What's happening here and how do we all fix it?

I'm starting to wonder whether there is something happening to our species genetically/evolutionarily that we are seeing such a rise in what I term utter cruelty to those who are more defenseless than ourselves, whether it is just that we hear more about it in the information age, or whether this is a reaction to overall feelings of despair, helplessness, and powerlessness in our society/world. In my opinion, when people feel powerless, they will sometimes strike out at those more powerless than they are in order to get some control over the chaos of their lives. There are other paths and many take them. I realize that. But, this "If I subdue this child/cat/dog, etc., therefore I have control," issue feels more and real and valid to me.

The vile man who viciously beat his puppy (a post I put up yesterday on FB), the deviant who duct-taped a cat's face and paws shut (but left him in the parking lot of an animal shelter) so the kitty almost died, the bombing in Boston, and so many others that I have seen and been sickened by - what do they all have in common?

And what's more important, how do we treat the disease rather than the symptoms? How do we find the spark that will lead to awareness of the plight of others: people, animals, the environment? I can't help thinking that awareness will lead to compassion, and compassion will lead to action. Eventually, to survive, our species will have to find compassion and act on it, or I fear we will destroy ourselves. We live in a global village. We can no longer afford to not notice or not care about how others are treated.

Don't get me wrong. I realize that I am privileged. I live well. I do work I love. One of the reasons I can even spend time contemplating this issue is because I am not doing back-breaking work in a field somewhere. By accident of birth, by the choices my parents made to bring us to the USA, by a lot of luck, I have a very different life than I otherwise might have had.

But, the life I have is the life I have and because of this, I need to speak out, ask the questions, and act. How do we combat this trend? What can we do, individually, to change the trajectory?

I feel like Master Yoda had it right. I'm paraphrasing here: Greed, anger, hate - these lead to the dark side. I believe with all my heart that they do. And with all my heart, I believe we can change. We can grow. We can find compassion and not just for those in our immediate circles. We can see one another and all beings as part of a greater whole. When we see each other, truly see each other, we recognize all as part of our one big, noisy, infinite, chaotic, glorious family. We all matter: the children, the women, the men, the animals, the plants, the rocks, the waters, the clouds, the very air we breathe. Each must be equally important if we are to survive and dare I say it, thrive.

Today's Tarot: the Devil (greed, imprisonment, self-deception)

I find this card a hard one to write about. There are so many connotations that people find it hard to objective about this card. We tend to ascribe so many meanings, facets, and patinas to it that we never get to bottom of things.

In my opinion, it is easy to put all the negative qualities we might feel internally onto a mythical figure, call him/it the ultimate in evil and be done with it. In some ways, that lets us off the hook. Here's the thing, though. It doesn't. That ol' chestnut, "the Devil made me do it," is the worst kind of cop out. Instead of standing up and saying, "yes, I have less than stellar moments. Yes, I've done things I'm not proud of but I am trying to make amends, trying to improve," we say, it's the fault of the Devil, with a big capital D. In the end, though, it isn't true, is it? In the end, we are responsible for what we do. We must take our less than stellar moments, accept that we were capable of them, and then do better.

So, yes, this card does mean greed. It means every single petty and not-so-petty time we have been greedy, small-minded, closed-minded, or mean. It's the ugly underbelly of our own highest thoughts and best attempts.

It also means imprisonment. As long as we don't accept our own faults and flaws, as long as we try to palm our negative qualities on some mythical man/beast/fallen angel, we stay imprisoned in our fear of being caught, in our terror of being found out to be less than perfect. In effect, we are sometimes terrified of being found out to be human. Humans run the gamut of actions and emotions. We can exhibit the kindness of the angels, or the malice of the devils. And we need to accept that both reside inside us. The ones we show to the world are entirely up to us. And, every single instant of every single day brings us to the fork in the road about what we will show to the world and what we will exhibit. Will it be kindness or malice? Will it be generosity or greed?

The key here is to remove the veils from our own eyes and see ourselves clearly. If we do that, then we arrive at that place of balance where neither devils nor angels hold sway. The old image of a person trying to make a decision with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other comes to mind here. They are trying to talk the person into either doing the right or wrong thing, make the right or wrong choice. If the person accepts that the responsibility is ultimate his/hers, then the devil and angel no longer have a voice. Then, that voice is entirely internal and either the credit or the blame becomes internal as well.

So, today, when you are trying to reach decisions, trying to decide how to move forward, act in the moment, or say or do anything, remember the Devil is internal and he/she/it will always pull you toward greed at the expense of others and the kind of selfishness that is ultimately just a little malicious. Taking care of ourselves and being selfish in our self care is one thing. But doing so with complete disregard for others is another thing entirely.

I am reminded of the quote. “You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”—Malcolm S. Forbes.

If the Devil is about greed, then this previous quote is its Achilles Heel.

Self-centered or centered on yourself?

Today's cards: Judgment, Four of Pentacles, Three of Rods. Hmm, well, I got a travel card, and I'm traveling today. Anyone else traveling today? If so, take up whatever opportunity you see while you are out and about. Judgment talks to us about making the hard choices, listening to our innermost desires, and taking a stand. It's either a stand for what we believe in or a stand for what we want, but either way, take a stand. Whew, that sounded convoluted. Ultimately, I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you don't stand up for what you want or believe, why should anyone else?


The four of Pentacles is about greed. Now, it can be the grabbing, yucky kind of greed, or it can be the kind of greed that has you being centered on yourself. The phrase self-centered has gotten a really bad rap over the years. In fact, I bet when you read the phrase, you felt a little icky. No one wants to be described that way because it has such a negative connotation. It means you are an egotist (remind me to write about what it means to be an egotist at some point), you're selfish, or you're only concerned about what you want and need. Right? Do you consider that a negative? Being centered on what you want and you need? If not, I say good onya. If so, I'll ask you to think about what's wrong with taking some time to assess what you need and being focused on that. I think most people could use a little more time being centered on what they really need. I believe the surprise would come when many of those people realized that their needs are very different from the surface-level material things most of us think they are. 


In fact, I'd say that if we all spent some time being greedy with ourselves, our time, our thoughts, our feelings, we'd discover that our actual needs are basic and few. The trappings of greed: power, wealth, material possessions, etc., don't tend to truly satisfy. I believe they've done happiness studies of people the world over and they determined that a lot of people in what many would consider to be poor countries, describe themselves as happier than those in countries with a higher per capita income, etc. What seems to be key to happiness are human connections. Alan B. Krueger said, "Much of what contributes to wellbeing happens outside markets." From Gallup's Economics of Happiness, "Though the study of what makes people in societies around the world feel positive about their lives begins with their relative economic status, it doesn't end there." There was a forum on happiness (around the world) and they studied responses from 130 different countries. What they found was there was a correlation between a certain amount of money and happiness, but that was only the beginning. True life satisfaction came from having other types of needs met. And today, I say, focus on that. Besides money, what are other ways you can get life satisfaction? Make a list of what makes you happy. See how many things on that list have nothing to do with what you can buy. And then go grab a few of those things and play.