Tarot Read, Sept. 22 - Part 2
11:40:44 AM
Q: My prediction? With the enlightened Intelligentsia on holy-book tours and healing CDs, the Charismatic Healers drawing crowds to idolize them, and the Compassionate Caregivers busily dropping care packages, I don't see anybody asking for God's opinion and guidance, any more than I expect droves to take the time to click the link to this "Dare Ya Blog" of mine. No gain, no regrets, no conscience.
Horoscope Spread
Wild Card: 14 Temperance
The female figure of the Temperance card is a reference to the Soul. She is mixing up a blend of subtle energies for the evolution of the personality. The key to meaning in this card is its title, a pun on the process of tempering metals in a forge.
Metals must undergo violent handling, extremes of temperature, endless folding and pounding, but the end product is infinitely superior to the original ore, fresh from the earth and utterly unrefined. In this image, the soul volunteers the ego for a cleansing and healing experience which may turn the personality inside-out, but which brings out the gold hidden within the heart.
1: House of Identity
You are standing at a crossroads.
The Lovers symbolize attraction and choices. Perhaps you are torn within yourself. One side is instinctive, emotional, intuitive, sensual and magical. The other is lucid, highly principled, rational and attuned to social and cultural elements. We have an aboriginal wild child and a cultured, mature adult self. You have some trust for each of them, but you may not believe they can merge. Whenever the Lovers card appears, you must either integrate two entities or let go of one of them.
2: House of Work
An uninterrupted period of contemplation and peace.
When the Hermit is in this position, you have plenty of privacy available to you. The usual supervisors, critics and back seat drivers have disappeared for a while. You can pull away and study the situation without the interference of others’ personalities and agendas. This is a wonderful opportunity for contemplation. It’s possible in a situation like this that you will experience some precognition, feeling and sensing the direction of what is to come. Pay close attention to and share whatever insights and directions you might receive.
3: House of Ideas
You have mastered the elements of your life to the degree that success is a regular occurrence.
The World in this position challenges you to maintain a dynamic balance between inner pressures and outer circumstances, your male side and your female side, innocence and wisdom, action and response. You have grown into your potential. It’s wonderful to find yourself at the center of the universe, in the right place at the right time.
To stay centered is the real challenge, however, considering how the center itself is always moving and changing. There is no pat formula for keeping up with change. Only sensitivity and awareness can help you now. Your natural instincts, life pattern and sincere heart have brought you to this place. They will continue to work for you if you keep up the balancing act.
4: House of the Family
A strong moral foundation confers the ability to skillfully discern right from wrong.
The Justice card in this position suggests a moral influence in early life taught you right action and right relationship with your fellow beings. You may have felt the training was severe or restrictive at the time, but it has helped protect you from the excesses of our times. Self-control through moderation, awareness of the collective welfare, the bonds of community, and a sense of personal accountability combine to make a strong inner refuge. By being there for others, you ensure they will be there for you.
5: House of Magic
Another’s complaints about you may contain some truth. Take the opportunity to do some soul searching.
With the Page of Swords in this position, you recently felt stung by another person’s roster of grievances against you. Without your knowing it, this person has characterized you as an adversary. Because the Page of Swords tends to keep his own counsel and say only what is expeditious, you may not have realized how deep this vein of resentment actually goes. Now that the truth has been revealed, you understand better what you are contending with, freeing you to create more opportunities for communication. You may simply choose to dismiss this person as ignorant or eccentric, but it’s wiser to credit his or her complaints with at least a grain of truth. Use this experience to improve yourself. Don’t give this person even more reason to see you in a negative way.
6: House of Apprenticeship
There are good choices and there is a best choice; which will your conscience lead you to?
When the Seven of Cups presents in this position, you are being given a spread of options that are testing you, revealing whether you can really choose the highest and best for all concerned, or whether you are going to fall back on short term gratification. Be assured there is no wrong choice, but there is a spectrum of better and better choices that culminates in the very best choice. Your Higher Power would like to see if you have learned enough in your spiritual, intellectual and emotional growth to be able to freely and willfully make the best choice without coercion, based on what your heart knows to be true. There is no way to fail this test, but there are ways to pass it with flying colors. Follow your conscience and, relatively speaking, you can do no wrong.
7: House of Relationships
If you have the nerve to keep up with your own raw energy, your life will change drastically.
The Devil card in this position suggests that you are about to confront a force of nature that is gutsy, powerfully compelling, both attractive and repellent at the same time. It could represent hidden potentials within yourself. It could also show up as a dynamic person, group or organization. In whatever form, this force occupies its space in a passionate, concentrated way. This creative, chaotic phenomenon is ready for you to direct it and put it to good use. You cannot really work with this energy and be inhibited, rigid or controlling, because it’s bigger than you. This is a great opportunity to latch onto something bigger than you’ve ever encountered, which will force you to grow to keep from being overwhelmed and to keep up with it. Take a good look before you make your move. It will radically transform your life if you say yes to it.
8: House of Secrets
Fear is at the heart of whatever resistance or negativity you are experiencing.
The Death card in this position represents the fear of death, annihilation, oblivion, the fear that you will cease to exist. As you search your heart, you may discover that the cause of your resistance is the fear that you will be made inconsequential, that your contribution will be forgotten. Your rational mind knows this isn’t going to happen. You have lived too long and made too many moves to be so totally extinguished. But something inside fears being snuffed out. You must address this fear, because it’s inhibiting your willingness to take risks and act on your best interests and creative urges. It stands solidly in your way.
9: House of Visions
Turn to others with whom you can share your experience deeply in order to gain objectivity and comfort.
The Three of Swords in this position suggests that circumstances are isolating you from trusted confidants who know how to really listen to you. Sometimes, especially in families and close-knit groups, the person you usually process your feelings with is the same person with whom there seems to be problems. It is difficult for any of us to reach a healthy view on loss, broken trust and abandonment without assistance from someone. Is there anyone you trust enough to consult with now who is not part of the problem? Find a way to share your experience with someone who possesses some objectivity, who will give you realistic feedback. No one wants to expose their pain to superficial examination, but one or two deep conversations with a person you trust could make a world of difference. There is a needed piece of information you will not arrive at by yourself; a third party mirroring it for you will help you perceive it clearly.
10: House of Reputation
Your resources will significantly enhance an endeavor and you will reap many blessings as a result of your participation.
The Horseman of Coins in this position asks you to put yourself in service to the project in front of you. Your willing participation will make the difference between a marginal and a great performance. With your resources, the whole endeavor will be significantly enhanced and you will be blessed tenfold. You should expect to supervise and guide the project as well as influence the outcome of events. Without you on board this endeavor is just another good idea.
11: House of the Future
You gain the most personal growth by carefully nurturing the development of your enterprise.
The Four of Coins in this position suggests that if you keep your head and operate responsibly, you will grow into your current good fortune and learn to manage it well. Whether your enterprise came to you by design or serendipity, it looks like a perfect fit and offers you a wonderful opportunity to create a world of meaning and success for yourself. You gain the most personal growth by carefully nurturing the growth of your enterprise. If you take good care of what you have received and created so far, you and the world you inhabit will be well taken care of by it in return.
12: House of Surrender
Willing sacrifice for the greater good leads to significant personal growth.
The Nine of Coins in this position requires that you modify your lifestyle and volunteer a bit. Forego some of your easy, comfortable, self-indulgent style so that some of the resources that have flowed to you can flow through you. There’s no merit to doing this if you are forced to, but there is valuable growth to be had by choosing a path of self-sacrifice voluntarily. If this means you tithe or give up entertainment to volunteer, then you do it. Everybody has to make a contribution to manifest the changes that need to happen. This card is reminding you of that now.
