A very Sagittarian centaur...

...by very Sagittarian Usch, who does not really believe in blogs, with the possible exception of Ken's, but may find herself tickled anyway by one of her artworks finding its way into the blogosphere! This centaur also has really cute and well-drawn hooves, by the way, but you will just have to take my word for that, as the scanner unfortunately chopped them off (thanks, anyway, for the scan, Sebi and Aidan! Otherwise, 'perfectomundo', as the Fonz would say!) ;-))

Oh, great, a 10 of Swords day coming up, I see, but given the state of my current 'Bjorn Erik crisis', that can only mean, 'the worst has happened: it can get no worse'? lol Heigh ho, heigh ho, it seems off to work (at the coal-face) we go, and live on to toil another day, while a rainbow of further promise arcs in the sky? ;-))

And, while there, why not check out NArdS's Street Magick website

...to bring a little magick into your otherwise drab, and mundane little life? lol

(He equates to a Page of Wands, btw, according to the Myers-Briggs test below, and also the Universe, according to the Quizilla quiz, further below, as we just established on Messenger, but I still don't know if I have spelt his rather confusing online name correctly ;-P!)... Check out link for more info about INTPs than you ever wanted, if you dare! But, hey, I got this little Page of Wands checking out this little King of Cups' wyrd posts more in future, so what more can you want? And I think I engaged him on Messenger for... geez, how long? Omg, the time really does fly when you have fun!!! lol

Dream: continuing to chat with NArdS on Yahoo Messenger (!). He said, how silly he found it that Yahoo Messenger had only a half-assed angel or silly devil to choose from; what, no gargoyles, griffins, dragons etc. or other colourful creatures like that (except for the odd dragon in avatars)? I told him that I had just chatted with his 'angel', and a very nice 'angel' I found it, as well... Conversation then got a bit 'Hegelian' and 'philosophical', piling thesis on antithesis, and vice versa, till I 'spun out', and woke up! lol

Comment: "a dream = a message from yourself to yourself to whatever part of you listens" (Fritz Perls), as I did in fact have occasion to quote to NArdS, but the dream had an 'astral' feeling of utter reality about it, i.e. I could not believe it, when I woke up and found myself not actually online! lol I wonder if I did not actually chat with NArdS, and/or his spirit guides, in some higher dimension (not to mention his 'Higher Self')? ;-))

Or, in the threatened/impending absence of B-E, my animus decides to rear its head and kick-start itself back to life, and project itself back 'out there' again (to get a bit Jungian/Platonic)? Cos Jung's Archetypes really = Plato's Ideas? Therefore, every dream really = 'symposium' or 'love-feast' between different aspects of yourself? ;-))

And, yes, Sebi, it seems now still dark at 5:30 am, and does not start getting lighter until 6:00, so the southern hemisphere has started darkening into autumn, so prepare to celebrate the Lammas Sabbath (Lughnasadh) tonight, or tomorrow. The word Lughnasadh literally means the funeral games of Lugh, the Irish sun god, who hosted them in honour of Tailte, his foster-mother. This Sabbath originally coincided with the first reapings of the harvest, giving seeds and fruit for our use as well as ensuring future crops, since the first seeds = the best for replanting... Bright Lammas blessings, everybody!

"A circle begins and ends in the same place. Life is a circle that begins and ends with the Great Mother; the First Mother who in Her loneliness created all life (...) Blessed Mudo is our beginning and our end. From Her we come; to Her we return. In all ways, She provides for us. We are Her children, all life springs from Her. She gives freely of Her abundance. From Her body, we take sustenance: food, water, and shelter. From Her Spirit come gifts of wisdom and warmth: talents and skills, fire and friendship. Gifts come from Her all-encompassing love.

"The Great Earth Mother takes joy in Her children's happiness. She delights in our enjoyments, and therefore She has given us Her wondrous Gift of Pleasure. We honor Her, show Her reverence, when we share Her Gift. But to the Blessed among us She has given Her greatest Gift, endowed them with Her own miraculous power to create Life." (Jean M. Auel, Valley of the Horses, pp. 223-4);-))

The Tarot Court Cards as Myers-Briggs personality types

NT = Intuitive-Thinking = Wands

NF = Intuitive-Feeling = Cups

ST = Sensing-Thinking = Swords

SF = Sensing-Feeling = Pentacles

EJ = Extraverted-Judging = Kings

IJ = Introverted-Judging = Queens

EP = Extraverted-Perceiving = Knights

IP = Introverted-Perceiving = Pages

The suit of Wands, being associated with the element Fire is concerned with intuition, the creative process, the exercise of power, light, and the Solar Principle.

Intuition, by its very nature, leads to creation. Creation requires the exercise of power and the Solar Principle. These are the theoretical scientists, the great philosophers, the ground-breaking engineers and dynamic leaders. On the shadow side they are also the dictators, charismatic cult leaders, and "mad scientists".

The suit of Cups, being associated with the element Water is concerned with feelings, emotions, compassion, healing and the Lunar Principle. Intuitive-Feeling types express these principles. They are counsellors, healers, poets and mystics. Their shadow casts itself over co-dependents, religious fanatics, manipulators of the mob and abusers of the feelings of others.

Swords, being associated with the element of Air are concerned with things of the mind, with intellect, knowledge and logic. It is the Mercurial Principle. Sensing-Thinking types personify this Principle. They the technicians, the accountants, the attenders to detail, they are excellent lawyers, they implement the NT's dreams, but they will never be that creative themselves. Their shadow is long. It covers the petty bureaucrat, the ambulance chaser, the war-monger, the officer who "was only following orders" when he committed the war crime.

The suit of Pentacles, being associated with the element of Earth is concerned with practical, day-to-day, mundane matters of hearth and home, and the Wheel of The Year, the Gaia Principle. Sensing-Feeling types personify this Principle. These are the nurturers, givers of self. They are nurses, herbalists, midwives, natural farmers. They are close to the Earth even in the city. They are easy going, and slow to anger, but once aroused, hold a grudge.

Court Card Ranks

Kings, by nature, are, or need to be, Extraverts. They need the love, loyalty and yes, fear, of others. Their focus is outside of themselves. They also need order. Things must be settled. When they pronounce their decisions, they are final. Thus, they are Judging rather than Perceiving. This means that Kings, regardless of suit are all E-J types. Kings represent the Fire aspect of their suit. Thus the King of Wands is Fire of Fire.

Queens on the other hand, don't need the external attention that Kings require. They can work behind the scenes; they can easily have agendas that are not popular. But like their Kings, they want things settled; they are Judgers.

Knights are seekers, questers; they go off on adventures, quests and wars. Thus they are directed outward, they are Extraverted by virtue of their place in the order of society. Further, as perpetual seekers, nothing is ever truly settled for them. They are always open to new possibilities, new quests. They are, thus Perceivers rather than Judgers. Knights are the Air elemental aspect of their suit.

Finally the Pages. They are students, assistants at court and squires to Knights. They are not responsible for anyone but themselves and they are not really expected to impress anyone. This is Introversion enforced by social station. As students, apprentices and assistants, they are, again by force of circumstance, Perceivers. They can not Judge, because it is not up to them to judge, they are still learning. Pages are the Earth element in their suit.

Terminology

Judging does not mean that the subject is judgmental, critical, prejudiced or the like. Rather it means that the subject likes to have things settled, decided, to come to closure. Whereas its opposite, Perceiving types like to leave things open, tend to not come to closure and leave all options and opinions open.

The Extravert is one whose attentions, motivations and even actualizations lie outside of themselves. They really care what people think, especially what people think about them. "What will the neighbours say?" is a common phrase amongst them. Introverts on the other hand, do not care what the neighbours might say. They do not project their personalities outward like the Extravert. The ENTJ King of Wands cares about what people think of him; he requires their respect, their admiration, their fear. The INTJ Queen of Wands, on the other hand, is more self actualized than her King. She can follow her own agenda with out needing to check the popularity polls.

Sensing types make their decisions based on facts. They gather information empirically via their five senses. There is no Sixth Sense to them and they would tend to scoff at the very idea of one. Intuitive types may also gather facts, but to them the deciding factor is their intuition, their gut-feel. Facts are OK, but don't let them get in the way of what is really important. To the sensing type facts or more specifically the world as perceived via the five senses is what is important, and intuition, gut-feel, is not to be trusted.

Thinkers decide with their head. The source of the decision may be from either external facts or from internal intuition, but the decision is made intellectually via a logical thought process. Feeling types on the other hand think with their heart, not their head. Their facts may also come from either intuition or senses but the deciding factor is their heart, their feelings. To Feeling types, the decision making process is an emotional one, not an intellectual one.

Summary

Thus we have here a system of correspondence between the Tarot Court Cards and the Type Indicators of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators that is both internally and externally consistent, a single unique pair of indicators corresponds to one and only one suit/element and another unique pair or indicators corresponds to one and only one card rank. The profiles of the resulting 16 types are consistent with the generally accepted interpretations of the Court Cards of Tarot, yet allow us greater insight into the meaning of the card.

