Digging Out the Root

This week I'll be using the Tarot of the Crone, a book and deck set created and self-published by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince. I'll be pairing it with Transforming Dragons, a set created by Sonia Cafe and published by Weiser. Today's cards are the Six of Disks and Esberfonc:

The Crone companion book suggests this Six of Disks invites us to make conscious choices that will give our life meaning. Yet Esberfonc, the dragon of emotionalism, is a reminder of how easy it is to become intoxicated with any emotion (and the physical and mental hangover such intoxication can leave behind). There is no conscious clarity where there is emotional inebriation. On my doctor's recommendation, I recently had a allergy test done; about sixty tiny scratches were made on my forearms applying various organic substances. Then in a few minutes, redness and swelling occurred on those spots where an allergy was present. Yesterday, it felt like I was having an emotional reaction to everything that surrounded me - had this been an allergy test, I would have been one giant red welt. Yet I know that the cause is internal, not external. It's time for some self-inquiry to dig out the root.

Simply by turning on the light, you can instantly destroy the darkness. Likewise, even a rather simple analysis of ego-clinging and afflictive emotions can make them collapse.

—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche