Eight of Cups/Four of Cups reversed. Lots of Water (cold/binds and wet/adapts) today, and so the focus just might be on restoring serenity, and that serenity will be restored by making changes. I am being told that today I may want to move away from the emotions and feelings that aren’t working for me. This will be more easily accomplished if I stay very aware of and in tune with my feelings and emotions; I need to live in the “now” emotionally rather than allowing my inner self to wander aimlessly.

My Thoth card is the Ten of Cups. “Satiety” today, and another card connected to feelings and my inner self. This one warns me that if I allow the energy of that Four of Cups to control any pleasure, I will end up drugged by that pleasure and unable to truly see. The end result may be success, but a kind of “be careful what you wish for” success.

My Legacy card is the Five of Wands, “flavored” by the Nine of Wands reversed. Okay, just what we need here in order to bring some shape and focus into all that Watery energy! The Five of Wands is about minor conflicts, about a group of ideas which are all important but cannot be meshed, and about the re-imposition of motion and challenge into the momentary pause and anticipation of the future of the Four of Wands. Back to work!! Since this card is flavored by the Nine of Wands reversed, I won’t be dealing with difficult challenges, just irritating ones.

My 6-digit date number is 6!! Yes!! Today this number shows me what I need to aim for; with all the Water in my card throws today, I need to add some influences of other elements or I will not feel happy and serene by the end of the day.

My horoscopes: “Unfortunately, today's planetary energy will place you in a rather uncomfortable situation, Sagittarius. You'll be the one having to smooth things over with your group of friends. Try not to impose your point of view. On the contrary, you should try to become more diplomatic and gentle with the people around you. You could also learn a lot by observing how people behave.”

And: “You're accustomed to not only accepting the unexpected, but also learning to embrace it -- a trait that comes in handy right about now. You may also need to prepare those close to you for some surprise announcements, even if they're not the sort to enjoy that kind of thing. If you can communicate the finer details, they may make the best of it. It certainly can't hurt to try!”

And finally: “You are a very knowledgeable person. In general, women born under Sagittarius are staunch ideologists, and when this tendency is mixed with their more masculine side, it gives them a very black and white way of expressing their opinions. It's often as if what they are saying is the only truth. Today's planetary aspects could help you to be more flexible and tolerant in your relations with other people.”

Well, looks like outside influences will seem to be against me today. Forewarned is forearmed, and I will do my best to diffuse any difficulties.

Pagan Brain Trust met Monday night; boy, was it good to be with that group again! E graduated from Yoga Teacher School this past weekend, and there was some celebrating going on. But we also took the time to deal with some serious stuff, too. Got that all taken care of; now we can move on to our egregore.

I am teaching a Tarot Class tonight at Off the Beaten Path, and I look forward to it. I love my Summer workshops; they are the “next step” for those who have learned the basics of the cards.

More about my weekend workshop. Thai Massage is not what the average person pictures when they think about getting a massage, for this is not about getting undressed and laying down on a massage table and letting the practitioner do all the sweating. The recipient is fully dressed, and the bodywork takes place on a floor mat the size of a queen-sized mattress. The practitioner moves the recipient into stretches and poses (the correct term is “asanas”) while the recipient relaxes totally and surrenders to the practitioner’s manipulation. The real art form to this is sloooooowly instituting the asana or stretch to the threshold of the recipient’s ability, and then gently but firmly holding until the release happens. It always does happen, and in fact in Thai Massage, the release is known as the “echo.” The skill of the practitioner is based in part upon his or her ability to make those echos happen, and the benefit is that the recipient gains quite a bit of flexibility.

I was surprised on Tuesday morning when I did my first set of belly dance stretches and Yoga asanas after my weekend of giving and receiving Thai Massage. I really am more flexible. I get all kinds of nice pops now when I stretch, and I always feel nice and loose and very strong. This is an amazing modality, and I look forward to maybe receiving a bit on the weekend, if Helen or Lisa are in Cape May and free to work for a bit with all the asanas we learned during the workshop.

I have also noticed that another layer of the onion has been peeled off my energy work. My chakras are more healthy, my MCO is incredible now, and my meditative muscles have gotten a nice workout. Cernunnos is very, very happy; He was the one who has been pushing me to get my physical body in order, and to my surprise, having my physical body in better shape has increased the potency of my energy body.

How cool is that??!!

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