Tag: quote

Today’s Tarot: Two Cup Tuesday

Let’s pour ourselves a second cup and do the thing.

This is not a high wattage card today.

I thought about sharing my favorite salty language internet meme that features the Knight of Pentacles, but the energy isn’t even up to that. The earth connection and the grounded quality is so strong that it escapes levity. This card is 6 am staring across your coffee mug at a chipper morning person. This card is the zombie shuffle to the kitchen for a second cup.

Today’s energy is strongly connected to the physical realm. It is OK to set aside big spiritual questing every now and then. The mind and spirit must be balanced with the physical. This is a day to pour that second cup and do the thing. Grind. To borrow from a shoe company – just do it.

Doing is key. Knights are about action, after all. But this is effective, ruthlessly efficient action, not fidgeting, fuss, emotion or bother. Don’t waste energy on drama. “Work the problem” as was said in the Apollo 13 movie. Or as has been said “Follow the process, not the plan.” (as I read it on Tested.com – this might be my new mantra, just like “simple but elegant” got me through dissertation)

Arguably, this kind of practical, down-to-earth, just-do-it energy IS a high level of spirituality, like the adage “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.” or, as I’ve often quoted here before, Alan Watts taught “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about god while you peel potatoes. Zen spirituality is to just peel the potatoes.”

The practical needs done and the physical realm needs tended to, not matter what our mental, spiritual or emotional state might be. The knight reminds us that immersing in routine work or physical exercise can be very soothing to churning thoughts or upset emotions.

My Tarot Valentine 2021: Any Little Gesture

Chivalry is such a quaint word.

You don’t hear it much any more. It comes to mind today with the Knight of Cups today, in a sweet, kissy-kissy way. I can’t blame you if you just aren’t in the mood for it. As I write this it is first thing in the morning and I’m not in the mood form much other than a large latte. Like Gurney Halleck in the Dune movie tells us, “moods are a thing for loveplay and cattle” Loveplay it is then.

In another movie, The Crow, Eric tells us (in the scene where he visits Officer Albrecht at home) “Little things used to mean so much to Shelly- I used to think they were kind of trivial. Believe me, nothing is trivial.” Little things mean a lot. Little gestures mean a lot.

Things that may seem trivial to you at the time might just be a little treasure to those who care about you. Don’t be surprised if small gestures of affection – in any human connection, not just grand romance – give you a little heartbeat of happiness too.

I Still Dunno

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I still dunno.

The Queen of Cups turned up again, and once again it feels like it is connected to process of facing the unknown.

The word “ponder” comes to mind. I don’t think I’m missing any big message from the Queen. I think she is back just because she has more to say, not because the original message is being missed. Maybe she is just hanging around to help us face the unknown with grace and wit and style. The mental image here is that the cup (rather than a symbol for plumbing psychological and spiritual depths, deep soul scrying) is now a cup of wine, of cheer in the face of challenges. It is an obscure reference, but I think of drunken monkey style Kung Fu or that scene in the anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure where the protagonist had to fight the bad guy attacking them without spilling his goblet of wine.

If you aren’t familiar with martial arts, you might think this is all about fighting and violence and wine. Not that there is anything wrong with wine. I could go for a nice chilled Riesling myself, but that’s not the point. That’s not where the energy of the card or the intuitive references are flowing. Flowing is the point of it, actually. Relaxed muscles move faster. A relaxed mind reacts quicker and with more clarity.

The fear of the unknown and and the fear of all of the bad stuff that we know can happen in life is as much of a challenge as the bad stuff itself. In other words, as President Roosevelt said, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Staring into the depths, into mysteries, into the unknown is staring into the fearsome. People come to psychic readings to remove the fear of the unknown with the illusion of predictions, the illusion of knowing. Psychics are psychics not because they see the future, but because they see the unknowable and help us move forward anyway.

I dunno

the value of not knowing

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Life is a mystery.

Some would say a box of chocolates. Others of us might lean more toward a word that sounds like bitstorm. Chocolate or otherwise, sometimes you just don’t know where it is going to splatter.

Not knowing is part of life, and and it is unnerving as heck. Nobody likes it. Trying to cope with the unknown comes in different forms. We can prepare for it, and make contingency plans as best as you can. It is warm and comfy to wrap yourself in if-then logic. If X happens, then I’ll do Y, but if A happens then I’ll do B, if C happens then have mercy….

I don’t blame people who want predictions. Predictions are uncertain in and of themselves, so they only push life’s uncertainty back a step and hold it at arm’s length until facts and reality sets in. Advice and guidance are more effective. Rather than a prediction that still might or might not materialize, guidance adds a degree of information, a tiny bit of knowing that increases both our comfort levels and our ability to make contingency plans.

Imagine driving on a long road trip, and not quite knowing where you are. But ah-ha! A little sign on the side of the road lets you know that you are on highway I 79 going north. If I keep going straight, I’ll get to Erie, as long as I don’t drive into the lake…or get stuck in a surprise snow squall. So watch for where to turn, stop before you hit water, make sure your cell phone is charged and bring a coat. The sign (Tarot reading) doesn’t predict anything about our road trip, but it tells you the direction you are headed – good news if you are headed north, but if you wanted to go south, you have a choice to make about how to turn things around.

