On Sunday, six people who were members of a Sikh temple near Milwaukee, Wisconsin were killed by a white supremacist gunman. Not only does the heart split open with grief, but the mind staggers at the many issues this incident brings up: racism, religious supremacy, lack of gun control, and more. The moment we cease to remember our interconnectedness is the moment when we see ourselves and others on different “levels”. The shadow side of the archetype of the apocalypse enters the picture and demands that something/someone “lesser” than we are be taken out of the picture. Horrifying! I need to be sure that when I describe people here — Sikh, citzens of Wisconsion, white supremacist, gunman — that I don’t alienate them from the web of life.
As happens so often when things seem out of kilter, I’m checking in with Life’s wise whispers through the language of the tarot, in this case the Dodal version of the Tarot de Marseille, to find some sense and some suggestions for change in these times of divison. For each question, I’m picking two cards and noticing what the pair’s interaction suggests to us.
1. How can we honour those who were killed in the Sikh temple on Sunday? XVIII and VIIII. We can listen to the mournful howls of the grandparents who lost loved ones. We can hold up a way to illuminate and look more honestly into our own night-time depths. We can notice the guidance of elders.
2. What is the larger issue behind this act of violence? XVIIII and XX. An egocentric desire for divine approval. An immature notion of transcendence. A childish attempt to create rites of passage into adulthood.
3. What is a first step to eliminating this violence? X and VII. Examine the cogs and wheels of the war machine. Initiate the deposition of war-like leaders. Find the beasts that spin and whirl in us, then put them to good use as part of something that allows life to move forward.
Please share your responses to these questions as depicted in these cards. Any perspective that can help each of us, and all of us, shift our worldviews and lifestyles is welcome.
Thank you SO MUCH for focusing on this horrific event and bringing your wisdom, compassion and integrity forward in response. You have already helped shift the creeping despair in me through your insights. Blessings and gratitude to you.
You’re welcome, Maria. To what does the shift take you?
It clarifies purpose in the face of tragedy; holding grief and discerning madness, yet not giving in to fear or terror. Action and love prove themselves more vital, always.
It’s hard to find purpose in events like this, isn’t it, Maria? We daren’t numb ourselves, because we’ll become disconnected. We daren’t let it overwhelm us, because we’ll become stagnant. Both the Wheel and the Chariot are in motion. The charioteer is looking directly at us and there’s movement forward.
Hi James. I saw the last pair as… the wheel(and where the world is on it right now) needs to turn and we need to move it(give it a push).
Thank you, Judy. Your comment raises a question for us to consider:
“How might we turn the world toward peace, and where is the place where the turn can begin?”
Thanks James this incident strikes close to home just an hour away from where I live. The atmosphere here in Wisconsin has been tense and divisive since Scott Walker became governor. The divide between educated peaceful progressive middle class people and an imported white supremest fundamental religious undercurrent with deep pockets has held sway over the media and a growing unemployed angry population. This media body funded by children of the John Birch society founder namely the Koch Bros (Inc) has pit a good portion of the younger church going struggling male population between 30 and 45 against anything that is “other” these folks are ready to hate and fight against progress like alternative energy, public transportation, high speed rail,public school, alternative religion and have gobbled the rhetoric of the 1%. It is hard to know what is real and what is bought and paid for by outside agitators. The local police here have been suddenly given riot gear as past of there normal accoutrements as if they are gearing up for a police state. Identity theft is on the rise. And yet in the midst of it all a new cohesive progressive green educated community is rising up out of the political challenge. We have plans to attend an interfaith peace vigil at the Sikh Temple sometime this week to show our solidarity.
Please, please, Julie, continue with the peace vigil idea. And be sure that those who are connected with the temple are deeply involved in the construction and carrying out of the event. It could be a first step to healing. Let us know how it unfolds.
Pic.1. The water below the Moon flows into the Hermit’s card whose staff is in the overflow of water (an act) that needs to be fished out & attended to (before it comes to this … rather than just shine a light/look at the surface details.
… look how the water(blue)lines virtually join each other with these two cards, though the hermit is looking towards the Moon & the Moon is looking beyond everything that should be looked at (just some thoughts on what I saw in those 2 cards
Beautiful observation, Jim. It’s as if the Hermit’s toe is dipping into the overflow from the Moon. I wonder if Life is asking us to at least dip a toe into the well of tears.
Angie Buchanan the head of Earth Traditions is getting involved and organizing our involvement. Angie is a power house in matters of this type Peter and I will stand with her and everyone from Earth Traditions as things unfold. This is an opportunity for people of alternative spirituality to stand in support of our non dominant religions.
May the Earth be represented as well as the Sky has been.
Thank you for helping to make sense of the senseless, James. May all deep pain find deep comfort.
Thank you for joining us here, Lunaea. Dialoguing about it is a start. Then we can crank the “start” wheel on the chariot and get things moving a bit.
there were no reversed cards?
Not this time. All upright, so whatever needs to happen is obvious, “out there”, active, and conscious. No time to be covert about this stuff.
Thank you so much for this James. It is so easy to fall into despair over the random and senseless acts of violence that seem to be occurring with greater and greater frequency in our world. I’ve likened it to a fever — our world, Mama Gaia, is burning up and we with her. The cards you pulled for the second question both have the brillant, white hot sun beating down on the characters in the cards. How often those who commit these acts feel they have the “light” and the “right” on their side. Those two cards also strike me as being stationary, unmoving, whereas the two for how we eliminate the violence show movement and momentum, cycles and changes. Small steps, but foward motion, not forgetting what was done, but working to change how we view our world is key.
Thank you for these thoughts, CrowsFoxes. Yes, the solar light and the angelic light are in the spread position about the problem, so all the focus on “up”, “light”, “above”, “higher than body and Earth”, “young is good” is the problem. Addiction to transcendence in our culture. The original sin nonsense. In the first section, night-time and age are welcomed and in the final section, there is, as you say, motion.
James, thank you for the work you do. It inspires all of us, and especially at such a very sad time. May the Sikhs know peace, and the same for the rest of us.
We’re all in this, Meridiana, but thank you for your kind words. May all beings be happy, may all beings be safe, may all beings everywhere be free. Blessed be.