Both Light and Dark

This week I'll be using the Urban Tarot, a deck and book set created and self-published by Robin Scott. I'll be pairing it with an oracle I created called "Principles to Live By." Today's draws are Hierophant and "Open-mindedness:"

          Scott's card shows both light and darkness, which she says are in any organization whose primary purpose is to teach. What is taught can provide understanding that gives us a sense of belonging or offer dogma that provides us with a sense of self-righteous separation. My choice to learn from others requires me to know what's in that glass before I drink it down. Yet even I am not naive enough to think that most groups can easily be labeled as all good or all bad. As Scott says, "They give our lives structure; they teach us and support us when we are in need."
          The disc shows an empty bowl, a symbol for the spiritual principle of open-mindedness. To be open-minded is to be receptive to new ideas and viewpoints other than my own. Now I have to admit when I drew this disc with the Hierophant I laughed. I've carried a trunk-load of resentments against the church for a long time. The fundamental church I grew up in was teeming with bigots and misogynists. Yet if I look with fresh eyes, I can see that they provided me with the three things Scott lists: structure (purpose for my life), spiritual teachings (how to live in this life), and support (people to depend on when life got tough). The Talmud proposes another way to look at such groups rather than automatic rejection: "Who is wise? One who learns from all."