Four of Wands/Eight of Cups reversed. The Four of Wands (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Aries, “I want,” action oriented, assertive, enthusiastic) is an exciting Wands card. This card tells of building enough to become established, as a beachhead, or about a pause before continuing, not as a finished product. It tells of opening to new possibilities that just might be positive, and it tells of a sense of surprise or celebration. This is the perfect “TGIF” card!! The Eight of Cups (Saturn, discipline, responsibility, limitation, law and order, in Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, suffering, soul growth) in an upright position tells of an ending or a change of direction, or of moving on or walking away. Because it is reversed, it is validating the Four of Wands, for a reversed Eight of Cups tells me that any weariness or hopelessness I may feel will be short-lived and will not have the power to affect me. I certainly won’t need to look for any deeper meanings.

My Thoth card is the Five of Swords. Clunk. “Defeat” is the keyword for the Five of Swords (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, pleasure, in Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, cause-oriented, the group, aloof), which actually focuses on both victory and defeat, but not your usual, run-of-the-mill versions of these two results. This card tells of the possibility of experiencing an “us-against-them” attitude which just might encourage me to think of myself, to the point of crossing the line. Disillusionment could be present today; this could be connected to that Eight of Cups reversed. Even though the Eight is reversed, it is there, so I should remember that disillusionment only affects me if I allow it to. Also vengeance is like guilt: a waste of energy. I also need to remember that while the period of truce that was present in the Four of Swords has failed, there may yet be the healing of the Six of Swords if I can make it through the energies of this Five.

My Legacy card is the Seven of Wands, flavored by Judgement reversed. The Legacy Seven of Wands (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, natural leader, egotistical, selfish) has a personal significance for me, given to me by Archangel Uriel, and represents the approach of a Threshold and along with it, the tests of the Guardian. Generally, this card tells us to go on the offensive and reach for what we want. It recommends that we stand up for what we believe, but LOL, we should first make sure that what we believe is right. Judgement corresponds with Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive and energetic change), Pluto (power, metamorphosis, cycles of dying and becoming), Shin (fang), and the Path between Malkuth (the physical world of action and physical, outer reality) and Hod (provides analysis and communication), and upright, it usually tells of a coming change, or maybe a coming resolution of a cycle. Judgement is reversed, though, and it may be warning me of the potential for ending up feeling regret or guilt, a potential to feel that I messed up, or possibly the potential for an ending without closure or an opportunity to begin again. Remember that Five of Swords, and be careful!!

My 6-digit date number is 4, the number of depth and stability (but also the danger of stagnation).

My horoscopes: “Today might be a difficult day for you, Sagittarius. You instinctively will want to escape the situation and explore your horizons, but something holds you down. Take care of the bills on your desk, and deal with the mess in the bedroom. Clearing the physical space around you will help clear the mental space in your head. You will be footloose and fancy free soon enough.”

And: “The influences in your life today are decidedly masculine in nature. This could mean that men are going to be the primary actors in today's dramas, or it could merely mean that the people around you will be displaying stereotypical masculine traits such as aggressiveness and competitiveness. For greater harmony in your day, do not try to match that type of energy. Balance it with stereotypical female characteristics such as cooperation and empathy.”

Technical: “In the morning, you'll have a sincere team spirit that will inspire coworkers and managers alike. Later on, cooperation is still important -- just make sure you put yourself forward a little, and others will be grateful for your leadership.”

My Sun reading: “You walk in sunshine when solar power enters creative, no-half-measures Leo. You sense a mission, or missions, you can accomplish in the next 30 days. The first opportunity arrives this morning. Tonight's mood is sentimental but inspiring. You could find someone's previous offer lacks an expiration date.”

The Major Arcana card that corresponds to the 14th Path is The Empress. The Empress corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and stable, material, practical energies that are slow to change), Venus (beauty, allure, pleasure, relationships), Daleth (door or womb) and the Path between Binah (female receptive energy and the origin of form and structure) and Chokmah (dynamic male energy and the origin of vital force and polarity). She represents creativity, fertility, abundance, the physical body and its senses, and the material world and the workings of Nature. She is also the first place in the Major Arcana that we see love.

The Empress represents the 14th Path because the 14th Path tells of the union of masculine and feminine through the emotion of love, which equals fertility. The Empress personifies fertility because She represents the workings of Deity in nature, and so She is connected to the 14th Path. I have been told that nature is the robe that the Goddess wears so we can see and perceive Her, and this makes perfect sense when thinking about the 14th Path. If I imagine myself as being in the womb of the pregnant woman in the image on this card, as being in the womb of The Goddess, I will find myself understanding not only the nature of the transformation which happens within the 14th Path (to and from a glimpse of The Source, and the higher vibrating energy associated with knowledge of The Source), but also I will find myself understanding the sacredness of all life and the workings of the world around me. After all, those workings and all of life happen because of the presence of both the “instruction booklet” that is the fertile potential of the Goddess, and the catalyst which follows those instructions which is the activating principle of the God.

Perhaps the reason why I feel so . . . whole . . . while contemplating this Path is that in immersing myself within it, I am uniting the Pillar of Force and the Pillar of Form, and I am opening myself to archetypal energies which expose me to the principle of life and the principle of life-force.

In “More Simplified Magick: Pathworking and the Tree of Life,” Ted Andrews says this about the 14th Path: “Working this Path initiates the ability to believe the impossible and to make it probable. It opens doors and opportunities we have not seen or considered, and thus we often find ourselves looking upon the world with new eyes once its effects are fully grounded into the physical life.” Andrews also reminds us that “. . . [The Empress] activates greater status within the physical life, as physical actions determine the growth of the soul.” [my emphasis added] Yes!!! The physical body is the home of the soul, the life force, and since it exists mostly within the physical plane, that is where much of my transformation must begin. And it is through The Empress that Deity is born within me; as I become more aware of that essence of Deity within my life force and my physical body, I will be able to “see” those messages that have been hidden from me thus far.

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