This morning my son, Kayne, asked me if I had ever seen tarot cards. I said, “Are you kidding? I used to use the tarot a lot when I was younger.” I led him into the living room where I started searching the bookshelves for my old deck. I pulled out the cards and the book that goes along with them.
Then, making sure I removed all the loose-leaf sheets of paper with notes and questions from past, I handed him the cards and divination book. I said, “How do you think people use these?” He said, “They’re to tell the future, aren’t they?”
I said, “Hmmm. Well, in my experience, oracles — things like the tarot or runes— are ways to help me know where I am right now. They help me see more clearly what is going on for me in the moment.”
Kayne said, “That’s silly. Of course you know what’s going on for you in the moment. Why would you need tarot for that?”
***
After he left for school I thought about all the ways I hide what is really going on from myself: too busy to stop, brushing away my feelings, ignoring intuitions, not eating well so I feel sluggish and dull … there are lots of ways I can keep the truth at arm’s length.
Fortunately, there are also a myriad of ways I’ve learned to reconnect with myself. Oracles are one. But also meditation, yoga, reading poetry, writing, and talking honestly with friends are other ways.
How do you come out of hiding from yourself? I’d love to hear.