A Gentler Approach

From the Dark Goddess Tarot, the Five of Water (Cups); from the Tattwa Cards, Earth > Seed of Earth:

After years of being taught that the way to deal with painful emotions is to get rid of them, it can take a lot of reschooling to learn to sit with them instead, finding out from those who feel them what they have learned by sleeping in the wilderness. 

~Barbara Brown Taylor

          La Llorona was a beautiful woman who married a rich conquistador and bore him several children. Her husband cheated on her, and in her rage and grief, she drowned their children. Consumed by guilt for what she had done, the woman then killed herself. Afterward, she was condemned to walk the earth looking for her children. This Five of Cups asks us to look at how we avoid dealing with our pain, and the long and short term results of such behavior. The keyword 'foundation' is assigned to Earth: Seed of Earth. It encourages us to look at the beliefs of how we should deal with our emotions: suppress them, distract ourselves with busyness or lash out. Few of us were schooled in emotion well-being and maturity. Women are too often held to an idealized archetype - expected to selflessly care for others no matter the cost to themselves. It would be much more beneficial if we could support each other and take Darlene Cohen's advice: "We must treat our pain gently, respectfully, not resisting it but living with it."

To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves - there lies the great, singular power of self-respect. ~Joan Didion