Old Stars, New Light: Excerpts

Capricorn – The Sea Sheep

Book excerpt “Old Stars, New Light”

ELIAS: Now, in that, this combination creature is interesting for, dependent upon the school of thought, it could be interpreted as a combination of a fish and goat, or it could be a combination of a fish and sheep. I would be more of the inclination of the fish and sheep than the fish and goat.

Now in this, from that perspective it is a combination of qualities. This also moves closely in the direction of mercreatures – mermaids, mermen, mercreatures. It is being presented more in the association with what is known in your reality, but in actuality there is an influence of mercreatures in relation to this particular sign. Which is also an interesting factor when you include it, that being a combination image. It is not a singular image.

Now in this, if you are viewing it as a mercreature, which would allow you to express that combination more fluidly, rather than separating as part this/part that, you can incorporate some of the qualities of a sheep. Sheep are very utilitarian. They are non-aggressive. They flow. They are rarely agitators – and if they are… There is some indication that there is some dysfunction if they are agitating. They are not by nature agitators. They are consistent. They are predictable. They are dependable. They move in the direction very dissimilar to the bull and the cows in which they do move in a herd, but they also are attentive to all of the herd. They are attentive to all of the young and all of each other. They mingle well and every individual in the herd is equally as important. There is no hierarchy, even with the males. All of them are equal. Therefore there is no caste system with sheep whatsoever.

Now when you add the qualities of the fish and you turn it into a mercreature, you incorporate some of the qualities of the sheep and include that in the idea of the mercreature, which flows quite well with the sheep. For in that, the mercreature, according to legend, can only be heard under the water. Therefore once again, they are blending with their environment and they would be viewed as non-agitating or non-aggressive.

They also, in relation to legend… Now understand, this is your translation in your reality, not in relation to what actually is in another reality in which they actually exist – but in your reality in the legend, they are very social but very much with their own, very much similar to sheep. Which is the reason that the head was chosen in the capacity that it was. For they do not venture in the direction of any other species. They are not interested in other species. They remain with their own. Therefore there is some aspect of a quality of loyalty. It also includes a quality of interest, being interested in their own and everything about their own, and that factor of equality and no castes.

DAN: It’s kind of a paradox then. Traditionally a Capricorn is associated with the organization of labor and hierarchy and making it all work together as one mechanism or someone being in charge or at the top. Capricorn is climbing the mountain.

ELIAS: I would express that it is not in opposition to that. For although you may translate it in that manner in relation to yourselves as humans and your structure of society, what I would express is, it displays a consistency with the interest in their own kind, and cooperation and how to facilitate cooperation in the most efficient manner. And in many situations that does incorporate a hierarchy or a structure in which there are different positions.

But in that, I would express that the individuals that are of this sign of Capricorn generally do incorporate a perception, or an influence of their perception, that although they may move in that direction, they view all the individuals as equal, and not some as more or less, regardless of their position. These individuals may not as much be likely to be leading equality movements but they would definitely be part of one or tremendous sympathizers with them, for equality is an important factor to them. Flow is an important factor to them – that be the fish tail.

I would express that flow is a very important factor with Capricorn. And in that, that is designated by that aspect of the image of the tail and suggesting that it swims through water, that it flows – and also in keeping with the mercreature that it would flow easily. In this, that can be a metaphor for many different expressions with a human personality or direction.

DAN: Do ants symbolize part of the Capricorn? Ants work together and very intelligently.

ELIAS: Yes! In a manner of speaking they would. For they do incorporate a hierarchy, but for the most part they also express themselves as equals and every individual is equally important. And if you watch ants in their actions, when one of the troop dies, they all rush to that body and secure that body in a very specific designated area for the dead. They do not bury them, but they designate a specific area for dead and nothing else is placed in that area. And they are very consistent and conscientious about moving the body to those areas.

In this, the treatment of each other is all always equal. The importance of each is equal. Therefore, yes, I would agree with you.

© 2022, Daniel Guirchovitch. All Rights Reserved.

Taurus

Book excerpt “Old Stars, New Light”

DAN: Let’s talk about Taurus next. For Taurus, the keyword you suggested was awkward, which is very intriguing for me. Because, yes, I can see it in others and as my Third House begins in Taurus I know I am awkward when I talk to people, when I learn or teach. But I cannot build my city of Taurus based on awkward alone!

