January 16: Nine of Rods, Tarot of the Old Path
Ever hear the expression, "Too much of a good thing"? Well, that's the situation facing you when the Nine of Rods shows up in your Path--or, might we say, blocks it? Too many responsibilities, but you love what you're doing. Too many distractions, but they're all so interesting! Too close to the end of this project to get sidetracked like this, but maybe this new information is important...you get where we're going here? Nowhere, fast, because we just ran into a thicket of blooming trees and we can't see the path....
Well. Hmm. Let's think about this...The Charge of the Goddess reminds us, "If you find not what you seek within yourself, you will never find it without." Inner stamina is the watchword here, and the remembrance of your own inner resources. When we're "busy", we're usually outwardly-focused, and sometimes we don't even pay attention to that Inner Child whose voice is clamoring for attention. So s/he has a tendency to toss all the toys out of the playpen so we keep tripping over them, in an effort to force us to stop and Pay Attention to what is really going on.
When you get the Nine of Rods, you're being told, "Your wonderful ideas and hard work have gotten you this far, but there's something you're not realizing. Before you take another step here, sit down and think. You're almost there, you're going to do it, but you need to take a deep breath and slow down, and make sure you have all the details in a row." This card has somewhat the resonance of the Hanged Man, who says, "All things come to him who waits," and reminds us that before we get DONE with something, we need to make sure it is COMPLETE, and FINISHED. Otherwise, we'll just be doing it all over again. So--sit down, right now. Breathe. Look around you and see where you are, what you're doing, what is bringing itself to your attention. You can't see the forest for the trees, here. So, do that. Pay attention. It will make the last steps of the journey so much easier--and you might not fall on your face!
