Work-based Focus

This week I'll be using the Tarot de St. Croix, created and self-published by Lisa de St. Croix. Along with it, I'll be drawing from the Archetype Cards, created by Caroline Myss and published by Hay House. Today's cards are the Eight of Pentacles and God:

Some people want to see God with their eyes as they see a cow, and to love Him as they love a cow - for the milk and cheese and profit it brings them. This is how it is with people who love God for the sake of outward wealth or inward comfort. They do not rightly love God, when they love Him for their own advantage. ― Meister Eckhart

The Eight of Pentacles suggests a work-based focus, one where physical effort is expended beyond mental fantasy. Sure, a vision is needed as a starting point, but no concrete progress can be made until we buckle down to the tasks at hand. The God archetype (and Eckhart's quote) imply a ploy that people often use to get out of taking responsibility for any personal exertion. "If it's God's will" can suspiciously sound like "I'm going to let someone else handle it." It might be better to follow the advice of an Islamic proverb - Trust Allah but tie up your camel. It's the results we can let go of, not the work.

In the Looking

This week I'll be using the Tarot de St. Croix, created and self-published by Lisa de St. Croix. Along with it, I'll be drawing from the Archetype Cards, created by Caroline Myss and published by Hay House. Today's cards are Death and God:

I can recall that even as a small child I had allergic reactions to certain forms of reality.

"Distilled Spirits," AA Grapevine, December 1997

          Humans are biologically wired to look for stability and security in order to survive. We don't particularly like change (unless it's pleasant) and we fear anything that upends our life. Like the quote above, we seem to have an allergy to the impermanent nature of reality. When there are endings, we struggle to accept and adapt. Yet the dancing skeleton seems to have realized that there is the potential for good even in the midst of having what we were attached to ripped from our grasp. The God archetype represents a power that aids us and protects us when we feel powerless. In a physical world constantly in flux, is there any surprise that so many gods have been created by mankind? It is normal to want to feel grounded when we feel lost and in limbo. Perhaps for some, God might simply mean being willing to look beyond our ego's preferences, seeing for the first time the wonders and benevolence in our world that we've overlooked.

God is not findable for me. Not like car keys. Maybe God is that which can’t be found. That’s okay, because God is in the looking. —Susan Moon