Image taken from “The Tarot Art Quilt Project” by Joyce R. Hartley

Becoming New

Tony wasn’t always a Sergeant in the U.S. Army.  There was a time when he was in a gang in one of the worst areas of Los Angeles, but that was long ago.  He didn’t dare go back to that place he used to call home, although he had seen a few of his family members and friends over the years.  Every time it was the same: Tony would share a story from his life—something he had found interesting when he was stationed in Italy, a funny anecdote from airborne school, anything—and inevitably this person from his former life would bring the conversation back to past events and who Tony was before he ever left home.  Tony always ended up feeling frustrated after such interactions.  He wanted to maintain these few small connections to his roots, but his attempts to do so only seemed to cause him stress. 

Amy described the day she visited a farm sanctuary where she saw some cows playing, a mother pig gently tending to her babies, and a turkey named Fred that followed her around the entire day, presumably because Fred liked the way Amy would pet his head.  Amy said, “I kept thinking about my dog—how funny, smart, and emotional he is… how he looks sad when he sees me getting dressed for work, and he runs around happily when he sees that I’m gathering together beach items.  He loves the beach!  It had never occurred to me that cows, pigs, turkeys and other animals were really no different from dogs. They have personalities.  They can be happy, sad, or scared.  They can feel love, and they can suffer. When these thoughts came in my head, I knew that everything inside of me was changing in that moment.  I would never be the same.”  Amy stopped eating meat and dairy that day, and she ultimately became an activist for animal rights. 

The 8 of Cups tarot image is about walking away from all that is not working in your life to find deeper and/or more personal meaning.  It’s about transformation and changing direction entirely:  an alcoholic who stops drinking, a couples retreat that leads to a positive reinvention of a marriage that had been dying, a person who learns to love himself for the first time and then begins to consistently make choices that reflect that self-respect and esteem.  It’s about creating a new life that is more fulfilling than ever experienced before.  Some changes are more overt and obvious than others; however, the reshaping of a person’s internal life often manifests externally.  The 8 of cups is also about letting go of situations that are no longer feeding your spirit (if they ever did) and walking purposefully in a new direction. 

It may be easier to embrace the energy of the 8 of Cups when you are the one who is walking away.  As frustrated as Tony may feel when he interacts with people from back home, his family and friends may feel even more confounded or even hurt.  Maintaining a relationship through an 8 of Cups life transition is not always easy because priorities and values are reconfigured and may no longer align.  Even so, with clear and open communication, as well as flexible allowances for each person to continue to evolve as an individual, relationships can and do survive and flourish through transformative times. Those friends and loved ones who allow for your personal growth, and who are willing to get to know you continuously as you evolve, add value to an already good life. 

There are a variety of reasons that a person might feel drawn to change life course, and these may not be fully understood at the time. Making sense of the past helps pave the way to a better future. When we live through an experience that is difficult or intense in any way, it can be emotionally draining to the point of exhaustion.  By moving toward something new, the emotions associated with such an event can be better managed.  We get all our cups in a row, so to speak, and with the benefit of time and distance, we begin to glean some wisdom and insight rather than staying still and eventually drowning in a sea of emotion.  In this way, the 8 of Cups is about the survival of our highest selves.

In the end, rather like Rasselas, we tend to discover that while the scenery, job, primary relationship, or other details may change, fulfillment, personal meaning, and indeed happiness are intrinsically driven.  Sometimes you just know it’s time to discover a new horizon.

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