11:47:15 AM
Despite your best offers I quit, done, outta here. I'll fill my blog and email the address. Sorry I turned out to be a quitter, Dear Spirit - you must be disappointed to have wasted your investment in me. Still, out of habit and my affection, I ask You to have the last word of the day. In your compassion, please offer your advice as you channel it through me. I'll make sure it's entered here.
Horoscope Spread
Message 1
Wild Card: 8 Justice
The standard meaning of this Arcanum is that of conscience, one's moral sensitivity, which is supposed to evoke empathy, compassion and sense of fairness. Throughout antiquity, since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for humane and equal treatment of all human beings. By providing a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and by using a two-edged sword to symbolize the exactitude necessary to make these adjudications, this Justice card puts us all on notice that not one detail eludes the inner eye of the conscience. What goes around comes around.
1: House of Identity
Consider carefully what consequences may result from joining forces.
The Five of Coins in this position indicates the attraction of opposites. The Five of Coins depicts lovers discovering each other, mirroring and matching, magnetized by each other’s qualities. Once the first flush of infatuation is past, however, the same energy of attraction that once felt so exciting may become a source of friction. The seeds of conflict are built into the fabric of the attraction. Even though the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts, it has been known to devour the individuals who comprise it.
This card suggests a relationship opportunity or offer. Examine what the outcome of joining forces would be. Ascertain as best you can if there is enough to keep you engaged, so that you don’t base a long term endeavor on a moment’s infatuation. Successful long term partnerships are business arrangements as well as love affairs.
2: House of Work
An uninterrupted period of contemplation and peace.
When the Hermit is in this position, you have plenty of privacy available to you. The usual supervisors, critics and back seat drivers have disappeared for a while. You can pull away and study the situation without the interference of others’ personalities and agendas. This is a wonderful opportunity for contemplation. It’s possible in a situation like this that you will experience some precognition, feeling and sensing the direction of what is to come. Pay close attention to and share whatever insights and directions you might receive.
3: House of Ideas
Give a hand up to those who are willing to improve their situation, but don’t nurture dependence.
The Six of Coins in this position bids you to find a way to be helpful without creating dependence. It is a challenge to detach oneself enough from the outcome of one’s own efforts to promote self sufficiency and success among others. In some situations people need assistance or support, and it is good to help them. But if we spend our energy doing for those who can help themselves, we are actually performing a disservice. Your best contribution will not result from saving or rescuing others. Your best contribution lies in encouraging and challenging others to rise above their current limits. See if there is a way you can create incentives for higher performance.
4: House of the Family
Past successes and fulfillment found in communal effort inspire you to communicate the advantages of teamwork to others.
The Four of Wands in this position suggests that in the past you witnessed or participated in a successful and rewarding startup or team effort. As a result you have a good strong sense of how an effective team can expedite an individual’s labors. Your understanding of the process can uplift and harmonize others who have talent but lack experience in a dynamic team effort. Your enthusiasm helps galvanize the group in a common vision.
5: House of Magic
A recent revelation has the potential to revolutionize your life. Cooperate with the opportunity.
The Three of Wands in this position points to a recent revelation that has been exceptionally enlightening and can advance your cause if you take it seriously. You have gotten wind of a trend, been brought into a situation or have been introduced to a person who can transform your life. Value the experience highly and count it as a great blessing, no matter how it felt at the time, because this could be the beginning of a successful enterprise for you. By acknowledging and cooperating with this opportunity you could improve your fortunes immeasurably.
6: House of Apprenticeship
Through you, gifts are carried forward from the past. Prove yourself worthy of this legacy.
When the Ten of Coins comes up in this position, it indicates that you took this incarnation to be a link in a chain of souls that will embody achievement on a scale that could impact future generations. Such people provide the yeast that raises everyone’s quality of life. You must see to it that you remain worthy of this good fortune. Ask yourself how you can best use this unique position you are in. Look to your larger goals now because you have the connections, the funding and the clout to bring them into manifestation.
7: House of Relationships
The past does not dictate the future. You can consciously shape your circumstances.
With the Six of Cups in this position, taking a broad overview will help you to clearly see how you translate past experiences into fuel for the future. You are learning from past experience and adjusting future plans and goals accordingly. Be watchful for this insight, because it will provide lucid insight into a pattern that has always been a mystery to you. You will clearly see that you are not trapped in a predestined reality. Instead, you are able to creatively reinterpret your circumstances and create new outcomes. You will come to realize that you are not merely the result of your past. You are the product of how you interpret your possibilities for the future. This paradigm shift will change everything for you.
8: House of Secrets
Sometimes the cost of self control is simply too high.
When the Tower appears in this position, you are suppressing a tremendous emotional charge and it is taking a toll on your body. This lightning bolt, instead of being released, finding its target, getting grounded and spending itself, is trapped within your body, zapping your internal organs and nervous system. Consider whether you are suppressing a truth that should be acknowledged, spoken and acted upon. Taking those steps will set loose the lightning that creates permanent change. Allow your desperate desire to be on the other side of this issue to overcome the fear of invoking change. The energy is simply too intense to contain.
9: House of Visions
Trusted allies carry on your work while you pursue new opportunities.
The Eight of Wands in this position suggests a need to gather people to you who are responsible, trustworthy and committed and have stamina that matches your own. Your creativity and capability can draw numerous opportunities to you, and you want to engage in some of them without losing your momentum. With your allies in your camp, you can take a break from your present work and start something new, knowing the continuity of your efforts will not be lost.
10: House of Reputation
The best faculties to use in this situation are the intuitive ones.
The Nine of Cups in this position advises that you warm up to circumstances around you. There is no need to manage this situation; it doesn’t require a lot of control or leadership. The tone of the moment is heartfelt and bonded; it is nurturing. Open up, and choose to be receptive. Proceed from your heart, relying on your intuition. This is your truest source of information right now. Allow yourself to be attracted to what feels good, nurturing and supportive. Avoid what feels harsh, critical and judgmental. If this requires that you change your style, do so. The results of being intuitive are generally far superior to the results of being emotionally guarded and over-rational.
11: House of the Future
If things are left to develop on their own, you may land an important supporting role.
With the Page of Cups in this position, you may remain in the background as things develops, serving as a secretary, assistant or confidant for someone or some group in power. Not everyone is psychologically suited for this role. Examine the opportunity carefully, asking yourself if you are willing to be of service on this level. Perhaps you have leadership aspirations of your own right now. You will be happier with whatever role you choose and your contributions if you are realistic and honest with yourself.
12: House of Surrender
Proceed swiftly toward the completion of your mission.
The Ten of Wands in this position tells you not to rest until you have fulfilled your mission. Lacking time or leisure to proceed at a comfortable pace, you must hasten with energetic activity at this critical juncture or you risk failure. Remain at your post, vigilant and ready for action. For this final burst of effort, it is skillful to remind yourself why you are called to make this sacrifice. This recollection along with an awareness of what the consequences of failure would be, will make it easier to summon the energy you need for the final push.
11:48:08 AM
Life Cycle
Message 2
1: Self-Undoing
You must not only be accountable for your actions but bear the consequences.
When the Eight of Swords falls in this position, you are being tested by your own criteria. If you have sown doubt, criticism and negativity in your environment, you will receive the same in return. This is only fair, and you know it. Refrain from whining and blaming. You did what you did; you said what you said. Now the consequences are coming home to you. Humble yourself and rethink your stance. Perhaps in the future you will choose to cultivate more compassion and less confrontation in your relations. Let this experience inspire you to raise your level of sensitivity as you relate to others.
2: Recent Past
A recent revelation has the potential to revolutionize your life. Cooperate with the opportunity.
The Three of Wands in this position points to a recent revelation that has been exceptionally enlightening and can advance your cause if you take it seriously. You have gotten wind of a trend, been brought into a situation or have been introduced to a person who can transform your life. Value the experience highly and count it as a great blessing, no matter how it felt at the time, because this could be the beginning of a successful enterprise for you. By acknowledging and cooperating with this opportunity you could improve your fortunes immeasurably.
