Day 3: Six of Cups
Day 3 of Desert Divination: 6 of Cups
You could also call The Six of cups, The Beauty of Water.
The Six of Cups is a card of love (my favorite thing). It’s one of friendship, purity of heart, and giving.
Luckily I pulled this card early in the day and took a photo of it while I was still at the rental house. (That poor hammock has really been through it with these high winds.) If you haven’t heard, I tend to use these cards as something to focus on and contemplate rather than dwelling in negative brainspace. It’s an intentional practice I employ and it’s worked wonders for me. When the goin’ gets tough, I address - don’t dwell. These cards create a perfect avenue for avoiding a downward spiral and alternatively digging into their mysteries.
In today’s case, I was able to navigate some pretty tense situations by tuning into the spirit of generosity and reciprocity. Often when met with tense, uncomfortable, or unfortunate circumstances, I find myself instincively recoiling and doing what I can to protect and secure the perimeter (i.e. myself). It’s a very Mars in Cancer instinct; Protect the self at all costs and escalation is almost never off the table. When you can intentionally and meaningfully make tiny changes in what you percieve as your, “natural way,” (read: how I view the nature of my Mars in Cancer placement) you start to recognize opportunities to be a more pro-active participant in the way your life takes shape.
Taking all of this into account and allowing the deepening to do what it does inspired conscious decisions (made by me) to remain calm in moments that might be considered prickly, and to instead, summon the imagery and energy of this card. How do I protect the self in the spirit of generosity, rather than in the spirit of self-preservation? In lieu of becoming defensive and anxious, I took the time to slow it all down. I took control of the narrative not by force, but by slowing down and being generous with my time, my words, my space. In doing so, I (happy) accidentally found myself embodying an energy that people wanted to be around, and work with / for. While it might take a little more time, every potential frustration I bumped up against was resolved, and everyone felt more inclined to not only reciprocate the kindness, but to further collaborate to make the originally intended outcome even bigger and better than what either party had originally expected. The lesson? Kill them with kindness, while trite on it’s surface, isn’t without merit. It just has to come from a place of authenticity and mindfulness.
That’s the beautiful thing about operating from a place of generosity, it is expansive by nature. It only grows.