Five of Cups reversed/Knight of Cups.  The Five of Cups (Mars, action, aggression, drive, in Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, controlling, mysterious, obsessive) tells of a setback or a lack of support, often happening because people or events are not being focused on correctly.  My card is reversed today, so I should feel as if I am getting the right support without that support ever forcing me into anything I don’t want to be involved in.  The ATA Website says this about the Five of Cups:  The Knight of Cups (cusp of Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, cause-oriented, and Pisces, “I believe,” feelings, duality, suffering, soul growth) is about feeling things strongly, and about dreaming, and perhaps it is his energies that have caused the Five of Cups to be reversed.  After all, he is a compassionate helper and a seeker who strives to bring harmony, and he won’t let anyone play with his feelings!  Hopefully that Five being in a reversed position will help to balance out the intensity of the Knight a bit.  We don’t want to end up feeling sorry for ourselves, now, do we?

My Thoth card is the Knight of Disks.  The Knight of Disks (cusp of Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, egotistical, and Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented) tells of persistence to the point of being stubborn, and caution to the point of being boring. This Knight gets things done, and will persevere to the end, but he won’t think out of the box or use his imagination to make things easier for himself.  I guess his motto is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”  He needs to be watched for he is both ambitious and possessive; those qualities can be either good or bad, depending on the situation.

My Legacy card is Temperance reversed, flavored by the Ace of Coins reversed.  Temperance corresponds with Sagittarius (“I seek,” philosophic, adventurous, blundering) Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive, energetic change), Samekh (the tent post), and the Path between Yesod (the place where patterns and images emerge that may manifest into the physical world of action and outer reality) and Tiphareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify), and it is one of the Major Arcana cards that presents the concept of dynamic balance.  Temperance teaches us to be balanced by encouraging us to experience extremes so we can learn from them.  Well, my Temperance card is reversed, so I may not do well with those extremes today.  LOL, must be all those Knights! Aces present potential only, unmanifested, and the Ace of Coins (Aries, “I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive, Taurus, “I have,” sensual, cautious, stubborn, and Gemini, “I think,” curious, talkative, dual, social) tells of the presence of potential that is connected in some way to the physical world of Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes; stable, material and practical energy that is slow to change) represents the potential to experience prosperity, security, stability, trust and a connection to Nature.  My Ace is reversed, and since it is flavoring my Temperance reversed, it may very well be indicating where my imbalance may be today: in the world of Earth.

My 6-digit date number is 3, the number that tells of a new creation from the potential of the Ace and the balance, polarity and understanding of the concept of “distance between” of the 2.

My horoscopes: “Reward yourself for all the great things you've done for you and other people, Sagittarius. You deserve to be treated like royalty, so make sure that you do. There are many times when you get so critical of the things you do that you end up punishing yourself unnecessarily. Give yourself a treat for being good instead of chastising yourself for being bad. At all times, however, you must remember that you're perfect just the way you are.”

And: “Your actions may be erratic and spontaneous, but they will also most certainly be powerful. You may find yourself being driven by a sharp intellectual mind. Perhaps there is someone near you who has great cunning. You yourself may be feeling brainier than usual. Genius ideas are apt to surround you and your actions today, as long as you keep an open mind about how and when they manifest.”

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Knight of Pentacles.  Wow, lots of Pentacles cards lately.  This one is about focus, about not giving in to distractions, and about seeing a task to its end by working hard and doing the best I know how to do.  This Knight would fit in well with many politicians these days because he is conservative and prefers to use tried-and-true methods rather than venturing out into the unknown.  Is this good or bad?  Depends on the situation.  If I’ve got a job that needs to be done and done right, the Knight of Pentacles is my man; but if I’ve got a problem that needs to be solved now and I am out of ideas as to how to solve it, he might not be very effective!

I cannot stop remembering my time yesterday at the Ancient Altar, standing in the middle of a circle made up of my Guides and Ancestors, and other entities of the astral realms.  I can still feel that sense of waiting, waiting for something important to happen.  I don’t get the impression that I was on the hot seat at all, nor do I feel that I missed an opportunity.  I am still guessing that this experience was mainly so that I could get used to the presence of these entities.  They are to be witnesses of something, and uh oh, wonder what that might be.  Since I am assuming this experience occurred in part because of my work with psychological alchemy, perhaps a bit of a review is in order, maybe not from the very beginning, but back a bit.

Psychologically, Dissolution breaks down the artificial structures of the psyche by total immersion in the unconscious, non-rational, feminine or rejected part of our minds. This is for the most part an unconscious process, however the results of the process do surface. Dissolution can be experienced as “flow,” the bliss of being well-used, and of being actively engaged in creative acts without prejudices or hang-ups getting in the way.   Physiologically, Dissolution is the continuance of the kundalini experience, the opening-up of energy channels in the body to recharge and elevate every single cell. Dissolution takes place in the Genital or Tin Chakra and involves the lungs and spleen.  More metabolic discipline!

The Separation process within psychological alchemy is the rediscovery of our essence and the reclaiming of dream previously rejected by the masculine, rational part of our minds.  Unlike Dissolution, Separation is mostly a conscious process in which we review whatever has been stirred up to the surface, so we can decide what to discard and what to reintegrate into our refined personality. Separation is letting go of the self-inflicted restraints to our true nature, so we can shine through; it is not a fun process, but it is necessary.  Physiologically, Separation is following and controlling the breath in the body (as it works with the forces of Spirit and subtle body) in order to give birth to new energy and physical renewal. Separation begins in the Navel or Iron Chakra located at the level of the solar plexus.

Conjunction is empowerment of our true selves, the union of both the masculine and feminine sides of our personalities into a new belief system or an intuitive state of consciousness.  Once truly achieved, we are able to clearly perceive what needs to be done to achieve lasting enlightenment (which is union with The Source).  I should be alert, for this is when synchronicities begin to occur that help to confirm I’m on the right track.  Physiologically, Conjunction is using the body’s sexual energies for personal transformation. Conjunction takes place in the body at the level of the Heart or Copper Chakra.

In researching Conjunction, I found an interesting term: inner-conjunction!  This is described as an intense kundalini experience or kundalini awakening, also associated with an intense non-physical world experience.  Inner-conjunction is said to be the “peak event” of an awakening; I guess this could be another term for an Aha! Moment.  Another way that this event is described is as a reconciliation of the positive/negative, left/right, male/female sides of one person.  Wow, Conjunction!

It is quite interesting to read that during a moment of inner-conjunction, it can seem as if there is white light flowing inside the body and illuminating the world. This sense of whiteness may be due to a general increase in nerve action potential and the increased ionization of cerebrospinal fluid. Then the energy collects and nitric oxide permeates through to the central channel of the spinal column creating the “principle charge” itself, which is experienced as the “Silver Cord/”  The Silver Cord, which represents the peak of the experience, usually only lasts for a minute or less, but the entire inner-conjunction can last a half an hour.

Okay, this all sounds very similar to what I experienced at the Ancient Altar.  Could this be what my experience was preparing me for?  This really makes sense, and it feels right!

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