Cycles

Cycles are the relentless pulse beating through existence, neither friend nor enemy, merely the way life moves. To resist cycles is to clash with reality itself, to exhaust your spirit in futile rebellion against nature’s rhythm. Paul Wagner channels the raw wisdom collected over decades, echoing the Tao Te Ching’s teaching: “Everything under heaven follows the cycles,” reminding us that all things come and go, not by whim but by essential design.

Cycles teach us surrender over control. They expose the paradox of life, that endings are not terminal but necessary preludes to beginnings. The Bhagavad Gita offers this exact brilliance:

"Just as the boyhood, youth, and old age come to the embodied Soul in this body, in the same manner, is the attaining of another body." (2.13)

This reminds us that we are not the transient forms but the eternal presence witnessing these shifts.

Yet, cycles are not merely cosmic trivia; they are visceral, lived experiences. Remember the annoyed parent, exhausted from a relentless pattern of toddler tantrums, shifting to teenage rebellions, then navigating an adult child’s challenges. Before frustration swallows your peace, the insight here is to see cycles as invitations rather than burdens. The child grows, the parent grows, and so do their struggles, cyclical, inevitable, and, if resisted, torturous.

Paul’s voice cuts through the spiritual bypassing so common in pop spirituality. He doesn’t sugarcoat the discomfort of cycles. When the same arguments recur in your relationship, or you get caught in repeating self-sabotage, these aren’t failures but cycles arising for release and integration. The Tao says it plainly: “Returning is the motion of the Dao.” It is not linear progress but a spiral, the same themes returning in new guises to challenge your consciousness.

Advaita Vedanta shines its unflinching light on cycles, exposing the false identity with these fluctuations. We mistake the up-and-down waves for our essential self, clutching to phases of joy or identity, then despair when change strips them away. Realizing through discernment (viveka), "I am the unchanging awareness beyond these cycles", shifts suffering into spacious acceptance.

Consider the example of a corporate executive hitting burnout every few years. The cycle of overdrive, collapse, recovery, then restart seems like a curse. But through conscious recognition, this individual learns to embrace the cycle, inserting breathing space, regular resets, and deeper reflection during the collapse phase. Each cycle becomes less traumatic, more a natural ebb and flow within a grounded rhythm.

Buddhist teachings reinforce this with the doctrine of impermanence (anicca). The Buddha’s fierce wisdom refuses to let us cling to permanence in a world defined by change. The four noble truths are themselves cyclical, suffering arising, ceasing, the path repeating, until liberation dawns. To see cycles, not as punishment but as the teacher’s drumbeat, is liberation’s key.

Cycles invite you to the threshold of letting go, the raw edge Paul Wagner champions. The creative destruction inherent in any cycle demands honesty: what must end so something vital can begin? The seasons turn, bodies age, relationships transform. Peace isn’t found in stopping the wheel but dancing mastery within its spirals.

Ultimately, "Cycles" from the Release deck asks you: where in your life are you fighting the natural flow? Where are you resisting the inevitable transitions, grasping for control or permanence? Here is the fierce tenderness of the teaching, to meet cycles with open hands, to honor their wisdom, and in that embrace, find release.

How to Embody This Teaching

Begin by consciously observing the cycles playing out in your life without judgment. For one week, journal daily about recurring patterns in your emotions, relationships, work, or health. Note the rise and fall, the onset and completion of phases.

When a cycle of struggle emerges, be it frustration, setbacks, or emotional lows, pause and breathe. Rather than resisting, practice radical acceptance. Say silently, "This too, is a cycle. It will pass, and I will learn from it."

Draw on the wisdom of the Tao: "The softest thing in the world overcomes the hardest." Let your response to cycles be flexible, adapting like water rather than rigid like stone.

In meditation or quiet reflection, inquire into the source of your identification with transient states. Use Vedantic insight to discern: "I am not my moods, not my successes or failures, but the pure awareness behind them."

When old patterns reemerge, rather than beating yourself up, adopt the fierce kindness Paul models. Challenge yourself: what unconscious wound is this cycle revealing? What must be acknowledged and released to complete this phase?

Finally, create intentional rituals to mark the endings and beginnings of cycles, closing old chapters openly and consciously. Maybe a release ceremony, a written letter burned safely, a physical relocation of objects, whatever helps you honor the passage and welcomes the new.

When This Card Appears

Seeing the Cycles card in a reading signals that you are deep within a natural rhythm that cannot be hurried or skipped. It’s a call to honor the current phase, whether blossoming or withering, as vital to your growth. This card asks you to let go of the illusion that you are in control of the timing and embrace patience.

If you feel stuck, the card encourages you to look deeper: what recurring patterns are surfacing for resolution? Are you resisting endings, clinging to comfort zones, or cycling through the same conflicts?

Cycles invite a fierce self-honesty about your role in perpetuating repetitive behaviors. This card urges using the wisdom of impermanence not as a cliché but as a lived truth to release what no longer serves you and prepare for transformation.