Two weeks ago, a spirit came to me and said she wanted my attention. She's poked here and there at recognizable names, but for the moment the best is Redbird, a spirit from the Empty Sky side whom I haven't had much experience with before. Redbird is one of the four "children" of the Dragon and the Firebird.
In the oracle deck, Redbird is associated with knowledge and with small beginnings that turn out to be big outcomes. She's a raw enough power that she doesn't have a simple element or portfolio - there's fire, there's magic, there's sex and death and creation. She's the most like her mother out of the four children, but she has her differences. She and her siblings don't ride often or for very long.
So far she's largely instructing me in how to do certain kinds of magic more efficiently. In exchange, she gets to direct the magical effects of my practice work, so it's basically been split 50/50 between work for me and work for her.
One of the things I'm stressed about is how many obligations I have going on at the moment, though. When she came in and asked for my time, I told her that I could give her a few weeks but I need to focus on finding a job before I can give much attention to anything else. The job hunt is playing havoc with my anxiety, enough that I'm thinking about asking my doctor for medication or a referral.
Adding another long-term esoteric practice sounds exhausting, but I also need to accept the help I'm offered.
"I'll give you a month," I told her. "Help me find a job by the end of it and we can talk." This is a lot like what I said to Juno, several months ago, and that resulted in me getting very close to a job but losing out at the last moment. I'm hoping she comes though; I'll be happy to give her more time if she can.
Things are going reasonably well with the Dark Lady, as far as I can tell.
But Mara... Mara feels different. I continue to offer to Mara but I'm feeling at a loss. It's hard to know what's going on there, and divination has largely turned up 'it'll work out' messages from her, but I'm literally incapable of not worrying. Part of me is worried she's unhappy about something - that maybe she didn't like Merciful Earth, or she didn't like how long it took to produce. That I made some mistake when I got her her own altar, or when I expanded her space, or when I konmari-ed the space. That I'm not making enough room in my budget for charity. That I'm not spending enough focus on her in her season.
It's almost certainly religious scrupulosity talking, I know that, but knowing it has no effect. Summer is her season. If I'd gotten my shit together last fall and done my six months with the Dark Lady starting with Samhain, I'd be on the correct schedule... but I didn't, and it's not like I can go back in time and feel bad when I could have done something about it.
I can try and make enough time for Mara too, and I do, but I just end up worrying whether it's enough, which is not a problem I've had before. Usually my religiously scrupulous tendencies manifest differently. But I know distance is sometimes normal in relationships with powers, and I'm trying not to read more into it than is justified.
It's a struggle with myself, and ultimately I'm answerable to myself as well as the spirits. I keep going as best I can. I do what I can, I offer what I can, and then I move on.
I can only hppe it's enough.