O for a muse of fire - Princess of Wands in Thoth Tarot

Thoth Tarot

I have to admit I don't feel very fiery today, but still I've drawn Princess of Wands from the Thoth Tarot. Well, I've only been up for an hour, things could change.

But first, an update on yesterday. I drew 5 of Swords and 5 of Cups and was girding up my loins for whatever it was. The only thing that disappointed me yesterday was The Golden Tarot Visconti-Sforza (Mary Packard). It was the printing that disappointed me. A lot of the cards are printed crooked and offset. So many that I wrote to Book Depository asking them what they are going to do for me to resolve the issue. At first I thought, well, maybe this deck is meant to teach me to deal with imperfection, then I thought, no, screw that, I paid £16 for this and I'd like one that is properly printed. Another thing that disappointed me is the actual quality of the cards. They aren't as beautiful as I'd hoped. The borders are a dull dijon mustard colour, not luminous like they appear in the images in the accompanying book (not to mention how perfectly straight they all are in the book!) Also, I can see that the edges are going to chip with use. But that's all right, I rather like a worn-looking deck. I just want a replacement with straight cards. Of course, I'm a little worried that if they send me a replacement, I'll open it and it, too, will be printed crooked. But that's me getting ahead of myself. They haven't even said they'll replace it yet.

In fact, yesterday was a pretty good day because I have finally, after 11 weeks of waiting, received the timetable for my new job. I will be travelling to a different work base three days a week, even though my job is shared evenly 18.5 hrs between two work bases. Because of reduced opening hours in the second base, I have to go there more days a week. So, there will be commute costs. But never mind, at least I finally have the timetable, and it is doable with public transport (there is only one train per hour to this town and we are a one-car family, being impecuniary drudges of the local council.)

I think the Princess of Wands comes into play because I'm not only starting a new job, but I'm also applying for another job whilst waiting for my start date on this one. If all goes well and I get shortlisted for this other post, I will have an interview on 20th January, and fingers crossed, will only work at the new job for a very short while indeed. The second new job is actually a 12-month secondment in a completely different group of the council, doing completely different work, and it would be a very welcome change. So please send whatever energies you can zapping straight toward me as I submit my application on Monday. (I might do it this weekend, actually.)

Still, I don't particularly feel like I've got a tiger by the tail, nor do I tend to go flying through the flames in my birthday suit with giant antennae on my head like Mothra. So what's this card all about? 'We recognize her in the people we meet who are so energetically self-assured, so independent and irrationally audacious,' writes Lon Milo DuQuette in Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, 'that, while inspirational and thrilling, they can be downright dangerous to be around. When ill-dignified, she is the ultimate drama queen, who is so shallow and self-absorbed that it never occurs to her that nobody is sympathizing with her. If left unchecked, the princess of Wands gone bad will not only incinerate herself needlessly, in doing so she will set fire to the whole neighborhood.'  Crowley himself, in his Book of Thoth, says only that she is 'can be cruel, unreliable, faithless and domineering.' Nice!

What do I need to approach with a kind of ruthless, self-absorbed enthusiasm today? We shall see!