Turkey Talk

From the Nature Spirit Tarot, the Tower; from the Australian Wildflower Tarot, the 'Turkey Bush:'

          Two turkey vultures perch on a pine snag; these carrion scavengers use their keen sense of smell to detect gases produced by the beginning process of decay. The implication is that what we think has been protecting us is actually dead, and like a gangrened appendage, needs to be cut off. Doing so means a chance to live more fully. The Turkey Bush was so named because wild turkeys find it a good place to hide when hunters are about (thus its keyword 'inspiration'). Rarely does a solution come without a problem; as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. The tearing down that comes with the Tower is meant as a challenge and directive to find a new way of doing or thinking about things. We have the option of shaking our fists at the heavens or putting our hand to the plow. Only one of those will bring forth a beneficial harvest.

What Will Set Us Free

From the Nature Spirit Tarot, the Hanged Man; from the Australian Wildflower Cards, 'Cooktown Orchid:'

          The Western red-backed salamander is from a family of salamanders without lungs. Dermal respiration is essential to their survival, and so the skin must be kept moist in order for the gases to dissolve and diffuse across cell membranes. During dry periods, this can force this family of salamanders to live underground. Likewise, we can find ourselves in circumstances in which our reality has become upended. Our only hope is to surrender to what is, knowing that if we endure (oak), change will come (morning glory). The Cooktown Orchid is an epiphyte that lives high in the treetops and is generally unnoticed until its bright lilac blooms appear. This card has been assigned the keyword 'attitude.' It is a reminder that even when we can't see what is lovely or positive, it doesn't mean it's not there. Sometimes we just need a new perspective or lens to look through. As Charles Swindoll phrased it, "Really, it's a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us free."

Great Love

From the Nature Spirit Tarot, the King of Cups; from the Australian Wildflower Cards, 'Crowea:'

          The King of Cups is illustrated with a common crane, a wading bird known that has become a symbol of long life and good fortune. For this King, those traits exist because "he engages his emotions with great wisdom." Notice the sprig of mistletoe he's clipped from a tree; like this parasitic plant that extracts water and nutrients and from its host, the King of Cups is wary of such people. He knows how to extend compassion without feeding anyone's self-pity. The red on his head is not feathers but bare skin, implying an alert mind to go with an open heart. Ginger has benefits that include reducing nausea, pain, and inflammation. This man is a healer of hearts; he can't carry us through our pain, but he will walk beside us. The Australian crowea flower ('possibilities') blooms in varying shades of pink. The essence made from this flower is said to help worry-warts find some balance and be able to see from a wide rather than narrow perspective. The King of Cups would agree that the problem is not how to get rid of all your problems, but to learn to deal with them in an emotionally balanced way.

The two Virtues of Equanimity and Compassion become more available to the person whose ego shell has been smashed either by great suffering or by great love or by both.     

~Richard Rohr

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

Hydration

From the Nature Spirit Tarot, the Queen of Cups; from the Australian Wildflower Cards, the 'Grey Spider Flower:'

          Herzel illustrates the Queen of Cups with the Western honey bee and the blooms of an orange tree (the lily and willow are nods to the water suit). The symbols of sweetness - smell and taste - represent this queen well. Have you ever seen the dry pulp left over after a juicer has crushed all the liquid from a fruit or vegetable? That's kind of how I've felt these past weeks; it helps to have someone like the Queen of Cups to listen to my feelings without judgment, who can pour liquid life back into my desiccated spirit. The Grey Spider Flower is a shrub that has fuzzy flowers that appear on the tips of its branches in late winter. Darcey assigned 'faith' as its keyword, which made sense when I found out the propagation of this plant is helped along by nicking the hard seed coat to expose the embryo. Experiencing cuts made by the vicissitudes of life can cause a type of 'terminal uniqueness' in which I feel as if no one has it as bad as I do (and can keep me feeling like that dried-out pulp). The Pali word for faith - saddha - literally means "to place your heart upon." It has nothing to do with defending, competing, or rigidly believing something. Instead (in the words of Sharon Salzberg), it "opens us to what is beyond our usual, limited, self-centered concerns." In other words, I'm not alone and there are infinite possibilities that stretch far beyond what my limited perspective can see at the moment.

The Truth Can Sting

This week I'll be using the Nature Spirit Tarot, a book and deck set created and self-published by Jean Marie Herzel. I'll also be drawing from the Australian Wildflower Reading Cards, a set created by Cheralyn Darcey and published by Rockpool. Today's cards are the Queen of Swords and 'Grevillea:'

          Herzel uses a paper wasp to illustrate her Queen of Swords, a court card known for delivering some stings when it comes to honesty and shining a light on the hard truth. No wonder this queen gets a bad rap - not too many people want to see beyond the lies they tell themselves or the delusions they spin. Yet the paper wasp is a great pollinator and her primary diet is invasive pests. The plant in the card is common sage, an herb known for its many culinary and medicinal uses. Both the insect and the plant are like the Queen of Swords - there is a great benefit to listening with an open mind to her words, even if they are unpleasant.  Grevillea is associated with creativity (indigenous people of Australia created a sweet drink from its blooms). The challenge of this flower is not becoming stuck or too dependent. The words of the Queen aren't meant to be used to punish, but to inspire to do things differently. Beating ourselves up may feel like progress, but really we're just stinging ourselves over and over again without changing our course.

Dancing Fool

From the Cosmic Tarot, the Fool; from the Lotus de L'Oeil, 'Encounter:'

          This Fool doesn't just walk off the edge of a cliff, he dances off, shimmying and shaking as he goes. I've always been in awe of people who meet change with a rush of excitement rather than fear. What is their secret? The Encounter card might be a clue. The yin-yang symbol represents the duality found in all things. Each part of the figure has a small circle of the other color in it, a reminder that "all or nothing" is not a truth found anywhere. Every person or experience has a little of its opposite nature within, even if it is a tiny amount. The Fool recognizes this and therefore sets no expectations; even if things seem a disaster, there's always an element of goodness to be found if he keeps his eyes open.

All being, it seemed, was built on opposites, on division... though each was equally precious and essential. ― Hermann Hesse

Now, do you say, that you are going to make Right your master and do away with Wrong, or make Order your master and do away with Disorder? If you do, then you have not understood the principle of heaven and earth or the nature of the ten thousand things. This is like saying that you are going to make Heaven your master and do away with Earth, or make Yin your master and do away with Yang. Obviously, it is impossible. ― Zhuangzi