Trowel in Hand

This week I'll be using the Gaian Tarot, a deck and book set created and self-published by Joanna Powell Colbert. I'll also be using the Goddess Oracle, a deck and book set created by Amy Sophia Marashinsky and illustrated by Hrana Janto. Today's draws are the Gardener (Empress) and Minerva:

We spend decades of our lives wanting happiness, peace, and contentment—without sowing the causes for that aspiration. Why did we not plant the seeds of the fruition we aspire to?

~ Khandro Rinpoche

          The Gardener (Empress) asks me what seeds I've been planting in my garden. If they have been seeds laced with fear, anger or delusion, will it be a surprise when I reap thorny brambles? These seeds have a way of spreading, causing harm not only to myself but others as well. And like the reseeding they will do, similar future experiences may trigger me to continue the same pattern over and over if I'm not mindful. Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, asks me to consider the beliefs that might be nurturing these seeds:

My life is shaped and formed

by what I tell myself.

The contents of my mind

are what I choose.

I make sure that what I carry

is of my own careful choosing.

The world may not be spinning according to my wishes, but that's irrelevant to what I'm planting in the garden of my mind.

Outsmarting Reality

This week I'll be using the Gaian Tarot, a deck and book set created and self-published by Joanna Powell Colbert. I'll also be using the Goddess Oracle, a deck and book set created by Amy Sophia Marashinsky and illustrated by Hrana Janto. Today's draws are the Tree (Hanged Man) and Minerva:

          The tree pose in yoga requires that one foot be firmly grounded while the other rests on the inner thigh. Balance is found when the gaze is soft but focused on a still point. But in Powell's version of the Hanged Man, the foot that is supposed to bring stability hangs in the air from a tree.  How stable is the air? I am reminded how I often try to out-think reality - an impossible feat. There are some things that I have no control over, no matter how much brain power I use. If I remain still and receptive, I might see from a new perspective beyond the ego's illusion. Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, comes to point out that my old beliefs aren't working very well and perhaps need to be discarded (or I can choose to keep hanging upside down). It is hard to watch people make decisions that are not healthy (or in the case of the presidential election, not sane). But my jurisdiction only covers my decisions, attitude and actions, not those of someone else. Trying to figure out why they do and think as they do is a wasted effort and another illusion of power (thinking I can change them if I understand them). It would be better to focus on my own stuff instead of getting distracted by the drama in everyone else's life.