He’s the Lizard of Resolved Paradoxes, known also as The Angel of Peace.
My pal Olivia was giving away The Angel Oracle deck and its accompanying guidebook (by Ambika Wauters), and did I want it? I said sure, why not? The Angel Oracle sounds awful cheesy, but it’s probably not a downer or anything, so I’ll give it a try. I took deck and book home and added them to my repertoire of solitary rituals, my bag of tricks for staying calm in the moment and dissecting that same moment to reveal its anatomical intricacies. (That sentence sounds a lot more profound than what actually happens around here.)
The interpretation that accompanies each card is spot-on, and soothing to read; the sort of words that leave me feeling like all is well in Heaven and Earth, and I was just being silly when I thought for a minute it wasn’t. If I’m in a certain state of mind, the illustrations on the card seem lovely, with creamy countenances galore and a pleasing range of golden and red hues. But after a while they all kind of blend together, the individual angels not being shockingly unique in appearance. It’s serenity all the way with these guys, doves and fruit and babies in their arms, a marked lack of affect about the face. I leave them be and find other creatures to illustrate each new angel topic. There are always other creatures around, just waiting to be clad with heavenly raiment. Like the rat I saw running on a power line, the beetle Jasper decapitated in the woods, the tree in the courtyard.
Tonight I drew The Angel of Peace, and smirked at it with self-approval because yes, I did feel peaceful today, even in situations that left me tongue-tied and spastic. Or impatient and sweaty. Looking at the card, I wondered how I managed to accomplish this today, what with all the frantic emailing and calendaring, not to mention the consumption of what my galloping heart tells me was at least 40 milligrams too much caffeine. How was I able to be both a nervous nutcase and a peaceful soul? Can I repeat this accomplishment on other days? The Angel of Peace (it’s relaxing to keep typing that name) was ready with the answer:
Once we have released our primary fears about basic survival we start to learn to trust in the goodness of life. Many of us may reach this level of development as we mature and after we have weathered crisis, pain or loss, only to find that we are fine and deeply intact at our core. At our very centre we are pure peace, and this cannot be destroyed or diminished by external circumstances. We can choose to identify with this part of ourselves when we open our hearts to The Angel of Peace.
Once we have resolved the conflicts within ourselves, our lives begin to take on a deeper sense of peace and order which lets us flourish as the unique and creative beings we are. It is only when we are at peace that we can truly be creative. Otherwise we are limited to continually re-enacting the painful traumas of our lives.
Well, great! I thought upon reading the above. Fine and deeply intact at our core! Released our primary fears about basic survival! I’ll try to remember that. But who or what can truly represent The Angel of Peace to me tonight? No offense to the beautiful angels depicted, but I need something with more snap to it. I dove into my Pinnacles Lightroom database and immediately ran into this lizard.
It’s the sly, confident glimmer in his (her?) eye that makes him seem so peaceful to me. I added some mildly psychedelic enhancements to bring out his party shaman vibe. Like he’s got the situation under control, and by the way, his friends are having an intriguing discussion a few rocks over and would you care to join them? Yeah, they’re a fun crowd, definitely mellow, mostly lizards like me. No, no, you’d totally fit in, any friend of mine gets star treatment. I ordered a pizza, it’ll be here any second now. Do you want a beer? Glass of lemonade? Five-gallon bucket of caramel ice cream? Just say the word.
Would they what-? would my friends think you’re weird? You mean because you’re human and stuff happened to you? No way, baby, you just have a little faith in The Angel of Peace here, I wouldn’t steer you wrong. Just put down that paradox and have some fun.
