Major Arcana

 

  • Hermetic Title: The Spirit of Ether

    Hebrew Letter: Aleph

    Elemental Trump of Air

    “[The Fool] is the most speaking of all the symbols. He signifies the journey outward, the state of the first emanation […] his wallet is inscribed with dim symbols, to show that many subconscious memories are stored in the soul.”

    --AE Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “I am the Lord of the Double Wand of Power […] but my left hand is empty, for I have crushed the universe and nought remains.”

    --Liber AL vel Legis III 72

    “Every journey has a hidden destination of which the traveler is unaware.”

    -Baal Shem Tov

    The fool represents potential energy- the state or essence of “about to”-ness, poised right on the living edge of manifestation. All possibilities are co-present in this moment. The precipice is a part of the Fool archetype.

    In earlier depictions, the Fool’s pants are often pulled down, exposing him: there can be no pretenses here.

    Upright Keyword: BEGINNING

    Fresh new beginning. A first step down a new path.

    Internal forces draw the Querent forward incautiously, heedless of all obstacles, warnings, dangers. One sets out blindly, alive with the joy of the setting out, destination blissfully unknown. Unmolded potential, living and raw.

    The Fool’s is the getting going. The blind walk to the ledge. The indrawn breath.

    Reversed Keyword: UNREADY

    Hesitant to take the first step. The path is clear, but one is reluctant or afraid to begin – cannot begin – or is actively holding oneself back.

    Being or feeling unready, unprepared.

  • Hermetic Title: The Magus of Power

    Thoth Title: The Magus

    Hebrew Letter: Bet

    Planetary Trump of Mercury

    The Magician has the symbols of the four minor arcana, the four elements, spread out before him:

    All of the tools are at hand.

    The sword - Air- East

    The wand – Fire – South

    The cup – Water – West

    The disc – Earth – North

    He gestures with one hand upwards, one hand down:

    As below, so above. As above, so below.

    The Fool is the indrawn breath that comes before speech, which is why it is represented by the number zero. Number one, the Magician, is the Utterance.

    Upright Keyword: MASTERY

    A balanced and expert use of the tools in one’s hand. Mastery over one’s craft.

    Creation and invention. A conduit for power, harnessed and wielded.

    Transmission received and conveyed – as above, so below.

    Ability to make manifest.

    Reversed Keyword: FUMBLED

    Self-doubt thwarting the execution of one’s will. The work is poorly done.

  • Hermetic Title: Priestess of the Silver Star

    Hebrew Letter: Gimel

    Planetary Trump of the Moon

    “She has been called Occult Science on the threshold of the Sanctuary of Isis, but she is really the secret Church, the House which is of god and man. […] She is the Moon, nourished by the milk of the Supernal Mother, the highest and the holiest.”

    --AE Waite, Pictoral Guide to the Tarot

    “I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house- she who has taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.”

    --Song of Songs 8:2

    The two pillars behind her, in black and white, are the Pillar of Severity and the Pillar of Mercy, the two sides of the Tree of Life. They are marked B & J for Boaz meaning ‘strength’ and Joachin meaning ‘he established.’

    Upright Keyword: WISDOM

    The High Priestess holds the scroll of deepest mysteries at the threshold of the Inner Temple, between the pillars of light and dark.

    She represents the Shechinah – the female divine essence.

    Secret knowledge revealed by moonlight.

    The mists part and the unconscious contacts the consciousness.

    The presence of the feminine divine is close. Inner power and intuition. Contact with the beyond.

    Reversed Keyword: INACCESSIBLE

    One’s inner vision is clouded- one is not in touch with one’s subconscious.

    A message or a warning may be coming which the Querent is not allowing themselves to perceive.

  • Hermetic Title: Daughter of the Mighty Ones

    Hebrew Letter: Daled

    Planetary Trump of Venus

    “Let yourself be penetrated, let yourself be fertile. There is honey in the heart. The power of the Mother is to create and to love with devotion. She does not seek to order. Nature is beautiful and chaotic.”

    --M. M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

    The Empress is surrounded by, crowned by, enthroned by the beauty and abundance and ripeness of nature. The Mother Earth, the love that grows plenty and replenishes life. The open door.

    Upright keyword: ABUNDANCE

    Femininity.

    Physicality. The pleasures and the senses.

    Fertility. The abundance of life in all its forms. Love it and let it grow wild.

