Stoppered Vessels

From the Alchemical Tarot Renewed, the Four of Vessels; from the Oracle of the Radiant Sun, 'Sun in Virgo:'

 

Place describes his drawing of an elephant balanced on four vessels as the way we get comfortable with our emotional habits. They become our pillars, but they also make it hard to step off so we can develop and grow emotionally. We may conveniently stuff anger, grief, fear, and self-pity in those vessels and keep them firmly stoppered. But our lives pay a hefty price when we use this solution. The Sun in Virgo card suggests that it is time to attend to well-being; part of that self-care is taking care of one's health. While we may exercise and eat healthy foods, if we're standing on vessels of emotion we might as well be standing on a volcano about to explode. As my blogging buddies recently discussed, it's better to hark up those feelings (whether with a therapist, in a journal or on a blog) than to think we can keep them stoppered without consequences.