Falls the Shadow

From the Hezicos Tarot, the Sun; from the Way of the Horse, False Self:

Between the idea

And the reality

Between the motion

And the act

Falls the Shadow

~T.S. Eliot 

The four compass points on this Sun remind me of a joke. An inebriated fellow was pulled over for greatly exceeding the speed limit. When the police officer asked him where he was going in such a hurry, the man answered, "I don't know, but I'm making damn good time!" The Sun suggests energy, but also a need for clarity. It doesn't matter how fast we're going if we don't know where we're headed. The False Self card looks at this idea from another angle. The false self is a mental construct of the ego that attempts to control our choices so that they coincide with socio-cultural norms and familial/peer expectations. It reins us in with a fear of missing out or a sense that we must fit in to belong. But this masked persona is not our true self and will never leave us feeling content and whole. With discernment, however, we can root out our people-pleasing behavior and instead turn toward our authentic self, making choices from our own core values and goals.