Tarot Card of the Week: February 22 – 28

When despair for the world grows in me, and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be — I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought or grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry

Anything said beyond this seems superfluous, but since this is only the second time in all my years of posting that the Ace of Cups has appeared, I will encore my earlier discussion.

In all of the Aces, the hand of Mystery appears, offering its blessing to us. Since the Cups are the emotions, love, intuition and healing, this card is the very essence of those gifts. It holds all the love that could be possible, and the deep knowing that comes straight from the heart.

The Ace of Cups is really none other than the Holy Grail. We see the dove of peace, symbolized as the Christian Holy Spirit delivering the wafer (the Host, or the body of Christ) into the cup. It is, in Christian terms, a picture of the Holy Communion. Tarot scholar Robert Place tells us that the five streams pouring from the Cup are the five wounds of the Christian God. He also explains that the letter on the Cup is not a “W” but an “M” reversed, identifying it with Mary, the Christ’s mother, and is upside down to show that it is receiving the body of the Divine.

Interestingly, the deck’s creator, Arthur Waite, wrote that there were four streams coming from the Cup (perhaps a reference to the fountain in Eden from which the four rivers ran). But clearly, artist Pamela Colman Smith had other ideas. And so can we.

For those of us not very enamored with Christian symbolism, we can easily see the streams as the four Elements, plus the fifth sacred thing – Mystery, or Spirit. And so, this card is the sacred Circle, the Divine Feminine. It is a visitation from Grace.

If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that we spent all of 2008 discussing the Graces, and, ultimately, the meaning of Grace for non-Christians.

Our Greek ancestors, and later the Romans, always, without fail, invoked the Graces before every meal, journey, festival, or other gathering. Their presence assured harmony and blessings. On a personal note, what a blessing this seems, as we now begin a new direction on my blog this very week!

I like the idea that Grace is a combination of the gifts from the three original Graces, and is given for the sole reason, simply, that we have asked for it.

Must we know for certain what we need at all times? Do we dare to ask for blessings we are not sure we deserve? Author Sarah ban Breathnach writes, “Grace is available for each of us every day – our spiritual daily bread – but we’ve got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and not worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow.”

It seems to me that asking for Grace is an act of supreme awareness. It is an affirmation that we know we are a part of a loving, wise, Divine Being. Asking for Grace means that the Divine Ones will fill in the gaps that we may not be aware of, support us in invisible ways we cannot ourselves anticipate, and will know our hearts more clearly than we may understand them.

This week, Grace is given freely. Blessings are bestowed on new love, or any other new beginnings that join hearts to one another, including the gifts of romance, children and beloved friendships. Divinely inspired love, healing and heart-opening awareness are given freely to you. You do not have to judge whether you deserve it or not; you have only to humbly ask, and then be receptive.

We ask in perfect love. We receive in perfect trust.

We begin.