Willingness

From the Alchemical Tarot Renewed, the Nine of Wands; from the Oracle of the Radiant Sun, Fortune (Sun in Leo):

Be willing to be uncomfortable. —Peter McWilliams

When people begin the path of recovery, whether the result of an injury or an addiction, they are often told, "Be willing to stand in the fire without running." We naturally want relief when fear or pain begin, and we find it hard to hold on to the idea that this will pass, that things will get better. But our resilience in holding firm is what will help us heal and grow instead of staying stuck. The Fortune of the Sun in Leo represents increased energy and self-confidence - traits that we develop when we, as Eleanor Roosevelt said, "do the thing you think you cannot do."

Wise Hope

This week I'll be using the Russian Lubok Tarot, created and self-published by Eugene Vinitski and Sergey Savchenko. I'll also be drawing from the Marseille Oracle, a deck created and published by Lo Scarabeo with a little booklet written by Isa Donelli. Today's draws are the Four of Cups and Fortune:

          The Four of Cups card shows a man lying in a puddle that he could easily get out of but doesn't. Sometimes it's easier to feed our apathy and melancholy with self-centered thoughts than it is to get moving. His friend in a boat keeps throwing life preservers at him - typical of people who want to help but just don't know how to do it. Eventually, he'll figure out that no one can help people who aren't ready to receive it. The Fortune card shows a barrel that could be full of anything. It is like waking up in the morning, not knowing what the day ahead brings. But one thing is for sure: whether we think the day ahead will be awful or will be good, we'll be sure to find it.

Wise hope is not seeing things unrealistically but rather seeing things as they are, including the truth of suffering—both its existence and our capacity to transform it. It’s when we realize we don’t know what will happen that this kind of hope comes alive; in that spaciousness of uncertainty is the very space we need to act. Yes, suffering is present. We cannot deny it. Wise hope doesn’t mean denying these realities. It means facing them, addressing them, and remembering what else is present... 

—Joan Sutherland

Just the Weather

From the Fey Tarot, the Sun; from the I Misteri della Sibilla, "Fortune:"

You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.

~ Pema Chödrön

          I love this version of the Sun; I can almost feel the sun's warmth on the fey's face and chest. The open sky and field remind me of just how spacious my mind and heart can be, if I let go of my labels and categories as well as my assumptions and opinions. There is a vast and limitless place I can experience that is calm and gentle - no matter what kind of "weather" is going on around me. Here I don't feel trapped by my own or other's expectations, and there's no need for emotional reactions. I can instead respond from a place of peace. And look who is watching over the fey - Lady Fortune. She seems to be appreciating his joy as much as he is. I'm sure she's not going to lounge around under that shady tree forever; eventually she'll move that wheel and his blue sky will darken as an impending storm rolls in. But all he has to do is find that field within, relax there and be patient until it passes. 

The absence of grasping and fixation is like flying in an airplane. When we rise above the clouds, we begin to realize that upstairs there is a blue sky all the time. We realize that the sun is always shining, even when it is cloudy and rainy down below. There is blue sky all the time, and that blue sky is free from clouds.

~  Chögyam Trungpa

Worthwhile Mentors

From the Alchemical Renewed Tarot, the Hierophant:

Were it not for the elaborate chair and three-tiered crown, I might imagine this picture as story-time with grandpa.  Place explains that this trump deals with exoteric spirituality, the outer form taught to the masses.  Just as the sun and red candle represent the masculine/active principle and the moon and white candle symbolize the feminine/receptive principle, so are there two spiritual streams that can quench my thirst.  Maybe it is the American in me that always wants to blaze my own trail, but I do better with the inner/esoteric type that I find in meditation and contemplation.  Yet I know too well how easy it is to rationalize and twist my ideas into something acceptable, which is why I also need to be willing to listen to and heed the philosophies of other teachers. 

From the Oracle of the Radiant Sun comes "Fortune:"

Sun (fortune) in Leo (creative self-expression)

There are those who find themselves in the public eye not so much because they desire it, but because they are sought out.  Then there are those who have an intense desire to be the center of attention, not for humanitarian reasons but because of their big egos.  Think Gandhi and the Dalai Lama versus Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps.  I much prefer humble, loving teachers with a sense of humor than the judgmental, hellfire-and-damnation ones as mentors.