Sound of Trumpets

This week I'll be using the Alchemical Tarot Renewed along with the book Alchemy and the Tarot, both created by Robert M. Place and published by Hermes Publications. Paired with it will be the Oracle of the Radiant Sun deck and book set, created by Caroline Smith and John Astrop and published through Eddison-Sadd Editions. The draws for today are Judgment and Choice:

          The skull with barley sprouting from it is a nod to the Egyptians who put buried grains with the dead; when it grew, the person was said to have risen. From an alchemical standpoint, the two people who've risen from the grave represent base metals that have been turned to gold. Looking through a spiritual lens, those folks heard the call but first had to remove their impurities (dirt, stone slabs) to be reborn. The Choice card represents Mars in Libra, a combination that produces a person who likes to follow the rules but expects everyone else to do the same (and is not very diplomatic about it). These two draws reminded me of how righteous indignation can keep me deeply buried. My first stepfather was very gifted and creative when it came to physical and emotional abuse. I had valid reasons to back up my hatred; the only way I would forgive would be a full confession and apology (which I knew would never happen). But at the beginning of this year I found out he was terminally ill and would likely not live to see another year. I wondered what I would do if I were in his place. Suddenly I realized that the suffocating dirt on top of me was shoveled by my own hand. My rage has since dissolved and now the heavy slab has been removed from my heart.