Tabula Mundi Tarot – an inspired Thoth based tarot deck by M.M. Meleen

DECAN WALK: GEMINI 3, TEN OF SWORDS – Part I

Already here to Gemini decan 3? Gemini decan 2 flew by! The image above is the original line drawing for the Ten of Swords, known as the Lord of Ruin.

Cadent or declining decan of Gemini.

Gemini is ruled my Mercury; decan 3 is ruled by the Sun; Tens correspond to the Earth. This decan is the last before the Summer Solstice, when the daylight will be at its longest but the days will start getting shorter again. Already??? It’s hinting at the decline of the Sun to come.

It is one of the more sinister looking cards in many decks. It often signifies breakdowns, endings, or death; symbolic and otherwise.

Cadent decan of Gemini: A man in mail, armoured with bow, arrows, and quiver.

The mailed figure in this image could be Orion, whose constellation is next to Gemini in the sky (shown in the image.) Or it could be one of a number of mythological twins.

In Egypt, the stars of Orion the hunter were associated with the god Sah, who was syncretized with Osiris, lord of the dead. The constellation Orion is right next to that of the constellation Gemini, shining pale in the daytime sky behind the figure. The stars pf Gemini distinctly show two beings, twins. Most often we think of these as Castor and Pollux – one mortal and one immortal. Yet history has many stories of twins or brothers, polarities of light and darkness, one of whom is often slain, sometimes by the other. Castor is associated with the morning star, Pollux to the evening. Celtic mythology has twins Dylan and Lleu, as darkness and light respectively. Genesis has the sons of Adam and Eve; Cain who was cursed for killing his brother Abel. Persian tradition has the good or wisdom god Ahura Mazda (Ohrmuzd) and the evil or destructive demon Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) as twin spirits engendered from primordial Zurvan, god of infinite time and space.

The image also tells the story of Horus and Set, eternally battling over the right for kingship. It is a symbolic battle of light and darkness. In this decan there are both. Solar Horus represents the decan ruler in the Chaldean system, while Set has connotations of Saturn, the triplicity ruler. The hilts of the two swords closest to the foreground have the heads of Set and Horus, facing each other. The slain twin points at the Set sword with his left hand, while in his right hand is a hidden Sun.

Now, if this card appears it does not signify impending death, though it can, even more than the Death card. Most often though it is about the end of something, not necessarily mortality. It is numerically the last card of the Swords suit, so it often comes with some sort of breakdown of logic and reason. It may be the sacrifice of a choice. One twin (one choice) must die; such is the mythology of Castor and Pollux. There is finality; the Oak King has been sacrificed for the land. There is a symbolic battle of light and darkness. It has the sense that it is darkest before the dawn – but the sun always rises.

There is a humorous saying in my neck of the woods “Dawn breaks on Marblehead,” referring to that moment when something that should have been obvious finally penetrates the dense mind. Maybe it was obvious to everyone but you, that something must end, and it finally gets through,

Though it has decidedly negative associations of endings and sacrifice, it can also signify the end of delusions. If calamity occurs or has occurred, look within, especially at your choices. It is time to give it up, break it off, or end something so that new beginnings can arise.

There are a few magical practices I associate with this decan. Here are two to consider: the Buddhist meditations and contemplation on death, such as the Satipatthana Sutta, and the recitation of Liber Resh vel Helios, the solar adoration said to alleviate fear of death and put one in touch with “that which remains.”

DECAN WALK: GEMINI 2, NINE OF SWORDS – Part II

This is the Part II update for the Gemini 2 decan, for the Nine of Swords.

The image above does not do the scene justice, but shows just a small section of a large flock of these yellow and black swallowtail butterflies encountered on a bike ride. There were tons of them, all clustered in one area. I think someone must have spilled a sugary drink there or something.

This admittedly is not related to the Gemini 2 decan, except for that I associate butterflies with Gemini in general, as they are Air symbols, and have that dual symmetry to them.

But the Gemini 2 decan, associated with the Nine of Swords, called Despair and Cruelty, has had other insect happenings, both good and bad.

In good news, I spotted the first fireflies of the year, which is always a welcome sight!

In bad news, the wet weather which has been otherwise good to my garden, has resulted in a huge number of another yellow and black insects: the dreaded striped cucumber beetle.

They have been very Cruel to my cucumber and squash plants, leading to Despair as some of them aren’t going to make it now, and need to be replanted. They also are getting to the potatoes. Thank god I covered the brassicas, or we would have lost those too.

Some other kind of bugs or maybe birds ate a lot of my bean seedlings. Usually beans are trouble free here. Have to replant some this year.

So in turn, I have been very Cruel to these insects, to the extent that an organic gardener can be Cruel.

Interestingly, that “New yellow leather” color of Gemini in the Prince Scale of the Golden Dawn color scales is the color of the sticky traps or soapy water filled bowls used to try to catch them. I also happened to get a tee shirt in bright yellow, with black lettering, for some reason.

I also have already seen my garden Nemesis, the squash bug, arriving early and hitting on the already beleaguered squash plants. So it goes.

As anticipated, I have spent most of this decan in edit mode, having to be Cruel and CUT many sections from the book I’m working on. I don’t want to cut more, but may have to. At 6×9″ it is around 470 pages of text and 150 pages of tables! No illustrations even. Have to keep cutting, as a book over 600 pages is just too expensive to print as a small publisher.

I’ve also had to make some cruel choices about plants. In addition to gardening, I have a ton of houseplants. Every year at this time I have to make a purge. The plants that are not thriving, or have developed any insect infestation, are moved outdoors. I wash them up, and put them on the deck in a sheltered area. If they recover, they will come back in for the winter. If not, too bad, bye now. So it goes.

Same thing with the garden seedlings I’ve been nurturing all spring. The gardens are full now, so while I will replant the spares for the cucumber and squash plants that got bug-savaged, the rest will have to be sacrificed or given away.

I’m reading a fictional book about Oscar Wilde now. He had quite the way with words, and could be quite cutting. It is a good Gemini 2 coincidence that I picked up the book, because I just now happened to look up his birth chart, thinking that he must have something in this decan, because of his clever, and sometimes cruel, turns of speech. And lo and behold, he has the Gemini 2 decan as his Midheaven, showing what he is known for, with Saturn there to boot, trining his Sun and sextiling his Moon. His quotes live on!

