Maiden ~ Mother ~ Crone

Kunzite ~ Self-Love ~ Crystal Reading Cards

I have to own up to a little inward groan that arose when I saw this card. The skeptical cynic in me was rather keen to dismiss this popular new-agey adage. And the buddhist in me joined in with choruses of 'there is no self, there is no self, hi ho the dario there is no self'. Ahem! Rather telling, I think, to have to wade through all that to get to a place of, if not receptivity then at the very least neutrality towards this suggestion. I do resist these kind of blanket statements that seem to miss various integral subtleties and yet...I shall allow this pebble to drop into the still pool of my no-self and see where the widening circles take me.

The related chakra is the heart, naturally, and the LWB tells me that 'Kunzite offers the blessing of unconditional love at its purest...this potent medicine teaches a new way of loving unconditionally.' Is that even possible while still subject to the very real conditions of a body, of the physical realm with all its trajectories and structures in place, its gods of time and space? Some phrases about the crystal's meaning...

~ Connects you to your own infinite source of love
~ Allows the heart to expand and flow giving and receiving 
~ Promotes healing from abandonment and rejection
~ Opens and aligns the heart chakra to divine love
~ Assists in dissolving deeply held pain and resentment

While these claims feel dubious they do present me with an opportunity to look and see where these particular themes come up in my life, to open to possibilities that might be asking for a voice here. It's good to be reminded of inner work still to be done where matters of the heart are concerned particularly as they relate to one's own ability to navigate the world in a way that is yielding, open, transparent. These are ongoing aspirations of my own and I acquiesce when I read the suggestion to place the card on my heart center and breathe in the 'powerful medicine of love'. As I do so I'm aware of my ribcage expanding and contracting as though Love were the wings a magnificent bird opening and closing my bones, breath, sinew with grace and incredible generosity. And this without my even asking!

Six of Cups ~ Queen of Swords ~ Crystal Visions Tarot

In many ways this pair of cards sums up the places I need to focus on with regards to the suggestions in the oracle card, the vulnerable child within and the steely, focused woman without, Six of Cups and Queen of Swords respectively.

Looking at the figures in these cards I feel as though they are all involved in some kind of dialogue together though some of it feels silent perhaps even unconscious. I see the three faces of the Goddess here, too, the Maiden as the the little child, the Mother as her guardian or perhaps even her actual mother, and the Crone as the Queen of Swords, typically represented as a mature woman. All three of these archetypes are an active part of my experience as I wade through the, for me, murky and ambiguous waters of self-love suggested represented by Kunzite in the oracle card

Six of Cups ~ Crystal Visions Tarot by Jennifer Galasso

This is such a sweet version of this card, traditionally the card of nostalgia and sentimentality to do with childhood and memories of times past. The moon appears in every card in this suit in various forms and stages and here it appears in its waning crescent form, traditionally associated with the Crone aspect of the Goddess, as though this lunar grandmother is looking down upon her younger selves very much in accord with this card's symbology.

I'm most drawn to the little girl who allows me to feel into those young, upolished places within that want mothering, that remember times when mothering came from an outside source rather than the inner refuge it is becoming as I age. The older figure in the card is emerging from the water, from the unconscious or the past, to continue on her journey and yet she looks back seeing the small girl she once was. There is a look of nostalgia on her face as though she briefly longs to return to that less individuated state. But instead she reaches back to receive the sixth luminous cup from her little charge, a transmission that allows her step forwards into the unknown with her roots and lineage supporting her. The lilies, the liminal sky, the bullrushes and water all suggest transformation and movement is possible if awareness is brought to this desire for simpler times, for nostalgia and sweet youth.

Queen of Swords ~ Crystal Visions Tarot ~ Jennifer Galasso

Presumably the young woman in the Six of Cups has matured now into this masterful Queen of Swords. Unlike the emotional feeling in the Six of Cups this Queen rules with her head though not without compassion and keen perceptive abilities. Her sword gleams like a beacon of truth, she appears on a pillow of clouds, her wings soft and pink and actively in the picture all suggesting the mental realm of air where she is most comfortable. Butterflies flit about and one is poised on her left, receptive, hand as if to let us know that this Queen, too, knows when to yield. The clouds in the distance part to let the dawn light through much the way the Queen of Swords' insights help to dispel any murky emotional thought processes.

This is a softer version of some Queen of Swords and yet her expression, while not severe, is certainly sober, a guide for times when rational, logical application is needed.

Crystal Visions Tarot ~ Crystal Reading Cards

All three cards together are telling me a story about honoring both the younger part of me and the less emotional, harder-edged mature side of me. Both have a valid voice with curiosity, aka self-love, as the bridge. The Queen of Swords in this trio looks as though she'd like to join her younger selves but is at a bit of a loss as to how to do that. I'm envisioning the three of them sitting together in the Queen's lofty cloud-palace and sharing their experience and the wisdom each of them has to offer while the Deva of Kunzite watches over them.

This scenario is one that I'll spend some time with today. It feels relevant and inviting and I'm curious to know whose voice will be the one most resonant in my own inner cloud-palace.