THE KINGS

ENTJ - Extraverted/Intuitive/Thinking/Judging - King of Wands

Isabel Briggs-Myers called this type "The leaders of leaders". David Keirsey calls them "The Field marshal". This type tends to be analytical and impersonal with an accidental emotional life and incidental social life. This type is not the life-of-the-party. They are decisive and logical, with very strong reasoning power. They are highly creative. In fact, that is a key word for them: Creative. They are the grand theorist, designers, composers, the idea people in any endeavour. They are interested in possibilities beyond the present. They are not content in a job that requires little or no creativity. They are attracted to science, research, engineering but to the design rather than the hands-on aspects, they are effective executives, but dislike explaining themselves and if they do are seldom understood. The can seem and can be cold and authoritative.”

('Cold' a paradox here? ...Also I would have thought the King of Wands very much 'the life of the party'? And had 'him' 'pegged' in my own Tarot as 'ruling' by sheer sense of humor? But that could just equate to my Monkey/Leo bias? On the other hand, this description in particular just does not gel too well with me, because I think[!] it leans more to the "thinking" than the "extroverted/intuitive" side; "extroverted/intuitive" would amount to a very 'warm' person, surely? Creative and impatient, yes; 'cold' never? ;-P)

ENFP - Extraverted/Intuitive/Feeling/Perceiving - Knight of Cups

David Keirsey calls this type "The Champion". This type is more enthusiastic than the ENTP type and more concerned with people and is skillful in managing them. ENFPs are drawn to counseling, teaching, science, the arts or advertising. They are alert to possibilities, original, individual and independent, but also perceptive of the views of others. They are quick to take initiative and have strong creative impulses, but frequently do not follow ideas through or fail to complete projects.

ESTJ - Extraverted/Sensing/Thinking/Judging - King of Swords

"The Supervisor" is Kersey's type name for this type. Analytical and impersonal. Organizer of facts. Decisive and logical. Governs own and other’s conduct in accordance with thought out decisions. Values truth as fact, formula and method. Has emotional and social life that is accidental. Drawn to executive, legal, and technical professions. May be reformers. These are the people who implement the grand ideas and theories created by the ENTJ types. They look at the world with their five senses, so they tend to be matter-of-fact and practical, tolerant of routine and concerned with the here and now. Their curiosity is stirred by new things that appeal to the senses. They enjoy administrative tasks, organization and getting things done.

ESFP - Extraverted/Sensing/Feeling/Perceiving - Knight of Pentacles

They are realistic, practical and matter-of-fact, adaptable and easy-going, tolerant of themselves and others, good with details and learn best from experience. They are usually conservative, and value custom and convention. Keirsey calls this type "The Performer". They make decisions with feelings, not thinking. Those feelings center on people. They are friendly, tactful, have good taste in art. They tend to be poor disciplinarians.

THE QUEENS

INTJ - Introverted/Intuitive/Thinking/Judging - Queen of Wands

Keirsey calls the INTJ "The Mastermind". More than any other NT the INTJ is a master of contingency planning. When they deal with a situation of any sort they are keenly aware of and have planned for any and all contingencies that might arise. They are masters of "what-if" planning. They choose science, technology, and are excellent in any kind of systems work. They are more strategists not tacticians.

INFJ - Introverted/Intuitive/Feeling/Judging - Queen of Cups

INFJs concern themselves with people, sometimes to the point of seeming to be extraverted. Individualism in this type is often less conspicuous. This is Keirsey's type called "The Counselor". They are driven by their own inner vision, determined to the point of stubbornness, are stimulated by difficulties and are the best at problem-solving. They are more interested in breaking new ground than in reploughing old. They are most attracted to science, politics, teaching, writing, psychology and religion. They hate routine jobs that offer no outlet for their inspirations (therefore, may 'try' teaching, but get put off by its boring routines?) lol

ISTJ - Introverted/Sensing/Thinking/Judging - Queen of Swords

This type is patient and very good with details and handles routine well. They have a capacity to absorb and utilize a tremendous amount of facts. They emphasize logical analysis and decisiveness. They can make good executives if they have a relatively low introversion score. They also make good lawyers, never overlooking the details of contracts. This type is also attracted to accountancy. Their logic rebels against anything that does not make sense to them. They can be sharply critical.

ISFJ - Introverted/Sensing/Feeling/Judging - Queen of Pentacles

This type is systematic and thorough; they take responsibility well, but are not the best type with it. They are patient and very good with details and handle routine well. They have a capacity to absorb and utilize a tremendous amount of facts. This type is loyal, considerate and interested in the common welfare. They are good family doctors or nurses and enjoy patient contact. Their shadow shows itself when their Judging facility is not well developed and they become uncommunicative and absorbed in subjective reactions.

THE KNIGHTS

ENTP - Extraverted/Intuitive/Thinking/Perceiving - Knight of Wands

David Keirsey calls the ENTP "The Inventor". This type tends to be independent, analytical and impersonal in their relations with people, and they are more apt to consider how others may affect their projects than how their projects may affect others. They may be inventors, scientists, trouble-shooters or promoters. They are alert to possibilities, original, individual and independent, but also perceptive of the views of others. They are quick to take initiative and have strong creative impulses, but frequently do not follow ideas through or fail to complete projects. Their shadow can be very self-centered almost to the point of socio-pathology. Studies conducted by Dr. Arthur Rosengarten have shown that the Knight of Wands is a very frequent indicator of a spousal abuser.

ENFP - Extraverted/Intuitive/Feeling/Perceiving - Knight of Cups

David Keirsey calls this type "The Champion". This type is more enthusiastic than the ENTP type and more concerned with people and is skillful in managing them. ENFPs are drawn to counseling, teaching, science, the arts or advertising. They are alert to possibilities, original, individual and independent, but also perceptive of the views of others. They are quick to take initiative and have strong creative impulses, but frequently do not follow ideas through or fail to complete projects.

ESTP - Extraverted/Sensing/Thinking/Perceiving - Knight of Swords

In Please Understand Me II Keirsey calls the ESTP type "The Promoter". They are realistic, practical and matter-of-fact, adaptable and easy-going, tolerant of themselves and others, good with details and learn best from experience. They are usually conservative, and value custom and convention. Their thinking function makes them more aware of the consequences of their actions than most. Their understanding of the theory of things helps them when things are going badly. They are practical and uncomplicated in their problem-solving methods. They prefer doing over talking.

ESFP - Extraverted/Sensing/Feeling/Perceiving - Knight of Pentacles

They are realistic, practical and matter-of-fact, adaptable and easy-going, tolerant of themselves and others, good with details and learn best from experience. They are usually conservative, and value custom and convention. Keirsey calls this type "The Performer". They make decisions with feelings, not thinking. Those feelings center on people. They are friendly, tactful, have good taste in art. They tend to be poor disciplinarians.

THE PAGES

INTP - Introverted/Intuitive/Thinking/Perceiving - Page of Wands

Keirsey refers to the INTP type as "The Architect". It is the aim of the INTP to design systematic structures and to engineer structural models. They look upon the world as being the raw material to be used in implementing their designs. They see themselves as master organizers, even if they are not. Like all NTs they are drawn to science and systems.

INFP - Introverted/Intuitive/Feeling/Perceiving - Page of Cups

This is Keirsey's type called "The Healer". They excel in fields that deal with people and their potential: counseling, teaching, psychology, and literature. They frequently have a gift for languages and literature as all of the NF types do, but their introverted feelings makes them more comfortable with written word. They are often poets and dreamers, are idealistic and loyal, value harmony in their inner lives and have deep, but seldom expressed feelings.

ISTP - Introverted/Sensing/Thinking/Perceiving - Page of Swords

Keirsey calls the ISTP type "The Crafter". Analytical and impersonal. Interested in underlying principles. They have an interest in applied science and engineering, they tend to be good with their hands and prefer doing science to theorising. You will find them in the laboratory more often than the library. In non-scientific pursuits they bring order to disordered data making it into information. They work well in the fields of engineering, economics, financial analysts, in fact analysts of almost any kind. Their natural tendency to efficiency can lead to laziness.

ISFP - Introverted/Sensing/Feeling/Perceiving - Page of Pentacles

This type focuses on the needs of the moment and tries to meet them. Isabel Briggs Myers found this type to be one of only two who showed a strong preference for general medical practice over specialization. In today's world they might specialize in internal medicine, family practice or emergency medicine. They also gravitate toward fields that require taste, a sense of beauty and proportion. They excel in craftspersonship and have a love of Nature, especially animals. They work well in fields that require both devotion to duty and adaptability. Their shadow side tends to underestimate and underrate themselves (I would think any Page might tend to do this, Shirl, especially of Cups or Swords? The Page of Wands possibly has this tendency less than any of the Pages?)

