Knight of Swords/Four of Cups reversed. 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, but he tends to be a bit domineering. He can analyze a situation with cold logic, but “cold” is the keyword here. He is telling me that my desire for perfection is a good thing, but I need to strive to add a bit of compassion to the day. The Four of Cups (the Moon, feelings and emotions, illusion, imagination, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, nurturing, tenacious, moody) on the surface is a card of pleasure and fulfillment, but in an upright position it would be telling me that I could tend to take that pleasure and fulfillment to the stage of being self-absorbed today. Because the card is reversed, I might get more pleasure from sharing than I would from solitary pursuits, and actually, the reversed Four of Cups balances that Knight out nicely.

My Thoth card is the Ten of Cups reversed. Actually, from Uncle Al’s perspective, “Satiety” reversed is not quite so bad. The Ten of Cups (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, spirituality, suffering and growth) offers happiness and fulfillment, but it also reminds us that happiness can end up being a drug that distracts us from living. If the Nine of Cups is the “wish card,” the Ten of Cups ends up as the “be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it” card. Since it is reversed, I may not feel as if I have manifested complete fulfillment today, but the invoice for the blessings I do have is not yet due. Okay, I can take that. However, I do need to be aware that there could be some emotional disruption today. Also, just to mention it, this card reversed can represent an attack from below, whatever that means. (And let’s hope that we don’t find out.)

My Legacy card is the Ten of Swords reversed, flavored by the Three of Coins reversed. The Ten of Swords (the Sun, the inner core of a person or situation, in Gemini, “I think,” curious, sociable, dual, talkative) in an upright position tells of bottoming out, and of feeling completely powerless. This card often describes the effects of karma, so even though it is reversed, I need to remember that. But because it is reversed, my time of self-pity may be over, and I just might find a renewed sense of well-being today. The Three of Pentacles (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Capricorn, “I build,” ambition, cunning, competence) in an upright position tells of competence, planning and teamwork. Because it is reversed, and flavoring my Ten of Swords reversed, it may be telling me that while my own mind desires to work with others and to rely on teamwork as a support, the physical word may seem to be working at cross-purpose to that goal today.

Since I’ve got two Ten cards, here is a bit more about the number 10. The number 10 represents the end of one cycle and beginning of another, closure, a plateau or rest before moving on, culmination, a transition point from one cycle to another (as the number 10 reduces to the number 1, 1 + 0 = 1), reaching the level of perfect combination of the 1 and 0 energies. This number offers the concept of the End Result of the application of the element, the sum total of everything done from the beginning, or the physical vehicle of the previous nine numbers. Traits: positive: individualistic, original, creative, inspired leader, good at initiating new projects, efficient and determined; negative: stubborn, rigid about personal ideas, jealous, depressed if caught up on the small details of life. Because both of my Ten cards are reversed, I will need to guard against being stubborn, rigid, jealous, or focusing on the little irritations of the day.

My 6-digit date number is 6, the number of vertical and horizontal balance.

My horoscopes: “Move in for the kill today, Sagittarius. Don't stop until you succeed. Don't let other people's insecurities become yours. Have confidence in yourself and the way you act around others. Just because someone else feels sad, that doesn't mean you have to just to make him or her feel better. The best thing you can do is turn the situation around by exhibiting happiness and a fun-loving attitude.”

And: “There will be some missing elements in your day, but you only have to use your imagination to create a complete picture. Your creativity will fill in the blanks and make you feel like all your ducks are in a row. If one of your friends backs out of a social engagement, you can guess at what he or she would add to the dynamic, and then try to add it yourself. This will be a fun way of keeping your social circle together while you also remind yourself how much you value your friends.”

Technology: “If a charitable program or volunteer opportunity is available to you through work, get right on it. If not, start one up. The stars say your karma could use a boost, and the best way to do that is to beef up your altruistic endeavors.”

I am realizing today just how valuable the life force that we have been given actually is. And, I am thinking a lot about how strong (and eternal) that life force actually is, and how strong (but not eternal) its connection to a physical “vehicle” can be. Brian’s life force stayed with his body, even though electrical energy was flowing through him and into the ground and in doing so, that electrical flow was attempting to drag Brian’s life force into the current; that connection to his physical body must have been pretty strong. But if Brian’s life force had been washed away from his physical body, would his “life essence” be destroyed? I think not.

I believe that if Brian had died (*shudders at the thought*), the memories and experiences of this lifetime would have been disbursed with the energies that are closest to the physical world and his physical body, but his life essence would endure. I believe that it is our connection to our physical bodies and the physical world that can be broken (and thus that heavier energy and its lifetime memories can be disbursed), but it is the higher vibrating energies (that can’t communicate through the physical senses) that are eternal. And maybe, just maybe, while we are still connected to our physical body, what we see at that moment when death is imminent depends on what we believe we will see. After all, as long as we are connected by a thread, no matter how tenuous, to our brains and our minds, our experiences are “understood” through our individual “pattern catalogues.”

This means that the life essence attached to my current body uses the words and images I have collected through this lifetime to interpret and understand my own life experiences, right up to the moment that the last anchor chain snaps, the heavier, physically attached energies disburse, and my “higher self” rejoins Deity. It is only after that last anchor chain snaps irreparably that I can perceive anything about the “hereafter.” Yes, meditations and journeys can give us glimpses of what that non-physical world is like, but even those perceptions and experiences are colored by our physical world energies, because we use our “pattern catalogue” to understand those visions.

To me, it is the highest of these higher vibrating energies within each of us that is Deity, the energies that are the most removed from the physical body and its senses. It is our physical senses and the information they provide to our brains which ground our life forces into our physical body, but the information provided to our brains by our physical senses not only acts as a tether and anchor that prevents our life force from vibrating higher and thus moving further from our physical vehicles, but that information also discourages us from a complete perception and understanding of what Deity actually is. We need to impose the content of our own “pattern catalogue” onto our experiences with Deity in order to at least believe in Deity’s existence (or to **not** believe in Deity’s existence, of the entries in our pattern catalogue perceives Deity as not being valid), but we will never be able to completely perceive and understand Deity while existing in a physical vehicle.

Within thermodynamics, heat expands and cold contracts, and this means that cold draws heat to it. This is why we shut our windows when we turn on the heat in the winter, for the cold temperature outside draws the heat out of the room. The reverse holds true in the summer if we have an air conditioner on; leaving the windows open causes the cooler air to draw the hotter outside air into the house. What if the life force operates the same way? After all, physics tells us that the molecules in a rock vibrate slower than those in a glass of water. What if the higher vibrating tones of Divine Energy attract the lower and slower vibrating tones of a physical existence? It would make sense, then, that the messages from our physical senses would need to be so loud and overpowering; otherwise we would never choose to stay in our physical bodies. We would never receive the life experiences and interactions of the physical world that are offered to each of us, and thus we would lose the opportunity to evolve. After all, evolution is an “upward” movement, and in order to overcome inertia, we need something more “solid” to push off of, in order to overcome inertia.

Hey . . . did I just answer the question “What is the meaning of life?”??

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