ELIAS: Think of the bull. Think of the bull. Now, why is the bull awkward? A bull is not an agile animal. They are powerful. They are strong, but they incorporate an immense weight. They have a large body, a large head, and in that, their weight and the distribution of their weight does create an awkwardness. This is not an animal that is tremendously agile. This is not an animal that can traverse different types of terrain. This is an animal that requires solid and generally flat ground. And it is not an animal that can maneuver easily in different environments. It needs area. It needs space arrangement. It is difficult being confined. This is also an animal that is easily threatened. Despite its size and its power, it incorporates two almost opposite qualities, one of being very strong and aware of its ability in that strength, but also it has an equal awareness of its limitations, and therefore it is easily threatened.

A bull is relatively fast if it incorporates time to build momentum in speed, and enough space arrangement to build speed, otherwise a bull is not a fast animal. It does not maneuver quickly, and that creates vulnerability. It is definitely vulnerable to predators regardless of its size.

In that also, it requires considerable volumes. It requires a considerable volume of water. It requires considerable volumes of food. Therefore, it requires large areas to accommodate its needs in a physical capacity.

It also is a herd animal. Unlike the ram or the goat, the bull/the cow are the animals that are very herd oriented. They are very inclined to follow. They do not generally move in directions of initiating. They seek the safety of the herd, regardless that they themselves individually are such a large animal and powerful, they seek safety in numbers to create an even larger body and more weight.

In this, this is an animal also that they are very specific in relation to family. There are many animals that will assume young from other animals, especially within their own species. Cows will not. If that calf does not have the scent of the mother, the mother will not accept it. In order to introduce an orphan calf to a lactating cow you must incorporate the hide of the calf that the cow birthed. It must have that cow’s scent. And they will automatically with no compunction leave a calf to die and not attend to it. They are very specific in relation to family. They are bonded to their own and none other. And in that, that family will always be paid attention to first, and in some capacities, to exclusion of all else. That is most important. Primary.

Even bulls – in natural capacities, not in orchestrated situations, but in natural capacities – will choose specific cows. They may choose more than one, but they will repeatedly return to specific cows rather than randomly choose to mate with any cow. That is not what they do.

In this, they are protective, but only to a degree. They can be stubborn, but only within their own. Not outside. They can be challenging, but only when they perceive that they will be successful, that they will win. They will not challenge a predator if they perceive that they will not be successful. They will defend themselves, but they will not challenge unless they perceive that they will be successful.

There are very specific qualities about the Bull that are also very much illustrated in people that align with that sign. In that, they can be very strong as an individual and also appear to be very quiet, or even shy or less interactive. Not as sociable. But will blend in with a group, but will not necessarily connect with the other individuals in a group. They can blend into the group and not stand out, so to speak. Or not draw attention to themselves, for they feel safe in that surrounding of many other beings distracting from them as an individual, regardless that they may incorporate considerable strength within themselves.

NATASHA: I can see that.

ELIAS: They will generally attach to one other individual more so than anyone else, and they will definitely be more focused on their immediate family than anyone else. That is centrally much more important to them, whether their family can consist of ten children and grandparents, and their partner, and aunts and uncles, or whether it consists of one child and one other individual, or no children and merely the partners. Whatever the configuration is of the family, that will ultimately be the most important to that individual. Just as with the bull, with the cow its concern is its own calf and nothing else.

DAN: So that maps to slow start – although once they get mad or excited they get moving like a train. I can see loyalty. I can see caution and concern with safety and stability, which is usually associated with them.

ELIAS: And another point in relation to their momentum, as with the illustration of the bull, it does require much more for them to build that momentum and build that speed, but it also requires much more to slow and to stop. They are not easily or quickly stopped.

DAN: Now, that part can be said about Aries as well, in that once they start running, they…

ELIAS: That is different. What I would express is, not entirely. With the Ram it is different. That is more determination. It is not that they can’t stop. A ram, a goat, can stop on a mark. They are tremendously agile. They can sprint quickly and they can stop quickly. They can move in a direction of stubbornness, and once they have fixed in a particular direction they are likely to continue until they have completed it. Therefore, they are likely not to disengage or stop in the middle. They will continue. They do incorporate that determination and that stubbornness to not stop until they are complete. But that is different from being slow to stop.

