Still Water

This week I'll be using the Transformational Tarot created by Arnell Ando and published by U.S. Games. The oracle deck I'll be using with it is the Celtic Book of the Dead, created by Caitlin Matthews, illustrated by Danuta Mayer and published by Edison-Sadd. Today's draws are the Four of Swords and the 'Island of the Four Fences:'

When despair for the world grows in me

 and I wake in the night at the least sound

 in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

 I go and lie down where the wood drake

 rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

 I come into the peace of wild things

 who do not tax their lives with forethought

 of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

 And I feel above me the day-blind stars

 waiting with their light. For a time

 I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. 

~ Wendell Berry

          Seeing the bloody blade next to these two exhausted folks reminded me of how most of us react after overcoming a great challenge. About the time we catch our breath, our minds generate more stuff to worry about, so we're up doing battle again to keep the mental demons at bay. Yet Berry's advice rings true for me; if I haven't given my mind and body a chance to relax, I won't have the discernment to see what is worth my effort and what isn't. The CBD's card illustrates the four estates the Celtic travelers found on their visit to one island. Each section represented an aspiration: power, material possessions, artistic accomplishment and spiritual attainment. The inhabitants ask, "Where is your place in this world? How will you use your talents?" I'll have to borrow a line from Scarlet in answer to their questions: "I'll think about it tomorrow." Today will be designated for rest and recuperation beside still water.

Those Unconscious Parts

From the Transformational Tarot, the Prince (Knight) of Cups:

"I think you live more and become more familiar with the workings of your own mind -- the darkness in it, the narcissism -- and the desperate attempts the ego makes to cover that up.” ~ Patrick Page

Instead of the usual Knight of Cups who is "in love with love," Ando uses Narcissus - a man in love with himself.  I've been doing a bit of shadow work lately, and it's made me aware of just how self-absorbed I am in many ways.  I've found myself pulling cards (like this one), and thought, "Wow, that message sure applies to ____."  In other words, my ego loves to hear the good stuff, but is quick to project the not-so-good stuff on others.  Yet if I'm ever going to become a whole, fully functioning person, I've got to be willing to acknowledge these parts of myself and become consciously aware of their influence.

From the Celtic Book of the Dead comes the "Island of the Four Fences:"

Maelduin and his men land on the Island of the Four Fences - a land divided into four quadrants of kings, queens, warriors, and maidens.  I automatically thought of the quote by Rumer Godden in A House with Four Rooms:

"There is an Indian proverb or axiom that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but, unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person."

The challenge for the men was the same as Godden's message - learn to integrate and balance all parts of yourself.