Queen of Wands. Occupying centre stage.

    The Queen of Wands is one of the brighter court cards. She represents the female aspect of fire in its ruler-ship position and that of water and fire. It is also difficult to ignore the Leo symbolism within this card, there are lions on the back of the throne along with a sunflower.
     The sunflower is also represented within the Sun card. The sunflower itself is seen as a symbol of happiness and joy. The open face of the sunflower follows the progress of the sun making it an extremely active plant.
   Whenever I get this card it is linked to strong and vivacious women, usually Leos. Leo women tend to be pretty straightforward and are able to keep a good amount of optimism throughout situations that would have the less fiery signs sobbing into their tissues.
   The queen in this card is clad in a bright yellow gown, which immediately stands out and this is the way that this queen would have it. She is a bright individual who stands out from the wallflowers and is not afraid to stand up front and take the spotlight. You may also notice the soft lavender cloak she wears over her yellow attire, you might not see this soft tender side immediately as the yellow can be so overpowering, but it is certainly there. Lavender is a soft spiritual colour linked to a higher form of feminine intuition which this lady has in spades.
     At her feet sits a black cat. Black cats are symbols of luck, both for ill and for good. Each country seems to have its own ideas on whether they are good or bad, or even if the cat has to be walking in a certain direction! In this instance I would say that the queen is lucky as the cat sits at her feet and is a further representation of the queen herself. She can be somewhat fickle and prone to chase the limelight.
    There is also a further aspect to this fiery queen, the ability to voice her thoughts on matters large and small. She fully believes in her ability to speak the truth of the matter, not in a logical and intellectual way like the Queen of Swords but in an inspired and impassioned way. She is intuitive, intelligent and somewhat psychic and her Leonine demeanor gives her the strength and courage to voice her feelings and insights. At best she can captivate and illuminate a room, at worst she can come off as condescending and rude. Her fiery spiritual nature connects her to greater and deeper truths than those of the trodden masses and she is not afraid to make sure everyone knows it.
      Being a Leo myself (albeit a male one!) I can connect to this card somewhat and it has caused me to examine a way of being that I have encountered in my life. Recently I have found need to stand up for myself a great deal more as an individual, to not take abuse active or passive. This has been all well and good but there is a further element that has until now escaped my attention.
     It seems that I have encountered a greater number of people who have the ability to drone on for extended periods without a break. Most of these individuals come across as somewhat harmless. But they do have the ability to bore a room or to get people to roll their eyes or glance at their watches once they begin. It is like they have an internal monologue that they feel the rest of the world needs to hear. Even their own eyes glaze over once they begin, like they have left their mouths running while their brain rummages through the meaningless thoughts and ideas they stored up in their mental filing cabinets. It just happens that one of these people is a Leo. Now I am aware of the irony of this and I may well have the same problem myself once I get going on a subject I believe I am informed about...but hopefully not to this degree.
    I do feel a little exposition is helpful in bring a point across...but there are limits. My problem with them is that they continue to speak regardless of the fact that the person(s) they are addressing have shut up shop and are waiting for the next available out.
    How does one get them to either stop or get to the point without hurting their feelings? What occurred to me was that if I do this, then how would I like to have my attention drawn to the matter? I settled on the simple line of "You're rambling" if they get out of control, or a sharper "Does this have a point?" if it has gone on for a significant length of time. Hopefully I can be aware and courageous enough to use a softer line earlier on as ideally this is how I would like to be brought back to the present. Sometimes the person does it long enough to start sapping your patience and your energy and it becomes harder and harder to make an effective escape. In these circumstances being harsher is totally justified as they can kill a conversation and occupy centre stage.
    I recognise my own absence of power in letting these situations over run me and then feeling trapped or powerless as they chunter on to the point in which they finally shut up and leave the room. It is a form of energy vampirism, just on a minor level and in many cases totally unconscious. Letting it continue is a form of cowardice in wanting to avoid possible conflict. Nobody wants to come across as a bad person and these individuals can often use it to their advantage as they are unlikely to be challenged for such a minor matter.
     This of course is the shadow side of the Queen of Wands and can be avoided with a little bit of courage and the strength to confront, after all they are just trying to help!   
   
     

XVIII - The Moon. The shadow of self.

