Feelings are Okay

From the Dark Goddess Tarot, the Witch of Water (Queen of Cups); from the Tattwa Cards, Fire > Seed of Water:

Every stream ends in the sea, to rise anew. 

~Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

          Haya-Akitsu-Hime, a Shinto sea goddess, was found where the tide met the rivers. She purified the contamination and corruption of the water and of the people who sought her help. This Queen reminds me of therapists, anam caras, and others whose work involves helping people develop better mental health. The tattwa card's keyword is 'vaporization,' the transition from liquid to vapor. Likewise, our emotions change from one form to another as they change in intensity. The goal is not to battle them and destroy them but to learn to work with them in healthy ways. 

The basic premise that children must learn about emotions is that all feelings are okay to have; however, only some reactions are okay. ~Daniel Goleman

Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions

Fierce and Formidable

From the Dark Goddess Tarot, Destruction (Tower):

All the world changes

This may seem strange, but I actually prefer Kali over a burning, crumbling Tower. I suppose it's because I see her as a protective mother - fierce and intimidating maybe, but with my best interests at heart. This Hindu goddess is the consort of Shiva, and though both are associated with destruction, Shiva represents the big, eternal picture of time while Kali symbolizes the immediate side ("the time has come"). It's hard to have those things I'm attached to yanked suddenly away, because they shore up my ego. But Kali shows me what I think is a firm foundation is really just shifting sand.

From the Tattwa Cards comes "Fire: Seed of Water:"

Vaporization

When I was a child growing up in my grandparent's home, we had floor vents for the central heat and air conditioning. During the winter, my grandmother would fill empty soup cans with water and place them on the vents. She explained that all the heat dried out the air in the house (leading to sinus problems), so the water helped add moisture back to the air. As I see the formidable power of Kali in the tarot card above (fire), it is nice to know there is a seed of healing there too (water).