Tarot's 3s - Elemental Magic

In tarot’s Minor Arcana, the number 3 embodies the fundamental principles of each suit.  Wands is a suit of action attached to the element of fire.  Life force, if you will.  The 3 of Wands represents the call to action.  In RWSC, a merchant stands above a river leading to the sea.   He watches ships sail towards new horizons.  He is ready to answer life’s call to opportunity and adventure.  All it takes on his part is a simple first step.

Achey, breakey 3 of Swords shows us sorrow and heartache, either personal or work related.  Swords are of the mind and the element of air.  They are about learning, growing and moving past a situation or thought process.  The mind is changeable and expansive.  The swords that pierce our heart in the 3 also offer us the opportunity to learn by moving past our painful experience, our sense of betrayal, sadder, but definitely wiser.  

Recognition and mastery of over the material world hallmark the 3 of Pentacles.  A stone mason holds sway over the decisions made by a powerful bishop and the wealthy architect of a great cathedral.  The lesson is this: Regardless of your station in life, your work has value and purpose.  You are rooted in the element of earth. Without your efforts nothing moves forward or grows.  You are essential to the process and therefore an expert in your own right.  Learn to value yourself and your contributions to the larger effort.

Cups, whose element is water, represents the inner self, love and spirituality.  In the 3 we see celebration and communion.  Three women hold their cups aloft, toasting each other as they toast life itself.  Life is an amazing circumstance.  Even though it is fraught with challenges, there are moments when we pass into the eye of the storm, so to speak.  We recognize life’s perfection as well as its exuberance.  Those are the moments meant to be shared and savored as in the 3 of Cups.

Our elemental self recognizes three as a magic number.  Aladdin’s genie offered him three wishes. There are sacred triads - mother, father, child, birth death infinity, Father, Son and Spirit.   Three is fundamental to the sacred geometry of the Universe - and to baseball.  Three strikes you’re out, three bases passed equal a home run.  

January 31, 2012 reduces to 3 (12 + 31 + 2012 =2055, or  2+0+5+5 = 12, 1+2= 3)  You can simplify this equation even more.  Cups + champagne + 3 friends =  party. Yay!  Not very spiritual, I’ll grant you, but I have a weakness for good champagne and you should always celebrate the arrival of the new year with joyful noise.  

For some of us 2012 was a difficult year (3 of Swords), others experienced a year of triumph (3 of Pentacles).  2012 was in many ways a pivotal year in terms of what we chose to make of our lives (3 of Wands).  When all is said and done, it’s wonderful to stand on the threshold of a new year (3 of Wands again).  Anything could be out there.  Here is our opportunity for adventure and new discoveries.  Sure, there will be challenges, but those are simply one element of your life.  When in doubt, look at the other three.  Oh, and remember to make a joyful noise.

Happy New Year!

LADY ORACLE

  

"To The Nines" - Numerology for the Solstice Through Tarot

When you add the numbers for the date of Winter Solstice,

9 of Wands, perseverance, resillience
RWCS US Games©

12/21/12 you get 9.  (1+2+2+1+1+2)  9 is a fun number to write - almost as much fun as 6, but not nearly as much fun as 8.  In tarot, the number 9 represents struggles and compromises in Minor Arcana cards.  However, the struggles and compromises vary in each of the four tarot suits.

In the RWCS deck, the 9 of Wands shows us a man, his head bandaged from a battle wound, leaning heavily against one of his wands.  It's been an effort for him to keep his wands in alignment.  Wands are the suit of action and our hero has fought hard for his success.  He's going to be rewarded for his perseverance, as well as for the strength of his resolve.  The goal has been met, but what has he compromised in order to reach it?  Innocence and complacency, certainly.  He will never again have a truly unguarded moment.  He knows he must stay vigilant in order to defend both himself and what he protects.  Where the Knight of Wands believes in his own invincibility, the warrior in the Nine knows he can be defeated - knocked down.  But now he also knows that he has the stamina to get back up and fight.  What he loses one day, he regains on another.

9 of Cups, Tarot's wish card
Having it all, self-satisfaction, smugness
RWCS US Games©

The 9 of Cups has it much easier.  A wealthy man sits on a stool in front of a table holding 9 goblets.  His arms are folded across his ample stomach.  Cups deal with emotions and our merchant prince of the 9 doesn't know what it is to be in want.  He is well satisfied with his lot in life and he keeps his feet planted in a balanced position.  He has reached his goal of having it all.  Separating him from his creature comforts would be a difficult task.  He guards the luxuries in his life whether he needs them or not.  They are his to consume or hold on to either by the laws of man or by divine order.  The smugness of his expression shows us his contentment in his own consequence.  He likes to be envied.  So, what is his struggle and what compromises has he made?  This is a tough question is answer for a card that represents so many positive things.

