4 蒙 Mêng
Youthful Folly–Enveloping Reckless Boundaries–Mountain Over Water
Impetuous acts from inexperience breeds trouble. A child not watched by a parent inevitably wanders into danger. Good mentorship guides the child to insight and well-being. If not taught at a young age to respect and love their elders’ wisdom, reckless deeds occur by the hands of the ignorant. Innocence is one thing and ignorance is by far another. At this point, the child must seek out a mentor. Nothing can supersede the knowledge acquired by an expert that has had hands-on training and years of experience. You can read all you want out of a book, but actually doing the task under the tutelage of an expert, teaches the neophyte to learn. Life is a never-ending cycle of learning. Learning and loving are the two most important features of life. Learning to love and loving to learn go hand in hand. Mountain is over water. Although water can be quiescent and calm, even the strongest rock of the mountain over time cannot stand in its way. Water seeps into the fissures and crevasses where it freezes to weaken and split the rock, and the steady flow of water over the rock erodes it. Learning little by little breaks down the strongest barriers of the rock of folly.
Associated Tarot Cards:
The Fool epitomizes youthful folly.
The Emperor mentors youthful ideas.
Queen of Cups can be seduced by her own fantasies but also has the gifts of counsel and healing.
Seven of Cups warns against fantasy and folly.
Four of Cups demonstrates the folly of excesses.
Eight of Pentacles rewards practical skills.