ethicalarcana

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Happy Hermitting// The Benefits of Introspection: Buy Yourself Flowers

Times of introspection don't have to be about sitting at home. An impromptu adventure may only be possible when the trip is a solo endeavor. You can fall in love with your creativity and charisma on a secretive date with yourself…or the persona you are trying out for the day.

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Happy Hermitting// The Benefits of Introspection: Stable Planning

Becoming introspective can be the first step to a big breakthrough. Epona was the goddess responsible for horses and other hooved animals. Her stable and protective energy is associated with grain and overflowing cornucopias. This Celtic goddess was also accepted by the Romans. Accompanied by the High Priestess (2) and the Two of Swords, this energy is all about planning for the perfect moment to harvest opportunity and protect your legacy and reputation.

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Happy Habits//Ways to Stay Healthy: LEISURELY TIME OUTDOORS

Both figures seem to be hitting the beach. Even a stroll around a lake or an afternoon exploring a scenic town can be a very healthy leisure activity. Trees and plants give off aerosols and a day on foot can help with stagnation. The King of Cups advises to take time out for a mental break; try packing a bag for a hike to a secluded location.

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Happy Hermitting// The Benefits of Introspection: Reaching Internal Goals

The Page of Cups, Ace of Swords, and Ace of Pentacles all suggest a beginner's mindset. Being a student of life means examining our approach to everyday experience. Setting and reaching internal goals is the bulk of self-help advice. An example may be setting the intention of going one more week, day, or hour before indulging in a bad habit. Perhaps being calmer on Zoom calls would change your mornings. Another person might need to be more patient with their dogs. Shortcomings are no big deal, but these level-ups need to imply introspection is needed. Spending occasional time alone can make it easier to plan ways to gain more emotional control and self-mastery.

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Happy Habits//Ways to Stay Healthy: BE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

The Ace of Swords, Queen of Pentacles, Page of Swords, and The World all suggest intelligence. This health tip is about staying up with health news and personal upkeep. With so many changes to advice about what we eat and put in our bodies, its best just to count on keeping an eye on health and safety news. Additionally, the Queen of Pentacles is usually on trend with the latest ways to stay healthy, physically energized and abundant.

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Happy Habits//Ways to Stay Healthy: DO WHATEVER YOU LOVE TO DO

There are a million ways to get healthier. The Fool, the Page of Coins, and a seated Queen of Staffs suggest being at ease while you do your thing. If you do a job you love, you never work a day in your life. The same could be said for exercise. Activities that kept you busy as kid are likely to do the same in adulthood. A favorite hobby or new fitness gizmo can do the trick as well.

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Inner Beauty Tips (Featuring Shel Silverstein)//An Inner Child...The Inner Child is 'Becoming' but not Whole

FOR EACH READING, I CHOSE A SHEL SILVERSTEIN POEM AT RANDOM AS A SIGNIFIER

POEM: SICK

OVERALL ENERGY : 7 OF PENTACLES

CLARIFIER: WINGS

INNER CHILD ENERGY: THE STAR

The poem is about a girl who does not know whether or not she is sick. That all depends on the circumstances. This child is learning cause and effect and about the rules that govern social relationships. She is manipulative, but her intentions are plain enough to be cute. The inner child is the part of us waiting for another person, like our responsible adult, to care for us.

The cards show a Star card with a figure living a full Goddess fantasy/ TYhsi combined with the wings and the 7 of Pentacles makes the reading steer towards wishful thinking. As earnest as this energy is, the inner child aspect represented in this reading is about becoming whole.

The inner adult is in charge of self-care, while the inner child represents areas of pain, pleasure, or neediness. You can think of a life well lived as one that satisfies a person's desires. A concept of the inner child can give a framework for character traits and personal goals. Early attempts to navigate the world provide a bag of tricks to be used later in life. Understanding and accepting early quirks can be a way of accepting the awkward details of being a human, big or tiny.  

