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

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Cup of Contentment

From the Daniloff Tarot, the Seven of Cups; from the Kuan Yin Sticks, Verse 55:
          Daniloff's selection of cups is an interesting group. The cup with the face and the crescent seems to represent spiritual mysticism; the snake around the martini glass implies revenge; and the cornucopia suggests material abundance and good health. The stein in the shape of a castle symbolizes a home and family; the skull cup and wreath represent the honor given to heroes and martyrs; and the keg suggests a never-ending supply of pleasures in a variety of forms. In the center is a covered chalice (implying purity) circled by an ouroboros of serpent and dragon (indicating an eternal cycle). What is in that central cup that could be so untouched by ever-changing, external events? I would theorize it is the ability to be content, always seeing a glass half full, no matter what life serves up.
          Verse 55 reads:
As bamboo poles standing in a line lead to a large spring, generation after generation prospers and moves on. As long as a man remains gentle and virtuous, whatever he wishes will come to hand.
I was raised by a man full of rage, but I spent my earliest years with a grandfather who was kind and soft-spoken. During my teen years I embodied the anger of my step-father, but a decade later I realized that such aggression and hatred only creates more of the same. It begets a life filled with dissatisfaction and suffering. Yet when I consciously mirror my grandfather's behavior, I find in most cases the same tenderness and understanding reflected back to me. Contentment and happiness don't just show up on my doorstep; I mold them through my thoughts and actions.
If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts, suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox...If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts, happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow. ~ Dhammapada 1:1-2

6 comments:

  1. I think I have two rage setting. Primeval and Fear

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, but you have a kind and thoughtful setting too. :)

      Delete
  2. Ah, the fabled Daniloff--I would like that deck but it's too expensive for me. Loving seeing it here though.

    I have Kuan Yin sticks that I traded for. They didn't come with a box, just the book so I bought an elongated paper maché pencil box to keep them in. I keep meaning to decoupage the box but can't seem to get to it on the roster of crafty projects.

    I bought an extra book to use the sticks; think it was "Kuan Yin: Myths and Revelations of the Chinese Goddess of Compassion" by Martin Palmer. As you know, my books are in storage but I think this is the one. It contains extra historical information as well as the 100 poems.

    I'm enjoying the artwork for Kuan Yin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My sticks didn't come with a book, so I got the Karcher one (which is so-so). I kind of like the original translations that I can put my own spin on without someone else's spin already on it. :) I'm having fun finding art to go with the sticks!

      Delete
  3. The true Secret is that you do not attract what you want but what you are :)

    ReplyDelete