Tabula Mundi Tarot – Page 2 – an inspired Thoth based tarot deck by M.M. Meleen

DECAN WALK – AQUARIUS 2, SIX OF SWORDS – Part I

Aquarius decan 2. line art from *Telos Tarot of 777* © 2020-2026 M.M.Meleen

Lord of Science (Earned Success)

Succedent decan of Aquarius: A man arrayed like a king, looking with pride and conceit on all around him.

Telos Tarot of 777 Six of Swords — Aquarius 2 completed image Telos Tarot of 777 © 2020-2026 M.M.Meleen

The sign Aquarius, ruled by Saturn
The decan ruled by Mercury (both Chaldean and Triplicity)
The sephira ruled by the Sun

With Mercury as the decan ruler in both the Chaldean and Triplicity order systems, inventive intellect comes to the forefront. Mercury is high-functioning in the rational and brilliant far-seeing sign of Aquarius – Uranus, modern ruler of Aquarius, is said to be the “higher octave” of Mercury.

Crowley’s rename of the card is “Science” which is fitting. The original Golden Dawn Hermetic title of “Earned Success” is also fitting. Aquarius/Saturn, Mercury, Sun: The success is earned through the strength of your will and the power of your mind, which shows the way forward.

777 lists the magical image of the decan as “A man arrayed like a king, looking with pride and conceit on all around him.” Proud kings seem to emphasize the solar nature of Tiphareth. It also underscores the hubris that is a pitfall when intellectuals decide their knowledge is superior and infallible. But Tiphareth is balanced, and perhaps here his pride is justified, for it has resulted in admirable progress and achievement.

The Hellenistic deity in the 36 Airs fragment is Phobos – which surely seems a mistake that should be Phoebus Apollo, god of reason and rational ordered thinking. But assuming it is correct, Phobos is associated with fear, and perhaps fear of the unknown drives discovery.

The Ptolemaic deity is an unfamiliar entity called Vucula, who is also seemingly associated with Apollo. I speculate on the meaning of this name’s etymology as the “microscopic view” in Scion’s of 777 (Volume 1, Six-and-thirty Decans).

You can see how the Tabula Mundi Tarot image combines the far-seeing and aspirational brilliance of The Star/Aquarius with the knowledge and intellect of The Magus/Mercury: the orrery and the sextant , tools of celestial navigation. Likewise in the Telos image is an “armillary sphere” or spherical astrolabe, marking out the latitudes and longitudes. The decan, and the card, describes getting where you want to go via the means of intelligence.

Lady Harris’ brilliant design for the Thoth card includes a different form of navigation: the geometric lines map out a fencing diagram, showing the fencer how to place his or her footsteps for success.

Pamela Coleman Smith’s RWS card also shows a journey, from turbulent waters to somewhere beyond.

This decan contains the cross-quarter holiday Imbolc, around Feb 1st or 2nd, a time of seeds awakening though still underground. It is a Gaelic and pagan celebration of the goddess Brigid. It is associated with both milk and cleansing, which does make me think of the “milk of the stars” that the Aquarius maiden of the Star card bathes in. The Star card is called the “daughter of the firmament‘ and the “dweller between the waters” – celestial and terrestrial. The Thelemic festival called the Feast of Stars coincides. Christians appropriated Imbolc as Candlemas, associated with light, purification, and the Virgin.

As seen in the Six of Swords, Aquarius decan 2, the central decan of Aquarius, shows the way.

DECAN WALK – AQUARIUS 1, FIVE OF SWORDS – Part II

Aquarius Decan 1: This is the Part II update with personal observations on the decan. For the general info and correspondences, see Aquarius decan 1 Part I. To summarize, it is Aquarius ruled by Saturn, with the decan ruler as Venus, in a sephira ruled by Mars.

