Eight of Cups/The Emperor.  The Eight of Cups (Saturn, discipline, responsibility, limitation, law and order, in Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, suffering, soul growth) tells of an ending or a change of direction, often one associated with emotions.  Interesting card to have as the end of the year approaches.  This card is about seeking a deeper understanding of things and in the process, getting rid of what no longer serves.  The Emperor is a Fire card (hot/separates and dry/shapes, and spontaneous, impulsive, energetic change) which corresponds with the astrological sign of Aries (“I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive) and the Hebrew letter Heh (window, illumination) that represents the power of the mind and of intentions to shape the world.  He is the “regulator,” and is about authority and structure, and while he learns from his past, he focuses on the present and the future.  So, we have a bit of looking back in order to get rid of what doesn’t work, and then a nice, strong, predictable view of the present and maybe the future.

My Thoth card is the Ace of Swords.  Again.  The Ace of Swords (Capricorn, “I build,” ambition, caution authority, cunning, Aquarius and Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, soul growth, artistic) tells me that I may be using my mind to solve the problems of the day.  Besides being realistic and objective, I may find myself developing a sense of identity or individuality.  The message of this card has huge significance; after all it has been showing up with regularity.  The cool thing is that I have the mental skills to accept and understand this message, and it just might bring the beginning of some kind of momentum or action.

My Legacy card is The Hermit reversed, flavored by The Lovers reversed.  . The Hermit, which corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and material, practical and stable energy that is slow to change), Virgo (“I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented, orderly), Yod (open hand, touch), and the Path between Tiphareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify) and Chesed (the place where forms and structure are stabilized and nurtured), is reversed for me today.  In an upright position, The Hermit would be telling me that the lessons to be learned today are discovered through an inward and solitary focus.  However, today might be better if I reach out and re-validate my connections to both my physical senses and to those around me.  The reversed 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) is flavoring my reversed Hermit today.  Because it is reversed, this card is reminding me that sometimes we need to choose for the group instead of for ourselves, and those choices are best if presented through the vehicle of established beliefs that are accepted by the group.  Sounds like these two cards are validating my Eight of Cups and Emperor above!

My 6-digit date number is 7, the number that tells of a pause, and possibly a crossroad, as growth turns to stagnation.

My horoscopes: “This isn't the moment to adhere to a particular philosophy, whatever it may be. You may feel frustrated by your inability to figure out which path to take, but this is very good for you. Continue to search with your little flashlight, as weak as it may seem, because this is how you're going to get solid faith back again. Best of all, it will be a faith tailored for you.”

And: “Most of the time you tend to be an outgoing person who loves talking to others. However, today you're likely to feel far more reticent than usual, more inclined to listen than to speak. There may not seem to be any real reason for this; it isn't as if you were depressed or worried. You're not! Don't worry about it. View this as an opportunity to really hear what others have to say. You'll be yourself again tomorrow.”

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Five of Swords.  This is a card of power, power used for goals of self-interest.  Is this bad?  Only when carried to extremes.  Making things happen the way we want them to is only bad if we sacrifice our own integrity in the process and run roughshod over everyone else in the picture, without a care for who we are hurting as we attain our personal goals.  Fighting to survive is okay, but really . . . ask yourself.  Is that what your challenge is all about?

Tonight we are having another Pagan Brain Trust gathering at the home of the Wayne Contingency.  Our Dear Phillie will be returning to the West Coast next week, and we all want to get one more face-to-face evening at the “Sacred Table” before he heads West.  Hopefully we will finish the evening with the New Moon Reiki Share that we were unable to schedule because of the Christmas weekend.  As cool as the Solstice Salon was, it’s going to be very awesome to have an entire evening with just the five of us.  There will be chocolate!

