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, July 12, 2016

Cracking the Crown

From the Albano-Waite Tarot, the Tower; from the Rumi Cards, "Dazzle:"
          Oh look, another cheerful card from the Albano-Waite. But before I roll my eyes too far up in my head, let me take a closer look. Besides the obvious - the burning building and people tumbling down - there is large crown that is falling from atop the tower. This design is known as a closed crown; rather than simply circling the head, it has bands of metal that cross over the top. It is a wonderful symbol for a power that operates with a closed mind. Such minds can be vulnerable to a rude awakening when what they've invested their stability in (education, money, status, relationships, etc.) suddenly falls apart. But these spiritual experiences aren't meant to crush a person to dust or elevate them to sainthood. As Julia Cameron explains, "Far from making me feel different and special, my [spiritual] experiences made me feel the same, ordinary, and interconnected." We descend from the tower and find ourselves on common ground with all other beings. The Rumi quote describes the time required for the formation of a ruby and implies internal change that occurs over an extended period of time. The Tower can get our attention and redirect our focus, but ongoing growth will move at its own pace.
Most of our experiences are what the psychologist William James calls the "educational variety" because they develop slowly over a period of time. Quite often friends of the newcomer are aware of the difference long before he is himself. He finally realizes that he has undergone a profound alteration in his reaction to life; that such a change could hardly have been brought about by himself alone. What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been accomplished by years of self discipline. With few exceptions our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves.
~ AA "Big Book" 


8 comments:

  1. I suppose every stability or security,being an illusion, will tumble down someday. Life in itself is as insecure and unstable as it can be. How we perceive life makes all great difference between tumbling down with it or watching it from a distance :)

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    1. Understanding impermanence is not too difficult from an intellectual standpoint, but to actually accept it is a much harder nut to crack. :)

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  2. working through Julia's book had a profound effect on my life. all for the better.

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    1. Cameron's book is great. I've only read the Artist's Way; have you read any of her others?

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  3. I am in the middle of two books of Denise Linn. They are older publications that I got at the library. One is on sacred spaces in our homes and the other about past lives. She tells us to confront those moments and stop and rephrase them so that they no longer frighten us. I have never read Julia Cameron, she will be next on the list.

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    1. I have her book on Sacred Spaces; I now have little altars all over my house (though most people would not recognize them as such) that act as "touchstones" to remind me of different things. :)

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    2. Make sure you get a frog(s) or toads out and give them a spot on one of your altars and add a wand.

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    3. Rebbit (that's frog speak for will do!). :)

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