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

DECAN WALK: CANCER 1, TWO OF CUPS – Part I

Welcome to the first decan of Cancer, the start of summer here. The Solstice, marking the Sun’s entry to the decan and the start of this Cardinal sign hinge point of the year, was at 10:42 PM EDT last night here, to this is a few hours late. But on the very last day of Gemini 3 decan, Lord of Ruin, the last working upper fan in my PC decided to die. There were originally two, and one died long ago. But it seemed to work just fine with the one. But the last twin was finally met with Ruin, and no fans is a no go, as we are scheduled for extreme heat in the high 90s the next few days. Luckily I had two spare fans, and now it is back to tip-top order. But I thought it was fitting that it’s last gasp was at the end of Gemini 3. Something was bound to go to Ruin I guess.

But now we are here in Cancer decan 1, the Lord of Love. Cancer, the Chariot, ruled by the Moon. The decan ruled by Venus – the Empress.

Note how in the RWS image above, the female figure wears lunar colors but a solar/masculine crown of laurel, and the male figure wears solar colors with a more lunar/feminine crown of roses. Not sure how the Sun comes into play here? Read on…

Ascendant Decan of Cancer: A man with distorted face and hands, a horse’s body, white feet, and a girdle of leaves.

I originally found the decan image description above, as listed in 777, a bit perplexing for a card of Love. Picatrix lists it as “A man having twisted and crooked fingers and head, and his body is like the body of a horse, and having white feet and upon his body fig leaves. And this is a face of teaching, knowledge, of love, subtlety, and of skills.” Thinking about this made me see him as a Chiron-like figure. Chiron the Centaur was a very learned and loving teacher, a father-figure to many great heroes whose rearing was entrusted to him in their childhood.

Agrippa’s decan description fits with the idea of Venus as the decan ruler: “In the first face of Cancer ascendeth the form of a young Virgin, adorned with fine cloathes [clothes], and having a Crown on her head; it giveth acuteness of senses, subtlety of wit, and the love of men.” Bruno’s description is similarly Venusian: “In the first face of Cancer is a crowned woman who is luxuriously dressed. She is holding an olive branch in her right hand and a drinking cup in her left hand.”

In the Rosetta deck (above) I included the dolphins as “argent and or,” (silver and gold in heraldic terms). (Not the best drawing of dolphins, but neither were Lady Harris’, who in the Thoth deck as shown below look more like koi fish.)

They are also present as the lower half of the hippocampi in Tabula Mundi Tarot, seen at the top of the page. Hippocampi are horse-dolphin hybrids, which in consideration of the horse references of the decan image is interesting.

Dolphins are associated with the womb and with the womb’s alchemy. The idea of them as silver and gold are likely a lunar-solar thing, a fertile combination of female and male. Makes some sense with the idea of Cancer and Venus (both feminine and lunar) in the sephira for Twos, Chokmah, which is considered masculine. Chokmah corresponds to the Zodiac itself, composed of stars that are after all suns, so solar.

The 36 Airs of the Zodiac fragment gives an association with Nike, the goddess of Victory who was Zeus’ charioteer, which fits for the introduction of the sign of Cancer, whose trump card is the Chariot. One could argue that the Chariot, though military in nature, fits the fierce protectiveness of the mother, and the Chariot as a stand in for the body as the vehicle of the soul. Nike’s Chariot was often followed by Eros, the god of Love.

Apollun/Apoltun, the deity per 777, refers to Apollo, another charioteer. He was the protector of the young, which fits this decan, and a solar god of healing, poetry, music, and prophecy. He was born to Leto and Zeus, and twin or brother to lunar Artemis, reflecting a bit of the solar/lunar play of the card. He protected not only the young, but also flocks, herds, and shepherds, roads and homes. His iconography of the bow and the circlet of leaves seems cognate with the centaur image of the decan. Apollo also fathered Asclepius, god of healing, who studied under the centaur Chiron to learn the art of medicine.

The Picatrix talismanic applications describe this image as used for bringing clouds and rain, as well as for bringing home travelers safely, by land or sea. With this heat wave coming on, it might be fun to see if I can manifest some clouds or rain. Maybe a thunderstorm. None is predicted – the forecast is HOT and sunny/hazy, so it would be a good test!

