Min's Compleat Tarot User Manual - Chapter 3 of 9
M A G V S
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Chapter 3
Ten Heavens
FUNDAMENTAL TO LEARNING to read the tarot is the
study of its astronomical and astrological basis,
beginning with the ten planets, our solar system.
Each planet is numbered according to its orbital
distance from the Sun with the lone exception of
the Moon, since she orbits the Earth thus orbits
the Sun epicyclically. The orbits of the planets
are called the "Solars", meaning sidereal orbits,
the orbital period with respect to distant stars.
This chapter will introduce you to these planets
and their astrological meanings for use in tarot,
For additional astronomical or mythological data
on the planets, search the internet or a library.
Note also that the outer planets Uranus, Neptune
& Pluto, are only briefly summarized for brevity.
Same goes for the Moon since everyone is already
familiar enough with it, at least astronomically
(see later chapter for complete reference charts).
#I THE MOON
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Trump: THE MOON
Planet: The Moon
Roman: LVNE/Diana
Greek: Artemis/Hekate
Sphere: Foundation
Synodic: 29.53
Sidereal: 27.322/0.075
Heaven: First
Arcana: Ace
Pitch: A > C
Species: lesser natural
Order: W-H-W-W-H-W (7)
Mode: Aeolian
Muse: Klio
Goddess: History
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The tarot card of the Moon symbolizes the first
sidereal heaven the Moon, sphere of Imagination
whose muse is Klio, the lesser natural which is
the Aeolian (Hypodorian) mode, composed of Moon,
Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn--in
that order, with Moon first of the sacred seven,
her natural minor commensurate with the heavens.
Morpheus, the formation of dreams, son of sleep
Somnus. "These things said he and after that he
saith unto them, our friend Lazarus sleeps; but
I go that I may awake him out of sleep"-John 11.
Souls incarnated from the lunar souljourn bring
with them exceptional powers of imagination and
as a result tend to be easily influenced by the
suggestions of others & susceptible to hypnosis.
The shadowy depths of the Moon hold vast oceans
of "unconscious" thought, dreams, and fantasies.
Moon souls are dreamers and so make imaginative
and oft-talented artists, musicians, authors of
fiction and other pursuits which benefit from a
prolific imagination. But the Moon is emotional,
so her recent graduates ought to be careful not
to let emotions run your life. The Moon loves a
distraction, a diversion, an active social life,
so take care, O Moon, you'd best keep your vows.
#II THE MAGICIAN
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Trump: THE MAGVS
Planet: Mercury
Roman: MERCVRII
Greek: Hermes
Sphere: Intellect
Synodic: 115.9
Sidereal: 87.969/0.241
Heaven: Second
Arcana: II
Pitch: B > C
Species: lesser w/b2 & b5
Order: H-W-W-H-W-W (7)
Mode: Locrian
Muse: Kaliope
Goddess: Epic
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The tarot card of The Magician symbolizes the second
sidereal heaven of Mercury, this sphere of Intellect
whose muse is Kaliope'; the theoretical Locrian mode
(lesser w/b2 & b5 ancient Mixolydian) is composed of
Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Moon,
in that order, which is the 2nd order of the heavens.
Calculating, logical--not necessarily rational--mind;
apt pupil quick to deduce and evaluate, connects the
"dots"--too fast at times; tends to be prejudgmental.
Souljourners incarnate from Mercury bring expediency
of mind, quickness of inductive and deductive reason,
with superlative logic, master of the sacred letters,
geometry, proportion, perspective, "analytical" mind.
Consider the 3:2:1 resonance of Mercury who rotates on
a slightly-oblique axis of about 2 degrees very nearly
1.5 times (1.5000) for every 360-degree sidereal orbit
(87.97046 earth-days) around the Sun. As a result, one
solar day on Mercury--i.e. axial rotation with respect
to the Sun, but not to the distant stars as a sidereal
period is calculated--that solar day would appear to a
Mercury-bound observer to take almost exactly two side-
real years to complete; therefore, it takes just three
sidereal rotations of Mercury to complete two sidereal
orbits, ergo its 3:2:1 ratio of day-to-year resonances,
and is but one example of 100s of predictable conjoins.
Mercury, the nearest planet to the Sun, is our second-
hottest planet before Venus. Mercury can be seen as a
morning or evening star just above the horizon, since
Mercury is so close to the Sun, thus can only be seen
just after sunset or before sunrise--near its maximum
elongation therefrom. Mercury's appearance is similar
to Earth's heavily cratered Moon, except the coloring
of Mercury consists of more brownish sepia-like tones.
Mercury's daily temperature delta varies between 270*
F (168*C) in the middle of the night, rising up to a
whopping 800* F (427*C) in broad daylight. Mercury's
long sidereal day averages about 1407.60 earth-hours
(58.646 earth-days to complete one, 360* revolution).
Mercury's high density (5.44) is second only to Earth
(5.50), and has an equatorial diameter of about 3,031
miles (4,878km; cf. Earth at 12,756km or 7,926 miles).
The element Mercury, aka quicksilver, is alchemically
associated with quick-mindedness and inconstancy like
Mercury's untamed locrian modality whose taming comes
by Neptune on Mercury's diatonic octave. From Mercury,
the apparent size of the Sun's fiery disc varies, 1.1
to 1.6 degrees due to Mercury's eccentric orbit--that
is, two to three times larger than the Sun appears to
Earth. O what a fearful sight that would be to behold.
Mercury, Hermes, the cleverest and oft-most deceptive
of the Olympian Gods with winged sandals and caduceus
in hand. Hermes son of Zeus and the most beautiful of
the Pleiades, Maia (04Tau53'25" +4:23'25" J2000), who
is clustered together with her sisters near 5 degrees
Taurus. Hermes, the God of boundaries, landmarks, and
guideposts; the God of trade, commerce, and metrology.
