Rest and Retraining

From the Ellis Tarot, the Four of Swords; from the Brownies Oracle, Constraint:

Destructive patterns thrive on being hidden. That is what allows them to maintain their power. But if you are brave enough to arouse these powerful forces, to confront them, and to examine them, you can begin to free yourself from their control. 

―Judy Lief

The Four of Swords indicates it is time not only to rest and heal the mind, but to free it. As the Brownies point out, patterns of thinking that lead to rigid beliefs can constrain us. Choice doesn't matter much when we've developed a closed mind. It's like the lucky bamboo sold in stores and garden shops; straight stems are trained to curve around wires until they form spiral. Our thoughts can be trained the same way through repetition, even if what we assume isn't true. Freedom is surrendered when a certain thought generates a particular feeling followed by a habitual reaction. But the good news is that we can retrain our mind to see with clarity, allowing it to make an appropriate choice rather than an automated one.