Photo credit by Ko_An; creative commons license.
From the upcoming book, Searching for Serenity: the Spiritual Way to Declutter your Life and Create Sacred Space
I’m intrigued by a Tarot card known as the “Two of Swords.” In most decks, the card features a person holding a sword in each hand, often in a defensive position. The visual often reflects two equal forces in a stalemate situation. The swords are sometimes crossed, suggesting a clash of ideas, words, or motives.
The traditional meanings for the card are struggle, balance, decisions, an impasse, confusion. Some refer to these as putting up barriers to the truth or hoping the truth will go away.
A friend of mine interprets this card in a more positive way that I find beautiful.
“Look at the woman,” she says. “She’s holding a sword in each hand. She’s very good at defending her position, but she’s got her hands full. If something wonderful comes to her, she cannot accept it because her hands are full. To open her hand to something new and wonderful, she must put down one of the swords. She must let go of something first. She must release before she can refocus and accept something new and better.”
During my process of decluttering and re-creating the sacred space I’d lost in my home and life, I thought a lot about that Two of Swords card. I had been like that strong woman, defending my position at all costs, never daring to risk failure by setting down one of my swords. My hands were full, too full. I couldn’t get it all done. I had too many things pulling at me, and I had that constant clash of which to do first and how could I possibly do them all and which would I let fail if I didn’t defend it. It was a constant struggle, strain, and stress.
To move forward in my life and accept newer, happier ways of being and new “gifts” from the Universe, I had to make room in my life. I had to let go…of things that cluttered my life, whether they were physical, emotional, spiritual, or something else. When I was able to release on one level, there was a sudden cascade of release on all levels in a matter of weeks. As I got one level to its simplest form, the others could not stay cluttered. That powerful releasing energy took hold all at once, and I let go, finally, and began very quickly to refocus my energies and my life in a new direction that felt wonderfully free.
The new direction meant taking the newly emptied spaces in my life, not fearing the voids left by releasing, and filling them instead with love and joy, turning them into sacred spaces.
And there, in sacred space, is where serenity lives.
Leave a Reply