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Inner Beauty Tips (Featuring Shel Silverstein)//What is an Inner Child? (Featuring Shel Silverstein)... An Amalgam of First Impressions and Misunderstandings

Inner Beauty Tips (Featuring Shel Silverstein)//What is an Inner Child? (Featuring Shel Silverstein)... An Amalgam of First Impressions and Misunderstandings

FOR EACH READING, I CHOSE A SHEL SILVERSTEIN POEM AS A SIGNIFIER

POEM: JOEY

OVERALL ENERGY :3 OF WANDS

CLARIFIER: VIRGINIA WOOLF, VISION

INNER CHILD ENERGY: 3 OF PENTACLES AND THE MOON

In the poem Joey, there is a little boy who throws a rock at the Sun and creates darkness. This is a metaphor for confusing events of childhood. In many ways, babies and children don't know why the lights go out and what the reason could be. In desperation or playfulness, we make up a story. These stories make life take shape. This early shaping can stay with us. Understanding the inner child means understanding that life is long and letting yourself and those around you to update emotional patterns.

The 3 Wands encourage the exploration of consciousness. The Moon energy seems to indicate that the inner child is ethereal but the 3 of pentacles energy suggests that the inner child is active and working. Both are true. The inner child is a part of ourselves in arrested development. If the theory is to be believed, it represents a part of ourselves that developed in the early years of life based on our impressions of the world. Even as a baby, a record was taken of the quality of life. This brief record informs our adult decisions. A healthy inner child would be dormant and occasionally titillated by a personal milestone. A disturbed inner child distracts adults with an urge to engage in negative, childish patterns.

The 3 of Pentacles asks an adult to work through unconscious issues. The Moon is a reassuring presence to let the seeker know that there is nothing wrong with the deeper aspects of psychology. Virginia Woolf's fiction is very moody and in her card, she holds an animal's head like a stuffed animal or companion. The metaphor of the inner child helps to name and understand aspects of personality.

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Inner Beauty Tips (Featuring Shel Silverstein)//Inner Child... A Champion for the a Little Guy

FOR EACH READING, I CHOSE A SHEL SILVERSTEIN POEM AT RANDOM AS A SIGNIFIER

POEM: THE LITTLE BLUE ENGINE

OVERALL ENERGY :

PAGE OF PENTACLES

CLARIFIER

TREE

INNER CHILD ENERGY

9 OF WANDS, 7 OF CUPS

In the Littel Blue Engine, the protagonist does not realize his dream no matter how much he tries. The 9 of Wands features a lone musician and the 7 of Cups is a seated figure living in a fantasy world. Children and the adults they become should not be stigmatized or abused because war efforts arent successful.

This part of the inner child experience reminds us that we were once small and unable to care for ourselves. If we hold on to this part of life experience through the metaphor of the inner child, we can be compassionate to ourselves and others

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Inner Beauty Tips (Featuring Shel Silverstein)//What is an Inner Child...Comes Out When We Feel Safe

FOR EACH READING, I CHOSE A SHEL SILVERSTEIN POEM AT RANDOM AS A SIGNIFIER

POEM: THE UNICORN

OVERALL ENERGY: THE HIEROPHANT

CLARIFIER: WALLS

INNER CHILD ENERGY: THE CHARIOT, 10 OF PENTACLES

The message of The Unicorn is pretty straightforward. The Unicorn did not make it alongside the horse into our everyday world. The feeling of inclusion is easily felt by young children and a lack of connection is surely noticed by young ones spending most of their time at home. At the same time, the inner child needs to have boundaries. In addition to the Wall, the Hierophant and 10 pentacles imply boundaries. Even the figure in the Chariot card is protected by a green dragon. This is a sensitive dance. If there are parts of ourselves that are easily triggered, the inner child is active nearby. It can come out as a complainer, protector, or troublemaker. This part of the personality needs a buffer. Routines and traditions, formal or informal can help those struggling with inner child work. Additionally, understanding what rules or family, society, and values were at play when you were a kid can help give your inner child an identity.