Here are a selection of quotes. The man was witty, so there are so many out there it is hard to choose from.

“She can talk brilliantly on any subject, provided she knows nothing about it.”

“Of course, America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it was always hushed up.”

“Religion is like a blind man looking in a black room for a black cat that isn’t there, and finding it.”

“Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.”

“I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed man.”‘

“Patriotism is the virtue of the viscious.”

“Some people know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.”

“Nature: a place where birds fly around uncooked.”

“I never put off till tomorrow what I can do the day after.”

“Conformity is the last refuge of the unimaginative”

“Ridicule is the tribute paid to the genius by the mediocrities.”

“Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole!”

“The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.”

“Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are.”

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.”

DECAN WALK: GEMINI 2, NINE OF SWORDS – Part I

Telos Tarot of 777 Nine of Swords — Gemini decan 2: Nine of Swords

Our decan walk enters Gemini decan 2, with the Sun’s passage through ten to twenty degrees of Gemini.

The tarot card shown above is from Telos Tarot of 777, for the second decan of Gemini, known as the Lord of Cruelty. Crowley’s 777 gives the decan image description as “An eagle headed man, with a bow and arrow. Wears crowned steel helmet.” The crowned steel helmet is a reference to Mars, the decan ruler, as a military headgear made of an alloy of Mars’ metal iron. Likewise, the arrow can be martial, with its purpose of piercing. It is usually associated with Sagittarius, the opposite sign to Gemini. Yet in Gemini, opposites and pairs are a relevant theme.

Gemini the sign is ruled by Mercury, who is said to be gender neutral, or mixed. The decan is ruled by masculine Mars. (In the triplicity system, the decan ruler is Venus, consort of Mars.)

For the Telos Nine of Swords image, I have paired the eagle-headed man with a lion-headed woman, showing them as twinned beings. The eagle-man is shown as hunting with the bow described in the 777 and Picatrix decan descriptions. The lion-woman is stabbing herself with a sword. The sword is both the suit of the card, and the letter Zayin, meaning sword, that corresponds to the Lovers and Gemini.

The full Golden Dawn title of the Nine of Swords is the Lord of Despair and Cruelty which is often more fitting than Cruelty alone. Here the woman takes the form of Despair, while the eagle-headed man is Cruelty.

Cruelty can be directed outward or inward as self-cruelty, which often stems from Despair. The eagle-headed man directs the Cruelty outward with his bow, aiming to wound with a cruelly barbed arrow. The lion-headed woman here directs the abuse inward, impaling herself upon her own sword. The figures stand back-to-back on a raised peak, yet still cannot see their way out of the dark forest. The forest is a forest of pines referring to Attis, who in Ovid’s Metamorphoses transformed himself into a pine tree. Attis represents death and rebirth. In Cybele’s cult ritual, a pine tree was wrapped as a corpse and wreathed in violets to symbolize the body of Attis. The pine is also a symbol of the high view, a reminder to see things clearly, rather than through any haze of self-loathing or hatred.

Lovers Tabula Mundi Tarot — Gemini the Lovers, Tabula Mundi

Tower Tabula Mundi Tarot — Mars the Tower, Tabula Mundi

The Lovers: letter Zayin meaning “sword” and The Tower, letter Peh, meaning “mouth”: divisiveness, and cruel and wounding thoughts and words.

The Rider Waite Smith card: a woman awake in the night, as if from a nightmare or grief
Thoth card: Swords dripping with poison and blood, chaotic background
Tabula Mundi card: the boar’s head from the Tower card (Mars) pierced by a lion-hilted sword, surrounded by the sword-in-stone motif from the Lovers (Gemini)

The Rosetta Tarot card: the swords, with hilts of the Gemini and Mars glyphs, form the sharp teeth of a gaping mouth (Gemini/Mars)

Deities for Gemini decan 2: Cybele and Cyclops

The god form listed in the fragmentary text 36 Airs of the Zodiac is the goddess Cybele, who is often shown accompanied by lions. The word Despair is fitting for Cybele. The word itself begins with “des,” a form of “Dis,” for splitting apart, asunder, and ends with “pair.” Originally a hermaphrodite, Cybele was cruelly split into two by other gods jealous of her power. Her male half died and was reborn as the god Attis. It is a tale of despair as he ultimately had to marry another, and either castrated himself, or had it done at the hands of Cybele, despairing, and become cruel due to his betrayal.

The Cyclops were a race of one-eyed giants. The most famous of the Cyclops is Polyphemus. In one tale Polyphemus loves the sea nymph Galatea, but is rejected due to his ugliness. Lovesick, he longs to reconcile that which divides them, her realm of the sea and his of the earth. Galatea loved another, and Polyphemus crushes him.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus encounters Polyphemus, who eats some of his men. Crafty Odysseus of course tricks him, plying him with strong wine and ultimately blinding him with a sharp stick.

It is a difficult decan, considering all this. I’ve already found myself saying cruel things when feeling anxiety and despair over the greed, stupidity, and selfishness in the world. I’ve also already had a few bouts with self-hatred, and being overly self-critical, and the decan has just begun! I’m going to try to be kinder to myself and to others, if I can.

But how else could it be used positively? With the associations of Gemini, Swords, and Mars, it would be good for debate and for writing sharp and cutting things, like political commentary or satire. It could definitely be used to spin a situation to your favor by skillful and precise application of words. It would also be good for meditation upon contradictions in order to reconcile them, both within and without.

I’m almost done with the text of the new book on Telos Tarot, which is also a book on magickal applications for the decans. One chapter to go! So during this decan I’ll be heading into the phase of editing the book. Editing often involves the difficult task of cutting out words, which I think is a perfect use of Gemini and Mars.

DECAN WALK: GEMINI 1, EIGHT OF SWORDS Part II

Gemini decan 1, Eight of Swords, Telos Tarot

We are now most of the way through the Gemini 1 decan, which corresponds to the Eight of Swords, Interference, so some Part II updates on the ways this decan has manifested so far are in order.

