Tag: General officer

Today’s Tarot Card for April 18th

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Chariot

This Tarot Deck: Art Nouveau

General Meaning: Traditionally, the card usually entitled the Chariot points to a triumphal feeling of freedom, as if the charioteer is being paraded through the streets as a hero (or heroine). The card reflects congratulations for high achievement, and serves as a sign of empowerment.

Huge wheels and frisky steeds speed the rate at which the driver’s willpower can be realized. This kind of charge makes more of the world accessible to anyone ambitious enough to seize the Chariot’s reins. But there is danger in this feeling of freedom, because of the increased rate of change and its power to magnify mistakes in judgment. As a seasoned warrior, the Charioteer is called upon to be extra attentive to the way ahead.

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for 4/17

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for Everyone:

18: Repairing What is Spoiled

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

Hexagram 18

General Meaning: Something is starting to rot and it is time to repair the damage. In the world of human affairs, indulgence and corruption grow like weeds in an untended garden; they must be faced squarely, and rooted out through bold action. Eliminating corruption — and the sloppiness that leads to it — is one of the most ennobling of all human enterprises. Correction of flaws in the system clears the way for fresh, new beginnings.

The time has come to become lean and efficient. The weeds must be rooted out now, before the garden is overwhelmed. Fighting decay, sloppiness and corrupt agendas is not a simple matter; all steps must be evaluated carefully. Planning must precede action. Resist the temptation to strike out prematurely. Gather strength behind you, and summon your inner resources, because arresting decay is no simple task. When you do act, make your strike as precise and clean as the path of the surgeon’s knife

Today’s Tarot Card for 4/17

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Lovers

This Tarot Deck: African Tarot

General Meaning: Although it has taken on a strictly romantic revision of meaning in some modern decks, traditionally the Lovers card of Tarot reflected the challenges of choosing a partner. At a crossroads, one cannot take both paths. The images on this card in different decks have varied more than most, because we have had so many ways of looking at sex and relationships across cultures and centuries.

Classically, the energy of this card reminded us of the real challenges posed by romantic relationships, with the protagonist often shown in the act of making an either-or choice. To partake of a higher ideal often requires sacrificing the lesser option. The path of pleasure eventually leads to distraction from spiritual growth. The gratification of the personality eventually gives way to a call from spirit as the soul matures.

Modern decks tend to portray the feeling of romantic love with this card, showing Adam and Eve at the gates of Eden when everything was still perfect. This interpretation portrays humanity before the Fall, and can be thought to imply a different sort of choice — the choice of evolution over perfection, or the choice of personal growth through relationship — instead of a fantasy where everything falls into place perfectly and is taken care of without effort.

Today’s Tarot Card for April 15th

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Emperor

This Tarot Deck: Tarot of the Witches

General Meaning:In the most practical terms, what has traditionally been called the Emperor card represents the highest leadership, a head of state or the most exemplary and powerful person in the realm. This archetypal ruler is responsible for the positive working out of affairs of a society or community, which are directly proportional to his well being and happiness.The more enlightenment and cosmic perspective this energy brings, the better life is for all. The Emperor archetype masters the world of matter and physical manifestation. When you apply this card to your situation, acknowledge your potentials for mastery. Reinforce a sense of sovereignty within yourself, despite any self-limiting beliefs, habits or appearances to the contrary

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for April 14

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for Everyone:

47: Oppression

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

Hexagram 47

General Meaning: The image of oppression conjures up a dried up lake bed with nettlesome crows stalking the shoreline. Hard times can shrivel our spirits, and give rise to a multitude of ‘crows’ in the form of troublesome worries. Times of great loss or personal failure break weaker people; but the strong of heart can bend with fate. To endure hard times — or even grow and benefit from them — it is essential to tap that deepest stratum of personal identity, that which is deeper even than fate, and which is incorruptible by even the harshest realities. It is essential, in other words, to tap the wellspring of human endurance: hope.

In a sense, there is no such thing as failure. There is only sweet and sour reality, and more is learned from the sour, oftentimes, than from the sweet. For failure, hard as it may be to swallow, opens the blinds to the real world, and reawakens the clarity of vision known only to those who have risked, and tasted, disappointment.

