Muddy Waters Will Clear

From the Greenwood Tarot, the Queen of Cups; from the Shaman's Oracle, the "Ancestor of Hope:"

          I've witnessed herons standing still in water for long periods of time, watching below for food to swim past. They are a perfect representation of the Queen of Cups, who has no problem standing in her emotions (unlike me). When I feel anger, fear, grief or frustration, I want to act to make the discomfort go away. But Pema Chodron says I should embrace and watch it instead. What? You want me to stand in that icky, algae-covered, muddy water? "Acknowledge the feeling, give it your full, compassionate, even welcoming attention, and even if it’s only for a few seconds, drop the story line about the feeling. This allows you to have a direct experience of it, free of interpretation. Don’t fuel it with concepts or opinions about whether it’s good or bad. Just be present with the sensation," she replies. Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor, in her book My Stroke of Insight, notes that emotions run their course in ninety seconds. Only if they get rekindled by the story line behind them do they last longer. If I can pay close attention to the sensation of the emotion and let my thoughts glide on by, it will pass soon enough. The Ancestor of Hope card shows the painting of a horse and symbolizes the strength of perseverance, the ability to hold on to hope without any expectation around it. Movement and change is inevitable. As Chodron put it, "You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather."