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

Friday, April 20, 2018

Equal Emotional Footing

From Hadar's Le Veritable Tarot de Marseille, the Queen of Cups; from the Greek Alphabet Runes, 'Lamda:'
          The Queen holds a cup with a cover. She knows that an outward show of feelings may not actually be what is going on in the unconscious. A person who is in a rage might simply be using an emotion that feels more powerful to hide a fear that lurks underneath. Burston has assigned the keyword 'encouraging' to the queens, and the Queen of the Cups does this in a very patient and tolerant way. Being in touch with her own feelings, she knows its not always possible to dig out the root of emotions in one day. Lamda symbols (uppercase) are painted on NATO vehicles for alliance identification. In the early 1970s, in the wake of the Stonewall Rebellion, New York City's Gay Activists Alliance selected the lowercase version of this letter to represent gays and lesbians. Adding Lamda with the Queen of Cups, these draws imply a partnership of equals. In the words of Pema Chodron:
 Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity. 

4 comments:

  1. have you listened to any of her audio CDs? do you have a favorite book amongst them all?

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    1. I am such a visual person, I have a hard time listening to nonfiction on audio. I do have quite a few of her books (on kindle and real books). The one I would recommend to everyone would be "When Things Fall Apart."

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  2. Such a wise quote about compassion. I have a thing about the word tolerance which I rarely use when referring to others. I tolerate things mostly, like a toothache or hemorrhoids!For me that's not the same as compassion. I know I would much rather have others be compassionate toward me than tolerant. I don't want to simply have to "put up" with other humans, that's not compassion.

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    1. Tolerance is one of those tricky words, like pride, that may have a good meaning or a bad one. True tolerance for me would involve patience and respect, not just gritting one's teeth! I too love Chodron's quote about compassion. :)

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