Deva of Air - Breathe, You Are Alive

Deva of Air, Devas of Creation, Conway

Will they ever come to me again, 
The long dances,
On through the dark till the dim stars wane?
Shall I feel the dew on my throat
And stream of wind in my hair?

-- Euripedes, The Bacchae (qtd in The Devas of Creation: Working with the Energies of the Universe, Conway)

It's the last day of Devas of Creation week, and very glad I am to see something less gloomy today. We have Deva of Air, one of the Elemental cards in this deck. (There is also Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit). These, according to Conway in the companion book, are the building blocks of matter.

In this card, we see the upward movement of Air, as it morphs into a humanoid shape --the better to relate to, my dear! A female figure wends its way upward, having woven her spell and escaped all who wished to keep her down by consuming her.

'The deva points out that a couple of hours of real air will revive us, blow away the cobwebs, and allow us to think more clearly. Go out, run up a hill, fly a kite, find the 'long, long dances' and remember how good life can be,' writes Cilla Conway in the companion book.

This card is about liberation from cares.

How can the element of Air liberate us from cares?

In Thich Nhat Hanh's book 'Breathe, You Are Alive: The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing,' the Four Foundations of Mindfulness are discussed --

1. The body ('Form').  The practice of mindful breathing brings awareness to the body. We can then reconcile ourselves to our body, and allow healing to take place.

2. Our feelings. The practice of mindful breathing brings awareness of our feelings, and it is only through awareness that we can recognise them, reconcile ourselves to them, calm them, transform them, and heal them.

3. Mental formations. This concept is rather complex. In a nutshell, a mental formation is a  conditioned response to an object of experience. One might say it is a response based on our perceptions, a reaction to a trigger. This is where Buddhism sounds a lot like Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. You see clearly the pattern of your mental formations in response to some trigger. You can recognise the conditions that brought the mental formation to you (this practice is called Vipasana).

4. Perception. When the mental formation is recognised, then the perception can be challenged. Most suffering comes from wrong perception. If we look at the true nature of reality, we are released from suffering based on wrong perceptions. Form, feelings and mental formations are all the objects of our perceptions.

How is this so? I perceive my body as a whole, when in fact it is an aggregate of many parts and cannot function without the system in place. At a deeper level, I perceive my body as solid, when in fact it is made up mostly of liquid. Even deeper, I perceive my body as material when in fact it is made up of atoms containing mostly empty space.

I perceive my emotions as real and singular, when in fact they are a physical response to complex stimuli.

I perceive my mental formations as logical and right, when in fact they are skewed by my perceptions of the way things are or ought to be.

All of this insight comes of focusing on the breath. Or it can. And that's how the Deva of Air can deliver us from care.

This is a little more thorough than engaging in the distraction of running up a hill or flying a kite, but those techniques also have their place.

What can you do today to help you rise above forms, feelings, mental formations and perceptions that try to tether you to suffering?

We don't need no stinkin' astrology :D

Pluto, Devas of Creation, Cilla Conway 

Well, it just keeps getting better and better with the Devas of Creation this week. But I have to admit, I have been feeling pretty bleak. Apparently, this card depicts Pluto and its moon or 'satellite', Charon. Conway says that Pluto is Hades and Charon is the Ferryman (their namesakes), and that Pluto 'rules over the collective as well as the personal, particularly in relation to power and its misuse. It challenges stagnant systems and brings about change, death and rebirth.'

You know what, I get a little tired of every card in every oracle deck being about 'transformation and rebirth'. And I don't see how this particular planet could be about either of those. I mean, I know that in astrology, Pluto represents the decay and transformation part of the life cycle, but seriously, what doesn't?

