Today’s
card is the Six of Cups from the Tarot of the Hidden Realm. We see a woman bathing
in the bay. This is where she can connect to her memories in a very soothing way.
She feels them floating through her mind, just like the little waves are caressing
her body. Some of those memories are
kind and precious, some of them feel uncomfortable and sad but she tries to
accept each one of them with gentle compassion. Often when something distressful has happened, it is not so easy to take a light-hearted stroll down memory lane again. Personally I still find it very hard to revisit
photo albums from more than a decade ago….
This card
reminded me of an exercise I’ve read somewhere online once:
Shuffle your
deck, pull a card and finish the following sentence:
“I remember
a time when…………
Whatever
memory comes to mind when you look at your card, it's okay. It doesn’t matter
if the meaning of the card has nothing to do with your memory.
Often
memories are little snippets of a
larger story. You can decide if you want to spent some more time there or if
you want you can pull the next card. Don’t forget this exercise is supposed to
be a pleasant experience. Try to embrace your memories with love and compassion.
If a card disturbs you in any way feel free to pick another.
These four
cards came up for me this morning:
.
Page of
Wands: I remember a time when I got my first set of “real” watercolors and
how amazed I was by the quality of its beautiful pigments.
Ace of Pentacles.
I remember a time when I started my first job as a teacher and how thrilled I
was that I was the one who would teach
these little persons how to read in less than a year
Seven of Pentacles:
I remember two times when I shared my body with one of my girls. The waiting.
The caring and attentive love of my husband. We became parents and I like to
think we were good at it
Justice: I remember
a time when I thought life wasn’t fair. Why did this have happen to us. But gradually
over the years life taught me about balance and how time and new experiences
fill the empty places
Maybe you would like to try this for yourself. You can journal about your memories or just sit with them for a while
"We don't remember days, we remember moments." Cesare Pavese
I love this. "I remember a time" What a great way to spend time with my cards. There are times that the cards can challenge me to figure out what they are trying to convey. Next time I can picture myself stepping into the card scene and say "I remember a time..."
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely experience for me too. It felt save and accessible :)
DeleteWhat a fantastic exercise! And thank you for sharing your memories with us. :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked it Bev. and it feels good to share memories with friends :)
DeleteA bittersweet exercise...
ReplyDeleteToday more sweet than bitter :)
DeleteI love this exercise that you have shared in relation to the Six of Cups. How perfect it is for reflecting on the past! And the cards brought back such nice memories for you. I'm going to make note of this so I can try it out sometime!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I am so glad I wrote it down in my journal too back then. The fun part is that each memory is a surprise form the past. I mean who would have thought I would remember my first teaching job today :)
DeleteA beautiful post Ellen and thank you for sharing this exercise. Memories are blessings even the ones that are difficult once we can embrace them because they are all a part of what makes up who we are.
ReplyDeleteWe have a saying in AA. that goes something like this. We look back and we won't won't shut the door on the past but we won't stare.
Thank you Catherine! I like it that this exercise prevents us from staring by pulling another card and travelling to a different period of our life.
Delete