The Fool and The MisUnderstood Fringe Dweller

“Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance

Relationships!  Great teachers!  That quote always helps me to feel better at times when I feel mis-judged or mis-understood.  I wanted to blog a bit about it and hope in doing so that it helps others who come across this problem themselves.  This may be a more common experience among fringe dwellers and those are the type to come across a blog such as this.

Anyway, do we subconsciously ask for these judgments and or set ourselves up for the opinionated wrath of others?  I don’t think so.  Perhaps a tarot card can help us out here so I pulled one.  And by the way what I’ve observed is that those who point the finger at fringe dwellers are those that fear being on the fringe themselves and as so often happens we project our fears onto others.

So the cards we have here to help us understand these types of experiences are one major and one minor arcana card — namely, The Fool and the 3 of Pentacles.

The Fool has no home, no destination, with no possessions.  I have to laugh a bit at the cosmic joke here–currently I am without a home that is my own (I share an apartment) and essentially live in one bedroom.  I don’t know where I am going to be going (on various waiting lists currently) and well, this last part is partly true.  Most of my possessions are in storage and they’re not much at that–I’ve probably paid more in storage rent than the stuff is actually worth!  In that way this card describes my life right now–thus, the cosmic joke.  But getting back to the point now….

The Fool is fed by what Zen folks would call THE TAO, or the Great Mother or The Divine Intelligence.  And I think this is what fringe dwellers who are mis-understood should remember.  It’s important.

Others (the one’s who mis-calculate our life and our reasoning and our behaviors) are mere reflections of energy that we sometimes cast in more important roles than they deserve.  What I mean there is that we put people in a role many times and then we expect certain behaviors or perhaps a particular loyalty or some such attribute.  And then of course, they let us down.  People most all of the time do not live up to the expectations we have of the roles that we assign to them in our minds.

And that is a 2-way street of course.  It’s the reason we feel misunderstood at the same time the other mis-judges.

The thing is that it is we who are judging our own self, isn’t it?  We judge ourselves for not being part of the pack and then we see that reflection.

It is okay not to be part of the pack and this is why I like the quote from Emerson on self-reliance.  it is reliance on THE TAO or the GREAT MOTHER or reliance on the DIVINE INTELLIGENCE or DIVINE LOVE.

Not being part of the pack and feeling the pack turn against us (no matter how it comes about–i.e. reflection or not) is helpful in that it turns us back within toward that energy as described–the Divine Love.

Many times we want others to give us that respect, that love and to provide that sense of ‘belonging’ for us that we can only give to ourselves.  it is like turning ourselves inside out to find all of that within.  We fringe dwellers have done that over and over again, many times.  it is part of being on the fringe; only old souls or experienced souls seem to be capable of handling it.  I see that observing others who seem to be like myself–that’s why I say so.  Reflections? Maybe, but I do observe and correlate and we do carry the collective unconscious within us.

The tarot card of The Fool is all about learning from experience and and knowing that he is one with All That Is–so why worry?  The Fool is comfortable being alone and without attachment because of the inner knowledge that there is never any separation whatsoever and as in the the movie, The Matrix when the young adept says, “There is no spoon”, it is the same way with The Fool.  Even if there is a fall, even if it hurts a bit, it is just part of the Divine Matrix, an grand illusion.

We are sustained by Life Itself after all and not by the others–they only play out a role of our own making to help us see the truth… there is no spoon, no fringe, no dweller and no others, not ultimately.  Conventionally we have to acknowledge the existence of others, the pack, and the world of matter, but ultimately, “there is no spoon”.

It is a gift really to be mis-judged and mis-understood because it is at those times we are being assisted or reminded of ultimate reality.  It is not denial, it is enlightenment at least in the moment of the recalled realization.

I love being a psychic and in touch with various forms of divination and the tools of the trade.

PS— i nearly forgot about the 3 of pentacles but then again writing this blog post as I feel misunderstood today is an example of that card’s meaning.  I often think of this card as doing work.

Planting seeds, GETTING REAL and that’s writing this blog post today is about for me.   Applying your craft.

Many spokes attach to the hub but it is the empty center that turns the wheel, they say.    Emptiness has potential–that is associated with the 3 of pentacles as well.

The 3 of pentacles as a person is one who is highly skilled and has deep feelings.  This card reminds us to apply our craft, our art to any perceived problem or concern in life.

