Thursday, December 29, 2011

Eight of Cups/The Emperor.  The Eight of Cups (Saturn, discipline, responsibility, limitation, law and order, in Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, suffering, soul growth) tells of an ending or a change of direction, often one associated with emotions.  Interesting card to have as the end of the year approaches.  This card is about seeking a deeper understanding of things and in the process, getting rid of what no longer serves.  The Emperor is a Fire card (hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive, energetic change) which corresponds with the astrological sign of Aries (“I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive) and the Hebrew letter Heh (window, illumination) that represents the power of the mind and of intentions to shape the world.  He is the “regulator,” and is about authority and structure, and while he learns from his past, he focuses on the present and the future.  So, we have a bit of looking back in order to get rid of what doesn’t work, and then a nice, strong, predictable view of the present and maybe the future.

My Thoth card is the Ace of Swords.  Again.  The Ace of Swords (Capricorn, “I build,” ambition, caution authority, cunning, Aquarius and Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, soul growth, artistic) tells me that I may be using my mind to solve the problems of the day.  Besides being realistic and objective, I may find myself developing a sense of identity or individuality.  The message of this card has huge significance; after all it has been showing up with regularity.  The cool thing is that I have the mental skills to accept and understand this message, and it just might bring the beginning of some kind of momentum or action.

My Legacy card is The Hermit reversed, flavored by The Lovers reversed.  . 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 for me today.  In an upright position, The Hermit would be telling me that the lessons to be learned today are discovered through an inward and solitary focus.  However, today might be better if I reach out and re-validate my connections to both my physical senses and to those around me.  The reversed 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 flavoring my reversed Hermit today.  Because it is reversed, this card is reminding me that sometimes we need to choose for the group instead of for ourselves, and those choices are best if presented through the vehicle of established beliefs that are accepted by the group.  Sounds like these two cards are validating my Eight of Cups and Emperor above!

My 6-digit date number is 7, the number that tells of a pause, and possibly a crossroad, as growth turns to stagnation.

My horoscopes: “This isn't the moment to adhere to a particular philosophy, whatever it may be. You may feel frustrated by your inability to figure out which path to take, but this is very good for you. Continue to search with your little flashlight, as weak as it may seem, because this is how you're going to get solid faith back again. Best of all, it will be a faith tailored for you.”

And: “Most of the time you tend to be an outgoing person who loves talking to others. However, today you're likely to feel far more reticent than usual, more inclined to listen than to speak. There may not seem to be any real reason for this; it isn't as if you were depressed or worried. You're not! Don't worry about it. View this as an opportunity to really hear what others have to say. You'll be yourself again tomorrow.”

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Five of Swords.  This is a card of power, power used for goals of self-interest.  Is this bad?  Only when carried to extremes.  Making things happen the way we want them to is only bad if we sacrifice our own integrity in the process and run roughshod over everyone else in the picture, without a care for who we are hurting as we attain our personal goals.  Fighting to survive is okay, but really . . . ask yourself.  Is that what your challenge is all about?

Tonight we are having another Pagan Brain Trust gathering at the home of the Wayne Contingency.  Our Dear Phillie will be returning to the West Coast next week, and we all want to get one more face-to-face evening at the “Sacred Table” before he heads West.  Hopefully we will finish the evening with the New Moon Reiki Share that we were unable to schedule because of the Christmas weekend.  As cool as the Solstice Salon was, it’s going to be very awesome to have an entire evening with just the five of us.  There will be chocolate!

Since the end of the calendar year is nearly upon us, I will take a moment to recap my year.  And what a year it has been!  I made my way through all of the Paths of the Tree of Life.  The Wayne Contingency of the Pagan Brain Trust came to Cape May for the weekend.  I created my Twitter account, attended my second Vedic Thai Yoga workshop, and began working with my regular client, Andrew, and his wife, Patty.  I experienced Hurricane Irene and some lovely nor’easters in Cape May, an earthquake in Hackensack, and attended two Shamanic Journeys, at one of which I gave Reiki to 21 people!  I connected with the ‘information highway,” my son was almost electrocuted, and I discovered that Aleister Crowley’s ashes are buried in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.  I studied The Emerald Tablet, and I am very close to publishing an eBook describing my experiences with its rubrics.  I have been shown my Patroness what Path to choose within my Third Degree Training, once I complete my current homework submission.  I found my display BOS, began entering my personal solitary rituals into it, and also wrote and led Esbats and the Yule Sabbat for Sacred Mists.  I finally purchased an eReader, and I love it. 

All in all, it has been a very productive year.  Don’t be fooled, though; all has not been a bed of roses.  Money is an issue, and I am always battling the “lethargy monster.”  For the first time in my 10 years of menopause, depression has been an issue.  Not often, but ouch.  However, I feel closer than ever to Bob and my family, and Carolyn and I have done some very powerful work, both together and each of us individually.

2012 is going to be an interesting year; I have felt the effects of an unexpected chaos since Samhain, and this churning of unexpected energies is acting like an abrasive.  It is scrubbing away the accumulated dirt from the windshield, and I just know that soon enough I will be seeing the world with new clarity. 

I have had some amazing experiences this past year as I worked with my subtle body.  I have changed, my subtle body has changed, and in the months ahead I will be revisiting the Great Work of psychological alchemy (and hopefully writing my second eBook) and focusing on reconnecting with my physical body in new and more healthy ways.  This is being prompted by my post of December 27th, with the quote from “The Education of Oversoul Seven” by Jane Roberts: “Honor your body, which is your representative in this universe. Its magnificence is no accident. It is the framework through which your works must come; through which the spirit and the spirit within the spirit speaks. The flesh and the spirit are two phases of your actuality in space and time. Who ignores one, falls apart in shambles. . . .  The body is the soul in Earth-garments. It is the face of the soul turned toward the seasons, the image of the soul reflected in Earth waters. The body is the soul turned outward. Soul and body are merged in the land of the seasons.” 

I could not say it better than that.

$>

No comments:

Post a Comment