How that can be translated in a metaphor with people is, if you irritate them or you anger them, they may be inclined to hold a grudge, for they are slow to stop.

DAN: Some of the romanticized qualities that I was using about them – and tell me if it is correct or not – but I thought of them as being about physicality. They are not too much about words. Some of them do not like too much talk, too much philosophy. They are physical. They are kind of like aboriginal or native people, they feel nature. They may like picnics. They like beauty. They like good food. They like good music. They are about music because music can be perceived directly by them. Is that accurate?

ELIAS: Yes. I would agree. Yes.

DAN: Which I probably would not have derived directly from the bull because the bull and music or the bull and a native tribe…

ELIAS: Ah. Not necessarily correct. They do move together, but you would not necessarily automatically know that unless you were engaging these animals. I would express that this is one of the animals that those clichés of music to soothe the savage beast is derived from. That sound is very important to these animals [for] two reasons. One, it is soothing to them, and the other is, it is their greatest capacity to alert them to threat. But sound can be very soothing to them.

Now, let me express to you, if you are imagining, rather than a domestic bull, imagine a water buffalo. Now, if you are imagining water buffalo, what generally accompanies a water buffalo? And this is consistent even with cows. What accompanies a water buffalo? Visualize that animal, on a savannah.

DAN: Flies? Buffalos are resting in the mud. They stick together…

ELIAS: Birds.

DAN & NATASHA: Birds. Wow.

ELIAS: They actually ride along on the backs or the rumps of the buffalo. They are frequently, if not most of the time, accompanied by birds. And the songs of the birds are very soothing to them.

NATASHA: My god! Who knew?

ELIAS: (Laughs heartily) This is the reason these symbols are important! They are quite precisely what they are expressing. They are very accurate in the images themselves.

…

[Clarifying “Awkward” in relation to Taurus]

…

ELIAS: Let me express to you, the old expression of the bull in the china shop actually comes from this sign. (Laughter) The reason being that they are passionate and they also, in general, express an energy that is many times bigger than they can contain. Which isn’t bad. It simply is. These are individuals that, in a manner of speaking, shouldn’t be contained. They shouldn’t be placed in situations or positions in which they are confined. That is contrary to their nature. Their nature is a bigger energy. 

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean what I have described previously as individuals that have a large energy. That is a different expression.⁽¹⁾ That isn’t something that would necessarily be automatically attributed to this sign. Not at all. But simply that they basically are uncomfortable with confinement. 

And that doesn’t simply mean physical confinement. It could be emotional confinement, mental confinement. It could be confinement of actions. An individual might experience that if they incorporate a certain type of job that has too many rules, or that they are expected to adhere to rigid guidelines of actions and behaviors or tasks, that they aren’t given that freedom of their creativity and allow[ance] for their own expansion, their own imagination, their own expression. 

Therefore, the word awkward is actually very accurate, because in your world there are many rules. And in your world, there are many subjects and expressions that lend to an expression of confinement or restrictions, and that would create an awkwardness with them. And they also simply express in general, in many different capacities, a type of awkwardness because they don’t quite fit with the masses. 

…

DAN: Interesting. Because it seems almost a paradox, then, that Taurus is an earth sign, and … is ruled by Venus, … as in beauty, harmony and empathy. The Italians, a country and culture that matches Taurus, are often dictators of style – evident in their beautiful architecture, clothing and fine art. Merchants were considered to come under that sign. So how do beautiful people, and people who appreciate beauty and style, and physicality – how is it that they end up being awkward? It’s almost a paradox.

ELIAS: It would seem to be so. But then I would also express to you that if you are actually interacting with individuals that are considerably beautiful, they generally don’t express that in themselves. They are uneasy with that. They are also uneasy with other individuals paying so much attention to them, or staring at them. And although they may actually move in directions in their lives to use that beauty to their advantage – they might be using it to express their financial position. But even with that, they may learn to be in a position of being in a spotlight and seem to express that in a natural manner, but inwardly they do it because it is a means to an end, but not necessarily because they are comfortable with that position or with the recognition of their own expression of beauty. 

Most individuals that genuinely create what you gauge as a considerably beautiful physical form, they aren’t necessarily entirely comfortable with that.

DAN: And comfort is another paradox. Often Taurus is linked with comfort. They like comfortable things, good food and they may even be seen as couch potatoes! Using the Italian analogy again, we could say that the Romans built roads and aqueducts not only because they were builders, but they wanted comfort. They wanted water and they wanted a comfortable commute. 

