The season in Austin has officially changed and spring is busting out all over. We had a whopper of a new moon on Friday, March 20; not only because of the equinox, but also because it was a supermoon and total solar eclipse!
You are reading “Tarot-Scope,” a blog by the one and only Arcie Cola!
Astrology blogs all over the web are extremely excited about the potential for massive change indicated by the alignments, and I believe the hype, because I had an experience that drove home the point.
When I do the Tarot-Scope, I smudge the house, light a candle, and ask the Universe for guidance. This time, the cotton string holding the sage together caught fire and the whole bundle fell apart. I draped the string around the base of the candle, and scooped the loose bits of sage onto the flame. Well the whole thing went up like a torch — safely contained but still very impressive — and before I knew it the candle had melted down to nothing but a sludge of wax, string, and sage.
The “candle” was still burning but it was completely reconfigured, and that’s the perfect message of transformation to serve with The Cake:
If you want a tasty cake, follow a solid recipe and use the best ingredients.
Dry Ingredients: Magician
Cakes are symbolic of celebration, and the arrival of spring is the perfect excuse to bake one. Assuming the “cake” represents a desired goal, what kind should we bake? The Magician provides the base structure for whatever we seek to accomplish. He has a lot of skills and focus, so the sky’s the limit. This is a magical time of year so take advantage of the energy and try to use it in new ways. It’s time to get moving because inaction won’t bring success (or yummy cake).
Wet Ingredients: Temperance
The next ingredient in the bowl is Temperance, which is perfectly suited to binding up all that magic and whipping it into something better. Take a pinch of this, add a cup of that, and before you know it–wow! Of course, those of us who like to experiment with the recipe should remember to moderate those tweaks. It’s fantastic to dream big, but practical considerations shouldn’t be ignored. We should be honest about our resources and capabilities. Having a good experience now prepares us for taking a risk later.
Leavening: Wheel of Fortune
We’ve got a good batter, but what will make our cake rise? As luck would have it, the Wheel of Fortune is our leavening. Just as the beaters spin around the bowl, the Wheel spins around in the cosmic cycle, bringing both the good and the bad. Fate often forces us to rise to the occasion. It’s frustrating to work hard for something, only to fail because we forgot a key ingredient. But sometimes we catch a break, so we shouldn’t give up on finding an adequate substitution. The Wheel is always turning, and when it’s on the ingredient list we should be prepared for a surprise.
Icing: Death
The sweetest part of the cake is always the icing, and there’s nothing sweeter than the symbolic release of Death. It’s only bitter if we fail to develop a palate for its complex flavor. Death comes in many forms and it’s unavoidable, so the sooner we embrace its transformative power, the sooner we can learn to use that power for our benefit. We are constantly called upon to release habits and ideas from our lives so that we may make room for new ones. Now is an excellent time to clean out the pantry and toss the things that are no good. If we refuse to cull the rot, our lives will just get stale and moldy. Ewww.
Baking a cake is a pretty straightforward process: Mix, bake, cool, ice, then try not to eat the whole thing! But as we all know from countless wedding receptions, some cakes are better than others. The quality of the recipe and ingredients, combined with the skill of the baker, determine whether or not that cake ends up in a belly or in the trash. Let’s think outside the box and bake something different this spring, and then share it with those we love. Whether we tackle Julia Child’s recipe, or slum it with Betty Crocker, as long as we don’t cut corners it’ll be delicious.
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Photo: Flickr user Andrew Malone, creative commons licensed.
