Hermetic Title: Root of the Powers of Earth

Zodiacal Rulership: Quadrant Aries to Gemini, w/ the Princess as its Throne

Trumps: EMPEROR, HEIROPHANT, LOVERS

Hebrew Letter: second hey in tetragrammaton

Sphinx Power: TACERE – the power TO KEEP SILENT

“If you build it, they will come.”

--Field of Dreams (1989)

In the Thoth or Thelema system, this and the Princess of Disks both have associations with the female destructive deity Babalon, and the two cards form the powers of Earth (the root, the throne).

Together they represent the mystery of the end transmuting into the beginning.

Upright Keyword: FOUNDATION

The birth of action in the world of matter and materiality. This marks the beginning of a project whose aim is wealth and/or incarnation.

The beginnings of a work that will ultimately be financially profitable- now is the time for building foundations.

A good or strong first step in an endeavor which has the potential to bring not only financial profit but also contentment, spiritual felicity. One’s actions at this juncture are the cornerstone of one’s future works.

The goal is the power to keep silent and to act with discernment.

Reversed Keyword: MONEY PROBLEMS

The “evil side” of wealth – riches which come at a consequence.

Bad or faulty guidance informs one’s decisions, especially in financial terms.

One may allow worrying about money to hold one back.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Harmonious Change

Decan: 0 – 9 degrees Capricorn

Ruler: Jupiter

Trumps: THE DEVIL, WHEEL OF FORTUNE

The first decan of Capricorn is ruled by Jupiter.

“Jupiter’s fortune is somewhat constrained by the limiting Saturnine power of Capricorn. Yet the interplay of expansion and contraction is what drives the Universe […] The ever spinning wheels of life never reach completion.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

Upright Keyword: BALANCING

This represents a constant effort for balance but one which is forward-moving rather than stagnant in nature.

Balance, and the change needed to gain balance.

Can indicate a change in financial situation.

Difficulty balancing two situations or two responsibilities.

Reversed Keyword: FAKING IT

Enforced or simulated happiness- a face put on to keep the peace.

Can also serve as a warning to step back when one has bitten off more than one can chew.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Work

Decan: 10 to 19 degrees Capricorn

Ruler: Mars

Trumps: THE DEVIL, THE TOWER

“Compare to the design of the Eight of Pentacles. The apprentice or amateur therein has received his reward and is now at work in earnest.”

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

“It is a card of building up. This could be the building blocks of a great pyramid, the constructive work that creates material wealth, or the building blocks of DNA of which life and the body are made […] From the combination of the Devil and the Tower, the III of Pentacles inherits a towering spiral of DNA […] within the DNA spiral are three disks (containing the three symbols of alchemy, Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt). It is the building blocks of creation.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

Upright Keyword: CRAFTSMANSHIP

Skilled, dedicated work. Hard work and service are rewards unto themselves.

Satisfaction and fulfillment found in doing one’s job and doing it well.

Can signal young or early success which may be built upon in order to create something greater.

Reversed Keyword: MEDIOCRITY

Work should be a focus if it is not already.

There is the risk of, or at least the fear of, mediocrity at one’s work.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Earthly Power

Decan: 20 – 29 degrees Capricorn

Ruler: Sun

Trumps: THE DEVIL, THE SUN

“He holds to that which he has.”

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

“Capricorn is a sign of industry and enterprise, and throughout history the Sun has always been a symbol of power and invincibility. […] However, this is the last decan of Capricorn, whose associated trump card is The Devil. This gives the card its traditional meaning that shows that while one is firmly established materially and invested with authority and power, there is the risk of covetousness.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

Upright Keyword: EMPTY GAIN

Material gains- power and riches, but no accompanying emotional or spiritual gain.

The surety of possessions.

Covetousness- holding tight to the things one has, but always feeling the want for more.

Or, one gets what one wants, but finds no joy in it.

Reversed Keyword: CLINGING

One is clinging to things, people, or luxuries, and must move past this.

The task here is to release one’s grasp and to let it go.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Material Trouble

Decan: 0 to 9 degrees Taurus

Ruler: Mercury

Trumps: THE HEIROPHANT, THE MAGICIAN

“This card foretells material trouble above all, whether in the form illustrated- that is, destitution- or otherwise.”

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

“These are the chains of materiality (Taurus) that bind the mind (Mercury) in the harsh and disruptive world of Geburah in the suit of Earth. This brings anxiety over material things.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

“The Five of Pentacles can depict not a reality but a fear. Worry, anxiety, or stress over the potentiality of loss.”

--Austin Coppock, Fortune’s Wheelhouse

Upright Keyword: HARDSHIP

Loss – this card indicates financial or material struggle, to varying degrees.

Worry – the fear of material loss, the fear of destitution and total loss of all resources, plague the consciousness.

Reversed Keyword: TRANSITION

One is leaving an insecure position for a more secure one, but the going will be chaotic and not easy.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Material Success

Decan: 10 – 19 degrees Taurus

Ruler: Moon

Trumps: THE HEIROPHANT, THE HIGH PRIESTESS

“The charity of the patron […] is a testimony to his own success in life, as well as to his goodness of heart.”

