Images from the Alchemical Tarot (copyright Robert M. Place): Used with Permission

The Lady of Staffs appears to be a dancer, carrying a flaming staff as she moves through the deserted waste. But for a sparse plant, perhaps the seedling of the world tree, she is alone. Her eyes are fixed on the fire of her staff although it is clearly daytime and she has no need of light. She is perceiving the light of the divine, being brought forth to her by Prometheus or Hephaestus. The light of the divine is that of will, that gives us the strength and courage to dance even in the barren waste where it seems there is no hope nor water to continue. She dances, but is also somewhat reserved, note that her hair is bound up, and though her clothing reveals her legs and arms, the core of her is covered. Her movement through the world is revealed as her actions guided by the divine, but she keeps secret the core of herself, the nature of that divine light is hidden.

Finally the King of Vessels. A great whale riding the breaking tide near to shore, filling the mighty crowned vessel of divine love with water. The crowned ruler of our emotions and the final manifestation of our divinity within creation.

The message that i find here is clear to me. I, and those around me, and you who read this, ned to be reminded of our relationship with the divine. It is a long path that humanity has traveled, and we (especially in the west) have forsaken our relationship with the divine. Like the lady of staffs we cover the inner truths and reveal only the explicit motions of the world. Like our scientists who study physics and nature, we are blind to the stillness that underlies motion. We can only perceive change, and in our arrogance ignore that which is unchanging, our connection to the world tree and the realm of the gods and limitless light.

It is a reminder to gaze not at the light itself, but through the fire to it’s source. The fire provides light, but it is the dancing balance of the elements that provides the spark for it to burn. And through honoring that connection we possess it, we become one with the king of vessels, in control and possession of the western treasure. We learn to fill it ourselves with the water that we move through every day, and in so filling it we are gifted with the ability to share and grow closer to ourselves, our gods, and each other.

Images from the Alchemical Tarot (copyright Robert M. Place): Used with Permission

We build a tower to the sun, alchemically transforming ourselves through the tools given to us by the planets and spheres. The world is our crucible, and life is our furnace.

The uest is one not of reaching for divinity only,  but of remaining aligned with the physiccal realm through temperance and connection. Temperance in attitude and in the act of being tempered by the gods. Allowing ourselves to be rarified but not losing connection with the earth and the reified qualities of divinity found here.

We come to the reflection of the full moon where light touches us today. The moon in Virgo and Libra, reminding us to analyze the chances we take and balance the various forces at work in our lives.

I look at this on a few levels. Personally, I feel this is a clear message to me in my life. I’ve just undergone a very powerful and transformative ritual that has irrevocably change my worldview. The spirits or gods are telling me here to have care and caution with my actions. I am new to this state and as a child full of wonder I ache to drive in with all my strength and power, but it behooves me to be more cautious and careful with my actions here.

On a more general level, looking at this as a message for the Tarot community that seems to be building itself online via Twitter and our collective blogs, it seems we are being told the opposite. Drive forward towards the sun. Temperance demands that we thrust ourselves into the heat of action and let the fires do their work. We are drawn forward by the Lady of Coins, her intuitive understanding of the physical realm is a lesson about our senses and perceptions. We seek to be guided by the intuitive self, the moon, but that light shines physically down upon the earth. It is a reminder that our intuition and perception is only important in how we apply it to the world, and reminds us not to get lost in the analytical or theoretical nature of our explorations.