To find the treasure…

The Seeker steps through into the unknown, a demanding proposition requiring  strength before her. Sharp teeth gnaw at her fingers, threatening to devour her efforts and kill her resolve. The cold sharp blades open to give way for calming waters. A new road of potential opens, an outgrowth of entanglement that she must breath meaning into. Waters that lead to the king of coins. From a tentative beginning, the lady has arrived on solid ground, a mighty staff in hand, with the power of a newly minted coin as a reward. The power of knowledge and discernment. The power to know and to act.

These days I have been rereading the marvelous treat by Jose Leitao, “The Immaterial Book of St. Cyprian: Folk Concepts and Views on The Book as a Cultural Item Through the Reading of Folk Narratives,” published by Rubedo Press earlier this year.† It is a compendium of folk tales from the Iberian Peninsula, namely Portugal, that involve The Book of St. Cyprian.

As I read the book a second time around, many tangents converge, my work with the cards, my work with the spirits and saints, and also my life as it is moving at the moment. One of the many lessons that have resonated and stayed with me from my teacher Camelia Elias, is that of living in the moment, not in the past and not in the future. And I ask, what does the moment require of me? This is a good question to ask oneself regularly as life continues to move and change and shift. It is a reminder for myself that all I have is this moment, additionally, it evokes awareness.

In line with this thinking, The Immaterial Book of  St. Cyprian reminds me through its folktales the invaluable concept of daring, especially when roaming at the periphery of established order, or consensus. This is still resonant now as structures loom high, and one is driven to move about in a manner that requires dynamism and elasticity. Besides, life continually demonstrates that plans are rarely linear, from point A to point B and afterwards point C. Lady Fortuna has a way of keeping us on our toes as the wheel keeps turning. What better way to engage with the ever-turning wheel than keeping to the moment? Asking the “I” what does the moment require of it?

Moreover, one of the most prominent ideas found in these immaterial folktales is that of treasure. The promise of treasure, after enduring a test of daring and courage, involving facing fears, the night, the unknown, or spirits. In the face of intangibles and the unknown, the treasure is always somewhere down the road. Seizing the prize entails courage, versatility and resilience, remaining in the moment without letting unnamed fears overpower the heart.

Speaking of treasures, I want to now uproot the coins, and leave the way open for whatever arises. The pips are really rather quite simple, it is all a matter of space and movement, too much or too little. Many coins is treasure, and a small amount of coins is scarcity of the promise of more. Here are the remaining cards of the suit of coins along with a message.

The entanglement of materialization, of becoming, keeps our attentions attached and distracted. We want more and more and more and let this nameless desire guide our vision. Instead of letting the promise of more guide the gut, be astute and let the heart carry you along the journey to the treasure.

*More on the spread featured in the beginning and the tarot deck used in a later post.

†Found here.