Operation performed 5/29/22 @ ~0100
I present this operation more like the raw notes I enter into Evernote immediately after the tarot ritual, slightly different than previous documents to save some time looking through my references and talk more about other things. I’ve added pictures of my own cards, edited some stuff here and there and took a couple screenshots of what’s going on in the sky us usual. The last section is a little longer narrative interpretation and (optional) description of what I felt a very interesting operation, a study of a person symbolized by tonight’s Significant:
Knight of Wands
Fire of Fire
The King in armor of gold and steel wreathed in Fire, wielding a huge fiery brand, pointing his black steed onward
Very active, generous and fierce person. They can sometimes be impulsive, unpredictable, cruel or bigoted.
Let’s begin.
We happen to perform this operation when the Sun and Moon are both in Taurus.
Sun-Moon-Aldebaran form a long slightly obtuse triangle at time of sighting
Pleiades-Moon-Aldebaran form a flat but beautifully symmetrical triangle
The first is within the second, roughly the alchemical symbol of the element of Air slightly tipped to one side.
Sun-Moon-Pleiades form a line with the Moon just slightly displaced, the line of the arrow formed by the Sun and Moon as they interact with the Sisters points to Procyon in Canis Minor. Great Red Aldebaran watches as the Seven Sisters direct the warrior to a possible ally. Interesting.
Speak to me of the Knight of Wands
The rites are performed after a period of yogic meditation. The Knight is then separated and blessed, returned to the pack and shuffled. Pack divided into the four small packs.
Significant found in the third deck (Air, Rauch, Swords, Conflict)
Five of Disks (Mercury in Taurus) The Worry that exudes from this first card is reflexive. Often money or other material troubles. Consider the stars.
Ace of Swords (Root of Air) Mind, Action, Unpredictability. Negatively expressed — affliction, retribution.
Two of Wands (Mars in Aries) Dominion. Perfected fire/Will. An independent action free from the influence or need for influence from others.
Key XX The Aeon/Last Judgement (Shin) A decision has been made in respect to things past. Actions have been taken based on this decision. The agent of self-actualization and individualism, the self learning about the self, freeing it as it grows from and in the past.
Nine of Swords (Mars in Gemini) Cruelty for its own sake. Sociopathy.
There is Worry now, probably but not necessarily of a material nature, like a loss of money or property or position. It’s nagging at you, the reality that you may just lose this is eating at your mind. You may have been wronged. You have to do something and you cannot be convinced otherwise. You don’t know what to do, yet, but you have some ideas and some of them are pretty worrying. There really isn’t anyone else that can do anything to help you, you are on your own here. The decision that you make will change you forever, and you will make this decision. Beware, the Actions you take may make you an absolute monster or make you seem like one to others. The Nine is Cruelty: pain and suffering, beyond even the pleasures of sadism, indifferent to what is now a routine activity. A card of great concern.
A somber reading, marching doggedly around the Tree of Life, settling around the powerful arcana near the bottom of the Tree at path #31. Our Knight needs protection, but I believe they need to be most wary of themselves and there are some useful things to synthesize from this array. If we consider the astrological goings on it’s really not so bad.
The Sun with the Moon in Taurus is really a great time. The active life-giving force of the Sun is always pleased to dance with his sister the more creative and thoughtful Moon, who is always happy in Taurus where she is exalted. Taurus is an Earth sign and in the tarot it is represented in Key V: The Hierophant, whose positive properties correspond to Taurus’ implacable strength, slowly plodding on, wise and generous. The Sun energizes this meeting even further, the wise old bull now engaged in a period of intentional and joyful reflection. The celestial formation is a great reminder of something we can all stand to do more of. Slow down, reflect and find joy in it! Taurus is the house of Venus y’all — Love yourself!
The line of the Sun, Moon and the Pleiades forms a celestial arrow that points to Procyon, which like its companion Sirius is associated with protection and guidance. The dog stars are blessed in this way, and Procyon being the Little Dog it is also at times associated with some more mercurial impulsive behavior. Young dogs can be very naughty, you know. Either way, it seems very fitting given the cards that we drew for our celestial attention to be drawn here. A helping hand from the daughters of Atlas directing us to guidance and succor, or gently warning us against turning into a little shit.
The spread that I use is a simplified variation of a more complex esoteric process. The Querent is assigned a card (the Significator), and I will usually assign a person a court card based on what I know about them though any card can conceivably be used for pretty much any subject you like. Astrological signs may or may not be relevant to the significant card, it’s more about personality and perception and somewhat arbitrary — the court cards don’t always correspond to the zodiac and the Knight could be a man or woman, the cards have no sex of their own for the most part only tendencies. The Significator is hidden in the deck and the deck separated into four smaller decks representing the name of God, Yahweh/YHVH, which corresponds to the four Elements Fire-Water-Air-Earth, four (of five) facets of the Soul, and the four suits of the Tarot. Thus the third deck (Vau) is Air, the aspect of the Soul called Rauch (Mind), and the suit of Swords.
Air/Vau is the unpredictable and dangerous area of spiritual conflict, social failure, social success, or total destruction. The word Rauch translates to “Wind” and this facet of the eternal soul is the level where humans generally reside, our own consciousness, aware of and questioning its subjective reality on a constant basis as we do the things we do in the world. Consciousness itself, Mind, is the piece of God within us that we all experience subjectively. This is an order higher than the base level of the soul (Nefesh) that encompasses the subconscious human animal and the automatic processes of the body. The Rauch is unpredictable, severe, and constantly at war to remain independent of both its base material animal nature and the constant pressure to transcend to the immaterial aspirations of the higher levels of Spirit. The cards, finding themselves buffeted by the winds of Rauch, surrounded by Swords, tell the story above with some input from the stars. It is a story of conflict and reflection, deep emotional investment, a transformative event for which the Knight might use some help.
Finally, let’s talk about that Nine, because the Sword cards in the lower part of the Tree of Life are very negative aspects. Cruelty is a rather unambiguous word, there isn’t a way to interpret it kindly, you can only see some positive quality if you look at it dispassionately and I believe it useful to do so here. Cruelty is, simply, the infliction of pain and suffering. Suffering is a much larger concept than the idea of pain, it includes the physical, as well as mental, spiritual and social pain in its endless forms. Unfortunately, cruelty is at times necessary. Example: we do not like to think of it this way, but punishment is a necessary evil and punishment is by nature cruel or it teaches no lessons and serves no rational purpose. This need not include imprisonment but it can, or torture but it can, or any other specific affliction; cruelty includes all of inflicted suffering. Punishment is indifferent to the suffering it inflicts even if the punisher is emotionally invested in the punishment, it is an activity that is trying to achieve an outcome, preferably a positive one at the end of it all — cruelty as development. We may not like it, we may (and do) argue about it, constantly, but there it is and the Nine of Swords is that, too. We are reminded that cruelty or the illusion of cruelty is to be avoided, that we should not do things in such a way that make us seem cruel through our own thoughtless words and actions.
Don’t forget that as much as we like to think we are better people, all of God’s children can be cruel just as God can be cruel.
Choose wisely, Knight.
Originally published at https://dissidenttower.substack.com on June 4, 2022.
