Jupiter’s Wink

Late last night, I took out the trash as part of my Before Bed habits. The cold wind quickly stripped my T-shirted self of warmth as I dashed around to the trashcans. Turning my back to the wind for a moment, I looked up to see the Moon shining quite bright above me, and Jupiter a few fingers below it. Smiled at the sight, then quickly dashed back into the warm house.

Sometime between turning off the lights and sunrise this morning, I found myself again outside looking up at the Moon. The wind was to my back, blowing just as fiercely, but it wasn’t cold. Instead, it was holding me still, telling me to look in a certain direction. The Moon was at the apex of its travels in the night sky. And Jupiter dangled below it, like a pendulum on an unseen celestial string.

As I watched, the Wind blew away all that surrounded me. House, fence, landscape. All of it, until I was standing on the very fabric of night itself. All the stars kept their place in the sky, but their travels were paused, allowing the Moon to hold her place in court.

Suddenly Jupiter blinked, with an almost humorous wink, and disappeared from view. Just as I registered it had gone, it returned with a flare, reestablishing its position. My attention held skyward, I did not know I had company until I heard a gentle tap of a footstep in front of me.

My attention quickly honed onto the new sound, and I saw a half-bowing figure in front of me. In the Moon’s light, she was clearly visible. Jupiter’s Girl had come to me again.

She hopped as she straightened up, landing with a little flare and a sideways foot. Ever elaborate, ever expressive with her body, Jupiter’s Girl danced her mute greeting and held up her calling card, the Fortune card from the Thoth tarot deck clearly facing me. Where I had cut my hair to teeny tiny afro, JG still had a thickly grown out afro, pulled back into a crown of hair. She wore an all black carnival half-mask, covering the eyes only. I thought I saw texture on her mask, but she didn’t hold still long enough for me to inspect. Dark leather vest was buttoned over a flowing poet’s white shirt, ruffles spilling out over her well held chest. The ruffles on the long sleeves covered most of her gloves when her arms were down. Dark pants, could have been leather, disappeared into knee-high boots. I love her style, and do wish I could wear such clothing myself.

I did not take the card from her, only nodded in acknowledgement. She waved the Fortune card slightly, to grab my attention, then twisted her fingers and snapped the card out of existence. Waving her hands in a fanciful stage display, she snapped her fingers in my face and plucked two more cards out of thin air. But this time, the cards faced away from me. Their backs had the golden wheel and ten lightning spokes from the Fortune card, but had no other distinguishing marks. She held them there, balanced in tip toe to better lean towards me.

I reach for them, but she snatches them away. She holds them close to her breast, as if a treasured secret. She takes a step to the side, and a hop to the rear. She bows deeply, giving the impression she is saying farewell, then jumps high, still clutching the cards. When she lands square on both feet, her stomp sends a shockwave that picks me up and forcibly ejects me from the dream.

My eyes snap open in sudden wakefulness. I get the feeling this dream isn’t over yet. I’m not sure if I should try to divine what those two cards are, or if I should let her reveal them to me in time.

Make of that, what you may.