A Relative Path

 From the Restored Order Tarot, the Page of Pentacles; from the Oracle of Kabbalah, Kuf (Qof):

Everything is relative; and only that is absolute.

—Auguste Comte

This Page appears to be fully absorbed in his pentacle; no wonder he is considered such a good student. But even this young fellow knows that although absolute truths and abstract ideas make us feel intelligent, they are a bit useless unless we can see how they relate to the world in concrete ways. This Page will do his own homework, testing out each theory in tangible ways. Kuf represents two opposite concepts, the spiritual world and the physical world. It's shape is like the eye of a needle, and numerically it represents completeness (100). It reminds us to find the holy and sacred (abstract and absolute) sewn into our relationships with the earth and all its beings. 

In order to make the leap to the realization of our absolute nature, we have to walk on our relative feet, on a relative path.

—Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

Eye of the Needle

From the Tarot in de Herstelde Orde (Restored Order Tarot), the Queen of Cups:

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.

― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey

No wonder this Queen looks slightly anxious about taking the lid off that cup - walking the fine line of empathy can be tricky. Elementally, she's water of water (meaning water deep enough to drown in). Being supportive and caring can be a slippery slope, and I can find myself as overwhelmed as the friend I'm trying to help. The Queen of Cups reminds me to put on a life jacket before I wade out into deep water today.

From the Oracle of Kabbalah comes the letter "Kuf:"

artwork by Malka Helfman

In Aramic, Kuf means "eye of the needle." The eye of a needle is what makes it useful - it is what holds the thread needed to sew something. Yet the needle never becomes the thread, it just remains a holder for it like a cup that holds tea. Kuf is one of two letters in the Hebrew alphabet that has two separate parts. It reminds me that detachment is needed so I don't get entangled with the heavy emotions of other people.