(Courtesy of Shirl/mythos: thanks, Shirl, for all this food for thought, and a Tarot-related blogpost, which I have not done in a while!) ;-))

Which one do you equate to? Which one do I equate to? I rather fancy the Page of Cups, now, after reading the descriptions, but I still think (there comes that word again! lol) I would rather let the Tarot itself decide; in fact a good Tarot exercise for today (in the absence of cyber-Tarot) = shuffle the court cards only, in the deck of your choice, and see which one you get?...

Huh! Wouldn't you know it, I get Yaguo, the Page of Pentacles; I think it a good idea to also annotate all my courts with the Myers-Briggs attributions, just on the offchance that they may come in handy, and/or make sense, some day... Earthy-type, Venus in Taurus + Mars in Capricorn, working hard at developing inferior thinking function? lol

Actually, despite her rather humble appearance as 'just' some sort of housewife/cleaning lady, I do like her for several reasons; she reminds me very much of Malkuth in the Kabbalah, receiving all the emanations from on high, both 'masculine' and 'feminine', and, as a page, she appeals to the "eternal student" in me.

Song of the Page of Pentacles, as per this morning's meditation:

"I hear a voice,
the cry of a wounded animal;
Someone shoots at the moon;
A small bird has fallen from its nest.
People must be awakened,
Witness must be given,
So that life can be guarded."
(W.S.Rendra, in Earth Prayers)

White Self-Existing Dog

That would seem a bitch of a Chinese New Year of the Dog, starting tomorrow! ;-P 

Also worth checking out, seems 15 top magazine covers in the US according to a recent poll, also courtesy Sebi's blog ;-)) 

The Clan of the Cave Bear, 1986 movie

A really hilarious review, that also raises some really good, serious points, imho...courtesy of Sebi's blog: you can also see my comments, in the comments on his blog!

I seriously hope this does not 'spoil' the rest of the reading of Valley of the Horses for me, as South Park did forever 'spoil' John Edwards for me, with its hilarious spoof/send-up! ;-P 

Karen Hamaker-Zonday, The 12th House: the hidden power in the horoscope

"...the child reacts unfailingly to the real, unconscious message that says, 'You are rejected', or 'You are not accepted', and is unable to reconcile it with the apparent outer reality fabricated by spurious attention and meaningless [I always knew this!] gifts." (p. 34)

''An unaspected ruler of the 12th is a special case. As it has no direct links with other planets..." Actually, I will forget that bit, since my moon does in fact aspect Venus (insignificant semi-sextile), trines Ascendant, semi-square Midheaven, AND square Chiron! (So I had better revise that also... revisiting my natal chart, courtesy of Astrology for Windows) ;-))

But still the only planet my moon does significantly aspect seems the 'outsider' Chiron, so I still wonder about disagreeable aspects of my mother's not persevering with breastfeeding me: I have the same inverted nipples as she, but did persevere with breastfeeding my son, with the help of a midwife, and I did end up at least satisfactorily breastfeeding... in fact, it kept me (relatively) sane when all else failed, including my son's father! The flow of milk etc. also seemed good, to the point where it could have provided a natural contraceptive, only they would not tell me that at the time, preferring I stick to a 'mini-pill'... It only started to peter, when he seemed ready to wean himself, at 15 months, i.e. knew about fridge, and that it contained other "drinks", in teething cups... ;-))

OK, so what does one make of Jupiter (exalted in Cancer, 'accidentally dignified' in the 12th) and Pluto (in Leo) in the 12th, the Pluto trine Mercury in the 8th, where the Moon also coincidentally finds itself?

In the absence of any comments or helpful suggestions, I guess I had better read on...

"To be more specific, if your child has Pluto in the 12th, that can mean that you and your partner had a Plutonic process going on the under surface, or that a crisis was brewing. Also, I have frequently met this placement where the parents found themselves in very trying circumstances, e.g. when they were living with inlaws and one of the child's grandparents was so domineering that the parents were in a state of tension." (p. 48)

Yep, sounds like my parents living behind a fish and chip shop in Mascot, with my grandparents alright, before my grandparents got their spot in Australia's first Housing Commission flats, Greenway flats, on the north shore, immediate north end of the Bridge, Milson's Point, Sydney... The 'domineering grandparent' would = my Sydney grandmother, who terrorised me, and had me in a constant state of tension when we subsequently visited her in Sydney, to the point where I could not visit her, even on her deathbed (my sisters did that), although I did not mind 'seeing off' my Sydney grandfather, whom my father sneered at as a 'barroom intellectual', with whom I probably have more in common, but never got to find out? ;-P

"in a positive sense, it can also mean that one of the parents possesses a talent ruled by Pluto and is not using it and perhaps is unaware of it. Thus a child with Pluto in the 12th, whose mother took up the study of psychology later in life, is a case in point (my italics!). It turned out greatly to the mother's advantage when her latent gift was developed." (p. 49)

Jupiter in the 12th also = my mother's thwarted (by circumstances) wish to study medicine (?), or possibly the priesthood(?), which I did 'inherit', with the intention of becoming a psychiatrist in particular, but which in turn got thwarted by the sneering attitude of my father, when I voiced this intention? (And I did get the marks to have studied medicine, as well as law, which I started, but found boring, all too boring?! And, as an arts student, I did find that, curiously, my 'best friends' at the time tended to = med. students - until I fell 'Plutonically' out with them as well, of course) ;-P

By a curious and perverted twist, my son seems to have inherited this 'family thread', in his intention to study science, with the intention of specialising in neuroscience, in particular? *raised eyebrow* (Uranus in Scorpio, 1st house, which I always thought the sign of some 'hidden perversion' or other...) Except that he does not believe in astrology, and thinks it all a load of old cobblers, although he did seem suitably impressed when I related both his height (Jupiter) and interest in the Japanese art of kendo (Mars) to his Mars/Jupiter conjunction on his ascendant (also in Libra, which means he will argue that black = white, just for the hell of it!) lol

Mind you, come to think of it, those 'thwarted' Jupiterian tendencies could also = my desire, as a child, to 'play at priest', distributing small paper hosts to toys, etc., until my mother 'thwarted' that, saying it would amount to 'sacrilege' (although children take these things very seriously, as in when also playing parents, teachers or doctors)... I guess that seems the time the 'glass ceiling' of the almighty Catholic church fell down around my ears in a god-almighty crash, and I realised I could find no future there... Although I did subsequently 'play at' becoming nun (one of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity), "special minister" distributing communion in St Francis' ex-cathedral, Melbourne, and lay Carmelite in all deadly seriousness, those vocations just did not add up to the ultimate vocation of 'priest'? A curse, a hex, and a pox on you, Catholic church, for denying women the priesthood (from one extremely cynical, bitter, twisted and disillusioned, very ex-Catholic) ;-P I can still = 'high priestess of my own coven', but I shall just never = 'priest', by any criteria? Dang it all, I wonder what serious damage I may have inflicted on the Catholic church, if I had equated to a male, as per my mother's occasionally stated wish, and become a priest in that church!!! Mwahaha.... *very evil, bitter, cynical and disenchanted laugh* ;-P

Kind of like my equally 'missed vocation', as of receiving both the French and science prizes in year 9 at school, of 'French nuclear scientist'? i.e. I could have blown up the whole world several times by now? *very evil Plutonian laugh*

(It also occurs to me that those 'thwarted' Jupiterian tendencies may also relate to my wish that my son become a Catholic priest...like that would ever happen, when he opted out of the Catholic church, having served as an altarboy and narrowly escaping the clutches of a convicted paedophile priest, as well as angelically singing boy soprano until his voice broke, immediately after confirmation, aged 11? lol)

Sorry about opening this can of worms, everybody, but that seems what you get when you dare to take the lid off the (normally covered) 12th house: a bloody, great, writhing can of worms!!! lol

P.S. Does anyone else find it a drag when the sun moves sidereally into my mother's sidereal sun-sign of Capricorn, or does that just seem my own reaction?

cf. William Blake's The Little Vagabond, i.e.:

SONGS 45
The Little Vagabond

Dear Mother, dear Mother, the Church is cold,                  t
But the Ale-house is healthy & pleasant & warm;
Besides I can tell where I am use'd well,                      t
Such usage in heaven will never do well.                       t
 [45:4 Original reading: Such usage in heaven makes
    all go to hell. See textual note]

But if at the Church they would give us some Ale.
And a pleasant fire, our souls to regale;
We'd sing and we'd pray, all the live-long day;
Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray,

Then the Parson might preach & drink & sing.
And we'd be as happy as birds in the spring:
And modest dame Lurch, who is always at Church,
Would not have bandy children nor fasting nor birch.

And God like a father rejoicing to see,                        t
His children as pleasant and happy as he:
Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the Barrel
But kiss him & give him both drink and apparel.

"[Pearl Buck also] has the ruler of the 4th in the 12th.
In daily life this often goes with a feeling of being
displaced, and of not feeling at home in one's family or in
the land where one lives." (p.97) (Jupiter in the 12th,Sag.
on cusp of 4th house) ;-P 

Hehe, the Aussie flag we would really like to see...

