Hobbies?

From the Hidden Realms Tarot, the Seven of Swords; from the Heart of Faerie, the Prince of Light:

If you don't stick to your values when they're being tested, they're not values: they're hobbies.

―Jon Stewart

This fey looks to the heavens for guidance, wondering if he should bend the truth and ignore his values just this one time. But of course, it's never once, because it gets easier and easier to rationalize doing wrong after we do it the first time. Repeated actions can become habits, which form as the brain creates shortcuts, reducing the need for conscious thought. The Prince of Light holds an egg, representing a new beginning, while also shedding light on a situation. Is this who we want to become, someone who claims ethics and values but ignores them when it favors us?

An Obesity of Grief

From the Hidden Realms Tarot, the Five of Cups; from the Heart of Faerie, the Child:

When grief sits with you, its tropical heat

thickening the air, heavy as water

more fit for gills than lungs;

when grief weights you like your own flesh

only more of it, an obesity of grief,

you think, How can a body withstand this?

―Ellen Bass

Anyone who has ever deeply loved and lost anything or anyone knows the depths of despair. Grief engulfs us, like a huge wave; just when we think we can breathe again, another wave hits us. As poet Edward Hirsch described, grief is the task of Sisyphus. It is only when we stop focusing on the loss and also remember the good that we stop pushing the boulder. The Child comes to help us regain our sense of curiosity and wonder, to experience life without judgment. It is in realizing that this is a season of life, natural not personal, that we begin to heal. With compassion, we realize how many others have had their own boulders to deal with.

Then you hold life like a face

between your palms, a plain face,

no charming smile, no violet eyes,

and you say, yes, I will take you

I will love you, again.

―Ellen Bass

Nourishing, Flourishing

From the Hidden Realms Tarot, the Three of Cups; from the Heart of Faerie, the Lady of Sorrows:

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.

―Oprah Winfrey

We have many reasons to celebrate - graduations, weddings, births and birthdays. But these fairies are celebrating just for the heck of it. Without all the plans and formalities, this spontaneous get-together has no expectations other than to have fun and share each other's company. This lively party doesn't even have a guest list; it's open to anyone who wants to laugh, dance and have a good time. The Lady of Sorrows is a hoarder of hurts. She's easy to recognize in groups because she's too busy griping instead of enjoying herself. But her resentments are like acid reflux, hurting her every time she relives them. As Wendy Froud writes, "To feed on hurts and sorrow is to live, perhaps, but never to thrive." Forgiveness grants us the light and space for flourishing.

Focused Target

This week I'll be using the Tarot of the Hidden Realm, created by Julia Jeffrey with Barbara Moore, and published by Llewellyn. I'll also be drawing from the Heart of Faerie Oracle created by Brian and Wendy Froud and published by Abrams. Today's cards are the Ace of Wands and the Hidden One:

Alertness is a wide scan of all possible incoming stimuli while focus is the narrowing of this scan on a very focused target. ―Kevin McGrew

With bright energy and whiskers quivering with anticipation, the red fox is a fitting symbol of the Ace of Wands. Shakespeare's words describe her well: "‘Though she be but little she is fierce." As she hunts for her supper, she reminds us to stay alert, wait for the right moment, then act with decisiveness. The Hidden One is sent by the faeries to those who aren't paying attention to their surroundings. Too often we're in our heads, fantasizing about how things are going to turn out before we even get started. Then we trip over the curb and land flat on our face. The fox would recommend staying connected to our senses even as we move towards our objective.

Discovery

From the Mary-El Tarot, the World; from the OH Cards, Companionship:

I did not know that I could only get the most out of life by giving myself up to it.

― Marion Milner

As we begin our lives, we step off into the landscape of the abyss, with wide open minds and hearts. Gradually we form beliefs and opinions, which serve to separate us from other people and things. Yet if we're attentive on this journey of pleasure and hard knocks, we'll discover that we are a small part of a magnificent whole - a glorious living entity. When we see the World as it is, we see its entirety and interconnection. It is a perspective changer - as Milner wrote, "let no one undertake such an experiment who is not prepared to find himself more of a fool than he thought." Companionship is an admonition to remember our relationship with everything. We can choose to act as a medicine or a poison; either way, we affect the World we live in.

Competition

From the Mary-El Tarot, the Six of Disks; from the OH cards, Measurement:

They are consumed with envy. Surrounded by all they desire, they enjoy none of it. Instead, they are constantly at war with one another: competing, comparing and consumed with their perceived lower status. ―Kellie Schorr

White uses the angel Gabriel, bringer of good news and helpful information, in her vision of the Six of Disks. This card refers to harmony restored after a period of gain and loss. Hopefully by this time we have reconsidered our attachments to comfort and material things, realizing how easily they can disappear and later reappear in different form. Such an understanding keeps us from taking things for granted or placing an unfounded value on them. Measurement paired with the Six of Disks is like the Buddhist realm of the jealous gods. Those that dwell (psychologically) in this place have a good life, yet they think it's not as great as the gods that live next door. Such comparison completely wrecks our chances for contentment, gratitude and happiness. 

Solar Eclipse

From the Mary-El Tarot, the Seven of Disks; from the OH Cards, Stairway:

You get out of life what you put into it. I think you need a bit of luck, but you also make a bit of luck. ―John Key

An eclipsed sun in this card implies that things don't seem very bright and enjoyable at the moment. Yet the two beams that still shine resemble a drafting compass. White writes that we are the demiurge of our own lives, tasked with creating meaning and order out of what we've been given. Both card and comment are apropos to aging - finding ourselves in bodies that ache, endure insomnia, have less energy, and deal with health challenges. Like the Stairway, we're going up a steep incline with no idea of what's behind the door at the top. Yet from that height, we also have a much better view of what's important and what's just small potatoes. We have a chance to stop in awe and wonder, appreciating what's all around us. As Jules Renard said, "It's not how old you are. It's how you are old."