I use tarot and oracle cards as tools for reflection and contemplation. Rather than divining the future, they are a way for me to look more deeply at the "now."
"The goal isn't to arrive, but to meander, to saunter, to make your life a holy wandering." ~ Rami Shapiro

Sunday, September 24, 2023

Trapped in History

This week I'll be using Poppy Palin's Waking the Wild Spirit tarot deck, published by Llewellyn, along with her companion book, Stories of the Wild Spirit, published by Slippery Jacks Press. I'll also be drawing from Saltwater Reading Cards, created by Laura Bowen and published by Rockpool Publishing. Today's cards are the Eight of Air (Swords) and Dugong:

People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.
~James Baldwin

Our culture, our friends and family and our experiences shape the way we think and what we believe. Even when the world has changed, when life has opened other doors, we can still stay inside that cage of ideas and beliefs. It takes practice to change our mind, to see that although the past was real, it is not the present. The Dugong's (sea cow's) large size can mislead people; it is actually a gentle, slow-moving mammal that feeds on grass in lagoons and bays. It offers a reminder that appearances aren't always what they seem. Difficult or stressful circumstances might send us chasing our next pleasurable distraction, yet even tough situations can often be altered if we don't try to avoid them. As James Baldwin said,  “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

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