Baited Lines

From the Tarot of Mystical Moments, the Ace of Pentacles; from the Inner Eye Oracle, the Stranger:

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. – Seneca

This particular card made me think of an elderly man I saw fishing at a local lake. He had four poles baited with lines in the water, and he kept a close watch on all the corks. He obviously felt he had a better chance of pulling in a fish if didn't just rely on one fishing pole. Seeds don't grow unless planted by people, an animal or parent plants. If we're looking for an opportunity to come our way, it may help to ask family, friends and acquaintances to keep their eyes and ears open too if we want to widen our possibilities. Then it's up to us to reel in the fish when a cork goes under. The Jack of Spades shows a mysterious stranger and represents the unknown. It can be intimidating when we must move away from the status quo and rely on a chance encounter that offers us new possibilities. But if we plant that seed, we will soon see what kind of plant it produces.  

Working from Mystery

From the Dark Mansion Tarot, the Ace of Wands; from Miss Mai's Victorian Oracle, The Stranger:

Exploring the unknown requires tolerating uncertainty.

~Brian Greene

Against a fiery sky, a burly branch rises from a pedestal. It has no leafy growth because its potential has not been used and nurtured. Just as the Stranger card represents the unknown, there is a big question mark about what will happen if we engage with our creative inspiration. Will the results be beneficial and rewarding, or will our effort be for naught? We'll never know until we begin, letting go of the need to control every variable and refusing to have set-in-concrete expectations. Regardless of how the mystery unravels, we'll have an adventure ahead.

I think on some level, you do your best things when you're a little off-balance, a little scared. You've got to work from mystery, from wonder, from not knowing. 

~Willem Dafoe