Two-Way Rainbow

From the Sasuraibito Tarot, Judgement; from the Soul Cards, It Works Both Ways:

We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior.

―Stephen Covey

A woman slowly emerges from a pile of blankets as if they were a cocoon; like the butterfly, she's had an inner transformation. She now sees clearly her past mistakes, selfish choices and habitual patterns and vows to change them. There are no excuses and no one to blame - she alone is responsible for the course of her life. The rainbow in It Works Both Ways reminds me of a quote by Yonatan Hambourger: "The rainbow is often understood as a promise... But its deeper meaning is more demanding. A covenant is not only a guarantee. It is a boundary." Yes, we have rights, but we also have responsibilities to those with whom we share our world too. 

Adaptive or Maladaptive?

From the Somnia Tarot, Judgment; from the Spirits of Nature Oracle, Cave:

Guilt is just as powerful, but its influence is positive, while shame is destructive. Shame erodes our courage and fuels disengagement.  ―Brene Brown

Judgment is a wake-up call. It's like being in a dark house with all the windows and doors covered and shut, and then suddenly opening them and allowing the sun to shine through. Our perspective is completely changed, and we see clearly our mistaken views and misdeeds. Problems arise when instead of feeling guilt (I did something wrong), we feel shame (I'm a worthless person). Research has shown that guilt is adaptative (we have a positive focus - amends and restitution). But shame is maladaptive and often associated with substance abuse and other problems. The Cave implies an initiation, and shame is a hellish one. How do we move into and through it? Consider seeing a therapist or joining a support group. Pause any negative self-talk and replace it with something positive, such as: "I am worthy and deserve to have a good life." Don't give up; that light will shine again.

Changing Myself

From the Spacious Tarot, Judgment; from the Phenomena Oracle, Geyser:

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. 

Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

― Rumi

Judgment is a spiritual rebirth; we have been given clarity, realizing our assumptions were false. The world suddenly looks and feels like a different place because our own attitude and beliefs have changed. As Henri Nouwen explained, "Living a spiritual life requires a change of heart, a conversion. Such a conversion may be marked by a sudden inner change, or it can take place through a long, quiet process of transformation. But it always involves an inner experience of oneness." Geyser indicates the sudden understanding that this is a way of life to be lived rather than simply studied. We put away our roles of critic and adversary and become the advocate and the friend.

Awake

From the Anima Mundi Tarot, Judgment; from the Nature's Pharmacy Deck, Purple Coneflower:

People were struck by Buddha's extraordinary radiance and peaceful presence. One man asked him who he was. “Are you a celestial being or a god? A saint or sage?” “No,” responded the Buddha. “Well then, what are you?” The Buddha replied, “I am awake.” —Dona Sutta

Like the view of the golden eagle, Judgment asks us to move out of our personal concerns and look at life from a spiral that leads upward and outward. This viewpoint wakes us up to an other-centered perspective, allowing us to see the cause and effect of our actions and inactions on the whole. Extracts of Purple Coneflower's root can reduce the risk of recurrent respiratory infections and related complications. However, it is contraindicated for those taking medicine for heart disease and autoimmune diseases because of undesirable interactions. Judgment requires discernment, recognizing that just because we want something to be so doesn't it make that way.

The Bottom Line

From the Out of Hand Tarot, Judgment; from the Seashells Playing Cards, Horseshoe Crab:

 

Everything is an education

If you just take the time

To open up your mind to the bottom line

―Atlanta Rhythm Section

The finger pointing to the trumpet seems to be more interested in how the message was delivered and who brought it than the message itself. We can be so easily swayed by our assumptions and assessments about the package that we fail to heed the message. But as Jamie writes, "The true gifts come when we learn to look within at why it bothers us at all." If we can just drop our opinions for a moment, we might be surprised by the wisdom at our feet. Horseshoe crabs are completely harmless to humans; even though their tails (called telsons) may look dangerous, they actually use them to flip themselves when overturned. Likewise, we don't have to 'approve' of the messenger, but it would be prudent to use the message to help ourselves.

