No Magic Cleaver

From the Hoi Polloi Tarot, the Lovers; from the I Ching Pack, Hexagram 9 (Restraint):

Those who regard the mundane

as a hindrance to life and practice

only understand that

in the mundane nothing is sacred;

what they have not yet understood

is that in sacredness

nothing is mundane.

— Dogen Zenji

The woman gazes up at the angel, as if she could spiritually bypass all the grittiness of life. The man gazes at the woman, as if he might indulge every selfish pleasure without reaping any consequences. Yet there is no magic cleaver - the sacred and mundane cannot be separated. Hexagram 9 - Wind over Dragon - suggests "gently stroking the dragon's back." It implies restraint rather than choosing one extreme or the other. As Dogen explained, "Sacred and mundane, just as they are, intermingle freely." It's a package deal.

Moody Moon

From the Hoi Polloi Tarot, the Moon; from the I Ching Pack, Hexagram 9:

Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.

~Mark Twain

The unconscious stores all the memories of our experiences, some of which we've forgotten and others which have been suppressed (voluntary) or repressed (involuntary). Yet sometimes when we're exhausted or stressed, pieces slip out. Alternatively, an opening may be triggered by something we see or hear which unlocks the vault. We then suddenly find ourselves moody and out of sorts, often unaware that the past is affecting our present. Hexagram 9 is the combined trigrams of wind over dragon, suggesting a wind stroking the back of a mighty dragon and lulling him to sleep. It represents a time for patience and restraint, which fits well with the moodiness of the Moon. As Ajahn Chah explains "The mind gets lost, carried away by these moods with no idea what's happening. And as a result, we experience pleasure and pain accordingly, because the mind has not been trained yet." If the animal of the mind isn't fed, it will soon wander off on its own.

Forget the Cattle Prod

From the Brady Tarot, Death; from the Holitzka I Ching, Hexagram 9:

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. ~C.S. Lewis

          A human skull sits on top of the earth; below the soil is the bones of a saber-tooth tiger and a dinosaur. Personal loss and endings come to everyone. It is impossible to cement perfect circumstances so that they never change or pass away. Impermanence and grief are just as natural as new beginnings and joy, but we tend to fear the former and welcome the latter. Yet when we exhaust our anger, take off the blinders of denial, and crawl out of the depths of despair, we find acceptance and a new chapter ready to be written. Hexagram 9 is known as Small Restraint, the power of gentleness that can soothe while also encourage. This is not the 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' or 'put on your big girl panties' approach, but one that is tender and compassionate. A bulldozer strategy doesn't help people who feel like they are as raw as a peeled tomato. Sometimes people need a hand to hold, not a cattle prod to get them moving.

Clowns and Dust Storms

From the Japaridze Tarot, the Jester (Page) of Winds; from the Holitzka I Ching, 'Hexagram 9:'

          Japaridze's Page of Swords (Jester of Winds) shows a clownish figure with an accordion toy shaped like a bat. I normally don't have a strong reaction to the Pages as I do this one. He seems to be intent on being noticed and getting attention. I can't help but think of the current WH squatter and his followers who constantly use the media to make outrageous comments that twist facts or ignore them entirely. Hexagram 9 shows a man drawing a protective circle around himself as a dust storm approaches. He is going to hunker down and wait until it passes. It would be insane to attempt to use his staff to attack something that he has no control over. This hexagram is called 'The Taming Power of the Small' because it is a recognition that restraint is often a better choice than aggression. In the same way, all the Tweets, Facebook posts and other things that are used to poke and prod don't do anything but create more dust. Instead, I can state the truth without yelling it and walk away, avoiding a fight that would leave everyone broken and bleeding.

When somebody challenges you, fight back. Be brutal, be tough.

~Donald Trump

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

~Mahatma Gandhi