Knight of Wands reversed/King of Swords reversed. In an upright position, the Knight of Wands (the cusp of Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, controlling, obsessive, and Sagittarius, “I seek,” philosophic, adventurous, blundering) has unlimited courage and stamina, and he focuses on spiritual quests, ideas and entrepreneurial projects with amazing energy. The King of Swords (the cusp of Capricorn, “I build,” ambitious, cautious, authoritative, cunning) and Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, society, aloof) in an upright position would make a good judge; he is ethical and incorruptible, he imposes his high standard of law upon everyone, including himself, without empathy or compassion, and he focuses on intellectual and intuitive processes and communication. Both of these cards are reversed, and LOL that is a good thing because just reading about their personalities makes me tired! Today is not a day for a narrow focus on achieving particular goals or dealing with particular issues. The broader picture may well be more important, and I need to look up from my task occasionally and glance around if I am to see and understand that broader picture.

My Thoth card is the Four of Cups reversed. Crowley sees this as the “Luxury” card, however, he sees the energies of this card as being weak and unstable. The element of Water, it appears, loses its purity in the name of satisfaction. Because the Four of Cups card (representing the Moon in Cancer) is reversed, I won’t necessarily be hypnotized into stagnation by any pleasures of the day.

My Legacy card is the Five of Cups reversed, flavored by the Four of Cups reversed. Oy!! Five reversed cards? What is up with that! The Five of Cups in an upright position tells of the disturbance of a sense of pleasure, and that never seems good. The energy of this Five is about focusing on that disturbance to the extent that other good opportunities for satisfaction are missed. Because the card is reversed, and paired with another Four of Cups reversed, I may be able to handle any disappointments today and still keep them in perspective.

My 6-digit date number is 8, the attempt to recreate the balance of the number 6 by ending the pause of the number 7.

My horoscopes: “Have you been thinking about relocating, Sagittarius? The siren song of distant states or exotic lands may play constantly in your ears. Foreign cultures could inspire you artistically, spiritually, and personally. This is actually a time when few things are out of your reach. If you're serious about this, look into it. You can decide once you have all the facts.”

And: “Someone may give you a psychic reading today, possibly blowing you away with their accuracy and insights. Don't be surprised if this person zeros in on your own psychic abilities, for they're operating at a high level right now. If you've been in doubt as to what spiritual path is best for you, this is the day to make a decision. Hint: no need to narrow it down to one. Some people find enlightenment by pursuing two or three.”

Okay then, strange energies today; my cards are giving me a clear message about what not to do today. The good thing about today’s spread is that the reversed Cups (Water, cold/binds and wet/adapts; emotional, staying the same, passive, contracting) cards thrown are better in the reversed position. Of course, if the King and Knight were upright, I might get more done, but the two of them are a bit frenzied for my taste. The only energies not in my cards today are the energies of Pentacles/Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, stable, physical practical, slow to change contracting). Grounding, anyone??

More information on Angels/Watchers, as promised.

According to the book, “Return of the Angels,” by Migene Golzalez-Wippler, the term “Angel” came about when rabbis from around 200 BCE began translating the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek. To make a long story short, the translators had a choice of Greek words to use for malakh, which is the Hebrew word representing the entities we now call Angels, or divine messengers. They could use the word angelos, which means common messenger, not necessarily celestial, or they could use the word daimon, which represents a spirit that may have either good or evil intentions. The translators didn’t like the idea of the possibility of evil, so they chose angelos, which became Angel.

But reference to the beings we call Angels did not begin within Judaism, nor are they restricted to Judaism and Christianity. Zoroastrianism and other Persian spiritual traditions, Islam and Gnosticism all recognize these astral beings. References to them goes back to the Babylonian culture of Mesopotamia. Most cultures see Angels as immortal but not eternal; when the universe ends, the Angels will also end. And they are highly evolved; in fact, they have completed their evolution, unlike humans, who are still smack dab in the middle of their evolutionary process.

In “Wiccan Mysteries: Ancient Origins & Teachings,” Raven Grimassi states that Watchers (or Angels) are an ancient race who have evolved beyond the need for physical bodies. Sounds familiar. Grimassi also states that the Mesopotamian spiritual traditions recognized four stars as “royal,” and called them the Watchers. Each of these stars ruled over a cardinal point from astrology: Aldebaran marking the Spring Equinox represented East, Regulus at the Summer Solstice represented South, Antares at the Autumn Equinox represented the West, and Fomalhaut at the Winter Solstice represented North. The four Watchers associated with the stars were associated with the cardinal directions and to the elements associated with them; they are also associated with the four Archangels, and are said to be Guardians of the Dimensional Planes and witnesses to the rites to which they are called. To me, it is the elemental associations which brings life and power to the Watchers. Each of them connects to its element (and all the energies and effects associated with that element), with its direction (and all the energies and effects associated with that direction), and its star and solar season. Interestingly enough, while the solstices and equinoxes are solar events, stars are of the night sky, and thus lunar in nature.

Okay, that’s a lot of power.

I also found a reference to the Royal Stars of Persia on the Astrologycom website, as follows:

“Fixed Stars of particular significance, first declared as Watchers, or Guardians of the World by ancient Persian astrologers at around 3000 BC, when they stood at the four angles of the Heavens. These stars were also assigned angelic status by the Hebrews. There are four Royal Stars: Aldebaran, the Archangel Michael, Watcher of the East, ruler of the Vernal Equinox; Regulus, the Archangel Raphael, Watcher of the North, ruler of the Summer Solstice; Antares, the Archangel Oriel (or Uriel), Watcher of the West, ruler of the Autumnal Equinox; and Fomalhaut, the Archangel Gabriel, Watcher of the South, ruler of the Winter Solstice.”

Some minor difference from what Grimassi has in his book. I went back to Wikipedia, and after searching “Royal Stars of Persia,” I found:

“The four Royal Stars or Guardians of the Sky were a group of stars noticed by the Persian astrologers, and mentioned by Zarathustra, around 3000 BC and used as a rudimentary season calendar.

All four stars are among the brightest 25 stars, having an apparent magnitude of less than 1.5. However, this particular set of stars was chosen because they are divided on the sky by approximately 6 hours apart in right ascension. The reason why they are called “royal” is that they appear to stand aside from the other stars in the sky. Throughout a year, each star is for several months “dominant” on the night sky and one can guess the season just by noticing which star is dominant.

The four stars with their modern and ancient Persian names were:

Aldebaran (Tascheter) - vernal equinox (Watcher of the East)
Regulus (Venant) - summer solstice (Watcher of the South)
Antares (Satevis) - autumnal equinox (Watcher of the West)
Fomalhaut (Haftorang) - winter solstice (Watcher of the North)”

So far, the big difference I am finding in the information is that some sources cite Regulus as corresponding with the Watcher of the South and Fomalhaut as corresponding with the Watcher of the North, and the reverse. But I am getting the feeling that this information about Watchers/Angels/Quarters/Elemental Guides is important to know and understand, since I am regularly evoking them, asking for their assistance, and applying their energies to my rituals and workings.

Tomorrow, I will post some information about the four individual stars of the Royal Stars of Persia.

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