Relationship with Power

This week I'll continue using the Tarot of the Abyss, created by Ana Tourian and published by U.S. Games. I've paired with it the Nature Mandala Meditation Cards, created and self-published by Michelle Wallace. Today's draws are Strength and Connect with the Light:

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. 

—Elie Weisel

Tourian's lion does not in any way resemble a domesticated feline; he looks like he could eat someone without blinking. We all have this power within that can be used without restraint, repressed or honored and engaged with creatively. What kind of relationship do we have with it? It isn't evil or something of which we need to be ashamed; it just happens to communicate through strong emotions when it delivers a message. Connect with the Light implies a call to clarity and a wide perspective. In the middle of an emotional tsunami, how do we find these things? Pema Chodron suggests feeling your feelings, first physically, then emotionally, but without the mental story-line (thoughts that escalate things). The point is not to transcend, but to connect. Place your hand over your heart as you do this, telling yourself, "It's okay. I'm here for you." Settle in and be fully present with tenderness and kindness rather than judgment. Calm will eventually come, and when the emotional waves subside, we'll have a much clearer view of the horizon.