Libra and the Autumn Equinox – a time of equality and balance

At 3.48 pm BST today (22^nd September) the Sun moved (astrologically) into Libra.  This has special significance as 0° Libra also marks the Autumnal Equinox, the point at which we have equal hours of day and night.  The scales of the year are balanced.

It’s the time of year when the leaves are turning colour, dazzling our landscapes with shades of gold, bronze, red, and orange.  People in many parts of the northern hemisphere are drawn to the beauty of the woods at this time.  This appreciation of beauty in our surroundings is a very Venusian quality, Venus being the ruler of Libra.

Libra is one of the three Air signs, along with Gemini and Aquarius, as well as being one of the cardinal signs. As such, its energy focuses on the outer world, rather than our inner world, and its main thrust is on social contact.  It seeks partnership – friendship, business, marriage.  It’s not about the passion of a personal relationship – Libra is not thought to be a passionate sign - but more about the ‘contract’, if you like – the need for equality and fairness within relationship.  Libra is the peacemaker, the negotiator, the mediator.  Venus provides a sense of refinement, and an awareness of beauty and harmony.

'Libra', from the AstroArt series

Libra has a reputation for being indecisive!  Following from Virgo’s need to analyze everything in great detail, Libra weighs it all carefully but is always having to take new factors into account, upsetting that delicate balance, hence appearing to be constantly changing its mind.  In Egyptian mythology, Libra is represented by Ma’at, the goddess of the scales who would, at the time of death, weigh the human soul against an ostrich feather to determine whether or not the soul would reincarnate.  Greek mythology gives us Themis, a blindfolded seer who also carries a pair of scales.  The archangel Michael, in Christianity, holds the scales. In each tradition, the theme is balance, of keeping things – be they social or spiritual – in order.  I think this is shown beautifully by the Justice card - the topic of my next post!

The image comes from my AstroArt series, collages inspired by walking the Glastonbury Landscape Zodiac, part of the Alchemical Journey (www.alchemicaljourney.co.uk).   Prints of the card can be bought on Folksy (folksy.com/shops/AlisonCoals)

Lammas Tarot Blog Hop: Pentacles - the Fruits of the Harvest

Welcome to Alison’s Alembic!   You may have arrived here as a stop on the Tarot Blog Hop from either Elinor Predota's  blog or Mary Caelsto's blog.  Or you may have found this through TABI’s Facebook page, or though one of the many wonderful tarot bloggers in the ether... It doesn’t matter – what does matter is that you’re here! 

The topic for today – Lammas – is “Pentacles: the Fruits of Harvest”.  For those of you unfamiliar with Lammas, it’s the festival of the harvest.  Also known as Lughnasahd, the cross-quarter fire festival, it’s celebrated on the evening of the 31 July and on the first three days of August. Lammas is the first harvest, when farmers reap the rewards of their hard work. 

With this in mind, the Tarot Blog Hoppers have been asked to write about any card from the Pentacles suit – the one we relate to most, at the moment.  This has been a tough decision for me, but I’ve plumped for the Nine of Pentacles from the Sharman-Caselli deck. This was the first deck I ever worked with, so it feels like ‘going home’ to come back to it today. And in a sense, that’s part of what the Nine of Pentacles represents – being at home, a place of comfort, to enjoy the fruits of the harvest. 

Sharman-Caselli (Connections)

In the image in this deck, we see a well-dressed woman standing in the midst of her garden.  The garden is full of fruit, with nine pentacles entwined in the vines and foliage around her. On her right hand sits a hunting bird of some kind – a falcon perhaps, while a rabbit nestles into the grass-covered earth.  Behind her, in the distance, we see a castle on top of a hill. The woman appears to be very content – indeed, ‘success and enjoyment’ are the keywords for the Nine of Pentacles in this deck.

Astrologically, the Nine of Pentacles is linked to Venus in Virgo. Virgo is the sign associated with the harvest, while Venus symbolizes harmony – that sense of well-being that I feel whenever I look at this card.  There’s a real feeling of abundance, and the enjoyment of it.  I’m also reminded of the Empress here – this land is certainly fertile!  (see that rabbit?!) But it’s taken a lot of hard work on the part of the woman for the earth to have yielded such verdancy and richness, symbolized by the vines. 

I’m always struck by a sense of self-sufficiency in this card. There’s no one else in sight.  She’s alone (but not lonely), and is happy in that state.  She doesn’t need more, but she’s content with what she’s achieved, and with the promise of what’s ahead (in this deck, the hunting bird symbolizes her far-sightedness and imagination). The actual harvest is still to come, of course - this is only the Nine; the culmination, the Ten, is still to come.  

In some other decks the falcon represents discipline – the ability to give attention to the job at hand. That’s a very Virgoan quality. The discipline here is not imposed from an outward source; it’s about having the self-discipline required to devote time and energy to something that you really want to achieve. And when you do achieve it, you – like this woman - can luxuriate peacefully in the fruits of your harvest!

I hope that you have enjoyed your time here at Alison's Alembic. Please come back and visit me again!

Next stop on the tarot blog hop trail is Mary Caelsto...

http://harmonicspirit.net/2012/07/tbh_fruit_of_harvest/

Or, if you're working your way through the hop backwards, here's the link to Elinor Predota's blog...

http://elinor.dreamwidth.org/355666.html

Or just use these handy doo-dads!

If any of the links are broken, please visit the Blog Wrangler's master list:

http://kareenatarot.blogspot.in/2012/07/tarot-blog-hop-master-list-for-aug-1.html

Midsummer Solstice!

The sun may be at a standstill today, Midsummer Solstice, but I've been spurred into action.

I've been working with the Wildwood Tarot, created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews and beautifully illustrated by Will Worthington.  The Wildwood system is underlain by the Wheel of the Year, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to look at the cards that sit on the Midsummer Solstice: the Sun of Life, and the Green Woman and the Green Man. All three cards symbolize fertility, and are associated with the element of Fire.

The Sun of Life... Without the heat of the sun, there would be no life on earth. It is the ultimate power. It lights our world...and its importance has been recognized for thousands of years. Think of all the sacred sites around the world that mark the rising of the sun at its point of 'standstill' - the word 'solstice' means the sun standing still.  At our midsummer (in the Northern Hemisphere), the sun reaches the highest point in the sky, and appears to stand still.  At both solstices, I'm always reminded of that point between inhalation and exhalation, the point where there's a moment of literal breathlessness - life standing still.  Here, at midsummer, everything is at its peak.  It's time to let our creative fires blaze, to let our inner sun shine for all to see! 

The Green Woman and Green Man correspond to the more traditional Empress and Emperor.

The images on these two cards are striking in their similarity; they feel like a real pairing. Both figures are adorned with leaves, both stand behind cauldrons, and both appear to be staring straight out of the card. They represent the feminine and masculine aspects respectively of nature, complementing each other. Both reflect creativity, fertility and protection - the Green Woman through nurturing, the Green Man through Guardianship. At Midsummer, our creativity is at its height.