How to Handle Paranoia, Suspiciousness and Uneasiness that comes from Fear of Loss or Betrayals of Trust – Ace of Pentacles Offers Wisdom

Before you even read this post, I must offer the Buddhist perspective which is something that can alleviate this suffering of uneasiness or fear.  That perspective goes this way.  There is no “I” to feel suspicious, paranoid uneasy or fearful.  The “I” or the “me” is the ego which suffers, clings and self-cherishes.  The ego is also the mirror for the projection outward of what is inside of self.  So the paranoia etc. has to do with afflictions of the ego-self from past which are misconceptions or what they would likely call the ‘karma of thought’ … or mental afflictions, obscurations.  Meditating on these concepts and also visualizing the lightbody… the clear, lumionous, pure lightbody can also alleviate the suffering of ego clinging–i.e. paranoia, jealousy, etc.

It happens, has happened and will likely continue to happen at one time or another to all of us on some level.  I’m talking about being double-crossed, betrayed, stolen from and other human-on-human offenses—either in this lifetime or another.  Those types of wounds go deep and create within the human soul wounds that become triggered from time-to-time and to some degree.  And those old hurts create a certain phobia, uneasiness, paranoia.

We may say things to ourselves like,  “They did it to me once and by gosh they’re not going to do it to me again if I have anything to say about it!”  Maybe you were stolen from by those you placed your trust in and shouldn’t have and now the soul is on a certain hyper vigilance when it gets triggered.  Call that paranoia if you like but what do we do about it?

I turned to the tarot, drew a card with issue in mind and asked, “How do we best handle it when we have these feelings?” 

What I think of first is this saying we’ve often heard, “Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.”  But is that the right attitude to take?  Let’s see what wisdom we can derive from the ACE OF PENTACLES.

As I look at the card, two things come to mind.  One is about being grounded and another is about starting over as in new beginnings.  These are two archetypes of the combination of PENTALCES and ACES.

I am laughing at those keywords “grounded” and “new beginning” – it’s as if the oracle is clearly saying that the way to handle the paranoia is to find a way to ground in the NOW and to remember that each moment is a new beginning.  We, as humans, carry the past with us to some extend for it is all in our soul.  We’ve learned some hard lessons and don’t want to make those painful mistakes again; thus, the paranoia.  Something inside of us says, “Oh, no!  Not again; let me strike before someone strikes me first–or at the very least, I should take protective measures.”

Discernment is a big lesson—knowing who to trust and who NOT to trust.  We can get that confused.  How do we sort it out?  Well, turning to an oracle or using intuition can be helpful.

I’d say that when our stomach muscles are gripped, there is something trying to get our attention.  Are those feelings an over-reaction to be ignored or a warning to be heeded?

Sometimes we have to get some distance in order to know for sure which is which. We should not ignore these suspicious, uncomfortable feelings nor should we become a slave to them.

One way out of it is to apply a method called “The Work” by Byron Katie which is asking the self a the question, “Can I know for sure this is true?”,  “How does it feel when I think this thought?”  And “Who would I be without this thought?” 

The Ace of Pentalces also relates, on an archetypal level, to nurturing the mind/body/spirit on a deep level.  A good healthy meal, an enjoyable exercise of some type or a good old-fashioned nap could help—that or whatever seems to nourish the soul.  Sometimes, for me, that’s watching a movie.

If the feelings of paranoia or suspicions about something or someone create the level uneasiness that is relieved by taking an action toward self-protection; take that action if it nourishes the soul and then let it go.  Let that self-protective measure or action help to put an end to the phobia and the uneasiness that suspicion has caused.  Then go do something else; let it go.

By the way, PENTACLES relates to material matters or materiality.  So money/finances and loss/gain is part of the dynamic; so the oracle is giving specific information about what causes some of that and that is fear of the loss of money or someone taking from us what results in income in some way.  Survival stuff.  There can be also a fear of “loss of self” which is the ego fearing its demise.  Not possible but that’s paranoia. 

The roses in the image of the Ace of Pentacles reminds us of beauty and also the pain of the thorns.  Our fellow humans – some can be so beautiful and others can stab us with their thorns.  Or maybe we can stab ourselves sometimes too if we let our suspicious natures get out of hand.

Lastly, the angel with the money sign on this card seems to remind us that we must keep ourselves in as positive state as much as possible in order to receive the material gifts available to us.  And, worst case scenario, the oracle reminds us that life is full of new beginnings and help is available.

What will help the most to overcome these emotions is gratitude and the use of common sense; so counteract paranoia by focusing on your blessings and as I started with, by “getting real”—as best as you can anyway.

Know you are safe, protected and that you have total security.  Remember WHO really provides for your needs … i.e. a Higher Power.  Even if you don’t fully believe it, fake it until you make it.  It helps to believe we’re not facing this life without some sort of Divine Support.

One last final note—sometimes feelings of “fear of loss” can motivate us toward greater achievement.

I hope this little post helps someone out in cyber world.