The Chariot reversed/The Empress. Oooooh, nice! The Chariot corresponds with Water (cold/binds and wet/adapts), Cancer (“I feel”), and Cheth (fence); The Empress corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes), Venus (beauty and allure), and Daleth (door or womb). This is pretty simple to interpret: The Chariot in a reversed position actually supports The Empress. I am being told that today is a day to enjoy my emotions, my feelings and my senses. Let ‘em go!

My Thoth card is the Prince of Cups. This card tells of appearing serene on the outside, but that veneer hides churning and sometimes violent emotions. I need to be careful though, because others may have trouble understanding me because of this duality.

My Legacy card is Judgement reversed. Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes), Pluto (cycles of becoming), and Shin (fang or tooth); in an upright position, this card foretells that the time has come for the last steps. The awakening foretold by this card is not a part of my day, but it is there, in the neighborhood so to speak. It will not come to me; I must go out and find it.

My 6-digit date number is 5. Oh boy, the number of movement and the shake-up of stability to prevent stagnation. **grabs hold of the arms of her chair**

My horoscope: “You could make a trip to the library today, Sagittarius, as you may need to track down some intellectual, spiritual, or practical information required for a task or project you're working on. You may find yourself spending more time there than you'd originally planned, as you might discover facts or ideas that open up fascinating new trains of thought. If your time is limited, keep track of the hour. If not, have fun!”

Mystery and I did our first ritual together last night, a cleansing ritual that we wrote together and performed simultaneously, but at a distance from each other physically (she lives in another state). The results were powerful. I expected this to work (after all, distance Reiki is effective, and our rituals at Sacred Mists are effective), and the working went better than I thought it would, despite me having a few obstacles in the beginning as I made my final preparations.

My Patroness is pleased with my next choice of investigation and attempt at evolution. When I told Her that it would have been easier if She just told me this was what She wanted me to do, She laughed with delight. “My dear daughter, I did tell you. You already purchased a book that explains alchemy; it is in your hands. Yet it took struggle and a Dark Night for you to need the knowledge in that book. Most times the easy way has no worth.” **facepalm** She did tell me; I just was not listening, was I?!

It is psychological alchemy upon which I will focus, but of course to understand the psychological correspondences, I need to have at least some basic understanding of physical alchemy and magickal alchemy. LOL, why do I have a feeling that I am going to need more books? I have already seen some reference to the Shadow of the human psyche, so this information may relate to the class that Mystery and I plan on writing, if approved.

So, here are my general focuses. The Great Work can be broken down into three levels. Of course, whatever is presented as psychological alchemy has its roots in physical and magickal alchemy, so I will be attempting to understand the physical processes and effects that support the psychological correspondences.

The first step is called the Black Phase. The Nigredo is the longest and most difficult phase; it makes the other two seem like child’s play. The Nigredo is accomplished through torture. Yes, I said torture. Actually, the process involves the surrender of superfluous and unnecessary characteristics, which happens through the tool of suffering.

The second step is called the White Phase. Basically, the Albedo is the process which purifies whatever survived the Nigredo. This “cooking” or “purification” process is very important, for it culls out any impurities; these impurities, if left into the process, would have very harmful effects on the end result, so they need to be removed. Interestingly enough, the Albedo begins at the darkest moment of the Nigredo.

The third step is called the Red Phase. The Rubedo is the logical next step, the step that allows the release and manifestation of the energies that were completely transformed by the Nigredo and the Albedo. Interestingly enough, there is a sort of “mini-Dark Night” within the processes of the Rubedo, just before the final result, usually called “putrefaction.” This step provides a last chance to remove any remaining contaminants or remainder of ego.

More to come. As you can see, I will be busy! But for now, I am going to walk on the beach!

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