Post by scorpiorising on Jun 11, 2007 18:15:15 GMT -5
THYME AND TAROT
By
Carolyn Wolfe
THYME AND TAROT
Each day before work, she would pull out her Tarot deck, wrapped in her Grandmother’s red silk scarf and carefully shuffle the deck. Then ,closing her eyes, she would murmur her question for the day and gently lay the deck on the smooth, glossy wood finished, dining room table. After a moment’s hesitation, she would pull out one card and place it face down right in front of her. Then inhale slowly, as her Grandma taught her, and open her eyes, turning the card over to see what it revealed. Finally, exhaling silently, she looked for the answer in the mystical imagery on the face of the card. This had been a childhood lesson learned in her Grandmother’s house, in the kitchen that was always filled with the scent of fresh herbs. Now, long after her Grandmother had passed on, she kept this one part of her teaching alive. The morning Tarot. More familiar to her than the habitual morning cup of coffee.
It was a funny old custom to keep alive, not at all in keeping with her current lifestyle. She was musing on this fact as she sipped at her coffee, too strong as usual, and began to get dressed for her busy day at the office. In moments she was wearing her office uniform, a gray pinstripe jacket and skirt with a no-nonsense white blouse. Her Grandmother once called this sort of suit “ the derivative outfit for the driven Executive.” Never quite keeping the disappointment out of her voice when she said this. Karen knew full well the plans that her Grandmother had for her, and they were not in keeping with what Karen had wanted out of life. Success to her Grandmother and success to herself were two different things entirely, but somehow they remained close at heart even through the many “discussions” they had over the years. Today was the dear woman’s birthday, which once again brought tears to Karen’s eyes as she stood ready to walk out the door. You would think after ten years the memory of her passing would not stay so sharp in her mind, not create the hollow feeling every time she thought of the sweet woman who raised her.
As she stepped outside, she smelled an all too familiar scent, Marigolds. It was her Grandmother’s favorite flower, the ones she would grow right in the front row of her herbal garden , like the first line of defense to guard her precious herbs, the most beloved of them all - the wild Thyme. She was early as usual so she walked across the lawn, looking for the flowers that created that scent in the air. She knew that her Grandmother would have been disappointed not to see a garden somewhere around the outside of the house, but there was no time left in her life for gardening. It was enough to keep up with her well manicured yard. Karen sighed as she thought of all the little things that had made up her Grandma’s home, the scents, the traditions, the meals, sitting wherever and whenever they chose, watching T.V. or just talking and laughing. Fun. Grandma had been so much fun.
Karen sighed again and began to consider the Tarot card that had been revealed to her this morning. It was the World Card. The card of endings and beginnings, of cycles, of rebirth and new starts. It did not make sense with what was going on her life right now. She had an ongoing relationship with her co-worker, Jeremy, and that was two years old, nothing new there, nothing ever new there. Nothing new at work either, as she pretty well had a routine of supervising her employees and making sure everything ran smoothly for her boss, who had a tendency to become annoyed at the slightest provocation. She was good at what she did, although being a Marketing executive could get pretty hectic, and proud of the fact that she was deadline oriented, a firm but fair supervisor, and was able to meet the high standards of the company. Unfortunatley, there was not a great deal of newness in her job routine. Routine, that’s what she was, just reliable and routine. It was what Jeremy said he loved about her, the dependability and her ability to smooth over ruffled feathers. She brought a sense of order to his life, which constantly amazed her when she considered the chaotic home life she grew up in.
No schedules, except for the weekly traditions that she learned. Recipes, charms, healings, and all the old wisdom that her Grandmother wanted to pass on to her, had been carefully monitored and scheduled according to each Season. Other than those lessons, everything had been very fluid, easygoing and relaxed. Perhaps the lack of necessity to pay attention to any real schedule had led her to seek the security of routine. Or maybe she was merely making excuses for the dullness that she was experiencing at the moment. Shaking her head, she realized that she was even more depressed this morning than she had thought. All this thinking and reminiscing was not getting her to work any faster and today was going to be busy!
As she hurried to the car, the heel of her left shoe, a designer Pump, broke off in the wet ground and she spilled across the lawn dampening and muddying her suit. d**n! and she was late already. She began to pull herself up, but then she smelled the richness of the wet grass all around her. It had been raining for days before, and the earth was filled with a variety of smells along with the fertile smell of growing and becoming. She had listened to the rain last night on the roof and fallen asleep to the gentle rhythm. Karen had forgotten how the rain always seemed to refresh her, just as it did the earth. A residual effect of all those years of helping her Grandmother in the garden. My God, what was she doing! Laying on the ground in her now ruined suit, smelling the earth like a puppy! Oh but it smelled good though. How long had it been since she had been this close to the ground? Since she walked barefoot on the lawn, or walked out into a rainstorm just because?
