Rumi is one of my favorite poets. He was a a 13th-century Persian Muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic.

I think it’s that whole “Sufi mystic” part that I like the best.

This is one my favorites from him. I think about it when life throws a curveball, and I think it relates well to a tarot reading. A reading can bring up a lot of things, show sides of you that you are trying to avoid, deny, repress, or forget. But in the cards, like in this poem, the trick is learning how to welcome the information with an open mind and an open heart, and treat it as a gift from the Universe.

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.