Oct 22 - Tarot Read

Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 8:04:56 AM
Question: How far do I have to go until I’ve reconciled with my past and activate my future work? I’m so tired of self-transformation.
Celtic Cross

1: Self
Summon creativity and resourcefulness from the depths of your being.
The Four of Swords in this position instructs you to seek a quiet place of contemplation, in particular a place linked to your own personal history. In this still, quiet place, meditate letting go of the distractions of the present so you can perceive the larger patterns that shape your life. You are part of a long, unbroken chain of souls that carries forth the wisdom of generations. Take time to examine whether you are successfully preserving what is good, true and beautiful from your lineage and transporting it intact to the future. Accomplishing this will do far more to heal your heart and further your goals than fame or fortune ever could. Make contact with your deep past so you will know how to carry its healthiest and most creative skills successfully forward.
2: Situation
An honorable individual must accept the responsibility of leadership.
The Strength card suggests that it is necessary that a sober and ethical person provide some direction. He or she will be called upon to help neutralize conflict and point everyone toward the greater good, and to live in harmony with all of creation. The situation calls out for an individual who can bridge the gap between different kinds of consciousness, including other species. Such a person projects a natural moral authority that stimulates others to rise to their highest selves, something that is sorely needed.
3: Challenges
You can depend on your creative resourcefulness to reveal opportunities unseen by others.
The Ace of Swords in this position challenges you to define your goals by manipulating current trends. There is a wind sweeping across this card that has an agenda of its own, but you have a map (your plan) and a sail (your mind). Using them both, you can use that wind to empower you on your chosen course. Knowing you can depend upon your own quick wits and adaptability frees you to see opportunities that might be as invisible as the wind to others. Because you hold the map that will help others understand how to sail from chaos to order, determine how you can serve both yourself and this situation creatively. This level of organization is more critical at the planning stages of an enterprise than most people generally realize or remember. You could be a hero by stating clearly what you see at this important stage. Don’t hold yourself back.
4: Foundation
A model of unwavering generosity and love provides you a source of strength and wisdom.
The Empress suggests that at some time in your life you were exposed to an inspiring model of female dignity, generosity and love — someone who was steady and supportive. How fortunate you were! This experience taught you to go within and find the source of right action and clear thinking within yourself. Even if this person is no longer available to you, the learning you received can continue to provide a strong, reliable foundation.
5: Recent Past
You have shaken off the need to lean on others. Your independence is blossoming.
With the Six of Coins in this position, you are just coming out of a position of dependence and are learning to carry your own weight. Where in the past you may have felt more comfortable taking your cues from strong forces around you, you are now outgrowing the need to be “helped.” From here you can build and expand until you, as opposed to others, are the strong force in your own life, maybe even modeling self sufficiency for others in time. As this process unfolds, it would be a good exercise for you to make careful notes on your evolving outlook and new experiences. In the future, this will help you guide others through similar transformations.
6: Higher Power
Embrace hidden parts of yourself; express your passionate nature.
The Devil card in this position advises you to be as authentically whole as possible. Explore what you truly feel, what your real needs are, what you can’t live with any longer. Expressing these hidden aspects of yourself may shock and upset some people, but it is much healthier than continually holding yourself in or confining yourself to limited territory. Your tremendous energy is searching for a way to express itself. If you can unravel the inner knot’s that are tying up your energy, you will be better able to enjoy the pleasures of life and more charismatically fulfill your destiny. Your Higher Power wants you to shed your bindings and return to your natural state. Remove the camouflage and the armor of denial. Allow your true nature to reveal and express itself, with a sense of humor.
7: Near Future
Don’t defeat yourself by being hasty and jumping to conclusions. Make sure others involved have contributed their insights too.
The Horseman of Swords in this position indicates that factions in your new situation are rapidly polarizing. People are expecting you to take sides and do battle, but don’t let yourself be goaded into other peoples’ conflicts. Ask yourself if you care enough to go through with it. If you aren’t wholeheartedly committed to taking a position, you will regret spending precious energy on a cause for which you have little passion. If this is really your issue, however, prepare yourself well; don’t be reckless. Because the Knight of Swords has a reputation for not clearly examining his motives, he often becomes a victim of his own spontaneity. Don’t allow that to happen. Just because you are being pushed out in front of others doesn’t mean everything depends on you. If you have team members, brainstorm your options and seek solutions. Focus on being an effective team coordinator.
8: Blocks and Inhibitions
Decide that you have done enough and take some time to rest.
When the Horseman of Coins presents in this position, you have lost the ability to say “No, this is not mine to do.” Ask yourself “Haven’t I done enough already? May I not allow myself to rest?” It is essential for you to ask these questions right now because the answers may affect your health and longevity.
9: Allies
Seek out others who can teach you empathy and mediation skills.
In this position, the Two of Swords suggests that receptivity and humility are especially helpful to you at this time. If these virtues don’t come naturally to you, then seek friends who are open minded and flexible and contemplate those qualities with them. You know at least one person, possibly several, who are masters of empathy. They can help you put yourself in another person’s shoes and envision approaches that benefit everyone. As you role play with them, take turns advocating for both sides of an issue or problem. Learn their harmonizing and balancing mediation skills so you can look through your adversary’s eyes.
10: Advice
The open-minded novice can look at a situation with fresh eyes and get to the essentials with confidence.
The Page of Coins in this position advises that you study your chosen field seriously and with passion, not just for intellectual knowledge but for whatever experiential learning you can pick up as well. Expose yourself to the stories of others, both successes and failures, and let yourself be inspired by their dedicated efforts. Leave no stone unturned. Try to figure out why their experiments went the way they did, and what you might try that could change the outcome. Passionately hunt for the missing piece overlooked by those who came before you. You may be humble or a newcomer, but a “beginners mind” is an open channel for genius. Let that magical openness lead you and you will instinctively penetrate to the heart of the matter.
11: Long-Term Potential
Set a reasonable pace in order to allay disappointment and failure.
With the Nine of Wands in this position, this is the time to set a reasonable pace and create a rhythm that can be sustained, rather than throwing yourself into a frenzy of overwork and stress. Pacing yourself is very different than toiling twenty four hours a day until you drop. Sometimes when a fast pace is continued without change, the potential for disappointment and failure increases, and noble aspirations and high ideals are lost along the way. Reconsider your strategy — you can still finish your tasks but you don’t have to proceed in a way that will exhaust your ability to appreciate the results when you finally achieve them.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 8:24:34 AM
Question: I’m learning to live a routine so I end my work and leave ’the office’. I watch TV with peter, play more with the doggies and eat something—finally! But my work is never given response so I have no idea who loves/hates me/my work, if they’re benefiting from it re pleasure, wisdom, humor. Nobody, absolutely nobody is talking to me, even those who used to...why?

Horoscope Spread
The Ace of Wands symbolizes a pivotal act, or fateful step, that will set loose the chain of events leading toward your desired goal. As such, it refers to a birth or new beginning, the inauguration of an endeavor, and the necessary commitment to see a project through. It embodies the aroused Will, one-pointed, aiming at the bulls-eye.

