12:05 p.m.
Thoth deck, Golden Dawn layout
What can of worms have I opened?
1. 2 Swords
2. Tower
3. Star
4. Princess of Cups
5. 10 Swords
6. 6 Cups
7. 2 Wands
8. 9 Cups
9. Prince of Cups
10. Princess of Swords
11. Universe
12. 10 Cups
13. Ace Wands
14. 9 Wands
15. 8 Swords
Center -- balance force, Libra, Moon. Aquarius on one side and Mars the other. Upheaval but "guided." Is this new current a gaping maw or a door, or both? Future all cups, fulfillment. "Cup runneth over." Extended/diverted future. Cups into Swords. Crisis or moment of tension approaches. Latent force. Root -- shades of Mercury? Karma/Fate -- Wands are now Swords. Balance was latent, now invoked. No, this is backdrop... a natural cycle.
2 Swords. Pax. Contradictory characteristics in same nature. (Magickal power is a leak.) Trouble birthing Strength. Tension remains after peace restored. Indecision, things not clear cut. Chokmah in Air, Moon in Libra. "Energy beyond the onslaught of the disruption of the intellect." Intellect restrained by love. A rose or lotus, consider implications.
Tower. Quarrel, danger, destruction of plans. Ambition & courage. Escape from prison and implications. Peh. Admits of two interpretations in one, is manifestation in rude form of destruction; the destruction of the Old Aeon in lightning, flames, war... or perfection of annihilation by emancipation from the prison of society. The dove and serpent are fem. and masc. impulses? "The Will to live and the Will to die." Liber Legis I. 57 "Invoke me under my stars! Love is the law, love under will. Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the house of God. All these old letters of my book are aright, but (Tz) is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise." See Liber NV. Love magically directed, not casual or under fear. "This love, then, should be the serpent love, the awakening of Kundalini. Further mystery is of (Peh). The last paragraph confirms Tarot attributions in 777. With one secret exception. (Tz) is Emperor (IV) and Heh is Star (XVII) Aquarius and Aries are counterchanged, revolving on the pivot of Pisces, just as VIII and XI, Leo and Libra about Virgo. Mars. Peh. Purification thru fire. Lightning, flames, war. "All of nature is renewed by fire" = INRI. Active will to live vs. passive resignation to death. Not satisfied with this explanation of serpent love, and "further mystery of Peh." Might be one level, or dust in the eyes. Thinking more to "magically directed," and "The way to succeed..." Maybe I just like to be beat over the head with things. Odd, for a poet.
Star. Hope, help. Clarity, insight. Dreaminess/disappointment? Have I cleaned my windshield lately? Energy in card is spiral... in anticipation of Aeon of Horus. "Departin Aeon in rectilinear forms from lower cup = abandoned Euclidean geometry." (Whatever.) Goddess = manifestation of surrounding space of heaven. Aquarius. Heh. N & S poles of magnetic attraction. I.3. "Every man and every woman is a star." "A consciousness to be attained by prescribed methods." See Book of Wisdom or Folly. A mystery of the planets revolving about a star of whom they are parts... man is middle kingdom. Pigheaded misanthropic elucidation follows.
Princess of Cups. Earthy water. Substance to idea. Clean the windshield and stop drinking so much. Water as basis of chemical combination. Dolphin, power of creation. Venus? Tortoise solidification of water. Unusual quality of water in solid form is density as compared to other elements. Ponder this after you look it up in that chemistry book.
9 Cups. Happiness. Watch out for THAT. Success, physical well-being. Near-perfection is temporary. Quit blowing sunshine up your own ass, and quit drinking so much. Yesod in water. Jup in Pisces. Beneficent aspect of water. Overflowing is ordered possessive aspect of love partaking of a ritual. Again. Get to the root of this. Remember that water can drown your damn ass.
10 Cups. Pursuit of pleasure, doesn't fall in your lap. Perfect but incomplete success. Matters settled as wished. Uh-oh. Peacemaking. Quit drinking so much and watch out for that married guy. Malkuth in water. Mars in Pisces. Cups are unstable and spill water from overhanging lotus. This is disruptive force that attacks supposed perfection. Exhaustion which comes from expended energy is expressed.
10 Swords. Ruin. Reason divorced from reality. Disaster, some hope. Eloquence and insolence. End of spiritual delusion? Malkuth in air. Sun in Gemini. Arrangement of points 1-5, 7-9 shatter Tiphareth. (Sun, heart) Reason run mad in a riot of soulless mechanism. "ghost in the machine." Tormented madness of uncontrolled mind.