The scale shown between Charon and Pluto is about right, as Charon is said to be half the diameter of Pluto, but they bear very little resemblance to one another. Pluto has the reddish colour, but Charon has a lighter colour, and their compositions are different. Though scientist believe they were born in a collision billions of years ago, 'in many ways they seem more like strangers than siblings', according to NASA:

'A high-contrast array of bright and dark features covers Pluto’s surface, while on Charon, only a dark polar region interrupts a generally more uniform light gray terrain. The reddish materials that color Pluto are absent on Charon. Pluto has a significant atmosphere; Charon does not. On Pluto, exotic ices like frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide have been found, while Charon’s surface is made of frozen water and ammonia compounds. The interior of Pluto is mostly rock, while Charon contains equal measures of rock and water ice.'

So if we wanted to be more literal in interpreting this card (and I'm growing to believe that literal analysis of a card generally leads to more accurate figurative interpretations), we need to think about the distance Pluto is from the sun, and its tiny size, and the controversy surrounding its classification, and its lengthy orbital period of 248 Earth years, and the 'chaos and pandemonium' of the orbits of its moons, which scientists call 'beyond disorganised -- it's unexplainable.' Pluto's gravitational pull seems to have no influence on them. There's certainly a story there, don't you think? 

See, it's so much more exciting and filled with possibility to consider the literal meanings of things, rather than turning to esoteric or traditional associations. And you get to possibilities beyond the usual, 'change is ahead, something dies and is reborn' trope. Well, duh. That's the only thing we ever knew on Earth -- birth, life and death. Of course we interpret everything as ultimately meaning that. But it makes for a predictable and ho-hum reading. What if your reader pulled this card and said to you -- 'Wow, you feel really isolated and like the things going on around you just don't make any sense, everything's chaotic, isn't it?' You could even then go on to look at the crazy behaviour of individual Pluto moons and see what the sitter relates those to in his or her life. Wouldn't that be a better springboard than 'Hmm, I see an opportunity for death and rebirth here. What's dying and what's trying to be reborn, do you think?' Ugh, it's so old hat. It's so blah blah blah. 

Sure, it means that the reader needs to have a good general knowledge of lots of things, and willing to do some research. But I'd rather read about the real Pluto than memorise a bunch of esoteric meanings, personally. I've done the esoteric thing, but astrology never was a favourite of mine, and I've been unable to beat it into my head. Now I'm realising I don't really have to. It's useful sometimes, but it's not the only way. 

Ah, I'd like to keep rambling, but I've run out of blogging time -- gotta get ready for work. 

Today's the day to think about being way out there, far from the sun, and surrounded by truly bizarre events, which for you are so familiar they seem normal. What is the sun you are far from? What are these truly bizarre events? You'll have to look at them from a different perspective to see them for what they are -- really weird! Pluto's stuck with its weirdnesses, but we're not planets, so we're not stuck. But maybe we like it there. Think about it! How can we make it work for us, rather than against us? Or is it working against us? Is it all just a matter of point of view? Think on, boys and girls! 

You gotta break some eggs

Growth/Decay from Devas of Creation, C Conway

Look who's turned up again. I can't say I'm particularly glad to see this card, because the events that unfolded last time I drew it were not at all fun and not something that I am prepared to share on this blog. But suffice to say that an 'anchor' in my life did unexpectedly prove to be a bit more rotten than I'd thought.

I just can't look at this image without picturing an egg and its chalaza, the white structure that serves as the anchor as the egg grows and develops (assuming it is fertile, which actually most commercial eggs are not).

You can see from the diagram how the chalaza anchors the egg yolk in the middle of the egg:

I can't help but think there is some wisdom in this. It must have some meaning for me, or else I would not have drawn this card twice, nor would I have seen it as an egg broken open in a bowl both times. 

I suppose when this card comes up, it is time to really take a good look around what has been supporting and sustaining equilibrium for you as you float in your safe comfort zone. It must be better to learn it's rotten before you shrivel up and fade away for its lack. Or worse yet, if we follow the egg analogy, get slammed around inside your shell until you are destroyed. 

There's a world outside the shell. The chalaza was keeping you anchored in the shell, which may have been the place for you for a time, but the world outside the shell is real, too. 