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

“Six is the number of equilibrium, beauty, and harmony. […] The keys to the fertile valley offer appreciation of life, beauty, and abundance.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

Upright Keyword: ASSISTANCE

One of high wealth or status giving back to those in need.

The Querent may be feeling the capacity and the need to assist others within the realm of their own success, or they may be the recipient of invaluable assistance from someone whose position is above them.

Assistance brings success brings assistance.

Now is the accepted time.

Reversed Keyword: FALSE HELPLESSNESS

One feels alone or without aid, but in reality those who could and would offer their assistance are all around.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Failure (Success Unfulfilled)

Decan: 20 – 29 degrees Taurus

Ruler: Saturn

Trumps: THE HEIROPHANT, THE WORLD

“Success has been thus far unfulfilled. What is needed to achieve victory in the material plane of Earth is toil through effort and endurance.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

“One would say that these were his treasures and that his heart was there.”

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

While the Thoth takes a darker view of this card than the Rider-Waite-Smith, and the Waite definition is a bit confused overall, it should be possible to use the below keywords for any system.

Upright Keyword: ASSESSMENT

A stopping point in one’s progress, a moment to consider what one has, what one has done, to review one’s work and the fruits of one’s labor.

What is next? What is wanted and what is needed now?

Can also indicate feelings of dissatisfaction despite receiving rewards for one’s hard work.

Reversed Keyword: UNRAVELLING

One’s efforts and investments are scattered- unclear goals or the feeling of unclear goals.

Frustration at lack of process, not comprehending the cause. Anxieties about one’s plans falling apart.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Prudence

Decan: 0 - 9 degrees Virgo

Ruler: Sun

Trumps: THE HERMIT, THE SUN

“The card is one of prudence, of sowing seed and waiting, of saving for a rainy day and accumulating interest, of guarding one’s resources. With the Eight, one has learned from the errors of the Seven that things take time and care and cannot be rushed. With this care and labor comes fruitfulness.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you are good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good. […] In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.”

--Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

Upright Keyword: HONING SKILLS

This is the card of the long haul. Practice makes perfect.

In life there is no training montage—this is the hours of work to improve and improve and improve on oneself.

Hard work and dedication to the task, to the craft.

Steady course of ongoing achievement in the pursuit of mastery and material gain.

Learning through experience. Doing the hard daily work of continued improvement.

Reversed Keyword: UNMOTIVATED

One may be reluctant to begin the hard work necessary.

Voided ambition, or lack of motivation towards one’s goals.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Gain (Material Gain)

Decan: 10 – 19 degrees Virgo

Ruler: Venus

Trumps: THE HERMIT, THE EMPRESS

2nd decan Virgo contains the degree of Mercury’s exaltation at 15 degrees.

“Earthly Virgo is happy to be in this stable, foundational position. This is a very good card for all material matters: luck is with you now and the harvest has come in.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

“Intellectual freedom depends upon material things. Poetry depends upon intellectual freedom.”

--Virginia Woolf, A Room Of One’s Own

Upright Keyword: ACHIEVEMENT

Abundance due to one’s efforts in achievement and in management.

Independence and self-sufficiency. What one has here, one has gained on one’s own and is now welcome to enjoy without risk of loss.

Wealth and wisdom – both material and spiritual satisfaction as the reward for one’s works.

A solid financial base. Security and comfort of one’s own.

Pleasure and satisfaction have been well-earned here.

Reversed Keyword: VIGILANCE

One has gained, but must not be lax.

Nothing is permanent- keep an eye on the work still to be done.

Remember to be vigilant.

Hermetic Title: Lord of Wealth

Decan: 20 – 29 degrees Virgo

Ruler: Mercury

Trumps: THE HERMIT, THE MAGICIAN

“This card is considered the final card of the minor arcana, much as the Universe is the final trump and the Princess of Disks is the final court. What was begun with the Ace of Wands here reaches its climax and culmination, or in other words the pure will inherent in Keter (the Ace of Wands) and expressed in the Magus (card of Mercury and the path of Keter to Binah) is now brought to material form. This is the sum total of the Great Work, and the point at which the cycle can regenerate and begin again. […] This is the pinnacle of success and the culmination of Will in the material world- give your wealth inner and outer purpose, beyond accumulation.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

Upright Keyword: LEGACY

Culmination and fulfillment of the life-quest for material gain.

Financial security, accomplishment, and comfort.

Affluence, permanence, legacy.

The important questions here are of what one does with what one has, and of what one leaves behind: How one’s money is to be spent. How one’s name and reputation are to be used. How one wishes to be remembered.

Reversed Keyword: FRIVOLOUS RISK

Gambling that which should not be gambled.

Boredom may tempt one towards inadvisable actions.

