It’s a bit unusual to get so much snow in the Seattle area, but this year everything is slowing down as people are forced to stop what they’re doing and watch their step.
This morning, I woke up to a new fresh foot of snow with deeper drifts around the house. In this quiet, calm space, I pondered what the snow might want to tell me. So, I listened.
Being completely surrounded by snow, it gave me the feeling of being in a womb that protects you from the energies on the outside which are always moving and flowing. It’s as if the fluid motions of consciousness are captured in its pure crystalline state which is as delicate as a snow-white lily.
Then it dawned on me. There is a connection between the delicate fresh fallen snow and what the lily really represents on the Tarot cards! It captures the very essence of that feeling you have when you feel the peace and beauty of a fresh snow fall. It is the undisturbed, delicate, calm state that is pure. It suggests that for this moment in time, behold what you experience for it will be gone, disturbed or disrupted in no time.
If you catch a snowflake in your bare hand, there is only a moment of time that you get to enjoy the unique crystalline beauty before it is snatched up into a droplet of water. It is a moment of fascination, excitement. At the same time, it is like a thought that is quickly lost into the multitude of thoughts that occur on a daily basis.
It was with this new understanding that I reviewed the Tarot cards to see how this purity of thought worked its way into the cards upon which I placed Lilies.
The Magician
This is the card that starts the fool’s journey. It tells us that in order to make forward progress on our spiritual quest, we have to choose something – desire something. We have to ask, so that we can receive. The card hints that there are an infinite number of possibilities from which we can choose, yet care should be taken to choose wisely.
On this card, we find the lily. The lily is here to remind us that when we ‘ask’, it is best to do so from a state of mind that is pure. The principle of ‘ask and you shall receive’ is so powerful and so intertwined with in everything that we do that it is easy to ask for things that bring pain and suffering without even knowing it. As every rose has its thorns, the purity of thought, the purity of mind and the purity of desire comes in a delicate state like that fresh snowflake that you capture in your hand and you only see it for a moment before it is destroyed by the power of being human.
Thus, when I think of the lily here, I can’t help but think of the warning that it provides with regards to this manifestation process. One should tap into that delicate, pure space so as to not create a life of suffering and pain.
Temperance
With the Temperance card, it shows us that when we practice your crafts, we should strive to be balanced with just the right amount of emotion, just the right amount of stability and just the right amount of creativity so as to produce the perfect result. Yet, we are playing in the realm of the heart.
When we perform the tasks associated with the heart, like falling in love or being vulnerable, the consequences of creating scars within yourself and others is extremely high and the effects can be life altering. The complication is that the life altering results can have a good or bad effect on the practitioner and subjects. If you have ever had your heart broken or have ever fallen madly in love with someone, you know that the energy is wild and dangerous at the same time.
Again, the lily appears on this card suggesting that this is a practice that must be done delicately. When you play with love, when you play with people’s vulnerabilities, if you do it wrong, you can emotionally cripple people for a lifetime. That can also include yourself! We want to be pure in our intention and treat people as if they are the most delicate of flowers. Know that when they bloom, it will be wonderful, but care must be taking to allow them to get there without disruption.
6 of Cups
When you review the 6 of Cups, you’ll also find the lily appearing here. This card is all about the fragility of people. The child, which tends to be the focal point of the image, represents the delicate subject that we should strive to protect and nourish. The child represents that innocence that all Beings have when they are pure and approach life as if the world is their playground.
The lily again warns us how delicate the matter is. Children unconditionally believe others. When you tell them that the sky is blue, they believe you without questioning. They may ask why, but that is immaterial to the fact that they believed you that the sky is blue.
Because it is so easy to influence a child in a way that will affect it emotionally for life, the lily is here to point out that we must act from a viewpoint of purity. We must act with divine intention. We must choose our words carefully and share of ourselves in a way that doesn’t upset the delicate vulnerabilities that children share unconditionally.
2 of Wands
In the wands, we find that the 2 of Wands carries the image of the lily. The reason for this is that this card is similar to The Magician in that it represents the weighing of your options so as to create you next adventure. In this case, it’s more of that restless urge that comes from deep inside that drives you to want to do something new, or discover new talents, or have new experiences.
So, like The Magician, this card has both the rose and the lily showing that when you choose, you will get the rewards associated with how you choose. And, like on The Magician card, you are encouraged to choose with pure intentions. Treat the situation delicately and tenderly.
Ace of Coins
The last card with an image of the lily is the Ace of Coins. This card is of the suite that represents what someone does in life or what they spend their time creating. Being an Ace, it is the start of a cycle, the new opportunity, the new manifestation in the real world. This suite represents what you put your energy towards creating in life.
The position of the lilies here suggests that when you work, the work you do should be aligned to all that is delicate in the world. Find a way to enhance the world rather then degrade the world. Life is delicate and tender, what you do should be aligned to preserving or enhancing life in ways that allow it to grow and flourish. Every new adventure should embrace this tenderness on a conscious level.
Why is it not found in the swords?
The swords cover the aspect of us that is in the mind space. Here we find the ego and logic. Rational and non-rational thinking. It is the part of use that strategizes, worries, calculates and imagines. When you think about this in relations to the lily, there really isn’t anything delicate about the mind or thoughts. They are what they are as long as they are contained within the mind-space.
Then thoughts start to manifest, that’s when the energy flows into the other suites, thus there are lilies in each suite where we actively work on the manifestation process or work on something where being delicate is a key consideration.
So, the next time you draw a lily, feel free to relate to it as if you would the fresh fallen snow that hasn’t been touched by anyone and it hasn’t started to melt. Capture that pure crystalline energy before it gets consumed by the everyday trappings of life.
Enjoy your snow day!
Dave