Judgement and Courage in a Moment of Stillness

Though I drew two cards from the Samurai Tarot today (the Seven of Wands and Judgement), I feel as though I drew the same card twice. Take a close look at these cards. First, the Samurai Tarot book classifies the Seven of Wands as “evaluation”: a form of judgement, and notes

“There are times when there is no demon in the demon, no man in the man. Do you understand the difference?”

By comparison, the Samurai Tarot book characterizes Judgement as “the depths” and offers us this advice:

“Look at the depths of your heart and do not conceal anything from yourself. The heart is a good judge.”

There is more to these cards, though, than judgement or self-judgement. Do you see the choice being made in each card? In the Judgement card, a woman stands at the top of a high cliff, seemingly contemplating suicide, looking down at her own self who is looking cheerfully up at her. The demon, if that is what he is, on the Seven of Wands card is considering some act of struggle, or possibly violence, as well. Yet even as he contemplates, a butterfly is drawn to him — judging him not nearly as harshly as he judges himself.

Do we have to make the hard choices that we may feel we have to make today? Do we have to be so hard on ourselves, meanwhile? Only in stillness can these questions be answered. Though I might be tempted to write here of compassion and self-compassion, what’s really called for is not compassion per se, but a true seeing. If you take the time to look and see things as they really are, what do you see? In a moment of stillness, what do you see? With a step back for perspective, what do you see? With a step forward to look more closely, what do you see? when you look inward for guidance from your heart, what do you see?

It’s not for me to tell you what you see. Look for yourself and make your best choice.

Finally, a true seeing may call for a courageous choice. Stillness is the best way to generate courage for this choice, as well.