Settle for Contentment

From the Llewellyn Tarot, the Nine of Cups; from the Beasts of Albion, Cockerel:

I don't look for bliss, just contentment. –Alison Krauss

The Llewellyn companion booklet refers to the Nine of Cups as well-being of the heart. It doesn't necessarily mean that we have everything that we want or have managed to avoid what we don't. We might not sit in the lap of fame, wealth, praise and pleasure. But we see clearly all the good we do have, and we have a satisfactory relationship with the world around us. The Rooster/Cockerel is generally connected with the sunrise. Yet roosters crow for other reasons as well: to declare their territory, to tell the hens it's time to forage, and to warn of predators. This bird warns us that there is a difference between contentment and complacency - the first allows us to actively respond to life with gratitude while the latter keeps us stuck with a mindset that thinks nothing will change.

Full of It

From the Llewellyn Tarot, the Queen of Swords:

Don't ever play poker with this woman; she can read every "tell" and will instantly know if you're bluffing. She's married to the King of Swords because he needed someone who wouldn't be afraid to say, "Honey, you're full of it." She stares nose-to-nose with Reality and never flinches. This queen doesn't want to be impressed, she just wants the bare-bones truth. And isn't that the first step in dealing with a situation - to see life as it really is, without all the feathers and fluff, rhinestones and glitter? It's from this place of ground zero that I can build on a firm foundation.


From the Beasts of Albion deck comes "Cockerel:"

Anyone who's ever lived near a rooster will agree with Gray labeling this bird the "Herald of Awakening." If you've ever watched (or been chased by) a rooster protecting his territory, it's also easy to see how the term "cocky" came to be. This bird teaches me to wake up from the lullaby my ego softly sings. If I want to be confident, I need to make sure what I "know" comes from solid evidence or personal experience. Otherwise someone with a Queen of Swords personality might just tell me I'm full of hen manure.