ADEPT LEVEL; 21 Ways . . . Step 15

Jewel

DECK: Fantastic Menagerie
CARD: The Moon
ACTIVITY: 15:2 Negotiations between me and the figure on the card
COMPLETED: 10/07/09

For years I have thought of The Moon card as the card of illusion and delusion. I have always loved the card and identified with it. What does that say about me?

The Lady Owl is dressed romantically at night standing on an open yet enclosed patio with the full moon starring at the back of her head. The owl lady represents that part of me that lives a significant portion of my life in my own little world with the outside world look in at me and seeing my ways exactly for what they are. Like the owl lady I do not see that they really see what is going on and I ignore them and delude myself into believing that they really have no clue. While I romanticize and fantasize those on the outside of my world are neglected and get hurt.

I want to thank the Lady Owl for this insight, and I will quit treating the real world as an interruption and a bother. It is time for me to join the here and now, and let those closest to me in more.

I did this exercise differently than everyone else that has posted. I really did not have a dialog with this card, it just flat out gave me a picture of where I was at the time. Since that time I have been taking my own advice very seriously and it has made a very positive difference in my life. What I negotiated with this card was a reality check and a commitment from myself to make changes. I have followed through on that to my own benefit, and in the process to making not only my life better but that of those around me, my husband in particular. I agreed with what the card showed me and have acted accordingly ever since. The result of this has brought me and my husband closer together making a good marriage even better.
 

dadsnook2000

Dave's step 15:3

My chosen card is the Fey HERMIT card which depicts a formally dressed male Fey, wearing a top hat, making his way through a maze of up and down, crossing, twisting stairways inside a tower with lots of doorways and small creatures and objects laying on the floors/stairs.

The second card drawn from a shuffled deck is the Five of Wands. The Fey deck depicts five Fey playing and swinging on a tree from a rope hung over a branch.

D signifies me, Dave. H signifies the Hermit. 5W signifies the Five of Wands.

D: Hermit, what is it you want from your situation?
5W: (Interupting) He wants out. Someone to play with.
H: Nooo, I think I want to understand why someone would place these crazy stairways in this tower.
D: And you think the answer will make your day!
H: If it doesn't I'll have to make a choice about these doorways.
5W: Many times we find that "doing" is better than "thinking."
D: And what would you guys (5W) do if wandering those stairs?
5W: We'd open a bunch of doors to see what's out there.
H: One door would do, wouldn't it?
5W: You'd only see one side of the external situation, why not see it all?
D: Perhaps the problem isn't outside? Where do you see the problem, Hermit?
H: No problem, only a puzzle. If it was a problem then I'd resolve it. This is a puzzle, so there is time to consider it.
5W: Puzzles are like games, aren't they?
D: Yes. It seems that our circumstances may be shaped by how we view those circumstances.
5W: That's what we do, we compete, we out-do each other. If there is no reason to fight then we strive as hard as we can, and then we see what happens.
H: So, you guys take a physical path wherein I take a mental path. What's wrong with that?
D: Perhaps nothing, Hermit, except that you aren't looking at the clues. You're just stepping up, stepping down, peeping and peeking. What do you see?
H: Some doors are warmer than others.
D: And?
5W: Go for it!
H: There is no need. Warmth only means that the door is on the sunny side of the tower. It doesn't tell me anything else.
5W: Well, we're in the Sun, we're doing something, we're getting a feeling of who's good at somethings, not so good at others. We're getting to know about ourselves.
D: They have a point, Hermit. (Dave hears a door slam shut).

These two cards plainly show that something happens when you take action while not much happens when you sit and think and then think some more. It's harder to make and show progress when only thought-without-action is the name of the game. Then again, just doing something doesn't guarantee a good result for the effort made. Thoughts need to lead to action, action can lead to the need to think about what's been accomplished. Dave
 

dadsnook2000

Dave's step 15:4 -- a dialog between cards

The past two weeks have been involved with the hospitalization of my wife's mother, age 96, her return from emergency and critical care to the nursing home, her brief "recovery" and then her passing several days ago. As so often happens in life, we observe disassociated events and comments which seem to string themselves together and which then gives us pause to think. Some of that is behind the dialog between these two cards in terms of which cards and what they signify.

My current chosen card is the Fey Tarot HERMIT, a tall formally-dressed Fey who is stalking up and down the twisted stairways within a tower, doors and arches everywhere and critters and objects scattered about which may be clues but which he pays no attention to.

The card from my past work in these threads that I have chosen is the Fey WORLD card. A giant snail glides through the stars carrying a small castle and enclosed world on its back. Trees, green grass, a village, birds and a large pink dragon are there.

Hermit: Hey Snail are you lost out there in nowhere's land?
World: No more than you in your confined puzzle tower? Do you know where you're going? You should consider making a choice.
Hermit: Well, there are lots of choices but I don't know what they might lead to or how they are different. What about you? Do you have a destination?

World: No, I'm just taking my time, same as I always do. I'll stop when I see someplace interesting. Is there anything that triggers your curiosity there?
Hermit: I've noticed the small creatures lying about, the book, and the ladder. Right now, I'm evaluating how many stairways and doors there are. What about your passengers, do they have anything to say about where you are going?
World: No, they signed on without questions about where I was going. They have a world to enjoy and I'm free to find my world(s).
Hermit: I have to get back into a world where I have some relevance, there really isn't much here when you consider it all. I have no opportunity to share, and nobody to interact with.

World: Well, I feel like a taxi driver who doesn't know quite what to do next. But I can see many choices and what each promises.
Hermit: I can see choices also but not what each may lead to.
World: Opening a door doesn't mean you have to go through it. Shut it and choose another.
Hermit: That may be allowed. There aren't others to tell me "NO", so I think I'll think about that.
World: Thinking about thinking? You really do need a life.
Hermit: OK, but when I open that door, Dave will need another card to follow.

My mother-in-law had a long life and made many choices, although they were not apparent to us. To her family, it seemed that her world had closed in about her over the past decade or so and that she had, like this Hermit card, few options that appealed to her. Her circle of contacts became smaller and her personality changed as she aged and dealt with breathing, balance and strength issues.

Due to the increasing limitations she faced we placed her in another world, a nursing home nearby where they could treat her breathing difficulties and help her be mobile. She hated her new environment at first, but then she surprised us all by interacting with the diversity of ethnic, racial and intrusive circumstances there. This private, not overly social old lady made many new friends among the staff. She didn't like to go to the dining room or to the living room areas to participate in meals or daily events --- I don't want to be with all those old people. She was the second oldest person there.

So, between these two cards, I see a relationship to her past many days: Moving from a closed world of possibilities seldom explored to a very unusual world of diversity in which she opened up and balanced her life experience.

So, in my next post, I'll choose another card and move into a different world context to explore. There are other parallel stories in my life about my book and family life that these cards seem to mirror as well. Thanks to the list for bearing up with my less-frequent postings. In summary, I feel that this dialog approach within tarot has to be something really important for us to add into our many tarot experiences. Dave
 

Jewel

I hope to post the rest of my step over the next few days ... all done, just trying to find time to post :D