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

Sunday, November 5, 2017

A Splash of Cold Water

This week I'll be using the Spirit Within Tarot, created by Steven Bright and published by Schiffer. I'll also be drawing from the Answer Deck, created by Nicky Zann and published by Running Press. Today's draws are Death and Frustration:
          Bright uses the Angel of Death rather than the Grim Reaper to illustrate Death. He writes: "Endings are natural." Indeed they are. When I am in emotional or physical torment, this angel can't come soon enough. But if I'm enjoying myself and partaking in the pleasures of life, I won't welcome her arrival. Endings tend to clearly show my attachments - how I see things or people as unchanging with the ability to give me everlasting happiness. It's the feeling that I'm attached to, and what ultimately makes me unhappy. As the Answer Deck shows, anger and frustration (in proportion to my attachment) are the result. Trying to shut off my emotions so that I don't feel anything won't work. However Thubten Chodron has a visualization technique that helps not only my mind understand the suffering caused by attachment, but my heart as well. She suggests to imagine getting what I crave (along with the feelings of pleasure), then ask "Now what?" Like seeing a sticky, dirty bowl that was once filled with ice cream, it can have the affect of throwing cold water on the attachment.

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6 comments:

  1. Sharyn Mallow WoerzNovember 5, 2017 at 8:56 AM

    I think I only made it a couple of days with the answer deck. Probably didn't want answers...

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    1. thesycamoretreeNovember 5, 2017 at 9:02 AM

      I took out all the cards which seemed too "fortune-teller" for me. :D

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  2. Carolyn TindorNovember 5, 2017 at 9:13 AM

    That Angel of Death looks pregnant to me. Those dark times of loss, loneliness, and fear, which actually it is all fear can be frustrating, which fear by another name.

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    1. thesycamoretreeNovember 5, 2017 at 12:09 PM

      If she's pregnant, I think there will be an inquisition! :D (actually I think her bump is her hand on the staff)

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  3. AnonymousNovember 5, 2017 at 2:45 PM

    I've always loved the Answer Deck, and Steve Bright got me to buy it! I am so pleased that Spirit Within arrived, so nice to see you using it. My copy has shipped but it's coming from Kentucky all the way out here for some reason, but at least it has shipped.

    I'm having a frustrating time with the bank again, and have been suffering an attachment to getting something completed for the last 2 months, which doesn't seem so bad but it has obesessively gripped my mind with anxiety because it just doesn't seem to be happening. Death to banks maybe? (ha-ha)

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    1. thesycamoretreeNovember 5, 2017 at 7:17 PM

      I'm happy that Steve got his deck published and even happier that my copy is finally here.😁 Ack, those kind of attachments can make me miserable; I hope you get your bank situation resolved soon.

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