Magical description of the decan, per Crowley’s 777: A dark man, in his right hand a spear and laurel branch and in his left a book
Lord of Peace, or Peace Restored
Ruler of Libra: Venus; ruler of this decan of Libra: the Moon
Deity per 36 Airs of the Zodiac: the Erinyes aka Furies
[coming soon]
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Update from the Wheelhouse:
Hello everybody. We have arrived at a major threshold in our journey together. If you are on the Fortune’s Wheelhouse Academy Facebook page, you may have already heard the news that we have decided the podcast has come to the end of its natural lifespan. The last episode was recorded this past full moon, fittingly, and will be released on the Equinox, 9/22/2021.
After we completed the 78 cards, plus the planetary, numeric, zodiacal, and elemental series, we spent some time trying to decide whether there was another system it made sense to take on, and ultimately we concluded there was not. And for each of us to continue growing and creating in the tarot world, we needed to reclaim the time demanded by the podcast.So we decided to record one final episode. (I’d thought jokingly of going out with a bang and doing an all-phallic-symbols episode, which would have been fun.) But in the end we thought, why not do readings for each other? We’ve read for many of you patrons over the years. But neither of us gets readings for ourselves very often. So giving the gift of divination to each other seemed like a fitting end to this 4-year adventure.
Going forward, all 120 episodes of the podcast will remain freely available on all podcast streaming services, for anyone to refer to whenever they like. Our books and decks will still be out there. You’ll still be able to find me here at tabulamundi.com and Susie at tsusanchang.com. You’ll still be able to buy Fortune’s Wheelhouse merchandise at our RedBubble store, which is at www.redbubble.com/people/wheelhouse93/shop, and this will help fund the fees for keeping the podcast episodes still available to all. And everyone is still free to join the FWA group on Facebook.
Thank you to the over 300 of you who supported the journey with patronage via our Fortunes Wheelhouse Patreon page, for being our heroes of the astral world, and thank you to all who came along for a listen. After all, a podcast only exists for its listeners. By going on this journey through esoteric tarot with us and sharing it with others and incorporating it into your own praxis, you complete the circuit of knowledge Fortune’s Wheelhouse represents. As above, so below. As within, so without.
At the end of this episode, there will be some final notes on what each of us is up to. But for now, enjoy this last ride on the Wheel as we invite you enter into the draw with us.
magical image of the decan per Crowley’s 777: An old man leaning on a staff and wrapped in a mantle
Mercury rules both the sign and the decan. The related deities are Cronus and Hestia.
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magical image of the decan per Crowley’s 777: Tall, fair, large man, with him a woman holding a large black oil jar
The Nine of Disks/Pentacles is the secand decan of Virgo. Virgo is Mercury ruled and the decan is ruled by Venus
[coming soon]
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per 777: A virgin clad in linen, with an apple or pomegranate
The 8 of Disks or Pentacles is also known as the Lord of Prudence. The ruler of Virgo and 8’s is Mercury, ruler of the first decan of Virgo is the Sun.
[coming soon]
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Magical image of the decan, per Crowley’s 777: A swarthy hairy man, with a drawn sword and shield
The Seven of Wands, Lord of Valour, Leo’s third and final decan, ruled by Mars: Six against one: is this the hill you want to die on?
[coming soon]
The tarot Six of Wands is the Lord of Victory, the succedent or middle decan of the fixed Fire sign Leo. 777 describes the decan image as “A man crowned with a white myrtle wreath, holding a bow“.
The Picatrix decan description is similar, with the additional detail that this is a man who will mount and ride [a horse].
36 Airs of the Zodiac give the related deity as Isis, the goddess who wears a crown that has what looks like the pictogram of a figure seated on a throne. It is shown here in the card on the hill in the distance that the figure rides towards.
Per 777: A man in sordid raiment, with him a nobleman on horseback. accompanied by bears and dogs
Deity per 36 Airs of the Zodiac: Hephaestus
A complicated image for the Five of Wands, the Lord of Strife (and striving). An image that suggests the hunt.
The 777 description is likely loosely based on the Picatrix description: A man dressed in filthy garments; and there ascends with him the figure of a lord of the horse looking toward the north; and his figure is like the figure of a bear and the figure of a dog. And this is a face of strength, liberality, and victory.
Sort of bleeds into the 6 of Wands, Victory. if you ask me. Working on that one now!
Both Agrippa and Bruno have a figure riding a lion. I did incorporate the lion (Lion-Serpent) for Leo into the design, but enclosed in a pentagram, and netted – as Saturn, the planet of restriction and pressure, rules the decan.
[coming soon]
Per 777: A man in sordid raiment, with him a nobleman on horseback. accompanied by bears and dogs
Per 777, the decan for the Four of Cups (Luxury, or Blended Pleasure): A swift-footed person, with a viper in his hand, leading dogs. Except for the male pronoun, it sounds a lot like the huntress lunar goddess Artemis, who was swift and often accompanied by dogs. Her lunar connotations make a lot of sense for Cancer, ruled by the Moon, and the decan itself ruled by the Moon. So this figure had an Artemis inspiration, and is shown running along the seashore with two dogs that will probably be colored black as a nod to Hecate and Anubis, also associated with the decan.
Some of the other decan source image descriptions also mention hunting, dogs, and running. The 36 Airs fragmentary text gives the decan to Hecate, triple faced lunar goddess who also is associated with dogs, Ibn Ezra mentions Anubis, and the Egyptian god of the decan is serpentine Typhon or the somewhat canine Set. In this image the faces in the Moon represent Hecate.
The figure carries a lunar horn-shaped drinking cup, while the dogs each bear a cup as well however precariously. The fourth cup is spilling out – no one has the need for it or an additional hand to carry it! After all, a fourth cup would be both a luxury and a restrictive burden. Two figures look behind, one ahead. The pleasure is blended with the knowledge that stasis is impossible!
[coming soon]
Four of Cups, ©2021 M.M. Meleen
This was a fun image to work with. Crowley’s 777 lists the decan image as: A beautiful woman wreathed with myrtle. She holds a lyre and sings of love and gladness.
The tarot Three of Cups, Lord of Abundance, is the middle decan of Cancer, Cancer ruled by the Moon, with the decan itself ruled by Mercury (though the Vedic tradition has it as Mars – which is perhaps a hint as to why 36 Airs of the Zodiac attributes it to Hercules, who doesn’t fit well with the cards meaning unless you ponder Hercules/Herakles’ connection to Hera.)
The woman here was inspired by the goddess Saraswati, who has many Mercury-like attributes. Saraswati normally holds an instrument called a veena which is in the same family as the lyre. Here she holds a lyre as she sings “of love and gladness” and toasts with three different ornate chalices. The peacock is a bird sacred to both Saraswati and Hera.
Update: You can see the color version here.
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