Going back to the card, the yolk in the bowl with the black chalaza is surrounded by swirling energy. Maybe being freed from the shell is the best thing that could have happened. Staying inside would have led only to death. But being freed suggests transformation into something else entirely. 

I know it seems a little silly to keep chasing this egg thing, but it's how I see the card and it's worth contemplation, even though it does not make a point for point tidy analogy. 

How am I no longer anchored, even though I thought I was? 

What structure, thing, person, or idea did I count on as my anchor? How has it gone bad? How is it failing to do the job I thought it was doing? 

Now that I'm free of that tether, what do I do? Where can I go? What does it mean for the direction of my life from now on? 

I can't answer those questions right now. I'm not sure what they point to. Or maybe I'm not ready to let myself go there. How about you? Can you answer those questions right now? And what does this contemplation reveal for you? 

Big Blue Marble

Gaia, Devas of Creation, Cilla Conway

This card reminds me of a TV show from when I was a little kid: The Big Blue Marble. It aired in the early 70s and here's the theme tune:

The earth's a big blue marble
when you see it from out there
The sun and moon declare
our beauty's very rare

Folks are folks and kids are kids
we share a common name
We speak a different way
but work and play the same

We sing pretty much alike
Enjoy spring pretty much alike
Peace and love we all understand
And laughter, we use the very same brand

Our differences, our problems
From out there there's not much trace
Our friendships they can place
While looking at the face
Of the big blue marble in space.

Bad egg - Devas of Creation

'Growth/Decay' Devas of Creation, Cilla Conway

Yesterday I drew 'Life and Death' and today's draw is 'Growth/Decay'. I detect a theme here.  Subtle, Devas of Creation. Subtle!

The image shows a swirl of energy creating a golden egg shape, and into it creeps a dark shadow of badness. It looks a lot like the little white blobs attached to an egg yolk, only this one has turned black. (By the way, that little thing in an egg is called a chalaza, and it is not a chicken embryo or anything to do with rooster's contribution, but serves to anchor the yolk to the two ends of the egg to prevent it being sloshed around. If you break an egg and it's very visible, you've got a fresh egg. I pick them out anyway, because they gross me out.)

I don't know how I'd react if the 'chalaza' of the egg were black!

What do you do if your 'anchor' has gone bad?
Do you die? Or do you float, free of constraints, and become something else entirely?

On the other hand, the black smudge also reminds me of an umbilical cord. It should die and shrivel up after the baby is born, but what would happen if it died while the baby is like in this image, just forming? Whatever happened to it, it wouldn't manifest as a baby -- but would its energy manifest elsewhere as something else? Ultimately energy is neither produced nor destroyed (that's straight from the Prajnaparamita Sutra), and so it doesn't just disappear. Everything becomes something else. Everything that ever was something else first, and will be something else after. That's why there's no such thing as loss, except in our own perception which is limited by our physical brains and rather dull five senses.

Who thought I'd be contemplating an egg yolk with a black 'chalaza' this morning. I certainly didn't.

This cards invites thought. What plans or germs of growth am I losing the foundations for? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? When is loss not loss but opportunity? Is there anything I should ditch before I even get started on it? Should my plans make an abrupt change from what they started out to be?


(Go on, google 'chalazae'. You know you want to. How do you think I found out the word??)

Devas of Creation - Eternity

'Eternity' Devas of Creation, Cilla Conway

This week I'd like to take a closer look at the Devas of Creation by Cilla Conway. I don't know how well they lend themselves to daily draws, but we'll see.

It's Monday morning and I've drawn this rather muddy-looking card called 'Eternity'.

To me, it looks grey and cloudy, like a rainy day, and there's a vague, cloaked figure looming, and the squiggle in front looks rather like an embryo.

So we do seem to have Alpha and Omega represented here. The shadowy place between life and death, with symbols of both swirling together. And in fact this card is called 'Deva of Eternity, of Life and Death.'

