Tarot – Page 17 – True Tarot Tales

Psychic Animal Whispering: a Tarot Reading for Mustard The Pony

I had been reading the cards five or six years when I received a first request to do a reading on behalf of an animal, a pony called Mustard.

What did I know about ponies? Not a huge amount. I have been riding just once in my life, on a school trip to The Trossachs when I was fifteen, and rode on a pony called Thistle, and soon found out why she was called Thistle. She kept stopping to chew….thistles. I said ‘move on’, and she snickered, looking at me out of the side of her eye, a clear invitation to get lost. The woman, exasperated, shouted at me, ‘you there, girl, get her head up!’ but I did not like to pull hard on the bit. The woman knew her stuff and I did not, and the pony’s mouth was tough enough to chew on thistles, but I worried it would hurt.

I am not the only person to have been haunted since childhood by the death of Ginger in ‘Black Beauty’. Oh no. There are a lot of us. Such is the agency of story, and when it comes down to it, there is no such thing as fiction. There is only truth presented as fiction or poetic truth.

This was the author’s only novel, and it was written with an adult audience in mind. But one is all it took to haunt the next six generations of children and we are still counting. Anna Sewell was nearing the end of her life, disabled after a fall when she was fourteen and she broke her ankles, ill, confined indoors and often bed-ridden while she wrote ‘Black Beauty’, published in 1877 by Jarrolds for £40. Her mother helped her, but this was the work of a decade, and she died only a few months after publication, aged 58.

Ignorance. Only ignorance. How can you talk about only ignorance. Don’t you know that it is the worst thing in the world next to wickedness and which does the worst mischief heaven only knows. If people can say, oh I did not know. I did not mean any harm,’ they think it is all right.

Mustard was a 13 year old gelding, and he competed in dressage. This much I had already been told before looking at his cards. He had a clean bill of health from the vets, but his owner was worried that he seemed depressed, and wanted me to inquire into his happiness and well-being, and to see whether the Tarot could pick up on his preferences or wishes.

I was working with the Universal Rider-Waite deck at the time. I have mixed up the imagery here, using cards from other decks, but without compromising on the meanings as I read them for Mustard.

How was Mustard feeling about life at that moment?

Answer: The Four of Pentacles.

This card of material stability, sometimes unjustly nicknamed The Miser card, indicated that Mustard generally felt safe and secure, and liked his current routine. He didn’t seem too keen on changing things, and liked to hang on to any good thing he was given. (Don’t we all) He was by temperament, reserved but friendly, not given to impulsive behaviour. He liked a little bit of variety in his routine ‘but not too much’.

His owner laughed out loud at this description, saying this was Mustard down to a tee. He could be stubborn.

The Seven of Cups was the next card out.

This suggested Mustard was sensitive and responsive with a plenty of imagination. His owner said he was the most easily trained pony she had worked with, very quick on the uptake.

I asked the Tarot, what did he like? and drew the Three of Cups.

From The Gilded Tarot, artwork Ciro Marchetti

Gossip, chit-chat. Party time! This card suggested Mustard had two special friendships. These must have been a horse and a pony he shared his field with during the day, his owner explained. He had one friend in particular.

I was glad to hear this. I hate it, all those lone ponies you see in fields, bored and lonely, resting their weight on one hoof. People who keep ponies do know they are HERD animals, right? It ought not to happen.

But what might be weighing on his mind, such that his owner worried he was depressed? I drew the Six of Swords, a card of relocation, or moving on in other ways.

I asked if Mustard was being moved. The answer came, yes, he was going to be moved to a new, bigger livery with 30 horses and ponies.

The Five of Cups , a grieving card, suggested Mustard sensed a change coming up, and did not want to be separated from his two old friends.

His owner said he would still see his friends. She and the owners of these other two ponies rode out together and would continue to do so. I suggested, silly though this may sound, that she tell Mustard this, sending him a visual message of him going along the lanes with his old friends. He might not be able to understand the words, but he might receive the message, and the emotion she attached to that. Who is to say he could not?

I drew a general advice card for Mustard. This was The Moon card, suggesting Mustard was frightened of being alone at night.

From The Gilded Tarot Royale, Ciro Marchetti

There were barking dogs, he seemed to be telling me, and, though I was reading with the Rider Waite that day, the essential imagery of this card from The Gilded Tarot Royale is the same. Look at the dogs, baying at the moon, just as in the Moon card in the Rider Waite deck.

He could not have been telling me more literally, than by my drawing this particular card when there were 77 other cards I could have drawn instead.

He didn’t like that barking. Not at all. And strange shadows scared him.

This was why he was being moved, his owner told me. He was stabled alone overnight and not with his friends. They just met up in the day, and now she was moving him to be stabled near with them. This seemed like excellent news for Mustard, and meanwhile, pending the move, I suggested his owner leave an old coat with him, so that her scent could reassure him in her absence.

This was very peculiar, the owner said. There were a number of dogs at a nearby house, Jack Russells, and from time to time she had heard them barking during the day, but it hadn’t occurred to her they might worry Mustard with night time barking as she wasn’t usually there at that time.

What else bothered Mustard, she wondered.

The Five of Wands, a card of competition in crowded markets suggested Mustard was prone to stress and became anxious in competitions. He didn’t like loud noises. If he had been a show jumper, this would have suggested a fear of jumping a 5 barred fence. I suggested rubbing a little non-alcohol Rescue Remedy behind his ears or on his nose (not on the sensitive bits) the next time they competed, which was the following weekend.

The owner contacted me the week following this event, and though Mustard didn’t win any prizes, she said there was a difference in his body language. He was more ‘laid back.’

A reading is not a substitute for appropriate medical advice. The reader is not a vet, but nor does a client need a nanny. A reader does not try to tell anyone what to do. They do have a duty of responsibility. They must exercise great care, but the whole point of having such a reading is that the reader will share what they see and feel.

Was I reading Mustard’s mind during this reading, or was I reading his owner’s mind, telling her things she already knew, but that she did not consciously know that she knew?

Or was it a three-way telepathy?

I’d likely struggle to read any animal too different in its organization from ourselves, animals with very different nervous systems. Though a reader could always try, and wouldn’t an octopus be interesting.

All life is interconnected at some level. All life is driven by some form of intelligence, brain or no brain. Such is the unfathomable mystery of the real life web.

“We patronize the animals for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they are more finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.” ― Henry Beston

Till next time 🙂

Juggling With The Two of Pentacles

The Two of Pentacles is the minor arcana Tarot card associated with the first Decan of Capricorn according to Western (Tropical) astrology. The first Decan of Capricorn runs 21 December-31 December.

