Learning, Inside and Out

From the Urban Tarot, Strength; from the Principles to Live By, Open-mindedness:

Who is wise? One who learns from all.

—Talmud

Scott explains that the lion statue in this card is based on the famous marble lions that guard the main branch of the New York Public Library. Mayor LaGuardia (1930s) named them Patience and Fortitude, qualities he thought folks needed to survive the depression. Strength does not represent the ability to crush and intimidate; instead, our inner beast invites us to learn courage, endurance and self-control. Open-mindedness is to be receptive to new ideas and viewpoints other than our own. We don't have to automatically discard our own beliefs and ideas, but we make space for new information. Being curious and open allows us to put a damper on frustration and fear in our relationships. Much can be learned (and a calmer mindset had) when we move from a defensive stance to an inquisitive one. 

Temperature was 15 F this morning. The birds are a little confused about why the birdbath isn't working!

Flip Side

From the Urban Tarot, the Four of Disks; from the Principles to Live By tiles, Open-mindedness:

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. 

—Abraham Lincoln

          Scott calls this card - a version of Times Square - Disks Incorporated. Material power can grant security and comfort as well as the opportunity to create change in our lives and the lives of others. Yet attachment to this power can create a paranoid mentality, a mindset that fears loss and reacts through greed and selfishness. The empty Bowl is a symbol of an open mind (a nod to the story of the Zen master overfilling the teacup). Open-minded people don't mind having their views challenged, ask as many questions as they make statements, focus on understanding others (rather than being understood), are curious, let the other person speak freely, and can hold two conflicting concepts at once while assessing the merit of both. People with material power can easily slide into a dogmatic stance, pointing to their success as a reason they are always right. Lately I've heard employers complain that they can't find people to employ; they angrily grumble that all the 'free government money' given out during the pandemic lets people be lazy. Yet perhaps people simply got tired of working for low wages with no benefits and little appreciation. Others might have found alternative ways to earn a living when businesses were closed. There's usually a flip side to everything.

I often suggest that whenever anyone says, ‘I can’t find the workers I need,’ they should really add, ‘at the wages I want to pay.’ —Heidi Shierholz, economist

Both Light and Dark

This week I'll be using the Urban Tarot, a deck and book set created and self-published by Robin Scott. I'll be pairing it with an oracle I created called "Principles to Live By." Today's draws are Hierophant and "Open-mindedness:"

          Scott's card shows both light and darkness, which she says are in any organization whose primary purpose is to teach. What is taught can provide understanding that gives us a sense of belonging or offer dogma that provides us with a sense of self-righteous separation. My choice to learn from others requires me to know what's in that glass before I drink it down. Yet even I am not naive enough to think that most groups can easily be labeled as all good or all bad. As Scott says, "They give our lives structure; they teach us and support us when we are in need."
          The disc shows an empty bowl, a symbol for the spiritual principle of open-mindedness. To be open-minded is to be receptive to new ideas and viewpoints other than my own. Now I have to admit when I drew this disc with the Hierophant I laughed. I've carried a trunk-load of resentments against the church for a long time. The fundamental church I grew up in was teeming with bigots and misogynists. Yet if I look with fresh eyes, I can see that they provided me with the three things Scott lists: structure (purpose for my life), spiritual teachings (how to live in this life), and support (people to depend on when life got tough). The Talmud proposes another way to look at such groups rather than automatic rejection: "Who is wise? One who learns from all."