cynicalI have asked a simple question to the tarot about this passage: “What is the relevance of this story for me?”
The Ace of Cups from the Fantastic Menagerie Tarot from
baba_studiowas the card that I have pulled as an answer to this question. It is the second time this week that I have pulled the Ace of Cups. The first time it was an answer to what calls me to life (Ace of Teacups from the Tarot of Jane Austen). Opening up my heart is what calls me to life.
The book alongside the Fantastic Menagerie cards suggests that this card can come up “when we are entirely ourselves and true to our natures.” The Ace of Cups signifies also a new beginning of love; an opened heart. Here on the card a little birdie looks happy at the world he is just born in. The cliff on the card and the place where the egg is positioned, nearly at the end, reminds me of the Fool, coming from another world and welcoming life. This is grim for me now, because it is my fear that our little birdie will fall from the cliff, if he – curiously of the world he is born into – bends forward.
So far, so good, but what is this Ace of Cups saying about the story? People talk and argue about Jesus on the feast, for they have heard of him and he is new, just like the little birdie, and he performs miracles. Although he goes into town in secret, throughout this gospel Jesus shows his true nature. I read this story with the foreboding of what will happen later to him: his arrest, his suffering and crucifixion. I see the stage being set for him here, just as I see the little bird collapsing in the water if he sticks his head out too far.
The first time this week the Ace of Cups called me to life, now it shows my fear to answer that call. The relevance of the story for me is the fear of opening myself, showing my true nature, for the price I will pay is falling from the cliff. Taking that risk is dangerous.
Jesus did though.
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Another question to be asked about this story is: “What does Jesus mean to you?”