First and foremost, the man in the 9 of Cups has compromised his mobility.  Hopefully he remains content with his luxurious lifestyle, because he can't pick up all of his cups at once and move them to a new location - not without risking loss.  And to let someone help him with the burden of carrying the goblets is to allow someone else control of a portion of his own fate.  Having it all must remain the ultimate goal of 9's merchant prince in order for him to remain content.  The 9 of Cups stays on his seat continuing to view life from the same perspective.

9 of Swords, guilt and anxiety
RWCS US Games ©

The suit of Swords, or gloomy, doomy swords as they're often called, speaks to matters of spirit and the mind.  The 9 of Swords  depicts a woman who's woken up from a nightmare.  She's unable to return to sleep.  Her guilt and anxiety torment her and she buries her face in her hands.  Her struggle is simple.  The lady battles the monsters in her own mind.  They've overwhelmed her to the point where sleep can no longer offer her sanctuary.

Her blanket is covered with red roses which symbolize love and passion.  The image tells us that she is loved by others.  Has she perhaps compromised the love and good wishes of those who care about her?  And because Swords deal with matters of the mind, has she truly compromised their love, or does she merely think that she has.  Time will tell.

9 of Pentacle, self-reliance, high-minded pursuits
RWCS US Games©

Pentacles give us a glimpse of the material world.  The 9 of Pentacles shows us a strong woman, one of wealth and position.  Most importantly, she is aware of her own worth.  The falcon on her arm gives her a complete over-view of her domain.  She gains her information from him alone and makes her own very successful choices.  What has she compromised?  Her ability to partner.  She is sufficient unto herself.  To share her kingdom would mean taking another's wishes, needs and opinions into consideration.  She would sacrifice a measure of her independence if she were to allow someone else into her life.  Her struggle is one of opening up and sharing herself with someone else.

Number 9 in the Major Arcana is The Hermit - tarot's seeker of inner truths.  The Hermit withdraws, holds himself apart from the rest of the world to gain the insights needed to put his life in perspective.  He has a fundamental need to be alone - to periodically reexamine the lessons he's learned along his journey.  What better card could we have for the Winter Solstice?  The end of the year is a perfect time to engage in self-reflection.  Where have we traveled this year and what do we hope to gain in the coming one?

The lessons of the 9 cards can be summed up as follows:

Sometimes it's a struggle to move forward in life, especially when we feel overcome by circumstance that are beyond our control.  The key is to persevere.  If we didn't take the field in a blaze of glory today, there's always tomorrow.  The point is not to give up.  We will eventually succeed.

Don't stagnate yourself with images of who you are based upon what you have.  Stay flexible and have the courage to reinvent yourself.  Sure it's a risk, but so is standing still.  It's simply a different type of risk.

The poet, Omar Khayyam, wrote, "The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on. Nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line; nor all thy tears wash out a single word of it."  Guilt over a past indiscretion is useless.  You can't change your past, but you can improve your future.

Lastly, a well-lived life is one worthy of sharing.  Control over your destiny is great, but you don't have to maintain an isolationist policy to achieve it.  The more love you give, the more love you get back.

 Look forward to next year for the opportunities it will give you to experience and grow.  Mark your passage on this earth by the impressions you leave with the other people you meet along your journey. It can be entertaining as all get out.  Here's to 2013.

LADY ORACLE


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Apocolypse,- Schmocolypse! Pass Me the Fudge - A Practical Look At the End of the Mayan Calendar

“They say this universe is bound to blow

But I say we crank up the calypso control

Apocalyp...apocalyp...apocalypso

Now I'm no dancer as dancer's go

But this is one step that you need to know

Apocalyp...apocalyp...apocalypso

We'll be dancin' when we go

Planets come and planets go

Apocalypso

Undisturbed the answers flow

Apocalypso”

Apocalypso

By: matt betton

It’s important to keep your perspective when dealing with other people’s concepts of the Apocalypse.  Try the following suggestions.  One: Download Jimmy Buffett’s version of Matt Betton’s  fabulous song, “Apocalypso.” If that doesn’t put things in perspective, nothing will.  Two: measure the life cycle of popular apocalyptic movements against the life cycle of any other durable goods or products that promise investment potential.  Here’s a handy reference guide.

