Nine of Pentacles/The Magician.  Woohoo!  Power to the people.  Nice pair of cards here. The Nine of Pentacles (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented) is a card of accomplishment through the imposition of discipline.  The number 9 always gives fruit to itself ( 9 + 9 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9), and since the suit of Pentacles is also filled with fertility, this is an awesome card.  While the Pentacles brings the focus of the card mostly to lovely manifestation in the physical world, this Pentacles card also tells of the spiritual as well, and the satisfaction of a job well done. The Magician corresponds with Air (hot/separates and wet/adapts, and quick and animated energy which usually presents problems or challenges), Mercury (reason, intelligence, orderliness, communication), Beth (house; builder) and the Path between Binah (female, receptive energy and the origin of form and structure) and Kether (the source, limitless possibility), has the power to transform his world through the use of his Will and his connection to the Divine.  This is such an excellent card to be paired with the Nine of Pentacles.  The Magician of the Tarot, particularly the upright Magician, holds and wields real power, power that is attained through discipline and practice.  Probably the only down side of this card today is the tendency to be focused on the attainment of the goal regardless of the consequences.  But the Nine of Pentacles balances that out soooooo well, because the Nine is about the outcome of using abilities and discipline in an ethical way, without indulging the “wild side.”  Perfect!

My Thoth card today is the Two of Cups.  “Love” is Uncle Al’s keyword for 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 Legacy card is the Five of Wands, flavored by The Hermit reversed. The Five of Wands represents Saturn (discipline, responsibility, law and order) in Leo (“I am, passionate, dramatic, egotistical), and indicates a struggle caused by cross purposes.  Sometimes the conflict represented by this card is between the inner self and the outer self.  But what we need to remember is that while it is a bit uncomfortable, the energy of this card is useful, particularly when upright!  The mild churning of the Five of Wands is fuel, and it also burns away “impurities” that cloud the vision. The Hermit, which corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and material, practical and stable energy that is slow to change), Virgo (“I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented, orderly), Yod (open hand, touch), and the Path between Tiphareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify) and Chesed (the place where forms and structure are stabilized and nurtured), is reversed, and it is flavoring my Five of Wands.  If it were upright, my Hermit would be telling me that the lessons to be learned today are discovered through an inward and solitary focus, but my Hermit is reversed, so I am being told that the annoyances of my Five of Wands are indeed presenting positive opportunities to me today, so I should embrace them rather than avoid them.  Connections to others are important!

My 6-digit number is 5, the number of motion that dispels stagnation.  This could very well be supporting the Five of Wands.

My horoscopes: “Mild cold symptoms could affect your ability to tend to your chores today. You're an active person, so this could affect your self-confidence and ability to do what you want to do. Upsets beyond your control within your circle of friends could also affect your concentration. Don't dwell on them. Dose yourself with juice and tea and get through the day.”

And: “You have a promising day ahead. Finally, you'll advance by leaps and bounds with whatever needs to be done. Whatever has been causing the delays will likely be revealed today. You return to the skill and professionalism you so value after several weeks of halting progress. Don't tolerate any violations of your professional ethics, either now or in the future.”

My Shadowscapes Insight today is regarding the Three of Cups.  This card is about the exhilaration to be found within lively connections to others, to groups that are filled with emotions and feelings of all kinds.  This card is reminding me that the songs of life are filled with a variety of tones; on their own, some may be pleasant, some may be boring, and some may be discordant, but put them all together and you get a symphony!

Last night, the Pagan Brain Trust had its first Reiki Share in Skype.  Meebo is gone, so we moved up in the world.  LOL!  Seriously, the Reiki energy seems to like Skype; the experience was cleaner, clearer and there seemed to be less static in the exchange.  Veeeery powerful!  And this Share was only done in the Skype chatroom!

The next focus regarding The Emerald Tablet is: “It is a fire that became our earth. Separate the earth from the fire and you shall adhere more to that which is subtle than that which is coarse, through care and wisdom.”  The first part of this is a continuation from the last part. If you look at the Tree of Life, Kether, at the top of the Tree, can be considered Fire, Sacred Fire.  The bottom of the Tree is Malkuth, which is the final, physical world manifestation of all of the other sephiroth, the ultimate physical manifestation of Kether.  The next part of this section brings alchemy into the picture.

From “The Tabula Smaragdina: An Interpretation,” by Catherine Glashan: “In the Inner Laboratory, one examines both or all sides of an issue. The nature of our three dimensional reality is opposites and correspondences. Discovering the dichotomy or opposites and naming them is the first step (Calcination). In life, there are usually a myriad of more than two sides of an issue to consider. We have to be willing to look into all aspects of ourselves and look for the hidden truths (Dissolution). In the steps or process of thorough examination and discernment, that which does not pass the test of truth is released and let go of; thus separating the chaff from the wheat (Separation). In the engraving: ‘The empowered alchemist is symbolic of a successful integration (Conjunction) of the opposing forces to his left and right. Half his frock is black with white stars and other half is white with black stars.  In other words, each side contains the seed of its opposite, so he has neither denied nor destroyed the compelling powers of the opposites, only integrated them into his own being.’ (from The Emerald Tablet by Dennis William Hauck)”  In one simple phrase, we cover the entire Great Work of alchemy! And LOL, if you don’t know what that is, be sure to say tuned, for the Great Work will be my next focus once I complete my work with The Emerald Tablet.  This will be my second trip through the Great Work, so it should be interesting!

Perfect thoughts for a stay-at-home, comfy-cozy day of rain and wind, just before the Sabbat of Samhain!

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