How to Use These Sacred Journey Medicine Cards

You find yourself struggling against a torrent of resistance. This power, the work of external beings or internal demons, relentlessly opposes your progress. How will you ever overcome it? Koi fish are a symbol of hope, worldly ambition, and progress. Koi delivers to you the capacity to move swiftly against the current, arriving upstream against seemingly insurmountable odds. Try not to be distracted or deterred; this is not the time to give up or turn back. According to legend, if Koi swimming the Yellow River succeeds in climbing the falls at the Dragon Gate, it will be transformed into a dragon. Your determination and strong sense of purpose facing these difficult circumstances will carry you. Insist on wisdom and miracles, and you will receive them. Have faith.

Koi photograph, Key West, Florida, USA.

Two wild Zebras appear before you. The mother grazes to nourish herself, and her foal follows her, waiting to nurse. The patterns formed by the Zebra’s stripes are unique like fingerprints, reminding you to honor the singular set of qualities that only you have to offer. The sharp contrasts of light and dark symbolize the possibility that opposing characteristics can coexist in one being. You do not have to choose one extreme or the other; you can hold both, and it is plain for anyone to see how beautiful you are as you achieve this equilibrium. And still you can be wild and refuse to be tamed. Draw upon this quality to sustain you now as you glory in the blaze of your apparent contradictions.

Zebra photograph, California Coast Highway near San Simeon, USA.

Out of nowhere, a memory flickers across your consciousness. It is strange to you and yet familiar. A song playing in a café or an article in the news reminds you of a forgotten chapter from a past life. The leftover aura of past trauma and other crucial passages resonates throughout your present experience and catches the echoes of distant lives. Otter Medicine can swim into your consciousness when you are between worlds like this, to help you move between stages: when you are at the border of water and land, neither completely wet nor completely dry, or when you are in transition, your dreams full of people and animals from another lifetime. Otter conveys a sense of fluidity and the ability to play, encouraging your flexibility. Whether during birth, death, marriage, a sacred transition, or a crossing over to past lives, Otter’s positive energy and ease navigating transition can carry you.

Otter photograph, Monterey Bay, California, USA.

In this moment, you embody Bighorn Sheep Medicine. As small rocks fall beneath your hooves, you manage to run on the steep embankment without losing your footing. Your breath is fast, but it provides you the
power you need to keep moving. With a strong heart and keen ears, you quickly adapt to your environment. Below you a road stretches out alongside a lake where there was once a large earthquake that created these spectacular rock formations. Your legacy is to connect to the energy of the earth to fuel your dreams. Bighorn Sheep do not walk alone; allow the herd to surround and protect you. Allow the rocks beneath your hooves to speak to you and send you messages about the next step on your journey.

Male Bighorn Sheep photograph, Earthquake Lake, Montana, USA.

A friendly Calf stops mid-frolic to stare at you with piercing eyes that look directly into your soul. It is here to deliver the patient and holy Medicine of its Ancestors. You can look up at the night sky and tap into this same power in the Milky Way. The force of the moon is also with you, providing feminine nurturing energy. The Calf’s appearance also brings you equanimity. You may be experiencing a strong desire to get moving, but you needn’t push; now is not the time to rush into anything. Take all the time and preparation you need; know your strength, choose a direction, and take the first step. This Medicine is a source of sustenance for you, and it can induce a calm, meditative, and peaceful state if you let it. You will be carried where you need to go. Relax and enjoy the tranquil, tender ride.

Calf photograph, California, USA.