Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Ten of Pentacles/Four of Swords. The Ten of Pentacles (Mercury, reason, intelligence, education, communication, in Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented) represents physical world wealth and bounty, and the attempt to maintain the status quo.  This card represents the freedom from financial concerns, and it tells me that I am secure in ply place within my family or clan. The Four of Swords (Jupiter, expansiveness and growth, justice, fortune, in Libra, “We are,” partnerships, balance, cooperation) can represent a pause or truce, a time of silence and isolation, and even an otherworldly peace.  “Protection in silence” is one way this card is described within the Llewellyn Tarot.  Both of these cards together do have a nice, secure and peaceful feeling, but just the need of a truce kind of indicates the presence of some kind of conflict.  I guess I should not get too involved with the sense of completion attached to that Ten of Pentacles, eh?

My Thoth card is the Prince of Cups. The Prince/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 about the imagination.  He may appear calm, cool and collected to others, but he is actually filled with intense passion; and yet he rejects totally the idea that he might not be in control.  People tend to sense these differences, calm and serene ~and~ strong feelings, and they are made uncomfortable by them even if they aren’t able to articulate just what is making them uncomfortable.  I need to be careful today that I am not using the feelings or emotions of others to further my own agenda.  Balance!

My Legacy card is The World reversed, flavored by the Four of Swords reversed.  Bookends! The Universe/World, which corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and material, stable and practical energy that is slow to change), Saturn (discipline, responsibility, limitations and resistance), Thav (mark or sign), and the Path between Malkuth (the physical world of action and physical, outer reality) and Yesod (the place where patterns and images emerge that may manifest into the physical world), is a card of integration and involvement and understanding, a crystallization of the entire issue at hand.  This card represents the end of the journey, but this journey is actually not linear in nature, but rather is a circle.  Once we reach the end, we are right back to the beginning.  And since my World is reversed, I have not yet reached this “end which is a beginning,” so I can’t relax just yet.  In the Legacy Tarot, the Four of Swords is seen as the indication of a need to pause or to rest, and so the reversed Four of Swords is seen as telling us that the rest period is over.  Since my reversed Four of Swords is flavoring my reversed World, I had better resume any efforts that I have ceased because I perceived an end of a cycle, because the cycle is not over yet, so the time to rest and recuperate is still in the future. 

More about the Four of Swords, my Bookends card.  The number 4 is about stability and depth; just imagine a cube and how difficult it is to tip one over, and you will get the energies of the number 4.  Swords correspond with Air, and Air is not necessarily a stable element; it is more about expansion than stability.  We end up with a kind of balance here, but this is not meant to be a permanent balance.  Rather, it is meant to be a time of recuperation through safety and security.  The Four of Swords can be seen as similar to sleep because it brings an appearance of death, but yet we are able to dream (and those dreams can very end up as powerful catalysts).  It can be seen as offering asylum or sanctuary, but it is also tinged at times with a bit of a sense of being forsaken (and that might mean it is time to move on).  The Four of Swords can also indicate a need for medication, which can also appear like death.  Recouping our energies is a good thing, and so is pausing so we can “hear” more subtle messages, but there is a warning, too.  Remain in limbo too long, and we will become lost. 

My 6-digit date number is 7, the number that tells of a coming pause as growth ends and degeneration begins.

My horoscopes: “Relations with family and other household members should be at their very best today, Sagittarius. If you see colleagues outside of work, they could also be congenial and supportive. This might stem from the fact that the lines of communication between you are wide open and you've reached a new understanding. Keep this going. It can only benefit everyone involved.

And: “People may be trying to communicate to you on a rather subtle level, but you may not be aware of this because you are so caught up in your own internal difficulties. You may feel like you are driving with the emergency brake on and can't seem to release it. You are so preoccupied with getting yourself running smoothly that you are unaware of the other cars on the road that you now have to swerve in order to avoid you. Bring your car to a stop, release the brake, and then put your engine back into drive.

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Nine of Pentacles.  Because this lovely card shows up so often for me, I have learned a lot from it.  I have learned that often the process of creating a good life for myself is a solitary pursuit.  Hard work must be done, both in my outer world and my inner world, and the results of those efforts must mesh in order for me to reap the rewards hinted at by this card.  I have also learned that just having physical “things” without having worked and strived not only to attain them, but also to know how to use them, is an empty victory.  In order to appreciate those “things,” we need to work for them.  Only then can we truly enjoy the fruits of our labors. 

Onward with Astrology.  Today we will talk about the planet Venus.  Venus is the ruler of both Libra and Taurus and the Second and Seventh Houses (more about them later), and it is associated with amorousness, passion and sexual desire.  Venus is closer to our Sun than we are; it orbits the Sun in 225 Earth days, and spends about 18¾ days in each of the signs of the Zodiac.  Venus is the second-brightest object to be found in the night sky, only surpassed by the Moon. 

Venus is the Goddess of love and beauty, who is able to stir passions even among the Gods.  Astrologically, this planet signifies the force of attraction within our Universe, and its energies can bring things together to form a more complete whole, which ends up to be greater than, and better than, the sum of its individual parts.  Venus manifests within us through love and attraction, as well as through an appreciation of beauty of all kinds.  Venus also rules our values and ethics, as well as the ability to nurture, harmony, magnetism of all kinds, and the ability to merge or unite or connect with something or someone else.  Venus also represents pleasure, comfort, ease and balance.  It governs marriages and romantic relationships, but also business arrangements, the arts, fashion, and socialization. 

In medicine, Venus corresponds or connects to the lumbar region, the blood veins, the throat, the kidneys and urinary track; Venus is seen as being warm and moist, and associated with the phlegmatic humor. 

Venus goes retrograde for about six weeks once every 19 months or so; it is the least likely planet to be rero, so it is considered important.  And having Venus Rx within your birth chart does give you an indication of how you deal with relationships and other emotional issues.

There are may Minor Arcana cards that correspond in part with Venus, but the Major Arcana card connected with this planet is The Empress.  Briefly, The Empress (which corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and stable, material, practical energies that are slow to change), Venus (beauty, allure, pleasure, relationships), the Hebrew letter Daleth (door or womb) and the Path between Binah (female receptive energy and the origin of form and structure) and Chokmah on the Tree of Life (dynamic male energy and the origin of vital force and polarity)) is one half of the Major Arcana representation of the Sacred Feminine.  The Empress is about creativity, fertility of all kinds, a deep connection to Nature and its workings, the pleasure of the senses, and using our physical world talents.

A lot to think about!

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