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

DECAN WALK: TAURUS 1, FIVE OF DISKS Part I

The Five of Disks, first decan of Taurus from Telos Tarot of 777 art

The Five of Disks, Worry, first decan of Taurus, from Telos Tarot of 777.

Magical image of the decan in 777

A woman with long and beautiful hair, clad in flame-coloured robes.

The Sun just entered the first decan of Taurus (April 20th this year).

True to form, for me the first decan of Taurus, the Five of Disks, is all about planning and preparing for planting, plus other planning type scenarios unrelated to planting. We are tilling and weeding garden beds today, deciding what goes where, and worrying about previously planted seeds and seedlings started. Are they thriving, or declining? Do we already need to replant while there is still time? Etc.

I’m a big gardener, so maybe this metaphor does not apply to you literally, But it still might figuratively. The spring is progressing, and in the next decan we hit a crucial point, the cross-quarter holiday Beltane. This decan is in preparation for that. But I also see how I am having to worry and plan for metaphorical seeds as well as literal ones.

My mandrake seeds came up – a notoriously finicky plant I now have to learn how to grow successfully in this climate, which is right on the edge of a zone it can overwinter in, so it will be tricky. I can worry about deciding whether to grow them in pots or risk it outside.

It has been very busy, tilling, transplanting, planting more seeds, replanting previously planted seedlings that were struggling into new pots, planning the garden. But it has also been about continuing writing the book, planning the formatting and deciding when the book will come out.

…and I got a request to design an album cover, or really a design for a song single as people don’t do full albums now as much. I don’t normally take requests and commissions like that but I want to do that one, for reasons. All at once I have a ton of things to Worry about, or at least to consider and plan for. Doing the art is another type of planning and dividing a space.

Picatrix image and significations	A woman with curly hair, who has one son wearing clothing looking like flame, and she is wearing garments of the same sort. Plowing, working on the land, sciences, geometry, sowing, building
Henry Cornelius Agrippa image and significations (Three Books of Occult Philosophy)	A naked man, an archer, harvester or husbandman. To sow, plough, build, people, and divide the earth, according to the rules of geometry
Giordano Bruno image (De Umbris Idearum)	Someone naked, ploughing, wearing a hat of woven straw, of dark complexion, followed by a rustic or a woman sowing seed.
Varahamihira Vedic image (Brihat Jataka)	A woman with torn ringlets, pot bellied, with fiery clothes, hungry and thirsty, with a penchant for gold and food.
Raphael image and significations	A book, a young man tilling of the ground. Plowing, sowing, building, peopling houses of learning and wisdom in the Earth, and so learning in Geometry.
Ibn Ezra image (The Beginning of Wisdom)	A woman with hair, who has a son, and who wears clothes partly burnt.
Liber Hermetis	It has the whole body of the buried Osiris, adorned with gold and dark tie-strings. It has the head of a bull and a queen’s crown and two elephants’ trunks. In the middle of the horns stands the goddess herself. This rules the climate of the Medes.

The Hierophant (Taurus) from *Pharos Tarot*

The Five of Disks, first decan of Taurus, is known as the Lord of Material Trouble, or Worry. The sign is Venus-ruled Taurus, the decan ruler is Mercury, and Fives are associated with Geburah, corresponding to Mars.

In the RWS, two barefoot vagrants in raggedy clothes trudge through a snowstorm past a church window. In the Thoth deck, five leaden gears grind against each other, sparking in an inverse pentacle formation. In Tabula Mundi Tarot, the turntable set up of the Magus (Mercury) is locked up by the Hierophant’s (Taurus) lock and key. The electronics are smoking, with five broken records on rotation.

In my Rosetta deck, five gauges show a mercurial machine on the brink of implosion.

Here is another take, a new image for the Five of Pentacles or Disks in the Telos Tarot of 777.

In the Northern Hemisphere, this decan is when we begin to till our gardens and plan and seed our first plantings. We see this agricultural theme in the decan descriptions. Note how many of them mention planting and plowing, as well as dividing the land via geometry.

We wonder: will our seeds bear fruit? We worry: will the weather be conducive or destructive for our harvest? Will there be enough to eat?

In this image the five disks bear the symbols of the five elemental Tattvas. In each is a particular potential elemental agricultural calamity. The triangle of Fire shows the hot sun and drought baking the earth. The circle of Air shows a cold and harsh wind blowing. The crescent of Water shows a flooded field. The square of Earth shows a devouring locust. The central dark egg of Spirit shows a cracked seed. The energy of the Five (Mars/Geburah) cracks open the land and the seed, but will this cracking mean it has successfully sprouted and will grow, or will it perish?

The decan is ruled by Mercury. Mercury is a mathematician. The disks surround a set of Golden Mean calipers, a geometric measuring gauge that divides according to the Golden Ratio. In Agrippa’s image, a husbandman, also known as a farmer or tiller, “goeth forth to sow, plough, build, people, and divide the earth, according to the rules of Geometry.” Many of the decan images speak similarly of related themes.

The image is first based on Crowley’s decan description in 777, but also incorporates ideas from other decan description texts. Per 777: A woman with long and beautiful hair, clad in flame-coloured robes. The Ibn Ezra description mentions a woman with clothes partly burnt, while Picatrix likens her clothes unto fire.

The woman here has long and beautiful hair (Venus) and wears the flame-like and singed garments (Geburah/Mars). The color for Geburah in Assiah is Red, flecked Black, which is appropriate both for her singed clothing, and for tilled earth. She is perched on a pillar that looks much like a rusted iron nail, emblematic of both Mars (iron) and Taurus, whose card the Hierophant corresponds to the Hebrew letter Vav, meaning nail. She looks down upon a pastoral scene where the earth has been geometrically divided, for Mercury, ruler of the decan. Men and women plow and plant.

36 Airs of the Zodiac gives the deity of the decan as Charis (“Charity”), representing the youngest of the Charities or Three Graces of mythology. Charis was also named Aglaea, and was an attendant of Aphrodite (Venus, ruler of Taurus). After Aphrodite’s husband, the blacksmith god Hephaestus, left her due to her infidelity with Ares (Mars), it is said Hephaestus married Aglaea. Perhaps this is why the woman of this image has clothes described as burnt.

The Ptolemaic deity per 777 is Serapis – more to come on him, but it certainly fits.

For Taurus I, Serapis, Gundel’s decan book Dekane und Dekansternilder (written in German, but I’m puzzling through it) has this entry: “Figure goading an ox and carrying a gnomon in his hand. The child will be a farmer, architect, mathematician.” The gnomon, from ancient Greek word gnṓmōn, “one that examines” is the part of a sundial that casts the shadow. It is a term used in mathematics and fields involving measurements of time or distance. Interesting as the sundial is a disk with the gnomon being a pointer, sort of like a nail. The word gnomon is also so like gnome, from Greek *genomos “earth-dweller.”