1: House of Identity
Feelings of renewal and idealism are arising in you, which will empower you to radiate the higher virtues to all around you.
The Two of Cups in this position is shouting “Love!” This isn’t necessarily about a traditional love affair. It could be a strong heart connection between yourself and someone you care greatly about. It could even be an attraction to an ideal or a vision that is as real to you as any interpersonal relationship. It can also represent reconciliation between your own masculine and feminine aspects. In any case, this card is referring to that aroused, emotionally sensitive space we enter when we are opening up at a deep level. This may be a sweet, adorable moment, but you can’t deduce from this immediate feeling what the ultimate outcome of the relationship will be. Nevertheless, this card does encourage the idealism that creates fidelity and trust, empathy and compassion — the very human virtues we need most in our lives and relationships. Your emotional, psychic and spiritual life are quickening like spring. Enjoy this wonderful feeling and bless the world with it, but don’t make any serious commitments at this time.
2: House of Work
To do your best work is pure pleasure.
When the Sun is in this position, you are in charmed company. The energy is right, and circumstances are such that you fit in and are a valued member of a creative, progressive team. This is an exciting time in your life. The projects coming your way are fascinating challenges, and they will elicit your best work. This is one of those periods when boundaries between work and play tend to disappear. Friends and family expand to include an entire community of like-minded souls. Enjoy this period for as long as it lasts.
3: House of Ideas
Protect all areas of your health to increase your vigor and self reliance.
The Nine of Coins in this position challenges you to stay healthy and fit — emotionally, physically and psychologically. Don’t let yourself become soft and out of shape. You can’t expect this period of relative abundance and support to last forever. Even in the best of situations there are fluctuations; no situation is immune to change. As you proceed on your way, be aware of maintaining your muscle tone as well as your intellectual and emotional vigor. Use this situation to improve yourself and prepare for whatever may come next.
4: House of the Family
You have an innate ability to draw people who willingly become part of your group.
The Three of Cups in this position suggests that in your background, you were imprinted with an unerring compass that helps you find the most loving, supportive and nurturing people in every environment you enter. Your magnetism attracts like-minded souls who know how to harmonize, cooperate and mutually support each other. When you locate these people, you begin to bond with them and become like a family. This regular feature in the cycles of your life is a remarkable blessing! It makes you a truly valued and cherished part of every team you become involved with. It’s time once again to look around for sympathetic souls you can join with in this situation.
5: House of Magic
Because significant differences have been mediated, you no longer need to doubt your path of action.
With the Two of Wands in this position, a recent deadlock, stalemate or blockage is breaking up, freeing you to feel optimistic and creative again. For a while it was unclear whether you had chosen a dead end path or were just temporarily detoured. But you reoriented yourself, reexamined and reframed your objectives, and it was an exercise that proved to be fruitful. Now you can get back into action with an updated outlook and attitude.
6: House of Apprenticeship
Let the blessings of heaven rain down upon you and rejoice.
The Star in this position is about being in tune with the spiritual dimension of life. The light you cast helps others awaken to their spiritual identity too. This is not necessarily a conscious. effort, if one simply lets the heart be the lodestone, the source of guidance. Things run smoothly for those who are on or influenced by this wavelength. Synchronicities crop up. People understand each other better. This card signifies all the blessings that flow to and through you from the heavens above. Realize that you are being spiritually cultivated by Life itself.
7: House of Relationships
As a new path to the future opens up for you, leave conflict behind. Be harmonious.
With the Six of Swords in this position, an imminent opportunity for change will be presenting itself. Seize the chance to let go of your present situation and its conflicts for a realm that is free from problems of the past. Opportunities are opening in new directions; bring the best of your knowledge with you and leave contention behind. Detach your heart and mind from past friction as you put physical distance between yourself and the competitive, conflicting agendas of the past. You can start fresh in new circumstances if you change your way of thinking so as not to remain attached to old problems.
8: House of Secrets
Wait out this time of uncertainty; make no moves until you are calm.
When the Lovers card appears in this position, you are practically immobilized by indecision. You are vacillating between options that appear equal. Perhaps you don’t have enough information to make a comfortable decision. Because of the uncertainty, you are afraid to make any choice, fearing that the wrong one would produce unpredictably negative consequences. You can turn this around if you regain trust in your instincts, intuition and clear-headed powers of reasoning. Otherwise, you run the risk of taking bad advice. Take some time, until you regain your poise.
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 possibility of success is open to you; there is no substantial obstacle.
The King of Wands in this position reminds us that all of life is arranged to bring us to a place of self sovereignty within the parameters of our personalities. An opportunity is presenting itself; awaken to the reality that you now hold the power. You are the determining factor in this situation, and circumstances will navigate in the direction you steer them. Indecision or doubt IS not appropriate responses when clarity and confidence are critical. As you take on this new role, it will begin to feel more comfortable. Seize the opportunity to direct events; everything is waiting for you.
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
Make a clean break with the past. Embrace the future with all its possibilities.
The Six of Cups in this position requires that you let go of your powerful hold on the past. Put it down, back away, say good-bye. Turn and face change; move forward from a position of assertiveness. Release the emotional attachments that have tied you to the emotional, psychological and psychic vulnerabilities of your past. You cannot “fix” the past — the present is your point of power. Your future is compelling; it has tremendous possibilities, but not if it has to compete with the almost addictive hold the old emotional life can have over you. Do whatever you can to break the spell.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 9:08:31 AM
Question: I want my friends to stay but I need them to trust me as a Friend, not think of me as Crazy Woman. The web is best for multimedia communication and music for creative group work. Any notoriety I’ll tolerate if it helps my work reach the people who could use it. I can’t be friends with my sisters if they don’t give up the crazy thing and had hoped to befriend my guitar teacher…lost, lost

Horoscope Spread
The Three of Wands symbolizes an inner balance that allows you to feel reasonable optimism about new endeavors you are committed to. In the illustrated Tarots, the protagonist is standing on his balcony, watching his ships leave the harbor, loaded with trade-goods for far-off ports, dreaming of the fortune he will reap if all goes well.
He must be patient and trusting, because he will have to wait at least a year to find out how his ships have fared, and meanwhile he has a lot of resources tied up until they return. Only those truly confident in their ideas and abilities would take such a risk. This card represents the energy a person needs to undertake great adventures and accomplish notable deeds.
A detail that sometimes appears in the more esoteric Tarots is a winged wand with two snakes twining around it, called the Caduceus, which is Mercury's wand. This is an ancient symbol of the healer or shaman, one who can travel between the worlds to rescue souls from death or possession. Perhaps the feeling of empowerment this card represents points to the internal mechanisms of self-healing. Perhaps it refers to the courage it takes to be an entrepreneur or an inventor, which is in itself a magical process -- bringing not only opportunity for success, but also an awakening to higher potentials.

