Coming to a Conclusion

From the Anna K. Tarot, the World:

This simple colored pencil image is perhaps one of my favorite World illustrations; the phases of the moon surround the world tree with the sun glowing behind it.  I am instantly struck by the similarities to this card and the Wheel of Fortune.  In the Wheel, we humans are constantly dealing with change and what comes with it - pleasures and the unpleasant, attachments and aversions.  The World shows change too, with the cycles of the moon, but there is a sense of security and stability with the tree.  Here, even with constant change, things make sense and there is a grounded balance.  Klaffinger writes that this card represents that spiritual place where you no longer feel that restless longing to search for what is missing, that something that you need to feel complete.  I hope the spiritual soil I'm tilling will allow my roots to begin to grow deep, and though I'll never stop learning, will allow my search to arrive at a satisfying and meaningful conclusion.

From the Green Man Tree Oracle comes "Holly:"

I have two huge holly bushes on each front corner of my house.  Each spring when it flowers, it is covered in honey bees, and each winter the birds enjoy its bright red berries.  Except for last winter.  Here in the South we usually have at least a few weeks of below freezing temperatures, but not last year.  And as a result, the holly berries didn't experience enough of a deep freeze to reduce the toxins in them.  So the birds ignored all of them, and they stayed on the bushes until they rotted and fell off.  I am reminded by Holly that sometimes I must go through certain struggles and challenges to make me change inwardly, and only then will I find that feeling of wholeness I'm searching for.