Saturday, December 18, 2010

Death reversed/King of Pentacles. Death in an upright position corresponds with Water (cold/binds and wet/adapts, and emotional, sensitive and imaginative energy which stays the same or attempts to take the same path), Scorpio (“I desire,” intense, controlling, deep, mysterious), Nun (fish head, liberation), and the Path between Tiphareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify) and Netzach (the stimulating factors of emotion and inspiration), and represents the presence of a Threshold through which I must pass. Because the card is reversed, and because of where I am right now in my own existence, I believe this card is telling me that I have successfully negotiated one Threshold, and I have been able to effectively cull my belongings, both physical and non-physical, in order to leave behind what is not necessary for my Journey. At this point, I should not bother looking back, for whatever is back there is no longer available to me. Forward is the way to go. The King of Pentacles (cusp of Aries, “I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive, and Taurus, “I have,” sensual, stubborn, cautious, physically oriented) is the expert on physical manifestation. He is very good at managing resources and overseeing growth, and he has one other important talent: the ability to be patient. His presence excites and encourages me, for I am preparing to reinvent myself, career-wise, and his energies are very desirable at this time.

My Thoth card is the Ten of Cups. “Satiety” is Uncle Al’s keyword for the Ten of Cups (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, spirituality, suffering and growth), and it offers an unexpected lesson: achieving happiness takes work, which is to be expected, but maintaining that happiness also takes work, hard work. The cool thing about the happiness that is associated with this card is that it is completely emotional in nature; no physical possessions are necessary in order to create this kind of happiness, and actually, they can actually be a distraction from it. Crowley, in his usual dark manner, sees this card as reminding us to be careful for what we wish for, because we just might get it. The Cups in the image on this card are arranged in the shape of the sephiroth of the Tree of Life. The topmost cup, representing the sephiroth of Kether, is overflowing into all the Cups below it; the Cups of the Middle Pillar, the Pillar of Balance, are overflowing.

My Legacy card is the King of Swords, flavored by The World. Another King! The King of Swords (cusp of Capricorn, “I build,” ambitious, cautious, cunning, authoritative, and Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, cause-oriented, aloof) is the expert at being impartial, precise and logical. He is the “Mr. Spock” of the Tarot, and the Minor Arcana equivalent of The Emperor. His Queen understands people, but he understands things, as well as knowledge. To the King of Swords, knowledge is indeed power, and that is his message to me. The World, which corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and material, stable and practical energy that is slow to change), Saturn (discipline, responsibility, limitations and resistance), Thav (mark or sign), and the Path between Malkuth (the physical world of action and physical, outer reality) and Yesod (the place where patterns and images emerge that may manifest into the physical world), is the card flavoring my King of Swords. It tells me that at least for today, my ability to make choices based on logical considerations just might help to bring integration and evolution; I should keep my eyes open for synchronistic events today.

My 6-digit date number is 4, the number of stability and depth.

My horoscopes: “Today may be a rough day in which you find it hard to make a decision about anything. Refrain from making any major moves regarding finances or real estate. Concentrate on you and the answers will come from within. Be realistic and practical when it comes to your emotions. You may find it hard to connect with someone tonight, so stick close to home and focus inward.”

And: “Talking you into recreation, getting together with your playmates or just going out for the heck of it has never been an especially difficult task. That goes double today. You've been good -- well, relatively good -- for a long time now. Days, even. Maybe weeks. Anyway, it's time to treat yourself to something extra special. To celebrate how good you've been. See? It all makes perfect sense.”

And: “Are you going out shopping today? If so, expect at some point to be confronted with a wonderful luxury item you'd give your eyeteeth for - but can't really justify purchasing. Don't be impulsive, but don't hold back unnecessarily either. Will you really enjoy the item? Or is it something you'd look at for a while, then put away or ignore? Do what you want - but be sure you know what it is! Think about it!”

What an amazing evening I had last night. Yesterday was the Solstice Salon presented by the Wayne Contingency of the Pagan Brain Trust. Jen cooked an incredible meal, and we feasted and laughed and talked. Several expected attendees were unable to be there, but I did meet three much loved friends of Tara, Elizabeth and Jen. Jess, who is one of Elizabeth’s Yoga teacher friends, is interested in receiving a Thai Massage; Mary, who is going through Yoga Teacher Training right now, and Tara treated us to a taste of the drumming they have been working on for the past two weeks in preparation for their ritual tomorrow. They did an awesome job! Once the two of them left at around midnight, a true PBT discussion began, and Phil, the Wayne Contingency’s third friend (*waves to Phil*), absolutely and completely fit in. By the time that we made the effort to end the evening (and believe me, that was tough; yes, the discussions were that good!), it was after 3:30 am, and Phil was firmly ensconced as our fifth member. Finally, we are FIVE!! Finding a replacement for L, who withdrew from the PBT because of personal issues at home, was not easy. The four of us have a wonderful interaction and a similar agenda, and adding a new person would be risky under most circumstances, but after spending hours baring our souls to each other, it seems as if Phil has always been a part of our “tribe.” And the bonus is that he has already been attuned to Reiki. Excellent!!

Considering the marvelous intellectual (and yes, at times quite “woo-woo”) conversations of last night, I am going to look at the next sephiroth on the Tree of Life, Hod.

Hod (Glory) is the eighth sephiroth on the Tree, the third on the Pillar of Form/Restriction, and represents science, teaching and the intellect. Hod corresponds with Mercury, the planet which receives the most light from our Sun, and working with Hod can stimulate the workings of the mind and provide illumination, but working completely with the intellect presents dangers, too, especially if the process of shining light in the dark corners exposes any shadow issues. The intellect can be used for good, or for bad, and when dealing with Hod, we need to remember the two-edged blade that corresponds with the intellect.

Hod teaches us the knowledge and wisdom are two different things, and while knowledge may be obtained without too much work, wisdom requires time, effort and patience to attain. Like the other paired spheres on the Tree, Hod and Netzach compliment each other nicely. Hod is the printed circuit board, Netzach the current that activates it. Hod is instinct, Netzach is emotion. Hod is the Lord of Books, Netzach is the Lady of Nature. Hod can be seen as the text of a ritual or magickal working, words carefully chosen through the application of both knowledge and wisdom, and Netzach can be seen as the actual performance of that ritual, and the energy given to it.

My correspondence list for Hod is:

Magickal Image: Hermaphrodite

Planetary: Mercury

Vice: Dishonesty

Virtue: Truthfulness

Deity: Teacher, Messenger

Spiritual Experience: Vision of Splendor

Briatic Correspondence: Abstraction

Illusion: Order

Obligation: Learning

Path: Path 8, the number of a focused attempt to recreate the balance of the number 6.

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