Major Arcana focus today.
My Inner Focus card is XIX The Sun. The image on this card shows two naked soldiers, their armor and weapons discarded around them as they lay on a sandy dune. A spear is thrust into the dune, point into the sand. In the background is a smooth ocean lit by the sun, which is low on the horizon yet shining very brightly. The soldiers are young and fit, one with dark hair and one with blond hair. They are facing each other. The blond soldier has his head at about the level of the groin of the dark haired soldier and his hand appears in that groin. The dark haired soldier's hand is resting on the head of the blond soldier. Both have their eyes closed and their lips parted. The key phrases for this card are: being naked allows us to stop pretending, and affection and love grow through truth, not pretense.
My Outer Focus card is XVII The Stars. A naked woman is squatting on a branch of a tree, holding onto another branch at shoulder level with her right hand and holding a two-handled pot in her left hand. She is urinating into that pot. Behind her is a dark, star-filled sky, and shadows of leaves are on her back. Her eyes are downward, watching the soldier who is laying on the ground under her, his helmet, sword and spear laying around him, watching the woman above him. The key phrases for this card are: the woman is the goal to be achieved, and if her carnality causes disgust, the love is not sincere or complete.
These messages are clear, even if the images could cause discomfort to some. The Sun represents our individuality and the identity we show to the world. In the Decameron Sun card, these two young soldiers have discarded their outer identity (the armor and weapons that are scattered around them) in order to allow their true selves to emerge, at least to each other. The light of the sun shines down on them, illuminating rather than hiding their interactions and reactions to each other. This kind of personal revelation needs to happen in order to create the trust between two people necessary for true love to grow. While some cultures would frown upon this kind of union, these two soldiers are not hiding from each other and have accepted each other completely and openly.
The traditional image of The Star shows a naked woman kneeling at the edge of a body of water (or standing with one foot in the water and one on land), holding two pitchers of water. She pours one onto the land and one into the water. The card's traditional keywords include hope for the future, serenity, and freedom, and since this Major Arcana card is immediately after The Tower, the hope, serenity and freedom are a relief. The Decameron Stars card shows a woman who, with a smile on her face, presents herself openly as she indulges in a natural bodily function usually performed in private. The soldier on the ground has put aside his spear, his sword and his helmet; he lies on the ground with one arm cushioning his head, watching the woman above him. We can't tell by his facial expression what exactly he is feeling, but he is watching.
I am being shown today that each of us has the right to be an individual, to find pleasure in whatever pleases us whether socially acceptable or not, and to love whoever we wish to love even if some would condemn that love. As long as our hearts and minds are acting with Harm to None and in Perfect Love and Trust, we should be allowed to be who we are. Being who we are should not be seen as an attack on others, even if others believe we are wrong in loving who we love, or wrong in taking pleasure in what pleases us. We should never deliberately use pleasure or love as weapons to hurt others, but we have the right to openly be ourselves.
So do the people who disagree with us. The same restrictions apply; they can disagree as long as they do so with Harm to None and in Perfect Love and Trust. These days, with the extreme political differences even between immediate family members, it is important to remember that everyone has a right to be their own self. I needed that reminder today, and as always, the Decameron Tarot came through for me.
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