Rethinking Priorities

     This week I'll be using the Bohemian Gothic Tarot, created by Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov.  Today's draw was an extra card added to the deck, Memento Mori:

Memento Mori is a Latin phrase that mean "remember your mortality."  This particular image, showing a woman admiring herself in the mirror that from a distance looks like a skull, was taken from a drawing done by Charles A. Gilbert.  It is appropriately titled All Is Vanity, a not-so-gentle reminder that all life is transient.  Late last night I heard the tornado sirens go off, and almost immediately an emergency broadcast from our local television station came on urging everyone to take cover.  It is amazing how clear and precise your thinking can get in a situation like that, and what becomes immediately important.  My first thoughts were of my family and pets, and to make sure they were in a protected place.  My husband was out, so I called to tell him to hunker down where he was.  We were lucky, as the tornado lost its spin quickly, almost as soon as it crossed the county line.  I can hear the sirens going off again this morning, and my worries are already narrowed down to a very few...

     The oracle deck I'll be pairing with the Bohemian Gothic is the Oracle of Shadows and Light, with illustrations by Jasmine Becket-Griffith and designed by Lucy Cavendish.  This morning's draw is called "Strangely Lonely:"

This doe-eyed girl holds a Celtic cross like it has become a barrier of protection.  The cross represents her belief system that has come to define her but also separates her from others.  Ouch.  Lately I have felt very lonely, thinking that my ideas and principles were alien from most of the other people in my life.  I have been under a self-imposed isolation.  If I am honest with myself, I will admit that it is not other folk's responsibility to adopt my views or make me comfortable.  Nor is it necessary for me to avoid those who don't see eye to eye with me.  Somewhere there must be some middle ground.