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Tarot// The Awkward Star

Let us pause on the reality that the brightest and most emblematic symbols of hope are lightyears away, wrapped in darkness. The objects are probably snuffed out by the time they enter our perception. Individual hopes flash bright and die faster and more mysteriously than we can comprehend. These hopes live and grow at a distance from everyday thought. yet seem close, personal, and miraculous. These wishes tossed out of desperate mouths are ripped apart in the wind. Instantaneous but constant. The pressure in the heart is spoken for the cosmos to hear and understand. These wishes are whispered in secret, a half thought in dreams, or to anonymous pennies tossed in a communal fountain. Yet they are personal, real, and, often, exhaustively defined. Still, life without a distant wish is colorless. A parent without aspirations for a child can seem aimless. A student who hates the subject is the bane of a teacher.

A wish granted is a miracle, yet on the material plane, it can be explained by pedantic hard work and the meaty reality of another human granting a favor. The love of another person is simultaneously a miracle and a result of time, circumstance, and a neurological downward flow toward feeling. We are primed to love, but when it happens it happens only to us and seems to be a love only for us. The same is true of career. Most professions have thousands of people toiling under the same title. But, if any of those souls are lucky, they feel made for the job. Right place, right time replaces the wrongness of The Tower. Sometimes out of disparate consequences and sometimes out of careful selection; but still the miracle persists and seems to have always existed. Here the murky middle of the Major Arcana story flips telekenically to become brightness. Many of these final cards are universal luminaries. It all starts with the star.

Bjork's first hit was “Big Time Sensuality.” I love this song and I think it embodies the essence of The Star energy.

Video (very 1990's) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjS9Vn31kSk

Lyrics

I can sense it Something important Is about to happen It's coming up It takes courage to enjoy it The hardcore and the gentle Big time sensuality We just met And I know i'm a bit too intimate But something huge is coming up And we're both included It takes courage to enjoy it The hardcore and the gentle Big time sensuality I don't know my future after this weekend And I don't want to It takes courage to enjoy it The hardcore and the gentle Big time sensuality Sensuality

Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Bjork Gudmundsdottir / Nellee Hooper Big Time Sensuality lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc

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Tarot// The Tower's Ill-Fortune

The Tower card will often show a burning building with people animals and things flying from the building in a tornado-like frenzy. No matter how comfortable or enjoyable the interior of that building is, the fire necessitates leaving. The ethereal energies of The Hanged Man, Death, and Temperance are manifesting in a painful no-win emergency. Theories of intervention from natural forces or God's punishment come to the front of the mind. But these theories are no longer because the world has taken away a full, environmental reality. The building is gone. As Mr. Lebowski states, when the Dude tells him he's got it covered, “The goddamn plane has crashed into the mountain”

We live in a reality that is moderated by time. Life has an end. After birth, we break down time into developmental stages and payment plans. Time is the thief of feelings of permanence. An event is conceived in the mind and that idealized version of the future is worked towards. We can fantasize about a vacation, but a flat tire on the way to the airport is clarifying and practical. The life-long memory of the vacation was formed days, weeks, months, or even years before the ticket was booked. The Tower has taken away a million micro-feelings and wisps of imagery of future happiness; a brain fog of possibility. This fog is replaced by horrible and immovable memories and consequences.

The energy of this card hints that this is instantaneous. A traumatic event is an event to incomprehensible that becomes twisted in the mind and immeshes itself in the mind's running timeline and sensory flow disruptively. When activated, trauma spins and twists within time and consciousness in a predictable but incomprehensible. It could not have happened that way. It must have been my fault. It could never be my fault. It was meant to be. It was a tragedy that cannot be. When a trauma is triggered, we are outside of time. Outside of logic. Fight, flight, freeze, and faun are the wrong actions in the wrong place but feel so natural and automatic. Just as the bursting of the vacationer's worn tire is completely natural yet miles outside of any convenient understanding of what should happen. We are scared and wisened. We are taken back to childhood but propelled into adulthood simultaneously. Ripped apart by time and consequence as quickly as fire spreads. The question Why and the answer, Of course, dance through internal and external spaces laughing as we sit dumbfounded and fumbling.