And as we enter the first Decan of Capricorn….Kent is the seething focus of national attention in the UK. We have a new crisis of the Medway, but this time it is not a hostile foreign maritime engagement as such, or not directly. It is not the Dutch, but the now swiftly accelerating misery of the new strain of coronavirus.

Plus, for good measure, there has been -still is- a 48 hour blockade by France, more than 600 lorries queuing on the M20, trapping unfortunate drivers, unable to get home via the ferry to France or going through the Channel Tunnel. This, ostensibly, in an effort by France to prevent or minimize the arrival of the new coronavirus strain. This seems an understandable response to such a threat, but many of those trapped are EU nationals, and the new strain is already in Europe. This new strain, which was identified in September, has apparently been identified in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands- and also Australia.

17:22 today: Source Highways England

This is being resolved apparently, as I am typing this, or so Il Matrimonio informs me, shouting through from the other room, watching the News on the wretched shrieking box.

And all this with less than ten days to go until the end of the Brexit Transition period 31 December. There is speculation that if a Deal is managed…and the signs suggest a further UK compromise is on the table, to the great relief of many, and the huge misgivings and disappointment of many others…then Parliament may be recalled to vote on such a Deal on 30 December.

So. A prudent and timely precaution or a politically driven act of aggression?

Covid or Brexit?

Dover, ah, Dover. Topped with its castle founded in the 11th century. So much history here, defining moments, witnessed by this giant stone sentinel overlooking -guarding -the shortest sea crossing, those mere twenty one miles, between England and the Continent.

Today, as we enter the first Decan of the zodiac sign of Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, the ultimate planet of material power, restriction, rules and the bottom line, you can see it for yourself.

It is all suggested here in this card.

Tweeted Today

“Entering 1st decan Capricorn, cardinal earth, the minor #Tarot card is 2 Pentacles. A card of commuting or coping- just about. A need to take stock, simplify, rationalize before we ‘drop the ball.’ Tricky balancing act, little spare or slack in the system. IMG Gilded Tarot Royale”

Traditional meanings for this card: ambition, determination, keeping one’s own counsel, a difficult juggling act, running to keep up, commuting, managing material affairs, embarrassment, moving money between accounts, just getting by, robbing Peter to pay Paul, a need to rationalize and simplify.

This is not what you would call a BAD card. Not by any means. But it’s not an easy or sustainable situation either. Study the image, think of coronavirus and if you are in the UK, the imminent end of the Brexit Transition period, and the challenges are manifestly symbolized and reflected in this imagery.

Here is a negotiation, a juggling act of competing interests. The Pentacles themselves represent territory, money, goods, and the movement of goods.

Here is fishing. Note the dolphin. Just wait till the next super trawler comes along and swoops it up as ‘side-catch’. Let’s hope there’s good news there.

My cards have always shown me that Brexit would happen, and there were times, this seemed in real doubt, but also they never shown me a consistently, strong signal for a No Deal (WTO) Brexit. Nor have they shown A DEAL from which I could only conclude it will be a scenario of SOME DEAL.

But, since 2016 I have consistently been shown a picture of onward forward progress over the coming decade via a new era of UK independence, as shown by the maritime card, the Six of Swords. It may or may not seem like a ‘fudge.’

But this ‘ship’ The Britannia IS inexorably pulling away from the EU berth. We have a very long and complicated relationship. It will always be complicated. The history of the British Isles, its unique melting-pot of the many peoples, and the many waves of invasions that forged it, is the reason why. We are too near, but not near enough. Too far away, but not far enough.

Here in the Two of Pentacles, earthy though it is, we are shown a coastline, ie, a natural border. We see the figure, claiming ownership of territorial waters, a mercantile vessel in the near distance.

The Two of Pentacles is talking here in real time, but also acting in character right here in its designated astrological time slot.

Here is synchronicity of Tarot imagery, working in real time again.

Take care. Stay safe.

Till next time 🙂

Capricorn the Cosmic Sea Goat, Warrior Ibex and the Gate of the Gods

Common associations

Symbol:

Date of Birth: 21 Dec to 20 January

Ruling planet: Saturn

Lucky Day: Saturday Lucky Numbers 2 and 8

Energy: Yin

Element: Earth

Quality: Cardinal (the start of the season of winter)

Key phrase: I build, I use

Body: Skin, knees, skeletal system

Birth Stone: Red Garnet and Black Onyx

Colour: Deep red

Herbs/Flowers: Wintergreen, Ivy, Carnation

Tarot card: The Devil (Pan/Nature, Earth, Will-Power, Determination, Mystery, Fascination, Charisma, Need, Hunger, Entrapment)

The Astronomy

Capricornus is thought to be the oldest recognized constellation, just as its subjects are known for being born as old souls, wise beyond their years. Its name is Latin for ‘horned goat’ or ‘having horns like a goat’s,’ and it is commonly represented in the form of a sea-goat: a mythical creature half-goat, half-fish, Pricus, the son of Chronos (Time.)

The constellation of Capricornus from which the zodiac sign gets its name is located in an area of sky known as ‘The Sea’ or ‘The Water’, containing other water-related constellations including Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus, the Celestial River, which is the sixth largest of the 88 modern listed constellations.

Capricornus is best seen in the northern hemisphere in the southern sky, early evenings in September. Capricornus is the smallest constellation in the zodiac, with no first magnitude stars. Not easy to find, you will need clear skies. Even so, its brightest star, The Tail of the Goat, or Deneb Algedi (Delta Capricorni A) is a white giant with a luminosity 8.5 times that of our Sun.

Capricornus has three stars with known planets, and contains a Messier object, Messier 30, a globular cluster 28,000 light years distant and about 90 light years across in size. This cluster is approaching us at the speed of 181.9 km/s and was one of the first deep sky objects discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.

Five meteor showers are associated with Capricornus: the Alpha Capricornids, the Chi Capricornids, the Sigma Capricornids, the Tau Capricornids, and the Capricorniden-Sagittarids.

The planet Neptune was discovered in the constellation Capricornus, near Deneb Algedi, the brightest star in the tail of the goat, on September 23, 1846.

Neptune is not visible to the naked eye. Galileo saw it first, in 1612 -13 but he mistook it for a fixed star as it was retrograde at the time of viewing. Read more about Neptune and its discovery here

By Justin Cowart – https://www.flickr.com/photos/132160802@N06/29347980845/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82476611

It is curious that this Neptune connection was so recently discovered, in the face of an existing ancient mythic connection between Capricorn the Sea-Goat and Pisces the Fishes.

History and Mythology

Even though Capricornus is the second faintest constellation in the sky, the faintest after Cancer, its imagery is very ancient indeed, associated with myths that go back to the 21st century BC and which centre on various sun gods supposedly nursed by a she-goat.