So the subject of awkwardness is somehow related to the subject of comfort, because if you are not quite comfortable then you attempt to increase comfort. 

ELIAS: Yes. Yes. Which does motivate them in many different directions. And they are definitely NOT lazy. They are definitely driven individuals and they are passionate individuals. But, yes, comfort is a considerably important expression to them, yes. 

DAN: So now we are breaking the stereotype. Some astrologers will say that Taurus, being a Fixed earth sign, is naturally lazy.

ELIAS: Ah! I would express definitely not. I would say that these are individuals that are definitely driven. Which I would say is also, in a manner of speaking, once again expressed in this symbol of the Bull, which is what? A beast of burden. This is a very powerful beast. It is a creature that can incorporate and endure tremendous weight and tremendous pressure because it has great strength. 

And therefore, this is not a symbol of laziness at all. This is what you might term to be a workhorse, in that they are very driven. They are very motivated. And, I would say, so much so that these are individuals that if they find themselves in a position in which they don’t have something to do – they don’t have a job to do – they become very uncomfortable and they can even become destructive to themselves. They almost require purpose.

DAN: So fixity here does not mean sit on the couch and do nothing. Here fixity means continue doing.

ELIAS: Yes.

DAN: Working, building, pulling one’s weight.

ELIAS: Yes. Yes. And even if they are what you term to be being a couch potato at a particular point, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are always relaxing. They may be being entertained, but they also incorporate a tendency to actually involve themselves in stories. Therefore, if they are watching a film or watching a program that is a story, or is based in a story, they automatically involve themself with it. They become (laughs) very attached and involved. 

If they are watching something different, let us say such as a game show, they will be very involved and competitive, even though they aren’t actually involved. They are only watching it but they will be participating as if they were involved. If they are watching some other type of programming, such as a concert or a documentary, they will involve themself with it and be expressing their opinion – even if they are alone! It doesn’t matter. They don’t have to have an audience. 

But they are very involved with whatever they are doing. They aren’t disassociative. They are definitely passionate and they are definitely involved individuals, which also can lend to that awkwardness, because not every situation dictates or allows for that involvement. And they do that naturally.

DAN: Yeah, like the stereotypical Italians talking with their hands while discussing things, or whistling as a pretty girl is walking by.

ELIAS: Yes. Yes. Or embracing. And not everyone is comfortable with that. And it isn’t always viewed as acceptable either. 

DAN: Fascinating. (To Natasha) You know if you left and came back a month later I could still be sitting here with Elias discussing astrology…

© 2022, Daniel Guirchovitch. All Rights Reserved.

Nodes of the Moon

Book excerpt “Old Stars, New Light”

DAN: Let’s talk a bit more about the North and South Nodes. This subject fascinates me. The North Node is the Head of the dragon, and the South Node is the Tail. New versus old. Current life versus prior life.

Now, this approach of the South Node representing the prior life seems to work, and many good astrologers seem to make use of it. For example, if you believed in linear lives you would say, in the past life your main theme was exploring the sign of the Tail. And if you got a little bit too extreme there, or too comfortable, then in this life you are trying to get back to balance or explore the other side, the Head. Capricorn South Node – a tough past life. Welcome to Cancer North Node and take good care of yourself in this one.

But knowing that we all have multiple, simultaneous incarnations or lifetimes, it muddies the water a little bit. How does it really work? What are they really, the North Node and the South Node?

ELIAS: In one capacity it could be viewed as valuable or instrumental, for it is addressing to influences. How that becomes somewhat distorted is the inclusion of religious beliefs that move in the direction of sequence, that move in the direction that not only time is linear but that your incarnations or your focuses are also linear, and that one leads to another.

That is based in religious beliefs. And that colors the perception of this idea of the Head and the Tail. It is moreso a matter of influences, but not necessarily in a sequential capacity. And not in the capacity that one lifetime is following another, or that if you did not accomplish in one lifetime you will be almost mandated to accomplish in the next or another lifetime, so to speak.

For the difficulty with that and the incorrectness of that is that it supposes that your value fulfillment is not accomplished in any one given focus, [that] it is not finished – which is incorrect. If your value fulfillment was not accomplished or not finished in one focus, that focus would continue and continue and continue and continue. And the individual would never die.

