Telos Tarot of 777 original pen and ink designMiddle 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 MundiRosetta Tarot
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.
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 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: 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.
Capricorn decan 1, Telos Tarot of 777
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.
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 heavyScions 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 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.
Cadent Decan of Sagittarius: A man leading another by his hair and slaying him.
Sagittarius: ruled by Jupiter. Decan 3, ruled by Saturn. Triplicity ruler is the Sun.
The juxtaposition of Caldean decan ruler Saturn with triplicity decan ruler the Sun is interesting. Saturn is dark and cold, while the Sun brings heat and light. This is the last decan before the Winter Solstice here in the Northern hemisphere, so we are approaching maximum darkness, the longest night. It feels very Saturnian. Yet at the end, at the Solstice when we enter the next decan, the light begins to increase again.
This decan is also the run-up to the Christmas season, which for some, just feels like a burden. I personally celebrate the Solstice, not Christmas. I don’t celebrate Christmas, yet since family members do, I feel obligated to participate. The scheduling, the gift buying…it sometimes seems something born of necessity to get through. I like getting together with family in the Capricorn decan 1. But here in this Sagittarius decan 3, the preparation to get there is just a weight to bear.
“The magical image from 777 is quite challenging and grim, fit for Saturn the reaper: “A man leading another by his hair and slaying him.” The brutal man wields ten wands bound together. The wands are bound as a Fasces. The fasces is a bundle of rods around a central rod with an axe blade, symbolic of authoritarian force. It is seen in governmental regalia and was oft adopted by dictators and fascists.
This comes from Latin Fascis, which has meanings of:
A bundle of sticks
A burden, a load.
(plural) A bundle carried by lictors before the highest magistrates, consisting of rods and an axe, with which criminals were scourged and beheaded.
A high office, like the consulship.
We can see the image contains the fasces as the weapon used by the violent figure to slay and oppress, and as the burden in the form of the bundle of sticks the oppressed peasant is weighed down with. It is a necessary burden; he needs that wood to thatch his roof to survive the winter. Its necessity does not make it any easier to carry, and makes it even harder to fight unarmed against his oppressor, while awkwardly weighted down.” [end of excerpt]
In the Telos Tarot of 777 image at the top of the page, I also included the horse skull, inspired by Austin Coppock’s 36 Faces, as he used a horse’s skull as his glyph of the decan. I like how it combines Sagittarius (the centaur has a horse’s body, though not the head) and Saturn (a skull, bones are very Saturnian.) I almost put a dying campfire there instead, which would have also fit the waning Sagittarius fire. But at the time, I just couldn’t deal with drawing more sticks!
The Hellenistic deity per the “36 Airs” fragment is Anangke/Ananke: Time and necessity.
The Ptolemic deity per is Teraph/Zeraph.Teraph is the term for a Semitic household god, and an ancestral deity. As many of us know, ancestral work comes with its own set of challenges.
This is a face of obstinate will in pursuit of ambitions; yet with exhaustion via enduring responsibilities. Use it for things that must be done and borne of necessity, though they demand heavy tolls. The Ten of Wands card indicates taking on responsibility because it is necessary and someonehas to do it.
I also see this card as indicative of overly powerful regimes, those 800 lb gorillas, David vs Goliath sort of things. “You can’t fight City Hall,” as they say. So it goes.
I forgot to add this fun thing to the Sagittarius decan 2Part II update, so it’s a bit of a bonus content post.
As mentioned, this is my solar decan. I like to observe the exact moment of my solar returns, as a sort of prognosis or predictive forecast of the upcoming solar year. I also sometimes try to engineer them, in the sense of, be doing something that you want to be doing in that moment.
For this last solar return, I decided I’d like to be doing some art during it. With all the book writing, blog writing, newsletter posting, emails to printers, shepherding the book along…there has been no time for art. I’ve missed it.
So I had this funny idea I wanted to do: a new version of the Krampus. He is a sort of demonic alter-ego to St. Nick. Horned and cloven hoofed, dark or black skinned, very devilish. Instead of rewarding good boys and girls, he punishes the bad ones. He wears a bell (to warn you?) and carries a switch of twigs to paddle the bad kids, and a cage, to cart the worst ones off to hell.
St. Nick’s feast day is December 6th, but Krampus’ is Krampusnacht; “Krampus Night” on December 5th. December 5th happened to be my solar return, so I decided to do my own bad ass version of Krampus. Cowboy Krampus, the bounty hunter.
First I did a pencil sketch. I was working on this during the exact moment of my solar return, and finished that day. Don’t ask me what gave me the idea – he just popped up in my head as a bad-ass cowboy figure.
Cowboy Krampus, pencil sketch on watercolor paperHere it is darkened up a bit.
After that I painted him in color, using Casein (milk paint) for the figure, and watercolor for the background.
It sure was fun. I’m going to use it to make some Yule cards, maybe write a humorous poem to go in it. If I have time, after packing these decks and books.
This is the Part II update for the Nine of Wands, the middle decan of Sagittarius. See the previous Part I post for correspondences and data.
This is my birthday decan, and it has been an eventful one.