To recap, Gemini and Eights are Mercury ruled, the Gemini 1 decan is Jupiter ruled.

The first few degrees of the Gemini 1 decan allowed for a sudden great burst of writing for the upcoming book. Gemini, and Swords, are after all associated with words, and decan ruler Jupiter with expansion. I got a ton done in a very short time.

Then things took a different turn. The Memorial Day weekend is a sad time for me, due to the unexpected loss of a sibling on a Memorial Day weekend in years past; one never really gets over getting an unexpected phone call like that.

But work goes on. Gemini 1 decan is the traditional time here for putting in transplants and seeds of warm weather crops like tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers, and eggplants.

Beans and parsley are very Gemini/Mercury. I planted 8 kinds of beans! Also dug up around 80 volunteer parsley plants, that were interfering in the space, taking them out of this bed shown to the left and moving them to another bed before planting all these tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. But they were a lucky break, as I wanted a ton of parsley and could only find singles of it for sale.

So the entire three-day weekend was spent doing that. But around this time, some unexpected snags showed up, mostly correctable with luck or patience, as expected in the Eight of Swords.

For example, after spending a very long day in the hot sun putting in hundreds of plants, we heard a loud humming sound: one of our beehives was swarming. That is when bees decide to take a short trip and change neighborhoods (Gemini things).

We were lucky in a sense, it landed down low in an apple tree where we could reach it to capture it, should we choose to. But it was a snag as it was the last thing we needed at that moment. It landed in a very awkward position on the tree, and we were very hot, tired, and very much not wanting to deal with it. So we did an old beekeepers trick of placing an empty beehive box nearby, which sometimes will entice them to move in, if you are lucky.

Well, the next day, we realized we were not lucky. The bees had moved on, and not to the provided new digs. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. It was our choice not to more actively try to get them.

But that same day, we got another chance: another hive swarmed! This is a common thing to happen when the hive grows overly strong and fast; they get too crowded so they raise a new Queen to move out with a good portion of the workers to start a new colony.

This time we got lucky: it landed in a birch tree, higher up but in a less awkward position to get to. So my husband made the choice to suit up and manually sweep them into the bee box, and give it a go to see if they would accept the new home. This time, they did, so we got a new hive. We only had one extra box anyway, so we could not have caught them both. At least we got one. And there is an old saying:

A swarm in May is worth a field of hay.

A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon.

A swarm in July ain’t worth a fly.

So we caught one of two, still in May, which gives them time to build out into a valuable hive that can survive a winter.

Some other little snags happened during this Gemini 1 decan period, all fixable and caught in time. Interestingly, many were delayed failures or at least problems resulting from things done in the Taurus decans.

Some plantings done in Taurus and placed under a row cover were being deprived of water, because the row cover was diverting it. Interference. So in spite of all the rain, some were revealed to have perished from drought. Yet it was not a total Failure, as I luckily actually had many spare extra seedlings I had set aside in the greenhouse as a Plan B for just such a contingency, so had enough to replace most of them. The only ones I didn’t have, happened to be ones there was still time to restart from seed. And we learned that a neighborhood farm who didn’t use covers, lost all their brassica seedlings to flea beatles as they were bad this year due to the wet spring. Most of ours were pristine, except for the ones that weren’t getting water through weird water run off pattern, which reminded me of the Telos image!

A major “customer experience upgrade” (hah, yeah right) done by a local bank over a three-day period in the Taurus 3 decan, turned out to be a minor hassle in the Gemini 1 decan. Though of course they marketed it (Gem-Jup) as a big benefit to the customers, it actually ruined our statements to not be monthly cutoffs, changed the online banking, and increased fees in some cases unless one restructured some accounts, because of course it did. It was also intuited that the local bank employees were having a hard time due to fallout from the changes: interference. And of course new online banking protocols added yet more layers of security which, while they are supposed to be good, yadda yadda, are kind of a pain in the ass, and cause an extra step (interference) each and every time one logs on, now you have to run looking for a device. So it goes.

I misunderstood something said by a friend, but figured it out soon enough without it being a problem.

Some people in the neighborhood (neighbors are a Gemini thing) have been escalating the doing of some very annoying things during this decan, involving long, loud, repetitive recitations (words=Gemini). The words are supposedly religious (Jupiter) and in a foreign language (Jupiter) and are Interfering with my ability to enjoy my space when relaxing, or to focus when working. I made a choice to rise above it – for now. If it keeps up I may go all Cruelty and Ruin on them in the next Gemini decans! I want to find out where they live and stand outside their spaces loudly reciting Thelemic poetry, LBRP, and Liber Resh repeatedly for hours, see how they like it! Yeah, I probably won’t unless I lose it, but I think about it.

I also misread some directions due to being distracted, annoyed, and busy, and thus did something wrong setting up an online thing and got locked out. More interference and blockage. Minor snag but nothing a stupid phone call with some hold time couldn’t fix.

A fun thing planned with a friend had to get cancelled when her child was under the weather.

Some former good and unexpected news we had received about a property matter got, not reversed, but put on hold in such a way that means it may not happen, or might happen, or who knows? However it is somewhat blocking our ability to move forward on the matter.

An old dock we helped someone install in the Taurus 3 decan (Failure!) had a partial collapse, so now we have to go rebuild a portion during this decan. Too many speedboats (Gemini?) exceed their size limits, making big waves (Jupiter) that interfered with this very old construction from the 1940s. All the other docks at this location are new aluminum things. This one is a big old wooden monstrosity that we have to roll into place using an old Model T axle. (Gemini-Jupiter!) It is all cobbled together with old boards and cinder blocks, added over the years.

Interferes a little bit with other plans, have to drop everything to go do it, but it is a minor thing. It’s an easy fix, easier than it looks.

There are only about two more days left in this decan, so besides the dock fix I hope to do more writing. Did a lot of that over the last two days, and only stopped to do more writing: this update.

I expect that today or tomorrow I’ll finish the last chapter of the new book!

If there aren’t more snags.

Of course that just means moving on to the next phase of the book, adding stuff, deleting stuff, correcting stuff, making and organizing tables and images, formatting, etc. And making more choices around all that. A lot to it, but it will feel good to be at this next checkpoint within a day or two.

