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YOU IN THE NOW BECOMES YOU IN THE THEN
(July - Aug ‘21)



CARD MEANING

Upright: subconscious, intuition, illusion

Reverse: inner turmoil, repression, unspoken truth



WORDS

YOU IN THE NOW BECOMES YOU IN THE THEN” was echoing in my mind during the time I worked on the third painting in this series. The preceding few months were some of the hardest of my life, because I didn’t have enough energy to give to all those who expected it of me.

I went through a heartbreaking period of examining my familial, friendly, and romantic relationships and admitting the ones that only lasted because of my continual effort. Rather than clinging to the idea of myself as a “loyal” person, I intentionally let go of the relationships that felt lonely and draining.

For all the people in my life “IN THE NOW,” I leave some behind in the THEN of the past, and take some with me to the THEN of the future.






BOTANICALS

In the traditional tarot card for The Moon, there is a moon between two towers. The moon is a symbol of the unconscious and the dreamworld. It illuminates our path more subtly than the sun. There is also a body of water, signifying our subconscious. The crayfish crawling out is an early stage of bringing subconscious truths to the surface, e.g. admitting truths to ourselves. On either sides of the moon are a dog and a wolf, the dog as our tame consciousness and the wolf as our wild subconscious.

Laurel Daphne (moon): This plant was eaten by the oracles to connect them more closely to their readings of the future.

Soma (dog): Drinking the juice of a soma plant is said to weaken the power of the moon. Soma represents the tame side of the mind (the dog) as it directly weakens intuition.

Poppy (wolf): Signaling imagination and dreamininess, the poppy is the herb of the moon. It’s associated with tie to subconscious because the flower looks to be “sleeping” as it buds, and poppies have hypnagogic (hallucinogenic + narcotic) properties. Poppies are the symbol of Morpheus, the god of dreams. Morpheus was said to listen to people’s dreams, and gently pass messages from the gods through our dreams.

Forget-me-nots (crayfish): Being able to name something is a sign of consciousness. Bringing truths from our subconscious requires the admitting and naming of those we so desperately wish to avoid.





RILEY OSBORN 2022