3: Roots
Your confidence is an intangible but positive advantage.
The Six of Wands in this position suggests that you are a talented team player who truly understands how individuals can unite and produce something that no individual could accomplish. An experienced person who understands the power of unity enjoys a level of confidence that someone who has never experienced it is unable to feel. Others may have theories about how to manage group endeavors, but only those who have lived it can awaken the hearts of various individuals and make them want to bond as a team.
4: Higher Power
Profound insight gives you a clear sense of self direction.
When the Ace of Swords presents in this position, your Higher Self is blessing you with profoundly penetrating vision. By shifting your point of focus beyond the foreground, you have achieved perspective and long range vision. Like an archer in the woods, you are able to shoot between the trees and hit the bull’s eye. Not only are you gifted with clarity of vision, you also command a panoramic overview at this time. You can see the whole with all its parts and all their interconnections. Be grateful that your connection with your Higher Power is open enough to grant you such perspective, insight and clear sense of direction. In gratitude and humility, ask your greater self for your best course of action. You may already have received the answer.
5: Self
This is a time for individuation. Others must step aside as you step forward.
When the Queen of Swords comes up in this position, it is a time to become more autonomous. This queen has learned through challenging experience that she should be her own best friend. She doesn’t need to be rescued, “helped” or condescended to. As such, it’s time to set boundaries as you move your emotional and psychic center back to yourself. In the old tradition, the Queen of Swords was stigmatized as unwanted, a woman who had outlived her usefulness to a man. Nowadays wise and independent people with maturity are better appreciated; now we celebrate her as a self defined individual and understand her as a person who owns herself. She fosters no dependencies because she craves none. In this way she is freer to move in the world unencumbered by the entangling expectations of others. It’s time to become less available to other people’s whims. Strike out on your own. Win or lose on your own merits.
6: Situation
Be careful not to polarize the situation, supporting a struggle between darkness and light.
The Devil card in this position suggests that you are facing a shadow force you have always feared. Far from crushing you, however, it is educating you. If you refrain from judging things to be good or bad, you will see there is a tremendous amount of life force and vitality coursing through this situation that could go either way, depending on how it is directed. It could express as a vital passion of love, or devolve into some sort of self-centered gratification. You may want to follow someone else’s lead, but no matter what decision is made, it’s important to keep your head above water in this powerfully moving situation. Pay attention to how this life force wants to move, so that you can follow the flow and keep learning. A deeper spiritual dimension beckons you; no matter how bedeviling they may seem, face your instincts or problems with tenacity and a touch of humor.
7: Far Future
Develop your skills in healing and mediation.
With the Knight of Cups in this position, there is a potential to become an effective mediator, one who can bring forth healing. This Knight heals the rift between generations and restores bonds between people whose communication has suffered. He mends the ripped fabric of family relations and missed connections. In his humility, he is the first to recognize his own mistakes, misunderstandings and self-involvement. You have the opportunity to serve well using the wisdom you have gained on your outward journeys. Be a warrior of the open heart and help others to own the strength of their love.
8: Near Future
When you combine intelligence and intuition, you may bring to light a pattern in the clues you are noting.
With the Page of Swords in this position, your upcoming role in events will require the strictest tact, the most scrupulous secrecy. In ancient times this card represented the stealthy spy sent to gather intelligence behind enemy lines, perhaps carrying coded messages or breaking into hidden chambers. Your situation may not be so full of life and death implications, yet it still requires careful attention to detail. Significant outcomes may be hinging on tiny obscurities only you can notice. The associative intelligence of a detective is required to perceive the pattern formed by clues you are finding. But the successful achievement of your current goals depends on anonymity, tact and discretion. Become better at using camouflage or leaving a smaller footprint rather than flouting your individualism and intelligence. Soon you will be tested in this area.
9: The Lesson
Sacrifice your need to control the situation; calm down and wait it out.
With the Four of Cups in this position, be willing to endure a bit of boredom and discomfort for the sake of letting the moment pass. Sometimes you just can’t avoid a situation, even though you have no personal stake in it. It may be some obligation or something that has erupted around you, from which you cannot extricate yourself. Give up the tendency to push the river and make things happen, in order to feel more comfortable right away. Have the self control to wait things out. Be patient, but don’t fall asleep. Keep your wits about you for a good opportunity to free yourself and move into a higher gear. Later you can evaluate whether this was a good or a bad experience.
11:49:21 AM
Tree of Life
Message 3
1: Crown
This is your moment to be tested and tried. It will be demonstrated whether your methods are working or not.
With the Eight of Swords in this position, you are being investigated in some way. This rigorous scrutiny could feel like an inquisition. In one sense it’s a challenge to prove that you are a master of your medium. Refuse to take any of it personally. Intellectually, you must sharpen your thinking, your sword of truth, in order to answer your examiners. As your design or idea is being questioned and dissected, you are being asked to justify each and every detail. Consider this card a reality check. Does the concept or ideal stand up to scrutiny? If you can safely navigate this mine field you will emerge on the other side, proud of how you maintained your integrity under duress.
2: Contemplation
Be as caring as you can be without getting swept up in the emotional dramas of others.
The Queen of Cups in this position points to an emotional relationship. This may be a difficult one to come to terms with, if you can’t get a clear fix on what is going on or what is the best thing to do. At the same time as the Queen of Cups in you exercises the heart qualities of kindness and empathy, be sure to take care of yourself by stating your wants and needs directly. Emotional integrity, a hallmark of the Queen of Cups demands this. Maintain clear boundaries and speak your mind, if necessary, as well as your heart. The Queen of Cups is beautiful energy, but she can be easily hurt if she’s not careful. Try to handle everyone kindly and gently, including yourself.
3: Activation
Accept a coming challenge only if it will benefit the greater good.
With the Horseman of Swords in this position, you have an opportunity to experience the kind of power that comes from high idealism and strong moral sensibilities. Avoid becoming self righteous and moralistic, but hold to your convictions. For the sake of clarity, step back and look at the big picture. Scrutinize your motives, making sure you are not just spoiling for a fight. Only engage this challenge if it’s going to benefit all who will be affected, because you could take a beating if you decide to go through with it. The Knight of Swords at his best is an intellectual and moral leader who raises others’ sensibilities by choosing strategic battles that illuminate important moral or ethical issues. If this is your motive, pursue it.
4: Wisdom
Card: The Universe
You are meant to flourish and express great joy and creativity.
The World in this position suggests that you come from a line of highly evolved people. This may not be familial; perhaps the thread of inspiration was found in your educational life, when you made friends with compatible souls. In any case, you are now rooted in the certainty that you are a wanted child in a benign universe, a sacred seed growing in the divine garden.
This internal confidence overrides any external evidence to the contrary. This foundation gives you resilience and personal power that others only dream about. You create your own reality no matter what is happening around you. This awareness of personal power radically improves your odds for success.
5: Discipline
Learn what you can from past attachments.
The Lovers card in this position suggests that you recently dealt with some strong attraction or difficult choice. Perhaps something dramatic happened, some kind of split or opposition, but not necessarily. Perhaps you have been harboring two different identities, and need to create greater integration within yourself. There is probably a lesson here to do with commitment.
6: Heart
Profound insight gives you a clear sense of self direction.
When the Ace of Swords presents in this position, your Higher Self is blessing you with profoundly penetrating vision. By shifting your point of focus beyond the foreground, you have achieved perspective and long range vision. Like an archer in the woods, you are able to shoot between the trees and hit the bull’s eye. Not only are you gifted with clarity of vision, you also command a panoramic overview at this time. You can see the whole with all its parts and all their interconnections. Be grateful that your connection with your Higher Power is open enough to grant you such perspective, insight and clear sense of direction. In gratitude and humility, ask your greater self for your best course of action. You may already have received the answer.
