The Ear-Ring exhibited 1911 Ambrose McEvoy {{PD}}

Oh, today we’re offered some wonderful influences, if we can keep from spoiling things by letting egos or dark impulses off the leash. These less productive urges aren’t to be denied, but channeled into better uses; as long as the ego eschews aggression and respects the power situation, and we employ awareness of the dark as what helps us appreciate the light, we can go far. Keeping highest values as guidelines, and keeping a ‘healing intention’ no matter what the interaction, will give us our best results, on a day that has the potential to go off the rails if we indulge dark thoughts, envy, or what we know to be unhealthy.

Japan, 1865 Series: One Hundred Ghost Tales from China and Japan Prints ‘Changing Into a Rat’ Color woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a rat. I have to say, I resisted using this symbol, but it wouldn’t leave me alone, so I’m assuming someone, somewhere, needs to be alerted to the ‘rat’ in their midst. For a few who’ve had rats as pets, the word is they’re delightful; for them this could be a reminder of something most people recoil from that they regard with affection. For the rest of us, the image may refer to someone or something in our life that doesn’t have our best interests at heart–as long as we see them for what they are (Self-interested, and maybe looking to undermine us, to ‘rat us out’ over our own weaknesses) we’ll be able to deal.

Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski {{PD}}

Adjust your ideas of what your power and reach should be–today, it’s that simple.

Today’s word image is a wolf. This is a much-feared animal, the name of which has entered the vernacular to indicate someone predatory or aggressive–but it turns out, we may have misunderstood the nature of the beast all this time. Is there something or someone you may see as much more fearsome than they are? And are you willing to take another look?

Max Slevogt – ‘Portrait of the dancer Marietta di Rigardo’ 1903 {{PD}}

Here’s to hoping we’re all being scrupulously honest with ourselves, because those who aren’t will find their own actions, relationships, what they value, blowing up in their faces, and real changes will come to their place in the power structure–read that as, ‘power will be yanked away from them’–but that’s not you, is it, kind reader? We do have quick and original thinking at our disposal; mental inventiveness peaks, but it’s also imperative that we don’t promise more than we can deliver. The silver lining in all this is that what occurs can foster significant healing, most especially between the individual and the Truth, but only if there is willingness to see and accept reality for what it is, and to see ourselves in that same, clear light.

Today’s word image is a Boston terrier that sits for hours at a time, observing himself in a mirror. This is one of those times when the interconnectedness of events should be more obvious to us than ever, and this applies particularly to issues of forgiveness and judgment. Inspect those areas of life that are being held up to you as a reflection, especially in terms of showing you the attitude to take, or how to proceed, in an unrelated area.

Have a great week! Donate at right, read through this link, and breathe deeply, taking in New Moon energy as it builds toward that first August eclipse.

By Eilif Peterssen – nwEXZQtnF4q9xw at Google Cultural Institute, zoom level maximum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29841562

What’s smart is empowering (that’s no surprise), but we seem determined to rebel or shock, to go into the future blindly, to mess with the power balance in relationships and/ or finances, and all of it, yes all of it, springs from misguided beliefs, misunderstandings, and a general spiritual malaise that makes it hard to focus on the good stuff. We find the flaws in our ideals, and then are angry, not realizing that ideals are essentially static, dimensionless ideas of perfection that don’t take into account the messiness of human life and the riotous inclinations of Nature. Forgive everyone and everything, but especially yourself, for not being Perfect–and if possible, try to appreciate the beauty and energy to be found in the mess.

Today’s word image is two children, playing at being monsters, who are sitting down to afternoon tea wearing fancy hats; they are talking in ‘monster’ voices while passing invisible sandwiches and asking, ‘One lump or two?’ This image suggests the normalization of something abnormal–or is it the incursion of one thing into another, that simply doesn’t belong? Once you identify this, you have to ask yourself, does it need to change?

By Jean-Léon Gérôme 1868 {{PD}}

What’s beautiful is also wise, or is the practical choice–how’s that for a guideline?–and we (in some cases literally) see and must deal with in concrete terms what we think, say, and communicate. That last may seem like something of a riddle, until we consider how many possible forms it can have; the one thing about it we can pin down is that our idea of our own empowerment (both reach and options) will be challenged (and so need to be modified) in the process.

By Labs1950 at English Wikipedia -[[PD}}, Photo of the work of José Bernal by his daughter Lucrecia Bernal Schneider, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5908735