Consider The Crab

because sometimes the universe is as subtle as a brick to the face, or a crustacean in your dinner.

by the time you're reading this, we should have exited the cosmic craziness that is a Full Moon- a time of releasing and reflection to be sure, but also a time where quite a number of people feel completely nuts due to the 'fullness' of the energies being emitted!  to say nothing of this most recent Full Moon, which found itself in its home sign of Cancer... which at its most flanderized reads as a heavily sensitive and pugnacious sign.

the message that's usually on full-blast whenever the Sun or Moon is in Cancer is to take heed of your 'home' [whatever you hold 'home' to mean] and hold it close to you with a fierceness and 'hard-shelled' front that belies your otherwise notoriously-squishy bits.  throw in the Moon's tendency to render one's emotions into a state of flux [not unlike the tides She influences], and you get one doozy of an emotional rollercoaster.

of course, wild-and-crazy moods is not all that Cancer is about- or the Moon for that matter, as their energies have been intertwined for millennia and do in fact operate as mirrors to each other.  as the moon waxes and wanes and transitions the sky from east to west, so does the crab enter a similar cycle of progression and regression- like the trademark sideways scuttling, or its advancement and retreat along the shoreline as dictated by the tides.

as demonstrated.

there's also a really interesting primal quality to the crab- and thus to the Mother/Water that it similarly represents.  lots of people nowadays tend to think of your classic sea monster as some tentacled, terrifying beast- but older civilizations saw instead a massive crab emerging from the darkest depths to grab unfortunate boats in its claws, only to drag them down without mercy into their waiting, watery grave.  horrifying to be sure, but what Unknown isn't?  and then of course, that Unknown itself is where the true mysteries lie- the treasure that adventurers seek despite the rumours of the dangerous Crab that lurks nearby ready to catch those unworthy, or the knowledge that awaits you in the darkness of your subconscious... should you be willing to take the plunge [insert cheeky wink at the audience here].

of course, if you're even remotely familiar with the Tarot, you're already familiar with the potency and the allure of the Unknown- as represented by The High Priestess.  and since She is associated with The Moon, let's look at The Moon card itself too and- ​well look who it is down there!

it's so cyclical it hurts, you guys!!
[both images from the Initiatory Golden Dawn Tarot btw]

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so that brings me to the critter who unwittingly made its way into my dinner on the night of the Full Moon in Cancer this past week.  being relatively careful when i consume mussels [as getting errant bits of kelp stuck in your teeth is not a cute look] i tend to do a little poking around with my tongue before i chew.  being rewarded this time around with a sharp poke made me think i got a bit of shell stuck in there instead- but i certainly was quite surprised to pull a whole goddamn crab outta my mouth.

i mean, think of the utter resilience of this little one- probably seeking shelter in the ocean before being swallowed whole by a mussel as food, AND YET even through death its physical form proved to be as resilient as we tend to associate with crabs: avoiding being assimilated by a slow digestion, its predator's harvesting, inspection AND flash-freezing before being packaged away and shipped to stores all over Canada, where in the hands of literally anyone else they would be accidentally chomped on, spat out and discarded without a passing thought.

and yet... it ended up in my plate, surviving all of that AND the 50/50 split of ending up either in my plate or my husband's, looking completely and utterly perfect and only missing the smallest of one of its back legs.  what a trooper, this one!

after cackling in amazement and showing it to my husband and roomie [and the photos to all of my witchy groups] it's been decided that i will be trying to preserve this totally subtle reminder of current cosmic events in resin and even get it framed for jewelry purposes.  there is really something to be said for personal synchronicities in magic, and it really doesn't get more personal than pulling a tiny crustacean outta your mouth- with a Full-goddamn-MOON in CANCER HAPPENING OVERHEAD, no less.  so okay my Silver Lady, message received!!

i'll be spending more time with my Full Moon tarot spread to see just what that 'message' might mean in the context of my 'discovery'.  in the meantime, i'll be sure to update you all with the thrilling details of the tiny-crustacean-preservation as it happens.