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

Friday, September 16, 2016

Moon Shine

From the Via Tarot, the Moon; from the Nature's Pharmacy Deck, Myrrh:
          Someone woke me up very early this morning pointing a flashlight in my face, or at least that's what I thought when I first opened my eyes. Actually if was just an extremely bright, nearly full moon shining through my eastern bedroom window. Tonight it will be full, and in some parts of the world, there will be an eclipse. This woman standing at the ocean's edge reminds me of how strong a force intuition can be when I open myself to it. I used to think of intuition as a sort of 'woo-woo,' extra sensory thing until I started reading some ideas and research via Mary Greer. In her opinion, it is an unconscious mental process that takes in information from the environment, quickly recognizes patterns from experience (a large part of which are unconscious memories), then communicates this information through symbols, sensations and emotions. Greer writes, "Essentially it is the act or process of coming to direct knowledge without reasoning or inferring. With intuition we sense truth without explanations. Using unconscious forms of analogy and induction we instantly perceive connections and patterns." Myrrh arrives from the Pharmacy deck with a message of purification. The resin from this tree has been used as an incense throughout history. So what needs purifying? In a podcast on Biddy Tarot, Greer warns that some of what we think of as intuition "are biases, are prejudice, are assumptions, and opinions, are beliefs about things – faulty information as well as accurate information... If we’re training our intuition we have to train ourselves to know when we’re doing all of those different things."

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing. I am going to listen to the podcast. I learn more and more from these shared posts.

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  2. Like seperating gold from the sand in a sieve.
    Somebody told me that whenever I felt scared by what my "intuition" was telling me it was probable my own insecurity messing with me:)

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    1. In my case, I might not pay attention to my intuition if it's not showing me what I want to be true. Greer is right on with her remarks about how we can twist our intuitive wisdom into something else!

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  3. there are always 2 sides to a coin. What we think of as immutable, the other side thinks of as myths in dew

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  4. Listening to that podcast now. My Friday PM treat. Fascinating psychological perspective. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. There is also a link below (on her webpage) for the transcript in case you prefer to read instead of listen. :)

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    2. I saw that. Actually listening better as I can get on with preparing dinner. I listened to the Robert Place podcast on the history of tarot too. I'm at hairdressers today so will read the Bennebel Wen one in transcript. :)

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  5. Mary Greer did a great workshop at the UK Tarot Conference a couple of years ago. She challenged intuition by showing us the ways we tended to jump to wrong conclusions, which might have been right 95% of the time, but what about that other 5%? I loved her conclusion that it's good to challenge yourself to explore beliefs and ideas that don't fit your normal conceptions, to help open your perceptions and possibilities... 😜

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    1. I think that's why I like Greer so much - she's not content with just accepting something without asking questions and looking for facts. :)

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  6. Interesting post Bev.
    I think there is a gray area when it comes to 'intuition' and perhaps this is where our prejudices can easily come into play.

    I think discernment provides the tool to know the difference. Human beings have prejudices, we all have intuition, if we decide to act upon them. Then there's reality of facts, and perhaps these can also be based upon how we perceive them, and not have much to do with reality at all.

    I do know when I don't pay attention to strong intuitions I can get myself into some big trouble, the same can happen if I pay attention to my prejudice, especially if it harms another.

    Discernment tempers both I think, which involves for me prayer, intuition and hopefully the reality of fact, not simply based upon what and/or how I perceive it to be. Our egos are good at deluding us.

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    1. You are so right - discernment is the key. It can make us aware of wishful thinking, opinionated thinking and emotional thinking.

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