difficulty. He must either cut his losses by abandoning all that he
has accomplished so far or press on with the uncertainty that any
further investment could also prove futile as in the end he might
only attain a scant and unsatisfactory harvest after investing much
more time and effort and money.
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MEDITATION
The restrictive power of Saturn has a negative impact on material
growth in the earth sign of Taurus bringing with it a period of
unexpected stagnation that undercuts even the best planning. The
will must struggle against the desire to abandon all effort when
things are not turning out as planned and summon its inner
reserves of strength to press on even if the ultimate outcome
remains in doubt. In such a situation we must learn to clearly see
how the possibility of success or failure depends on the right
decisions being made and the right actions being taken at the right
time.
INTUITIVE CLOUDS
When The Seven of Pentacles is revealed Upright in your
reading, its meaning(s) may correspond to: little growth after much
work and effort; success not attained; anxiety over a potential
material loss; an advice to remain cautious about lending money at
this time; the possibility of financial success growing dimmer; a
stagnant relationship that is going nowhere; indecision concerning
any possible potential for further growth at your employment; a
need to consider abandoning poor financial investments; walking
away with what you can salvage at the moment.
When The Seven of Pentacles is revealed Reversed in your
reading, its meaning(s) may correspond to: some gain after much
work and effort; wasting your time and talent on unprofitable
schemes; a lack of foresight preventing any real progress; foolishly
acting on poor advice; making a wrong decision; poor planning
leading to an unexpected downturn; a lack of enterprise creating a
climate of failure; personal vanity preventing the growth of love;
problems due to a lack of industry; having a distaste for real work;
potential financial problems due to lack of income; an advice to
remain cautious about lending money at this time.
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The Eights
EIGHTS
Eights represent progress, improvement and success. They signify
a regeneration and reorganization of energy. The Will awaits an
influx of creative energy so regeneration can occur and evolution
can move forward; the Soul confronts its malaise and must seek a
path that will lead to emotional renewal; the Mind discovers itself
in a prison of its own creation and must seek the inner energy
necessary to free itself and the Earth discovers that the way to
improvement and success lies in being prepared.
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The Mirror of the Moment
THE EIGHT OF WANDS
The Lord of Swiftness
Mercury in Sagittarius
DESCRIPTION AND SYMBOLISM
On a cloudless day a flight of eight flowering Wands sails across a
clear blue sky and above an open countryside descending as they
draw near to the end of their course. A gentile stream flows
through the lush countryside over which the Wands travel and in
the distance a castle sits on the crest of a hill. The moment of their
arrival is rapidly approaching and they must soon land. The mind
must unite with the expanding energy of Sagittarius so the mental
awareness may grow sufficiently to assimilate and understand and
utilize the creative energies or ideas when they finally arrive at
their destination.
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MEDITATION
Immersing the rational Mercury mind in the expanding energies of
Sagittarius is the prerequisite of a self consciousness that must
discover the strength of will and clarity of perception necessary for
rapid decision making and purposeful action when confronted with
the imminent arrival of powerful and change invoking information,
intuitive ideas, news or material circumstances. With this enhanced
perception we intuitively know when the moment is right to
proceed.
insight necessary for matters to turn out successfully and assure
any change set in motion will be a change for the better.
INTUITIVE CLOUDS
When The Eight of Wands is revealed Upright in your reading,
its meaning(s) may correspond to: a need for mental expansion; an
awareness that change is rapidly approaching; a need for
immediate action on your part; the arrows of love swiftly
approaching; an end to delay and the beginning of progress; a
change for the better arriving soon; opening up your mind to new
ideas; the need to move quickly in an important matter; good news
arriving; a long sought after goal finally coming into reach; the
need to act decisively before an important opportunity passes you
by.
When The Eight of Wands is revealed Reversed in your reading,
its meaning(s) may correspond to: a need to take the immediate
action necessary to prevent an impending catastrophe; a refusal to
move forward; the arrows of jealousy coming to impale you;
facing up to the fact that the fateful moment of decision has finally
arrived; losing an employment opportunity due to inaction; a
failure to see the forest for the trees; being unwilling to accept a
coming change in a relationship; ignoring important financial
information that is right before you; a refusal to see the need to
move forward.
