Switching Shoes

From the Tarot of the Absurd, the Five of Coins; from the Post-psychedelic Cyberpunk, the Wizard:

Your actions are indeed your responsibility, but whose fault is injustice and malchance?

~Jessica Rose Shanahan

          We see them frequently at road intersections and outside stores, holding cardboard signs that request food or money. Do we pretend not to notice them or judge them as lazy slugs or con artists? Shanahan has switched shoes on the people in her card, perhaps suggesting that we try on someone else's shoes before we dismiss them. Unfortunately most folks prefer the Wizard's approach - to manipulate reality. This spin doctor is great at setting up prisms that create rainbows and distract us from what is factual. A good example was the meme on Facebook that said the homeless weren't affected by Covid, so it must not be as bad as people were making it out to be. The reality is that if a homeless person dies, they'd just be stuffed in a body bag and buried in a pauper's grave; no one would worry about the how or why.  Since we can't change the truth, maybe we can change the eyes and heart that see it.

Getting Noticed

From the Tarot of the Absurd, the Five of Sticks (Wands); from the Post-psychedelic Cyberpunk Deck, Random Number Generator:

          The contortions and gyrations in this Five of Wands seem like an effort to get attention. These women could easily be contestants on Shark Tank trying to impress the bigwigs so they will find an investor. What does it take to get one's creativity and innovation noticed? The Random Number Generator card points out how hard it is for humans to be original rather than methodical. Our minds are geared to look for patterns it can recognize and take vigilant note of anomalies and irregularities. For the Five of Wands ladies, simply watching then trying to outrageously outdo each other is still a form of imitation. Perhaps they should take some advice from C.S. Lewis: "Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."

Barefoot Cycles

From the Tarot of the Absurd, the Knight of Coins; from the Post-psychedelic Cyberpunk Deck, Ouroboros:

The barefoot Knight of Coins:

 Enlightenment needs embodiment. Wide-open insight needs deep-rooted instinct.

― Kris Franken

The cyclic Ouroboros:

Everything that ends is also the beginning of something else. Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward.

― Pema Chödrön

Real equanimity isn’t indifference. It’s the capacity to be present with your whole being and not add fuel to the fire. ― Jack Kornfield

Fix It Mentality

From the Tarot of the Absurd, the Hanged Man; from the Post-psychedelic Cyberpunk Deck, Lady Datura:

          This particular Hanged Man shows the insanity that can appear when we find ourselves in a powerless situation but still are determined to 'fix things.' No matter what strategies we try, they all only cause us more pain. The problem is not the problem - we are the problem. Joseph Goldstein wrote, "...most of us are looking for is happiness: deep, abiding fulfillment and completion. The problem is that we’re looking for it in the wrong place. We’re looking in the places where society or our conditioning tells us to look—in the fulfillment of our desires. But that is not where true happiness is found.The desire of craving—the thirst, the fever of unsatisfied longing—is rooted in greed and attachment." That fevered longing is Lady Datura's specialty; she promises something much better than we've ever dreamed, yet the her results are poisonous. Perhaps it would be better to listen to Eckhart Tolle instead: "Surrender to what is. Say 'yes' to life - and see how life starts suddenly to start working for you rather than against you."

The Knowledge Within

From the Tarot of the Absurd, the High Priestess; from the Post-psychedelic Cyberpunk Deck, Energy:

          This High Priestess seems to be crawling inside a book of knowledge, but what she is actually doing is diving deep within herself. This is not an exercise in navel-gazing, but an investigation into the undercurrent of thought and feeling that runs constantly in the background of the mind; it causes us react in unskillful ways when we are unaware of it. The Energy card reminds me of an equanimity meditation, part of which reads: “I am responsible for the energy and attention I give my thoughts, feelings, and experiences.” (In equanimity, we come to understand that our happiness and suffering is not caused primarily by our experiences and circumstances, but in our responses to them.) An undercurrent of emotional energy given free rein is like being bound with puppet strings we've tied ourselves. 

Once we see an inner pattern of mind clearly and bring to it mindful awareness and acceptance, this in itself initiates the process of self-liberation. ― Rob Nairn

Attentive to Attention

From the Tarot of the Absurd, the Page of Cups; from the Post-psychedelic Cyberpunk Deck, the Key:

          The young Page seems to be in a stupor from whatever she's been reading. It is easy to become emotionally intoxicated by what we hear, see or read, often unaware what's happening until we've reached a tipping point. A cup of black coffee and a walk in the sunshine might be what she needs to clear her head. We've slid headlong into the information age, thinking we need to know something about everything and everyone, but how much of it is actually useful? The Key points to the words of Herbert A. Simon, "What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention..." We need be attentive to what we give our attention. 

Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.

― Jon Kabat-Zinn

Beginning Within

This week I'll be using the Tarot of the Absurd, created and self-published by Jessica Rose Shanahan. I'll also be using another self-published deck, the Post-psychedelic Cyberpunk by Masha Falkov. The draws for today are the Emperor and Waterfall:

          With his belligerent expression and stabbing finger, I can almost feel the big boot of this Emperor on the back of my neck. He's become overzealous in his law and order tactics and extreme in his attitude. There's no fatherly concern here, only a "my way or the highway" mindset. The Waterfall brought to mind something neuropsychologist Rick Hanson said: “We live life at the lip of a waterfall… our mind is forever trying to grab what has already disappeared over the edge.” Though we might like to put life in a box complete with all our labels and preferences, constant change is the natural state of all things. While this Emperor is busy trying to Gorilla glue his box tightly shut, the bottom has already spilled most of its contents out. Fear generally brings a hostile perspective such as his. The only cure is accepting that he can't control everything, especially change.

You can’t remake the world

Without remaking yourself.

Each new era begins within.

—Ben Okri