Line One: Spirit

Line One Spirit
Heart of the Situation-Princess of Swords
What to Leave in the Past - Nine of Cups
Others - Death
Advice- The Hermit

The Princess of Swords is Earth of Air. 'She is the stabilizing factor in the most erratic of elements. It is she who brings into materialization the thoughts and ideas of the Royal Air cards [the other Sword courts]. She has many of the same harsh characteristics of the Queen and the Prince, but her endurance and severity are even greater because they can be put into action on the physical plane. She is more direct and decisive than her brother the Prince, and her temper is inherited from her Mother. Avenging the wrath of the gods is one of her functions' (Golden Dawn Magical Tarot). Wow. She's not much like the Page of Swords in RWS then, who in my mind is something of a scholar who likes to argue both sides for the heck of it, latch on to a cause, make big speeches about injustice (Lisa Simpson, basically). This one's a bit of a Fury! But oh ho! Listen to this: 'The Princess of Swords lives by her ideas and principles. She is a stirrer-upper, an iconoclast. ... If dumb complacency sets in, the Princess will be the one to uproot it' (Cosmic Tarot book). The heart of the situation where my spirituality is concerned is the need to uproot dumb complacency.



This line of cards is telling me that I must root out my own complacency, shake myself out of Wish mode. The Nine of Cups is traditionally called the Wish card, and it represents here the dream of satiation, of fulfillment. The Cosmic Tarot book even mentions Sleeping Beauty, waiting to be kissed by her Prince Charming. Spiritual development doesn't just happen. It takes effort and yes, discipline. I feel the card is urging me to leave behind a dreamy mode of being in some sort of holding pattern. The Nine of Cups could very well point to the hazy routine contentment of all my days being more or less the same, running into one another, and thus time slipping past, weeks and weeks, without a single meditation session or even a thought to my spiritual path. That should be left behind.

Another stark truth here is to remind me that none of this comes from outside myself, symbolized by the Death card.  Other people, even sympathetic people, even very wise people, cannot help me in my spiritual practice. It is something I must do myself.

Which leads to the advice, The Hermit. The Golden Dawn title of this card is Magus of the Voice of the Light, the Prophet of the Gods. He represents communication between the Higher Self (of the Ethical Triad on the Tree of Life) and the Spiritual Self (on the Supernal Triad). The GD interpretation of this card is 'Wisdom sought for and obtained from above.'

So my chant will again be the Gayatri Mantra (which I'm pleased to say I actually did yesterday as planned):

Om...earth, sky, heaven (om bhur bhuva swaha)

the worthy source, fountain of all things, that gives us self-direction (tat savitur varenyam)

the glory and essence of that source, without which nothing can exist,

 we focus our minds to meditate on you (bhargo devasya dhimahi)

We ask for your presence and guidance to illuminate our minds (dhiyo yonah prachodayat)