Welcome, I guess, to the first decan of Scorpio, known as the Lord of Disappointment (Loss in Pleasure).
Ascendant decan of Scorpio per 777: A man with a lance in his right hand, in his left a human head.
Ruler of Scorpio: Mars
Ruler of the first decan of Scorpio: Mars
Triplicity ruler of the decan: Mars
Ruler of the Fives/Geburah: Mars
It’s Mars all the way down here, plus some Pluto (Hades), if you include the modern ruler of Scorpio. A whole lot of fire and brimstone, and an underworld scene. The man (Mars) holds a lance (Mars) and a head (also Mars, if you consider his other sign, Aries). Here the waters of Scorpio are portrayed as a flaming river of the Underworld, with the man as a Charon figure wearing the robes of Death in a barge with Scorpionic and Martial elements. I’ve made the head a skull, all the more reminiscent of the Death card.
In the Telos image at the top of the page, the man wears brown robes, much like the death figure in my Pharos Tarot. Brown is one of the colors of Scorpio, the Death card. Look closely at the background of the Pharos card and you may see Charon’s barge there as well.
In the Rider Waite Smith deck, the figure wears a black cloak, also very Hades-like. You can also see there in the background a river, and a bridge somewhat similar to the river in the Telos Tarot image at the top of the page. Except in the Telos image, the waters are of flame (Mars), probably the Underworld river Phlegethon. Though any of them will do for this card.
The five rivers of the Greek Underworld realm of Hades are as follows:
- Styx, sometimes called the River of Hatred, is the most well-known river that Charon ferries the souls of the dead across, and the “dread river” upon which oaths are sworn
- Acheron, the River of Woe/Misery, (whose name means “lacking in joy”)
- Cocytus, the River of Wailing/Lamentation
- Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness/Oblivion
- Phlegethon, the River of Fire/Burning
The Hellenistic god(s) for the decan per the 36 Airs fragment: the Nymphai, seductive yet dangerous, and associated with rivers. The Ptolemaic god per 777 is Arimanius, a martial god of darkness and destruction.
The decan is associated with craving, and being left wanting more. In both Telos and RWS, two of the Cups are upright, but three are overturned and empty. The figure is more focused on lack than abundance. Austin Coppock calls it “the jawbone” in his book 36 Faces. It has the feeling of the “hungry ghost.” Scorpio’s motto is “I Desire,” and with all this Mars, there is burning and yearning.
No matter how many cups, upright or overturned, with this much heat they are likely to be empty and dry regardless.
Mars, Mars, Mars, Mars…evaporated all the water of Tabula Mundi’s Death card.
In other news, news about the new book is coming tomorrow (Friday, the 24th). And no, I’m not worried about being disappointed, or about you being disappointed! My two most popular decks releases were associated with this time. One was published during this decan, while another was published and shipped just before it and during it, and so hit everyone’s doorstep during it. They were not disappointed! So even this decan has to have some uses. In those cases, all that Mars for me meant a lot of energy expended working on shipping! In this case, this decan will just be the pre-order period. The book won’t ship until early December, prime Sag season. So the Mars energy of this decan will probably be spent on wrapping up final details on the project to get it sorted and sent off to the printers.