Today I completely understand this card – it’s all about me!  Family and friends are focusing on me today rather than me focusing on family matters.  It’s my birthday and I insist on feeling as excited about that as I felt about birthdays as a child.  It’s a celebration of me, of my life, of my happiness.  Yes, that is a very self-centered approach and I think that’s why the card is reversed – the focus is internal on manifesting what I consider a happy birthday rather than a party that would require me to focus on others.  And I’m not in that place today.

Seeing this card also made me think of the Simon & Garfunkel song Homeward  Bound.  They sing about the emptiness and shallowness of the life they’ve been living and how they wish they were homeward bound.  I think that’s one of the things I’ve learned over the last year.  All the “things” I felt I had to have in my life to make me happy have turned out to be shallow distractions.  They are fun and I do not feel they must be discarded but they are not what makes life worth living.  Whether I get a specific doll, book or even Tarot deck is ultimately not going to make or break my life.  How I treat the people in it and how I deal with challenges and adversity are what is going to determine what kind of life I have.  It can be fulfilling and meaningful or shallow and full of pretty things.  I’ve come to realize the pretty things are just bandages to cover up the pain of a shallow and meaningless life, at least for me.

It’s also the mom-in-law’s birthday – a piece of irony that has never escaped me.  We spent quite a bit of time over there and I think she had a great time.  She just likes being around people and she had two of her favorites with her today – her nephew and my mother.  There was a lot of laughter and fun.  I used the wonderful gift card my sister gave me to order a fabulous cast iron Dutch oven that will be used for baking bread once the weather turns colder (a very Pentacles thing).  My mom also got me a lovely bakeware set that is made in USA (always an important factor in my choices but even moreso now) and a lovely herb pot to grow fresh herbs.  Hubby got me a lovely new Tarot deck, the Vision Tarot by Dirk Guillabel.  It was basically a quiet, fun, family-oriented day and I had a fabulous time.

Today also marks the start of my Hierophant/Temperance and considering both are my birth cards I can’t wait to see what lies ahead.  My Emperor/Death year had a lot of upheaval and a lot of building going as, as one might expect.  Somehow I get the sense that this year will help me become who I was truly meant to be.  I think it’s going to be an interesting journey.