Clearing Out

From the Rosetta Tarot, the Aeon (Judgment); from the Ascension to Paradise deck, the 'Spoonbill:'

          In December of 1914, ten buildings that were part of Thomas Edison's plant caught fire. Fueled by chemicals, the fire was too powerful to put out quickly. Edison told his son, "Go get your mother and all her friends. They'll never see a fire like this again." When he objected, Edison said, "It's all right. We've just got rid of a lot of rubbish." The phoenix of the Aeon represents the same idea: the fire of liberation gets rid of what is dead and useless to allow transformation to occur. By releasing what was tightly held, we create space for a fresh perspective. The roseate spoonbill is often described as "gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close." It uses its flattened, spoon-shaped bill to sift through the muck in shallow water to detect prey by feel. Its message is to sift and sort, keeping only what is worthwhile. In combination with the phoenix, there is a caution not to try to instantly fill the void with more stuff (material or otherwise). Instead, we should be prudent and selective about what we put in our newly cleared space.