When in the throes of hard times, it is wise to be resolute and strong on the inside while remaining quietly cheerful on the outside. Avoid too much talking — except to your closest friends. Your words will have little effect on all others, since your influence will be at a low ebb — and the attempt to get across will only drain you of vital energy. Strong silence is the most skillful posture when facing the public during adversity; it shows that your inner core is strong enough to withstand the current troubles, and suggests that your recovery will be complete. At the same time, talking openly to those you trust is equally important, for in times of calamity, talking is an important part of healing.

Keep in mind that failure — the final taboo in modern society. But this is just one part of the inevitable cycle of life for those who dare to live fully and completely. Never to fail at all is to fail in the biggest way — avoiding risk altogether, you cannot help but fall far short of what might have been.

Today’s Tarot Card for April 14th

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Empress

This Tarot Deck: Tarot of the Spirit

General Meaning: Traditionally entitled “Empress,” this major arcana or “trump” card portrays the energy of the Great Mother. She is Nature, around us but also within us, the ever-unfolding Source of life-giving power. She is often pictured as a pre-Christian Goddess, as the one whom the High Priestess is channeling down to earth for the rest of us.

In medieval Europe, the Empress card was painted to represent whatever Queen currently ruled the land, probably to satisfy the Inquisitors. But the scholars of the Renaissance and beyond had no doubt of her true identity, although she could not be fully revealed on Tarot cards as the “woman clothed with the sun” until after the French Revolution.

This supreme archetype of femininity also symbolizes fertility. It is She who provides us nourishment and security. She is also sometimes seen as delighting us with flowers and fruit. A potentially terrifying aspect of this archetype manifests itself whenever karmic mood swings wipe out our plans, like a storm that has come upon us. Whatever happens, the Empress is the Source of our Embodiment and of Natural Law. She might even be called “the Great Recycler.”

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for 4/13

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for Everyone:

64: Nearing Completion

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

Hexagram 64

General Meaning: The situation is incomplete, but the chaos of the past is slowly giving way to order, and the goal is in sight. Nevertheless, you are still treading on thin ice — the way ahead is unobstructed, the goal is clear, but a cautious and careful attitude is essential, lest you slip and fall.

Nearing Completion is the last hexagram of the I Ching. It suggests that the ever-spinning wheel of life never reaches an absolute conclusion. Just as a hidden sadness resides in the heart of true euphoria, just as the seeds of great achievement often sprout first in a cauldron of adversity, so too no end is ever really complete without a new beginning stirring inside it. Though we divide life into categories in order to understand and master it, experience itself is seamless. With this reading, the 64-spoked, timeless wheel of change is ready to spin onward, ever evolving, ever staying the same.

A situation that is represented by this reading can be compared to that of taking a lengthy trek over a high mountain. At some point before reaching the peak, you can see in detail exactly how much farther you must travel. You will have a good idea what it will take to reach the top, because of the climbing experience you’ve accumulated thus far. However, when you do reach the peak, which has been in sight for quite a long period of sustained effort, you will have done only that. You will have reached the top — achieving your initial goal — but you must still descend the other side. This last critical segment is what remains before completion.

You may have little information and no experience of what it’s like descending the other side of the mountain. All your attention may have been focused on the route up. The coming cycle may seem very strange to you, unlike anything that you have experienced before. The backside of the mountain is where all of the true mysteries reside. Proceed carefully, cautiously and alertly — then you will reach your goal.

Today’s Tarot Card for 4/12

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Magician

This Tarot Deck: Winged Spirit Tarot

General Meaning: Traditionally, the Magus is one who can demonstrate hands-on magic — as in healing, transformative rituals, alchemical transmutations, charging of talismans and the like. A modern Magus is any person who completes the circuit between heaven and Earth, one who seeks to bring forth the divine ‘gold’ within her or himself.

At the birth of Tarot, even a gifted healer who was not an ordained clergyman was considered to be in league with the Devil! For obvious reasons, the line between fooling the eye with sleight of hand, and charging the world with magical will was not clearly differentiated in the early Tarot cards.

Waite’s image of the Magus as the solitary ritualist communing with the spirits of the elements — with its formal arrangement of symbols and postures — is a token of the freedom we have in modern times to declare our spiritual politics without fear of reprisal. The older cards were never so explicit about what the Magus was doing. It’s best to keep your imagination open with this card. Visualize yourself manifesting something unique, guided by evolutionary forces that emerge spontaneously from within your soul.

