The Emperor/Eight of Pentacles reversed. The Emperor corresponds with Fire (hot/separates and dry/shapes), Aries (“I want,” action oriented, assertive, enthusiastic), He, the window (illumination), and the Path between Tiphareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify) and Chokmah (male in the electric sense; dynamic energy and the origin of vital force and polarity). The Emperor is about order and structure and responsibility, but they are presented in a loving and firm manner, the way a father will offer structure and discipline to the children he loves. In an upright position, the Eight of Pentacles in an upright position tells of hard work that will most likely not show a reward, at least not until maybe the very end. Because the card is reversed, and combined with the effort to impose order and structure in authoritative manner, I am being told that any efforts to act with authority today in order to bring about structure and order will most likely offer some reward equal to or maybe even greater than the efforts expended.

My Thoth card is the Eight of Cups. “Indolence” and a lack of interest are what Crowley sees in this card, and while it tells of success, it also predicts that the achievement of success will not remain quite so interesting once it is in hand. The success could possibly loose its thrill because of some excessive journeying from place to place that may be a part and parcel with the success being achieved. Interestingly enough, hermaphrodites are associated with the number 8, and I have two 8’s today, one upright and one reversed. Sine the number 8 tells of the pause that comes with an attempt to restore balance, it appears that the pause will be more beneficial on the emotional plane than on the physical, for whatever that is worth.

My Legacy card is The Emperor (again!), flavored by The World reversed. Hmmm . . . The World reversed has been showing up quite a bit for me lately. And today, **two** Emperors. Okay, then. Marchetti has this to say about The Emperor. His job is to bring structure and order to the creations of The Empress, and he does so because he has the authority to do so. The Emperor has sufficient force to instill and maintain law and order, and he presents rules and structure to every situation. He leads with confidence, supervises with intelligence, and counsels with wisdom. He is the archetype of the Father, and I think he has a specific message for me today as he appeared twice. However, his purpose will probably not have anything to do with winding up, not quite yet, for although The World has appeared today and thus, its energies are present, the card is reversed.

My 6-digit date number is 5, the number of motion that is uncomfortable but prevents stagnation.

My horoscopes: “Sagittarius, if there's something interesting that you've wanted to try, this is a great day for it. Adventure brings excitement, creative flow, and energy, which are essential to you. You're highly artistic. Continual stimulation is required to keep your psyche healthy. Experience something new today, even if it's a walk in a new place. You'll get the adrenaline you need.”

And: “You've worked hard for quite a while on a big project that you can hardly imagine ever finishing, but endings can be good. That's especially true if you're in a hurry to move on to something new -- which is so often the case with you. If you're still vying for the attention of someone in authority, you need to start dropping hints. Let them know you're getting close and you need their expertise.”

And: “A strong desire to get away might be plaguing you throughout the day, though responsibilities at home might prevent you from doing so right now. Don't allow yourself to get too frustrated. If you really want to get away for a while, set a future date and plan for it. Sometimes the planning can be as exciting as the going! Also, you might receive some information that sparks a new interest. Enjoy it!”

Well, it has certainly been an interesting couple of days. My Patroness warned me on Friday that a Challenge (and LOL, the way She said it, the word had a capital “C” fer sher) was on its way, and sure enough, an old ugliness from the past has attempted to reinfect me. I am angry, but hey; I’ve grown a lot since then, and I am determined to let it all fade away.

I also had some exciting stuff present itself to me, and I believe I have found the focus for the next round of The Great Work. I am reading Wiccan Mysteries: Ancient Origins and Teachings by Raven Grimassi (thank you, Storm, my Sister!!!), and while I don’t necessarily agree 100% with everything that Grimassi presents in this very valuable book (which in itself is pretty darned incredible), I am being drawn with amazing strength to probe deeper into his chapters on Watchers, Elementals and the Wiccan Rites. I am still in my first read of these chapters, but there is much food for thought to be found there, and I am pretty certain that with some work, I will be able to add to my own experiences with the Elementals (and the elements) in ritual. More to come on this.

We have an emergency Pagan Brain Trust meeting tonight. One of our members needs support and protection, and that is what we will offer. I have some ideas myself for some supportive workings, and we will be making use of the Interwebs as well; I am convinced that we will create something incredible.

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Nine of Swords/The Star reversed. Worry, worry, worry, all magnified beyond what it should be because I cannot or will not see the light at the end of the tunnel. All of life is a gift, both the good times and the bad times, and I need to remind myself that brooding and worrying are wasting and using up the gift in ways that are totally useless.

My Thoth card for today is the Nine of Cups. “Happiness”! I need some of that. This card tells me that much of its energies seem to depend upon luck. However, when I take into consideration the other two cards of my day, I am being given a message that sometimes I need to make my own luck!

