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, January 29, 2015

Waiting to be Reborn

From the Rohrig Tarot, the Hanged Man; from the Master Tarot, "Twice Born:"
          The Rohrig companion book describes this image as the Magus/Magician becoming a Mystic. There is no more grasping at ideas, manipulating people or attempting to control situations. The Hanged Man turns the ego on its head; acceptance and surrender to reality is his lesson. He now knows that he knows nothing. Instead of taking action, he is content to observe without judgment his moment to moment experience.
          Twice Born is the story of Lazarus, who died and was then raised to life. Yet the booklet explains this card is not a literal rebirth but a symbol of the death of the old personality. He represents going through the "dark night of the soul," one who "has lost all that he had to lose, and found what has to be found. It did not happen through his effort, but through his utter helplessness." It is hard for me to admit that I can't change other people or situations any more than I can change the tilt of the earth's axis. Though humbling, it is also a relief to discover the world doesn't turn through my efforts. 

3 comments:

  1. It is less hard to surrender when you are in a dark period of you life, than when everything runs "smoothly" If you see it this way the dark night of the soul could be seen as a wonderful gift
    And luckily the only we we can change is ourselves. Imagine others would be able to change us without our permission :)

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    1. It is hard for me to step out of the mindset of "fixer;" I want to solve problems and create solutions. But sometimes what is broken or unbalanced has to sink or swim on its own.

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    2. I can relate to the "fixer"" attitude. As you've said many times yourself: often they only want us to listen :)

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