...courtesy of mythos' blog; she got inspired by my posting of Redgum lyrics, and now I return the favor! So hoist the Leunig flag high, everybody (with the possible exception of Bill, at Gawith, who would rather stick with Advance Australia Fair and the usual, boring flag!) lol

OK, anyone know the real name of the Jolly Swagman (that infamous suicidal sheep thief)?

>WE HAVE suggested that the jolly swagman who went Waltzing Matilda was
named Andy...as in "Andy sang as he watched, Andy waited till his billy boiled..." (Column 8, October 6). Tony Winton, of Mosman, demurs: "It's well known he was a Mexican, as in 'Juan's a jolly swagman...'." November 22, 1999

>On 23 November, the Herald quoted Alexander Tolnay of Berlin, who said that, reflecting the origins of the poem, the Swagman really must have been a German rather than someone of Spanish extraction. So his name would have been Hans ('Hans a jolly swagman ...'). (The SMH page is no longer available. This reference comes from Roger Clarke's Waltzing Matilda page.)

>WRONG! Wrong! Wrong! says Robert Leong, of Cherrybrook. "My great-grandfather's third cousin came to Australia to build the railroads and go gold prospecting, and all his descendants know that Wong's The Jolly Swagman..." November 24, 1999

>VISITING us from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Mrs L. Jackson has been interested in the claims on who was the jolly swagman (Column 8, Monday). She writes: "I am surprised you don't know it was an English royal, travelling incognito, as in One's a Jolly Swagman." November 30, 1999

>Swagman's relatives hit back

>MR WESLEY BONE, of Mosman, would like us to stop publicising his namesake, Wes, the Jolly Jumbuck. "Hasn't he suffered enough?" December 2, 1999

>The swagman's brother

>ASKS Peter Crowther, of Clovelly: "Is there some family connection between Juan, The Jolly Swagman and Raul Britannia?" December 4, 1999

>MICHAEL Robinson, of San Jose, California, reports: "My father has kept me up to date on your research concerning Juan the royal swagman, and Wes the jolly jumbuck. However, I have yet to hear anything about Wal. Hardly anybody in the story says anything without immediately pausing and requesting Wal, sing 'Matilda'." December 6, 1999

>Su jumps into the action here. Actually, when she was a small child, she really did think that the swagman's name was "Wal". The chorus would thus be "Wal, sing Matilda". (My parents used to buy wine from a wine merchant by the name of Wal Cooper. I must have gotten him into the story somehow.) I might have even thought that Wal was a fan of Harry Belafonte, whose song Matilda was a big hit at one time.

>Ian Taylor, of Randwick, says that back in the UK, his mother, Rosemary Taylor, of Croydon, Surrey, was watching the closing ceremony on TV with his three-year-old niece, Amy. "According to my mum, Amy thought the Bananas in Pyjamas were best - and that song about 'Waltzing the Builder' who waits for his beans to boil." October 13, 2000

http://www.standingstones.com/wmatilda.html

Mozart celebrates his 250th on Friday...

...so dust off your 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' and prepare for a little light classical, for a change! We seem to have a flurry of famous birthdays this week, from Rabbie Burns (see Ken's blog) and Virginia Woolf ("birthday-spot" in Age) yesterday, to the real reason Gawith has a day off today, namely Dora's birthday: forget Australia's bloody Invasion Day! *grr*

*it's probably too painful
for us to understand
but 200 years ago, we overran their land...

dreamtime's just a nightmare now
an alcoholic sleep
Australia, land of things to do
have you got time to weep?* (Redgum - hopefully Mozart does not turn in his grave at sharing this space with them)... Those sidereal Capricornians do not muck around when achieving the pinnacle of their (considerable) ambition, even if they have to survive some pretty tragic circumstances to do so ;-P

Also, from wyrd email:
>I have just returned from Maya land!! It was beautiful and not quite so dry in the Yucatan. They've had a bit of rain. The real rainy season doesn't begin until March.
The hemorrhagic fever that the Maya's suffered may have been due to mosquitos. If bitten and you get dengue fever any subsequent bite may cause hemorrhagic fever. This is still the case in Central America.
We were very fortunate, not one mosquito in site and we went as far south as Belize.
Herbygal

Previously George had posted:
>As bad as that was there was another seemingly cyclic and native disease thought to be a form of hemorrhagic fever the Aztecs called "cocolizli'. When it struck it killed quickly and in the millions. It also appears to be connected to weather patterns, a long period of drought, followed by rain and then cocolizli, megadeath. It is extrapolated that this also happened to the Mayans. Mexico has currently entered into a period of severe drought.
Stay tuned.
George

But this still worries me, because, once again, they have had a period of drought, followed by rain? ;-P

Or as the sun moves sidereally into Capricorn, don't we find all sorts of things to worry about? ;-((

Pushkar

Believe it or not, this desert fortress comes from Shirley/mythos' collection of "desert India" pics; as I observed to her in email, they do not call it a 'sub-continent' for nothing! ;-)) 

An Fear Liath Mor

Since Ken seems too shy to put a photo of himself as An Fear Liath Mor ("Big Grey Man", Scottish answer to Bigfoot), on his blog, I will do it for him, here! Nice title, Ken, if somewhat visually deprived! lol

Carnivale

OK, ABC's Carnivale:

seems worth watching, if only as an example of how not to do a Tarot reading, i.e. what should seem so scary about 2 of Wands + Lovers + Moon (in the Rider Waite)? lol

The Silver Wolf, Alice Borchardt

"To the wolf there was no right or wrong, good or evil. There was only the pattern and she was part of the pattern. To judge as the woman did was as foreign to her nature as were hope and despair" (p.218) - now this seems what both Anne Rice and I would call a ripping good read! lol

"'Albinus?' Dulcina said. 'My lady, the man is rising seventy. He doesn't even bother to hide his bald spot and never worries about his paunch. If I went into transports of ecstasy about him, the shock might kill him. I'm an artist. I may sing of love and while I'm singing I may believe in it, but I don't plan my life around it. I'm far too practical.'
"(...)'Oh, you poor dear,' Cecelia said. 'Some ferocious barbarian, no doubt. Yet many of these northern lords are tall, handsome men, fond and respectful of their womenfolk. And,' she said, as if trying to soften, 'it may be you will come to love him.'
'''I hope not,' Regeane said. (...)'I don't plan to love him. I plan to survive him.'
"'How very wise, my dear,' Cecelia said." (pp. 257-8)

"'Women have the power of life and death. We, after all, give birth and the fate of humanity is in our hands. That's why men try so hard to rule us, my dear.'
"'They know if we once looked well on what they have made of human existence, we might close our legs and within our barren wombs bring the comedy to an end.'" (p.291)

"'Is it so terrible, then, to be a witch?'
"'No.' Daedalus smiled. 'For the earth is a beautiful soft woman, and the witch is her voice.'" (p. 313)

"'We animals do not need ethics. We are not corrupt. You humans do. You are.'
(...)
"'I remember when this city was very young. Rome eternal. The center of the world, teeming with people. I hated her, but I thought her invincible. Now, I find where Caesars ruled, where her patrician nobles betrayed each other and fought for power, nothing. Nothing, but wind and silence. It's a shock, that's all.'
"Gavin shrugged. 'Wolves have no history.'" (p. 365-6).

"'We have words, wolves do - words for love, chase, kill, fight. For snow, mountain, grass, fire, and star. Those and many others. But we have no words for sin, corruption and evil. Those are human inventions..'" (p. 366)

The Wolf/Dog connection i.e. Separate your fact from your fiction! And no, as I thought, dogs and wolves in fact belong to two different species, although, from the evidence of mitochondrial DNA, dogs seem descended from wolves ;-))

We have an Ansur for everything

The Ansur man himself, hard at work or up to some devilment? Check out his blog, if you dare: he = our very own Oregonian 'king of wyrd'? ;-)) 

What is Wyrd?

Ask veit ek ausinn, Heitir Yggdrasil,
Hárr baðmr heilagr, Hvíta-auri;
Þaðan koma döggvar, Es í dala falla;
Stendr æ yfir gronn Urðarbrunni.

An ash I wit standing Called Yggdrasil,
A high holy tree Sprinkled with white clay,
Thence come the dews That in the dales fall;
Stands it always ever green Over Wyrd's Well.
(Gylfaginning 16, Prose Edda)

The Well of Wyrd lies at the base of Yggdrasil. There are two other wells within the Heathen cosmology also at the base of the World Tree. These are the Mímisbrunnr "Mimir's Well" and Hvergelmir "the roaring cauldron." Mimer's Well is the well Wóden gave his eye to have a drink from to gain wisdom. Hvergelmir is the well that all waters of the Nine Worlds are said to flow into.

