotions and other places on this site. A fully illustrated description can be found in Jon Mallek's book, 'A Guide to the Nomadic Oracle'.
The 'Shadow' is the Fire card in this Family. As the illustration shows, this aspect of Transition is stuck, embedded in the background illusion. This is a problem for any expression or release of Fire which represents the frequency of action and the passions and determinations which emerge from the alive physical body and its associated emotions. In the House of Change, 'Shadow' lurks the basements seeking gratification. If it can be bothered - the pilot light of life is glowing but the main burners are clogged in self-defensive despair. Any action is repetitive and anticreative, all stimulation unchallenging. A certain, mysterious pleasure comes from the pure boredom of it all.
The card 'Shadow' in the Nomadic Oracle represents a first step in transition, one of which for many people will be a point zero similar to the one described above. There are many such steps which are less dramatic and fundamental. 'Shadow' can simply point towards an adhesive patch or sticky situation. However it may be a realisation that 'there must be more to life than this' .... the thought might reoccur several times .... it might ignite action .... or it may subside.
Nourishment
Relief may come in the form of 'Nourishment', Water in the Family of Transition. Nourishment doesn't seem to bother about consequences. For every person and for every situation perhaps, the shape-changing 'Nourishment' pixie will appear in a different form. Expect the unexpected, the energy that gets you moving is almost bound to be a surprise. If it was predictable perhaps it wouldn't be effective.
Water according to the Oracle is related to a variable emotional and mental blend, the intellect always being in some form of dance with the emotional body. In the Family of Transition, this aspect is crucial to how quickly we may adjust to face the new situation. If action is required it can only be real if it can respond accurately to the new energies. 'Nourishment' will suggest being as open as possible to a wide range of information, including subtle clues which may precede the action. You may not understand what is coming your way but may feel the energy of it.
The Nomadic Oracle seeks only to empower the Reader through a vision of freedom. Both change and the inability to change may enslave a person. The use of the spreads and the resulting patterns can hone an understanding of change by suggesting where in the energy of the situation this may occur. To know that change is on its way is a big help in knowing when to be particularly observant.
Duty & Obligation
In the Nomadic Oracle, Aspects of the Element of Earth often play a beautiful if complicated role. This central position may speak of the dualities which exist between the practical and the ideal, the personal and impersonal, the concrete and the subtle, the fixed and the fluid. 'Duty & Obligation' in Transition may quickly become a minefield between order and confusion.
Contracts entered into during a period of stability may become non-viable if the energies of change blow strong. It may also be that, during such moments of transition, it is simply no longer possible to square the promises we agree to for other reasons and at other times. This will include the possibility that we begin to see, with greater clarity, that they were not in our best interests in the first place. Perhaps the agreement is flawed, or perhaps it makes no attempt to be of benefit to all of the people who once agreed to it. A contract, to be valid, must surely be of mutual benefit, even if it might not yet be of equal benefit. Agreements not following such a principle will surely invalidate themselves over time.
In a personal, and even an intimate sense, the Oracle is sometimes able to assist the individual perceive the more subtle reasons why duty simply fails to call. Some impediment freezes the action, or an inner mechanism obstructs the reaction. This is often a key indication of personal evolution, well known in cultures which give space to an individual and validate culturally such an event. We all may start to act 'out-of-character' if the energies of change grow uncontrollably, as they will do as more nuclear disasters occur around the globe.
Another deeper thread can be found in the energy behind 'Duty & Obligation' - that is, the Elements of Earth's relationship with change and transition - which may walk on paths such as 'life-purpose' and 'unbending intent'. These are suggested in the Oracle but only the Reader can know if such interpretations are valid. The Oracle gives a first level of guidance, for example what it is the cards represent and how those representations work together as a whole. The Oracle, to be of use, must be 'encyclopedic' in nature. The outer level, which includes an engagement with all areas of consciousness, will develop as familiarity grows and the Reader's own story readjusts the interpretations. This process can take some time and calls for patience, but is invaluable. In this and in many other ways the Oracle is a simply tool in the process. It is not a teacher.
Duty & Obligation
The Elements of Earth in Transition
An illustration : 'the Contract'
Art is capable of many subtle surprises. 'The Contract' is the only drawing in the Oracle which does not reach the edge of the paper. "It was not my personal preference to work this way, but there was guidance that the edges of these illustrations would prove to be important" says Mallek. "I followed the suggestion and always worked the entire surface, right to the edge but not knowing why. Drawing this card showed me why. An exception to a rule."
This contract can never be greater than the paper that it is written on. Like many such pieces of paper what it means depends on which way up you read it. It has the feeling of being conceptually removed, of having an illusionary or abstract quality which may suggest that it will fail to live up to the realities and practicalities it ties people to. Perhaps it limits an individual's freedom to reach for illumination and greater consciousness.
Contracts include the manipulations of others, cultural conventions, government interference and dominators further up the 'food chain'. These may bind the people to agendas which are implied but never stated. The effects ensure that many contracts are based on litigation and lawyers words rather than human values such as awareness, trust and compassion.
'Transition' and 'Emergence'
Completion and a New Beginning
'Transition'.
Family namesake and representative of the Spirits of Air in the Family of Transition, this card represents 'the Winds of Change'. The card in any reading will suggest this specific energy of change and transformation, where it places the message within the spread will clarify the focus. The context card in a 7-card spread may link to the interpretation. When in close relationship with the Elements & Spirits, the change may be external and incoming. Alternatively, when close to a Senses card, the change may be internal, through suggestion, intent or fate perhaps.
Seen as a group it is obvious that the Family of Transition provides a five-step understanding of changes developing in a situation - through the moment of movement, beyond the rechecking of obligations and the dynamics of the transition itself, with the associated pleasures, pain and disorientation. This then arrives at or reaches towards the energy of 'Emergence. This is Consciousness of the event, of hindsights which may yet bring more information and the reestablishment of stability, even if that stability is a fresh awareness of the permanent nature of change - change never-ending - which provides a key to becoming.
'Emergence'.
All of the Consciousness cards in the Nomadic Oracle are able to deliver affirmation, a way perhaps of saying 'yes'. The beauty of this system is that each possesses its own energy. 'Emergence' speaks of the completion of a step in the process, the result of a period of instability or growth. The Family of Transition sees life as a wheel, as do many people throughout the World. In that sense 'Emergence' raises awareness beyond the wheel to show that the entire process, or any part within it, is capable of true illumination if seen in a positive light. The wheel, through the action of time, transforms into a sine wave of peaks and troughs, not necessarily regular in beat, but always in the background.
'Rainbow Bridge', which represents the Oracle itself, is Consciousness in the Realm of Time. It sees beyond the Wheel that there is also a reality where awareness concentrates the action into a spiral. Both energies are present and no conflict or confusion exists between their directions, but they are different. The relationship between 'Emergence' and 'Rainbow Bridge' is thus both complex and profound. Transition generally takes a forward direction through time, carrying the conditions and consequences of the past into the future. 'Rainbow Bridge' reminds us that it isn't so simple, that the linearity created by focusing on change is one dimensional and insufficient on its own to reflect reality. A compulsive hyping of the energy of transition may manifest as a love of fashion and novelty for example. Cause normally precedes effect, but there are moments when a reverse action is seen quite clearly through the actions of omens and significant coincidence. If an Oracle were able to predict the future it would be through this action that the truth emerges.
