Strength/Three of Cups. The traditional meaning for the Strength card (Fire, hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive and energetic energy; Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, egotistical; Teth, sieve or basket, digestion; and the Path between Geburah, the place where forms and structures are challenged or affirmed, and Chesed, the place where forms and structures are stabilized and nurtured) is the presence of the ability to tame our primitive and wild emotions. This card can also be seen to represent magickal power and sexual power, both of which require internal “strength.” The Three of Cups (Mercury, reason, intelligence, orderliness, communication, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive tenacious, nurturing, moody) tells of the possibility of experiencing emotional abundance, emotional connections to others (mainly due to things in common), and emotional support as a part of the day. It tells of working and accomplishing things through love, and since it is combined with Strength, any sense of connection or any abundance just might happen because I am visualizing it.

My Thoth card is the Five of Disks reversed. “Worry” reversed; the Five of Disks (Mercury, reason, intelligence, education, skill, communication, in Taurus, “I have,” sensual, stubborn, cautious) in an upright position is a focus on charity; sometimes we are in need of it, badly, and sometimes we are gifted with the opportunity to offer it to another. Charity is paired with dire need, and since this is a Coins card, that need will most likely appear in my physical world, either regarding money, security or health. Crowley sees the “worry” associated with this card as a strangling worry, the way that a sheep dog worries sheep. Thankfully, the card is reversed, so any worries I have will be baseless.

My Legacy card is the King of Cups, flavored by the Ten of Cups. The King of Cups (cusp of Libra, “We are,” partnerships, balance, cooperation, and Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, controlling mysterious, obsessive) is the expert on emotions and the subconscious, mainly because of his life experiences. He is good at tending others, but is sometimes not so good at being in touch with his own feelings. The Ten of Cups (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, spirituality, suffering and growth) offers happiness, and a good lesson: achieving happiness takes work, which is to be expected, but maintaining that happiness also takes work, hard work. These two cards together have a real, nice, serenely happy feel to them. Put all three Cups cards together, and the day seems to indicate lots of happy connections and companionship.

My 6-digit date number is 11 (Archangel Uriel), which reduces further to 2, the number of both balance and polarity.

My horoscopes: “You may join hands with a spokesperson who's willing to attest to your honesty and good nature, Sagittarius. This person is happy to step up and toot your horn for you. You've earned a space in the spotlight, so don't shrink into the background when your name is called. Graciously accept the praise you receive - you deserve it. Next, learn how to toot your own horn."

Okay, one of my horoscope sources is doing server maintenance, so these horoscopes are it for today.

My Sun reading: “Yay! Aries Mercury turns direct today. You've backtracked, and now you can play catch-up. What's been on your creative mind lately? You will find people ready to hear your new ideas. Singles mix and mingle and enjoy more direct communication - not a lot of small talk with Mercury direct.'

I started my day with a walk to the beach. It was not quite as windy as last week, but there was a healthy gust blowing. Once again, the sea was roiling, slate gray and covered with whitecaps. The sky was overcast and gray as well, and the air was bracing. I found that breathing deeply cleared the fog from my brain, and by the time I got back home, I was ready to do some more yard work. My muscles were warmed up and feeling powerful; of course, I dedicated some of that lovely energy to Cernunnos.

I planted the last of my annuals, and Bob and I laid some grass seed in anticipation of some rain. Needless to say, as soon as the seed hit the ground, the clouds dispersed and the sun came out. LOL!! Oh well, if necessary, I will water on Tuesday morning, before heading North.

I’ve been still sipping a lot of water, still flushing my system. I am also trying to do more waking.

And I’ve been thinking about the 22^nd Path. The 22^nd Path brings abstract knowledge to power; in order to keep ethics in the picture, we need to always focus on cause and effect, and this is the job for the Justice card of the Major Arcana, the Tarot card that corresponds with this Path. While Justice can sometimes refer to the “laws of the land” that keep society from becoming anarchy, more often this card is talking about the sometimes less clear-cut laws of the Universe which keep the cycles moving. These are the cycles which remind us that all things are connected, and this simple concept is one to keep in mind when dealing with the imposition of justice.

The present is built from the past, and this is what I am trying to integrate into my awareness as I work with this Path. Dealing with the past means that I need to keep in mind the effects that have manifested due to past actions, and I need to learn from both successes and failures. This would also be the time for me to release dead weight in order to be more conscious of spiritual virtues; in order to evolve and in order to truly understand this path (and bring the abstract knowledge into power or force), these spiritual virtues need to be applied not only to me, but also to others around me.

Besides embracing spiritual virtues, this Path reminds me that although sometimes Karma feels like a punishment, it really is a result. If I am being “punished,” in the end it is my doing that has brought the punishment; if I am being “rewarded,” this too is a direct result of my own efforts. This is not a one-time thing, either, but rather, a dynamic and ongoing process. Just because I make it past one period of being judged does not mean that I don’t have to be aware any more.

And finally, the Justice card and the 22^nd Path remind me that if I learn from my mistakes, I transform then into lessons.

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