Dvara Patra: Doorways and Vessels to Our Future

Receiving with the Cancer and Capricorn Moons

I sat for the weekly tarot reading and it brought up a beautiful message about 'dvara patra'. This message evoked rich imagery around the upcoming new moon in Cancer, following the Capricorn full moon. I wanted to delve deeper into this concept, not just within the context of the reading but in a way that helps us personalise and individualise this message.

'Dvara patra' is a profound concept rooted in Indian tradition. The 'dvara', or doorway, represents a threshold: a point of transition between two states. This gateway symbolises new beginnings, opportunities, and the potential for transformation. It marks the passage from the known to the unknown, where we leave behind the old and step into the new. Positioned in front of this doorway is the 'patra', a ceremonial pot or vessel. The patra serves as a receptacle for sacred or significant items, embodying a holder of emotions, intentions, and spiritual offerings. It represents abundance, nourishment, and the readiness to receive and contain what is essential.

As I sat in the afterglow of the reading, the imagery of the 'dvara patra' resonated powerfully with me. I found myself transported back to my childhood visits with my family to the gurudwara (a Sikh place of worship, which literally translates to ‘door to/of the Guru’). Like most children of any faith, I found the prayers overly long and would often be prodded by my mum or an aunt to stop fidgeting. However, the prayers were followed by the distribution of karah prashad, a sweet food served to the sangat (congregation) and received by cupping both hands together. I vividly remember how my sisters and I, guided by the adults, would carefully prepare our hands to receive the karah prashad. It is considered disrespectful to refuse the prashad as it is a blessing, and as a child, there was no doubt that I would accept this tasty treat, though as an adult I can no longer partake due to dietary restrictions. Reflecting on this Sikh tradition, this act now holds a deeper meaning for me as a symbol of receiving blessings and grace, echoing the sentiments described in the weekly tarot reading.

This memory provided a very literal context in which to frame and understand the weekly message. I reflected on people crossing the threshold of the gurudwara, entering to receive not just the knowledge and wisdom of the scriptures but also the traditions of the gurudwara, where everyone is welcome, regardless of religion or background, and all are considered equal. Each visitor receives from the gurudwara according to the intention they bring. The sweet karah prashad symbolises the food for thought that each person takes away. I am not a religious person, and I have openly shared my struggles with growing up in a religious family, which culminated in my declaration of atheism in my teen years. If I ever visited the gurudwara after that, I brought my atheism with me, and thus my experience was always one of reluctance, feeling that I received nothing but confirmation that all the traditions were meaningless. These days, however, very little is meaningless to me; life is replete with messages and symbolism, and it all resonates deeply in some way

There are other examples I could use to illustrate the concept of ‘dvara patra’, such as the spiritual practice of renouncing material possessions and begging for alms. However, I would not do it justice, especially since this has deeply influenced my own practice, which is inspired by working with my Scorpio north node. Instead, I'll share a conversation I had with my mother. I asked her if, when she sat waiting to receive the prashad, she ever worried if it was cooked well, stale, or otherwise flawed. She assured me she did not. Drawing on this, I mentioned the Indian fakir saint Shirdi Sai Baba, querying whether he ever complained about the quality of what he was given when begging for alms. She recounted that despite some people giving him terrible things out of cruelty, he always blessed them. This illustrates a key insight from the tarot reading: the manner in which we receive is not just as important as what we receive it fundamentally shapes our reception.

These are my religious musings, undoubtedly inspired by the Hierophant in the tarot reading. I believe that religion, science, philosophy, the fervent declarations of a megalomaniac, and the pure perspective of a child are all attempts to describe the same ineffable truths in their unique ways. Too often, we become ensnared by the modes of expression and overlook the essence of what is being conveyed. This oversight is easy to make because the ultimate truths we seek to articulate are not things we can directly discuss; they are deeply felt experiences, something we live and feel rather than simply talk about.

So, let me express something that I don't say enough these days, but am striving to communicate more frequently: we have done so much and come so far. We are ready to receive from anything and everything that is being presented to us. I know many who follow my work have been on a spiritual path of self-awareness for quite some time. The 'dvara,' or doorway, represents the culmination of our efforts in emotional and spiritual growth. Although we discuss these concepts in the language of tarot or astrology, it's not the weekly reading or the new moon that bring these opportunities to our doorstep. Instead, we have been actively preparing to receive, reflecting the internal thresholds we've reached through our spiritual practices, inner work, and emotional healing. This doorway serves as the gateway to receiving the rewards and insights from all our hard work.

Our emotional well-being is the 'patra,' the pot. Just as the ceremonial pot holds offerings, our hearts hold our emotions, intentions, and desires. The patra serves as our inner vessel, the space within us that collects and contains our experiences, feelings, and aspirations. In tarot, this is represented by the Ace of Cups, a symbol of emotional clarity, new beginnings, and the capacity to handle all our feelings with wisdom and grace.

As we stand before this metaphorical doorway, we resemble a pot positioned before a sacred entrance, prepared to receive and hold the new energies, insights, and transformations that our journey has readied us for. This alignment signifies that we are at a threshold, poised to step into a new phase. Our emotional readiness and openness, cultivated through our spiritual journey, will determine how we move forward, what we take with us, and what we are prepared to receive.

This is a moment to reflect on what we hold in our inner vessels: our hopes, fears, dreams, and intentions. Aren't we grateful for all of them? Indeed, at some level, we truly appreciate them, as they have brought us to this point, closer to ourselves and, moving forward, closer to each other, ready to shape our journey through the new door that our spiritual work has opened. The pot, or 'patra', symbolises our ability to receive from everything, even the most challenging experiences. As we carry our pot through to the other side, we are prepared to see the blessings in even the worst events. These experiences enrich our understanding and deepen our knowledge, perfectly embodying the Cancerian theme of deeply feeling and learning from our emotions.

