11/25/13

Seven of Wands/Eight of Swords.  Yep, I get this. The Seven of Wands (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Leo, “I am,” passionate, dramatic, natural leader, egotistical, selfish) reminds me that my own judgment is worth relying on, so I should have confidence in that judgment and take a stand and see things through to the end. Fear is the mind-killer . . . . The Eight of Swords (Jupiter, expansiveness and growth, justice, fortune, in Gemini, “I think,” curious, sociable talkative, dual) tells of a confused and restrictive response to obstacles, or maybe perceived obstacles.   This card tells me that I am feeling powerless to control things that are coming from without, but what I need to remember is that I can only control my reaction to things, not the things themselves.  I need to take the first step, and I need to believe I **can** take that first step.

My Thoth cards are the Ten of Cups (“Satiety”) and the Eight of Disks (“Prudence). The Ten of Cups (Mars, action, spontaneity, aggression, drive, in Pisces, “I believe,” feeling, duality, spirituality, suffering and growth) offers the manifestation of happiness, simple joys, and fulfillment.  Uncle Al sees this card as warning us to wish carefully because once we get what we wish, we might not like it.  The Eight of Disks (Sun, the inner core of a person or situation, in Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, sensible, orderly) tells us that diligence and an awareness of details is important.  Uncle Al sees this one as advising us to put something away for a rainy day; the focus of this card is the conscious care of the details, and perhaps the fulfillment to be had here is a combination of both cards.

My Legacy card is the Two of Cups reversed, flavored by the King of Coins. The Two of Cups (Venus, beauty, allure, relationships, in Cancer, “I feel,” sensitive, family and home oriented, tenacious, moody) in an upright position tells of about love and connections, usually having to do with feelings, relationships and commonalities.  It also has to do with recognizing these things and the effects they have on us.  My card is reversed, and perhaps there will be a sense of isolation infused in my day.  No matter, this is not a debilitating isolation.  The King of Coins (cusp of Aries, “I want,” action oriented, assertive, competitive, and Taurus, “I have,” sensual, stubborn, cautious, physically oriented) is the expert on managing resources and on the physical world manifestation of all kinds.  The King is the steward of Nature and the generous and supporting boss, and he is flavoring my reversed Two of Cups.  This tells me that I can’t allow my feelings to control my decisions today.  Rather, I should manage my resources and not allow events to make me feel too bubbly, or too put upon.

My 6-digit date number is 4, the number of depth and stability. 

My horoscopes: “Finally, today, you'll know what it feels like to be in charge of things. You'll even feel that you were born to do it. In any case, you'll beautifully coordinate the day. You're the maestro conducting a full orchestra. You'll tell those around you what to do all day long. Isn't it fun to feel such personal power?”

And: “The thing to do is celebrate, and the time to do it is now. Today marks the beginning of a new period for you in which you will have a greater connection with your loved ones and the people around you in general. All social activities are extremely favored so make sure to RSVP to every party invitation you get and tell the host or hostess that you will be attending.”

Another Wild Unknown Tarot card: The Hanged Man.  How perfect!  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 glace 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 stance.  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.

And so, I begin my 59^th year in this body.  I’m really hoping that the effects of my second Saturn Return will be fading now.

I saw so many bird of prey today on the way home from Cape May.  Lots of turkey vultures, all circling above the road; several hawks sunning themselves in the trees.  And a beautiful bald eagle appeared suddenly, right over the treetops, as he circled above the Parkway once, and then nearly brushing the uppermost branches of the trees on the side of the road, disappeared once more.  Cool!

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Ten of Pentacles/Queen of Swords reversed. My Ten of Pentacles (Mercury, reason, intelligence, education, communication, in Virgo, “I serve,” practical, analytical, work and service oriented) is upright today, and flavored by a reversed Swords Court Card, the Queen of Swords (cusp of Virgo and Libra, “We are,” partnerships, balance, cooperation). I am being told that I can accomplish much in the physical realms, but I need to remember that I’m not supposed to just sit on those riches. I am supposed to do something with them. The one thing I should not be doing is trying to analyze all this, because today is not a day of the intellect. Instead, I should look to my feelings and my Inner Voice for instruction.

My Thoth card is Adjustment. “Balance against each through its exact opposite. For Marriage of these is the Annihilation of Illusion.” This is Crowley’s Justice card, and it is in the number 8 position of the Majors. It tells of adjustment, and of the suspension of action pending a decision, and it is usually referring to a relationship of some kind (not necessarily romance; can be business related). This card also warns that if balance cannot be achieved by adjustment, then the law may need to be imposed. But in any event, my focus should be on attempting to adjust.

My Legacy card is the Seven of Swords reversed, flavored by The Emperor. The Seven of Swords (Moon, feelings and emotions, illusions, imagination, in Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, the group, cause-oriented, aloof) is about striving to keep things the way you want them, even if the way to do this is unethical. This card can also represent indecision; however it is reversed, so the need to control will not be what I experience. The Emperor (Fire, hot/separates and dry/shapes; Aries, “I want,” action oriented assertive, competitive; Heh, 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, the origin of vital force and polarity) is about order and structure imposed with love. The Emperor is also about the power of the mind, and it is about the ways that the mind can be used to affect the world. The Emperor tells us that rules have a purpose, a good one, and he certainly seems to be actively supporting the reversed energies of the Seven of Swords, as The Emperor is very ethical.

