3/12/20 78 Degrees of Tarot: March Tarot Challenge

Today is March 12, 2020 and today's Tarot Challenge subject is what can I fix today/How. I don't even know where to start with this one. In my life? In the world? On my wife's honey-do list?

The card I pulled was this :

To be honest, it took me a while to grasp The Hierophant when I started out reading. The word is archaic and I had no idea what a Hierophant was, I had no frame of reference.

Turns out a hierophant is "a person, especially a priest in ancient Greece, who interprets sacred mysteries or esoteric principles." Just the definition helped me immensely and I was on my way.

Looking at the figure, he is facing straight ahead. Usually if a figure in a card is facing to the left, they are looking toward the past. If they're looking to the right, then they're thinking of the future. But if they're facing straight ahead, it has to do with the present.

He has both hands upraised, one hand is in a benediction type gesture and the other is holding a staff. He's dressed in robes of red with white accents. He has an audience of at least two, who appear to be prostrate before him. At his feet are keys, which, traditionally, are thought to be the keys to heaven and he is seated between two pillars.

The Hierophant, in magickal circles like the Golden Dawn, was an important role to be played in their initiation rituals. He was "Mr. Exposition", who would explain what the symbolism meant, dispensing information to help the initiate understand what was going on and why.

One thing that I love dearly is information. Almost any kind. I have an insatiable curiosity about just about anything. I'm the one who obsessively watches the special features on a DVD for the behind the scenes scoop. I love documentaries and non-fiction articles and books.

But, what I can fail it is follow through with the information/teaching I've received. It's something I have to work at and having finished four novels and numerous short stories, you'd think I've succeeded, but it still remains a struggle.

Even writing this article seemed like a chore at first. I did the one yesterday and made a plan to do an entry everyday for the challenge and it was work to get the motivation to actually do one today.

"No one reads these things."

"It's a waste of time."

"I could just sit and read or watch something on Netflix."

Just one thing after another, until I finally just sat down and did it. Now, the words flow easily and after all this time, it still surprises me.

We can all think of a million things why we shouldn't do something, particularly if it's out of our comfort zone. But those reasons are just smoke, nebulous and immaterial, that hide the many benefits and treasures that wait for you, if you would just do it.

Good ol' Uncle Al. Without the willpower (gumption, chutzpah, balls) to actually do something, all the talent and virtue a person can have would be meaningless. What's the point in being good at something, if you don't actually produce. There needs to be output. You have a prize stuck in a bottle inside you, but unless you let it out, no one will know about it, no one will benefit from it and you might as well not have the talent at all.

But putting yourself out there is scary and the fear of rejection or ridicule can be very powerful and paralyzing. But like I said yesterday, the fear of something is often worse and more painful than the "something" you're so fearful of in the first place.

After a lifetime of performing, writing, and to be honest, just living day to day, I know that the good you receive will always be more powerful and beneficial than the bad you might have to endure.

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Thank you for reading and I'll see you tomorrow!