Tabula Mundi Tarot has an image that combines the iconography of the Hierophant (Taurus) and the Magus (Mercury): a smoking turntable with cracked disks on the nail, and the Hierophant’s pillars under lock. The key is in view though…

Earth Day is April 22nd, so almost always in this decan or right at the start of it. I usually celebrate it by walking down the road with a bag picking up trash. Why people throw trash out of their cars is such a mystery, as it is easy enough to just throw it out at home. One year, I picked a back road nearby that has very few houses on it, so people feel free to throw their crap out. I got 13 large black trash bags filled in an area less than a mile long. So it goes…

Also, please take a moment to vote in the COVR 2025 Visionary Awards here as voting ends April 30th, right around when this decan ends and the next one begins.

Apologies to anyone who tried to vote at the link to the previous COVR blog post article – I just realized the voting link I was given by the organization was broken, or I messed something up as neither the guide nor the voting link were working, so I lost a lot of time I guess – so it goes… I’m not going to worry about it, as it is what it is.

The correct pdf guide on the entries and correct public voting links are below.

2025 COVR Visionary Awards Voter’s Guide

Voting link: 2025 COVR Visionary Awards

Voting link address: https://covr.surveysparrow.com/s/2025-cva/tt-JHWkt

Voting ends April 30th, which is around when this decan ends and the next one begins. Thanks for anyone who takes a few minutes to fill out a ballot, and thank you for considering Telos Tarot of 777.

Have a Happy Earth Day! More to come later…

DECAN WALK: ARIES 3, FOUR OF WANDS – Part II

This is a update, Part II of decan Aries 3. But also we begin on something that was done as an experiment for the Aries 2 decan, but the effects have become noticeable during Aries 3 decan.

So in Aries 2, I had wanted to test out the Three-fold seed spell on some nasturtium plants, which were related to Aries/Sun planetary influences of that decan, as mentioned in the second post for Aries 2. The spell involves reciting an evocation to a plant three times: once at sprouting, once at the true leaf, stage, and once at maturity. In this case I used the evocation of Kore (Persephone) as given there.

The seeds sprouted and one of them got the first recitation in the Aries 2 decan. One seed was chosen to be the recipient of the recitation, and got both the first evocation read at sprout stage in Aries 2 and the second one at true leaf stage. (The third and final one won’t happen until it reaches maturity.)

Now in Aries 3, you can see the four seeds, two in each of the brown peat paper pots above. The one that got the two recitations and was crowned as “Kore/Persephone” has grown twice as large as the three others done as controls! It is the larger one in the pot on the left that was recited to specifically, while touching the plant. Wild! Plants really do like when you talk to them.

So that was fun! Less fun was finishing and sending off taxes for the deadline this decan. But hey, Completion, and now I can pointedly ignore them again for as long as possible.

In the Comments of Part I of the Aries 3/Four of Wands decan, Constance asked if I could expand on the concept of the “man who wishes to do good but cannot” in Part II. This comes from several of the various decan descriptions and significations. While it is not mentioned in the 777 description, various others do. Bruno’s mentions a longing for wealth, but the others mention only “wanting to do good” which seems different. Certainly it is more difficult to do good without resources. But most who have significant resources seem to only become more vapid and greedy, rather than doers of good.

Some of the descriptions mention a gold bracelet, but some don’t mention gold. One says his bracelets are made of wood and he is a blacksmith.

Picatrix:

A restless man, holding in his hands a gold bracelet, wearing red clothing, who wishes to do good, but is not able to do it. Subtlety, subtle mastery, new things, instruments and similar things

Agrippa:

A white man, pale, with reddish hair, and clothed with a red garment, who carrying on the one hand a golden Bracelet, and holding forth a wooden staff, is restless, and like one in wrath, because he cannot perform that good he would. Wit, meekness, joy and beauty.

Bruno:

A man with reddish hair, wearing ruddy clothing; with a bridle in his left hand, wearing a bracelet and carrying a hardwood walking staff in his right hand. Restless and wrathful, his face shows a longing for wealth which he can neither obtain nor hang on to.

Ibn Ezra:

A yellow man whose hair is reddish, and he is irascible and contentious, and in his hand are bracelets of wood and a wand, and his clothes are red, and he is a blacksmith, and he desires to do good but he cannot.

At first I thought the idea of not being able to do something desired may come from the astrological significations, because Venus rules the decan but is in debilitated (detriment) in the sign of Aries. Both Venus and Mars/Aries have to do with desire, and in detriment perhaps Venus, as personification of desire, does not get her way.

There is also that although we think of Aphrodite (Venus) and Ares (Mars/Aries) as consorts and lovers, they were not married. In fact they were rather a case of opposites attract: she as goddess of Love, him as god of War. The sex was good but perhaps that was all!

Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, against her will, and was unfaithful to him constantly. She didn’t get what she wanted, and neither did Hephaestus. He constantly tried to win her affections, making her beautiful jewelry as he was a very skilled craftsman. But the goddess of love and beauty wanted nothing to do with him. He was rejected by her, and by his own mother, Hera, for being considered unattractive and physically lame, even though clever, inventive, and strong.

Hephaestus is a blacksmith too. I rather think of him as the man in red with the bracelets, who desires to do good, but cannot. Hephaestus was actually considered as one of the “models” for the man in the Telos image. Though I didn’t end up with him on the card, I still think of the figure that way. Hephaestus the master craftsman also fits with “subtlety, mastery, new things, and instruments” as specified in the Picatrix significations.

But Picatrix uses triplicity rulers, in this case Jupiter, so I’m not sure that Venus in detriment is the entirety of why the man cannot do the good he wishes. In the mythology though, Zeus (Jupiter) was the one who gave Aphrodite in marriage to Hephaestus, so hmmmm, food for thought. It may also have something to do with Aries III being a Cadent or dissipating decan of a Cardinal or initiating sign. As are all of the Fours. All are a sort of refuge or resting point, but one that is only temporary, as the disruption of the Five is incoming. Perhaps at this point in the cycle, the man lacks the time to do the good he desires.

You can read a summary of the full mythological tale with all the characters here.

Hephaestus isn’t a listed deity of this decan, but he is there in the Venus/Ares story. As a smith however, he is associated with “force and fire,” much like the Ptolemaic deity listed in 777: Horus.

Speaking of Fire, since this is the last Fire sign decan for a while, in the rest of this decan period I’m hoping to set aside some time to create some talismanic incense experiments. It may take some time to complete, but at least I’ve just given it a start. It seems like a worthy action for this time, since Aries likes fire and burning things, and Venus likes beautiful scents. I may add some of that here at the end of the decan period, but wanted to get this post up during the middle of the Aries 3 decan.

A funny coincidence is that in this decan so far, I read a novel about an affair between a Princess (Venus) and a Gothic warlord in the Roman Empire (Ares/Mars), and read several books in a series about a very tasteful and refined (Venus) dragon soldier (Mars). Yes, that is several books in 5 days. I am a voracious reader and will sacrifice sleep for it.

Brought to you on Mars Day during Venus hour.

Let us know in the comments what you have been up to in Aries III. See you in Taurus season!

Subscribe to the newsletter here to get extras, coupons, catch up reminders about decan walk content , and to be notified when the new book is available (coming soon!) Learn about how to vote in the COVR Visionary Awards here for Telos Tarot of 777, if you think it is the most worthy entry.

