Daily Diary

Sun: aquarius (air/fixed), 7:37am - 5:27pm
Moon: waning gibbous, libra (air/cardinal)
Earth: still. very. cold.

Thoughts: thinking about the idea of "breath" and its connection to spirit in preparation for Savanah's Druidry lesson today; also spent some time thinking and talking with Jeff about issues of copyright, plagiarism and support for creative work, as well as football, cars and why American culture is so strange and unhealthy; in the evening, spent time analyzing discourse on online political blogs and following up with some comments about insanity and hyper-rationality in politics and culture; responded to Johnny's follow-up comment on his post about "low-intensity ritual" and everyday customs, which of course got me thinking about Brigid Star-Fire and my commitment to daily devotional work with her (and wanting to get back to it)

Actions: kept up much of the night by somebody snoring (ahem - Jeff); so slept in late, lazed around in the morning, showered, spent time after breakfast preparing Savanah's Druidry lesson and then doing Savanah's lesson (along with Jeff); then after lunch (and the kids dropped off earlier so they could go to a party), headed out to get some food with Jeff and swing by the Apple Store and Journey's in Shadyside do to some window-shopping and day-dreaming; back home, watched some television and spent some time responding to blog comments

Connections: I think way too many things in a given day to keep track of them all; maybe I should get myself a tape recorder or something; also, political blogging wears me out and rarely feels worth the effort (people persist in being rude and obnoxious, and then justifying their behavior by mimicking the rhetoric of tolerance and liberalism.... it's ironic in an exhausting kind of way); what I want is to spend more time writing poetry, or doing the ritual equivalent, like walking in the woods, listening, opening, attending.... but it's so f'ing cold outside.... sigh....

Daily Tarot Card: The Queen of Swords is a figure of piercing insight and clarity of thought, balanced by and arising from a receptivity to the living, changing world around her. Her mature acceptance of the slip-ups and difficulties natural to life have led to her deep wisdom, inner strength and independence - her sense of humor belies her apparent aloofness, though her detachment is also what gives her the distance and perspective necessary to see more deeply and clearly the patterns of things. She wields her sword not as a weapon of brute force, but as an instrument of precision and delicacy whether in analysis or judgement, and she has about her person a lightness-of-being that finds its echo in the butterfly's wing and the curling petals of the purple dragon lilies.

(My notes: I am too tired for the Queen of Swords right now. To maintain this receptivity and light-heartedness, balancing it with dispassionate intellect and emotional nonattatchment.... it's too tiring, and I don't think I'm up for it. How do you walk that line between harsh shrew and fuzzy-minded push-over? How to maintain clarity without being accused of either "white light and fluffy bunnies" or the hard, cold-minded heartlessness of dissection? I don't have the energy to be a Queen of Swords. It is too clumsy a thing for me to wield with delicacy. My arms are tired.)(Metaphorically speaking.)