Our attention, even in the full sunlight of consciousness, is drawn repeatedly to what enrages us, what we would rather look away from, what we would like to ignore or deny (Sun parallel Black Moon Lilith), and this leads to contemplation and discussion of (even the working out of agreements over) power and reach, to negotiating and bargaining with those who hold power over us, or over whom we hold sway (Mercury quincunx Ceres). No matter how much we turn our attitudes and faces toward the light, we will find ourselves haunted by what offends, deeply irritates, and consumes us with righteous anger; in order to retain our own current power and relevancy, and to maintain sufficient dignity and autonomy, we may need to adjust, to discharge some of the outrage, or mobilize it in some useful channel–failing that, a deep breath and a step back may keep us from some unseemly, potentially disastrous entanglements.

Today’s word image is a poison passed off as a medicine. There are many things that fall under this description, though the most obvious might be chemotherapy, where the death of the bad is accompanied by a certain unavoidable amount of the death of the good. This encourages two questions: one, is there ever truly a benefit to accepting poison into one’s person? That is, is loss of the good with the bad simply to be expected, and can the same result be attained by other means? And two, does poison plus faith create its own alchemy, changing the detrimental to the beneficial? Is there some confusion? Are you taking in a poison that you think is medicine, or vice versa, a medicine that for you is a poison? This is a highly personal subject, and is by no means a criticism of anyone’s treatment of choice for any thing. Remember, the Daily Word Image is symbolic, meant to prompt consideration of what’s behind and beyond the physical and observable.