Child of Earth – Every apple tastes differently

Today’s card is Child of Earth from the Gaian Tarot. The child is holding an apple in his hand. He is looking at it, he is smelling it, it is making his mouth water.  Almost all his senses but one, are  satisfied. “Taste me”, the apple seems to insist. “Take a bite. You know you want it”

The apple has always been an alluring fruit. Perhaps because it holds the mystery of the universe in its core.

Since the child is curious and eager to experience something new, we can almost be certain he will take that bite in the end. With this attitude he will remain open and flexible towards his environment. He will learn new things and will be able to adjust his opinion about the things he thought he knew for sure.

Questions:

What can I learn today? How can I shift my attitude from narrowness to openness. How can I stay young and playful at heart?

It doesn’t have to be complicated like learning a new language. No, it can be as simple as taking an other route for your walk,  buying a different loaf of bread or even wearing something other than what you always wear.

I am curious what you would do to take  a childlike approach today…..

Child of Earth - Slow Knitting

Today’s card is the Child of Earth from the Gaian Tarot. After a two well deserved Four of Air days, it is time to start engaging with the world again.  Last weekend I was away to attend a family weekend for my mother’s birthday and you all know how straining these social events can be for me. I always need some time to replenish afterwards but today I almost feel like my old self again. This child’s energy is definitely helping me. The first things that came to mind  when I drew this card were: knitting (green sweater), cuddling with Jofee (little rabbit), eating fresh fruit (apple) and spending more time outside. After some longer consideration this card also reminded me of being mindful and experiencing the outside world with our senses. Life can be felt, seen, tasted, heard and smelled. This give us such an more balanced understanding of life than by only thinking about it. The Child of Earth invites us to embrace our beginners mind and approach our day with an attitude of eagerness and openness and without preconceptions.

As you all know by now I am crocheting and knitting a lot lately. I have to say I can do both things very rapidly but and one thing that helps me to really be present is to watch closely how I knit very slowly, stitch by stitch, and how my fingers lead the yarn and how very gradually my knitting grows larger. This is such a sensory activity. I smell and feel the yarn (whool), I see what I do and I hear the ticking  of my needles and no, I don’t taste it;  that part  is taken care of by my coffee and biscuits.

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."

Justice – Trying to maintain the Balance

On this Summer Solstice day, which happens to be illuminated by a full moon tonight, I drew Justice from the Gaian Tarot. Among other things this card is also all about finding balance in our daily life. An aspect which is a lot on my mind lately. In the tarot community we often talk  about the need for balance; how to find it and even more urgent in today’s world, how to keep it. This suggests that balance is something you can hold on to tightly so when  you’ve finally found it you won’t lose it ever again. For me however a sense of balance is as fleeting as happiness or joy. And also the more we strive for it, the more elusive it gets. For me balance is a verb. A constant movement between experiencing it and losing it and a continuous checking in with ourselves how we are  feeling and if we are still walking our path. So whenever we feel  balanced we are a aware of it and whenever we lose it we know we have to adjust our ways.

What can help us to stay on the path towards a balanced and mindful life: the Child of Earth. We couldn’t have hoped for a better teacher than this child. With his little rabbit as a companion, his curiosity for  the world around him keeps him in the present moment. He experiences life withal his senses. Suddenly I am wondering how his apple would smell, taste and feel and it makes my mouth water. This kind of awareness of the abundance all around us, will help us to achieve a balanced life.