Six of Wands + Strength, Dream Raven + Mermaid

Achievement, with highly overwhelming components to it.

"This raven celebrates the steady development of the dream".
Yesterday I wrote about the celebratory feeling of truly beginning to know what we want and who we want to be -relationship-wise. This we courageously expressed or acted on - YAY!
We're becoming stronger by the minute!

But remember how the cards also showed 'a dark passage' yesterday?
As a 'new way of acting/being' always includes a 'breaking with the old' - triggering all sorts of pain and ugly feelings up to the surface.
Common themes are: overwhelm and doubt.

A peculiar but very fitting meaning for the Strength card.
"ability to interact with others"
Reversed - because of outer reactions to our courageous 'move' we have an overwhelming feeling we're not AT ALL capable of this.

What felt SO GOOD and RIGHT and so AUTHENTIC to express felt SO ugly the second we got the response.
What the hell happened?!

HOW could such a 'complete/whole' feeling switch into such an intense feeling of being totally unlovable, worthless and useless in a millisecond?!?
Delivery: calm, joyous, authentic, neutral (and celebratory) words.
Response: deflection.
It's EXCRUCIATING, and we fall to our knees.

Our belief is "confirmed": there really IS NO place for OUR truth and our way of communication in intimate relationships.
(pulled a card named "The Gift of Truth" in the middle of the overwhelm yesterday)

"Why are people SO repelled when I express the real me"?!
When I don't "adjust, Libra style".

The cards spotlights the bravery - WELL DONE!!
NO reason to withdraw or shrink.
"your time/people will come, and ARE coming closer by the day"

AGAIN. Other people's capacity/interest to receive 'the real us' is not the issue.

Task: to not shut our hearts EVEN through this intense pain of deflection.
They haven't DONE anything. They are just being themselves - with THEIR fears.
Withdrawing would be to shame/blame their "weakness".

"Another person's reactions or words can only hurt us to the degree we believe them ourselves"
Our pain tells us how strongly WE believe we are unlovable - and we now have the power to change that belief.
#aNewWayOfRelating

#DreamRavenTarot
#MermaidTarot