*Þjar rætr trésins aví upp ok standa afarbreitt...in þriðja stendr Niflheimi, ok undir þeiri rót er Hvergelmir...En undir þeiri rót, er til hrímaursa horfir, þar er Mímisbrunnr, er soekð ok manvit er í fólgit, ok heitir sá Mímr, er brunnunn....þriðja rót asksins stendr á himni, ok undir aeiri rót er brunnr sá, er mjök er heilagr, er heitr Urðarbrunnr;þar eigu goðin dómstað sinn.

Three roots hold the tree up and stand far abroad...the third stands over Niflheim, and under that root is Hvergelmir...And under that root, which is towards the frost giants is Mimer's Well, where wisdom and understanding are, Mimer keeps that well.. The third ash's root stands in heaven, and under that root is a well, that is very holy, that well is called Wyrd's Well, there the gods hold their court. (Gylfaginning 15, Prose Edda)

Þaðan koma meyiar, margs vitandi,
þrár, ór þeim sæ, er und þolli strendr;
Urð héto eina, aðra Verðandi
--scáro scíði--, Skuld ina þriðio;
þær lög löumlgðo, þær líf kuro
alda bornom, ørlög seggia

Thence come the maidens, Mighty in wisdom,
Three from the place, Under the tree,
Wyrd is called one, Another Werðende
Scored they on wood, Scyld is the third;
There Laws they laid, There life chose,
To men's sons, And spoke orlay (Völuspa 20-25)

The final activity of the Wyrdæ, to speak orlæg, is the "speaking of the primal layer." Bauschatz addresses this phrase thusly:
"The prefix or- signifies something that is beyond or above the ordinary. It suggests something of first rate or primary significance, but it does not indicate the scale upon which the significance is to be measured; hence, the rather vague 'above' or 'beyond' quality it imparts. The ørlög is, then, a 'primal law' (in importance), a 'highest law' (in elevation), an 'earliest law' (in time), a 'first law' (in any numerical sequence), and so forth. To take the more literal reading of lög, olög is 'the most significant things laid down,' 'the earliest things accomplished.' "(Bauschatz page)

Enn er aat sagt, at nornir aær, er byggva við Urðarbrunn, taka hvern dag vatn i brunninum ok með aurinn aann, er liggr um brunninn, ok ausa upp yfir askinn, til aes at eigi skulu limar hans treena eða fœna, en aat vatn er sv heilagt, at allir hlutir, aeir er aar koma í brunninn, verða sv hvítir sem hinna sœ, er skjall heitir, er innan liggr við eggskurn.

And it is said that, these Norns there, that dwell at Wyrd's Well, take every day water from the well and with that clay, that lies in the well, then sprinkle it upon the ash, to the end that the tree's limbs shall not wither or rot, for this water is so holy, that all lots, that come there into the well, become as white as the white within an egg shell. (Gylfaginning 16)
(from Wyrd,
by Swain Wodening
Revised by Eric Wodening May, 2004 CE)

Wyrd And Scyld

by Swain Wodening Canote

The impact of Wyrd can be seen everywhere. In nearly every theological construct in Germanic heathendom, including Anglo-Saxon heathendom and Ásatrú, Wyrd plays a role. Just as Wyrd is central to the ancient heathen conception of Law, so too is it central to their conception of Sin or wrongdoing. Three basic principles play a role in heathen conceptions of Sin. The first is Wyrd. The second is mægen. The third is known as scyld in Old English or skuld in Old Norse. In Old Norse the word skuld, meaning "debt, obligation," shows how the heathen conception of Sin was tied to the conception of Wyrd--Skuld is the name of the third Norn in Norse myth.

In Old English the word mægen and in Old Norse the word hamingja appear to have been used as a term for the spiritual energy contained in every living thing in the multiverse. Similar terms used in Old Norse were gipta, and gæfa, both of which could mean "luck, fortune" and both of which are related to modern English gift. Mægen could be loaned to others or even given away. The exchange of mægen could even take place between the living and the dead. Mægen seemed to have been passed down family lines along with the fetch and orlæg. In Waldere I, it is said, "Weorð ðe selfne, gódum dædum" "Worth gain for yourself, thru good deeds."

In the Dark Ages, fines were the primary form of punishment for any given crime. In a sense, the various Anglo-Saxon laws reduce every offence to 'theft,' for which a monetary equivalent can be found. In fact a term for crime in Old English was scyld "debt." The word gylt, our modern word "guilt," packed similar connotations. Other terms such as Old English dolh "injury" are related to words meaning "debt," such as Gothic dulgs. When the Christians first needed a word for "sin" they chose the word scyld. The only other mention of Skuld outside of Voluspa 20 and the Gyfaginning is in Voluspa 30, where she is mentioned in a list of valkyrjur, the valkyrjur as choosers of the slain, were often the collectors of debts owed to Wóden for a promised victory in battle.

Another form of sin was that expressed by Old English synn, our word "sin." Synn may have originally meant "inaction or stasis." A synn may have been a failure to take appropriate action or simply action that did not gain one mægen.This type of sin may have been represented by such Old English words as undæd and misdæd.

A brilliant Page of Swords moment...

...on Teachers, Channel 4, Britain, courtesy ABC Australia, tonight; unfortunately I could find no online image to do it justice, but talk about the revenge of the nerds, at least in a fantasy moment! lol

Creating my night, as well as my day (an original pathworking)

(Secret Dakini Oracle):

(2 of Pentacles + Death) I see myself in a forest, stretched out peacefully on the earth as a corpse. The sunlight filters gently through the canopy, igniting the tips of the pinebranches till they glow like candle flames. Everything around me breathes: the trees and their resident indwelling spirits breathe out oxygen, and the animals all breathe carbon dioxide back to the trees, in an endless cycle of breath. The bears lumber playfully around, batting each other with their long sharp claws, and fishing salmon out of the stream, to devour them with relish; sparkling fresh water drips off their muzzles when they take a drink themselves. The weasels whisk cheekily out of their holes, and slink away again mysteriously, faster than lightning. The opossums "play dead" in the branches, but they only sleep. Only I do not breathe. I lie quietly here, and watch the flesh slowly dissolve off my bones; first the flies, and then the maggots come to gnaw me clean, and soon my bones lie bare, stripped and empty, all exposed to the naked sky on the moss-covered earth, amid the fungi...
(9 of Swords; card of the year) My spirit finds itself mysteriously wafted up, as if by angels, to a castle I have already built in the clouds, even while still on earth, to meet my beloved there, if he still finds himself at home... But in truth I do not know what I will find there.
(V of Swords + Star) Instead I meet my mother, the goddess Kali, crushing my skull along with the skulls of so many others under her boot; she holds other decapitated heads aloft, as trophies. We find ourselves now even above the clouds, at home among the stars.... They glitter like an island of jewels up above the seeming "cloudbank" of the Milky Way... She begins to adorn my spirit with them, in preparation for my next life.
(VIII of Cups: today's card) But first she must perform a brutal surgery, of snipping off the astral threads that still tie me to this one. I hope she will not sever all connection with my beloved, but I submit to her hand, knowing she, in her fierceness, knows more than I, and what the hand of severity takes back, the hand of mercy restores in another form. She must clear me of all the preconceptions I have gathered in this life, to enable me to recognise him, when I see him as a new person in another life (maybe not even the next? perhaps a different gender? maybe even another sexuality?). But she leaves me with a cluster of star-jewels in all my chakras to remind me of the eternal promise and pledge, that we will meet again...

A wyrd Tarot dream for Su

This one seems so wyrd, I just have to get out of bed and write it down!

I dreamt Su and I found ourselves playing some kind of wyrd game, kind of like literati, but when you put the letters down, they turned into Voodoo Tarot picture-cards. The object of the game seemed to find your particular "power-card". I thought I had hit the jackpot with this card, the 2 of Swords, when I woke up:

http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos/photo/165/75.jpg

...feeling shocked and disoriented at first to find myself in bed, rather than online! lol

Recent concerns: wyrd_crossings digest not coming through, although there seem plenty of messages to make up a digest. I wondered if I could do something, as co-"group owner", to expedite this, but Su didn't answer any of my offline messages about this on Messenger, so I went to bed feeling a little pissed off. I don't like replying to posts onlist; it just lacks the "flow" of the digest somehow! So the '2 of Swords' I interpret as meaning 'crossed swords', i.e. petty disagreements and misunderstandings, which also goes nicely with my card of the day, Queen of Swords (Rada Mambo). However, if you look at the Voodoo Tarot reframing of this traditional interpretation, you will see it all looks very friendly, with two herbalists stopping to chat in the forests, and swap information and lore about different plants; one of them holds a mandrake. Su might = a sidereal Virgo, but she seems pretty Libran to me, so 'swords' also seems her 'strong suit' at the moment, as much as mine! This also seems to relate to Su's setting up the 'sister group', on healing ;-))

That will learn me to do shamanic workings just before going to sleep! lol

Look what's just lumbered into my medicine wheel this lunar month...