This has been quite the decan. In terms of the theme of “Defeat,” I certainly feel that way in relation to the increasingly Orwellian tone of the mundane world. Some (of many) things of note:

The murder of peaceful (Venus) protesters, attacked by “enforcers” (Mars/Saturn)
The constant barrage of “verify your identity” or else (Saturn/Aquarius)
Of course, supposedly this is because of so many scammers, just trying all the time to get something out of the undefended (Venus). But it is simultaneously more than that; this identity badgering is an attack too.

It’s all similar in that it is relentless, outmatched battle, outright surprise attacks, and increasingly unfair. It is easy to feel defeated by it all.

This reminds me of the deities involved with this decan, which I forgot to post in the Part I summary. The Hellenistic deity is Dike, “moral justice,” who was placed on Earth by her father Zeus for the purpose of keeping mankind just: an impossible task.

But we have to remain vigilant and defend ourselves. Giving up isn’t an option. Think outside the box (Aquarius) because the box is a panopticon.

On a personal level, its also easy to feel defeated by the relentless march of Time (Saturn). Venus sure doesn’t want to face those harsh (Mars) realities (Saturn). You can’t win that battle, but you can put up a good fight.

On a lighter note, there have been some good things happening in my personal life too. It sounds trivial, but hey, I actually got a decent haircut (Venus hair/Mars cut) for the first time in a long time (Saturn). I hadn’t cut it in over a year, and it was really long and overdue (Saturn).

It’s trivial but it is a big deal to me because I’m never usually too happy with haircuts in general and I really dislike getting haircuts, in a similar but less visceral way than things like going to the doctor or dentist so I avoid it. Too invasive of my personal space, or something. But this time I knew exactly what I wanted and told the stylist (an Aquarian decan 2 native, whose Sun is close in orb to my Moon). She instantly understood the mission and did a fantastic job. I had a secret weapon though – my ascendant is in this decan 1 and at the time of the cut, Venus who has face dignity here, was approaching it closely by conjunction.

Keep fighting the good fight, and here comes Aquarius 2 right around the corner.

DECAN WALK – AQUARIUS 1, FIVE OF SWORDS – Part I

DECAN WALK: AQUARIUS DECAN 1

Lord of Defeat

Ascendant decan of Aquarius: A man with bowed head and a bag in his hand.

Aquarius: ruled by Saturn. The decan ruler is Venus. Fives (Geburah) ruled by Mars.

Many don’t like this card, for who wants to see a card titled “Defeat?” Decan ruler Venus just isn’t very comfortable in the cool and impartial, unemotional, Saturn-ruled sign Aquarius. It doesn’t help that it is a Five card, so the Mars-ruled realm of Geburah lends a destructive element. Venus is a pacifist for the most part, and seeks connection rather than solitude. But here it is not to be.

from Scions of 777:

“777 lists the magical image of the decan as “A man with bowed head and a bag in his hand”. The bowed head can be an admission of defeat, or a head bowed in prayer. Perhaps he is a monkish fellow, pacific to a fault.

The bag in hand makes me think of the Fool, trump of Air. Aquarius is an air sign after all, despite all its association with pouring waters. The bag is ridiculously unsuited to the task he has put it to, gathering up five swords, perhaps from the wreckage of a battlefield. The rose of Venus lies tattered, scarlet red upon the snow, like blood. The Aquarius raven, ruled by Saturn, pierces (a function of Mars) the egg of the dove (Venus), while the freezing rains of late January pour down from a windswept sky.”

In the Telos image, under a wintry sky with freezing rain and wind, the raven (Aquarius, Saturn) attacks (Mars) the egg (Venus), while the man tries to carry away five swords in a bag utterly unsuited for the task. Before him is the rose (Venus), utterly destroyed (Mars).

Indeed, the robed figure holding the bag as seen in the Telos Tarot of 777 card was inspired by the image of a monk. You can see a monkish figure in the Rosetta card above too. In Telos, it is a monk of the Carthusian order. These monks are hermits who live a contemplative life in seclusion, cloistered away from the outside world, meditating and praying. They are surely pacifists. Even their hooded robes hide them away from the world and its distractions.