Haven’t noticed much 5th house activity yet, though in whole signs Gemini is my 5th house. It has been mostly work – although we did get together with friends one night. Sleep has been poor; it has been interfered with through my own poor choices of turning towards too much caffeine (Gemini) and alcohol (Jupiter) at times of overwork and minor stresses. All minor stuff though, thankfully!

It is said that the Eight of Wands can mean paying too much attention to insignificant things, so I’m trying not to sweat the small stuff, and just keep on keeping on.

DECAN WALK: GEMINI 1, EIGHT OF SWORDS – Part I

original ink lines for the Gemini 1 decan, Eight of Swords

Crowley’s 777, roughly based on the Picatrix description, gives us a great image to work with for Gemini decan 1: “A beautiful woman with her two horses.”

TWO: Gemini. HORSES: Jupiter, ruler of the decan.

Some inspiration for this illustration was also drawn from Ibn Ezra, who says that the beautiful woman is “standing in the air.” Here she is, standing beautifully poised upon her two steeds, seemingly almost floating.

Gemini decan 1, Eight of Swords
painted version

Welcome to the first decan of Gemini, corresponding to the Eight of Swords otherwise known as Interference, or the Lord of Shortened Force.

Gemini is ruled by Mercury, Eights are ruled by Mercury, and the decan is ruled by Jupiter.

The Eight of Swords, Lord of Interference, is also known as Shortened Force, as in some sort of minor impedance to a trajectory in motion. In the Rider Waite Smith deck, the female figure is bound and blindfolded, surrounded by swords. In the Thoth deck, eight blades of different types form a sort of blocking grid. In Tabula Mundi Tarot, the lion and eagle of the Lovers card are entangled in thread from a bobbin-like circle of swords.

In the Telos Tarot of 777 drawing, there are also eight differing swords, placed directly in front of the rider, forming a hurdle she must leap or go around. Make a choice!

Each gives the impression of a minor snag to deal with or get past. Each sword is a different type. Eight choices: 8 is part of the Fibonacci sequence, so really this represents an infinite number of choices or branches to follow.

Gemini is all about choices, and here with Jupiter’s expansive effect, the number of choices can become overwhelming.

But though Jupiter is not at its best in Gemini, the sign of its detriment, he still brings some measure of luck for getting around obstacles. Especially in combination with dexterous Gemini.

The “36 Airs of the Zodiac” fragment gives the deity as the Tethys, who was portrayed with very Mercurial wings sprouting from her brow, like the woman in the Telos image.

Tethys is a Titan, a daughter of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky). Most just consider her as the consort of Okeanos, the primordial sea of fresh water that surrounds the globe. She is mostly known for being a goddess of waters and the mother of many thousands of other water gods and nymphs, for in the ancient world every freshwater source was home to a minor deity.

Tethys draws from the source, the great world sea, to fill the rivers, for she rules over fresh water and river systems. Fresh water is part of a whole cycle which in a simplified way is how water is drawn up from the oceans into the air and then comes down as fresh rain, that rivers then return to the oceans.

The river system shown in the background of the card shows how rivers split, and split, and split again into infinite streams of water or infinite decision points or choices. Follow one, and at certain points as it branches off, a choice is made and thus other choices are eliminated. First as twins (Gemini) – one must be eliminated – and then so many more choices to follow.

In 36 Faces, Austin Coppock calls this decan “the apple of Eden” – Eve’s infamous choice, to eat from the Tree of Knowledge!

Since Gemini loves knowledge and data, here is a great big table, with plenty of choices of deities to research or other decan images to consider and various errata to ponder.

Astrology	Gemini, the sign ruled by Mercury
Modality and Element	Mutable Air
Decan degrees Decan ruler	0°- 9° Gemini; Jupiter rules the decan
Triplicity ruler	Mercury
Magical image of the decan in 777	A beautiful woman with her two horses.
Picatrix image and significations	A beautiful woman, a mistress of stitching, two calves and two horses Writing, computation and number, giving and taking, the sciences
Henry Cornelius Agrippa image and significations (Three Books of Occult Philosophy)	A man in whose hand is a rod, and he is, as it were, serving another. Wisdom, and the knowledge of numbers and arts in which there is no profit
Giordano Bruno image (De Umbris Idearum)	A man dressed as a slave, holding a green branch in his right hand. On his face is a happy, even jocular expression
Varahamihira Vedic image (Brihat Jataka)	A female fond of needlework, with a beauty equalling that of Rambha or Helen, without any issues, with a penchant for ornamentation, with lifted hands & in menses.
Raphael image and significations	A young man girt with a girdle. Of writings, of giving and receiving money, of petition, and wisdom in unprofitable things.
Ibn Ezra image (The Beginning of Wisdom)	A beautiful woman standing in the air, and she can sew.
Liber Hermetis	An armed man having an ass’s face, holding a sword in his right hand. This rules the climate of the 3 Trojans.
Liber Hermetis name	Manuchos
Egyptian name (777)	Thesogar
Ancient Egyptian name (Budge)	Mestcher-Saḥ
Greco-Egyptian name	Θosalk
Aristobulos name	Farsan
Testament of Solomon name	Sphandor
Apotelesmatics Greek name	Thosolk
Mathêsis Latin name	Thesogar
Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius image	It looks like a man with the head of a donkey. He holds a small key in his right hand, and his left is dropped. He is covered in wrappings down to his knees.
Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius name	Xokhá [Xocha]
SBHA stone	diamond
SBHA plant	orchid
SBHA dietary taboo	electric rays
Angel of the decanate per 777	Sagarash
Goetic demons Day/Night	Amon/Sabnock
Nakshatras/Manazil (lunar mansions) per 777	20 ° – 30 ° Hak’ ah
Associated minors	King-Knight of Swords
“36 Airs of the Zodiac” fragment	Thetys (Tethus)
Ptolemaic Egyptian deity (777)	Tautus/Taautus
Perfume suffumigation	Mastick
Body correspondence	Shoulders, lungs; sometimes arms and hands
Some materia	Jupiter: Yellow sapphire, Topaz, Tin, Oak, Cherry, Beech, Maple, balsam, mace, nutmeg, clove, dandelion, borage See also Gemini: Agates, and things of Mercury
Talismanic application Arabic Picatrix	Talismans tailored to promote someone losing his mind and becoming deranged are made in the first durayjan of Gemini for Mercury.
Talismanic application Latin Picatrix	The first face of Gemini is if Mercury, in which an image is made to harm the senses and intellect.