According to the companion book, the appearance of this card can signify 'an important message from your non-physical self, or partnership, guidance, or soul connection.' Or it could represent 'repeated cyclical patterns you need to be aware of, or issues of life and death.'

Well, I just cannot imagine what this could be pointing to, unless it's the fact that is Monday and the chance to start a new 'diet' to try to lose some of this ever-increasing fatness.

Am I hovering between some beginning and ending? Is something coming to a close in my life? Is something starting up? Maybe today's the day I find out something...Or maybe it's just a card with some swirls on it.

Maybe both.

The Great Story Beads and the Devas of Creation

A year or so ago, I ran across a wonderful project, bookmarked it, then forgot about it. I remembered it this weekend and want to do something with it. It's a project known as Great Story Beads, also called Earth Beads, Universe Story Beads, Cosmic Rosary, Cosmala, Big History Beads, and probably other names. These beads commemorate the 'epic of evolution'. They highlight the actual story of the Universe to help participants experience wonder and a sense of real belonging in the vast cosmos and the adventure of life, including the events of our own life, thus ensuring we see our personal story as an integral part of a larger story -- and that we ourselves are an expression of the Universe.

The project involves identifying key events on the timeline of creation, and finding beads to represent each, then creating a necklace or mala.

Watch this video featuring one of the pioneers of the Great Story Beads:




And here are some websites for further reading:

Ritualising Big History

Evolution Beads 

Great Story Beads

I really love this idea and want to make such a mala. It got me thinking about another resource that attempts to tell a version of the Great Story, and that's Cilla Conway's Devas of Creation. This deck is not as literal in its portrayal of the Epic of Evolution, focusing instead on 'devas'. Conway describes them as 'primordial energies, invisible energy patterns in the universe, which contain the blueprints for every aspect of existence, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the universe itself. The are multi-dimensional beings, each one part of the Implicate Order that physicist David Bohm talks about, where the Universe is simultaneously whole, and all its enfolded layers. Thus every deva contains within itself the whole Cosmos, the holographic image of Divinity. We ourselves are an integral part of that underlying order: a unique particle of the Divine Mind.'

Devas of Creation

The Devas of Creation contain the following cards:

The Unmanifest--
The Source
The Shining Ones
The Fundamental Laws
The Elements
Numinous and Ambivalent Qualities
Shadow Energies

The Physical Universe--
The Heavenly Bodies
Devas of the Seasons
Devas of Life
Devas of Earth
Devas of the Threshold
Into the Next Dimension

There are so many ways to organise your Great Story Beads. There are lots of timelines available online to help you plan what to put on your mala. And then you add beads to represents events in your own life.

It's just a fantastic project!

So now I need to find out where to source BEADS. Any ideas?

Magical working

So about my spell. At the London Tarot Festival I attended a Tarot Magic workshop conducted by my friend, Chloe McCracken. Chloe and I have similar ideas about magic, and a similar approach to using tarot cards for spellcasting, so I was on familiar ground in her workshop (which I would highly recommend, by the way). We were asked to think of an area we would like to change, and to work on this layout:

1 - The Situation/Issue                        3 - Energy Needed                     2 - Desired Outcome

I have often used this layout both for tarot readings and for spell work; it is called a 'bridge' layout, because the card in the middle serves as the bridge to get you from where you are (1) to where you want to be (2).

I decided that what I'd like right now is 'motivation to return to exercise and healthy eating.' We then went through our cards selecting what card best represents our situation/issue. I settled on 8 of Swords, because I reasoned that it is my thoughts/attitude that keeps me trapped in this situation, and that I could certainly get myself out of it -- if I could break free of my self-imposed bindings. (I didn't yet realise what those were, but I was soon to find out!)

