In my end is my beginning.
T.S. Eliot

Aaaannnd.. back again! Is this the most frequent visitor of all our weekly cards? I know sometimes it may seem like it, but I don’t think so. However, it does sometimes feel as if we are getting more than our fair share, as this is its third visit in 2021. And it’s the 11th time (according to my possibly dubious count) that the Ten of Swords has come to call.

We have certainly gotten lots of messages about endings and beginnings since its last appearance in mid-April. After all the recent support from the Ace of Pentacles and The Fool, this week it appears we are also challenged to a big letting go.

And what better time than this week that features a powerful Solar Eclipse-fueled New Moon?

As I’ve explained many times, this grisly looking card is not about physical death, but about the ending of some mental construct: an idea, a persona, a perception, an attitude, or a way of thinking.

Clearly, this is not a champagne-toasting, dance in the streets kind of ending, so fasten your seat belts, dear friends; it could be a bumpy week.

The Tens of each suit are the overflowing of that suit’s energy. With the Cups, for instance, it is the overflow, the zenith and then some, of love, emotional harmony and happiness. In the Ten of Swords, we have the over-the-top challenge of the Swords. One sword is quite enough to kill someone. Ten swords, stuck in the back, no less… well, you might say, “over-kill.”

The Ten of Swords depicts complete, absolute collapse.

Overwhelmed at last, despite our best efforts, we face the utter ending, dead as can be, of an idea, relationship, plan, communications, or a situation with which we have probably struggled.

There can be no doubt, no revival, no spin, no restoration or repackaging. This card tells us to let it go; it’s really, really over.

But remember that Swords correspond to the Element of Air.  They tell us about our thoughts – not physical reality. They are about perception, attitude, and how we interpret the world around us.

Thus, painful as it may be, with this final surrender, you will receive the secret gift within this card.

For notice, that, unlike other Swords cards that feature turbulent, stormy waters, the lake or river in the background is peaceful. And, in contrast with, say, the Nine’s completely black background, here the storm here has passed, and day is breaking.

Even more telling, the victim’s right hand is making a sign of benediction and peace. In the last throes of this brutal death, forgiveness was given, understanding was reached.

When we have no choice, the only way is through.

The Annular Eclipse This Week

Thursday’s New Moon (in tropical Gemini) will eclipse the Sun at 6:52 a.m., EDT.

Although most of us will not be able to view it (the path is here) we will all be feeling it.

Annie Heese at Cafe Astrology writes:

With the potent Gemini energy of the Solar Eclipse, we have the chance to make essential changes in our lives that will benefit us well beyond this Moon cycle. For some of us, circumstances are such that we need to pay more attention to these matters.

Flaws in a fundamental system in our lives reveal themselves around the time of the eclipse, prompting us to redo or start fresh. Something ends for something else to start anew. We may be called to give up something to move forward into a new chapter in our lives.

Although the “new” may be unrecognizable, it is crucial to surrender to the unknown. Knowledge and diversity motivate us with the Sun in Gemini.

Of course, Gemini is an Air sign, right in line with Swords. And a “fundamental systems” reevaluation could not possibly be more Ten of Swords-y.

The always transformative insights from Lorna Bevan echo and deepen this message:

Just as the ripples and repercussions from May 26th’s lunar eclipse start to sweep through your life, the Solar Eclipse of June 10th is acting as a powerful Mine/Mind Sweeper.

Collaborate with fate by eliminating the ghosts of the past to make space for pioneering new fields of experience through the next 18 months.

Think of eclipses as Cosmic Recyclers, removing what is over and done in your life. These cosmic wild cards are clearing, sweeping away, deleting, and dissolving your old forms of self-distraction, along with outworn and outgrown allegiances to individuals, groups, teachers and entire belief systems.

While it is tempting to try to cling on to them as familiar anchors in a wild new world, the more you try, the quicker changing events and circumstances beyond your control will remove them for you.

Question: How many personal contacts, social media “friends”, teachers, gurus have you already instinctively unfollowed, unsubscribed from, or lost sight of so far in 2021 because your wavelength no longer matches theirs?

(Bold emphasis is Lorna’s).

This all points directly to our thoughts and our projections. Clearly, the eclipse and the Tarot agree that much of who and what we listen to, who our teachers are, and where our allegiances lie (all Swords again!) is due for a dust-up and departure.

And Lorna’s term Mine/Mind Sweeper could just as easily apply to the Ten of Swords as to the “2021 Chaos Nodes” as she describes this time.

Yet Another Personal Note

As I have indicated, and some of you are aware, there is a lot going on behind the scenes for me these days. So when this card lit up and I turned it over, I could only shake my head in wonder.

As I wrote last week, “Like a chrysalis, my next chapter of enchantment and illumination is beginning to stir and there will be more announcements and metamorphosis in the weeks ahead.”

There are exciting new developments in my practice and, well, my whole life’s journey, really.

I had planned to ease more gently into these changes. But cosmic navigator Elisabeth Grace and I had our annual check-in recently, triggered in part by a rude and insistent jolt from my Pluto transits.

In explaining these transits, plus the Mars angles currently rocking my world, she was patient, compassionate, and brilliant as always. And like all wise guides, she left it up to me to decide how to proceed.

After a lot of angst, I realized there is just no sense fighting with the planetary influence of the Lord of the Underworld, or the real world energies that are being brought to bear.

Additional details, especially a new development regarding my private readings, can be found here. And naturally, more will be forthcoming in the days ahead.

Holding Your New Moon Seed in the Shadows

Are you, too, undergoing big changes or endings?

Perhaps it feels like an unfair loss, or even a betrayal. But beware of adopting a victim mentality.

Somewhere inside, you probably already know that something in your life has got to go, and go now. The goodness in it has changed and is nearly or completely gone.

Who is the current “you” that needs to yield to the potential of what you yet might be? The Phoenix will rise, but to do so it requires the ashes of its demise.

Energized by the eclipse, this New Moon offers the potential for big new beginnings. This window of in-between is a liminal moment of tremendous power. The permission to let go is a bittersweet gift, but gift nonetheless.

This week, the ending of a paradigm may be shown to us. And in its wake, there is light and peace on our horizon. In this ending is our beginning.

We need only let go of what is already gone.