thoughts about thinking

It's been a while since I did something a bit different, a bit more experimental, so. This is a reading around the general theme of Why do I tend to cling/fixate so much on negative thoughts about myself? Rather than doing the usual process, though, this is going to be an exercise in free association - write down any thoughts as they come about each card, one sentence per idea. Also, it somehow turned into exercise in the second person...

3 of Cups

You tend to think less negatively when doing things with friends - it's a chance to get out of your head, to distract yourself with something enjoyable.

On the other hand, there is feeling alone even surrounded by people you know and like, and wondering why am I always like this?

Like many people, you can't help comparing yourself to the people around you, and noting the shortcomings on your part.

There is pretending you feel what they do, all of you drinking from your cups and talking about this or that, nodding, and not saying so much, never talking about so many things.

Sometimes, surrounded by people, you feel unreal; seeing them, and knowing yourself as only you can, you wonder if you are even really a person.

You enjoy time with people, the talking, the contact, caring and being cared about but there are limits - you are the one dressed in the monochrome, sitting a bit apart from the others.

You like to be amused and amusing, use humor to mask darker things, learn the language of minimization - make your problems sound not so bad, not so concerning, choose words carefully.

You enjoy the meetings and celebrations and interactions, but there is a burden to everything that needs to be left unsaid, the distance it creates, the juxtaposition of the you that drinks from the cup and laughs and chats and the you that they are not allowed to see.

The Empress

She walks through a field ripe with grain, with plenty, but there is something melancholy about this Empress, something detached or even uncaring about her demeanor.

No matter how rich and fortuitous and pleasing your surroundings and material circumstances might be, they cannot fix your internal troubles; there is a real limit to how much they can even improve your mood.

The symbolism here is a bit funny for you - pregnancy is supposed to represent positive things - giving birth to new endeavors, the act of creation - but you have always been profoundly uncomfortable certain aspects of the stereotypical feminine.

You have always been uncomfortable with the way some would reduce your function, your purpose, to that of baby-making machine; the idea of you yourself inhabiting the body of this Empress makes you want to scream.

There are so many small things about being a woman, and what that should mean and what that de-facto means and what certain old white dudes would like to say about it that you hate, that you rebel against intellectually and viscerally, and yet you wonder how much of that has shaped you anyway.

Sometimes you wonder if you'd have ended up the same way, if you'd been born a man.

Going back to the intended metaphor, you wonder too you are even capable of creating much of anything anymore and that bothers you, in a small, constant way.

Strength

The expression of Strength mirrors that of the Empress, but seems subtly different - calm but more positive, trusting, perhaps.

There is a difference between confidence and trust, and apathy and indifference, though the external expression of the two feelings may indeed look the same.

The lion is calm too, eyes closed, following, trusting, at peace. The woman's hand rests on his brow, connection, work.

If the lion is the beast of unconscious thought, of cogs of the mind that spin as they will, the woman has trained it, has learned to work with it, knows the nature of the beast and has learned to control it.

Knowledge and action are two different things entirely, and you have only ever excelled at the former; self-awareness does not mean self-control, and you have never been good at bridging that gap.

An animal does not become obedient naturally, by itself, without concentrated, focused effort over an extended period of time. Are thoughts too, then, trainable? If so, how much have you really tried, to train them, to relearn patterns? How much effort have you been willing to extend?

Though the lion, lets not's not forget, is a dangerous beast with sharp claws and teeth, and training and controlling one is hardly a safe and easy prospect. 

Precision-Oriented

The Knight of Swords can be thought of as the element of air in its purest, externalized form. He moves swiftly through the winds, one with his horse, his flexible helicopter-wings, the birds that fly near him, ready to aid. His arms are extended with pointed dagger and sword; He is efficiency, logical action.

Precision-oriented, going after one thing at a time, carrying through until it is finished, shifting and adjusting as necessary.

Sometimes - often - the big picture can be overwhelming. Too many unknowns or, quite the contrary, such a long and difficult list of shoulds that staring at the whole of it can be quite intensely demotivating.

You find everything twisted and knotted so tightly - how will you, with so limited time and energy, ever manage to straighten it out again, even a little?

So many things, so many things call out to you in little grubby voices.

Perhaps you really simply cannot do very much of it. Despite the voices of support saying it's not that hard, you've done it before, you've done a lot of difficult things before, go on. They mean well, and yet perhaps you simply...cannot find it in you. Once, before you did it, sure, quickly, and yet...

