OK, I know we have a couple months until Halloween; maybe this is my subconscious way of making myself think it’s cooler outside!
All fun aside, this is a pretty serious card that is HARD to do right now. Anger over the pandemic, vaccines, and so forth is running rampant. Even when we believe in a cause, toxic people wearing activism as a uniform for their ego makes it hard to continue support. And we won’t even start on politics. Ugh. So, I pulled this card, it was clearly the strongest card, and I knew it would be the card most difficult to do. But sometimes we have to do the difficult things to move forward. Remember, forgiving isn’t about letting people hurt or abuse you again – it’s about letting them go so their behavior no longer drags you down.
– Thistle
FORGIVENESS – Reducing burden
A wrong is done
Consequences you cannot deny
But to hold a grudge is to drink poison
and think that the other person will die.
Being a cold-season festival, Halloween is the perfect time to pause and think about how things actually are in our lives and what heavy burdens we do not wish to carry through these harder, leaner times. Some of this heavy-heartedness may relate to old relationships or grievances. Some may relate to negative feelings we hold onto tightly about others and even a lack of compassion for the “mistakes” we have ourselves made.
It is said that it takes a “big person to apologize” but in many ways it takes an even bigger person to forgive. When we hold grudges, the negative energy is incredibly toxic. It is like drinking a poison and expecting the “other” unforgiven person to die! Whilst we may even harbor feelings of revenge (and to be honest, that does feel good for a while), it is important that we move those feelings along to forgiveness and release as soon as possible for our own health and wellbeing.
If you have chosen this card, think about who it is that you could be forgiving – and that includes yourself.
The Halloween Oracle by Stacey Demarco, art by Jimmy Manton
Parting the Mists 