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THE EIGHT OF CUPS
The Lord of Abandoned Success
Saturn in Pisces
DESCRIPTION AND SYMBOLISM
Against a darkening sky a lone traveler turns his back on all the
pleasure he has successfully experienced and sets out on a solitary
journey climbing upwards out of a remote inland shoal whose
shallow waters flow among strange mountainous rock formations
emerging from still blue waters. His back is towards us as he
begins his upward climb. He is clothed in a red cape and boots and
in his right hand holds a walking stick to assist him on his journey
through this barren and inhospitable terrain. Eight cups stand to his
rear, five in a bottom row and a row of three sitting atop them, all
of which appear to be completely empty. The eerie scene is lit by
the light of a strange combination of the Moon in both its fullness
and decline whose somber face stares down at the solitary pilgrim
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as he sets out on his journey to an unknown destination.
MEDITATION
Saturn acting within the emotional waters of Pisces brings the
suffering of self undoing to all those who are fated to be held in its
cold and remorseless grasp. All attachments to that which has
become devoid of meaning must be dissolved and left behind so
the process of regenera
tion may move forward even if one must
abandon previous pleasures and set off on an uncertain and perhaps
more difficult path. We must discover a path to the spiritual
dimension of reality and acknowledge this reality as a natural part
of our being so that it will be able to fulfill its important role in our
lives.
INTUITIVE CLOUDS
When of The Eight Cups is revealed Upright in your reading, its
meaning(s) may correspond to: walking away from heavy
emotional burdens; abandoning old pleasures in order to find new
meaning in life; setting out on a new path of self discovery; a need
to reevaluate your previous successes; deciding to explore a new
path to success; apathy towards what previously gave pleasure;
leaving an emotionally or sexually unsatisfying relationship;
walking away from an unhappy career; a search for greater inner
emotional strength; escaping emotional stagnation in your personal
life; disillusionment with your present employment; clinging to
memories of lost pleasures; abandoning a materialistic lifestyle in
order to undertake a spiritual journey.
When The Eight Cups is revealed Reversed in your reading, its
meaning(s) may correspond to: remaining stuck in an emotional
prison; an interest in success being reborn; an inability to move
away from bad emotional circumstances; commencing the pursuit
of a more active way of life; a sacrifice being required to attain a
distant goal; clinging to memories of lost pleasures instead of
walking on; abandoning a spiritual journey for a materialistic
lifestyle.
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THE EIGHT OF SWORDS
The Lord of Bondage
Jupiter in Gemini
MEDITATION AND SYMBOLISM
A tightly bound and blindfolded woman with her hands tied behind
her back stands alone on a desolate and marshy inland shoal where
she is partially surrounded by eight erect swords whose points are
thrust deeply into the ground. She appears isolated and alone and
stands exiled far from the castle standing on a high cliff in the
distance which may be her home. The sky is foreboding – a
cloudless grey - and she stands with one foot in the water and the
other on a small patch of yellow in the sand.
MEDITATION
The fiery spiritual growth energies of Jupiter expand in the mental
sign of Gemini fueling the inner exploration necessary to discover
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the self imposed restrictions that blind us, bind us and confine us
to exile from our true self. When we turn inward and let Jupiter’
s
light illuminate a pathway to our true self we find the strength
necessary to break free of the restraints in which we have bound
ourselves or which bind us from without. No situation is hopeless
and whether our bondage was created by our own thoughts or by
the circumstances in which we find ourselves a way to regain our
freedom can be found if we can raise ourselves up to the higher
level of consciousness. There we can discover the mental energy
and emotional clarity necessary to reclaim our lost freedom.
INTUITIVE CLOUDS
When The Eight of Swords is revealed Upright in your reading,
its meaning(s) may correspond to: insecurity and self doubt
creating self imprisonment; fear of moving out of a difficult
situation; struggling under the weight of too many restrictions;
seeing no way out of a situation; looking for the mental power
necessary to escape your bondage; expanding your inner vision; a
need for greater inner self insight; feeling imprisoned in a hopeless
relationship; a need to escape the bondage of a bad job; being
bound by inner fears and anxieties.
