I use tarot and oracle cards as tools for reflection and contemplation. Rather than divining the future, they are a way for me to look more deeply at the "now."
"The goal isn't to arrive, but to meander, to saunter, to make your life a holy wandering." ~ Rami Shapiro

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Seeking my Song

From the Rosetta Tarot, the Hermit:
Two symbols stand out for me in this card: one is the cosmic egg in the Hermit's staff and the other is the labyrinth he walks.  Both represent an inner place, one that holds potential and one that holds wisdom.  Introspection is the task of the Hermit, a spiritual audit of sorts.  He spends time in isolation on a pilgrimage to higher guidance, looking for something greater and more lasting than his ego can provide.  Like the farmer in the Seven of Pentacles, he can see what fruit has grown from the spiritual seeds he's planted in the past. The hexagram of his lantern indicates he shouldn't just carry around what he learns in his head, but should allow it to permeate his reality. 

From the Ascension to Paradise deck comes the "Mockingbird:"
More than any other songbird, the mockingbird can imitate not only other birds, but a variety of sounds in its environment.  My husband used to have a car alarm that would go off for no apparent reason, and we had a mockingbird who could imitate it almost perfectly.  But his talent at replication makes me question myself - am I singing my own song, or have I become one of the "sheeple," blindly doing what someone else tells me is the correct way?  The Ka-ta-see tradition has a ceremony for finding your "song" - the signature of who you are.  It involves bringing back the details of a time when you felt an intense aliveness and joy; it is the feeling that accompanies this memory which is imprinted with my song, the purpose and meaning of my life.  It is personal to me, yet is what connects me in a spiritual way to all others.


 

2 comments:

  1. lovely image on that oracle card, and the story about car alarm mockingbird is quite amusing...lovely idea though about finding your song :]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These oracle cards are lovely, though I find myself using more about what I learn about the birds as a meaning than what the book has sometimes.
      I have a dear friend who has been studying the Ka-ta-see tradition for many years now; she is the one who taught me about "song." :)

      Delete