For desired outcome, I tried drawing for it, but I got a series of discouraging cards that to me were telling me now is not the right time to work a spell on this topic: Hanged Man, 10 of Wands, Death, Emperor. I gave up on drawing and just went through the deck and selected 7 of Pentacles, with the rationale that a good outcome would be the patience to keep going with a program that is progressive. For the middle card, energy needed, I couldn't select a card. If I knew what energy I needed to succeed, I guess I wouldn't need to resort to magic or tarot to solve this problem! So I decided to draw for it.

I shuffled the cards and fanned them out face down, closed my eyes and moved my hand above them slowly, feeling for that small tug of energy that would lead me to the right card. I drew Ace of Wands and laid it in the middle.

Ace of Wands! Oh! I don't need to 'return' to any program, I realised. I need something completely fresh. This clarified the 8 of Swords to me. I am trapped in thinking that what worked for me before is appropriate now. And believing that, I have become disappointed and discouraged with myself that I can't do the workouts that I did ten years ago, and that I have no interest in the kind of eating program I was on ten years ago. The Ace of Wands told me that I don't need to redo what I did before -- in fact, doing that is the exact opposite of what I should be doing. This also clarified all those odd 'desired outcome' cards. If I tried to do what I did before, the outcome would be unsuccessful, a burden, etc.

This of course meant that 7 of Pentacles no longer made sense in my spell. So I decided to draw for it. I repeated my process for drawing a card and drew -- 3 of Wands. This reinforced my belief that the cards were telling me to open myself to new ways of thinking and new ways of eating and new types of exercise. I must let go of the past and look to the future, see what's out there, see what is right for me NOW, rather than trying to repeat what I did before. This might sound obvious, but I actually never thought of it. I had just been telling myself, 'I know how to do this. I've done it before. I just need to do it again. Why can't I do it again?' And I was trapped in this circle, have been trapped here, for quite some time. So I did need the cards to wake me up to the possibility that there is more than one way to do this!

We were then asked to make a few notes on a ritual and to start a to-do list of practical actions to take in support of our spell. We ran out of time fast! But I came to some illuminating conclusions as a result of this simple exercise. My notes from the workshop:

I've been ruminating about this draw and this spell all week. I'm still pondering my approach to the spell, but my altar is now set up, and I am feeling ready this weekend to continue working on my practical actions list and to take the spell forward. 

Today, I thought it would be interesting to draw from the Devas of Creation about this spell. As I shuffled, this card lept from the pack and landed face down on the floor:

 It is the Deva of the Valley (Devas of Creation, Cilla Conway 2013). The card reinforces my softly-softly approach, my need to be gentle with myself and to take my time in this working. 'The Deva of the Valley indicates that we will find a place that nurtures, supports and protects us,' says the companion book. 'The Deva is here to show that everything is possible. It's a soft, fertile place of healing.'

I have a to-do list that begins with clearing away the old to make way for new discoveries. That is why I am not creating a dream board before I start this working. The dream board will be created as I discover each new technique and idea to incorporate into my new program of movement and nutrition. But I do have a central image now -- I will start to collect pictures of rainbows.

(ETA: I just found this old post about this very topic -- from two years ago! Examining Influences.)

(ETA again: Thursday 16 July is the New Moon, and a Blue Moon. The New Moon is in Cancer, and its associated is Chariot and Queen of Cups -- so an auspicious time for a spell about new starts, I should think!)

Three times in one week I've drawn the Magician

Intuitive Tarot and Devas of Creation (both by Cilla Conway)

I have drawn Magician again. That's the third time this week. I decided to draw a Deva card with the card this time instead of after, and look at them side by side. The Deva card is called Element of Earth. So we have the Magician card combined with Earth. I feel pretty certain I know what this third appearance of the Magician is trying to tell me. It's a stern message, a strong prodding. It's trying to kick me in the pants.

