Apollo's Vengeance - Celestial Week 03

[Joan Marie]

Hydra the Water Snake is the largest of the 88 constellations and this week it becomes entirely visible in the night sky.

The Hydra is accompanied by 2 other constellations, Corvus (the Crow) and Crater (the Cup).

Legend has it that Apollo sent Corvus to fetch him some water in the cup.
On the way, Corvus got distracted by a tree of unripe figs. He decided to hang around until they were ripe because he really really liked figs. After gorging himself on the delicious juicy figs, reality hit. We've all been there.

Corvus knew that Apollo wouldn’t be happy with him. So he filled the cup with water, then grabbed a water snake in his talons. He brought both back to Apollo, and blamed the snake for blocking his way. But Apollo wasn’t fooled. Instead, he was angry and vengeful. He cast crow, cup, and snake into the heavens, forming three constellations. As extra punishment, he decreed that the crow would suffer from thirst — with the water-filled cup forever just out of reach. -from StarDate.org

Well, I'm not here to judge Corvus or Apollo, but the Hydra sure got a raw deal.

So, in light of the celestial appearance of these three characters, forever intertwined in the heavens as a result of lust, deception, distraction, anger and vengeance, let us use our cards this week to consider the darker sides of our own natures and/or of our environments. What role do the harsher drives and emotions play in limiting our peace of mind? How do they influence our behaviour? And/or how to counter them, conquer or use them better?

I mean the Crow just wanted to eat some figs, but he didn't have to involve the hydra in his lie, did he? And Apollo was disappointed, but possibly over-reacted? How are we letting things get the better of us and how can we overcome that? How is our modern life/environments influencing us?

So choose an appropriate deck for this dark journey into the soul. Something deep and mysterious, or maybe something really cheery would be interesting for contrast. You decide!

Here are some suggestions to help you find your way as you form your questions:
(If having a go at yourself all week sounds too gruelling, examine society! It's just asking for it!)

• Saturday - Ruled by Saturn - Spiritual life vs. Material world / Fear, Ego and Doubt

• Sunday - Ruled by the Sun - Pride and arrogance, self-sacrifice

• Monday - Ruled by the Moon - The influence of thoughts, emotions, and other people's energies. (for good or for ill)

• Tuesday - Ruled by Mars - The true will / self-discipline

• Wednesday - Ruled by Mercury - Deception, nervousness, fear (think of the crow and the poor hydra!)

• Thursday - Ruled by Jupiter - over-optimism, unrealistic, over-extending ourselves (with promises, tasks, money, etc)

• Friday - Ruled by Venus - Self-indulgence, vanity, exhaustion

An 1825 illustration depicts Hydra, Corvus, Crater, and surrounding constellations.

(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.

[Joan Marie]

I'm breaking out the old Sola Busca Tarot for this week. Somehow I think it will fit.
If I recall correctly there is even an Apollo card in this deck. Let s see if he makes an appearance this week.

So here I go:

Saturday - Ruled by Saturn - Spiritual life vs. Material world / Fear, Ego and Doubt

The Six of Wands

The Sola Busca is made up of Peasants, Royalty, mythic figures and Gods.

We definitely have a peasant here.
The first thing I notice (well besides the obvious state of the underpants from which I choose to look away from at the moment) is that he holds a lamp, ostensibly to light the way forward, only he holds it low and downwards rather than up and forwards, so not making really the best use of it.

Everything in this deck is heavily symbolic, and by the way, no original documentation exists anywhere as to what any of it means. The Sola Busca, created in the 15th Century, has only been studied, parsed and written about in relatively modern times.

This big purple ribbon, purple symbolising wealth perhaps, around the wands makes me think that they represent, in the context of this reading, material concerns. And these material concerns seem to be given more care than the spiritual, the low borne light, or the aesthetic concerns of appearance as is evidenced by the tattered, embarrassing state of his clothing.

I'd like to avoid the obvious platitudes here, the things we all already know about life, and find a true message for myself.

I feel like this person is not using any of his tools properly, or that he has no sense of how to use them, or to balance them. The wealth could be put to better use than simply to lug around like a burden. Then the light could be used more effectively. He's staring so intently forward, straining his eyes, his back hunched from the weight of the wands, and simply looking foolish for all the effort. The word "graceless" comes to mind. He's a peasant who actually does have resources, just no idea how to use them. He has a peasant mentality, something picked up along the way in life. Like his other resources, he is not making best use of his mind. Ruled by fear, ego, and doubt, he's left unable to properly balance spiritual and material concerns.

Now, I could go back and replace all those pronouns I used for the character on the card, with ones for myself. It's an interesting message. It indicates a disconnect between reality and my own self-image and how that affects/colors my perception of that reality.

[inomminate]

The image made me think of the RWS ten of wands and The Hermit. The weight he is carrying is getting in the way of the hermits search.
inomminate

[Joan Marie]

Sunday - Ruled by the Sun - Pride and arrogance, self-sacrifice

Palas, The Queen of Wands

A queen sits upon her throne, not in a palace but outdoors somewhere. Her hand is poised in a benevolent gesture. Her gaze is downward as if looking upon someone kneeling before her. Her face is kind.

She wields her power with gentility. She is genuinely caring of others.

She reminds me that this is the ultimate purpose of any privilege. It should always make you a better person, not a worse one.

[Joan Marie]

Monday - Ruled by the Moon - The influence of thoughts, emotions, and other people's energies. (for good or for ill)

This is Apolino, the Knight of Wands.

