InSight - Celestial Week 04

[Joan Marie]

There is a little robot on Mars right now called InSight.

It's not the first little robot on Mars, but it is the first one with its own twitter account, @NASAInSight.
And it has a blue check!

InSight tweets almost daily sharing the events of it's day on the red planet, sharing pictures and gifs, even audio sometimes. And the little messages that accompany these things are just charming.

Actual tweets from InSight

Have a look. It's like an Oasis on twitter which tends to fill up with a lot of the senseless craziness of Earth happenings. It's nice to be reminded sometimes the remarkable and fun things people are capable of and how something like twitter can be the vehicle for such extraordinary communications as this. Landing a little robot on a distant planet is mind-boggling. But setting up a twitter account for it, that's some kind of genius too.

This Week for my celestial week, I thought it might be fun to focus on our own accomplishments and good ideas. What are the things we do that are extraordinary or at least productive and helpful to ourselves and to others that we maybe take for granted or don't pay enough due. Or you may choose to consider the accomplishments and ideas of others. It's your choice.

Here are some suggestions to help you find your way as you do your draws for each day:

• Saturday - Ruled by Saturn - Creating something of enduring value, ancestor influence

• Sunday - Ruled by the Sun - life giving, life sustaining, warmth

• Monday - Ruled by the Moon - Overcoming fears, surviving

• Tuesday - Ruled by Mars - Meeting goals, determination

• Wednesday - Ruled by Mercury - Education, travel, negotiations (family or work)

• Thursday - Ruled by Jupiter - Spiritual growth, happiness

• Friday - Ruled by Venus - Art, music, poetry, sensitivity and refinement

So often we use Tarot to address our problems and shortcomings. This week, with this exercise lets use it to lift ourselves up some.

Photo & message sent back from InSight

(If you are new to My Celestial Week or want to know more about it, you can see this post.)

Also remember, you can jump in any time, the week starts when you start it.

[CharlotteK]

Saturday - Ruled by Saturn - Creating something of enduring value, ancestor influence

I'm not always good at riding out the craziness, and at times my own crazy overwhelms me. But I am in a very steady place right now and able to keep my balance and support others experiencing turbulence. My five year old has a lot of drama going on. The volcanic eruptions of a small person can be hard to breeze through. But as the card says, I'm master of my own responsibilities. I can keep it steady today.

[Joan Marie]

I've chosen to use The Wise Fool Tarot this week because I find this deck to be very positive and at the same time very real in it's view on life.

Saturday - Ruled by Saturn - Creating something of enduring value, ancestor influence

The King of Wands.
I hope you can all indulge me here, but the point of this week's exercise is to look at our accomplishments, and sometimes that's hard to do, strangely.

I see the sleeping dragon at the king's feet as this forum. And I am the burning King, focused and putting so much energy into this dragon, who for the time being, is a bit sleepy. But the King believes in the dragon.

But one day the Dragon will awaken, wide awake. And my hope for this place to be a place of enduring value will be then fully realised.

[Joan Marie]

Sunday - Ruled by the Sun - life giving, life sustaining, warmth

10 of Diamonds (Pentacles)

Nice card for the theme.
I can't relate literally to the central image, but maybe figuratively.

But then again, this week is about accomplishments.
I raised a baby. I made a lot of mistakes. As you do.
I tend to focus on those. But this week is for focusing on the things I did right.
And maybe that is a longer list of things than I tend to ever give myself credit for.

The Sephiroth of the Kaballah floating around remind me that situations always change and shift. The white picket fence reminds me that perfection is an illusion really. A false goal. But I keep trying. Sustaining life that way.

[Joan Marie]

Monday - Ruled by the Moon - Overcoming fears, surviving

The Two of Clubs (Wands)

This card depicts a person facing all kinds of challenges, and doing it with style and swagger. I like that.

