The Foot Chronicles: In a Snail's Pace

There are times in my life in which I remember my dreams in detail. They are so strong I feel 'high' during the morning, a part of me living in reality and a part of me still lost in the remnants of my dreams. And there are times in which I can't recall a dream to save my life. If I couldn't see the sun rising through the eastern window, I'd doubt I had slept at all.

The last couple of months have been 'dreamless' months. Of course I dream, but their contents remain a mystery locked in the black box of my mind.

But today – ta da! – I remembered. Not all the dream, but a part of it that made me sit on my bed and think about it for a long while before getting up. Not something I usually do: early in the morning, my thoughts have zero complexity, and nothing profound comes from my brain cells as I drag my sleepy butt to the bathroom. I believe even think in grunts!

In my dream, I was visiting a doctor/therapist who specialised in... feet. Yes. She was treating my feet... they were swollen and strangely sticky, as if constantly covered by a thick layer of sweat. Another doctor had already mentioned that my feet skin looked strange. She said it was fine, what I had was not very hard treat, but told me that I'd have to cover my feet with a towel and 'squeeze' it twice a day. Okay. I did that to see what she was talking about and the the most strange thing happened. Tiny weeny snails – yes, snails – started to come out of my pores. Surprisingly enough I was not disgusted at that... I looked at the snails, they were rather cute, and I wondered how the hell did I get such a strange parasitic infection.

Snails in my feet. Literally inside my feet. I was reminded of the 4-card spread taught by Ana Cortez... the bottom position, represented by the suit Spades and element Earth, is the foot. The roots, the foundation, the constant pull of gravity. Without a strong foot we crumble, no matter how high and deserving our ideals are.

So, I have parasites in my feet. I can't help but to think my personal roots and foundations are somehow being eaten away by something. I don't hate snails, and never did that cruel thing of putting salt on them... in fact, when I was a child, I used to like them and play with them. I'd let them slide down my arms! It's not like snails are the bogeyman of my unconscious world, so I can only assume that whatever is eating my 'feet' must be doing that with my silent consent.

Am I destined to fall like a tree rotted out at the base? And perhaps from that new things will grow? Or am I supposed to discover what is the parasite and fight it? I do not have answer to these questions yet, but there's something definitely gnawing at my core, slowly but steadily. And anyone who ever had the pleasure of being visited by multitudes of snails knows how damaging they can be to your plants – even though they work in a snail's pace.

All this reminds me of this week's Oracle Speak, by Ana Cortez. She drew the 9♠, also known as "Throne of Spiders", a card that usually points to something that is consuming you, your energies, your resources. Coincidentally, this card belongs to the Earth element, with is the same element that rules the Foot position in the 4-card spread. Time to pay more attention to the Foot position of my spreads...


Snail photo © akedeszign at stock.xchng