Consumed with Consuming

This week I'll be using the Sacred India Tarot, a deck and book set created by Rohit Arya with Jane Adams and published by Yogi Impressions. Along with it, I'll be using the American Pen Oracle, a deck I made for personal use that includes quotations from American poets and writers. Today's draws are the Knight of Discs and Mary Oliver:

          The face above the Buddha is Kirthimukha, an all-devouring monster created from Shiva. A personification of the raw hunger of insatiable desires, Shiva tricked it into eating itself in order to stop it. Left with only a head, Kirthimukha became known as the Face of Glory and is often seen above temple doors as a guardian and reminder. Arya writes, "Life feeds on life, no matter how monstrous that may seem at first glance." All of nature, from the smallest living thing to humans, use other living things to survive. Everything is a resource for something else. Yet even in death, things are recycled to create or nourish life. As the Knight of Discs, this card asks me if I am more concerned with consuming or whether I put effort into sustaining and conserving as well. The quote chosen from Mary Oliver reads: Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift. The part of himself Shiva discovered that wanted more and more is a shadow side contained within me as well. But Oliver suggests this darkness can also bring light. If I truly recognize this part of myself, I can realize that what I use to live also affects the whole web of life. Such knowledge can either make me greedier (thinking there won't be enough for me), or more cautious and appreciative of what I consume. The gift is not in greed, but in gratitude and guardianship.