Sixes symbolize the union of opposites, finding equilibrium, harmony in the face of constant change and being open to the energy flow of give and take in our lives.  Sixes can also represent a feeling of success after overcoming obstacles or difficulties  Cups are associated with the element of water, with emotions, love, pleasure in life, matters pertaining to the unconscious, intuition and inner planes.   This card is often seen as representing viewing things through rose-colored glasses or with a sense of nostalgia.  It can represent being in harmony with friends or family and enjoying everyday pleasures.  Or it may refer to pleasant memories or learning from past experiences.  It can also suggest being connected with your inner self and being able to balance past disillusionment.  

"Rediscovery of one's roots; ancestral memories; the pleasure of remembered links; a sense of tradition and continuance; atavism; karmic recall" - Caitlin & John Matthews

This time of year does seem to encourage nostalgia and reminiscences.  It's interesting but when my hubby and I were chatting the other night about favorite Christmas memories I realized the I don't really have any from my childhood.  My family Christmases tended to be one long battle between my father and grandmother (his mother-in-law).  They were like a snake and mongoose and I can't remember too many family holidays that didn't include some amount of fighting , bickering or bitching between the two of them.  I do remember one Christmas my sister and I spent talking to each other on toy telephones and wondering if our parents would get divorced or if Dad would kill Grandma.  It really made for some sucky holidays.

Once I met my hubby the holidays got a bit better.  We would spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas with his.  Once we got married and my sister got married then we had a shared custody situation.  I got my parents on Thanksgiving and she got them on Christmas.  Hubby and I would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with his folks.  It worked well.  Now we pretty much spend any major holidays with hubby's mom because she has no one else and my mom usually works on the holidays so she can't come up to the Lake.

But getting back to the cards, looking at them I realized that one of the concepts I'd never fully explored before is the need to balance memories (good or bad) with your current life.  It can be so easy to get lost in memories of childhood when things seemed easier and more fun but that doesn't help us deal with whatever issues face us today.  The image of the mound on the Hallowquest card reminds me of my desire to dig into family history in search of patterns and connections.  I am a genealogy buff (and a complete beginner).  What I really like about it is how hearing the family histories can put things in perspective.  Last week I learned the one of my father's last remaining sisters had died.  She was only 69 years old but apparently she had some health issues.  While speaking to my last remaining aunt I learned that my father and his twin weren't the only ones in the family with diabetes.  Apparently both sisters that passed away had diabetes too.  

One of the things that came up during our conversation is the Burke trait of know-it-all-ism.  All of them (well except for the aunt I was speaking with) had this condition.  Basically my dad's family tended to be a fairly bright group but no matter how much knowledge they possessed, you could never tell them anything.  They couldn't be wrong.  This had resulted in some pretty odd self-medicating behaviors including one aunt who somehow managed to overdose herself on Glucophage.  It's actually a wake-up call for me.  I already know I have this tendency.  And if I don't want to self-destruct then I need to really be more open to hearing what medical professionals, and others with more experience, are telling me.  I may choose not to use the information but I should at least hear it and consider it rather than just blowing it off because "I knew that".

Memories and nostalgia can be wonderful things but getting lost in them doesn't help.  And although I may sometimes yearn for the past, what I really miss is the sense of community I grew up with.  I don't necessarily want to go back to the 70s and 80s, I just wish my neighborhood gave me that same sense of connection.  But I guess a lot of people experience that.  Maybe it's part of growing up.  I can remember the past but I also need to accept that it's not coming back.  I also need to be able to appreciate the joys of what I've got right now.  And mourning for a past that's never returning would make it impossible to appreciate how wonderful my life is now.