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

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

The Blending Vessel

From the Russian Lubok Tarot, Temperance; from the Oracle of Alice's Leaves, 'Blackberry:'
          Rather than combining liquids by pouring them back and forth, this Temperance is the blending vessel herself in which the mix will occur. She pours out a little water from one bucket in order to balance her yoke. It makes me think of resolutions for the new year which seem to be either one extreme or the other - I want to have more fun or I want to be more disciplined so I can ____ (lose weight, stop smoking, etc.). But we shouldn't have to choose one bucket over the other (with a little creative thinking), which may explain why those resolutions tend to fizzle out. Blackberry, or Rubus spp., is a plant I'm very familiar with. While living on a farm, we picked these juicy berries to eat fresh or freeze for making cobblers. Yet caution had to be observed: the briers were full of sharp thorns, the berries needed to be picked when black not red, and rattlesnakes often lay beneath the foliage. Discernment was needed, a message that parallels the acknowledgment that 'all or nothing' doesn't exist in a balanced state. However, I can have fun while being disciplined, and I can enjoy pleasures while not expecting them to last forever.

3 comments:

  1. I like the just red blackberries best...square peg. It is a hard life but someone has to do it
    Goal number 1...hug you and carolyn in person in 2019

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  2. Now that would be nice. Maybe we can all meet up somewhere together.

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