Gratitude and the Tarot Sixes
Not long ago I got a new daybook called The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo, an absolutely wonderful book with a short essay for each day. The entry for yesterday (June 26) was titled, “The Gift of Prayer,” and it talks about how prayer is best expressed as “a pledge of gratitude for what has already been received.”
This message made me think of the “6″ cards in the four suits of the Tarot’s Minor Arcana. These cards all express messages of reciprocity: giving and receiving. Implicitly then, they are also about appreciation and gratitude, which may be expressed for each suit as gratitude for:
* The material support that other people give us (Six of Pentacles)
* The love and relationships other people bring into our lives (Six of Cups)
* The advice and attention that other people give us (Six of Swords)
* The encouragement and inspiration that other people give us (Six of Wands)
But when we can look at life on a deeper level, we see that we are all One. There is no duality, there is no you vs. me, and so we can restate these gratitude prayers as appreciation for ourselves. “For example, I am grateful for the material support that we give each other.”
Ultimately, though, we are all a part of the Divine, so these four cards may be seen as being about what we give to and receive from the Universe. Thus, these gratitude prayers can be stated as “I am grateful for:
* The support I get from the Divine. (Six of Pentacles)
* The love I share with the Divine. (Six of Cups)
* The whispered advice from the Divine (Six of Swords)
* The encouragement and inspiration that the Divine shines upon me (Six of Wands)
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And so sometimes when one of these cards comes up, you might want to see it in terms of appreciation and gratitude, either for what other people give you or for what you have received from the Universe.
I would just like to close with this quote:
“Appreciation is the vessel for future blessings.” — Michael Berg
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Postscript: If you want to read more about one of these cards, the Six of Cups, see these posts:
1. Six of Cups — Paying Love Forward
2. Six of Cups — Part 2
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