Tarot #70: Oppression, burdening or imprisonment willfully enforced upon body, mind or spirit.

oppression

Burdens are the foundations of ease and bitter things are the forerunners of pleasure.

–Rumi

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Sometimes oppression comes from without when some people seek abusive power over others on any scale from a 2 person relationship to a dictatorial regime using fear and violence to achieve their ends.

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Sometimes we oppress ourselves by having expectations that are beyond our power to reach or by giving into fear or desperate need for security.Image result for 10 of wands wild unknown

The first defense and initial step to throwing off oppression is to recognize it and name it so that it becomes possible to see its limits and weaknesses.

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The second step is to counteract oppression wherever you can. Stand up to it and move out of the cage it has put you in giving you a view of the world outside the absurdity of life in a trap.

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Question the authority which has you under its thumb and make plans for safe routes of escape so you can take with you what you will need beyond the walls.

Hope has feathers to help you fly, but you must grab the opportunities when they show themselves. Grab and hold on with all your spirit and courage never let go of that bright bird.Image result for 10 of wands hermetic

knowledge and enlightenment assist courage and hope. You must teach yourself, with the help of those who have escaped and those who are learning to do so, to unlearn fear and doubt and relearn action and conviction.

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There are many forms of oppression and domination which become invisible–the new normal

— Michel Foucault

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances there is a twilight when everything seems unchanged, and it is in this twilight that we must be most aware of the change in the air– however slight– lest we become unwitting victims of darkness.

— William O. Douglas

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Wheel of Change Interpretation: Living in Together in Community

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Find out what bonds you to where you live and where you come from and make use of it to build relationships with people in your community. Enlist the help of others to make everyone feel more at home by developing a bond of shared work and values. By choosing what values to promote rather than blindly following the values of others out of fear or laziness, we may be able to avoid oppressing others or being oppressed by the politics of fear and hatred.

This entry was posted in All part of the process, banality of evil, Being Human, can't really complain but, change, Chaos and Order, delusions of progress, developing relationships, mindworks, my mystic toolbox, Other peoples words, paying attention, philosophy, thinking in words and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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