Trumpets and Mountains

From the Tyldwick Tarot, Judgment; from the Antiquarian Lenormand, the Mountain:

What more will it take for you to realize that waking up is the very thing that will actually keep you alive, not to mention, sane? ―Ora Nadrich

On a table sits an altar that resembles the nook of a cathedral for statues. In it, a figure of Gabriel blows his horn to awaken those sleeping. If we believe the divine kingdom lies within, we will understand this as an inner awakening. But the two jack-in-the-boxes on either side of the altar indicate that what usually wakes up most humans is an unwanted and unexpected shock. While this may seem like a huge obstacle or challenge (the Lenormand Mountain), it can have the effect of dismantling frivolous concerns so that we can see clearly what is important and of value.

An Opening

From the Margarete Petersen Tarot, Renewal (Judgment); from the Elemental Dice, Sun (Light + Fire):

Giving up one’s own certainties can open up a door toward a deeper intimacy with things.

—Henry Shukman

Judgment illustrates a crack opening in our minds and hearts, a transforming experience that causes us to perceive life in a radically different way. The dice roll of Sun suggests warmth and clarity. Together they bring the message of being with reality in a new way - relaxing, releasing attachments, and resisting nothing. When we're not constantly in battle mode, we can respond with clear insight and compassion. We begin to see that even within chaos and heartache, there is still beauty, joy and kindness to be found if we're not focused in one direction. 

Move Down the Mountain

From the Light Seer's Tarot, Judgment; from the Tapestry Oracle, Memories:

Rise up nimbly

and go on your strange journey

to the ocean of meanings.

The stream knows

it can't stay on the mountain.

Leave and don't look away

from the sun as you go,

in whose light

you're sometimes crescent,

sometimes full.

―Rumi

A woman related seeing these words written on a chalkboard in rehab: "I don't know if I had a spiritual experience, but something sure as hell happened." Spiritual awakenings don't simply change the way we feel, they change our motives, our perceptions and our behavior. Such an experience transforms us, altering a self-absorbed mindset into an other-centered one. The heavy yoke of the past (as illustrated in Memory) is lifted. We realize that we don't have to be defined by our worse day - self-created or otherwise. As Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

Filling Every Crevice

From the Hoi Polloi Tarot, Judgment; from the I Ching Pack, Hexagram 29 (Water over Chasm):

Without spiritual discipline we are never going to wake up or advance on our journey through this life. 

―Joan Gattuso

Spiritual awakening isn't an exit strategy but a deep dive into reality with arms spread wide. It means we do not turn our head or distract ourselves from what is happening here and now; we see it clearly without adding our personal assumptions, projections or opinions. Yet Hexagram 29 (Abyss) points out that our emotions can flood us and cause us to retreat, thinking that these feelings are aligned with facts rather than just a temporary energy that moves through us (dissipating when we don't feed it with thoughts). But just as water flows and fills up every depression it tumbles over, we too need not avoid what frightens us. Open and curious, we investigate its nature and learn what it has to teach us. Then, rather than impulsively reacting, we can make an informed choice.

Appreciating the Light

From the Alchemical Tarot Renewed, Judgment; from the Oracle of the Radiant Sun, Lust (Venus in Aries):

Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.

–Madeline L’Engle

Challenges, hardships and pain are a darkness easy to become trapped in, an absence of light that can harden hearts and minds. But for a few, it is such darkness that brings them back to the light. Touched by the philosophers' stone of insight, they emerge with a new understanding that opens minds and hearts. Yet Lust is a warning not to let go of our discernment as we embrace this new way of being. There's a big difference between welcoming life in all its shapes and colors and trying to devour it. As Shaila Catherine wrote:

Equanimity contains the complete willingness to behold the pleasant and the painful events of life equally. It points to a deep balance in which you are not pushed and pulled between the coercive energies of desire and aversion.

Swinging Doors

From the Victorian Romantic Tarot, Judgment; from the Dreaming in Color Deck, Duality:

In this Judgment card, the king and queen of the fairies bestow a laurel to a human couple. Awakening to reality should be celebrated; it takes a lot to willingly let go of blind beliefs and rigid opinions so that we can perceive with insight. Ignorance isn't bliss, it just creates suffering. Duality - separating things into this or that, subject or object - may be necessary to get along in the world, but it creates divisions that can harm when we don't realize they are superficial. In Buddhism, emptiness means that all things, from people to planets to thoughts, are empty of permanence and inherent existence (everything is created and temporarily sustained by certain causes and conditions). All that exists is interdependent on other things. What a drastic transformation this could cause if we could understand it with the heart instead of just the intellect.

