Melancholy

Using the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot, designed by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, I drew the 3 of Swords. The 3 of Swords is a card of melancholy, alienation and quiet sadness. It's not the deep depression of the 8 of Cups nor is it the bitter disappointment of the 5 of Cups. Swords represent our mental side, and in this case, it's a general state of mind, a backdrop if you will.

Speaking of the Ciceros, my New Year's resolution was to start working through their book, Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition. One of their practices for initiation into the Neophyte grade was to start going on mindfulness walks where you stop to smell, see, touch and so forth as a way of grounding yourself. There aren't a lot of places in Chicago proper where I wouldn't feel strange doing that, but we do have Lake Michigan. I resolved to do that today...until I checked the weather forecast. Today it's in the thirties and rainy, and later this week it's supposed to dip down into the single digits. That's the problem with following the advice of people that live in warmer climates. I guess I'll just have to practice mindfulness on my cats!