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Epiphanies and Elephants

swords03 copyWelcome to the latest edition of the Tarot Blog Hop. The theme for this Mabon Blog Hop is to talk about a time when our understanding of the Tarot underwent a quantum leap, what brought about the change in our understanding of the Tarot and how we approach the Tarot differently than we did before the change. In other words “the things that I wished I knew about Tarot sooner than I learned them.”

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I thought long and hard about whether to participate in this hop, since when it comes to Tarot, I can’t honestly say I’ve had any massive leaps in understanding, as such. No light on the road to Damascus, no divine revelations complete with angelic choirs and heavenly light, no epiphany, no OMGs, not even a blinding lightbulb moment. No, it’s been more of a process of gradual realisation. A realisation that there was an elephant (not necessarily a pink one) in the room and although it had been there all the time, I had just not noticed it. In short, the process has been more quantum creep than quantum leap, rather like the oft-unnoticed snail on the RWS 9 of Pentacles card.

I have, at some point, undergone the realisation that the Tarot is not some scary woo-woo communication device to the unknown*, but simply a picturesque pack of cards made of ordinary cardboard created by an ordinary person artist. Albeit, they are cards that can be used for infinitely more significant applications that merely playing card games although, that too, is a possibility and, indeed, their original purpose. That realisation made the Tarot suddenly more accessible for use on a daily basis and not just something to be reverentially taken out when needing to make a momentus life-changing decision. In short, that began my real Tarot journey. If only I’d known sooner 😀

*Well, OK, it kind of is a communication device to the unknown…but not a scary woo-woo one 🙂

Then, there are all the other little puzzles that have, in the fullness of time, fallen into place. For example, what business a card which is traditionally interpreted as “heartbreak”, clearly an emotional experience, is doing in the uber-logical suit of Swords. Duh! The emotional pain passes and what is left is the knowledge and remembrance of the pain, holding us back. A demon of the mind and not the heart, as are many of the Swords cards. The cleansing rain is what is needed to allow us to grow beyond that self-imposed limitation and move on unhampered by past relationship outcomes. Of course, the notion that the Swords suit itself is all about emotionless logic is itself nonsensical in the face of 9 Swords (Angst), 8 Swords (Self-doubt), 10 Swords (OMG! what a lot of emotional drama we have here) and the rest. The heart and mind are not as detached as we Swordsy types would like to believe.

And then, there’s what to do with the Pages and what if the Outcome card is a Court and many such little dilemmas. I have faced them, given them consideration and found a solution. Oh no, I won’t spoil the journey for you if you haven’t travelled that path yet. Besides, I’m still learning, still finding my way through the possibilities and myriad of meanings and their application to real life. A true study of a lifetime and what a ride! If only I’d known sooner 😀

 

On that note of jolly progress on life’s rich and varied path, follow the linky road below to the next blog, or the previous one, or even to the master list in case you lost your way 🙂

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23 September 2014

15 Comments to “Epiphanies and Elephants”

  1. I can’t believe you just gave away the Secret of the Swords … 😀

  2. I love your post! What a great way to shed some light on the emotions in the suit of Swords 🙂

  3. Great post and BRIllIANT TITLE! I spotted it earlier in the week and I was wondering I’ve you’d slip in Syd Barret’s effervescing elephant… but I’m happy with Nelly 🙂

  4. ‘The emotional pain passes and what is left is the knowledge and remembrance of the pain, holding us back.’ love this, so valuable and true! Blessed Mabon!

  5. Quantum creep. I like it!

  6. Well, I don’t know what went wrong yesterday, but I DID comment!!

    I’ve not had any epiphanies either 😀 I love your insight into the 3 of Swords and I luff your Pink Elephant tuneage about Nelly!!

    AX

  7. Everybody looks at that snail. 😉

  8. Enjoyable. I really love elephants so this made me smile for other reasons.

  9. lol! What a fab post! Good thoughts on that 3 of swords…pardon the pun:)

  10. Ha ha, yes, that Ten of Swords has drama queen written all over it. Ah, the tangled web of heart and mind. Love the elephants, too 😀

  11. Absolutely brilliant on the mind/heart thing with the swords. I had not put the drama ones all together like that before. We are wonderfully mixed up creatures, we humans.

    It’s also rather refreshing to hear this take on the ‘quantum creep’ version of learning about something. We tend to give a lot of attention to epiphanies, but many things we learn are part of a gradual process. You, Vivianne, and Ali all seem to have gone down the gradual path. And some of us who’ve had major epiphanies tend to forget all the practice and whatnot that let up to them. 🙂

  12. So many great nuggets of information and insight in this post (that have already been listed by others), thank you, Ania!

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