Six of Cups/King of Pentacles. The Six of Cups, “Pleasure” (Sun, the inner core of a person or situation in Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, compulsive, deep, obsessive), in an upright position tells of beneficial connections with others; it reminds us that happiness comes to us through continuous effort over time and that if we share our happiness with others, it will come back to us. This is one of my true favorites of the entire deck because it is a card filled with good will, innocence, and a deep connection to the Younger Self. 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 is very good at being patient, and he is a good pair to the simple joys of the Six of Cups.  His quick reflexes and dependability, and his green thumb regarding physical world matters, are all much appreciated today.

My Thoth card is the Four of Cups reversed.  “Luxury” is Uncle Al’s keyword for the Four of Cups (the Moon, feelings and emotions, illusion, imagination, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, nurturing, tenacious, moody) which on the surface is a card of pleasure and fulfillment.  Combining all that “feeling” that is associated with the Moon and Cancer with the stability of the number 4 could bring dreams and fantasies so lovely that they distract us from what we are supposed to be doing.  Thankfully, the card is reversed.  While I may experience moments of distraction, I should be able to snap myself out of them

My Legacy card is the Two of Cups, flavored by the King of Swords. The Two of Cups (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, family and home oriented, tenacious, moody) is usually about relationships which exist and are strengthened because of commonalities, the most common of which is love.  Whether these are newly formed relationships, or already existing relationships which need healing or a bit of attention, today they will grow and prosper. The King of Swords (cusp of Capricorn, “I build,” ambitious, cautious, cunning, authoritative, and Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, cause-oriented, aloof) tells me how to respond to challenges presented in the physical world.  He tells me that I have the ability to be an impressive leader who is not easily fooled; however, he warns me to allow a bit of compassion to influence me or my temper may gain control.  Since this King is flavoring my Two of Cups today I think I can relax and let my feelings flow; he will watch out for me and keep me from getting into trouble.

My 6-digit date number is 9, the number of completeness (not completion) of manifestation.

My horoscopes: “You may have to make some serious adjustments to your approach today in order to chime in with the energy of the group, Sagittarius. Adopt a more inwardly directed attitude and see what you can learn by tuning into others' subtle messages. The masculine and feminine sides of your nature are working harmoniously. You might find that they're both asking for a quiet night in.”

And: “As you continue on a more passive path right now, you'll begin to notice things you never had the time to notice before. These revelations will teach you something new about someone you've known for a while. The change in this person's behavior has a reasonable explanation, so resist the urge to make any assumptions. Avoid any confrontations at all right now; just keep experiencing everything around you in a new way.”

Some changes; deleting another horoscope source and adding Technical: “Your work will consume your life -- luckily, this type of distraction isn't an issue for you. Your mind is perfectly suited to figuring out the kinds of problems you and your team are facing at the moment. Ask your best minds to sit in on a strategizing session.”

My Sun reading: “The Gemini Moon/Mars conjunction encourages ideas, plans, and changes. Whatever you initiate begins with vigor. You will go onward and upward if you finish what you start. Tonight's Moon/Pluto aspect is a "you're not the boss of me" influence. You need a sentimental, romantic distraction to alter that conversation.”

Some progress.  Twitter is up and active; please follow me at @Dancing-Sparkle.  I will be Tweeting alerts when I post on my Dancing Sparkles Blogs.  Speaking of my Blogs, I spent much of my walk this morning thinking about the Tumblr Blog I just barely created, and I think I know what I want to do with that one.  This Dancing Sparkles Blog on Blogspot will remain a serious Blog that documents and shares my explorations of the Tarot, and my mystical/metaphysical/Wiccan growth, along with some information about my personal life.  The Tumblr Blog will be mostly Tarot-focused, but in a more lighthearted way.  I will also occasionally offer readings there.  Boy, is the 18^th Path manifesting for me, or what??!!

Today, I am taking a look at the next bridge over The Abyss, the 17^th Path, which connects Tiphareth with Binah.  This one is a bit different from the 18^th Path, which brought Might to Understanding, and hopefully this Path, which brings Beauty to Understanding, will not be quite so traumatic. Although we are bringing that balance of the Middle Pillar into the Pillar of Form, so some stress is necessary, but I will continue to remind myself that “no pain” means “no gain.”

Tiphareth is considered the “Lesser Countenance” which reflects down to us the “Greater Countenance” of Kether.  The 17^th Path brings this Devotion to the Great Work (the virtue of Tiphareth) directly to Binah, the sphere which offers shadow and contrast in order that we might perceive shape and form.  **gulp**  Did I just say that I thought this Path might not be so traumatic?  The virtue of Binah is Silence, and I am being told that as I study this Path, Silence may be my tool for bringing Beauty and Understanding together. 

