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

Monday, June 20, 2016

Hang Tight Without Shrinking

From the Tarot of Durer, the Hanged Man; from the Philosopher's Stone, Task:
          The phrase underneath this hanging man reads: "Many hidden dangers await the good." When you live with a tender and kind heart, there are many ways for it to be hurt. I don't know anyone who hasn't felt pain of some form. In the case of this card, it has come because he is powerless to stop or control a situation. Sometimes life is hard, and there's not a thing that can be done to change it. This fellow is yelling and flailing about to the extent that he's lost a shoe. I imagine the rooster is suggesting that he stop squawking; reality is not impressed or influenced by hysterics. The Task card shows three different way we can handle these kind of difficulties: with grace, with a sense of duty or with an attitude that life isn't fair. There is a line in a novel by Anita Shreve that says, "To be relieved of love, she thought, was to give up a terrible burden." Do you think of love as a burden, or is it the key that unlocks a new way of seeing?
Love is a willingness to stand in the fire of life and not shrink back.
~ Will Donnelly

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8 comments:

  1. EllenJune 20, 2016 at 9:11 AM

    It seems in this card and I suppose in real life too,that the more lovingly you approach a challenge the lighter it becomes :)
    Are you feeling better these days?

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    1. thesycamoretreeJune 20, 2016 at 9:30 AM

      Yes, thank you.:) I agree that the more we push back and refuse to accept the heavier our burden becomes.

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  2. Sharyn Mallow WoerzJune 20, 2016 at 9:25 AM

    Interesting idea. But to be relieved of love means we'd also be giving up being loved back. Dancing on the head of a pin would be easier

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  3. Carolyn TindorJune 20, 2016 at 10:41 AM

    "It is better to have loved and lost Than never have loved at all." - Alfred Lord Tennyson.
    Another quote from a song. "Let me tell you about the birds and the bees and flowers and the trees and the moon up above, and a thing called Love." Now to lose some of those things, unimaginable. Bright Blessings

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    1. thesycamoretreeJune 21, 2016 at 8:25 PM

      I agree with Tennyson - real love is worth the cost.

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  4. Inner WhispersJune 23, 2016 at 1:29 AM

    That Task card is fascinating. I also see that it is hard to bear a task for too long, especially alone... It's funny, every time you use this deck I start out not liking it, then I start finding it really deep, and then I realise it's OOP anyway :D

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    1. thesycamoretreeJune 23, 2016 at 6:09 AM

      Good point - having someone to help bear any burden makes the load easier! You can always enjoy all then images here:
      http://www.dees.at/en/gallery/period-2

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