Greenwood Week - Day Two - Justice

Greenwood Tarot, Ryan & Potter 1996

One of the many curiosities of the Greenwood Tarot is that the majors are not in the traditional order. This is probably why they don't have numbers on the cards, as it could confuse people. Instead, the cards are arranged in Wheel of the Year order. By this reckoning, created as far as I know by Mark Ryan,  Justice falls as trump number 4, at Spring Equinox.

Chesca herself seems to have thought of the cards more firmly in the traditional order, possibly linking them numerically with the minors. Either that, or she decided to present them in the order we're familiar with in her online guide book. She places Justice in position 8, and then follows that with words about each of the minor 8s. We can see Chesca's thoughts about the Greenwood here, where she states:



'Position on wheel: Spring Equinox
Element: Fire 
Chakra: brow
Colour: red. 
Polarity: red 

There is strength in this card, that will not tolerate injustice. The deer speaks with the voice of nature itself. This card is particularly applicable at the moment when so many forests are being destroyed. The figure stands firmly, watching you with ancient eyes; tangled moss-covered branches of the Wildwood are animated by the spring sap. The red dawn sky emphasises the reawakened will to act. In one hand it holds the cutting edge of the axe, in the other a shield, upon which is an oak tree, a symbol of injustice thwarted; of the dispossessed in the Greenwood mythos defending themselves, and their natural right to live off the bounty of the land. Justice is placed in the element of fire as it was the human discovery of fire which gave us the ability both to destroy nature and warm and protect oneself. Humans have so often misused this position, acting without care or responsibility. The energies in both Justice and The Archer cards require steadiness of intention; integrity of thought, and wise action. If unharnessed, one becomes selfish and headstrong; impetuous impatience leads to ineffective action. Justice is a strong and powerful ally; a guide to a wise balance between action and defence.'

The figure in the card is a guardian of justice. But that doesn't mean he rewards the right and punishes the wrong. Mark Ryan says, 'The concepts of forgiveness or reward are not appropriate in Justice. They are human ideas which have no reality in natural lore. One reaps what one has sown.'

He goes on to say, 'We must, as individuals, constantly observe the rules and regulations of society, and these can fluctuate as the views and knowledge of civilization change. Whether on a political or moral level, we subconsciously know when a realignment of our perception is due.'

Or as Maya Angelou said, 'Do right. Just do right. Right may not be expedient. It may not be profitable. But it will satisfy your soul. It brings you the kind of protection that bodyguards can't give you.  Try to live your life so that you will not regret years of useless virtue, and inertia, and timidity. Take up the battle -- take it up. Pick up the battle and make it a better world, just where you are.'

Celtic Shamans Pack

The oracle card from Celtic Shaman's Pack, by John Matthews and Chesca Potter, which I've drawn today to accompany Justice is The Eagle, which stands for wisdom, aspiration and clear-sightedness. All of these are essential qualities if we want to achieve and receive justice in our dealings, our lives and our world.

Today may I have the strength, clear-sightedness, and higher perspective of the Eagle, so that I can deal with others justly, and that others may be just in their dealings with me.

This week with the Greenwood - Day One

'I have no means of tapping into a supernatural force, a higher force -- no. Images are made by people.' - Enrique Enriquez

A relevant thought from Enriquez as I move into this week, where I'll be reading with the Greenwood Tarot and an oracle illustrated by the same artist, Celtic Shaman's Pack. These images are made by people -- and their meaning is assigned by people. And that's enough.

My questions:

What can I do to alleviate my stress and feel less tired and worried? What should I be asking for from others? Where should I practice acceptance? Where should I stand my ground?

Greenwood Tarot, Mark Ryan & Chesca Potter, Thorsons 1996

I can realise and accept that challenge is a normal state of affairs. There's never a time when we aren't facing some battle or other. You just carry on...and like the hares, you realise that it's rarely a life and death and fight, anyway. The guidebook even bears this out: 'Learn to deal with rivalry or adversity.' Ha.

Healing from others is what I need right now, or rather, enough respite to find healing myself. I need enough of the burden carried by someone else that I can find space and time to do this important work.

I must accept that my counterpart in this life is not like me, doesn't think like me, doesn't operate like me, doesn't feel like me and isn't me. A partner isn't a mirror of ourselves. I must accept the polarity of our relationship and how we stand together but separate.

I should stand my ground when it comes to my inner voice. I should, in other words, have confidence in my ability to find creative solutions to my problems.

