 By Dr. Kara Cavel, LICSW, PhD
If you have read my contributions to the CML Newsletter in the past, you know I use the practice of Tarot to ground and center me. In keeping with this tradition of writing about this practice, I would like to offer a meditation on “The Six of Wands.” Recently, I was listening to an interview with James Doty, a neurosurgeon and author who is most known for his 2016 bestselling memoir entitled Into the Magic Shop. He recently wrote a book entitled Mind Magic about the neuroscience of manifestation. I know, I know…sometimes the idea of manifestation gets a bad rap because for many, it’s associated with this “woo woo” perhaps overly simplistic idea that if you desire something and ask for it, it will come to you. Like, “dear universe, I really want to have longer eyelashes.” But Doty’s idea of manifestation is different and based on neuroscience. He writes that obtaining a more fulfilling life involves using your mind to reclaim agency, realize your dreams, and find ways to be compassionate toward others. The Six of Wands represents victory. When I think of victory, I think of freedom. And when I think of freedom, I think of the ways we all have the potential to choose our responses. Some may argue that this is not true. In fact, Robert Sapolsky in his latest book Determined purports that who made us and where we are “plopped” (as my dad likes to put it) is who we become. In other words, he suggests that our choices are determined by our genetics, environment, and experiences. With all due respect to the scientific contributions of Sapolsky, I would rather think of myself as having agency, or a sense of control in my own life because it offers a sense of freedom. In the interview, Doty shared a quote by Viktor E. Frankel who writes, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” Let’s return to my meditation on the Six of Wands. When I think of victory, I think of freedom (and Pele, Sylvester Stallone, and Michael Cain in the 1981 film of the same name). And when I think of freedom, I think of choice. And when I think of choice, I think that the way we access a more fulfilling life is to grow the space between reaction and response. So, for me this card begs the question, “How do I grow my capacity to not react, but pause in an effort to move toward choice, freedom, VICTORY!?”
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