Our usual understanding of life is dualistic: you and I, this and that, good and bad. But actually these discriminations are themselves the awareness of the universal existence. "You" means to be aware of the universe in the form of you, and "I" means to be aware of it in the form of I. You and I are just swinging doors. ―Shunryu Suzuki

Smelling the Coffee

From the Cosmic Tarot, Judgment; from the L'Oeil de Lotus, Key:

Once you wake up and smell the coffee, it's hard to go back to sleep.

~Fran Drescher

What is it that wakes us from our coffins - those boxes we live our lives in that seals us off in an attempt to protect ourselves? In rare cases, it is that which is beautiful and wondrous; often it is adversity that forces us to change our perspective. But once our mind and hearts have been cracked opened, we can no longer hide. We feel the pull to be actively involved in this place that includes both joy and suffering. There is a Key, however, that can unlock what is closed: a spiritual practice. Such a practice isn't about getting but about releasing, letting go of all that keeps us stuck. Those hardened layers are chipped away, and we begin to see with fresh eyes and a tender heart. It is a path of transformation.

A New Awareness

From the Restored Order Tarot, Judgment; from the Oracle of Kabbalah, Shin:

Shin painting by Victor Brindatch

This Judgment card refers to an initiation into a new level of consciousness - we see there is no real "I" and "you," only an interconnected and interdependent "us." It is similar to the finger pulling a thorn from the foot, not because it was told to but simply because it is a part of. Such a change in awareness might come from trauma or from something wondrous and beautiful. It transforms our motives, relationships, ways of looking at material possessions, and the way we think (as indicated by the four elements in this card). The three prongs of Shin symbolize flames; 'shinui' refers to change. Even if we have an awakening, the obligation of change is on us, not the outer world (though the changes we make in ourselves can't help but affect it). As the Buddha explained:

This being, that becomes.

From the arising of this, that arises.

This not being, that becomes not.

From the cessation of this, that ceases.

Intentionality

From Hadar's Le Veritable Tarot de Marseille, Judgment; from the Greek Rune Tiles, Phi:

The gate of liberation is always open.

—Koshin Paley Ellison

While this card depicts the Last Judgment of the Bible, it symbolizes redemptive action that leads to liberation. In other words, we pause on our madly spinning hamster wheel and question the ideas we've rigidly held and the behaviors we keep repeating. It dawns on us (hearing the trumpet) that our expectations were more than a little off kilter. In our moment of clarity, we see the gate of liberation that has always been there, just waiting for us to notice it. As Arthur Brooks wrote, "our minds are habitually unbalanced, but not intrinsically so; the key is to build new habits of thinking." Phi in mathematics represents the golden mean, a special ratio found in the designs of nature, art and architecture that make these creations more pleasing to the eye. Yet this ratio still must exist within the laws of nature; things can't be created while ignoring reality. Phi encourages us to see through a different lens; there is a way to intentionally see the beauty and good in life, even when it doesn't meet our standards or wishes.

The Point Is Transformation

From the Middle Way Arcana, Judgment; from the Vertical Oracle, Magic:

Being learned is great, but it’s not the point. Being a good meditator is great, but it’s not the point. The point is transformation… ~Judy Lief

Hearing the bell of dharma is a moment of seeing through our habitual mental patterns and recognizing our part in creating our own suffering. Yet it calls us not just to see with a new understanding, but to make changes in how we relate to ourselves and our world. In the quote above, Lief warns that study and practice by itself can give rise to spiritual materialism - feeding our ego rather than kicking it off its pedestal. 'Selfing' in biology refers to self-fertilization, and it can apply to the ego as well. Asking ourselves some questions may help notice it: Do I focus on  my own advantage at the expense of others? Is my orientation to the world from the standpoint of how it affects me? Do I constantly compare myself to others? If I answer 'yes' to any of these, I'm likely coddling my ego rather than working on transforming myself. The Magic card doesn't refer to any kind of hocus-pocus, but to opening the intellect through imagination, curiosity and wonder. The red-winged blackbird is arrives in spring with an easily discernible song, symbolizing the need to see what has been ignored or overlooked. It's time to clean off our glasses and see with clarity rather than simply seeking comfort.

