You are experiencing another quickening — you know it’s time to go deeper.
Updated: Oct 25
Your art will be born from the depths of this Venus retrograde in Scorpio transit - an intuitive reading.
"Chaotic silence blankets a sea of black bold with a brilliant presence of power, possibility, and passion Eternal warmth wades in the womb of her space Her lack of light quickens portals into infinity Recollections of waves dance against the perpetual darkness Continuous fractals crystallize into my becoming There is an absence made aware upon the face of my nakedness A call to those who dare enter beneath the skirt of her vastness..." From the poem, Beneath the Void Skirt by, Nuna Ma'Khai
There are few who hear the Dark Mother’s call. Few who accept her invitation to descend into the depths of her womb. She is mirrored in our nature; we slumber, discover, explore, awaken, remember, descend, and die. We are reborn into the light of our delightful wisdom as we pace our paths of remembrance.
The intelligence of the Great Mother is mirrored in our own intelligence. Whether that intelligence manifests as intellectual rigor, intuitive inclination, or creative inspiration, we express the wonders of this universe through the language we best inner-stand and can articulate.
Upon this notion, there is a unique signature present in those whose intelligence is revealed through their artistic expression. They retrieve wisdom from the Great Mother’s womb after their heroic voyage beneath her void skirt. This often looks like exploring taboo subjects, studying the occult, and practicing divination (at least those who choose the path less comfortable are being highlighted here). What is retrieved and remembered is woven throughout the webs of their creations.
There are those who wield wisdom born from the fires of their tribulations. There are moments within our journeys where the heaviness of our trials manifests as grief, sorrow, angst, regret, longing, and the unspoken memories that have implanted themselves within the walls of our subconscious. Some choose to express these unspoken feelings and emotions by way of creation. Their poetry. Their music. Their movements.
Before the art has been birthed from the artist though, there is a solemn silence that stirs deep within the wells of the creator’s inner world. Some are aware of this gift. Others become aware after choosing to answer what continuously calls to them. Nonetheless, the artist is the open channel that receives the call — their answering comes with a need to know more, taste more, to immerse into the familiar yet unexplored blackness of their subjective universe.
In this instance, answering the call is choosing to enter beneath the black space — into territories revealed only to hearts humble enough to listen and daring enough to descend. After the call comes the answering. Answering the call leads to descent, and eventually the quickening. These unique processes are experienced based upon the soul’s experience here in this life — whether in this order or not.
Let us explore the intuitive messages behind the call, the answering, descent, and the quickening. The teachings regarding these processes will be given their respective posts as each is unique in its own right. We will explore what is calling us collectively, why we are being called to descend, what quickening means to us now, and what we are remembering.
This article was inspired by an intuitive tarot reading:
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The Call: Submerge.
I asked the Divine Mother what we are called to do and upon shuffling the Gilded Reverie Lenormand Deck the word, submerge presented itself. This is aligned considering Venus’s transit through Scorpio. Currently, the Evening Star is retrograde in the under-worldly depth of the cosmic sea. What is calling us however, is obviously not equivalent to what we are being called to do. Nevertheless, what calls us ultimately gives way to the action. And as for the action, I cannot help but land on submerge.
Submerge is the intentional act of going under water or placing an object or someone under water. It is to go below or put something below the surface of an enveloping medium. Although this can also mean to suppress, cover, conceal, or obscure, I feel an intuitive pull towards spiritual submergence — going beneath the void skirt. Deep diving into ourselves through ritual, prayer, and the arcane arts.
We are collectively experiencing themes surrounding love (romantic and self-love), relationships, and shadow work. These themes can be as complex as the richness of the circumstances of the soul’s experiences.
On the surface we can find ourselves remaining in relationships because we’ve entangled our individuality in the identities of the people we love. It can look like choosing to give more than we need out of fears surrounding loneliness, abandonment, and desires of belonging. The scape of our every day lives can be lush with giving excessively without receiving, hushing our songs to feel peace, trading our sanity because we engage with scarcity mindsets. I feel we are called to submerge ourselves in the enveloping medium of our current life experiences because to embody our truest wisdom we must face these things.
Returning home looks like leaving what is familiar despite the suffering we may experience as a result of the attachments. Submergence in this case is the call beneath the surface of the scape of these themes. It is choosing to go into yourself. Closing yourself off from the outside chaos and noise of the world and into the universe within you. Sometimes, we may feel that submergence is accidental or involuntary. In this case it is due to the density of the energies we have yet to become aware of and work with. Descent is the answer to that call — whether voluntary or involuntary. I believe that we can descend involuntarily.
