Your Solitude Allows You to Take Part

Concentration ~ Saturn in Gemini ~ Oracle of the Radiant Sun

As I was reading the description for today's oracle card aloud to my son we both had a moment of thinking it might relate to him. A quick check in one of my folders confirmed that yes, he does have Saturn in Gemini. As I read along I was able to relate to this combination in a very immediate way by simply reflecting on my son's attunements and proclivities. Concentration he has in spades! Me, not so much unless I'm fully engaged with my subject, then concentration abounds but otherwise it takes effort, and with so many things vying for my attention these days I find I need to be actively intentional about priorities and goals. Rilke describes an aspect of concentration so beautifully here in Letters to a Young Poet, dated October 1903...

From such impressions you gather yourself, you win yourself back from the clamoring multiplicity, and slowly learn to know a very few things in which the eternal is reflected, which you love and in which your solitude allows you to take part.

Concentration ~ Oracle of the Radiant Sun

The card depicting this quality is quite a playful one for a planet with such weighty themes as responsibility, boundaries and structure, restrictions and obstacles. Saturn also indicates an ability to apply oneself to a project with perseverance and patience and a determination to see things through to the end.

In this image we see a red star framed by a delicate spider web spun between branches of graceful foliage. The web suggests the patience and concentration the spider brings to such a task. Above this quiet, creative endeavor an imp appears from between two full lips. He cavorts mischievously while around him seven swords dance dangerously nearby. In the background a heart with what looks like a sigil of some kind hovers in the air.

There is a contradiction unfolding here with what's going on below and what's going on above. Reflecting on this visual polarity I can think of several areas in my life where the temporal whims of the moment are at odds with my deeper aspirations. I wonder what the tightly closed lips represent? Perhaps that aspect of the self that is continually whispering sweet nothings into the ear of one's conscience. So obviously, for me, the question as I shuffled my Tarot cards had to do with where might I need to apply more concentration today?

The Magician ~ Kind of Wands ~ Cosmic Tarot

Another dynamic duo! Look at the penetrating gaze of these two figures. This pair is nothing if not concentrated! Upon seeing The Magician for a second time in a row my son exclaimed, 'hey, that means I'm to do a magic show for you today!' So that's a treat in store for me as my son has quite the skill with sleight-of-hand and the part of me that wants to believe solid objects can disappear and reappear out of thin air is alive and well.


Coupled with the King of Wands I'd say it's going to be a day of creative doing! On my list is tidying and rearranging of rooms among other things.

The Magician ~ Cosmic Tarot

Seeing The Magician again today I wondered what lesson I missed yesterday lol. Though s/he does appear in the more receptive position on the left so one hopes that some of yesterday's teaching has been absorbed.

Today it's the eyes and triangle that draw my attention more completely. Transmission by glance, called darshan, is a facet of many eastern teachings and that's what I'm picking up here. It's a dynamic experience to sit in the presence of a teacher and receive unspoken wisdom simply through an exchange of eyes-mind-heart. What skills and attunements would this Magician offer, I wonder?

Creative imperative, practical application of the esoteric, organizer of elements...these are some impressions that come to mind as I spend some time with this image.




The second card I drew felt intimately related to The Magician, a distant cousin perhaps. This King of Wands is an interesting mix of masculine and feminine. His gaze is piercing in its intensity and he looks directly at us as if expecting something, as if his will alone might elicit his desire.

King of Wands ~ Cosmic Taro

The pinks and purples of his clothing and crown suggest a receptive nature as do the rose at his side and the tulip at his neck. His wand glows and has red drops spilling off it, suggesting passion and creative effort, 'sweating blood' comes to mind. The land behind him looks like a desert ecology furthering the feeling of heat and fire this suit expresses. A single bird flies high overhead indicating perhaps a far-reaching ideas and inspiration.


His kingly stature indicates mastery and a way of teaching by doing rather than by telling. Kings act from a place that keeps in mind the good of the whole. There is a sense of social responsibility and outward accomplishments. As I can't think of anyone in my immediate life today that might represent this King I'm seeing him as encouragement in areas of creativity and vision for myself. Spending time organizing various areas of the house may seem more like a queenly duty than a kingly one and yet I've also been extremely active and rigorous in my decluttering efforts, tossing things without much nod to sentiment, decreeing 'this shall go!' as I keep in mind the flow and equilibrium of the whole family.

Cosmic Tarot ~ Oracle of the Radiant Sun

Together these three cards feel indicative of the need to focus creatively on projects that need manifesting. Not just thinking about things but bringing all that inspiration into the actual here and now. Distraction will be the undoing of this vision so I'll be paying extra attention to any imps that might be cavorting about in the atmosphere (hello internet, knitting and boredom). And lastly I shall look forward to seeing some good magic tricks from my Saturn-in-Gemini son.


Outside of poetry and art, security is only and ever achieved at the cost of the most inescapable limitation. This diminishment consists of choosing to be satisfied and pleasured by a world where everything is known and where preoccupation with self is both possible and useful. But how could we want that? Our security must become a relationship to the whole, omitting nothing. 

Rilke, Letter to Ilse Erdman, October 1916