Precision-oriented. If you cannot find the strength in you to do much, focus on one thing that needs doing. Map out the steps, gather your focus, and do that one thing. Finish it. A small success, something out of the way. Two or three things on a list crossed out is something. Simpler to tackle a single task, a single set of steps.

Better sometimes to focus on a single thing and complete it, do it well, than to try to tackle everything, lose track of yourself, leave things half-done when you run out of time or energy or attention for it all.

Little things build up to bigger over time, anyway, if done in a logical kind of way.

My Arabic studies, case-in-point: you learn vocabulary word after word written and re-written, conjugated, understood within a system of roots and patterns, committed to memory. Words that slowly imprint themselves into your mind, one at a time. And suddenly I am listening to political talk show podcasts and find that I can follow along, even when the speakers get worked up, argue, speak quickly. Progress...

strength in good times and bad

The range of the moon faces on the eight of cups is the first that that caught by eye in this pair of cards. We have here four images, a visual representation of the waxing and waning of the moon cycle; we also have four face, ranging from happy to sad, alert to asleep. This really feels relevant to my week, which has been very up and down in a number of ways. The moon metaphor is also prominent in my mind for another reason: Ramadan started yesterday, totally changing the schedule and routine of things here, and that holiday is, after all, a month based on the moon calender. We have cups of gold and cups of...lead, glass, some kind of less valuable metal. Duality and balance, between the positive and the negative in life, the pleasurable and the challenging. At the bottom we see the way that one cup pours into another, the liquid the same color as the background to everything, the way this interplay fills up so much in life, one way or another.

The strength card here seems a reminder of the necessity of channeling that inner strength, the internal resources we all have, to deal with whatever comes our way. Sometimes we need that positive drive to keep going through hard times, and sometimes we need some inner self discipline to not lose ourselves in distraction during good times, and so it goes. In a way it's all a kind of dance, the way that the woman and the lion here almost seem to be dancing. The sun in the corner of the card reminds us of the success we can find when we keep at it, at least sometimes.

I was listening to a local Tunisian radio station earlier this afternoon and was quite pleasantly surprised to realize how much I understood. There was a program about, a guest speaker talking about US foreign policy in the region and the geostrategic issues around the war in Syria and I...understood the majority of it, both in terms of the gist and actual vocabulary. Later there was a program, probably for Ramadan, some kind of story about Jules Verne going on an adventure in Tunisia, and though I understood much less vocabulary wise, I still got enough of the gist to be amused and keep listening. When I first got here, not quite two months ago...that wouldn't have been possible. It's nice, this kind of tangible proof that channeling that strength, forcing myself to study and study on good days and less good days too, does have dividends.

an inner strength, alone day

So as much as I do love my Sun and Moon, the fact that I've pretty much committed to working with the Thoth steadily for the foreseeable future means that I want to mix up my second working deck (if I haven't clearly stated here before, that's my way of doing things these days - two working decks at any given time) at decent intervals. Before putting away this one, decided to do one more day draw...pulled these cards this morning but ran out before thinking about them too much. Returning to the reading this evening, I found that they were a quite apt description of my day...

I really like this take on the Strength card, I must say. I like that it is a wolf she is riding (again the Thoth influence, and I've already discussed why I like Thoth idea of riding the beast) rather than the traditional lion, and that it is a wolf howling at the full moon, no less. To me, with the associations that the Moon itself has, this really ties together the idea of compassion and self-compassion and over-coming both inner and outer obstacles, which for me especially often have to do with mental issues and lack of clarity and indecision and whatever else. This deck is a pretty simple/minimalistic one, really, and yet there are the little touches that just really catch my eye - the snake wrapped around her leg, another butterfly...

Anyway, yeah. Today was a free day for me, no work or class, and I used that inner-strength kind of idea to get myself out the apartment and actually doing productive stuff despite not feeling my best, physically or mentally. Didn't manage to call that dentist yet, but I did get myself to the cherry blossoms at the Washington memorial and Tidal Basin and took a bunch of really nice pictures (I might go again tomorrow with a friend, but the weather is supposed to be rainy and today was so sunny, so I figured I might as well take advantage...). I really enjoy photography, and it was also a nice long walk for me as I walked all the way there from my apartment. I also ran some smaller errands I'd needed to run, (including finally getting myself an umbrella!) and then got to the school library to return some overdue books and start catching up on school-work/get started on those MASSIVE papers I have due very soon and just...yeah.

