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I have a copy of my first book, [RE]BIRTH
Self-Transformation over Tea and Tarot, on my back deck where I enjoy breakfast each morning. A friend had been reading it and giving me his feedback! Anyhow, I picked it up and opened it at random.
Is that something you do?
It's actually been a great way to find fantastic books over the years. It's how I discovered writers like Neale Donald Walsch and Trudi Chase. I'd wander into a book store, and randomly pick up a book for no reason other than it's vibes, and then I'd read whatever page it opened on. If it spoke to me in those moments, I'd buy it.
Book stores and libraries are magical places. You find discoveries that would never cross your path online.
Online, we tend to buy the books being advertised. Even if you think you've heard of a good book through word of mouth, chances are you've only bought it because it's hit the 21 touchpoints of good marketing.
I don't know if you've noticed, but it would take me 21 years to reach that milestone! It would mean that I either badger you with references to my book, [RE]BIRTH
Self-Transformation over Tea and Tarot, 21 times in close succession, or pay for that kind of advertising.
Now that I've mentioned it twice, I feel like I've pushed you away! Please come back 😉
Back to the random page opening, because there's a bit of synergy with that thread ...
I randomly opened my book on page 18, which referred to the Justice card in the tarot's major arcana, in the context of the fool's journey. I really like meditating on the lesson of another card, which is all about looking for different perspectives, and I incorporated that wisdom into this part of the story about Justice.
It got me thinking about how I define justice. Which, of course, made me wonder about how other people define justice. Worth stopping for a moment to ponder ...
How do you define justice? Could you please ask yourself that question, five times, each time placing your emphasis on a different word? What happens when you change which word you emphasise?
It reminds me of unconscious bias, which coincidentally, Oscar Cainer mentioned this week in one of my horoscopes! Briefly, unconscious bias is something we all have, because of how we grow up. When we're little, our brains are wired to look for patterns versus inconsistencies.
So, if you have grown up surrounded by people who look and sound just like you, then that will be the pattern of your in-group. Anyone who is different to that, will be your out-group, until you make the changes required. To turn someone from your out-group to your in-group, you need to work together on a common goal.
So, how does that relate to justice? Good question! I'm glad you asked!
Imagine that someone has done something that has hurt you. If they are part of your in-group, you might treat them more generously than if they were from your out-group. The same could be said if the person who had been hurt was someone close to you.
What if the injured party was someone you didn't know? Again, if they fit your sense of in-group, and the injuring party also, you might go easier on the offender. Can you see where I'm going here, without me drawing it out?
Our unconscious bias will influence how we define the injury, it's deliberateness, and the consequences.
Most of the time, we go through life blissfully unaware of our unconscious biases. Many of us actually lack any insight into the concept, let alone how it plays out in our individual lives.
Yet, there's been lots of research into unconscious bias, as well as in-groups and out-groups. Which is a pretty good thing, because these are the elements that feed into the -isms of life. Racism. Sexism. The prejudices. Religious. Cultural. The discriminations, the bullying, the choices we make that have the capacity to hurt another human being or an entire race.
What we forget, is that there is so much that we don't know. Discovering what, is inspiring. Learning, is a privilege and an adventure.
I invite you to discover the Uluru Statement from the Heart.