We've got the angel Mitzrael, the angel of Truth and Teaching according to the LWB. With the presence of Mitzrael we are reminded that "truth will out". He brings our attention to falsehood, lies and deception encouraging us to clearly see what is in front of us rather than relying on how things might appear. I interpret these falsehood and lies as those we tell ourself each day, self to self so we're not really fooling anyone but therein is the deception being referred to. It's almost conscious but not quite.
He flies high above two embracing couples on either side of a stream that flows into the background and my eye is drawn right along with it. He holds a bell in his active, right hand presumably to draw attention to his qualities of awareness and clear sight much like the meditation bell used in various buddhist traditions. The bell itself is such a graceful symbol, its tone reverberating in the body long after the sound has ended. He holds his left, receptive hand to his heart, a beautiful and refined gesture, a gesture of humility, of remembrance that Love is the flower that blooms within our cellular longings. The gold foil on the upper portion of this card exalts the scene beautifully...
So with this blessing of encouragement towards truth, towards clear sight and awareness I drew The Tower and The Empress. This feels like quite a powerful and in many ways natural pairing. And my mind wandered towards the feeling of symbiosis, towards the polarities of dissolution and creation that the juxtaposition of these two cards inspires. One can't have one without the other is what came to mind as difficult as that feels.
In order to embody the fertility of The Empress, in order to become pregnant with the sacred pause she embodies one must, in the words of Rumi, "go sweep out the chambers of the heart". What is a womb if not a generosity, an accommodation, an offering of space. This is often how I felt when I was pregnant, that my body had become a widening generosity. This Empress is lovely and one of my favorite cards of this deck. She sits on a lavish throne surrounded by all the elements of fertiltiy--rabbits, lilies, fruit and a baby on her lap. She has not arrived here by accident. Her role is one of mastery, of matriarchal authority and she is very comfortable in this role. The graceful folds of her blue robe and her benign smile suggest further her ease in her position. The blue background accentuates this.
In contrast The Tower is filled with darkness, terror, a focus upwards and dissolution. Figures cry out, the Tower burns, a crown falls from the very top and a figure tumbles out and down towards the ground while an angel oversees it all. This is dissolution rendered in a stark, human portrayal. We see all the different ways there might be to respond to such a ravaging crisis---one figure prays deeply, another throws up her hands, a man looks resigned to his fate grimly, a nun watches and children cry out. It is a poignant picture of the spectrum of our own hearts when up against it. I don't know who I am in the group of people. I imagine it would depend on the circumstances but I've certainly experienced all of what they are portraying at various times in my life.
So I come away from today's daily draw with the inner resolve to see with more awareness and clarity what kind of truth I'm embodying and does it allow for both emptiness and fullness. Where can those two polarities dance, where is the point where one becomes the other? These are questions I'll continue to ruminate on for weeks to come no doubt but they've been seeded today perhaps thanks to the blessings of Mitzrael. I come away with this sobering truth...
"My life is my prayer, as I live, so I am."
No comments:
Post a Comment