I use tarot and oracle cards as tools for reflection and contemplation. Rather than divining the future, they are a way for me to look more deeply at the "now."
"The goal isn't to arrive, but to meander, to saunter, to make your life a holy wandering." ~ Rami Shapiro

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

I Will NOT Make a List

From the Urban Tarot, the Eight of Cups; from the Principles to Live By Oracle, "Gratitude:"
          Since Scott's Urban Tarot is Thoth-based, she's given this card the keyword "indolence." Now on the outside, this looks like inertia, laziness and sloppiness. But these are just external symptoms of an internal cause. If you were to peer inside the head of the person who owns this work space, you would find the emotional roots. It might look like the darkness of depression or the desperation of being overwhelmed. Professor Taima Hendler, of TAU’s Sagol School of Neuroscience recently did a study that showed how exhaustion affected the brain's reaction to emotional images. She described her findings: "The ability of the brain to tell what’s important is compromised. It’s as if suddenly everything is important." Add the adrenaline of "it's all important" to an already stressed person, and it's no wonder we give up trying and shut down.
          The cornucopia disc represents Gratitude; to be grateful is to be deeply appreciative of what I have received. The first suggestion I usually hear when I tell someone how I feel is that I should make a gratitude list. But if I am in a such an exhausted, emotional state of despair, I'd probably respond with "Fu*k that." Joan Chittister wrote, "Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight." Perhaps instead of making that list or lying in the bed I could examine what is going on with my body and mind. Just maybe I will be able to follow the roots back to the seed of the cause. Then I could renew both body and mind by following the advice of Gary Kowalski: "Feelings of awe, reverence, and gratitude are primary, and these can never be learned from books. We gain them from sitting high on a cliff side, gazing at the sea, lost in reverie and listening to the laughter of children."


8 comments:

  1. Genuine, heart felt gratitude has no need for words.

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    1. I think an aching heart has to find a salve before it can feel gratitude (at least more than an intellectual nod). Reminds me that tonglen meditation often starts with oneself in order to expand out to others. :)

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  2. Important words today. One thing that drives me way from the company of other quilters is their general insistence enough is never enough and tidy is proof of dullness. Great 8 of cups thoughts, thank you for sharing

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    1. I realize some people are okay with being unorganized, but if I find myself hoarding stuff and my external life if filled with clutter, that usually says a lot about what is going on in me.

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  3. Joan Chittester's words are luminous here today.

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    1. Her words are a needed reminder that sometimes those dark places can be rich, loamy soil. :)

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  4. Hmm, I wonder if there is a general level of exhaustion in our culture of busy-ness that means people do get stuck in "everything is important", including things like FaceBook. It might explain a lot, though I guess regular procrastination could also factor into indolence...
    Hope you manage to find some time for reverie, Bev!

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    1. I would guess most people go nonstop until they drop (usually get sick), then rest because they must, but eventually get up and do it all over again.
      The post holiday period is hard on everyone I think!

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