The Emperor/Six of Swords reversed.  I had these two cards on the 5^th of this month, except the Six of Swords was upright. The Emperor corresponds with Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive, energetic change), Aries (“I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive) and the Hebrew letter Heh (window, illumination), and represents confidence, authority, and the archetype of the Father. Sometimes being the leader means taking on the difficult tasks, or taking responsibility for failures, less glorious but no less important.  The Emperor tells us that rules are there to support and guide us, and thus he often represents bureaucracies, governments and legal systems. The Six of Swords (Mercury, reason, intelligence, education, communication, in Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, cause oriented) in an upright position is about balance, healing, moving towards a better place, and even about learning the science behind things that work (because understanding why they work makes them more effective).  The reversed Six of Swords could be more about emotions than analysis, and it is not always easy to impose order and structure onto emotions.  The good thing is that even if we are dealing with emotions instead of the intellect, my card is reversed, so those emotions should be positive.

My Thoth card is the Eight of Wands.  “Swiftness” is Crowley’s keyword for the Eight of Wands (Mercury, reason, intelligence, education, skill, communication, in Sagittarius, “I seek,” philosophic, fun-loving, adventurous, blundering) which upright is a card of action, of quick developments, and of pulling it all together so things can be completed.  This one has a lot of power for a Minor Arcana card, and it can often be a catalyst that brings a long-term transformation.

My Legacy card is the Two of Wands reversed, flavored by . . . drum roll . . . The Emperor. The Two of Wands (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Aries, “I want,” action oriented, pioneering, assertive, enthusiastic) in an upright position tells of power, influence and authority.  My card is reversed, however, and like my first pair containing The Emperor, this card is a bit weaker.  However, like my other pair, there is a side of this less aggressive card that works well when paired with The Emperor: the desire to do things by the book rather than in new and untried ways.  The Legacy Emperor represents order and structure, but he also manifests these things within the man-made world, rather than in the world of nature where The Empress can be found.  He represents the mighty civilizations at their peaks, but he also represents the processes and structures that support and maintain those civilizations.  The Llewellyn Welsh Emperor represents established rule, relaxed authority, and reason ruling emotion, all for the greater good of those who look to The Emperor for leadership.  And today, I’ve got The Emperor coming and going!

My 6-digit date number is 9, the number that represents the completeness of manifestation or effect.

My horoscopes: “Today you could attend more than one social event, Sagittarius. Some of your professional colleagues will probably be there. Conversations are going to focus primarily on business development and the economy in general. A lot of useful information could result from social contacts with others in your field. Write it all down. You will want to remember it so you can make use of it later.”

And: “A number of intriguing letters, phone calls, or e-mails could come to you, some of which could concern occult or spiritual topics. A few could be rather vague, as if the source knows little about what's being discussed. Nonetheless, these communications should make for an interesting day. Take the information as it comes and enjoy it - and don't take much, if anything, as gospel truth. If you're curious, follow it up with some research of your own.”

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Ten of Pentacles.  This is a card that values tradition and tried-and-true methods, for it is through these things that success is attained, along with discipline and the ability to focus on long-term goals.  A lasting and beneficial situation has come to us through our hard work, and if we keep reaching, there is not limit to what we might attain.

Today, we will talk a bit about the number 7.  This is an interesting one, thought to be either very lucky, or very unlucky.  There were seven lions in Daniel’s den, and seven locks of Samson’s hair cut; Joshua had seven trumpeters circle Jericho seven times, and even Snow White had seven Dwarves.   We’ve got “lucky sevens” and the “seven year itch,” and seven days in the week.  Farmers allow their fields to lay fallow every seven years, and the statute of limitations on many crimes is seven years.  We see seven colors within the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), and mathematicians have found that it takes seven shuffles to completely shuffle a deck of cards.  And of course, we have seven main chakras. 

Mathematically, the number 7 is considered a “virgin” number.  No number less than 7 divides into it and it does not reproduce itself (the way the solution of 5 x 5 x 5, etc. will always end in the number 5).  When any number besides 7 is divided by 7, the result is a fraction with an endlessly looping set of the numbers 142857. 

The shape and the solid associated with the number 7 cannot be drawn precisely; the angles are fractions, once again with that same endlessly looping set of numbers.  There are no 7-sided shapes in nature because of this.  Isn’t that cool?!

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