Inside This River

Inside this river there is a moon
which is not a reflection.

From the river bottom the moon speaks.
I travel in continuous conversation
with the river as it goes.

Whatever is above
and seemingly outside this river
is actually in it.

Merge with it, in here or out there,
as you please.

This is the river of rivers
and the beautiful silence of endless talking.

~ * ~ * ~

The above poem by the 12th century Sufi, Jalauddin Rumi is the poem for this day of June 24th. I'm struck by how it fits so seamlessly with today's daily draw of both oracle and Tarot cards.

 

The Angel Uzziel, with his message of "Caring Compassion" invites us to sit at the table with us him today. The LWB tells us his name means "God is my Strength". A further search on the web describes him as being the angel Jacob wrestled with before acquiring his new name, Israel. Elsewhere he is described as the angel of mercy and forgiveness which are more particular descriptives of Compassion. This feels especially apparent as I gaze at the picture.

Uzziel is seated upon a lovely, peach-tinged pink half-shell or lotus, it could be either, upon a beautiful lapis-blue sea full of waves and extending far backwards. My first thought, seeing him rising out of the half-shell is that of both Botticelli's Venus Rising and from another angle the shell took on the shape of the half-lotus so often seen in Buddhist thangkas where various buddhas or Taras are seeing sitting on atop it surrounded by the cosmos. This very much has those two influences in it.

Uzziel is dressed in graceful teal colored robes that drape and swirl around him. His feet are bare and earthy, a contrast to the watery element he appears in and my thought is that he knows how to walk upon the sacred drum of this earth while at the same time being at home in the realm of the heart. His right hand, his active hand extends out wards with his palm open and his left hand touches his heart, dervish-style, in remembrance of the perfection from whence he came. HIs wings are clearly visible and he gazes downwards with a look of deep compassion and tenderness. In front of him are four gold fish jumping out the water presumably to receive his blessing.

There is something so poignant about seeing these fish with their yearning for the blessings of love and care. For don't we all begin as fish swimming in the salinity of that murky, liminal narrowing where only the navel's coil remembers the mystery of our spawning?  I find it very easy to connect with Uzziel because of his beauty which combines softness and strength. All the water and the blue colors encourage my own watery element to respond in kind.

So with this teaching of compassion, mercy and forgiveness so gracefully portrayed in the card of Uzziel I draw my two cards for the day asking what areas do I need to bring the qualities of compassion to. I draw the Four of Pentacles and the King of Cups.

 I am immediately struck by synchrony between these two cards and Uzziel, as though he synthesizes them both, brings them together. The contraction of the four fish wanting, wanting something from Uzziel are those four coins beings so tightly held onto, the King of Cups amidst his watery realm feels like Uzziel in earthly form.

The figure in the Four of Coins holds a single. large coin in hid left hand while three similarly large coins sit at the graceful folds of his robes. He wears a small crown so presumably has all the riches he needs and yet he sits, isolated from the folk behind him, away from the bustling city that looms up behind her and rather in a quiet spot away from the fray with his book. The decorative piping across the heart and shoulders of his outfit suggest a subtle kind of imprisonment and yet his gaze to the right asks for something other than what he has right now in front of her. He looks longingly, it appears, at something in the distance. He has riches, certainly, but perhaps not the kind that satisfy him. The basket at his left might be filled with any number of things. What he doesn't realize is that the King of Cups is standing right there to his left, a master of the heart if there ever was one who might perhaps be able to help the figure in the Four of Pents.

Another favorite of mine from this deck, this King of Cups is sober but full of heart and feeling. He has a look of melancholy but with such eyes I like to think his melancholy is not a stranger to its wilder cousin, joy. HIs gold chalice sits upon the bedrock of the shore asking us to find that bedrock within us, where is that place where we can contain all the ambiguities of life, all the seeming polarities. They all have a home in this sacred cup tended by the noble King. A crab crawls towards the chalice reminding me of all the cancerians I know with their exterior shell hiding a soft interior. The quality of water, as in the card of Uzziel is pronounced and beautiful. Mysterious, accommodating and expansive the sea plays a key role in this card. A boat full of fishermen row either towards or away from shore.





Looking at these three cards together I feel a sense of joy, of possibility for that part of me who identifies with the Four of Pentacles and I allow her to lean in to the gentle embrace of both Uzziel and the King of Cups rocked by the movement of the inner sea they both make their home in. Is this compassion, I wonder? Is this what it means to act "with-passion," with interest and heart towards oneself? Rumi's poem above suddenly swims into my awareness...

I travel in continuous conversation
with the river as it goes.

Whatever is above
and seemingly outside this river
is actually in it.

I end as I began, attuning to the words of this great mystic and allowing them an alchemy in my body...

This is the river of rivers
and the beautiful silence of endless talking.