Fours as Winds?

The text below is a small compilation of some reflections I posted at the Temple of Wisdom, regarding the apparent contradiction between the number 4 and the idea of Winds. Many people who start studying the Playing Card Oracles are surprised to see the number 4, usually associated to stillness, structure, foundation and order, being symbolised by Winds - rather unstable forces.

I spent a long time thinking about this, and came to my own conclusions about what the number 4 really represents, and how it matches the idea of the Four Winds very well. Hopefully, my ideas will help other readers and students.

For a while I thought that the number 4 - a number of stability and structure - did not relate at all to the idea of a wind. After all, winds are an unpredictable element. They bring you rains, but they can also steal them away in a matter of minutes. They can be a welcome breeze in a summer day, or a hurricane!

Nothing in the head... everything in the mind.

First of all, I'd like to thank you all my friends who wished me good luck with the MRI. Thank goodness, the results were good! Nothing in the brain and skull area! That's such a relief. We may have to investigate the spine area... I still have to talk to my otolaryngologist, see if he wants to try other things or wait to see if the symptom will go away on its own.

The more I think about it, the more I think my Pilates teacher (who is also an physiotherapist) is right - my constant neck/back tension could be the source of the problem. I am a very stressed person, and the fact I have not been sleeping well makes me even more stressed. I have trigger points in my neck and upper back area (she told me that), and these can cause many symptom, from pain to numbness, in different areas of the body.

If that's the problem, then it's something I can deal with. Through Pilates and Yoga exercises, I can try to cure the physical symptoms. But as we know stress is also psychological, and this part is the problem. What is making me stressed?

Perhaps my mind is the biggest trigger point of all. It's the true source of my blockages.

In a moment of great worry, I did a 4-card reading with my Playing Card Oracles about what could be causing the facial hypoesthesia. The in the Head position was the 2 of Spades - a card of disagreements, strife, conflicts and... inner turmoil. We discussed the reading at the Temple of Wisdom, but it was hard to pinpoint the cause of the problem due to our general lack of expertise in the medical field (only one member is a healthcare professional, and he did bring some good and objective ideas) .

However, the more I look at this card the more it says to me that the roots of the problem are not just organic, but psychological. The two faces in the card, yelling at each other, could easily be two side of me unable to come to an agreement. But why can't I hear what they are discussing about? And more importantly - who is the judge of this conflict?


The Playing Card Oracles © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman