How We Respond

From the New Era Elements Tarot, the Daughter of Water (Princess/Page of Cups); from the Tao Oracle, Conflict (Hexagram 6):

All conflict can be traced back to someone’s feelings getting hurt, don’t you think?

—  Liane Moriarty

The Daughter of Water is warm, compassionate, kind and tender. From an elemental standpoint, she is water of water; emotionally, she lives on a tiny isle of romance and joy. Responsive to the needs of others, people enjoy her sensitivity and attention. Because she guards her inner island of harmony closely, she does not handle discord well. Yet conflict does not imply that relationships are imperfect. Hexagram 6 speaks of a clash of wills about the rightness of their ideas or ways of doing things. It's easy to slip into brain-lock, being unable to hear and consider another point of view. However being open-minded doesn't mean giving up our values but making space to consider a wider, more expansive view; it means seeing a more complete picture of the situation. As Thomas Crum explained, "The quality of our lives depends not on whether or not we have conflicts, but on how we respond to them."

Bullies Do Prosper

From the Hoi Polloi Tarot, the King of Pentacles; from the I Ching Pack, Hexagram 6:

          The first thing I noticed about this version of the King of Pentacles is all the red he wears rather than green. Red is a color I associate with passion, energy and aggressiveness. It appears this King goes after whatever will increase his holdings with gusto; the bulls on this throne suggest a stubborn forcefulness. He may even be a bit of a bully, if he doesn't immediately get what he wants. There's one person (whose antics saturate the media) that such a description fits to a tee: Donald Trump. The I Ching card is titled "conflict" and represents Dragon over a Chasm. I imagine the peasants watching the incoming boats with dread, wondering what these people will try to take from them. According to the book, there will be no winners. It suggests "stop, calm down and compromise." The problem with people like Trump is they know money gives them power, and they have no worries about stomping on people's rights to get what they want. I recently watched a documentary about Donald Trump who took protected land in Scotland to build a golf course on that perfectly illustrated this mindset. So what's the moral of this story and daily draw? Bullies might be prosperous, but they have few real friends (and a whole posse full of enemies).