Your Own Agent

 From the Tarot of Durer, the King of Chalices; from the Philosopher's Stone, Composure:

This is an interesting King of Cups; he sits in the middle of the ocean, but he doesn't allow his feet or robes to get wet. While he may feel a duty to help with the emotional well-being of those in his kingdom, he knows how easy it is to be sucked into another person's drama and drown in it. Thus he's well-skilled in the art of nonjudgmental detachment - keeping his heart open without taking on the other person's responsibility. Yet the Composure card is what may be needed when a person demands we fix their problems for them, calling us uncaring or worse. The wise King would likely offer them a version of Ethan Nichtern's words: "Nobody can get into the heart of your experience and fix anything for you. If you want to make your own internal experience more hospitable, only you can do that work. Others can always support and guide you and spark insights, but ultimately you are your own boss and the agent of understanding your mind and opening your heart." 

Crossing Boundaries

This morning from the Tarot of Durer comes the Seven of Swords:

A group of men, holding their weapons high, give chase to a fox who has been helping herself to their hens and eggs.  The fox pauses beside a single blue flower as the men continue down the hill on the other side.  Blue flowers symbolize faithfulness and loyalty (which is why brides in the West carry "something blue" down the wedding aisle).  Generally this card implies something underhanded going on, which makes sense with the fox, but why put a blue flower next to this animal?  But what if she is a mom with kits, and has been stealing food in order to provide for her family?  She is then being loyal to them.  I would judge this situation differently depending on whose shoes (or paws) I'm in at the time.  Today I will look carefully at my motivations, and endeavor not to violate others' rights with my self-will and wants.

     The draw from the Philosopher's Stone deck today is "Composure:"

Talk about being "in your face!"  This group of rocks are so close to the stone man, his face is in their shadow.  I think some folks cross those personal space boundaries just to intimidate.  Will the stone man lose his cool, or choose the emotionally mature option of just walking away from the situation?  For me, there is an instinctive reaction to push back, to step on the liberties of others who have crossed a line with me.  But does that actually help, or does it just make me a carbon copy of them?