Open the scroll and recite

 

Today's Sol Invictus (by Kim Huggens and Nic Phillips, Schiffer Publishing) draw reflects my start on several new projects all at once. A group of friends and I have decided to band together to support one another over the next 12 months, starting from today, as we each work on our own individual goals. 

The central card, Ace of Swords, clearly represents this new beginning. The Egyptian god, Thoth, the god of writing, knowledge and wisdom, seems entirely appropriate, as the group is an online group and all our shared support will take place in writing. The heiroglyphs on the card read, 'Look, their words are set and writing. Open the scrolls and recite.' You can see a quill writing on a scroll. It has written: 'Lover of wisdom,' 'I think therefore I am,' and 'Dare to know' in Latin. These are all famous phrases. Can you identify the author of each? :)  So here I am on day one, with my written goals preparing to take wing and fly up toward transformation, as represented by the butterflies in the card. Spoken words have always been thought to have the power of creation. So the directive here is not just to open the scroll and have a look, but to open the scroll and recite.

BUT...

Change is not fun for human beings. By our nature, we don't like it. We resist it. Even if we are the ones who intiated it and wanted it, we easily come to resent it. We can easily start to think how 'UNFAIR' it all is, and how 'UNFUN' it all is. Poor us, so put upon. This is what the Five of Coins represents here. It's a card that signifies feeling left out in the cold, shut out from all things good and comfortable and familiar and safe. This particular version of Five of Coins shows Lucifer having landed, charred and despairing, in the snow just after being cast from heaven.  This is one way my new projects could go. I could start to think how HARD it is to eat well, exercise, discipline myself to daily meditation, and all the other goals I've set could quickly come to seem like a big deprivation and self-imposed banishment from all things lovely. 

On the other hand, I can approach my new project with a Four of Wands spirit, as seen in the card to the right. The card depicts the celebration of the harvest in the form of a sacrifice to Agni, the Hindu god of fire and acceptor of sacrifices. The Four of Wands always depicts a celebration of sorts, and the security of firm foundations having been set by positive action and hard work. The people at the celebration are thanking the gods, but that wheat is a creation of man, through many generations of agriculture, and that bread is a result of the hard work of man working in community. The gods didn't just hand it to the celebrants. So, I see this as a celebration of the bounty of nature that has the potential to bring forth bread from the earth, and of the spirit of man who has the drive and ambition, skills and fortitude to make it happen, while retaining the humility to give thanks to the gods for the results of his own stubborn effort. 

Which will I do? I have a choice, each day really. Will I fall into despair and rebellion and cast myself out into failure, or will I put in the work having faith that the result will be something worthy of celebration?

The words of the scroll in the Ace of Swords are pointing toward the 4 of Wands card, the prism of light refracting from the swords hilt leads toward the 4 of Wands, the tip of the quill points toward it, and even the butterflies are fluttering in that direction. Clearly I am steered toward putting in the effort, reaping the reward, and celebrating it with my community.

So, here I go! Where will I be in a year? I've written it down, and today I open the scroll. And recite.