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Bindings of Our Own Making

The Devil - The 40 Servants Deck

Welcome to this week's installment of Service Saturday.

In care of self or others. Offered to this world or one beyond. There are many ways to be of service. Here you’ll find one.

Service Saturday reading for August 21, 2021:

Of the chains that bind us, those we place ourselves are often the most insidious.

As a species, we humans have a peculiar habit: we festoon our lives with limitation and restriction. The more aware we are of our own fragile mortality, the more heavily we adorn ourselves with fetters of “self-protection”.

Certainly, life is not without its own obstacles. The tribulations of society, systemic oppression, existence at large - the world holds painful and dangerous barriers in abundance. Yet we needn’t step beyond the confines of our own mind to find that many of the most nefarious bindings are of our own making.

Belief has the power to liberate, to enrapture, to calcify, and to ensnare.

What beliefs do you currently ascribe to, and what purpose do they serve? What unexamined rules, judgements, and expectations have you accepted as canon? What “truths” require further investigation under the searing light of scrutiny?

When the Devil appears, he is here to remind us that many of our limitations are self-imposed. Some aspect of your entrapment is of your own making. Fortunately, you also have the capacity to free yourself should you choose to do so. 

The task, however, may require some courage. The mind can be a labyrinth, and monsters often take up residence in the unexplored nooks and crannies.

Remember - The unaware mind builds cages. The aware mind drops keys. The curious mind provides a spool of thread as you map the maze.