Ace of Cups (again!!)/Judgement. I am being reminded for a second day of the potential for intense feelings and emotions that is within me. I will be able to easily discern the relationship between cause and effect today, and I will be able to mesh the physical with the spiritual, through the vehicle of love. Integration is the word of the day, and I should strive to make that integration as loving and compassionate as possible.

My Thoth card is the Seven of Cups. “Debauch” is Crowley’s keyword for this card, and he sees the energies of the card as representing the descent into the mire of false pleasure. I will see it as a warning for me today, and I will try to be certain that at least one toe is placed firmly on “dry ground.”

My Legacy card is the Page of Swords reversed. Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes) of Air (hot/separates and wet/adapts), the avenging force in which the senses attempt to subdue the intellect. This Page in an upright position has wonderful ideas, but he may not have the practical experience necessary to apply them. Today I need to nurture those ideas, but I also need to be open to learning new ways to manifest them, rather than repressing the student within me.

It seems that this year, I am very attuned to the solar dark times. My awareness of energy flows seemed heightened during the week before my birthday (my personal solar dark time), and the same seems to be happening now, these last days of the dark time of the Wheel before the solstice of Yule. The cool thing is that while I am sensing the different flows of energy, my own center seems to be well grounded and balanced; it is a lot like the eye of a hurricane, a quiet place surrounded by winds.

I have been told by Uriel that this weekend I should attempt to be as awake and aware of the “now” as possible for as much of my awake time as possible, and I should attempt to meditate several times a day (mini-meditations at a minimum, but as much as possible) in addition to my 40-day Reiki application (day 17, and all is well!!). I have noticed that since the week before my birthday, that background noise of subtle energy is becoming “louder” (LOL, not that I physically “hear” it), and I just love the way I feel when I tap into it.

Part two of the information I compiled regarding Water. The Gaia Hypothesis:

The Earth is located in the habitable zone of the solar system which allows for the existence of water in all its forms; if it was slightly closer to or further from the Sun, life would be far less likely to exist. Earth's gravity allows it to hold an atmosphere, and water vapor and carbon dioxide provide a temperature buffer, allowing the surface temperature to remain relatively constant through geologic time despite varying levels of incoming solar radiation.

The human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on body size. To function properly, the body requires between one and seven liters of water per day; the precise amount depends on the level of activity, temperature, humidity, and other factors. Most of this is ingested through foods or beverages other than drinking straight water.

Water has many distinct properties that are critical for the proliferation of life; these properties allow organic compounds to react in ways that ultimately allow replication. Water is vital to the body both as a solvent and as an essential part of many metabolic processes. Metabolism is the sum total of anabolism and catabolism. In anabolism, water is removed from molecules through chemical reactions in order to grow larger molecules; in catabolism, water is used to break bonds in order to generate smaller molecules. Water is central to acid-base neutrality and enzyme function, and to photosynthesis and respiration. All living cells use such fuels and oxidize the hydrogen and carbon to capture the sun's energy and reform water and CO2 in the process (cellular respiration).

The earliest life forms appeared in water. Nearly all fish live exclusively in water, and use gills to obtain oxygen instead of lungs, although some species of fish, such as the lungfish, have both. Many types of marine mammals, such as seals, dolphins and whales also live in the water, although they need periodic access to air. Amphibians spend part of their lives in water and part on land. Plants such as kelp and algae grow in the water and are the basis for some underwater ecosystems. Plankton is generally the foundation of the ocean food chain. Smaller life forms are able to absorb oxygen through their skin.

Civilization has historically flourished around rivers and major waterways and on islands with safe water ports, their success in part due to easy accessibility via water and the resultant expansion of trade. In places such as North Africa and the Middle East, where water is scarcer, access to clean drinking water was and is a major factor in human development.

Major faiths that incorporate ritual washing (ablution) and immersion (or aspersion or affusion) of a person in water; ritual baths in pure water are performed for the dead in many religions. In Islam, the five daily prayers can be done in most cases (see Tayammum) after completing washing certain parts of the body using clean water (wudu). In Shinto, water is used in almost all rituals to cleanse a person or an area (e.g., in the ritual of misogi). Water is mentioned in the Bible 442 times in the New International Version and 363 times in the King James Version.

Some faiths use water especially prepared for religious purposes. Many religions also consider particular sources or bodies of water to be sacred or at least auspicious; examples include Lourdes in Roman Catholicism, the Jordan River (at least symbolically) in some Christian churches, the Zamzam Well in Islam and the River Ganges (among many others) in Hinduism.

Water is often believed to have spiritual powers. In Celtic mythology, Sulis is the local goddess of thermal springs; in Hinduism, the Ganges is also personified as a goddess, while Saraswati have been referred to as goddess in Vedas. . Alternatively, gods can be patrons of particular springs, rivers, or lakes: for example, in Greek and Roman mythology, Peneus was a river god, one of the three thousand Oceanids.

Water is one of the basic five elements, along with fire, earth, spirit/space, air; one of the five elements in traditional Chinese philosophy, along with earth, fire, wood, and metal; and one of the four classical elements, along with fire, earth and air, and was regarded as the ylem, or basic substance of the universe. Water is considered cold and moist, and is associated with the bodily humor of phlegm. Water is also taken as a role model in some parts of traditional and popular Asian philosophy, and is used in literature as a symbol of purification.

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