Goats, and their relatives, ibex, were the inspiration, as depicted in Ice Age paintings.,

In the early Bronze Age, the arrival overhead of the constellation Capricornus coincided with the winter solstice and, in modern astrology (as distinct from astronomy) we enter the zodiac sign of Capricorn’s rule on the turning point of the winter solstice.

Male ibex start fighting and mating during early winter, December and January, coinciding with the dates first ascribed to Capricorn. The constellation of Capricorn itself is no longer overhead at the time of the winter solstice due to the wobble of the earth, an effect known as precession,and now appears overhead in late January, during the dates of the next zodiac sign, Aquarius.

The Sumerians

Before 1000 BC the Sumerians knew Capricorn as the goat-fish, or SUHUR-MASH-HA. There appears to be a connection between Capricorn as a seagoat and Enki, the Sumerian god of wisdom and waters, who also had the head and upper body of a goat and the lower body and tail of a fish. Enki, Later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology, was the god of intelligence (literally ‘ear’), creation, crafts; magic; water, seawater and lake water.

The Greeks

Pricus was king of the mer-goats in a Greek evolution myth. The children of Pricus left the sea to dwell on the mountains, leaving him alone in the oceans, very sad and alone with no-one to care for or teach any more- and Pricus was a great teacher.

Zeus placed him in the Sea of the Stars so that he could see his children again, and they could look up and see him.

But the constellation is nowadays more widely associated with two mythical creatures from Greek legends: the deity Pan, and the she-goat Amalthea who suckled the baby Zeus, although these legends, like the other Greek legends, came in turn from far more ancient stories.

Pan-Bacchus, a set of pipes, and the terrible Typhon

Pan, so the legend said, was placed in the sky by Zeus in gratitude after he came to the rescue of the Olympian gods when they sought refuge in Egypt after an epic battle with the monster Typhon, son of the Titan Tartarus and Earth.

Typhon wanted revenge on the Olympic gods because they had overthrown his own race, the Titans who had ruled before Zeus defeated them, and he was one terrifying adversary, a fearsome fire-breathing creature, higher than mountains and with dragons’ heads instead of fingers. He had the gods of Olympia on the run, and they tried to escape by adopting various disguises: Zeus, a ram – Hera, a white cow, and Bacchus (or another version of the myth suggests Pan)- a goat.

Zeus had the unpleasant experience of being caught and dismembered by Typhon, who was presumably not fooled by the ram disguise, or otherwise had worked up an appetite, with all that raging, and just fancied lamb chops for tea.

Happily for Zeus, Bacchus/Pan played a sound on his pipes, ‘panikos’ -from which we get the word ‘panic’ – and this earsplitting sound disorientated or ‘panicked’ Typhon long enough for an agile Hermes to collect the limbs and restore Zeus to life, and he was so grateful not to be served up with mint sauce that he raised Bacchus/Pan to the heavens as the constellation Capricornus.

And so, thanks to the magic of the pan-pipes, Zeus lived to fight another day. He eventually managed to trick Typhon, and trapped him beneath Mount Etna…though he still tries to escape.

The Gate of The Gods

Neo-Platonic/Chaldean philosophy said that while the souls of those about to be born descended to Earth through the constellation of Cancer, the gate of the summer solstice, arriving through M44, the star cluster known as the Beehive Cluster, the souls of the newly dead return to the cosmic sea, ascending through the Gate of the Gods, the star-gate of Capricorn.

The Astrology

There is no such thing in reality as THE Capricorn personality and the same goes for all the zodiac sun signs. Your sun sign is an archetype, a keynote but of course it is not and never could be the whole story.

The archetype of Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac, and the House ruling material affairs, is shrewd, wise, even Gnostic. They are profound thinkers, deeply inquiring, and with a wry sense of humour, self-reliant, stoic in the face of adversity, hard-working, determined and resilient.

They have high standards, and expect much of themselves but also others, which, depending on other aspects of their astrological portrait, can make them stern, demanding or even overbearing task-masters, holding others to their own very high standards of conduct, or their own preferred way of doing things.

They are sometimes accused of dourness, lacking a sense of humour but this is absolutely not the case. It is just that they are choosy of their company. Capricorn has a dry wit, a keen sense of the absurd, and loves a good joke.

Conversely, the Saturn influence can make them seem somewhat downbeat, cynical and suspicious, seeing traps and problems everywhere, quick to issue corrections, or to douche cold water, viewing the enthusiasm of others as ill advised or naïve.

Capricorn is no-one’s fool. Capricorn carries its own weight, and very often the weight of others too.

But however far it climbs, Capricorn is dignified, canny, circumspect, proud but not vainglorious. Capricorn climbs the mountain to see the world. It does not climb so that the world will see Capricorn.

However many are watching.

“Duties are what make life most worth the living. Lacking them, you are not necessary to anyone. And this would be like living in an empty space. Or not being alive at all.”- Marlene Dietrich, born Dec 27, 1901

The Five of Cups and Melancholy Emperors Part 2

Tweeted 27 October, before the US Election

Sept: drew Ace Swords/Wheel Fortune looking at Mr T/Mr B- a warning not to write off Mr T. More recently drew 5 of Cups -suggesting MR T disappointment. BUT it correlates with 1st decan Scorpio and so describes the Election date itself. An issue, problem or delay? Legacy #Tarot

The Five of Cups from The Legacy of The Divine Tarot

This gloomy card, to do with coming to terms with loss, is ruled by angry Mars in deep and secretive Scorpio.

Hindsight has since supplied an explanation of what was the ” issue, problem or delay.”

However, attempting this particular forecast had me rather perplexed throughout in September and October. The cards showed at that point that President T had a very strong chance of winning a second term, the pro-Biden polls notwithstanding. Then suddenly, for whatever reason, that picture changed 27 October, at least as shown via cartomancy.

President Trump has not as yet conceded:-

Tweeted today: 13 December
Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump·3h MOST CORRUPT ELECTION IN U.S. HISTORY!

This claim about election fraud is disputed

Traditionally, this card turns up a lot in readings that are focused on relationship difficulties. Here, the grieving figure is self-medicating, drowning her sorrows in drink, focused entirely on her disappointment or grievance.

The figure in the Five of Cups is grieving for what is lost, what could have been, those three overturned goblets. And those who voted for him are disappointed, and have not been able to come to terms with it, on account of their fear or suspicion that everything was not conducted as it should have been.

But it does not been shown to me that further legal action will overturn the result, despite any irregularities.

