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

Monday, December 12, 2016

A Way Through the Waters

From the Tarocchi Celtici, Borva/Manannan (Moon); from the Elements of Recovery, Service:
The moon has her porches turned to face the light,
But the deep part of her house is in the darkness.
—Robert Bly
          Borvo was a Celtic deity associated with minerals and bubbling spring water (and thus healing); Manannan was a sea deity found in Irish mythology. Two words this deck associates with the Moon are the unconscious and the feminine. Like that piece of pottery that sticks half in and half out of the water, all of us have memories (collective and individual) - some fully conscious and some buried in the waters of the unconscious. While a few memories may be forgotten in an old dusty file cabinet, some are deeply hidden and locked away. Yet the ego can't successfully repress or cloak everything all the time, and occasionally there are situational triggers that produce unexpected thoughts and emotions (and can leave us thinking, "Where did that come from?!). The unconscious 'speaks' in symbols and emotions, which can be hard to interpret. I've done dream work before, and the book I was using said every person, thing and event in my dream was a facet of myself. It isn't easy to find a key to unlock all those symbolic doors when dealing with the unconscious. Part of the problem is that I want to smash the door and force it open, which generally never works (the ego has a handy nail gun). This is where the receptiveness of the feminine comes in, as well as Service. Service is benevolent aid freely given without expectations; it is an act of selflessness and pulls us out of our own self-orbit. You can bet the ego is not interested in anything that does not fluff its feathers, so its likely to go take a nap. Helping another person, particularly listening deeply with compassion, can open a few doors. Through another person's experiences, we can view and reflect on our own. We sense the familiarity of what they say in our own life history, gaining insights from their stories (which is probably why fairy tales and myths are still so popular today).
Note about the Service card: The marigolds are companion plants in the vegetable garden; though they receive no benefits, they keep certain pests away from the vegetable plants.

6 comments:

  1. when that new med gave me unpleasant dreams then screaming awake nightmares, looking back, they were all triggered by the inability to do something, find something, help someone. I've apparently spent a lot of my hidden psyche being a failure. A girl could go all day without realizing that ;)

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    1. Maybe it wasn't that you were a failure, but that you felt helpless and powerless. That is just part of being human and has nothing to do with the kind of person you are. :)

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  2. "I want to smash the door and force it open" Me too. I like to have it over and done with quickly. Lately I feel rather out of sorts and it is hard not to rush things and do what I often do when I feel like this: Pretend there is nothing wrong and suppress my feelings.
    P.S.I love reading myths and fairy tales, especially during this season

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    1. Those tales and myths might be what cracks your door open instead of using an axe! :)

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  3. What do we see when we look into the reflecting pool of life?

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    1. Each person's life is different, so I imagine each view would be slightly different too.

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