Thought for the Day
You can reach a point in your life when you realize that you need to be exactly who you are, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. You have to accept yourself for who and what you are and live with that. You have to do what you love and accept what comes of it.
It’s a good thing. It’s a liberating moment.
All that is truly beautiful and meaningful in this life was created by people who understand this.
Don’t let anybody make you feel guilty, inadequate, stupid or insane for being true to yourself.
If I could think of a way to get this message out to everyone living, I’d do it. Too many lives have been wasted in an attempt to live up to other people’s ideals.
Dammit! Go out and dance in a thunderstorm if that’s what makes you happy. The hell with it. What’s the point of being alive if you can’t truly live?
Do what they say you can’t do. Believe what they say is unbelievable. Perform miracles. Cry, laugh and greet Death, when he comes, with a smile.
Yeah, it’s simple and everyone says they understand this. Then why are so many people not doing it? Myself included.
Lemniscate in the Sky
A lemniscate is the mathematical symbol for infinity. A mobius strip can be used to demonstrate the idea of infinity, in a strip of paper which is twisted and attached at the ends, forming an ‘endless’ two dimensional surface.
In the Waite Smith deck it can be seen above the head of the Magician. Here it can be understood to symbolize the fact that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed. Energy lasts forever, in whatever form it takes. The Magician channels this energy to manifest his will upon the world around and inside himself. Once he has learned to master this energy, he has an infinite resource at his disposal to effect these changes in accordance with his will. (In the Waite Smith deck this symbol can also be found over the head of the woman in Strength, at the top of the wreath in the World, and featured as the juggling motions of the figure in the Two of Pentacles).
In this photo, you see what appears to be a string of pearls, with a twist, hanging in the sky. It’s called The Analemma. We say, ‘the sky is the limit’, as a way of suggesting an ‘infinite’ number of possibilities in a given situation. It is fitting then, to find the symbol of infinity in the sky.
You would expect that if you looked at the Sun at the same time each day, from the same place, it would appear at the same location in the sky. You would be correct, if the Earth were not tilted, and if its orbit around the Sun were perfectly circular. Because neither of those things are correct, what you get in this case is this pattern in the sky.
The Sun will appear at its highest point in the sky, and highest point in the analemma, during summer. In the winter, the Sun is at its lowest point. The remainder of the year makes up the rest of the analemma pattern.
Photographing the analemma is a daunting challenge, simply because it takes an entire year to get the complete image. According to Sky and Telescope Magazine, more men have walked on the moon than have successfully photographed the analemma. The very first successful image of it, was taken by Dennis di Cicco.
Grasping infinity is difficult for the human mind. Meditation on the lemniscate can help us to grasp and understand it. In the Tarot it points to the endless energy available to us once we learn to tap into it. And in the Analemma, we have another of nature’s wonders to remind us of the infinity of energy in it’s many manifestations.
Balance Point
In an effort to address my thoughts on where to take my Tarot practice, including this blog, I drew one card for a nudge in whatever direction would be best. I chose my Hudes Deck, because I was feeling very stressed out at the time. Mentally, I had climbed the high-dive ladder at the pool, and I was finding it difficult to take that last step into the air, anticipating the plunge into the shock of cold water. I have not turned to the Tarot for my own needs in quite a while. It was a bit like going to an old friend and adviser for help, after a long period of not speaking to them at all.
Tarot can have a quirky sense of humor of it’s own sometimes. Seeking a card to focus my actions, I drew a card that is hardly an ‘action card’. And yet, upon reflection, there is the ghost of action here. As actions can occur in the imagination, there is action to be found in the Six of Pentacles from the Hudes Deck.
The first thing this card said to me was, ‘balance’. This image is one of symmetry. The perfectly balanced pentacles, both on the scales and in the air around the gentleman’s head. The center post of the scales, pointing perfectly at the chin, through the center of the face and on into the infinity above, divide the image neatly in two. After all, what else is necessary to move forward than to be perfectly balanced? Indeed, while riding a bicycle you will get nowhere without a good sense of balance.
There is an element of choice here as well. Which one is better, or are they the same? Items are weighed on a scale to determine which is heavier. In the mind, things are weighed to determine which is wiser, saner, more desirable, or less likely to fail in some manner. Sometimes the choice is one of ‘a lesser of two evils’. It is still a choice, and choice is an action. A mental action, but an action nonetheless.
He certainly looks bored, doesn’t he? Hesitation in life can lead to ennui, to endless stalling. Once that malaise sets in it can be difficult to shake it off, and accomplish the simplest tasks. One would rather sleep on, than arise and greet the day. Depression can be a deep pit that is very difficult to escape.
The pentacles deal with material, corporeal things. The body, possessions, money and practical considerations relating to these things. One of my motives for asking where I need to take my practice, is a need to discover a means to earn my keep in this world, to be of some benefit in this life, using my Tarot cards. I believe the card is telling me that I need to put things in order first. I need to seek a balance within, as well as in my daily life, as a foundation from which to act. It seems ‘getting my act’ together seems to be the first step that I must take, before I can travel any further.
Unfortunately, this is not one of my strong points. But it’s likely that is the very reason why I am being directed to do so.