Al Jazeera

In general this card signifies someone is not yet ready to move on but when they do they/he/she still holds two goblets. This is surely a difficult situation for the outgoing First Lady too, but this card suggests that the outgoing President Trump will have plenty else to do when the time comes to leave The White House.

The next Presidential Election is November 2024. Previous readings have indicated Donald Trump has entertained the idea of running again in 2024, and this remains to be seen, but a previous appearance of The Lovers card drawn Reversed suggests he will have moved on by that point. The Lovers card signifies a difficult decision, and here the decision is either a refusal to decide (ie concede) or a ‘no’ decision, once he has left office.

The reader’s bias here? None that I am aware of. Brits who may not necessarily be ‘pro-Trump’ may still have certain reservations about President Biden’s stance in respect of the UK, and its relationship with the Republic of Ireland as it navigates a new course in its own future.

In the last contested US election 2000. Al Gore fought on for 37 days to overturn the result. But these are more unsettled times. I’m sure we’re all praying for a peaceful handover 20 January. but the astrology isn’t entirely reassuring.

Stay safe and take care.

Read up on Vitamin D and its role in flu- or covid-19.

Till next time.

Here, kitty, kitty…Brexit cats come Home

Yesterday lunchtime a little after twelve, I got a phone call from the senior sprog. She was anxious because she had not seen her little black cat, Salem since returning from a trip to the pet store.

Was the cat OK? Would I look in the cards?

I made the obvious noises, it had only been a couple of hours etc,

‘What if I see bad news?’ I said, ‘there is no guarantee that it will be good news, and I could be wrong either way’.

This is the risk in consulting with oracles, and the reader knows it fine well.

She said that if I saw bad news, she would manage her expectations, but that I had been right about such things before, and it’s true, I have done a number of similarly cat related readings over the years, and besides, I would not decline such a request from my daughter, who has been somewhat under stress lately, working in a crazy busy pharmacy. They processed over 1,100 prescription requests one day last week, and this is a SMALL pharmacy, with a max 2-3 staff front of house dealing with the public, and they are not always nice. Often it’s just her on her own.

Will Salem come home soon, safe and sound?

I used a 6 card Answer Spread used by a cartomancer David J Arcuri, and if you are interested in learning to read with playing cards, I recommend you visit his website at The Art of Cartomancy

This spread is read as three pairs of vertical columns

Column 1 describes the premise of the situation

The Ace of Diamonds, a shop, a short trip. Sprog had been to the pet store. This card could also been detecting a sudden loud noise, such as a firework, or a car exhaust backfiring. One of her neighbours has the deeply anti-social habit of letting off fireworks any time of day, and the cat is terrified of them.

The Six of Spades can indicate a car, a voyage, a delay, progress, loss and recovery, journey into the unknown. My daughter had returned and called for Salem who usually responds to her call, but did not do so on this occasion.

Column 2 contains the answer to the question

The Ten of Clubs described a place of business, a trip, and often, a body of water, such as a bathtub or a puddle. Had my daughter checked the bathroom?

Our own cat once disappeared but was only in the bathroom, where she had hidden, scared by the noise of the window cleaner outside. The Ace of Diamonds combined with this made me wonder if something had startled Salem while she was outside, so that she had been lying low, even though she may have heard my daughter calling for her.

The bathroom had been checked, but the ten of diamonds is in general a very lucky card. In terms of money, it indicates a lucky win or unexpected sum of money, and she had recently had a modest Christmas windfall. In terms of character, this card refers to a highly self-willed and independent-minded personage but one way and another, it indicated a happy outcome.

The Queen of Hearts shows the queen in question, looking anxiously back at the Six of Spades. But her appearance here is welcome news.

‘The cards are saying who are you, the cat’s mother?’ I told the sprog, ‘And yes, you are the cat’s mother, and the Queen of Hearts says ‘happy mummy,’

It was going to be OK.

Column 3 offers additional comments

Two of Clubs…a meeting, a reunion, an exchange of gifts, sharing of time. This is a positive card though it carries a warning, that I am in consultation with my own child, and perhaps anxious about what I might see. Beware of bias.

Nine of Diamonds, the brain, psychic activity, electromagnetic fields, the wishes of my ‘client’ that personally affect me. This bottom right hand card is the hinge card upon which the answer depends, and was a clear indication that Salem would show up soon.

The absence of Spades cards in the second and third columns was particularly reassuring.

‘She’s just come in now,’my daughter said quietly. Looking somewhat sheepish, so my daughter said.I suspect Salem had heard or seen the return of my daughter’s car out at the front of the house, had heard her calling, but had been lying low, either scared of something, or too engrossed in her own exciting pursuits to come home when called.

Timing in cartomancy

Diamonds can be as fast as a bolt of lightning. They denote minutes, hours or days

Clubs are fast, but not so fast as Diamonds. They denote days or weeks.

Hearts denote weeks or months

Spades denote months, years or not at all.

The overall balance of suits give the reader an overall impression of how fast something seems likely to happen.

Here, that Ace of Diamonds top left, matched and bookmarked by the Nine of Diamonds, bottom right, seemed to be saying ‘sudden.’

Was the cat’s reappearance within nine minutes after first drawing the cards?

I can’t say. I wasn’t looking at the time, but it could well have been, which didn’t half make this reading feel like a storm in an egg-cup, or a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

But love in all its guises is a wind that bloweth as it listeth, and the wind blows very strong. Diamonds, Clubs and Hearts blew a warm south-westerly.

Brexit

There are plenty of bigger fish a reader could be frying right now. I don’t see a further Brexit delay or extension in my cards today, and I have to say, I should dearly hope not. I have looked at this before during 2018 and 2019, and written up those impressions here in the archives.

The cards are against there being A Deal, but I am still being shown a possibility of ‘a deal’, whatever that means in practice, and we’ll know soon enough, but I fear a delay in respect of Fishing. The UK will get free and clear and reclaim control of its waters, but it may take longer than many feel it should.

Ursula Von der Leyen is showing up as a Queen of Spades, and she is looking at a Deal (MONEY Two of Diamonds) and she is also looking across this card at Boris Johnson, shown here as a King of Spades -which he is astrologically, as a Gemini air sign. He has turned away, facing forward into an unknown future. Both are ready to strike a ‘clean blow’- BJ in particular, suggests cartomancy, since the Queen is looking at him. But although he is definitely listening very carefully, one ear cocked, he is not reciprocating that gaze.

He is actively planning on the immediate necessities of the No Deal scenario, no time to lose, as the EU surely is too, although I am looking at this from the UK perspective. I also feel, despite all the extreme incivility of discourse on social media, particularly the ad hominem comments directed at the UK PM, that there is actually mutual respect and personal goodwill between these powerful ‘monarchs’ of the same suit.