I have pinched this picture from Sebi's blog (Being Sebastian Aristos), but with a totally different agenda in mind, because it allows me to reflectively evaluate my Relationship prospects for this month... ;-))

Yep, Bear has arrived, in the north (fiery) quarter, along with Opossum (NW) and Weasel (NE); interestingly, these all correspond to power animals of B-E, so I feel I can expect a very strong, if passive and not at all obvious connection with him: perhaps on the astral? Must use these animals consciously somehow, to achieve this... Interestingly his Weasel also finds itself in my Relationships area: sneaky and up to no good, a difficult medicine to have, I feel it corresponds to Scorpio, as one who would pick the pockets of Great Spirit itself, just to show you can do it! Bear invites (summons? commands?) me into the dream lodge, and Opossum just likes to sleep, i.e. "play dead" - also a preferred strategy of B-E, which he inherits from his father? I have also surrounded the Bear shield with an "unbearably cute" bear cub, and a little cutout of a small, stuffed teddy advertised for 10 kroner ($2) in Norway... Anyone want to buy a cheap, used bear? lol

My RealPlayer synchronously begins to play "On the Wings of Love" (Plato) from Sophie's World as I type this; Plato always did equate to B-E's favorite philosopher, where I prefer Socrates, and Nietzsche ( unfortunately the book Sophie's World gave Nietzsche a wide berth - but it does however obliquely hint at him through the connection Aristotle - Darwin...?)

Btw, Bjorn also = "Bear" in Norwegian? ;-))

Yum, yum and triple yum!

The official Katie Melua website, and I have the luck to own her new album "Piece by Piece", thanks to Bjorn Erik! (Yes, I did misread her name as Katie Melva, from his handwriting, lol!)

Possibly one of the wyrdest profile pictures on Yahoo...

...from Andy/antitherion, another very wyrd wyrdling from wyrd_crossings! lol 

What the Bleep sequel

Yes, it has come out, and will reach a cinema near you shortly? Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice, as she plummeted further and further down the rabbit hole of mysteriousness... Those 'lucky ducks' in Oregon get to see it before everyone else - at least in this universe/dimension! Have to go "create my day" now...

I don't know what to make of the "omens" presented in this morning's meditation, true to the "double-edged sword" nature of Olodumare (the Ace of Pentacles), today's card... It 'boiled down to', or rather accumulated, the Hermit, Page of Pentacles and 5 of Cups... Now, remember, I use the Voodoo Tarot here, and you can see the pictures by clicking on the link in my sidebar! Hermit seems fairly logical, given that both B-E and I find ourselves necessarily in "Hermit"-type situations. It seems the Page of Pentacles and 5 of Cups that have me foxed... Yaguo reminds me very kabbalistically of Malkuth, as receiving all the emanations from above, in particular, as shown, Ochosi, Oggun, Oshun and Yemaya, i.e. gods and goddesses alike (very appropriate when you think that the meditation began with Olodumare, one of the Kethers).

Therefore, the lines from the Other Bible's gnostic psalm:
"As for me, a creature of clay and water,
with a heart of stone,
how am I worthy of all this?
You set your word
in this ear of dust
and write truths on my heart."

Now, in this morning's spread, her arrow (of Ochosi, linking her also to the moon-goddess Artemis, to mix pantheons... Otherwise she reminds me of a very house-proud little putzfrau) points to Congo Ogoun, i.e. the doctor administering an injection. So I wonder whether this means an extra dose of "healing energy" coming B-E's way this full moon, as we prepare to speak more, in an earlier timezone, tonight, or whether the hospital could so ill-advisedly, literally, give him a hated injection at full moon? I hope the former... Thoughts, anyone?

As it turned out, the traditional meaning of the 5 of Cups won out: at first, I rang at our agreed earlier time: he slept; I just re-rang, and he did not want to take the phone... Perhaps they have also drugged him up? And now I get the 10 of Swords as well? Oh, great... ;-P

And if you love spiders, you will also love Aidan's blog;-))

Temperance: the "little", personal angel

Funny, how yesterday's card of the 4 of P morphed into this with morning meditation yesterday, and now this remains as my cyber-card of the day! ;-)) 

Chiron, the Wounded Healer

Discovering the position of Chiron in my natal sidereal horoscope, according to Astrology for Windows, I find it interestingly enough sitting square in Capricorn in my 6th house, where I did not think I had any planets at all! That explains my drive towards wanting to find myself of service in a healing area, one way or another: exalted by house-position, if not sign! i.e. "If you have love, you will do all things well" - Thomas Merton. Control often an issue - either too much or too little little! Difficulty 'digesting' life-experience, needing to chew on a hurtful experience for years, replaying every nuance. Fritz Perls, one of my heroes[!], had Chiron in Virgo: attention to here-and-now details in counselling process a major value, and possibly strength, of mine? Emotional issues mirrored directly through physical symptoms, e.g. feeling physically cold when emotionally 'out in the cold'; loathing or feeling embarrassed about some parts of body; possibility of eating disorders. Able to organise for others, but not themselves; can seem 'spaced out', disorganized, chaotic, but also mediumistic - ask Usch! lol Bernadette of Lourdes also had Chiron in Virgo. Experience of 'sterility' in some way, even when able to produce, particularly re perfectionism in art. Periodic sense of martyrdom and accompanying guilt and blame. 12th/Piscean activities facilitate healing: solitude, finding oneself near sea, or getting drunk! lol Black Madonna, interestingly, has this sign, as bridge between earlier pagan fertility cults and more recent images of Virgin Mary, and I did repaint my T-shirt of her to make her even blacker! lol Affinities with religions on the cusp of Christianity and paganism... *raised eyebrow here* ;-)) Profound healing around the acceptance of both the Virgin and the Whore, i.e. "will the real whore of Babylon please stand up?" as I have challenged people on email lists in the past! lol May freeze up physically or emotionally, withdrawing from sexual relationships altogether...hmm *raised eyebrow again*. Pseudo-Platonic relationships with men, i.e. have fallen hopelessly and unrequitedly in love with the 'terminally unavailable', priests, gays, married men, not to mention B-E himself! Temple priestess a guiding image for this placement; spirituality exalting the body, not mortifying it ;-))
"But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not
Limp before the lame, deeming it kindness." (Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet.)
Parental issues; attitudes towards authority figures coloured by experience of mother. Difficulty in setting goals, and finding place in society. May need patience in longing for a vocation, which may only come later in life, preceded by false starts. Plagued with feelings of failure, no matter how successful we appear. We may in fact feel driven to fail to disappoint our parents, and this may amount to our first success! lol Seeming to lack a sense of responsibility; on a deeper level, assuming responsibility for things over which we have no control. Looking for someone to take care of us (shades of 4th house). A natural sense of authority and dignity inviting respect, although can sometimes sabotage self on the brink of success. Woundedness in relationship with personal father, and thus the father principle in general. Struggling against his model, yet finding wounded or authoritarian father within own psyche (why else did I put him, in a photo, as the Wounded King, Hanged Man, in my own Tarot?). Wounding mother and absent father: tremendous toll on own feeling of self-worth; struggling not to repeat patterns inherited from mother; common placement for those in the healing field - attempting to become a 'good mother' oneself ;-P
It also squares the Moon in the 8th house in Aries (which I previously thought unaspected!), so you can work out for yourselves what that says about my relationship with my mother... lol! Feeling rejected by mother, who wanted a son. Trying to 'do it better than mother; devastated when own child also feels wounded. More aware of emotional needs of others than own; instinctively knowing what others need in order to feel comfortable; resentful, wondering who looks after oneself? Only feeling strong in role of caretaker. Surprised when others manage without you! Good-mothering instincts turned outwards, bad mothering reserved for self. Ecstasy, holistic awareness, intuition; destructive irrationality as militant subjectivity, resistance to order or discipline. May spoil relationships with emotional outbursts. The Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa also have/had this aspect!
It also trines Venus in Taurus in the 9th: obviously I experience both woundedness and healing through relationships with others... Seeing beauty where others fail to notice it. Intensely personal values, clung to with great tenacity. Venusian interests can assume philosophical and political dimensions: women's rights, racial harmony, the arts. Sense of deja-vu in relationships; intense and synchronous encounters. Sensitive to disharmony between people; may become involved in others' disputes, and take them personally. Unconsciously feeling responsible for bringing love and harmony into life? Can stay in almost intolerable situations of disharmony, hoping to bring harmony and reconciliation. Baptism of fire in first intimate relationships. Incurably romantic, isolated and disappointed when life fails to measure up. Ideals betray us, rather than friends or lovers? Questing after unattainable people, enjoying bitter-sweet pain of emotional dramas, impossible situations, tragedy and unrequited love. Vulnerable to financial, sexual, emotional exploitation. Obsessed with physical appearance; signs of ageing distressing. Themes of the myth of Psyche and Eros (long one of my favorites, inspiring both poetry and a painting I actually sold)! Aphrodite = the negative aspects of matriarchal consciousness - an envious mother goddess who refuses to release her son (i.e. the mother-in-law from hell!). Difficulties with an envious mother or sisters - or envy of them? Loss of innocence -> growth into personal identity; gain in compassion and consciousness. 'In love with love' -> falling to earth with a bump! Clinging relentlessly to illusions as Eros disappears into the sky... Having to rebuild lives from scratch, more than once!
Other aspects: Sun quintile Chiron (wound to the sense of individuality, 'soleness' and purpose: may make someone else the centre of our universe! We then promote their interests and help them to shine; able to foster the talents and self-expression of others; may discount own worth, feeling despair and envy; lacking confidence in 'masculine side'; preoccupied with finding the 'right man'; father both absent and, present, violent! Tendency to attract 'lame ducks', needing support, who then wound); Chiron quincunx Ascendant; trine moon's node (conjunct Venus).
Chiron/Chiron transits:
first Chiron/Chiron square, in Aries, June 1979 - militantly campaigning for Nicaraguan revolution as part of 'solidarity committee' in Germany - and we did succeed in helping to bring democracy to Nicaragua at that time!
Chiron/Chiron opposition, July 1992: had just returned from trip with Joshua to visit Dad in Amsterdam;
second Chiron/Chiron square, in Libra: first trip to Norway, 3 weeks' 'blissful honeymoon' and then feeling suicidal as he sent me back here (Chiron also slowing down and going from retrograde to direct at this time: retrograde whole period since we first 'met' online, and got engaged);
Chiron return, or Chiron/Chiron conjunction: approaching it mid-next year, but retrograde; proper "return" = Feb. 2007.
At the present time, it also finds itself transited by Uranus, with Neptune approaching, in the same house ;-P
Bjorn Erik's, as far as I know (not sure of birth time), finds itself in the 5th, in Pisces: interesting self-expression through poetry there (wish he had have made more of his music!)... Also a hidden woundedness in the area of sexuality, masked by drugs and alcohol? Can lead to a 'celibate'-type marriage, what with my Sun conjunct his Saturn, despite our lunar conjunction, and my Venus in his 7th - deep feelings, and mutual attraction, also a lasting relationship (lunar conjunction), although unable to continue to express it physically. My Chiron finds itself in his 3rd, suggesting our more "sisterly" relationship, in the end...
"From what I have observed Chiron co-rules Sagittarius with Jupiter and is in detriment in Gemini; it is exalted in Virgo and has its fall in Pisces. (...)when in fall a planet is like an exile: its qualities have no home; they are under stress and unhappy, and consequently may express themselves in a weakened, distorted or negative way", Melanie Reinhart, Chiron and the Healing Journey (p. 87). Chiron in fall in Pisces: "swept away by the connection with the numinous realm that is natural to them: inflation, confusion and sacrificial distortions (...)need for individuality... not easily met in Pisces (...) dissolution, and emotional chaos (...)lack of a suitable vehicle to express the depth of their compassion for others." (p.91) He learnt early that what he expressed found no welcome by his parents (as in the moving poem about the vision of the 'Bethlehem star'; later on, he could experience "inexplicable terror, creative blocks, resistance and inner conflict" around creativity. Lack of confidence, especially in visual arts, with unconscious desire to be a superstar (hence his devaluing my illustrations of his poems, saying his poems amounted to the most important part of our collaboration, whereas I saw them as very much complementary; boasting in front of mirror; self-expression can seem "raw, visceral and unconcerned with what others may think"; wish for beauty, fame, adulation denied; curse of envy of the better-talented; perpetuating sense of woundedness by hiding creative aspirations (although I for one always encouraged him in this!); unable to have children, although greatly desiring them; severely depressed when he realised I had passed childbearing age; he needs art therapy, if anyone does, but possibly the least likely to take advantage of it, even if offered; tragic hero, preoccupied with own pain, inner dramas and tragedy; repressive and negative experiences in childhood home, connected with father -> restrictive and punishing superego, wounding internal critic spoiling the joy of life... Deception, emotional manipulativeness and genuine transcendental experiences can weave together in a confusing blend. Inner order threatened time and time again by inner chaos. Difficulty with angry feelings regarding parent figures. Life of imagination totally real, especially when young. Lacking Virgoan discrimination of different levels of reality; may become confused, alienated. Can also retreat into uncomfortable Virgoan pragmatism, cynicism and hyper-rationality (esp. with Libra stellium!). Deeply fearing experience of surrender and dissolution, but feeling cut off from oneness with humanity because of it. Personal wounds will remain unseen, if we remain preoccupied with suffering of world at large. Burden of unjustified, 'Christlike' suffering. Deep wound connected with grief; chronic 'existential grief'. Archetypal rather than personal feelings. Traumas of blocked grief and incomplete mourning. Tragic or unrequited love. Many musicians, including blues singers; Martin Luther King, JFK: things often not quite as they appear, beneath an idealistic and charismatic exterior!

