Six of Wands reversed/Two of Cups reversed. The Six of Wands (Jupiter, expansiveness and growth, justice, fortune, in Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, noble, authoritative) in an upright position expresses the celebration we feel when we have passed some test. The card is reversed and the test is over but that does not mean that I have time for pride. After all, another test, a more difficult one, will surely present itself soon. This is a very powerful card, but because it is reversed, the energies connected to it are in flux; look out! The Two of Cups (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, family and home oriented, tenacious, moody) in an upright position is usually about relationships. Because it is reversed, the relationship represented by this card could be not running as smoothly as expected. I need to remember that this card may not be referring to someone else, but rather could be referring to my relationship with myself.

My Thoth card is the Prince of Swords reversed. The Prince of Swords (the cusp of Taurus, “I have,” sensual, stubborn, cautious, and Gemini, “I think,” curious, talkative, dual, intelligent) is somewhat scary to behold. He is not afraid of taking action, not afraid of wading into conflicts, and not afraid to implement new ideas. Sounds like a leader, right? He is reversed today, and taken with the other cards that have presented themselves, I believe he is telling me that today is not the day for me to boldly lead.

My Legacy card is the Queen of Coins reversed, flavored by the Two of Coins reversed. The Queen of Coins (cusp of Sagittarius, “I seek,” philosophic, fun-loving, blundering, and Capricorn, “I build,” ambition, caution, cunning, authoritative) in an upright position is very good at sustaining the physical world, keeping things dry and cozy and safe and orderly. Her main weakness is that her focus on protecting and maintaining can sometimes cross the line into obsession; because she is reversed, I need to remind myself that while creating a strong and stable foundation is a good thing, sooner or later (probably sooner!) I will need to move away from the predictable and venture into the unknown. The Two of Coins (Jupiter, expansiveness and growth, justice, fortune, in Capricorn, “I build,” ambition, caution, cunning) reversed reminds me that everything always ebbs and flows, but I am not always required to follow the prevailing tides. Not following those tides might be a more difficult choice, but I need to dispel the sludge of this reading today, and maybe going against the tide will at least wake me up.

What’s with the reversed cards today? Okay, reversals can mean blocked energies, they can mean that the energies are far away but approaching, they can mean that the energies are here but fading, or they can mean that **not** doing something is important today. I also have two reversed Two cards. The number 2 represents balance, polarity, and the concept of distance between. These things are not easily in play today, and I need to know why in order to determine whether I need to gain access to their energies, or whether I am supposed to shut them out.

My 6-digit date number is 3, the number that tells of a creation from the polarity and balance of the number 2. I get the feeling that polarity is more the word of the day than balance.

My horoscopes: “A sibling or neighbor may tell you one thing, Sagittarius, while your intuition tells you the opposite. This isn't a vindictive deception. The person is probably trying to spare your feelings. Perhaps it's better not to challenge this person. Wait until you know more before bringing up the subject. You don't want to cause a rift between the two of you.”

And: “You've spent quite a bit of time with a certain person recently, and your friends are starting to kid you about it -- so much so that one more comment about wedding bells just might tip you over the edge. If you're starting to wonder, however, if it might not actually be time to settle down and put an end to your solo lifestyle, think about it. Wouldn't it be nice to climb that mountain, cross that bridge and see the sun set from a pyramid with a permanent travel partner?”

And: “It could be that you are feeling a strong sense of guilt at this time because of something you did in an effort to feed your own ego. Be aware of how your actions have affected others and apologize for what you have done. Guilt is basically a useless emotion that you should rid yourself of as quickly as possible. Don't let this feeling keep you from opening up your heart the way you need to in order to restore it to its original innocence.”

My Sun reading: “The Sun conjuncts Neptune and a sympathetic understanding of another's sensitivity creates success. Lunar oppositions tonight stimulate idle fantasy and wishful thinking. And as happens frequently, what you see isn't even close to what you get. Any lack of objectivity ensures you're entering one big entanglement.”

More about the 29th Path. This Path connects Netzach (Victory) and Malkuth (The Kingdom). It reflects the division (and union) of the mortal body and the essence of life/eternal spirit, the growth of everything that becomes a physical representation of the energies of all the spheres. This Path helps to reveal how we define our true parentage or lineage; when we confront and accept our life essence and our mortal body, our true nature is revealed to us.

In “More Simplified Magick: Pathworking and the Tree of Life,” Ted Andrews says this about the 29th Path: “This is the life path of sexuality in all of its many expressions. Its symbols and images activate these energies to play within our lives on many levels. Because sexuality is a reflection of our most creative life source, this is also the path of creativity and physical evolution. Its energies symbolize and reflect spiritual progress shared in fellowship with other students of the mysteries. This path releases energy that is often experienced and expressed as heightened sensuality in everything.” I think I understand this; this is the exact message of my Patron, Cernunnos, to me! Just this past weekend, when I meditated with Him, He reminded me that this is the time of the year for me to renew my energy connection to my physical self. Here is that message, once again, in the 29th Path. Awesome!

In working with this Path, I am being asked to heighten my awareness of the life force that exists in all things, not just within humans. I am being asked to align my own conscious and subconscious self with the patterns of nature and all of its life forms and expressions, for each of them are sacred. It is only through this increased awareness that I can be opened to the language of the natural world.

On Monday night, I attended a First Degree Study Hall given by a Sacred Mists student who I admire. The Study Hall was about creating rituals, and I just knew that it would be a good one. One of the things that we touched upon in our discussions during the class was the Tree of Life. We all acknowledged that there was value to studying this version of the Tree of Life, but that it was a world view that did not quite represent Wicca; close, but no cigar. A better symbol for Wicca is the World Tree with its seven levels.

Just now, as I made the link between the lessons of Cernunnos and the 29th Path, I realized exactly how the Tree of Life should fit into my own personal Craft. The Tree is the landscaper, which prunes and adjusts so that the garden can grow and blossom and thrive. The Tree is not the garden itself; my Craft is the garden, the primary foundation. The Tree and the Qabalah are the adjustments which allow a deeper understanding of my Craft. Wicca can exist for me without The Tree, but The Tree is the myth that, through its culturally accepted images and archetypal symbolism, offers one way for me to understand Wicca.

I love when things fall into place for me like this.

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