His mind is made up. He is clear. Both these ‘monarchs’ have the capability to bring down the sword to cut a Gordian Knot. But do not wish to do so. The PM seems to have something in reserve, points of manoeuvre if he hears the ‘right’ thing. So that even at this very late stage, the future is not sealed, and an agreement cannot be discounted, even if it falls well short of a comprehensive FTA.

Update 14/12/2020 *The Deadline is now potentially extended until New Years Eve.

It is now a ‘game’ of attrition. A game of chicken. The baseline motivation is legal defensiveness on both sides, and the EU team remains hopeful the UK will blink or buckle, and they feel it is entirely possible, and worth pushing for, as the PM has veered off his stated position before, under internal pressures.*

Will he ‘buckle’? Gemini is famously mercurial and Mr J is Gemini three times over. The Six of Cups, The Queen of Swords (Spades) drawn Reversed, and the Six of Swords which I have drawn many times before. This card of loss, recovery, exploration, maritime, science and tech, paints the picture of the UK destiny, irrespective of the detail. Steering a new course, navigating new waters. The maritime issue is key, as we all know, and it’s not only the fish, but because it is a principle of territorial boundaries.

Our collective legacy is necessary and key to the collective future.

Regardless of a so-called No Deal or some kind of a Deal, the 9 of Clubs indicates a big new challenge, an adventure, and a fiscal recovery earlier than may be realistically expected, referring here to the UK’s post- covid recovery post-Brexit.

That 2 Diamonds in the middle column is THE classic card of a business Deal, and so is the Nine of Clubs and that’s the hinge card. The ‘adventure’ quality suggests a WTO exit IS something the UK is prepared to do.

It’s going to be complicated, but OK.

Till next time 🙂

When The High Priestess was a fishy little murder suspect…

One Sunday afternoon in 2010, playing with my new tarot deck at the dining table, I asked Il Matrimonio what he was doing with the fish tanks. He kept two tanks of tropical fish at that time, with guppies in one tank, and neon tetras in the other.

Guppies and neon tetras are small fish. Male guppies are often brightly colourful for mating and fighting display, each with their own unique colouring. The females are larger, but more low key in their colouring, no need to impress in order to attract a mate.

By Per Harald Olsen – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9997976

Guppies produce live babies, but the babies need plenty of cover and they need it immediately upon birth. The adults, particularly the male adults, tend to eat the fry if they don’t make for the weeds as soon as they emerge, and hide there until they’re too big to be eaten.

Home sweet home.

Neon tetras are small and slim, blue, red and white, with a zingy neon strip along their sides, as the name suggests. Both species originate from S America. The Neon Tetras come from the Amazon Basin.

Il Matrimonio explained that he was introducing a young male guppy into the tetra tank for his own safety. Whereupon, using my old Universal Waite deck that day, I drew The High Priestess. (US Games)

This Major Arcana card classically signifies a woman, an advisor, enthroned in her ‘shrine’. This card referred to me myself, with my cards. The High Priestess, for reasons best known to herself, was not keen on this idea.

However, I work with reversed cards, and here, The High Priestess had been drawn reversed, or upside-down, or as some readers term it, ill-dignified.

A reversed card is not necessarily negative in connotation. It may simply flag up an issue requiring special attention. But I felt this was a warning to be read in a literal sense.

‘I don’t think you should do that,’ I said. ‘I’m seeing danger here, from a ‘lady’ who is blue, white and red. I think the tetras will have him if you put him in there, and he won’t last two weeks. Or two days, more like.’

(Tarot can work like this with timing. The High Priestess is Major Trump 2.)

Il Matrimonio was having none of it. The tetras were no risk to the guppy, he explained. They were too small. What did I know about keeping tropical fish, etc etc?

Not much, it was true. Please, any tropical a-fish-ionados reading this, do not troll me on this score. But be aware,this is a story about cartomanct, not fish-keeping. A tarot reader does not have to factually know about something to take soundings on it. All the reader needs is a question or a framed context. Indeed, sometimes this is the entire point, and the value of oracular divination.

‘OK,’ I said, ‘in which case it is a warning against the tetra tank. Something about the tank doesn’t agree with him. I really wouldn’t put him in there if I were you.’

‘Well, I need to move him. He won’t make it if I leave him where he is.’

A few days later, the little guppy was gone.

RIP. We scoured the gravel for any sign of him, but could not find so much as a fin left.

Poor Il Matrimonio very sad to think the baby guppy had leapt from the frying pan into the fire.

Now, I am not saying the tetras did the baby guppy any harm. It might have been something about the tank that did not agree with the guppy, or maybe it was sick.

I am simply saying The High Priestess advised against the move, and specifically mistrusted the tetra, and, put it this way, the move did nothing to safeguard his future, for whatever reason, and if the tetras did not kill him outright, they certainly helped tidy him away.

Read more about guppies and neon tetras here

All we had left were the neon tetras, swimming innocently about, piscine little High Priest/esses in their grotto.

Innocent until proven guilty, and there were no witnesses. A cold case. But still, we have our suspicions.

Till next time 🙂

Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric on Pexels.com

Night Skies and Starry Stepping-stones : The Moon this Month: December 2020

Why do astrologers study the Moon?

‘Astrology’ comes from Greek and means ‘the study of the stars.’

Humans have been studying and recording the phases of the Moon for at least 25, 000 years. The Moon, though our satellite and not a planet, is the closest celestial body to Earth, an average of 238,855 miles (384,400 km) away depending on its orbit.

The Moon provides us with a map and a guide to the seasons, with a measure of predictability as to when certain things will happen, such as the tides or the migration of animals for hunting and much more besides, for example, the spawning of corals, animal mating seasons, crop growth, hormonal cycles and quite possibly human behaviour (lunatic, moody, moonstruck, love-struck mooncalf and so on).

Cave paintings show that early humans collected and correlated Moon observations, and this created a database of information for their very survival in timing the organizing of hunts, and much later, now living in built settlements, planting and harvesting crops.

The mass of anecdotal evidence gathered over many millennia, describing the effects of the Moon on human health and behaviour is simply too great to be dismissed.

December Headlines

The Winter Solstice

The key astronomical event this month is the winter solstice 21 December. And in astrological terms too, this is especially significant in 2020, with the Sun moving into conjunction with Mercury in the first degree of Capricorn and then Jupiter, making an exact conjunction Saturn in the first degree of Aquarius.

This marks a symbolic shift, called by some astrologers a new Age of Aquarius, described as an age of high technology, balanced by greater collectivism and less individualism in a world with a human population currently double the size that it was in 1970.