The lion sits within his cage
Weeping tears of ruby rage
(Stevie Smith, 'The Zoo') ;-P

a Tarot game, as recommended by jmd

Get your own copy at letarot.net now, so we can all play, on- or offline! 

daily Tarot epiphany: 8 of Cups

Having manifested the 'negative' side of this card last night (breakdown in communication: no telephone connection), I realise that even that might not necessarily represent the negativity it seems to, in that daily communication often seems a burden to B-E (perhaps it always did!), and one must allow him to get a little bored in order to genuinely welcome it... This morning's meditation yielded a similar result to yesterday's, in that the 8 of Cups 'boiled down' to the 9 of Wands plus Congo Mambo (the Queen of Cups), i.e. that 4 of Wands "marriage of fire and water" again, but with a little more strength of water this time. Always previously, in this deck, a little scary or 'creepy' to me, I know see that she wears the girdle of Simbi d'l'eau (the 8 of Cups serpent), having 'got that under her belt', so to speak, and when I did the mirror ritual with this card, this time I felt a distinct emanation coming off both the mirror-reflection and the card, only her emanation felt like a cool energy, like a cool sea-breeze (I also currently burn "sea-breeze" incense), flowing straight up both my hands... ;-))

Vodoungbe: Sunday

"The South Benin cultural area of the Fon, Gun, Mina and Ewe peoples is characterized by a similar conception of divinity: belief in the existence of God is general. This God, recognized as the Supreme Being, as Transcendent, is referred to by the term Mawu. According to the testimony of Fr. Paul Falcon "everyone professes the existence of a Supreme Being who created ‘the trees and the ropes’, a Fon idiomatic expression which means everything that exists…"

Interesting expression; did these peoples already have a dawning intuition of the 'superstring' theory, one wonders ;-))

"Agbe [Agwe in the Voodoo Tarot]: This is the Vodun of the sea (Tovodun). He is also known as Hu. He is represented by a serpent, a symbol of everything that gives life. One of his powerful children is Dan Toxosu who manifests himself in the birth of monster babies.

Gu [Ogoun in the Voodoo Tarot]: This is the Vodun of iron and war. He gives man his different technologies. He is the Vodun who does not accept complicity with evil. Therefore he is capable of killing all accomplices in acts of infamy if he is appealed to. This is expressed by the Fon saying "da gu do"."

Interesting that the internet itself developed from a military application: this would also seem a work of the warrior Ogoun. And when Ogoun and Agwe get together, as in nuclear technology, you get the birth of 'monster babies', as in genetic mutations? ;-P

"Lêgba: This is Mawu’s youngest son. He received no endowments at all because all had already been shared out among his elders. He is jealous, and it is he who loosens the rigid structure of the pantheon. He is the Vodun of the unpredictable, of what cannot be assigned to any other and he is characterised by daily tragedies; all that is beyond good and evil."

Hehe... the trickster, with a nice Nietzschean twist ;-))

"It clearly follows to speak of polytheism in the context of Vodun is hardly correct. Rather, it appears to be polyhedral monotheism which highlights an active relationship with the cosmos, nature, phenomena and deceased human beings, in contrast with a direct relationship with God.

"Vodun is the traditional religion in Benin. The Vodoun is often mistaken for Voodoo, or pure witchcraft, but is in reality so much more: A culture, a norm system and a fundament for traditional practices. Vodoun can be evil, but is often not. While many still belive that the Vodoun tradition stems from the Caribbean and Brazil, its real cradle is Benin.

"A popular joke says that in Benin you will find that among the population there are 30% Christians, 20% Muslims and 100% Vodoun!

"Among the most important Gods we find Heviosso (Shango), the God of thunder and is responsible for the harvest, and he is also the symbol of justice who will strike you if you commit a crime. There is Mami Wata, the mermaid, the Goddess of beauty and wealth. There is Ogou, the God of metals, who is also the God of the warriors. Since the ancestors were warriors you will find a shrine for Ogou in most houses. The God Legba, the gatekeeper, has stunned many a tourist with his massive erect penis.

