We've been thinking a lot about community, lately. How do you define community, for yourself? How do you measure being part of one? What purpose does community serve in your life?
This card is for Secret Societies—a type of community—and it takes the spot that, in other tarot decks, would be occupied by Justice or Judgment or Adjustment.
The person in this image is ungendered but feminine, bound but not immobile, alone but not truly alone. She is being watched by wild animals in the forest, but they seem to be observing her rather than posing any danger or threat. The object in her hand looks like a guardé or paket, suggesting that she is there by choice, and by rights—not coerced or abandoned there, not placed there by force. She is protected, even if she is facing a danger of some kind.
For us, this card is strongly about balance. We have all different kinds of communities. Those we are born into by blood, those we are born into by culture, those we are born into by geography. And then there are also those that we find or build for ourselves in this life. But in any community, when something happens to disrupt the balance—the ever-important balance!—the energies of the surrounding community will rise and merge to set things right. To restore balance. This is a natural process, but it can seem scary. It can feel unstable, or destabilizing.
But, we can't allow some people to throw the rest of our existence off-balance. We have to insist upon what's healthy, what's moral, and what's right & good for ourselves and our communities.
May everyone have a safe and peaceful weekend. Keep your energies focused on righting recent disruptions of cosmic balance. Channel that full moon energy!
Sallie Ann Glassman
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