SELF
THE MAGICIAN
SITUATION
ACE OF WANDS
CHALLENGES
SEVEN OF WANDS
RECENT PAST
TEN OF SWORDS
HIGHER POWER
THE SUN
NEAR FUTURE
QUEEN OF COINS
BLOCKERS & INHIBITIONS
FOUR OF WANDS
ALLIES
PAGE OF CUPS
ADVICE
THE TOWER
LONG-TERM POTENTIAL
TEN OF WANDS
THE MAGICIAN
ACE OF WANDS
SEVEN OF WANDS
TEN OF SWORDS
THE SUN
QUEEN OF COINS
FOUR OF WANDS
PAGE OF CUPS
THE TOWER
TEN OF WANDS
The Magus symbolizes imagination, creativity and an inventive nature. Your unique intelligence and talent for clever experimentation is a valuable asset. The Magus serves as a catalyst, an agent of change. His influence is a fresh breeze blowing through any situation.
So be playful, and stay open. Don't limit yourself, the possibilities are endless. Try things, see what happens and correct your course as you go. Tease open the minds of those who are watching to see what you will do.
The Ace of Wands in this position reminds us of certain unifying truths. One of these self-evident truths could be coming into focus around you at this time. Perhaps you are being called upon to witness or facilitate the gathering of the collective mind into a single focal point. Such situations are both awe inspiring and educational.
You have an excellent opportunity to rally the troops if you remain non-competitive. Apply yourself for the sake of the collective good and maintain the kinds of high standards that inspire people.
When the Seven of Wands is in this position, stay focused on surpassing your current record of performance in a clean, fun, energized way, avoiding the snares of stressful competitiveness. Resist falling back on negative comparisons, vindictive thoughts or actions that disable emotional energy.
Rivalry and petty one-upmanship is not your style -- no matter what people may expect of you. Don't lose your focus, which should be fixed on securing a "personal best."
With the Ten of Swords in this position, you are just emerging from a very difficult time in which it was necessary to confront the end of a cycle or some kind of dead end. Things will never be the same. With this card, a sense of tragedy can hardly be escaped, but at least with it in this position, you are moving on.
Tragedy is in the past; its influence is waning. You are securing some distance from the defeated state that once prevailed. You are feeling better now. Be grateful. You are healing and things are going to be getting better.
Higher Power is blessing you with a shower of rewards. Relax and absorb them. Acknowledge that you deserve it. Let your self-image be enhanced by what the outer world and your spiritual guides are telling you. They are happy with your performance, the value you bring to the world and the optimism you stimulate in others. You are serving as a shining role model. Whatever you touch turns to gold. Even though such a state can't be maintained forever, the residual effect of these blessings will help you deal with the new temptations, challenges and twists of fate.
With the Queen of Coins in this position, you will soon have a chance to test your dream against reality. The effort and time you have invested in some enterprise or relationship is about to bear magnificent fruit.
We shall see how sensibly you behave when there are no external limits on where you spend your energy, talents and money. To maximize what is good about the Queen of Coins, you should focus on what is practical and sensible. Invest your energy and resources wisely. Otherwise her more exuberant side could take over and your gains will degenerate into one long, expensive party.
When the Four of Wands falls in this position, it indicates alienation from the very people with whom you could share creative work. No matter why you chose to isolate yourself or to hold your energy back, it is now clear that you will not be fulfilled until you emerge again.
Take action to find those like-minded souls you have been missing and renew your efforts to pursue your dreams.
The Page of Cups in this position serves as the eyes and ears in situations of power, and humbly gains the trust of decision-makers. With that in mind, never assume that a person's worth is based on rank.
This card holds the key to unlocking a mystery or solving a puzzle. It can inform you about certain developments, motives and patterns of behavior that will greatly advance your goals. The energy of this card can discover information you can't normally get. Be respectful of this service. You can benefit from what It knows.
With the Tower card, think of yourself as an agent of transformation. This self-sacrificing role is likely to create stressful situations. Your vision shows you that a radical change has already been unleashed by forces much larger than mere mortals, and therefore you are no longer resisting.
Now you may be at the forefront, acknowledging and accepting the bracing presence of the future bursting in on the present. Try to mediate the harsher parts of the changes as they unfold, so the most vulnerable are the most cushioned. Acknowledge yourself, as well as the others in your life, who are offering their resources to usher in a better future.
The Ten of Wands in this position reveals your potential to complete a long time mission that is very close to your heart. If you continue to stay your course, repeat your energetic efforts as much as needed, and build a solid body of accomplishments, you will succeed at fulfilling the goal you set long ago.
Closure is sure to come, freeing you for other endeavors. The process will have raised your self-esteem. You will possess the confidence of a person who can target an ambitious goal, work toward it systematically and achieve it in no uncertain terms. This experience will give you a strong foundation of trust in yourself, personal strength and reliability.
Chocolate Lush
This is my grandmother's recipe, which I have revised somewhat, and which I am posting here for posterity.
Ingredients
1 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup milk
4 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cup hot water
optional: 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
Instructions
Part 1: Add flour, sugar, and 2 tablespoons cocoa together. Combine shortening, milk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla (and nuts if desired). Add to dry ingredients. Mix until well blended. Spread into 8x8x2 ungreased pan or dish.
Part 2: Combine brown sugar, 4 tablespoons cocoa, hot water, 2 teaspoons vanilla, mix well. Pour over batter in pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 to 45 minutes. The watery substance on top will magically fall to the bottom of the pan, creating a pudding with cake on top.
Cut into squares and serve hot with Cool Whip or ice cream.
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Grandma's old house. This is the original farmhouse. It was built with slave labor. |
The field beside Grandma's old house. |
The cut field is the "field in front of the old house." The old house is not visible in this photo. This is from the rear of the field. |
There's a graveyard up near the tree line. |
Last night there was supposedly a great meteor shower, with a peak time at 1 a.m. The astronomy folks were calling it the Herculids, and it was visible near the Big Dipper.
The reason for the shower was a broken comet, SW3. The comet fell apart in 1995 and the debris from it was supposed to be visible. Or so they hoped.
I set an alarm for 12:50 a.m. and took my camera outside. I aimed it at the Big Dipper. I got excited when I counted eight meteor streaks in a few minutes, although they seemed to be outside of the camera's eye.
It's nice outside at night, though the air was a big soupy. I wondered if there was enough haze to keep me from seeing the sky looking like it was falling to earth. That's what I was hoping for, a great show.
And I saw and heard a great show - Mother Nature at her finest hour. The trees around me danced with fireflies, each one apparently dazzling itself with its green light. Fairies flirting about the trees, I thought. The peepers at the neighbor's pond were croaking mightily, too. The air smelled of sweet drying grass from where my husband cut the hayfield yesterday, and something else I couldn't identify. Pollen?
In my peripheral vision, I watched the fairies dance to the froggies croak while I searched the sky for a heavenly display of fireworks.
By the time I came inside, I'd seen a total of 14 meteor streaks.
None of them came out on the camera.
The fireflies did, though.
The green streaks may be meteors, but I'm fairly sure they're fireflies, especially that big fat one at the top.
This is not one of my better star trail photos, either. It looks like I shook the camera at some point, since the lines are a little shaky. I've lightened the picture in effort to see everything the camera captured.
It was a disappointing photo shoot, and not the "sky falling" event I was hoping for, but something a little different.
Everyone should take the time to look at the night sky once in a while.