Something Different

From the Alchemical Tarot Renewed, the Five of Staffs; from the Oracle of the Radiant Sun, Discrimination (Venus in Virgo):

Rather than five people knocking each other about, Place has turned a single hand into five burning staffs. Five is the number of change, but Place suggests it is also the number of creativity: "the energy and enthusiasm directed into the project." There is nothing like an inspiration that gets us out of a rut, but the challenge is often in bringing the mental into the material. As the Discrimination card hints, the difference between what we've done before can bias us against what we do that is new. Yet it is possible to recognize the variation without undermining it. It's not easy to step out of our creative cocoons, but if we do, it can open so many new doors and windows in the mind.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something. ~Neil Gailman

Separating Myself

This week I'll be using the Sun and Moon Tarot, created by Vanessa Decort and published by U.S. Games. I'll also be drawing from the Wisdom Keepers Oracle, created by Rosy Aronson and published by Seal Pup Press. Today's draws are the Prince (Knight) of Pentacles and 'Discrimination:'

          The Prince/Knight of Pentacles likes to do things in a slow, orderly fashion. Grounded as the bull that pulls his wagon, he is an industrious worker with an eye for details. He thinks long and hard before acting, but once he chooses, he plods (some say stubbornly) toward his objective. Whatever the project, he won't take risks and will be persistent in seeing it through to completion. Yet there can be a downside to being such an observer of details, especially when it is applied to people. There are two definitions for discrimination: recognition of differences and prejudicial treatment because of differences. While the first definition helps us survive and get through life, the second causes hatred, injustice and a feeling of separation. This Wisdom Keeper asks the question, "How does your inner elitist express itself?" The most basic discrimination is based on gender, sexual preference, race, religion or socioeconomics. But there is a more subtle form that is often overlooked. I may think of myself as more spiritually evolved or knowledgeable than another person. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I may feel special because I have done crazy, insane things. Or, I may think I'm unique because (as the song goes) "nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows my sorrow." Such views only serve to alienate me from those to whom I belong, diverse though they are.

Our habitual way of categorizing people as friends, enemies, and strangers depending on how they make us feel is both incorrect and a great obstacle to developing impartial love for all living beings. Rather than holding so tightly to our discriminations of the external world, it would be much more beneficial if we learned to discriminate between valuable and worthless states of mind .                ― Geshe Kelsang Gyatso