Barely Speaking

From the Tarot of the Absurd, the Two of Blades; from the Post-psychedelic Cyberpunk Oracle, the Orchid:

The fact is, the heart and mind aren't always friendly. And in my case, they're barely speaking.

—Alyson Noel

It appears the mind and heart are at cross purposes, each with its own intentions and goals. How do we come to a decision, having to choose between a logical choice and a compassionate one? First, don't rush into anything. Second, consider the Orchid, a lovely flower that's "easy" to grow once you understand and create all its ideal conditions (and there are a lot). This plant reminds us that simply making a decision is not the end of things - we must then continue to follow through with whatever energy, time and support it will require. To which of these are we willing to make such a commitment?

Tossing Overboard

From the Roots of Asia Tarot, the Six of Swords; from the Mah Jongg Oracle, Orchid:

          Sometimes it's not what we think about that makes us so miserable, it's how we think about it. Here are six patterns of thinking (our swords) we might consider tossing overboard:

1. Confirmation bias means we filter out anything that we don’t expect to find and focus on any small detail that seems to back up our assumptions.
2. Black and white thinking causes us to rigidly categorize people or situations as all good or all bad with nothing in between.
3. Overgeneralization happens when we take one bad experience and paint similar people and situations with the same brush even though we have no evidence they are actually the same.
4. ‘Awfulizing’ makes us inflate small incidents into something huge, imagining the worst-case scenario.
5. Mind-reading occurs when we presume to have information about someone without asking for clarification.
6. Superstitious thinking means we mistakenly attribute connections between events or things where none exist – a normal incident becomes an omen for something good or bad.

The Orchid represents refinement - the process of removing impurities or unwanted elements. In connection with the Six of Swords, it is a reminder not to believe everything we think without looking for factual evidence, examining all sides of a situation, and asking for clarification

Development and Refinement

From the Roots of Asia Tarot, the Page of Pentacles; from the Mah Jongg Oracle, the Orchid:

          This Page gazes down at a seed within the soil; his hair resembles the canopy of a tree. The booklet offers the instruction to "regard life as a perfect seed, placed in good soil and given the nourishment to grow." If he is to grow in knowledge and skill, he will not only need to put for the effort, but place himself in an environment which will encourage his growth. I've had times in my life where the atmosphere wasn't very conducive to my development, yet there were small pockets of people with whom I could connect and receive "nourishment" from in the form of support. They were the fertilizer for my depleted soil.
          I've tried unsuccessfully to grow orchids before; their needs were just too specialized for the time I had to give them. It's no wonder that the meaning assigned to the Orchid is refinement and a continual striving for higher standards. I've been in that place of having developed a few skills while feeling like I was more experienced and knowledgeable than I actually was. My ego stokes this kind of thinking, and it can quickly lead to complacency. I once read a quote by Steve Jobs that said getting fired by Apple was one of the best things that could have happened, because it allowed him to be a creative beginner again. As Shunryu Suzuki explains, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few."