DAN: But when you say they address influences, again, I read explanations that say the North Node is more fluid, curious, contemporary, new, and points to flexible parts of a person’s character. And the South Node is more habitual and conservative. But when it goes into this past life idea, then it almost becomes like a compass, like a direction. You have to understand that you have a lot of resources on the South Node side, but also that it is something you already know how to do, you have done it so many times. Do not get automatic/robotic about it. Resolve some issues there, but move forward.

And with the North Node you have to activate it. It is all new to you. But if you activate it you will do wonders because it is so fresh and fluid. But again, removing the idea of linear life, how does it work, what imagery would help here?

ELIAS: What is an excellent imagery to understand it would be to view your individual focus now as a type of comparison. That what is ultimately important is that you be the Head [North Node], and that you be present and now. And in that being present and now, you are moving forward.

But it is also important that your experiences are acknowledged. Therefore, your past is influencing, for your experiences and the accumulation of experiences and your associations with those experiences are influencing. Also, what I would express to you is that the Head represents you present, now, and moving forward. The Tail represents all else, all other influences. All outside influences, even now – any outside influence and any past influences that you incorporate yourself, individually. But it encompasses everything other than present, now, forward. Therefore, yes, it is important.

The area in which it deviates is that religious factor that incorporates that element of sequence, and that one direction or one experience leads to another.

….

DAN: … An approach I like is to ask what question this answers. For instance, the Sun may answer the question of where is your spark, where is your will? The Moon may answer where is your happiness, comfort, satisfaction? Mars – where do you need to be active, strong, courageous? What questions do the North and South Nodes really answer?

ELIAS: Ah! That’s very simple. North answers the question of what you are now and present, and what your potential is in relation to your qualities. South answers all of the influences that you incorporate in your lifetime that are affecting of you, and whether you allow them to be affecting of you or not.

North encourages you to fulfill yourself. South provides you with choice – that the South is the presentment of choice, always. North is the presentment of accomplishment.

© 2022, Daniel Guirchovitch. All Rights Reserved.

Fifth House – Imagination

Book excerpt “Old Stars, New Light”

DAN: Earlier you suggested the word imagination for the Fifth House. And the Fifth is traditionally about creativity, joy, fun, children, and romance. So when you said imagination, can you elaborate on how it applies to this House?

ELIAS: In what capacity? It can engage all of those aspects.

DAN: When we say that the Fifth is a House of creativity, then imagination is what creativity is ultimately about. It initiates creativity. And when we say it’s a House of fun, joy or romance, that’s also involving imagination. Is that the direction?

ELIAS: Yes. All of these aspects would be encompassed by imagination, for imagination enhances them all. Romance is definitely connected with imagination in that it is an imaginative expression. It is engaging your imagination in how to express yourself in more and different capacities.

Or fun would also engage imagination. For in this, your imagination opens you to possibilities – not merely what is known, or not merely what has already been experienced – but it expands in any direction with any subject in relation to enhancing them and allowing you to explore more avenues.

DAN: And along the same lines, children are catalysts for imagination, correct?

ELIAS: Definitely.

DAN: Neptune is also linked to imagination, perhaps in a dreamy, ethereal, mystical sort of way. Would that be a different kind of imagination?

ELIAS: Not necessarily. Although it does encompass more traditional guidelines of imagination. But not always.

DAN: The Fifth House is ruled by Leo. And what you suggested for Leo is consumption, a consumer. Leo is also associated with being on stage, the center of attention. That is also linked to the Fifth House of imagination?

ELIAS: It can be very much so, yes.

DAN: In what way? That you have to be at the center in order to start imagining?

ELIAS: Once again, an enhancement, an expansion. Not necessarily that you must be in the center. But it definitely does enhance. And in that, the expression of imagination is an expansion, and therefore that could very well be used in relation to Leo in considerable harmony.

…

DAN: How would the imagination of the Fifth House be different from the colorful perception of the First? With a strong First, a person is often quite active, expressive, dramatic, they stand out. They often engage their world with vigor, changing it, fighting with it, questioning it. Whereas with a strong Fifth, a person would be more playful, perhaps see life as a game, playing a role.

So the First House represents more of a genuine, direct expression in which play is not important, whereas with the Fifth, performing a part, putting on a show is primary. The Fifth is an additional layer on top of the genuine personality, so to speak. Is that the idea?

