Not What I Thought

From the Alchemical Tarot Renewed, the High Priestess; from the Oracle of the Radiant Sun, Escape (Mars in Pisces):

          Place's High Priestess puts a finger to her lips; unlike the Hierophant who seeks to impart knowledge through teaching, she knows wisdom isn't spoken but found within through direct experience. Most beginning meditators bring an agenda to the cushion or chair - a strong desire to find a solution or answers. They might as well bring shovels and metal detectors. Like the Escape card, they want a quick fix to get away from their worries. (The Buddha illustration acknowledges the part spiritual bypassing often plays.)  Yet what they need is open receptiveness, a willingness to be still, listen, and observe. Diane Musho Hamilton uses her personal experience to explain:

In the beginning, meditation was an attempt to alleviate my suffering. In a regular dose, repeated again and again and again, it was an antidote to confusion and a troubled heart. I think it worked, but not like I expected. It didn’t take away the pain but taught me to sit quietly with it. It eliminated the unnecessary fretting and showed me the beauty of how things come and go—empty, as the masters would say. It showed me that there is more to life than my thoughts about it, that my feelings weren’t the full truth, and that existence is vast and interconnected, including far more than I imagined. 

Combustible Combination

From the Thoth Tarot, the Prince of Wands (Knight); from the Vertical Oracle, "Escape:"

          The fiery Prince of Wands represents the airy part of fire, a combustible combination. Seasoned firefighters who discover a room pulling air into itself (for example through a crack under a door) generally evacuate, because it is a sign of a backdraft. A backdraft happens when oxygen in a fire is depleted, then a sudden intake of oxygen occurs and creates an explosion. Yep, that sounds like my buddy the Prince. He's got many great qualities - passionate enthusiasm, courage, charisma, an adventuresome spirit - that can take a terrible turn if arrogance takes control. Those around him who are caught unaware may get burned; he unfortunately will be too self-absorbed to care.
          The Escape card suggests an alternative to getting burnt to a crisp. Alli describes it as a "temporary grace period." The woman riding on the back the back of the dragonfly is able to rise above all the excitement and view things from a larger perspective. Away from the magnetic personality of the Prince as well as the herd mentality, she might have a clearer understanding of the likely repercussions. With a bit of the water element thrown in, she'll look for a way to prevent casualties instead of being indifferent to them. But since this is only a temporary reprieve, she's going to have to go back in the trenches. Hopefully it will be with a fire hose in hand.