COVR Visionary Awards 2025

A friend told me I should join the Coalition of Visionary Resources, because I make tarot decks and write related books, and it is an organization for publishers of such things.

I finally did, and entered Telos Tarot of 777 in their annual competition this year, called the COVR Visionary Awards. The 2025 COVR Visionary Awards are for books, audio visual stuff, and products like tarot and oracle decks that were published in 2024.

Yes, I entered it myself, as that is the way it works. The prize is just recognition, but it helps to get your work noticed I guess.

The COVR association seems very geared to major publishers though, as it looks like most of the other entries are pretty much by big publishers. I was hoping to enter something like a juried event, but it is decided by voting.

The public can vote, and members can vote. Member voting is done by a separate link and is weighted to count more.

They recommend that members post stuff about their entries to COVR’s social media accounts, with hashtags #covrvisionaryawards #2025covrvisionaryawards #covr #CVAs etc to get the attention of members and their heavier weighted votes.

But those of you that have been around know that I’m not on any social media, so I don’t have high hopes of getting any traction. But you never know if you don’t try. So I am asking you to vote for it, if you look at the tarot entries and decide it is deserving in the tarot category.

The Telos Tarot of 777 deck was created using astrological alignments and the descriptions from the text 777. You can learn more here and at the Telos site Telos Tarot of 777.

For example, the Four of Wands shown above was created during this astrological decan, Aries III, a ten day period from around April 9th thru April 19th. The description in 777 reads A restless man in scarlet robes, with golden bracelets on his hands and arms.

It is a the third decan of Aries, a card that combines the sign Aries, the Emperor, with the planet Venus, the Empress, ruler of the Aries III decan.

It is my creative act of Love and Will that took around four years to bring to Completion through a process of hand drawing, inking, and painting every card during corresponding astrological alignments. All art was done by hand in traditional art media without AI or digital tools.

Check out this year’s entries in their downloadable pdf. Every entry has a link showing each of the works entered.

The tarot deck entries start on Page 17, if you just want to skip to those.

Telos is halfway down page 18. Here is a link to where you can view the pdf to see the entries:

2025 COVR Visionary Awards Voter’s Guide

If you happen to be a COVR member they send you a link for member voting. Member links can only be used once. Everyone else votes via the public link, and there is only supposed to be one vote per person via the public link.

Once you know who you want to vote for in each category, the link for public voting is here:

https://covr.surveysparrow.com/s/2025-cva/tt-JHWkt

The Prince of Disks has Aries decan III as the hidden side of his nature. He is more commonly known for his Taurus I and Taurus II decans.

Voting begins April 10th (Aries decan III, Completion) and goes through Taurus I and Taurus II. Voting ends April 30th (the last day of Taurus decan II, Success).

Please check out the entries for the COVR Visionary Awards at the link, and consider voting for Telos Tarot of 777 in the Tarot decks category if you think it merits it. Here is the link again for viewing:

https://covr.org/2025-cva-vg/](https://covr.org/2025-cva-vg/

And for voting:

https://covr.surveysparrow.com/s/2025-cva/tt-JHWkt

Thank you for voting! May we meet with Success!

DECAN WALK: ARIES 3, FOUR OF WANDS

Today the Sun entered the third decan of Aries, in tarot the Four of Wands, known as the Lord of Completion, shown above as the original artwork from the Telos Tarot of 777. The magical description of the decan in 777 reads: A restless man in scarlet robes, with golden bracelets on his hands and arms.

The restlessness and scarlet robes are clearly characteristics of Aries and Mars, while the golden bracelets seem more associated with the Venus and Jupiter aspects of the card. Venus is the ruler of this decan of Aries, and Jupiter is associated with the card as it is a Four. Jupiter corresponds to the Fours, through Chesed on the Tree of Life. The Hebrew word Chesed means ‘kindness or love between people’ as well as love and mercy in a devotional sense, and has connotations of ardor and desire. Jupiter also rules the decan in the triplicity system; we see his influence here as well.

In India, golden bracelets known as “kangan” or “kada” were part of wedding rituals, symbolic of the unbreakable bond between husband and wife. This card with the connection between Venus and Mars, and Jupiter symbolizing law, has associations with weddings, the ceremony between beings who complete each other and join into a legal unit. The four staffs behind the female figure are draped with a wedding garland, and two have the doves of Aphrodite/Venus, holding the arrows of her son Eros, born from her union with Ares/Mars.

The Picatrix description is similar:

“A restless man, holding in his hands a gold bracelet, wearing red clothing, who wishes to do good, but is not able to do it.” It gives the significations as “subtlety, subtle mastery, new things, instruments and similar things.”

Here also is the image Agrippa gives:

“A white man, pale, with reddish hair, and clothed with a red garment, who carrying on the one hand a golden Bracelet, and holding forth a wooden staff, is restless, and like one in wrath, because he cannot perform that good he would.” The significations there are “wit, meekness, joy and beauty.”

Then there are all the various other images:

Giordano Bruno image (De Umbris Idearum)	A man with reddish hair, wearing ruddy clothing; with a bridle in his left hand, wearing a bracelet and carrying a hardwood walking staff in his right hand. Restless and wrathful, his face shows a longing for wealth which he can neither obtain nor hang on to.
Varahamihira Vedic image (Brihat Jataka)	A yellow complexioned man, festooned in cruelty, with artistic skill, a workaholic, unscrupulous, with an irate temperament, with lifted-up stick, clad in purple clothes. This is an armed decanate and human.
Raphael image and significations	The third face of Aries, ascends a young woman sitting on a stool, and playing on a lute. Subtlety in every work, and of meekness, of play, mirth and beauty
Ibn Ezra image (The Beginning of Wisdom)	A yellow man whose hair is reddish, and he is irascible and contentious, and in his hand are bracelets of wood and a wand, and his clothes are red, and he is a blacksmith, and he desires to do good but he cannot.
Liber Hermetis	It is like a woman erect, adorned with linen tied with gold strings tinted a dark rose color. She has a royal gold [crown] on her head. In the middle of her belly there are belly emeralds. She is holding a four headed serpent on the top of a staff. The two heads in the middle are to one side and the [other] two are to the opposite side. This rules the climate of the Lydians.

You can see that I incorporated the staff from Agrippa’s description, and added the female figure and all her accoutrements from the Liber Hermetis text. I wanted both a male and a female figure, as this decan is the very male sign of Aries combined with the very female decan ruler Venus.

As in the Liber Hermetis description, she is standing erect, adorned with the rose gold strings of emeralds, the belly emerald, and the golden crown, and the very intricately specifically described four-fold serpent staff.

She is clearly an Inanna or Ishtar figure, a goddess who is at once like both Aphrodite and Ares. All her jewelry and his bracelets are painted in metallic gold.

Austin Coppock’s 36 Faces chose as a symbol for this decan, “the burning rose,” which is also a combination of Aries (burning) and Venus (rose).

The Ptolemaic Egyptian deity listed in 777 is Horus, who is fiery, fierce, and martial (Mars) and solar (Sun exalted in Aries.)

