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, September 7, 2016

Chess Player

From the Bonefire Tarot, the Nine of Swords; from the Day of the Dead Lenormand, the Woman:
          A young woman sits in a bed of chess pieces with a checkerboard cover. She's a strategist, always trying to stay one move ahead of the next problem or challenge. But she's in overdrive and can't see clearly (using her fingers for glasses). Her intuition has shut down (the closed eye in the forehead), probably because she's trying to control everything. All the 'pieces' in play won't stay in the position she wants them, nor do what she wants them to do. She's a basket full of anxiety tied up with an insomnia bow. The Woman shows up from the Lenormand deck twirling her skirt and representing the feminine principle of receptivity. "Relax and loosen your grasp," she tells her. "The only part you can play in this game of life is your own. And you'll miss even that if you keep trying to direct everyone else."

9 comments:

  1. This reminds me of a relative of mine whose desire for control was so excessive he could only do one thing at a time and as you write missed his part in life. We can't control the world, only ourselves. And sometimes the most skilful control is loosening up. :)

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    1. Ah! Self-control! Now that's a whole other post... :D

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  2. Or series of posts the more I think of it the less certain I am what healthy self control is :)

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    1. If I'm acting impulsively (driven rather than led by emotion), I'm 90% sure that it is unhealthy! :)

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  3. Another thing. I love the way you make the card on the left speak - poetic and authentic.

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  4. Both card's characters look like they have empty eye sockets. Refusal to see (like my card today) or inability to see?

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    1. Maybe the need to look with something other than the eyes...

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  5. Trying to control ourselves: Even that can cause a lot anxiety. Especially when you notice yourself acting just the opposite of how you prefer to act. And than the guilt afterwards can be the source of sleepless nights too

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    1. I think there is a need to see beneath the top layer to what really motivates us and why. Makes no sense to try and control anything unless I understand why I'm doing it.

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