When I initially began writing this blog series, it was with a book in mind. I wanted to use only ‘traditional’ decks (or at least, the traditional Tarot decks that I use personally – I’m forever shunning the Thoth!), so that anyone who read it might feel some sort of cohesion. But the beauty of a blog is that cohesion is not necessary, and so I’m going to where my heart calls me for this post.

Today I am referring to a card from another system of Tarot. It is is not a traditional system of Tarot, but I do consider it to be its own system regardless, set apart from the others and yet just as valid: the Osho Zen. Tarot. I could write an entire blog post about why I consider the Osho Zen Tarot to be valid a system of its own, rather than a Rider-Waite-Smith offshoot (it reevaluates the entire concept of Tarot with a Zen approach). But I’ll save that for another time.

The Two of Rainbows (or Coins/Pentacles) shows a figure in loose-fitting meditation clothing balancing on one foot as he takes mindful steps between stones. In the background, a swirl of beautiful colours obscure the city that he moves through. I imagine him to be fully focussed on each step that he takes, how his body feels as his foot hits the stone, the air beneath his hands that helps him to balance, the bending of his knees. His is fully aware of where he is – in the concrete jungle (see the city in the background) – but he is also aware of how his perceptions of it are illusory, too, as waves of colour obscure his experience.

We can only ever experience life through the lens of our own history, culture and personal preoccupations: my city and yours will be very different places as walk through it, side by side, passing the traffic. However, as we become mindful of our delusions, an ironic things happens: our experience actually becomes more universal. We become attuned to what the poet Mary Oliver calls our ‘animal body’ (link to poem), that universal energy which flows through all of us and calls us to move in the first place.

Coins/Pentacles (or in the Osho Zen’s case, Rainbows) bring our attention to the element of Earth. Solidity, physical presence. This card calls on us to be with it as we move, taking each precise moment as it comes, recognising the miracle of Nature, whether we move through the countryside or a metropolis. Bring your attention to the physicality of each step, the relief of recognising your animal energy in movement, and not being lost in your mind, in planning or ruminating.

Back in the summer, I walked up the Tatra mountains in the south of Poland, an area of spectacular beauty. The walk was tough on my knees, and during the descent, there were times when all I could focus on was the weakness of my legs and the soreness of my right foot, which causes me pain sometimes. I walked with my Zen practice in mind. I visualised this card image at the hardest parts of the descent, which I had drew as my daily card that day. In those moments of exhaustion, I tuned back into the movement of bones and muscles. And an interesting thing happened each time (I never cease to find mindful practices interesting!) – every time my attention came back to the actual body sense (rather than my thoughts about my pains and aches), it came back to where I was, too. The magnificent views of rocky mountains pointing to the sky, which I had just climbed. The sound of waterfalls running behind me, splashing and rejuvenating. The scent of pine tree needles in the summer sun. And the feeling of my body as I moved: just the feeling of the aches and pains and movement, without the running complaints in my mind about soreness, about and how I wanted the walk to finish so that I could rest. No, this is a special moment. I will probably never be here again – look, listen! It’s heaven up here!

Each moment is all that we ever really have. Past and future really are illusions: they are not here, they exist only in the mind. They are important to consider, but they cannot dominate. Happiness lies in this precise moment. Not even in ‘today’ as a concept, as we can still get lost in planning what to do after work ends or when the kids are in bed or how we will relax ‘later’. I mean now, right now.

Life to me often feels like a big wheel that is is constantly rolling; this card asks us to bring our attention to that precise part of the wheel that is always in contact with the earth. I invite you to do the same, not only when you are ‘in nature’ (we always are), but to recognise the wildness of nature in each and every second of your in-breath and out-breath.

Of course, it’s impossible to keep up. You get distracted and you come back. But coming back from that hazy place in our mind to the solidity of our physical form brings us back to the miracle of this moment, and that is why it’s worth doing as often we remember, a hundred times a day if necessary. As this gorgeous card from the Osho Zen Tarot teaches us, life is best lived when we do it from moment to moment.

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

That’s all for now, friends. Thank you for being here – and please check out my Therapeutic Tarot Sessions if you’d like us to work together. You can also sign up for the Tarot Blog newsletter (different to my main newsletter) below to receive occasional email updates (roughly monthly) with the latest posts.

Smiles from Scotland,

Stephen