The deity from the 36 Airs of the Zodiac fragment is Eros, the child of Aphrodite (Venus) and her lover Ares (Mars), appropriate as Mars rules the sign of the card (Aries) and Venus rules this decan.

I think of this decan as ripe for acts of Love and Will, a combination of creativity (Venus) and action (Aries). More to follow in Part II as the decan progresses. I’ll try to post Part II around halfway through the decan this time; in the last decan it came more towards the end as it was a very busy one. The format I’d like to follow if possible for this decan walk is to introduce it in Part I, and update on how it is going or different things done during the decan in Part II, along with additional info, and activities related to the decan.

This is so you can come up with your own interpretations and ideas for the first half, and compare afterward part-way through.

The code DECANWALK2025 is still good through the end of this decan, for 15% off Telos Tarot of 777, at TarotCart.com.

DECAN WALK: ARIES 2 THREE OF WANDS Part II

Three of Wands Telos Tarot of 777 — Aries II from *Telos Tarot of 777*

Almost through the middle decan of Aries 2 now, and today the Sun is at 19 degrees of Aries, which is the exact degree of its exaltation.

This has been a very busy period here. I grow several big gardens each year, and this decan is around six weeks out from the last frost date here. It’s still cold out, but the garlic patch has sprouted. In The Book of Rulerships (Lehman), garlic is listed as corresponding to both the Sun and Mars. The Rulership Book (Bills) gives it to Aries and Mars. Either way, it always comes up in this decan, which is all three.

Which means it is time to start by seed, indoors, quite a few crops; not all yet, but the ones that have a 6-8 week germination and growth period before they can be transplanted out. So like Persephone in the crop from the Telos card above, I’m looking at a lot of little sprouting seedlings, and many more dormant in their trays. Lacking a heated greenhouse, I’ve got trays and grow lights all over the house.

I’m waiting for the nasturtium seeds to sprout. While the nasturtium plant is sometimes associated with Venus simply because it has profuse flowers, I consider it a plant for this decan as it is peppery in flavor (Aries/Mars) and comes in all the Sun’s colors of orange, yellow, and red.

Some people know that plants respond to loving intentions, attentions, and sounds. When these little seeds wake up, I’m going to experiment with them by “seeding” them with intention.

Three-fold seed spell:

Choose to ritually plant a seed, infusing it with your magical intention. You might say that you are “seeding” the seed with your magical wish. Have the intention in mind while planting the seed.

Recite an evocation of one of the deities of this decan, such as Persephone, to it three times: when the plant sprouts as the seedling stage shown in the image, when it begins to get true leaves, and a third time as the plant reaches maturity, approaching it formally with your request as if it were the deity. The resulting plant itself can be dried and used as future materia, as it will be imbued with the qualities of this decan and your intention.

It will be even more effective if the seed is of a corresponding plant of the Sun or Aries, and the intention is for a virtuous endeavor like increasing a healthy habit.

For the evocation, you could easily use the Aries II invocation given earlier in the blog (from when the card was first created). But change it to an evocation as follows:

Aries II evocation of Persephone:

A maiden you once were, but now a Queen.

Good governance your gift to lands beneath.

Each Spring you rise again and growth is green.

Obedience to you all souls bequeath.

You warm Earth, and crack seeds embryonic.

Crowned with the Sun you cause the primal surge.

You bear Earth-fire rising from the chthonic.

You wear the vernal bright as sprouts emerge.

Your virtue drew the virile nether lord.

You, Kora, gathered blooms of the flowers.

With horses dark he took you as his ward,

enthroned and crowned with underworld powers.

He fed you pomegranate seeds of six,

and you became the Queen of Spring and Styx.

Other than that, a less fun but I suppose inevitable thing I’ve been having to deal with is bookkeeping for tax filing; the US deadline for this is approaching in the next decan. No one likes it! But I suppose it is “virtuous” though that is debatable. These deities Persephone and Anubis have connections with death. It reminds me of what Benjamin Franklin said: “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

I suppose taxes are a sort of Emperor-Sun thing in a way; The Man (Emperor) and his rules getting to shine a light on and see (Sun) all you have been up to for the last year, at least financially. Last filing date is actually in the next decan though – Aries III, Completion, which at least will get it over with for another year.

Once that task gets wrapped, I’m putting nose back to grindstone on the book project! It’s coming along really well, or it was until I had to drop everything for gardening and tax chores. Gardens and Taxes: quite the life-death juxtaposition there, just like the Aries II decan.

DECAN WALK: ARIES 2 THREE OF WANDS

The Sun entered the second decan of Aries today, a Sunday, auspiciously enough, as the second decan of Aries is ruled by the Sun, which is exalted in the sign.

Crowley’s magical description of the decan per 777, Succedent decan of Aries: A green-clad woman, with one leg bare from the ankle to the knee.

The various other images for this decan are mainly of a female figure, though they differ in whether she is clothed in green or red, or white and imperial purple – all regal colors. Yet the tradition I am working with from 777 as the main prompt specifies green, the color of growth and new life. Crowley’s decan image of a green clad woman with one bare leg, is most like that from Picatrix, except the Picatrix image is of a woman in green only having a single leg.

Either way, there is something about the green woman with a single leg showing that is reminiscent of a new green shoot sprouting – which coincidentally is also the shape of the Aries glyph. This sprout/Aries symbol is shown to the left of the green clad woman, and she faces it, the side of increasing life. Her face is turned away from the withered tree on the other side, representing the death inherent in winter. For she is a Persephone figure, and in this decan, the season of Spring has just arisen in the Northern Hemisphere. The juxtaposition of life and death are echoed by the three date palms, a source of food in the otherwise barren desert.

She wears a twelve-pointed crown, a solar reference. Inspired by some of the Liber Hermetis decan description, she also bears the water jug with the ankh symbol of life and the palm frond that represented eternal life in ancient Mediterranean culture. She holds the scepter with three prongs. It has the bifurcated end commonly associated with the Egyptian was-sceptre, though that had the head of a jackal or Set animal. The was-sceptre is a symbol of power over the forces of chaos (Set), and was often associated with Set, the desert god, and with Anubis – the Ptolemaic deity associated with this decan.

The head of this scepter however is three-pronged, both a reference to three wands and to the trishula, the staff of Shiva, Durga, and Chandi. They generally relate to the threefold forces of creation, order, and destruction, but have been also given many other assignments of things that come in triplicate such as past, present, and future or body, mind, and spirit.

The image has three separate references to the three wands: the three palms, the three-pronged wand she carries, and the larger three-part wand design behind the main figure. This design is a composite comprised of three of the major parts of the soul according to ancient Egyptian belief: the ka, the ba, and the akh.

The ka is symbolized by the pair of upraised arms. It represents the individual ego’s life force, the spiritual, creative, and intellectual energies, and the vital essence or that which makes one alive. The ka is the “double” that inhabits the body and is concerned with both the desires of the body and the call of the spirit. It is the individual’s unique essence. According to Egyptologist John Anthony West, “If, during life on earth, the ka has degenerated to the point where it has been divested of all virtue, of everything truly human, then the ka disperses into the various lower animal realms. This is the second death the Egyptian texts speak of with such fear and horror… The perfected man, to achieve immortality, united his ka to his ba; his individual essence to the divine spark within.”

