Seven of Swords reversed/The High Priestess. The Seven of Swords is about sneaking around to hold onto or attain what we believe should be ours. Sometimes this is necessary, but most of the time it is unethical; because the card is reversed, I may end up finding more ethical means to attain what I want, or maybe I will decide that the effort is not worth the end result, and just release it all to fate. The High Priestess is my significator card, and it corresponds with Water (cold/binds and wet/adapts), the Moon (feelings and emotions, illusion, imagination), Gimel (camel; hidden knowledge), and the Path between Tiphareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify) and Kether (the source; limitless possibility). The presence of The High Priestess tells me that I will be very connected today to the astral realms and their experiential nature, to the Goddess, and to the Sacred Feminine and its mysteries. I will be able to allow things to unfold according to their nature, yet I will learn and I will receive both knowledge and wisdom in the process.

My Thoth card is the Seven of Swords reversed. Hmmm . . . two of those today. My first throw of the Welsh Tarot tends to connect with or reference my conscious self, and my Thoth card tends to connect with or reference my aura and its connection or bridge between my energy body and the outside world. The two cards together may just be an indication that it is the bridge between the realms that is a beneficial focus for me today. Crowley calls this card “Futility,” and he sees this card as being weak and passive, like a “has been” boxer trying to achieve a comeback. Knowing that this Seven corresponds with the Moon helps us to understand its energies; the element of Water weighs down the element of Air, and weakens it.

My Legacy card is the Six of Coins reversed, flavored by the Seven of Wands. The Six of Coins is about the awareness of resources of all kinds. It follows the Five of Coins, and its realization that we don’t have (or we believe that we don’t have) what we need. The Six is the next step, the striving to identify what we really have and what we need to continue, and it is not only about what we personally need for ourselves, but also about what we have of value that could be offered to others. The Seven of Wands is a personal power card for me, and I see it as representing both a threshold or gateway ~and~ a gatekeeper who guards the gateway so that only those who are ready may pass. This Seven manifests the weakness or beginning of degeneration that each Seven contains, but it also tells of mental fortitude and the wonderful achievements that can be attained with its application. Indeed the gatekeeper will not let us pass until he pushes us past our limits; that is the only way to determine if we are ready for what lies within. Because it is flavoring my Six of Coins reversed, I may need to think about both what I need to give and what I need to receive in order to approach the threshold and the gatekeeper.

My 6-digit date number is . . . drum roll please! Seven!! I guess the number 7, and its connection to the beginning of the degeneration of the balance of the number 6, is important to me today!!

The suit of Swords corresponds to the element of Air (hot/separates and wet/adapts) and to the powers of the mind and the intellect that allow us to solve challenges and learn in the process. The Seven of Swords in an upright position describes the efforts to maintain a situation that is showing the early signs of becoming too old or not useful any more. Usually it indicates efforts to maintain that cross the line into unethical territory. Today, I may not need that kind of focus, and that is a good thing because sometimes we waste quite a bit of energy holding on to things that we would be better off releasing.

My horoscopes: “You have lots of energy and self-confidence, Sagittarius. That's wonderful, but it may also put you at greater risk for dangerous experiences and accidents. You could find that you're much more aggressive, especially if someone crosses you. An emotional irritation could manifest in physical ways like reckless driving or arguments with people who don't deserve your anger.”

And: “You're being swallowed up by the good energy of the universe, but knowing you, it's something you've just got to share. What seemed at first like an awkward situation is now simple to smooth over, and whatever has been going well now takes an even sweeter turn. Embrace your friends and those you've had trouble with in the past, and when you do, your karma gets a tremendous boost. It's a great cycle to take part in!”

And: “You should certainly feel free to speak your mind today. You may have a lot of worries troubling you, and find that exposing them to the light of day makes them seem suddenly less threatening. Be sure to choose a close friend to open up to. And if it feels good, by all means, unburden yourself more often!”

One of the main focuses of the last stage of the alchemic Great Work is the integration of all that was learned throughout the cycle. I am being reminded today that I can’t begin the next cycle and reach for the next rung on the ladder until I have completed the integration process of the Rubedo. Indeed, the word means “the fusing of ingredients” and if I don’t complete the process the end result will not be “cured” and ready to be a strong foundation.

Part of this integration process, a good part, has to do with my spiritual life. Yes, I have made changes in my physical world; I have lost over 20 pounds and I am felling physically strong and fit because I have made Yoga and Belly Dance Stretch a part of my daily life. The changes that I impose are easier to deal with (even if they take a bit of willpower to maintain).

It is the changes in my life that are the result of the Paths of others that are a bit unsettling. For example, one of the natural progressions of the Lessons and Degree Training and Extension Classes at Sacred Mists is that the further our students move through the Training processes, the greater number of students there are that fall by the wayside. Some have found that Wicca in general or Sacred Mists in particular are not to be their focus going forward, and there is no harm in that. Some find that they just don’t want to do the work necessary to receive spiritual fulfillment from an experiential, mystery tradition. Some have some inner trauma that is being repressed, and the need for self-knowledge and personal growth that is attached to the process of moving deeper into Wicca may be bringing them closer to that trauma than they want to be. For whatever reason, the further I go into my own training, the more of my fellow Travelers seem to be disappearing. These disappearances are making me question my own path with more and more frequency, and actually, that is a good thing too, in the end. But right now, I feel somewhat lost and alone within my formal Training. Many of those who have been Traveling with me through my own Degree studies are gone, and a good portion of those who are still with me are experiencing their own personal turmoils. I expect that more of them will be changing direction and passing out of my experiences and my growth processes.

I know other Travelers who are not associated with Sacred Mists, who are dealing with their own turmoils and challenges and blockages. Lives are being turned upside down and inside out, all around me. Is it that so many of my family, friends and acquaintances are at similar life stages? Or are these turmoils evidence of an upcoming Shift that will affect us all? I can’t answer those questions; I can only support my fellow Travelers the best that I can, and continue onward with the Path that seems to work best for me, even if I end up Traveling alone because everyone else has found other Ways that better suit their current needs.

Change is stability, and stability needs change in order to exist. This is very, very important to remember, for if we attempt to hold onto the perfection of the moment, even beyond the effectiveness of that perfection, we will be going against the tides and cycles of energy that are life and existence throughout our universe. Indeed, one of the skills I am gaining from the Great Work in general and the Rubedo stage in particular is a more accurate awareness of the cycles of energy around me and the ability to make use of those cycles for my own personal growth. After all, a surfer can only make use of the energy of a wave at just the right moment after the wave tips over and begins its downward roar to the beach and the final disbursement of its power. After all, the only way we can walk, the only way we can take the next step forward, is to consciously choose to leave balance behind and tilt our body’s weight (or make it fall) in the direction we need to go. Precarious, yes; but effective!

Kowabunga!! Surf’s up!!

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