There are types of change that take the world out from under our feet and types of change that come from the actions of our own hands. The Two of Discs suggests the latter.
It is true that change is all there is in existence. We enjoy certain rhythms in the changing of the seasons or the simple fact that sunset gives way to moonrise dusk after dusk. It is humbling to the point of awe to consider that every ancestor of yours and mine, both our human and other than human kin alike, have witnessed and depended upon these same predictable cycles.
What is less predictable and maybe even unknown is how or if each of us will choose to transform aspects of the self and how we live our lives and relate to others. We all cause harm at various points in our familial and social lives. We might do this by accident or because we think we are supposed to behave in a specific way or out of unconscious beliefs on the nature of what others are in relation to us. We might even cause harm as a form of pleasure or to gain a feeling of satisfaction. In any case, the deepest pains come from the full realization of what we lost when we caused these pains.
When we choose to make change in who we are as people…we are choosing to shift the material existence of the self…
The suit of Discs, or you might prefer to call it Coins or Pentacles, refers to the element of earth. This element rules every aspect of our material life and what we require to maintain the life of the body. When we choose to make change in who we are as people, in how we live and relate to others, we are choosing to shift the material existence of the self and everyone with whom we share our daily lives. It could even be that when we choose deep change in the self, we alter the existence of everyone we have so much as seen.
While we must change enough to forgive ourselves and move on, we will make the greatest contribution to all if we first feel the negative effects of our actions and words when we have done harm. It is equally valuable to feel the effects of our actions and words when we have given healing or created positive esteem in others, and then move on from this, too. To dwell in either extreme is its own kind of hubris.
May we wish the same for those who have done harm unto us.
Michelle Embree
December 21, 2021
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