Outside the Lines

This week I'll be using the Gaian Tarot, a deck and book set created and self-published by Joanna Powell Colbert. I'll also be using the Goddess Oracle, a deck and book set created by Amy Sophia Marashinsky and illustrated by Hrana Janto. Today's draws are Seven of Air (Swords) and "Artemis:"

          I wonder if someone drew this map for the hiker, trying to show him where to find the safest trails and where to avoid the dangers. But as many folks do, he may be wondering if the scenery is more spectacular off the beaten path. If he follows the map, he might miss out on seeing wildlife or sights he wants to see. Yet if he blazes his own trail and gets lost or has an accident, searchers won't know where to look for him. Is the risk worth that choice? Should he take someone else's advice or depend on his own?
          Artemis requested one thing of her father: the right to live independently and run freely through the forest as its protector. A husband, house with a picket fence and children were not in her plans. Marashinsky writes:

There is no authority higher than my own

my powers of discernment are finely honed

I am autonomous

I am free from the influence of others' opinions

I am able to separate that which needs separation

so a clear decision can be reached

I think for myself.

I am not a risk-taker, which I think is mostly a good thing. But like that hiker, I occasionally yearn to move outside the lines, outside of what is "expected" of me. Yet if I do that, all the responsibility for that choice lands on my shoulders, for better or for worse. Is it worth it? Artemis would probably answer, "Hell yeah!"