This decan is ruled by the Moon. The full moon on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis was during this decan on the 4th, with the Sun in Sagittarius at the exact degree of my Sun, which happens to be conjunct a space oddity called the Great Attractor. That is the 14th degree of Sagittarius. The Sabian symbol for the solar 14th Sagittarius degree reads “A vast panorama of sand and time is unfolding; the pyramids and Sphinx in their glory rise before the eye;” it reminds me of the Knight of Wands, which I consider (one of) my significators.
You can read more about the Great Attractor and the December full moon in this web version of the last newsletter. If you haven’t signed up for the newsletter yet, here is a sign up link.
What happened for me around this full moon was that the printers told me the Scions of 777 books and the new editions of Telos Tarot of 777, large and mid size, were completed and ready to ship out to me.
So that was exciting, and triggered the need to update everyone who ordered, through the newsletter and through the Kickstarter posts for the deck. Following that, was a few days of birthday celebrations. I usually celebrate the solar return and the actual birthdate, at the very least. Any excuse to celebrate. So there was indeed several days of food and fun, friends and partying.
Over the weekend I saw the Doors movie, called “When You’re Strange,” mostly about Jim Morrison, who was born December 8th, so with his Sun also in this decan, at the 16th degree. Fairly close to that Great Attractor, as I think the orb to consider is around two degrees.
Since then I’ve been busy, as this week the books and decks have been trickling in. I’ve been assembling the deck boxes, making booklets, etc. Now the new decks and books are almost all here. Here at the end of Sagittarius 2 I feel the burden of Sagittarius 3, the Saturn-ruled next decan, the Ten of Wands, already approaching. I’m already schlepping around extremely heavy boxes – these books weigh 2 lbs each. Plus boxes of decks. They all need to be carried in, piled up, sorted through. Books signed, decks signed and assembled. All before the huge undertaking of shipping, shipping, shipping, into the future. It’s going to be days and days of this, from now until sometime in the next decan.
Back to work for me, party-time is over; see you in Sag 3.
Succedent Decan of Sagittarius: A man leading cows, and before him an ape and a bear.
The middle decan of Sagittarius is known in the Thoth tarot as “Strength.” The longer Hermetic title in the Golden Dawn tradition is the Lord of Great Strength.
Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter. The decan itself, and the Nines in general, are ruled by the ever-fluctuating Moon. Thus the strength here is that of strength amongst change, and strength with flexibility, such as the archer drawing his bow.
Of course the archer here is going to need to be strong and adaptable, seeing as he suddenly meets an ape and a bear in these dark woods he leads his cattle through.
The ape, the bear, and the cows: large animals are associated with Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius. Large animals in general are ruled by Jupiter our largest planet, and Sagittarius also has some connection with the larger animals.
Yet there are lunar associations to these particular animals as well, for the Moon is the ruler of the decan. Cows, with their crescent horns and white milk, are associated with the Moon. Many lunar deities wear the horns of a cow as a crown. Like Hathor, the crescent crown is also worn by the mother goddess Neith, whose iconography includes the bow and arrow. As she is also a goddess of war, her symbols were arrows crossed over a shield, and the hieroglyphs of her name are sometimes followed by a determinative containing the archery elements.
The ape and bear are also both considered ancestors of man. The ape is associated with evolution. It is a symbol of strength and adaptability, bearing a canny intelligence.
The bear is also associated with the Moon, and is frequently depicted as a companion of the lunar goddesses Diana and Artemis. In alchemy, the bear is associated with the nigredo phase of blackness or decomposition, a psychological metaphor for the dark night of the soul, when the shadow is confronted. Like many carnivorous nocturnal creatures, it is a chthonic symbol of the perilous nature of unconscious impulses. Like the Moon, the bear also has links to the cycles of vegetative growth, for it disappears in hibernation during winter and emerges in spring.
Sagittarius is the archer, and it’s path on the middle pillar resides between lunar Yesod, home of the Nines, and solar Tiphareth. Sagittarius is also said to be where the Dragon’s Tail, or South Node of the Moon, is exalted. The nodes are where the Moon’s orbit intersects the ecliptic, or orbital plane of the Sun. The ape and bear wear the solar disk and lunar crescent, and these symbols are also present on the archer’s quiver, surrounded by the dragon’s tail.
Hellenistic deity: Korē the maiden, the Underworld queen also known as Persephone, the Daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and Demeter, and the maiden who descends in winter and rises in spring. The Ptolemaic deity is Tomras, a lesser known god. I suspect he may be associated with Atum, also known as Toum, a personification of the midnight sun of the Underworld. Though I have other interesting speculations about him per the etymology of Tomras.
When working with this decan, it is important to align the mind and body, for this face is associated with “fear of, and for, the body.” Used when confronted with overly powerful entities, it gives the ability to adapt with cunning. It will give concentration and focus when needing strength and resilience.
