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Three of Cups: Mercury in Cancer, Saturn in Understanding (AI Version)
LORD OF ABUNDANCE
As Nathan was riding his horse through town, he stopped to watch three women dancing gracefully with each other during a harvest festival. Every third measure, each dancer lifted up a golden cup as if to toast each other or their town or some God or Goddess. Nathan had never witnessed anything like it before. He looked on, mesmerized, unable to identify the subtle forces inspiring such grace and splendor. As he listened to the music, he closed his eyes. Since the dance was so enchantingly lovely, he decided that Venus was influencing the dancers. Nathan wasn't an artist, but he suddenly sensed distinct structures underlying the dance as the three women wove together so gracefully. Nathan decided to seek out the King or Queen of Cups for answers, so he rode to the seashore.
The Queen of Cups, (AI Version)
Nathan rode his horse along the ocean and eventually found the Queen of Cups teaching a faery child. Nathan dismounted from his horse and bowed. "I serve thee always, your Majesty. I don't wish to interrupt, but I'd like to ask you a question when you are available."
The Queen responded, "Please, go ahead, my friend, this child needs a break anyway. What is your query?"
Nathan carefully described the three dancers at the harvest festival. Then he said, "Your Majesty, I at first was sure that Venus was subtly influencing them, but then I sensed structure governing both the music and the dance. In other words, I realized that the emotions evoked in me by the dance stemmed from the underlying artistic form--from enchanting creative structures fashioned by inspired artists. I became confused and couldn't put my finger on the subtle influences. Do you have any knowledge or advice that you can share, your Highness?"
"I think so, my devoted knight. What you witnessed is, in our realm, known as 'The Dance of the Three Graces.'"
"Thank you, your Highness, I don't think I have ever witnessed such grace and beauty before."
"Venus does indirectly influence the dancers, my dear knight, but in a way that you might not expect. I will talk about that in a moment, but first, I would like to say that most people in the Tarot Realm know much about the realm that you came from. I sense that you wish to return home at some point in the near future, perhaps to share what you have learned here in the Tarot Realm?"
"I have considered it, your Highness. I sometimes feel a powerful desire to return home to the realm that I came from."
"That is understandable. I also think I know why you are having trouble identifying the subtle forces influencing the dancers. Throughout most of the history of your realm, people have valued property and money far more than the arts. Most of the people in your realm don't trouble themselves with trying to understand the structures underlying the ravishing splendor that the arts so often provide--they are far more concerned about money and status or about satisfying basic survival needs. In other words, the few people who rule your realm are not concerned about creating a world of beauty and grace for everyone, for that would force them to share their wealth, and the people who rule behind the scenes are keenly aware that their tremendous power stems from their wealth and status. The plutocrats who control the politicians behind the scenes tend to adhere to the vile maxim, 'All for me and nothing for anyone else.' Creativity is discouraged in your realm unless the wealthy can profit from it because the wealthy want slaves to serve them, not artists who imagine creating a world of beauty and grace for everyone. Beauty and grace touch the soul, and through the arts we begin to sense the divinity within creation. The arts inspire us and swing us across the gulf into the higher spiritual realms so that we experience profound visions and intuitions and build an inner temple of spiritual principle. The awakening of the mind to the knowledge that all energy is divine threatens the wealthy because they want to continue expoiting the divine energies of the world for their own profit.
"I feel that I should remind you about the history of your realm since you are now sometimes experiencing the desire to return to it. Many people emigrated to your realm from another realm across the sea. They began to move westward, killing the native peoples and stealing their land and cutting down the forests, replacing the natural world that had existed from time immemorial with cities and farms. In the southern part of your realm, it became common practice to kidnap people from other realms and sell them as slaves. Eventually in the south only about a thousand wealthy families owned most of the land while in the north, the rich exploited wage-slaves in their factories. During this period of genocide and slavery, the wealthy rulers oversaw the killing of millions of people and the merciless exploitation of countless men, women, and children. The vast majority of people experienced either chattel slavery or wage slavery, and the rich got richer by influencing the politicians with the money that their slaves kept earning for them. Despite the conflicts between the north and the south, the rich have since come to control the whole political and economic system, with only a handful of people controlling most of the wealth while the rest of the people remain in a constant state of emergency, a perpetual struggle to survive.
"You know that most of the people in the Tarot Realm have great reverence for the web of life, and we are sensitive to the subtle vibrations that touch our souls because that enables us to feel and know our connection with Universal Consciousness, but in your realm, the wealthy people who rule behind the scenes don't care about the community of life or about subtle forces--they care only about accumulating more wealth, no matter how many other people die or suffer through unnecessary hardship. They don't care about the destruction of the web of life or about the species they are killing off in the process of destroying ecosystems. Instead the rich cause divisiveness so that the poor fight each other instead of rising up against them."
"Yes, your Highness, I had almost forgotten."
"My brave knight, I ask you to consider the history of your realm carefully before you return home. You will no doubt sacrifice much if you ever do, now that you have internalized the positive values of the Tarot Realm."
"Yes, your Highness, I will weigh the sacrifices and the risks involved before I return home, that is, if I ever do."
"Good, now let us turn our attention to the importance of form and structure in the arts. Which pillar on the Tree of Life is associated with the severity of of form?"
Nathan thought for a moment. "The Pillar of Severity, associated with Saturn, Mars, and Mercury."
"Yes, very good. Which God is associated with primordial form, which God with the establishment of laws and ethics, and which God with the splendor of ideas?"
