2/5/13—Leaving Bullying in the Past

Today's Draw: Seven of Staffs in the What to Let Go Of in the Future position from the Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery by Robert Place and the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Do you ever yell at telemarketers just because you can? Do you treat those less privileged than you differently than you treat those more privileged than you? Has there ever been a situation in your life when you've been the bully?

First of all, for reasons that should be obvious just by looking at this one card, I'm thrilled to have Robert Place's new deck in my grubby little hands at last. He funded this deck through an Indiegogo campaign and it feels like I've been waiting FOREVER. He had a majors only version of this deck that I got a couple of years ago, but there's nothing like having the full deck to play with. His illustrations and colors are just beautiful. 

So in this deck, he labels the Seven of Staffs as "The Bully". And that's what we're supposed to let go of moving forward. This can be construed as aggression, competition or uncontained anger or passion toward another. 

People never like to think of themselves as bullies, but I think most, if not all of us, do it at some time or another. Maybe we get passive-aggressive with a cashier who isn't moving fast enough for us. Or we yell at a telemarketer. Or we get touchy with our child after having a bad day. Anytime there is a power differential and we treat the person "beneath" us differently than we'd treat our boss or someone "above us", like it or not, we're being a bully. 

And that "beneath us" thing could even be someone who is less well liked than us, quieter than us, more meek than us, or someone who is in want of our forgiveness. Sometimes the power differential also comes in the form of more people being on your side. So, like, say you're at a pro-choice rally and you're nasty to the handful of pro-lifers who show up...haha. That's being a bully. I've also seen people justify being a bully because the person they're bullying is a bully. That's being a bully, too. 

This card showing up in the What to Let Go of in the Future position is calling us to be aware of when there are power differentials, whether they're one-time situational things (the pro-choice mob) or whether it's a more permanent thing (boss/employee). And when there are power differentials, to be aware of the power we wield simply because we are in a place of power. Ideally we should treat all people equal, but it could also be argued that we should be more careful of how we deal with those who hold less power than we.

So if you treat your employee differently than you'd treat your boss, you're doing it wrong. If you respond differently to the sour person online than you would respond to the sour person who lives two doors down, you're doing it wrong. If you're acting differently because you're part of a group than you would act on your own, you're doing it wrong. And if you're acting poorly toward someone because they acted poorly toward you, sorry, but you're doing it wrong. 

At some point in our spiritual journey, we have to make the leap to showing kindness and respect to others, regardless. Society and the Bible teach us the law of an eye for an eye. But Jesus and Buddha do not. They teach us the power of forgiveness, integrity and raising others up to our light through example, rather than lowering ourselves into the darkness. And they also teach us to treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. 

These are difficult lessons to learn because they ask us to be conscious before we act. They ask us to come out of ourselves and consider the other person. They ask to act from a place of self reference, rather than a place reaction to an outside source. And they ask us simply to be a better person than we were the time before. When you think of it as "that cashier was moving too slowly", you can justify being nasty. But when you think it of as "I used my elevated power as a customer to humiliate and embarrass this speed-challenged cashier," it's harder to justify and continue. 

Continuing with the former won't make you any different from many of the people who walk this earth, nor will it cancel your entry to heaven. The only tangible consequence is that you may feel bad about doing it afterward. But in spiritual or personal terms, you do continue to let this cycle of anger and guilt churn on in yourself. Doing the latter allows you to transcend that cycle, see it more honestly and understand the situation from a higher plane, one where there is no power differential or different options for response. 

1/23/13—Grabbing a New Rope

Today's Draw: The Seven of Staffs in the "What to Leave in the Past" position from the Glastonbury Tarot and the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Do you wish you could just snap your fingers and have a different life? What do you need to let go of so you can grab ahold of that thing you'd rather have? What keeps you from doing it? 

You'll be seeing me use my Deck of 1000 Spreads here more often, I imagine. When tarot readers do full readings for their clients, they usually have the context of a spread position to help them focus their reading. Most blogs just choose a Card of the Day, as I have for the past two years. But adding the context of a spread positions gives us a bit more information about what the cards are trying to tell us. 

Before I get to today's message, I found a curious package on my front porch today. It was curious because it wasn't the size or shape of anything I was waiting on from anywhere. And it came by FedEx, instead of the mail. Inside was the book that goes with the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Now, I've been pretty cool about this whole thing so far, but seeing my name on a book for the first time...well, that's something special. The other day I was responding to someone in the UK about my deck and I checked the book stores I usually buy from in England and they had it for pre-order. Seeing your idea spread around the world is pretty cool, too. And knowing your British cousins (my mom was from England) can walk into a store and see your product on the shelves...wow. 

My book and deck will be sold in a kit with a box. It seems everything is printed and now it just needs to be assembled and shipped out to sellers. I started on this particular journey about two years ago. And now it's this real, tangible thing that the biggest tarot publisher in the US, Llewellyn, is going to send all around the world. And people will know my contribution to this art/skill that I've dedicated so much of my "hobby" time to 25 years. And one day I hope to do the same with the kind of writings I've been doing for you for the past couple of years. Today I'm quite grateful to the universe. :)

Yeah. I wrote that book. I'm cool. 

So, on to what we should leave in the past. At first glance, you're probably thinking, "huh? Leave courage in the past?" That's what I thought when I first saw it. I thought I was going to have to really spin today's entry...haha. But I don't. Because each of the wands that's burning in the fire is the baggage of the past. The man has transferred the energy of his story, his mistakes, his pains and the other aspects of his psyche that have caused issues in his past and present. And he's thrown them in the fire. No more crutches. No more excuses. No more holding on to outdated versions of who he's supposed to be. 

By doing this, he's cleaned the slate and created a vacuum for new things to rush into. In tarot, there's a popular spread or reading layout called the Celtic Cross. And one of the positions is "Greatest Hopes and Fears". And the cool thing about this position is that the card that appears here is usually something we both hope for AND fear. Life often brings that irony...the thing we most want is the thing that scares us the most. 

This clean slate thing is one of those things we both want and fear. We want something new in our lives, but we don't want to let go of what's familiar and predictable first...we want to keep it in our grasp in case the new thing doesn't work out. Even if we hate the old thing. Letting go of one rope that's keeping you in the safe and familiar, just so you can grab another that's going to swing you god only knows where, takes a lot courage. 

So today's card combo is telling us it's time to let go of that baggage and grab on to the new rope and go where it guides you. I started letting go of the old rope a number of years ago when I started committing myself to teaching, writing this blog and working on my people and leadership skills. And when I reached inside that package that landed on my front porch today and pulled out a book with my name on it, I knew the old rope was gone and I had now grabbed on to the new rope. 

I've been preparing for this all my life, in one way or another. I suppose it's possible this will be the only book I write...the only public "product" I create...but I think I know in my heart that this is just the first crack in a dam that will one day burst forth with something only vaguely resembling the quiet, invisible life I have now. 

So it's time to gather up my staffs and ready more of my past attitudes, limitations and false beliefs for the fire. If I want to do more and serve more with my words—which I do—I have to rise to my ambition. I don't have to be there tomorrow, thank god...haha. But I at least have to light the flame. 

What are you being called to burn away?