" The word "Vodoun" ( Ewe: Vu, Vodun, Vudu Vodou ) is Dahomean, of the Ewe/Fon language. The "n" is pronounced, and is the ancient and appropriate appellation of this word. However, V.O.D.O.U. (voh-doo) is the most common spelling with no emphasis on the "n". It is a proper "noun" (always capitalized), denoting the actual Tradition proper of "vodou," (small "v") which is the spelling used to denote the actual Spirits (divinities) that are worshiped. The French spelling of this word in Benin and Togo is "Vaudaux", or Vaudou-x," and similar spellings. Its actual meaning is 'to draw water', a task traditionally performed by women. Vo (circumflex on all "o") is the word used to describe the traditional 'Voodoo doll'.

"Vodun, like Christianity, is a religion of many traditions. Each group follows a different spiritual path and worships a slightly different pantheon of spirits, called Loa. The word means "mystery" in the Yoruba language."

Daily Tarot epiphany: 4 of Wands

That CD for Shirley/mythos nearly didn't get burnt this morning; in the absence of my music genius friend Craig, I found it a lot more complicated actually burning the thing than I remembered, when he sat by me here, telling me what to do! lol It actually corresponded to my card of the day, 4 of Wands, which according to the Voodoo represents a "marriage of fire and water... success seemingly against all odds"! lol Even then, for some reason, it did not burn the tracks in the regular order, as written on the cover note, but all jumbled up, but never mind, once she plays them, she will soon work out which track amounts to which... Interestingly, in my morning meditation, I began with that card, asking the cards themselves what it meant, and did my patience/solitaire meditative thing, finally 'boiling the cards down' (good fire/water metaphor!) to the 9 of Wands and the 2 of Cups; this combination also manifested when having a drink later with Marie Rose (as you do!): it turned out, she also amounts, like me, to a heady Aries/Pisces combo, as I suspect, from his music, Mike Scott of the Waterboys (!) does too, oscillating as he does between the gentle, lyrical and folky (Pisces) to the more energetic of his 'rocking' numbers (Aries)... ;-))

White Deer of Argonne

Whether the famous White Deer of Argonne represent a mutation caused by radiation from the nearby nuclear research facilities (the article heavily stresses that they amount to a "naturally occurring" separate species), they seem a whole lot prettier and less grotesque than the dreaded three-eyed fish of the Simpsons!

Methinks "Burnsy" (of the Simpsons) still doth protest too much, or does that mean I still have the old hippie paranoia about nuclear energy?

Now, if John Howard became aware of this, he might draft an inclusion into the IR legislation, that ALL workers should compulsorily find themselves exposed to a certain amount of radiation, and any worker who voluntarily exposed themselves to more, would receive a bonus! ;-P

Ansur:
Also, I just (really) received an article about the new Pope, in which it states that he believes in the possibility that the current president of the USA might just be the Anti-Christ predicted in Revelations. So, some advance Christians are obviously capable of thinking outside the box!

Me:
Never would have thought of the new pope as an "advanced Christian" by any stretch, Ansur, but if the new Pope suggests this, he seems OK by me, except that he should look past Bush, over Bush's shoulder so to speak, and see the real Machiavellian villain of the piece, namely Dick Cheney! (So much for 'papal infallibility', no bull!);-P

Epiphany, in the true meaning of the word

Let us celebrate the feast of the Epiphany , in the spirit of true gnosis. By the way, this also means the official end of the twelve days of Christmas, so it seems time to take your Christmas decorations down tonight, and if you don't, well, let us just say you err on the side of liturgical inappropriateness! (Yay, thanks to Sebi, I can now do hyperlinks in text again; he just reminded me how!) ;-))

A little animal helper

Do not underestimate the help and inspiration of our non-human friends; Sheryl at Gawith doesn't: she has her cat Penny to help her with her homework! I wish I had a little non-human friend like this one, or even Ruskine, the little Chilean tarantula I had to leave behind in Norway (named after Bjorn Erik's late dog Ruskin, because just as hairy, if with double the number of legs!) ;-)) 

From another blog, via Aidan's blog

a·poph·y·sis ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-pf-ss)n. pl. a·poph·y·ses (-sz)
(1) Anatomy. A natural swelling, projection, or outgrowth of an organ or part, such as the process of a vertebra.
(2) Geology. A branch from a dike or vein.

Kind of reminds me of my card for today, the Sun, and how, not only does the Sun sustain itself by processes of nuclear fission, similarly growth occurs by a process of cell division... Or as it says in the Zelator (p.13), "the notion of fission, which was so important to the Way of the Fool." Perhaps this represents what mythos meant in her mysterious painting 'Splitting'?

"William Blake had perceived his own inner double - what he called his spectre - but he also saw that the inner spirit of man should be given over to the expression of eternal joy. It is in this that the path of the Rosicrucian (which was that followed by Blake) and the path of the Fool seem to meet: they both see the inner darkness as a double, and the inner Light as creative energy.
"I realised just how inappropriate was the word shadow or even double, for the creature that dwelled within us was really more substantial than a shadow, and far too remote from humanity to be a human double. A more fitting term would be deadman.
"It is a most distressing stage on the path when one realizes that one is accompanied always and everywhere by a deadman, a clever deadman, able to usurp one's own being."
He laughed. "But I have at least pointed to the antidote, which is creative joy... Furthermore, the problem is that the deadman is essential. You see, David, the Fool has to get rid of the deadman before he can climb into heaven. It is the process which the esotericists call fission (or separation of the light and the dark): for development, the dark must give way to the light, yet before that is possible, they must separate. Only then is fission possible." (Mark Hedsel in The Zelator, pp. 48-9.)
;-))

Angels and stars

Don't you just love Aidan Aristos' take on the angels and stars theme of 9 of Swords card in the Voodoo Tarot (my card of this year)?

Email conversation with Ansur, of wyrd_crossings, and Ansur's blog

Ansur:
FOR THE NEW YEAR-PERHAPS WE NEED TO COME UP WITH A GREAT QUESTION.

Imagine that you are sitting on the floor in the "Spoiled Rotus" (an official Yogurt Position) one evening. You are deep in a meditation, contemplating your navel, when you are disturbed by a loud roaring/buzzing noise in the backyard. So you arise and go to back door and throw it open.

Me:
Hehe, I like how Ansur ALWAYS thinks "outside the box" and does not need these ('creative thinking') cards, that I personally found a bit silly (pace, Su and Tim!) ;-))

Ansur:
There, standing in front of you is a green, bug-eyed Alien Creature from the Galactic Center of Great Wisdom. Behind the creature is its transportation device, a glowing flying saucer, making metallic clicking sounds as it cools from its swift heated trip through the atmosphere.

Amazed at these unexpected sights, you are even more astonished when the creature, in a perfect Estonian accent, announces, "I am here to grant you the answer to one question. So quit thinking about the fuzz in your navel and begin contemplate one great, life changing question!"

Your mind runs through the gamut of possible questions, knowing that the answer to a great question could literally affect the rest of your life. Quickly, you discard the first thing that comes to you mind-How to stop your soufflés from dropping, or how to get in Mary-Ann's pants (would you have to steal them out of her lingerie drawer?). And then your Chaos training kicks in and you forget all about soufflés and Mary-Ann and you begin to focus your magically-trained mind.

Asking a Great Question could be the beginning of a wonderful adventure, full of exciting discoveries, and even free you from common errors. But asking such a question might also open the door to turmoil and you might be subjected to unknown and unpredictable situations.

And what if the answer is something you don't want to hear? What if the answer puts you outside the comforting walls of safety and security that you have built around yourself?

At this point, you might even look closely at the creature, wondering if it might be, in fact, an evil demon come to destroy you and your way of life - and then eat your soul.

Me:
He, evil demons don't scare me so much any more, having read Anne Rice's The Witching Hour, Ansur: EVERYTHING has its 'good' and 'bad' sides in the morally ambiguous multiverse in which we find ourselves ;-))

Ansur:
It takes bravery to ask great questions. Most people would prefer to not go looking for possible trouble and chance leaving behind the known and comfortable.

Perhaps to be a great magician, you must be willing to ask great questions and accept answers that ordinary people would immediately and automatically reject.

So what would your great question be?

Me:
Great freakin q, Ansur... will have to get back to you on that one, ok? After contemplating the lint in my navel for a bit, that is ;-))

"What the Bleep Do We Know!?" seems a great start, for a great q, however...! ;-))

Red Overtone Serpent

Sebi n'aimera pas cet image-ci, mais moi, je jure que celui-ci vient aussi de son blog favori, http://moscowinparis.blogspot.com/ ! 

from the adorable blog http://moscowinparis.blogspot.com/ ! Yes, it may well amount to a regular 'bitch' of a year? lol  

Yellow Self-Existing Seed

Hmm, I wonder if the old lady in room 10 getting up, DRESSED, to go to the letterbox, does not amount to some New Year's miracle of regeneration? In all the time I have lived here, I have only ever seen her shuffle out there in her nightie. Just her having dressed herself, and giving everyone New Year greetings, seems something of a small miracle, which I cannot help but quietly observe in passing... I mean, from that one image, don't you get the idea of today's glyph of the little seed uncurling from its husk to present itself, however briefly, to the sunlight? ;-))