So definitely a day spent alone, hermit-like, contemplating things, seeing things, getting things done, even the whole studying alone thing. But it was nice, and it was a much better use of my time than I've been known to do other days when I have all day unstructured like this, and I got quite a few things on that To-Do List done and...yeah. Strength and Hermit make for a rather good combination, for me. Hermit at his best, as it were. And I really really do connect with the moon-influence in this card specifically...

a kind of general reading

I wanted to try giving reading with the Master another go before setting it aside for now, but nothing in particular to read on with it, so let's call this a general reflective reading exercise...just drawing cards and trying interpret.

So what comes to mind, looking at these cards, is the idea that well....there are all kinds of scenarios where the lessons of strength should be applied - inner fortitude, the ability to overcome your own base instincts, to do what is right, to be both firm and gentle with yourself. See, it's easy to make choices and decisions that are perhaps less than good for you, especially when doing so allows you to hear what you want to hear, or see what you want to see. People have a rather strong tendency to hear what they want to hear, the rose-colored glasses or the opposite, everything terrible, depending on their general outlook/approach to life.  Look at that cupid, pointing his arrow right at the Strength woman's head or heart - surely not the right place to aim, but he in blindfolded and the organs are impeding his hearing and so he is, essentially, senseless, confused, turned upside-down.

It is easy to be on guard against things that are obviously painful, things that we have been trained to know are dangerous, but organ music? Sweet, nice organ music that happens to be just what we want to hear, which allows us to indulge in whatever it is we would most like to indulge in - laziness, avoidance, some kind of bad habit or vice. It can be hard to step away from that, especially if we have already started to go down that path, already let the first few mis-aimed arrows fly...but that is a fallacy, of course, the fallacy of sunk costs: better to keep going because we have already lost this and this much, time, whatever. Reading about ethnic war and partition right now for a class, and same idea there too....misunderstandings that spiral out of control, security dilemma, escalation escalation and it gets to the point where even physical separation and redrawn borders are sometimes not enough to fully stop the violence and the music, the propaganda on both sides playing so loudly, saying forward, forward go, we must continue on. And heartbreak, how much heartbreak on large scale and tiny, individual, stemming from bad decisions, unrequited love, taking encouragement in gestures that weren't meant the way you take them...?

Sometimes we need strength to take the blindfold off, even if it means seeing difficult things, and strength to ignore the sound of the organs. Strength to step back, to say - no, this is easy but it is also wrong, and I will not do it anymore. Strength for harder decisions, for facing the less pleasant things.

moving past disappointment

It can be hard sometimes, to let go of a disappointment; the brain, it seems, is almost hard-wired to hold onto such things. It can be something general - plans that fell apart, forces larger than anyone getting in the way; it can be a friend or a family member, a mentor or mentee, a co-worker...someone you were really counting on who just...dropped the ball there; worse yet, it can be yourself. You had plans, you had ideas, and then somehow you let it all fall apart, or you lost motivation and never even started, or you got distracted, or you made a simple mistake...whatever.

And after, your mind wants to dwell on it, pick it apart. Mars in Scorpio - how much resentment can you direct at the offending party? How much energy and time can we spend going over the disappointing events in minute detail? Look at that sea, dark-colored, red waved, un-nourishing. Look at the way those blackened, dried out leaves curl around the empty cups. Look, ponder it again and again. Why did I trust them? Why didn't I get my shit together better, get organized, try harder? But what good is that kind of thinking, really? It happened, it cannot be changed now. For me personally, the current, relatively small disappointment has been the recent visit home. I'm back now, and well...so many plans, things I wanted to get done, catch up on, get started with or finished up, all the books I dragged along with me and then...almost nothing actually accomplished. Time wasted, so much time wasted.

But again, why waste thought-time on that which is done and past? Learn from it if possible. Try to avoid doing the same thing next time, sure, but besides that?

It's best to just move past disappointments, whether they be those you caused yourself or those stemming from the actions of others. Move forward. Focus on the future. Channel the energy, the entusiasm, the passion of strength, the Leo-influence. In a way I quite like Crowley's take on this card, because it combines the traditional meaning - control of 'the beast', compassion and overcoming difficulties through inner strength - but marries it to the idea of joyfulness, of passion, of being fully comfortable with yourself. In this deck, the lion-tamer doesn't have to be the innocently dressed lady overcoming obstacles with her symbols of purity; she rides it wildly, fully herself. I'm on a bit of a feminist kick lately, because all the slut-shaming and misogynistic nonsense all over the media and mainstream political discourse these days is frustrating as hell, and I guess with that in mind I this card really appeals...yes, a woman can be naked, sensual, fully aligned with her instincts and still doing GOOD THINGS.

