After one has lost a person who was significant to their life, mourning can always feel so literal. However, mourning things and people that are no longer in our lives – former friends, a loved job, and so forth – can help us move on and not feel stuck in a cycle of feeling sad or bitter about changes that are quite natural. We can’t stay the same forever, so honor what was and step into what is.
Blessings!
Seven of Vessels – Mourning
MEANING: This is a time to honor what is dead and mourn for what has gone. Learn the lesson of letting go by offering thanks for cherished memories and being at peace with the past.
DESCRIPTION: A human skull painted with an array of designs including spirals, zig-zags and wavy lines, lies at the foot of a tree. Around it are scattered typical grave goods: five cups, and oil lamp, and an offering bowl.
READING POINTS: Mourning begins the process of recovery after failure or bereavement. This process may even be unconscious, for we often do not realize what things were significant until they are gone. Mourning serves to ritualize the process of being at peace and honor the passing of what is important and significant in a personal relationship. It allows the tidal flow of emotions to rise and fall naturally through the psyche, and bring a sense of closure or completion and peace. This may take time, of course, and some losses are felt more acutely than others as mourning is a very personal and individual process, sometimes taking years to complete.
In Ireland, the wake exemplifies one way of processing and dealing with loss by turning the ritual into a celebration of life and achievement. The celebration of the completed journey and the beginning of a new one has been a part of the human mourning process since the dawn of time. Whatever the loss, whoever the wake is being held for, let them go with love, and honor their passing with fond memories. Hold the golden, beautiful moments of life close and let their passing not go without a note of reverence for a life fully lived.
The Wildwood Tarot by authors Mark Ryan and John Matthews and artist Will Worthington.
Parting the Mists 
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