Transparent Oracle Sunday!!

3, Element: Air (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.  The element of Air represents the purest of clear thought, logic, and the ability to analyze.  Air is also connected with knowledge, education, science, and inspiration or a new way of thinking about things. 

24, Time of Day: Sunset (West).  West is the direction of Water, and thus, of feelings and emotions, relationships of all kinds, cleansing and healing, the wisdom associated with natural endings, and the bubbling up of pure joy.  Sunset is the time when we pause as the daylight hours come to a close.  We should not, however, assume that the day is done, for much can be had from the dark hours.  The light of the setting sun and the long shadows can transform even the most mundane environment into something mystical and magickal, the perfect environment to remember the experiences of the day.

57, Grail Hallows: The Sword (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.  The Grail Hallows present esoteric and hidden knowledge about the elements and the Tarot suit of Swords/Air.  The Sword stands for truth, authority, empowerment, nobility and destiny.  It may only be wielded by one who earns the right, and when this card appears, it tells of a higher calling that when responded to will bring the respondent into their true and destined spiritual power.

I then stacked my cards and created my mandala.  It appears upon initial glance that the rays of the setting sun are surrounding and supporting some kind of insignia.  Indeed, The Sword is a Grail Hallows that corresponds to . . . wait for it . . . the element of Air!  The Grail Hallows Sword tells me that the powers offered (authority, knowledge) need to be earned.  Perhaps I am being told that this is a good time for me to asses what I’ve done so far, in order to use my experiences to turn knowledge into wisdom. Cold hard facts are important, but so is inspiration.

Ready for the next Wild Unknown Tarot card?  The Eight of Pentacles.  The image on this card is a spider web, with the spider sitting in the middle of the web.  I’ve seen this image before on an Eight of Pentacles, and in my opinion it is the perfect example of the energies of this card.  I have watched garden spiders build webs on early Summer evenings from my beloved porch in Cape May; the spider works diligently, with amazing skills, amazing proprioceptive visualization abilities.  Just imagining the daunting task of building one of those webs allows me to understand the attention to detail and persistence of focus necessary to complete the task.  And after all that work, by the following morning the web is discarded, and as the sun sets once again, the spider snips any remaining lines so she can begin anew the entire process.  Powerful energies?  You bet!  Obvious and in-your-face?  Nope.  Instead, we have sustained power manifested through focus, skill, and attention to detail. 

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