The High Priestess/Eight of Wands reversed. I need to keep in mind today that sometimes we are not supposed to know how or why something works, we just need to believe that it will work. I am also being told that balance does not have to integrate two opposites in order to work efficiently (separate extremes *can* be balanced), and that at least for today, I should not be so concerned with discovering evidence of “outer world” progress as much as I am concerned with attempting to accept without knowing why.

My Thoth card for today is the Prince of Swords. LOL, the polar opposite of The High Priestess in many ways. Crowley sees this Prince as being the most intellectual of intellects, intensely clever and admirably rational to the point of being unable to differentiate between ideas because they each have their good points. The danger for him is that he will render everything unreal because in his effort to reduce each idea or concept to its purest form, unsullied by emotions, he ends up removing all valuable substance and balance. Perhaps this Prince is showing me how *not* to balance separate extremes!

Another great study hall last night. I really do enjoy interacting with my fellow Sacred Mists students within the chat rooms. I find that at the very least I have my own skills strengthened and validated by putting together these classes, but inevitably I am presented by one of the other students with at least one new perspective or shade of meaning. That is what makes teaching classes at Sacred Mist so absolutely awesome!!

And it continuously amazes me how well a system of learning such as the one in place at Sacred Mists can work, how well it maintains itself. I could not see it before, even while I was in Second Degree, because I was only viewing the system from one dimension or direction: forward. But now that I have begun to teach with regularity, I can also look back, and what I see makes me feel good inside. The system works! The system is producing confident, knowledgeable and well-spoken witches who not only are able to find a deep spiritual fulfillment for themselves through their personal connection to Deity, but they are also able and encouraged to take their fulfillment to another step by sharing it with others who want to learn. *grin* This sharing is not always easy, for as teachers we are sometimes asked to reduce to words sensations and experiences and abilities which do not easily lend themselves to sufficient description and understanding through words. But even that effort, the effort to describe the indescribable, has its benefits!!

So much of what I am learning within my responsibilities at Sacred Mists is permeating the other segments of my life. I am indeed living my spiritual path, thanks to my own hard work and the opportunities for education and enlightenment presented to me by Sacred Mists.

I have also been giving thought to connections, connections to others and what those connections bring to me. I like to think that even the ugly experiences are worth something, even if the only lesson they bring me is how *not* to be. For example, I think of how far I have come in a very short time since I stopped trying to change my boss and started trying to change my own choice of how to react to my boss. Instant magick!! Each time I successfully prevent myself from loosing my temper, I also prevent myself from loosing control of the situation. No matter how ugly someone is to me, they only have power over me if I choose to allow them to have this power. LOL, I know, I know . . . these words have been said before, even by me. But sometimes it takes real challenges that are forced upon you by others, no matter how unjustified they are, to test one’s strength, to see what we are *really* made of. Now I don’t only *know* the words, but I also *understand* them and *believe* them, with my heart and my mind.

Part of this tough lesson is learned through introspection, but part of it is learned through interactions with others, both positive and supporting interactions and negative and ugly interactions. If it were not for both the supporting connections and the ugly connections, I would not know what I am capable of dealing with. And knowing what I have already dealt with in an ethical and effective manner gives me the courage to step forth into the unknown. To boldly go where I have never been.

Today, I dedicate this post to all of my connections!

On a more grounded note, I received my first commission. My son wants a quartz pendant, and he has asked me to make one for him. I will be looking at crystals tonight. Yay!!

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