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for April 11th

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for Everyone:

59: Dispersing

Monday, April 11th, 2011

Hexagram 59
 
General Meaning: Nothing survives forever, not even rocks, not even the most rigid of structures. The erosion of that which has been solid is not necessarily bad: it can mean that something new is being created. The image is of ice floes, hardened in winter, dispersing in the warmth of spring; when the ice melts, a mighty river emerges.

Rigidity in the hearts of men and women tends to breed a separateness that can only be thawed by a greater force: typically, some strong spiritual stirring. The thawing of cold hearts always improves conditions.

The first thing to dissolve is any internal rigidity that separates you from others. Try to work more closely with your mates, concentrating on common activities which evidence your integrity and native goodwill. Sudden, strong action in support of a greater good can lift the spirit, and lead toward new possibilities in many areas. Spiritual impulses — including a strong sense of justice — should be honored, and acted upon. They can provide the initial impulse to important and constructive change.

And if you should have any lingering business or partnerships which are inactive or not working, you might consider dissolving these as well.

Today’s Tarot Card for April 11th

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Fool

This Tarot Deck: Chinese

General Meaning: Pamela Coleman-Smith’s artful rendition of an “innocent Fool” archetype (Rider-Waite deck) is often used to represent Tarot in general. Early classical versions of the Fool card, however, portray quite a different character — a person driven by base needs and urges, who has fallen into a state of poverty and deprivation.

In some instances, he is made out to be a carnival entertainer or a huckster. In others, he is portrayed as decrepit and vulnerable — as the cumulative result of his delusions and failures. Not until the 20th century do you see the popular Rider-Waite image of the Fool arise — that of an innocent Soul before its Fall into Matter, as yet untainted by contact with society and all its ills.

Modern decks usually borrow from the Rider-Waite imagery. Most Fool cards copy the bucolic mountainside scene, the butterfly, the potential misplaced step that will send the Fool tumbling into the unknown. Don’t forget, however, that the earlier versions of this card represented already-fallen humanity, over-identified with the material plane of existence, and beginning a pilgrimage towards self-knowledge, and eventually, wisdom. The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves — and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves — in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization.

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for 4/10

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for Everyone:

29: Dangerous Depths

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

Hexagram 29

General Meaning: Exposure to passing dangers brings good fortune to those who move beyond them. Like boaters passing through white-water rapids, when you are faced with serious challenges, you must remain alert, take all available precautions, and above all, keep going forward so as to remove yourself from harm’s way. Once the danger has passed, good fortune.

The positive aspect of challenges is that they offer an excellent chance to cleanse the senses and strengthen the spirit. Surviving crises brings tremendous reinvigoration, and sharpens the eye and mind for future challenges.

It is reckless to court danger, but critical to inner development not to shrink from it either. Those who respond to challenges most effectively are those who are able to establish an inner bubble of calm in the midst of the action. A calm center keeps one rooted in the moment, alert and focused. Courage at such times springs from focused attention, from a willingness to penetrate the moment of danger to its very core, so as to shape it and transform the situation

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for 4/9

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for Everyone:

4: Youthful Folly

Saturday, April 9th, 2011

Hexagram 4
 
General Meaning: Be on guard for careless or rebellious attitudes characteristic of youthful inexperience. Just as a youth requires instruction, this is a good time to focus on learning your lessons from a patient teacher or life experience. Is there some circumstance in your life that you failed to comprehend, perhaps because you could not appreciate its inherent complexities? Be respectful of anything or anyone who has something to teach you right now.

In order to be prepared for challenges, let education be a part of your life. Continually develop the strong mind and will necessary to carry you through confusing times. The wise realize that experience is a powerful teacher, even though we cannot be forced to learn, even from experience. Be a good student, one who delights in learning, one who nourishes his or her expanding awareness, one who is paying attention!

Examine your attitude for factors that limit your openness. Observe how you deal with the mistakes of others. You must let people live their own lives and learn their own lessons. Offer others your wisdom or advice, but only if the other person is receptive (when in doubt, ask). Otherwise, give up trying to convince him or her that you are right, which is only exhausting and counter-productive. If people are not receptive, let them go their own way — even into difficulty or dangerous circumstances. It is the only way they can learn right now — and without learning, no one can achieve success. This does not mean that you should not care — just that taking care of someone too much can be harmful. Live and let learn.