But that’s the practical side. What, other than facing our fear of it, is the value of the unknown? Is there one?

I think the mysterious and unknown is our portal to spirituality.

That is how I define spirituality, in fact. Spirituality is how we, as individuals deal with and engage with the inevitable, inexorable mysteries of existence. It is the diametrical opposite of religion. Religion is external, dogmatically seeking to make mysterious knowable even if it is at the cost of authoritarian, exclusionary, judgmental thinking. Spirituality makes the unknowable – not into the knowable – but into our friend.

It is ok not to know everything or have easy answers to everything. If the journey is more important than the destination, then the contemplation of the mysterious is more important than the comprehension of it.

I make meditation beads. I made one for myself recently. I have no idea how many beads are on it. I just strung however many beads were in that loose package. It’s not a size of bead I typically use, so there was no easy guess how many wound up on the strand. I could have counted them, but I chose not to. I could count them now, but I still choose not to. That mala reminds me of the mysterious parts of life. Because it is unknown, but could be, it symbolizes a connection between the known and unknown, the magick and the mundane, the material and the spiritual.

Not knowing is the bridge between the known and unknowable.

It’s OK to not know everything, even if it is a little frightening.

“I will not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that leads to total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will allow it to flow around me and through me. When the fear has passed, I will turn my minds eye to the path where the fear has gone and only I will remain.”

Dune by Frank Herbert

Today’s Tarot: Tricky Beginning

The trick to getting started is a willingness to laugh at your own mistakes

“A beginning is a very delicate time” – movie adaptation of Dune by Frank Herbert

Many cards seem to have two tracks, two threads of meaning. The two aspects aren’t always related. The fool card has always been associated with new beginnings and taking the leap of faith needed to start something brand new. It seems like a chicken and the egg sort of feedback loop: the Fool card means beginnings because it is the first card in the deck, and the Fool is placed first in decks because it means beginnings. Outside of this, the Fool has been associated with play, humor and a court jester sort of character.

Ted Andrews combines a little bit of both by associating coyote with the card. Coyote has a reputation of being a trickster. That touches on the idea of laughter and play. Coyote has a touch of creation, the start of something new. Mr. Andrews’ interpretation “wisdom and folly” reminds us that beginnings can be a tricky thing. At the beginning of a journey we might head in exactly the wrong direction, a classic comedy trope. The good news is that we can laugh at out mis-starts, back up and start again. Including a little lightheartedness makes that whole process easier. If we use wisdom, we can avoid the folly. But if we end up a little foolish, laughter makes it better. Admitting folly and re-starting is certainly better than bashing forward out of foolish pride and allowing an unwanted destination to show us how tricky a beginning can be.

So if the Fool feels like the card for you today, begin. Take a leap of faith in yourself and begin. Choose your first steps and first direction wisely. Think of this as planting the seeds that the Seven of Pentacles will sow later, so plant good stuff. But if you catch yourself in a mistake, laugh and play your way back to the drawing board, and create a new beginning.

Related: Q&A Spirit Animals

YouChoose Interactive Tarot 20-26 Sept. 2020

As seems to be the emerging natural pattern, just have a quick announcement before moving on to this week’s cards: I’ll be on a reduced Tarot / online schedule Tue-Sat. because family stuff. If you are interested in a reading or anything from the store, don’t hesitate to order. The only change is that shipping & delivery might take longer than usual. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Left: 10 of Cups (grasshopper) Take the leap and dare to be happy. Beware of self-sabotage, and allow yourself to succeed. Don’t be afraid of finishing well. 10 cards, being the largest of the number cards in any suit, are a sort of pinnacle, the essence of the suit in its greatest expression. Taoism teaches that anything in its extreme holds the seed of its opposite. Be careful not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victoty. Finish, succeed, allow your self to be happy.

“People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be” – attr. Abraham Lincoln

Center: 5 of Swords (Goose) Overcoming obstacles is a journey as well as a destination. This card has shown up previously. My hunch this is for emphasis rather than a hint that we aren’t getting the lesson. Historic things have happened between the card’s appearances to show how important the lesson is: Stay chill, stay calm, work the problem. Swords are associated with the element of air and thereby mind and logic and cool intellect. My attention is drawn more to this elemental association than the contemporary relationship style of meanings. Mr. Andrews association with vision quest grabs my attention too. Especially the quest part. Big, systemic problems aren’t solved in a day. They take time, steps, parts, cooperation, and both tactics and strategy. The journey around or through an obstacle may be long and arduous but also needed and worthwhile.

“Let’s work the problem, people. Let’s not make things any worse by guessing. The Lunar Module just became a lifeboat. I don’t care what anything was designed to do.” – Ed Harris playing Gene Krantz in Apollo 13 (movie)

Right: Strength (Lion) This isn’t going to be easy, but when you have the strength to meed the challenges, the hard doesn’t matter. This card is just exactly that sort of reassurance. You have strength, whether you feel it ahead of time or not. If you don’t, get some. The ability to find solutions and to obtain resources is as good as having them in the first place.

“When you can’t walk, you crawl. When you can’t do that, you find someone to carry you.” – from Firefly (TV series) by Joss Whedon