7: Cycles
As your dignity, control and cherished self image are stripped away, you are driven into the deeper and more authentic parts of yourself.
The Hanged Man card suggests that one is facing a test on how far he or she has outgrown a victim mentality and helpless, hopeless tendencies. The situation may look bleak while you are going through it, but what you lose from a purging like this are things that never were yours in the first place. You stand to gain a whole new perspective on who you are and why you are here, which will vindicate what you have been through. Others may think you were unfairly scapegoated.
In truth, you are rising above the temptation for self pity and are becoming truer to your essential nature. Nothing but good comes of an experience like that, no matter what it feels like at the time.
8: Waking Up
Fear of harsh judgment prevents you from being present to receive praise.
When Justice falls in this position, fear of being judged as not good enough prevents you from letting yourself be seen. The fear is strong enough to keep you from taking the risk, even if you might receive praise. It helps to remember that perfection is not possible to begin with. There is no need to torment yourself with comparison. The placement of this card asks you to measure your heart and its wisdom. If your efforts are sincere and appropriate, you won’t merely be seen as good enough, you will be seen as exemplary.
9: Safety Net
Absorb good advice so you can refine your focus.
The Three of Wands in this position suggests the presence of a friend, advisor or mentor who can help you refine your focus and stay out of trouble. This person’s seasoned wisdom is ready to serve you. Individuals like this have a stock of learning experiences that could pave the way for you. Their good advice allows you to start where they left off. You will be spared a lot of struggle if you accept what your friend or mentor has to say and adjust your course accordingly.
10: Outcome
Acknowledge that your intellectual and intuitive gifts are among your most valuable assets.
With the Six of Swords in this position, the potential is to realize, possibly for the first time, that you have a very sharp mind coupled with a high degree of intuitive sensitivity. The combination may even approach a special streak of genius that is a scarce resource in your community or workplace. You have taken this acuity for granted, yet it’s one of your most valuable attributes. Look for situations where quick assessment and good decision making followed by assertive action toward the good is rewarded. You will earn great acknowledgment as well as more tangible forms of compensation. Ascertain the market value of your gifts, and find ways you can be paid for some of the talents you now use for enjoyment. It may be sensible to do some specialized studying so others respect your credentials as well as your gift. When you are ambitious enough to present your talents to the world in a more professional manner, your position will undoubtedly advance.
11:50:09 AM
Spread: Star of David
Wild Card: 2 The High Priestess
Traditionally, this Arcanum represents Human Wisdom, whether as the Gnostic Papess or Priestess of Isis, the ancient Snake and Bird Goddess, Persephone, or Eve before the "fall" into historical time. For the accused heretics who revered her in the 14th and 15th century, she was the prophecy of the coming Age of the Holy Spirit, female personage within the Christian Trinity. She appears as soon as the Fool decides he wants to develop his innate powers, making a bid to become The Magus. The Priestess or Popess is his first teacher, representing the Inner Life and the method for contacting it, the contemplative study of Nature and the Mysteries.
1: Deciding Moment
You are receiving acknowledgment for the self cultivation you have done.
With the Star in this position, you are emerging from a period of deep inspiration. If you didn’t take notes or keep a journal, make a record now of as much of this illumination as you can remember. This card affirms your self discipline in the search for right livelihood and right placement in the world. You are rewarded for your trials and tribulations and for the work you have done to refine yourself. Take this as encouragement, and hold the experience in your memory.
2: Consequences
Card: The Magician
Now is the time to start expressing some spontaneous creativity.
When the Magus is in this position, you are divinely inspired by a person, situation, or a catalytic experience. It is reminding you to appreciate who you really are and to let yourself shine. This is your moment to reveal your natural talents and gifts. Most likely you will find a receptive audience and achieve positive results. Imagine yourself as a spark of genius creating new and brilliant connections, much to everyone’s great delight. Forget performance anxiety and get on with the show — you will be brilliant.
3: Will
You have the opportunity and position to influence the thinking of those around you.
When the Page of Swords is in this position, sharpen your mind and raise your intellectual and intuitive antennae. Recognize the patterns of thinking affecting those around you. You have an opportunity to influence the assumptions of those who interact with you on a daily basis. By using new vocabulary and presenting new ideas, you can change conditions and help refine or upgrade shared goals. Raise awareness with quiet but steady input from the sidelines. The Page does not draw attention to himself. He positions himself in the world as a servant of powerful people; he or she is often the source for their better thinking. Perhaps at present your greatest strength is your humility.
4: Relationships
Natural consequences need to happen; don’t try to block them.
The Tower in this position suggests that someone on your team has the power of Thor, the power to throw down disruptive bolts of creative chaos, liberate entangled energy and force new growth. This is not a force to be unleashed lightly, nor should you put yourself in the position of making judgment on other people’s lives. This card is principally about the cumulative result of inappropriate actions that eventually attracts an adjustment. Eventually correction becomes necessary and a sudden change brings the structure down. Cooperate with the inevitable.
5: Advice
Recent successes bestow confidence to accomplish more.
With the Eight of Wands in this position, learn all you can from recent successful experiences, taking note of what worked and what didn’t, what you are happy to repeat and what you want to leave behind. Because you know how to use the gift of your imagination to shape the world in productive and aesthetic ways, the testament to your talents is revealed for everyone to see and admire. But if you had to leave it all behind, you know you could start all over among total strangers and succeed again. The past doesn’t define you. This valuable self confidence makes you free to strike out in new directions and not just cling to past successes and previous accomplishments.
6: Conscience
Current achievements represent not just practical success, but also inspired vision.
The Seven of Wands in this position reveals an approaching opportunity to secure goals you’ve been working toward for awhile. You deserve to have confidence in yourself and now others will know why. Take in the full significance of this moment. Acknowledge your genius for outperforming your competitors and challengers and for earning this victory. This is not just a chance success; you set your goal, worked for it and are fulfilling it with aplomb. In the future your achievement will provide a benchmark for others to strive toward.
11:50:51 AM
Self-Knowledge Spread
Message 4
1: Body
Your familial style has endowed you with the ability to choose people who are emotionally healthy for your friends and lovers.
The Ace of Cups in this position suggests that you intimated what love is at an early age. As a result you have created a lifestyle in which a bonded and connected core group of people support you even when you cant be physically present with them. Whether this is your family of origin or an intentional family you have gathered around yourself, it provides an emotional, psychic and spiritual safety net. A foundation of security and encouragement strengthens you for whatever you have to face at the moment.
2: Mind / Feelings
Exhaustion ruins the ability to make good judgments; find someone who can fill in for you until you are refreshed.
When the Nine of Wands is in this position, rest or postponement is imperative, although it may be difficult at this time to let down your guard. Often, when we think we are irreplaceable, we neglect to give ourselves time to rest and recuperate. It would be to your advantage to find a competent ally who can fill in for you until you regain your energy. Try to remember that exhaustion stymies the ability to make good decisions anyway, giving negative forces an opportunity to gain an advantage. For the sake of yourself and the entire situation, take a break!
3: Spirit
Pay close but discreet attention to what is occurring in your environment.
When the Page of Swords presents in this position, your Higher Power is using you as a set of eyes and ears to take stock of present events. Although you may usually be quite transparent and forthcoming, the discipline your Higher Power would like to see you master is a bit of stealth, discretion and the tact of an international diplomat in tense times. Perhaps a message needs to go from one camp to another, or some information needs to be gathered. In any case, keeping a low profile with an acutely active mind and open ear is essential at this time. You will find out later what to do with the intelligence you are gathering. Pay sharp attention; don’t lose your concentration.