So for myself, I shall be focusing on making the most of the rest of my free days, both academically, personally and socially - trying to get out, enjoy the weather, catch up on reading, make some time for skating, do some cleaning, and so on. Trying getting keep my efforts are working on certain issues back on track. Going to try to keep this strength card in mind.

Story Time Again

Decided to see what I could do with the Tarot of the Master and the story exercise...

There was once a demon. He was not a particularly large demon, nor a very clever one. He could not compete for any of the choicer territories, the rich little corners where a right-thinking demon could make himself merry and rich on the mischief he caused. No, this demon was shoved aside by his superiors. So he moved elsewhere, traveled far into the countryside until he found a little village where no other demons lurked, or other creatures which could cause him much trouble. The demon set himself up in a cave over-looking the settlement, used small magics to shape his new home to the image of his liking. There he sat, amused himself, argued with his own tail. He prowled and spoke in tongues. He rained any number of curses down upon the village: crops withered, dinners burned, valuables were lost; misfortune, once a rarity for the villagers, became an all too common occurrence. The villagers were not naive, not stupid: they figured out soon enough the cause of their trouble, the demon the lived in the caves, but none were bold enough to challenge the thing in any way.

Then the woman came. She was a village girl really, once an odd child that played with the boys and bothered the blacksmith rather than the baker or the village witch. When she grew old enough to be married, she chose to leave the village instead. She traveled further than any of the villagers could imagine, went on any number of quests and adventures. She learned to fight with swords and staves. She fought with men whose names the villagers would not have even been able to wrap their tongues around to say. She befriended a lion; utterly loyal to each other, the two hunted beats and creatures in forests and deserts. At night the woman carefully brushed the lion's mane. Finally she had decided to visit the village of her childhood, to make peace with her aged parents and see what had become of her childhood friends. The villagers eyes her lion nervously when she returned, told her grim tales of the demon, the troubles it brought. The woman listened, nodded.

At dawn the next day, woman and lion climbed the steep craggy hill up to the caves. The demon's cave, distinctive, was not hard to find. They strode into it. The woman called out the demon, who was shocked that mere humans dared to invade its cave. It opened its lips to utter a curse, but the lion pounced before it could speak. They fought - a short battle, for the demon cared much more of survival than of dignity or honor. It flew out of the cave, flew far away from the village. Satisfied, the woman scratched the lion between the ears. They set the demon-cave ablaze, watched its trinkets and magics burn. Then they returned to the village.

Seeing the demon cave burn. the the monster flying away, the villagers rejoiced. They threw a parade for woman and lion, wreathed them with laurels and colorful ribbons. The woman was given a beautiful sword made by the village blacksmith, and the lion the choicest meat from the village butcher. The woman went on to have more adventures, and the villagers settled back into a simple, contented existence.

My Favorite Majors: Strength

Well, this is one of those majors that really draws my eye when looking through a new/less familiar deck, not least because it is often a card that is done really well, an image that's really interesting to look at. The concept behind this card also is one that makes a lot of sense to me and that I can really connect with, another reason why I often pay this card special attention (and why certain renditions of it can *really* rub me the wrong way - this is NOT supposed to be a card of a muscular man violently slaying something >.< ). Unsurprsingly the, took me a bit of considering and pondering to choose favorites...

VIII. Strength

Favorite:
I love this card, this rendition of Strength. Totally and unabashedly I love it. Visually I find it stunning, lush, just...I could stare at it all day. The woman with the two great cats, the light showing her control over the, and the KIND of control she has, the glowing hold on her skin, her relaxed pose, the way she can take command of them gently...conceptually it captures the meaning of the card completely. It keeps the traditional symbolism. And it is just. so. damned. beautiful to look at. There's really not much more for me to say about this one. Hands down, no doubt about it, my most favorite version of the strength card and Ciro Marchetti's art at it's best. No longer explanation need...to me, the visual really speaks for itself here.

