6. The Two Ways

Caught between reason ...
and lust...

6. The Two Ways. Here is a card picturing a major dilemma for all mankind. We are caught between reason and lust. The subject of this card is torn in opposite directions. On his right is the pure way, the honest way, the straight way, represented by the pure woman. On his left is the temptation toward lust, the sensual, symbolized by the seductress. Note that this way will be more compelling than the way of reason because Cupid (depicted as Satan) is shooting his arrow toward the seductress, to fill her with poison. The card is a reminder to every thinking human that to truly follow the path of wisdom and of rationality, there must ever be a battle with the carnal self, the lower passions.

Following reason takes discipline, and seasoned experience in the struggle of living a righteous life.

Are you willing to pay the price? Are you training your senses to discern between the voices of right and wrong all around you?

It was late in the evening, sometime after dark. One of these young men turned the corner and was walking by the house of an unfaithful wife. She was dressed fancy like a woman of the street with only one thing in mind. She was one of those women who are loud and restless and never stay at home, who walk street after street, waiting to trap a man. She grabbed him and kissed him, and with no sense of shame, she said:

"I had to offer a sacrifice, and there is enough meat left over for a feast. So I came looking for you, and here you are! The sheets on my bed are bright-colored cloth from Egypt. And I have covered it with perfume made of myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

"Let's go there and make love all night. My husband is traveling, and he's far away. He took a lot of money along, and he won't be back home before the middle of the month."

And so she tricked him with all of her sweet talk and her flattery. Right away he followed her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, or like a fool on the way to be punished and killed with arrows. He was no more than a bird rushing into a trap, without knowing it would cost him his life.

• from Proverbs 7

Don't be found rushing into a trap...