That “divine spark within” is the ba, depicted as a bird with a human head and outspread wings, which is shown on the central prong between the two arms of the three-pronged design. It is sometimes referred to as the soul, but specifically is the animating spark that gives life to the physical body. When it withdraws, the body dies. The word ba was like the word for ‘ram’ and thus was associated with strength and power. It is said to be the “personality” that lives on after death.

The third element, the akh, is represented by the ibis, wearing the Atef crown of the lord of the underworld, on the lotus above the ba. The akh is the radiant shining form that inhabits the physical body and unites the ba and ka. As it is a spirit it can come down from heaven to operate on earth for good or ill. The ank is the intellectual potential of a person, and was identified with thought, and with light. The Akh represents the “effectiveness” of kings, and the character and intelligence that makes up a person – which has a lot to do with the meaning of the Lord of Virtue.

The decan is ruled by the Sun both by Chaldean descending order and by triplicity, and the Sun is exalted in Aries, with the exaltation degree in this decan, adding to the virtue of this card. The Sun is mainly a giver of light and of life on this earth, but its harsh rays in the desert can also bring death. Behind and above all is a sun with six rays – a solar number. The Sun is crowned with a five-pointed crown, for Mars, ruler of the sign Aries; on the crown is the upright triangle of fire. Iin the springtime the solar force awakens the seeds of the Earth, cracking them open with the force of Mars (Aries) so they emerge from sleep under the earth.

Some food for thought: the Hellenistic deity per the 36 Airs of the Zodiac fragmentary text is Kórē or Persephone, and per 777 the Ptolemaic Egyptian god of the decan is Anubis. So we have two guides to the chthonic realms of the Underworld associated with this very solar and life-infused decan.

Three of Wands: RWS, Thoth, Tabula Mundi Tarot

DECAN WALK: ARIES 1 TWO OF WANDS part II

Just thought I’d update with some more about the first decan of Aries, the Two of Wands, and how it is going for this 2025-2026 decan walk, since the first post was about the decan walk process itself.

First, I decided to create a playlist of music for the Mars energy of this decan, so here is some Mars music if you want to get energized. This decan is ruled by Mars in both the Chaldean and Triplicity systems, plus Aries itself is ruled by Mars.

Criteria is is has to be epic sounding, lots of drums, fast tempo, and with overall masculine qualities.

Mars music is usually loud, fast, with a lot of drums…world takeover music, or rock/hop with a lot of testosterone. The classical planetary music is Gustav Holst’s Planet Suite; this is called Mars, Bringer of War. It is pretty epic, like it should be in a Star Wars movie.

You can also do any kind of military marching music, if that’s your thing.

But personally, for a Mars playlist, I’d chose something like these five songs:

You can’t beat Metallica‘s Enter Sandman for blood-pumping Mars beat. Especially this particular live version, filmed in Moscow in 1991, to a record crowd of 1.6 MILLION people, including 11,000 soldiers and multiple military helicopters skimming the crowd, flags waving, a lot of dudes. It’s pretty insane Mars energy. Russia has a Scorpio ascendant, so it is a pretty martial country. Note the song doesn’t start til about 48 seconds into the video. Enter Sandman by Metallica.

Next up for pure Mars is Rage Against the Machine, with Killing in the Name Of. Pure defiant rage, you can’t help jumping around shaking a fist, especially at the end with the repeated chorus of “F*ck you I won’t do what ya tell me!” That gets cut out of some versions, but it needs to be in there. Love it, because I won’t either, lol. Killing in the Name Of by Rage Against the Machine Pretty much anything Rage does is Mars music. Bulls on Parade is pretty spot on too.

For something a little less angst-ridden and more fun, but still all Mars, I’d go for something by the Beastie Boys. They have a ton of songs I’d put on a Mars list, but for fun, how about Sabotage! The official music video has everything Marsy: flashing red lights, car and criminal chases, (fake) knife fights, doors kicked in, and cheesy 70’s detectives with big mustaches. Sabotage by Beastie Boys. Or you can watch the live version from when they were on Letterman.

Love their humor, and they have tons of tongue-in-cheek Mars songs loaded with young dude energy like No Sleep Til Brooklyn or Sure Shot or So What’Cha Want. Pretty sure they used to have a 25-foot tall hydraulic penis that they would erect on stage during Fight for Your Right to Party, which is classic juvenile Mars energy, am I right? Sadly, I could not find a picture, so you are going to have to settle for your Tower card instead.

Next up for something that will get you out of your seat, local Irish band the Dropkick Murphys with I’m Shipping Up to Boston. It’s got the hard drum beat, the raw yelling, bounce, bagpipes, accordion, and is about a one-legged sailor, going to Boston to find a wooden leg, yup, that’s pretty Mars-y. Dropkick Murphys Shipping Up to Boston.

Led Zeppelin Madison Square Garden New York 1977

For something a little further back, I have to include Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin. This live version shows they don’t call it “cock rock” for nothing. Led Zeppelin Whole Lotta Love Plus, Mars music is all about the drums, and no one hits them harder than John Bonham. Unfortunately whoever did that video, they cut out the part with Jimmy Page’s Theramin solo, check it out for sheer awesomeness.

I have give honorable mention to Black Sabbath’s War Pigs and Iron Man – two of the most Mars titles ever. Plenty of driving beat, but not quite fast enough. (LOL, sorry Ozzy) At least not for getting my blood pressure up. I need faster bounce in a Mars playlist, and they must have added some Saturn. Still, pretty good.

Well enough Mars music, there is a lot out there to choose from and after messing around with it I almost want to go pump some iron or something. In other Mars developments, I think I’m going to set up a sand bag for boxing and kickboxing in Aries season. There is plenty to choose from in this world, as far as things I’d like to hit, so might as well have some fun with that energy. Jump on a trampoline, do any martial arts, take an ultra hot sauna, do some brush cutting and brush burning, do some red light therapy. All good physical stuff for Mars I might do during this decan.

I also ordered seeds, sorted seeds, started seedlings, and planted the earliest crops in the garden. Northern hemisphere spring tasks.

This is one thing I won’t be trying, but it sure fits a Mars ruled decan. It’s a picture of a snake biting a scorpion, pickled inside some sort of booze with ginseng also added. Extremely Martial, supposed to “make you strong” if you know what I mean. My friend got it as a gift during this decan, when her parents got back from Vietnam. Now, we both love whiskey, but she said it smelled like engine oil, so that’s a hard no.

Per 777: A tall, dark, restless man, with keen flame-coloured eyes, bearing a sword.

Per Picatrix: The form of a black man, restless and great in body having red eyes and holding a cutting axe in his hand, girded about with white garment; and there is great worth (or value) in this face. And this is a face of strength, high rank, and wealth without difference (or without shame).

This decan is good for magic centered around being first and defeating enemies. The Picatrix applications suggest using this image for being victorious in battle and litigation, for gaining what you wish, for winning, and for spoiling the milk of beasts. (The latter seems less useful than the rest!)

