Naivete

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The dictionary definition of naivete is the state of being in a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment. Does that sound rather negative to you? It does to me, and I’ve heard naivete and it’s adjective, naive, used in critical and judgemental ways. We say that Craig’s naivete gets him into trouble a lot, or that Marcy is so naive to believe the same b.s. from her friend. However, there is something we see as admirable that is very much like naivete, and that is beginner mind. When we hear beginner mind, we think of something noble and praiseworth. Perhaps we think of Zen masters or accomplished yogis. Some or many of us might get intimidated by the idea of beginner mind. We may think that it is difficult to achieve.This is why I’d like us to reclaim the work naivete. I think it is less intimidating. • If we can embody our naivete, we will let go of past experiences, knowing that the past no longer exists and we can encounter whatever experience we are having afresh in the here and now. We can also recognize that our feelings of wisdom are merely hubris; we don’t know as much as we think, and it would be good to reclaim our knowledge that we know very little in comparison with all of the wisdom out there. Finally, releasing judgements can be nothing if not beneficial. We judge and criticize so much and those states of mind prevent us from having full access to the power of intention. To live intentionally and have that power available to us, we must be emotionally open and free to float, which we cannot do if we are judging and criticizing. • This week’s spread asks us to reembody our naivete. Do you think you can? • The Lenormand deck this week is Pixie's Astounding Lenormand, by Edmund Zebrowski. It’s a mass market deck in a tin. Here’s a link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Pixies-Astound... • The tarot deck that I’m using this week is the C.S. Tarot, which is a redrawing of Pamela Coleman Smith’s deck by Conrad Steyn. Here’s a link to his shop on Make Playing Cards: https://www.makeplayingcards.com/sell... • If you want a private reading from me, send an email to my address: [email protected]

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