Ephemeral

From the Animal Totem Tarot, the Tower; from the Organic Oracle, Ephemeral Form:

          Mound-building termites live in Australia, Africa and South America and can create some imposing structures. The mound is full of complex system of tunnels and conduits that serve as air shafts; the nest itself is underground. Robertson suggests these towering mounds resemble the ego and its need to be validated (mound) and protected (nest). She asks, "Have you merely constructed a monument to your ego?" But the kicker is that everything in the physical world is vulnerable to change. Which leads to the Ephemeral Form card that Carole created with oil pastels. The green pastel melted on top makes it resemble the northern lights (aurora). These lights appear under certain conditions (when electrically charged particles from the sun enter the earth's atmosphere) and are constantly changing and never permanent. In the same way, anything I use to shore up my ego will be transitory rather than lasting.

Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. 

~ Jane Austen