Tarot Tuesday #3

Here's the second excellent lesson from LearnTarot:
Tarot Lesson 2

I want to preface today's tarot meditation with the horoscope I got this morning from Tarot.com:

The sensible Taurus Moon runs into trouble today as it tensely squares the long-term opposition between dreamy Neptune and realistic Saturn. Yesterday's smooth sailing is replaced by a series of dilemmas. We struggle to find a way through the increasing uncertainty of the harmonious trine between the Sun and imaginative Neptune, which is exact early tomorrow morning. The solution may come as we relinquish control and trust our intuition.

K... well. I got that with the whole peace vs blogging and reading blogs thing. Then after this am's posts, my mundane life went topsy turvy!! Nothing major or life shattering; just a bunch of material crap that kept me hoppin'. Harmony has been a bit rough, so it's a perfect time for a meditation card to help show the way.

Okay, I have to laugh at myself. This is the perfect card for the current situation.

THE DEVIL

* BONDAGE
* MATERIALISM
* IGNORANCE
* HOPELESSNESS

ACTIONS

experiencing bondage
accepting an unwanted situation
being obsessed**
feeling tied down against your will
losing independence
allowing yourself to be controlled
being addicted and enslaved
submitting to another

focusing on the material*
being caught up in appearances
believing only in the physical
forgetting the spiritual
getting and spending
overindulging the senses

staying in ignorance
being unaware
operating within a narrow range**
experiencing limitation**
choosing to stay in the dark
fearing the unknown
being taken in by appearances**

feeling hopeless**
believing the worst**
despairing**
lacking faith**
seeing a cold world**
thinking negatively**
foreseeing a bleak future**
doubting **

DESCRIPTION

Lucifer. Mephistopheles. Satan. The Prince of Darkness. No matter what we call him, the Devil is our symbol for what is bad and undesirable. From our human perspective, we see the world as a struggle between light and dark. We want to vanquish the bad so the good can prevail. In fact, good and bad cannot be separated, just as you cannot separate a shadow from its source. Darkness is simply the absence of light, and it is caused by errors that hide the truth. Card 15 shows us these errors.

First is ignorance - not knowing the truth and not realizing that we do not know. Second is materialism - the belief that there is nothing but the physical. As spiritual beings, we long for the Divine, but we lose contact with this source of truth if we trust only our senses. There is also hopelessness, which robs us of our joy and movement toward the light.

Traditionally the Devil stands for evil, but it does not have this rather frightening meaning in a reading. This card lets you know that you are caught in an unhealthy, unproductive situation. You may be in the dark about something - ignorant of the truth and its implications. You may be obsessed by a person, idea, substance or pattern that you know is bad for you (or maybe you don't!). Sometimes this card reflects back the negativity that has made you doubt yourself and your future. We are prone to many errors in life. Card 15 lets us know when they are serious enough to require attention. When you see the Devil, examine your assumptions carefully. Make sure you are not working from a false picture of yourself and the situation. Hold fast to the highest vision of who you are.


*NOTE: Emphasis mine.
**NOTE: these are most clearly seen through the recent struggles I have had in defining labels, choosing to identify with "movements" and my ensuing angst in these areas. I see this card as a reminder in the coming days to remember to choose the path of spirit: PEACE.

1st Impressions for me:

When I get this card in a reading or as a meditation, I need to take a serious look at myself. Although I don't "do" christian symbology, the concept imaged in this card is a good one, if we think along the lines of "money as the root of all evil" and the idea that being in bondage to things of a physical nature tends to separate us from being awake/aware of things beyond our immediate ken. Things within the realm of spirit, howsoever we choose to name them.

The things that came about to overwhelm me and disturb my inner peace (so newly reclaimed) were mundane issues and matters. Bills, and communications around debt, primarily. My perceived need to get my sweet GirlyBoi some clean clothes to wear for work and make Birdy Bread for my FIDS. These are things that do indeed exist in our day to day world; responsibilities that must needs be met. This is a given. My problems arise (within me) when I am unable to separate myself from the thought that in order to have inner peace, I must do such and such along with my addiction to the outcome. (Ie: That they must needs resolve in a way that meets my expectations.)

This card is an excellent reminder that I need not submit to the bondage inherent to that kind of thinking. That I can go about my business on the mundane/physical level without becoming attatched to the outcome. That I can perform each act in peace and calmness, doing the act for the simple reason that it is the thing to do, and let go of the attendant stress or worry or expectation of the outcome. This freedom from attachment allows me to go peacefully through my day.

Good card!
Peace, out!!!

On Tarot Tuesday (a rambling dissertation of self examination and disclosure)

So this morning (it must be my week for personal lessons/growth), I have been given the opportunity, through my own actions in a friendship situation, to examine myself and my behaviors, motives, etc.
The really great thing about this, (aside from the personal growth factor, of course) is that it's given me another themed day for this blog. This is a great thing to me because:
a)It presents another facet of me to you, which is my true intent for this blog. To give the reader a context within/from which to better understand my thoughts/opinions/positions, etc. Although I love reading political, spiritual, magickal, feminist etc. themed blogs in and of themselves, it is my personal desire to present a fuller, more contextual blog. I am not defined or labeled by any one of my interests, passions, beliefs, or political views. I haven't touched much on my spiritual/magickal self, and this is a perfect way to add this content as another expression of self.
b) It helps me remember that I am more than my politics, my outrage and my despair. One downside of being an activist for me is that I am a bit obsessive and too empathic. As a teenager and into my mid 20's, I read about politics, philosophy and war, torture and genocide, oppression, racism, feminism and the historical contexts from which many of these things arise. At some point I became overwhelmed and felt powerless and decided that the only answer was to work on myself. If I wanted the world to become a better place it would only happen one person at a time, and I must needs start with me. So I checked out. Almost. I refrained from watching or reading news, and the only activism I participated in was a very personal one to me (that I still practice), which I call the "Silence Implies Consent" rule. When confronted in my life with prejudice, judgment, sexism, etc. I spoke out. I refused to stand by and imply my consent to things/views/statements or actions that I was morally opposed to.
During so-called "Desert Storm", my personal resolve broke and I became marginally involved in paying attention, again. To my dismay, I broke out in shingles and had a minor emotional breakdown over it. Thorne retreats again.
About 9 years ago I began to take some small steps in activism. Learning... searching for answers, voting again (both locally and nationally), signing petitions, writing a few letters, calling my congressperson.
It has slowly led me to this. Here. Now.
But again I have found myself repeatedly on the brink of despair. Obsessively reading and researching to discover what new ills humanity and The Mother our earth is suffering. Finding myself unable to let go of the outrage, the despair and hopelessness that so often assails me when I consider the world and all of its denizens. I turn from my beautiful desert, my esoteric studies, my meditations and my joy to this computer and seek and find poison. So this Tarot Tuesday is another attempt of mine to seek balance in my life, thoughts, emotions and experience, and thereby share that balance with you, my readers.
I'm going to try to rearrange my links/blogrolls soon to reflect this. Sorting by primary area of interest or lack thereof (as in my case). I'm also, without putting myself on too rigid a schedule, (I don't do that well), going to try to limit my political and issues reading a bit. Being committed to writing on different topics will by necessity keep me incorporating them into my life. I'm thinking I must needs add some sort of gardening or nature day, too. That will come as/when it will.

(Tarot Tuesday Post to follow, but prolly not until tonight, as I have a tattoo appt soon)