Always Learning

From the New Era Elements Tarot, the Daughter of Water (Page of Cups); from the Tao Oracle, Hexagram 28 (Excess):

It is what we know already that often prevents us from learning.

 ―Claude Bernard 

The Daughter of Water is dreamy, sensitive and deeply empathetic. All the Pages are still in the early learning phases of their suit. Even those of us with gray hair (who are honest) can still be surprised by our emotional awareness deficits. Hexagram 28 is often described as a ridgepole that is at a critical breaking point. Excess of anything is generally not a good thing, especially when dealing with emotions. What would the much older me share with this young girl?

~Emotions are just energy, like sneezes. If we don't add to the narratives that feed them, the energy disperses.

~People who are upset usually don't want advice (an attempt to 'fix' them) - they just want to be listened to and heard.

~Empathy doesn't mean we must wear the emotional coat of others; if we are sagging from such weight, we won't have the clarity to take appropriate steps that might help.

~Shame shuts down our ability to learn and change. Making mistakes doesn't make us worthless, they're some of the ways we can learn and then change.

What wisdom would you offer this Daughter of Water?

Butting Heads

From the Hoi Polloi Tarot, the Emperor; from the I Ching Pack, 'Lake over Wood:'

          Looking at the Emperor's throne, I'm reminded of the slogan for Dodge trucks: "Built Ram Tough." I'm sure he's done a lot of fighting and butted a lot of heads to take that seat, but he'd rather not make it an ongoing thing. Which is why he is big on rules and responsibilities - when there's order and direction, there's less conflict. Except when those boundaries and laws are inequitable and biased. In the words of Honore de Balzac, "Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught." Hexagram 28 shows a lake overflowing its banks, and with the mounting pressure, there is the threat of a dam breaking. I am reminded of the 2017 Women's March on Washington, the Black Lives Matter movement and the spread of #MeToo through social media. Society operates smoothly only when the rights of all are equally important. When that doesn't happen, the pressure will build and the dam will break.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

~ John F. Kennedy

Self-imposed Suffering

From the Art of Life Tarot, the Seven of Pentacles; from the Tao Oracle, Excess:

 With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown. ~ Chinese Proverb

Hexagram 28: A forest submerged in a great body of water.

          There's a saying that I find myself thinking of lately: Hurry up and wait. As this particular Seven of Pentacles card points out, patience is a virtue, one that I can either adopt or ignore. But the kicker is that my frustration with having to wait will not make things move at a faster pace, they'll just make me suffer more. It's like the story Pema Chodron tells about the arrow: “If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart...” Sharyn pointed me in this direction yesterday in her comment on my post. The I Ching card points out that limitations have been overlooked, and now there is a price to pay known as STRESS. There's no need for blame or shame, only blunt honesty. Time to start moving according to natural rhythms rather than an artificial, self-imposed cadence.