    Inflow of love and pleasure and plenty— it is for one to accept and receive the gifts of life at this time.

    The heart door is open.

    Reversed keyword: LOCKED

    The door to one’s heart is closed. Love and abundance cannot enter.

    One is suppressing emotions, desires, or feminine energy.

  • Hermetic Title: Son of the Morning, Chief Among the Almighty

    Hebrew Letter: Tzaddi

    Zodiacal Trump of Aries

    “And on the pedestal these words appear:

    My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

    Look on my works, ye mighty and despair!

    Nothing beside remains.”

    --Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias

    The Emperor exists in straight, rigid lines. He rules structure, and order, and war, and rulership itself.

    His is the seat of power in the hierarchy of order. He is the builder and the regulator. He is the penetrator. The desire to rule over chaotic forces. The imposer of structure, desiring victory.

    Upright Keyword: REGULATION

    Masculinity.

    The power of the mind, exercised through the written or spoken word.

    Patriarchy.

    The structured and regulated world, and structured, regulated actions within that world.

    A regulating force, or a masculine authority figure.

    Reversed Keyword: DISORGANIZED

    Logic, organization, structure, and force are sorely lacking.

    OR– the negative influence of a regulatory masculine authority figure.

  • Hermetic Title: Magus of the Eternal Gods

    Hebrew Letter: Vav

    Zociacal Trump of Taurus

    The Heirophant is the physical seat of religious office. The ruling power of external religion, as opposed to the inner contact/inner mystery as represented by the High Priestess. His two pillars are physical, the structure of religious and moral order that form his church, give him power.

    The Heirophant is the power of the keys- the power to lock or to unlock. To release or to contain.

    Upright keyword: AUTHORITY

    A spiritual leader.

    Structures of societal and religious power.

    Enforcement of social and ethical mores.

    Strong concern with what is the right thing to do- both by the Querent’s inner conscience and by society’s outer rules.

    Principles of moral and ethical order are at the forefront of one’s life now.


    Reversed keyword: UNCONVENTIONAL

    One struggles with being misunderstood by the mainstream, or feeling constrained by societal rules and concepts of morality.

  • Hermetic Title: Children of the Voice Divine, the Oracles of the Mighty Gods

    Hebrew Letter: Zayin

    Zodiacal Trump of Gemini

    “we are so both and oneful
    night cannot be so sky
    sky cannot be so sunful
    i am through you so i”

    e.e. cummings, i am

    “The wings of love droop not with time, nor slacken for life or for death. Love destroyeth self, uniting self with that which is not self, so that Love breedeth All and None in One.”

    --Aleister Crowley, Book of Lies

    “The twins Sun and Moon are united by the conjunction which seems to be death.”

    --Valentinus

    The 18th Century version of this card was called ‘Marriage’ and showed a happy married couple at their hearth with a baby between them. The more common Garden of Eden imagery is a Christian/Esoteric polish on the same theme:

    Sacred union or divine marriage of male and female polarities. The act and the mystery of joining brings completeness.

    Upright Keyword: UNION

    A connection of two souls that will elevate both. A partnership necessary for the completion of both parties.

    The Lovers come together because their joining is necessary and right.

    Often this is a romantic love union, but this may not be the case- a powerful partnership that is significant and transformative to the life of both.

    Reversed Keyword: FOLLY

    A fling or an affair; an ill-advised connection.

    Emotions are powerful and genuine, but may still lead one astray from one’s path.

    Dangers lurk in the garden.

  • Hermetic Title: Child of the Powers of the Waters, Lord of the Triumph of Light

    Hebrew Letter: Chet

    Zodiacal Trump of Cancer

    The Chariot is the vessel that conveys the sacred chalice of the Moon.

    The precious object of the subconscious is brought forth- the Chariot is its armor and its vehicle, carrying it safely, protected and guarded.

    The Chariot does the work of the Moon- Emissary of the Inner Temple.

    Upright Keyword: FORWARD

    The type of discipline needed to gain control over powerful emotions.

    Compartmentalization- the ability to put it aside and focus exclusively on the task at hand.

    Steady, determined, and forceful progress. One is moving in the right direction and will not be deterred now.

    Reversed Keyword: OFF THE RAILS

    One is moving too fast, in the wrong direction, or both.

    Unable to keep oneself under rein.