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
You are caught up in a vortex of intensifying demands.
The Eight of Wands in this position has you running to keep up with people and circumstances that are out of control which seem to have taken on a life of their own. Being proactive may be difficult because the stimulation around you is so high and demands all your attention. This is not to comment on any weakness of yours; you are simply caught in escalating consequences. This can be an exciting and possibly exhausting time because you may be tested at every level as your ideal is realized. It takes supreme effort to cope with unforeseen outcomes.
3: House of Ideas
Stay flexible while the outcome is still unknown.
The Two of Coins in this position suggests that you stay flexible even when the outcome is still unknown. It’s a good time to develop plans for various possible outcomes, both good and bad. Once you are prepared for any eventuality, you can maintain some serenity even if everyone around you is worried. The best thing to do is stay calm and you will have energy at your disposal for the moment when you can again take action.
4: House of the Family
Give your expectations a rest. Be generous to yourself.
The Nine of Wands in this position points to a background of hard work in which there were no acceptable alternatives but to carry the load by yourself and strive against all odds. This attitude invariably leads to extremely high expectations for yourself that are sometimes even inhumane. Try relating to yourself as your own best friend rather than as a taskmaster. Give your expectations a rest and be generous to yourself. Fight a tendency to be tyrannical; let go of the “shoulds” you put on yourself.
5: House of Magic
An experience of the Fool can be a valuable wake-up call.
With the Fool in this position, you have had an encounter with destiny. It proved to you in no uncertain terms that your concept of what’s going on is off center. When you have an episode with the Fool, the reality that seemed so substantial and compelling a moment ago is suddenly revealed as threadbare and frivolous. This motley clad jester questions the very foundations of life. These experiences are brisk and bracing and put things in perspective. Be grateful if the Fool has visited your neighborhood and cast his comedic and piercing eye into your life. Distortions get reduced to size and the real issues are revealed.
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
Take any opportunity to rest and regroup that you can. Needed perspective will come via quiet contemplation.
With the Four of Swords in this position, you could very soon gain an opportunity to change the pattern of your emotional and mental life. A break in your usually busy lifestyle will give you time for deeper reflection. As a result, you may cease to identify with old resentments and angers. Events or exchanges that formerly triggered your reactions could be diffused through a new or greater understanding. You will have the chance to gain objectivity about yourself and nurture your better qualities. Don’t take action until you have meditated on the overall situation, have cut through the emotional layers and learned to free yourself from programmed responses.
8: House of Secrets
An emphasis on the negative overcomes more balancing experiences that could be positive and enjoyable.
When the Three of Swords falls in this position, you are affected by an expectation of disapproval and censure. Even a small slight is easily magnified because of this undisciplined habit of mind. It is very stressful to live under such a dark cloud, whether it comes from your own outlook or your environment — your “mental weather” has to change. Learn to uphold your self esteem and your inner sense of worth; stop giving others the power to undermine you. Everyone sees things differently — that is the human condition. You can’t control what others choose to think, so concentrate on what is beneficial to your long term plan and goal.
9: House of Visions
A respected elder and possible benefactor has taken an interest in you.
The King of Cups in this position suggests the presence of someone in your environment who is positively disposed toward you and has good hunches, intuitions and advice for you. Investigate this relationship so you have all the information you need — the guidance, support and insight you don’t personally possess. This King of Cups is a perfect patron for your work because he has no competing agenda of his own and excellent motives toward you. Trust him and listen to him. Open your heart and mind to what he (or she) has to say, then adjust your course accordingly.
10: House of Reputation
Have the serenity of knowing you are succeeding at what you came here to achieve.
The World in this position is giving you permission to do whatever you want. It’s not that you can do no wrong, but that your motivation is so close to what divine nature wants that even if you commit an error, it will be turned to the greater good. No need to stop and check yourself all the time or interrupt your spontaneity with calculation.
Don’t doubt yourself and look for consensus or affirmation from others. Simply dance the dance — express yourself, react naturally, emanate instinct and impulse, and let the chips fall where they may. What matters is divine intention; whether humans approve is less important. If you allow your ego to get inflated, however, you cease to be useful to the greater plan.
11: House of the Future
Success can expose you to scorn as readily as to credit.
The Hanged Man card in this position suggests that there is real potential to create such a great success in your endeavors that you will attract opposition and be made an example of in some way. Sometimes this is the very best way to publicize your case, however. You can get the media and all the pundits to espouse your cause for free when you are willing to be a sacrificial lamb to draw attention. If you are unwilling to go through this for the sake of the greater good, or if it seems that no greater good would be served by doing so, modify your behavior. Otherwise continually repeating what you are doing now will attract those who would love to use you as their whipping-boy. Sometimes this is the right way to go; other times it’s simple self destructiveness. It’s up to you.
12: House of Surrender
Be open to doing a fearless moral inventory.
When the Eight of Swords comes up in this position, the details of your motives and inner dialogue will be under scrutiny. As if making a confession, you may need to expose parts of yourself that you usually try to downplay. You have to admit that your self image is to some extent fabricated for yourself and others. Such an experience is painful and humbling, but often illuminates double standards and excuse making that bears correcting. Be grateful this issue came up before the situation became more complicated.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 9:26:07 AM
Question: I did the moral inventory, step 4 of AA, publicly. I put it on blog and emailed it to my friends. I thought I’d proved my loyalty over a long period of time to them. I see myself now as a fallible human and see them as the same. My core values remain and my medium of work is consistent. I just need to continue only at a steadier pace for the long-run. I don’t get why nobody responds to me. I can’t tell if anybody likes me back or wants to work with me. For all I know I'm "the bad smell" that used to follow them around. This I don't need for my self-esteem.

Horoscope Spread
11 Strength
In the Strength Arcanum, the animal nature, so fierce and scary in its primal form, has been tamed and brought to heel, under the direction of our subtler, finer (feminine, interior) self. The will and passion of our untamed nature does not need to be "broken," but refined and brought to consciousness so that all levels of Creation, inner and outer, might come into harmony. The feminine soul-force shows a strength and persuasive power that can induce cooperation from others, stilling disruptive energies and relating the Planes of Being to each other in a cooperative spirit.

