This week we drew the “Ace of Swords”. The card is a symbol of power and action. It can point to the aspect of an indefatigable combatant or that of a vigorous intellectual. It is a card associated with seekers who are also leaders (whether warriors or magi). Keep in mind, when it comes to swords, the caution of course is that swords are neutral— in and of themselves they are neither good or evil but simply instruments held by such entities.
        Our first hexagram, which we partner with our tarot to describe (or further detail) the current situation, is #36 — “Darkening of the light.” This hexagram is perhaps one of the more difficult ones to perform or embody — it describes a time of pervasive darkness where one’s inner light should be hidden if it is to survive. It details a situation where it is “essential to be cautious and reserved.” It is advised to keep your thoughts to yourself and bear subsequent “deprivation” stoically. Do not be “grandiose” “the time is difficult.”
       Our second hexagram, the one that suggests how best to meet the challenges (or the changes ) is #49 — “Revolution (Molting)“. Here upheaval and change is the subject. “Revolution means the removal of that which is antiquated.” “Antiquated” means that which is “old-fashioned or outdated” not simply “old.” One doesn’t necessarily have to be surprised by change, though navigating it is real work: “a well must be cleaned out from time to time or it will become clogged with mud.”
        Our extraction: If you are a passionate and committed searcher it is a time to pull that gulping exuberance into the darkness of your bosom. Reserve your light through the forthcoming time of change. Do not worry, it is not as is often said “out with the old and in with the new” — there are many old things that have preceded humanity and will outlast it. Perhaps it is better to say out with the tired and useless, and in with nutritive and beautiful.