A great example of this is the Harry Potter stunt double who had a horrific, paralyzing accident. This is almost inevitable after years of risky stunts on set yet, at the same time, unimaginable in the timeline of a young man's life. Chat GPT describes the biography of this stunt double as follows: ChatGPT David Holmes is a British stunt performer who gained recognition for his work as Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double in the Harry Potter film series. Born in 1981, Holmes began his career as a stuntman at a young age, showcasing his talent and fearlessness in various action sequences. Holmes' most notable contribution to the Harry Potter franchise came in 2009 during the filming of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1." While performing a flying sequence involving an explosion, Holmes suffered a serious injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. This unfortunate incident occurred during a test run of a flying scene at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England. He was performing a high-speed aerial stunt when he was thrown backward and struck a wall. Despite the tragic accident, David Holmes remains an integral part of the Harry Potter legacy. His dedication to his craft and sacrifice serve as a testament to the risks and challenges faced by stunt performers in the entertainment industry. Holmes' story also highlighted the importance of safety measures and precautions on film sets, sparking discussions about improving working conditions for stunt professionals A film about his life called “The Boy Who Lived” describes how the tower moment of his injury changed everything but his spirit and enduring friendships. Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29491918/

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Tarot// Temporal Temperance

Personal philosophy is in many ways synonymous with integrity. A person who always tells the truth has integrity. Lineages with a family-first attitude give their offspring a pretty simple mental framework to check in with from childhood. When there is a dispute about a solution to a problem, modern society asks for scientific proof established through experiments, peer review, and wide acceptance. Corporations grow in ways consistent with their shareholder's best interests. It's all pretty straightforward.

When it comes to ethics, morality, and optimal happiness, this card is primarily philosophical. While there are many branches of philosophy, each claims to offer a final resting place for the unity of thought action, and progression through life; as well as an ability to overcome petty societal problems, either through personal or governmental means. Types of philosophies offer types of peace. Rather than negotiate with life as a series of disjointed events, the philosopher groups problems and the people and natural consequences into large categorical swaths. The categories can be dealt with in a unified methodology or approach. The values in philosophy arrive in the person's life and stay there to warden off chaos. The simpler the better.

Spiritual traditions put forward there is an ever-lasting soul or soulfulness that exists inside people, animals, and even places and things. Therefore the events of life and the navigation of those events must serve a unifying spirit and honor the value of the spirit of others. The preservation of life and humility before all its mysteries guide spiritual people. Religious traditions help and challenge this simplicity. Religion breaks a spiritual belief down into ritual, hierarchy, and groupthink. Petty squabbles and the corruption of money and power acquired by religions disrupt the simplicity of spiritual life. The solution to this is for religious people to become accountable to a mission. This mission should protect souls and soulfulness at the center of their faith, lest they be judged by the creator of the kingdom they seek to rule. Religions must temper their use of capitalist, lustful, and materialistic motives to restore their connection to world spirit.

Absurdism is the belief that life is fleeting and almost without meaning so things can be handled in any way that one sees fit. ChatGPT describes it as follows:

“Absurdism is a philosophical concept that explores the inherent tension between seeking meaning in life and the apparent meaninglessness of the universe. It suggests that humans continually seek meaning and purpose in a world that lacks any inherent meaning or purpose.

The term "absurdism" was popularized by the philosopher Albert Camus in his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" and his novel "The Stranger." Camus argued that life is absurd because it is characterized by the inability to find any rational or logical meaning in the face of an indifferent and irrational universe.

According to absurdism, humans must confront the absurdity of existence and create their own meaning and purpose in life through acts of rebellion, passion, and living authentically. This may involve embracing the absurdity of existence without succumbing to despair or nihilism, and finding fulfillment in the pursuit of personal goals and values despite the lack of any ultimate meaning.”

