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

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Handful of Water

From the Gaian Tarot, the Star; from the Goddess Oracle, Inanna:
          How do you experience hope and healing? Where do you find grace? For me it is in the most ordinary of things: the natural world, laughter shared with friends, music and other arts. I know this little pool under the stars well. I find myself lying beside it after being convinced that nothing I do matters, that my life has no purpose other than living on a daily treadmill. What wisdom does this woman see in her handful of water, I wonder? I came across this quote by Andrew Cooper on Tricycle that might shed some insight: "Faith must ripen through uncertainty and doubt. It must open us to something larger than our concepts, for these arise from within the limits of the self. Faith must, in the end, leave room for mystery." My ego prefers certainty, not doubt or mystery. It likes me to stick to certain roles and labels: good daughter, good wife, good mother, good friend. The kingfisher beside the water is a hint I'll be required to dive deeper. Inanna, Sumerian Queen of Heaven, discovered her shadow side in the Underworld.
She was all that I am not
All that I have hidden
All that I have buried
She is what I have denied.  
Inanna encourages me to embrace my whole self without regard to labels. It doesn't mean I need to run through the streets like a crazed, angry woman. Instead, I can acknowledge all my inner parts and see what is useful in them. What I try so hard to repress may be what can help me heal and bring me hope.

9 comments:

  1. Great Post Bev! When I read that part about Inanna my first thought was that maybe our shadow part is our most authentic creative self. That little pool could be like a magical mirror where we can meet that part of ourselves and become whole again

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    1. I think that shadow/unconscious part of ourselves is the most authentic part too. No masks to wear there, and no pretending to feel or be one way when it isn't true!

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  2. It was once explained to me by a spiritual advisor and mentor, that suppression is like the springs of an old wore out mattress that keep popping up. We stuff and shove them back down until we run out of appendages to keep them down. When we've suppressed so much it becomes repression that we aren't even conscious of. Definitely time for a new mattress!

    There's always hope, especially for the hopeless.

    I'm like you I get lots of healing and hope in the natural world, and creativity which is preventative as well. Those who have been through so much inspire me, always give me hope and faith. They also teach me how to heal to trust, and to wear the world as a loose garment.

    I can give this wisdom away and share that with others, which is affirming, healing and hopeful for me as well.

    Keep the faith baby!

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    1. I had someone tell me, "What we resist, persists." I think they were saying the same thing as you were - that stuff is going to pop up unexpectedly and in strange places when we keep trying to suppress it!

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  3. I noticed that this is the third Major card from your draws this week. I are you only using the Majors or is something up and coming? Maybe your release from the Doctor and a new spin going on in your live.

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    1. I noticed the same thing, regarding the majors, but I am using the whole deck. I always feel like I need to take a closer look at the spiritual side of things when so many majors make an appearance!

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    2. me as well. All Tarotist tell us to pay attention to multiple Majors appearing.

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  4. 'becoming' can be a horror show or an adventure. There is a bus reserved for all of us, the ticket is 'effort' the result is peace. I think we board that bus every day, and somehow just keep going out the emergency back door. Back to the learning line...

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    1. Love your analogy of boarding the bus every day then heading out the emergency exit before we ever arrive. Fear is a powerful thing...

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