As we approach the new year, many of us are probably thinking about what the new year will bring. Maybe we are excited about whether 2023 will be a good or bad year. But no matter what the new year brings, there are always things we can do to make our own lives better. Many people choose to use New Year’s resolutions to change something in their lives that they feel they are doing too much or too little of. It could be eating healthier, exercising more, paying more attention to the family, or stopping drinking too much. These New Year’s resolutions are often about finding harmony in one’s own life.

But what about finding harmony in relation to our surroundings? In a time when war and conflict have shown their grim face in Europe’s backyard, one might ask oneself: what can one do to become a better person? We will ask the cards that question.

The answer is quite simple: you should look at the people you don’t like (5 of hearts). Ask yourself the question, why don’t I like them. We are all the sum of our experiences and the 4 of diamonds thus indicate the world as we each see and perceive it. But other people have different life values (6 of diamonds), have a different outlook on life due to different experiences than us. They may also have a different skin colour, sexuality, religion etc., but we must be able to accommodate people who are different from ourselves (the card value increases from 4 to 6). If we don’t do it, it can end in conflict and discord (2 of spades). So, the essence is quite simple: we should look at our intolerance.

The Danish author Martinus (1890-1981) wrote over 10,000 pages. His main work is Livets Bog (The Book of Life) and the spiritual laws of development are described in his eternal world picture.
As an answer to a question about tolerance, he wrote the following in the magazine Kosmos from 1933. The answer might be an inspiration for what one can do to become a better person and come into harmony with one´s surroundings:

“Discard the concept of “enemies” from your consciousness. – Never retort against anger, slander or other forms of unpleasantness directed against you. – Never say anything evil about anyone or anything. – Be absolutely truthful and honest in all situations of life. – Be absolutely uninfluenced by flattery, praise and criticism. – Never take part in killing, wounding or mutilating. – Never let your thoughts deviate from being concerned with how you can best serve your fellow beings. In so doing you will be practising the very highest form of yoga or the most perfect training of that part of your development which is within the scope of your will…”
(The quote translated by Mary McGovern, 1989)

Happy New Year!

Cards: Jean Picart le Doux, Thomas De La Rue, London 1956