Hello Friends,
I took a few weeks off the public blog to catch up on post-Kickstarter admin, fulfill the digital perks, and re-immerse in my studio routine on the other side of all that business, but we do have plenty more material to wrap up here in our open article series. Let's get back to it...
This week, we have a new spread I wanted to share openly in light of the current news cycle. Here's the Mourning Dove Spread for grieving towards peace. Let's put this up front today: if anyone would like to tip the blog this season, please kindly donate to Crips for eSims for Gaza and/or donate to Doctors Without Borders instead. Thank you & bless.
Grief, rage, heartbreak, and cynicism are all perfectly reasonable reactions to war, fascism, genocide, and climate devastation, among other things. It's natural and normal to feel the strain of collective turmoil on the personal front, to feel ungrounded, and to question our own sanity in the face of heartless mass-violence. This spread asks how we can channel our grief towards serving peace, in our personal lives, and on the community/collective level.
Here's your usual disclaimer that I'm NOT a clinician or therapist. I do have a personal trauma history (nothing unusual), and I am generally pro-therapy, with the acknowledgement that not everyone can access affordable, competent therapy for their stuff. I offer spreads and journaling exercises here in the spirit of peer-to-peer note-trading.
Collective grief and trauma intersect with the personal in messy and complex ways, and we are witnessing war together in real time. So as always, if any spread we share here kicks up too much, or calls up your own traumas or PTSD type stuff, please do supplement your practice with safe outside supports like therapy, hotlines, the benevolent & qualified side of psychology Youtube, or trusted counsel from loved ones. You can always pace yourself, pause a reading that doesn't work for you or gets too heavy, and tag in another support system.
Tarot is not a substitute for trained counseling, but it is a beautiful symbolic aid to our personal introspection. Plus it's good arty, witchy fun!
Now when we talk about peace, it matters how we define it. Some view peace as a matter of safety, nonviolence, collective sovereignty, and reciprocal respect. Others view peace as a matter of pleasantry, comfort, and conflict-avoidance. It's challenging to conduct conversations about peace when one party's ideal of peace means fighting for their rights and safety, and another party's ideal means having a nice time, not making waves, and tuning out the ceaseless horrors.
In an ideal world, peace would encompass all the above: safety, sovereignty, respect, solace, pleasure, and social graces. But we can't enjoy the latter graces in true peace before everyone secures the former basic needs.
Personally, I value peace as the ultimate, ideal goal, and a powerful tactical method within resistance. Peace in the sense of the ideal needs to be for everyone, though. Peace is not about sweeping horrors under the rug for the sake of normalcy or social niceties, when an upper caste's "normal" is everyone else's dystopia.
I will never condone violence on any side that targets innocent civilians. I will never condone targeting or scapegoating any group on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, orientation, or any other core aspect of our identities that we don't choose and can't change. No patience for either islamophobia or antisemitism here.
But I'm not a pure pacifist either, in that I can't judge or condemn the violence of self-defense. I can't judge people for getting caught up in wars and fights they didn't pick. And I do condone civil disruption within nonviolent resistance, especially when protesting mass-violent movements. "No justice no peace" makes a lot of sense. We can't accept mass violence, state violence, colonialism, war, mass incarceration, kleptocracy, and inequity as our status quo, and have things be nice and pleasant.
The colonial violence of my nation is unforgivable. The civil unrest and authoritarian overreaches here get scarier every year, but it is heartening to see so many people protesting, walking willingly into arrest, and risking their livelihoods, safety, personal peace, academic careers, and futures to push for meaningful and lasting change.
Not everyone has the same abilities, resources, or access to live events, but whatever we can do and give matters. This line of questioning can help us brainstorm where we can channel our grief, rage, and heartbreak in more meaningful ways. It can also remind us of our limits, and help us accept where we are and are not in control, and in some cases, where we need to protect our own hearts. We do need to dress our own wounds and take our needed rests to heal burnout and stay in our fights for the long haul.
Always reference the cards you draw back to the context of your own situation, and your own common sense. Trace where you have more opportunity to act or create, and where you need to step back or recognize outside limits.
I took a few weeks off the public blog to catch up on post-Kickstarter admin, fulfill the digital perks, and re-immerse in my studio routine on the other side of all that business, but we do have plenty more material to wrap up here in our open article series. Let's get back to it...
