Purposeful Giving and Receiving

From the Golden Tarot, the Six of Coins; from the Yantra Deck, Support:

Purposeful giving is not as apt to deplete one’s resources; it belongs to that natural order of giving that seems to renew itself even in the act of depletion. 

—Anne Morrow Lindbergh

          The rich man in this card seems a bit detached as he doles out his coins to the poor. I doubt they care about his attitude, as filling their bellies and staying out of the elements are their primary concern. How sad though, that this man allows himself no joy in his giving. Amy S. Grant suggests there is a reason: "...our obligation is borne out of guilt and we don’t like to feel guilt, so we hide it and call it something else entirely." The Support card indicates that we all rely on others in a variety of ways, even if we have never met these people. The coffee I'm now drinking came from beans grown, harvested, and packaged by many others. Even Nature herself provides gifts to support and sustain us. Such thoughts can be humbling, making it easier to give and receive with a light heart. As Lindbergh writes, exchanging resources is part of the natural order that can help prevent the extremes of excess and scarcity.

Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,

But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.

― Khalil Gibran