It has been a busy week,
somewhat stressful but all good. I
have a big decision on my mind today as I throw my cards, and I’m wondering if
even though I try to keep these card throws general in nature, there might be a
specific message for me today.
I’ve decided to use the Wild Unknown Tarot for this one. I shuffled with baited breath, and threw the Two of Pentacles
reversed and The Hanging Man reversed.
The Two of
Pentacles (Jupiter, expansiveness and growth, justice, fortune, in Capricorn,
“I build,” ambition, caution, cunning) reminds us that everything always ebbs
and flows, and we need to do the same in order to remain dynamically
balanced. Change is what allows
stability to be functional, and I should keep that in mind. I should also remember that surviving
this kind of dynamic balance can only happen if I am aware on many levels.
The Wild Unknown Tarot LWB keywords for this card are
“balance and change”; the image is a black and white butterfly with a pentagram
on each wing, with a multicolored (one color for each physical world element)
symbol of eternity circling each of those pentagrams. The butterfly often symbolizes complete metamorphosis; after
all it goes from egg (which could symbolize potential) to caterpillar (which
could symbolize the decision to do something with that potential) to chrysalis
(which could symbolize the manifesting or development of that decision into
reality), and then finally to an exquisite butterfly (the end result). This process follows a “ritual” of
sorts, and it takes time to complete.
The end result, the butterfly, looks nothing like the other stages in
this process. Perhaps the balance
being represented in this card is achieved by accepting both change and the
status-quo (or the end result with the initial intentions). Or, since the butterfly also represents
the element of Air and the workings of the intellect, perhaps the balance is
connected to the physical world and the etheric realms of feelings and thoughts
and beliefs. They are also difficult
to balance!
The Hanging Man corresponds
with Water (cold/binds and
wet/adapts, and emotional, sensitive and imaginative energy that tends to move
deep, and attempts to take the same path as in the past), Neptune (inspiration,
spirituality, magick, enchantment, dreams, altered states), and the Hebrew
letter Mem (water, stability and balance, the reflective quality of thought),
and presents the kind of balance that comes to us through surrender, and
through deliberately attempting to see things in a different way. This card tells of destiny, as well as
sacrifice and loss, and passive or mystical initiation. All of these do not have an accidental
feel about them at all. Crowley warns us that the suspension brought by this
card can either hint that we are waiting for someone else to take charge, or
that we are sacrificing for the benefit of others. Either of those interpretations can either be appropriate or
harmful, depending on the situation.
The Wild
Unknown Tarot Hanged Man brings an amusing
concept to this strange card. The
image on this Major Arcana card is fitting: a bat hanging upside down, wrapped
cozily in his wings, with red, glowing eyes. This bat appears at first glance to be totally surrendering
to his upside-down pose, but actually he is quite alert, looking around and
perceiving all. Perceiving all
from a unique perspective, and maybe seeing things that we aren’t seeing from
our right-side-up view of the world.
The bat is not forced to assume this hanging position; he actually
chooses to see the world this way, and is able to benefit from his choice. And when he is ready to move on, all he
has to do is let go, and he is immediately, effortlessly, able to soar.
Since both of
these cards are reversed, these energies are not having an effect on my day, or
they are being prevented from having an effect on my day. I am not proficient at balancing inner
and outer effects. And I am not
comfortable with the idea of seeing things in an unusual way, particularly if
doing so would make me appear strange or creepy. That bat in an upright position really does seem to be
looking right through my soul, and its gaze is disconcerting. Is he warning me
that not being adaptable is creating some danger? Is he warning me that sticking
with the path of least resistance is a recipe for disaster? Clarification? I threw another card, and got another
reversed card, The Devil reversed.
Um, is that supposed to be clarification? Let’s see.
The Devil
(Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and stable, material, practical energies
that are slow to change), Capricorn (“I build,” ambitious, competent, cautious,
cunning), Ayin (the eye, senses), and the Path between Hod (which provides
analysis and communication) and Tipareth (the hub of the creation process where
energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify) tells of being caught
up in the physical world and the effects of the physical senses, to the point
of being bound or addicted to those things. The Devil is often the scapegoat
blamed for any excesses of the physical world. After all, enjoyment of the physical world is somehow seen
by many as a denial of or estrangement from God. I will need to be real careful today about manifesting my
ambitions. Dominating others for
my own pleasure and purposes is not a good thing. Better I work on the balance of The Aeon, for the presence
of The Devil tells me that letting go might not be easy.
The Wild
Unknown Devil has the image of a horned goat
with a pentagram embossed on his forehead, standing with a black background and
his four hooves glowing with orange and yellow light, as if the goat was
walking through flames. The
keywords for this card are negativity, materialism and addiction, but they are
difficult to see in the image on the card. Is this goat a representation of the worship or elevation of
those things not meant to be worshipped?
Or does the goat on this card remind us all that while we are spiritual
beings, we are also animals, complete with urges and needs and pleasures of the
body?
My Devil, like my other cards
today, is reversed. Perhaps I am being
told that physical world effects are not bondage, but are necessary to be
considered. The randomness and wild disorder of the
physical world could stress me out today, but since I have two Major Arcana
cards in play within my reading, I had better pay attention. In the end, nothing will move quickly
and maybe tomorrow’s reading will shed some light on things. So much for clarification.
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