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

Friday, February 28, 2020

Center of Balance

From the Rosetta Tarot, the Priestess; from the Ascension to Paradise cards, the Secretarybird:
          The Priestess stands calmly between the ebb and flow of life; the cycles of the moon shift from one phase to another, yet she has found an inner source that keeps her from being dashed by the tides. Meditation for her is not a spiritual bypass, a search for bliss or a way to distract herself from what is tossed upon her shore. As Meleen describes, her practice allows her to become "a middle pillar of wisdom and equanimity." She doesn't hide from life but deals with it on its terms with awareness and quietude. The Secretarybird is a mostly terrestrial bird of prey, catching its victims on the ground and stomping them to death. Its name likely came from the long, quill-like feathers at the top of its neck. I can relate to this bird, wanting to stomp into submission those situations that ruffle my feathers. But although this approach can make me feel powerful and in control, it rarely brings about a lasting, useful solution. Writing down what is surging through my mind often lets me pause long enough to see my own insanity. At that point, I can meditate and then contemplate what a sane response might look like.

I found a new definition of sanity... This sanity offered serenity, a feeling of wellness or well-being, possession of a center of balance from which to operate, and a feeling that my place in this world was just right. — February 1999, AA Grapevine

5 comments:

  1. I too find writing it down clears the mind or at least releases some of the pressure.

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    1. A pressure release valve is a good way to describe it. :)

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  2. my thought too, where did that bird's name come from because birds can be millions of years around. Found this: late Middle English (originally in the sense ‘person entrusted with a secret’): from late Latin secretarius ‘confidential officer’, from Latin secretum ‘secret’, neuter of secretus.
    Named by John Frederick Miller who described the species in 1779. But MY mind says yes, but what did the locals call it??? Life. Always one question more.

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