When The Eight of Swords is revealed Reversed in your reading,
its meaning(s) may correspond to: an escape from bondage into
new
freedom;
finding a new
freedom
from fear and self
imposed restrictions; ceasing to be closed minded about your
situation; problems being resolved; a new beginning becoming
possible; a new hope
and promise
for
the
future; taking
responsibility
for
yourself
and
ceasing
to
blame
outer
circumstances; a need for mental expansion.
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THE EIGHT OF PENTACLES
The Lord of Prudence
Sun in Virgo
DESCRIPTION AND SYMBOLISM
A young artisan sits alone on a sturdy wooden bench and is hard at
work carving pentacles, six of which are attached to a nearby post
and hang prominently on display. He is completely absorbed in his
work and is concentrating all of his energy on carving the Pentacle
he is presently working on. He has chosen to work by himself and
on the outskirts of the town for he has come to that point in life
where he has learned that he has to look after his own interests and
build up the assets he will need to sustain his life and secure his
future. He is not being selfish. He is only being prudent about the
realities of the world and the necessity for caution and staying
ahead of the game.
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MEDITATION
The self conscious Spirit expresses itself in the image of the Sun in
Virgo, the sign of material practicality, where we refine the fruits
of our long and diligent labor and learn the need for caution and
prudence in our daily affairs as well as the imperative of preparing
for an uncertain future. The fruits of our thoughts and labor cannot
be wasted but must be prudently refined and conserved so they
may serve us in our present life and secure our future. We must
learn to be good managers of that which is entrusted to us and how
to exercise good judgment when dealing in the practical affairs of
the world. Then we can develop the prudence and foresight
necessary to remain standing when the less prudent have fallen by
the wayside.
INTUITIVE CLOUDS
When The Eight of Pentacles is revealed Upright in your
reading, its meaning(s) may correspond to: making an industrious
effort to fulfill your current and future material needs; careful
management of the resources entrusted to you; the correct time for
a profitable undertaking; being more prudent with your available
resources; exercising greater foresight in your life; putting in the
hard work necessary to make a current relationship succeed; a need
for greater professional accomplishment; exhibiting a heightened
sense of industry at your job; applying yourself to the acquisition
of a profitable skill; an advice to make only conservative financial
decisions at this time.
When The Eight of Pentacles is revealed Reversed in your
reading, its meaning(s) may correspond to: wasting your time;
giving no thought to
the future; a failure to develop your own
talents and
innate abilities; remaining stuck in a dead end
relationship; a dislike of the hard work necessary to succeed; a lack
of industry on your job; selfishly hoarding resources needed by
all; turning your skills towards dishonest ends; wasting your time
in a dead end job; pursuing unproductive career goals; being too
lazy to ever succeed; utilizing your skills to accomplish evil ends.
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The Nines
NINES
Nines represent the crystallization of the most essential and
fundamental character of the individual element and symbolize a
powerful energy that can bring either good or ill fortune depending
upon the response of the individual. The Will stands ready to
defend and preserve all it has attained; the Soul reaps the harvest of
pleasure it so ardently desires; the Mind becomes trapped in its
own inner conflicts and the Earth rejoices in material security and
the solitary enjoyment of earned comfort and luxury.
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THE NINE OF WANDS
The Lord of Strength
Moon in Sagittarius
DESCRIPTION AND SYMBOLISM
Against a deep blue sky an injured man stands alone on a solid
foundation and supports himself with a single wand as he stands
alert and ready before a stand of eight flowering Wands that form a
protective wall to his rear. He appears fatigued but his determined
and wary eyes are fixed in the distance as though watching for the
approach of a potential threat. His lunar instinctual will has
expanded in strength through an infusion of Sagittarian spiritual
energy and has given him a “do or die”commitment to defend his
Wands even if it means making a last stand and defending his
foothold with his own life. Beyond the fence of Wands and to his
rear lies a pristine and peaceful landscape of lush green hills set
against an endless blue sky.
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MEDITATION
The potency and vigor of our will to survive is strengthened by the
fiery and expansive energy of Sagittarius. Emotional commitment