Knowing When to Fight

From the Tarot of the Masters, the Nine of Wands; from the Key to the Kingdom deck, the Four of Spades:

He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

― Sun Tzu

This rendering is from Théodore Gericault's painting, Nude Warrior with a Spear. This fellow has a relaxed posture yet he is still watchful. He has fortitude, yet he chooses his battles wisely instead of attacking everything that moves or makes a noise. Prolonged challenges can make us weary and may lead to us becoming overly suspicious and high strung. We must not lose our ability to think rationally and ask questions before react as Sun Tzu describes - fighting blindly and desperately like a mad bull. The Four of Spades offers a riddle about sleepy, summer days and an insect that stings (yellow jacket). Anyone whose ever been around bees and wasps will tell you not to swat at them because you might get stung unintentionally. Better to suss out a situation than kick a hornet's nest and create a conflict.

The Weight of Apathy

This week I'll be using the New Liminal Tarot, created by Penelope Cline and self-published through Make Playing Cards. I'll also be using the State By State Playing Cards created by Wendy Cipolla Boccuzzi and published by U.S. Games. Today's draws are the Four of Cups and the Four of Spades - South Dakota:

"Okay," I said. "But remember, you can’t fix everything in the world for everybody." "However," said Ricky, "you can’t do anything at all unless you begin."

― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

Anhedonia - the technical name for the blahs - is an inability to experience pleasure accompanied by reduced motivation. That feeling of flatness can have a multitude of causes: a lack of sleep or exercise, burnout, feeling trapped or confused, a let-down, hormones, grief, or loneliness. It helps to have at least one friend whose will is stronger than the weight of one's apathy; their encouragement can help us dig out the root and make a change. The Four of Spades shows South Dakota's Mt. Rushmore with its colossal sculpture known as the 'Shrine of Democracy.' However, the area was considered sacred by the Plains Indians; the Treaty of 1868 had granted the Sioux exclusive use of all of the Black Hills in perpetuity. When the government offered them $102 million in compensation, the Sioux Nation said they wanted their land, not money. It's a stalemate that goes nowhere. Sometimes the greatest change we can make to get us moving is to adjust our perspective or expectations. 

Unlocking the Chain

From the Fey Tarot, the Four of Pentacles; from the I Misteri della Sibilla, Sickness (Four of Spades):

It's one thing to be a good steward of what we have, but quite another to be obsessively chained to it. Joe Lightfoot describes an ideology of wealth called 'HOEM' that has infected our society:

• Hollow - it creates an endless longing for more that can never be fulfilled through its own means. 
• Oppressive - it cares little for equity, justice or the rights of the downtrodden. 
• Economic - it is firmly rooted in notions of who owns what. 
• Materialistic - it places little worth on anything that cannot be physically grasped by acquisitive hands.

The Sibilla card, Sickness, is a good indicator of what will happen to our body when the mind is imbalanced with the kind of stress that materialism causes. As Dr. Bernie Siegel wrote, "The mind and body are not separate units, but one integrated system. How we act and what we think, eat, and feel are all related to our health." Pick up the key!