Spotted Skunk

The Spotted Skunk oracle card invites us to stand up for ourselves with quiet confidence and clear boundaries, showing how to maintain integrity while adapting to different situations. 

Deck: The Illustrated Bestiary by Maia Toll

For more reflections and a closer look at the cards, find me on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @the_cardcast

Thank you for listening!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi there and welcome to the Cardcast.
I'm so glad you're here.
I'm Natasha and I'm here toshare a daily practice.
I love pulling an oracle cardand interpreting it through the
lens of my life.
My goal is to help you seeoracle cards as a tool for
noticing and anchoring in yourday.

(00:21):
So take a deep breath, pull upa chair and let's see what the
cards have to say.
Today's card is from theIllustrated Bestiary Guides and
Rituals from 36 InspiringAnimals by Maya Toll, and our
card is the Spotted Skunk whosays stand up for yourself.

(00:43):
So on this card we have a skunkwho's doing a handstand,
looking out at us.
You can see his back and youcan see his big fluffy tail and
there are, let's say, plumes ofwe'll be generous and call it
smoke, but we know it's skunkscent going moving around his

(01:04):
whole body and then kind ofsurrounding his body is what
looks to be an aura.
So the skunk themselves.
They represent self-respect,being able to set boundaries
without aggression, because whenthey spray they don't
necessarily want to fight orbite or claw, so they're

(01:25):
spraying to set that boundary.
They represent confidence andthen this ability to own your
space with a quiet strength.
What I really appreciate aboutlooking at the card too, is the
aura right.
The aura is very obvious on thecard.
There's this concept calledpulling an aura, which is your

(01:49):
ability to feel physically andenergetically larger.
So, with all of those pieces,this card is really about not
only standing up for yourself,but knowing that how I show up,
what I bring to this situation,is exactly what I need to bring
to this situation.
I don't need to try to besomething different or be more

(02:13):
or be less.
This was how I was supposed toshow up.
So if I think about that interms of different things coming
up for myself, there are placeswhere I certainly I'll say put
on a little bit of an act right.
The, I think, anybody who worksin different workplaces.
We sometimes feel like we arethe Meryl Streep of our

(02:34):
workplace and sometimes I thinkthat that is going along and
that's perfectly fine, you know,depending on the person in the
situation.
But I think when we do it toomuch and it becomes how we show
up all the time and not just forcertain audiences, it can start

(02:54):
to chip away at that sense ofself and at how we show up for
people who we don't need to dothat, for Just because we put on
a bit of an act for some peopledoes not mean that we're being
inauthentic or that we careabout them differently than
others.
Oftentimes we know that to getthe message across, to get the

(03:15):
resources we need, to get theinsight we need or the access
that we need, there aredifferent audiences that just
require a different type ofinteraction.
What's great about the skunk,though, is that he's still
saying like yes, there are thesedifferent auras, even on the
card.
If we see, like the scentplumes, they're all different

(03:38):
colors.
So, yes, I may need to shiftkind of between these different
things.
It's still at the core of who Iam.
It still does not take awayfrom my integrity, and I'm not
going to act out of integritybecause of different things.
I just might need to shift.
Philippe Petit was an individualwho walked, essentially, a

(03:59):
tightrope between the twintowers.
It took him about 45 minutes towalk between the two towers,
and when they asked him later,what was it that made you
successful?
How are you able to do that?
He made it seem so simplebecause he said you just have to
shift your weight, and I thinkabout that story probably at

(04:21):
least once a week honestly,because I like to think,
probably at least once a weekhonestly, because I like to
think where do I need to shiftmy weight to still continue to
move towards my goals?
And I'm still staying true towho I am.
I'm still on this tightrope,I'm still walking this path that
I said was important and thatis meaningful to me.
But sometimes I have to shiftand that's just part of engaging

(04:43):
in the world, right?
Different things come up,different things are happening
around and to us.
I'm still moving in thatdirection.
Maybe I need to pause for aminute, maybe I need to shift my
weight.
Either way, I will stillcontinue to move forward and
that really I think now that I'malso looking back at the card
and thinking the skunk is doinga handstand and when you do a

(05:05):
handstand, there is someshifting of your weight that you
also need to do there as well.
What do these symbols bring upfor you?
What does that mean for yourday?
That's all for today's card.
For more insights and to seepictures of the cards, you can
find me on Instagram or YouTubeat the underscore card cast.

(05:26):
I'll see you in the nextepisode.