Try a Little Tenderness

From the DaVinci Enigma Tarot, the Empress; from the Insectorum Divinorum, the Housefly:

Dimmi: How do you take up your unique place as a living being?

Where can you guide others with love and kindness in this matter?

          This study of St. Anne (Mary's mother) shows a look of tenderness wished for by Leonardo, who had been an illegitimate child abandoned by his mother. The question posed by this card asks how we nurture and support others. Some of us connect through empathy, some by offering reason and guidance, some through physical or material support, and others through helping people find their passions and following them. The Fly card suggests a duality, as this insect can be both an important pollinator and a pathogen carrier. How do we relate to humankind - with tenderness or sanctimoniousness? 

Care is a state in which something does matter; it is the source of human tenderness.

~Rollo May

Clinging to Skeletons

From the Da Vinci Enigma Tarot, the Five of Earth (Pentacles); from the Insectorum Divinorum, the Housefly:

How is need shaping your destiny?

           Envy Rides a Skeleton is described in Leonardo's journal as a malignant thing that people "in their panic to avoid it, only succeed in increasing its limitless power." Fear of lack can drive people to think they need more than they do and hold tightly to what they have. We saw this with the arrival of Irma - people bought more water, bread etc. than they would require, leaving the shelves bare for others. It can be seen in the Trump administration's attitude toward refugees and immigrants (with the excuse that they'll take jobs that citizens need). But if we practice gratitude, available resources are acknowledged and prevent fear of not having enough from taking root. Sharing with others will no longer seem like a hardship. The darkness of the Housefly card illustrates the point that what seems insignificant and unimportant could actually be what is essential and integral to the situation as a whole. Just as these flies carry pathogens and contribute to the transfer of food-borne illnesses, so fear contaminates compassion towards others. But clinging tightly to what we have just puts us on the back of Leonardo's skeleton.