INTO A NEW STAR CYCLE

From Stricken Tower to Comet: Into the New Star Cycle.

At Solstice time this year, we witness the completion of a star cycle.  Rather than seeing this as an end of the world scenario, let’s focus upon what is leaving and what is coming for those alive during this transition. Since Solstice offers us the opportunity to return home to the heart of our hearth, let’s ask the cards to show us how to cleanse the way of the new phase  that is arriving, just as we would for a guest, and how to give it our best welcome.

               

                               What do we leave behind? 

10 Airships (Swords) is a graphic reminder that there are many things we leave behind and that need to go down, like the Imperial airship here. If we’ve been paying into ‘end of the world’ scenarios, then to understand that we are survivors who can look forward to doing things differently. Old grievances or sufferings that have not been assuaged should not be inflated or carried forward into the new phase. What are you glad to see the back of?

3 Leviathans (Coins) show that it’s not enough to pull together but then also sabotage any cooperation by criticism or faint praise. When the public good is continually undermined by those who cannot work well together, nothing is achieved. It becomes like the work of Penelope who fended off her suitors by saying she would make a decision only when her weaving was finished: she worked by day on the weaving and by night unwove it, prolonging the time by years. When self-sabotage or criticism are left behind, how does that change things?

3 Engines (Wands) is intent on its own speed and proficiency, its mastery and ambition, like any despot bent upon world domination. The technological advances we have made are mighty, but so has been the hubris.  Just because we can achieve a thing, doesn’t mean that we should, at least until we’ve understood the consequences. Leaving arrogance behind, we cleanse the way indeed. What gift does humility bring to the world?

                     

                                                What do we welcome?

Ace of Engines (Wands) The first card of the new sequence is an Ace, rekindling the passion and the power to make a good beginning. The radiation of that power infuses everything, bringing a sense of innovation, asking us to find the courage and vision.  A sense of ignition and take off can help us attend eagerly with our life’s adventure.  What are your energies and enthusiasms inviting you to engage with at this juncture?

XII Suspension Tank ( Hanged Man) is the only God of the Machine in this reading, so let’s attend to it carefully.  After the brilliant ignition of the first card, how can we read it?  This God suggests that we trust the process with maturity of outlook. Rather than rushing into the fray, we can take time to align with our destiny, stripping back the inessentials to mature this phase forward.  Our engagement must be deep and devoted. How does your devotion realize the gifts of this new phase?

6 Airships ( Swords) shows a party of people who’ve embarked on a new phase of their lives. Whatever foul-ups we leave behind, we commit to new perspectives and opportunities from a different standpoint. We do not have the option to jump ship to another planet: we have to find ways to live with the one we have. What if we ourselves are the envoys and messengers of what is arriving?  What seeds lie within us to germinate? Who will learn from us? What journey must you take to move forward in this new phase?

To sum up the theme of each triplet, we add up the pips of the League cards or numbers of any Gods of the Machine cards and discover that what we leave behind is XVI The Stricken Tower, while what we welcome is XVII The Comet, revealing how timely and natural is this transition. From the downfall of institutions that have served their term, we move into collecting the starlight.

                            

                        What has to be cleansed?  What is arriving?

XVI Stricken Tower (Tower) The stripping away of illusions, old conditionings, ancient regimes of oppression are all pulled into the wake of the old cycle. Cosy security meets crisis as the breakdown starts. Behind the panic of economic melt-down and institutional collapse, the real spirit of the age is striving to transfigure itself. As the masks are pulled away, what face is left? What is struggling to emerge and be born?

XVII Comet (Star) was believed anciently to be like a great cosmic broom that swept away residues with its long tail. Here the Imperium scientist catches the sparkling dust in vast chambers to fuel this new phase. What arrives is invested with hope and aspiration of millions. Inspiration is what brings emotional expansiveness and a new tomorrow. Where are you being guided? What is the hope you keep ever before you?

May you have a blessed Solstice time!