  • Hermetic Title: Daughter of the Flaming Sword, Leader of the Lion

    Thoth Title: Lust

    Thoth Number: XI (Position 8 was originally JUSTICE. Reversed by Waite.)

    Hebrew Letter: Tet

    Zodiacal Trump of Leo

    “Fortitude (original name for Strength card) in one of its most exalted aspects, is associated with the Divine Mystery of Union, heiros gamos; the virtue, of course, operates in all planes, and hence draws on all in its symbolism.”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “The card has nothing to do with self-confidence in the ordinary sense […] but it concerns the confidence of those whose strength is God. […] There is one aspect in which the Lion signifies the passions, and she who is called Strength is the higher nature in its liberation.”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    Lion + Woman iconography is a strong archetype through history:
    -Egyptian lion-headed war goddess Sekhmet
    -Hindu great mother goddess Durga rides a tiger
    -Sumerian goddess of fertility and war Innanna is a lion tamer
    -Babylonian Ishtar of Gilgameth: “thou has loved the lion, mighty in strength

    Upright keyword: SELF-POSSESSION

    Internal power and strength made manifest.

    Control over the “Beast Within” that can come only from a complete acknowledgement and acceptance of it.

    Fully in tune with oneself, embodiment of lust allows embodiment of higher self. Full self- one is driving and experiencing.

    Reversed Keyword: SELF-CONFUSION

    One has not found oneself and suffers from this.

    The self is not known to the Querent.

  • Hermetic Title: The Magus of the Voice of Light, the Prophet of the Gods

    Hebrew Letter: Yud

    Zodiacal Trump of Virgo

    “Wouldst thou go into isolation, my brother? Wouldst thou seek the way unto thyself?”

    --Friederich Nietzche, Thus Spake Zarathustra

    “All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.”

    --Joseph Campbell

    The icons of the Hermit are the Lantern and the Staff. According to Crowley the Staff represents a sperm, but also and more interestingly, it “grows out of the abyss.”

    The Hermit retreats to speak to the Inner Voice, and the Lantern is the light that the Hermit is tasked to bring back down the mountain to the world.

    Upright Keyword: LIGHT-BRINGER

    Wisdom found through solitude.

    In seclusion, the ability to communicate directly with the Inner Voice emerges.

    The Hermit bears the sacred responsibility of carrying the lantern light to others- one does not come back down the mountain empty handed.

    Reversed Keyword: LONELY

    Alone for too long, one needs seclusion to end.

    The need to emerge from solitude and seek company, to be with others.

  • Hermetic Title: The Lord of the Forces of Life

    Hebrew Letter: Kaf

    Planetary Trump of Jupiter

    “To everything, turn, turn, turn
    There is a season, turn, turn, turn.”

    —The Byrds, ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’

    “Globed from the atoms falling slow or swift
    I see the suns. I see the systems lift
    Their forms: and e’en the systems and the suns
    Shall go back slowly to th’ eternal drift.”

    --Lucretius, On the Nature of Things

    “Free a million mortals on the wheel of being tossed!
    Open wide the mystic portals and be altogether lost!”

    --Rites of Jupiter

    The wheel of Fortune spins in perpetual motion. Nothing is permanent.

    The Rider-Waite-Smith shows representations of the four Royal fixed stars:
    -Aldebaran (Persian: Tascheter) the eagle, Watcher of the East
    -Regulus (Persian: Venant) the lion, Watcher of the North
    -Antares (Persian: Satevis) the bull, Watcher of the West
    -Formalhaut (Persian: Haftorang) the fish, Watcher of the South

    Tarot Mundi shows the Hindu Gunas, corresponding with alchemical elements:
    -Sattva (balance, intelligence and purity) corresponds with Mercury
    -Rajas (energy, motion, passion) corresponds with Sulfur
    -Ramas (inertia, darkness, death) corresponds with Salt

    Upright Keyword: FATE

    All things are interconnected and all things are cyclical. The appearance of this card indicates a turning of the wheel. A change is coming. This too shall pass.

    Energy at work beyond our understanding or control- chance, fate, destiny.

    A feeing of fate guides one’s actions.

    Everything’s connected, don’t overthink it.

    Reversed Keyword: RELUCTANCE

    A coming change may be difficult to accept.

  • Hermetic Title: Daughter of the Lord of Truth, the Holder of the Balances

    Thoth Title: Adjustment

    Thoth Number: VIII (Position 11 was originally Fortitude. Switched by Waite.)

