Shaking Off the Yellow Leaves

From the New Era Elements Tarot, the Six of Water (Cups); from the Tao Oracle, Approach (Hexagram 19):

Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. ― Rumi

In the Thoth system, the Six of Cups/Water is not nostalgia but unbounded joy after a crisis is past. Pieper's card shows children splashing and enjoying the fountain jets at a play park. It reminds me of our community emerging after the pandemic lockdown (we were a Covid hotspot in the nation with limited resources and many deaths). We were cautious at first, but then we were like kids running outside when school breaks for recess. Recovery after such an emotional trial brings a special kind of release and happiness. Approach (hexagram 19) suggests beneficial changes are happening and encourages us to move toward them. While we may drag our feet - being wary of vulnerable - it reassures us that this is a development that we should take advantage of without delay.

Creative Expresssion

From the New Era Elements Tarot, the Magus; from the Tao Oracle, Hexagram 19:

He's dressed for success, has lots of facts, figures and pamphlets, and is well like on social media. But is he just a spin doctor in a nice suit, or does he have integrity in his work? Pieper's Magus is a reminder that we all have resources that we use to create and craft a life. But do we act only for our own benefit without a thought of how it affects anyone or anything else? Are we doing what's 'right' only when someone is watching? Our motives will bear fruit later; repeated thoughts and actions will become habitual. Yet Approach - Hexagram 19 - shows an opportunity for positive change, for growing and expanding in wholesome, constructive ways. It just requires checking our intentions before moving forward to see if we're living from an old pattern or doing something new and beneficial.

It is as though we are all artists, but instead of canvas and paint, or marble or music, as our medium, our very bodies, minds, and life experience are the materials of our creative expression.

—Joseph Goldstein

Battle of Wills

From the Art of Life Tarot, the Five of Wands; from the Tao Oracle, Approach:

The wisest men follow their own direction. ~ Euripides 

Hexagram 19: Land rising above a marsh.

          Instead of a battle of wills between several fellows, Livingstone uses a painting of a man walking alone. For those who find it hard to be assertive in a group, to speak out loud their version of how to get from point A to point Z, it can feel lonely. Yet the information in a problem-solving session needs input from everyone, no matter how far off the beaten path some might go. Different perspectives can give different views of the problem, thus a solution agreed on that incorporates wisdom from all sides has a greater chance of making a difference. Having the courage to adamantly express one's ideas might be the difference between solving a problem or putting a band-aide on it. The Tao card shows a doorway leading from a dark hall leading to a bright, spring day. There is a sense of almost reaching something that has been desired, but there is still a need to actively do what will continue the progress. In adding this card to the Five of Wands, I think of diplomacy, the skill of managing a situation tactfully. No one will listen if they are not given the courtesy of being listened to as well. Aggression has no place here, only respect; confident insistence without arrogance may open previously closed ears.