My Mind/Body/Spirit spread is Eight of Wands (Mind), The World (Body) and Nine of Swords reversed (Spirit). My “flavor” card is The Star reversed.

In an upright position, The Star (the Path between Yesod (the appearance of patterns that lead to the manifestation of Malkuth) and Netzach(which provides the stimulating effects of emotion and inspiration); the element of Air (hot/separates and wet/adapts); Aquarius (“I know,” friendships, the group, society) and Tsadi (fish hook, experience or thought)) tells of an ability to understand and balance (usually through the experience of and survival of chaos) inner world energies and outer world phenomena. The Star is a card of survival, of recuperation and of inspiration; these possibilities are still in play, but I am being prevented from accessing their full power, possibly because I am still working to balance inner world energies with outer world phenomena.

The Eight of Wands is one of the few Minor Arcana cards that does not have a person included somewhere in its image. This card is about raw energy, not the potential of it but the actual presence of it, and this energy can act either as a catalyst or a weapon of destruction. I need to remember today that I have not yet gotten my sea legs after the recent storm, and while I don’t want to extinguish the fire of new ideas and passion that will be awakened in my intellect today, I also don’t want to allow that fire to rage out of control. I need to bank this fire carefully, and feed it with caution, but allow a burn to happen.

The World (the Path between Malkuth (physical, active world) and Yesod (the appearance of patterns that lead to the manifestation of Malkuth); the element of Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes); Saturn (discipline, law and order, limitations and resistance); and Thav (mark or sign)) can bee seen as a card of endings, but the end that is connected to The World is not a static one; rather it is like a birth. This card tells of passing the tests of the Guardian and moving forward through the Threshold, and I am very happy to see it in my Body (physical world) position, for it tells not only of resolution, but of my ability to effectively build upon the experiences that have gotten me to where I am right now.

In an upright position, the Nine of Swords represents the agony of the mind that results from giving the intellect free reign. Thankfully, it is reversed, and it is telling me that I am finally allowing my Inner Voice to have some input into my expectations. Logic does not work well with faith and optimism, but faith and optimism can prevent the downward spiral and end the nights of worry. Today, there is a good possibility that the balance may tip in favor of faith and optimism.

My 6-digit date number is 6, the number of vertical and horizontal balance. Waaa-hooo!!

I have finally gotten some resolution to the issue that has been weighing on my mind. I still do not know how many days I will be working each week starting with July, but I do know that I will be getting paid for the next year, from July 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011, no matter what. I also know that there is a good probability that I will have a better idea of the workload by the end of July. In the mean time, I am going to focus on getting as much work as I can on the weekends in Cape May, and as much work as I can on Mondays through Thursdays in North Jersey. If things go as I expect, I may loose out on the very fertile ground of this Summer, but I will be able to take the rest of this year to get things in place. I will be working hard, but the goal, the carrot on the end of the stick, is my own business.

This is day 4 of intense physical training, coming after last week when I was very intensely gearing up. I have bits and pieces of slight aches in my muscles, but I am really connecting with my body’s energy field and its physiology. I am also feeling the presence of Cernunnos, strongly. Every time I tap into that wonderful euphoria of knowing that my body is getting stronger and more flexible and more coordinated, that lovely feeling of well-being, I feel Cernunnos smile and I hear Him whisper “More potent than the most expensive single malt!”

I am convinced that I have entered the third step of the alchemic Great Work, which 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. I believe the past two weeks, with all their stresses and worries, were the putrefaction of this cycle of the Great Work. I have been tested and I have been purified. All that remains is the strongest part of me, all weaknesses have been power washed away.

Now that I know what will be happening for the next month or so at my job, I can finally move forward; I will be moving cautiously, but with optimism. I am choosing to be optimistic. I am choosing the mindset of a business owner; this job issue is temporary and soon will not be a concern.

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