Austin Coppock in 36 Faces considers this “a face of exclusion and intentional exile.” This face is definitely that. But while exclusion could be wounding, intentional exile is not always a bad thing. Aquarius is the sign of genius, and it is often the “outsider,” untainted by the opinions of others or the dogmas of authoritative ideas, who achieves unique breakthroughs.

Yet there is danger in being an exile, or even in one’s own mental world, however brilliant. For there are always those ready to attack someone who is perceived to be weak or gentle, or just not paying attention. As seen in Tabula Mundi’s card (upper right), even the gentle dove of Venus would be well-advised to be on guard against the rapacious and ravenous raptors.

DECAN WALK: CAPRICORN 3, FOUR OF DISKS – Part II

Part II observations of the decan: The days have been strangely quiet, but it is winter here.

While there are all too many examples of the wealth, power, and avarice associated with the Four of Disks in the media, especially as applied to rulers and CEOs, in daily life not so much. Well, not so much wealth and power anyway, though I’m well aware it is all relative. There is a fair share of avarice occasionally though.

The Devil, *Telos Tarot of 777* ©2020-2026 M.M. Meleen

I have been aware of my own craving for material things – though mostly it is just noticing things that I wish I had but cannot afford, or for some reason will likely never have. Things that would increase my quality of life, or so I think in the moment of craving.

I associate the Devil, major arcana of Capricorn, with craving, and life force.

Excerpt from Scions of 777:

“The Devil’s groin area is covered by the face of a horned Green Man, whose overlong protruding tongue suggests the erect male member. Many medieval depictions show gastrocephalic devils and demons with a leering or voracious face over the belly or groin area, or the phallus replaced by a serpent. The face over the belly or groin was said to represent the intelligence descending to the lower half of the body, or surrendering to base instincts. The open mouths of the faces show craving for things of this world; the cycle of Saṃsāra that leads to physical rebirth.

The mouth is also a reference to the Tower (letter Peh, mouth), called the “House of God,” which is also the “House of the Devil.” The Tower is Mars, the planet exalted in the Devil’s sign of Capricorn.

The entire gateway behind him, bordered by Dionysian vines, looks a bit like a fanged mouth. But it is also a reference to one of the Devil’s Hermetic titles: Lord of the Gates of Matter, the controller of desires causing birth into the material world. It is also not the “gate” of matter, it is the gates of matter, which are myriad. A small duplicate of the large gate is mirrored below, showing the spiral of DNA, incarnation’s building blocks.”

The Sun rules the decan, and is also associated with life force. I’ve been being pretty good during this time to foster health-giving habits of fresh air, activity, and proper rest. Health is wealth, and all that. It really is true and something you don’t always appreciate until you or someone you love isn’t healthy. Then all those material things no longer seem so important, and one is ready to give it all up, if only health was restored. Something one learns over time and with age (Capricorn); it takes many trips around the Sun (in other words, birthdays) for that lesson to sink in. Wealth and power can help with quality of life, until they can’t.

The Sun in this decan is in my 12th house, so it is all behind the scenes. Next decan the Sun moves into my first house, and usually that feels a lot different.

DECAN WALK: CAPRICORN 3, FOUR OF DISKS – Part I

Decan Walk: Capricorn decan 3

Lord of Power (Earthly Power). The image above is from Telos Tarot of 777.

Cadent decan of Capricorn: A man holding a book, which he opens and shuts.

Color(s)	Deep Azure, flecked yellow; plus the colors of the associated Majors
Colors of the associated Majors	The Devil: Indigo – Black – Blue Black – Cold very dark Grey The Sun: Orange – Gold Yellow – Rich Amber – Amber, rayed Red

Capricorn decan 3 is where the ambitions of Capricorn meet their peak, and can go no further. As mentioned in the book Scions of 777: “All the powerful planets of the patriarchy are in play (in the Four of Disks): Jupiter/Zeus, king of the Olympians and planet of excess, is present as ruler of the Fours. A symbol of Chesed, sephira of the Fours, is “an enthroned king.”