Q: My prediction? With the enlightened Intelligentsia on holy-book tours and healing CDs, the Charismatic Healers drawing crowds to idolize them, and the Compassionate Caregivers busily dropping care packages, I don't see anybody asking for God's opinion and guidance, any more than I expect droves to take the time to click the link to this "Dare Ya Blog" of mine. No gain, no regrets, no conscience.
Horoscope Spread
Wild Card: 14 Temperance
The female figure of the Temperance card is a reference to the Soul. She is mixing up a blend of subtle energies for the evolution of the personality. The key to meaning in this card is its title, a pun on the process of tempering metals in a forge.
Metals must undergo violent handling, extremes of temperature, endless folding and pounding, but the end product is infinitely superior to the original ore, fresh from the earth and utterly unrefined. In this image, the soul volunteers the ego for a cleansing and healing experience which may turn the personality inside-out, but which brings out the gold hidden within the heart.
1: House of Identity
You are standing at a crossroads.
The Lovers symbolize attraction and choices. Perhaps you are torn within yourself. One side is instinctive, emotional, intuitive, sensual and magical. The other is lucid, highly principled, rational and attuned to social and cultural elements. We have an aboriginal wild child and a cultured, mature adult self. You have some trust for each of them, but you may not believe they can merge. Whenever the Lovers card appears, you must either integrate two entities or let go of one of them.
2: House of Work
An uninterrupted period of contemplation and peace.
When the Hermit is in this position, you have plenty of privacy available to you. The usual supervisors, critics and back seat drivers have disappeared for a while. You can pull away and study the situation without the interference of others’ personalities and agendas. This is a wonderful opportunity for contemplation. It’s possible in a situation like this that you will experience some precognition, feeling and sensing the direction of what is to come. Pay close attention to and share whatever insights and directions you might receive.
3: House of Ideas
You have mastered the elements of your life to the degree that success is a regular occurrence.
The World in this position challenges you to maintain a dynamic balance between inner pressures and outer circumstances, your male side and your female side, innocence and wisdom, action and response. You have grown into your potential. It’s wonderful to find yourself at the center of the universe, in the right place at the right time.
To stay centered is the real challenge, however, considering how the center itself is always moving and changing. There is no pat formula for keeping up with change. Only sensitivity and awareness can help you now. Your natural instincts, life pattern and sincere heart have brought you to this place. They will continue to work for you if you keep up the balancing act.
4: House of the Family
A strong moral foundation confers the ability to skillfully discern right from wrong.
The Justice card in this position suggests a moral influence in early life taught you right action and right relationship with your fellow beings. You may have felt the training was severe or restrictive at the time, but it has helped protect you from the excesses of our times. Self-control through moderation, awareness of the collective welfare, the bonds of community, and a sense of personal accountability combine to make a strong inner refuge. By being there for others, you ensure they will be there for you.
5: House of Magic
Another’s complaints about you may contain some truth. Take the opportunity to do some soul searching.
With the Page of Swords in this position, you recently felt stung by another person’s roster of grievances against you. Without your knowing it, this person has characterized you as an adversary. Because the Page of Swords tends to keep his own counsel and say only what is expeditious, you may not have realized how deep this vein of resentment actually goes. Now that the truth has been revealed, you understand better what you are contending with, freeing you to create more opportunities for communication. You may simply choose to dismiss this person as ignorant or eccentric, but it’s wiser to credit his or her complaints with at least a grain of truth. Use this experience to improve yourself. Don’t give this person even more reason to see you in a negative way.
6: House of Apprenticeship
There are good choices and there is a best choice; which will your conscience lead you to?
When the Seven of Cups presents in this position, you are being given a spread of options that are testing you, revealing whether you can really choose the highest and best for all concerned, or whether you are going to fall back on short term gratification. Be assured there is no wrong choice, but there is a spectrum of better and better choices that culminates in the very best choice. Your Higher Power would like to see if you have learned enough in your spiritual, intellectual and emotional growth to be able to freely and willfully make the best choice without coercion, based on what your heart knows to be true. There is no way to fail this test, but there are ways to pass it with flying colors. Follow your conscience and, relatively speaking, you can do no wrong.
7: House of Relationships
If you have the nerve to keep up with your own raw energy, your life will change drastically.
The Devil card in this position suggests that you are about to confront a force of nature that is gutsy, powerfully compelling, both attractive and repellent at the same time. It could represent hidden potentials within yourself. It could also show up as a dynamic person, group or organization. In whatever form, this force occupies its space in a passionate, concentrated way. This creative, chaotic phenomenon is ready for you to direct it and put it to good use. You cannot really work with this energy and be inhibited, rigid or controlling, because it’s bigger than you. This is a great opportunity to latch onto something bigger than you’ve ever encountered, which will force you to grow to keep from being overwhelmed and to keep up with it. Take a good look before you make your move. It will radically transform your life if you say yes to it.
8: House of Secrets
Fear is at the heart of whatever resistance or negativity you are experiencing.
The Death card in this position represents the fear of death, annihilation, oblivion, the fear that you will cease to exist. As you search your heart, you may discover that the cause of your resistance is the fear that you will be made inconsequential, that your contribution will be forgotten. Your rational mind knows this isn’t going to happen. You have lived too long and made too many moves to be so totally extinguished. But something inside fears being snuffed out. You must address this fear, because it’s inhibiting your willingness to take risks and act on your best interests and creative urges. It stands solidly in your way.
9: House of Visions
Turn to others with whom you can share your experience deeply in order to gain objectivity and comfort.
The Three of Swords in this position suggests that circumstances are isolating you from trusted confidants who know how to really listen to you. Sometimes, especially in families and close-knit groups, the person you usually process your feelings with is the same person with whom there seems to be problems. It is difficult for any of us to reach a healthy view on loss, broken trust and abandonment without assistance from someone. Is there anyone you trust enough to consult with now who is not part of the problem? Find a way to share your experience with someone who possesses some objectivity, who will give you realistic feedback. No one wants to expose their pain to superficial examination, but one or two deep conversations with a person you trust could make a world of difference. There is a needed piece of information you will not arrive at by yourself; a third party mirroring it for you will help you perceive it clearly.
10: House of Reputation
Your resources will significantly enhance an endeavor and you will reap many blessings as a result of your participation.
The Horseman of Coins in this position asks you to put yourself in service to the project in front of you. Your willing participation will make the difference between a marginal and a great performance. With your resources, the whole endeavor will be significantly enhanced and you will be blessed tenfold. You should expect to supervise and guide the project as well as influence the outcome of events. Without you on board this endeavor is just another good idea.
11: House of the Future
You gain the most personal growth by carefully nurturing the development of your enterprise.
The Four of Coins in this position suggests that if you keep your head and operate responsibly, you will grow into your current good fortune and learn to manage it well. Whether your enterprise came to you by design or serendipity, it looks like a perfect fit and offers you a wonderful opportunity to create a world of meaning and success for yourself. You gain the most personal growth by carefully nurturing the growth of your enterprise. If you take good care of what you have received and created so far, you and the world you inhabit will be well taken care of by it in return.
12: House of Surrender
Willing sacrifice for the greater good leads to significant personal growth.
The Nine of Coins in this position requires that you modify your lifestyle and volunteer a bit. Forego some of your easy, comfortable, self-indulgent style so that some of the resources that have flowed to you can flow through you. There’s no merit to doing this if you are forced to, but there is valuable growth to be had by choosing a path of self-sacrifice voluntarily. If this means you tithe or give up entertainment to volunteer, then you do it. Everybody has to make a contribution to manifest the changes that need to happen. This card is reminding you of that now.