Temperance manages the lofty goals of serving life with the human impulse to see all action as silly and inconsequential. Somedays we are heroes and other days we are non-player characters. As each day bleeds into the next, internal balance is the goal of the Temperance archetype.

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Tarot// The Constancy of Death

The Death card can represent an end to distraction and noise. Many spiritual traditions assert that each individual is a conscious soul in a human shell. The thought of the mind continues whether we are sleeping or awake. Even in comas, people describe metaphorical, visual experiences. The elderly can be trapped in thought as their bodies slow down. Elimination of bodily functions and responsibilities can free the mind and possibly the spirit to wonder and explore itself. Meditation takes this a step further, even the mind is quiet for brief periods allowing a soulful experience of inner exploration. Death is not a bad card, it is a card of ending. If a relationship is filled with arguments, the death of that relationship reveals bittersweet solitude. If a job creates the intrusive thoughts of performance anxiety and imposter syndrome, the ending of that job leaves a void where these unwelcome thoughts can run themselves to exhaustion in the void of an ending. It's no longer important what happened in the office because the office ceases to exist.

Death can be more subtle. Youthful ideals of adventure run their course. A feeling of invincibility is not actionable when a person encounters failure and challenges. Little by little, the unhelpful and unproven aspects of our assumptions die off and we mature. This maturation process is so much about endings, that in our grief for what was, we don't even notice the beginnings that blossom. They are less jarring and unexpected. Of course, there is a new lifestyle; but the loss of the old one haunts a person.

The Death card is as likely to be drawn as any other but being shown a skeleton, it is remembered. It is a marker of oblivion. Each person lives in the present, whether they perceive that or not. The past renews itself instant by instant. In this way, a type of Death is everpresent. I am no longer waiting because what I have been waiting for has come. This is a Death to waiting. I am no longer happy because a sad event has come. This is the end to ignorance of sadness. I am no longer a child because puberty has come, each physiological marker of childishness drops away in the transformation of the body. Skeletons stack up.

The Death card energy asks us to begin grieving by recognizing what was lost. It is important not to grieve a loss too long because we may miss a beginning. Our black clothes and downcast expression may ward off a hopeful moment of peace. Happiness is not appropriate in the presence of the dead, so we bury the body to clear space for renewal. In many decks, Death is on a horse, in others The Death figure appears at night, a temporal space that is extinguished by the light of a new day. As the wind snatches a petal dropped from a flower, Death understands it cannot be a permanent energy. Perhaps this is why many thinkers embrace reincarnation.

Permanent Death is anathema to the ever-present flow of life. A dead fish decays in the water and becomes a rich sentmate, it does not remain for eternity. The frightening sadness of this card causes pause. We ask, “Wait, who died?” “What can I no longer expect to experience? Few events in life require repeated dismissal. When one eshews away a fly five or ten times, it seems impossible that the fly has not gotten the point. In anger and disbelief, one searches for a fly swatter to take matters into one's own hands and finish off the annoyance. “Go away!”This is too long of a goodbye to something so insignificant. In this way, Death is welcomed. Let it be over. Lay the matter to rest. Let peace inhabit this space.

The blending of memory and imagination can make matters, which have ceased to exist in the physical, persist mentally. At these moments, Death's sickle is an instrument of mercy. It permits us to move on. Violence is a crude way to end a disagreement but it does the job. If participants can walk away before the final consequences are considered, they experience a small, logical death. However protracted struggle against the inevitable leads to confusion and even more grieving. One asks, “What were talking about and why did it get so out of hand? Who was I during the stages of this battle against ending and why did I think I could will a dead situation to continue? The Fog of War describes a situation when there is too much death without grieving and renewal. The physical bodies and the toll on the living manifest in dizzying confusion that can last for decades.

