To Suffer, To Endure, To Free Oneself

From the Nature Spirit Tarot, the Three of Swords; from the Australian Wildflower Reading Cards, Water Ribbons:

          The passionflower is so named for the Passion of Christ, the short final period of Jesus' life. The flower's corona is said to represent the crown of thorns and the three stigmas to symbolize the three nails. The word passion comes from the Latin verb patior/passus sum, which means "to suffer, bear, or endure." This definition might sound strange for fantasy romances, but it hits the nail on the head for real relationships. The Three of Swords asks me to look with logic at what has hurt my heart. Was the other person's words or actions intentional and self-serving? Or was this some small slight that I've built up into something larger? Either way, the freshwater plant Water Ribbons suggests freedom can be found. In the words of Ken McLeod, "What is freedom? It is the moment-by-moment experience of not being run by one’s own reactive mechanisms." And what are those reactive mechanisms? Rick Hanson explains: "If you can be with the pleasant without chasing after it, with the unpleasant without resisting it, and with the neutral without ignoring it."

Piercing Through

From the Nature Spirit Tarot, the Six of Swords; from the Australian Wildflower Cards, 'Water Ribbons:'

          Six swords pierce a water lily leaf, suggesting logic has finally pierced through emotional turmoil. A Western skink's tail falls from the leaf, a symbol of letting go. We are often confronted with situations that cause our hearts to constrict in pain - watching a loved one's slow suicide with drugs, a couple's marriage that begins to crumble, or a friendship that seems to be dissolving. Though we might use all the knowledge and resources we have, it may not be enough. The truth is, we can't fix other people or make them do anything. It can feel like we're losing a part of ourselves, but if we want to stay sane we have to learn to detach, keeping our hearts open but our hands off. Water Ribbons is an aquatic plant that usually grows in fresh water. Though its tubers stay rooted in the mud, its long leaves (2 to 3 meters) float downstream like ribbons. Darcey gives this card the keyword 'freedom;' it seems to parallel the Six of Swords which suggests we stay rooted in reality as we navigate turbulent waters.

I do know that detachment is important. A surgeon can't be weeping into the open wound.

~Randa Haines