In the Flow or Fighting the Current?

From the Sacred Sites Tarot, the Empress:

Sanctuary of Demetra/Demeter - Eleusi, Greece

The Eleusinian cult rose out of the myth of the goddess Demeter, who lamented the loss of her daughter Persephone, abducted by Hades; no crops grew until Zeus commanded that Persephone should be allowed to return annually in spring. Demeter thereafter established the Eleusinian mysteries, in which she was honored as the granter of fertility and Persephone as an annually returning vegetation goddess.  In 392 AD, the Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity to be the sole faith of the Roman Empire and set about eradicating all others.  The Empress represents the natural cycles of life, and when we can flow rather than fight these cycles, we live a creative and satisfying life.  This past week, a man from our community who had died in Afghanistan (a Marine) was laid to rest.  During the service, the pastor referred to death as "the enemy," and it made me realize how much fear we create when we divorce ourselves from nature and its lessons.  As the Goo Goo Dolls sing, "When you're fighting the current, you forget how to live."

     From the Mana Cards comes "Pohaku:"

Pohaku (stone) symbolizes relationships, not only with other humans, but with all the earth.  One Hawaiian saying goes: He ola ka pohaku a he make ka pohaku, meaning "There is life in the stone and death in the stone."  Just as a stone can be used creatively or destructively, so too can our relationships be used.  If I think I have "dominion" over the earth and its creatures, I'll have no problem bulldozing down a habitat to make room for a parking lot.  I am reminded by this card that I am connected and related to all; what I do to others and the earth, I ultimately do to myself.