I see the repeating motif through this spread of pairs. The two upright hares, the two figures in 2 of Cups and the post stones in 3 of Stones. I am reminded that I do not move through this world alone, and I would do well to remember this. Duality can mean tension and conflict, but it can also mean cooperation and strength.

Deva of Air - Breathe, You Are Alive

Deva of Air, Devas of Creation, Conway

Will they ever come to me again, 
The long dances,
On through the dark till the dim stars wane?
Shall I feel the dew on my throat
And stream of wind in my hair?

-- Euripedes, The Bacchae (qtd in The Devas of Creation: Working with the Energies of the Universe, Conway)

It's the last day of Devas of Creation week, and very glad I am to see something less gloomy today. We have Deva of Air, one of the Elemental cards in this deck. (There is also Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit). These, according to Conway in the companion book, are the building blocks of matter.

In this card, we see the upward movement of Air, as it morphs into a humanoid shape --the better to relate to, my dear! A female figure wends its way upward, having woven her spell and escaped all who wished to keep her down by consuming her.

'The deva points out that a couple of hours of real air will revive us, blow away the cobwebs, and allow us to think more clearly. Go out, run up a hill, fly a kite, find the 'long, long dances' and remember how good life can be,' writes Cilla Conway in the companion book.

This card is about liberation from cares.

How can the element of Air liberate us from cares?

In Thich Nhat Hanh's book 'Breathe, You Are Alive: The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing,' the Four Foundations of Mindfulness are discussed --

1. The body ('Form').  The practice of mindful breathing brings awareness to the body. We can then reconcile ourselves to our body, and allow healing to take place.

2. Our feelings. The practice of mindful breathing brings awareness of our feelings, and it is only through awareness that we can recognise them, reconcile ourselves to them, calm them, transform them, and heal them.

3. Mental formations. This concept is rather complex. In a nutshell, a mental formation is a  conditioned response to an object of experience. One might say it is a response based on our perceptions, a reaction to a trigger. This is where Buddhism sounds a lot like Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. You see clearly the pattern of your mental formations in response to some trigger. You can recognise the conditions that brought the mental formation to you (this practice is called Vipasana).

4. Perception. When the mental formation is recognised, then the perception can be challenged. Most suffering comes from wrong perception. If we look at the true nature of reality, we are released from suffering based on wrong perceptions. Form, feelings and mental formations are all the objects of our perceptions.

How is this so? I perceive my body as a whole, when in fact it is an aggregate of many parts and cannot function without the system in place. At a deeper level, I perceive my body as solid, when in fact it is made up mostly of liquid. Even deeper, I perceive my body as material when in fact it is made up of atoms containing mostly empty space.

I perceive my emotions as real and singular, when in fact they are a physical response to complex stimuli.

I perceive my mental formations as logical and right, when in fact they are skewed by my perceptions of the way things are or ought to be.

All of this insight comes of focusing on the breath. Or it can. And that's how the Deva of Air can deliver us from care.

This is a little more thorough than engaging in the distraction of running up a hill or flying a kite, but those techniques also have their place.

What can you do today to help you rise above forms, feelings, mental formations and perceptions that try to tether you to suffering?

We don't need no stinkin' astrology :D

Pluto, Devas of Creation, Cilla Conway 

Well, it just keeps getting better and better with the Devas of Creation this week. But I have to admit, I have been feeling pretty bleak. Apparently, this card depicts Pluto and its moon or 'satellite', Charon. Conway says that Pluto is Hades and Charon is the Ferryman (their namesakes), and that Pluto 'rules over the collective as well as the personal, particularly in relation to power and its misuse. It challenges stagnant systems and brings about change, death and rebirth.'

You know what, I get a little tired of every card in every oracle deck being about 'transformation and rebirth'. And I don't see how this particular planet could be about either of those. I mean, I know that in astrology, Pluto represents the decay and transformation part of the life cycle, but seriously, what doesn't?

The scale shown between Charon and Pluto is about right, as Charon is said to be half the diameter of Pluto, but they bear very little resemblance to one another. Pluto has the reddish colour, but Charon has a lighter colour, and their compositions are different. Though scientist believe they were born in a collision billions of years ago, 'in many ways they seem more like strangers than siblings', according to NASA:

'A high-contrast array of bright and dark features covers Pluto’s surface, while on Charon, only a dark polar region interrupts a generally more uniform light gray terrain. The reddish materials that color Pluto are absent on Charon. Pluto has a significant atmosphere; Charon does not. On Pluto, exotic ices like frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide have been found, while Charon’s surface is made of frozen water and ammonia compounds. The interior of Pluto is mostly rock, while Charon contains equal measures of rock and water ice.'