I’m curious to see if either 4th house themes or 5th house themes arise for me during the Sun’s passage through Gemini 1. In my chart, using the Placidus and Koch house systems, Gemini decan 1 is all in house 4. In Equal, it is in both house 4 and 5, which I’m going to try to watch to see if there is a shift when the Sun enters the degree that crosses into house5. In whole signs, it is all house 5. So it will be an interesting experiment, and test of house systems, which Gemini loves.

Gemini, from Johfra Bosschart’s Zodiac series. Sadly these posters are no longer being made, or I’d include a link, as they are super cool. You can find them on Ebay for lots of money.

DECAN WALK: TAURUS 3, SEVEN OF DISKS Part II

This is Part II to the Decan Walk post for the third decan of Taurus and the Seven of Disks, introduced in Part I.

As of today we are about 85% through this decan. Though the Seven of Disks is called “Success Unfulfilled” or “Failure,” there have been no real failures to report as of yet. Except for ordering a pair of gardening shoes that happened to be in one of the colors of Taurus (olive green) and they are just, really ugly (Saturn), more so than I thought they might be, and too loose but functional enough that I kept them anyway. They will not be worn in public; I guess this is a fashion (Venus) failure (Saturn).

Gardening-wise, it appears to be one of the best springs ever, though we just hit a bit of a colder snap, ironically as today is the new “last frost date” for this region. No frost predicted, just nighttime temperatures in the low 40s, so I’m holding off on planting out some of the things that prefer heat like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, beans, and cukes.

But while the weather this year has been so great for the garden, there is a bit of a concern. Today, May 19th, is now our last frost date here, but it used to be May 29th, then it was 27th, then 25th…now the 19th. Our gardening “zone” even changed, from 6a to 5b. Seems undeniably a sign of the planet getting warmer.

But what is more concerning is this. Though the last frost date here is now May 19th, we have not had temperature lows of under 35 degrees since early April, I think at the end of the Aries 2 decan, maybe beginning of Aries 3 decan, and not an actual frost since before that. I looked back at a weather tracker to be certain, as it seemed so very strange. I can’t remember any year ever like this, and I’ve been gardening for a long time. It is either an anomaly, which of course happens, or very….concerning.

It has however made my life easier this year, as I have not had to do much carting inside and back outside of seedling trays, which normally is an ongoing thing at this time of year. And with the abundant rain, have not had to water things much either, which is also normally an ongoing chore this time of year here, getting things to germinate or get established, as soil is very gravelly and dries out fast.

But the state of Man is toil through effort and endurance here on earth. There has been lots of other toiling away going on, plus some obligations to fulfill, which is a typical manifestation of Saturn who rules the decan.

But there have also been a lot of short trips and family stuff. I attribute this to this decan falling across my 3rd and 4th houses of the horoscope natally, with the end of the decan right on the nadir. So during this decan, we did have a lot of stuff that seemed very 4th house of family, especially parents, and home:

helped one parent plant large shrubberies
helped another parent rebuild and put out a heavy wooden dock
visits to and from other family members
got more garden beds ready to plant
weeding and seeding things
expanded an existing herb garden and redid its pathway, which had been taken over by mint

But all that was also done around some trips and other more 3rd house things:

went to see a concert with Puscifer, Perfect Circle, and Primus, semi-locally (my ears rang for two days)
went to the Brimfield Antique Show and Flea Market which might be the largest in the world – and got absolutely poured on and drenched in a flood
went to see the remastered Pick Floyd Live at Pompeii movie, and visited some little shops on the way that were new to us
heard from a cousin (cousins and siblings are 3rd house things)
did a requested edit to the text on the design I did for a band’s song release. It qualifies as Venus/Saturn I think, as it was adding black outlines (Saturn) to the text of the art (Venus), and I think of 3rd house as having to do with editing

As these things and the visits to the various family things were all drives of around 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half, they qualify for the “short distance travels” of the 3rd house.

It will be interesting to watch when the Sun moves into Gemini decan 1 and my 5th house if themes of the fifth house apply. Thinking back, in Aries season there were indeed some themes of the related houses that came up.

As a result of all this, I lost some time I would have normally spent toiling on the book, but buckled back down to it yesterday, and will go back to it now going forward.

For magical purposes, I also planted a special type of grass at the very start of this decan called Job’s Tears, which is a very good correspondence to Venus/Saturn both as a plant correspondence and the history and stories about it, and it makes seeds that are used to make rosaries and malas. I’ll be making a Saturn mala with it eventually.

It takes a long time to sprout, (14-28 days) which is also very Venus/Saturn, as Saturn is time, and long times, and Venus is multiples of 7, But it has only been around nine days and I see the first few tiny shoots coming up already, so I don’t think it will be a failure. I did however reserve half of the seeds for replanting, just in case, as a Plan B.

DECAN WALK: TAURUS 3, SEVEN OF DISKS Part I

Telos Tarot of 777 Seven of Disks art — Seven of Disks, Taurus 3 decan, *Telos Tarot of 777*

Taurus decan 3, in which warm and loving Venus is frustrated by cold indifferent Saturn…”Phase I, in which Doris gets her oats.”

Sign ruled by Venus
Decan ruled by Saturn
Sevens ruled by Venus’
Triplicity ruler Saturn

The image described in Crowley’s 777 for Taurus decan 3 is a challenging one: “A swarthy man with white lashes, his body elephantine with long legs; with him, a horse, a stag, and a calf.” I gave him a scythe for Saturn, which makes him look even more elephantine by its placement. It is also an obvious combination of Saturn and Venus/Empress (ruler of Taurus), the cutting of the grain.

