Dullness.
Part of my daily morning ritual is to draw a single tarot card to give me insight into the energy of the day. Although there are a multitude of tarot decks available now, my favorite has long been the Voyager Tarot.
The deck was first published in 1984 and I received my first copy of it as a birthday gift in December 1986. I still have that original deck, wrapped in the same piece of bright purple silk with which it was given to me. My Voyager deck has traveled with me everywhere I have ever roamed, including my months of backpacking through Europe in 1989. I take it on every trip and it’s never packed in checked luggage – always carryon or in a personal bag. For over 30 years now, I have drawn at least one card every day – and often do more comprehensive readings.
FYI – if you don’t own a copy, you can still draw a card every day online HERE.
For me, having a daily ritual like this is an important part of my personal journey. Back in Sparkling Isolation – Day 88 I talked about “routines” turning into “ruts.” In the case of my daily tarot reading, I never consider it a rut. It’s been a part of me so long that it’s just a natural part of my day.
If you are a traditional tarot person, you may not love the Voyager deck. It uses modern symbology and has renamed the suits, still retaining the basic structure of older, more traditional decks but moving tarot into the 21st century. The traditional suit of Swords has been renamed as Crystals in this deck. In addition, the creators of the deck (James Wanless and Ken Knutson) have given each card a title, another level of symbolism really that helps to tie together all of the images in the card.
Today, my “card of the day” was the Seven of Crystals, titled as “Dullness.” In traditional decks, this would be the Seven of Swords.
My past two days have talked about ennui and a slow recovery from that energy. Looking back on my posts, many of them talk about feelings of being “shut down” or lacking motivation. Today, this card made me stop and assess that concept more closely.
Dullness (Seven of Crystals) is the intellectual aspect of the major arcana card VII-Chariot. As an intuitive reader – not a literal one – I sit with a card and just allow myself to feel what it’s trying to tell me. The traditional “old school” approach that every card is exactly what it is and has a fixed meaning just never resonated to me anyway, which is why I think I gravitated towards this cooler, more funky modern deck.
As the intellectual aspect of the Chariot, the Dullness card is about a sense of quiet in the midst of great movement. It’s a message that I need to be OK with just allowing myself to feel dull and blank sometimes.
Yesterday, I noted that I felt listless yet anxious at the same time. That is the Dullness energy – that sense of stillness in the midst of motion. I have often described Dullness like sitting on a fast-moving train and looking out of the window. You are sitting still yet as you look out the window, the scenery is flashing by – but flashing by so quickly that you don’t really get a chance to see precisely what it is. There is a sense of blurring and confusion, but even though you are not feeling forward movement you know that you are moving forward at a high rate of speed.
It’s another version of the (in)famous Coronacoaster concept that I have mentioned off and on in these posts. I’m on this ride and at the moment the coaster is moving fast and steady while I hang on for dear life waiting for the next unexpected swerve, hill, or dip with my eyes closed and my grip white knuckling the rails.
Today’s card reminds me to just take a deep breath, relax my grip, open my eyes, pay attention, and allow things to move where they are moving. I have to stay attentive and flexible so that I’m ready to adjust when the scenery becomes more clear.
Despite the title of today’s post and card – Dullness – life is certainly not dull right now.
It’s only Quarantine if it comes from the Quarante province of France. Otherwise, it’s just Sparkling Isolation.
Sparkling Isolation – Day 97