Stage 1  - Innovators (those who developed and first used the product)  In this case, the Mayans and John of Patmos (the guy who wrote the Book of Revelations)

Stage 2 - Early Adopters (trend setters who echoed the rallying cry of the Innovators and were the first on their block to have one) Examples: The Oracle at Delphi and Nostradamus.

Stage 3 - Early Majority - (everyone jumping on the bandwagon to have one of their very own) -  Jim Jones, David Koresh and that bug-eyed gremlin guy from Heaven’s Gate.

Stage 4 - Late Minority - (the ‘me too, me too!’ folks who managed to save up enough to buy a cheap knockoff) Insert any of the modern mainstream fundamentalist movements here.

Stage 5 - Laggards - (the people who run far behind popular thought and are still waiting for Betamax to make a comeback) - Congress.

We are inundated with documentaries, TV specials and books about the Mayan calendar and the end of the world.  Here’s the deal.  Since the day the world began, it began to end.  What truly matters is, how well you dance.

There’s been a lot of buzz about December’s star patterns and certified astrologers are assuring us of the same thing.  At midnight on December 21st, we will see the beginning of December 22nd.  To understand what some of the astrological hubbub is about however, you need to understand one of the most singular definitions - the meaning of the term, yod.

In language, yod signifies the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In Jewish mystic tradition, the yod (pronounced like Yoda without the a) symbolizes the beginning point of divine energy, or the omnipresent mind of God.  You will see the symbol for yod  used freely in RWCS tarot cards such as # 18, The Moon.  Moonbeams fall from the solemn face of Moon as he looks across the darkened landscape of the human subconscious.  The beams themselves fall in the shape of yod, representing the constant presence of the Divine mind.  Divinity watches man’s struggles with the anxiety he’s produced from the shadowy illusions of his own mind.  The Invisible Divine - always present, always part of us.

In astrology, a yod refers to a rare aspect between three planets.  Two of the planets hold a sextile (60 degrees) aspect to each other, while both of them are in a quincunx (150 degrees) aspect to a third, focal planet of the yod configuration.  The focal planet tugs against the two sextile planets.  Together, they all form a giant ‘Y’ in the sky.  Most astrologers refer to this formation as the ‘Finger of God.’  Serious stuff, astrologically speaking.  A yod operates in one of two ways.  It either releases or restrains vast amounts of cosmic energy that relates to the planets within its configuration.  

On December 21st we have a yod pattern focal to Jupiter.  This particular pattern has only been seen one other time during the past few hundred years - May of 1989.  Yup, you guessed it.  Side ponytails and “Flock of Seagulls” are both making comebacks.  The planets involved in the yod hi-jinx on the 21st are Saturn and Pluto at sextile and Jupiter at quincunx. 

Saturn regulates the rigid structure of governments and other bureaucratic systems that turn the wheels of a great society.  Although these characteristics appear to be more in keeping with tarot’s The Emperor, it’s actually  # 21, The World, that’s rules Saturn.  #21 is the culmination card for the soul’s journey in tarot.  It establishes a new threshold of spiritual evolution and awakening.   Pluto deals in more covert operations.  Think espionage, secret societies and radical fringe groups crossed with both corporate and political agendas. Pluto is ruled by #20, Judgement, which in tarot, signifies rebirth.  That leaves us Jupiter to consider.  Jupiter rules moral conduct, philosophy and theology.  Again, areas more in keeping with #5, the Hierophant than #10, The Wheel of Fortune, which is the actual major arcana card for Jupiter.  Fortunes turn on a dime and those who are trapped beneath the wheel one day, rise to the top on another.

What happened in May of 1989 under a similar yod?  The end of the Cold War and the beginning of a little incident we now call Tienanmen Square.  Globally, people stood up and were counted.  They were present in the moment, refused to be silenced and made miracles happen.  What began with China’s government declaring martial law, culminated weeks later with a single man standing defiantly in front of an oncoming tank saying, “no more.”  This single episode in human history says more about us as a species than any apocalyptic theory to date.

Planets come and planets go, but the history of ours is still being written.  Frequently, it’s not pretty, but sometimes there are defining moments and sometimes we pass the test.  Whether or not you believe that December 21st will show us cataclysm, salvation,or a combination of the two; one thing is for certain.  We are all responsible for what happens on our planet.  Each day we are given an opportunity, both individually and collectively, to determine the course of our species in matters great, as well as small.  It’s important to remember in this season of light and hope to take advantage of our capacity for kindness and generosity.  It’s also important to learn how to dance.

With Light and Love,

LADY ORACLE