There are moments we consciously turn inward. And sometimes life ruptures the surface, pulling us beneath it. Sudden death, loss, separation, betrayal, displacement, and other forms of rupture can initiate descent without our consent. Of course, being that these experiences are not animate or aware — we are the consciousness that becomes aware of these experiences. We did not choose these events nor the grief that follows. In that sense, descent can absolutely be involuntary.
Experiencing (sudden) losses and deaths of any kind and the sorrow and grief that follows comes with wounding. It can feel as though we are pulled beneath the surface and into descent involuntarily — we don’t set intentions on these events happening and they can feel torturous. How deep we descend depends on how much work we are willing to do and how deep the wounds may be.
Descent
To descend is to question.
Every question we ask ourselves is an intentional act of descending deeper in the dark for the sake of clarity, remembrance, and retrieval. The questions we ask are entirely dependent on the circumstance and energies present.
Allow me a moment to connect with you a bit more intimately. I inner-stand that we sometimes feel the need to remain in situations because it feels familiar, it gives us a sense of safety, and sometimes because we just don’t know how to move forward or if moving forward is even the answer. Let us remain within the themes and ideas surrounding this Venus retrograde in Scorpio season.
A quick note: Tribe, please know that you are not required to make any decision on exiting or entering any relationship that you aren’t ready to right now. I can also feel a strong pull towards sitting with the uncomfortable: some of you will ultimately end up leaving… for good. Others are called to examine the traits within themselves and work together to make changes. Venus retrograde in Scorpio does not doom relationships or always question intimacy. It sometimes means that there are parts of ourselves that are evolving and the relationship needs more room to breathe and expand. Our actions help the breathing and expansion.
Furthermore, this can be a difficult time because in the pits of your mind you know this is a time to closely examine the cause of root rot. Have you watered too much without receiving enough? Do you feel pulled into their intensity? Do you feel starved of nutrients due to lack of reciprocity? Do you believe that self-sacrifice is the way to maintain a strong connection? Toxic cycles are hard to break and Scorpio is revealing that. Scorpio reveals how deep and intensely we can love — even through betrayal. I am holding your hand, Tribe, because these are not easy moments to deal with and I refuse to say good luck. You are NOT on your own here. Some paths require self-initiation and solitary workings. In this case we are working together.
I want to give you a few more questions. If we were descending together through journal prompts and you asked me to provide a few questions, here’s what I’d ask:
What does it mean to keep myself? What does it mean to keep another?
What was my first experience with betrayal?
Do I feel that there is something possessing me to betray myself? If so, can I name the thing? What is it?
When did I learn I must suppress my divinely feminine needs to keep others fulfilled?
What happened after I was hurt? What did I believe I had to tolerate to keep the connection?
Am I confusing emotional intensity with deep love and care?
Have I accepted the external chaos of this relationship as a part of my being? Do I know the difference between the two?
Am I willing to sever any connection that pulls me further away from myself? Why/why not?
What would my life look like now, in one year, in five years, and in ten years if I chose myself this time?
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For some of us, descent means questioning and that questioning leads to the arcane arts. The arcane arts in this sense simply refers to the occult mysteries, magick, mystic arts, and ritual. (I say arcane arts in an attempt not to sound too cliché). Not everyone gravitates towards this current, but this path can lead to profound healing and transformation as long as what is rediscovered and learned is applied. Studying symbolism and conducting rituals can lead to intentional transformation, deep remembrance, and self-mastery. Self-mastery is the embodiment of this deep wisdom. When held within our hearts, embedded in our minds, and exercised in the world, this wisdom allows us to remain conscious co-creators of our world. This heightened state of conscious awareness gives us the opportunity to recognize old patterns and consciously refuse to repeat them. Our rituals become intentional acts of devotion, which is the perfect theme for the energies we are currently experiencing.
Venus points to our feminine devotion, value, self-worth, and magnetism. Scorpio points to the who, what, when, where, why, and how we remain deeply loyal. Scorpio is also associated with the shadow, studying taboo teachings, the occult, sex magick, intuition, rebirth, purge and banishing, and transformation to name a few themes. Studying the arts and conducting rituals can help to purge the energies that instigate our suffering and reveal what is within us that needs changing. It is deeply psychological and can lead to profound truths. Scorpio shows us our fears and reveals what either rests or rages within our shadows.
