From the Gill Tarot, the Queen of Swords:
The queen sits on her throne made of a cloud, emphasizing her rational, logical way of thinking (her head is not "in the clouds"). The alchemical vessel beside her indicates that she boils away all that is not helpful in coming to a judgment about a person or situation. Looking at this image makes me reflect on all the ways I am influenced by internal or external sources that keep me from making sane decisions:
1) My emotions - If I love someone or a cause so dearly, I may see only their good points and none of their flaws. Likewise if I hate something or someone, I will see only what is bad about them and none of their virtues. Fear and sadness can keep me from acknowledging an opportunity or other need for action.
2) My desires - It is amazing how deftly the human mind can delude a person into denying reality because of what they crave or long for. For instance, the woman who wants so desperately to be in a relationship, she ignores the fact that the man she is with is emotionally abusive.
3) My preconceived ideas - As much as I would like to believe I am the most open-minded person in the world, I know I have a set of beliefs that keep my reality neatly boxed. Even when someone shares an experience with me, I evaluate the information against what I "know," and decide whether any of it is useful or not. There are many doors in my mind that might have opened had I even entertained these new ideas or been less attached to my tightly held ideas.
So how about you? What keeps you from seeing clearly?
From The Circle deck comes "Conflict:"
Years ago I lived on a farm surrounded by acres and acres of pastures, groves and fields. Because of its vast size, economical barbed wire fences were used to keep the cattle and horses out of the fields planted with crops. I can remember being woken up late at night or early morning when the cattle had pushed down a fence (probably scratching themselves on a post). A calf would become separated from its mother, and make poor bleating noises outside my window while its mom would moo deeply on the other side of the house. Fences do help keep the peace, in more ways than one. I am reminded by this card that the best boundary I can have in place to avoid conflict is respect - both for others and myself.
the question that seems to come to me as "important" is the word "sane" decisions.What makes a decision "sane or insane",is what I ponder about.Everything and everybody I have encountered in my life influence my decisions,actions and reactions,usually without a comprehension of "why" I made the choice I made.I am controlled by my emotions,desires,opinions without even being aware of "why". I believe the desire for some pleasure or the avoidance of some pain{real or imagined}controls me without my awareness of them.I find that if I will take the time and effort to inquire and question my "believes", I am being controlled by believing my fearful thoughts or completely true and destined to become reality,which experience should tell me is a lie I am choosing to believe.The power of inquiry is powerful and can restore me to "sanity",yet I continue to not use this tool until the anxiety becomes "too much" to bear.Will I ever learn to trust fate and destiny,that allis not as bad as I imagine it to be,that "good" is just as possible,it is all in what I CHOOSE to believe is true.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many different choices I would have made had I questioned what motivated me to make them.
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