The Two of Wands image from Telos Tarot of 777 is based on the 777 and Picatrix images and can be used for gaining what is desired (Mars goes after what it wants) and for being victorious in contest, and thus for not being defeated by those who are also competing. It is suited for competition and for things of a pioneering and warlike nature such as being first, conquering new territory and planting your flag to formally claim it.

But you can also use Aries decan 1 for less directly combative purposes. For example, this spell that utilizes I AM statements, as “I Am” is the motto of Aries, and this first born decan of the zodiac. You can use it to formally inaugurate any undertaking, or to establish dominion in a chosen area. It can also just be done to stake a claim on anything, including your own happiness or well-being. It won’t bring things together, due the sharp and cutting nature of Mars, but if is is focused on a personal desire affecting you alone, it is appropriate.

You will need a red candle, which is appropriately phallic for Mars. If you can create one yourself in the shape of a tower, even better. But a small spell type candle (like the one above) will do just fine – they are tower-shaped anyway. You will also need a sharp iron nail, and a penny that has the year you were born on it. Plus the Two of Wands card from Telos Tarot of 777, and an invocation.

The Two of Wands is about the nascent fire energy of the Ace splitting and thus manifesting, so this spell involves one candle but two intentions. Come up with two I AM statements, for two related desires. They should enhance each other and not contradict. They can be as simple and unpretentious as I AM HEALTHY as one, and I AM HAPPY as the other, or they can be more AMbitious. Or whatever is appropriate to your situation, but simple is better, and they need to be stated positively and in present tense.

On a Tuesday, during one of Mars’ daytime hours, either sunrise or afternoon, turn these statements into sigils. You want to complete this all during Mars’ hour.

Using your sharp iron nail, carve each sigil into one side of the red candle, so they are on opposite sides of the candle. It’s ok if they touch. Melt the bottom of the candle and adhere it to the “heads” side of the penny with your birth year. Anoint the candle with an appropriate oil for Mars. A little cinnamon essential oil or black pepper essential oil diluted into a carrier oil would do nicely. Stand the candle in a safe container, in front of the Telos Two of Wands. Light the candle, and recite an Aries I invocation while peering at the card. You can use the invocation for Aries I given as a download in the prior post. It will serve very well for this.

Or better yet, since Aries and Mars are all about individuality and the declaration “I AM,” before beginning, write an invocation personal to you, using some of the information about the gods of this decan from the tables. Just as a thought, Mars and Aries might prefer the shout to the whisper, so recite forcefully, not timidly, and feel it. Let the candle burn away in one sitting, and of course do not leave it unattended, or put the container with the candle in it in a large metal pot or somewhere it can do no harm.

I think if you analyze this spell, you can see all of the Aries decan 1 elements:

red
phallic candle (Tower, Mars)
fire
iron
sharp nail
carving
pepper or cinnamon (warming spices)
one>two
Mars’ day and hour
one cent (Aries is 1st, Aries is 1, this decan is first and #1, copper is reddish)
birth year (Aries is the infant of the zodiac, the I AM)
I AM declarations

Some other materials for Mars that were not used but could have been appropriate: Red stones, Flint, Thorn trees, Chestnut, Cinnabar, Garlic, Nettles, Thistles, Cayenne, Ginger, and Mustard. Basically things that are red, sharp, or hot.

All of the elements of the spell, along with the invocation, are chosen to please Mars, also known as Ares, Angaraka and Mangala, as well as the many other spirits, deities, and daimons of this decan:

Aulathamas

Assicean [Asiccan]

Khent-kheru

Χont-har

Bendonc

Rhyax/Rhyx

Chontare

Senator

Khenlakhôri [Chenlachori]

Zazer

Bael/Phenex

Aidoneus

Arueris/Aroueris

Note that the Ptolemaic god in the list above is Aroueris. He is the hawk-headed god wearing the double crown. This is a Greek name for Heru-Ur, or Horus-the-Elder. He is also called “strong of arm,” “great of power,” and “lord of the slaughter in the entire land.” Horus’ vanquishing of Seth symbolized Egypt’s triumph over its occupiers.

If you are looking for something Martial to read, the third chapter of the Book of the Law, is written from the perspective of Horus, and certainly fills the criteria.

We are only a little more than halfway through the first decan of Aries, which is also the first decan of the first sign and entire zodiac, so there is still time to begin a decan walk. Check out the previous post for more inspiration on what you might do during a decan walk. You can get Telos Tarot of 777 at TarotCart.com, and the previous post has a discount good only in this Aries season.

Rock on!

DECAN WALK: ARIES 1 TWO OF WANDS

The Two of Wands, first face or decan of Aries — Aries 1 decan: **A tall, dark, restless man, with keen flame-coloured eyes, bearing a sword.**

It’s that time of year! We made it through another solar cycle, arriving at the March equinox (tomorrow, March 20th) and zero degrees of Aries, the start of the zodiac in traditional Western astrology. This decan corresponds to the Two of Wands. Shown above is the Two of Wands from Telos Tarot of 777, shown after it was colored during the Aries 1 decan. The line art had been drawn and inked in a previous Aries 1 decan.

Aries season is the time of year when many people begin a “decan walk” practice.

The decan walk is an accessible and truly enriching way to understand the powers of the decans through direct experience and observation over a solar year. During the roughly 10-day period of each decan, one connects with the energies of the sign and planet involved in each of the thirty-six minor arcana. One observes how they experience them during the actual period of the decan. It is a powerful way to connect to a deck, and to the experience of being a solar being moving through time and space. As the Sun moves through each decan, one notes the flavors of the decan and how it changes their experience of time and space.

It is an especially potent time to work acts of tarot and astrological magick through the lens of the associated card for each decan, and its related dignified planets.

The possible activities one might perform during the period to deepen the connection are innumerable and personal to the aspirant.

They can include (but certainly are not limited to):

invocations and evocations
the creation of art
writing poetry, or journaling
meditations on the card, pathworking and interacting with the figures
creation of an altar displaying the decan card and related cards, with appropriate offerings to planetary or other deities
lectio divina, or devotional reading
educational reading about the deities, and their stories, mythologies, or astrological elements

Telos Two of Wands line art — **The original inked lines of the Two of Wands from Telos, completed during the Aries 1 decan in 2021**

The Telos Tarot of 777 was created during several decan walks in a multi-year process of observing the decans while creating the cards. The art was all created using classical art materials, and each was ceremonially made during a corresponding astrological time. They were painted in the appropriate colors according to the color scales of the Hermetic Golden Dawn in 777.

Telos is defined as the ultimate inherent purpose of a thing. The Telos Tarot was designed to be both a traditional tarot and a tool for magical purposes. This makes the Telos Tarot of 777 the perfect companion for initiating oneself via the decan walk experience.

The minors were created in accordance with the “magical descriptions of the decans” according to Aleister Crowley’s book of magical and tarot correspondences, 777.

The magical images of the decans per 777 seem to be mainly (but not exactly) based on those found in the 11^th century Arabic astro-magic grimoire known as the Picatrix. Picatrix is the Latin name used; the original title was Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm, meaning The Goal of The Wise. This deck reconciles the decan images with the traditional meanings, symbols, and images of the tarot minor arcana.

