Jan Sanders van Hemessen 1550 {{PD}}

The mental faculties are aligned with the instincts, successfully accessing all that we ‘know but don’t know’, accurately perceptive of the real world, and so capable of offering ourselves and others the healing that can come through words or disseminated ideas. Share your thoughts, and put this unusual clarity to good use (Mercury trine Sedna, parallel Saturn, and sextile Chiron).

‘The Goldfish Seller’ By George Dunlop Leslie {{PD}}

Today’s word image is something fishy. So maybe an actual, literal fish, or the image or symbol, acting as a synchronistic mechanism alerting us to the importance of the current moment–or to something ‘fishy’ (suspicious) in our environment or interactions.

‘The Church at Volendam’ By Elizabeth Nourse c1910 {{PD}}

We feel such a light inside, such a sense of harmony with our own essence, that it’s kind of remarkable how we passive-aggressively resist authority, and how we speak in spontaneous and original ways that could spark real conflict. The best approach may be to enjoy our own light and warmth, and to honor it; it may be that bowing to others today, or restraining ourselves within socially acceptable limits, could bring out the rebel in us, whether we actually dislike cooperating or not (though take note: it could be an excellent day to earn or influence by exerting your charm). There’s nothing less productive or less kind than needless revolt; go ahead and bask in your own sun, even as you must refuse to see the existence of or assertions of others as automatically encroaching on your liberty (Venus opp Ceres, Sun parallel Venus, Merc sq Uranus).

Drake Brookshaw, Artist, ARP (Air Raid Precautions) {{PD}}

Today’s word image is an ambulance arriving at a non-emergency. Does this suggest someone is overdoing it, or responding as if the situation is critical when it’s not? Is this an image of panic, alarm, or over preparedness? Or is this about being equipped to handle the worst, and remaining responsive and ready? It may be a prompt to measure both our preparedness and our propensity to treat mundane circumstances as emergencies, and adjust according to what we find.

Henri Martin – ‘The Apparition’ 1894 {{PD}}

It’s now required that what’s been healed inside you, the part of your Soul and identity that expresses your spiritual essence, must be shared in all ways in which you’re empowered. Impulses are healthy, and we are acting in our own ‘best image’; we are a potent creative force, poised to use our skills–now see what spiritual magic comes from within (Chiron novile Juno-Hygeia, Sun novile Neptune)

Kuniyoshi Utagawa, ‘The Magic Toads’ c1849 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a suit of clothes, laid out on a bed. This brings to mind that saying, ‘He’s an empty suit of clothes’, meaning he’s all bluster, talk, hot air, of no substance–a ‘hollow’ man, in any meaningful sense. It’s an image of ineffectuality. Is there some area in your life where you feel you aren’t having an impact? Or are you currently dealing with someone like this, someone who may present himself as able or important but who can’t even make a ripple in the water? In the most general terms, this is a signal to take charge yourself, either by changing up your approach, trying something original or new, or by ignoring or bypassing ‘the empty suit’.

‘Red Houses’ by Agnes Weinrich, c1921 {{PD}}

Health and circumstances of empowerment both balance on the past; we see clearly the thread that connects past behaviors and choices to our current situation (Hygeia and Juno conjoined the South Node). The point of such insight, of course, is to modify our thinking, our intentions, our approach with an eye on the future we’d like to create (Mercury quincunx the North Node). Today we do that best by scrutinizing relationships and finances specifically for those related things we try to ignore, to turn away from, or that make us angry but which we bury for the sake of a surface peace or continued income (Venus parallel Black Moon Lilith). This scrutiny will almost undoubtedly be unpleasant, and probably uncomfortable, but it will have the virtue of bringing us closer to our Truth (and this is so even if we don’t share our insights or confront others over what we feel are wrongs). Get angry, and wash that anger away with love–that’s the potential available today.

Here’s the result of a fight over a stray animal. ‘What An Unbranded Cow Has Cost’ by Frederic Remington 1894 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is an Old West shoot-out, where no one gets shot. That’s a good thing, and yet, you have to wonder, what was all the shooting about? Are you in a similar situation now? This image suggests it may come to nothing–maybe that’s a hint that all parties can just walk away, now, and save their ammo for a more productive fight.

Jan Grubiński ‘Pejzaż o zachodzie słońca’ 1908 {{PD}}

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.

Rembrandt ‘Artemis’ Nautilus cup detail 1633 {{PD}}

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. 