Her red hair used to fly into an electric dance before a thunderstorm! How she loved the storm, even the thunder held her in thrall. So much so, that long after the other kids had run indoors, she had stood wide eyed, experiencing the raw energy as the lightning flashed and danced across the sky. Her Grandmother would laugh and dry her off inside the warm house after letting her get soaked, teasingly calling her a little “Elemental” one of the mystical beings of nature!
Karen sat, no longer aware of the passing time, letting her tears fall freely, thinking of her substitute mother, Grandma- the one who was always there. After the accident of her parents, her maternal Grandmother had picked up the pieces of Karen’s decimated existence and somehow made her whole again. Now, Karen let herself say out loud what she had been denying for so long in her heart. “Grandma, I need you so much! “ Distantly she heard a soft insistent ringing. It was her cell phone, stuck deep in her purse that was lying about three feet away. for the first time in years, she ignored it. She knew it was either her boss or Jeremy, disturbed by her inconsiderate tardiness. She just let it ring.
So that’s what it meant, she thought as she rolled off her nylons and pushed her bare feet into the soft ground. New Beginnings. The World Card. It was her Grandmother’s gift to her, and how like her Grandma to give her Granddaughter a gift on her birthday. Well, Karen wasn’t going to waste a bit of it! She walked around her yard, looking for the sunniest spot, although it needed just the proper amount of shade, there at the front-perfect! Soon she would be gardening, planting new seedlings, and making her house a home! She no longer minded the mud on her suit, it was not an outfit she would be wearing often anymore. This decision was reached effortlessly. Soon it would be time to call work and ask for her two week vacation. She needed to gather herself up for her new life.
Then, the next step of resigning her position and explaining it all to Jeremy. He would understand or not, but it was up to her now to guide her life into the direction it should have taken all those years ago. Teaching. It was what her Grandmother said she was born to do, and she had rarely used her talent. Now she would. She stood looking up into the sky, blinking at the soft rays of the sun and smiled. Later she would go to the Garden shop up the street and get the Marigolds and herbs that she needed for the garden. Later, but for now she would enjoy the cool grass under her feet and the sun warming her face. After all she had plenty of Thyme.
By
Carolyn Wolfe
THYME AND TAROT
Each day before work, she would pull out her Tarot deck, wrapped in her Grandmother’s red silk scarf and carefully shuffle the deck. Then ,closing her eyes, she would murmur her question for the day and gently lay the deck on the smooth, glossy wood finished, dining room table. After a moment’s hesitation, she would pull out one card and place it face down right in front of her. Then inhale slowly, as her Grandma taught her, and open her eyes, turning the card over to see what it revealed. Finally, exhaling silently, she looked for the answer in the mystical imagery on the face of the card. This had been a childhood lesson learned in her Grandmother’s house, in the kitchen that was always filled with the scent of fresh herbs. Now, long after her Grandmother had passed on, she kept this one part of her teaching alive. The morning Tarot. More familiar to her than the habitual morning cup of coffee.
It was a funny old custom to keep alive, not at all in keeping with her current lifestyle. She was musing on this fact as she sipped at her coffee, too strong as usual, and began to get dressed for her busy day at the office. In moments she was wearing her office uniform, a gray pinstripe jacket and skirt with a no-nonsense white blouse. Her Grandmother once called this sort of suit “ the derivative outfit for the driven Executive.” Never quite keeping the disappointment out of her voice when she said this. Karen knew full well the plans that her Grandmother had for her, and they were not in keeping with what Karen had wanted out of life. Success to her Grandmother and success to herself were two different things entirely, but somehow they remained close at heart even through the many “discussions” they had over the years. Today was the dear woman’s birthday, which once again brought tears to Karen’s eyes as she stood ready to walk out the door. You would think after ten years the memory of her passing would not stay so sharp in her mind, not create the hollow feeling every time she thought of the sweet woman who raised her.
As she stepped outside, she smelled an all too familiar scent, Marigolds. It was her Grandmother’s favorite flower, the ones she would grow right in the front row of her herbal garden , like the first line of defense to guard her precious herbs, the most beloved of them all - the wild Thyme. She was early as usual so she walked across the lawn, looking for the flowers that created that scent in the air. She knew that her Grandmother would have been disappointed not to see a garden somewhere around the outside of the house, but there was no time left in her life for gardening. It was enough to keep up with her well manicured yard. Karen sighed as she thought of all the little things that had made up her Grandma’s home, the scents, the traditions, the meals, sitting wherever and whenever they chose, watching T.V. or just talking and laughing. Fun. Grandma had been so much fun.
