| Blaze |
[Sep. 6th, 2006|11:03 pm] |
Today was one of those days that passes by and you kind of wonder, looking back at it, "what happened?" I didn't learn anything, today, really... nothing moved me strongly in one way or another... I didn't complete, or even aim to complete anything today.
However, I don't know that I feel like this was a bad thing. I feel like today was like that stretch of I-26 between Columbia and Charleston back in SC... there's nothing, no hills, no real scenery, not even any turns in the road, but either way you're traveling it, you're headed somewhere where lots of things happen and there's something nice about the neutrality.
Today's Card:
Knight of Wands
The Knights stand for youth (not at young as pages, but youth nonetheless). Their transience and equestrian posture stand for movement from one place to another... so, it would seem that my view of today has been on the money. The Wand is the symbol of creativity and ingenuity. The knight of wands has very exciting and new ideas and is working to bring them to fruition. This card symbolizes the process of bringing to life new ideas, it is a card of travel (physical, spiritual and metaphorical) and can, in certain instances, symbolize moving or even an immigration (or emigration? depending on the position). Youth that is guided by firmly established ideas... you're on the beginning portion of the path, but you're on the path nonetheless... and you're traveling. |
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| A te fian rogo eterno... |
[Sep. 5th, 2006|09:51 pm] |
I'm rediculously sleepy after a super long night last night. Everything was fun, though, so I'm fine with the mild exhaustion.
I've also been in a strangely good mood because Kiko-san just gave birth to a male. This is the first Male born to the Imperial Line in over 4 decades. There was, actually, a mild panic going on because while Emperor Akahito has two sons (Naruhito is the crowned prince and his younger brother Akishino, Kiko's husband) Naruhito has only a daughter, Aiko and Akishino had two daughters. So, there was noone to ascend after Naruhito. There was a push in the Diet to change the law so that Aiko could ascend to the throne, but that has now been dropped due to the fact that there is an heir. I have mixed feelings about this, primarily because I don't agree with the inherant chauvinism of the law regarding the passing of the title, but I consider it no less upsetting than the matriarchal societies of Africa. Also, after around 1500 years, it would be somewhat sad to see that change, especially since the Imperial family is COMPLETELY powerless.
I don't know, maybe I'll be attacked for that view, but I'm glad Kiko-san had a son who can be raised as the Rittaishi no Rei.
Tonight's Card:
The Wheel of Fortune
The Wheel of Fortune represents new beginnings, a turning of a cycle. It also, however, points to a deeper knowledge of oneself, and aknowledgement of one's power over their own fate and, in a way, calls the reader back to themselves. In this deck, the Buddha sits atop the wheel which is being turned by a Jackal and a Snake (ideas kept from the Egyptian Anubis and Set of the RW deck... Set bringning death and Anubis transporting the souls of the dead). There are 8 spokes of the wheel, as there are in the wheels of Buddhist iconography. These 8 spokes representing the 8-fold path which centers on the truth of existence... the hub of the wheel. It is the card that is inherant in all Tarot readings because it has three main lessons. 1: You are at the center, you are the one in control of your fate, you steer this ship through life. 2: Things are changing. Something is ending and something else is beginning. 3: Look deeper into yourself.
It's interesting that I pull this card because I've, recently, been considering relearning not only divinatory magic, but active spells as well. This is a sign that I'm headed in the right direction, as long as I keep my hands on the wheel.
Om ah ra pa tsa na di. |
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| Day 2: Silent Hill |
[Sep. 4th, 2006|01:41 am] |
I just finished rewatching Silent Hill... possibly one of the better thought out and executed horror films of this past year. Also, hands-down, the best film adaptation of a game. I think it's particularly interesting the idea that the "Demon" was not "Evil" as much as she was the physical manifestation of justice, vengeance, return of balance.
In short... the dark-child of Temperance. :)
Tonight's card: Ace of cups
A continuation of the water element, and of containers for such an element. Water is the emotions, vast and powerful, it can destroy, it can build up, it is necessary, it is ultimately dangerous/inevitable/beautiful. The only real experience of true weightlessness that we can experience on a daily basis is through submersion in water. The only true freedom we can experience on a daily basis is through submersion in our emotions. Not fighting them, just being among them, letting them flow into and out of us.
But I digress. The aces are a number of beginnings. Apt for the second card of my daily reading ritual. I am beginning a journey... it will require not only my emotional awakening, but also a physical (the cup) dedication in that I must perform the reading each night. It is also a symbol of new birth and freedom that is accompanied by new emotions. Love, hatred, tenderness, kindness. In the Rider Waite deck, there are five streams pouring from the cup into the lily-pond, in this deck there are irises and a heart on a small slip of paper. The five streams are the five senses. Important to note, 5 senses attached to this card. Newness, rebirth, emotional change through physical actions. Emotions are the most salient part of this. A beginning along an emotional path. |
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| Hajime |
[Sep. 3rd, 2006|12:26 am] |
To begin... I'm wanting to use this site to start making myself relearn the Tarot. It's been a few years since I've handled the cards which were, at one time, such an important part of me that I carried them with me damn near everywhere I went. I'll only do one card at a time, so I can really look at what the cards mean individually as I start to rebuild the connections.
Currently, I'm using an Ukiyoe deck, and am in the process of buying another Rider Waite deck. My old RW disappeared (I prefer to say "they left") but I've never been able to fully read the Ukiyoe... maybe I can learn...
Anyway, here goes:
Temperance
How intriguing that I pull this card first, since it is the guiding force behind my practice of Tarot. I've always felt that the purpose of Tarot was to learn to listen so calmly to yourself that you would no longer need this intermediary. In the card we see a woman with one foot on land, one on water. She is pouring water between two pots (in some versions, the pots are silver and gold, in this card, they are not). The symbols of water being poured from pots evokes the image of Kwannon or The Avalokiteswara Boddhisattva pouring out the waters of compassion. More than that, though, because whereas Kwannon pours them out for the people of the world, Temperance pours them between two pitchers and stands at a river. It is easy to read this as the idea that it is to Temperance that we must turn to refill our stores of and truly express compassion. This is not to say that it is enough for us to be Temperate, but also for us to have Temperance enacted upon us.
The card calls us to balance in our life as a road to the cleansing and revitalizing force of the waters of compassion; whether that means Temperance must be consulted or requested remains within the wider spread of the lay.
Om ah ra pa tsa na di. |
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