Astrological patterns in Thoth - zodiac signs
Posted: 12 Oct 2017, 10:14
Some days ago, I posted the interesting groups of Thoth cards that are associated with each planet. Now let's do the same for the zodiac signs, okay? I intend these scans as study help. It's much easier to understand the structure of the deck if you see the groups of cards together that are ruled by a planet or zodiac sign.
Aries
cardinal spring
fire
associated with the Emperor
associated with 2, 3 and 4 of Wands.
2 of Wands: Mars in Aries (Tower, Emperor)
3 of Wands: Sun in Aries (Sun, Emperor)
4 of Wands: Venus in Aries (Empress, Emperor)
It's easy to see the fiery character of the sign and the card - Aries, the ram, pushes in spring with cardinal energy. You can see the power of the Emperor and his association with the ram.
The sign Aries is ruled astroogically by Mars, so think of the combined forces of Emperor and Tower - and this is exactly what stars our year. The 2/Wands is a huge burst of energy, and the two quite aggressive cards work here very well together. The Mars/Tower aspect of the Emperor is contained by his self confidence and authority.
In the three decans, you can see how each card reflects the cooperation of the zodiac sign with the planets. Mars feels at home with Aries, and indeed he is at home there, he rules the sign! The Sun does great with all that heat, and her power is less abrasive and agressive but more life-giving. And Venus gets along well there, too. The love affair of Venus and Mars is well-known, and we can see here that she can make him relax without raising antagonism.
Three powerful and harmonious decans for a pretty wild sign.
Now let's see the court cards associated with Aries.
The first and second decan are ruled by the Queen of Wands - the same element, Fire, and all the cardinal signs are ruled by the Queens. In the last decan, the representative of the next element, Earth, is already there. The Prince of Disks rides on a Taurus and ushers in the next sign, Taurus.
Taurus
fixed spring
earth
associated with the Hierophant
associated with 5, 6 and 7 of Disks
5 of Disks: Mercury in Taurus (Magician, Hierophant)
6 of Disks: Moon in Taurus (High Priestess, Hierophant)
7 of Disks: Saturn in Taurus (Universe, Hierophant)
With Taurus, the bull, we're definitely in spring - and we're in Earth territory. The sign of Taurus is ruled by Venus - maybe I'll scan and add these pairings later.
The decans are moving on. After Venus comes Mercury who feels definitely in the wrong place in steady, plodding Taurus. The Moon, on the other hand, is exalted in Taurus and they get along great - helped of course by the ideal placement of the number six on the Tree of Life, on Tif'eret.
We have now "descended" from the more distant planets to the closest, Moon - and the sequence starts again with Saturn. And Saturn throws doom and gloom on ANY card he appears on.
The first two decans are ruled by the Prince of Disks (who came in already in the last decan of Aries and thus rules, like all the Princes, Queens and Knights do, rules three decans). (What happens with the Princesses? We'll come to them in a later post!) In the third decan, the Knight of Swords rules - he ushers in the next sign which is an Air sign.
Gemini
mutable spring
air
associated with the Lovers
associated wit 8, 9 and 10 of Swords
8 of Swords: Jupiter in Gemini (Wheel, Lovers)
9 of Swords: Mars in Gemini (Tower, Lovers)
10 of Swords: Sun in Gemini (Sun, Lovers)
Difficult cards, the Gemini minors. The major card, the Lovers, is often shown as lovey-dovey card but it isn't. The difficult minors tell a different story - of course, Swords get all the troubles. But the difficulty of choice and decision emerge in the minors.
Jupiter doesn't get along with Gemini - and the Mercurial character of Hod (nr.8) doesn't help. Mars in Gemini can only be a catastrophe. And even the Sun that gets along nearly everywhere finds Swords difficult to manage. Let's not fccet that we're quite low down on the Tree of Life. But of course, there are other suits that sit comfortably on Hod, Yesod and Malkuth, the three last "stations" on the Tree. (I'll make another post about them, too).
Three difficult decans for Gemini, to sum it up. Blame it on the Swords.
Court cards for the first two decans: Knight of Swords. In the last decan, Cancer is knocking on the door - the Queen of Cups represents the next Water sign. We remember: cardinal sign are ruled over by the Queens, and Cancer is a cardinal sign.
