Eight of Cups

A lot of emotions came up while painting this card: pride, obsession, jealousy, fear, love, anxiety, sadness and excitement. Sometimes it was like going over a precipice, other times I wanted to soak in the pools of delight.

Twenty one years ago when I was four months pregnant, my husband carrying our one year old on his back, we hiked ten miles down to Mooney falls at Havasupai in the Grand Canyon. Mules carried our camping gear down but they never arrived and I was stressed out with no food, sleeping bags or diapers. I was swamped by feelings of fear and  hard on myself for not being able to enjoy the beautiful sight or water. Late that night David located our backpacks. The next day I was in paradise.

The Eight of Cups signifies emotional strength. It is not about overcoming our feelings but instead immersing ourselves in them until we can release them and move with the flow.