ELIAS: Once again, I would express that you may be somewhat black and white, and in that, incorporating a tendency to view the expression of imagination as not necessarily real or actual, and it very much can be. Therefore it is merely differences in how it is expressed.

In one capacity, it can be expressed in a very real, practical, objective manner. And in another capacity, it can be expressed in a more fanciful manner.

DAN: So a harmonious, well-navigated Fifth House is what? Is it a person who is creative, who is playful, who is having fun?

ELIAS: Yes.

DAN: And the pitfall or problem with the Fifth is being too serious and devoid of fun and play in one’s life, not allowing oneself to ever be childlike. Or conversely, attempting to be dramatic, attempting to be playful, but doing so with an unnatural pushing to it. Is that the idea?

ELIAS: I would agree. But I would also express that a pitfall would be becoming caught in traditional guidelines, so to speak.

An example of that would be an individual that, let us say, hypothetically, wants to create a new business. And in being imaginative and allowing themself to express in that capacity, they would move in directions and expressions that are perhaps entirely new and creative, and moving in an actual physical direction of actualizing their ideas.

An individual that would be caught in the pitfall would be the individual that may incorporate ideas that are imaginative, but incorporates difficulty in expressing that, and would be engaging traditional methods such as generating a mission statement and creating a traditional plan and engaging traditional investors, and moving in the direction of allowing other individuals to dictate how they would be generating their business, rather than allowing themself to merely move forward and engage that imagination and that direction without all of those traditional guidelines.

© 2022, Daniel Guirchovitch. All Rights Reserved.

Trine – A “Cosmic” Aspect

Book excerpt “Old Stars, New Light”

DAN: Now the trine, 120 degrees, is considered to be a particularly harmonious, flowing aspect. But the potential pitfall could be becoming too comfortable. How would you define the trine?

ELIAS: The trines are interesting, for traditionally astrologers have ascribed these to spirituality, and they are viewed as more harmonious. But in that, I would agree that there is an aspect of becoming complacent. But moreso what I would express is, the challenge with that is the struggle between that natural movement and everything that is learned.

I would express that that is a natural potential. That expresses a natural potential, which, [it] is understandable why astrologers have moved in the direction of viewing that particular expression as being spiritual or more cosmic, in a manner of speaking, for it is a natural inclination. And it is a natural inclination for openness and a natural pull in a direction of acceptance.

But the challenge with that is, for most individuals – unless they have been born, raised, and have existed in an isolated bubble for their entire focus and have not been exposed to any constructs throughout their life – that would be the significant challenge in relation to that particular aspect. For all of your constructs, therefore for the most part everything you have learned, moves in some form of opposition to that. For it creates a challenge with that. That there are reasons upon reasons, upon reasons, upon reasons to not allow, to not accept. To not merely be.

And that is what your constructs are. They are all your reasons for everything. They are your explanations for everything and they are your motivations for everything. Therefore, in that, you have countless reasons to not merely be. Merely being is not enough, and allowing is not enough.

I have expressed to you, you are taught control from birth! Even before birth you are being taught control in what you hear and experience in the womb, from what is occurring around your mother and what your mother does while you are in utero. Therefore, in that, even before birth you are being taught control. Even in relation to in utero, what your mother consumes, what she eats, whether she listens to her cravings or not, or whether she overindulges her cravings. Or what type of exercise she does, what type of sounds she is engaging, what type of music or other sounds does she engage. What she is doing, you are already learning. You are already being taught before you are even born. And from the moment you are born, you are definitely directly being taught control.

The first aspect of what you are being taught control with are actual instinctual bodily functions – hunger, sleep, activity. Even eliminating! You are being taught when it is acceptable and when it is not acceptable by how your parents respond to your needs in relation to that. Therefore, the factor of merely being and allowing and accepting is being opposed from conception.

DAN: So how does that fit with the trine? Is it opposing in that, Oh, it flows so smoothly that I don’t want to hear anything else? Is that how?

ELIAS: No. It is not opposing. You naturally – or automatically, not naturally – would be opposing of that aspect. The aspect itself is an expression of a natural flow and that it is an identification of that natural expression, that balance, that harmony. Which is the reason that I expressed to you [that] it is understandable that it has been identified as spiritual. For that is what humans perceive as enlightened or more expanded or awakened is that spiritual aspect. That is how you define it. That is how you define spirituality.