This week, we have a new spread I wanted to share openly in light of the current news cycle. Here's the Mourning Dove Spread for grieving towards peace. Let's put this up front today: if anyone would like to tip the blog this season, please kindly donate to Crips for eSims for Gaza and/or donate to Doctors Without Borders instead. Thank you & bless.
Grief, rage, heartbreak, and cynicism are all perfectly reasonable reactions to war, fascism, genocide, and climate devastation, among other things. It's natural and normal to feel the strain of collective turmoil on the personal front, to feel ungrounded, and to question our own sanity in the face of heartless mass-violence. This spread asks how we can channel our grief towards serving peace, in our personal lives, and on the community/collective level.
Here's your usual disclaimer that I'm NOT a clinician or therapist. I do have a personal trauma history (nothing unusual), and I am generally pro-therapy, with the acknowledgement that not everyone can access affordable, competent therapy for their stuff. I offer spreads and journaling exercises here in the spirit of peer-to-peer note-trading.
Collective grief and trauma intersect with the personal in messy and complex ways, and we are witnessing war together in real time. So as always, if any spread we share here kicks up too much, or calls up your own traumas or PTSD type stuff, please do supplement your practice with safe outside supports like therapy, hotlines, the benevolent & qualified side of psychology Youtube, or trusted counsel from loved ones. You can always pace yourself, pause a reading that doesn't work for you or gets too heavy, and tag in another support system.
Tarot is not a substitute for trained counseling, but it is a beautiful symbolic aid to our personal introspection. Plus it's good arty, witchy fun!
Now when we talk about peace, it matters how we define it. Some view peace as a matter of safety, nonviolence, collective sovereignty, and reciprocal respect. Others view peace as a matter of pleasantry, comfort, and conflict-avoidance. It's challenging to conduct conversations about peace when one party's ideal of peace means fighting for their rights and safety, and another party's ideal means having a nice time, not making waves, and tuning out the ceaseless horrors.
In an ideal world, peace would encompass all the above: safety, sovereignty, respect, solace, pleasure, and social graces. But we can't enjoy the latter graces in true peace before everyone secures the former basic needs.
Personally, I value peace as the ultimate, ideal goal, and a powerful tactical method within resistance. Peace in the sense of the ideal needs to be for everyone, though. Peace is not about sweeping horrors under the rug for the sake of normalcy or social niceties, when an upper caste's "normal" is everyone else's dystopia.
I will never condone violence on any side that targets innocent civilians. I will never condone targeting or scapegoating any group on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, orientation, or any other core aspect of our identities that we don't choose and can't change. No patience for either islamophobia or antisemitism here.
But I'm not a pure pacifist either, in that I can't judge or condemn the violence of self-defense. I can't judge people for getting caught up in wars and fights they didn't pick. And I do condone civil disruption within nonviolent resistance, especially when protesting mass-violent movements. "No justice no peace" makes a lot of sense. We can't accept mass violence, state violence, colonialism, war, mass incarceration, kleptocracy, and inequity as our status quo, and have things be nice and pleasant.
The colonial violence of my nation is unforgivable. The civil unrest and authoritarian overreaches here get scarier every year, but it is heartening to see so many people protesting, walking willingly into arrest, and risking their livelihoods, safety, personal peace, academic careers, and futures to push for meaningful and lasting change.
Not everyone has the same abilities, resources, or access to live events, but whatever we can do and give matters. This line of questioning can help us brainstorm where we can channel our grief, rage, and heartbreak in more meaningful ways. It can also remind us of our limits, and help us accept where we are and are not in control, and in some cases, where we need to protect our own hearts. We do need to dress our own wounds and take our needed rests to heal burnout and stay in our fights for the long haul.
Always reference the cards you draw back to the context of your own situation, and your own common sense. Trace where you have more opportunity to act or create, and where you need to step back or recognize outside limits.