I am suddenly reminded of my very first First Degree homework assignment.  I joined Sacred Mists in the end of May, 2003, and I dove into the training with enthusiasm.  A part of that first homework assignment required me to write essays about a God and a Goddess.  The Goddess I chose to write about was Angerona.  I am sharing that essay here, because I feel it is relevant to the 17^th Path.

Angerona, an ancient Roman goddess, is basically known as the goddess of silence.  Like silence itself, she can be summed up in that simple first sentence, yet, again like silence, she is much more complicated than an initial perusal reveals.

A statue of Angerona is hidden away in the Roman Sanctuary of Pleasure, the Sacellum Volupiae.  Angerona is shown as a tall woman with her mouth bound and sealed, with a finger to her lips, emphasizing her silence and her suffering.  It appears that this silence is forced on her (her gag) and accepted by her (her finger to her bound lips).  She is the goddess who protected the ancient city of Rome, and the keeper of the sacred name of the city, which could not be said aloud, so it would never be revealed to Rome’s enemies.  It was even believed that Angerona itself was that secret name.  The ancient Romans also worshipped her because it was believed that Angerona could deliver them and their flocks from angina, a disorder of the heart.  She is also prayed to for deliverance from pain and sorrow, fear and anguish.  Not much is known of Angerona; she is truly of secrecy and of silence, will not speak and disclose the secrets of her being, and seems to leave it to us to enhance our personal awareness of her meaning.

And so, I thought about silence itself.  Silence seems like a simple concept on the surface, yet I find that not to be so.  Silence does not originate from something else, but rather, it was there before the “something else,” and will be there when the “something else” is gone.  Silence has different characteristics.  I remember standing on a cliff overlooking a large lake in upstate New York, and for a moment there was no noise, not even the sound of the wind.  In that silent moment, I felt aware of the openness and immensity of the universe, but yet I felt very much a part of that openness and immensity.  Standing momentarily silent in a pine forest, I experienced a different kind of silence; more secret, more inward, more aware of the different energies around me.  The silence to be experienced in an empty church is different still; regal, and charged with the energy of veneration.  And silence is not only experienced by ears and hearing, but rather it surrounds us.  When I am quiet I can sense its presence, but it was there all along, and is with me even now, even if I do not listen for it.

We as modern Americans are surrounded by noise.  Even when no one is speaking, our homes are full of noises; sitting on our front porches, we are surrounded by sounds.  It is very easy to forget the power of silence.  Thanks to this Path I have chosen to travel on, I am re-learning its power.

I also thought about relief from pain, sorrow and worry; common enough experiences in the mundane world, and I became aware that the deliverance from these trials would also bring a kind of silence.  This would be a relief from the inner wailing accompanying may trials that we bear in life; that time that is not yet the return of joy, but is that wonderful weightless feeling of the removal of a burden.

It seems fitting that Angerona is also the goddess of the Winter Solstice.  In ancient Rome, her festival, called Angeronalia, was celebrated on the solstice in December.  Her priests worshipped her then in the temple of Volupia, the goddess of pleasure.  In the present time, we celebrate Yule, the time of the greatest darkness and the longest night of the year.  It is a time of dark, of cold, and of silence, and it is a time of new beginnings, of a relief from that silence.  It seems to me that Angerona is calling on me to use the winter time of silence and dark to look within myself, to find a quiet place and surrender to that quiet, and to learn not to talk, but to listen.

I was recently drawn once again to Angerona, while reading about a new moon ritual.  The new moon can be seen as a parallel to the Winter Solstice; it too is a time of darkness before re-emerging light, the ending before the beginning.  The chant that went with the information drew my thoughts back to Angerona and her silence and secrets several times.  “The shorelines are uncovered by the retreating waves.  The moon is hidden, but the faintest of stars are revealed. . . In the most vast silence and stillness, all is possible.”  These words, too, have caused this epiphany inside of me, this awareness that there is much else in life to experience besides the obvious.  Yes, the ocean is beautiful, but we rarely see many of the treasures left behind by the receding tides.  And the best time for me to pull out my telescope is when there is no moon, for only then can I see, even with just my eyes, the beauty of the universe undimmed.

And so, thanks to my learning of Angerona, I am embarking on a road to self-discovery, of using silence like a second skin, a skin that has been sensitized to become aware of things that would ordinarily be missed.  “Be quiet enough to listen,” Angerona seems to say to me, with her finger to her bound lips, “But not to me.”  Thanks to my fascination with this goddess and the scarcity of information about her, I am forced to look elsewhere for more about her; I am forced to look within myself, and I am inspired to emulate her.  This is definitely a challenge, but the outcome of meeting this challenge is learning more about myself, and hopefully learning more about the subtle hidden world around me.  Angerona has helped me to begin ignoring the outer shouting and bright lights in the mundane world, so that I may hopefully hear the quiet inner voices that are rich with meaning.  One of the histories that I read stated that Angerona was the mother of Sophia, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge.  Maybe this is Angerona’s message: silence gives birth to wisdom.

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