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 28, 2016

Claws and the Musing of Martyrs

From the Tarot of Pagan Cats, Strength; from Brownie Wisdom, The Gift:
          Cats are not known for being long-suffering. Irritate them even briefly, and there will be hissing and claws to deal with. You'd better have the band-aids handy. If I am in trying circumstances, it doesn't help for me to use my irritation as a mantra. Imagining the cause of my frustration duct taped to a chair from head to toe isn't helpful either. That kind of thinking only increases my self-righteous indignation. Inner strength comes from a place outside the reach of my ego; I don't take challenges as a personal insult. This cat seems to be in a meditative zone while she keeps the puppy under her paw. Maybe she's mentally escaped to her "happy place" (probably a window seat in the sun). Sounds like a much better focus. The card from the Brownies suggests that the heart has to be in the right place before anything can be considered a gift. When I restrain my anger, is it really spiritual progress when I go brag about it? "You would not believe what I had to put up with at the bank today - that woman was so thick in the head!" Or "Did she get her driver's license off the internet?! She's lucky I didn't give her the finger!" Though the object of my anger might be clueless about how I felt, I'm not sure boasting from a martyr's mindset would really count.

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6 comments:

  1. Carolyn TindorSeptember 28, 2016 at 9:40 AM

    That is a different rendition of Strength. Keeping that puppy from tearing up the beautiful garden, for the time being. Babies of all kinds get into mischief and that's when you have to be really strong and not blow your top. Maybe that's the brownies advice, don't get a puppy if you can't handle the havoc; like your Cat of Strength you will need to be in that meditative zone.

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    1. thesycamoretreeSeptember 28, 2016 at 9:42 AM

      Each time I don't blow my top, I think it gets easier the next time I get angry not to do it.

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  2. EllenSeptember 28, 2016 at 1:10 PM

    Maybe if we would allow ourselves to become angry when the anger arises: just feel it and observe it and notice how it fades away. I think when we let our ego fuel it with all our old stories it will get so much more nasty.

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    1. thesycamoretreeSeptember 28, 2016 at 5:54 PM

      That would be so much more helpful - to concentrate on the physical sensation instead of the story!

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  3. TriviumSeptember 28, 2016 at 3:21 PM

    I must get frustrated with others ten times a day or more. It's the nature of modern life in the city, being busy and in close proximity with lots of people. Can't remember any of todays instances now. So I'm glad I didn't express frustration externally. It's all just stuff really.

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    1. thesycamoretreeSeptember 28, 2016 at 5:55 PM

      You're right, so much of it is just stuff not worth getting in a tizzy over. When I try to look back on what I got angry about last month, I can't even remember what it was!

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