Since the end of the calendar year is nearly upon us, I will take a moment to recap my year.  And what a year it has been!  I made my way through all of the Paths of the Tree of Life.  The Wayne Contingency of the Pagan Brain Trust came to Cape May for the weekend.  I created my Twitter account, attended my second Vedic Thai Yoga workshop, and began working with my regular client, Andrew, and his wife, Patty.  I experienced Hurricane Irene and some lovely nor’easters in Cape May, an earthquake in Hackensack, and attended two Shamanic Journeys, at one of which I gave Reiki to 21 people!  I connected with the ‘information highway,” my son was almost electrocuted, and I discovered that Aleister Crowley’s ashes are buried in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.  I studied The Emerald Tablet, and I am very close to publishing an eBook describing my experiences with its rubrics.  I have been shown my Patroness what Path to choose within my Third Degree Training, once I complete my current homework submission.  I found my display BOS, began entering my personal solitary rituals into it, and also wrote and led Esbats and the Yule Sabbat for Sacred Mists.  I finally purchased an eReader, and I love it. 

All in all, it has been a very productive year.  Don’t be fooled, though; all has not been a bed of roses.  Money is an issue, and I am always battling the “lethargy monster.”  For the first time in my 10 years of menopause, depression has been an issue.  Not often, but ouch.  However, I feel closer than ever to Bob and my family, and Carolyn and I have done some very powerful work, both together and each of us individually.

2012 is going to be an interesting year; I have felt the effects of an unexpected chaos since Samhain, and this churning of unexpected energies is acting like an abrasive.  It is scrubbing away the accumulated dirt from the windshield, and I just know that soon enough I will be seeing the world with new clarity. 

I have had some amazing experiences this past year as I worked with my subtle body.  I have changed, my subtle body has changed, and in the months ahead I will be revisiting the Great Work of psychological alchemy (and hopefully writing my second eBook) and focusing on reconnecting with my physical body in new and more healthy ways.  This is being prompted by my post of December 27^th, with the quote from “The Education of Oversoul Seven” by Jane Roberts: “Honor your body, which is your representative in this universe. Its magnificence is no accident. It is the framework through which your works must come; through which the spirit and the spirit within the spirit speaks. The flesh and the spirit are two phases of your actuality in space and time. Who ignores one, falls apart in shambles. . . .  The body is the soul in Earth-garments. It is the face of the soul turned toward the seasons, the image of the soul reflected in Earth waters. The body is the soul turned outward. Soul and body are merged in the land of the seasons.” 

I could not say it better than that.

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Nine of Swords/Seven of Cups. The Nine of Swords (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, in Gemini, “I think,” curious, talkative, social, dual) represents brooding and worrying.  This card represents the “agony of the mind,” and no matter what happens today, good or bad, I need to keep “face-palming” myself so that I remember that I can choose how to respond to things. The Seven of Cups (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, controlling, obsessive, mysterious) represents the distraction and dissipation that can happen when we are presented with enticing choices. The traditional image of the Seven of Cups shows seven cups, each filled with what appears to be a wonderful gift: the Wreath (Saturn and The World); the Castle (Mars and The Tower), the Woman (Venus and The Empress); the Snake (Mercury and The Magician); the Veil (the Moon and The High Priestess), the Jewels (Jupiter and The Wheel of Fortune), and the Dragon (our Sun and The Sun).  The lesson here is that every choice we make can bring pleasure or pain; we have to look carefully, make our choice, and then accept the consequences.  Worrying is counterproductive, but awareness of consequences is not.

My Thoth card is the Six of Disks reversed. The  “Success” card has been showing up for me lately, both upright and reversed. The Six of Disks (Moon, feelings and emotions, illusion, imagination, in Taurus, “I have,” Sensual, cautious, stubborn) in an upright position can be seen as being a bit heavy, or as warning of the approach of a weight that will end up dragging us down.  Today this card is asking a question: “What is worse?  Having?  Or not having?”

My Legacy card is the Ace of Wands reversed (had this one yesterday, too), flavored by the Three of Coins reversed. The Ace of Wands (Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, egotistical, Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, sensible, orderly) tells of the first spark of a new and exciting process for self-expression and adventure.  My Ace is reversed.  Again.  But today, I may just have a hint as to what I can do to turn that Ace around.  The Three of Coins (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Capricorn, “I build,” ambition, cunning, competence) in an upright position tells of competence, planning and teamwork.  But it is reversed, and flavoring my reversed Ace of Wands, as if to wave its arms at me and yell “Over here, stupid; here is the answer you keep missing.”  Okay then, time to plan carefully, and then implement those plans completely so I can build a good foundation.

