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Directory of Meanings Set 7: Art and Life
NOTES
1. The blue group 7 is concerned with communication, and set 7 takes up this theme again. We consider that the ultimate form of throat chakra communication between human beings is art, so Rainring explores the issues involving communication by referring to the artist and his/her work.
2. Within the meaning section of each entry, we begin by quoting the definition given on the web, follow this with one or two general comments about the card, then move to specific indications about the querant drawing the card.
55. Impression: group – spirit (1 violet/purple)
http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Impression/55.aspx
The Image
Two figures are seen in silhouette against what could be a night sky lit up by fireworks. To the left, a man is raising himself from a reclining position. He is looking at a woman, apparently considerably younger than himself, who stands amid a great tangle of hair, looking back and holding her arms out towards him.
The meaning
Impression: the mark left on our being by the experiences of life; the process or result of imprinting the psyche
A: General
The sequence of cards which make up this set begins with the spirit group card Impression. This is a complex card with several layers of meaning. It can refer to the totality of the impressions imprinted in the psyche, which altogether form our conditioning. Or its reference can be simply to whatever we take in as we walk around etc – the myriad of sense impressions. Finally, when it is linked to words such as impressive and impressed, there is a feeling of being overawed by someone or something – this person or thing is great and I feel small by comparison.
B Specific
Someone or something makes an impression on you. You have an ambivalent reaction to this. One aspect of this is that you feel small, even possibly worthless by comparison – your ego is diminished. In some cases, you may resent and resist the impression, because it has the ability to destabilise you, to force you to question yourself, your views, attitudes, beliefs, behaviour, lifestyle and self-image. In fact, polemic forms of expression (card 56) aim quite specifically at this effect. With Impression, you are under a degree of threat, yet you cannot simply close yourself off from impressions, because they can also nurture, enrich and teach you. This is the origin of your dilemma – you want to open yourself to impressions that enhance your world, whilst avoiding those that detract from it.
Impressions, equally, can have emotional consequences. If you have been moved, it means that strong emotions were triggered in you, as a result of which you are no longer ‘in the same place’ as you were. It is also characteristic of impressions that they can cause a delayed reaction. You may have resistances at this particular moment, or your psyche may be like cold earth in which a seed cannot germinate yet. But that same seed can lie dormant, sometimes for years, and suddenly one day, at the appropriate season, it will burst into life. In relationship something similar happens: today you are impressed by so-and-so, feel insignificant in comparison to them – later, inspired by their life and / or work, having learned the lessons that their example had for you, you may find that you have risen to their level and now stand alongside them.
The card summarising the nature of Impression is Legacy, umpire Form. This elegantly summarises your situation. Whether or not you are aware of it at this moment, Impression means that a permanent and tangible impact has occurred: someone or something has had an effect upon you which will not fade away.
Despite this focus, we should also bear in mind, as mentioned, that the card may refer in a less dramatic way to a situation in which you have absorbed one or more impressions, without them having triggered such a strong response or been particularly ‘impressive’; equally, the card can occur in a context in which it refers to the effects of childhood conditioning – the imprint of early-life situations and events on your psyche.
Divination summary:
Being impressed, overawed, inspired; a genuine learning situation; feeling threatened or humbled by the size, power, capacities etc of a person or thing; envy, resistance; nurtured, touched, moved; seeds of future growth of self; sense impressions; issues of conditioning.
NOTES
1. The blue group 7 is concerned with communication, and set 7 takes up this theme again. We consider that the ultimate form of throat chakra communication between human beings is art, so Rainring explores the issues involving communication by referring to the artist and his/her work.
2. Within the meaning section of each entry, we begin by quoting the definition given on the web, follow this with one or two general comments about the card, then move to specific indications about the querant drawing the card.
55. Impression: group – spirit (1 violet/purple)
http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Impression/55.aspx
The Image
Two figures are seen in silhouette against what could be a night sky lit up by fireworks. To the left, a man is raising himself from a reclining position. He is looking at a woman, apparently considerably younger than himself, who stands amid a great tangle of hair, looking back and holding her arms out towards him.
The meaning
Impression: the mark left on our being by the experiences of life; the process or result of imprinting the psyche
A: General
The sequence of cards which make up this set begins with the spirit group card Impression. This is a complex card with several layers of meaning. It can refer to the totality of the impressions imprinted in the psyche, which altogether form our conditioning. Or its reference can be simply to whatever we take in as we walk around etc – the myriad of sense impressions. Finally, when it is linked to words such as impressive and impressed, there is a feeling of being overawed by someone or something – this person or thing is great and I feel small by comparison.
B Specific
Someone or something makes an impression on you. You have an ambivalent reaction to this. One aspect of this is that you feel small, even possibly worthless by comparison – your ego is diminished. In some cases, you may resent and resist the impression, because it has the ability to destabilise you, to force you to question yourself, your views, attitudes, beliefs, behaviour, lifestyle and self-image. In fact, polemic forms of expression (card 56) aim quite specifically at this effect. With Impression, you are under a degree of threat, yet you cannot simply close yourself off from impressions, because they can also nurture, enrich and teach you. This is the origin of your dilemma – you want to open yourself to impressions that enhance your world, whilst avoiding those that detract from it.
Impressions, equally, can have emotional consequences. If you have been moved, it means that strong emotions were triggered in you, as a result of which you are no longer ‘in the same place’ as you were. It is also characteristic of impressions that they can cause a delayed reaction. You may have resistances at this particular moment, or your psyche may be like cold earth in which a seed cannot germinate yet. But that same seed can lie dormant, sometimes for years, and suddenly one day, at the appropriate season, it will burst into life. In relationship something similar happens: today you are impressed by so-and-so, feel insignificant in comparison to them – later, inspired by their life and / or work, having learned the lessons that their example had for you, you may find that you have risen to their level and now stand alongside them.
The card summarising the nature of Impression is Legacy, umpire Form. This elegantly summarises your situation. Whether or not you are aware of it at this moment, Impression means that a permanent and tangible impact has occurred: someone or something has had an effect upon you which will not fade away.
Despite this focus, we should also bear in mind, as mentioned, that the card may refer in a less dramatic way to a situation in which you have absorbed one or more impressions, without them having triggered such a strong response or been particularly ‘impressive’; equally, the card can occur in a context in which it refers to the effects of childhood conditioning – the imprint of early-life situations and events on your psyche.
Divination summary:
Being impressed, overawed, inspired; a genuine learning situation; feeling threatened or humbled by the size, power, capacities etc of a person or thing; envy, resistance; nurtured, touched, moved; seeds of future growth of self; sense impressions; issues of conditioning.
