Ace of Swords reversed/Two of Cups. The Ace of Swords (Capricorn, “I build,” ambition, caution authority, cunning, Aquarius and Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, soul growth, artistic) in an upright position tells of the potential within the day to effectively use mental or intellectual abilities. My Ace is reversed today, and considering my focus and the direction of my efforts these days, I am seeing this as a message that for today, I should not see every event as a lesson to be analyzed and absorbed.  While these processes might cause a bit of isolation, I am learning that isolation is the first step toward understanding myself.  Now **that** idea is a challenge that offers opportunity for growth! The Two of Cups (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, family and home oriented, tenacious, moody) tells of about love and connections, usually having to do with feelings, relationships and commonalities.  This card is validating my reversed Ace of Swords with some strength.  My Two is telling me that the isolation that is necessary for understanding and learning from life’s challenges is not for me today; instead, I should be focusing on my connections to others, particularly those I love.  After all, love is the answer to the question. 

My Thoth card is the Nine of Disks.  “Gain” is the keyword for this one, usually gain in the material world. The Nine of Disks (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented) tells of accomplishment or gain through the imposition of discipline.  This type of effort usually works well when tried-and-true methods are the best option, and it tells me that if I keep my nose to the grindstone, I may experience the satisfaction of enjoying pleasant results attained by my own hard work.

My Legacy card is the King of Swords reversed, flavored by The Lovers reversed.  The King of Swords (cusp of Capricorn, “I build,” ambitious, cautious, cunning, authoritative, and Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, cause-oriented, aloof) in an upright position is a good judge of people and situations.  He uses his intellect to analyze, so he may not be compassionate but he is trustworthy.  But my King is reversed, and being flavored by The Lovers, also 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 duality, union, and personal choices.  Today I am lacking the ability to analyze, so my choices need to be either for the good of all (and with the input of all) or not made today at all.

My 6-digit date number is 7, the number that tells of the pause that occurs when growth slows and degeneration approaches.  Often, this pause involves a crossroad or choice.

My horoscopes: “Take a break from the routine and get off the beaten path, Sagittarius. This is a day to forge ahead with ideas and dreams rather than commitments and answers. Question things and debate the facts. Have fun whatever you do. This is the perfect day to go out and fly kites with your friends. All group activities are strongly favored. You can't go wrong chatting about the latest events in your life.”

And: “Today your physical energy, along with your enthusiasm, is very high, so you're definitely up for any task at hand. Your mind is also sharp and capable of accomplishing feats of ingenuity you would never have thought of before. The only downside: You could get carried away and work your way into exhaustion. Remember to pace yourself!”

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Five of Wands.  I love the energies of this card!  Yes, they are a bit uncomfortable, but I like to see them as a “scouring” of my creative abilities so those abilities can be more clearly perceived.  These are good energies for sneaking in under the radar; as everyone else is scrambling to adapt, I can quietly slip through.

I did an incredibly powerful meditation today that is part of my 3^rd Degree Lesson.  I wrote the meditation based on a snippet that was given to me last week.

I will be honest, I’ve done quite a bit of Shadow Work over the past five years or so, and I did not expect a lot to happen once I performed the ritual.  Big surprise!  I am still blown away by what happened during the meditation!  I received two very unexpected surprises, both clarifying events or entities that came to me years ago.  And I finally understood the most important part of Shadow Work.

Once I submit the homework, I will post a description of the meditation, but this is only part of the lesson work, so it will be a while yet.  But the interesting thing is that since the meditation, I am experiencing a turmoil of energies.  These are all minor irritations, but it is almost like something big and heavy has been dropped into still waters; everything has been churned up.

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