SleepingOrchid

Chrysanthemum = HEALING RITUALS “Magic. Music. Mystery. Miracles.”

In the Garden, just as the light begins to fail, we observe Tea Ceremony. For the last three thousand years, an infusion of yellow Chrysanthemum, wolfberry, honey and hot water clears anger and stress and quiets heart and brain. The tea is drunk from translucent porcelain cups dressed with delicate gold tracery to highlight repair & reclamation. Hot water is repeatedly added until the delicious floral scent is gone. Darkness falls, and we bow to one another before departing. If we can bear it, we touch each other’s hands.
Candlelight. Incense. Hot tubs. Tea ceremony. Dress. Drama. Dance. Prayer. Yoga. Poetry. Tai Chi. Cooking. Learning. Massage. Aromatherapy. Nature. Art Appreciation.

In the silence of a hushed auditorium one lover carefully paints calligraphy on his lover’s body. The assembled gasp. In the forest on a thick bed of pine needles we wait for hours to take a single photograph. We huddle together beneath mighty Niagara Falls, then meet in the garden for tea just as the light is fading where we disrobe & try on each other’s clothes.

These all are avenues of refreshment where we can greet and join without words, without traditional sex, or even touch, uniting in universal healing ceremonies that demarcate the edges of conflict and desire and shape their sharpness toward mutual and universal joy. This Chrysanthemum card commemorates the restorative moments in your relationship. What are your ceremonies? Do they occur at regularly scheduled intervals? How often we put others’ ceremonial needs first; events that are joyous for them can be depleting for us.

We require pools of deep thought when, instead of wallowing in our imperfect inabilities or inherited need, we dare to infuse our connection with the infinite power and beauty of eternal love. Is this only flower leaves and petals reflected in the porcelain cup? Is it the moment of contemplation before sleep or after waking when we journal dreams and compose ourselves to face the night or day? Or is it that quiet walk we take alone in nature, asking “What can you teach me?” These healing rituals must become sacrosanct and inviolate.

Any routine can acquire a ritualistic dimension when we infuse it with a healing goal. In an action as simple as tooth brushing you can focus your thoughts on “dirt” or you can focus on the “clean.”

The time for consideration attracts reflection that is inherently soothing. You write a poem about me and I write a poem about you. You sing to me, I sing to you, we sing together. Mindfulness requires that each morsel of food and drop of drink has a part to play; none can be unconscious, blurred, or forgotten. Shared meals are dramatic ceremonies with the ebb and flow of physical action, mental well-being and spiritual gratitude.

Any routine can acquire a ritualistic dimension when we infuse it with a healing goal. In an action as simple as tooth brushing you can focus your thoughts on “dirt” or you can focus on the “clean.”

The time for consideration attracts reflection that is inherently soothing. You write a poem about me and I write a poem about you. You sing to me, I sing to you, we sing together. Mindfulness requires that each morsel of food and drop of drink has a part to play; none can be unconscious, blurred, or forgotten. Shared meals are dramatic ceremonies with the ebb and flow of physical action, mental well-being and spiritual gratitude.

Healing

Wind-sucked, excoriated, this
Tempest starts without me,
Scuttled like a leaf
If I lose your hand
My words come fire as
Blood blasts forth
And vomits out
A darkness as
God commands
Us push.
I flee – I won’t be born –
When heat abates
I get there all at once.
In your nightmare the
Corpses dance,
The trees devour their own roots
Spat like pulp
We’ve gone too far
To get back now.
Frenzied silence
Rushes in to bear us up; we explode
In orchestrated ceremony.
Whence comes this
Lightness?
In a furnace of stars we
Shed burdens like
Snakeskin, soaring, flirt –
Imagination limitless –
Each soul, each life
My infinite caress.