1: House of Identity
Let your focus be on advancing your cause.
When the Five of Wands falls in this position, the message is to focus on the goal rather than the struggle. Sometimes it is necessary to push yourself through resistance to make things happen. In order to succeed in a worthy enterprise, one needs to be prepared to deal with obstacles and competitors. Growing a thicker skin helps, as does learning not to take small matters too seriously. You have every reason to feel confident about your ability to succeed at whatever you commit yourself to. You have the power to sustain yourself through this stage.
2: House of Work
Transformation is difficult now; look within for solutions.
The Ten of Wands in this position suggests that this is a time of stability and security, a much needed break from striving and stress. This is good, but at the same time, the situation is somewhat resistant to transformation and progress. Your recent surge of creativity is winding down; resources that once seemed endless can no longer support continuous expansion. The next stage or project has yet to be discovered. It will be found within, not in the external environment. Relax in this moment of stability; don’t distract yourself from an opportunity for greater clarity by trying to stay busy.
3: House of Ideas
Your hard-won wisdom can help protect others from their inexperience or foolishness. Be generous with it.
With the Knight of Cups in this position, distill the essence of what you have learned on your journey, in order to let your wisdom inform the dreams and aspirations of others. Not everyone is able to go through the kind of awesome transformations you have. But you can wring the essence of your experience, and the feelings and insights that came with it, into the grail cup, and share this elixir of knowledge. This multiplies the benefits of your quest, and vindicates the difficulty of your labors, by uplifting everyone. In this way you can also relieve some of the loneliness you suffered while undergoing your trials.
4: House of the Family
Wisdom comes from careful and extensive study.
The Hermit in this position has had a chance to learn about the nature of reality. He or she has been given the tools to apply moral discrimination and prune away false expectations. Such an education empowers you to focus on what is essential to mental and spiritual health. Humbled, you discover your strengths in the school of hard knocks; and you know what you are made of. Your psyche’s foundation derives from ageless wisdom, as well as an abundance of profound guidance still available to you. Some people have to theorize about the right thing to do; the Hermit knows because he has transformed knowledge into experience.
5: House of Magic
You have just been shown an appealingly sensuous style of being.
The Queen of Coins in this position indicates that you are contemplating an experience that showed you a new way to perceive events in your life. You may have also become privy to a new way of being with your personality, your body, your intelligence, your particular point of view and your stance in the world. Someone has just modeled a more abundant, relaxed, trusting and generous style of being. Before this encounter fades from memory, recall as vividly as you can the impact that it made on you so that it may continue to be an inner influence. Let this individual or experience provide you with practical inspiration and a better grasp on what is next in your endeavors. Mine this encounter for all that it’s worth. You have had a precious contact. Let it continue to change you.
6: House of Apprenticeship
Resistance is futile; surrender to the hard lesson.
The Ten of Swords indicates that you are being educated about limits. Don’t spend time looking outside yourself to trace the causes of these events. It doesn’t matter. Just accept that your Greater Self intends this challenge to be an education, correcting that part of you that is under the illusion that you possess control over your life. Now that you are fully conscious of your inability to forestall the inevitable, the right action is to lay down your arms. For now, your power in the situation has come to an end. You are learning that your life is subject to forces much more powerful than your ego. In an ironic way, this dark hour actually provides you evidence that you are not abandoned, though the proof may be coming in the form of a cosmic chastisement. Notice how such a setback can happen without really damaging your will to carry on. This is the wonder of the Ten of Swords — you think events like this would “just kill you”, but you endure, for this too shall pass.
7: House of Relationships
A change in your pursuits will open you in a way that is emotionally gratifying.
The Page of Cups in this position could be starting over again in a new field he or she is excited to be entering, although it could be quite different from any previous area of expertise. This change could make a difference in the quality of both relationships and spiritual life. Because the figure of the Page denotes apprenticeship, it might be seen as both a step backward and a step forward. Compare this to the transition between being a high school senior and a freshman in college — it’s an advancement and demotion at the same time. The Page of Cups is a natural apprentice to the depths of the spiritual and emotional life. As such, the change you make could teach you much about what is essential, what is most important to you and those you care about. Be open to this learning and you will never regret that you achieved it.
8: House of Secrets
When self doubt is banished, positive change can result.
When the Queen of Wands falls in this position, old routines and self doubt get in the way of your potential leadership. This is somewhat ironic, considering that the issues are clear, positive change is clearly needed and you possess the necessary talent. Your unique viewpoint may be the key to what is needed in this situation, but your knee-jerk reflex is to assume that it is unachievable. You know that a change would bring great satisfaction; don’t allow fear and doubt to block the way.
9: House of Visions
You can help yourself heal by serving those whose wounds are fresher than your own. The assistance you give will be returned to you.
The Eight of Cups in this position suggests that you are seeing one of your past traumas repeating in the life of a friend or associate. As the themes and emotions play out around you, it motivates you to reframe your own past experience in a wiser, more mature light. Let the person in pain be your tutor in compassion. Perhaps you can be helpful, nurturing or healing at a time when someone close to you is dealing with great pain. Open your heart without being theatrical or overly dramatic; provide some quiet support. By now being the one to offer assistance, you heal the part of you that felt abandoned or ignored when a similar thing happened to you.
10: House of Reputation
Find the confident and capable inner resources you possess to get the task completed.
When the Emperor is in this position, get in touch with your inner sovereignty, your natural self-possession. Realize that somewhere deep inside you is the memory of royalty. Reach within to find that strain of natural nobility and leadership. These innate qualities will help you better manage your current situation. The Emperor suggests that you are not only willing to be the final authority, you have the necessary abilities. This situation is an opportunity to showcase your competence and skill. Proceed as if you knew just what you were doing. Be bold, have confidence and take care of business.
11: House of the Future
Recognize the part you play in your own setbacks.
With the Three of Swords in this position, it may take a season or two to assimilate the implications of all that has happened, before you can again feel safe to welcome new relationships. Study the pattern of unfortunate events as they unfolded before — review how you drew the situation into your life, how you let yourself be swept along, how you were drawn toward a familiar, inevitable failure. Examine your relationship pattern closely to see how you continue it. Until you fathom your tendency to invite such events into your life, you will not be free of this particular pain. Get ready to study these issues for a while; examining them closely with an eye to your own responsibility.
12: House of Surrender
The strongest and most popular leader is the servant or caretaker of the realm.
When the Ten of Cups is in this position, don’t rest on your laurels and relax into your pleasures until the most minor member of the group is taken care of. Be like the body which tracks every part of itself, and mobilizes to treat the slightest hurt in even the smallest part. This is the sacrifice required of you. You cannot rest easy in the comfort of your accomplishments until all others in your care are provided for. You owe it to them, for without your support group you wouldn’t have been able to achieve what you have. The more you can spread good will, acknowledgment and praise, the more you will be seen as the heroic leader who benefits all.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 9:46:42 AM
Question: The “Hero-word” guarantees me alienating myself from friends. Granted, I’m eccentric but so are my friends. I’m learning to work fewer hours so I eat and sleep; I even watch TV with Peter at night and am getting back to a housework and cooking routine – basic grounding tools. I didn’t get pneumonia from this cold because I’m working at self-care. My only dissatisfaction is my weight-problem – it’s uncomfortable, bad for my health, and keeps the Loser-sticker on my forehead. My mind/heart were tested this week and proved I can remain steady even when I’m most physically weak. I’m ready as long as I have friendship through my pets and can rely on You, Spirit, to keep me from doing stupid stuff.

Horoscope Spread
The Queen of Wands represents the natural manager, an organizational type whose gift it is to create teams and assign tasks, seeing to it that the job runs smoothly and all phases of the operation are keeping up with each other. She'll be sweating in the sun along with her crew, inspiring everybody to keep up and keeping the job fun with her infectious energy.
She is the best kind of supervisor to have, because she is so much like a challenging but encouraging mother, who just knows you have it in you to do your best work under her direction. She believes in her charges, and they work hard to please her. She is not, however, sentimental. Like a good farm wife, she views her crops, her animals, even the people who work for her, as necessary tools for the achievement of her goals. If any aspect is no longer productive or cost-effective, or if it's time to take the lambs to slaughter, she can let them go without a second thought. Do not look to her for sympathy.

