The Empress/Two of Cups.  Ooooh; lovely!  And The Empress again! 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), and is about the physical body and the material world.  This card encourages me to be very aware of my senses today, and to look to the workings of Nature for fulfillment. Most of all, The Empress reminds us of the power of unconditional love.  The Two of Cups (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, family and home oriented, tenacious, moody) is also about love, usually about relationships and commonalities.  These two cards together are telling me to love myself, to accept and enjoy the benefits of my physical body as well as the nourishing emotions associated with love.

My Thoth card is the Eight of Swords reversed.  “Interference,” and it’s reversed.  Yesss! The Eight of Swords (Jupiter, expansiveness and growth, justice, fortune, in Gemini, “I think,” curious, sociable talkative, dual) shows what happens when you abuse the power of the Swords through the intellect: that power turns against you.  Thankfully my Eight of Swords is reversed, so today I will be able to get beyond that mental loop that holds us back; I will be able to plan effectively, and I will be able to implement my plans in a successful manner.

My Legacy card is The Tower reversed (whew!!), flavored by the Ten of Coins reversed. The Tower (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)) in an upright position tells of a violent or explosive correction.  Thankfully, my Tower is reversed, so whatever comes my way today, whether it be serene or topsy-turvy, I will not be ruffled. The Ten of Coins (Mercury, reason, intelligence, education, communication, in Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented) is flavoring my Tower reversed.  Many people see this card as representing physical world wealth and bounty, and it does represent these things.  But that does not mean that a reversed Ten of Coins is a bad thing.  Yes, it is telling me that maybe because the influences of The Tower are muted, money won’t come pouring in, but the reversed Ten of Coins and the reversed Tower can combine to bring me lots of opportunities to take advantage of unique situations.  LOL, talk about boldly going where no man has gone before!!

My 6-digit date number is 11 (Archangel Uriel), which reduces further to 2, the number of balance and polarity.  I like this, both the influence of Archangel Uriel, and the encouragement to focus on both balance and polarity.

My horoscopes: “This is a great day for you. You may feel like you can exercise more of your freedom. Break any shackles that seem to be holding you back. There's no reason to feel hindered. Your adventuresome attitude is brave, and there's a great deal of territory to conquer. Get focused and go. You have the green light.”

And: “You may be asked to make an important decision today, Nancy. It has come to one of those points where someone draws a line in the sand. They have challenged you to cross it. Do you stay where you are and continue on without that person, or do you join them and support their goals and actions? The conflict today is between your head, which may be telling you one thing, and your gut, which is telling you another. Don't limit your choices to two. There are always compromises that can be made.”

My Shadowscapes Insight for today is the Ten of Pentacles.  This card shows the end result of the ability to root ourselves into in-place and already tested methods in order to find success.  The success associated with this card is not the result of random impulses (although the process may have begun through the light of a spark of unique creation), but rather through recognizing patterns and adjusting our processes to take advantage of those patterns.  The blessings that are a part of this card do not come to us in a flash of light, but rather through our own hard work and our own belief in the rightness of our goals.  They happen over time and through sustained effort, but they are long-lasting. 

I have decided that since I am alone in Cape May this weekend, I would treat myself to a “catch-up” weekend, catching up in many ways; I needed to give myself some time to recharge my batteries.  Last night I made it for sunset, and then spent the evening catching up on laundry, and grading homeworks.  Today, after taking a nice walk on the promenade towards the Cove, I went and visited my friend Wendy, who has a cute little shop called Mystics Cottage.  I had given Wendy a Thai Massage, and she had taken a few business cards to give out at her shop.  She needed more, and she had also gotten in some new smudge sticks and sweet grass, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone because I want to smudge the entire house after I get things back in order. 

I ended up coming home with the most lovely amethyst crystal, along with my smudge stick and sweet grass.  It is truly unique!  The bottom half of the crystal is amethyst, but there is a horizontal white stripe meandering around the purple; the top half of the crystal is white quartz.  I love it!  I am going to dedicate it to Hecate, and place it on my altar, since I don’t have anything there yet in Her honor. 

I came home and finished the laundry (last load is in; yay!!), and then took my bike down to the Cove for one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.  Really, this one is in the top ten.  Again, the sky was clear, the colors brilliant.  The nearly full moon was in the sky, just a bit lower today.  The Belt of Venus was vibrant!  Dark grey-blue, then beautiful pink, then a bit of creamy yellow, and then the darkening blue of the sky.  Once again, the sun was an orange ball of flame.  There was even a wedding just starting; I watched with a smile as a young boy in a tuxedo led the bride, his mom I assume, towards the waiting people by the water’s edge.

I walked out to the end of the jetty at the Cove, and sat down.  I was about ten minutes early, so I took a few deep breaths and then I cast a circle around myself.  As the sun moved closer to the horizon, I opened each of my chakras, and then allowed myself to be filled with the essences of the elements.  I had the earth below me, I had the soft sound of the waves (which even came up to kiss my toes once or twice), I had the gulls and oyster skimmers flying across the Cove and over my head through the clear, crisp evening air, and I had the fire of the sun before me.  I had Deity, the fifth element of spirit, all around me.

I watched the burning orb touch the horizon and then slowly sink out of sight.  Hail fair Sun, ruler of day, rise on the morn to light my way! Then, I turned my back on the still-glowing sky and looked at the moon.  I whispered softly, Hail fair Moon, ruler of night, guard me and mine until dawn’s light!  And then, I honored Hecate.  At the gateway of dusk I stand; behind me, sunshine lights the land.  Guard me with Your magick power; guide me through the crossroad hour between the glory of the light and the beauty of the night!  Blessings to you, Hecate.

My bike ride back was slow and serene.  By the time I turned into my driveway, the sky was dark, and the moon had risen above the roof of my across-the-street neighbor’s house.  I am sitting in front of my computer, surrounded by lit candles, sipping a glass of wine and listening to Pandora radio.  And I feel good.

Life is good.  We have money worries, but who doesn’t these days.  But I am rich, surrounded by blessings and companionship and caring and love.  I have many opportunities to share my riches, not my money but rather the gifts I have been given.  Things that money can’t buy.  My heart overflows with warmth as I think about how wonderful life is, and how happy I am to be alive right now, in this time of stress and worry, as the news is filled with the cries and demands of strange people who want all the toys, and who want to tell the rest of us what we can play with and how the game absolutely must happen.  Part of me fears that my country will experience another revolution; perhaps this is what 2012 is all about.  And part of me fears that we won’t experience that revolution, and instead, we will hide in our basements and allow the crazies to make the rules. 

My Goddess tells me that I have a Purpose.  I am not a special person, I am just a regular girl, but I have a Purpose.  We all have a Purpose, unique to each of us and our abilities and skills and talents.  We have only to open ourselves to the manifestation of that Purpose to access it.  To use it.  To live it.

My God tells me to not worry; He says that life is immortal, and humanity cannot destroy life. Humanity can certainly destroy itself, but life is immortal and will continue.  He tells me that it is right for my heart to ache when I think about the huge potential of humanity that seems to be mostly wasted on trivial things and on achieving power.  But my job is not to change the world, it is to change my own space.  I need to be conscious of my own subtle body and the vibrations it contains, and thus the vibrations it emanates into my own world.  That is what I can control.  That is my Purpose.

As I sit here, with the memory of the glory of tonight’s sunset, I know that I have no hesitation about opening myself to this manifestation. 

Blessed Be. 

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