A Field at Rest

This week I'll be using the Tyldwick Tarot, created and self-published by Neil Lovell. I'll also be using the Antiquarian Lenormand, created and self-published by Maree Bento. Today's draws are the Four of Swords and House:

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop. 

—Ovid

The wheelchair in this card reminds me of hospital policies that require those who are discharged to be wheeled out to the car that picks the patient up. Though they do it mostly to limit liability, the staff also knows the body can be weak and wobbly from a hospital stay. Yet in the Four of Swords, the body is not what is incapacitated but the mind; it is the part of us that desperately needs a break. It's time to take a mental health day - go for a walk, feel the breeze, listen to bird song, and enjoy the flowers making their debut. The Home card suggests a sanctuary that can offer support. As Maya Angelou said, "Home is a refuge not only from the world, but a refuge from my worries, my troubles, my concerns." However, don't let your mind lure you into worrying about what needs to be cleaned or fixed!

Last Mile

From the Norse Tarot, the Eight of Wands; from the Wolf Pack, Home:

There is no mile as long the final one that leads back home.

― Katherine Marsh

The long, slender ships of the Norse (aptly name longships) were built for speed. In calm waters or during surprise attacks, they dropped the sail and used oars. These men, seeing the familiar coastline of their village, are likely rowing for all their worth, ready to get back to familiar, friendly faces and relax with some hot food and good drink. Home brings up mixed memories for me. What I consider my original home was my grandparents' house, which was demolished for a hospital parking lot. It would take many years - after I married my husband - that I felt as if I had found another home. As Maya Angelou wrote, “The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”

The rambling, roomy house on Mimosa Drive

Welcomed its first family in 1928.

The Garrisons would grow there and grieve there,

Celebrating an abundance of joyful times and finding refuge during loss.

Throughout the years, its walls, floors, and roof

Were suffused with the affection and devotion of family.

Bulldozers have now crushed its beams and crumbled its foundation,

Yet the love that grew there still remains.

How appropriate that it will soon provide parking space

For those in search of comfort and healing.

―BK

No One Is Coming

 From the Sweitlistej Drogi Tarot, the Chariot; from the Mirrors of the Heart, Home:

Girls like us, we have to save ourselves. Nobody else will get you home.

― Christina Henry

          No one is coming to save me. It's not that they wouldn't if they could. Most people are already carrying around a huge psychological weight of their own. The Dark Box often leads to self-absorption, so it's easy to misinterpret what appears as a lack of concern in others when in reality it's all they can do to stay on their feet themselves. The Chariot encourages and prods: "Get started, with whatever resources you have and wherever you are at the moment. Just move." Others may offer advice, but I'm the one that must make the effort. Do what is necessary, then do something different, just for today. Then tomorrow, start again. Home symbolizes a refuge; one of the greatest havens and supports I can create is in my mind. Rather than positive thinking, neuropsychologist Rick Hanson advocates for positive neuroplasticity: pausing to really pay attention to any small, good experience and enjoying it fully to develop inner strength. Later, it can be brought to mind and relived. Time to get moving.

The Strategy of Choice

From the Norse Tarot, the Two of Swords; from the Wolf Pack, 'Home:'

          Rather than a blindfolded woman trying to make an intuitive decision, Barrett's Two of Swords shows two men playing a strategic game. Here is logic at work - looking at the pros and cons of a situation and trying to imagine what a choice might look like several moves down the line. Past mistakes and successes might be considered, but a few risks might be needed. Emotional, opinionated or wishful thinking needs to be set aside to make room for more possibilities. 'Home' suggests that there is a place of security and belonging (though it may be more about who we're with than where). It can give us a slight advantage in feeling more confident, supported and safe, which is why sports teams must play part of their games at their competitor's field. For most, home (or any personal, sacred space) can allow us to relax and think things through.

Lost and Found

From the Norse Tarot, the Five of Cups; from the Wolf Pack, Home:

Your absence has gone through me

Like thread through a needle.

Everything I do is stitched with its color.

~ W.S. Merwin

          I came across this poem by Merwin the other day, and it instantly made me think of the Five of Cups. A terrible loss is like a thick fog that closes in around us, until it is all we can see. Platitudes offered by friends and acquaintances just get lost in its mist. But the Wolf Pack card suggests a way we can safely ground ourselves in a secure place (Home). Just as the mother wolf brings back her cub from wandering too far, we can come back to our body through simple tasks. A few days ago, Ellen wrote of doing needlework as a sensory focal point. Like her knitting, any small, daily activity - preparing a meal, weeding a flower bed, sweeping the walkway, folding laundry - can help me focus on the physical instead of the mental. If I can briefly concentrate on the action rather than my thoughts of loss and the story around it, I can stay in the present moment. And every moment that I spend in the moment will help me heal. In time, those peeks out of the fog will assist me in finding the sunlight again.