Saturn/Cronos, Jupiter’s father and previous king of the gods, is here as the binding ruler of Capricorn. The almighty regal Sun, center of the solar system and ruler of the planets, appears as ruler of the decan: Soli Invictus, the unconquered sun favored by Roman emperors. Kingly influences all! He opens and closes his book while seated on a throne. His vest is seemingly made of coins, covering his heart and his stomach, for material wealth and power is his passion and his hunger.”

Yes, he is hungry for coin – though he likely already has stockpiled much of it. The book he obsessively opens and shuts is probably his accounts ledger or stock portfolio. He is chained to his throne, showing how he clings to power and position and is yet bound by it.

It is a cadent decan though, which means that the Capricorn energy is preparing to transmute to the next sign, Aquarius. In fact, it must, as otherwise, things just stagnate, which is a bug of the Four cards. I suppose it is a little bit of a moral message, for those overly fixated on power and coin to turn towards the Aquarian ideals, more altruistic and humane

“The card combines the Devil and the Sun; Lucifer whose ambition led him high also falls to earth. This is the CEO, the chief commander, and King Midas – all ambitious to a fault.”

Note all the clenched fists surrounding him, as a solar aura. They clench golden coins, showing his avarice and a certain lack overall of generosity. The closed fist can be a Jupiter/Fours reference, for the associated Hebrew letter Kaph can mean hand, which can manifest as either the open palm or the closed fist. A full solar array would have 36 of them, the number of the Sun as 6×6, yet only 30 are visible, referencing the path of the Sun on the Tree of Life.

The fragmentary text 36 Airs of the Zodiac gives the Hellenistic deity as Tolma. The word has some associations with boldness, but also endurance through challenges. It does remind me of investors in that sense.

Monuphta, the deity listed as a Ptolemaic Egyptian god per 777, is another of those seemingly only easily found in Kircher’s Bembine tablet translation. The suffix “phta” suggests a possible connection to Ptah, whose name means means “Opener” and is usually applied to the Sun as “opener” of the day.

From left to right: the RWS Four of Pentacles, with the man stepping on coins, clutching a coin, and crowned by one: coin on the brain! The Thoth card at the center shows a four-walled and moated fortress, with elemental towers at the corners. Note how the crown in the RWS figure and the towers of the Thoth card have crenellations. These are those patterns of multiple, regularly spaced rectangular formations; gaps or ramparts for firing projective defensive missiles. This figure defends what is his! Third is the Tabula Mundi image, which shows the combination of Devil (Capricorn) with the Sun, decan ruler of Capricorn’s last decan.

The Tabula Mundi Tarot image combines the hungry green man face from the belly of the Devil, with images from the Sun card and Soli Invictus on the coins, before another type of fortress. These are the Egyptian pylons, between which the Sun rises and sets.

The Rosetta card above shows the Four of Disks as a bank vault adorned with four solar disks marked with the glyph of the Sun, a division by six (the number of the Sun), a division by four (making it a Sun Wheel, and the number of the card), and the glyph for Capricorn.

This is a card of status and structure, and the responsibility that comes with power. It is the CEO, the fortress, the bank vault, and the billionaires bunker. This is material or earthly power and nothing beyond, which often means financial stability, yet avarice for more.

DECAN WALK: CAPRICORN 2, THREE OF DISKS – Part II

We are about 80-85% through this Capricorn 2 decan as I write this. This is just the Part II update, on observations of the decan, and how the correspondences seemed to manifest. For more details of the decan, see the prior post for Part I. The Three of Disks combines Capricorn, the Devil, with Mars, the Tower. While it sounds ominous, in reality it is quite potent in a good way.

The image here combines the images from the cards of the decans of Capricorn from Tabula Mundi Tarot: the Two, Three, and Four of Disks. This is the “Decans of Capricorn” card from the optional expansion pack.