    Hebrew Letter: Lamed

    Zodiacal Trump of Libra

    “The Pillars of Justice open into one world, and the Pillars of the High Priestess into another.”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “Ma’at, goddess of truth and the administration of law, here is the living fulcrum. Balance is not standing still, it is the constant movement of minute adjustment. […] Saturn is exalted in Libra, and thus Time has influence here. This is the equilibrium of the dance of space-time.”

    --M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

    “God said:

    God made you. God does not care if you are ‘guilty’ or not.

    I said:

    I care if I am guilty!

    I care if I am guilty!”

    --Frank Bidart, The War of Vaslav Nijinsky

    Upright Keyword: BALANCE

    A balance that is immutable, emotionless, and cannot be swayed by human influence.

    The Universe seeks to maintain balance at all costs.

    Look to the past- these deeds are the foundation of the future, and debts now come due. One’s actions return to one as effects or consequences at this time.

    Reversed Keyword: IMBALANCE

    Bigotry, bias, injustice or perceived injustice.

    Something around the Querent is out of balance, requiring adjustment.

  • Hermetic Title: The Spirit of the Mighty Waters

    Hebrew Letter: Mem

    Elemental Trump of Water

    Waite notes that the gallows forms a TAV cross, while the hanged Man’s body position with one leg crossed over the other creates a Pylfot cross.

    Liber Mundi notes that the body position forms the inverted symbol for Sulfur.

    This is the card of sacrifice, but it suggests life, not death, in its symbolism.

    -The cross is a living tree

    -The hanged man lives, and his expression is of peace that comes from deep entrancement

    The sacrifice must be gladly given to seek the wisdom of the deep well. The deep well feeds the Tree, and the Tree is life.

    Upright Keyword: SACRIFICE

    Letting go.

    Wisdom found through acceptance and sacrifice. Strength found through vulnerability. Courage found through admitting fear.

    One must give of oneself, lose something of oneself, but this stripping away reveals truth.

    Things tightly held may now be released. It’s time.

    Reversed Keyword: REPRESSION

    Something from one’s past is holding one back.

    One must find it, admit to it, and come to terms with it, before letting go is possible.

  • Hermetic Title: Child of the Great Transformation, Lord of the Gates of Death

    Hebrew Letter: Nun

    Zodiacal Trump of Scorpio

    “Life and Death are each an illusion, each a part of the snake renewing itself. Shed your skin: Transform. […] From putrefaction comes new growth. Take the long view.”

    --M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

    Death is a card of renewal- the emblem on the skeletal rider’s black flag in the Smith depiction is the Mystic rose, which signifies life.

    Mystical death leads to mystical rebirth.

    Physical death leads to putrefaction leads to new life.

    Upright Keyword: CHANGE

    Transformation, change, renewal.

    A very deep and complete transformation- a soul-deep change which cannot be undone.

    A life-changing event.

    The definitive end of one phase brings the beginning of another.

    Reversed Keyword: STUCK

    The desire for change, but the inability to enact it.

    and/or

    One is actively resisting an imminent change.

  • Hermetic Title: Daughter of the Reconcilers, The Bringer Forth of Life

    Thoth Title: Art

    Hebrew Letter: Samech

    Zodiacal Trump of Sagittarius

    “It is called Temperance fantastically, because when the rule of it obtains in our consciousness, it tempers, combines and harmonizes the psychic and material natures. Under that rule, we know in our rational part something of whence we came and whither we are going.”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “Unify and synthesize opposites. Temper with fire and water, dissolve and bind in proper measure. The art of alchemy is to engender successful transmutation.”

    --M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

    The figure has one foot on the earth and one foot in the water, the contents of its two cups in constant flow back and forth, one to the other.

    Crowley’s renaming of the card to ‘Art’ is for the art of Alchemy- a careful partitioning and a delicate balancing of elements, handled with care.

    Upright Keyword: HARMONIZE

    Reconstruction and harmonization of the self, with all aspects in their proper measure.

    The quest for purity of mind and soul, driven by harmonious relations with oneself and others.

    Inner balance, moderation, and control over impulses.

    Reversed Keyword: DISCORD

    Something is out of balance, especially regarding relationships with others.

    Immoderate behavior brings problems.

    Association with churches and religious organizations.