1: House of Identity
Cultivate your investments using good timing and skillful management; protect your interests.
The Horseman of Coins in this position portrays you as someone who is responsible, patient, and of practical service. You realize that with right timing and proper attention, wise investments multiply, like a field which has been cultivated. This does not have to do with greed or even the profit motive as we think of it now. Your contribution is like that of the farmer who sows a field of grain for the sake of the entire community. Your service does not stop there, however. The crop must be allowed to grow unmolested by predators or thieves. That’s another reason we need to summon forth the stalwart knight who can be trusted to protect and defend the community and its harvest. This card implies generous usefulness of all types.
2: House of Work
Don’t hesitate to support a team effort that is potentially effective and productive.
When the Four of Wands is in this position, you are being drawn into a circle of creative, stimulating, high energy people. Collectively you are giving birth to an idea, business, product, or endeavor. The effective combination of their energies confirms that the process will be fertile and productive. If you have an opportunity to support, invest in or lend your energy to a team like this, don’t hesitate. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
3: House of Ideas
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: House of the Family
Knowing the value of purposeful work inspires and impassions others.
The Queen of Wands in this position suggests you learned your work ethic from an inspiring, challenging, intelligent individual who took on every project with wholehearted interest. Labor is a common denominator in life, but someone with a larger perspective helps us understand the worth of our work. Having had that kind of role model, you now know how to embody it for others. You develop a morale and enthusiasm that’s infectious and inspiring to others, even in a situation requiring physical exertion.
5: House of Magic
The time of trusting surrender and blissful learning is passing.
The Page of Cups in this position has just emerged from a blissful period of innocence and naiveté. Perhaps you were rudely awakened or just gradually accumulated more perception of the vicissitudes of life. In either case, you cannot continue to respond like the completely open protégé who trusts unconditionally and suspects nothing. That stage is over. Now you must accept a more mature level of wisdom and responsibility. This card’s placement represents the passing of a student phase in your life.
6: House of Apprenticeship
Have such confidence in your strengths and compassion that you could stand in for others less resilient than you.
The Hanged Man in this position suggests that it is part of your soul’s growth to serve as some kind of sacrificial lamb. You should have elected this for special reasons — you knew you were strong enough; it wouldn’t be fatal or cause permanent damage; and in your great compassion you saw that you could help others whose vulnerability or fragility would make this experience too devastating for them.
Like Jesus, you have taken on a difficult challenge out of spiritual charity. You are rewarded in the inner world by the experience of unconditional lovingness and the entirely new worldview such self-sacrifice provides. Although it is fully worth the price one pays, you could probably never explain this to those around you because they think you are just overwhelmed by your suffering. In truth, you are actually earning your stripes in the spirit world. You don’t need or desire sympathy.
7: House of Relationships
Humbly seek out the most trustworthy advisors and allies you can find.
The Four of Coins in this position suggests that something of great value will soon be given to you. This situation points to the classic dilemma of an heir whose wealthy parents die before he or she is fully mature. Sometimes no will or sensible handlers can save such an heir from making bad investments and stupid mistakes. Although it may feel awkward, your best bet is to be humble and seek out the most trustworthy advisors and allies you can find. Let them tutor you so you can prepare yourself for this advantage when it comes.
8: House of Secrets
Attempts to regain control are not only disabling, they will ultimately prove fruitless.
When the Five of Swords falls in this position, it suggests that you devote too much of your communication skills, ideas and mental pictures to the negative side of circumstances. You are hyper aware of what could go wrong, what kind of problems could happen, how you might lose face, ways you could lose power or dominance. You tend toward worry and stress while rehearsing or reliving conversations. As long as you are expending energy trying to regain control of the situation, you can no longer respond appropriately to what it is truly offering you. You don’t have control over the outcome anyway, so surrender attachment and examine your motives for trying to manipulate it. Examine how “I, me, mine” thinking is undermining the naturalness and harmony in this situation.
9: House of Visions
Take advantage of spiritual role models.
The High Priestess in this position points to a mentor or role model who exemplifies true objectivity. This person is skilled in the high art of intuitive receptivity. Like an undeveloped film, the High Priestess can enter a situation and take an impression of all it contains without needing to project personality into it. Such cultivated neutrality and openness to the bigger picture is the foundation of wisdom. Study this person. Develop clarity and humility in your own personality, and use these qualities to up-level all your interactions and relationships.
10: House of Reputation
Success is won by perseverance; be resolute in the use of your time and energy.
The Seven of Coins in this position would have you focus on the long run: look beyond this week or this month. This card exemplifies the magic of compound interest. You’ll have much better results with slow and steady investment of time, energy and labor than you would generate by trying to win the lottery. The path to success is perseverance. Glamorous or flashy moves cannot take the place of consistent steps in the right direction. If you don’t understand this, perhaps you are moving in the wrong direction or are not motivated strongly enough.
11: House of the Future
Your need to be free will eventually overcome your attachment to comfort.
The Nine of Swords in this position suggests that if you can respond to the promise of freedom within this arduous passage, you will be able to win your way out of a situation that is rapidly becoming too confining. This kind of situation can turn an ordinary person into a warrior. Compare it to the shock of immersion into the turbulent waters of a cold stream after soaking in a warm bathtub of predictability. Change may require the sudden pruning of entangling and unrewarding relationships. Although there is potential tragedy and pathos in your situation, when the old gratifications are no longer available, the nostalgia will eventually diminish too, leaving you open for new fulfillment. The coming time requires a new approach — one that is more self sufficient, self directed and self-willed, with less dependence on others.
12: House of Surrender
Resist the temptation to worry when situations require considerable faith and adaptability.
The Two of Coins in this position requires willingness to juggle opposing obligations or commitments. Situations of great uncertainty require considerable faith and adaptability. Keep an open mind; resist the temptation to worry. If it weren’t for people like you there would be no grease on the wheels, and the whole system would lock up. Keep up the good work.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 10:19:01 AM
Question: I hoped to do something with the work I did on trauma. I collected enough for a website before 9-11 but I shelved it after that as I thought trauma therapy would be perfected – obviously not. The resources for understanding and treating post-trauma stress disorder is now extensive. It’s obvious most of us have fear habits that cripple us, sabotage meaningful work and diminish quality of life.
Now that I’ve gained some significant amount of distance from my Past and I rarely relate to victim-mentality any more, I thought about it but in my opinion it’s still categorized “Taboo”, “Occult” when personalized...advice?

Horoscope Spread
5 The Hierophant
The Hierophant teaches practical applications from the book of Natural Law. He reveals the secrets hidden in everyday matter, the cycles of moons and tides, the links between the body and the cosmos. Because monasteries were the only places a person could learn to read and write in the Middle Ages, the Hierophant is the one to whom a student would petition for entry, and he sets the curriculum for the neophyte's course of study. With right raised hand in the attitude of blessing, s/he links herself with the ancient lineages of Melchezidek, first initiator of the Hebrew priestly tradition, and passes on the lineage teachings. All self-generated shamans of any tradition inherently draw on this archetype.

