Movement

This week I'll be using the Vision Quest Tarot, a deck created by Gayle Silvie Winter and Jo Dose (illustrator); it was published by AGM Müller. I'll also be using two combined oracles: Bird Cards and Ascension to Paradise, deck and book sets by Jane Toerien (author) and Joyce van Dobben (illustrator); they were published by Altamira-Becht and Binkey Kok. Today's draws are the Two of Earth (Pentacles) and Parrot:

In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat; there is only movement.

― Paulo Coelho

There is growth, flourishing, production and fading in the natural world. Humans are prone to forget that we live under the same laws as the rest of nature. Can we move with this flow without demanding that it be different? Life is good and hard - we forget that change is always a part of it. Though it may move at times at a snail's pace, it is this change that keeps things in balance. Grey parrots are highly intelligent birds, needing extensive behavioral and social enrichment as well as extensive attention in captivity or else they may become distressed. A bird from the wild cannot be happy sitting on a stick all day in a human home. Stagnation is its message of warning: we all need fresh experiences to keep our mind and body healthy.

Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. ―Leonardo da Vinci

No Diplomas

From the Vision Quest Tarot, the Big Medicine Wheel (the World); from the Bird Cards, the Parrot:

In the World card, the Fool becomes the Mystic; the wisdom of experience and competency replace naivety and inexperience, yet the capacity for awe and wonder remain. This competency is not simply about a certain skill, but being able to move through life with equanimity and openness. The snake in the center of this Medicine Wheel alludes to the ever-changing nature of the physical world, yet interconnection remains. The Fool/Mystic recognizes this interplay of causes and conditions, how they shape us, and how they make us interdependent. He or she would agree with the words of Carl Sagan, "If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened ... to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth." Parrot is a noisy bird, and thus its meaning is to pay attention and sharpen our focus. It's easy to be filled with new knowledge and understanding and think we've now gotten our Diploma of Life. Parrot's squawk reminds us that there is always more to learn.