Transparent Oracle Sunday!

5, Landscape: Mountains (East). East is the direction of the rising sun, and thus of new beginnings and fresh ideas, as well as knowledge, intellectual ideas and thoughts.  Mountains tells us that our goals are in sight, but there will still need to be strength, skill and perseverance before accessing that goal.  Mountains also allow us to rise up above the chaos, confusion and noise of our mundane world in order to experience peace and solitude.  This card tells me that I’ve got a good strong foundation in place, and now it is time to look forward and up.

10, Elemental: Sylph (East). East is the direction of Air (dignities: hot/separates and wet/adapts), and thus of fresh ideas and new beginnings, the intellect, the mental force that strives to manifest, challenges which bring opportunities for growth, spiritual guidance, and the striving for balance between the mind and the heart. Sylphs personify these concepts, and they encourage the use of imagination in an original way, they tell us to shift as needed in order to take advantage of the prevailing winds, and they tell us to fly free, filled with joy and unencumbered by life’s burdens (at least for a little while).

54, Guide: Giant (Below).  The direction of Below is not easily associated with spirituality, yet it is a powerful symbol representing the opportunity to create a strong foundation, and to connect to the tools and powers of the Underworld.  Giant corresponds quite a bit with the element of Earth and Earth energies, and is about the stability of the ground below us, and about the huge geological forces that formed our world and even now, changes it.  In most fairy tales, the Giant ends up being a great big bump in the road for the hero of the tale, and without these kinds of challenges, we would never get the chance to be brave or to see if we have courage.

I then constructed my mandala.  This one is tight and triangular.  Giant is the card most easily discerned, but each of these cards bring forth a basic concept: dealing with the challenges of the mundane world.  I am reminded by two of these cards that having a good strong foundation already in place is instrumental in dealing with life’s challenges.  I need to visualize the desired solution, even when that solution is far in the distance, I need to make use of the prevailing flows of energies and at the same time shut out distractions.  I need to remember where I’ve come from, what has previously worked well for me and what did not.  And I need to remember that muscles don’t get stronger unless they are challenged.  As of this moment, I feel that I have successfully dealt with several challenges on my list, but who knows?  There might be a new one right around the corning.  But I have done the work and learned what I need to know to deal with just about anything.  I need to also think about the shape of triangle.  Triangle is pretty stable; because it has three sides instead of four, it does not collapse on itself.  Triangle represents the concept of width or surface, created by expanding on the line (the number 2) and the point (the number 1).  Sounds like a nice combination of stability and expansion to me!

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