That’s life, isn’t it?

This is the first time I type “2024” on my computer! The first time I realize that 2024 added equals 8, my lucky number. It is also the year I will turn 80 on Aug. 8, when my Chinese friends tell me not to celebrate even if I’m overwhelmed by a proliferation of 8s. Numerologists — and I get quite a few of them in my email, I don’t know why — say that this explosion of 8s is important, would make me an excellent numerologist, might even give me an alternative career as an astrologer or a tarot card reader.

Once I was really into tarots. I was then very young and drawn into the world of magick with a letter “k.” I’m sure I didn’t look it up in the Encyclopedia Britannica then as I looked it up on Google now. It says: “In Paganism, ‘magick’ refers to the ritualization of one’s spiritual intentions. It is often spelled with a ‘k’ after the usage of Aleister Crowley, a 20th century esotericist who wished to differentiate his practice from stage magic. Today, the alternate spelling separates the spiritual practice from the fictional magic of fantasy novels and films. Magick is not about cultivating supernatural powers, but rather about aligning oneself with natural forces to manifest an intention. In Paganism, ritual techniques that change a person’s consciousness so that he or she may better perceive and participate in divine reality are regarded as magick.”

When I was in my 60s I got turned on by my Chinese horoscope. I am a Monkey. All I remember about being a Monkey is that it’s the only sign that can run rings around the Dragon. My boss was a Dragon, who stopped talking to me for about two months out of fear that I would erode his power. For three years I bought Lillian Too’s horoscope for the Monkey, until I found her book too expensive and besides, I got into making rosaries. According to Catholics, horoscopes are pagan? I am not sure, but didn’t the bible have prophets?

Anyway, these days I tend to spend a bit more time with my computer because of situations around me that I’m trying not to face. Every morning when I get up I go to my computer and scan my mail. There is someone who sends me moon cards daily. Sometimes I open those. I stop when I keep drawing the Temperance card that keeps telling me to be patient. I know that already. Don’t I ever get to lose my patience? I lost it just now. I stop paying attention to the moon card emails for three days but they keep coming up so I look again. It simply gives me something new to do.

One morning I got a view of what another American astrologer had to say.  Apparently she had become an expert on Chinese astrology — or so she claimed, perhaps to get attention. I am a Wood Monkey. It turns out that 2024, with its proliferation of 8s for me, is a lucky year for the Wood Monkey. This kind of luck happens once in 60 years. It predicts changes in my life, success, good luck, everything that not only I but anyone wants. That’s it! I decided to order a Monkey horoscope by Lillian Too. Of the Chinese astrologers I like her best because when I was reading her she wrote a lot of things that actually happened. And where the price of the book had once crossed the thousand-peso line, this time it was below that on direct mail. So I apologize to the Catholics who read me, especially the priests and nuns, but I have to know in detail how my life is going to change because there are times when I feel I’m an inch from totally losing my mind.

My other new activity is making jigsaw puzzles on my computer. I have gone through the gamut. Flowers, food, untidy rooms, all sorts of houses, animals, all types of jigsaw puzzles. Some take a total of more than four hours to complete. I don’t always complete them in one sitting. I do them when I wake up early in the morning, in between making rosaries and taking care of my husband and myself. “Don’t you hate getting old?” my best friend’s email asks.  “I hate it myself as I’m having so many problems.”

One part of me says, “Yes! I hate getting old because I never thought it would be like this, that I would have to deal with problems that have to do with our health.” Another part of me protests, “No! I am successful at making rosaries that get prettier with time.”  There are parts of my life that work well. I am still strong. I drink my StemEnhance Ultra every morning. True, this age brings confusion that’s hard to resolve. But that’s life, isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

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