The Lovers reversed/Seven of Wands.  The Lovers (Air, hot/separates and wet/adapts, quick and animated, intellectual, problems or challenges; Gemini, “I think,” curious, talkative, sociable, dual; Zayin, double-edged sword; and the Path between Tiphareth, the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify, and Binah, female receptive energy and the origin of form and structure) is a very powerful card for me personally, filled with symbolism, the least of which is the presence of Archangel Uriel and His effects on my day. The Lovers is about love, but it is also about personal beliefs, determining values, and deciding what I believe.  However, my Lovers card is reversed today, so it will not be exerting a powerful influence in a positive way.  I could be dealing with isolation or separation today, or even rejection.  This may not be a day for choices that will have a personal effect.  Seven of Wands (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, natural leader, egotistical, selfish), is another very significant card for me in its own right.  This is a card of assertion, of taking the offensive or aggressively firing the first shot; this is not like me in that I tend to avoid conflict.  Perhaps today, I will not be able to avoid it, and whatever this conflict ends up being, it just might leave me feeling a bit isolated.

My Thoth card is The Hanging Man reversed.  The Hanging Man corresponds with Water (cold/binds and wet/adapts, and emotional, sensitive and imaginative energy that tends to move deep, and attempts to take the same path as in the past), Neptune (inspiration, spirituality, magick, enchantment, dreams, altered states), and the Hebrew letter Mem (water, stability and balance, the reflective quality of thought).  The Hanging Man in an upright position is about surrender, about seeing things in a new way, and about putting aside my Will.  Because the card is reversed, there will be action today, maybe of the self-asserting kind.  This action could manifest as a struggle, or as a refusal to surrender.

My Legacy card is Strength reversed, flavored by the Four of Cups.  The Strength card (Fire, hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive and energetic energy; Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, egotistical; Teth, sieve or basket, digestion; and the Path between Geburah, the place where forms and structures are challenged or affirmed, and Chesed, the place where forms and structures are stabilized and nurtured) traditionally tells of emotional endurance and control, rather than physical endurance and control.  Because my Strength card is reversed, this day may sap my endurance and leave me without the heart to go on.  My reversed Strength card is being flavored by the Four of Cups (the Moon, feelings and emotions, illusion, imagination, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, nurturing, tenacious, moody), which tells me that today I could be contemplating my own feelings a lot, to the point of being a bit disconnected.  The pair certainly supports the other three cards.  Looks like it may not be the most comfortable of days, but the only way to test endurance is to have things really flow in the opposite direction. 

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

My horoscopes: “Your thoughts and feelings may be vague today, and you could be preoccupied. People might talk to you but you won't hear much of what they say, and you'll remember even less. This is a temporary condition. Don't worry that people think you're rude. The ones that count know you're not. Spend the day reading escapist novels. It won't matter if you can't remember those!”

And: “You are so upbeat and optimistic by nature that it is difficult for you to accept certain failures. That may be what you are thinking today as you reflect on your recent humanitarian efforts. Try not to take such a short-term attitude. You are making a difference, even though it may not always be readily apparent. Continue on this path; ultimately you will see how worthwhile the journey is.”

And my new one: “You might have big plans for your great escape, but the closer you get to the time to leave, you realize that there are more important things to do. If you have a chance to make money now, take the opportunity. But don't just dream of the future; make a commitment and get to work. It's time to let go of your fantasies so you can take tangible steps, however little they may be, toward your long-term goals.”

Gemini: Some bizarre dreams or visions could come to you today. Don't put too much stock in them. You might find that the images are partly scenes from your past, partly information you've received lately, and partly your own fears about the future. If you view them this way, you should be able to see what they're telling you. They aren't prophesies for the future

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Knight of Pentacles.  This card demonstrates a pure version of its element, Earth.  Its energies are slow and careful, but oh boy, once they get going, there’s no stopping them.  Distractions just don’t work with this card, because the Knight has his eye on the finish line; success is his only option, and like The Magician, sometimes he focuses more on getting the job done than on his methods.  Be careful!

This has been a stressful day; the cards I threw certainly were correct.  I struggled to get out of bed this morning, and then my computer at work had “Five of Wands Syndrome” all day.  At least, I hope it was just Five of Wands Syndrome, and not “The Tower Troubles.”  LOL, I do think in Tarot symbolism, don’t I?  Finally, after a day of waiting for my computer to load things, and restarting, and cleaning out caches, and doing a virus scan and **whew** finding nothing, and reloading Internet Explorer, and deep, cleansing breaths, I went to the dentist for a cleaning, and ended up getting my broken tooth pulled.  The only good thing about this is that I didn’t have much time to worry and get scared, only about ten minutes.  And so far, the discomfort is bearable.  Tricky Dentist!! 

I guess these kinds of days are necessary.  Extremes need to be if balance is to happen, and this is not the worst “Turnsta” day I’ve ever had.  By the way, Turnsta stands for “Everything I touch turnsta dog poop.”  The Five of Wands really does sum up my experiences today.  Everything felt in conflict, but no one thing was major.  Discord has ruled the day, but at least I am learning just how strong my mental focus is, and I am learning just how powerful my Will is.  I am grateful that this test is not overwhelming.

The next part of The Emerald Tablet is: “The greatest power overcomes everything that is subtle and it penetrates all that is coarse.” This is really pretty simple, at least on the surface.  All that The Emerald Tablet has explained so far, the “power” that comes from the concepts and the explanations and the ability to understand what is being said is strong enough to infuse the subtle energies, and to penetrate or be a basic building block of physical matter.  This power is important enough that it touches or flavors all, every effect and manifestation in every realm.  And the microcosm to this macrocosm is that the essence of Deity can be found within every effect and manifestation as well. 

**smile** The concepts seemed to build in complexity until now; this one has a simple elegance, but without having struggled to understand the sections before this one, the words here would have had less meaning for me.  This one sentence is like the placeholder for everything I have talked about so far.

Cool.

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