Three of Pentacles reversed/The Priestess reversed. The Three of Pentacles in an upright position tells us that we are involved in a task or job or career that resonates for us and thus brings reward, and thus we go above and beyond the call of duty, with joy. The card is reversed, so that opportunity is there but I am not seeing or accessing the path to that opportunity. The Priestess (Water, cold/binds and wet/adapts; the Moon, feelings, illusion, imagination; and Gimel, camel, hidden knowledge) would be an awesome pairing with the Three of Pentacles if they were both upright. But even so, the energies are present; I just need to figure out how to tap into them!

My Thoth card is the Ace of Cups reversed. The Holy Grail, and the power of love. Like my two Welsh cards, the awesome energies of this card are present, but I am not tapping into them the right way.

My Legacy card is The Fool, flavored by the Six of Swords reversed. The Fool (the path between Chokmah, limitless possibility, and Kether, the dynamic origin of polarity and vital force) corresponds with the element of Air (hot/separates and wet/adapts), Uranus (technology, innovation and radical change) and Aleph (the head, youthful learning). Because of the Six of Swords reversed, I am being told that I need to approach the use of the energies of The Fool with a bit of mature selectivity or I will end up negating any progress toward healing and reconciliation that I have made.

My 6-digit date number is 10, the number of completion of a cycle.

I had a truly marvelous experience yesterday. I spent the day (over 6 hours!) working in my beloved garden. By last night, I was bone tired yet filled with a sense of accomplishment. I decided to walk to the Acme and get myself some dinner; after all, I so deserved a cheeseburger after my efforts of the day. On the way, I met a neighbor and good friend, Marie, who has had to deal with some very difficult challenges over the past weeks, made more difficult because a part of the difficulties stem from the actions of others and thus, out of Marie’s control. When I hugged her, I sensed a combination of a deep need to release the issues of the recent past in a manner that could bring her peace and satisfactory closure, and a rapidly ebbing supply of the focus and determination needed in order to resolve and release those issues. She radiated grief, anger, a sense of having been betrayed, and a sense of emotional weariness. My heart ached for her, and I tried to find the words to ease her a bit; apparently I succeeded because Marie emailed me later last night and thanked me. My words had reminded her that at this point, since the actions taken are in the past and thus unchangeable, it may not be up to her to “bring the lesson” to the other parties. Those simple words reminded my friend that she is only responsible for her own actions and choices, and does not need to shoulder the burden of the actions and choices of anyone besides herself.

A simple lesson, but one that is very difficult to perceive when we are being distracted by pain and anger and frustration. I am so please that I was able to help nudge my friend back towards the inner peace that she has always seemed to have.

But here is the cool thing: Marie took the time to thank me, and as I drove back from Cape May this morning, I thought about her situation and how good I felt about being able to return the friendship she has offered to me, by helping her a bit. It suddenly dawned on me that I, too, am guilty of assuming the responsibility of the actions of others by either judging them or attempting to “teach” them why they are wrong. How much effort we all expend on these pursuits, sometimes without realizing it!! Granted, loved ones deserve our communication with them when we think they are doing something that will hurt themselves or others, maybe even multiple communications. But in the end, we are not required to shoulder the karmic burden of the words or actions of others and indeed, this burden can literally sap the life out of us. No matter how wrong we perceive the actions or words of another as being, in the end we are only responsible for expending energy toward making certain that our own words and deeds are ethical and present the least amount of harm possible. We don’t have the responsibility of loosing sleep or health over the actions of others, even if those actions have a painful impact upon us. We only have the responsibility of choosing our own response.

Thank you, Marie! Much love and gratitude to you, my friend, for the powerful lesson you gifted me with, and for the reminder of the one power we all have: the power to choose our own words and deeds. I hope and pray that you find the inner peace you deserve.

Midsummer Blessings!!

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