I have to tell you, my magical working planned at London Tarot Festival was to find motivation to eat well and exercise. And since I selected my cards and started a to-do list at that workshop, I have eaten cookies and chocolate and baked a cake and eaten chips, and done no exercise. I haven't even yet tidied the bedroom and redecorated my altar. I've just ignored my intention to work some magic in this area. I keep shuffling and drawing the Magician all this week. Do I want to follow through on this or not? It seems to be asking me. It's up to me.

So today, I draw it again, this time with the Element of Earth Deva. 'When this Deva appears in a reading...it may be a timely reminder to notice what is going on in your body, have a massage or generally just be aware of the physical world around you,' says the Devas of Creation companion book. Of course, thinking what I'm thinking about, the image on this card reminds me of digestive processes and fleshiness. Glub glub. Squish squish. Also, sluggish arteries, clogged with fat! Am I going sweep this away, burn it with the fire of exercise and proper nutrition? Or am I going to keep eating cake and waddling around, not knowing what it's doing to my internal organs, blood sugar level and future? It's my choice. It's my choice.

Okay, so I'm going to work today, but I've set up my altar and here it is: a yellow candle to represent burning fat (!), tokens of the four Elements (in their actual positions -- when I sit at my altar, east and north are behind me to the left and right -- that's just the way the room is orientated), and my 3 chosen tarot cards. I have used the Giant Rider Waite, because they're HOOGE. So I've got my fiery colours and all my things are in place:

More on this later. Have a great weekend!

Be free.

The Devas of Creation by Cilla Conway (Self-published 2013)

Today I drew The Magician from Intuitive Tarot again. I take this as a reminder that I have not yet acted on the magical working that I was inspired to take during the recent London Tarot Festival, nor have I yet changed my altar. (I have the intention to do this either this afternoon or over the weekend.)

I then drew a card from Devas of Creation and got this guy. He is titled Eros, but Cilla refers to him as 'Lumiel' throughout the text in the companion book. He is said to represent masculine energy...but that name Lumiel set off my Christian-training alarm bells. I know enough to see at once that 'Lumi-el' means 'light of God', which sounds an awful lot like Lucifer, 'Light Bearer',  who is linked to, some say is, Satan. So that triggered my whole knee-jerk 'this occult stuff is the Devil in disguise and what kind of stuff am I messing with here and are all these occult folks trying to trick me into worshiping demons and going straight to hell' response. I have heard someone say you can't be an ex-Christian, just a recovering Christian. I personally know what they mean by that. Thirty-five years of conditioning is hard to shake.

Next, I spent a most unsatisfying half hour googling Lumiel and reading the thoughts of people in various forums asking each other about Lumiel, Lucifer, and sharing what they've heard or read about this issue, all of them fretting and trying to get it right or get it straight in their heads. It got sillier and sillier to me, until at last I remembered my personal position on this sort of thing: I don't believe any of these beings are real. I don't believe in any literal gods, goddesses, angels, faeries, and so on. I believe in energy, but any personality or individuality we give to it is of our own human creation. It's our attempt to conceptualise what we cannot conceive of due to the limitations of our organic brains and finite awareness. In my view, these 'beings' are not separate entities but emanations, like solar flares -- just as a solar flare is an emanation of the sun, these concepts are emanations of 'energy'. I don't need to worry about who Lumiel is. Lumiel isn't anything -- Lumiel is a personification, one of our feeble attempts to conceptualise an aspect of energy. That's it. And I'm not going to hell because there is no hell. And I'm not being tempted by demons because there are no such things as demons. Lumiel isn't Satan because there is no Lumiel and no Satan. This is just stuff made up by folks, because folks like to think they've got everything figured out, and the tidier and more 'figured out' something is, the more likely it is to be something that's completely made up. This is my belief. And what a relief!

