Sunday, July 23, 2017
Face-plant
This week I'll be using the Prairie Tarot, created and self-published by Robin Ator. Paired with it will be the Medicine Cards, a deck and book set published by St. Martin's Press and created by David Carson and Jamie Sams. Today's cards are the Six of Cups and Hummingbird:
Anyone who's spent time outdoors with preschool children has probably received the gift of a dandelion or other weedy flower. On the outside it might not look like much (especially if wilted and bent from being tucked into a pocket). But this humble gift of beauty is a child's way of honoring someone they care about. In the same way, the cup of flowers represents the gift of memory. We have memory cups of all kinds - some filled with briers, others with sweet-smelling blooms, and those with a cloying fragrance. They all reside in the mind, and I can choose which one to dwell on. Hummingbird represents joy; it's hard not to smile when watching these small wonders zip around the garden. Though they take nectar, they also help pollinate the plants. The companion book suggests "Drop your judgmental attitude and relax." Face-planting in bouquets that relive pain and resentment aren't beneficial to anyone. Joy is everywhere - past, present and future - but I will need to open my senses and mind to see it.
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This reminds me of an eye that was painted on the wall of the art studio/gallery by Tom Forrestall where I took my Master class with him, "Many look but few see". Tom is a very spiritual man.
ReplyDeleteSome folks have no sense of attachment to things past and for nostalgia or memories. If we don't see the past we can't appreciate the present, and look forward the future dreams.
There's so much to learn from the past and we can't ever completed detach, nor would I ever want to. This is different than not letting go and living in the past.
I'm surrounded by many memories, especially of family and friends that are no longer physically living, but in my memory they still are very much alive. This gives me comfort and joy because I remember. I think about the good times, what they meant to me, why and how much I love them.
I remember that eye from one of your posts. :) I agree that the past can be useful to learn from and to remember past joys; it is only when we become attached to the past through longing to go back or through resentments that cause us harm.
DeleteI will take a easy summer day watching hummingbirds anytime. My parents loved to set out an watch them. Hummingbirds always remind me of my parents who have passed over to the Summerlands, where I am sure that are watching hummingbirds.
ReplyDeleteThere is something quite magical and wondrous about those little birds. :)
Deletewe could probably add to the story by studying the flowers, pretty much less the stems
ReplyDeleteI shall leave that to your magnificent mind. :)
DeleteThis post put a big smile on my face. I only recently was presented with my first bent and battered bloom by my toddler. He was so earnest. A good reminder that love is in the action, rather than the object. And I am so grateful to have that memory stored up for the future :)
ReplyDeleteToddlers are such a strange mix - exhausting dealing with all the boundary issues and socialising, yet also joyously simple and loving. As you say, good to be mindful of the joys that can be found in the everyday.
Ernest is a good description of those little givers. No matter what the gift, you know if comes from the heart!
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