‘The Frosty Morning’ 1894, By Nikolai Nikanorovich Dubovskoy

That’s what today boils down to: surprising circumstances, shocks, revelatory information, intellectual jolts, incursion of the modern, the new, or the group into the individual prerogative, but all of it results in highly positive benefits, generating healing or unique use of our skills (Sun sq Uranus and sxt Chiron). Vesta enters Sagittarius and noviles Zeus, opening our eyes and our horizons to the ways we can honor and innovate in achieving our goals, while Chiron noviles the South Node, drawing on the past for answers and ways of redressing ills. Our actions and choices are deft, clever (Mars novile Saturn) and we gain by following our instincts (Venus trine Sedna). The only negative may be that it’s so easy to believe messages we were given in the past that we may miss who and what we really are today (Mercury nov SN).

Drawing By John Singer Sargent CC0

Today’s word image is a lie told because the truth is unacceptable. Is that okay? No. Face what is; reality, no matter how painful, is always preferable to a fantasy–and it’s important to know, we can’t begin to make effective change until we know exactly where we stand.

‘La Dordogne’ By Frits Thaulow 1902 {{PD}}

Be aware that actions and choices may spring from outrage, acknowledged or not, or from a healthy sense of righteousness (Mars semi-sq Black Moon Lilith), and that the messages we send and receive will chafe against the usual social norms, our beliefs, or the facts as we see them (Mercury semi-sq Jupiter), and yet what actually grabs our attention are the shiny surprises, the unpredictability of relationships and rewards, and the unexpectedly contrary nature of our wants, all of which can just as easily inflict injury as they can heal it (Venus sq Uranus and sxt Chiron). ‘Head above water’ may be the goal for most of us as we struggle to decipher and handle what comes at us; a better aim might be ‘Swim with the current’, allowing influences to inform and illuminate what we see, think, and do, while keeping an eye out for rough water ahead–or, if you can rise to it, ‘Be the current’, sending your influence out in gentle but surprising ripples.

‘Tea Cup Ballet’ Artist : Olive Cotton (Australia, b.1911, d.2003) {{PD}} gelatin silver photograph, gift of the Artist Accession Number : 218.1980

Today’s word image is a hot cup of tea, gone cold. Do you drink it, or throw it out? Re-heat it, wait for someone else to clear it up, berate yourself for having abandoned it, are you angry at the waste, or do you fail to give it a second thought? Answer that, and then replace “hot cup of tea gone cold” with “relationships”. What do you think of your answer, now?

Depicts Bahram Gur (central figure) on horseback hunting three doe, from a Khamseh of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi. Behind the hunter stand two attendants on horseback, and one on foot. In the far distance two hunters stand behind a rocky hillhttp://www.britishmuseum.org/research {{PD}} https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17783246

What You Want, like a headline in a newspaper, hangs over everything today; our Will, our wants, are Big (Mars conj Jupiter) but don’t fear, this is a healthy thing, a positive Self-expression thing (Mars parallel Hygeia). That sounds like a recipe to go get ‘it’–and yet, we may be too steeped in the past (especially in what we wanted in the past, bent on seeing an old desire filled, without asking if we still want it–Mars parallel SN pt); couple that with a certain fussiness and vanity surrounding our expectations of the future (Venus qnx NN pt) and we may end up trying to heal our thoughts and obsessive ruminations rooted in the past (Mercury sq Chiron, semi-sq Hygeia) rather than indulging our most unique and original sensibilities (Mercury trine Uranus)

‘Two Hummingbirds “Copper-tailed Amazili”‘ By Martin Johnson Heade c1870 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a hummingbird visiting a feeder in the dead of winter. Sometimes we so strongly associate something with a particular setting or cyclical point in time that we forget that those things exist at other points, too. What surprising, out-of-season thing have you encountered lately, and what did it remind you of (potentially, that may be a reminder of something you miss, or that evokes a much different perspective on things, one you wouldn’t normally take in this ‘season’)?

Carl Moll – ‘The Blue Lantern’ 1903 {{PD}}

Vesta is semi-squared by Venus and parallels Juno, setting up a slightly tense dynamic of lady-energies (the power of the feminine, the anima, the receptive, the nurturing, the gestating), empowerment issues, and priorities, commitments, and values that searches for internal harmony; that is, though actions arises out of potential discord, it quickly evolves into expression that is correct for our roles and our current ‘power place’ in things. Thoughts are clear and on point, especially in power terms (Mercury trine Ceres) and we send and receive messages relating to authority with amazing precision (in spite of the way most of these are unspoken). All this measuring of empowerment and consideration of communications may require the identity to re-shape itself, as we see that instincts and our ‘blind spot’ may both offer input that demands a new, more accurate Self-image be adopted (Sun sesq Sedna).

‘Alfred Crowquill’ (Alfred Henry Forrester (1804-72)) – Illustrated London News [[PD}}