Runner Up:
As is turning out to be not so uncommon for me in doing this exercise, I went back and forth and changed my mind several times in trying to pick out my second choice for this card. Finally, and a bit unexpectedly, I settled on this Strength from the Celtic Tarot. This is a very, very new acquisition of mine - haven't even done a reading with it yet, but had a reading exchange on Aeclectic and someone read with the deck for me and I loved the art and it was on sale and...you know how that goes. I love the mosaic-type style of the artwork, especially in the majors and courts of this deck. What I like especially about this card is the detail and pattern of the background. The stylization adds to the effect of the whole, somehow. Nice color balance. And I love the dynamic nature of the way the woman gains control over the lion - there is movement there, a struggle, but is is wrestling? playful? serious? The situation looks mutable, readable in many ways, which is apt. That there is a hint of a struggle is a nice touch, because yes, its about inner resources and the light touch and love and self-love and compassion and all that, but it is also about energy, the push and pull between the fortitude and lust competing traditions relating to this card, the fact that, even if it is within you, there is a bit of a struggle here sometimes. Also the sorta-not-quite-lion creature amuses me.

academic advice again

Well, I did a reading a while back for advice on an academic paper I'd needed to write, and liked how that well. Have something else I need to finish by the end of the month - not strictly for school, more like an article/entry to [hopefully] be published in this upcoming encycolopedia o' terrorism thing, so important - and figured it'd be useful to use the same spread/reading idea. Basically two pairs - the first pair for advice as to process, the second for advice as to content.

So here, in the first pair, I see, well - useful if unsurprising advice. One of those *prod prod* type messages from the cards. In the lovers card I see the need for synthesis - to combine the creativity and inspiration of the Empress with the discipline and organization of the Emperor. I can create/write up something awesome, can do this successfully, but I need to really channel BOTH of those energies. As in, not random ideas and disorganized outline like I have now but really sit down and force myself to WORK on it. Discipline, more deliberate effort. This is emphasized by the fool - stop procrastinating, because in this case the procrastination isn't borne of laziness but rather of self-doubt, nervousness, the fact that writing something that's to be PUBLISHED, and not just for school, is intimidating. Have confidence, or at least an optimistic attitude, channel that carefree energy of the Fool, and JUST DO IT ALREADY. It's not that long of a project. Just. Get. To. It. Think of it as a sort of intellectual adventure if that makes it easier. Lots of positive potential in these cards, but really calls for deliberate work/action on my part to follow through on this opportunity.

Ok, so content-wise, again, as last time, this makes a lot of sense. I'm doing my entry on this former Chechen President/alleged terrorist figure (don't want to use the name because don't want it possibly popping up in google searches associated with my tarot blog, lol /paranoia) and basically...part of my own view of him, and something I am trying to get across even in the context of a medium that calls for OBJECTIVITY in writing...

Well the strength card, represents earlier part of his involvement in the conflict pretty well. He played a major role in the success of the Chechen seperatists in the first war, both in terms of being chief of staff of the chechen military and in terms of playing a major role in being a pragmatic negotiator with the Russians in making the peace. He wasn't an extremist, but a nationalist, who wanted peace but also wanted Chechnya to be its own country. Of course, he wasn't successful either my force or my more peaceful means in dealing with all the problems in the country as President, and the whole idea of the snake lurking there, and playing with fire...during the second war he was increasingly allied to the wahhabist/terrorist extremists like basayev and khattab et al. Did call for holy war, made moves to institutionalize some semblence of shariah law...arguabely forced to by the situation, increasingly loss of control, rise of influence of the extremist salafists and criminal gangs and russian intractability but...on the other hand...and here's where the moon card really comes in: was he, when it comes down to it, a violent terrorist like the Russians claim? Did he in fact implicitly condone acts of terror like the theatre seige and beslan and all the suicide bomb attacks? Or was he a moderate forced into increasingly difficult/impossible position my extremists on both sides of the conflict? When you look at the atrocities and war crimes Russian forces committed with impunity in Chechnya... and up until his death he was still trying to call for ceasefires and negotiation...but was that done out of lingering moderate impulses or the desperation of his position?

Much room for interpretation, debate. Various sources say vastly different things...must find a nice, academic, objective way of trying to convey all this in ~1000 words along with all the basic biographical information

And yeah, again, this was quite useful use of the cards :]
Interesting too, that it was all majors that came up this time...

academia-related

so, well - compartamentalization is one thing, but...i'm a graduate student and it is finals week. we all know what's on my mind. so why not read some more on it, eh? multi-tasking for the win, man :D

decided to have a go with the Spanish tarot this time. I must say, Fournier makes some nice card-stock decks if this and the Balbi are any indication. Also, can I say again, how much I love the colors on the Spanish? One of the main reasons I'm so averse to most traditional Marseilles decks is the very primary coloring of them. Some people see that as I plus. Me? Ick. The Spanish, on the hand, makes use of much more complex hues, and they just complement each other so nicely on the cards and...yeah. I do love this deck.