Earth’s resources are finite. This ‘shift’ may mean ‘working smart,’ with less available resources per person, in effect, and the effects could be seen for the next few centuries as humanity adapts tries to reconcile itself with best practice with rising use of digital and other technology on the one hand, and urban design, food production and our connection to the natural world on the other.

None of this is new. It is a conversation that has been taking place for some time. But this coming conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius, happening on the solstice of all days, marks this as a symbolic doorway.

The Victorian era was not like the Regency era. We are entering a new post-post modern era of social change, but only history will enable us to see it more clearly…such that we will name it. The Industrial revolution sent us away from home to work. This era may well bring far more of us us home again to work enabled by new, rising digital alt-tech, a necessary check, as the tech giants grow ever more powerful, monstrous, even to the operational detriment of legitimate, democratically elected governments.

Saturn warns, don’t get carried away with this digital revolution. Be aware of the downsides as well as the benefits. These are very serious downsides, as prejudicial to liberty as the upsides potentially enabling, and I for one, am thankful for the opportunities it has brought me to work from home during illness.

I remember, teaching evening class in college in 1992, telling adult students in that this ‘thing’ was coming, called ‘The Information Superhighway’.

And with what shocking speed it became part of our daily lives. But hour after hour online is not what our bodies were made for, and over-sharing online compromises the privacy and security of your physical space, finances and personal safety. Our feet, and those of our children, for their future well-being, must stay firmly grounded, earthed and rooted in the real, living, sensate, world.

The Geminids

This month, watch for the Geminid Meteor showers, starting around 4 December, peaking 13-14 December when it will be New Moon and the skies will be darkest, providing optimum brightness in 2020, cloud cover permitting. The Geminids are matched only by the Perseids in August, the brightest meteor showers of the year. The Geminids come from a rocky comet near the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation of Gemini the Twins, and are also visible but less dramatic in the Southern Hemisphere. The meteors are very white and bright with 50 or more meteors per hour. The best show is in the small hours after midnight, around 2 a.m. local time (the time on your clock no matter where you are on Earth)

The Ursids

There is another, less spectacular, but symbolically significant meteor shower, the Ursids, during the night of 22/23 December, as if the Giant Sky Bears wake briefly from their winter hibernation to welcome the returning sun after solstice.

The Ursids come from the Big and Little Dipper in the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

Find the Big Dipper high up in the north-northeast at around 1 a.m. That’s the best time to start watching. This year, 2020, the first quarter moon sets in the evening, with dark skies at late night and the morning hours for maximum visibility, the Ursids falling at a rate of about ten meteors an hour.

Humanity around the globe looked up and saw Sky-Bears more than 13,000 years ago.

Lunar Headlines

December is the month when winter begins for most of the Northern Hemisphere, and the Full Moon is called the Cold Moon. The Old English/Anglo-Saxon name is the Moon Before Yule

Key Dates

Dec 14 New Moon in Sagittarius (and a solar eclipse)

Dec 21 Winter solstice and waning half moon in Pisces and Aries

Dec 22 Look out for shooting stars- The Geminids Meteor shower

Dec 30 Full Moon in Cancer

The Full Moon is when the moon is on the opposite of the Earth from the Sun on the same celestial longitude and we can see the entire illuminated face of the moon.
The New Moon is the first/last lunar phase when the moon is between the Earth and the Sun, and the moon is largely invisible, hidden in the sun’s glare.

What do the moon phases mean symbolically?

A waxing Moon as we approach Full Moon is the optimum time to grow, build, add to, make or get something. It is about bringing in something new, or bringing something to completion or fruition.

A Full Moon is the optimum time to take stock and evaluate, or to gather, collect, harvest or cash in on something.

A waning Moon after the Full Moon is the optimum time for ending something, clearing out what’s no longer wanted or needed, including unhelpful or unhealthy habits. It may mean releasing something, or even getting rid of something (someone.)

A New Moon is the optimum time to launch something, make a plan, start from scratch.

15 November 2020: New Moon in Sagittarius

Rider Waite Tarot, copyright Arthur Waite

The major arcana Tarot card associated with this New Moon is Temperance.

Traditional meanings: Upright Vision, Inspiration, fun, friendships, Timing, Travel, Healing, Patience, Moderation. Reversed: Hastiness, temper, excess

This could be an auspicious time for a job interview, audition or other important meeting or contract, especially if it is attached to Teaching, Publishing, the Arts, Entertainments or Travel industries.

This New Moon and its total solar eclipse suggests a dynamic mood with a lively, fun and friendly feeling, but watch out – things could suddenly turn quarrelsome and we could be slightly more accident-prone than usual.

Temper temper? Time to cool it. Just give it a rest, will ya?

30 December 2020: Full Moon in Cancer

The major arcana Tarot card associated with this full moon in the cardinal water sign of Cancer is The Chariot.

Traditional meanings: Upright: ambition, direction, focus, self-control, teamwork, progress, determination. It can refer literally, to a journey, a new car or other vehicle. Reversed, impatience, self-indulgence, ploughing a trail of damage, car trouble.

The first full moon of 2020 was on 10 January, and was also in Cancer. This last full moon of the year makes a circle to wrap up the lunar year on a calmer note.

What new page has been turned in 2020? What is our own new normal going to look like? What lifestyle changes have we made in 2020, possibly as a consequence of the Covid- 19 emergency, that we did not choose to start with but that may actually be working OK for us?

The Tarot’s Comment

Here we have the gentle, harmonizing, summertime card of the Two of Cups.

Traditional Meanings: romance, friendships, offer, invitations, partnership, trade, positive exchanges

Here we have the words HEALING and MERCANTILE symbolically conjoined. Or MEDICINE and TRADE, and how entirely apposite is this, with Vaccines the topic of the day, and with a fast looming deadline for a Free Trade Agreement between the UK and the EU.

I have blogged about this before, back in 2018 and it looked like a Hard Brexit-But-with some Add-on- or Sub-deal-Not-Hard-Enough for many who voted to leave on the basis that Out meant Out, and that the mutual needs of trade would take care of the rest. I may look again, though, ahead of time.

Curiously, in addition, this Two of Cups coincides symbolically with this December’s Full Moon in the zodiac sign of Cancer the Crab.

The constellation of Cancer was known as ‘The Gate of Men.’ Platonic legend said the souls of Mankind descended through the stars of Cancer to be born on Earth.

Babies conceived in December during or after the winter solstice will be born during Virgo, at harvest-time, late August to early September.