Today’s Tarot Card for April 9th

Today’s Tarot Card for April 9th

 

The Fool 

Full Meaning: Key Words for the Fool Tarot Card Meaning
* Innocence
* Beginning
* Simplicity
* Fresh Start
* Blind Faith

The Fool Tarot card meaning deals with that youthful exhuberance we feel when starting out on a new adventure or taking a journey of faith. We feel anticipation, butterflies flutter in our stomach, and our skin prickles with excitement…our journey is underway – we’re unstoppable!

However, along with this passion comes impetuousness. The Fool makes no plans, or gives no thought to possible complications along the way. Happy to be doing something different, the Fool blindly sets out where all else may fear to tread.

When contemplating the Fool Tarot card meaning, I think of Joseph Campbell’s landslide statement: “Follow your bliss.” We can see this attitude in this card, which is wonderful. But, we must also note the lack of care about consequences – blind faith is the Fool’s only guide.

Key Symbols:
This section focuses in on a few select symbols that can help us further define the Fool Tarot card meaning.

The Dog: Dogs typically represent loyalty and faithfulness. In this case, the dog symbolizes our reward when we express true faith on our path. As we continue to step out in faith, and blindly follow our bliss we shall gain the loyalty and recognition from people, places and events in our lives. Other Tarot decks depict the dog loyaly tugging at the Fools robes, preventing his fall into the chasm below. Yet another confirmation that when the Fool continues on his mission of passion, protection is available, and the details miraculously fall into place.

Knap Sack: How long do you think the contents of the little knap are going to sustain our hearty fool? Exactly, here again, the Fool is taking little time to consider the practical matters of his journey. However, what if the knap sack contains something far greater than consumables. Look closely at the image. Some say it resembles testicles, and these represent the seed of the Fool’s philosophical offspring. In short, as the Fool sows, so too shall he reap. This depiction is a reminder of personal responsibility. We all carry the seed of consequence upon our own journey.

The Rose: Again, hitting home that balance of the two messages this card represents: Blind, beautiful faith is equal to the beauty of the rose and a caution to heed the voice of reason/ practicality are evidenced in its thorns. The rose is the driving force – the desired goal for which the Fool strives. The color indicates it is a worthy goal for which to strive – white, the color of purity assures us the adventure is worth every step.

Key Questions:
When contemplating the Fool Tarot card meaning, ask yourself the following questions:

Am I following my dreams?
Am I honoring my prime passion?
What would the Fool do in my situation?
What do I value most…my beliefs or my image?
Do I fear adventure or do I fear practicality?
If my life is my message…what kind of message am I sending?

Today’s Tarot Card for 4/8

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Moon

This Tarot Deck: Royal Thai

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Moon card refers to a deep state of sensitivity and imaginative impressionability, developed within a womb of deep relaxation. Here we dream and go into trance, have visions and receive insights, wash in and out with the psychic tides, and experience deep mystical and/or terrifying realities beyond our ordinary senses. The full moon and/or eclipse cycle charted by the Magi (as in some of the earliest Moon card images) exemplify this as a mechanism that Nature uses to expand consciousness.

The variants of the courtly lovers (representing skillful use of the sex force) or the man sleeping it off under the tree (use of drugs to alter consciousness) are also traditional avenues for tapping this primal force. Human interest in higher states propels us to the frontiers of consciousness, where we cannot always control what happens. The Moon card represents the ultimate test of a soul’s integrity, where the membrane between self and the Unknown is removed, and the drop of individuality reenters the Ocean of Being. What transpires next is between a soul and its Maker.

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for 4/6

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for Everyone:

31: Mutual Attraction

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

Hexagram 31
 
General Meaning: The attraction of yin and yang is the powerful and fundamental force. The image of this hexagram is that of the attraction between a man and a woman in the courtship stage. In response to the magnetic attraction between them, the masculine principle (the creative, outgoing) seizes the initiative and submits to the feminine (the receptive, sensitive). When the assertive is able to defer to the receptive, and when the receptive accepts responsibility and exercises quiet leadership, an exciting and profitable union is the result. This brings good fortune, for all success depends upon the magnetic effect of mutual attraction.

Consistency is important in matters of mutual attraction, for this is what separates courtship from seduction.

