The Lovers/Seven of Pentacles reversed. The Lovers (Air, hot/separates and wet/adapts, quick and animated, intellectual, problems or challenges; Gemini, “I think,” curious, talkative, sociable, dual; Zayin, double-edged sword; and the Path between Tiphareth, the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify, and Binah, female receptive energy and the origin of form and structure) tells of union and of personal choices.   The Lovers is about duality as well as about unions, and about feelings, but these feelings are mostly spiritual or intellectual in nature.  You could say that The Lovers is more about discernment than passion, although passion can certainly be a part of the relationships represented by this card.   The Seven of Pentacles (Saturn, discipline, responsibility, law and order, in Taurus, “I have,” sensual, cautious, stubborn) tells of pauses and choices and assessments.  Because it is a number 7 card, and because it is of the suit of Pentacles (which corresponds with the element of Earth), tells of a time of assessment, and possibly, a change in how things are being done.  My Seven of Pentacles is reversed, so the pause may very well not happen for me today, but the change of direction that comes after that pause may not happen either. 

My Thoth card is the Seven of Disks.  Bookends!  “Failure” is Crowley’s keyword for this card, surprisingly.  Most decks see this card as representing a time when we look at the fruits of our labors, and if the time is right, begin the harvest of those fruits.  Crowley sees this card as being a bit more negative, more of a throwing down of the garden tool and abandoning the project, rather than leaning on the tool in order to see what we’ve accomplished.  This could be because this one is associated with Saturn, not exactly the most expansive sign. 

My Legacy card is The Sun reversed, flavored by the Queen of Wands. The Sun corresponds with Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes, spontaneous, impulsive and energetic change), our Sun (the inner core of a person or situation), Resh (the face; reason), and the Path between Yesod (the place where patterns and images emerge that may manifest in the physical world) and Hod (provides analysis and communication), and tells of a time of enlightenment.  Like The Lovers above, The Sun can be seen to represent duality, only this time, we have found a harmony between our conscious self and our Higher Self that has brough us achievement of our goals.  The Sun does not represent the end of the journey, however; merely a brief pause.  Life must keep changing, and if we cling to this pause, there will be a price to pay, so we should enjoy it while it is here. The Queen of Wands (cusp of Pisces, “I believe,” feelings, duality, soul growth, spirituality, and Aries, “I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive) is energetic and enthusiastic, gives 100% of herself, and always has a smile on her face and humor in her heart.  My Queen will keep an eye on me, and make sure that I don’t spend too much time relaxing in The Sun!

More about the Seven of Pentacles/Disks/Coins.  The suit corresponds with Earth, and the number 7 tells of the ebbing of balance and harmony of the number 6.  Those are both heavy, slow moving concepts, so this card does have a bit of heaviness about it.  However, sometimes we do need to stop and look at what has manifested from our efforts thus far.  After all, if we look back and see something wrong, there still be time to salvage something from the project.  If we look back, and all is ready for harvesting, we can jump on the opportunity.  The risk, of course, is that no matter what we do, there is a chance that acting will destroy our efforts rather than fix them.  But avoiding the pause, and the choice connected to it (to continue to expend effort, or to decide that we have done enough), is in itself a choice.  Better to make the choice, even if we are wrong, than to surrender to the elements and maybe never know how close we were to success.

My 6-digit date number is 8, the conscious and focused response to the pause and beginning of degeneration that is the number 7, in order to maintain for a bit longer the balance and harmony of the number 6.

My horoscopes: “A temporary delay in receiving some expected funds might force you to postpone a much-needed purchase, Sagittarius. Don't make yourself crazy over this. It isn't worth the stress. The delay is disheartening, but it isn't a cancellation. Your money will arrive and you'll be able to go ahead with your plans. In the meantime, keep yourself busy. Hang in there.”

And: “Other responsibilities might keep you away from your loved one throughout the day. If you have plans for tonight - or even if you don't - you might find this rather depressing. Where is the one you love? Is your partner out carousing and having a good old time while you're working like crazy? Don't torture yourself with thoughts like this.”

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding The Devil.  Here’s one we haven’t pondered in a while!  The Shadowscapes Companion describes this card as “entrapment of the willing,” and that is a fit description.  Yes, this card is about addiction, and about losing independence, but these things happen because we choose what appears to be the easy road: staying immersed within these dark pleasures.  Yes, it may seem from our vantage point that the road up and out is nearly insurmountable, but once a few steps are taken, that lofty peak will not seem so distant.  Promise!

We’ve talked about “the hinges” that are the Cardinal signs, and the flexible and changeable Mutable signs.  Today, we speak of the Fixed signs; these signs are associated with stabilization, determination, depth and persistence. They are powerful and willfull; they eagerly rise to the challenge, are quite productive and usually can get a lot more things done than the other two sets of signs, but they can be inflexible, rigid, stubborn and opinionated. Fixed signs often are the ones who need to be considered "right."  They tend to stick to their guns, regardless of what others think.

You can usually depend on the Fixed signs to stick with something to the end; but it can be hard for them to let go, even when something appears to be a lost cause. They don’t do well with change; look out for fundamentalism.  Thankfully, most charts have a mix of influences, so we don’t usually deal with a pure Fixed sign often.

The four Fixed signs of the Zodiac, which each create stability through the effects of their element, are:

Taurus (The Bull, April 21 to May 20): This one is full Spring in northern hemisphere and full Autumn in southern hemisphere. Taurus is Fixed Earth, and these signs tend to dig into the earth, and build with real elements to construct a solid life.

Leo (The Lion, July 22 to August 22): This one is full Summer in northern hemisphere and full Winter in southern hemisphere. Leo is Fixed Fire, which can mean a career of self-expression, and achieving ongoing respect in their chosen fields.

Scorpio (The Scorpion, October 23 to November 21): This one is full Autumn in northern hemisphere and full Spring in southern hemisphere. Scorpio is Fixed Water, and thus permanence is found through achievement, and going deep into the timeless mysteries of the imagination, dreams, primal sexuality.

Aquarius (The Water Bearer, January 21 to February 19): This one is full Winter in northern hemisphere and full Summer in southern hemisphere. Aquarius is Fixed Air, and these signs focus on and connect to  continuum that reaches into the future, and can doggedly push for reform, or spend a lifetime on their personal inventions.

Okay, got all that??

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