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, May 19, 2016

No Escape

From the Margarete Petersen Tarot, the Four of Flames (Wands); from the Elemental Dice, Light + Water (Rainbow):
          When I drew the Four of Wands card and rolled the Rainbow with the dice, I wanted to laugh hysterically and make some cynical post. The last few days have been filled with trying to take care of people - a daughter who collapsed at work, a MIL who is slowly dying, and a husband (who had what was supposed to be a simple surgery yesterday that got complicated). This morning I don't feel like sunshine and rainbows, I feel like I got hit by a train. But Petersen's words in her booklet cut short my whining when she described this card as the "fire of shaping." Conditions in our lives are always shaping us in one way or another. I can look at circumstances with contempt and armor my heart, or I can stay open and move through it with grace (knowing it will change). Pema Chodron wrote a book called The Wisdom of No Escape in which she suggests we stop running from what is uncomfortable and embrace all of life with a sense of inquisitiveness. "This is the process of making friends with ourselves and with our world. It involves not just the parts we like, but the whole picture, because it all has a lot to teach us." And maybe it is in the wonder of learning where that rainbow will be found.

6 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear that you and your loved ones are the midst of such turmoil. Hope your day today is better than yesterday and things smooth out. Holding you in my good thoughts.

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    1. Well the one thing I can count on is that things will change; my job will be not to let these conditions close my heart and mind. :)

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  2. Know I've been holding you in the pocket of my heart for weeks...

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  3. I admire you strength my dear Bev. You cannot not help them and be there for them, so moving graciously with this rapid current to calmer waters is the only option for now.
    Gentle hugs and encouraging thoughts for you and you family my friend
    PS please don't forget to take care of yourself too :)
    PPS where do you find the time too blog
    PPPS Chocolate is good for every situation :)

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    1. Thanks Ellen. :) I get up before dawn so that gives me time to do the things I need to do that keep me sane.

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