Standing tall, taking the lead

Card messages in the Illuminated position.

+ Formidable

(Tough, rugged, statuesque, towering, erect, Adonis, strenuous, stature)

1. The rugged are suited for confrontation and project an air of command. Stature is the impression one exudes and is experienced by others. Show your mettle by standing up for yourself.
2. Having backbone one can contend with formidable conditions. Withstand hardship and abide your lot for the present time. Finances are core to this situation.
3. Leadership calls for strength and determination stand up straight and act with formidable love!
4. Rugged individualism is at the core of the American self made man mythology. Now is the time to reach deep within and become a force to be reckoned with. Beware becoming a bully doing so.

Quotes signifying the Overleaf in this pole

• “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. ~ Nelson Mandela
• “Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible – it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could.” ~ Barbara de Angelis
• “Most artists like to think of themselves as rugged individualists, as independent characters. ~Jack Levine

Card messages in the Shadow position.

– Gaunt

(Emaciated, harried, asceticism, gangly, rigid, stiff, harsh, broken, stark, unrefined, uncouth)

1. Drained of hope and spent of vigor, the shadow of this card looks gaunt, strained and emaciated from too much severity. Has stress made you hard or despondent? Forgive your own weaknesses.
2. Someone is posing for a statue of virtue. Rome was full of figurines with clay feet. Look behind the edifice to see if the pedestal they stand upon is hollow or built of the solid rock of principle.

Quotes signifying the Overleaf in this pole

• “The suspicious mind believes more than it doubts. It believes in a formidable and ineradicable evil lurking in every person.” ~ Eric Hoffer
• “They had both noticed that a life of dissipation sometimes gave to a face the look of gaunt suffering spirituality that a life of asceticism was supposed to give and quite often did not.” Katherine Anne Porter
• “It was a very tall man, if, indeed, it might be called a man, for the gaunt bones were protruding through the corroding flesh, and the features were of a leaden hue. A winding-sheet was wrapped round the figure, and formed a hood over the head, from under the shadow of which two fiendish eyes, deep set in their grisly sockets, blazed and sparkled like red-hot coals.” Arthur Conan Doyle

Relevance in the Michael Teaching

The Body Type of the leader, Saturn is the god of greatest adoration to the Greeks: Apollo. His beauty rest in the eternal, as bringer of the Sun, his habits were precise and his countenance sharp, attentive and devotional to duty. This Body Type controls the pituitary gland which governs skeletal growth.

Essence’s desired use for height is secondary to the tendency of this type to endure great deprivation and exhibit a willingness to maintain personal discipline. Unlike, Passion Mode, another Overleaf sharing the Exalted-Inspirational Axis, this quality is strictly austere and generally reserved. Sometimes classy and other times clunky, their displaying such attributes, combined with a no-nonsense way of doing life; personalities prominent in Saturnian presentation tend to garner attention and even reverence wherever they go. Thus, it is very much in alignment with it’s Chief Feature of Arrogance and the Priest Role both of which exude a formal superiority in their dealings with others.

Contrast this to the Jovial (the Emperor) whose sense of grandeur is more about style and largesse. The Saturnian relies for more on substantive qualities than making a show of themselves. When Saturn plays its role, know that an internal see-saw battle between showing oneself with strength and determination conflicts with the tendency to act in ways that are callous, rigid, or failing any self control, even uncouth. The message always is: stand tall, hold your pose, and step out and lead with your own character.

In the negative pole, Saturn suffering from this conflict or a lack of respect reveals its battle on the bones upon which its flesh hangs. Gaunt, emaciated, bedraggled, or riddled with arthritis, or other skeletal problems; their suffering is transferred to their appearance for all to see. Sometimes the reaction then reverses their natural aspiration for respect as others then view them as hideous, pitiable or with contempt.

Famous Examples

Imam, Michael Jordan, all basketball players, President Abraham Lincoln, President George H.W. Bush, Uncle Sam caricature, James Franco +mercurial, Nicole Kidman +mars +solar,  Gary Cooper +mercury +solar, Missi Pyle +Uranus, Steve McQueen +mercurial, Grace Jones +venus +Uranus, Bob Dylan +lunar +mars, George Burns +mercury, Meryl Streep +solar,  Watutsi people of Africa,  Joseph Stalin +jupiter +Uranus, Will Farrell +mars, Mick Jaggar +Uranus, President George Washington +Pluto +solar, Eleanor Roosevelt +lunar +mars,  President Barack Obama +venus +mercury,  Mitt Romney +solar +mercury

Cultural Meaning

With height comes many expectations, favor granted, and with that stature forms the perception of strength. The Saturnian or Saturnine persona projects an air of confidence as it towers over others. Though beauty holds a decisive advantage in modern Western culture, approaching a close second is “tall, dark and handsome.” Accorded a free pass at many turns, height may be played as an advantage. But in some cases it may further emphasis the geek: Napoleon Dynamite, for instance.

But height alone does not make a good leader nor confer upon anyone who possesses a statuesque presence innate integrity, rigor, or a regimented way of being. No, that is something that is developed and maintained. When a person has tempered their mettle in the trial of hardship, they become fierce and rugged. They often do, “stand tall” exuding a dignity wrought from victory over adversity. In this regard, that euphemism translated, has meaning far more relevant that gaining esteem from others: it is demonstrating the self respect you have earned for yourself from surviving a gauntlet.

While both tall, President George H. Bush was not an Abraham Lincoln. The former, born into affluence and educated in the Ivy League, he needed handlers to shape him and direct his talking points. But the latter, Mr. Lincoln, was born in the throes of poverty and whose intellect was forged by continual reading and an ardent determination to learn. He handled needs…those of his people! And when he spoke, his points were universal truths that hung like stars in the eternal sky. The ascent of Mr. Bush was held aloft by privilege and membership in an elite class. But Mr. Lincoln seen as an uncouth hick rose with dogged perseverance rallying “the people” to his side showing: eloquence, sensibility, and a strident adherence to his principles. Principles, which kept a fractious nation together during a time when class, race, and moral zealotism would otherwise rip it apart. Then in the ultimate showing of inspired leadership, he proclaimed to the South these immortal words from his second inaugural address: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”. This is how a just god Apollo would appear on Earth! Contrasting these two presidents, perhaps you can feel the visceral distinction between a truly exemplary man, and a man who would act like a demigod; exempt from the trials and sorrows of the people he rules.

Attributes of this Body Type…

• Tall, lanky body – however even shorter people with this type appear taller (Mick Jagger)
• Long limbs
• Knobby joints like knees, knuckles, elbows, and feet
• Pronounced eyebrow ridge thrusting the forehead outward (the so-called Neanderthal ridge)
• Voice is often craggy or rough sounding

by Stephen Cocconi © 2012

For a Tarot Session or Channeled Consultation call: 209.768-4956 or email Stephen at channeling@themichaelteaching.com