11:47:15 AM
Despite your best offers I quit, done, outta here. I'll fill my blog and email the address. Sorry I turned out to be a quitter, Dear Spirit - you must be disappointed to have wasted your investment in me. Still, out of habit and my affection, I ask You to have the last word of the day. In your compassion, please offer your advice as you channel it through me. I'll make sure it's entered here.
Horoscope Spread
Message 1
Wild Card: 8 Justice
The standard meaning of this Arcanum is that of conscience, one's moral sensitivity, which is supposed to evoke empathy, compassion and sense of fairness. Throughout antiquity, since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for humane and equal treatment of all human beings. By providing a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and by using a two-edged sword to symbolize the exactitude necessary to make these adjudications, this Justice card puts us all on notice that not one detail eludes the inner eye of the conscience. What goes around comes around.
1: House of Identity
Consider carefully what consequences may result from joining forces.
The Five of Coins in this position indicates the attraction of opposites. The Five of Coins depicts lovers discovering each other, mirroring and matching, magnetized by each other’s qualities. Once the first flush of infatuation is past, however, the same energy of attraction that once felt so exciting may become a source of friction. The seeds of conflict are built into the fabric of the attraction. Even though the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts, it has been known to devour the individuals who comprise it.
This card suggests a relationship opportunity or offer. Examine what the outcome of joining forces would be. Ascertain as best you can if there is enough to keep you engaged, so that you don’t base a long term endeavor on a moment’s infatuation. Successful long term partnerships are business arrangements as well as love affairs.
2: House of Work
An uninterrupted period of contemplation and peace.
When the Hermit is in this position, you have plenty of privacy available to you. The usual supervisors, critics and back seat drivers have disappeared for a while. You can pull away and study the situation without the interference of others’ personalities and agendas. This is a wonderful opportunity for contemplation. It’s possible in a situation like this that you will experience some precognition, feeling and sensing the direction of what is to come. Pay close attention to and share whatever insights and directions you might receive.
3: House of Ideas
Give a hand up to those who are willing to improve their situation, but don’t nurture dependence.
The Six of Coins in this position bids you to find a way to be helpful without creating dependence. It is a challenge to detach oneself enough from the outcome of one’s own efforts to promote self sufficiency and success among others. In some situations people need assistance or support, and it is good to help them. But if we spend our energy doing for those who can help themselves, we are actually performing a disservice. Your best contribution will not result from saving or rescuing others. Your best contribution lies in encouraging and challenging others to rise above their current limits. See if there is a way you can create incentives for higher performance.
4: House of the Family
Past successes and fulfillment found in communal effort inspire you to communicate the advantages of teamwork to others.
The Four of Wands in this position suggests that in the past you witnessed or participated in a successful and rewarding startup or team effort. As a result you have a good strong sense of how an effective team can expedite an individual’s labors. Your understanding of the process can uplift and harmonize others who have talent but lack experience in a dynamic team effort. Your enthusiasm helps galvanize the group in a common vision.
5: House of Magic
A recent revelation has the potential to revolutionize your life. Cooperate with the opportunity.
The Three of Wands in this position points to a recent revelation that has been exceptionally enlightening and can advance your cause if you take it seriously. You have gotten wind of a trend, been brought into a situation or have been introduced to a person who can transform your life. Value the experience highly and count it as a great blessing, no matter how it felt at the time, because this could be the beginning of a successful enterprise for you. By acknowledging and cooperating with this opportunity you could improve your fortunes immeasurably.
6: House of Apprenticeship
Through you, gifts are carried forward from the past. Prove yourself worthy of this legacy.
When the Ten of Coins comes up in this position, it indicates that you took this incarnation to be a link in a chain of souls that will embody achievement on a scale that could impact future generations. Such people provide the yeast that raises everyone’s quality of life. You must see to it that you remain worthy of this good fortune. Ask yourself how you can best use this unique position you are in. Look to your larger goals now because you have the connections, the funding and the clout to bring them into manifestation.
7: House of Relationships
The past does not dictate the future. You can consciously shape your circumstances.
With the Six of Cups in this position, taking a broad overview will help you to clearly see how you translate past experiences into fuel for the future. You are learning from past experience and adjusting future plans and goals accordingly. Be watchful for this insight, because it will provide lucid insight into a pattern that has always been a mystery to you. You will clearly see that you are not trapped in a predestined reality. Instead, you are able to creatively reinterpret your circumstances and create new outcomes. You will come to realize that you are not merely the result of your past. You are the product of how you interpret your possibilities for the future. This paradigm shift will change everything for you.
8: House of Secrets
Sometimes the cost of self control is simply too high.
When the Tower appears in this position, you are suppressing a tremendous emotional charge and it is taking a toll on your body. This lightning bolt, instead of being released, finding its target, getting grounded and spending itself, is trapped within your body, zapping your internal organs and nervous system. Consider whether you are suppressing a truth that should be acknowledged, spoken and acted upon. Taking those steps will set loose the lightning that creates permanent change. Allow your desperate desire to be on the other side of this issue to overcome the fear of invoking change. The energy is simply too intense to contain.
9: House of Visions
Trusted allies carry on your work while you pursue new opportunities.
The Eight of Wands in this position suggests a need to gather people to you who are responsible, trustworthy and committed and have stamina that matches your own. Your creativity and capability can draw numerous opportunities to you, and you want to engage in some of them without losing your momentum. With your allies in your camp, you can take a break from your present work and start something new, knowing the continuity of your efforts will not be lost.
10: House of Reputation
The best faculties to use in this situation are the intuitive ones.
The Nine of Cups in this position advises that you warm up to circumstances around you. There is no need to manage this situation; it doesn’t require a lot of control or leadership. The tone of the moment is heartfelt and bonded; it is nurturing. Open up, and choose to be receptive. Proceed from your heart, relying on your intuition. This is your truest source of information right now. Allow yourself to be attracted to what feels good, nurturing and supportive. Avoid what feels harsh, critical and judgmental. If this requires that you change your style, do so. The results of being intuitive are generally far superior to the results of being emotionally guarded and over-rational.
11: House of the Future
If things are left to develop on their own, you may land an important supporting role.
With the Page of Cups in this position, you may remain in the background as things develops, serving as a secretary, assistant or confidant for someone or some group in power. Not everyone is psychologically suited for this role. Examine the opportunity carefully, asking yourself if you are willing to be of service on this level. Perhaps you have leadership aspirations of your own right now. You will be happier with whatever role you choose and your contributions if you are realistic and honest with yourself.
12: House of Surrender
Proceed swiftly toward the completion of your mission.
The Ten of Wands in this position tells you not to rest until you have fulfilled your mission. Lacking time or leisure to proceed at a comfortable pace, you must hasten with energetic activity at this critical juncture or you risk failure. Remain at your post, vigilant and ready for action. For this final burst of effort, it is skillful to remind yourself why you are called to make this sacrifice. This recollection along with an awareness of what the consequences of failure would be, will make it easier to summon the energy you need for the final push.
11:48:08 AM
Life Cycle
Message 2
1: Self-Undoing
You must not only be accountable for your actions but bear the consequences.
When the Eight of Swords falls in this position, you are being tested by your own criteria. If you have sown doubt, criticism and negativity in your environment, you will receive the same in return. This is only fair, and you know it. Refrain from whining and blaming. You did what you did; you said what you said. Now the consequences are coming home to you. Humble yourself and rethink your stance. Perhaps in the future you will choose to cultivate more compassion and less confrontation in your relations. Let this experience inspire you to raise your level of sensitivity as you relate to others.
2: Recent Past
A recent revelation has the potential to revolutionize your life. Cooperate with the opportunity.
The Three of Wands in this position points to a recent revelation that has been exceptionally enlightening and can advance your cause if you take it seriously. You have gotten wind of a trend, been brought into a situation or have been introduced to a person who can transform your life. Value the experience highly and count it as a great blessing, no matter how it felt at the time, because this could be the beginning of a successful enterprise for you. By acknowledging and cooperating with this opportunity you could improve your fortunes immeasurably.