The word “elephantine” is interesting, as while of course it means “like an elephant” I figured it probably had an additional archaic meaning. And when I investigated it, it does, for it also means very large in size, and “ponderously clumsy.” Ponderous suggests a great weight – the burden of Saturn ruling the decan. I suppose one might be clumsy if one was both enormous and long-legged as well as old enough to have white lashes.

I suppose another meaning of “white lashes” could also be scars – it would fit, though is more Martial, as the Taurus 3 decan has associations with bindings, fetters, and slavery. But I chose the other meaning of white eyelashes as I saw him as an old farmer (Saturn, ruler of the decan both in triplicity and Chaldean systems) working the Earth (Taurus, and Venus, ruler of both Taurus and Sevens).

Where I live, the last frost date now falls near the end of this decan.

The Hermetic title of the Seven of Disks card is Lord of Failure, or originally in the Golden Dawn system, Success Unfulfilled. Crops fail, due to blight or frost. Indeed, against the black background there are patterns that look like frost crystals, or spores. The farmer, to ensure survival, must have a Plan B! This is where the horse, stag, and calf of the description come into play. If his crops (Taurus) fail; does he harvest and replant? Is there still time (Saturn)? The horse in the disk representing his thought-bubble is pulling a plow, perhaps he can plant again. If that fails though, he might have to hunt for food this winter (the stag in the snow) and/or kill off his cattle to eat in the spring (his calf in spring grass). Otherwise, he might die – the skeletons.

Yet the skeletons also represent the Litai, the gods per the 36 Airs of the Zodiac fragment, which you will read about in the section on the gods of the decan in the upcoming book. The seven Litae goddesses shown praying here among the disks are not just old and lame, but skeletal, fitting the Saturnian theme. They alternately could stand in for the Pleiades and Hyades – each a group of seven sisters associated with the decan, and with weeping.

[And now, a word from our sponsor: Plan B is a birth control pill for termination (Saturn) of any possible pregnancy (Venus) after unprotected sex. In some countries, it has a more humorous name: After-D! And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.]

The Ptolemaic god per 777 is Apophis, terrible serpent associated with darkness and natural disasters, who assailed the solar barge in an eternal battle of darkness and light. He is sometimes pictured being dismembered.

RWS image: A man pondering his potato crop that appears to be potentially blighted.
Thoth image: leaden disks marked with Saturn symbols, surrounded by either blighted or frosted plants
Tabula Mundi image: an artistic depiction of the “Tree of Life After the Fall” diagram or the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden, used in the Golden Dawn teachings for the Philosophus grade (Netzach, sphere 7)
Rosetta image: the Minotaur trapped in an underground maze

Each of these shows failures, disasters, and bindings. But what I like about the Telos Tarot of 777 Taurus 3 decan image is that is also shows a way out and ways to cope through thorough preparation and a mature response to the unforeseen, as well as an appeal to higher powers.

To be continued in Part II.

DECAN WALK: TAURUS 2, SIX OF DISKS – Part II

This is the Part II update for the Taurus 2 decan which began with the prior post. This decan has been really great so far, and it is only halfway through.

We found this statue above in a pile of composted leaves at the start of the decan. I think it is Joseph holding lilies in one hand and baby Jesus in the other?

The baby seems to be holding a blue globe like the earth! It seems very Six of Disks anyway: found in compost (Earth), holding lilies (Lily is both Venus, ruler of Taurus, and lunar, ruler of the decan), holding a globe (Earth/Disks/Taurus), and Jesus, because all such avatars like Jesus and Buddha are associated with Tiphareth and the Sixes.

The Hierophant card from Telos Tarot of 777 © M.M. Meleen — The Hierophant card © 2020-2025 M.M. Meleen

So far there have been many markers of the Success associated with the Taurus 2 decan and the Six of Disks:

The seedlings I started back in Aries 2 are the best seedlings I’ve ever grown so that was a success just realized now. I finally got a lot of things right this year, and they are as healthy or healthier than any I’ve ever purchased. So some money savings there and a feeling of satisfaction.
All the brassica seedlings got planted in the garden, mulched, and covered. Plus got in some seeds of root crops (Taurus) carrots and beets.
The weather has co-operated by being overcast and perfect temperature-wise on transplant day, then giving a steady rain at the end of the day. Rain looks to continue for several days here, which is actually perfect for both the transplants settling in and the seeds germinating. Could not ask for a better set up for Success! Also reminds me of the Horae, goddesses of the decan per 36 Airs of the Zodiac, who control timing. The timing for this was perfect!
Prior to the rain though, the first days of the decan were absolutely glorious! The flower bulbs are up, the trees and beginning to leaf, and the fruit trees are flowering, with no frost in sight so fingers crossed for good fruit production this year.
Put out some oranges and the same day the orioles arrived.
Also saw the first hummingbird of the year and put out the hummingbird feeder.
The bats arrived back to their bat house, right around the start of the decan I saw the first guano pellet and knew they had just arrived! I think it was on Beltane or Beltane eve maybe.
Attended a birthday party for three Taurus children of various ages. I shopped at a vintage store for them and got some random and strange yet perfect things that were really well received. The party was also fun, with many friends in attendance.
Also at the vintage store, picked up a garden statue of a gargoyle reading a book – which seems to have hints of both the Hierophant (Taurus) and the Priestess (Moon) as they both often have books.
The Ptolemaic god per 777 is Helitomenos, possibly associated with Helios (solar sixes), and the bounds of sacred spaces. I put the gargoyle in the yard in an area where I have an outdoor crystal garden, which is on a boundary of the property and is one of my sacred spaces.
Heard from some good friends at a distance that they are going to be able to travel to visit us this fall, which was happy news.
Made plans, got tickets for some fun music events in the near future, which isn’t something we do very often but now there seem to be many all at once coming!
Did shopping for the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday (Moon) and ordered my Mom a generous package of Six large flowering bushes she wanted for her yard.
Got a pot with six Lithops (living stones plants); like six little disks
Bought a bunch of edible flower seeds to start.
Decided to combine Star Wars Day with Cinco de Mayo and after a long day of planting, had an awesome Mexican meal and margaritas served in Star Wars action figure Tiki glasses. It was fun!

Boba Fett Tiki glass: May the Fourth be with you, and Happy Cinco De Mayo to those who celebrate!

