If it doesn't, that's okay. I understand that it's a symbol, and while symbols might be powerful, they are also subjective. That's what I want to talk about.
My good friend and I started a conversation about oracles and how well each of us utilizes them. I read rune stones and she reads tarot cards. To me, her cards are mostly gobbledygook, and to her, my stones are random characters. To me, my runic readings are sometimes clear as crystal, and to her, the cards bring excellent insight into issues. The difference between us? She studied Tarot and I studied Runes.
It's like knowing a language. If two people share the same language symbols, they can communicate well with each other. If they don't, they'll have trouble understanding each other. For me someone speaking Spanish fluently is simply making sounds since I don't know more than a dozen words of that language. I might catch a word or two, but mostly it's gobbledygook, just like my friend's card layout. That person speaking Spanish might be having just as much trouble understanding me, if they don't know much English. Only when we have a language in common will we really be able to share ideas.
My spiritual language is eclectic. I know enough about runes to read them. I do well with the unique meanings and uses of crystals and stones. I have a smattering of Eastern philosophy and Native American spiritualism and Celtic based ritualism. I'm a naturalistic shaman myself, learning about the spiritual and material worlds by observing them and the ties they have with everything else. There aren't always adequate words in the English language to describe what I know - the symbol sets don't quite match up. That's what's made me interested in other ways of seeing things, in other spiritual languages. I want to know because I see that some of what we understand is the same even though the language we use to express it is different. I hope that other spiritual languages might give me a way to share more easily with others.
But the language and the sharing are ultimately not the goal. It's the knowing that is. To know that everything is connected and understand how is more important than being able to chart it out in a graphic. That I understand that cycles repeat in ever changing infinite patterns is the knowledge I need to help someone or some spirit find a way out of a pattern that is causing them harm. The knowledge that everything is connected in ways most people can't experience is what I need to understand how to heal some things. The fact that I know that my own language might not include symbols that others understand is what makes me tolerant, what makes me listen and keep learning other people's symbols so we can communicate the best way that we can.
The symbols I use are subjective, and I know that. I try to do my best to explain them to those who are as eager to share understanding as I am. In doing so, I often find myself being taught the symbol set of the person I'm communicating with. We teach each other, and in teaching each other find that we already know what the other is saying, we just didn't speak each others' language.
The language of Tarot and the language of Runes aren't really all that different. They are Oracle, made of symbols that remind us of our intuitive understanding of the connections between everything and how those relations combine to influence what is happening around us. The symbols aren't the same, but the concepts behind them are.
I wonder sometimes if all the misunderstandings in the world only happen because people don't take the time to learn each others' set of symbols or simply reject what they see as different. If we took the time to try to understand, would we find that we all have the same knowledge within us that we simply express in different ways? Something to think about while you ponder the graphic I made and see if your own knowledge fits it in some way.
Love and Light to you all!
dwolf34