As mentioned, this decan combines a Jupiter ruled sign, with a Mercury ruled decan, which seems to combine some good fortune (Jupiter) and expansion (Jupiter) with all things related to Mercury, like communications. I did notice a whole lot of communications during this decan, most of which were with my printers around the new book. Publishing in general is a function of Jupiter, and books themselves could be considered Mercury as dissemination of information. So there has been a lot of back and forth getting things settled around the book printing, and the printing of the new editions of Telos Tarot of 777, and some other decks I’m getting replenished or restocked in inventory, or newly added.
Even expanding (Jupiter) inventory (Mercury) fits the themes.
But also, it was very interesting to see that all the myriad web and technology problems I’ve been having during the last Mercury retrograde all seemed to finally, blessedly, resolve right at the start of this decan, even though at that point, Mercury was still retrograde. I’ll take it! It was a big relief to finally have some good fortune in that area! Chalking it up to: Jupiter’s help, and Mercury’s face dignity here in this decan, even though the RX wasn’t yet done. It is done now though, and so soon Mercury will be getting fully back up to speed. I think it will be in even better shape after the full moon on Dec 4th, and out of the RX shadow period by December 11th. Which is around when I expect to be shipping out all the pre-ordered books and decks!
Another observation is that here in the US Thanksgiving holiday falls here in the first decan of Sagittarius – a big huge feast (Jupiter) and a lot of conversation, catching up (Mercury) with friends and family.
It also coincides with all the BIG SALES – another Jupiter/Mercury theme. Jupiter is always BIG and Mercury is the patron of merchants. It is a bunch of hot air, in some cases, like the big A online retailer who grossly inflates the prices then claims its a big prime deal that is X% off. It usually is a big exaggeration, also a Jupiter/Mercury theme.
I didn’t post any “big sales” during this Sag 1 decan, as frankly I almost never do. I find the whole Black Friday! Cyber Monday! etc coming at me from every merchant I’ve ever purchased from kind of overwhelming to the point of irritation. But I get overwhelmed easily by such things. So I usually just do a “procrastinators sale” in Sagittarius 2 instead, as a sort of reverse-birthday way of offering something, for those that expect or need it.
As of the time of posting this, we are right at the cusp of the next decan, my birthday decan, good old Sagittarius 2. So I’m looking forward to some good times, before buckling down to ship the pre-ordered decks and books that I expect to arrive here at either the end of this week or during the next one.
Welcome to Sagittarius, the “most philosophical of the signs” (nod to Mr. Mojo Risin’)
Personally I am fond of this decan. My own natal Mercury is here. Though Mercury is in detriment in Sagittarius, here in the first decan it has face dignity.
The decan ruler is Mercury.
Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter.
The Eights are associated with Hod, corresponding to Mercury.
The triplicity ruler of the decan is Jupiter.
So it is a pure mix of Mercury (Hermes) and Jupiter (Zeus). It is a unique juxtaposition. Mercury rules small things and details. Jupiter rules large things and the big picture. Mercury is associated with the third house of local travels and the neighborhood. Jupiter is associated with long-distance travels and the global.
The Magus (Mercury) performs his Art (Sagittarius) here. Art as in, the Art of Alchemy. And for the Sagittarius 1 decan there is a magical description of the decan in 777 with a decidedly alchemical feel:
Ascendant Decan of Sagittarius: A man with 3 bodies – 1 black, 1 red, 1 white.
Eight of Wands, Sagittarius decan 1, Telos Tarot of 777
This is like the description in Picatrix: “Three bodies of men of which one is yellow, another white, but the third red.” Similar, but with yellow in place of black, and with the colors in a different sequence. Where the 777 description says “a man with three bodies” which sounds like one man in three forms (Hermes Trismegistus), the Picatrix description mentions “three bodies of men,” which sounds more like distinct individuals, or even corpses in various states.
The three colors, of 777‘s description, black, red, and white, seem like an alchemical series.
nigredo, the blackness of decomposition that was the first phase in the preparation of the philosopher’s stone
rubedo phase, or redness, the end stage where red indicating alchemical success
albedo, or whiteness phase, washes away impurities, bringing light to the prima materia
It is interesting that in the final phase of white in this sequence, the subject is divided into two opposites, that get united in the red phase. I say interesting that this is last in this progression instead of red which normally is end-stage, because something divided into two, or a twinning, also makes one think of Mercury, ruler of this decan, and ruler of Gemini the twins. I also associate this decan with light, and the speed of light, and speed of thought, so this albedo phase coming last emits light as the final action.
Eight of Wands, RWS tarot
The Hellenistic deity is Loimos, associated with plague and pestilence that travels through the air. What else travels virulently? Propaganda, for one thing. Note the word “influencer” and its similarity to “influenza” and going “viral.”
Radio waves, sound waves, the internet, telepathy, slang words, ideas…all similar spreading things may apply here.
The decan has indications of growth potential, as well as boldness, liberty, travel, warfare, and virulent propagations. Talismanically it can be used for alchemically generating energy for swift approach to a goal. It also excels for brainstorming, dissemination of ideas, propaganda, and sales ability, thanks to the combination of Sag ruler Jupiter/Zeus’ airy realm on Olympus and decan ruler Mercury/Hermes, patron god of merchants and thieves.
