Eight of Swords reversed/Justice reversed. In an upright position, the Eight of Swords usually represents self-imposed restrictions, a Dark Night of the Soul if you will. And the Justice card (Air (hot/separates and wet/adapts), Libra (“we are,” partnerships balance cooperation), Lamed (ox goad, train and teach) also deals with the symbolism of the sword (as well as presenting the reminder that in the end, we get what we deserve), so my cards today are telling me that these concepts are blocked or not supposed to be taken into consideration. Lots of Air in these cards, but presented within reversals. Swords represent the element of Air, and Libra is a Cardinal Air sign. I guess that today is not supposed to be about taking the initiative and using my intellect.

My Thoth card is the Queen of Pentacles. Interesting card to throw today. Crowley sees this Queen (Water of Earth), as possessing the finest of the quieter qualities. She is filled with compassion and affection for those around her, and relies more upon the messages of her instincts and Inner Voice than she does on the recommendations of her intellect. The image on this card is interesting, for the Queen of Pentacles is facing away from us, looking back upon the desert valley below and the river threading through it (Water and Earth). She is quiet and contemplative as she looks back, but this image that appears so serene is actually pretty powerful. The Queen holds a staff that is topped with symbols of both herself and her King, and there are other representations of masculine creative energies surrounding her in the foreground. Interestingly enough, though, is the fact that while she knows these representations of the catalyst that is the masculine sacred are there with her, she is looking back at her own symbols, Water and Earth. The entire image has a melancholy about it that resonates for me today, and like the Queen, I may need to use outside sources in order to find serenity.

My Legacy card is the Nine of Wands. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” LOL, didn’t I just think about this yesterday? This card is less about being “in your face defensive” and more about acting with integrity, and knowing that there is an untapped well of reserve to be found within, ready to aid and support all endeavors.

Water, Earth and Fire, with Air blocked. And lots of validation!! Time to listen to my Inner Voice, connect with my Core Value Anchor, and embrace Change, without worrying too much about the end result.

My 6-digit date number is 3, the number of “surface” and of the creation of something new within the knowledge of “position” and “distance between.”

My horoscope: “The study of psychology might be especially appealing today, Sagittarius. Some new discoveries that you may have heard about in the media could have piqued your interest and might propel you to the library to find books on the subject. This is a good time to pursue this. Your mind “

Last night, the Pagan Brain Trust met, and this meeting was about sharing laughter. LOL, a healing session, fer sher! Every one of us is dealing with some kind of major challenge, from marital problems to spiritual challenges to physiological focuses to career choices, but we were able to forget all of those for a few hours, and focus instead on our evolution as an individual and as a group, and on laughter. We broke records as far as lateness of stay, but I felt very awake as I drove home because of the laughter and humorous events that we shared.

When I was almost home, suddenly He appeared again. Archangel Uriel, with the piercing golden eyes. Again He stared, as if He was patiently waiting for me to do something. I nodded, and to my surprise, He came closer to me, and then handed me something. It was the Justice card of the Tarot, showing the typical blindfolded angel holding scales and a sword. I looked at the card for a few long minutes, and then raised my eyes back to His. He then stepped forward again, this time to blindfold me with a white strip of cloth. I can still feel that tug of the cloth being tied at the back of my head, and I imagined that I looked a lot like I belonged in one of those photos of the Iranian hostages. The big difference is that I opened myself to this blindness. Interestingly enough, Justice did appear in my cards for today, but reversed, or blocked (or blindfolded??). I cannot help but remember those traumatic meditations of the recent past when Uriel blinded me in more, shall we say, dramatic ways.

Since last night, the background noise of energy that is always there has become more noticeable. I feel Danu with me, but what is more important (and unusual) is that I feel Cernunnos as well. I keep getting those teasing, fleeting threads of sensation and awareness that usually surround aha! moments, and I am opening myself to them, fondling and probing them, hoping that I will make the connection, whatever it is. And I can still feel that blindfold.

I am beginning to think that all of humanity is experiencing the last painful parts of a collective Dark Night of the Soul; is what I am experiencing now a part of that, or am I travelling through my own Darkness? Somehow I think the answer is both. A Dark Night begins gradually; the tendrils of Fog that is a Dark Night creep up on us and gradually muffle the effects of the world without us even realizing it. Slowly but surely, this disconnect continues, and it becomes more and more of a narrowly focused effort to function in the most basic fashion. The Dark Night continues until one of two things occurs: either the Seeker gives up entirely on trying to see through the Fog and lives the rest of his or her days within a physical/logical world existence only, or the Seeker fights the “big battle” and uses every tool available to blast that Fog away. True, there will be collateral damage done within this effort, but the end result will be that the Fog is pushed way back and for a time, vision will be clear.

The sides are gradually being drawn. Hurtful things are being committed, from the person uncaringly cutting me off on the highway to the ugly words and deeds of world leaders. In my opinion, the final battle will be between those who cling to the physical and the logical and what has been known to them in the past, and those who understand that life is more than a chance to accumulate a nice car and that expensive handbag and that cool iPhone because three-quarters of what life is all about happens **within** us and not **around** us. There is a battle coming between the “my way or the highway” forces and the “your way is good for you and my way is good for me, and we are both right” forces, and the big question is will humanity evolve, or will it attempt the fruitless task of keeping things as they are? LOL, of course, I think in Tarot analogies, and I keep seeing The Tower in my mind. And The Tower always makes me think of Stuie Wilde’s book, The Art of Redemption. By the way, Stuie also feels that some big shift is coming.

Part of me is excited that I am alive right now, and that I get to experience this turbulence within the psyche of humanity. LOL, I hope that statement doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass, but I feel as if I want to learn more about the final moments of the “dark moon” of humanity as we move into the “new moon” stage, and are presented with the opportunity of doing the work that will enable us to evolve, as individuals and as a species.

Mystery and I are working on an Extension Class Proposal that I feel is an important part of my striving to bring on this latest aha! moment that is hiding in the dark corners of my awareness. I will be working with Mystery on this proposal this weekend, and I am pretty excited about it. And I also noticed that Sacred Mists offers within the Advanced Training Courses a potential course on the Dark Goddess and the Dark God. Could this be the direction I need to think about and focus upon? Could the creation and presentation of an advanced class focusing on the Shadow and the Dark as they relate to Deity be my next step? Part of me says that I can’t even begin to think about looking into this right now, but then I remember Uriel’s blindfold; maybe I am not supposed to “see” but rather to “feel.”

I plan on doing a lot of “inner housecleaning” this weekend, for I will be alone in Cape May. I have a Student Council Meeting this evening, and I look forward to interacting with my fellow Council Members. And I have other responsibilities to attend to, such as Tarot homework and First Degree Homeworks, and two new Second Degree Lessons to review. But all of that can be done on a schedule that I can make up as I go along. And perhaps the result of my introspection will be that I will see up ahead that cool, clear pool of healing water that Lady Raven described, just waiting for me. Maybe Lilyth will already be there, with a pitcher of pomegranate raspberry martinis.

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