As Above, So Below for Thursday, 24 August 2023

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Reading Notes:

Significator Runes: Perthro (14th rune, fate, synchronicity, cause/effect, healing, understanding, chance) and Acquisitio (gain, increase, excessive behavior, success, goal directed)

Cards: 8 of Swords (8, Air, Minor Arcana), Ace of Cups (1, Water, Minor Arcana), and 2 of Cups (2, Water, Minor Arcana). Note the run on Cups suggesting emotions are driving the issue today.

Overall numerology: 14+8+1+2=25, 2+5=7 or observation, balance, letting things come to a rest. However, looking solely at the cards we have 8+1+2=11 which is the Master number for illumination and awakening, so we might be able to say that the 7 is the lower form of the 11 because both involve achieving a greater understanding of something.

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Initially, the runes are suggesting that there could be in increase in the understanding of cause and effect or the realization of who controls one’s fate, while the overall numerology seems to reinforce that understanding from a higher perspective (maybe involving a wake-up call). And, today’s cards are focusing on achieving that awareness and rebalancing the expression of polarity within.

Beginning with the 8 of Swords, we see a woman who is bound and blindfolded with eight swords surrounding her. She stands in wet sand while a castle is on the cliffs behind her. Swords reflects the Air element and our mindset, intellect, thoughts, communication, and the decisions that we make. The numerology of eight implies strength, and in the case of the 8 of Swords, she needs to turn off the influence of the voices around her, as well as her own thoughts, so that she can go within to access the higher self which can inform a different decision. Perhaps she’s lost some of her autonomy and she doesn’t understand the cause and effect of her own decisions or actions. And now she needs to intentionally shut herself off to understand cause and effect and the greater picture.

From there, the Ace of Cups depicts a hand reaching out from a cloud holding a chalice into which a dove drops a disc. On the front of the disc is a cross implying the balance between Spirit or Higher Self and physical form. Five streams of water pour forth to nourish the lilies in the water below suggesting the genesis of new emotional awareness. Along with the 8 of Swords, the Ace of Cups suggests that as you gain higher awareness, you need to have some compassion for any misstep you might have made along the way and that you’re now ready to move forward in a higher truth.

Lastly, the 2 of Cups illustrates a man and a woman extending a chalice to each other, making the decision to heal the relationship between them. A winged lion appears above a caduceus that reinforces that healing. Now, this could imply that the issue that began with the 8 of Swords involved another individual, but I prefer to see this as healing the emotional imbalance within.

In other words, when we look at the suit of Swords, we’re looking at the impact of elemental Air in our lives, while the suit of Cups represents the impact of elemental Water. Air is an active presence while Cups is a passive presence, so considering that there is a run on Cups in the reading, it could be that your initial decisions were influenced by your emotions.

Both the 2 of Cups and the 8 of Swords imply neutral ground, most specifically illustrated by the dual line of demarcation in the 2 where the couple is standing in an area apart from their home to find their way back to each other. The 8 achieves this by the decision the woman makes to bind and blindfold herself to the influence around her. But the idea here is to step outside the situation to regain a more balanced perspective. And if we look at this as a completely inner experience and one that doesn’t involve another person, the reading is suggesting that healing comes from the higher self taking control of the ego’s actions.

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Summation

A situation has arisen that you need to understand from a higher perspective. You need to turn off the influence of others as well as your own thoughts/perceptions to understand the cause and effect of your own decisions. Emotions can drive your decisions and your subsequent behavior and it could be that you need to take time to meditate your own responsibility within the situation and where you need to go from here to balance your perceptions with your emotions. With the Master number 11 numerology expressed by the cards, it suggests that this is a powerful moment in your life where you can begin to understand that you control your own fate by the decisions you make.

Blessed Be