One final thing I have noticed over the years: there are people who possess a power so potent that the simple act of acknowledging what needs changing and purging immediately shifts the atmosphere. They are drawn to the intensity because it reflects their own. Not that this makes them evil or malevolent, but because they are the embodiment of under-worldly wisdom.
So, if you have been more drawn to the depths it could mean that the Divine, your ancestors or spiritual team is nudging you to take this deeper route. This route can cause the quickening. And it most certainly is leading you to it.
The Quickening
Experiencing life is the input of information and sometimes that information sends us into a quickening.
I tend to attract people who have experienced a deeply traumatic experience, or several, with myself being a part of that soul group. What I have learned through my own experience with the calling, submergence, and descent is that we become pregnant with ideas due to the many layers of our experiences. Our subconscious minds are constantly receiving input and our sensitivities can make us fertile. I believe that our multidimensionality mirrors the multidimensionality of the Dark Mother. Life is ripe with energy and we are meant to express and experience the energy.
I am not one to glamorize suffering. But I would be lying if I said that some of the most beautiful art that has been birthed into this world wasn’t conceived in the thick pain of the human experience. Artists are the channels, mediums, and translators of the things we feel, but may not have the linguistics to articulate. They are the vessels in which the voice of the universe vibrates. Some artists communicate through language that is easily digestible, accessible, and easily metabolized. Others communicate in a way that speaks directly to the subconscious and in a way that confronts that which chooses to hide out of conformity, control, or discomfort. Some choose the middle way, but for the sake of this season we will remain loyal to the extremity.
I feel that we are collectively called to engage more intimately with our art as a form of expression and integration. Art has a way to connect us in ways that speak directly to our souls. Each piece born can be so resonant that some who encounter the masterpieces find themselves experiencing the quickening. This quickening enriches and enlivens the soul as they experience the Divine up close. They experience the very things they may have trouble expressing — in turn this creates a moment of deep connection between souls who may have never met.
The beauty in this is that art is a gateway into the depths of the underworld and the cosmos. It pulls us deeper into ourselves, thus creating an atmosphere where we become more intimate and accepting of ourselves throughout and after the process. Through art, we are invited into the artist’s greatest moments of inspiration and into the life experiences they endured along their path. We find ourselves in awe, stunned, and weeping at the love, creativity, and mastery born from the rigor and endurance.
It would be a moment of sitting in the audience as the pianist and orchestra perfectly perform Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. The poet at the open mic night who paints pain with words like it’s the last thing their body would taste. The storyteller stitching images in the minds of those on a soul search for connection and retrieval. The tribal dancer moving the hearts of those who feel lifeless. Their stomps resuscitating the body back to life, bringing their being back into balance and rhythm. It would be the perfect witnessing of the souls reading this because they exist in their unquestionable light.
The quickening is a moment of deep awakening and remembrance. It is a moment we are moved after encountering the light of the Great Mother. We tend to become aware of the first movements of life within us. Some of us choose to create from this place and I believe that artists sometimes create their best art pieces as a result of experiencing the quickening.
You are the art meant to awaken others on their paths of remembrance. What you create can serve as an invitation for others to change their lives. In this case, your art is a statement. It is what keeps the pulse of the universe alive. Trust it. Integrate it. Trust that those who are meant to receive it… will. And it will be worth it because YOU are worth it.
In All
This is why I believe you are experiencing the call, choosing to descend, and experiencing a quickening. You have endured a tremendous amount of intensity in your life and I feel that this may be a way for you to give purpose to your life from this space. Your studies pull you closer to the Divine. Your art shows what you were afraid to confront and helps you to integrate the intensity of your feelings and emotions in a healthy way. Your magick and rituals help to protect you as you draw inspiration from these darker spaces. All of it leads to transformation and remembrance.
You are remembering what it means to choose you again. To love and heal despite how difficult the situations may be. You are remembering the you before the fracturing, the breakup, the intensity. You are becoming a more elevated version of yourself as a result of it. Not because you were broken before, but because you have gained a newfound awareness. Your art is a living testimony to that.
Tribe,
I thank you for your time. I trust that by surrendering through this process your quickening can lead to timeless art. I trust that you are carried and comforted through your descent. I am here to journey with you, and the best way I know how is by merging the arts of poetry, writing, and magick.
Thank you for reading — I hope you received what you may have needed.
With divine love and benevolent intentions,
Nuna 🦋
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