I have about an hour to kill before rushing off to the next thing (and the next thing, and the next thing...) and I was feeling restless and prickly. I don't want to read, I don't want to Read, I've explored what I'm interested on the net right now, blah blah blah...
It just occurred to me, what I really want to do is write. Like the title says, for the past few days, I've been feeling very smart. Very cerebral, very thinky. Along with that, and perhaps because of it, I've been feeling extra super connected to the Universe. It's a great feeling, and I hope it lasts forever.
Luiz has been picking up the cards, a lot lately, so I found him a deck of his very own. When at once, I was an enthusiastic new student, now I am that, as well as something of a teacher. Mainly, because I've read the hundred books on my shelf, and because he spends all his time painting, (and things related, researching, reading, networking) he hasn't had the chance to pursue them, so I can bring the lessons I learn through AT and my books, to him. Teaching him what I have learned, so fresh after I've learned it, is a great reinforcement to my own knowledge. It's somewhat humbling, to hear him interpret a card (when his mind is truly on it, and he's really focusing) and get a whole ream of information that had never ocurred to me. Humbling, and exciting.
Also, it's probably better for him, because as we all know, I can be impatient. With me learning along with him, and guiding him along, I can't afford impatience, because I would miss things, myself. In analyzing the same card, we can both come up with interpretations, that build and add to each other's. His, (till today) have been very basic, accurate, and good, without really linking things, delving deep, and tying them together. Today, using his very own deck for the first time, I got him to do a full on spread, and link cards, do deepen their meanings. I did the excersise that Mary K. Greer talks about in 21 Ways, where you first describe every aspect of the card, impartially, but with great detail, then do it again, but in the first person, putting yourself in the card.
That seemed to be a key thing for him, because not only is he an artist and sees things with an artist's eye, he also has the natural predilection to putting himself inside every situation. Sometimes, it's irritating (The world doesn't revolve around YOU, you know). But when learning the cards, and digging for deep symbolic meanings, it helps a ton. Making each card personal, tying yourself to every element, really feeling that symbolism, as though it were you holding that cup aloft, or whatever.
I have been actively teaching Alden, as well, but it springs up more organically. Less lesson, more reading for him, and teaching him the meanings, as I go. Alden has taken a suprising love for the Tarot, I mean, insane. He knows the cards, he begs for daily readings, has claimed decks, and has a streak of intuition that just naturally shines brighter than anything I could muster. He is going to be an excellent reader, one day. Definitely on that path. I don't have a thing to worry about, with him.
Luiz, too. Luiz just needs to shed the ego, which he's working on. Sometimes he asks the deck the answers to questions he already thinks he knows, then disregards what the card is telling him, and answers it himself. He caught himself doing it, yesterday, and he asked me about it. I saw him doing it, but wasn't going to say anything, to see if he could tell the difference between reading the cards, and supposing stuff. I can't think of a better term than "supposing" but it's not really what I mean. Assuming? I dunno. Either way, he caught himself doing it last night, and is actively trying to break the habit. I caught him at it today, doing his very first New Deck Interview spread, ascribing all sorts of random stuff that has zero to do with the card, or the symbols, and kind of going off on his own tangent. I said "Do you think that other cards would describe what you're talking about better?" He said, "Oh, I wasn't even thinking about the card, at this point, I was off in my own tangent." Bingo, haha.
It's a work in progress. Just like my own studies, and Alden's.
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