10 May 2007

Feb. 2007 Modern Oracle Newsletter

Modern Oracle Newsletter

February 2007

“What is in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

The Pensieve

Happy Valentine’s Day!

You got to love any day that gives you an excuse to eat chocolate… especially with the gusto that this one does. Cards and candy all around! As you’ve probably guessed, I love the momentary indulgence and hedonistic aspects of all the major holidays. But you still have to wonder how we got here. How did we get from a day were everybody stands around and goes “Awww” at young sweethearts to a celebration of everyone and every relationship with cards, chocolates, flowers and all the pink and red trimmings?

One quick Google search and you will find a variety of legends around the origins of Valentine’s Day. Some say it dates back to 270 CE, when Valentine, a priest in Rome, married young soldiers in secret contrary to the Emperor Claudius’ orders. He was, of course, killed for his defiance, but not until after he had sent letters to the jailor’s daughter who was kind to him during his imprisonment. He signed the letters “from your Valentine”…and thus began the tradition of notes and cards between lovers in mid-February. A more likely scenario is that it was an attempt to Christianize the Roman pagan holiday of Lupercalia, an early fertility celebration in preparation for spring.

Just as with YuleChrisHannaRamaKwanzaadan…this holiday has grown, and evolved over time. Grown for the better, in my book.

The day is no longer limited to undercover sweethearts. School kids make nice with the whole class, and share note cards and sweets with everyone. Couples that have been married for decades still exchange tokens, and appreciate the little things that brought them together in the beginning. Sure, it is a pretty sour time for those who are single and not in a relationship. But that is up to the individual in a sense…it could be seen as a chance to celebrate the other relationships and friends they DO have. Or at least be lonely with extra fervor – after all, there is always chocolate!

Things happen for a reason, and so I think it is with this expansiveness of holidays. There is a lesson to be learned from all those pink and red hearts we see this time of year.

This can be an opportunity to celebrate human emotion, relationships, and above all our innate impulse to love. It doesn’t matter if the relationship we celebrate is a romantic one, a family one, or a social one. We all have various relationships in our lives. Sometimes we are spouses, sometime children, sometimes friends. ALL of these relationships have value.

Our culture may slice love up into little compartments, like the little cups that hold the individual candies inside those heart shaped boxes. Love for family goes here, love for spouse goes there, love for friend goes there, and all the other emotions get their little cubby holes too.

But whatever name you hang on it, the individual candies are part of the whole box…and the whole holiday.

By whatever name you hang on it, love is part of the greater whole of human experience. By whatever name, it is still sweet. The heart of Valentine’s Day surrounds it all. Even love of self. So if you are alone this year, why not make friends with yourself, and celebrate that relationship? It will make way for more relationships of the other kind in years to come.

If you have lovers, friends and family in your life, you are a fortunate one! Let us celebrate all who we care about. Isn’t that what holidays are for?

Well, that…and chocolate!

So no matter what holiday it may be, no matter what name we hang on it, the emotion of love is the same, and it is abundant. It is a rose that by any name always smells sweet.

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One Card Tarot Meditation

THE FOOL

This month’s card is the first card in the Major Arcana. As you may know, the Major Arcana cards are thought to reflect the stages of life and the major lessons we learn along the way. The Major Arcana cards have the richest and most complex meanings of all the Tarot cards.

The fool is a card of beginnings. In modern terms, a better name would be “The Innocent”. The word fool has many negative connotations…one of recklessness, ignorance…indeed foolishness. That isn’t the tone of the card we see today. The main word here is innocent. Not naive, which is a very different thing. There isn’t a lack of experience or a lack of judgment here…there is a lack of judgmental-ISM! This is a card of innocence in its most Zen sense. Here we see an energy of open acceptance, without judgment. It is a pure enjoyment of life, taking experience at face value.

Connect this with the Penseive for this month. Love is not something to be labeled, measured, or judged. It is to be experienced, treasured and given lavishly. Love is an emotion to be accepted at face value. Love is a thing of innocence, given and accepted openly, honestly, and without reservation or judgment. Is your spouse all that and your best friend too? Love them like that. Do you have a friend who is as dear to you as any genetic sibling could be? Love them like that. Honor the emotion you genuinely feel, with all the innocence of our not so foolish card, The Fool.

Love and Light to you all,

Baihu

www.modern-oracle-tarot.com

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