Sunday, January 17, 2021

A friend of mine recently wrote a blog post called, “Crazy Town”. As I read it, I marveled at the clarity of her description. It touched something deep within me. “That’s it”, I thought. “That’s been my life’s path.”

At around the same time, I watched a movie based on the supernatural. The main character chose a tarot card, face down, from the deck, to depict her intended path. It was “The Moon.” I was compelled to do the same and the result was the “Ten of Challenges (Swords) reversed”.

At first, I was dismayed. This is traditionally one of the most catastrophic cards in the tarot deck. In the Rider-Waite deck, it is depicted by a prone figure with ten swords piercing his back. In the gentler Forest of Enchantment deck, which was given to me by a friend and is also a source of inspiration, an aged knight is leaning against a tree. His head is in his hands and a broken sword is laying on the ground before him. “That’s me,” I thought. “I’m the aging knight, weary from my battles through Crazy Town.” But it was REVERSED!

The traditional interpretation of reversed cards in the tarot is the opposite or opposing force that is blocking the energy of the upright card from being realized. What is the balancing force for “being weary of fighting battles?” Is it to withdraw or quit? Can I trade the 10 of Challenges reversed for The Sun, a positive major arcana? Or at least pick again?

No. For me, acceptance of what I have chosen in the spiritual plain prior to birth has been a major spiritual lesson. I will always fight (or advocate, since that word is unpopular these days). I will FIGHT for the homeless “bag lady” on the street who thinks she’s St. Michael the Archangel. I will FIGHT for the cancer survivor who won’t just lay down and die. I will FIGHT for the disenfranchised, beaten down steelworker who won’t go quietly into that dark night.

So I will meditate, eat wisely, exercise, cultivate solitude, go for long walks and contemplate nature. But I will NEVER give up the FIGHT!