Knight of Swords reversed/The Magician.  The Knight of Swords (the cusp of Taurus, “I have,” sensual, stubborn, cautious, and Gemini, “I think,” curious, talkative, dual, intelligent) is brave, insightful, courageous, and logical, as well as rude, domineering, critical and sarcastic.  My Knight is reversed today, so I will need to think before jumping into the fray, and I will need to hold back on any intensity.  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); this one does not show up too often for me, so I will need to pay attention to him.  The Magician takes action with confidence and is willing to work hard to manifest his goals.  He knows his tools and is very skilled at using them, and he usually is successful; however, for The Magician, the ends often justify the means, and I need to be certain whether the end result is the most important aspect of a situation, or the path I take towards achieving that end result. 

My Thoth card is the Five of Swords reversed.  “Defeat” is the keyword to the Five of Swords (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, pleasure, in Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, cause-oriented, the group, aloof) which when upright, shows what happens when we insist that our way is right, or when we impose our needs or wants onto a situation.  The image on the Thoth Five of Swords shows those five Swords pointing in, creating the shape of a pentacle with the bottom two points facing up; since my Five of Swords is reversed today, I should be able to tap into the messages of Spirit while using my mind and the workings of analysis and logic, rather than being bound by the lures of the physical senses and the passions of powerful feelings and emotions.

My Legacy card is the Eight of Swords reversed, flavored by the Seven of Wands.  Powerful pair!  The Eight of Swords (Jupiter, expansiveness and growth, justice, fortune, in Gemini, “I think,” curious, sociable talkative, dual) in an upright position tells of a confused and restrictive response to obstacles.  Unlike the Two of Swords, which also talks about restrictions, the Eight of Swords presents restrictions that are not self-imposed.  My Eight of Swords is reversed today, so I am thinking that any restrictions or obstacles that do appear, whether trivial or dramatic in appearance, will be tackled without worry.  The Seven of Wands (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, natural leader, egotistical, selfish) is flavoring my reversed Eight of Swords, and it is validating the concept that obstacles and challenges are going to appear.  The Seven of Wands, particularly the Legacy Seven of Wands, has a personal significance for me, warning me of a coming test of some kind.  The one thing I don’t know is whether I will be the one administering the test, or seeking to pass it.  Either way, the situation will end up proving to me that I’ve got what it takes. 

My 6-digit date number is 10, the number that tells of the end of a cycle; it reduces further to 1, the number of position and potential.

My horoscopes: “If you happen to be thinking about a particular friend today, Sagittarius, don't be surprised if you hear from him or her. You're especially attuned to telepathic messages, and you may send out a few. While you usually enjoy solitude, you might be more interested in group activities today. Don't fight the urge. Go for it. You could meet some interesting new people who become your friends for life.”

And: “Do you have the uncomfortable feeling that there's something you ought to be doing, but you can't for the life of you think of what it is? This feeling could bother you all day. It's best to try to remember. Try sitting in a hot tub or hot tub. Lean back, close your eyes and let the water flow around you. You may not recall it right then, but it'll probably come to you later. Hang in there!”

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Six of Swords.  Love this card!  It tells us that we can move on and away from the stresses and anguish in our lives.  We certainly are sometimes surrounded by all kinds of unsettling changes, but through our knowledge and our intellect and the workings of our mind, we can rise above those challenges, and be healed of any injuries in the process.

I have been slowly working on the next assignment for my Third Degree Training.  As I do so, I am taking a moment or two to look at what I’ve written so far within my Third Degree homework assignments.  It is amazing to me how much I have incorporated what I have learned so far into my Craft, lacing the knowledge gained through research and reading, and the experiences gained through the performance of the exercises and the journaling of my results.  More than ever, I can see how important recordkeeping and journaling are to my individual Practice. 

I believe that one purpose of life and living is to learn.  This learning can certainly take place in a formal setting, as a response to a class or within the process of completing a homework assignment, but this learning must also happen because I am confronted with a real live situation and I want to know more about it, or I want to know how to best handle it. 

I have changed a lot while working on this current assignment.  I am learning that all the reading and all the writing and all the practicing are paying off; I am confident, able to handle situations well (mostly, anyway **wink**); I am also learning how to deal with stress, how to prioritize responsibilities in a way that allows me to get them all accomplished, and how to force myself to walk away when I need to cool off or chase away lethargy.  And all of this is happening within a real community, through interactions with real people. 

I’m not perfect, but I do my best.  Every day is a new day, and even if I made some big booboo yesterday, today I can learn from yesterday’s mistakes, and isn’t that an awesome opportunity?!

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