And so, Eros, or Lumiel, or even Lucifer if you want to call him that, seems to have been here today with the Magician from the Intuitive Tarot to remind me that I am my own Magician -- we are all our own Magicians, and the Magician is not only the 'master of the elements', he is also a trickster. And we can trick ourselves -- we can pull the wool over own eyes, blind ourselves with the details of our beliefs, bog ourselves down with illusions, worry and fret over memorizing and adhering to someone else's fantasies, which are no more relevant or real than our own. This understanding is not a bad thing, this is a good thing. If everything, all these systems, all these beliefs, are just various attempts to understand and make contact with the very same energy (and I believe they are), then all can be equally valid. They are as useful or as useless as we allow them to be. Which means -- do your own thing. Make your own magic anyway you want. Any way that is meaningful to you. You have all the power, as much power as anyone else. Use it. Believe or don't believe. Believe fervently one day and reject it all the next. Take it up again next week. Do whatever you want, feel whatever you want, look at things however you want, knowing that it's all in the attempt to get closer to something huge and real, that we can feel but can never accurately conceive of -- not while bound to this incarnation. Just do some magic with it.  Don't worry about it. Be free.

'I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare. My business is to create.' ~ William Blake, Jersualem the Emanation of the Giant Albion  

Frankly my dear...

Intuitive Tarot by Cilla Conway (St Martins Press 2004)

This Page of Discs most assuredly is not like the Page of Pentacles -- it's not like the Princess of Discs from Thoth, either, the 'Malkuths of Malkuths,' as DuQuette calls her. Cilla Conway suggests in the companion book that this Page of Discs is holding a mirror with an ornate back, but instead of looking into she is angling it toward the window. Conway calls her 'the impartial observer', and says she is a 'thoughtful, quiet person who reveals themselves as unexpectedly earthy, witty and perceptive.' She's certainly not like any Page of Pentacles or Princess of Discs in my experience. This is sort of a new character for me. I'm trying to get my head around who she is.

I can relate to the 'impartial observer' part. Yesterday, some stuff went down at work. I need to stay out of it, keep my thoughts to myself. The times, they are a-changin', and some folk don't like it. Fortunately I am not directly involved, and I'd like to keep it that way, as much as I can.

What do the Devas of Creation have to add? Oh wow, another amazingly synchronous draw.

It is called 'Witness'. It appears to be the seas separating from the firmament, as described in Genesis. A comet streaks across the sky, and the spirit or deva stands and observes, not involved, just a witness. 'When this deva appears,' writes Cilla Conway in the companion book, 'be aware that you are required to stand strong, secure in yourself, even though everything and everyone else seems to be disintegrating around you.'

There's something about the outline of the deva that reminds me of the famous image of Scarlett O'Hara from 'Gone with the Wind'. She, too, in a way, stands steadfast while the world falls apart around her.

Gone with the Wind 

Now, I'm not saying my world is falling apart (crosses fingers), but things are a bit uncomfortable right now at work and I could easily find myself in the middle of it -- a place I don't want to be! So I can certainly see how being the 'impartial observer' will stand me well today. Point taken!

Who loves the Sun?

The Intuitive Tarot by Cilla Conway (St Martins 2004)

This is a very Thothy Sun I've drawn today from Cilla Conway's Intuitive Tarot. My first thought on drawing this card is that it's going to be hot today. That's a possibility! Then I wondered if perhaps today might be the day that they shortlist the job I've applied for, and maybe I'll get shortlisted. Leaving these details, the card could indicate that it's just going to be a very positive day in which I feel okay about...everything. For the most part, The Sun is a card that almost never has a negative meaning. Even reversed, it's a positive card, with this its shine only dimmed somewhat.

The twins in the Intuitive Tarot are referred to in the companion book as the 'heavenly twins' and are said to represent the 'reunited parts of our soul, separated for so long.' According to Crowley, they represent 'the male and female, eternally young, shameless and innocent. They are

dancing in the light, yet they dwell upon the earth. They represent the next stage that is to be attained by mankind, in which complete freedom is alike the cause and the result of the new access of solar energy upon the earth.' Lon Milo DuQuette asserts in his book 'Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot' that Thelema, Crowley's 'religion', is in fact 'a modern form of sun worship. But then I am quick to add, "And when I use the word Sun, I am also referring to myself."' Or as Crowley put it, 'Every man and every woman is a star.'

