Cards for the Day: A Call to Humility/ Lonesome Valley

For fun, I decided to pull from a new deck, Caroline Myss’ Archetype Cards, even though this is not a tarot deck and I don’t think it’s meant to be used for divination. (But it lends itself to divination so beautifully!) Unfortunately, I don’t have the images for these cards to share with you — but because they are archetypes, you can visualize them using your imagination. I pulled: Messiah, Dilettante, Student. Many of us, in these times, are called on to serve humanity (Messiah). But, we can’t “save” humanity. We can only offer support to others as they work to liberate themselves and to walk on their own paths to enlightenment.

“You’ve gotta walk that lonesome valley

You’ve gotta walk it by yourself

Ain’t nobody here can walk it for you

You’ve gotta walk it by yourself.”

We can’t walk that lonesome valley for others — we can only try to show them the resources they need. Maybe draw a map…

Moreover, these cards warn us that the spiritual path is not for dilettantes. We can’t walk it in our spare time. We need to become lifelong students of it. If others look to us for help, we have to remember — and let them know — that we are only fellow travelers. Experience and wisdom count for a lot, but we still have to walk that lonesome valley just like everyone else.

“You’ve gotta sleep in a lonesome graveyard

You’ve gotta sleep there by yourself

Nobody here can sleep there for you

You’ve gotta sleep there by yourself.”

—Lonesome Valley (click on the link to hear Woody Guthrie sing this on You Tube)