Day 3. The Time of Beth: - Dec 22nd
This card points to the inner blocks and resistance that are holding us back from following our dreams.
Card:
7 of WIND
I awoke early from a fevered dream and, thinking about how I hadn't properly considered my dream from the night before in relation to Day 1's card, I drew a card right away without knowing what today's question was. When I logged onto CoT, I was a little relieved (and surprised) I didn't pull the Devil card. But giving it a little more thought, I realized it was its own kind of Devil card.
First, here's an outline of the uncomfortable dream I woke from: It was dark and I was in bed half-asleep beside my partner, as indeed I was. But there at my bedside was a troublesome ex-lover, speaking in hushed tones, joking warmly, offering me soup and generally being kind. Should I accept these strange overtures - especially as she had been so cruel to my sleeping partner - or was her sheep's clothing just another way of inveigling herself into my world and gaining control? Upon waking, I felt oddly ashamed. In my mind's eye was a callous - the physical remnant of a series of events still there long after the fact.
The
7 of WIND's upright song is
Positively 4th Street, the street Dylan lived on in Greenwich Village with his first love, Suze. The song is a litany of vituperation against all the people Dylan knew when he was cutting his teeth as an up-and-coming folk singer. Lyrically, it's like reading someone's private hate mail, while musically it's upbeat and light like the ironic "Positively" of its title. The card's reverse song is the more telling
4th Time Around, an oddly dainty song in 3/4 time about a love affair gone south. As with the narrative, the song itself has a backstory: John Lennon had played his own
Norwegian Wood for Dylan, to show the folkie how he had been influenced by his (Dylan's) songwriting. Dylan's response was to write
4th Time Around and play it for John, who immediately thought Dylan was taking the piss and scolding him for emulating his (Dylan's) style. Lennon later came to see the song as an homage, but there was always an uncomfortable competition between the two musicians.
Beth is the sacred notion of home, where the heart is. Today's card is about inner blocks, and in the aftermath of my dream, it points unmistakably to those ideas, feelings, and people I have allowed into my home, my heart, myself, and who - like the Trojan Horse - have betrayed, belittled, and waylayed me. Either through cowardice, chicanery, or misplaced loyalty, I have allowed these venomous demons to afflict me too long. It is time to clean house, to throw away the crutches that are giving me callouses and keeping me callous to those who know what it means to love.
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