The 4 of Staffs in Reversed starts the reading talking about finding inner harmony after conflict with others and transitions. There is a conflict that has come to an end. This doesn’t necessarily feel good but it is for the best. This conflict has taken you away from your true nature and it is going to take some time to come back to yourself. The Knight of Cups is a reminder to focus on creativity, imagination and finding beauty in life. What makes you happy? Allow yourself to be fully present in the process of creation. The outcome is not really important. Just focus on what makes you happy. The 9 of Cups suggests that once you find that again, all of your wishes will come true.
Mai Bhago – The Warrior-Saintor
I am a warrior of love. My devotion attracts resources and support.
Mai Bhago represents the otherworldly courage and resourcefulness that comes with deep devotion and commitment. Mai Bhago was born in the 17th century in what is not Amritsar, Punjab, at the time of the 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. She was raised a devout Sikh and was trained by her father to use a sword so that she could uphold the Sikh tenet to defend not attack.
When she was a young woman, her village was threatened by Mughal forces. She heard that the Khalsa, or the warrior-saints appointed by the guru to defend the Sikhs had defected and were fleeing back to their villages. Mai Bhago took her sword and warrior-saints to go back and protect the guru from the advancing Mughal army.
She gathered 40 men to fight with her. And on December 29, 1705 the small courageous band of Sikh warriors rushed out to protect the legacy of their religion in the Battle of Muktsar with Mai Bhago as their leader. Mai was the only one to survive. Guru Gobind Singh blessed these 40 men and declared them Chali Mukte, the 40 liberated ones. Mai became the guru’s personal bodyguard and dressed in men’s attire until she retired and spent her last years immersed in meditation.
Mai Bhago is considered a great Sikh warrior-saint. The house where she spent her last years in meditation has been converted into a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship. Her sword and musket are on display as saint relics and as symbols of the fierce courage Mai displayed out of her devotion to the guru. She saved the Sikh religion from extinction.
When your soul selects her card:
Devotion grounds us and allows us to see just how many resources are available to us. And devotion elevates our perception so that the spiritual realm can infuse us with light, strength and energy that is greater than our own. Devotion is the action we feel compelled to take that demonstrates our commitment to love.
The power of Mai Bhago’s devotion kept the Sikh religion alive. The task seemed impossible: 40 Sikhs against a whole Mughal army. But what has never happened before becomes possible through true devotion and the force of pure love.
Mai is the warrior-saint who reminds us to become fully devoted to what we love. Then courage isn’t an effort. It isn’t something we have to cultivate. Courage is what commitment to love bestows us.
Devote yourself fully to what’s at hand, to what is in your hear, and the strength, the support, and the courage to complete the task will rise to meet you.
Soul-Voice Meditation:
What am I committed to with y entire being?Intention:
I am a warrior of love.
My devotion attracts resources and support.
The True Human – I Am Fully Human and Fully Devine
Christ says in Mary’s gospel, “Be on your guard so that no one deceives you by saying, ‘Look over here!’ or ‘Look over there!’ For the child of true Humanity exists within you.” (Mary 4:3-5)
The phrase “child of true Humanity” comes from the Greek word Anthropos. And Anthropos means more literally “fully human and fully divine.” So, a true human being in the Gospel of Mary is a paradoxical mix of a limited, mortal self-the ego-and an expansive, eternal soul. Both, equally.
The goal is not to transcend the body or to try to suppress the seven powers of the ego. The point is to bring awareness to the full spectrum of what it means to be human so that we can make choices about our actions. We can practice a self-emptying love that allows us to release the ego’s grasp of our attention and act only once love, not the ego, is leading us.
We can listen to Christ’s directive to follow the child of true Humanity within us. There’s no one outside of us that can do the work for us. We have to continue to return inward. To the heart. To the treasure that exists within.
We have to do the work of remembering that we are not just this ego that often compels us to act in ways we can barely recognize. With mercy on our own humanity, we can remember that we are Anthropos; we are meant to be human; we are meant to feel all of these difficult and derailing powers.
We are also fully divine. We are also a soul of love. We are also capable of bringing love to where it has never been before. We are visionaries and sources of unlimited light.
We have the unique purpose and opportunity to be both a voice for the voiceless here on earth and to act as the bridge between this world and the next.
The child of true humanity exists within us. Each and every one of us. No one outside of us can ever awaken us to this truth. We must turn inward and let love directly be our guide.
Soul-Voice Meditation: What does it feel like to remember that I am fully human and fully divine?