3: Roots
Your confidence is an intangible but positive advantage.
The Six of Wands in this position suggests that you are a talented team player who truly understands how individuals can unite and produce something that no individual could accomplish. An experienced person who understands the power of unity enjoys a level of confidence that someone who has never experienced it is unable to feel. Others may have theories about how to manage group endeavors, but only those who have lived it can awaken the hearts of various individuals and make them want to bond as a team.
4: Higher Power
Profound insight gives you a clear sense of self direction.
When the Ace of Swords presents in this position, your Higher Self is blessing you with profoundly penetrating vision. By shifting your point of focus beyond the foreground, you have achieved perspective and long range vision. Like an archer in the woods, you are able to shoot between the trees and hit the bull’s eye. Not only are you gifted with clarity of vision, you also command a panoramic overview at this time. You can see the whole with all its parts and all their interconnections. Be grateful that your connection with your Higher Power is open enough to grant you such perspective, insight and clear sense of direction. In gratitude and humility, ask your greater self for your best course of action. You may already have received the answer.
5: Self
This is a time for individuation. Others must step aside as you step forward.
When the Queen of Swords comes up in this position, it is a time to become more autonomous. This queen has learned through challenging experience that she should be her own best friend. She doesn’t need to be rescued, “helped” or condescended to. As such, it’s time to set boundaries as you move your emotional and psychic center back to yourself. In the old tradition, the Queen of Swords was stigmatized as unwanted, a woman who had outlived her usefulness to a man. Nowadays wise and independent people with maturity are better appreciated; now we celebrate her as a self defined individual and understand her as a person who owns herself. She fosters no dependencies because she craves none. In this way she is freer to move in the world unencumbered by the entangling expectations of others. It’s time to become less available to other people’s whims. Strike out on your own. Win or lose on your own merits.
6: Situation
Be careful not to polarize the situation, supporting a struggle between darkness and light.
The Devil card in this position suggests that you are facing a shadow force you have always feared. Far from crushing you, however, it is educating you. If you refrain from judging things to be good or bad, you will see there is a tremendous amount of life force and vitality coursing through this situation that could go either way, depending on how it is directed. It could express as a vital passion of love, or devolve into some sort of self-centered gratification. You may want to follow someone else’s lead, but no matter what decision is made, it’s important to keep your head above water in this powerfully moving situation. Pay attention to how this life force wants to move, so that you can follow the flow and keep learning. A deeper spiritual dimension beckons you; no matter how bedeviling they may seem, face your instincts or problems with tenacity and a touch of humor.
7: Far Future
Develop your skills in healing and mediation.
With the Knight of Cups in this position, there is a potential to become an effective mediator, one who can bring forth healing. This Knight heals the rift between generations and restores bonds between people whose communication has suffered. He mends the ripped fabric of family relations and missed connections. In his humility, he is the first to recognize his own mistakes, misunderstandings and self-involvement. You have the opportunity to serve well using the wisdom you have gained on your outward journeys. Be a warrior of the open heart and help others to own the strength of their love.
8: Near Future
When you combine intelligence and intuition, you may bring to light a pattern in the clues you are noting.
With the Page of Swords in this position, your upcoming role in events will require the strictest tact, the most scrupulous secrecy. In ancient times this card represented the stealthy spy sent to gather intelligence behind enemy lines, perhaps carrying coded messages or breaking into hidden chambers. Your situation may not be so full of life and death implications, yet it still requires careful attention to detail. Significant outcomes may be hinging on tiny obscurities only you can notice. The associative intelligence of a detective is required to perceive the pattern formed by clues you are finding. But the successful achievement of your current goals depends on anonymity, tact and discretion. Become better at using camouflage or leaving a smaller footprint rather than flouting your individualism and intelligence. Soon you will be tested in this area.
9: The Lesson
Sacrifice your need to control the situation; calm down and wait it out.
With the Four of Cups in this position, be willing to endure a bit of boredom and discomfort for the sake of letting the moment pass. Sometimes you just can’t avoid a situation, even though you have no personal stake in it. It may be some obligation or something that has erupted around you, from which you cannot extricate yourself. Give up the tendency to push the river and make things happen, in order to feel more comfortable right away. Have the self control to wait things out. Be patient, but don’t fall asleep. Keep your wits about you for a good opportunity to free yourself and move into a higher gear. Later you can evaluate whether this was a good or a bad experience.
11:49:21 AM
Tree of Life
Message 3
1: Crown
This is your moment to be tested and tried. It will be demonstrated whether your methods are working or not.
With the Eight of Swords in this position, you are being investigated in some way. This rigorous scrutiny could feel like an inquisition. In one sense it’s a challenge to prove that you are a master of your medium. Refuse to take any of it personally. Intellectually, you must sharpen your thinking, your sword of truth, in order to answer your examiners. As your design or idea is being questioned and dissected, you are being asked to justify each and every detail. Consider this card a reality check. Does the concept or ideal stand up to scrutiny? If you can safely navigate this mine field you will emerge on the other side, proud of how you maintained your integrity under duress.
2: Contemplation
Be as caring as you can be without getting swept up in the emotional dramas of others.
The Queen of Cups in this position points to an emotional relationship. This may be a difficult one to come to terms with, if you can’t get a clear fix on what is going on or what is the best thing to do. At the same time as the Queen of Cups in you exercises the heart qualities of kindness and empathy, be sure to take care of yourself by stating your wants and needs directly. Emotional integrity, a hallmark of the Queen of Cups demands this. Maintain clear boundaries and speak your mind, if necessary, as well as your heart. The Queen of Cups is beautiful energy, but she can be easily hurt if she’s not careful. Try to handle everyone kindly and gently, including yourself.
3: Activation
Accept a coming challenge only if it will benefit the greater good.
With the Horseman of Swords in this position, you have an opportunity to experience the kind of power that comes from high idealism and strong moral sensibilities. Avoid becoming self righteous and moralistic, but hold to your convictions. For the sake of clarity, step back and look at the big picture. Scrutinize your motives, making sure you are not just spoiling for a fight. Only engage this challenge if it’s going to benefit all who will be affected, because you could take a beating if you decide to go through with it. The Knight of Swords at his best is an intellectual and moral leader who raises others’ sensibilities by choosing strategic battles that illuminate important moral or ethical issues. If this is your motive, pursue it.
4: Wisdom
Card: The Universe
You are meant to flourish and express great joy and creativity.
The World in this position suggests that you come from a line of highly evolved people. This may not be familial; perhaps the thread of inspiration was found in your educational life, when you made friends with compatible souls. In any case, you are now rooted in the certainty that you are a wanted child in a benign universe, a sacred seed growing in the divine garden.
This internal confidence overrides any external evidence to the contrary. This foundation gives you resilience and personal power that others only dream about. You create your own reality no matter what is happening around you. This awareness of personal power radically improves your odds for success.
5: Discipline
Learn what you can from past attachments.
The Lovers card in this position suggests that you recently dealt with some strong attraction or difficult choice. Perhaps something dramatic happened, some kind of split or opposition, but not necessarily. Perhaps you have been harboring two different identities, and need to create greater integration within yourself. There is probably a lesson here to do with commitment.
6: Heart
Profound insight gives you a clear sense of self direction.
When the Ace of Swords presents in this position, your Higher Self is blessing you with profoundly penetrating vision. By shifting your point of focus beyond the foreground, you have achieved perspective and long range vision. Like an archer in the woods, you are able to shoot between the trees and hit the bull’s eye. Not only are you gifted with clarity of vision, you also command a panoramic overview at this time. You can see the whole with all its parts and all their interconnections. Be grateful that your connection with your Higher Power is open enough to grant you such perspective, insight and clear sense of direction. In gratitude and humility, ask your greater self for your best course of action. You may already have received the answer.