Here is a little more about those enigmatic Ptolemaic Egyptian gods in 777, like the Helitomenos of this decan. In a German tome on the decans there are some interesting delineations for each decan, giving the same Ptolemaic gods for the decans as seen in 777. The common source appears to originate from a poem written in the first century AD, that was lost and rediscovered, published in several works in the 1400s. It was also reviewed and published in a work dating to the 1500s, and then the list of gods was also published in Paul Christian’s History and Practice of Magic in 1870.

But I also suspect Crowley could have discovered this information through the work of an English scholar and poet and contemporary of Crowley who published the poem in Crowley’s time, sometime between 1903 and 1930. They shared common connections as poets, both open to homosexuality in conservative times, and through the college where Crowley was educated in the 1890s.

Crowley could also have gotten them from the British Museum’s copies of a text by a Hellenistic Egyptian astrologer, or via one of the works of the 1400s, as mentioned above.

I have more about it in the upcoming book with the names and info for all the related works; it is too much data for here.

Under the section for the Ptolemaic gods of each decan, it gives an image and predictions for those born in each decan. I’m translating these and including them in the book I’m working on because they are very interesting.

In this case, for the Taurus 2 decan and Helitomenos, it says “figure of a rider with a flag in his hand. The child will have luck in war and be elevated by honorary positions.” It sounds very solar – see the RWS Sun card, with the child on horseback carrying a flag.

art for the Prince of Disks, from Telos Tarot of 777

Going back to work now. More to do on the book, and time to start some edible flower seeds. See you in the next decan, Taurus 3!

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DECAN WALK: TAURUS 2, Six of Disks

Sun has crossed over into Taurus Decan 2. The decan is ruled by the Moon, which is exalted in Taurus. There is also an influence of the Sun, as a six, and Venus, ruler of the sign. Overall a pleasant combination, resulting in the Six of Disks, Lord of Material Success.

It’s Beltane Eve, tomorrow is the cross-quarter holiday Beltane aka May Day. It is the halfway point between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice, in the Northern hemisphere. Here the trees are budding, the fruit trees are beginning to flower, and spring bulbs are up. Weather is incredibly gorgeous so far. I’m trying to get in the celebratory mood, but my energy is a bit low at the moment. Maybe it will kick in tomorrow.

This is a card of appreciating what you have. Reflecting on that helps, when I’m feeling down. I feel better already just taking that moment of gratitude.

Telos Six of Disks. Magical image of the decan per 777: A man of like figure with cloven hoofs like an ox.

Note “of like figure” probably is referring back to the figure in the first decan of Taurus, in her flame-singed garb.

The Hellenistic fragmentary text 36 Airs of the Zodiac attributes the Horae to this decan. The Horae were goddesses of proper timing – thus their name referring to “hours.” In some cases, they were a group of twelve who oversaw the hours of the day and the months of the year; these guided the path of Helios through the sky. In other cases, they were in groups of three.

There were actually a few different triads and groupings of Horae. The three seasonal goddesses were associated with Aphrodite (Venus) and Helios (Sun). They oversaw the revolutions of the constellations measuring the agricultural year: Thalo of Spring, Auxo of Summer, and Carpo of Autumn. These are shown by the three phases of a blooming Rose (flower of Venus) in the lower disks.

The other common triad of Horae are associated with law and order contributing to stability: Eirene (Peace), Dike (Justice), and Eunomia, (Good Order and Good Pasture). The three upper disks contain emblems of this triad.

In the top disk, Eirene (Peace), has iconography of the overflowing cornucopia, the celebratory rhyton of ale, and the scepter. Her iconography also seems very Taurean and Venusisan.

Dike (Justice) is shown as the disk with the balancing scales of Justice, which is a symbol of Venus’ other sign Libra. The scales are also featured in the Rider Waite Smith Six of Pentacles card, as the scales that measure out the proper amount of alms, while the figure altruistically shares the bounty with those less fortunate.

The third upper disk shows an open book for Eunomia, Order – a goddess whose name refers to “good laws” – and makes a pun on “fields” for the agricultural motif. The open book also is a symbol of the Priestess, for the Moon as ruler of the decan.

In both the Rosetta deck (above) and the Telos image, there are references to bees and honey. Bees are both solar and lunar, and Venusian.

For your celebrations, should you celebrate, a Beltane cake recipe follows, because cake is ruled by Venus and Taurus loves food. Three ingredients in proportions that relate to each other in parts of three.

Eggs, which correspond to Venus. Honey, which corresponds to both Venus and the Sun, and flour, which has connections to both Venus and the Moon.

If you are inspired to ritually prepare the cake, all the better. The preparation of prasad or blessed food makes the cake a sacred offering that spiritually nourishes the preparer as devotee, and blesses and unifies bonds between those who partake of it. I share more about how to do that in the chapter for this card, but didn’t want to make this post too long. Your intention and good will put into the preparation counts for a lot. Food made with love is always better!

Threefold blessing honey cake

325F oven. 7” generously buttered springform or cake pan (butter corresponds to the Moon!)

· 3 large cold eggs
· 1/3 cup local honey
· 1 cup (128 g) all-purpose flour

You will also need a sprig of fresh rosemary and some additional honey for drizzling.

Beat the eggs and honey until they triple in volume. A mixer at high speed will do this in about ten minutes. Sift in half of the flour and very gently fold into the whipped egg and honey mixture without deflating it. Only mix until the flour is not visible. Then sift in the rest of the flour and fold it in. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Surface will be lightly brown and an inserted toothpick will come out cleanly.

Take your rosemary sprig, break it up a little and put it in a pan with honey covering it, enough to be able to drizzle the entire surface of the cake. Warm the honey until it is infused with the rosemary scent, remove the rosemary and drizzle the honey over the cake before serving. Cut into 6 slices and share with others!

Rosemary is the secret ingredient, as it is ruled by both Venus (Taurus) and the Moon, ruler of the decan. It is a powerful herb of love, growth, wisdom, and protection. It is believed to have originated from the goddess Aphrodite (Venus), who emerged from the sea and rested on a bed of rosemary.