1: House of Identity
You appreciate the benefits that come from confidence and authority.
The King of Wands in this position shows you projecting an authority and security that can rightfully inspire pride and appreciation. This is your time to shine and for your accomplishments to be recognized. He is sometimes interpreted as autocratic, however, so strive to be objective and open-minded to avoid overly offending others who may feel jealous. Remember that everything is cyclical and passes through its own seasons: a sense of serenity felt at the top is no guarantee that the high ranking position will last. Stay balanced and use power wisely to set a good example for those who will follow in your footsteps.
2: House of Work
Because you are not able to overcome forces larger than yourself, cease resisting.
When the Ten of Swords is in this position, the anticipated project or goal seems to be going down Normalcy has been disrupted, there is a certain amount of chaos. This situation is not necessarily fatal to you or your loved ones, but it is a radical shakeup of the prevailing order. You are too small to repair the situation — forces larger than you dominate right now. Since you can’t control the outcome, don’t spend energy trying. Perhaps all you can do is hunker down, cover your head and wait it out. Rely on the good sense Nature gave you and save any remaining energy for starting over later. Know when to cut your losses and detach yourself from circumstances, so you don’t go down with the ship.
3: House of Ideas
Get in touch with your deepest passions and instinct, so they can be channeled to benefit everyone.
The Devil card in this position challenges you to feel your desire, passion or attraction fully, but to unleash that powerful force only for the greatest good. Be in touch with your vital force, its passionate energy and urges, but don’t lose your head. These powerfully transformative times demand that we learn to handle unpredictable and unimagined experiences with poise. That can’t be done if you fall into judgment, unbridled lust or any other form of emotional or physical addiction. If you can participate in this arousing situation without completely losing your composure, you will be of great value to your friends, family and community. You have some powerful energy within you. Let it express, but channel that expression for good.
4: House of the Family
There is nothing so chaotic or overwhelming that you can’t recover.
The Tower in this position suggests that you have experienced a direct hit in this lifetime. Now it holds no terror for you; you know you can handle intense energy and sudden changes. Your resilience has been proven; you know how to pull yourself together after an explosion. The knowledge that you can hold up under duress gives you courage and optimism. Now you can serve as a guide or support for others who are less confident or experienced.
5: House of Magic
The time for proving yourself has passed; be proud of how well you performed.
With the Eight of Swords in this position, be relieved that the worst is over. The difficult parts of the path have been traversed. Now you can rest, reassemble your energy and think about how well you did under the circumstances. Maybe you discovered that you are quite good at navigating tricky situations. Your communications skills and intellectual acuity have been tempered in the process. Now you can relax, knowing the influence of critical voices is diminishing.
6: House of Apprenticeship
Your high standards make you an excellent role model.
When the Eight of Coins is in this position, stop and admire your achievements. Through persistent effort at maintaining the highest standards of excellence, you have become a role model to others who want to follow in your footsteps. Your personal imprint and style will be recognized and acknowledged. Your refinements and improvements will be honored and duplicated for years to come. Whether this was intentional or a byproduct of your single mindedness, you have established a hallmark. All you need to do now is keep doing what you do best.
7: House of Relationships
A vision has absorbed you; as you emerge from your preoccupation, it’s clear that you and your work are highly respected.
With the Three of Coins in this position, you may be coming out of obscurity. You have been so absorbed in your vision that you have forgotten how many fans you really have, how many people there are who respect you and wish you well. In fact, you may find yourself receiving invitations to join more illustrious company as you move up the rungs of the professional and financial ladder. This is more than just an accident. It’s also more than just your brilliance being recognized; your work is meeting their needs. A spotlight may shine on your genius and ability to inspire others, and your creative work will flourish with daring and original ideas.
8: House of Secrets
There’s more to be gained from postponing or sharing the workload than from trying to do it all yourself.
When the Nine of Wands falls in this position, it may be time to admit that you are not irreplaceable. The truth is, no one person can play all the roles on a team and cover all the bases adequately. You may have been the parent of a brilliant idea, plan or project, but if you aren’t able to share the responsibilities and the rewards, you may be prevented from achieving anything at all. Before it’s too late, call in some competent people, turn things over to them, take some time out and regain your objectivity. You can gain more from taking some rest and learning how to trust than you could possibly have produced by trying to do everything yourself.
9: House of Visions
Loving support is available to you now; be open to receiving it while you can.
The Queen of Cups in this position points to someone, or a group of people, who are willing to provide you with empathy and understanding, the nurturing sort of kindness we generally associate with a loving parent. The Queen of Cups energy has the ability to intuit what your issues or pains are and help you pinpoint the distress or real needs. She will gently put her hand right where it hurts, help you understand and heal the pain. She’s a great one for emotional processing and will generously give of her time. Avail yourself of her acceptance, understanding, loving kindness and healing energy while you can. From time to time, we all need to drink from this fountain and she is happy to share it with you now. Enjoy the support while it is available to you, but don’t become permanently dependent upon it.
10: House of Reputation
Give up your agenda and be open to change.
The Fool in this position advises that you lighten up. No advantage will be gained by thinking you are the one who knows, has the power or can direct the flow. Let there be spontaneous developments beyond the realm of logic. Open and receive without question; don’t tinker and tamper and try to manage things. The Fool has no ambition to determine an outcome. Be happy just to be part of the situation. If you like, witness and record what you see and figure it out later. For now, just be in the present and release any demands or expectations.
11: House of the Future
Let communication become an attractor, leading to a commitment that brings people together in a creative, harmonious way.
If there is polarization, create some kind of dialogue. Highlight the potential benefits for everyone, including yourself. Sometimes it is possible that competing interests can be transformed into a team effort — if people can be inspired to combine their special attributes and talents. You have the power. Find the good and praise it. In doing so, you will attract more of it.
12: House of Surrender
Your personal history can provide you strength and wisdom.
The Four of Swords in this position suggests that your future depends on purging or transforming embedded attitudes that could pollute and invade your aspirations. Make your history and lineage into a strength and source of grounding so that it provides you with wisdom and insight. What were previously considered setbacks can now be appreciated as potential talents and special capacities. This transformation is not accomplished without effort. As such, it behooves you to learn to use your mind and imagination as tools, rather than have them filled with negative replays of old dilemmas. Forgive the past. Transforming regret into the power to change will be worth the sacrifice of your old myths. Your future freedom is at stake.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 6:09:16 PM
Question: Violence in the home borne if anger and primarily of fear is multigenerational as is the inherent trauma, wounded-ness. It catalyzes self-sabotage, alienation among loved ones and defensiveness leading to mass bloodshed between peoples. If anything this would be "The Original Sin" afflicting Humanity since The Fall. It may take three generations for us to rehabilitate but we have the bio-engineering and trauma therapy. I see us having sustained sufficient long-term, chronically-sustained “shock treatment” – from knowing we could cause nuclear self-annihilation to finding it normal to hear news of ethnic cleansing seeing live-footage of mass burials. The phrase “Weapons of Mass Destruction” has become a butt for jokes any more, we feel that powerless and immobilized to even consider being able to do anything about it. “Media Circus” and “Paparazzi Feeding-frenzy” as related to terrorist bombings crippling London as reported by so many world media networks as believable as winning the lottery. It’s too much information to process as “real”. When we reach our “Rock-Bottom” as horror-addicts doing “the nod” at the TV screen and admit to our powerlessness as individuals and chronic immobility as a collective, then, maybe, will we be ready to consider a quiet world as preferable and after that, think of simplifying our concept of possession, achievement and moral tolerance as a worthy, even necessary discipline.