Thoth Title: Princess of Disks

Hermetic Title: The Princess of the Echoing Hills, The Rose of the Palace of Earth, Princess and Empress of Gnomes

Elemental Title: Earth of Earth

Zodiacal Glyph: [Aries] [Taurus] [Gemini]

Trumps: THE EMPEROR, THE HEIROPHANT, THE LOVERS

Associated Minors: ACE OF PENTACLES

“The Princess rules the quadrant of space from 0 degrees Aries to 29 degrees Gemini, centered on the earthly Kerubic constellation Taurus, and her primary astrological trump is the Heirophant. This gives her the power of wisdom, and she is thus the final connector of above to below. TACERE, the power to keep silent, is her power, the final of the four powers of the Sphinx, and that of action, corresponding with Kerubic earth. The motto of Taurus is ‘I Have’ and what she has is the most profound power of all – that of the synthesis of all four powers.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

Upright Keyword: OPPORTUNITY

Application, study, and management.

A new job or new opportunity which comes with new responsibilities.

Or- a youth, child, or childlike adult with remarkable qualities of efficiency and responsibility.

Reversed Keyword: PRODIGALITY

The need to focus, collect oneself, and be responsible.

May also be a harbinger of bad news on the horizon.

Thoth Title: Prince of Disks

Hermetic Title: Prince of the Chariot of Earth, Prince and Emperor of Gnomes

Elemental Title: Air of Earth

Zodiacal Glyph: [Taurus]

Zone: 20 degrees Aries – 19 degrees Taurus

Trumps: THE HEIROPHANT, THE EMPEROR

Associated Minors: FIVE of PENTACLES, SIX of PENTACLES, FOUR of WANDS

“He rides a slow, enduring, heavy horse, to which his aspect correspoinds. He exhibits his symbol but does not look therein.”

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

“The Prince of Disks is the airy part of Earthm or the mind inclined towards practical pursuits. His is the consciousness that steers the Air of Reason through the fixed nature of the Kerubic Bull […] He is the channel between meditative thought and material action. He brings his intellectual power to bear upon the pragmatic, slowly and unwaveringly.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

Upright Keyword: FOLLOWTHROUGH

The responsible carrying out of duties with the knowledge of assured success.

Steady, determined, inexhaustible progress.

At best- tactile, reliable, force of applied reason to action.

At worst- plodding, stubborn, intractable.

Or- the influence of an active person with qualities of responsibility, diligence, productivity, and relentless progress.

Reversed Keyword: NEED TO PERSEVERE

A long road lies ahead. The need for perseverance, loyalty, dedication, and determination, which one may feel devoid of at this point.

Or- the negative influence of an active person with qualities of responsibility, diligence, productivity, and relentless progress.

Thoth Title: Queen of Disks

Hermetic Title: Queen of the Thrones of Earth, Queen of the Gnomes

Elemental Title: Water of Earth

Zodiacal Glyph: [Capricorn]

Zone: 20 degrees Sagittarius – 19 degrees Capricorn

Trumps: THE DEVIL, TEMPERANCE

Minors: TWO of PENTACLES, THREE of PENTACLES, TEN of WANDS

“The face suggests that of a dark woman, whose qualities might be summed up in greatness of soul. She has also the serious cast of intelligence; she contemplates her symbol & may see worlds within.”

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

“She is the watery part of Earth, or its internal waters, that nurture and drive seeds to grow. Her passivity is fertility. This is the card of Mother Nature. She gestates the seed or the Will […] The Queen of Disks listens and brings the possibility of completing the cycle of gestation. With her fertility she is bringing forth something material into fruition.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

Upright Keyword: GENEROSITY

A happy material and emotional life brings or allows for a giving nature, trustworthy and generous. What one has here multiplies naturally.

Or - A woman of material wealth, generous with both resources and attention, likely someone who takes on a maternal role whether or not they have children.

Reversed Keyword: HOME

Energy and attention must urgently be given to the home, or whatever “home” means to the querent.

Or- the negative influence of a woman of material wealth/ negative influence of a mother figure.

Thoth Title: Knight of Disks

Hermetic Title: Lord of the Wide and Fertile Land, Lord of the Spirits of the Earth, King of the Gnomes

Elemental Title: Fire of Earth

Zodiacal Glyph: [Virgo]

Zone: 20 degrees Leo – 19 degrees Virgo

Trumps: THE HERMIT, STRENGTH

Minors: EIGHT of PENTACLES, NINE of PENTACLES, SEVEN of WANDS

“The Knight of Disks brings a coming focus on prudence, shepherding something material towards a state of gain. This takes intelligence and attention to detail. It takes time for these material creations to develop. It is not time for heroism or valor – it is a time to experience procreative powers and patient culmination. […] His, though, is a quieter path, and valorous behaviour, though admirable, would take away his greatest power—that of patient and capable development.”

--M.M. Meleen, Liber Mundi

“It’s a rich man’s game, no matter what they call it.”

--Dolly Parton, 9 to 5

Upright Keyword: STABILITY

Financial stability. Security, responsibility, reliability. An even-handed management of material things. Appreciation without waste, use without loss.

Can be an indication of coming financial success.

Or – The influence of a man whose word is good as gold – trustworthy with both things and people, mature enough to manage money, keep it, use it well. A lover of comforts and a master of the material.

Reversed Keyword: CORRUPTION

A shocking abuse or squandering of resources.

Vice, perversion, corruption. Warns of obscene greed that brings moral peril.

Or – The negative influence of a financially stable, mature man.