The Emperor/Justice reversed. The Emperor (Fire, hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive, energetic change; Aries, “I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive; Heh, window, illumination; and the Path between Tiphareth and Chokmah, dynamic male energy and the origin of vital force and polarity) in an upright represents the power of the mind and of intentions to shape the world.  The Emperor is about taking responsibility; he uses his ability to lead, to organize, to create order out of chaos, in order to bring security and protection to those he loves and is responsible for.  Justice is a card of adjustment, and it corresponds with the element of Air (hot/separates and wet/adapts, and quick, animated energy that usually brings problems or challenges that bring growth), Libra (“we are,” partnerships, balance, cooperation), Lamed (ox goad; training or teaching), and the Path between Tiphareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify) and Geburah (the place where forms and structures are challenged or affirmed). This card is about cause and effect, and about making adjustments in order to achieve balance.  Because the card is reversed, and paired with The Emperor, I will need to be careful that I don’t become a dictator today!  Warning!  Danger, Will Robinson!

My Thoth card is the Queen of Cups reversed.  I just love the image on this card. The Queen of Cups (cusp of Gemini, “I think,” curious, sociable, dual, and Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, tenacious, nurturing, moody) is Water of Water, and thus is quite deeply connected to her feelings and her Inner Voice.  This Minor Arcana equivalent of The High Priestess can be seen as a mirror that reflects the “secret selves” of others back to them so they can understand themselves.  Because she is reversed, she is warning me that the tranquility and serenity of my own Center may be too alluring today; balance is necessary.  The Emperor just might help out there.

My Legacy card is The Queen of Coins, flavored by the Six of Cups reversed. Another Queen!  The Queen of Coins (cusp of Sagittarius, “I seek,” philosophic, fun-loving, blundering, and Capricorn, “I build,” ambition, caution, cunning, authoritative) is very good at sustaining the physical world, keeping things dry and cozy and safe and orderly; sounds like she will get along with the Emperor, too.  Her main weakness is that her focus on protecting and maintaining can sometimes cross the line into obsession, and in that respect she supports my other Queen today.  The Six of Coins (Moon, feelings and emotions, illusion, imagination, in Taurus, “I have,” Sensual, cautious, stubborn) brings an awareness of resources to the situation, both those that I have and those that I don’t have. Because this Six, which is flavoring the Queen, is reversed, I need to try to remember that availing myself of resources means that I have gotten to where I am right now not only through my own efforts, but by also availing myself of the fruits of the labors of others.  No man is an island, and I may be distracted from remembering that today.

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

My horoscopes: “You've always wanted to change the world, and you'd like to share your dreams with your friends, Sagittarius. But today you don't have enough enthusiasm to fulfill these dreams. You will question your personal strategies. You shouldn't try to convince others all the time. Your friends appreciate you just the way you are.”

And: “There's a lot of activity flying around today -- everyone's moving a mile a minute (including you), and this fast pace is leaving you feeling invigorated. You also feel inspired by the changes that are starting to reveal themselves. Things are happening so quickly right now that you're skipping over the boring stuff and getting right into the heart of the matter. Get ready for an intense physical, as well as emotional, transformation to take place over the next few weeks. Big changes are afoot.”

Technology: “Good energy fills much of the day, but by the time you're ready to call it quits, you may have to deal with a few nosy questions. Be polite, but firm. If you're not comfortable with where it's all going, go ahead and end the interrogation.”

My Sun reading: “Mercury and Uranus trine, putting sharp mental machinery in motion with intriguing thoughts. Heads up! You'll have lots to do. Venus aspects Neptune tonight. If you're single, there could be a fateful meeting. The theme is ‘opposites attract.’ You and your partner find home a peaceful haven.”

Back to the 17^th Path.  As I have already been discovering, this Path focuses quite a bit on duality, and in reality there is a lot of duality to be found within one person.  There is outer vs. inner, conscious vs. subconscious, young vs. old; while I am female, I also have male traits, and while I am an employee and a fledgling business creator, I am also a mother and a wife.  This path is about connections and about differences, and so its energies bring extremes to me for my consideration, in order to (hopefully) end up with true balance, a balance that originates through discernment. 

In “More Simplified Magic: Pathworking and the Tree of Life,” Ted Andrews says this about the 17^th Path: “This Path is known as the Gate of Fate across The Abyss.  This implies we are fated from prebirth by what we have already set in motion – but it also teaches us that we can learn to change and direct our own fate.”  Might this be the purpose for life and for experiencing the events that are living our lives?  Andrews also says: “The Tarot card for this Path is The Lovers.  Its energies reflect a life of choice, discrimination, and communication.  This card and its imagery awaken the energies to help us listen to our own Inner Voice and trust it. When we do, we are working with The Fates.”  Hmmm . . . sounds like tomorrow’s post is going to have to talk about The Fates!

In honor of my nation’s birthday, I am going to offer some advice.  Advice that I heard while listening to a radio show about our founding fathers, who felt that democracy could not exist unless all people were educated.  One of the things our founding fathers focused on after that first July 4^th was creating both schools and newspapers.  Schools to educate, and newspapers so that the citizens, all citizens, could learn about what was happening in their town, their state, their country, and the world.  You see, they knew that our democracy could never stay healthy if the people of our country became sheep who obeyed without question.  And they were right. 

The words I heard that made an impression on me, and the advice I offer to you all, is that believing is simple; however, living up to those beliefs needs to be a struggle.  That is how we become better people.  We need to aim high and expect a lot from ourselves.  Our founding fathers did not live up to the bar they set for themselves, but because they aimed high, they created a nation unlike any other in their world at their time.  That nation is still viable, 235 years after they risked their own lives and those of their families in order to make America happen.  It is not healthy, but our nation is still alive, and we can make it a healthier and better place.  Each of us has a responsibility here, a responsibility to be the best we can be as an individual, for enabling our own individual evolution makes our town, our state, our country and our world just a little bit better.  Sounds corny, I know, but if I can’t be corny today, when else can I be?

I drove home after spending time in my much-loved garden, after a wonderful weekend spent walking, biking and beaching with family.  Firework displays are going in all the cities around me, and the NY display has just started.  I imagine this is how things sounded for our forefathers during the revolution.

Happy Birthday, America.

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