A Way Through the Waters

From the Tarocchi Celtici, Borva/Manannan (Moon); from the Elements of Recovery, Service:

The moon has her porches turned to face the light,

But the deep part of her house is in the darkness.

—Robert Bly

          Borvo was a Celtic deity associated with minerals and bubbling spring water (and thus healing); Manannan was a sea deity found in Irish mythology. Two words this deck associates with the Moon are the unconscious and the feminine. Like that piece of pottery that sticks half in and half out of the water, all of us have memories (collective and individual) - some fully conscious and some buried in the waters of the unconscious. While a few memories may be forgotten in an old dusty file cabinet, some are deeply hidden and locked away. Yet the ego can't successfully repress or cloak everything all the time, and occasionally there are situational triggers that produce unexpected thoughts and emotions (and can leave us thinking, "Where did that come from?!). The unconscious 'speaks' in symbols and emotions, which can be hard to interpret. I've done dream work before, and the book I was using said every person, thing and event in my dream was a facet of myself. It isn't easy to find a key to unlock all those symbolic doors when dealing with the unconscious. Part of the problem is that I want to smash the door and force it open, which generally never works (the ego has a handy nail gun). This is where the receptiveness of the feminine comes in, as well as Service. Service is benevolent aid freely given without expectations; it is an act of selflessness and pulls us out of our own self-orbit. You can bet the ego is not interested in anything that does not fluff its feathers, so its likely to go take a nap. Helping another person, particularly listening deeply with compassion, can open a few doors. Through another person's experiences, we can view and reflect on our own. We sense the familiarity of what they say in our own life history, gaining insights from their stories (which is probably why fairy tales and myths are still so popular today).
Note about the Service card: The marigolds are companion plants in the vegetable garden; though they receive no benefits, they keep certain pests away from the vegetable plants.