Druid Animal Oracle: Fox

[Meditation journeys based upon Philip & Stephanie Carr-Gomm's oracle deck.]

Illustration by Bill Worthington

Today's Card: FOX-- "Sionnach" in Gaelic.  Cunning, Diplomacy, Wildness.

The card shows a fox, emerging from a forest to venture onto an iced over lake. Holly sticks out by one corner, an evergreen that shows its vitality in the heart of winter. Snow lies everywhere. In the distance, pines or firs grow on the distant shoreline, and a sunrise or sunset shines brightly, showing that a small mountain is even further in the distance. But something doesn't add up..! Behind the fox (behind its head and tip of its tail) the forest that the vixen just exited seems to blend into a snowy mountain much closer up! But how is that possible? Is it just a cap of snow covered tree tops? But that doesn't quite jive with how its drawn...

This card may be showing an overlapping of two realities! Which one is more physically 'real'? Which is our world, and which is another? And is the fox the only animal that demonstrates this ability? I guess it's time to find out!

I step through the portal and wonder about the ice! The Fox isn't even looking at me to begin with, but she soon does, and her expression is both playful and compassionate. I like her very much! I also remember the cranes I met with the bull, and how they directed me to the vixen to answer my question...

I asked for some sign of hope that I might find "IT" again. It being my passion for life, my ability to trust and love. My belief in myself as someone who can negotiate life successfully.

The Fox eyes me for a moment, then takes off over the ice-- looking back over her shoulder a few times. I hear crashing, and realize she's being chased, so I gingerly follow her onto the ice. I slide a little, then start to skate more gracefully. When I catch up to the vixen, she seems happy with me, and then leads me towards the rising sun.

I realize why when the big ogre chasing her comes out onto the ice to catch her, and me as well, apparently! The light of the rising sun blinds him a little, and so the fox and I criss cross in front of our enemy, confusing him more. Eventually, she leads me to an area where the ice is thin. I know we're going to trick our enemy...

... and it works. He's so angry at us puny tricksters that he blunders onto the thin ice and then falls through! We did it!

By now, we're to the opposite shore, and we climb up and look back to the hole in the ice, satisfied that we are safe and our pursuer will bother us no more.

Now the Fox speaks with me about my problems dealing with enemies. I try too hard, she tells me, to not lose. I'm not good at beating my enemies at their game. I need to create my own game, and have fun doing it-- once I get angry or desperate, I lose my advantage completely. She reminds me of when I was so successful at beating one infernal little bitch once. I never got caught up in the angst like I usually do, instead I got smart, and I turned things into a fun game. And I beat her easily.

I need to remember that, she tells me. I sit there on a pile of moss, looking out over the lake, and I stroke her thick fur. She tells me how foxes have had to learn to be wily to hunt and to get away when hunted. They are often in-between the powerful and puny, just like me. But they are also smart, just like me. I need to hold on to my humor and sense of play.

When we play, our minds are more keen and engaged-- at their prime. When, by contrast, I am upset and struggling, I can't think clearly. I lose my creativity, which is one of my strong points. Staying upbeat and laughing at life can be the difference between life and death when one deals with enemies.

I realize this is what I needed to hear. That all is not lost-- that I'm not doomed to repeat the same mistakes every time I am threatened. I CAN turn things around into my favor. People that are gunning for me also lose their advantage when they take things too seriously, if I let them blunder into losing-- just let them fall through their own hubris, I can walk away the victor!

I feel happy to know I can be okay. I think of my ex, and how he often sided with my enemies or even created them in the first place-- but in the end, all the quality people came to me and he was left with the losers in life. He played them and they all ended up with each other. No loss to me!

I jump up and go ice dancing. The sun shines down and the fox comes to join me, and we chase each other and skate around in glee. Eventually, we make our way to the originally spot by the holly tree where I came in. By now, the sun is high in the sky, and the world is very bright.

I kneel down to hug and kiss Fox. She wags her tail like a dog and licks me back. I will know to call on her for inspiration or advice in the future when I realize I need help in a 'game.'

I step through to my own world again, grateful for my vixen friend.