Your Week Ahead: February 18 to 24, 2024 – Between Seen and Unseen

What happens when we choose to surrender? What takes places when we give ourselves over to Source, or perhaps even to another? Perhaps, there is a sensation of becoming lost, or of losing ourselves and our identity. Is it the surrendering that does this, or is it our approach to the concept of letting go? Do we give up and just hand things over, or do we allow ourselves to dance with the universe?

I think some people have this idea that to surrender means to give up, and so the propensity for self-awareness gets dulled by placing oneself second. However, if we view it as a dance, we can use the adage that it takes two to tango. A dance is also a give and take; one cannot always lead, one must also respond. Perhaps when Marcus Aurelius said, “Death smiles at us all; all we can do is smile back.” he suggested that, even with the acceptance of death, of entering the unknown, we still participate with a sense of purpose.

In this week’s reading, we see some interesting correlations between that borderline between joy and bliss, self and other, and assertion and inspiration. Let’s take a look at this reading from a metaphysical view. Firstly, the centre card, the 2 of Cups, takes the stage as the focal point. In essence, we are in balance with ourselves and interact with our environment in a healthy way by allowing our masculine and feminine energies to be expressive. In so doing, we know our value and welcome that which supports us in just the same way as we support that which is of value. We are offering ourselves to that which is being offered to us in return.

To its left, the 9 of Cups describes the enjoyment of life and the participation in its abundance. If we see our lives as simply a toil without recognizing and appreciating its many gifts to us, then we cannot participate. We become slaves to it, caught in The Devil’s illusory noose. When we allow life to fill our hearts with grace, we suddenly become aware of an unseen aspect which is there to encourage us and lead us through its current.

Then, as we look to the right, we see The Magician. Here, we are in a very close working relationship with Source. We stand very aware of our ability to create, to channel, and to ground cosmic energy into the physical world. In a private way, and in our solitude, we interact with forces that are at our disposal. Through our understanding of the play of illusion, the interplay between archetypes, we place ourselves between the seen and the unseen.

While The magician still requires us to be mindful of our shadow to manipulate, we have very much earned the right to use such energy to create something we wish. We use the tools given to us and we know each tool well enough to apply precisely the correct amount of force required to affect change. To paraphrase the conductor Herbert von Karajan, “When the horse jumps, you don’t jump; you give the horse the right approach it needs to do what it knows how to do.”

So the 9 of Cups says, enjoy the abundance flowing to you and receive it by celebrating it. The 2 of Cups says, enjoy the love you receive from another by honouring it. And The Magician says, enjoy your creativity and your power for you have earned it. This is a reading about connection; a sacred relationship between yourself, your environment, and the universe. I would encourage you to take it in and to accept your role in your life as a deliberate creator, and a deliberate allower. When we do, our consciousness is raised where everything responds to that.

Affirmation: I take some time right now to appreciate where I am and how I am blessed in so many ways. I celebrate others as I recognize how I am growing through my relationships. I allow this energy of the universe to flow through me and to take me deeper into my capacity to create new experiences. This brings me into a closer understanding of life’s gifts.

Thanks for reading, and I wish you a wonderful week!

Daniel Palmo

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