"Saturn is associated with the creation of primordial form, Mars with the rigor associated with ethics, and Mercury with the discipline to create structures of thought that manifest order and harmony and splendor."
"Yes, the intellect, associated with Mercury, limits the free-flowing subtle forces and emotions associated with Venus so that the human mind can manifest the beauty and splendor of the imagination as concrete form in our physical realm. Mercury is directly linked with Venus on the Tree of Life. Indeed, the state of being associated with Mercury emanated from the sphere of Venus in the course of cosmic evolution."
Nathan pondered for a moment. "So without the limitations of the intellect the forces of Venus would remain free-flowing and people would not be able to manifest them as forms in the physical realm?"
"Yes, Mercury limits force so that we can manifest splendor and beauty in The Kingdom. Do you remember how many dancers with golden cups there were, by any chance?"
"Three, your Majesty. So it's no coincidence that the third Emanation on the Tree of Life is associated with Saturn. The holy man in the castle taught me that Mercury is Saturn on a lower arc. I see now. That's how the human mind can manifest creative structures that touch the soul and elevate the community!"
"Yes, indeed. Remember that in the realm that you once called home, the wealthy who rule behind the scenes do not want the masses to know about 'The Marriage of Heaven on Earth," associated with Venus, or 'The Creation of the World,' associated with Mercury, because any emphasis on opening the heart and mind or on divine inspiration might cause the people to rise up against them since so many people suffer from poverty and debt. One last question, my friend. Where do we find 'The Once and Future Monarch,' who is on a quest to experience all of the subtle forces of the Tree of Life?"
"The Once and Future Monarch is associated with the zodiac sign Cancer. Ahh, I see, your Majesty. The knowledge of the subtle forces of the paths of the Tree of Life can inspire us to create powerful works for the highest good, such as 'The dance of the Three Graces,' works that benefit the whole community, not just the rich and powerful."
"Yes, my friend."
"I am very grateful to you for sharing your deep understanding, your Majesty."
"You are very welcome, my devoted knight."
Nathan bowed, "I serve thee always, my Queen."
The Magician: Mercury, AI Version
Nathan found a Tarot card very similar to what he had witnessed in his vision: the Three of Cups. The decan association in the card is Mercury in Cancer, and the Tree of Life correspondence is the Saturn in Understanding, the third Emanation on the Tree of Life.
The Chariot: Cancer, AI Version
Nathan rode to a secluded part of the forest where he could perform a ritual with the Three of Cups.
Passive and Active Invoking Pentagrams
Because Nathan was creating a living image based on the Three of Cups with the Tarot Pentagram Spread, he placed all the foundation cards down on his makeshift altar with the tops facing west on his altar. Since Water is a passive element, Nathan used the Passive Invoking Spirit Pentagram while laying down the cards, starting in the lower left corner of the pentagram, moving to the upper right corner and continuing from there. After he placed all of the cards, he tapped each card in the direction of the Passive Invoking Spirit Pentagram, making sure to tap the one in the lower left corner to complete the pentagram.
Then he placed The Three of Cups in the middle of the pentagram, saying, "The Three of Cups, Mercury in Cancer, Saturn in Understanding." Then he tapped the card.
Modifiers for the Three of Cups: The Chariot, The Magician, and The World
Next, he placed The Chariot on the Ace of Cups in the upper right hand corner of the pentagram as a modifier. The card representing the zodiac sign goes first, he remembered. As he placed The Chariot on the Ace of Cups, he stated while tapping the card, "The Chariot, Cancer, the Once and Future Monarch." As he tapped the card, he remembered that the Once and Future Monarch keeps returning over and over to the physical realm with the knowledge of the subtle forces of the Tree of Life.
Then he placed The Magician in the upper right hand corner on the first modifier, The Chariot. As he placed The Magician, he stated while tapping the card, "The Magician, Mercury, 'The Creation of the World." Finally, as he placed The World on The Magician, he stated while tapping the card, "The World, Saturn, 'The Descent into the Underworld,' he realized that powerful ideas and images from deep in the mind often surface during the creative process.
Then Nathan drew the Passive Invoking Pentagram and the spirit wheel in the air in brilliant white above the Two of Cups on the altar, charging the pentagram and the symbol in the usual way with the Sign of the Enterer.
Then, he drew an Invoking Pentagram for Water directly over the Passive Invoking Spirit Pentagram, charging the pentagram and the symbol of the eagle, associated with Scorpio, in the usual way. At that point, he imagined the symbol of the eagle's head turning into a living image of the dancers performing "The Dance of the Three Graces." Next, he imagined the dancers and weaving gracefully together. As he visualized the living image, he imagined undines flowing from the Archangel Gabriel and filling the living image while at the same time bright points of Water flowed from his aura and filled the living image as well.
Then he stated, "I name you Lord of Abundance."
Then he said, "Lord of Abundance, help me to create a world of beauty and abundance for the highest possible good of the realm." Then he humbly stated, "Perform this task and return to the element of Water, doing no harm. So mote it be!"
Before he finished the ritual, Nathan imagined for a few minutes the living image expanding his consciousness through the experience of the subtle forces of the Tree of Life so that he could build an inner temple of spiritual principle and create a world of splendor and abundance.
Nathan sometimes had powerful creative ideas during his journey through the Tarot Realm, and he knew that his new allies were guiding him.
(All AI generated images are based on my 3D Blender renderings, my paintings, or my photographs.)
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