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

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Confining or Spacious

From the Idiosyncradeck, the Ten of Swords; from the Mixed Emotions deck, 'Curious:'
          In the bottom of a pit lies a broken sword, yet the night sky is full of stars. It's hard to admit that one's ideas, strategies, and opinions are wrong or aren't working. When what we want or don't want bumps hard into reality, it can twist our minds in strange ways. We may try to think ourselves into a better situation (while holding tightly to our original beliefs). Between our ears this mental method makes sense. But applied in the world, it is ineffective at best and harmful at worst. I've been studying the Buddhist nidanas ('causal links'), a look at how our mind creates our suffering as a reaction to life. Yet just breaking one of those interconnecting links can wake us up, giving us the space to see with clarity. And what happens when we find ourselves in such spaciousness? We become Curious and fascinated with everything, without being so quick to label it with a permanent marker. Our world and the possibilities in it suddenly seem endless rather than confining and oppressive.

4 comments:

  1. I like this pairing, but I kept thinking the old idiom "curiosity killed the cat"

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    1. I suppose a dose of discernment along with the curiosity wouldn't hurt... :)

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  2. that 10 reminds me of having our vw recalled, so painful to us, and the sky, the onrush of battery powered cars it spawned

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    1. That is such a perfect example. Thinking we're doing the right thing, something good, and believing in a company who made the claims.

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