I can't look at this card without thinking he is just about to say, "Actually,...." and then proceed with some smug correction of something I've just said.

So speaking of other people's energies, yeah, my head is full of these people.
Funny how he is pointing forward and the horse is looking backward. And they seem to be in a pretty desolate place. I get the feeling this Knight has led this horse astray and the horse is beginning to figure that out.

I went to Catholic school and was taught to basically trust everyone but myself. Needless to say, this did not serve me well in life. But I think a lot of people learn this. "You could not possibly be good at/know this because you are ______________." Just fill in the blank, Too young, too old, a woman, a man, a minority, disabled, poor, less educated, less experienced, etc. etc.

It the source of the so-called "imposter syndrome". Just because you make mistakes or don't know absolutely everything there is to know about your field does not make you an imposter. But a lot of people would like to, for some reason, shake your confidence and make you think that.

And if I am being honest here, (and why not?) I know I have done this to people too.

This is some real Dark Shadows time. Looking hard at why I would do this to someone, study what triggers me to do that, will help me understand why others do it, do it to me. Understanding this would make me better able to deal with it and sort good advice I should take from bad advice I shouldn't and know the difference between being wisely cautioned and just plain old discouraged.

I think I'm gonna have to take this off-line...

[Joan Marie]

Tuesday - Ruled by Mars - The true will / self-discipline

Amone- The Knight of Swords.

This image really does illustrate my relationship to self-discipline.
It's like a heavy weight, like this sword, that I try but can never quite manage to wield with any kind of style, or effectiveness or smoothness.
The Knight here looks strong enough all right, but the sword is just not a good fit, it's awkward. And that sheath is not doing much for his silhouette.
(sorry, I heard Joan say that to Peggy on Madmen once in reference to a sweater Peggy had tied around her waist. Stuck in my head forever.) But seriously that sheath is just clunking along at his side, probably hitting his leg with every step the horse takes.

My will is constantly in conflict with self discipline. It's not that I can't get things done, or commit to necessary routines. But I oppress myself with thoughts that I am not optimising my time, that I could be accomplishing more, should be accomplishing more. I try to harness self-discipline, but it's like a set-up for failure. I always stray from whatever regimen I've attempted to set up for myself. In the past this led to feelings of anxiousness but not so much any more.

Benebell Wen had an interesting blog post about the price of being (too?) driven. What I gathered for myself from her post is that it works both ways, is a double-edged sword so to speak.

I think the key is to find one's pace and be satisfied with that. If you can do that, you can make the most of and enjoy your endeavours instead of suffering them.

[Joan Marie]

Wednesday - Ruled by Mercury - Deception, nervousness, fear (think of the crow and the poor hydra!)

Falco. Trump number 9. These don't as far as I can tell, correspond to regular Tarot Trumps.

Well, Falco looks nervous. Looks like he's seeing a vision, or a monster or something that has him in awe.

In the story that brings us here this week, the crow becomes nervous, fearful of the wrath of Apollo and decides the answer is to lie, deceive.
This goes badly for everyone.

We are seeing a whole lot of this playing out right now in modern politics, especially for the Americans.
These old stories all hold lessons or advice or guidance that is relevant and that is part of why I am beginning to really enjoy this exercise.

Things are revealed.

Obviously, lying is going to cause problems, but maybe the problems started with nervousness. Okay, he made a bad choice to hang around eating figs when he should have been fetching Apollo's water. But his nervousness prevented him from standing up for himself and his truth. That he wanted to eat some damn figs.

Apollo may have respected that. But the crow retreated to base behaviour out of some unhealthy instinct.
Nevousness led to fear. Fear led to deception.

I would like to look at this more but I have to go.

[Joan Marie]

Thursday - Ruled by Jupiter - over-optimism, unrealistic, over-extending ourselves (with promises, tasks, money, etc)

Trump Card 15: Metelo

The guidebook say that in this picture Metelo is trying to control the lamp fire. The look on his face tells me it's a little tricky.

In the context of this day, (I am actually writing this on friday) I really over-extended myself on Wednesday (that's a nice way of saying I celebrated the 1st of May a bit too hard) and all day Thursday I paid the price. Still today I'm not much better.

The fire within burned very bright and I had a bit of trouble later keeping it contained.

[Joan Marie]

Friday - Ruled by Venus - Self-indulgence, vanity, exhaustion

5 of Swords

Good ideas all stuffed into a pot. The bow has become tattered. It reminds me of an old umbrella stand.
It reminds me of all the ideas I've written down and then forgotten about. Intentions not followed through on.
Intention is nothing without action.

In the context of this day about self indulgence, vanity and exhaustion, I think of how i feel boosted by a good intention. Imagining the action when it's taken, before actually taking it. Then later finding the remnant which reminds me of that lost intention, that action never taken. One would do well to learn to curb or better channel the excitement of a good idea and save the self-congratulations until the action is taken.

[Joan Marie]

It's been a while since I used my Sola Busca.

It's such a strange and enigmatic deck and I think it served me well for this week's kind of dark journey. The images seem to call out from the past with the knowledge of ages.

I was also very surprised at just how interesting this week got using the guide words and theme and the story of Apollo's vengeance.

I was a little disappointed no one joined me, but the way this is set up, it's never too late really. You can jump into any week you like any day you like and take the trip of My Celestial Week.