  • Hermetic Title: Lord of the Gates of Matter, Child of the Forces of Time

    Hebrew Letter: Ayn

    Zodiacal Trump of Capricorn

    “Gods suppressed become devils, and often it is these devils whom we first encounter when we turn inward.”

    --Joseph Campbell

    Many medieval decks show the Devil with a voracious face in his belly- he is the untamed appetites.

    The inverted pentagram, sign of the Devil, represents body over spirit.

    The hand gesture the Devil makes in the Smith illustration is the direct inverse of the hand gesture of the Heirophant.

    Upright Keyword: CRAVING

    “The Beast Within.”

    The ugly urge- the uncontrollable craving.

    Lust, ignorance, greed, deceit, corruption.

    A powerful base internal force, repulsive to the rational mind, which overtakes with the potential to do real harm to the external life.

    The id- source of conscious guilt and shame- has surfaced, overcome the rational, and is now driving.

    Reversed Keyword: DECEIVED

    Some aspect of one’s life is not what it appears to be.

    Weak will.

    Pettiness, blindness.

  • Hermetic Title: Lord of the Hosts of the Mighty

    Hebrew Letter: Pey

    Planetary Trump of Mars

    “It is the Ruin of the House of Life, when evil has prevailed therein, and above all it is the rending of a House of Doctrine. […] We are to understand that the House of God has been abandoned and the veil of the temple rent.”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “Crowley says of this something that can be conveyed in the equation ultimate reality equals perfection equals nothingness. Therefore all manifestations, however delightful, are stains, so to obtain perfection all living things must be annihilated.”

    --M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

    “What use are fortress, trench? Can moat or wall prevail against the lightning hurled by Heaven’s Lord and Master?”

    --Wolf Helmhardt von Hohberg

    Babel imagery- that which falls here does not just fall but is struck down.

    Upright Keyword: DESTRUCTION

    Disaster.

    What has been built is now violently destroyed- no part of the structure will remain, it is all undone.

    Radical upheaval, drastic wrenching change. People and structures once relied upon may be leaving for good. There is no preparing for this.

    Reversed Keyword: SELF-SABOTAGE

    Harmful, self-destructive impulses at work.

    Oppression and imprisonment.

  • Hermetic Title: Daughter of the Firmament, Dweller Between the Waters

    Hebrew Letter: Hey

    Zodiacal Trump of Aquarius

    “That which the figure communicates to the living scene is the substance of the heavens of the elements.”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “The face of the waters and the face of the heavens, the infinity of sea,
    the infinity of night, are grown pure, are made clear,
    and the sea appeareth as a firmament-
    Then are they two seas bound up together;
    and between them is my heart, a third sea,
    lifting up ever anew my waves of praise.”

    --Yehuda Halevi, Equipped for Flight


    ”Like a bolt out of the blue,
    fate steps in and sees you through
    when you wish upon a star
    like dreamers do.”

    —Pinocchio (1940)

    In the Thoth depiction, the star overhead has 7 points for the Star of Venus.

    In the Smith depiction, the star has 8 points, representing, variously:
    -8 in Gematria (Jewish numerology) represents completion and regeneration;
    -Ashthalakshmi, 8-pointed symbol of the Hindu star goddess Lakshmi as a face of the Eightfold Goddess;
    -Ogdoad, or the four pairs of primordial principles in Gnosticism: Abyss/Silence > Mind/Truth > Word/Life > Man/Church
    -Symbol of paradise as “Time transformed into the 4th dimension.”

    Upright Keyword: CLARITY

    Enlightenment through a deep connection with the subconscious.

    Like a bolt out of the blue—

    It is made clear, it is glimpsed, even if it cannot be explained now.

    Reversed Keyword: OVERCOME

    Inspiration found through adversity.

    Struggle brings previously unseen opportunities.

  • Hermetic Title: Ruler of Flux and Reflux, Child of the Sons of the Mighty

    Hebrew Letter: Kaf

    Zodiacal Trump of Pisces

    “The card represents life of the imagination, apart from the life of the spirit. The path between the towers is the issue into the unknown. The dog and the wolf are the fears of the natural mind in the presence of that place of exit, when there is only reflected light to guide it. […] The lobster represents that which comes up out of the deeps.”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “Let the illusion of the world pass over thee, unheeded, as thou goest from the Midnight to the Morning.”

    --Book of Thoth

    “You dread the depths. It should horrify you, since the way of what is to come leads through it.”