My 6-digit date number on this numerically auspicious date is 3, the number of new creation.

My horoscopes: “You might need to put on the brakes today when it comes to love and romance, Sagittarius. Don't think that this means you have to break off any sort relationship that's in the works, but realize that you may need to take a more realistic approach to how you handle it. The problem is that you may be getting so caught up in the fantasy of things that you aren't tending to practicalities."

And: “If you're angry about something, find the best way to communicate it without hurting someone. While anger is a healthy emotion that signals you when something isn't right for you, how you express it makes all the difference in the outcome of any situation. There is considerable skill in effective communicating. It's not just words but also tone of voice, facial expression and body language. If you're unfamiliar with an 'I statement,' you may want to read some books on the subject to help you express yourself in a better way."

What a beautiful sunset I saw last night! I left late (LOL, talking to more neighbors), so I did not get all the way down to the Cove, but that did not impact the moment at all. The sky was completely clear, the sun a huge orange ball, and I watched it fall completely into the Bay, until there was one pinprick of orange, and then even that was gone.

In less than ten minutes it was dark enough to see the thin crescent moon, low in the sky. I looked for it last night, but the moon set within less than 15 minutes of the sun, and was too thin to see without a pair of binoculars. Since I was driving at the time, and since there were trees and no clear view of the sun on the horizon, I would not have had success. But last night, I saw her, Diana’s Bow, the fingernail clipping moon, glistening in the blues and reds of the Belt of Venus, right after the sun set.

Since I had time, I walked back along the beach. Oh my, the beach is lovely at sunset! There was a large group of oyster skimmers sitting in the sand; they are sooo fun. They look like little men in black tie with red cummerbunds, and they make the most adorable peeping noises. The water was calm, and every so often a gull passed, hurrying to its nighttime roost.

Once I got home, I spent over two hours sitting on the front porch with a glass of wine, two lit candles, and the sounds of the waves as my company. I am blessed.

Today is October 10, 2010. I decided to do my regular meditation and time it so that it reached its peak at ten minutes after ten this morning.

I prepared for this moment by doing my usual morning meditation: I opened and balanced my chakras, and then applied Reiki to each. Once I had done that, I allowed the Reiki to fill my energy body; then I opened my crown chakra completely, offered to Deity as a gift the energy I had raised and prepared, and then opened myself to receive back any messages.

To my surprise, I was filled with an amazing sense of connection to humanity, to my brothers and sisters at Sacred Mists, to my friends and family and acquaintances and loved ones, and to all life forms, whether physical or astral. After all, we are connected; we each contain a spark of the fertility of Goddess and the activating catalyst of God. We all have that in common.

How wonderful this world would be if we all took a moment to be aware of that connection, and then think about that connection every so often to remind ourselves that despite our differences, we have Goddess and God, however we choose to see Them or perceive Them, in common.

I don't think it matters when we do this. We can do it at a date and time that means something to us individually (such as a birthday or anniversary), or a date that means something to our culture (such as this "curiosity" of 10:10 on 10/10/10), or on a regular ordinary day when the sun is shining or the comfort of rain and thunder and lightning has us snuggled up with loved ones. Like any other important life form, this "thoughtform of awareness of connection" just needs occasional tending; then, it will give back in many good ways.

LOL, sounds kind of "fluffy," but I believe I will give it a try. I may not change the world, but the Law of Attraction tells me that I will change my own environment, for the better.

After my meditation, I headed out to Point Park. Another beautiful day for a bike ride: blue sky, sun shining, I even stopped to take off my jacket. Point Park was mobbed; there were quite a few birders on the hawk platform, which is no surprise as usually someone “in the know” is up there, identifying birds. I was hoping that the nature trails wouldn’t be too crowded, and once I got away from the parking lot, things thinned out a bit.

This trip, most of the people on the trails were birders, with binoculars, cameras with huge lenses, and bird books, in hand. They were there with good reason, for I saw coopers hawks, broad winged hawks, turkey vultures and black vultures; I even saw what I thought was a juvenile bald eagle, and LOL, that got verified for me at the end of my walk. But I am getting ahead of myself.

The salt meadows have changed since the last time I walked this path. Now, besides the yellow-green and brown, the only color comes from the asters and the goldenrod. There still were a few monarchs around, and moths and dragonflies, and here and there, bees were buzzing. I stood on a bridge, watching a turtle (painted turtle?) floating in the stream, and then watched about five black vultures as they sat on a nesting platform.

As I headed out of the meadows and woods, I climbed for a moment onto the berm, and watched a huge three-masted sailing ship moving into the Delaware Bay; that was cool!! Then I turned and looked back at the ponds, and watched as several flights of Canadian geese came in for a landing, honking all the while. I paused several times to watch falcons flying overhead. I headed back toward the parking lot.

And then, I saw an osprey fly overhead, fish in claws. Right behind the osprey was that juvenile bald eagle. I was treated to a dog fight! For a few moments, I thought the osprey was going to get away, but then he zigged when he should have zagged, and the eagle was right there. The osprey had to choose between his fish and his life, and down went the fish. And the eagle.

Well, I guess my Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America is right, bald eagles **will** take fish from ospreys!

I have a lot to think about as I drive home from Cape May tonight. I am aiming to make the sunset again, and I am still filled with waves of energies from the Sacred Feminine.

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