Also, one more related general note: I'm kind of in the process of settling into a good, workable style of reading unillustrated pips. My method has long been just...I lay down the card and an image or images of the card from other, illustrated decks comes to mind and the meanings come to me and I go from there. But after listening to a presentation by Lee Bursten about reading pips using trumps-based method, been experimenting with that as well. By and large, I think I'm settling into kind of...using both. Either. Complementary. Nuances and so on.

---
so yeah, - two sets of pairs:
The first pair general advice: I have a second paper to do, research and analysis heavy, which I only have an outline of and less than 24 hours to finish final draft. Advice for getting in done, for how to approach the situation, etcc.
Second pair a bit more experimental - insight, ideas, something to consider about the actual CONTENT of the paper which I am writing.

this was an interesting pair as advice because at first it seems more like...disheartening description of my situation than advice. reversed strenght - the feeling that things are out of my control, out of my hands, unsure if I can handle this, if I can actually force out another paper of acceptable quality right after finishing the first. Combined with the more RWS based take on the 8 of Swords, the feeling of being trapped. I have to do this, because I am a student and that means that there are finals that are worth so much of your grade that you must do by certain deadlines regardless of what is going on in your mind or your life, That I must but I don't know if I can find it in myself to tackle that lion again. The swords entwined with each other like bars on a cage...

But of course there is that second layer of meaning to the 8 of swords, the fact that in the traditional imagery, the woman may be blind-folded, and she may certainly FEEL trapped between that cage-like arrangement of swords, and maybe her hands are even bound but: dude, if you are surrounded by frickin swords, you can totally cut away your restraints, sqeeze out in-between the things and you know, be on your merry way. It's only your mind, your own lack of confidence and sense of hopelessness/helplessness stopping you, when push comes to shove. Which takes us to the other way of reading this card, Lee's trumps method: in the Major Arcana, 8 in Marseilles tradition decks is associated with Justice. With equalization, balance, scales, making things right. Right-thinking, we could say, in the 8 of Swords.

So what is the advice here, then? To adjust my thinking. My mind. Organize thoughts, positive thoughts, pro-active thoughts, motivated thoughts, focused thoughts. Right-mindedness. The best way I can help myself is to find some kind of mental equilibrium in my approach to this.

now, not to tl;dr over-much on my very much non-tarot related paper here, but...I am writing about prospects for successful integration of Islamist groups in democratic political systems with focus on post-Arab Spring North African states, comparing Islamist groups in Algeria & Libya with those in Tunisia and Morocco...

and yeah, this is actually QUITE apt, haha. The two of cups represents partnership, doesn't it? Successful synergy of two forces, to people, two ideas, working together, cooperation, 'all you need is love'. This works very well with my basic idea/thesis that yes, it IS possible for Islamists to be part of and even at the head of a democracy without it turning into same crazy theocratic state in the mold of Iran. That events unfolding in Tunisia and Morocco (as well as the exmple of Turkey) show that Islamist and Democracy are not inherently incapatable. Also my secondary idea/thesis, that the degree of extremism and violence espoused by Islamist groups and individuals (ie. progessive radicalization of Qutb, for example) is very much a reflection of the degree of repression and marginalization they face from the state, ie being treated like a partner, cooperation, tends to lead to more moderate stance as seen in Ennahda today...

as for judgement reversed, yeah, just kind of backing that up. Rejecting the widely held auto-assumptions that Islamist groups must be inherently bad, inherently anti-Western and anti-human rights and threat to US security and that repression (or support of repressive allied regimes) is the only option. Also, I think, good to point out the non judgement idea in that like...I'm essentially arguing that Islamist groups should be given a fair chance to peacefully particupate in legitimate political processes. Do I personally believe the ideas they espouse? Well, I'm an atheist and a feminist, really so...at least on the less-moderate end of things, very much no. But the thing about freedom of speech, democracy etc. is...for it to be REAL everyone has to have a chance to have their say and make their pitch, regardless of whether you agree with the ideas they are arguing for.

So yeah, actually that helped me a lot in organizing my core idea :0

Yay to multi-tasking tarot fun times!
(this is kinda like the time I wrote my grad school application essays based off a tarot reading, haha...)