Today’s reading brings an ailment and a medicine. The ailment is emotional stagnation, or trauma and grief that are stuck within the channels of our mind and soul. The medicine is inner transformation, hope, faith, healing and balance.

The 4 of Cups and the 5 of Cups reversed present an interesting development. The stagnant and somewhat putrid waters of the 4oC are being dammed by this reversed 5oC and being prevented from flowing again due to blockage of some sort. You can see on the 5 of Cups that there is a circle of chalices that is kept from swirling due to a thread. It’s what happens when we, instead of processing a painful event, tie it up in place in an attempt to keep it from hurting us anymore. This inner knot of unprocessed emotions can really accumulate over time, causing our soul to be burdened by the heavy weight of waters that want to break free of their dam.

Temperance brings us medicine, alongside The Star. The figure in Temperance, instead of bottling up emotional events, is allowing them to circle around freely. Pain, instead of ignored, is allowed to be felt fully, integrated into its being, and released. Sadness and hurt, instead of suppressed, are permitted to cycle through. Fear and loss, rather than being bottled up, make their way fully into the heart; acknowledged, accepted, and surrendered in a constant exercise in non-attachment. The Star, of course, is our constant companion, reminding us with its light that healing and transformation are always available to us if only we would let our feet touch the wholesome waters of Spirit.

Next time something stabs at your heart, don’t ignore it or pretend it’s not there. Feel it. Let it run its course through you with a healthy sense of detachment and observation. Breathe deeply. Make it part of your inner strength instead of letting it accumulate into the dam of your resentments.
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