TAROTSCOPES | JULY 16 - JULY 22
IV THE EMPEROR
The California redwood tree stands tall, hundreds, perhaps thousands of years old. It has seen and braved the tests of time. It thrives in the wind and shines proudly under the sun. The rings around its trunk tell tales of lessons only learned through experience. The awe of its power is rooted in the threads of clear direction. Outward and upward. It can reach the expanse of the skies because it grows the thickness of its trunk, the foundation that holds it solid in the earth. Its branches wave like the mane of a lion. It is tall and proud, not easily knocked down because it had the courage to stay true to its core.
The Emperor teaches us about the value of structure. Of rules and boundaries. It teaches us the sacred art of navigating energetic currents. One of the first laws of magic is that we have to start from where we are. “Structure, not content, determines how energy will flow, where it will be directed, what new forms and structures it will create.”* Magic is the channeling of energy, the movement of force. It is the ability to take something and make it go somewhere. To weave a pattern, to birth a belonging. It is the capacity to grow a thing from another thing. Or from seemingly nothing. This practice is powerful when understood practically. So we start from the beginning. You can’t move yourself across the room if you try to start from across the room. You have to locate your feet on the ground beneath you. You got to now from the past. You get to the future from now. You can’t access the future from the future. You can’t know something right now that you don’t know yet. You have to learn by living it. The kind of living for which I strive requires diligence in the practice of returning. In the practice of awareness.
This week, consider the frame that holds you where you are. Does it allow for doors to open that you didn’t know would appear? Are you able to reach for the handle, to peek through the crack without getting sucked into a storm you didn’t create? Are you able to stand, solid and true to principles with well-developed muscles because they were yours to begin with and you’ve grown them with persistence? Or are you steeped in someone else’s system, hanging out in their basement, trying to fix a broken pipe, watching the water creep up over ankles and knees? Are you fixing things that you didn’t cause to break? Are you breaking bonds you wish you’d held with yourself? Have you lost sight of where you’re going because you don’t know where you are?
To be ignorant is to miss out on the bliss of hearing your soul. List the things you are. List your talents and your struggles. List your patterns, your virtues and your vices. Try to refrain from fear of them. Make their acquaintance before getting frustrated. Say hello, shake their hands, maybe even smile. It’s not easy to begin to practice getting to know yourself. Once you begin, the thread of connection softens and strengthens concurrently, upward and outward like the Redwood. You wake up to you. Sometimes you nod off. Slowly, over time you stay awake more often to your dreams and goals, your struggles, your present. When you know your present you can adapt and shift. You can learn. You can change.
*Starhawk, Dreaming the Dark: Magic Sex & Politics (Beacon Press: 1997), 19.
WHAT EVEN IS A TAROTSCOPE? We often think of horoscopes as predictions that are specific to each astrological sign. In Ancient Greek, the term horoscope simply means "I watch the hour." To astrologers today, a horoscope is a chart that maps the planetary bodies in the sky. From this chart, we derive meaning that can influence how we work with energy. Regardless of our unique individual charts, we are ALL working with the same energy from above. Each week, I examine this energy, pull a tarot card and write a guided meditation with the collective in mind. My tarotscopes are meant to be read as inspiration. Please note that because we are all operating with our individual energy, some elements will resonate more than others. Take what you like and leave the rest. Tarotscopes are offered freely in an effort to cultivate collective healing. I am always grateful for your support in sharing this work with anyone you think it might help. If you are inspired or find support here, please consider making a donation to help sustain these weekly offerings.