Ten of Pentacles/The Empress reversed. The Ten of Pentacles (Mercury, reason, intelligence, education, communication, in Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented) is actually a very heavy card, full of inertia. Many people see this card as representing physical world wealth and bounty, and it does represent these things. But it also represents the attempt to maintain the status quo, and the danger with that focus is that it adds to the inertia of being satisfied with what we have. The challenge of the Ten of Pentacles is to **do** something with these riches before they become a ball and chain, and that is the hard part because possessions end up creating inertia. 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 the pleasures of its senses, and the material world and the workings of Nature. Because this card is reversed and paired with the Ten of Pentacles, I am being reminded that using conservative methods to maintain my hearth and home may work for me. I may be able to refine in a positive manner my methods by instilling a bit of discipline, but I should be wary of becoming concerned with having wealth for wealth’s sake alone rather than using that wealth to create something new.

My Thoth card is the Princess of Swords reversed. The Princess/Page of Swords (Capricorn, “I build,” ambitious, competent, cautious, cunning, Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, society, cause-oriented, and Pisces, “I believe,” feelings, duality, soul growth, spirituality) brings the message of the Ace of Swords (the potential for challenges which can be solved through the use of the intellect and which can offer opportunities for growth) to the day, using the methods of the Queen (in this case, keen perception, alertness, confidence and ethics), but in a less mature way. This Princess always asks “why?” and she can be a bit suspicious or jealous of others. Because this card is reversed, I need to be very careful that I don’t bring cruelty into play today, because it may seem attractive. The karma just isn’t worth it.

My Legacy card is The Tower (eeep!), flavored by the Four of Swords reversed. The Tower corresponds with Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive, energetic change), Mars (action, spontaneity, aggression, drive), Phe (mouth or speech), and the Path between Hod (which provides analysis and communication) and Netzach (which offers the stimulating factors of emotion and inspiration), and it is a card of divine enlightenment. Unfortunately, the revelations associated with this card don’t come easily. Because The Tower is a Fire card, the revelations will be sudden, their effects should be quite sweeping, and there will be intense transformations as a result of the revelations. The Four of Swords (Jupiter, expansiveness and growth, justice, fortune, in Libra, “We are,” partnerships, balance, cooperation) in an upright position tells of the need of some time of rest and recuperation, usually to be brought about by a time of truce or pause or quiet. Because the card is reversed and flavoring The Tower, I see this Four as validating the coming flash of light. **winces** I just hope I am not blinded by it.

My 6-digit date number is 5, the number of motion that gets rid of stagnation. Eeep, again. The Tower and the number 5?? Fasten your seatbelts, folks.
My horoscopes: “The day will be calm and quiet, Sagittarius [Well, let’s hope so!]. You feel strongly about finishing whatever you undertake. You probably have the opportunity to add the final changes to some projects you've been working on. This reorganization will give you some spare time, which will probably enable you to meet some very interesting people.”

And: “The surprising actions of a friend will leave you delighted, albeit a bit confused. The life choices you've been struggling with aren't making the situation any easier to understand, so just let things settle down for a while before having the conversation you want to have. To see a better way to handle your own upcoming challenges, observe the life of a wise friend. There is strong inspiration in the hard-learned lessons of someone you respect and admire.”

Technology: “It's a good time to go over accounts and reconcile as much as possible. With any luck, it should all go smoothly, and you'll be pleased with the results. If you run into snags, put it aside for now. You'll have more clarity in a day or two.”

My Sun reading: “Mercury aspects Jupiter and Pluto, stimulating lively exchanges of potentially successful thoughts. Tonight Venus aspects Uranus, and someone could jump back into your life. Take time deciding if you want to stroll down memory lane. You and your partner could recapture some excitement with this transit.”

I was drawn to learn a bit more about Heraclitus. He just sounds so darned interesting!

My new friend was seen as creating a book that was “a continuous treatise On Nature, [that] was divided into three discourses, one on the universe, another on politics, and a third on theology.” That book was deposited in the Artemisium (temples were used for storing treasures at that time) and acquired enough fame so that it produced followers, called “Heracliteans.” Apparently, the writing style of Heraclitus was somewhat similar to Crowley’s, because he became known as “the riddler”; it was said that he wrote unclearly so that only the “capable” would attempt to read his book. Hmmm . . . I bet Uncle Al would understand that. Heraclitus was also known as the “weeping philosopher,” due to the melancholy that impeded the completion of some of his writings.

Heraclitus considered fire as the most basic element, and believed that the other elements came from fire, and thus all things came from fire. To Heraclitus, the soul was a mixture of fire and water, with fire being the higher or noble part of the soul and water the lower or ignoble part. He felt that we should aim toward becoming more full of fire and less full of water, and so a “dry” soul was best. According to Heraclitus, worldly pleasures made the soul “moist,” and he considered mastering worldly desires to be a noble pursuit which helped to purified the soul’s fire. Sounds similar to the bodily humors.

More on the word, Logos, also. Logos has several definitions: “word,” “account,” “plan,” “formula,” “measure,” “proportion,” and “reckoning” are a few. The Stoics (who believed that destructive emotions would not be suffered by someone of moral and intellectual perfection, and thus, people should not be judged by what they say but rather how they behave) understood it as “the account which governs everything.” In the 3rd century CE, Logos became identified as meaning the Christian Word of God.

I love these side trips on the Tree of Life!! Here is another one: yesterday, I ended my discussion of the 17th Path by referring to The Fates. Here is the promised information.

The Fates are entities/Deities Who predate most Deities; it is not always clear how far and over whom Their powers extend, but in most circumstances, even the Gods are not willing to trifle with The Fates. I found three different versions of The Fates: the Moirae of Greece, the Norns of Norse mythology and the Parcae of the Roman Pantheon.

The Moirae are said to decide an individual’s destiny, length of life, and whether or not that person is predisposed to be evil or good. Clotho is the spinner who spins the thread of life; Lachesis is the measurer who chooses one’s lot in life and who measures off how long that life is going to be; Atropos cuts the thread of life with Her shears at the time of an individual’s death.

The Norns are Goddesses who control the destinies of men and the Gods, and the unchanging laws of the cosmos. Urd governs what has been; Verdandi governs what is, and Skuld governs what is to come. They are said to live at the base of Yggdrasil in the realm of Asgard, and besides controlling destinies, the Norns are also responsible for maintaining the life of Yggdrasil by pouring mud and water from the Well of Fate over its roots. They are also said to give assistance at birth; each person is said to be assigned one of the Norns at birth.

The Parcae, or Tria Fata, are the Roman Pantheon’s version of The Fates. Originally there was only one, Parca, a Goddess of birth who was often said to correspond to the Celtic mother goddesses. Nona, the goddess of the second-to-last month of a woman’s pregnancy who corresponds with Clotho and spins the thread of life, Decima, the Goddess of the last month of a woman’s pregnancy who corresponds with Lachesis and measures the thread of life, and Morta, the Goddess of pain to be endured, death and stillborn children who corresponds with Atropos and cuts the thread of life, are the three Deities that represent the Parcae.

Understanding just who and what The Fates are actually allows me to be aware of Their influences. Maybe some events are non-negotiable, but then again, if I show enough aptitude and desire to better myself, perhaps some modifications can happen. And that is the message of the 17th Path, the Gate of Fate.

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