Prince Cups. Airy water. Subtle, secret violence and craft. Calm masks passion. Ruthless in concern for power and wisdom. Ambition. Water is elasticity, volatility, energy of steam. Chariot surrounded by clouds and drawn by eagle. Lotus and cup, issuing spiral serpent. Volatile aeriated element. Water can freeze or burn.
Ace Wands. Root of powers of Fire. Solar-phallic outburst of flame. Am I being beat over the head here? Natural as opposed to invoked force. Fire in inception. "Inflame thyself with prayer." Yods arranged as Tree. Energy manifesting in matter. "With the Wand createth he."
6 Cups. Pleasure. Harmony without effort or strain. Fulfillment of sexual will. Be grateful. Tiphareth in water. Sun in Scorpio. Lotus stems are full but not overflowing. Influence of sun on water. "His fierce but balanced power operates on a type of putrefication which is the basis of fertility." Love for personal gratification.
Princess Swords. Earthy air. Destructive logic. Practical wisdom, subtlety. Fixation of volatile. Materialisation of idea. Barren altar, helmet of Medusa. Air in earth is oxygen which promotes growth of plants. In nitrogen cycle poison becomes food.
9 Wands. Strength. Health, success after opposition. Force. "Change is stability." Yesod in fire. Moon in Sag. Wands become arrows. Master arrow has moon for point and sun for driving force. Fullest development of Force in relation to forces above it. Solar-phallic power of lion seeking white eagle, Love under Will. "O Lion and O Serpent who destroy the destroyer, be mighty among us!" Arrows of Diana. Combined swiftness and heat of fire.
2 Wands. Dominion. Fire in highest form. Energy initiating a current of force. Harmony of rule. Influence over another. Boldness, fierceness. Restlessness, turbulence. Chokmah in fire. Mars in Aries. Dorje is Tibetan symbol of destruction = first step in creative process. INRI.
Universe. Essence of question! Synthesis. Delay, opposition. Perseverance. Crystallization of matter. Tau. With Aleph, Essence is spelt. Reality comprised between these. Tau is fourfold extension, transcendence of space and time by continually self-compensating change. "Die daily." Saturn, slowest of planets, associated with Earth. Saturn is old god, fertility. Tau on tree is equlibrium between change and stability. Glyph on card symbolizes completion of Great Work. Image of universe is maiden, final He. Dances with spiral-forming serpent or sun. Ellipse of 72 circles is quinaries of Zodiac. Corners are Kerubim, established Universe. Center is Wheel of Life, initiating form of Tree. map of chemical elements. Four winds of heaven. "I have crushed an universe, and naught remains."
8 Swords. Interference. Waste of energy in details is causing neglect of more important things. Lack of persistence. Unforeseen bad luck. Restriction. Great care, disorder in some things. Hod in Air. Jup. in Gem. Lack of persistence in intellectual matters and accidental interference. Outside obstruction brings inability to concentrate.
Need to move through intellect. Indecision is result of internal muckiness, external obstacles. Intellect restrained by Love -- need to focus. Serpent. Love magickally directed, not casual or under fear. "Fear is failure, and the forerunner of failure." Act like a goddamn Magician, not a rabbit. Merc. is around waiting for a direction to go in, keep it bottled up and it will blow. Trust. Fulfill obligation and take up sword. Water's power to give substance to an idea. Keep an eye on implication of 10 Cups. Nature abhors vacuum, so set the stage. Liber DCCCXIII vel Ararita. VII. "At the touch of the fire Qadosh the Brilliance of our Lord was absorbed in the Naught of our Lady of the Body of the Milk of the Stars. Then only was the Fire Qadosh extinguished, when the enterer was driven back from the threshold, and the Lord of Silence was established upon the Lotus flower. Then was accomplished all that which was to be accomplished. And All and One and Naught were slain in the slaying of the warrior 418..." Ayin, Zain. overflowing. 77. Towers, citadels. A he-goat. Spiritual end of delusion. Ouch. Destruction of Tiphareth as pivot. Steam burns, powers war engines. natural force. Stirring up something internal. Love again, "putrefication as basis of fertility." Fixation of volatile. Combined swiftness and heat of fire. "may the fire and the air make sweet the world." Moon in Libra, mars in Aries. Destruction as first step in creative power. (Great, more lustration.) Use Tau.