It’s a good reminder that ambitious Capricorn begins or ascends with the impulse for Harmonious Change (Two of Disks), continues or succeeds in the fixed or middle decan via Work or Works (Three of Disks), and concludes with Material Power in the cadent decan (Four of Disks).

Decan rulers of the three decans of Capricorn: Jupiter, Mars, Sun. Expansion, effort, achievement.

Decans of Capricorn

It all seems fairly congruent with people’s desire to turn a new leaf in the New Year. At the Solstice, the Two of Disks/decan 1 begins the sequence, with a new solar year and knowledge that the calendar year is coming to a close. We look back, and forward, and consider what we want to leave behind and what we want to bring in, for Harmonious (Jupiter) Change. At the Three of Disks/decan 2 we have the start of the calendar New Year, and we start taking action (Mars) towards these new Works. I guess it is all in service of wanting to achieve (Sun) a new stability (Power), when the Four of Disks/decan 3 rolls around.

Capricorn decan 2 is when people do things like begin their New Year’s resolutions, start a sober “dry January,” drop sugar or start restrictive diets to combat holiday bloat, and launch into exercise programs. None of which sounds like much fun – its all Work. It can be fun work, like resolving to take up a new hobby, a sport or a new craft, learn a language or to play an instrument. It can also be a resolve to start a new business, or a new phase of a business, or somehow take charge of some area of life. But Decan ruler Mars plus sign ruler Saturn, all points to applied energy and effort (Mars) and discipline (Saturn). Without that, obviously most resolutions fail. One needs to really desire it (Mars) and have the endurance to stick to it (Saturn).

Mars/Saturn combinations in astrology are considered difficult, bordering on cruel. So in pursuit of goals, that is something to look out for, whether it is ruthlessness or self-directed. But here in this decan of Capricorn it really doesn’t present that way, probably because Mars is exalted in Capricorn. Though the precise exaltation degree of Mars is in the last decan of Capricorn (28 degrees), it is exalted throughout the sign. Since this decan is actually ruled by Mars, it really shows here. And because Threes are above the Abyss on the Tree of Life, an area of purity, the realms of the three facets of Deity.

That’s my Part II observation. I have a few “irons in the fire” which is a very Mars/Saturn phrase if you ask me. Various things I’ve begun to work on, or am beginning to work on, or aware that I need to work on this year.

In 36 Faces Austin Coppock calls this decan “the pyramid,” and it sure seems to be aspirational, with many bricks needed, and many steps to take to evolve to the next levels and rise towards the pinnacle.

DECAN WALK: CAPRICORN 2, THREE OF DISKS – Part I

Telos Tarot of 777 original pen and ink design

Middle decan of Capricorn, Three of Disks

Decan Walk: Capricorn 2

Welcome to the middle decan of Capricorn!

Lord of Work(s) (Material Works)

Succedent decan of Capricorn, per 777: A man with an ape running before him.

Saturn rules both Capricorn and all the Threes through the correspondence to the third sephira, Binah. The decan itself is ruled by Mars, which is exalted (high functioning) in the sign of Capricorn. All this yields productive results, as even though Mars and Saturn are generally considered “malefics” they are both very strong here, giving their highest functions of drive (Mars) and structured discipline (Saturn).

Saturn provides Time, and endurance through time; Mars provides energy, determination and the ability to carry any project through to completion. We see one of the disks in the image is marked with the hourglass of Saturn, representing Time. One has the alchemical symbols, the building blocks or material of creation. One has the Mason’s tools of plumb, square, and level.

The ape that “runs before him” invokes the idea of evolution through time. What has come before leads to what is under construction now. The material works created here can also refer to the body as well as to other types of physical construction.

The five steps of the pyramid in the background are also a reference to Mars, especially to Mars in Capricorn, its exaltation. The pyramid is built of the bricks of earth, and the aspirations of men (Capricorn).

Hellenistic deity per “36 Airs of the Zodiac” fragment: Hugleia, more commonly known as Hygieia, the goddess associated with health and healing, the daughter of Asclepius and Epione.

