The Hierophant/Ace of Pentacles. The Hierophant corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes), Taurus (“I have,” sensual, cautious, stubborn), Vau (the nail which holds tradition in place), and the Path between Chesed (the place where forms and structures are stabilized and nurtured), and Chokmah (dynamic male energy, the origin of vital force and polarity), he is the nail that holds in place tradition and culture, and he reminds us of the importance of both teaching and learning about our culture and traditions and spiritual heritage in order to honor both who we are and where we came from. The Hierophant is about tried and true methods, but he is a bit more flexible than The Emperor about order and flexibility. The Aces present potential only, unmanifested, and the Ace of Pentacles (Aries, “I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive, Taurus, “I have,” sensual, cautious, stubborn, and Gemini, “I think,” curious, talkative, dual, social) tells of the presence of potential that is connected in some way to the physical world of Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes; stable, material and practical energy that is slow to change). This Ace talks about potential that can be accessed through being practical, through focusing on achieving physically measurable results, and through operating from a known position. These two cards work well together because The Hierophant is also about achieving physically measureable results, even if he may use non-physically focused methods (such as the intellect) to get them.

My Thoth card is the Two of Swords reversed. “Peace” is the keyword associated with the Two of Swords (Moon, feelings and emotions, illusion, imagination, in Libra, “We are,” partnerships, balance, cooperation) but not necessarily peace without danger. This card in an upright position can represent a time of not looking, which sometimes is necessary but often is counterproductive. Because the Two of Swords is reversed today, there will be an end to the peace. I may be able to impose a bit of motion into that balanced stillness in order to at least be aware of the facts, but I need to be aware that indecision could derail my efforts.

My Legacy card is the Ten of Cups flavored by the Knight of Swords. The Ten of Cups (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, spirituality, suffering and growth) offers happiness and fulfillment. There is an important lesson associated with this Ten (and the Ten of Pentacles): achieving happiness takes a bit of work, but maintaining that happiness takes even more work. The Knight of Swords (the cusp of Taurus, “I have,” sensual, stubborn, cautious, and Gemini, “I think,” curious, talkative, dual, intelligent) is not afraid of taking action. He can cut through the fog and analyze the situation with cold logic. He desires perfection, and is a good long term planner, however he is not good at feeling compassion at all; he considers compassion a distraction from the truth. Since my Knight of Swords is flavoring my Ten of Cups today (a very emotional card), I just may end up with balance!

My 6-digit date number is 10, the number of completion of a cycle, which reduces further to 1, the number of potential, position, and new beginnings.

My horoscopes: “When faced with ten entrees on a menu, it may be hard for you to choose just one. Order two or more, Sagittarius. Don't let indecisiveness hinder you. At the same time, don't view it as something negative. The key for today is to go with the flow. Expand your dreams as you wish. Have fun and be willing to take full responsibility for your actions.”

And: “You are just about at the halfway point of a major decision-making process -- you are as close to understanding what you really want as you are to being completely clueless. Celebrate this midway point and have faith in the fact that you will eventually come to a solid conclusion. You are in the thick of things socially as well -- if you are single, get ready for a flood of invitations. If you are in a relationship, things will be getting heavy in a good way.”

Technical: “You're usually one of the most flexible folks at the office -- but people aren't doing it your way at the moment, and you're stressed out to the max. Troubles may be afoot if your peers are inflexible -- do what you can to foster cooperation.”

I think the time has come for me to begin thinking about the 13th Path. Before I do so, I will review the concepts of Force and Form.

Chokmah is considered the first conscious power of the intellect within creation and Deity, the Sacred Masculine, and the apex of the Pillar of Force. I needed to think about the connection between Chokmah and Force a bit before moving on. Chokmah is associated with the right brain, with the flash of intuitive insight or Aha! Moment, the “internet connection” which allows the Cosmic Download, and with the ability to extract that insight from the superconscious and direct it into the conscious mind. Chokmah allows us to break down an aspect or effect of reality to its underlying primal truth. The resulting “seed” of truth is then sent to Binah for analysis and development. This is the “catalyst” which activates the fertility and potential of Binah and the Sacred Feminine. “Chokmah” means “the power of selflessness,” and true wisdom can only be obtained by being able to rise above the awareness of just the “self.”

Binah is considered the second conscious power of the intellect within creation and Deity, the Sacred Feminine, and the apex of the Pillar of Form. I needed to think about the connection between Binah and Form for a bit before moving on. Binah is associated with the left brain, with the power of analysis and reasoning, and the grasping and comprehending of insights, and Binah is also associated with the power to explain these insights to self and to others. in other words, Binah allows me to understand the Aha! Moment and its relationship to me, and Binah “installs” the Cosmic Download received through Chokmah. “Binah” cones from the root “bein,” which means “between”; thus, the power of Binah is distinguishing between things, and in order to distinguish, we need to recognize patterns. This is where the Form comes from, from actually Understanding and comprehending, which happens by matching patterns.

The union of these two spheres unites both sides of the brain, and brings the ability to recreate oneself and the ability to be reborn, again and again, through the union of Force and Form. And Force and Form, Wisdom and Understanding, can be said to be the two horizontal walls that contain Da’at, Knowledge.

The 13th Path connects Kether and Tiphareth, directly across Da’at. Now, in many ways, Kether and Da’at are two sides to the same coin. When Kether, which can be seen as The Source, manifests itself, it does so through Wisdom and Understanding, with the result being Knowledge. The Source can be seen as the “Ultimate Knowledge,” and can only be accessed or perceived when Knowledge is used with both Wisdom and Understanding. Taken with Chokmah and Binah, Kether is part of the “triplet of the mind” of the Tree.

Tiphareth is considered the Holy Child which is created through the top three sephiroth, the triplet of the mind. It represents both vertical and horizontal balance, as it is in the middle of the Tree, and with the two sephiroth on either side (Chesed and Geburah), creates another triplet, the “triplet of the heart.” In many ways, we can say that the 13th Path connects the mind with the heart.

Okay, this makes sense.

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