Searching for Refuge

From the Hoi Polloi Tarot, Judgment; from the I Ching Pack, Hexagram 56:

These two cards, Judgment and the Wanderer (Hexagram 56), illuminate the dilemma of humans. We find ourselves in an unstable world, and we want something that will give us security. We jump in the first box we see that promises us certainty and control, only to find that it does neither. We hear the trumpet to awaken (realizing our error), climb out of our boxes, then go in search of another box that will give us the 'right' solution. It seems an endless, cyclic activity. What we search for is not found in any philosophical concept or organized religion, but within our own heart and mind, in learning to come to terms with the uncertainty of life.

A spiritual practice can be an island, a place where opening to uncertainty and doubt can lead us to a refuge of truth. —Joan Halifax

Halls of Learning

From the Wayfarer Tarot, Judgment; from the Curious Oracle, Compass Rose:

Praise and blame,

gain and loss,

pleasure and pain,

fame and disrepute

are the eight worldly winds.

They ceaselessly change.

~Buddha

The long hallway looks like that of a school that has emptied out for the summer. It is a great symbol for the school of life we constantly attend. The open door suggests the question, "Are you putting into practice what you have learned to meet the vicissitudes of life?" Sometimes it seems easier to keep repeating the same behavior rather than making an effort to change, but doing and thinking differently moves us toward the sunlight. The Compass Rose cautions that we may need to keep checking our direction as we go along - distractions can easily take us off course from our spiritual principles. I find it helps to keep things simple, as the wise words of Jack Kornfield indicate: “In the end, just three things matter: how well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.”

Great Awakening

From the Roots of Asia Tarot, Judgment; from the Mah Jongg Oracle, Bamboo:

All beings are Buddhas,

But obscured by incidental stains.

When those have been removed, there is Buddhahood.

 —Rangjun Dorje

          The creators of this deck call Judgment the Great Awakening, when the ego sheds its illusions and our true nature is revealed. Every sentient being contains this seed, but like clouds that hide the sun, our luminous mind is hidden by our habitual patterns of thought and action. Yet nothing we do can tarnish it; it is there waiting for us to open to its infinite clarity, compassion and wisdom. Recognizing our patterns is the beginning to finding our inner sun. Bamboo has been admired in China for its many uses, including for paint brushes and pens. Thus it is connected with writing, learning and scholarship. It points to the need for instruction in waking up, as we often are so good at hiding even from ourselves what hinders us. How often have you read a book and suddenly been gobsmacked by a statement, realizing, "Yes, that describes me"?

At its most practical, our Buddha-nature affords us the potential to grow, evolve, and embody our genuine goodness. When we understand, and eventually through meditation experience this as our essential nature, there is less room for getting sidetracked by our unexamined destructive emotions and thoughts, and more room for living compassionately from within an interconnected whole.

—Scott Tusa

What Are We Waiting For?

From the Sasuraibito Tarot, Judgment; from the Soul Cards, Moving On:

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. ~Barack Obama

          Many hear the call to rise and go forth. But it can feel mighty comfortable wrapped in our soft quilts, hidden in our little cocoon. Yet once our hearts and minds have been opened, pretending to ignore the inner prodding to act will become more difficult. As Moving On suggests, its time to spread our new wings and test them out. Time stands still for no one; the present is constantly becoming the past. In the words of Seneca, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

What are you waiting for?

Covered Eyes, Plugged Ears

This week I'll be using the Prairie Tarot, created and self-published by Robin Ator. Paired with it will be the Medicine Cards, a deck and book set published by St. Martin's Press and created by David Carson and Jamie Sams. Today's cards are Judgment and Opossum:

...most people do not want to change. They hold fast to their ideas of themselves, to their interpretations of how things are, to their grievances, their anxieties, their identities, and their pain. ~Mark Epstein

          In a weedy, overgrown cemetery, an angel waits to see who has heard the call to rise and live their life differently. All is still and quiet. These people do not want to shed their their pain or opinions because they fear being an empty shell with no identity. And so they 'play possum,' pretending not to hear or see the evidence around them as they trudge through life. Yet ignorance (or delusion) is not bliss. As Pema Chodron explains, "When we resist change, it’s called suffering." Come on, angel, play that trumpet just one more time.

To become a different kind of person is to experience the world in a different way. When your mind changes, the world changes. And when we respond differently to the world, the world responds differently to us. —David Loy