Temperance/King of Swords. Temperance is one of my favorite cards; it corresponds with Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes), with Sagittarius “I seek,” philosophic, fun-loving, blundering), Samekh (tent post), and the Path between Yesod (patterns and images emerge that may be manifest into the physical world) and Tiphareth (the hub of the creative process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify). This card is about balance, about getting the mixture right, and about making necessary adjustments. The King of Swords focuses on communication, use of the intellect, and wisdom. A powerful pair of cards; I just may be able to get the mixture right today, and I will communicate with wisdom and authority.

My Thoth card is the Eight of Cups. “Indolence,” and LOL, Uncle Al doesn’t want me to get drunk on power with those first two cards. Low expectations are presented by this card, which also represents Saturn (discipline, responsibility, limitation, law and order) in Pisces (“I believe,” feeling, duality, suffering, soul growth).

My Legacy card is the Queen of Wands/Death reversed. The Queen of Wands is the expert spirit maintainer, she brings transformation, adaption and integration. She is the Watery (cold/binds and wet/adapts) part of Fire, and since Fire and Water are not friendly to each other, this Queen has learned to deal well with opposites. She is flavored by Death reversed; in an upright position this card corresponds with Water, Scorpio (“I desire,” intensity, controlling, compulsive, sexual), Nun (fish head, liberation), and the Path between Thphareth and Netzach (the stimulating factors of emotion and inspiration). The Death card usually represents a transformation of some kind, or a passing through a threshold. The card is reversed, so our Queen may not yet be able to achieve her transformation. The energy is there, however; all she needs to do is figure out how to connect with it.

My 6-digit date number is 8, the number that tells of an attempt to move back toward balance and harmony. The effort will be rewarded, but not with staying power.

My horoscopes: “Your mood should be good today, Sagittarius, although you should be careful not to rub it in others' faces. If people don't feel like being cheerful, don't force it on them. An important sense of duty is prominent and should be obeyed at all costs. Give your adventurous nature some sort of practical grounding that you can use to be more effective regarding whatever it is you do.”

And: “Pinning your hopes on one prospect? Be careful, or the glitter might wear off, especially the more you burden it with your aspirations. Take a look at its real worth before you consider abandoning it. Dig deep within yourself and feel confident that you're someone of considerable determination and ingenuity, and you can finesse this opportunity into something invaluable. It could take a little while, so be patient, but it will pay off.”

And: “Do not let embarrassment from past events get in the way of your pursuit of future dreams today. Own up to your mistakes and learn from them. You will gain more respect from others by openly admitting that you have done wrong, as opposed to trying to sneak away from the scene and hide out somewhere while pretending that you had nothing to do with the problem whatsoever.”

And as requested, the answer came to me this morning, the answer to the stressful events of yesterday. I see now where I have gone wrong in the past when choosing how to deal with this difficult issue, and hopefully the adjustment I make today in my choice this time around will make the difference.

In the past, I have stayed quiet so that the whole issue dies down; the problem with this method is that I am never really choosing to close the door on this. I am not choosing at all! Rather, I am leaving the choice, and the next move, up to those who are presenting the difficulty. I need to make the next move; I need to choose.

I choose to not have anything to do with persons who perpetuate past grievances at any expense . . . I choose to not have anything to do with people who find it easier to blame others again and again for their own misfortunes rather than choosing to own their own misfortunes, and thus end those misfortunes. I have come to realize that I cannot coexist with this type of life focus. I am not judging others for their choices, not at all. I am merely choosing another focus that works better for me.

I discovered this morning, during my usual morning meditation, that past grievances have a huge appetite for my focus, and that appetite continues to grow, no matter how much attention I devote to caring for that past grievance. The loud, discordant voice of that past grievance, clamoring for more attention, is drowning out the more subtle yet achingly beautiful song of the Divine; I am afraid that if I continue to listen to that loud, discordant voice trying to monopolize my attention and my mental focus, I will loose the ability to hear that softer, more fulfilling and nourishing song.

I have decided this morning that the kind of validation that comes along with the appearance of brotherhood that is a part of a group of those who perpetuate past grievances is not of interest to me. I fear that the validation as well as the illusion of solidarity are only there on the surface, and when each member of the brotherhood is faced with the ultimate choice of maintaining their own grievance or supporting the efforts of another of the brotherhood, each will choose to abandon the others in favor of self-maintenance. I choose to not put myself in the position of being disappointed by the words or actions of another, not ever again.

And so, I am choosing to close the door and quietly but confidently turn the lock. We each have the opportunity to choose our focus, to choose where we turn our intellect and to choose where we apply our Will. Each of us must choose what is right for us individually. What is right for me is to be able to hear the subtle and incredibly beautiful song of Nature, the robe that the Goddess wears to enable us to sense Her, to be able to see the manifestation of the Catalyst to Life that is the Sacred Masculine, to be able to feel the nurturing Love for Life that is the Sacred Feminine.

My own Path is one that is moving toward a stronger connection to the elements and the Watchers who are responsible for the care of the elements. The vehicle of my life essence is of the physical world, and as a Wiccan, I have a responsibility to live in accordance with this world’s cycles, and to listen for their voices.

I am proud of who I am, and I am proud of my lineage, both my physical lineage and my magickal lineage. I am a Second Degree Initiated Priestess and Third Degree Dedicant of the Sacred Mists Coven. Sacred Mists may not be perfect, but neither is any other group, and perfection is not the goal. The goal, my goal, is to interact with everyone with compassion, in perfect love and trust, causing the least amount of harm possible. I get out of Sacred Mists what I put into it, and it is the right place for me.

I have passed through the Fire of Transformation several times during my Journey on this Path. Each passage through the Fire was filled with pain and fear, and yet when I came out on the other side, I was a better, stronger person. Today, during my meditation, I offered that pain and fear to my Patron as a gift; He in return offered me a greater awareness of His manifestation within all life and throughout the living of life. I am grateful for this interaction.

I can sense this deeper awareness of the Natural cycles and the Sacred ebbs and flows of energy found on all the planes of existence. I joyously immerse myself in those tides and open my heart and soul to those cycles, for they are evidence of the Gift of the Goddess: life, and the Gift of the God: the living of that life.

In that regard, I am choosing to perceive the world and its effects and Occupants with more than my physical senses. I am seeing and hearing and smelling and tasting and feeling with my mind and my intellect and my Will, as well as with my eyes and ears and nose and tongue and skin.

I am consciously bridging the gap between my physical vehicle and the physical world which supports and nurtures it, and my life essence, that drop of Divine Essence which is both Goddess and God that is in each of us.

These are the things and effects and concepts that I choose to spend my Will upon. My choice need not be your choice, and if you cannot accept me as I am, I offer you my blessing and wish you well upon your journey.

I will be right here, listening to that soft yet achingly beautiful Song . . . ssssh; can you hear it?

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