Be thankful for your food daily, bless it before consuming it, and be thankful to the cooks and the farms and the farmers and the earth that produced it. Doing this before every meal, and blessing what you eat, is one of the best things you can do for your spiritual and physical health. Heath is wealth, and one form of material success is surely good health.

Toast your good fortune and health with a celebratory libation served with the honey cake. When you are blessed with material success and resources, share when you can. This will help others but also create the effect of more abundance for you, because of the feedback loop that occurs from giving generously to others. Even when done in small ways, this practice will ensure that your blessings continue.

May you meet with Success.

DECAN WALK: TAURUS 1 Five of Disks, Part II

Telos Tarot of 777 Five of Disks, Taurus 1 decan

New Moon in Taurus 1 today, so thought I’d jot down some quick notes for Part II of the Taurus 1 decan which started here, how it is going, reflections, etc. We are about three-quarters through the decan, give or take.

It has been quite busy, lots of work. Here is my view, which sort of resembles the scene in the Telos Five of Disks as I took it from above looking down at some of the garden. Without going up with a drone I cannot capture all the garden beds, but part of the largest one can be seen on the right, and part of a big one on the left, and some little ones, and some not at all. We like plants and making food, but it creates a lot of work.

But it hasn’t been all gardening.

There are other projects being shepherded along, and reflections on the theme of “Worry” in general. Speedy Mercury colliding with the more inert sign of Taurus creates resistance, a sort of grinding of the mental gears where one can fall into the trap of overthinking things.

The Mercury dance here is this: it does help to think and to plan for the future, using your Mercury to alleviate worries for your various material prospects and projects. Until it turns into the strangling feeling of Worry, when thinking (Mercury) is no longer your friend, and just plodding along doing what needs to be done, (Taurus) is the solution. Doing, and creating motion from inertia, is also a function of the Fives and Geburah. (On a humorous note, spell check wants me to change Geburah to Vegeburger! Um, no. Mars (Fives/Geburah) with Taurus is more likely to be a beef burger.)

So some examples of my own these last few days include:

Instead of worrying that it is the wrong moon phase for planting, being the dark waning quarter, we decided to plant potatoes anyway, for practical reasons like a) now is when we have time and b) it was about to give a good, soaking rain. I think of potatoes as a very Taurus-y food – I’ve never met a Taurus Sun or Taurus Moon who didn’t love potatoes! Plus we planted Five kinds of potatoes, which seems to fall into Five of Disks category.
Instead of worrying that the band won’t like the design I’ve done for their new song single, I’ve just gone ahead and done it and just finished it up so I’m even a few days ahead of their May 1 deadline. I also made a couple different versions of the same design in different color schemes, so they can choose what suits them. Mercury likes choice! Even though they offered to pay I’m giving it to them as a gift, so why worry? And chances are they are going to like it, as it came out exactly as I told them the idea was, which they liked. Will be sending it off to them later today or tomorrow.
Instead of worrying that the tons of little seedlings I’ve started were looking scraggly and crowded, I took the time to patiently transfer hundreds of little tangled plants into larger containers over several days, and given them a good dose of some kelp. This way, by the time we can put them in the garden in the next decan, they will be stockier and (hopefully) able to survive. Weather dependent, which is something beyond my control so why worry?
Instead of worrying that my new mandrake seedlings won’t be happy living under the indoor light set up I had, I invested $100 into a better one. I can always use that better light set up for seedlings next year, as I’ve been laboring under a homemade MacGuyver set up with cheap lights zip tied to some foam board, all balanced on yoga blocks. Money well spent.
Instead of worrying that the book I’m writing for Telos and the decans is becoming far too big, as in I won’t be able to afford to print something this large, I’m just keeping going, adding what I want to add. I can always edit it down later, or save some material for a future book. Instead of stressing about how it will be received, I just keep working. Get the thoughts down, then be more selective and practical later and do some cutting.

But sometimes, Worry arises when there is nothing you can actually do. Like some important financial documents (Taurus=finances/Mercury=documents) recently mailed, still not arriving and showing nothing good happening on their tracking. Mail being excruciatingly slow is definitely a Mercury-Taurus manifestation. Cannot do a darn thing about that, for the moment anyway, but hope that it turns out ok and they won’t need to be recreated and sent again.

In cases where there is nothing you can do, it is best to turn that shit off and stop thinking about it. No sense in losing sleep over something you cannot take action on. That’s why the overheating machine on the Five of Disks in Rosetta has an off switch!

Rosetta Tarot Five of Disks, Taurus 1 decan

Speaking of taking action, I was reminded today that the fifth element of Spirit, as shown by the egg/cracked seed in the central or fifth disk of the Telos Five of Disks, is cognate with the fifth power of the Sphinx, which is “To Go.” Someone in the Decan Walk club on the Tarot Tea and Me forum had asked a question about the Thoth Hierophant and what was on the Horus child’s foot. They thought it was a nail, which certainly would fit for Vau, the Hebrew letter for the Hierophant (Taurus), meaning “nail.” But I think it is supposed to be the ankh sandal strap, referring to the fifth power Ire, To Go.

Since this is a Taurus card, an Earth sign, and a Five (fifth power, Hierophant’s V, etc) , it makes sense that the way to power through the earthly inertia and struggles of Material Worry that come up with this card is to just go forth and do your Will. I thought it was a cool synchronicity that I saw that after writing the examples above of doing just that.

It makes me think of the Stele of Revealing, and the HRU hieroglyph there, meaning “coming forth by day” or going forth to do your will amongst the living.

The end lines, the last third of the text on this side of the Stele read:

“the deceased Ankh-f-n-khonsu has left the multitudes and rejoined those who are in the light, he has opened the dwelling-place of the stars (the Duaut); now then, the deceased Ankh-f-n-khonsu has gone forth by day in order to do everything that pleased him upon earth, among the living.”

Crowley’s poetic paraphrase of the same:

The dead man Ankh-f-n-khonsu
Hath parted from the darkling crowds,
Hath joined the dwellers of the light,
Opening Duaut, the star-abodes,
Their keys receiving.
The dead man Ankh-f-n-khonsu
Hath made his passage into night,
His pleasure on the earth to do
Among the living.

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