Lock-down may result in more Virgo born babies in 2021. Virgo is already the most common birth sign in the northern hemisphere for this reason, that arrivals in harvest time, especially in late September, meant a mother in optimum nutritional health for bearing and nursing a baby. The most common birthday of all, according to various sources, is 25 September.

The least common birthdays are in December and January.

This positive card is about partnership and romance, but in more general terms, talks about give and take, and could be a sign for recovery in the retail sector from summer 2021, and a boom in Fair Trade consumer choices as suggested by the staff of Mercury with the Lion’s head on top.

This card is a good omen for a global return to greater normality by late June 2021 if not sooner, and March-April seems likely to see a turning in this tide.

There is such a lot of noise on social media, much of it angry and abusive.

The worry and frustration are only natural, but none of all this shouting changes the difficult reality governments all over the world are trying to deal with, in their own different ways, some distinctly less libertarian in their approach than our own.

The Two of Cups says now more than ever, this is not about ‘me me me’ and my rights. It’s about ‘us us us’, and our reciprocal responsibilities and duty of care.

They boarded people up alive inside their houses in London, is how desperate it got in 1665/6.

I looked in my cards last night, looking at the Pfizer vaccine, inquiring as to its safety only, and the picture was largely reassuring. There were no spades cards saying DANGER, though future problems were detected in terms of the logistics of supply, storage and delivery, as we have already seen in public discussion.

Cartomancy and The Line of Five

The Queen of Hearts (Cancer)- Ace of Diamonds (Ace of Science.) -8 Cups (Stability-vaccinate staff to help protect care homes)- 2 Clubs (Contract, logistics, delivery is the challenge) -9 Diamonds (obstacles, delays)

These are the individual card meanings, but my question was about the safety of this vaccine. For this I note the suits and colours.

We had four red suit cards and one black suit card, and no Spades cards. Taken as a whole this indicates a strong likelihood that this will prove a safe vaccine. Had I drawn any one of 3, 9 or 10 Spades, or heaven forbid, all three, I would be thinking, oo-err, I no likee this.

That Queen of Hearts indicates that we may be coming out of this tunnel late June-late July 2021.

It yet remains to bring the lens of cartomancy to bear on the same question for the vaccines from Moderna and the vaccine in Astrazeneca. But I will, when it would feel like a less idle, hypothetical or inflammatory question.

The results from the Oxford Astrazeneca trials which were recently halted are currently expected in late January. Read HERE.

Meanwhile, the Two of Cups says, we do what we can. We look to our dear ones, wherever they may be, and we say to one another- and to ourselves, ‘chin up and…here’s to the journey!’

“Not for ever by still waters/ Would we always ask to be…”

Well, we might ask, but that’s not what we’re getting, any more than those earth-bound bears of winter get an easy ride of this thing called Life, waking or even sleeping in hibernation, mere calories from death.

Photo by u0410u043du043du0430 u041eu0440u043bu043eu0432u0430 on Pexels.com

Season’s Greetings!

Season of Sagittarius, celestial archer of the sinking sun

Why is this time of year associated with Sagittarius the Archer? Two thousand years ago and more, the ancients looked up at this time of year and studied a constellation overhead that they decided represented the image of a man with a bow and arrow.

But the zodiac signs were cast in stone by Ptolemy in the 2 century AD and these dates remain unchanged, based on his arithmetic model of the zodiac. The astrology has parted company with the astronomy which inspired it, due to the wobble of the earth,and the effect known as the precession of the equinoxes.

The constellation of Sagittarius is now visible in the northern hemisphere in summer until September, and is visible in the winter in the southern hemisphere.

To find out where and how to see the constellation VIEW HERE.

But the zodiac dates endure, and the story and the meaning endure.

This was the time of year when the men of the family group went a hunting, to to catch, to kill, to cure and to store meat for the coming winter.

Common associations

Symbol:

Date of Birth: Nov 22 to Dec 21

Ruling planet: Jupiter

Element: Fire

Key phrase: I seek

Body: Thighs

Birth Stone: Topaz, Citrine, Turquoise

Colour: Light Blue

Tarot card: Temperance: Timing, Moderation, Education, Solstice, Healing of Chiron

More about the Astronomy

Sagittarius, the zodiac sign inspired by the constellation of Sagittarius, from the Latin meaning Archer, was recorded in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy.

The constellation of Sagittarius is near the centre of our galaxy, the spiral Milky Way, mainly visible in the southern hemisphere June-November. In the Northern hemisphere the constellation is low on the horizon from August to October.

Sagittarius has a nickname, ‘The Teapot’ on account of its vaguely teapot-shaped star pattern, or asterism.

To find The Teapot

The best time to look is in August or September, somewhere really dark. Locate the hazy band of The Milky Way stretching right across the sky. Looking in the northern hemisphere, the Milk Way seems to bulge as it descends to the southern horizon. This ‘bulge’ is roughly about the middle of the Milky Way and is contained within the boundaries of the constellation Sagittarius.

Photo by u200bu0468u0477u047bu048f u046au0454u0459u0469u04e1u04c4u047bu0487u0477 on Pexels.com

Sagittarius contains a massive star-forming region, the Omega Nebula, home to the bright blue hyper-giant Pistol Star, one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way. The Pistol Star was discovered with the Hubble Space telescope in 1930, and is largely hidden in the dust of its own nebula.

It is 100 times as massive as our Sun, and 10,000,000 times as bright.

Mythology

Sagittarius is the ninth sign in the Zodiac, not to be confused with the constellation itself, and represents those born between Nov. 22 and the advent of winter solstice, Dec. 21.

Sagittarius is nowadays generally associated with the ancient Greek story of Chiron. But the story is far, far older, and goes back to a Babylonian god, Pabilsag, and even further back than that.

Pabilsag and the Solstice

Pabilsag was the ancient Babylonian name for what we now call Sagittarius, handed down to the Greeks through the Sumerians and Kassites.

The Sumerian word ‘Pabil’ means ‘ancestor or relative’. Combined with the final element sag, meaning ‘chief, head, tip or foremost,’ his name can be translated as the ‘Chief Ancestor’ or ‘Forefather’.

Just as we were hunters at the dawn of human civilization.

Here, 3 millennia BC, we we have a winged centaur type figure, and yes, he is an archer too, and his arrow points at the heart of Scorpio, the red star Antares, but he also has a scorpion’s tail as the wheel of the Zodiac turns, and as Sagittarius gallops in, we leave Scorpio behind.

The distinction of Sagittarius, though, is that he is a solitary hunter. He does not work as one of a team to being down the really big prey. He is an individualist, working alone, just as many a hunter or trapper still hunts alone in winter.

Sagittarius – Psychopomp

The constellation of Sagittarius-Pabilsag is within the Milky Way, rising from the southern regions close to the horizon into the higher reaches of the skies.

