I know the VI of Vessels has been a long time coming. But with such a heavy and impactful suit, I wanted to make sure I had the time to sit with it and do it justice.

If you can remember back to our last card, the V of Vessels, we've been on a hardcore journey of stripping away our past habits, biases, behaviors, and beliefs, ridding ourselves of our Ego so that we can establish a blank canvas a new era of forward motion and heightened understanding. The V of Vessels itself was a rather violent card, showing a dismembered and beheaded man being forced to view his desiccated corpse. This illustrated the painful process of severing the parts that have become as routine as using our right hand, yet have held us back from progressing into a better person. It's a literal interpretation of the death of Ego.

The V of Vessels takes that broken body and forms it together again in a heated bath. The severed limbs and golden head have been miraculously reshaped into a new and improved form. There is much going on in this card: the workers adding fuel to the fire to keep the water sufficiently hot to complete the process, a representation of the effort and dedication this reshaping will take. The white bird overhead is symbolic of the newly purified physical body being transformed into a new spiritual vessel. On the floor, a boy is feeding a golden dragon, a reference to the continued transformation and renewal of our subconscious (our instincts, desires, repressed memories, etc.) throughout this process.

Message of the Day: It's hard to not look at this card and immediately think of the concept of baptism, particularly of a Christian flavor (with the submersion and the white bird, aka Holy Spirit). However, baptism is not unique to Christianity. Judaism has a ritual called mikvah which uses a pool of water for immersion; Islam has a practice, a ritual washing of sorts, known as wudu, which is performed before prayer; Hinduism has a ritual that pours water over the head called Abhishekam. All of these rituals symbolize the purification and renewal of both the body and spirit.

Following the representation of traditional Christian baptism, the process entails giving up past sinful behaviors in acceptance of forgiveness and having the slate "wiped clean." The man in the bath looks uncomfortable, but we don't know the full circumstances of his purification. Maybe the process of shedding his past self was more painful and difficult than he realized. Maybe he's beginning to understand the true effort that is required for this alchemical process of restoration to be successful (and at this point, he's really gone too far to turn back).

Thinking back to my Mormon missionary days, I remember talking with people who would have to give up smoking or drinking (alcohol, coffee, black tea), or abstain from premarital sex as a requirement for baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They would make the commitment as part of the baptismal process but soon found themselves falling back into old habits; habits that were not necessarily destructive, but fed the physical appetite rather than providing spiritual fortification. (As a side note, I feel the very nature of having teenage boys - not yet men - admonishing people for creature comforts is a disservice to everyone, themselves included -it's very "holier than thou." They are inexperienced by the very nature of Mormon culture and are honestly only going by a script. They are told to teach the requirements and be supportive, but they often think that "severing a limb" like this is as easy as putting aside an old pair of shoes. Once the baptism is complete, there is often little to no follow-up, and the newly baptized person quickly falls back into their old habits and walks away, a corruption of the purpose of the VI of Vessels.)

I think that once we've gotten to the stage of the VI of Vessels (and successfully completed each of the prior stages), there has been a firm decision made to want to be a more spiritual, enlightened person. The very notion of someone who is "born again" leaves an acrid taste in my mouth because it's often depicted as extremist Christianity in small rural towns (and it's honestly kinda scary!). But a commitment to a renewed spiritual outlook and mindset does not require a religious affiliation. It does not require a symbolic, physical baptism. The personal decision to sever harmful patterns and habits and be committed to forming healthy and uplifting intentions is key to establishing that spiritual connection. That is not to say there will be not missteps and fumbles. But the heavy work has been completed and an awareness is now in place to help recognize when there is work to be done.

There is, of course, also a danger in this card. People (particularly when religious fervor is high) often try to run before they can walk. They jump in feet first and surround themselves in a community of their own making, hoping to offset work that wasn't finished in the V of Vessels. They hope that their dedication to God and this new spiritual lifestyle will suddenly extricate them from situations and habits they don't personally have the strength (or, honestly, the desire) to cut out. So they hide these parts away and paint on the face of the good Christian congregant, praising their God, rejoicing over their public-facing salvation. They are taught to "fake it till you make it," but are only encouraged for financial gain, not true concern over their spiritual progression. How often do we see these stories in the news? It's disheartening and reinforces that, oftentimes, religion is "do as I say, not as I do."

As we take the VI of Vessels personally and use it as part of our personal transformation, we have to ask ourselves:

• What is my commitment to spiritual transformation and what does that look like for me?
• What can I do to make sure I'm not taking things too fast? What support structures do I have to help make sure I don't return to my past Ego?
• What is the fuel I am using to keep my fire burning low and steady? Is it sustainable?
• At what point are you willing to move on to the next stage, the VII of Vessels?

Deck shown above:

• Terra Volatile

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