The Tarot Room

A Graffiti 10 of Wands …

Graffiti 10 of Wands …

A Graffiti 10 of Wands …

In the Big Think video below, cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman talks about two kinds of passion – harmonious and obsessive.

Harmonious passion is when we’re engaged in an activity that’s healthfully integrated into our identity and makes us feel good about ourselves. We feel in control, with no external necessity to act in any particular manner. We’re doing something because we really want to, whether or not anyone else is looking, or cares.

On the other hand, obsessive passion involves some sort of external contingency, like self-esteem, or the need/desire to please someone else. It’s the type of thing that makes us feel like we have to win at all costs, or there’s no value in playing at all.

Though we can certainly get things done with obsessive passion, it’s harmonious passion that’s more likely to lead to creative insights, not to mention an overall sense of well-being.

Kaufman’s description got me thinking about Tarot and what cards in the Suit of Wands (the suit of passion) might indicate either harmonious or obsessive passion.

Harmonious passion might be reflected in the 6 of Wands, the card of spiritual victory. When it appears in a reading it often points to the successful integration of one’s identity with one’s activities. The win described in this card comes from commitment and a natural enthusiasm for a particular activity, not from a need to defeat someone else, or from doing something because we think others hope or expect that we’ll do it.

For obsessive passion we might look to the 5 of Wands, and/or the 10 of Wands.

With the Five, there’s a sense that passions are flaring, creating a situation where people are pitted one against another, and a win can only be achieved through the defeat of someone else. Passion, in this case, is raised through conflict and rivalry rather than an inner sense of enthusiasm or constructive curiosity.

With the 10 of Wands, there’s a sense that our passions are leading us, but that the load is heavy. We may wish to put some tasks or activities down, but for reasons outside of ourselves, we feel we just have to keep at it. In this case harmonious passions are subverted as we try to maintain our strength to keep doing what we feel we should rather than what we truly want.

To hear what Kaufman has to say, take a look at the video below, and if you’ve got a Tarot deck handy, take a look for yourself and see what cards you think might describe harmonious and obsessive passion best.

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On my recent trip to San Francisco, I came across a tile mural on the side of a Safeway store.

It was created back in 1959 by John Garth, who apparently made a number of such mosaics for Safeway stores across the country.

It’s an impressive piece meant to depict how the foods of the world are grown, toiled over, and ultimately transported to shopping carts at Safeway stores everywhere.

When I saw it though, my Tarot radar went off and three cards jumped out of the picture – the 10 of Wands, the 3 of Pentacles, and the 9 of Pentacles …

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In honour of Earth Day tomorrow, and more specifically, Mother Earth herself, I thought I’d draw one card to ask what we can personally do to make the planet a little greener this year.

The card I got was the 10 of Wands. It pictures someone carrying a heavy load of sticks. The person is slightly stooped and seems to have quite a distance to go before they’ll get to their destination.

Typically I tell someone who pulls this card to consider decreasing some of their responsibilities, delegating tasks, and/or asking for some help.

The load has grown too heavy and if they continue as they’ve been going, they’re headed for a collapse of sorts.

Looking at this card from the perspective of my question though, it strikes me that we’re being asked to lessen our load on the planet. And in particular, our energy load, as the suit of wands is closely associated to energy in all its forms.

Moving forward as we have been is too much for the earth and collapse is likely if we don’t make change.

Furthermore, I think the card might be indicating that we’ve got some serious work ahead, and that there’s a distance to go before we can claim victory.

I see optimism here though, even in the midst of what the Thoth deck calls ‘oppression’. All the tens in Tarot suggest the end of a cycle, and we’re likely facing one as a society right now.

How can we start making change today? What old ways of doing things can we leave behind in the past, and where can we look to find inspiration for the future?

I should probably pull some more cards on those questions too …

Happy Earth Day!! Be Green.

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10 of Wands

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
10 of Wands

It’s finally getting too much for you.  You’re spending so much time looking after all the little details for both you and everyone else that you’re almost too overwhelmed to keep going. 

Sometime soon you’re going to have to put down the load and reevaluate what you’re doing.  There’s only so much you can carry before you collapse.

Is it possible that you’ve lost a bit of your fire in all the busy-ness?  By now you’re probably so overloaded that the motivations you began with have all but disappeared in the chaos of your daily life.

Take some time to yourself to rediscover what really matters to you.  You can’t keep carrying the load for everyone. Now’s the time to start putting some of it down.

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