7: Cycles
As your dignity, control and cherished self image are stripped away, you are driven into the deeper and more authentic parts of yourself.
The Hanged Man card suggests that one is facing a test on how far he or she has outgrown a victim mentality and helpless, hopeless tendencies. The situation may look bleak while you are going through it, but what you lose from a purging like this are things that never were yours in the first place. You stand to gain a whole new perspective on who you are and why you are here, which will vindicate what you have been through. Others may think you were unfairly scapegoated.
In truth, you are rising above the temptation for self pity and are becoming truer to your essential nature. Nothing but good comes of an experience like that, no matter what it feels like at the time.
8: Waking Up
Fear of harsh judgment prevents you from being present to receive praise.
When Justice falls in this position, fear of being judged as not good enough prevents you from letting yourself be seen. The fear is strong enough to keep you from taking the risk, even if you might receive praise. It helps to remember that perfection is not possible to begin with. There is no need to torment yourself with comparison. The placement of this card asks you to measure your heart and its wisdom. If your efforts are sincere and appropriate, you won’t merely be seen as good enough, you will be seen as exemplary.
9: Safety Net
Absorb good advice so you can refine your focus.
The Three of Wands in this position suggests the presence of a friend, advisor or mentor who can help you refine your focus and stay out of trouble. This person’s seasoned wisdom is ready to serve you. Individuals like this have a stock of learning experiences that could pave the way for you. Their good advice allows you to start where they left off. You will be spared a lot of struggle if you accept what your friend or mentor has to say and adjust your course accordingly.
10: Outcome
Acknowledge that your intellectual and intuitive gifts are among your most valuable assets.
With the Six of Swords in this position, the potential is to realize, possibly for the first time, that you have a very sharp mind coupled with a high degree of intuitive sensitivity. The combination may even approach a special streak of genius that is a scarce resource in your community or workplace. You have taken this acuity for granted, yet it’s one of your most valuable attributes. Look for situations where quick assessment and good decision making followed by assertive action toward the good is rewarded. You will earn great acknowledgment as well as more tangible forms of compensation. Ascertain the market value of your gifts, and find ways you can be paid for some of the talents you now use for enjoyment. It may be sensible to do some specialized studying so others respect your credentials as well as your gift. When you are ambitious enough to present your talents to the world in a more professional manner, your position will undoubtedly advance.
11:50:09 AM
Spread: Star of David
Wild Card: 2 The High Priestess
Traditionally, this Arcanum represents Human Wisdom, whether as the Gnostic Papess or Priestess of Isis, the ancient Snake and Bird Goddess, Persephone, or Eve before the "fall" into historical time. For the accused heretics who revered her in the 14th and 15th century, she was the prophecy of the coming Age of the Holy Spirit, female personage within the Christian Trinity. She appears as soon as the Fool decides he wants to develop his innate powers, making a bid to become The Magus. The Priestess or Popess is his first teacher, representing the Inner Life and the method for contacting it, the contemplative study of Nature and the Mysteries.
1: Deciding Moment
You are receiving acknowledgment for the self cultivation you have done.
With the Star in this position, you are emerging from a period of deep inspiration. If you didn’t take notes or keep a journal, make a record now of as much of this illumination as you can remember. This card affirms your self discipline in the search for right livelihood and right placement in the world. You are rewarded for your trials and tribulations and for the work you have done to refine yourself. Take this as encouragement, and hold the experience in your memory.
2: Consequences
Card: The Magician
Now is the time to start expressing some spontaneous creativity.
When the Magus is in this position, you are divinely inspired by a person, situation, or a catalytic experience. It is reminding you to appreciate who you really are and to let yourself shine. This is your moment to reveal your natural talents and gifts. Most likely you will find a receptive audience and achieve positive results. Imagine yourself as a spark of genius creating new and brilliant connections, much to everyone’s great delight. Forget performance anxiety and get on with the show — you will be brilliant.
3: Will
You have the opportunity and position to influence the thinking of those around you.
When the Page of Swords is in this position, sharpen your mind and raise your intellectual and intuitive antennae. Recognize the patterns of thinking affecting those around you. You have an opportunity to influence the assumptions of those who interact with you on a daily basis. By using new vocabulary and presenting new ideas, you can change conditions and help refine or upgrade shared goals. Raise awareness with quiet but steady input from the sidelines. The Page does not draw attention to himself. He positions himself in the world as a servant of powerful people; he or she is often the source for their better thinking. Perhaps at present your greatest strength is your humility.
4: Relationships
Natural consequences need to happen; don’t try to block them.
The Tower in this position suggests that someone on your team has the power of Thor, the power to throw down disruptive bolts of creative chaos, liberate entangled energy and force new growth. This is not a force to be unleashed lightly, nor should you put yourself in the position of making judgment on other people’s lives. This card is principally about the cumulative result of inappropriate actions that eventually attracts an adjustment. Eventually correction becomes necessary and a sudden change brings the structure down. Cooperate with the inevitable.
5: Advice
Recent successes bestow confidence to accomplish more.
With the Eight of Wands in this position, learn all you can from recent successful experiences, taking note of what worked and what didn’t, what you are happy to repeat and what you want to leave behind. Because you know how to use the gift of your imagination to shape the world in productive and aesthetic ways, the testament to your talents is revealed for everyone to see and admire. But if you had to leave it all behind, you know you could start all over among total strangers and succeed again. The past doesn’t define you. This valuable self confidence makes you free to strike out in new directions and not just cling to past successes and previous accomplishments.
6: Conscience
Current achievements represent not just practical success, but also inspired vision.
The Seven of Wands in this position reveals an approaching opportunity to secure goals you’ve been working toward for awhile. You deserve to have confidence in yourself and now others will know why. Take in the full significance of this moment. Acknowledge your genius for outperforming your competitors and challengers and for earning this victory. This is not just a chance success; you set your goal, worked for it and are fulfilling it with aplomb. In the future your achievement will provide a benchmark for others to strive toward.
11:50:51 AM
Self-Knowledge Spread
Message 4
1: Body
Your familial style has endowed you with the ability to choose people who are emotionally healthy for your friends and lovers.
The Ace of Cups in this position suggests that you intimated what love is at an early age. As a result you have created a lifestyle in which a bonded and connected core group of people support you even when you cant be physically present with them. Whether this is your family of origin or an intentional family you have gathered around yourself, it provides an emotional, psychic and spiritual safety net. A foundation of security and encouragement strengthens you for whatever you have to face at the moment.
2: Mind / Feelings
Exhaustion ruins the ability to make good judgments; find someone who can fill in for you until you are refreshed.
When the Nine of Wands is in this position, rest or postponement is imperative, although it may be difficult at this time to let down your guard. Often, when we think we are irreplaceable, we neglect to give ourselves time to rest and recuperate. It would be to your advantage to find a competent ally who can fill in for you until you regain your energy. Try to remember that exhaustion stymies the ability to make good decisions anyway, giving negative forces an opportunity to gain an advantage. For the sake of yourself and the entire situation, take a break!
3: Spirit
Pay close but discreet attention to what is occurring in your environment.
When the Page of Swords presents in this position, your Higher Power is using you as a set of eyes and ears to take stock of present events. Although you may usually be quite transparent and forthcoming, the discipline your Higher Power would like to see you master is a bit of stealth, discretion and the tact of an international diplomat in tense times. Perhaps a message needs to go from one camp to another, or some information needs to be gathered. In any case, keeping a low profile with an acutely active mind and open ear is essential at this time. You will find out later what to do with the intelligence you are gathering. Pay sharp attention; don’t lose your concentration.
posted by amiCreative at 9/22/2005 01:11:00 PM
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