Sunday, 24 October 2021
Pets Context
There was a shocking story on my Twitter feed this morning. The BBC reported pets adopted during COVID-19 lockdowns were returning to shelters as fake strays and essentially declaring they no longer have use for the animal. This returning of “pets” has produced an onslaught of animals for euthanising. I guess that the UK isn’t the only country experiencing this trend.
Reading the story made me nauseous, and writing this makes me hollow inside because I can’t fathom why anyone would do that to an animal. Take it, love it, then dump it? Why? This animal gave you their trust, and you fed, looked after it, and it became your pet. What? Only to have you discard them like a worn chew-toy.
Many years ago, my ex-husband mentioned that the Catholic church – at least the one he attended – claimed that animals didn’t have souls, so their treatment didn’t count. He didn’t believe it, thankfully. Anyway, like many things, I wondered about this and concluded, leaning slightly toward the Buddhist viewpoint, that animals are sentient beings and therefore worthy of love, respect or both.
Now, I could carry on about the possible justifications for doing it, but to be honest, I’m not a news site and therefore don’t need to pretend neutrality. Let’s put it this way, looking after the pet goldfish is annoying, and although pet stores can take them back, my heart’s not in it. Fortunately, my husband is accommodating and cleans the fish tank most of the time; I just get to overfeed them 😏.
Besides the story on pets, the rest of the day was uneventful.
Today's Cards
The Cards - Pets Analysis
Carryover Cards
No cards carried over from yesterday.
Cross
Going with the Flow in the Distant Past led me to an emotional response prompting a look at myself (The Source in Recent Past). Previously, I’d been so buoyed by humanity getting animals as pets from shelters. I was elated when I heard the pet shelters had very few animals left to adopt if any.
Alas, this was the influence of The Dream’s misconception. The conception sits shattered by today’s tweet, bringing me to reality and taking me Beyond Illusion. I’m now numb to the subject because I feel helpless.
And, yes, I would like to Cling to the Past (the Goal); it’s humbling greeting and living with the better half of my humanity – it’s the glass half full approach to the situation. I’m hoping that more animals found good homes than not, and the plight of those pets is cause for Celebration in Future Energy.
Base
Somehow Politics is the card in the Feelings position. Could that be that I don’t want to get deeply involved in the discussion on fake pets or fake strays because it hurts too much?
Others’ Views are that I’m currently Healing. Accordingly, Osho, Healing is about discovering an area of your ego that has been invested too much in something. It’s the whole “it’s because of the principle” attitude. The principle is another name for “I’ve got my pride and my ego”. Perhaps, not going on too much of a rant means I’m healing that “principle”.
Conversely, Schizophrenia in my Hopes & Fears shows my struggle and duplicity, trying to be fair about discarding pets. I hope not to understand but fear that I know all too well. It’s like disowning a family member, and I know all too well; because my father and I estranged for years.
Under Others’ Views, I talk about others witnessing healing or letting go of ego and in the Outcome position is Conditioning.
Once again, I refer to Osho’s book for guidance. You know what? Scratch that! It’s more the Mythic Tarot I refer to with this, although in the Mythic Tarot, it’s the card of Strength I see every time I look at this card today.
So, the Strength card is Hercules fighting the lion, representing his ego struggling with one’s “principle”. This association between Healing, Schizophrenia and the Mythic Tarot makes more sense.
Oh, shoot. I’ve come full circle back to Osho’s interpretation of Conditioning about sacrificing the personality that society bestows upon you. Alternatively, Osho states individuality is intrinsic from birth, and the “principle” is irrelevant.
Aw, where does that leave me on the pets or strays thing? Still sad.
References
- Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
- Tarot Layouts per month
- Sharman-Burke J, Greene L, The Mythic Tarot – A New Approach to the Tarot Cards, ISBN 0-207-15356-6
SEO – A BBC article, “Covid: Fake strays”, affected my mood, & it was about owners who previously adopted pets but were discarding them as strays.
