November: Entelechy
The word “entelechy” came to us from a beloved friend and collaborator, one of the handful of people we turn to for input as we craft each year’s calendar. You can read a short dictionary definition of the word here and a longer one here. In brief, entelechy is the aspiration to realize your full potential and the tendency of life to do just that. It is a way of describing the animating spirit that propels us toward what we love and what we long to develop, enrich, and improve.
It’s easy to understand entelechy in human terms as the longing to improve your craft, the drive toward self-actualization, the determination used to get through perilous and confusing times. But entelechy is an aspect of everything that undergoes change. Because entelechy belongs to all life, it is a force that connects each of us to the more than human world.
About the Spell
This is an ambitious spell for the turning of the seasons toward the darker times. The bear in the image is reaching its muzzle toward the moon, hungry for its light. One year has passed since the election that changed the political climate of the U.S., and many of us are facing harsher conditions than we were last year. Entelechy reminds us to keep devoting ourselves to what is best and brightest, and just beyond what we can currently see. This is a spell for making real and possible all our visions that may only seem today like impossible dreams—a mighty nudge to aim far beyond where we think we’ll likely land.
When entelechy moves through us we have the chance to feel our connection to something larger than us. Use this spell in lonely, grueling moments when you feel tempted to give up or push yourself too hard. This spell is a blessing on your creativity, your love, and your desire to grow past and transform all the forces—both internal and external—that keep you from your best life. May you allow the fullness of life to be lived through you. May we all learn from experiences of authenticity that we are never fully separate from what we reach for.
Meditation on Entelechy
You can be anywhere for this meditation, so, wherever you are, begin to notice your surroundings and what it feels like to be you in this moment—What catches your eye? What do you feel in your body as you breathe? Maybe you can feel the way the inhale pushes against your ribs and fuels your heartbeat into quicker action. Perhaps you feel your torso deflate as you exhale, and your mind become more still for a moment. With attention on your private experience, consider something you are reaching for in this lifetime, an as-of-yet unattained goal. What feelings do you notice in your body as you focus on this longing? Are there thoughts, too? Get familiar with what this aspiration feels like... maybe you're enlivened by determination; or immersed in visions of other people who have reached this goal before you; maybe you're holding court with doubts and fears. If it feels good to, shift your focus to what it would feel like to realize this goal—to have become the version of you that has attained this longing… Focus your senses on this vision with lucid clarity and ask yourself, what has changed? Do you hold yourself or see yourself differently? Do you feel any freedom, joy, or relief? How much has the world changed—do you treat people differently or do people treat you differently? Breathe in the sensations of what you have yet to become. Breathe the vision and the knowing into your cells. As you drink in the potency of this dream, ask yourself, how would I know what it feels like to become this version of myself if I wasn’t already intimately connected to it? How would my life be altered if I allowed myself to feel the intimate relationship I already have to everything I think I lack? Feel these questions with all your might, and then see if you can release the need to know the answers. To close this meditation, let your attention return to your breath and its unthinking steadiness. Rest yourself on the movement of your breath and a few empty moments free from questions or desires. And then, when you feel entelechy pulsing through you once again, move toward what is calling you.
About the Painting
Corina: I love this one. I also love that this was one of the few paintings that Jo and I both worked on, a paintbrush in each of our hands, concentrating steadily with our heads bent together, watching each delicate stroke. This is an image I’ve seen in dreams, slightly modified for this spell. A strange thing happens with some of our paintings, which is that I can’t remember who added which details—the thing itself becomes complete through both of our imaginative and physical efforts. This is one of those—it was an idea, a conversation, a shared idea, a sketch, a shared painting... collaborating like this is the high point of my process with my sister, and one of the best experiences of my life. I also love that our process mirrored what the spell itself is for.
Jocelyn: I also love this one and for similar reasons. I remember the decision we made to work on this one together—we were feeling the pressure of time and I started to feel disconnected from the spirit of our art. Corina gave me some quick ideas about how she envisioned me painting this one and it felt all wrong to me. I had envisioned something different and felt like we didn’t have time to disagree. I started painting it and then stopped, called Corina over for a check-in, even though I knew she may be annoyed for how busy we felt. But she heard me, and we slowed down together, and all the magic Corina already mentioned in her description of this piece flowed out of our presence to a painstakingly slow collaborative effort, where each stroke mattered and somehow everything we did came from both of us. This painting also holds important personal symbols for me—the oak, the bear, the deer, the moon—some of my closest friends!
This Month's Offerings:
- We've got a sale going on this image for the whole month of November! Buy a print of Entelechy and get 15% off, using the coupon code ENTELECHY.
- This month, Corina is scaling back on giving readings to focus on making and selling art and creating new astrological books and courses. Find her selling her own and Abacus Corvus artwork—including our new calendar!—at the Portland Plant Medicine Gathering on the 11th and 12th! You can keep up with future fairs, classes, and more by following her on Instagram, @corinadross
- This November, Jocelyn will (yet again) try to do more than is humanly possible with her time and vital energy. In addition to all things school and internship related, she will be shipping out all the preorders for our 2018 calendar and hawking art at two beloved holiday craft fairs. Come see her on Nov. 18th at the Marshall Handmade Market and then on Dec 2 & 3 at The Big Crafty! Follow her on Instagram to stay on the up and up: @jocelyncorvus
- One week left to preorder our 2018 Calendar!! Below is a sneak peek at the artwork and you can follow this this link to preorder. Thanks for your support!