**Seal of Mars as seen on the man in the figure. Aries 1 is doubly Mars ruled.**

The approach of the Picatrix text is to associate the power of the decan with the specific image, considering that the power resides in the image itself and the connection or bridge it makes with the corresponding sector of sky.

I have also incorporated the Golden Dawn’s Chaldean planetary assignment to the decanic minors where they are influenced by the ruling planet of the decan. This association of the planets to a decan is based on the Hellenistic astrological approach wherein the planetary ruler of a decan lends some of its attributes.

**The Emperor (Aries) from Telos Tarot of 777**

In this case, the card is doubly/triply Mars ruled, as the sign Aries is ruled by Mars. The decan ruler is also Mars in both the Chaldean rulerships and the triplicity rulership schema. It’s all Mars all of the time. A fitting start to the solar year, as the sun is exalted in Aries, and Mars gives the spark and energy for beginning. It leads the way!

05 2W Download

mars square Download

Aries 1 invocation Download

Above is a gift for initiating your decan walk journey.There are 3 files. There is a large file of the original black and white inked lines of the Telos Tarot Two of Wands. You can download the file, size it however you would like and use it for personal use only. Print it, color it as a meditative exercise, or use it to create a talisman or spell. I’ve included an Aries 1 invocation, also for personal use only.

I’ve also included a file of the Mars square the figure is wearing, that you can use for your creations. It is the basis for the planetary sigils and seals of Mars. The figure of the man in the image wears the Mars square, the Mars seal, and the designs of the spirit of Mars and intelligence of Mars.

The color version of the card at the top also has a red figure in the sky behind the tower. It is a sigil derived from the kamea of Mars (the Mars square) by dividing the 25 numbers 1-25 into five groups of ascending counts of five, wherein the numbers are then connected in order in five continuous lines.

If coloring the image yourself, here are the colors:

Two of Wands, Chokmah in Atziluth: Pure soft blue. Plus the colors of the associated majors.

Colors of the associated majors for Aries (The Emperor) and the Tower (Mars):

Emperor: Scarlet – Red – Brilliant Flame – Glowing Red
Tower: Scarlet – Red – Venetian Red – Bright Red, Rayed Azure and Emerald

Here is the invocation I created especially for this decan, during the decan:

Aries 1 – Invocation of the first face of Aries by M.M. Meleen. For staking claims of true precedence, claiming sovereignty of self, leading the pack, and winning.

See?

I plant my flag.

I claim dominion of the directions.

Ram regardant, I lead the beastly circle.

First son, last born: the decans my destiny.

I break ground.

Motion is mine.

Martial flint, solar spark, as year revolves.

My serpent mouth consumes all, circling round to satiety,

where my dominion is sealed.

Here first I was.

I Am, and ever shall be.

North and South, East and West, Above and Below:

Dominion is mine!

All see:

I AM.

As it was, as it is, as it shall ever be.

It is known.

Son of the Morning, I marshal the hosts of the mighty.

I draw from the earth-star, the chthonic fiery core. I draw from the star-fire, lead the celestial parade.

By the Ram and the Boar, I claim the peak and the trough.

Above and below, I claim dominion.

By crown and scepter, by hook and flail, by shield and spear,

I prevail.

I declare I am:

Angaraka, born from the celestial sweat of the Lord of Beasts;

Assiccan, Aroueris, Zazer.

As Horus, I stand upon the pillar.

As Emperor, I look out over the rampart.

As Grand Architect, I survey my domain.

See?

I stake my claim on sovereignty.

First I was.

I AM

and shall ever be.

The decan walk process also has a protective effect in a sense, as by working with the energies of the planets directly, one is experiencing astrological effects in a proactive way, which can mitigate some of the less desirable planetary transits and effects. It is sort of like homeopathy, where by taking a minute dose of something that causes symptoms, disease is abated. Or something like that, it is a mysterious mechanism but it does do something.

Personally, I am also beginning a decan walk, for the purpose of magical exploration. It will be a goal to perform at least one, if not several, explicitly magical acts during each decan, related to the energies of the decan. Which is also the focus of the book I’m working on as promised as an accompaniment to the Telos Tarot deck.

It’s turning out to be as much grimoire as guidebook. It will have all the symbolism of the images explained, and give all of the “Artist’s notes” or specific artistic inspirations and other asides for the figures in the images, as that has been requested. And of course there will be card meanings to refer to. But it will have much more than that, as it will have all of the information related to each decan, and suggestions for magical practices related to the decan. These practices include the creation of physical talismans, but also will include some less permanent magical actions that relate to the decan. It is coming along and I expect it will be ready before the end of the year.

If you would like to join in on the decan walk process, use your Telos Tarot of 777 and let me know how it goes as we go along. Aries is a great time to begin something. A positive expression of Aries and Mars is initiation. Let the energy of Mars break new ground for you and usher in new magical life as you explore each decan of the year. Dedicate yourself to the work, and things will never be the same.

If you don’t yet have a Telos deck, get one of the very first edition at TarotCart.com. There is a special only during Aries season DECANWALK2025 for 15% off the deck.

Happy equinox and welcome to Aries season!

The Decans and Tarot – Virgo I, the Eight of Disks

Decan Virgo I and the Eight of Disks — First decan of Virgo*, the Eight of Disks from Telos Tarot of 777

*While we are not in this decan currently, the Telos tarot cards chose this as the decan to post about.

The Decans and Tarot.

“The decans and tarot” is not the name but is the subject of the new book I’ve been working on, as promised for Telos Tarot of 777. This book is focused on the talismanic use of the 36 decan and tarot images, and the symbolism of the art choices in Telos Tarot of 777. As you may know if you followed the creation of this deck, the minor tarot cards were directly based on the magical image of the decans in 777.

This book also compiles a lot of information about the decan gods, angels, and demons, comparing the various decan images and decan names, and gives advice on ways to use them. While also delineating the tarot meanings and mythologies inherent in each card.

The tables in actually have so much information that I was getting a little bogged down in the weeds just compiling them and writing the chapter on where each bit of information comes from.

Attention to detail and minutia can also be an attribution of the decan Virgo I.

Why am I posting something about the Virgo I decan, when currently we are in an Aquarius decan? No reason other than I pulled a card from Telos asking which tarot card and decan to work with and use as an example for this post, and this is what I got. It actually is kind of appropriate, given that in the Picatrix, a talismanic use for the Virgo I decan image is for skill in writing, and the promotion of such. So here I am, writing to give a teaser on this new decan based tarot work.

The decan info table for the Eight of Disks

Speaking of detail, check out this (rough and unorganized) table of decan data! It’s not even done yet, as there are a few more elements I’d like to include. It will ultimately be organized differently to be less overwhelming though; I need to use some Virgo skills of discernment and organization here eventually.

