Whew–the site is working properly again after a few days of technical difficulties!
But what a way to come back–with the reversed Ten of Pentacles combined with The Devil. I think of The Devil as a card connected with addiction and bad habits–which can run the gamut from little bad habits that slow us down to enormous bad habits (such as substance abuse) which can seriously derail us from our path in life, as well as causing us to experience financial difficulties and other logistical challenges (reversed Ten of Pentacles).
In other words, there are important things we need to do today, but temptation may be getting in the way. We may be at risk for self-sabotage today.
Yet I am not saying we should turn our backs on temptation. Often people who try to do so simply enslave themselves to it more fully. Instead, look for the good in your temptations, as that is, in my opinion, the part of the temptation that truly draws you anyway. What are your temptations trying to tell you about what you should be doing? Even our most serious addictions can be viewed as positive messengers trying to alert us that something is seriously amiss and needs to be made right. What is the real issue, and how can you address it? When you find the answer to this question, your temptation will lose much of its power to draw you off your path.
Not everyone has the strength to look temptation squarely in the face and try to really understand what is happening. But there is another tool you can use to defuse temptation’s power, and that tool is prayer. It doesn’t really matter what spiritual tradition you may belong to–even if you are an atheist, you can pray, to yourself if need be. A major part of the power of prayer lies in the formulation of intent. By praying for a particular outcome, you state your intention, even if you feel you are stating it only to yourself. You are creating an aspiration. If your will power is a car (metaphorically speaking), prayers and aspirations are a way of putting gas (your strong, committed intention) into the car. Prayer will give you the strength that you think you don’t have. You can overcome any addiction, no matter how strongly it may hold you in its thrall. Be patient and take it one step at a time — right back onto your path.
Quiet Mystic 