Voyage

From the Ellis Tarot, the Six of Swords; from the Brownies Oracle, Plenty:

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. – James Allen

Thoughts can be sticky things, following us around and revving up our anxiety or anger. We generally don't realize we are the ones adding the glue, reinforcing them with assumptions, projections and a lack of factual information. Instead, we could treat them like a door-to-door salesman; we open the door, acknowledge their presence, then tell them we're not buying anything and swiftly close the door. This will have to be repeated often for a while. Plenty brings to mind the Buddhist concept of emptiness. Rather than being a void, it is a space full of everything - an infinite range of possibilities. What it is empty of is the limitations we impose on it with our beliefs and narrow focus. No one can navigate the world well with blinders on. It's time to open our mind and widen our perspective.

Making Room

This week the tarot I'll be using is the Ellis Deck, created and self-published by Taylor Ellis. Paired with it will be the Brownies Oracle, created and self-published by Doug Thornsjo. Today's draws are the Five of Swords and "Plenty:"

          Ellis has a rather different take on the Five of Swords: "As he faced off against yet another opponent, all he could see was the man he was fighting, not a soldier to kill. He threw down his own sword and convinced his opponent to do the same. The two walked away from the battlefield, leaving their weapons to scavengers." Instead of a battle of wits and words, both sides suddenly recognized there was something more important and worth saving. It's hard not to view my opinions and ideas as better than another person's. Yet I can remember this if I don't take our differences as a personal attack, as if I will somehow be "less than" because someone disagrees with me. The mountain of mashed potatoes the Brownies are doling out remind me that there is plenty of room for all sorts of perspectives if my big ego will get out of the way.