I hope you had a lovely, Spring-like Easter weekend. I did! The best. My highlight was attending a social sewing gathering at my local fabric shop in downtown Victoria on Sunday morning which always brings me that special boost of maker’s joy. An event I look forward to every month. We sit in a small circle in the centre of the shop and rather abashed share our makes over the past month. We talk about what’s new in patterns, fabric and online that the rest of the group might enjoy. It’s my “circle of women” who know me only as a rather geeky but eager-to-learn, advanced beginner sewist (yes, this really is a designation).
I think it’s good for our character to position ourselves in places and situations where we’re the new, green kid. As we age, we can be guilty of gravitating to what we know, falling into habits and routines that are familiar and comfortable. For an aging brain that tends to repeat, obsess and forget, experimenting and learning new skills with new folks, challenges us to be vulnerable and adapt. Sewing has done wonders for my aging brain (I wrote a blog post about it which you can read HERE)
April Belongs to the Emperor
The first three weeks of April is the time of Aries. In the Tarot, this is the season of the Emperor. The boss, the father and alpha patriarch, he rules by divine will. He represents virility, leadership, masculine force, fertility and fire. The King of Kings. The archetypal Yang. Never a dull moment.
“God! It’s hard to be humble”, yells the Emperor. As Aries, He is the God of War. A word of advice, don’t fight with an Aries. He likes it too much and you will inevitably not like it much at all.
A client (Leo) recently came for a reading in deep distress. She was failing miserably to cope with her ex-husband whom she had divorced years earlier. He had declared war on her, assigning all the big guns of the court system to crush her. Having his way, there would be nothing left of her once all his armaments had been fired. He had already brought her to her knees financially and had her jailed on trumped-up, unproven charges. Don’t go to war with an Aries man particularly if you suspect that he’s suffering (or more accurately others around him are!) from a narcissistic personality disorder.
The Horned God in Celtic Tradition
In Celtic faith, he is the Horned God chasing the maiden Goddess through the fields in early Spring. He will capture and impregnate her, symbolizing the stirring of the ground to give forth the bounty that will feed the tribe through the winter. He is strength, seed and direction. A good Emperor must see beyond his own needs and desires to sustain the burden of responsibility for the tribe. He is stoicism, wisdom and judgement. He is the Spring and the Return of the Sun (Son) which is why his element is fire.
In feminist ideology the Emperor is another card which carries complications. Why must leaders be men? Why is he the connected to the life-giving force, warmth and light of the Sun? Feminist decks have supplanted him with the Crone, the Witch and Medicine Woman. His relationship to patriarchy, misogyny, and harsh judgement has been the bane of women’s existence for thousands of years. Women have suffered untold centuries of prejudice, torture and murder at his hands as his grab for power has often been at their expense. Don’t get me started. It will take me hours to climb off this soapbox.
The Nordic Goddess Ester
In April, the ancient Celtic and Nordic practice stays with us in the celebration of Easter which is sourced from the Goddess Ester. This Nordic Goddess represented fertility (Easter Eggs) and the fecundity of the earth to provide sustenance.
Celebrate April! Buy some fresh flowers for your home and garden, take extra deep breaths of that lovely fresh, spring air and the earth stirring to life. Be present and re-energize.