Horoscope Spread
The Knight of Coins is the most peace loving of the Knights, the overseer of fertility and growth. His period of ascendancy is during the quiet years between conflicts, when everybody can concentrate together on raising the collective standard of living. His horse is usually huge and thickset, more suitable to pulling a plow than riding swiftly into battle. His temperament is easygoing and relaxed, he's moving at the rate of the flow, because he knows that you can't hurry time.
Seeing the bigger picture, like a farmer planning for future decades, he doesn't allow momentary fads or fancies to distract him, and he doesn't take seriously people who do. One can feel his stability and dedication; he is totally responsible and even somewhat predictable when it comes to his projects. He is earthy and gentle, as simple as deep as the soil he tills and the flowers he loves.

1: House of Identity
A positive attitude and strong potential will prime you to achieve a “personal best.”
The Seven of Wands in this position indicates you are getting ready for a moment of triumph. You have trained for it and are at the peak of your potential; you are clearly a winner even if you haven’t yet proved it. With such a positive attitude and obviously strong potentials so carefully cultivated, you are bound to make a strong showing.
2: House of Work
You have been offered the freedom to follow your heart; don’t let the opportunity go by.
When the Nine of Coins is in this position, it means you are supported by an established enterprise that will provide for you while you increase your knowledge and abilities. All that is required in return is for you to thrive and flourish. It’s a great trade! This is an unusual situation — take advantage of it to pursue your interests and develop your talents. But do stay humble. You are benefiting from some larger institution or structure; you don’t want to poison the waters for yourself or others who will come after you. Be receptive to the benefits and the advantage, but make sure you give fair value in return.
3: House of Ideas
Learn to practice leadership by sponsoring progress and innovation rather than by fighting for control.
The King of Wands in this position exposes the fine line between bold leadership and irritating, autocratic bossiness. At times those who would benefit from some helpful management resist it the most, even though their situation could be vastly improved if they were receptive to some direction. If you see the need for a new way of doing things, then you will have to inspire others in that direction without setting off their anti-authority alarms. It’s less important, however, to care about image than to get the job done. Stay centered on the challenge and others will not be tempted to find fault.
4: House of the Family
Familiarity with change makes us unafraid of its liberating power.
The Death card in this position suggests that you have been pruned before. You have come to learn that the process of death and rebirth is highly beneficial in the long run. Even though it is always a challenge, you have learned to not resist the sickle as it sweeps through your field and prepares it for the dormancy of winter. You know how to let go of old attachments and entanglements. You have been stripped down to what is truly essential before and have experienced the freedom of it. For now, hunker down and wait out the dark times. Focus on the benefits of transformation.
5: House of Magic
Keep your own best interests at heart; beware of the temporary comfort of inertia.
With the Nine of Swords in this position, the influence of a painful period is passing. But if you let it ease out of your consciousness, ignoring that it ever happened, you won’t learn how it came about and you’ll be doomed to repeat it. Perhaps you were careless in looking after your own best interests. You may have let yourself get blind-sided, seduced or led out on a limb, perhaps offering trust before it was earned. This is not a random event in your life. You have to analyze how you came to the present situation, so you can prevent it from becoming a repeating pattern in your life.
6: House of Apprenticeship
Card: The Magician
Trust the expansive, curious, clever part of yourself and share it with others.
Stay open to the guidance and inspiration you are receiving. Follow that inner wisdom. You have what it takes to create something that will reverberate far into the future, in a positive and evolutionary way. Let the most idealistic and inventive parts of your nature come to the surface. Cooperate with your inspiration, and you will infect others with your enthusiasm. Let yourself shine!
7: House of Relationships
Go beyond mental images to the truth that lies deep within your heart.
With the Queen of Cups in this position, you are becoming prepared to go deep into your inner storehouse of heart-centered feelings and images and come up with a deeper understanding. Generally, it is necessary to curtail mental activity in order to allow the wisdom of the heart to clearly present itself. This can be accomplished through meditation or skillful counseling. In any case, the near future presents an opportunity to spring free from the limitations of rational thinking and open to the oceanic realm of feelings, so that something deep and true can be revealed. Cooperate with the warm, radiant energy of your heart, and let yourself be blessed by it.
8: House of Secrets
Stay clear of exaggerating the differences between yourself and others; make an effort to find points of common cause and agreement.
The Two of Wands in this position points to the tendency to jump to conclusions based on the most instinctive of responses. It would be to your advantage to be less reactive. Restrain the impulses that tempt you to say or do something you might later regret. Relax and look for the good in the situation.
9: House of Visions
Let those who have gone before you illuminate the way.
The Three of Coins in this position suggests that you call up a role model, living or dead. Reach out to past Masters who represent the evolution of your craft. Study their body of works; stand in their shoes. Then surround yourself with skillful and talented people who embody this spirit of creativity and invention. Let the spirit of the past Masters challenge and provoke you to expand beyond yourself and develop their qualities within yourself. Reach out to these souls and connect with them in mind and heart if you can’t reach them in time and space. Let those who have gone before you show the way.
10: House of Reputation
Make your own decisions; exercise as much independence as you know you can handle.
The Queen of Swords in this position advises that you refrain from remaining dependent on others at this time. Don’t place too much confidence in the promises people have made. Harbor only those ambitions you know you can accomplish yourself. The Queen of Swords doesn’t want to wait to see what others would think, say or do. She knows what she wants, she knows how to get it, and she doesn’t ask permission or even subject herself to much influence. There are times in life when no one can take care of you as well as you can take care of yourself. Leave sentimentality behind; get practical and take action. Make important decisions for yourself because you are the final judge. It’s up to you.
11: House of the Future
Give up the path you have pursued and stop wasting energy. Rebuild bridges to meaningful relationships.
The Five of Cups in this position says that if you continue to follow the course of action you have been pursuing, you will come to realize you’ve wasted quite a bit of energy. This lesson may come at a high cost if you stubbornly drag things out. Consider cutting your losses now, throwing no more good energy after bad, spending no more time defending an irrational position or an unrealistic expectation. Be humble, try to rebuild relationships which have seen some wear and tear. Perhaps it’s time to apologize, trim emotions or modify your behavior so you can attune with others whom you really care about.
12: House of Surrender
The highest response to fulfillment and abundance is to share that golden energy with others.
The Sun in this position requires that you receive with gratitude all the positive energy being directed at you. In the course of experiencing it, be sure to pass it on as unsullied as you received it. Don’t view yourself as superior to or more worthy than others. Follow the example of the sun in this card, beaming forth and shining indiscriminately on all who enter your domain. Don’t hoard the energy that flows toward you.
FOR JOAQUIN

Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 11:38:21 PM
Question: I’m too sick with a cold to go to drum-class today and can’t bear getting pneumonia again but then, I feel powerless to make a difference myself right about now. still, I’m lonely when I don’t go.

