Turn on the Love Light

This week I'll be using the Tarot de St. Croix, created and self-published by Lisa de St. Croix. Along with it, I'll be drawing from the Archetype Cards, created by Caroline Myss and published by Hay House. Today's cards are the Ace of Cups and "Liberator:"

          With the temperatures plummeting here, my tropical nature saw this card and instantly wished to be on a warm beach. Warmth of the body is a basic need to survive, but so is the warmth of the heart. Numerous studies have shown the necessity of feeling loved in order to thrive. In this Ace, the full heart is represented by the brimming flute and round moon. St. Croix writes that it represents a surge of love, gratitude, hope and joy. These emotions are what warm me from the inside out, and what can help warm another person too.
           Myss says the Liberator's purpose is to free oneself from self-inflicted negative patterns and beliefs without replacing them with more dogmatic "shoulds." In the realm of emotion, it's easy to think love will fix everything. And while on some level I believe that, I think it needs to be paired with the Liberator's clarity of vision. Love isn't going to cure my loneliness or financial insecurity just because I've found a partner. Love isn't going to magically provide all those who are living in poverty with the basic necessities of life. Love is like the torch the Liberator holds; it guides me in the direction to go with its bright, warm light, but it can't do the work for me.