I will add over time one sign after the other , let's see how many I get done today. I hope it's a useful study aid. It makes me fall in love all over again with this deck.
Aries
cardinal spring
fire
associated with the Emperor
associated with 2, 3 and 4 of Wands.
2 of Wands: Mars in Aries (Tower, Emperor)
3 of Wands: Sun in Aries (Sun, Emperor)
4 of Wands: Venus in Aries (Empress, Emperor)
It's easy to see the fiery character of the sign and the card - Aries, the ram, pushes in spring with cardinal energy. You can see the power of the Emperor and his association with the ram.
The sign Aries is ruled astroogically by Mars, so think of the combined forces of Emperor and Tower - and this is exactly what stars our year. The 2/Wands is a huge burst of energy, and the two quite aggressive cards work here very well together. The Mars/Tower aspect of the Emperor is contained by his self confidence and authority.
In the three decans, you can see how each card reflects the cooperation of the zodiac sign with the planets. Mars feels at home with Aries, and indeed he is at home there, he rules the sign! The Sun does great with all that heat, and her power is less abrasive and agressive but more life-giving. And Venus gets along well there, too. The love affair of Venus and Mars is well-known, and we can see here that she can make him relax without raising antagonism.
Three powerful and harmonious decans for a pretty wild sign.
Now let's see the court cards associated with Aries.
The first and second decan are ruled by the Queen of Wands - the same element, Fire, and all the cardinal signs are ruled by the Queens. In the last decan, the representative of the next element, Earth, is already there. The Prince of Disks rides on a Taurus and ushers in the next sign, Taurus.
Taurus
fixed spring
earth
associated with the Hierophant
associated with 5, 6 and 7 of Disks
5 of Disks: Mercury in Taurus (Magician, Hierophant)
6 of Disks: Moon in Taurus (High Priestess, Hierophant)
7 of Disks: Saturn in Taurus (Universe, Hierophant)
With Taurus, the bull, we're definitely in spring - and we're in Earth territory. The sign of Taurus is ruled by Venus - maybe I'll scan and add these pairings later.
The decans are moving on. After Venus comes Mercury who feels definitely in the wrong place in steady, plodding Taurus. The Moon, on the other hand, is exalted in Taurus and they get along great - helped of course by the ideal placement of the number six on the Tree of Life, on Tif'eret.
We have now "descended" from the more distant planets to the closest, Moon - and the sequence starts again with Saturn. And Saturn throws doom and gloom on ANY card he appears on.
The first two decans are ruled by the Prince of Disks (who came in already in the last decan of Aries and thus rules, like all the Princes, Queens and Knights do, rules three decans). (What happens with the Princesses? We'll come to them in a later post!) In the third decan, the Knight of Swords rules - he ushers in the next sign which is an Air sign.
Gemini
mutable spring
air
associated with the Lovers
associated wit 8, 9 and 10 of Swords
8 of Swords: Jupiter in Gemini (Wheel, Lovers)
9 of Swords: Mars in Gemini (Tower, Lovers)
10 of Swords: Sun in Gemini (Sun, Lovers)
Difficult cards, the Gemini minors. The major card, the Lovers, is often shown as lovey-dovey card but it isn't. The difficult minors tell a different story - of course, Swords get all the troubles. But the difficulty of choice and decision emerge in the minors.
Jupiter doesn't get along with Gemini - and the Mercurial character of Hod (nr.8) doesn't help. Mars in Gemini can only be a catastrophe. And even the Sun that gets along nearly everywhere finds Swords difficult to manage. Let's not fccet that we're quite low down on the Tree of Life. But of course, there are other suits that sit comfortably on Hod, Yesod and Malkuth, the three last "stations" on the Tree. (I'll make another post about them, too).
Three difficult decans for Gemini, to sum it up. Blame it on the Swords.
Court cards for the first two decans: Knight of Swords. In the last decan, Cancer is knocking on the door - the Queen of Cups represents the next Water sign. We remember: cardinal sign are ruled over by the Queens, and Cancer is a cardinal sign.
I will add over time one sign after the other , let's see how many I get done today. I hope it's a useful study aid. It makes me fall in love all over again with this deck.