Horoscope Spread
The Queen of Swords was traditionally known as the widow, crone, or divorcee, the woman "no man would have." Nowadays we see her as a model of self-sufficiency, independence, and high intellect. She often has extremely high standards due to her subtle sensitivities, which can be perceived by those around her as being critical and hard to please. Her true motive is to refine the world, to upgrade people's understanding so everyone can have the space they need to individuate, to become truly themselves.
She is not interested in conforming, which may be why she has a reputation for "being difficult". She is too intelligent to be confined to the role of housewife or nursemaid, although she is perfectly competent in those areas when she wants to be. She chooses her associations, and her aloneness, to serve her own agenda, and is seldom caught up in dependency relationships, at least not for long. Her critical intelligence is not always comfortable to be around, but she can be counted upon to see through superficialities and put her finger on the truth of the situation.

1: House of Identity
When you act upon a shared vision it will have far reaching effects.
The Four of Wands in this position suggests a group is forming that shares a common vision more complete and with more potential than any vision the individuals had dreamed separately. Synergy is emerging from the group; the benefits of your serious and significant work will be felt not only in your immediate circle but throughout a wider spectrum. This group is the core social unit necessary to produce a successful business, civic project or creative endeavor.
2: House of Work
Celebrate and support youthful innocence as it moves toward a dream, even in the face of more “realistic” viewpoints about the probable outcome.
When the Horseman of Wands is in this position, someone in your environment is being launched into their dream. The situation feels poignant and bittersweet because you see how joyful and important an occasion it is, yet you also see how likely it is that the shiny new armor will soon be dented, the husky horse become tired and bony, and the optimism of youth tempered by a few difficult trials. There is no way you would want to say this, but it is built into the situation. Virginal innocence has not yet met an adversary, and that’s a beautiful thing. It deserves to be celebrated and supported no matter how more seasoned eyes envision the eventual outcome.
3: House of Ideas
Review your recent experiences in the light of who you are becoming; the process will give you fresh energy.
The Ten of Wands in this position requires you to re-evaluate your motivation for continuing to do what you have been doing, because your previous motivations have been exhausted. You took things as far as you could; now you are garnering wisdom from the experience. Try to determine the pattern behind the circumstances that brought you to this point. Examine the past for clues that can tell you what you are being prepared for. Your challenge and opportunity now is to see how your recent experiences will lead to fresh possibilities, new ambitions and an inspiring vision of even greater potential.
4: House of the Family
It has fallen to you to be of assistance to others.
The Six of Coins in this position suggests that the abundance you now have came about in part from someone helping you when you needed support. Now it’s your turn, your karmic responsibility, to see whom you can benefit. Help others bloom so they can become benefactors in their own time and the blessings can be passed on.
5: House of Magic
You are deservedly reaping the goodness you have sown.
The Seven of Cups in this position suggests you recently realized that the flow of your life is not just a lucky accident, synchronicity or random arrangement. No, it is a reflection of your own sincere efforts over time. Note the good feelings about yourself that a realization like this offers, and accept those feelings as a vote of confidence from your own guardian angels. You are being given back all the good you have been putting out to the world. You can’t possibly take advantage of all this good will, but that’s not the point. At least, be assured you are loved.
6: House of Apprenticeship
Although something has been lost, you are enjoined to persevere in your dreams.
When the Five of Cups presents in this position, it represents the spiritual challenge of accepting the partial loss of what you held most dear. It’s important that you not lose enthusiasm for the rest of your aspirations, because they are still within your grasp. You must be a warrior of the heart and spring back from this kind of disappointment. Your Higher Self is hereby giving you a vote of confidence. You have the resilience and clarity of mind to rise above loss and grief. To fully recover from this setback, seize the two un-spilled cups and move forward with the determination you had when you still had all five. If your mission is sacred, your guidance real, and your heart strong, it’s worth carrying on — even if the totality of your envisioned outcome isn’t forthcoming. Don’t lose heart. Stay on the path. It’s not about the quantity of blessing that’s available, it’s the quality.
7: House of Relationships
You are on the verge of fulfilling your grand plan.
With the Ten of Cups in this position, it appears as if the wandering tribe finally found the resting place where it can build and cultivate the land. There is a sense of homecoming and fulfillment. Imagine a gigantic celebration where everyone from elders to children converge, giving and receiving love freely. Together they gleefully catch up on each other’s stories and enjoy the feelings of bondedness they’ve been missing. During this upcoming experience you will feel slightly sentimental as your heart is opened and filled. It’s a time of gratitude and rewards for labors well done.
8: House of Secrets
Don’t withhold from the blessing of oneness.
When the World appears in this position, the only thing that separates you from everything you ever wanted is believing that you are alone. In truth, every molecule of your being, every breath, is in constant communication with the entire universe, the continuity of all being through all time.
If you persist in holding out as a separate individual with just a personal history, a name and a set of attributes, you will never see how connected you really are. Expand your mind and welcome opportunities to merge. Overcome the reflex to hold yourself back. When you are at one with the great world soul, no limits can bind you.
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
Rouse your ambition and the competitive aspects of your nature to push beyond limits. Launch yourself.
The Seven of Wands in this position tells you that the time for peak performance is now. Even if you feel slightly unprepared, awaken your ambition, think in larger terms, and tweak your competitive nature — so you can push yourself beyond your usual limits. Time and effort spent in preparation will pay off; you can be the one who vaults right over the heads of those who thought they could best you. Move beyond rhetoric and verbal challenges; prove what puts you head and shoulders above the rest by demonstrating it in action.
11: House of the Future
Influence can be marshaled behind the scenes, where one can prepare for a future position of power.
The Page of Swords in this position indicates a potential future as a quiet, surreptitious emissary who links influential people through private channels, monitors their dialogue and facilitates their negotiations. The Page of Swords may look like a pawn, a small time player in the great scheme of things, but the pose serves as his protection. It enables him to slip into territory he otherwise couldn’t enter. His power, which lies in appearing inconsequential, goes unacknowledged and is therefore unchecked. The Page of Swords is the student of his superior, preparing for the day when he can move into the boss’s job. See to it that your moral character, philosophical vision and ability to evaluate right from wrong equals the skill and craft that will be required.
12: House of Surrender
Make a clean break with the past. Embrace the future with all its possibilities.
The Six of Cups in this position requires that you let go of your powerful hold on the past. Put it down, back away, say good-bye. Turn and face change; move forward from a position of assertiveness. Release the emotional attachments that have tied you to the emotional, psychological and psychic vulnerabilities of your past. You cannot “fix” the past — the present is your point of power. Your future is compelling; it has tremendous possibilities, but not if it has to compete with the almost addictive hold the old emotional life can have over you. Do whatever you can to break the spell.