Monday, October 27, 2014

Ace of Cups - Why Emotion Beats No Emotion

   ' My cup runneth over ', from the Hebrew Bible is what comes to mind when I see the Ace of Cups appear. It is also a card that can symbolize the individual who is almost possessed by frenzied passion, and visceral emotion, an experience where the heart overrules the head. We can be swept away in a sea of emotion that is a force of nature, causing humans to display behaviour they wouldn't usually exhibit, such as jealousy, spite, and deceit etc. These are the more negative aspects of the Ace of Cups.

Here we see Aphrodite, the goddess who initiates the powerful upsurge of raw energy toward relationship, and the love between Psyche and Eros.

I was once described as being ' a ball of emotion ', and ' a bleeding heart '. I don't agree with these derogatory descriptions. I actually learned how to stuff my emotion from the age of 6 years of age. I remember exactly the day this happened. I was in the Toronto Sick Children's Hospital with my parents, and my brother Ralph who was in the hospital bed, because he was unable to walk. He been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at this time.

Understandably I was very emotionally distraught, and when I began to express my emotion, I was told by my mother, not to cry. The statement that resonated was, " don't cry you'll make yourself sick ". I saw no tears from my parents, nor from my brother who was then, 16 years old. I got the message loud and clear as I'm sure my brother did as well, that it was not acceptable to express my emotion, and so I followed suite from there on in.

This emotional shut down continued all though my life, until I began to get serious about my recovery from alcoholism, which is often described as being a ' disease of the emotion. ' Alcoholism was all through my family on both sides, and my family had been greatly affected by the disease. Looking back, I can say I went into survival mode, and I kind of disappeared as the family's focus was completely on my brother and his illness.

Today, I understand how suppressing emotions eventually in time, become repressed, in that we are unaware we even have these emotions, and it becomes very unhealthy. If we do not deal with our emotions, they will deal with us.

 It is much better thing to be able to feel, than to not feel. The disconnection from our emotion makes us less human and we are unable to experience love, or life in a holistic way and directly affects our relationships with ourselves and with others.

Having a high intelligence quotient is valued in our society, but it is my experience that having emotional intelligence is just as valuable, if not more so. If we can manage to temper and balance our emotion with our intellect, then the Ace of Cups in our lives will serve us better, leading to a healthier, happier life, where we can thrive, instead of simply trying to survive.


6 comments:

Ellen said...

I just want to hug you now my dear fiend. Sometimes when parents do the best they can in a given situation they don't see how utterly wrong they are.
I am so happy that you have learned to deal with your emotions in a healthy manner and keep doing this day after day :)
Hugs

Unknown said...

Thank you Ellen <3 you are such a sweet, kind soul. Well yes, it was the way they were brought up. Women can be more stoic and repressed than men...stiff upper lip and all that horse crap you know. My mum's family were very English and my father was very old world Polish/German, and so you know how that goes! But I came to see how I was so much like my father, and could see his emotion just below the surface when we were reunited after 26 years. He had a very rough life, and my mother's life was difficult with him.

Thank you Ellen. Big Hugs to you! <3

thesycamoretree said...

You know that program saying, "You're only as sick as your secrets"? I think there should be one that says, "Your heart is only as heavy as the emotional boulders you keep in storage there."

Unknown said...

"Your heart is only as heavy as the emotional boulders you keep in storage there." That's a good one Bev. Thank you!

Neopagan Priestess said...

As the daughter of an alcoholic, your post was really moving for me, Cat. Wow, "don't cry, you'll make yourself sick" when you're in hospital with your sick brother must have been really scary for a little girl! (((hugs)))
So glad you have managed to get beyond suppressing your emotions, Cat, and beyond "drowning" them in drink.

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for you kind words Kerry. All of you lighten and lift my heart, and I think we need a (((((GROUP HUG))))) !!!! Lol
I love you beautiful souls!!!