This may seem far-fetched, naïve, or even unrealistic. Let me give you a very real-world example from my near future. Remember, your examples do not have to mirror mine; our experiences will differ, but we all have this opportunity to engage with everything that happens with an ability to receive. On the day before this new moon, we have a general election in the UK. Other countries are grappling with their own political issues, marked by great divisiveness and unrest. From my perspective, in the UK, we face an empty promise of change. The ruling party, in power for 14 years, is on its way out, but the alternatives are no better, leading some to dub this the 'uniparty election' as the main parties are indistinguishable. This has allowed more extreme parties on either side to gain more attention and support than usual, as many people see this as the only path to change. Many others feel disillusioned, believing their vote doesn't matter or that nothing will change. As I approach this week, I've cast my postal vote after significant soul searching, finding no real satisfying options, but I did my best. I am not expecting my life to be transformed overnight by the election results, and that's OK. I don't rely on external events to confirm who I am or to define my inner reality. No matter the outcome, whether I am pleased, disappointed, or see no change at all, this event is a part of the doorway I am crossing. The election results will shape our immediate environment and our collective experience here in the UK, but how I receive and integrate these outcomes depends on the state of my own 'patra'. My readiness to adapt, accept, and move forward with clarity and purpose is crucial.

Maybe this is a good place to explain the bigger picture in which I navigate my relationship with this election and many of the things happening in the world. Power is changing hands, and we may be forgiven for doubting that when Pluto briefly dips back into Capricorn, and we witness the last desperate grabs for power. In 2020, I had a conversation with someone on the Aquarian Insight Discord server who was lamenting the fact that governments hadn’t already fallen apart and that we the people did not have the power. I asked her if she thought we were ready to self-govern? Reluctantly, she admitted we were not, a realisation that the events of 2020 and beyond have starkly illustrated. The vocal minority have clashed fiercely, surrendering more of our civil rights to corrupt systems designed not for public benefit but for their own perpetuation. This has led to appeals to those in government to protect us from our brothers and sisters, whom we have othered and labelled as the problem. Even when we have not done that, we have remained silent, watching in mute disbelief as the world devolves into fights over things that really don’t impact most of us. Or there are those who have simply turned away because it is all too much.

Amidst these broader societal challenges and the external pressures they bring, it becomes imperative to turn inward and reflect on our personal coping mechanisms and resilience. This introspection and the subsequent nurturing of our emotional well-being are not just personal necessities but also crucial for engaging constructively in our societal roles. Cancer themes and archetypes provide us with the self-awareness and fortitude needed to navigate these admittedly turbulent times. Engaging with this energy individually allows us to truly comprehend our needs, how to nurture ourselves and others, and collaborate to shape the world we envision. The adage 'hurt people hurt people' resonates deeply, but isn't this what we've all been addressing through our healing journeys? The principles I advocate for in self-care are also applicable to broader healing processes. Many envision the healing journey as a quest towards becoming perfect humans, mistakenly believing that true healing will insulate them from pain, discomfort, or struggle, and magically align their lives with their desires without effort. Healing is a lifelong journey because experiencing hurt and challenging emotions is inherent to being human. Our approach to healing is shifting towards embracing our capacity to feel deeply and learn from our experiences. This shift means that when we interact with practitioners, healers, therapists, doctors, family members, lovers, friends, or even strangers, we are not seeking an unattainable perfection. We don’t expect others to carry the burden of fixing us, nor do we assume that role for others. Instead, we seek companions who can nurture and support us through our healing journeys, sharing empathy and understanding reciprocally. This philosophy extends beyond individual relationships to how we handle all situations. We avoid using each other and the world as mere tools to regulate our moods or as distractions from what truly matters, focusing instead on fostering genuine connections and meaningful growth.

On the topic of using, I will wrap up this post by briefly discussing Capricorn. 'I use' is the motto for Capricorn, and this is why their tarot card, the Devil, reveals to us what we are using and why, by exposing our relationship with material reality. It often shows the chains that hold us back and the toxicity in our usage. The industriousness of Capricorn and their ability to get the job done, making the best use of the resources available to them, can become toxic without the stabilizing, nurturing influence of Cancer. I bring in Capricorn here because in the Capricorn reading for Cancer season, there was a powerful message about our paths changing, echoed in the weekly tarot reading. This season, we have two full moons in Capricorn, reinforcing the theme of transformation. Capricorn received the oracle card ‘The Path,’ which spoke about the way being open and illuminated, encouraging us to be courageous and move forward. This message aligns perfectly with the concept of 'dvara patra.' It emphasizes the importance of recognizing and accepting where we are, acknowledging what needs to change for growth, and being open and responsive to new directions. This is a time for us to follow a more authentic path, one that resonates with our true selves and values.

I hope that by sharing my thoughts and musings after the weekly tarot reading and the concept of ‘dvara patra’, I have encouraged you to reflect on how you receive and to see how that impacts what you do and the path ahead. I believe this time serves as an invitation to prepare our emotional vessels, to cleanse, and to make space for new blessings and insights. If we remain mindful of what we carry within and are intentional about what we wish to fill our lives with as we move into this new cycle, there is no outcome or result that we cannot navigate. It may not all be sweet, but when we feel deeply and learn from our experiences, it all becomes karah prashad that we receive in the cupped hands of our innermost being.