The Sixes
Major arcana: Reflection/ Wheel of Fortune Position on wheel: Autumn Equinox
Six of Wands: Harvest
	The Autumn harvest of acorns, apples, blackberries, elderberries, rowan berries, and hazelnuts is abundant in this card. It is time to reap your harvest and give thanks for its bounty.
Six of Arrows: Transition
	A cloaked figure looks towards their destination, as the swan-prowed boat sails towards the sacred tree topped island. As the sun sets, the moon rises. You have turned your back on one phase of your life, and head towards a homecoming of the soul. Travel. Moving home. An emotional retreat.
Six of Cups: Reunion
	This is the island depicted in the previous card (and The Salmon). In the golden light of an autumnal sunset, two souls are reunited on an ancient mound, the source of the waters of memory and deep love. Six green cups full of golden liquid float in the pool of knowledge. Two otters, animals of loving and playful affection, hunt nearby. Reunion with an old friend, soulmate or a wise part of oneself. A feeling of inner peace.
Six of Stones: Exploitation
	This card is the opposite of Harvest. An exploitation of the earth’s resources by mining and quarrying of coal, gold, star sapphires, stone and crystals; where the poor are exploited for the benefit of the rich; just as worker bees (in the outer hexagons) die after a lifetime of providing for the Queen Bee. A feeling of being trapped in a system of greed. A need to question the purpose of your work, and your part in the whole.
Death
Minor arcana: Sevens Position on wheel: Samhain. Element: water/earth
Chakra: base. Colour: blue. Polarity: red.
	This image is stark and unavoidable, like death itself. This card signifies a continuous process, an active state. Therefore the skull (of a reindeer) is still in the process of being defleshed by carrion. You are being stripped to the bone and there is no longer any escape from having to face up to the truth of your life. The all-seeing eye of the raven watches and reveals all you would prefer to keep hidden. This raven side of you is oracular, but it must name the truth it sees. Once named, the truth must be faced and acted upon; clearing away what has been making you ill in many different ways.
You are confronting your essential self, without the secondary defences and protection of the mirror, mists and metaphors of reflection. (Mourning, seven of cups) will bring some relief. Seek comfort. When you have managed to clear, process and thus lay to rest the issues raised by Death, you will feel a great burden has been lifted, and that you can turn towards life.
The Guardian
Position on wheel: Samhain. Element: water/earth Chakra: base Colour: blue. Polarity: red
	This extraordinary image shows a cave bear, skeletal, yet it has a life of its own, just as fearful memories can rise up without warning. Some flesh still clings to the bones, and fiery flashes of energy are unable to earth from the spine. Fears are literally ungrounded.
Cave bears became extinct c.40,000 BCE, yet evidence of their existence can still be seen in prehistoric caves. At Rouffignac, France, for instance, their deep circular dens and the wavy patterns made by claw sharpening, and their bones, still visible, would have been a powerful presence, when later people painted their ritualised animals on the walls. (c.13,000 BCE) Cave bears would have left a potent yet undefined psychic memory. Already honoured by the Neanderthals (see The Bear) the cave bear is the primal ancestor. There is a human quality to their skeletal shape, especially when raised up on their hind legs; the bear bridges the gap between the beasts and the humans. The cave bear is both a guardian of the ancestral past, and an initiator into its memories, often shadowy, unclear, therefore fearful. This card is concerned with facing skeletons in the closet, fears long suppressed and often irrational, traumas in your family background that you have forgotten but that may resurface as panic attacks; ghosts that you cannot lay to rest and haunt your sleep. Seek support to help you calm yourself. Suppression of one’s sexuality or creativity can lead to a thwarting of one’s power, which becomes turned against oneself. For those whose boundaries have been confused and previously invaded, befriending and healing your guardian will change your life.