Personal Responsibility

This week I'll be using the Wheel of Change Tarot, a deck and book set created by Alexandra Genetti and published by Inner Traditions. The second deck I'll be drawing from is the Oracle of the Dreamtime, a compilation of Australian Aboriginal art and Dreamings by Donni Hakanson; this deck and book set was published by Journey Editions. Today's cards are the Two of Disks and Frilled-neck Lizard:

          Genetti shows the orbital balance of Earth and Sun kept in check by gravity. What tethers us and keeps the many dimensions of our life from throwing the other parts out of line? A laser-like focus held for too long (on our life or someone else's) will create imbalance and be a detriment to our well-being. As the Dhammapada implores, "Let one not neglect one's own welfare for the sake of another, however great. Clearly understanding one's own welfare, let one be intent upon the good." The legend of the Frilled-neck Lizard is an example. The land was in a period of great drought and all the animals argued about what to do. No one listened to the lizard who just happened to be a rainmaker. Filled with frustration and self-righteous anger, he brought a storm that destroyed many living things. Yet what might have happened had he calmed himself instead of acting out rage? He might instead have sent a steady, gentle rain and become a hero rather than a brutal punisher.

Enlarging the Future

From the Wheel of Change, the Six of Cups:

Six broken and cracked pottery vessels have been left out in the desert; they are no longer useful and will eventually disintegrate into the earth. The Six of Cups often deals with integrating the past with the present, and I feel I know why they have come up today. I was discussing my evolving spiritual ideas with a friend yesterday, and she suggested I do a timeline of who or what my spiritual thoughts were focused on and what was going on in my life at the time. This exercise brought up some uncomfortable memories of the past, yet I could clearly see how each circumstance helped shape the person I am today. But while I can learn from the cracked bowls of regret and pain, I don't have to keep them in my house like some sort of sick trophy collection.

From the Oracle of the Dreamtime comes the "Frilled-neck Lizard:"

The aboriginal story of the frilled-neck lizard is one of frustration and anger. This animal tried to talk with the other animals who were fighting because of a drought that had led to a lack of food and water. The lizard was a rainmaker, and the attitude of the animals made him so angry, he unleashed a storm that caused flooding and resulted in many deaths. Anger is such a powerful emotion, and it can be channeled in ways that create positive change or destructive retaliation. Memories, even those in the past, can trigger the feeling of anger as if the situation were happening all over again. I must be very careful with this emotion and find a way to defuse it. It helps to remember a quote from Paul Boese who said, “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”