Undomesticated Tarot — The Major Arcana: The Lovers 6

Bringing Back the Wild to a Domesticated World

In Webb’s image of Stephan’s Quintet, we see 5 galaxies, 4 of which interact. (The left galaxy is actually much closer to us than the rest of the group!) These colliding galaxies are pulling and stretching each other in a gravitational dance. Webb will revolutionize our knowledge of star formation and gas interactions within: nasa.gov/webbfirstimages/

This mosaic is Webb’s largest image to date, covering an area of the sky 1/5 of the Moon’s diameter (as seen from Earth). It contains more than 150 million pixels and is constructed from about 1,000 image files.

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

From NASA’s James Webb Telescope

love is not only romantic; it can also be platonic, familial, ethereal, ecological — even intergalactic.

most wild of all, most undomesticated of all, love can be intragalactic, that is to say that we are allowed to love our selves as much as we love the world.

we are allowed to feel compassion for the galaxies of moments that exist within our own ancient and growing souls. we are allowed to care for our selves, to have faith in our selves, to be gentle with our selves.

domesticated, romantic lovers are often doomed by the expectations of perfection that do not exist nor have ever existed.

gendered, societal, oppressive, exhausting expectations often prevent true connection that is foundational for true love.

when we drop the expectations, both for other lovers and for our own selves, we can connect with new, previously unimaginable realities.

what magic there is, what magic of the human heart, the human mind, these bodies, these fingers, these tongues — how they strain to communicate it all, how they long so deeply to control, but it is wily, isn’t it?

these unwieldy pumpkins, these hovering milkweed seeds, these soaring monarchs of summer, how they are here now and gone tomorrow, and how we cry at the change and then we forget to see that we are here, right now.

self-compassion is sometimes the most difficult because then we must also admit the depth of suffering that we experience, the fact of it, the here and now of it. we make mistakes, we falter, we ache, we long for. our humanness, our animalness, our wholeness is what can make us wholly tired.

how difficult, then, to choose to face it, the internal nowness of our own suffering.

it takes a leap, not of faith but of unknowing — it is not always instinctual, this turning inward for love — it requires a choice, one that is conscious, like opening a door or the seeking of other worlds.

this card of the lovers reminds us that we were not put here, inside this one galaxy, to suffer, but to know that there are — and to choose to experience — the infinite multitudes of ways to love.

even inside that overwhelming expanse of possibility, we can wonder — right here, right now: how can we choose to love, today?

About this project: I’ve been wanting to take the time to learn Tarot for a long while. I pull my cards regularly, but I have a hard time remembering the meanings. I am embarking on this project so that I can dive in deep, internalize, and personalize the lessons of the deck. I’m especially curious about how the poetry of centuries-old intuitive knowledge fits in with our modern lives.

Collage and words by me — Seventh in a series — Taking it seriously, but also trying to lean into play, a bit like a kitten — 🐈‍⬛ therefore there will be a cameo of my cat in every single card. Can you find her?

Open to learning via supportive feedback —

E. Katherine Kottaras the writer, voice, and co-creator of Yoga with Eleonora on PillowFortTV and the co-writer with Vanitha Swaminathan of the forthcoming picture book, A RAINBOW INSIDE MY BODY, illustrated by Holly Hatam (Viking 2024). She holds an M.A. in English and an M.S. in Kinesiology with a focus on Integrative Wellness, and she is a contemplative writer and holistic teacher, having worked at the K-12 and community college levels for over two decades. She is a yoga teacher, personal trainer, and health coach while also living with invisible illnesses and neurodivergence, and as such, she is passionate about mindfulness, bodily self-determination, and health equity. As the queer daughter of an immigrant, Katherine believes that holistic and inclusive approaches to expression, healing, and growth should be accessible to all.

Connect with Katherine on the social medias: IG, YouTube, FB, LinkedIn, or at katherinekottaras.com.

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