Recovery

Containment of our fire is only one step in recovery.

The Somnia (Tarot) Oracle

The blaze may be stilled, its reach halted, yet the air still shimmers with heat. Inside, embers pulse against the walls, quiet reminders of what once roared. Survival carries its own silent strength, though it can take time before we can name what we’ve lived through, before the smoke clears enough to let the truth of it all settle.

Outside the scorched doorway, we, the caretaker, rest. Our backs press against the pane, not to bar the way, but because its familiar frame is the one thing that feels steady. In our hands, we cradle a single rescued plant that trembles with life. Despite its singed edges, it still reaches toward the light. We remind ourselves to resist the pull of self-judgment. To question how long the heat lingers, or to despair over sudden reignition, is to forget the nature of resilience itself.  

Here we stay, unrushed.

Healing, we know, is spiralic. A slow turning that sometimes brings us back to old ground, not as failures, but as witnesses to how far we’ve come, tending to our wounds with new wisdom each time.

We may wish to erase every trace of what has burned, to sweep the ashes until no mark remains. Yet, true recovery lies not in erasure but in integration, letting the scar settle into the soil. We remember that healing is not a race, nor a path toward some perfect after. The fire, too, is part of the story. This is not a failure; it is a cycle of existence. Like the seasons, our inner landscape moves through growth, pruning, harvest and dormancy. When old embers flicker, we return, recognising the warmth, and once more we tend the tender parts that endured. We trim what has grown wild, replant what no longer thrives where it once stood, and sit beside our fears until they soften.

Recovery asks for our patience, our presence, and our willingness to return. The greenhouse remains, but our care now belongs to the parts that dare to grow, even after the fire.

This second picture becomes a visual ritualisation, weaving together several linked readings. Double exposure photography is giving me life again.