I've been a long time leavin'
But I'll be a long time gone.
― Waylon Jennings
The strange grayish-green sky in this Cups card is similar to the color of a sky before a tornado. Often it takes a similar scale of emotional turmoil before we decide to leave relationships, careers or locations. Security of what we know can often keep us in unhealthy places. Yet sometimes it is not the 'other' that is the problem, but our own mindsets and patterns. If that is the case, no geographical cure is going to be successful for long. Rumi's verse speaks of a swan flying away from a body of water in the rain; as it gains distance, it feels joyful and unburdened. It can take time to feel the positive effects of leaving, whether the change is physical or mental. Buddhist author Lodro Rinzler gave a good example of this with a clear glass of water (which represented the mind's natural state of clarity). But then he added a big spoonful of dirt, which symbolized the rush of emotion we feel when an event happens. Left alone (sitting only with the physical sensations of the emotion), the dirt settles and the water becomes clear again. But most of us pick up a spoon (our thoughts) and stir the water, creating mental stories about what is happening. If we can put some distance between those thoughts and the emotion, our mind and heart will be able to find its joy again.
Oh, I love this combination and your exploration of them! Yes, murky sky (and waters) indeed. Why is it that we sometimes wait till things are so bad, before noticing that we're in dirty water? As well as the sitting vs spoon analogy, I think sometimes external events of people can act like an electric rod, ionising the water so the dirt all clumps in a single place, and we see it for what it is :D
ReplyDeleteOh I love your analogy of the ionizing rod - that moment when we see our patterns (thanks to a person or event) with electrifying clarity. :D
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