High Adrenaline

This week I'll be using the Touchstone Tarot, created and self-published by Kat Black. Along with it I'll be using the John Waterhouse Oracle, created and self-published by Elaine Wilkinson (aka Seven Stars). Today's draws are the Knight of Wands and Hylas and the Nymphs:

High risk is high adrenaline. ~Jason Statham

          Black uses a painting of poet and playwright Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe to illustrate her Knight of Wands. Marlowe's life was as extreme and daring as some of the dramas he wrote; his mysterious death was said to be an assassination ordered by Queen Elizabeth for spreading his atheistic views. Following this Knight, who lives impulsively and chases thrills, can literally leave a person on a cliff's crumbling edge. The Waterhouse painting shows Hylas, companion of Hercules and part of the Argonauts, sent to find fresh water. He came upon a pond full of nymphs who enticed him in the water, and he was never seen again. Both these cards suggest a close look at what drives behavior is in order. There's nothing wrong with loving adventure, but the life of an adrenaline junkie tends to become more reckless and dangerous each passing day. And as the tale of Hylas shows, being influenced by such folks tends to put us in precarious and perilous situations.

Blind party loyalty will be our downfall. We must follow the truth wherever it leads.

― DaShanne Stokes

Whose Truth?

This week I'll be using the Touchstone Tarot, created and self-published by Kat Black. Along with it I'll be using the John Waterhouse Oracle, created and self-published by Elaine Wilkinson (aka Seven Stars). Today's draws are the Ace of Swords and Hylas and the Nymphs:

          The angel in Black's Ace of Swords suggests this card is more about truth and justice than inspirational ideas. The tiger the angel keeps as bay reminds me of Anne Lamott's words: "You don't always have to chop with the sword of truth. You can point with it too." When I catch someone in a falsehood, I want to chop. I want to use the facts to shove them to their knees until they plead for mercy. Can you tell I despise dishonesty? But treating another person like that might not uncover the whole truth, like why they felt the need to lie (or simply omit the facts) in the first place. Consider Hylas, a beautiful youth who was taken in by Heracles after his father was killed in battle. Heracles loved Hylas like a son, and made him one of the Argonauts. Yet along the way, Hylas was kidnapped by nymphs of a spring who had fallen in love with him. Heracles searched for Hylas in vain for an extended period of time. It was said that Hylas had fallen in love too, and didn't want to be found. The adventures of Heracles were not his own; Hylas had his own path to follow.