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

Not much to update for Part II of the Gemini decan 3 Ruin experience, except I did experience a pretty lousy mental mind-state at one point. Really negative, in a way I haven’t been in a while. Some of the old “not-good-enoughs” cropping up, and some FOMO, and feeling left out of some things. Fears of old age, sickness, and death. Existential angst. Being entirely tired of the world as it currently is. Over the worst of it now. The peak of it was when the Sun was at the Gemini 3 decan degree that exactly squared my natal Chiron in house 2, which makes sense: the wound in the place of self-worth. This transit happens to me every year at this time, so it is nothing new!

Feeling a little down that when this decan is over the days will be shortening again; the dying of the light. But it takes a while before it is too noticeable, so must enjoy what there is while it lasts.

Other than that, there were some choices and sacrifices made in the garden, as I had to pick and choose what got the last of the space and what will be abandoned, as I had more types of squash plants than space for them. Gave away the last half dozen tomato plants that didn’t fit.

twinned plants in one pot: who will be sacrificed?

Also transplanted a big tray of celariac that has been languishing and the cells all seemed to have two plants. Normally I am frugal enough to carefully separate them and plant both. Not this time; just ruthlessly ripped out and discarded one of each one. Probably futile to even plant them as they take a long time and it is very late, but couldn’t bear to throw them all out. Interestingly, I think in Chinese constellation mythology, the constellation Gemini was supposed to be two plants; you can see them in the Lovers card of Telos Tarot, just below the lyre between the shadow-lovers and the twinned boys.

I’m also very over gardening at the moment, and not feeling the writing-editing process. I have not been able to do much work on finishing editing and design work on the great big book either; though I did do quite a bit at the start of the decan. Kind of a crisis of confidence or something. But last night I dreamed it was done, and that I got a sample of it in an instant download like when something gets beamed down in Star Trek. It was a huge hardcover in color. Which is never going to happen, cost-wise, but it looked pretty cool in the dream.

I need to get back to doing visual art; this writing business isn’t what I gravitate to, left to my own devices. If I go too long without doing some type of art I’m less happy; it is a pattern I’ve noticed. But the choice was made to do this book so now I have to finish one thing before starting another; I can’t seem to do both at once. I have left brain and right brain abilities but apparently not at the same time. So it will come when it is meant to I guess.

In good news, it is salad season, and boy now that we are just about to the cusp of Gemini/Cancer there are a nice variety of lettuces out there in the garden; I think of lettuce as a Cancer plant, but Gemini as the lover of variety. But I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s already salad season and the challenge is to eat it every day from Gemini through Cancer without growing bored. This Gemini decan has been good for coming up with some new salad creation every day so it is never the same thing twice. I suppose that is a little bit of creativity in its own right.

This was a recent salad creation based on the colors for Gemini decan 3. It actually has an element of every one of the listed colors.

Color(s)	Citrine-Olive-Russet-Black, all gold flecked; plus the colors of the associated Majors
Colors of the associated Majors	The Lovers: Orange – Pale Mauve – New Yellow Leather – Reddish Grey, inclined to Mauve. The Sun: Orange – Gold Yellow – Rich Amber – Amber, rayed Red

And the fireflies are thriving and the mountain laurel is in full bloom: a Midsummer Night’s dream.

Really looking forward to the next Cancer decans coming up (Love and Abundance). We have an outdoor pre-Solstice dinner with friends planned, which should be fun. Happy Solstice to all!

one of the two versions of The Lovers from Pharos Tarot

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

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

Cadent or declining decan of Gemini.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Patriotism is the virtue of the viscious.”

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

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

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

“Conformity is the last refuge of the unimaginative”

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

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

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

“Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lovers Tabula Mundi Tarot — Gemini the Lovers, Tabula Mundi

Tower Tabula Mundi Tarot — Mars the Tower, Tabula Mundi

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

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

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

Deities for Gemini decan 2: Cybele and Cyclops

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

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

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

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

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

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

DECAN WALK: GEMINI 1, EIGHT OF SWORDS Part II

Gemini decan 1, Eight of Swords, Telos Tarot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A swarm in May is worth a field of hay.

A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon.

A swarm in July ain’t worth a fly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If there aren’t more snags.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gemini decan 1, Eight of Swords
painted version

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DECAN WALK: TAURUS 3, SEVEN OF DISKS Part II

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DECAN WALK: TAURUS 3, SEVEN OF DISKS Part I

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued in Part II.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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