My 6-digit date number is 5, the number of movement which dispels stagnation. 

My horoscopes: “Restrictive forces may come into conflict with you today. The good news is that you should be able to find a space of peace within your emotions. Seek a mediator who can help you sort out stalemates that may exist between you and others. Opportunities for freedom and autonomy are out there waiting for you to grab. Seek the bizarre and unconventional ways of doing things.”

And: “Expanding your horizons is the key phrase for today. Communications received from distant states or foreign lands could have you entertaining the idea of traveling to those places and visiting with people with the same interests as yourself. Learning is very much on your mind, and you're probably very curious about different cultures, different ideas, and different perspectives. Though you might not make definite plans for travel now, you're apt to at least consider it.”

My Shadowscapes Insight is regarding the Nine of Cups.  What a pretty card!  One of my favorite things to do is to bend my body as the merman is bending his body in this image, in preparation for gliding gracefully downward into the water.  It just feels so powerful to me.  This card is about the pleasures of the senses, and about satisfaction.  The perfect card to throw on a day that is bracketed with the offering of Nuad Borarn in the morning, and belly dance in the evening.

My gift to you all today is the text to a YouTube video that I found, called “Sumerian Sacred Script of Covenant.” If you have the time, head over to YouTube and do a search for it; the video is beautiful.  But the text is the part that really spoke to me.  Enjoy!

Honor your body, which is your representative in this universe. Its magnificence is no accident. It is the framework through which your works must come; through which the spirit and the spirit within the spirit speaks. The flesh and the spirit are two phases of your actuality in space and time. Who ignores one, falls apart in shambles.

The marriage of soul and flesh is an ancient contract, to be honored.

Let no soul in flesh ignore its Earthly counterpart, or be unkind to its mate in time.

The mind cannot dance above the flesh, or on the flesh. It cannot deny the flesh or it turns into a demon demanding domination. Then the voice of the flesh cries out with yearning through all of its parts; the ancient contract undone. And both soul and flesh go begging, each alone and without partner.

Who feeds the body with love, neither starving it nor stuffing it, feeds the soul. Who denies the body denies the soul. Who betrays it betrays the soul. The body is the body of the soul, the corporal image of knowledge. As men and women are married to each other, so is each self wedded to its body.

Those who do not love the body or trust it do not love or trust the soul. The multitudinous voices of the gods speak through the body parts. Even the golden molecules are not mute. Who muzzles the body or leashes it muzzles and leashes the soul. The private body is the dwelling place of the private guise of God. Do it honor. Let no man set himself up above the body, calling it soiled, for to him the splendor of the self is hidden. Let no one drive the body like a horse in captivity, to be ridden, or he will be trampled.

The body is the soul in Earth-garments. It is the face of the soul turned toward the seasons, the image of the soul reflected in Earth waters. The body is the soul turned outward. Soul and body are merged in the land of the seasons


The knowledge of the soul is written in the body. Body and soul are the inner and outer of the self. The spirit from which the soul springs form both-soul and body. In Earth time, the soul and body learn together. The genes are the alphabets by which the soul speaks the body-which is the soul's utterance in flesh


So let the soul freely speak itself in flesh.

The body is also eternal. The soul takes it out of space-time. The body is the soul's expression, and its expression is not finite. The spirit has many souls, and each has a body. The body is in and out of time, even as the soul is. Let the soul rush freely throughout the body, and breathe life into all of its parts. The first birth was a gift, freely given. Now you must acquiesce and give your blessing to the life within you. Trust the spontaneity and health of the body, which is the spontaneity and health of the soul. For each morning you spring anew, alive and fresh, out of chaos . . . .


From “The Education of Oversoul Seven” by Jane Roberts

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