Certainly a very positive card, then. 

And what do the Devas of Creation have to add to this card? I've drawn Mineral Kingdom.

Devas of Creation (Conway 2013)

As soon as I turned this card over I was amazed at how similar it looks to the Sun card. So golden, with the spiky 'rays' of the crystal flaring out in all directions. Where the Sun card's rays point down, the Mineral Kingdom's 'rays' point up. But what could the Mineral Kingdom have to do with the Sun? 

Like the Sun, crystals and minerals may appear inert (a golden ball, a rock), but they are in constant change and flux. The Sun burns and flares, the crystals slowly grow.  'The appearance of this Deva, 'says the companion book, 'indicates a need to give ourselves the right conditions to grow. It reminds us that change is often slow, and that if we try to force things, it may well prove counter-productive.' 

So I'm not going to go through the day looking for 'Sun' things to happen. I'll just let the day unfold and see how it goes, like a crystal slowly becoming something amazing and beautiful. 

World of Work

The Intuitive Tarot by Cilla Conway (St Martins 2004)

I've drawn the 8 of Discs today. This is the work card, the card of the craftsman. Here, a figure is creating wheels to decorate a ziggurat temple, and would seem to be a master, as there is no one supervising. In some 8 of Pentacles cards (as this card has a very strong RWS influence, rather than Thoth), a master is shown guiding an apprentice, who does the work. In either case, the card usually, as here, depicts someone churning out multiple copies of a product. For me, this gives the card a 'practice makes perfect' feel. The card often imparts the message to keep trying, or to have faith in one's own experience, not to give up, and usually these messages are related to work and money, this being the Disc or Pentacles suit. The card may be telling you to keep trying, particular in your job.  It may be asking you to evaluate how you feel about the work you are doing. Is it satisfying to you? It may be asking you to find those aspects of your work that you really enjoy. Do you enjoy the product of your work? Do you enjoy the processes that your work entails, the things that you must repeat? Is your work satisfactory? If not, could the skills you've picked up in your work be transferred to more spiritually satisfying work? For example, John and Caitlyn Matthews have very effectively used their research and organisational skills acquired as librarians to create careers writing books and producing tarot and oracle decks. If you are good at your current work, but it isn't satisfying your spirit, could you turn those same skills to something that does satisfy you more deeply?

Devas of Creation (Conway 2013)

To support today's tarot card, I've also drawn a card from Devas of Creation (Cilla Conway 2013). This card is called the 'Seed Void', and represents dark matter, the 'unseen aspect of the cosmos that exists all around us and includes a new force of nature' (New Scientist, 7 Mar 2009, qtd in Devas of Creation companion book). If we look at the card, it begins to look like a tunnel with some lights at the end of it, and the companion book says, 'The Deva of Dark Energy is the darkness of the birth canal, offering a passage to the hidden side of existence, where worlds are seeded and birthed.'

Seen in support of the 8 of Discs, this card suggests to me that there are almost limitless ways we can apply our transferable skills to new ways of earning a living. We are limited only by our imaginations, the scope of our life experience, and our fears. 'While encountering this strangeness may well engender extreme fear,' says the companion book, 'it is a our great teacher. Indeed, our certainties are often what keep us in sleep mode.'

For myself, I have recently applied for a new job and am awaiting news on whether I am shortlisted for interview. While it is the same job I currently do, it offers new possibilities. It would give me the chance to fully experience the role, as my current job is part time and in a small, quiet work environment, while the new job is the same role but full time and in a much larger, vibrant environment. It would give the chance to fully experience 8 of Discs, and might open up the Seed Void aspect of the role -- things I never expected, never had the chance to explore, never even realised existed. And of course, who knows what transferable skills I might pick up that could be applied at some point to a way of earning a living that I cannot yet imagine.