OshoZen; 5 of Water (Cups)

Briar Rose

OshoZen; 5 of WAter (Cups)
Clinging to the past

Now here's an excellent example of my mother. I get hate mail from her all the time, reminding me of all the things I did in my past that she didn't like. I can only read about a paragraph, then I am done.

I am nothing like her.

That is what this card means to me: energy drain.
 

Judith D

How unhappy your mother must be - always lost in the negative.
I have been trying now for several years to put my box down - and succeeding in no small degree, thankfully, although there is still work to do and places to go. I clung on to my box of nasties - it gave me an excuse to be the victim, not to be responsible, not to accept my part in it all - and carried the box around everywhere, in front of my face and my eyes, making the rest of me poor and torn up. I couldn't see the good stuff, and if I did see anything good, it couldn't be for me as I didn't deserve, couldn't get, couldn't reach, couldn't hold on. What a waste! And what a relief when I accepted the inevitable and looked at myself again and really saw what was there - and didn't like it much.
What a relief it is now not to be carrying all those people and all those nasty thoughts and deeds. They still snap at my heels at times, but don't bring the emotion any more, or the guilt.
I find this a horribly evocative card too.
 

squeakmo9

Wow, HeavenV, I'm sorry to hear about your mom's stinky attitude, eek!
Don't let her tear you down, just focus the on good things you want for yourself in life...she'll fade into the shadows in no time.

I've gotten this card more than a few times in daily reads, and it always makes me cringe. I know I'm doing something wrong, lol.
What I really love about this card is that champagne glass! I really like that there is hope in re-tooling perception. Just let the past remain there.
If you let your mind have a field day with you, it certainly can. I think the hardest thing for me is just letting go of past events, old injuries and such, but to do so...well look at the promise that awaits. I'd say it would be well-worth re-training my thoughts:)
 

Grizabella

I didn't even notice that champagne glass in the back till it was mentioned here. The book mentions it, too, and I didn't notice that, either. :p

Carrying the past around in my head really is a problem for me sometimes. I'm glad I saw this post right now. I'm on the verge of making a move and I need to remember to focus right now, on the present instead of the past or the future.

I see we've made it into the Individual Deck Studies forum. :D
 

squeakmo9

Lyric said:
I see we've made it into the Individual Deck Studies forum. :D

lol! It took a bit of time, I was like...hey, where's the Osho study group? :D
 

Alan Ross

squeakmo9 said:
I think the hardest thing for me is just letting go of past events, old injuries and such
That has been my one of my own greatest challenges. Those old injuries scab over, but instead of letting them heal, I pick at them in my mind, keeping them fresh. It's bad enough to go through the pain once, but to go through it again and again and again is sooo unnecessary. And what's really sad is that I'm doing it to myself.

In one of her books, Buddhist author Sylvia Boorstein says "pain is necessary, suffering is optional." We can't avoid being hurt, but we can learn to put those hurts down where they happened instead of carrying them around with us.
 

Grizabella

I'm sure that, with all that happened to me during the first 40 years of my life--all the abuse and such----I could use some therapy, by some schools of thought. I sometimes think I've come about as far as I can on my own. I've known others in alcohol recovery who have many, many years in recovery who then seek therapy. But the thing is, I don't want to be labelled and medicated and given an umbilical cord to a therapist. I've seen it happen, as I said. I'd rather meditate than medicate. :p Of course, that's over-simplifying it, but you get what I mean.

Gosh, I think maybe I should make us all t-shirts out of that, huh?

"I'd rather meditate than medicate." Kinda catchy.

But with my luck, I suppose I read it somewhere and my senior mind is just burping it up belatedly. :rolleyes:
 

Judith D

I just LOVE that quote from Sylvia Boorstein. I have seen it in different places before and always promise myself to write it down and put it somewhere to keep reminding me - so now I am doing just that.
And it is so absolutely true.
And Lyric's senior mind burps up an excellent one too - that is a great way to put it! I've tried medication and meditation and the latter is most definitely the way to go. I have seen some who go to therapists or support groups cling so hard and they just do not move on. I think it is great if you can use medication or therapy for a short while - to get back on track - but after that if you aren't careful you replace one problem with another.
I still tend to be the stuck record with past problems. The hamster in my wheel is really ancient and needs to retire. I'm learning though, and cards like this are so helpful in their clear message.
 

firecatpickles

The champagne glass becomes the focus of this card, as there are no other "cups" in the card. [I will be curious to rifle through my deck & see how many other water cards actually have cups on them.]

Clinging to the past is like my shoving an ice cube that is too big into a champagne glass --if I try, the glass will break. If I remain patient & nurture the feelings of the past; ie melt them away; then I can fill the glass up with cool, life-giving water.

My point is that I cannot (nor do I want to) completely let go of the past. To do that is to never learn from my mistakes. "Pain is necessary, suffering is optional." I like that.

But moving on with life's-lessons-from-negative-memories is in effect, not clinging to them, isn't it? Dwelling on the negative then becomes the dis-ease. I am more likely to benefit is I use the unpleasantness as a useful tool instead, and use it as a coping mechanism. The negative-feelings-of-the-past then becomes mutable & positive.
 

Master_Margarita

What a sad, sad card. She can't see the champagne glass fully present to her now because she's clinging to her big bale of memories.

I think it is interesting to contrast the woman on the Five of Water with the Miser of the Four of Rainbows. This woman clings to memories; that woman clings to material possessions; both are hindered.

I looked for a similar example of clinging to thought in the suit of Clouds. I wonder if Control, the King of Clouds, might be the closest, unless we look at the Two of Clouds, schizophrenia, as representing clinging to preconceived notions.

Anyone?

M~