Ptolemaic deity per 777: Riruphta, an obscure reference probably from Kircher’s Bembine tablet translation, who may have some relation to Ptah, the Divine Artificer who was patron of all craftsmen.

Three of Disks, Capricorn 2 decan: RWS, Thoth, Tabula Mundi

Personally I really like this decan. Not sure why, unless it is because I have Mars in this decan in my Vedic (Sidereal) chart, and I’m a crafts-person myself. Already feeling a bit more energetic, after the post-holiday lethargy.

DECAN WALK: CAPRICORN 1, TWO OF DISKS – Part II

This is the part II of the Decan Walk posting for Capricorn decan 1. The previous post outlines the decan correspondences.

I find myself strangely empty of things to say, but I think it is just exhaustion, after so much activity in the last month. But I’ll try anyway.

Telos Tarot of 777 Two of Disks or Pentacles — Telos Tarot of 777 Two of Disks Capricorn decan 1

This decan, as mentioned in the prior decan post, is a combination of decan ruler Jupiter and sign ruler Saturn – polar opposites that none-the-less work well together as agents of Harmonious Change. Expansion and contraction, driving the engines of life forward. Jupiter isn’t at his best in Capricorn, the sign of its “fall” or opposite the exaltation, but somehow Saturn and Jupiter make a good team in the lofty airs of Chokmah, the zodiac. Each has a bit of what the other lacks.

There has been a lot of that expansion and contraction evident in travels to see and socialize with family and friends around the holidays, with some over-indulgences, – followed by necessary periods of downtime and recuperation. All this following the big push I had to ship out all the books and such. I’m pretty darn tired and find myself wanting to do very little. But it also makes sense astrologically. We currently have the Sun, Venus, and Mars in Capricorn – my astrological 12th house of rest and retreat. Recharging is real and necessary.

We also can’t forget that even through at the Solstice the days start to lengthen, it is still overall the darkest and coldest time of year here in the Northern hemisphere. I personally need more sunlight that we get here at this time, and start feeling like my battery is low. It has been colder than normal, which doesn’t help with getting out of doors enough.

All in all, I very much enjoyed (Jupiter) every gathering I attended, even when it felt obligatory and a duty (Saturn). Everyone was happy and well, and that is a blessing. But even when socializing is good, it uses up energy for us introverts.

You can see in the image above, the little ship (inspired by the one on the RWS version of the card). It can represent Jupiter, the agent of expansion and travels. There is also the Janus figure of the Oak and Holly kings, as Jupiter and Saturn, and as this decan is the hinge point of the Solstice. And here we are heading into January and a whole new year. It is a time of both looking back, and looking forward. With the year that 2025 was, speaking in world terms, it is not surprising to be a bit tired and wondering what fresh hell 2026 might bring. When I hear astrologers saying to expect even more shocking “developments” in the year ahead, I just feel less than excited.

The next decan to come, Capricorn 2, is ruled by Mars, who I hope will bring me a needed jolt of fresh energy. But until then, I’m hoping to just lay low for a few days, resting up for the next phase and the new things to come in the New Year.

DECAN WALK: CAPRICORN 1, TWO OF DISKS – Part I

Decan Walk: first decan of Capricorn, Two of Disks

Happy Solstice, where the Sun enters the first decan of Capricorn. The first decan of Capricorn corresponds to the Two of Disks, known as Harmonious Change. It begins at the Solstice, the Winter solstice here in the Northern hemisphere, a cardinal sign hinge point where the longest night yields to the days beginning to lengthen again, albeit ever so slowly. a harmonious change.

Where the last decan, Sagittarius 3, was a Jupiter-ruled sign and Saturn ruling the decan, here we have the opposite in Capricorn decan 1: a Saturn-ruled sign with a Jupiter-ruled decan. They are also opposite in that Capricorn 1 is an ascending decan, which has Cardinal or initiating energy, in a Cardinal sign. Sag 3 decan is a cadent decan, which has the mutable quality of morphing away, in a sign that is also Mutable. The triplicity ruler is Jupiter.

