Peacemaking and the Möbius of Belonging

I hadn’t really planned to write another article so quickly about Peacemaker’s Tarot for the 21^st Century and a third Möbius in the series, but as I was working on my Tarot Poems, the cards III–Love and IV–Responsibility caught my eye. These cards continue to expand our understanding of the fullness of our humanity and of the possibilities of our Peacemaking. Now that we’ve been unfolding the question of who we are as individuals, let’s begin to examine who we are – who we can be – as members of a community and members of a family. Let’s also sort out the truth of who our teachers are. III–Love and IV–Responsibility form the Third Möbius of Belonging.

Love teaches us not only that intimacy matters, but also how to be intimate – with ourselves and with our beloveds. It instructs us to treat ourselves and those we love tenderly, invitingly. In historic terms, the Major Arcana III is the Great Mother, She who brings forth life, and also tends the garden in which we grow. Love helps us become comfortable with who we are and to move past our foibles to finding comfort with sharing our deepest selves and offering that to those we love.

In the security of Belonging, Honesty teaches us how to become aware of who we are. It reminds us that we are safe enough to be comfortable bringing all of ourselves forward into our dealings with the world. It’s a challenge, isn’t it, to become intimate and honest in the world? Imagine how this would allow Peace to gain our attention, to aid it in weaning ourselves away from war and negotiations of power. Belonging encourages us become too tender of ourselves and one another to accept a life constantly under threat. We learn and remember, at a very deep level, that Belonging is far more powerful than isolating.

IV–Responsibility arrives with Protection and Provision. This card can be an invitation to do something as simple as opening our arms to a very small child, offering sustenance and comfort. But it can become much larger, as we grow in strength and community. Right now, there are more and more people needing responsible parties who will provide for and protect them. Yet, there are people who will teach us to protect and provide. People who will confront those who threaten the vulnerable, who will oppose that which endangers others. We can be those people who help make Peace.

These actions are required because that’s what families and communities are meant to do. They nurture body, mind, and spirit and they protect us the same way. I suspect most of us will return to this Möbius time and again. Doesn’t this Möbius help us to envision ourselves as Peacemakers? To grow into becoming Peacemakers? At first, it may feel a bit grandiose, but when it’s simply our making our hearts and minds work for something so important, it suddenly seems doable.

Peacemaking is a community activity and this Möbius is where we begin to relax into its Joys. Belonging is where we learn to Love and to be Responsible. It is learning which of the enormous number of ways to be Peacemakers are ours and allowing ourselves to try them out with others. Through Belonging, we learn to practice and play at Peace, before we learn to work and live in it.

At a certain point in our lives, it feels as if Peace is our secret, doesn’t it? “Look what I discovered!” This was my holy grail — my cup of the magical elixir that I thought I had discovered… It took a bit for me to realize that the cup of magic elixir was there to be passed, shared, enjoyed. And then with IV–Responsibility, I realized that I couldn’t protect and provision people alone, Peace needs everyone, no exceptions. As soon as we wake up and understand, we can begin making Peace where there is space for everyone’s gifts to be used — and space for those who are threatened to be safe, protected, loved, and honored. There are many ways this can go wrong. This part of Life is where so many – too many – of us are taught that we don’t belong. Where we’re told our gifts are unworthy, or worse, irrelevant. Other people’s fear – or greed – try to control what space is available and for whom. Remember, Peace doesn’t do that. Peace reminds us that we each have a place. Peace encourages us to join the Möbius of Belonging. It urges us to continue to build a safe haven for all the creatures and the critters of this world. Only then does it become that Safe Haven for us, that place where we can become all that Peace could ever dream of for us, that place that is all we could ever dream of for Peace. May we make it so

Salaam, Shalom, Peace, and Blessed Be!