This week we drew the “Five of Cups” tarot. This card, also known merely as “Disappointment”, is a symbol of sadness — of a melancholic depressive kind. We traverse a landscape simplified by our psychology; that is our consciousness is selective. This biased view works well most of the time until something unpleasant becomes the center of our attention — when this occurs the duration of our myopic gloom depends on our ability to accept and move on.
        Our first hexagram, which we partner with our tarot to describe (or further detail) the current situation, is #14 “Possession in Great Measure”. This hexagram deals with leadership and the dissemination of good to the many. Rather than speak of administrative flow, it intimates that control should first be a “strength within” followed by a “clarity and culture without.”
        Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes ) is #38 “Opposition”. This hexagram concerns the counteractions of two parties (or modes) at odds. It states that to deal with deep divergences (poles) “brusqueness” is not to be encouraged — but rather push for “gradual effects in small matters”. And though the conflict of two poles seems undesirable, it is wise to keep in mind that polar structures make this world (night and day, etc.). So rather than weaken an identity encourage the preservation of “individuality” recognizing its possible tectonic importance.
        Our extraction: Beyond and behind the overwrought, stooped figure in the card image, are possible solutions to their woes (a robustly flowing river and two unspilt cups ready for drinking). The character is either unable or unwilling to see them. The river and ready cups could be seen as the “Possession in Great Measure”. Since we are not instantly going to overcome habitual oversight in an instant (or ever) perhaps we should do as the second hexagram advises, to try for “gradual effects in small matters” whilst “preserving our individuality.”