So if we wanted to be more literal in interpreting this card (and I'm growing to believe that literal analysis of a card generally leads to more accurate figurative interpretations), we need to think about the distance Pluto is from the sun, and its tiny size, and the controversy surrounding its classification, and its lengthy orbital period of 248 Earth years, and the 'chaos and pandemonium' of the orbits of its moons, which scientists call 'beyond disorganised -- it's unexplainable.' Pluto's gravitational pull seems to have no influence on them. There's certainly a story there, don't you think? 

See, it's so much more exciting and filled with possibility to consider the literal meanings of things, rather than turning to esoteric or traditional associations. And you get to possibilities beyond the usual, 'change is ahead, something dies and is reborn' trope. Well, duh. That's the only thing we ever knew on Earth -- birth, life and death. Of course we interpret everything as ultimately meaning that. But it makes for a predictable and ho-hum reading. What if your reader pulled this card and said to you -- 'Wow, you feel really isolated and like the things going on around you just don't make any sense, everything's chaotic, isn't it?' You could even then go on to look at the crazy behaviour of individual Pluto moons and see what the sitter relates those to in his or her life. Wouldn't that be a better springboard than 'Hmm, I see an opportunity for death and rebirth here. What's dying and what's trying to be reborn, do you think?' Ugh, it's so old hat. It's so blah blah blah. 

Sure, it means that the reader needs to have a good general knowledge of lots of things, and willing to do some research. But I'd rather read about the real Pluto than memorise a bunch of esoteric meanings, personally. I've done the esoteric thing, but astrology never was a favourite of mine, and I've been unable to beat it into my head. Now I'm realising I don't really have to. It's useful sometimes, but it's not the only way. 

Ah, I'd like to keep rambling, but I've run out of blogging time -- gotta get ready for work. 

Today's the day to think about being way out there, far from the sun, and surrounded by truly bizarre events, which for you are so familiar they seem normal. What is the sun you are far from? What are these truly bizarre events? You'll have to look at them from a different perspective to see them for what they are -- really weird! Pluto's stuck with its weirdnesses, but we're not planets, so we're not stuck. But maybe we like it there. Think about it! How can we make it work for us, rather than against us? Or is it working against us? Is it all just a matter of point of view? Think on, boys and girls! 

You gotta break some eggs

Growth/Decay from Devas of Creation, C Conway

Look who's turned up again. I can't say I'm particularly glad to see this card, because the events that unfolded last time I drew it were not at all fun and not something that I am prepared to share on this blog. But suffice to say that an 'anchor' in my life did unexpectedly prove to be a bit more rotten than I'd thought.

I just can't look at this image without picturing an egg and its chalaza, the white structure that serves as the anchor as the egg grows and develops (assuming it is fertile, which actually most commercial eggs are not).

You can see from the diagram how the chalaza anchors the egg yolk in the middle of the egg:

I can't help but think there is some wisdom in this. It must have some meaning for me, or else I would not have drawn this card twice, nor would I have seen it as an egg broken open in a bowl both times. 

I suppose when this card comes up, it is time to really take a good look around what has been supporting and sustaining equilibrium for you as you float in your safe comfort zone. It must be better to learn it's rotten before you shrivel up and fade away for its lack. Or worse yet, if we follow the egg analogy, get slammed around inside your shell until you are destroyed. 

There's a world outside the shell. The chalaza was keeping you anchored in the shell, which may have been the place for you for a time, but the world outside the shell is real, too. 

Going back to the card, the yolk in the bowl with the black chalaza is surrounded by swirling energy. Maybe being freed from the shell is the best thing that could have happened. Staying inside would have led only to death. But being freed suggests transformation into something else entirely. 

I know it seems a little silly to keep chasing this egg thing, but it's how I see the card and it's worth contemplation, even though it does not make a point for point tidy analogy. 

How am I no longer anchored, even though I thought I was? 

What structure, thing, person, or idea did I count on as my anchor? How has it gone bad? How is it failing to do the job I thought it was doing? 

Now that I'm free of that tether, what do I do? Where can I go? What does it mean for the direction of my life from now on? 

I can't answer those questions right now. I'm not sure what they point to. Or maybe I'm not ready to let myself go there. How about you? Can you answer those questions right now? And what does this contemplation reveal for you?