Karen sighed again and began to consider the Tarot card that had been revealed to her this morning. It was the World Card. The card of endings and beginnings, of cycles, of rebirth and new starts. It did not make sense with what was going on her life right now. She had an ongoing relationship with her co-worker, Jeremy, and that was two years old, nothing new there, nothing ever new there. Nothing new at work either, as she pretty well had a routine of supervising her employees and making sure everything ran smoothly for her boss, who had a tendency to become annoyed at the slightest provocation. She was good at what she did, although being a Marketing executive could get pretty hectic, and proud of the fact that she was deadline oriented, a firm but fair supervisor, and was able to meet the high standards of the company. Unfortunatley, there was not a great deal of newness in her job routine. Routine, that’s what she was, just reliable and routine. It was what Jeremy said he loved about her, the dependability and her ability to smooth over ruffled feathers. She brought a sense of order to his life, which constantly amazed her when she considered the chaotic home life she grew up in.
No schedules, except for the weekly traditions that she learned. Recipes, charms, healings, and all the old wisdom that her Grandmother wanted to pass on to her, had been carefully monitored and scheduled according to each Season. Other than those lessons, everything had been very fluid, easygoing and relaxed. Perhaps the lack of necessity to pay attention to any real schedule had led her to seek the security of routine. Or maybe she was merely making excuses for the dullness that she was experiencing at the moment. Shaking her head, she realized that she was even more depressed this morning than she had thought. All this thinking and reminiscing was not getting her to work any faster and today was going to be busy!
As she hurried to the car, the heel of her left shoe, a designer Pump, broke off in the wet ground and she spilled across the lawn dampening and muddying her suit. d**n! and she was late already. She began to pull herself up, but then she smelled the richness of the wet grass all around her. It had been raining for days before, and the earth was filled with a variety of smells along with the fertile smell of growing and becoming. She had listened to the rain last night on the roof and fallen asleep to the gentle rhythm. Karen had forgotten how the rain always seemed to refresh her, just as it did the earth. A residual effect of all those years of helping her Grandmother in the garden. My God, what was she doing! Laying on the ground in her now ruined suit, smelling the earth like a puppy! Oh but it smelled good though. How long had it been since she had been this close to the ground? Since she walked barefoot on the lawn, or walked out into a rainstorm just because?
Her red hair used to fly into an electric dance before a thunderstorm! How she loved the storm, even the thunder held her in thrall. So much so, that long after the other kids had run indoors, she had stood wide eyed, experiencing the raw energy as the lightning flashed and danced across the sky. Her Grandmother would laugh and dry her off inside the warm house after letting her get soaked, teasingly calling her a little “Elemental” one of the mystical beings of nature!
Karen sat, no longer aware of the passing time, letting her tears fall freely, thinking of her substitute mother, Grandma- the one who was always there. After the accident of her parents, her maternal Grandmother had picked up the pieces of Karen’s decimated existence and somehow made her whole again. Now, Karen let herself say out loud what she had been denying for so long in her heart. “Grandma, I need you so much! “ Distantly she heard a soft insistent ringing. It was her cell phone, stuck deep in her purse that was lying about three feet away. for the first time in years, she ignored it. She knew it was either her boss or Jeremy, disturbed by her inconsiderate tardiness. She just let it ring.
So that’s what it meant, she thought as she rolled off her nylons and pushed her bare feet into the soft ground. New Beginnings. The World Card. It was her Grandmother’s gift to her, and how like her Grandma to give her Granddaughter a gift on her birthday. Well, Karen wasn’t going to waste a bit of it! She walked around her yard, looking for the sunniest spot, although it needed just the proper amount of shade, there at the front-perfect! Soon she would be gardening, planting new seedlings, and making her house a home! She no longer minded the mud on her suit, it was not an outfit she would be wearing often anymore. This decision was reached effortlessly. Soon it would be time to call work and ask for her two week vacation. She needed to gather herself up for her new life.
Then, the next step of resigning her position and explaining it all to Jeremy. He would understand or not, but it was up to her now to guide her life into the direction it should have taken all those years ago. Teaching. It was what her Grandmother said she was born to do, and she had rarely used her talent. Now she would. She stood looking up into the sky, blinking at the soft rays of the sun and smiled. Later she would go to the Garden shop up the street and get the Marigolds and herbs that she needed for the garden. Later, but for now she would enjoy the cool grass under her feet and the sun warming her face. After all she had plenty of Thyme.