Years after the Vietnam and Iraq Wars new generations still ask why. They are met by tautologies and silence. Rapid and overwhelming death can be so much more confusing than a peaceful transition; we begin to question why one death is not enough. The more Death, the more study is needed. Taking a signal to come to terms with the Death energy can save us from reenacting and reliving the unspeakable. This card is an opportunity to let it all go and see what comes next with eager curiosity. The happiness here is in relief. The peace washes over us in quiet ritual. Knowing when to walk away can be a boon to one's reputation and a signal of integrity to those we meet in the future. If we allow the future to happen.

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Poem:// That's June (Nine of Cups)

I DID end up wondering what DID cause me to feel romance and nostalgia Romantic I spent the soft part of the evening in a car Unable to feel the velvet dew that hangs around After Sunset Vapor shakes and cries at an invisible vibration

35 different types of lonely for 35 different women

What DID bring that Romance with longing second and behind the excitement

the pinky twitches towards an ex-lover's left-behind shirt

WHAT DID BRING IT?!

Witch.

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Tarot// The Hanged Man's Solitude

Like life after middle age, the second half of the Major Arcana is bittersweet and quite subtle. The Hanged Man exemplifies this gray zone in the mind of the reader. The Hanged Man is defined by a neutral impatience. The preceding cards make it clear that life is complicated, in the later half of this story the hero ceases to care about the specifics but still must deal with the rush of mediocrity and senseless detail. The Hanged Man demands reprieve. If happiness is peace and only the intelligent can achieve a passive peace, this energy demands we surrender to our inner higher power and omniscience. Here we know whether something will or won't work out but have the patience to wait for others to give it a try. As many tries as they like, while we rest.

The dark poetry of life swirls and transforms around The Hanged Man. The essence of observation, The Hanged Man takes upon the mental heights reserved for Gods with no stake in human affairs. In this energy of silent father or receptive mother at rest. Advisors are happier here than entrepreneurs. The stillness implies wisdom and age. Certain aspects of nature are invisible and come to our knowledge in eras rather than sound bites. It took the Hindus thousands of years to discover timeless theories of the mind and meditation. Yet those ideas are now spread simply through online portals and are just a Google search away. Time expands for years and then disappears, only to be revived in a video or audio file created by mortal humans with free technology. Dark ages stretch out forever and are then forgotten.

In the film, Three Thousand Years of Longing (spoiler alert!), an academic loses love then turns to her studies and lectures. After a time of solitude, which she mistakes for bliss, she begins to see visions on her quiet hours and occasionally during work. After a dizzy spell, a colleague offers to buy her a gift. This gift is a glass bottle. Unwittingly, she releases a genie from this bottle. They become confidants, friends, and occasional lovers. She waits for him and listens to him. Her love for the stories and myths manifest slowly and awkwardly in a life long love. The actress beautifully displays quiet smiles of deep love and wisdom through out the film. The viewer realizes that she will remain in solitude but falls deeper in love. The forlorn protagonist in this film exemplifies to poise and sad uneasiness of The Hanged Man.

Three Thousand Years of Longing trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9198364/

The Hanged Man is his own teacher and confidant. Happiness thrives in this type of solitude. The freedom to think and work can take a lifetime to earn. There is a certain relief in locking the front door and descending upon a person passion project. A private joy and love is experienced in this energy. The peace is deep in the belly and indescribable. And the knowledge is beyond wordly, approaching the cosmic.

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Tarot// The Fight for (inner) Justice

The energy of this card is earned by weeks, months, or years of making decisions with a particular intention. Defending yourself against competitors or societal conformity can be hard; success comes in picking the most just and winning outcome. Fairness can become a trigger after traumatic events. A supervillain's origin story usually entails political, social, or familial loss, The villain wants to make everyone pay. This is the reverse energy of Justice if you are routing for the hero or just common sense. Trauma is an event or series of events so unfavorable to the mind that it is too much to process. Complex trauma is a series of these events. The impact of trauma exists in the mind's extreme, so coping with trauma can come out in extreme ways; like self-harm, criminal behavior, compulsive lying, compulsive shopping, and eating and addictions. Abusers may craft a personality based on maladaptive coping mechanisms to trauma, like our supervillain's revenge arc.

