At the start of the year, we get the reminder to speak our emotions in a way that seeks maturity through communication and honesty, authenticity. When we do share, it creates ripples both in ourselves and those we are speaking to. We need to allow those ripples to flow and give time for them to take shape and disperse. We are reminded not to just jump in and flounder, but to take time and consider, partly by taking a pause for something relaxing and introspective, like a bubble bath. From there we can contemplate that which might divide our heart or our soul, and gives us a sense of fear at the unknown. Because when we are at peace and contemplation, we can allow ourselves to dance above the water of the ocean, to reach moments of enlightenment or great understanding. Speak boldly so that you may find maturity and settle the dichotomy in your soul.

When what we say is influenced by what we see of the world, we are like a boat being influenced by the winds, the emanation of others as they buffet our sails. Some push us ahead, some work against us. Some cross us and force us to reposition or take our sails down completely. We then are reminded that when we do still our waters, we should do so with intention. That doing it out of fear, fear of the new or unknown, leads us to a place where we have no grounding, nowhere to anchor ourselves as we work to understand and ingest this new information that challenges our worldview. Sometimes the world emits toxic sludge into our waters. Venomous, it seeps into us and we are faced with its consequences. Like a factory spoiling the river, we must navigate around it. And sometimes it is us who spills that sludge from our own emotional factory. How are we handling the production, and the sludge it can create? For we are the director as much as we are the orchestra. What we will can shape the lives and actions of others, just as their will can play out on us. In the end, we are the ever-burning flame, and all action, all power, comes from within us. We have the power to shape our actions and the world around us.

You are a vault that touches heaven and earth, a cathedral that is a sacred and whole space, into which you are deserving of a respect that should fill you root to rafters. As the wind and storm gathers realize that you deserve to feel the joy of riding that wind. You deserve a moment of happiness that fills your sacred space, the laughter of yourself and others because you are not alone in this. Your space is filled with the instruments that can give sound life, that can fill your space with melodies, though which you choose will affect what you feel. You give voice, air, life to your emotions, so choose wisely, pick carefully, feel deeply. For these storms flow from you, not in spite of you. You are the source of the joy and despair that fills your heart, and you can tame the storms within when you allow yourself to fall into the wind’s embrace. Don’t find drama in the storm, don’t feed your resonance with ill fitting songs. Wooden structures reverberate and amplify sound, just as your sacred space takes form and reverberates and amplifies what you fill it with. Like a wooden shrine, cared for through time, you are constantly being refitted and replaced to remain whole and healthy. Guard those relationships which allow you to feel whole and connected. Be shaped by your hand, not by others.

We begin with a strong reminder to stop, pause, and listen to the intuition that is rising from your molten core, an alarm ringing in your depths. Something needs attention. But first you must still your emotions. Do not let fear roil them and cause them to heave and beat against you. Still them with intention and let them settle so you can hear the message coming up to you from below. There is a connection between your power and your inner sight. Something that allows you to attain a spiritual view of the actions you need to take. It even reminds you that in community you are better, made stronger and more whole by those who can attune to your intuition and bring insights of their own. Because deep down, you are the master of your being, you are the prime mover of your world. You have the power to create the very elements you need to solve this problem, to deal with the alarm that is ringing within you. But to do so, you must strike out into the darkness, your light the only thing to guide you. Plant each flame firmly and start to define a path forward. You have the tools, you have the power, you just need to start with action.

Revisiting the concept of the obelisk, we begin by discussing what is engraved upon our psyches. Despite the deep etching, these stories can still be adjusted. Nothing is permanent, and we also have the option of creating an entirely new surface. The idea of giving away abundance becomes a guiding principle, especially when it helps to clarify the way in which we create legacies while also avoiding mindless gathering or accumulating. One of the practices that allows us to grow and evolve is a specific mindfulness about words. What we say has a tendency to fulfill itself, almost like magic spells, so we must be careful about the words we use to tell our stories. Just the process of purging property and ideas can itself be a regenerating process that allows a new version of ourselves to emerge. We close with a reminder that regardless of our desires, change is constant and inevitable. It is better to embrace the practices that invigorate our various metamorphoses.

Cycles are not circles, they’re spirals, moving inward and upward. The Celestial was eager to come out of the deck, just as we are eager to begin a journey. Sometimes cycles happen suddenly, unexpectedly. The journey starts from any point that you choose or discover. Let the journey become absorbed into you. They don’t stay superficial, the become part of who you are, you heal around them. Remain nimble as you heal, learn and evolve. There’s a difference between bravery and courage. What is knocked down is not ended. Sometimes life washes everything away. Consider where you’re building and what you’re building. Learn from past mistakes to be more evolved as you grow. We ourselves are the filters for our life and the information that flows through it. You need to feel discomfort while you are learning. You have to get out of your own way to be open to experiencing contradiction. In the shadow water, too much is happening, too many people are splashing around. You have to return to deep water, to stable emotions so you can take the time and space to find more information, better clarity. Part of aging is experiencing these deeper currents and finding ways to bravely engage with what you see. Being uncomfortable means you have a chance to take in something new, to deepen your journey, to reconnect with past lessons and find new material within them.

A familiar face appears with root touching crown and we are reminded of the obelisk that sits so grounded and yet reaches toward the heavens. We have the opportunity to rebalance ourselves, to connect root to crown and fill ourselves with the positive and balanced energy of a free-flowing system. Right on cue we rise to the second chakra and remind ourselves that we are the source of our emotions, and that we are not moved by them, but are the one doing the moving. Next we consider how we exchange energy with others as we work toward balance, how to not inflict ourselves on others, but to exchange and improve ourself and others at the same time. We return to the root as the 10 of seeds shows us that our seeds, our creations and creativity will continue on for generations, and that we must be in balance for those seeds to grow roses and not weeds. To cap it off, we rise to the 5th and 6th chakras and look at how we interact with others and how that affects what we see and say. The reading was a patient one that laid out a path to balance. And it is a cyclical journey, but a spiral moving ever inward and upward.

Here we find a bookended reading: Number 43 of 49 from Jack’s system opens and closes the reading, but in different manifestations of the concept. The idea threading through the cards is that we live an existential paradox. We are simultaneously so very important, and yet so very insignificant. But this is empowering in both directions: In the physical present, we can take responsibility for our actions as we hone our practice of sharing goodness. But within the cosmic context, we can also understand that we do not have to be perfect to be effective. The reading affirms that we have the innate ability to use our gifts, but that doing so may require a death of the ego to allow our legacy to fulfill its best potential.