I spoke to Jim Priest on the phone last night. Jim is the brother of Ellen, an artist who we know from Cape May, and Jim has written a trilogy of books about magickal creatures he calls Kirins. I spoke to Jim in order to encourage him to advertise the books within the Pagan community. I think the time is right for his trilogy in several respects: he is offering the first book free as a download/podcast, he is able to advertise without cost on such venues as FaceBook and YouTube, and stories about magickal entities who exist in secret alongside human beings in the modern world are very popular right now. It will be interesting to see how things work out for Jim.

I am still feeling as if something big is just beyond the horizon; however this time the feeling is different from any other time in the past. I feel as if the “horizon” is within me this time, and I feel that I should not be sitting back waiting for the event to come closer on its own, but instead should be actively looking for it in the vast worlds within me. I sense that there are upheavals approaching that are a part of this “something big,” and I sense that they will not all be pleasant and exciting in nature. But *I* need to make this happen, I need to choose to make whatever this is happen.

In this regard, I felt the need to perform an elemental meditation, and chose to do so by recreating some of the meditations and pathworking that I performed while I was taking the Progressive Magick Class with Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone. I decided to begin the meditation as I was taught in the Class, by walking along a path that led up a mountain. The first entity that appeared to me was my Earth Guide, standing between two torches; as always, he led me down and to the right, away from the path and toward the small clearing in which was the standing stone. I walked slowly around the stone, examining the carvings there: a clockwise spiral, an equal sided cross within a circle, an octahedron, and a palm print, right hand. I placed my right palm against the print, and for a moment a deep awareness of Earth filled me.

Then, I smiled and thanked my Guide, and went back to the path. Soon enough, I came to my Water Guide, standing between two torches. I sipped from her Cauldron, and instantly dropped down into the rapids from my past pathworkings. I floated along in the cool, refreshing and rapidly moving water, with the night sky, filled with the twinkling of stars, framed by the trees on the bank. I came to the small clearing, lit with torches, where people dressed in late 1800’s attire were playing croquet; there on the bank was my ancestress, waving to me as I floated by and reminding me of the hereditary power within me that I have passed on to my son. Eventually, the land flattened out and the river slowed; I came to the place where the path led away from the river and into the hills. I could feel the cool earth against my wet feet as I walked toward the waterfall. Once I arrived, I stood beneath the gentle flow of water, washing myself clean. Once I was cleansed and refreshed and renewed, I found the left hand print on the rock wall and pressed my left hand into it; instantly I was filled with a deep awareness of Water.

I moved on, following the path until I came to my Fire Guide, standing between two torches. She smiled as I approached her, and then she took my hand and led me off the path to a huge bonfire, burning in a clearing. She nodded and then we both stepped into the flames. I felt no burning or intense heat, but rather little pinches and places of warmth, and something that was almost like tickles against my skin. After a bit, I stepped out of the flames, and found myself transformed. This was not the usual, intense transformation of shedding my physical body that had come to me in the past; rather, my clothes had been burned from my body, my hair, every last strand, had been burned from my body, and the top layer of skin had been burned from my body. I was naked and pink and new, the top layers of what I was had been removed to uncover the “inner me” as I stepped out of my awareness and connection with Fire.

I moved on, following the path to the top of the hill; there stood my Air Guide, hooded and robed, holding a large golden sword with rubies imbedded in the ornate hilt. He beckoned me forward, and I stood at the summit of the mountain and looked outward. The sky was the blue of a clear Fall day, but I could not see the sun. I could feel its warmth on my fresh, new and sensitive skin, though, and I could feel the clear and crisp air as it filled my lungs and caressed my skin. I shut my eyes in order to take a deep breath and instantly my ears were filled with the sound of Tibetan monks chanting “Oooohhhhmmmm.” I opened my eyes, startled, and the sound disappeared, but when I closed my eyes I could hear it again, the intensity of the combined voices causing a vibration deep within me. I connected to the pure spirituality of the sound and was filled with a deep awareness of Air.

When I opened my eyes once again, my vision was filled with the bright yellow light of the Sun. I allowed myself to see with my physical eyes at the same time that I “saw” with my other senses. The “blue bird of happiness” (LOL) asleep in the back of my mind, placed there by Archangel Uriel, awoke and stretched, and flapped his wings, covered with rapidly emerging feathers, and cried out with joy.

I finished the meditation with an awareness of the elements that seemed to be different from other meditations. This time, not only was I feeling the different effects of the elements themselves, but I was also beginning to sense a bridge of sorts between the worlds of the astral planes and the vast universes of my mind, and the realms of the physical.

I feel like I am checking my supplies before going on a camping trip, or studying before a final exam. Am I prepared?