It may be hard to tell what true Justice is but it's clear what it's not. Justice cannot be immature, it cannot be capricious, and it cannot be shallow or demonstrative. In human history, there have always been societies that prescribe the death penalty for every person who stepped out of line. A more liberal, modern attitude recognizes that this only makes people used to executions and scared to get caught acting authentically, lest it is construed as 'wrong'. Living in fear causes the mind to re-traumatize itself with thoughts of an already-lived worst nightmare. Triggers, slights, and even imagery concepts can inspire a fight, flight, freeze, or faun response. Acting out in extremes of rage, fear, condemnation or banishment are the actions of the demagogy, not the savior.

So if these irrational knee-jerk responses amount to injustice; What is justice? In a complicated world, it is harder to prescribe something that will match everyone's lifestyle values. In tarot, the seeker does not only collaborate their experience with a group of people but receives divination specific to their daily and life experience. The advice this card provides praises us for becoming aware that there is a higher morality but cautions against standing in the way of fate. The Justice energy represents natural consequences and cautions against too forceful administration of punishment. Pulling The Justice card signals that you may administer punishment and give rewards but only from your higher self. The benefits of The Justice energy come

Being able to stop short of administering mindless payback requires a change in the mind. This energy may not bring peace but the ability to raise your vibration when the eleventh card turns up in a reading requires a peaceful mind. Understanding which feelings and attitudes are authentic and which of these grow in the mind as a result of rumination can bring the blessings of Justice. Mindfulness and other mental health practices require sitting in silence. This allows a person to identify intrusive and repetitive thoughts. When a person observes those thoughts it can be surprising how many of the same ones show up again and again. Many intrusive thoughts have a shameful, fearful, or angry tinge. Continuing to sit with those feelings can cause a burning in the body. The mind-body connection becomes a battle because when the thoughts are identified in the brain, the somatic aches and discomforts. Quieting this tumult internally strengthens resolves. This resolves leaks outward. External struggles become easier to deal with after a person has silently held themselves accountable for their chaos and lack of steadiness, as this is one of the hardest things to do. Once this peace, or stalemate, is being worked on; Justice feels far less volatile. Objectivity is a hallmark of living in The Justice energy. The mind and body are held in check with the self-care and the external world is met with self-critical reserve.

Because life happens, problems must be dealt with while doing this work. As this push towards internal discipline continues a person understands that peace is the goal. Here Justice is the fight and search for peace in as many areas of consciousness as possible.

Those seeking a path to equality are grateful when things work out as they should; as so much patience has been required. Gratitude is a humble form of happiness. Like contained water, it seeks its own level. In this humble state of recognizing how much rage and instability has been overcome in one's self and within conflicts with others; happiness is not sweet but nutritious. Like hearty, well-balanced meals, a diet of gratitude is necessary for functioning in an ever-changing world. So many things are taken away from each of us. A swipe of the debit card, the fall of the political or pop icon (living or dead), a car accident that destroys property and health in an instant. Sometimes, a person may realize that they have taken another person's time energy, or money in a way disagreeable to this party. Reconciliation and compromise are often painful processes.

All of these contradictory circumstances can be resolved with a balance of practical, mental, and spiritual actions. Beginning with the practical is necessary to achieve Justice. The Supreme Court hears cases based on evidence and precedent. If the holders of this office take their job seriously, they can usher in change. Ruth Beder Ginsberg and Thurgood Marshall are examples of this in US history. Millions have been positively affected by their correct judgments. When this office becomes a stronghold of power and oppressive influence, the nation mourns the unfairness. Balance is elusive but each citizen must turn the tide in the war for Justice with reason and kindness. On a deeper level, when Justice happens as a consequence of the march of history, it takes a strong group of leaders to protect it as long as it is challenged.