The Importance of Listening

From the Tarot of the Secret Forest, the Queen of Cups; from the Faeries Oracle, Arval Parrot:

          The Queen's element recognizes her as one of its own as it swirls around her. This lovely lady is known for her compassion; she leans in toward the suffering of others rather than away from them. She is concerned for the emotional well-being of people, and doesn't worry that their pain will rub off on her. If she's as wise as I think she is, she'll know that pity or mutual despair won't help the person she's listening to. A drowning man needs a raft, not another drowning person. Arval the faerie appears to remind me of the importance of communication, especially in the form of listening. His last name - Parrot - makes me think of a skill we learned in counseling classes. To make sure we heard what we thought we did, we would have to repeat back in our own words what the person had said. This exercise helped clear away the debris of assumptions, prejudices and generalizations. Both of these cards would likely agree with these words from William H. Vanstone: "Most of the noise comes from the shallow end."