From the Tarot of the Hidden Realm, the Hermit; from the Heart of Faerie, the 'Prince of Shadows:'
Notice anything different about this Hermit? She carries no light, suggesting that she is just beginning her journey to the cave. She will attempt, as the Sufis say, to "die before she dies." What wisdom might come in one's last dying breaths? Probably the realization of what is truly important in this life and what isn't. Here is her chance to unhook from a self-centered orbit so that she will have a light of insight to carry from that cave. However she's got a hurdle to jump with the Prince of Shadows. The companion book describes him as "everything we wish for and everything that hurts us the most." I'm sure he would whisper in her ear that he knows how she suffers, and since no one else would understand, suggest she isolate herself in that cave forever. He would offer her any substance or material comfort she desired to dull her pain. Yet this perspective will only increase and extend her agony, not make it better. She would do well to cultivate compassion for herself and others by heeding the words of Bodhipaksa:
Many of our thoughts containing I, me, my, and mine are connected with feelings of distress: I’m worried about this, I don’t like that. No one cares about me or considers my feelings. And so on.“I” thoughts reinforce our sense of aloneness. We see ourselves as broken, as worse than others, and therefore separate from them. Thoughts of “we” connect us, reminding us of our common humanity. Our individual sufferings are seen as being shared by others, and as being part of the difficulties we all have in being human. Our sufferings are not a sign of us being broken, but of us belonging to a greater whole.
There is no hiding from the both of their direct gazes. Ultimately we cannot hide from ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWe can try to hide, but it will probably just increase our misery.
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