Equinox Earth

 

Every six weeks, I pull on Tarot Card, asking for guidance in the coming time.

 Last night, it was the Equinox, the day and night when light balances and the world pauses before shifting into the dark time of the year. We had gone for a walk out at the wildlife refuge, stopping to look at the hazy sunlight in the dusty ferns and oak trees and gathering acorns.  When we came home, I made pesto from our basil plants and cooked corn from the market. After dinner, while Mark did the dishes, I started  a small fire in the back garden and held the cards.

For these moments, I use an old deck. It was once Mary Jane’s—the older woman all of the Ceres bakers consulted for readings. She introduced us to the Mother Peace deck, round, with images of women in power for her readings, preferring the ambiguity of a circle to the clarity of upright and reversed. This was an old deck she handed  on to my friend Cheryl, who gave it to me when I drove across country for three months. It lived in the Ark for years coming inside when we bought the house. I have put it down to rest once or twice, but I keep coming back. The edges are frayed, the colors subdued, the silk wrapping cloth in tatters.  

It was just twilight. The kittens were still out, stalking each other around the garden beds, rustling in the leaves. The chickens chatted for a bit as they settled in. In the distance, muted traffic and college students shouting at one another.  But, close at home, wind in trees and creatures settling down. The fire shot sparks into the sky and swirled around the chimney pot. The light from the kitchen reached as far as the outdoor table, but not to the back.  Sitting cross legged on the ground, I held the cards: what will help me in the coming weeks?

The Ace of Pentacles replied, “How is your spiritual treasure dispensing wisdom?”  Is it? I wondered.  Pentacles are about material abundance—maybe all of the fruit we have brought in for the winter? Maybe a successful grapefruit sale?  It didn’t seem like good response, so I waited and looked further in my two books.  Sitting in front of the fire, watching it swirl, feeling the warmth on my face and stomach, the ground beneath me, the answer came. Pentacles are also Earth cards. Return to the Earth.  Return to the earth again, I thought. I can do that.