 The Moon is one of cards that is seen as ill-omened. That when  it turns up in a reading it can signify a period of difficulty. But like many of the so-called ill omened cards it is simply a matter of perspective and taking the correct attitude to the matters at hand.
    The Moon card has links to other Major Arcana. It is related to The Sun card and is viewed as its polar opposite. This may in fact be where a great deal of the mis-interpretation of the card comes into play. The Sun card is such a positive card, that one must think that the Moon card must necessarily be negative. The Sun card is about the inner child, whereas the Moon card is about another psychical construct....the Shadow.
      Carl Jung defined the shadow as the sum total of all that we do not wish to admit to within the psyche. This can be repressed elements or behaviours, attitudes or viewpoints. They do not necessarily need to be negative, but they often are. At worst, these elements given enough psychic power can fragment and cause a schizophrenic break. The psyche will often wall off these elements in order to preserve a level of functionality within the individual. For example if a society has a diminished view of sexuality, then sexual urges naturally become repressed within the normative individual. This gives the shadow aspect of the personality a portion of power which would normally have been reserved for healthy sexual function. If this reservoir of power exceeds a certain level, then the psyche attempts to vent this energy and this occurs in a way that is partitioned off from functioning consciousness so as to preserve a cohesive personality. If such a person encounters a situation, person or event that triggers a recognition of this repressed element within the psyche then they will often respond with revulsion or disgust.
       The card itself has a lot of interesting symbolism involved in it. The actual moon disk has a face upon it which has its eye's closed either in sleep or in pensive thought. There are rays springing forth from the disk, as the sun's light reflects from it. The disk itself is arranged as though you can see the moon in its phases, with a crescent, a half and a full moon. This links the card to sleep, dreams and semi-awareness. The darkness of the backdrop dictates that the card is set at night (you may think this obvious, but the moon is many times visible during the day).  Falling from the moon are fifteen yods (symbols of fiery fragments of the psyche) which look a little like tears falling upon the earth.
        To the side of the card we see two stone towers forming a portal or a pass between them. These towers can be seen on the Death card and represent the gateway to realms beyond. In the Death card, you can see a sunrise in the background, but here you only see a pathway going deep into the purple mountains of the backdrop. This shows that dream and sleep and the states in between are a gateway to areas of deeper darkness and mystery. The towers themselves are man made constructs and represent the limit of our understand of this realm and that the pathway leads past them. These towers have a single window in each, facing back towards the viewer. Passing into the realm of sleep requires we move past what is understood and the limited perspectives humanity currently has in these realms.
      In the middle of the card a wolf and a dog sit either side of the pathway. They represent the animal aspects our nature, on one side the domesticated dog and on the other the wild wolf. They show how close these aspects are to one another and the danger that lies on the path to the unconscious. We have our civilised instincts and our wilder instincts with us and on either side of the path we walk. The dog howls at the moon, showing that it is simply a wolf with a veneer of civility.
      At the base of the card, there is a crustacean crawling out from the depths of the water and beginning on the path. The water represents our emotions, our moods and how they are influenced by the moon and the tides and little consciousness we have of this.
     This card represents the perilous journey into the unconscious, from humble beginnings and through many great dangers. It shows the dangers our subconscious represents, the elements we keep hidden or lie just beneath the surface. It has a negative aspect only in that it without a knowledge of this realm, we are doomed to fall prey to its dangers. Only by taking the pathway with all its inherent dangers do we have any chance of reaching the light hidden by the moon.
    The pathway through the realms of the shadow are indeed difficult and are only really open to those who have tread the roads before this. They are incomprehensible and repugnant to those who are unwilling to face their own hidden aspects.
    There is a great deal to be seen in facing ones own shadow. It is a road I have walked and will continue to walk as difficult and unpleasant as it appears to be at points. It is the only way to liberate the aspects of ourselves and the powers that have fallen into the depths of the unconscious.
   When this card is drawn, it means it is a time to look deep within to find the parts of us that we wish to disown. The darkness that lies within us all and shows us that the line between the civilised dog and the wild wolf is not very great at all and without understanding what we are, there is no hope for our individuation. We must taken this primitive aspect of ourselves (represented by the crustacean) and take it to the light at the far end of the pathway. The fact that there is no light immediately obvious at the end of the pathway further indicates that this is not a simple task.
     This card for me talks of the difficult work that must be undertaken in order to make any real progress on the path. I had hoped to bring forth some examples of my own shadow aspects which I am currently working on, but like the card they are still shrouded in darkness and at best I am only semi-aware of them...I am still walking the path to bring them to light. They struggle to remain hidden and there is a part of me that doesn't wish to see them brought to light, even though I know it is for my benefit.

XIX- The Sun

 I pulled The Sun card from the deck over the weekend, but I was finding it difficult to connect to the energy of the card. I have given it a few days for my mind to mull it over since I didn't want to write about the card without being able to feel attuned to it.
    The Sun card is all about happiness, happiness that comes from within and ideally from the heart. There is no dark side to this card, it is playfulness, innocence and openness. It is about being so happy that you can't help but smile, days in the sun and being a child in the purest sense. The child riding the horse, shows mastery over its baser instincts but in a way that is entirely different to the mastery that is shown in other cards with riding figures. The horse is happy to be carrying the child and both of them are involved in play. The nakedness and open arms of the young child show a comfort with where it and who it is, that borne of a lack of self-conscious anxiety you see in small children at play.
     The wall behind the child protects the innocence and provides a safe sanctuary for play, but does not block the rays of the sun. The card has a connection to Leo and its ruler the Sun. The Sun itself has 22 rays that spring forth from it which symbolise the 22 paths of the Kabbalah, the wavy and straight rays can be seen as representing masculine and feminine energies.
   The card talks of the emerging of the new born spiritual life which is free of restriction and restraint, full of joy and innocence. In this the sun represents the heart, the centre of one's spiritual life in its full majesty. The flag the child carries represents a victory similar to the feeling present in the 6 of wands, one brought about by the successful emergence of inner joy represented by the child within.
   What this card has reminded in me is the feeling itself, that joy needs to be present in life, for without joy...there is no life. Much the same as the vital service the sun provides for all living things. For me it is a signal to remove all veils to that inner happiness, all the clouds in the heart that may obscure the inner light.
    When I drew this time I could not connect to that inner joy and it has taken a few days to find the factors that have obscured that in my life. That the card represents Leo was another factor that vexed me given that this is my own Sun sign....I felt I should immediately be able to connect to it!
    Then I was moved to recall the first time I really felt the presence of the energy behind the Sun card. It occurred many years ago and I was talking a walk through the town in which I was living at that time in Arizona. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining and the birds were singing, everything seemed in right in my self and I realised that I was happy. I was able to smile spontaneously by letting this energy rise up in me, not by forming a smile as I had always done before. It was as though I could take this inner light and let it shine out of me and the smile was a consequence of that action.
    As of right now, I can somewhat sense this light, but it is not strong enough to shine out just yet. Somehow it has become covered and the Sun card has done its job by showing me that it is so. The veil that covers the Sun for me is the restrictions I have let be placed over my heart, or indeed have placed there myself. Either for the sake of survival or through fear, but now I know that they are there I can ask for the strength to banish them.