Ascendant decan of Capricorn: A man holding in his right hand a javelin and in his left a lapwing.

Excerpted from Scions of 777:

While Jupiter is not well-placed in Capricorn, up here in the lofty realm of the Twos in Chokmah, the Zodiac itself, it does not seem to hinder him much. It just makes him work a little harder. His drive for expansion is continually challenged by Saturn’s equally strong force of contraction. It is this cycle of expansion and contraction that creates motion and change in the material world. An analogy would be weight (Saturn) lifting (Jupiter). The tension created thus causes positive change – that is, muscle hypertrophy, or growth.

Capricorn is a sign associated with old age, for ruler Saturn is associated with time and has the longest orbit of the classical planets. The swirling designs around the main elements of the image resemble the number eighty. This is a card of progression over time. The course of the average 80 years of a human lifespan has many ups and downs. I associate this decan with embodied incarnation. Austin Coppock’s 36 Faces gives name to the decan as “the headless body”, as seen in the image description from the Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius: “He is headless with a man’s body.”

also from Scions of 777:

777 lists the decan image as “A man holding in his right hand a javelin and in his left a lapwing.” Why a javelin, and why a lapwing? Javelins are designed to be thrown and to achieve great distance, perhaps reflecting the striving nature of Capricorn and the distance or linear progression of a life. Lapwing comes from Middle English lapwink, hoopoe, lapwing, from Old English hlēapewince or hlēapan, “to leap” and wincan, “to waver.” To leap, and to waver – an echo of to expand (Jupiter) and to contract (Saturn). Also, it has echoes of the leaping, from peak and valley, of the mountain goat of Capricorn. Hoopoes were sacred in Ancient Egypt, and used as a symbol for gratitude, as they were said to be the only animal that cared for its elderly parents. This is interesting in terms of Capricorn’s association with old age. [end of excerpts]

Hellenistic deity per 36 Airs of the Zodiac fragment: Asclepius, the god of medicine and bodily health, fostered by the Centaur Chiron, killed by Zeus (Jupiter), and placed in the sky as the constellation Ophiuchus the serpent-bearer.

Ptolemaic deity per 777: a mysterious and obscure entity known as Soda, who I speculate upon in the Scions of 777 book. Gundel, in Dekanes and Decansternbilder, mentions a possible connection with the (also obscure) deity Sourut for Pisces II, another Jupiter-ruled decan, through the prefix Sou. In Budge’s Gods of the Egyptians, I found “Sau” as one of the magical names of the Apep serpent, which was at least interesting in terms of the serpent imagery in this card and with Asclepius. And interesting in terms of Crowley associating the Two of Disks with “the serpent of the endless band.”

Expansion and contraction, with overall progress in the material world or in our embodied incarnation.

DECAN WALK: SAGITTARIUS 3, TEN OF WANDS – Part II

RWS Tarot Ten of Wands Sagittarius decan 3

Decan Walk: Sagittarius decan 3, Ten of Wands

This is the Part II update, with musings on mundane ways the Sagittarius third decan correspondences manifested. For more on the decan correspondences and deities, see the prior post for Sagittarius decan 3 Part I.

For me, the beginning of the decan period involved a whole lot of heavy lifting, thanks to Saturn, the ruler of the decan. This is when I had to do shipping and receiving and shipping again, for the big heavy Scions of 777 books and the new holographic editions of Telos Tarot of 777.

Boxes and boxes of heavy books and tarot decks were shipped to one location, loaded into a vehicle, unloaded and brought into the house, stacked in one room, moved to another room etc. Then the boxes were moved one by one to a staging area for packing individual decks and books. The packages then were boxed up into heavy boxes of shipments to customers, loaded back into vehicles, brought to the post office, unloaded and carried in, etc etc etc. Got quite a workout.