If you are by nature an instigator, it is good to take the initiative. But you need to remain sensitive, and highly principled, and avoid the temptation to be manipulative. Let the power of mutual attraction pull you along. If you are the receptive one, keep your mind innocent and free of pride, so that you may remain open to good advice or helpful assistance. When your influence arises from innocence, an even more powerful magnetic force is at work for you.

Remaining open to the forces of attraction brings good fortune. Closing yourself to them heralds the dying of the soul. Learn to yield to the natural tugs and pulls of the heart.

Today’s Tarot Card for 4/6

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Star

This Tarot Deck: Celestial

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Star card is about reconnecting one’s Soul with the Divine — the transcending of personality, family, community and reputation. It has to do ultimately with the freedom to be one’s Self. The Soul is responding to celestial influences — forces that can provide the personality with a stronger sense of purpose. The Star card helps us to remember our exalted origins and our attraction to a Higher Union.

This card could also be called the “Celestial Mandate” — that which refers us back to our reason for being, our mission in this lifetime. The Star reminds us that, in a sense, we are agents of Divine Will in our day-to-day lives. If we let go of the idea that we are supposed to be in control, we can more easily notice and appreciate the synchronicities that are nudging us along. In this way, we become more conscious of the invisible Helping Hand, and we better understand our place within — and value to — the larger Cosmos

Today’s Tarot Card for 4/5

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

The Devil

This Tarot Deck: Folklore

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Devil card expresses the realm of the Taboo, the culturally rejected wildness and undigested shadow side that each of us carries in our subconscious. This shadow is actually at the core of our being, which we cannot get rid of and will never succeed in taming. From its earliest versions, which portrayed a vampire-demon, this card evoked the Church-fueled fear that a person could “lose their soul” to wild and passionate forces.

The image which emerged in the mid-1700’s gives us a more sophisticated rendition — that of the “scapegoated Goddess,” whose esoteric name is Baphomet. Volcanic reserves of passion and primal desire empower her efforts to overcome the pressure of stereotyped roles and experience true freedom of soul. Tavaglione’s highly evolved image (Stella deck) portrays the magical formula for harnessing and transmuting primal and obsessive emotions into transformative energies. As a part of the Gnostic message of Tarot, this fearsome passion and power must be reintegrated into the personality, to fuel the soul’s passage from mortal to immortal.

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for 4/4

Today’s I Ching Hexagram for Everyone:

62: Attention to Detail

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Hexagram 62

General Meaning: Ambitious undertakings are not in order now, but attention to small matters brings progress. Such is the case of a person whose resources are meager, but who, through modesty and perseverance, rises to accomplish great things.

The key to success when small potential influences the larger scene is to avoid pretentious ambitions and grandiose goals. The power of the small is served by slow and steady advancement, and succeeds through an honest awareness of its own limitations, without reservation.

Modesty stemming from recognizing your limitations is a fine quality, but it can be seen as weakness if it is not accompanied by conscientiousness. It is important to understand the demands of your situation, and not to expect success in big things right now. The wise person recognizes the nature of the time. So, know your own role, carefully attend to details and act with humility, and you can achieve your goal even with few resources.

Today’s Tarot Card for 4/4

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

Temperance

This Tarot Deck: Golden Tarot

General Meaning: What is traditionally known as the Temperance card is a reference to the Soul. Classically female, she is mixing up a blend of subtle energies for the evolution of the personality. One key to interpreting this card can be found in its title, a play on the process of tempering metals in a forge.

Metals must undergo extremes of temperature, folding and pounding, but the end product is infinitely superior to impure ore mined from the earth. In this image, the soul volunteers the ego for a cleansing and healing experience which may turn the personality inside-out, but which brings out the gold hidden within the heart. (This card is entitled “Art” in the Crowley deck.)

Today’s Tarot Card for 4/2

Today’s Tarot Card for Everyone:

Justice

This Tarot Deck: 8-Bit Tarot

General Meaning: Traditionally, what has been known as the Justice card has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion and a sense of fairness. Since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings.

Often including the image of a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and a two-edged sword to symbolize the precision needed to make clear judgments, this card reminds us to be careful to attend to important details. It’s a mistake to overlook or minimize anything where this card is concerned. The law of Karma is represented here — what goes around comes around.