And in that, it is understandable that this would be the aspect that they would define as that, for this is the aspect that defines not-conflict, and harmony, allowance and acceptance. But you automatically generate the challenge by your mere existence in physical focus of opposing it.

Therefore, the challenge in that is recognizing that natural expression and allowing it.

© 2022, Daniel Guirchovitch. All Rights Reserved.

Swords in Waite Smith Tarot

Book excerpt “Old Stars, New Light”

DAN: I am so excited about Tarot we could quickly write another book about it! I was excited about the Golden Dawn tradition and happy with the Waite-Smith deck. Some images I love because they are so telling.

For example, I love the Eight of Pentacles – it seems that the blacksmith is so focused on making coins, he already made seven of them, now making the eighth, so he is almost done. He is calm, confident, one with his work. It’s a wonderful image that speaks to me.

Another example – Four of Cups. The guy is sitting under a tree, in a daze, three empty cups nearby, the fourth cup being handed to him. You can see satisfaction, content, or you can see a delusion, being drunk – many facets to the card. Waite and Smith did a wonderful job there.

But then they took the suit of swords and made it a negative thing – which I guess  it can be useful to have clearly defined binary answers as a forecasting or divination tool, but as a “blueprint of life” I don’t like it.

In the Three of Swords they killed a heart, and the Nine of Swords depicts a nightmare, and the Five of Swords shows a bloody scene, and in the Ten of Swords the person is actually killed with ten swords in his back. I don’t like that at all.

Did swords acquire negative meaning because people are afraid of change? Or are we afraid of sharp objects? (Laughs) What would be the true direction of it?

ELIAS: I would say that, yes, individuals are afraid of the swords because they perceive them as being ominous; and in that, it seems to be imagery, in a manner of speaking, of something that appears to be violent or appears to be harmful. Which, in actuality, it isn’t necessarily.

I would say that actually the suit of swords is more symbolizing power than it is necessarily destructive. But there is power in all of the imagery with swords. There is strength in it.

DAN: Interesting! So the three of swords, to use as an example, is depicted in Waite-Smith as a heart pierced by three swords. The three is growing, expanding?

ELIAS: I would say balance.

DAN: So the Three of Swords could then be viewed as a balanced power or a sharp mind or getting to the heart of the matter. But it isn’t necessarily heartbreak or an ending to something, which is how it is so commonly interpreted.

ELIAS: Correct. Correct. And what I would say in relation to that, is that it definitely is a matter of interpretation. That that can also be imagery of piercing the heart, but not in a negative capacity; but in the capacity of revelation.

DAN: Oh, interesting!

ELIAS: Presenting opening by piercing; and therefore, generating an opening of the heart, and in that, creating inspiration or a revelation. Therefore, it is not necessarily something bad or negative.

DAN: And I guess both Waite and Smith understood it. But someone like me, I have a hard time accepting this image because we tend to take it more literal.

ELIAS: I would agree. And that would be the reason that many individuals, many people, perceive the swords as being destructive or negative.

DAN: So to use another example; let’s take the Nine of Swords. As we discussed earlier, the number nine represents completion: you are done, it’s over, you may be appreciative of what you have done or accomplished. But they chose to represent it as a woman waking up in her bed from what appears to be a nightmare, and there are nine swords on the wall above her head.

So, this could be signifying that yes, you can have your doubts when you have completed something. You can still be concerned or scared. You can be thinking that you’ve done something that is not up to standard or be afraid to lose it or not quite sure what to do with it. But for the most part, nine is a celebratory number, right? More so than representing a nightmare?

ELIAS: Yes, I would agree. Also, nine can be a number that symbolizes wisdom and experience. Or nine would be, in numerology, a number that symbolizes an old soul. Numerology moves very closely in conjunction with the tarot. Therefore, I would say that that could be an instrumental number in relation to having experience, to being a sage, to expressing considerable wisdom or knowledge and being seasoned, in a manner of speaking.

DAN: Very nice. And then the number ten would be like enjoying the results – like happily ever after and being open to new adventures?

ELIAS: Yes. And beginnings.

DAN: Beginnings. Ah! So this is that point where one cycle is over and another one begins, right?

ELIAS: Yes! Yes.

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