Tabula Mundi Tarot copyright 2011-2025 M.M. Meleen

Speaking of the “800 lb gorillas,” corporations, and governmental agencies I associate with this decan, the USPS postal service is one. When shipping tons of packages, care must be taken to follow every rule (Saturn), as there is no mercy and no recourse. It is a behemoth entity, so much so that even finding information if you have a question is often nigh impossible. Same could be said of ginormous overly powerful entities like Amazon, what with all the holiday shopping people are doing.

Telos Tarot of 777 Ten of Wands — Telos Tarot of 777 copyright 2020-2025 M.M. Meleen

Similarly, still dealing with my web host, another huge entity. You may have noticed that you need to refresh the browser for the latest of these posts to show up. It is a bummer for me, as I have been on time with all of these posts, two posts in every ten-day decan period. Yet visitors to the site may see whatever post they saw last time they visited, depending on what browser and device they use and when they last visited. I’ve been asking the web host for help for months. They tell me to do things, I do them, report back that they don’t work or ask for more info, then wait days for another response. Sometimes the responses conflict with previous responses, or whoever next responds tells me to do things that I don’t think I should have to do, or make me uneasy. Sometimes one responder will contradict another. But I’m helpless in that I just have to hope I get good information even when I start to lack confidence in what I’m being told. And on it goes.

If you are here and you do read this, note that in the future if old content shows, refreshing the browser will show the latest content. But most likely, because of this issue, unless you are a new visitor you won’t even see this post until who knows when, maybe never. Maybe I’m talking to myself. So an entire almost year of my posting feels like an exercise in futility, as because of this issue it looks like I have not been keeping up, when I HAVE been, faithfully, doing the work and carrying the load decan after decan. I mention this because Saturn-ruled Sagittarius 3 is a decan of endurance in the face of duty and obstacles!

Rosetta Tarot copyright 2008-2025 M.M. Meleen

These large powerful entities aren’t really helpful., though sometimes you get someone who tries to be. It really is a crapshoot. You are kind of at their mercy if something goes wrong, and often stuck with chatting with robots and/or getting unhelpful boilerplate responses designed to make you just go away. So it goes.

But all in all, the shipping of the pre-ordered books went very well. I think the employees at the little local post office might have found it briefly an annoyance when I showed up with ridiculous number of boxes of packages to repeatedly carry in for them to load into enormous trolleys. But the other customers in the lobby were amused and impressed seeing how many pounds of stuff we carried in, over and over and over again.

Then there was cleanup of the aftermath, and reorganization of the chaos of the inventory left. A certain cat was very glad when the stacks and stacks of boxes of packages and inventory was finally out of his territory, after days of being everywhere.

Certainly did a lot of awkward heavy lifting in this period, like the guy in the RWS Ten of Wands! After that there was some assembly line work, cutting ribbons, making deck boxes and booklets, restocking inventory for the new year. Saturn stuff – getting tasks and obligations done.

Also, possibly relevant is I had an external hard drive fail, seemingly of old age (Saturn). Luckily I am obsessive-compulsive about redundancy, so I had almost everything also saved on another drive. Of course that backup drive was a year older than the one that died and probably due to fail soon too, so I immediately bought two more drives and spent two days copying over data to two new drives. It took a long time as it was a lot of HUGE graphic and large scan art files for all the editions of decks and books over the years – I consider it the data equivalent of big, heavy boxes to lift and move to new locations.

Next up we have the New Moon in late Sagittarius in this decan, followed by the Sun’s entry into the next decan, Capricorn I, at the Solstice, the time of maximum darkness. So it is dark of the Moon, AND darkest time of the Sun. Going within. Capricorn is my solar 12th house of rest and solitude, so I’m looking forward to some introspective time, though it will first involve getting through all the holiday nonsense and related travel; thankfully just driving.

As we head into the weekend, it’s time to get ready for some Solstice celebrations, both at home and with others.

Happy Solstice to all! The Solstice is a good time to do a reading, take stock of what the year has wrought and what may lie ahead as the light increases.