This section of the Milky Way represents a symbolic bridge or a rainbow for the souls of the dead on their way to the afterlife, as the arrival of Capricorn draws near, marking the advent of the winter solstice. so that Sagittarius, or Pabilsag, is a psychopomp; a guardian and a guide to the dying year, and also to the souls of the dying as the sun sinks ever lower.

Chiron the wounded Centaur

Most modern versions of the story refer back to much later, classical variants of the old Babylonian myths, and say that Sagittarius represents the gentle, cultured centaur, Chiron, who was accidentally shot by Herakles with a poison arrow.

The centaurs in general were a rough lot, hard drinking, hard fighting, not remotely glamorous. It has been suggested that the legend of the centaurs rose from perfectly mortal, mounted ancient Greek cowboys.

But whatever the centaurs were, Chiron ‘the wisest and justest of the centaurs’ was something very different, representing a hope for the centaurs, and for Humanity itself, as collectively it strives to rise above the ever present tyranny of the Id and its own worst nature.

Here he is, trying to teach Achilles to control his temper, learning to play the lyre. Chiron had many other pupils, as well, including Asclepius, Ajax, Achilles, Theseus, Jason, Peleus, Perseus, and Phoenix. And Herakles, who brought about his death, when he was sent there to be schooled with Chiron.

Herakles had previously lost his temper with Linus, his music tutor back home. Linus, criticised his playing, and Herakles responded by smashing his lyre over the teachers head, killing him. Though in some accounts it was a stool.

Now Chiron, wounded by the poison arrow, was left in terrible pain. He was wise in the ways of medicine, none wiser, but he could not heal himself, and none could help him. Nor could he die, being Immortal.

Still, he carried on until he could bear it no more, and he asked Zeus to release him from Immortality so that he could die and be free of pain.

Zeus placed him in the heavens and the story goes, placed him there as Sagittarius.

However, Chiron already has another constellation, Centaurus, and in addition, there is another classical version of the story of Sagittarius, referring instead to Krotos, a satyr who lived on Mount Helicon with the Muses.

Krotos the Cultivated Satyr

Krotos was the son of Pan and Eupheme, and his mother had nursed the Muses. He was a renowned archer, hunter, horse rider – hence a possible source of confusion with the centaur, and besides all this, a devotee of his childhood companions, The Muses and their arts.

*By Aratus – Leiden University Library Catalogue, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7660666*

Krotos means ‘One who Claps his hands.’ He was credited by the Greeks with not only having invented archery, but introducing the convention of applause at artistic performances.

In this version of the story it was the Muses who, when Krotos died, asked Zeus to place him among the stars, which he did, transforming him into the constellation Sagittarius, says this variant of the zodiac story.

So Sagittarius is either the cultured wounded healer, Chiron, already represented in the constellation Centaurus, or he is the cultured satyr, Krotos; goaty, horse-riding archer, culture vulture and hunter extraordinaire.

There is a secondary link here, Krotos the Satyr linking Sagittarius with Capricorn, the next sign coming up, sun sinking to the winter solstice.

Chiron or Krotos?

Take your pick.

Or you can go Babylonian with Pabilsag.

The Muses

Sagittarius is keenly intuitive, and usually has a marked talent, a gift, in the field of the Arts. Winston Churchill for example, was a Sagittarius subject and probably psychic. He was certainly subject to visions and feelings of premonition, and he also painted.

Delphi said there were three Muses. But c 600 BC Hesiod wrote in his Theogony that there were Nine Muses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory personified) and this is the version that has generally stuck.

The Muses were not necessarily benign. They were touchy, sensitive to human hubris, and liable to exact vengeance of anyone they decided was getting too far above themselves.

Kalliope ‘She of the Lovely Voice’ was the muse of epic poetry. Also of Diplomacy.
Klio ‘She Who Proclaims’ was the muse of history.
Erato ‘The Lovely One’ was the muse of love poetry.
Euterpe ‘She Who Pleases’ was the muse of music.
Melpomene ‘She Who Sings’ was the muse of tragedy.
Polyhymnia ‘She of the Many Hymns’ was the muse of sacred poetry.
Terpsichore ‘She Who Delights to Dance’ was the muse of dance.
Thalia ‘The Cheerful One’ was the muse of comedy
Urania ‘The Heavenly One’ was the goddess of astronomy, astrology, and later, Christian poetry.

Sagittarius: The Astrological Personality

Of course there is no such thing as THE Sagittarius personality. Everyone is unique. We are speaking here of an archetype.

Sagittarius is ruled overall by the planet Jupiter, and rules the Ninth House of philosophy, law, travel, higher study, and the second life partner when we have one. The seventh house rules the choice of a first life partner. In any second choice we are looking to learn more, and to expand our inner horizons from meeting with a mind that is very different to our own. A third choice of life partner is said to be ruled by the eleventh house of group identity.

Sagittarius zodiac sign subjects need constant adventures to stay interested. Freedom is of the utmost importance to them. Movement. Travel. Space and room for manoeuver. Likewise they allow space and freedom to their partners.

The archetype of Sagittarius is brave, lively, warm, optimistic, curious, adventurous, rational, but also insightful, even visionary.

These are generally astute, clever and capable people. But they need career flexibility, and they may refuse to fail to apply themselves if bored. Like Gemini, they are prone to restlessness. They may fail to stick at a job or a succession of jobs, and may struggle financially long term in consequence.

Hence their challenge, but also their guiding light is the idea of Temperance,personified in the Tarot and symbolising patience, prudence, and the art of good timing.

They can do ‘domestic’. It’s not that. But you wouldn’t really call it how they roll.

And they do tend to roll, place to place, job to job, and a rolling stone gathers no moss. The problem being, other things it doesn’t gather either, like a steady home life, or steady income, or savings or other means of security in old age, if Sagittarius does not balance the need for freedom , space and independence with prudence and good timing.

Sagittarius tends to have lots of friends. More than almost anyone else, so much so, family and friends can feel neglected at times, forgotten, when Sagittarius goes off yet again, devil may care, to share experiences with new best friends.

Sagittarius must have inspiration, and the freedom to follow it, and to roam. But this humanitarian, kindly, if restless rolling stone sooner or later almost always comes rolling home again, expecting to find their loved ones exactly where they left them. And usually, they are. Though others do not enjoy being taken for granted, and this may need care.

Sagittarius will be the star of this show. But what they really need for domestic happiness, is a quietly confident, self-reliant partner who has plenty of interests themselves; and much life experience.

Who will be their rock but who will not roll.

Who will be above all, their best friend.

Till next time 🙂