Mourning Dove Tarot Spread
for grieving towards peace
1. GRIEF KNOWS THIS: A message from my grief.
2. GRIEF GOES HERE: An outlet for my grief.
3. RAGE KNOWS THIS: A message from my rage.
4. RAGE GOES HERE: An outlet for my rage.
5. MY SANITY: A focal point for sanity.
6. MY MADNESS: Where to crack & spill.
7. MY PEACE: Strategies to protect my own peace.
8. OUR PEACE: Strategies to serve peace in my community.
9. ALL PEACE: Strategies to serve peace in the world.
Regarding Card 5 and 6, I'm not placing moralistic value judgements on sanity and madness here. I'm not Captain Sanity over here either lol! IDK how anyone can stay tuned into the collective without feeling some degree of anxiety, malaise, or depression at the least. And the more unstable and violent our environments get, the harder it is to stay grounded, connected, and neatly aligned with our own values.
We could also view card 5 as a focal point for grounding, steadiness, and calm, and card six as an outlet for eccentricity and untamed creativity if the language of sanity and madness doesn't work for you. (This is an ill-positive, mad-positive space.)
For me the phrase "crack & spill" is about running out of fucks to be overly censored or scared, and letting a streak of wild, garbled, vulnerable, and feral creativity loose in the face of external madness.
Wishing you all fortitude, resilience, and well-being this season! The worst of us don't represent us. Remember we're capable of better, and keep countering violence and cruelty however you can in your own sphere. And take care!
for grieving towards peace
1. GRIEF KNOWS THIS: A message from my grief.
2. GRIEF GOES HERE: An outlet for my grief.
3. RAGE KNOWS THIS: A message from my rage.
4. RAGE GOES HERE: An outlet for my rage.
5. MY SANITY: A focal point for sanity.
6. MY MADNESS: Where to crack & spill.
7. MY PEACE: Strategies to protect my own peace.
8. OUR PEACE: Strategies to serve peace in my community.
9. ALL PEACE: Strategies to serve peace in the world.
Regarding Card 5 and 6, I'm not placing moralistic value judgements on sanity and madness here. I'm not Captain Sanity over here either lol! IDK how anyone can stay tuned into the collective without feeling some degree of anxiety, malaise, or depression at the least. And the more unstable and violent our environments get, the harder it is to stay grounded, connected, and neatly aligned with our own values.
We could also view card 5 as a focal point for grounding, steadiness, and calm, and card six as an outlet for eccentricity and untamed creativity if the language of sanity and madness doesn't work for you. (This is an ill-positive, mad-positive space.)
For me the phrase "crack & spill" is about running out of fucks to be overly censored or scared, and letting a streak of wild, garbled, vulnerable, and feral creativity loose in the face of external madness.
Wishing you all fortitude, resilience, and well-being this season! The worst of us don't represent us. Remember we're capable of better, and keep countering violence and cruelty however you can in your own sphere. And take care!
Guidelines For Sharing:
If you’d like to use this spread with paying clients, do cite the source, link back to the blog, and please use your own photos in your listings. My spread & web graphics are not licensed for commercial use. You're welcome to share the spreads non-commercially with friends and on social as long as you tag back!
I usually ask pro readers working with these spreads to tip the blog, but if anyone would like to tip the blog this season, please kindly donate to Crips for eSims for Gaza and/or donate to Doctors Without Borders instead. Bless bless. Ceasefire now.
This post was brought to you by all my delightful Patreon supporters, and especially our Muse & Aesthete level patrons: Vince, Ann, Joy, Amy, JoXn, Tiffany, Nichole, Opifex, Cyn, Laura, Lenore, Megan, Anne, Tara, Melissa, Jay, Schanate, Melissa, Andrea, Hawk, and Thea. Thank you patrons! You are gems!
If you’d like to use this spread with paying clients, do cite the source, link back to the blog, and please use your own photos in your listings. My spread & web graphics are not licensed for commercial use. You're welcome to share the spreads non-commercially with friends and on social as long as you tag back!
I usually ask pro readers working with these spreads to tip the blog, but if anyone would like to tip the blog this season, please kindly donate to Crips for eSims for Gaza and/or donate to Doctors Without Borders instead. Bless bless. Ceasefire now.
This post was brought to you by all my delightful Patreon supporters, and especially our Muse & Aesthete level patrons: Vince, Ann, Joy, Amy, JoXn, Tiffany, Nichole, Opifex, Cyn, Laura, Lenore, Megan, Anne, Tara, Melissa, Jay, Schanate, Melissa, Andrea, Hawk, and Thea. Thank you patrons! You are gems!
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