Ace of Cups reversed/Seven of Pentacles reversed.  The Ace of Cups (Libra, “We are,” partnerships, balance, cooperation, Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, deep, mysterious, obsessive, Sagittarius, “I seek,” philosophic, fun-loving, adventurous, blundering) in an upright position tells of the potentials available to me for experiencing deep emotions, a connection to my Inner Voice, compassion for myself or others, attunements and connections.  Because this Ace is reversed, I am not accessing these potentials, although they are present.  The Seven of Pentacles (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.  This card can sometimes represent the struggle to balance inner life with the demands of the outer world, and at other times it tells of finances connected to a career or business venture.  Because My Seven is reversed, the pause and assessment just might be over, and this just may be a day for accessing the rewards of the physical realms rather than deciding if I want to attempt to grab them.

My Thoth card is the Seven of Disks reversed.  Another Seven of Pentacles/Disks reversed!  “Failure” is Uncle Al’s keyword for this card, and his interpretation is nowhere near as optimistic as most other decks.  To Crowley, the pause for assessment being told of by the number 7 and the suit of Disks has ended up permanent.  The pause has caused us to abandon work entirely, and it seems that the vision or dream of the future goal has even faded.  Thankfully, this Seven of Disks is reversed, too, so even if lethargy is a factor today, I should be able to climb out of it.

My Legacy card is the Six of Swords reversed, flavored by The Sun reversed.  Hmmm . . . all reversed cards again; last two times this happened in August I had disasters to deal with.  Hopefully, since it’s September now, it will be a different, better sort of day.  The Six of Swords (Mercury, reason, intelligence, education, communication, in Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, cause oriented) in an upright position is about hitting the reset button in order to move away from a problem or blockage.  My Six of Swords is reversed today, and that could mean that I will be already in a better state of mind today without even focusing on recovering.  I should be real careful, though, because my reversed Six of Swords is being flavored by another reversed card, The Sun reversed.  In an upright position, The Sun corresponds with Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes, spontaneous, impulsive and energetic change), our Sun (the inner core of a person or situation), Resh (the face; reason), and the Path between Yesod (the place where patterns and images emerge that may manifest in the physical world) and Hod (provides analysis and communication), and tells of a time of enlightenment.  Since it is reversed, My Sun card is reinforcing that reversed Ace of Cups at the beginning of my card throw.  It is reminding me to look very carefully at my emotions and feelings today, because those emotions and feelings might not be as they seem. 

As usual, I pulled an “all cards are reversed” clarification card, and threw the Seven of Cups.  The Seven of Cups (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, controlling, obsessive, mysterious) represents the distraction and dissipation that can happen when we are presented with too many choices.  Could the energies of this card be the source of the wishy-washy reading I’ve thrown for myself today?  The Thoth Seven of Cups image creates the pattern of the bottom seven sephiroth of the Tree of Life, with the effects being cut off at the Abyss and thus, preventing the inclusion of Deity in the feelings of the day.  The traditional image of the Seven of Cups shows seven cups, each filled with what appears to be a wonderful gift.  The Wreath corresponds with Saturn and The World; the Castle corresponds with Mars and The Tower, the Woman corresponds with Venus and The Empress; the Snake corresponds with Mercury and The Magician; the Veil corresponds with the Moon and The High Priestess, the Jewels correspond with Jupiter and The Wheel of Fortune, and the Dragon corresponds with our Sun and The Sun.  Eenie meenie minie moe, which Cup is the way to go?  I need to choose carefully, but I also need to remember that not choosing is actually a choice, too.

My 6-digit date number is 4, the number of depth and stability.  Okay, I can do depth and stability.

My horoscopes: “Whether your realize it or not, you'll have the upper hand today, Sagittarius, so take advantage of this opportunity. Things may be going so well that you might not even notice what a fantastic time you're having. Sit back and take a moment to appreciate your good fortune. Others will gravitate to you naturally, and you'll always seem to have the right answers to the questions.”

And: “A gathering taking place in your neighborhood is probably going to attract all your friends and many of your neighbors. However, you may feel a little under the weather and consider not going. Your energy may be lagging, as all energy does once in a while after stressful times. It might do you good to make the effort and go. Whether you do, of course, is up to you. But whatever you do, enjoy the evening.”

My Shadowscapes Insight today is regarding the Queen of Wands.  Love this card!!  This Queen is royal, talented, attractive and articulate, and she knows it.  Not in a vain way, not at all.  She is merely confident enough and in touch with her own self enough to acknowledge her own abilities in an objective manner.  This is what makes her so very attractive to others.  She seems to glow with a calm self-assuredness that is in no way oppressive or controlling.  This Queen enjoys herself, but she enjoys the talents and skills and traits of others just as easily.  There is a very interesting lesson to be found in this card.

As soon as I arrived in Cape May yesterday evening, I got out my headphones and walked down to the beach.  I put on Hossam Ramzy’s Egypt Unveiled (my new favorite belly dance CD; Ramzy rules!), and it was so lovely outside that I ended up walking all the way South to the Cove.  What a glorious night!  As I walked through the center of town, I was surrounded by tourists, “shoobies” as they are known in Cape May, and I breathed in the scents of French fries and hamburgers and ketchup.  But as I walked away from the busy part of town, I could smell sand warmed by the sun and the hypnotic and exotic and sweet scent of virgin’s bower (a true sign of Fall, as it blooms Labor Day Weekend), all laced through with the brine of the sea.

The sun was low in the sky, but still more than an hour from setting as I walked along the boardwalk.  Our beaches are still there!  Yes, they’ve been rearranged a bit, some places broader, some places higher, some places smaller, but still there.  There was even a wedding taking place at one spot!

After the stresses and worries of last weekend, it was a pure pleasure to walk to the Cove and see things appearing normal.  Town is full of people, and it is a holiday weekend.  And I plan on biking to the Point, and doing a lot of walking, along with some gardening, and I plan on dragging Bob down to the beach each sunny afternoon.

I am being pulled with intensity back to my studies at Sacred Mists.  This is how I know that the Summer is truly over!  My current Third Degree Training lesson is very much in keeping with my efforts to tweak and then hand-write all of my Esbats, Sabbats and life passage rituals into my lovely Book of Shadows.  One of the things I hope to do this weekend is get back to my Lesson 6.  Maybe I can get the essay parts done before I go to the Dominican Republic on Thursday.  That is, unless Hurricane Katia has her way.

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