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, September 27, 2016

Good Guidance

From the Tarot of Pagan Cats, the King of Swords; from Brownie Wisdom, Good Works:
          That is one icy landscape on the King of Sword's mountain. He is known as a fair and just judge, therefore his emotions can't affect his ability to be objective. But is his heart frozen too? There was a tough love movement years ago that basically taught people to lay down harsh consequences for bad behavior. Yet there was no real love there, because that particular sword required a detachment from all emotion. It was basically Skinner's Behaviorism 101. Al-Anon came out with the phrase "detach with love," which started out the same but evolved into something different. It realized the person laying down the law is often just trying to control others and ends up reacting out of fear or anger to force a change. Simply look at the prison system here in the States for how well this works. Instead, the "detach with love" idea allows a person to deal with the natural consequences of their behavior (while protecting the innocents within his or her circle). While we don't take the challenge of learning to be responsible away from them, they are offered options to help themselves. Here's where the Brownie Wisdom card comes into play. You would think people should innately know how to change their lives for the better, but people who've lived only to survive don't have a clue. They must be shown by example.
All happiness comes from altruism and all suffering from selfishness. 
~ Karma Trinlay Rinpoche 

4 comments:

  1. I think everyone is born good. (except perhaps psychopaths) so we should treat them with respect and keep a door open for a chance of improvement how small that chance might be.

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    1. I agree, Ellen. It's not that I want to give people a pass for their behavior (they should have consequences), but I think it is helpful if we also teach them how to water that seed of goodness in them so they have a chance to change. Whether they do or don't is up to them, but at least they have some tools to use if they choose to do so.

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  2. Imposing some of the laws that those Kings of Swords enact are more for their protection. They fear the chaos in their own hearts and mind and want to make their problems, others. I think the Brownie wisdom says not so fast and that King is ignoring him.

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    1. To be truly just, you have to look at what is beneficial for the whole, not just the part. :)

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