Magical image of the decan per 777: A virgin clad in linen, with an apple or pomegranate

Decans and Tarot: Virgo I — Decan I Virgo tarot line art Eight of Disks

Symbols of the Virgo decan I drawing:

The decan images almost all specify a virgin, maiden, or a “good girl;” sometimes specific in her manner of dress in linen or woolen cloth, natural materials sometimes specified as being dirty or showing wear – appropriate Cinderella-like Virgo images. Virgo the maiden is an archetype of purity, virtue, and restraint, and being sufficient unto oneself. She holds in her hand either an apple or a pomegranate, fruits that have developed over the season. Virgo is the mutable sign signaling the approaching end of summer in the Northern hemisphere, and the first fruits of autumn are often just appearing.

In the Virgo I decan drawing, the pomegranate is depicted, a symbol of fecundity, perfection, and the chthonic fire of the underworld; chosen for the symbolism of its many small seeds. These are the many small details that Virgo diligently sees to completion. There are eight fully ripened fruits in all amongst the blossoms for the denomination of the card, including the one she holds – for the large opened one in the foreground is an exploded diagram of the one in her hand.

It shows the pomegranate as a constructed object, like a Fabergé egg, opening to reveal the Sun, ruler of the decan. I think of the crafting of these eggs as a good symbol of the decan, as goldsmithing brings together the Sun (ruler of the decan, whose metal is gold) and Vulcan (the smith god sometimes associated with Virgo). The Vulcanalia festival of August 23^rd falls in, and often marks the day of the Sun’s entry into, this decan.

The tree in the Telos image has a face hidden in the twisting folds of its bark. Tree deities and tree nymphs were usually benevolent young goddesses, offering their gifts of fruit, as well as creativity and fertility.

Some images of the Eight of Disks — Decan I Virgo: RWS, Thoth, and Tabula Mundi Tarot Eight of Disks

The Rider-Waite card shows a craftsman making pentacles, the Thoth card shows a twisty tree with eight blossoms in the Sun, and the Tabula Mundi card has the solar lantern of the Hermit warming a nest of eggs. The carefully constructed gold trinket box in the Telos image likewise shows Virgos craftsmanship and attention to fine detail, and the care and patient husbandry of resources in the orchard, ripening them to completion.

The virgin in the Telos Tarot decan image wears a crown of myrtle, often associated with both chastity and fertility, good works, and virtue. The natural undyed linen she wears is also a symbol of purity, righteousness, and humility, and was the perfect canvas for the color of Virgo’s first decan, yellowish brown flecked white.

Artist’s notes on the decan image created:

The inspiration for the virginal maiden of the decan image was a neoclassical sculpture of a goddess based on one of the Horae (Seasons), reminiscent of Pomona. Pomona is a Roman wood-nymph goddess of the orchard, named for the Latin pōmus meaning fruit or fruit tree. Rather than the harvest, she watches over the orchard’s cultivation and growth, fitting for the meaning of the Eight of Disks/Virgo decan 1 as well as for the “apple or pomegranate” imagery of the decan description. Both apples and pomegranates share the Latin pōmum, meaning ‘apple’. She was said to carry as a weapon not a spear or sword, but a pruning-knife. Thus is the nature of Virgo, ever practical and discerning.

Horae were personifications of the seasons and goddesses of order and natural justice who bring ripeness and fertility. The have association with things cultivated over time, as the name refers to both seasons and to hours. Hora means ‘the correct moment’. In the Dionysiaca they were daughters of Helios, the Sun god (note the Sun rules this decan); though in the Orphic hymn to the seasons they were children of Zeus and Themis.

Hellenistic and Ptolemaic Egyptian Gods of Virgo decan I

The 36 Airs fragment lists the deity of the decan as Themis, ‘order’, a female Titan, daughter of the primordial Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky). Themis was said to oversee justice in the sense of divine law and order, the proper procedures considered necessary for civilized societies. Indeed, she bore Dike, goddess of moral justice and judgements. One of Dike’s epithets was Astraea, a term for the constellation Virgo.

Themis was an advisor, and sometimes second spouse, to Zeus. With Zeus, Themis also bore the Horae, as already mentioned above. In the Homeric Hymn to the sun god Apollo, Themis was present as witness to his birth and nursed him with divine nectar.

The Ptolemaic deity in 777 is Isis. It is hard to summarize Isis in a few words as her iconography is all-encompassing. She has the mystique and power of the eternal virgin yet is also a divine mother figure. With a throne upon her crown, Isis is one of the Ennead descended from either Atum or Ra, both solar deities. Herodotus equated her with the maternal earth goddess Demeter. The throne symbolism, and her role as wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, also associates her with the divine rule of kings, as the symbolic wife and mother of the pharaohs.

Her parents, like Themis, were personifications of Earth (Geb) and Sky (Nut). She was a nearly universal creator goddess with sovereignty over nations and kings. Throughout history she has been redolent with magic, mystery, fertility, and healing, as the story of her role in resurrection of Osiris attests.

The attribution of Themis and Isis, children of Earth and Sky, to this decan suggests great power in purity and order, the divine laws which govern creation. Attention paid to cultivation bears glorious fruit.

Talismanic use of the Virgo I decan image

This is a decan of sowing and germination, plowing and peopling, good harvests, and a healthful diet. The body part is generally the belly, and Virgo is associated with food production, making healthy eating a potential focus. It is also associated with Mercury’s realm of commerce, and the accumulation of wealth as time accrues. The Picatrix text associates it with skill in writing and business promotion. Use this image for those things as well as for obtaining skill in harvesting, husbandry, and detailed craftsmanship. With it, one may attain patience, diligence, and humble yet skillful competence.

For permanent talismans, the best planets to have in the decan are the rulers, Mercury and the Sun. One might also use the waxing Moon for works involving good germination, planting, fertility, and good diet, for the lunar affiliation to the belly, womb, and the growth of plants in general.

General meaning of the Eight of Disks in a tarot reading

Economic methodologies yield interest over time. Patiently plant seeds and wait for growth, but also actively cultivate the things you seek to develop. Prune, fertilize, and water when necessary as you wait; these can be taken literally or metaphorically. You can refine and nourish small things; with attention to detail, these things bring fruitfulness.

This may indicate a time of gaining aptitude in a craft. Create order in your environment, and perfect the things in your purview. Be prudent, virtuous, and humble; use proficiency, earnestness, restraint, and good judgement and you may attain solar splendor in the earthly realm.

Decan work continues…

I hope you enjoyed an advance look at this decans and tarot work in progress. It truly is a work in progress. This is a rough draft and merely a start, and the final book will be subject to many revisions and planned additions. But hopefully this will give you a hint of the book that is coming for Telos Tarot of 777 and the use of its decan and tarot images for astrological talismanic magic.

Yes, there will be chapters devoted to the actual practical aspects of making of various forms of talismans, other astrological and decan magic, and all of the sources of the table information will be provided and explained, in addition to the decan by decan tarot card delineations.

Brought to you by decan Virgo I, The Sun, and all the decan deities and spirits. May your prudent endeavors be fruitful.

Telos Tarot of 777 wins Best Deck Release of 2024

I just learned that Telos Tarot of 777 won in its category for Best Deck Release of 2024 in the World Divination Association Awards! Thank you to all who voted and made this unexpected win a reality.

You can check out the awards video to see who won in each of the many categories. It was an honor to be nominated and a great surprise to have Telos Tarot of 777 voted as the winner of Best Deck Release 2024!