Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Ten of Swords reversed/The Empress. 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. Because this card often describes the darkest times that seem to destroy our will to go on, and because the card is reversed, I may feel empowered and satisfied with my efforts today. 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 is about abundance, about the pleasure of the senses, about the ability to nurture others, and about a deep and rewarding connection to Nature. Two cards that tell of a sense of well-being!!

My Thoth card is The Star. The number 17 card of the Majors (which reduces to the number 8, the focused and aware response to degeneration), The Star (Air, hot/separates and wet/adapts; Aquarius; Qof, back of head; the Path between Malkuth, the physical world of action and outer, physical reality, and Netzach, the stimulating factors of emotion and inspiration) represents love kindled by hope, both hope for my own self, and for humankind. The Star is about being serene and optimistic, and it is about the fulfillment that comes to us in response to giving to others.

My Legacy card is the King of Cups reversed, flavored by the Seven of Coins reversed. The King of Cups (cusp of Libra, “We are,” partnerships, balance, cooperation, and Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, controlling mysterious, obsessive) is the expert on emotions and the subconscious, mainly because of his life experiences. He is calm, caring and tolerant towards others, and real good at advising others as far as obtaining serenity, but is sometimes not so good at being in touch with his own feelings. Because my King of Cups is reversed, I may find that no matter how hard I try today, diplomacy may seem powerless. The Seven of Coins (Saturn, discipline, responsibility, law and order, in Taurus, “I have,” sensual, cautious, stubborn) in an upright position tells us that our efforts thus far may bring future rewards, but full potential has not yet been realized. Because the card is reversed, and flavoring my King, it reinforces the discomfort presented by the King, but also tells me that if this inability to apply my own caring to benefit others does occur, it will be like an Alberta Clipper, and pass right through by morning.

My 6-digit date number is 9, the number of completeness of effect and manifestation.

My horoscopes: “You have independent views about everything, Sagittarius. People would be wrong to try to box you into thinking a certain way. Don't let others convince you to accept something you're skeptical of. You know what you believe so don't be afraid to express it even if they go against the grain. Independence is important to you. You want others feel this freedom that's so critical to a healthy lifestyle.”

And: “Matters regarding love and romance are in your favor today, and you will find that love comes to you when you least expect it. There is a powerful creative force within you that will be most rewarding if you tap into it and put it to use for some sort of artistic endeavor. A strong, yet erratic urge may be calling you into action today, so be ready to respond with your entire being.”

I have had a busy few days. Our family vacation began this past weekend. As always, my brother-in-law, his dog, and I spent the early morning hours at Sunset Beach. Oh, how beautiful it was there! The stream which flows out of the marshes (and probably, out of Davey’s Lake) had been completely stopped up the last time I was there, which was in February, but now it washes into the Delaware Bay once again, but in a completely different way, on a completely different path.

How beautiful the marshes were; everything is green and ripe, and the fragrances of wet mud, green growth and the brine of the water filled me with joy and peace. The Bay was calm, and the sky was overcast, but the clouds were inverted. I could clearly see the shoreline of Delaware in the distance. There was something cleansing and empowering about it all, and I look forward to returning to Sunset Beach on Friday morning.

I purchased a new Tarot deck last week, and absolutely love it! It is the Shadowscapes Tarot, and the artwork is so absolutely incredible that I am going to just be using it for meditative purposes, at least until I am able to stop myself from being drawn into each card for minutes at a time. LOL, that would end up being a long (and boring for the Seeker) reading. But each day, I shuffle and pull a card and then meditate on it, and each day I seem to find new insights regarding that card. For instance, the card I threw today is the Ten of Pentacles, a beautiful card. I felt a lovely connection to the image, and after reading the interpretation of the card from the Shadowscapes Companion (the LWB that comes with the deck), I was reminded that attaining the bounties of the Ten of Pentacles involves not only learning the rules and implementing the rules, but also following them, for an entire lifetime. **smile** Love that! I think I will include any new insights I receive, whenever I do throw a card for myself.

More on the 12th Path. Ellen Cannon Reed describes this path as connecting the idea or concept of “being” and the idea or concept of “form”; going from “being” to taking “form” can be seen as higher energy slowing or lowering its vibrational level to a point where it can be recognized. Hence, the Kether/Source and Binah/Goddess connection; it is hard to visualize The Source, but Goddess can be imaged, usually pretty easily. And being able to understand Goddess is the step that allows us to begin to understand The Source.

The ibis is the symbol of this Path; wading birds represent meditation, patience, and seeing hidden things, and I can see why the ibis is important to this Path. Wading birds usually live near the water (LOL, hence, the “wading” part), and Water represents feelings, emotions and the subconscious, all falling under the umbrella of feminine energy. I don’t think I would have come this far in my explorations of the Paths of the Tree of Life if I were not able to open myself to important messages, and then wait for them. The seeing hidden things part pretty much speaks for itself.

This is the Path of realizing our abilities. It certainly seems like that is what I am doing right now. Opportunities are presenting themselves, and I feel confident enough to take advantage of them.

Yesterday, I worked for the first time with what may end up being my second regular Bodywork client. I am thrilled that something is finally happening here. I am convinced, 100%, that Vedic Thai Massage would benefit any person, any body type, any health or fitness level; I love being able to share this awesome healing modality with others; this is one of my life goals. Tonight, I see my other regular client. Yes!! I am truly realizing my abilities, abilities that come to me from Deity. I have studied and I have practiced, I have learned about Deity and about my own physical body and life force and personal energy form, and how they interact. These things are necessary to know and understand for that knowledge and that understanding both allow me to apply a recognizable Form to Deity so that I am have a relationship with Deity, to the limit of my capacity as an energy being which is using a physical vehicle to perceive life, living and the world. And I understand, as I “stand” at the top of the Pillar of Form and regard The Source through the teachings of the Pillar of Form, that my Pathworking has taught me how to perceive and perhaps understand Deity by experiencing that part of Deity which is amenable to having a Form imposed upon It. But it is the love and healing that comes to me from Deity (from this part of Deity that seeks interaction and thus is open to being shaped according to the needs of others), the love that is gifted to me from Deity, that in turn I am manifesting as I am offering healing and serenity to my clients. I am grateful! I hope that this new understanding of Deity will add potency to what I share with others and to my own life experiences.

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