I've done a lot of scary things. I left home very young- probably a dumb move but who knows. I had a child very young and raised him. I've made big moves; cross-country and international, I've tried mind-bending drugs, I've gambled on people, sometimes it worked out, sometimes not. I quit a good job once, moved to a foreign country and completely changed my life. I've been around a lot of very unusual people in some very unusual places. I spent some time doing what I called "free-wheeling" others would have called it being homeless. I took care of my dying father and held his hand as he passed to the next world. I went snorkling on the Great Barrier Reef not even knowing how to swim, really (used a pool noodle.). I've driven on ice and through blizzards my car sliding every which way. I did that a lot. I call it Driving While Terrified. I drove across the unpaved desert roads of Namibia. (My DWT experience came in very handy then.) I did karaoke.

And I realised this could be a very long list if I continue.

I have made a life out of overcoming fears and surviving. Sometimes a bit worse for the wear, sometimes better for it. And I didn't really realise it until now.

If you are reading this, I really recommend you try this week's exercise. It's nice to take a good hard look at yourself and see the good parts. I'm starting to feel more confident already about doing it.

[Joan Marie]

Tuesday - Ruled by Mars - Meeting goals, determination

Queen of Pentacles

She stands upon that pentacle in way that reminds me of home base in baseball.
She did it.
And she looks to be carrying what could be the fruits of her labors.

I know well the feeling of having an idea, a plan, starting it and then losing steam.
over time I have learned how to finish things. It's something I was not so good at when I was younger.
I have learned that the Muse won't wake me up and get me started. It's the other way around. The Muse waits for me.

Understanding this, learning this, has been a tremendous help to me in overcoming my own tendencies to procrastinate and often to completely abandon projects.

[Joan Marie]

Wednesday - Ruled by Mercury - Education, travel, negotiations (family or work)

Temperance

Temperance would be easy if everything was in balance but as depicted here we see that is not the case.
The tricky thing about Temperance is figuring out how to bring some kind of balance to an imbalanced situation. And often is it is not so easy as to taking a little less of this or a little more of that.

I think I have managed to find in my life a way to live with imbalances. But it is always a struggle.
Problems always seem insurmountable at first. But I've learned to approach things with less emotion more logic and look for solutions.

[Joan Marie]

Thursday - Ruled by Jupiter - Spiritual growth, happiness

The Surfing Fool of Cups

This deck has 5 Fools. The regular trump one and then one for each suit.

I am not a surfer, but to me surfing looks exhilarating and terrifying and dangerous.
Such is the quest for happiness.

By the way, is this fool drinking red wine while surfing? That's my kind of sport.

To surf requires a lot of effort, a lot of paddling and missed opportunities go by before you catch a wave like she has here and she just goes for the ride now trying to maintain balance for as long as it lasts.

I think I'm pretty good at that. Not surfing, but as a metaphor for life and the search for growth and happiness, it's pretty apt. I'm not afraid to work, to take chances. And sometimes it pays off but I've learned to never expect that. And it's more enjoyable that way anyhow.

[Joan Marie]

Friday - Ruled by Venus - Art, music, poetry, sensitivity and refinement

Ace of Cups
Nice.

In the movies, whenever a character goes diving into water or swimming out to sea or stands in the pouring rain, it is symbolic of a baptism, a spiritual cleansing. That's what the image on this card makes me think of.

She's got a bit of seaweed and a crustacean or two hanging on, but she appears rapt in a spiritual moment.

And again, in case somebody is reading this out of context, I want to remind that this week's reading assignment was to consider our accomplishments, maybe things we'd overlooked. So if I sound like I'm patting myself on the back it's because I am, them's the rules this week.

In the past few years I have made a lot of progress in my spiritual life. I hate to keep using that word but I don't know how else to say it. The result has been an improvement in relationships, important ones. And I find I have a deeper understanding of what people go through and this has enriched my life and mad me a more positive influence on others, and they on me.

I've worked hard for this. I look back a few years and I can scarcely believe I was so confused, so unaware. I guess most people can say that. We go through things and it changes us, life changes us. But for myself I can say that I was consciously working toward improvement. And I went through a lot of phases, but I can say that each phase played a role in my development.

So I'm going to end this week acknowledging that my personal growth has enhanced my enjoyment and appreciation for life. This constant quest for refinement, to understand more, to let go more has been a long and fruitful journey. And in 10 years , I probably won't believe how stupid I was now! ☯