I use tarot and oracle cards as tools for reflection and contemplation. Rather than divining the future, they are a way for me to look more deeply at the "now."
"The goal isn't to arrive, but to meander, to saunter, to make your life a holy wandering." ~ Rami Shapiro

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Identifying and Clarifying

From the Margarete Petersen, the Eight of Coins; from the Elemental Dice, Air + Water (Cloud):
          When my daughter was in high school, she had to do a leaf project for science that involved gathering and identifying sixty plus leaves from different trees. Now if you have the whole tree to observe, it is much easier to name. But we had some well-meaning friends who would bring her leaves from trees whose identity was a complete unknown. So we became leaf detectives. I learned there was much more information in a leaf than simply shape and color. Some leaves are compound, meaning they have leaflets either attached at one point or at several points. Veins can branch out from the main, middle vein or from one central location. Leaf edges can be smooth, serrated or lobed; the backs can be hairless or fuzzy. Lots of information was learned by focus and close attention to detail (which would explain Petersen's buddha image in her leaf). But sometimes, as the Cloud combo of dice implies, you can have information overload - as in the saying "you can't see the forest for the trees." Instead of a clearer picture, things seem even more confused. Then it can help to find an objective person who can see from a broader perspective. Which is why we would occasionally wind up at plant nurseries bearing leaves!

8 comments:

  1. Good morning my dear friend I hope you've slept well.
    Some days a leaf just has to be green and beautiful. That't what I thought when read "information overload" :)

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    1. Agreed. There are times when all that focus and knowledge is helpful, and times when it just adds to the confusion.

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  2. What a great project assignment, and memory.

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    1. Well as someone who enjoys the outdoors, I was much more excited about it than she was! :D

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  3. Oh what fun, leaf identification!

    Good combo today Bev, you are teasing out the underlying Buddha message. ;-)

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    1. Yea, when she said she had a leaf project I started eagerly dragging out all my tree books. :) Petersen's deck and the dice work well together.

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  4. Your leaf card is reflective of the leaves on the border of your blog. In the autumn when the leaves fall and blow of their trees it always makes me think of Gaia's tears, or Demeter's tears when her daughter has to return to the Underworld.

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    1. Autumn leaves letting go then budding once again. :)

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