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, June 5, 2013

Who's Holding the Paddle?

From the Gaian Tarot, the Canoe (Chariot):

I rather like the idea of a canoe instead of the usual chariot. With horses pulling the vehicle, there's always a ready excuse - "I don't know what's gotten into them; they dragged me all over the place except where I wanted to go!" With the canoe, there's no doubt who's paddling the boat and choosing the direction of travel. It reminds me of statements like: "He makes me so mad!" "I could be happy if I had a more fulfilling job." I'm as guilty as anyone else about making such comments. But in reality, I alone can allow my emotions, senses and instincts to manipulate me, or I can skim above them and paddle with the tool of rational self-control.

From the Goddess Oracle comes the card "Hestia:"
Hestia was the Greek goddess of hearth and home, who had the ability to turn any building into a sacred place.  And while the author focuses her meaning of the goddess on the home, the myth that stands out to me is the one that shows her humility. Although Hestia held one of the original seats in the Olympian pantheon, when the new god of wine and ecstasy showed up (Dionysus), she willingly gave up her seat to him and went to tend the hearth.  Hestia teaches me to ask myself - before I get in a tizzy about something - just how important it is in the big scheme of things.  I could save myself a lot of time and drama by taking care of my responsibilities instead.

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