The Universe/The Magician reversed. The “final gateway is here”! It is time for me to pull back from my belief that I have mastered everything, because while I may have mastered the skills necessary to get this far, the time is coming to prepare to become a novice once again. It is okay to rest for a bit and enjoy the deeper connection to the universe that I have attained, but I need to keep in mind that every ending heralds a new beginning. Soon enough the next “first step” will be upon me and I will need to shift my focus inward in order to find the first new tendrils of that next step.

My Thoth card is the Nine of Discs reversed. “Gain” in an upright position tells of a moment of intense enjoyment from viewing hard-won accomplishments, but this enjoyment has the potential of becoming so heavy with its own weight that it morphs into stagnation. Because the card is reversed, I am being told to be careful that I don’t pause today at the wrong time, if at all.

My Legacy card is the Five of Swords. This card is warning that things are not what they seem. We may believe that we have won a victory, but if that victory was attained by ill means, it is not really a victory at all. We may feel that we have been bested, but the worse case scenario is that we lost and it’s over. Now comes acceptance of defeat, and then rebuilding, better than before.

Some interesting endings and transitions presented in my cards today. This morning, while doing my usual morning meditation, Danu came to me. I could tell that She was not just there to give me a hug, and so I asked her what She needed to tell me. She said, “It is time to take the next step.” I told Danu that I was ready for that next step, whatever it was. She proceeded to challenge me!

Danu explained that I had gotten better at stopping my judgment of others, and I had gotten real good at preventing a focus on negative things and on cleaning the aftereffects of those negative focuses out of my aura when one snuck in under my defenses. She praised me for one part of the process that I had recently initiated: when someone cuts me off or acts with rudeness, instead of getting angry, I visualize a perfect rose, cut from a rose bush, with a few healthy leaves but all thorns cut from the stem, and I send the visualization of this rose to the rude person with the intent that whatever is initiating the distraction or rudeness is eased so that this person is happier. Danu explained to me that while these skills are useful and necessary, they are defensive in nature. They are a reaction to the actions of others.

Now, She explained, the time has come for me to choose to act, not to react. I need to send serenity and balance and peace into my aura so that I leave a residue of these emotions behind, wherever I go. There is a benefit to this because in doing so, I will be changing my personal environment to be more serene, more balanced and more peaceful. I need to actively open myself to the messages and symbolism of such things as the Tarot. I need to not only accept the messages, but I need to share them with those who need to know them.

I must act, and I must act with confidence. Not as an authoritarian ruler whose commands must be obeyed, but rather to offer positive effects to others so that if they choose to, they may absorb them. I must also take actions with confidence because these actions are like seeds being sprinkled onto the soil under the leaves of orange and yellow and red and brown. Those seeds will rest quietly, protected, through the quiet of the cold and dark, and when the time is right, they will burst forth with life; I have only to believe and to act with quiet authority.

Take the next step. Act. Believe.

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