    --Carl Jung, Liber Novus

    The Moon draws the tides and moves the deep water.

    Upright Keyword: DEPTH

    The stirring of the subconscious.

    The moonlight pulls and something moves in the deepest places.

    Powerful intuition and psychic energy- the dreaming is strong at this time.

    Darkness or danger. Initiation into mysteries. The path is murky, but it calls.

    Reversed Keyword: MISINTERPRET

    One’s situation is unclear- things are not easily seen or are too easily misread at present.

    The dreams are forgotten on waking or are not understood.

    One may be missing, or misinterpreting, some important subconscious symbol.

  • Hermetic Title: The Lord of the Fire of the World

    Hebrew Letter: Resh

    Planetary Trump of the Sun

    “The card signifies, therefore, the transit from the manifest light of this world, represented by the glorious sun of Earth, to the light of the world to come, which goes before aspiration and is typified by the heart of a child.”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “The child represents the joy of being connected with your inner spirit, and his nakedness is a sign he has nothing to hide and has all the innocence and purity of childhood. The white horse is also a sign of purity and strength.”

    --Biddy Tarot

    The defining characteristic of the Sun is that it allows us to see.

    The Sun is the source of all light and all life. This card is about being at one with the source.

    Upright Keyword: COMPLETION

    Radiant energy and celebration of life.

    Completion- the fulfillment of an important task or the fulfillment of creative energy.

    Rewards reaped- a positive omen of good times coming. Joy and rejoicing.

    Familial happiness- one is in one’s right place at last.

    Can sometimes represent the birth of a child.

    Reversed Keyword: BLIND SPOT

    This is a strong positive omen overall, but there is a missed element.

    One is blind to some aspect of the current situation, whether large or small.

  • Hermetic Title: Spirit of the Primal Fire

    Thoth Title: Aeon

    Hebrew Letter: Shin

    Elemental Trump of Fire

    “It is the card which registers the accomplishment of the great work of transformation in answer to the summons of the Supernal, heard and answered from within […] What is within us that does sound a trumpet, and all that is lower in our nature rises to response- almost in a moment, almost in the twinkling of an eye?”

    --A.E. Waite, Pictoral Key to the Tarot

    “Therefore understand thou the formula of Horus, the Lion god, the Child crowned and conquering, that cometh forth in Force and Fire! For thy Changes are not phases of thee, but of the phantoms which thou mistakest for thyself.”

    --Liber Aleph

    “Here is all perception of the great correlations: the bigger picture, revealed.”

    --M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

    Upright Keyword: REVEALED

    The end of a journey. The final outcome or end of a cycle.

    All things are seen clearly now- with nothing to lose, everything is revealed.

    Reversed Keyword: UNCLEAR

    One’s perceptions may be unreliable.

    One’s judgements and decisions are not sound at present. One may not have all the facts.

    Things are not seen clearly here.

  • Hermetic Title: The Great One of the Night of Time

    Hebrew Letter: Tet

    Planetary Trump of Saturn

    “It is eloquent as an image of the swirl of the sensitive life, of joy attained I the body of the soul’s intoxivation in the earthly paradise, but still guarded by the Divine Watchers as if by the powers and graces of the tetragrammaton.”]

    --A.E. Waite, Pictorial Key to the Tarot

    “The Portal, the vescia pescis (intersecting of two lenses), the Shemhameforash (the 72-fold Name).”

    --M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

    “’Tis a gift to come ‘round where you ought to be.”

    --Shaker ballad ‘Simple Gifts’

    Representations of the four Royal Fixed Stars (Regulus the Lion in Leo, Antares the Eagle in Scorpio, Formalhaut the Man in Aquarius, and Aldebaran the Bull in Taurus) surround a joyous figure enclosed in a complete oval: shape of the egg, symbol of life.

    It is a depiction of the Circle of Life in its entirety.

    Upright Keyword: FULFILLMENT

    Completion, satisfaction, fulfillment.

    In right relation with the Universe- one is living in total harmony within and without enacting one’s role in the world with perfect contentment, at one with the turning circle, in love with life, in life with love. Rightness.

    A successful endeavor – the work is completed and the sense of wholeness lives within.

    Reversed Keyword: ALMOST

    A roadblock occurring very near to the end of a journey. One final obstacle.

    Fulfillment is so very close here, one can taste it.