Mercury's persuasive often deceptive speech is common
to political and business acumen, the home and social
life, thus Hermes is the God of thieves and deception,
cunning, conniving, popularly known as the "Trickster"
or Magician of the Major Arcana. Hermes is deemed God
of epic literature and oratory, also God of athletics.
In ancient times, statues of Hermes were often placed
at crossroads to bestow blessings and guidance on tra-
velers. It was the duty of travelers to place a stone
at roadsigns, to help improve the roads and make them
more passable for future travelers. Thereby the Greek
word for the built-up stone landmarks became hermaion,
in honor of Hermes. As with each new undertaking, the
ancient Greeks would seek the counsel from Hermes and
doctors of medicine have prayed to Mercury ever since.
Kaliope' is called "chief" of the Muses, no doubt for
her Locrian modality not really favoring any one muse
apart from herself. She is pictured as representative
of the muses just as Mercury is pictured as messenger
or representative of the Gods. She's portrayed seated,
holding a stylus and writing tablet. Other depictions
have her standing crowned with laurel leaves, holding
a pipe, or a manuscript entwined with laurel. Notably,
the steam-driven whistle organ invented by A.S. Denny
in 1850 USA was named for Calliope, who is said to be
mother of the Sirens (fathered by Achelous). In Greek,
Kalliopeia means "fine-voiced", since Hermes invented
the kithara(lyre), syrinx from reeds (pan-flute), and
some say fire perhaps due to his proximity to the Sun.
#III THE EMPRESS
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Trump: THE EMPRESS
Planet: Venus
Roman: VENERIS
Greek: Aphrodite
Sphere: Beauty
Synodic: 583.9
Sidereal: 224.70/0.615
Heaven: Third
Arcana: III
Pitch: C > C
Species: greater natural
Order: W-W-H-W-W-W (7)
Mode: Treble Ionian
Muse: Terpsichore
Goddess: Dance
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The tarot card of The Empress symbolizes the third sidereal
heaven of Venus, the sphere of beauty, perfection & balance.
Her muse is Terpsichore, or greater natural Ionian modality
(ancient Lydian), who begins the third order of the heavens
which is Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Moon, & Mercury,
in that order. Souls incarnate from the Venus souljourn are
naturally loving, patient, kind, merciful, and appreciative.
Venusians love love, love all that is beautiful and refined,
as gestalt or synergy in the arts, symmetry, natural-beauty.
Terpsichore is muse of "the dance", or one who participates
to the music of the spheres. Venus transceives her graceful,
beautiful and well-balanced participation upon the resonant
octave of her greater perfect Ionian mode with Pluton-Hades.
Venus is the second planet out from the Sun at a mean (semi-
major axis) orbital distance of 0.723332 AU (108,208,930km).
Notably, where Venus is sufficiently elongated from the Sun
and the sky is crystal-clear, Venus can barely be seen with
the naked eye in broad daylight in drier or desert climates
and lower air pollution as in pre-modern times. At 12,103.6
km in equatorial diameter, Venus is nearly the same size as
Earth (12,756.3 km). Venus rotates clockwise along her axis
(looking south), instead of counterclockwise like Earth and
the other planets. Venus rotates very slowly, and spins "up-
sidedown" on her slight axial inclination tilted 2.64* (i.e.
nearly perpendicular to her heliocentric orbital plane), so
is in perpetual retrograde rotation at approximately 177.4*.
One 360* sidereal-day of Venus equals -243.0187 (retrograde)
solar earth-days, longer than her sidereal-year @ 225 earth-
days, so one solar-day on Venus equals about 117 earth-days.
With respect to Venus, the morning Sun would appear to rise
in the west instead of the east, but only under her ambient
light, never by direct sunlight, since Venus is perpetually
covered by heavy clouds--clouds so thick it's impossible to
see her surface from above. This dense overcast is composed
mainly of sulfuric acid reaching 35 miles above her surface
(the highest clouds on Earth reach 10 miles for comparison).
These clouds are fast moving, circling the entire planet in
about four earth days. The composition of Venus' incredibly
dense atmosphere is about 96% carbon dioxide, & 3% nitrogen,
and notably with only trace amounts (0.003%) of water vapor.
Venus appears as a pale sulphur-yellowish disc, beautifully
photographed in mosaic by the Mariner 10 spacecraft back in
1974. Then the images returned from the Magellan spacecraft
in 1990 revealed deep reddish, orangish, and yellowish high-
lights on the planet's surface, where her daily temperature
averages about 870*F (452*C) because of the clouds trapping
solar heat, creating a highly-efficient Venusian greenhouse
effect with intense atmospheric pressure at the surface 90+
Earth-atmospheres--that's over 1300 psi! Although the cloud
layers spin around above the surface like a hurricane there
is little wind velocity down at the surface itself, with no
rainfall or oceans whatsoever since the pressure repels the
sulphuric rain droplets cycling among the clouds like virga
--a far cry from what orthodox academia expected to find up
there. For example, in his book, 'Asimov on Astronomy' (pub.
in 1974 Doubleday; cf. 'Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus'
first published in 1954 ibid), Asimov acknowledges the unex-
pectedly hot atmosphere of Venus as follows: "We [now] know
that it is dreadfully hot (hot enough to melt lead!), dread-
fully dry with an unbreathable atmosphere of carbon dioxide
that is dreadfully thick". Decades earlier in 1950 Immanuel
Velikovsky anticipated that Venus would reveal surprisingly
greater surface temperature than anyone previously expected.
Greek Aphrodite translates as "foam-born", raised up out of
a handful of dust and seafoam...as Kronus castrated Ouranos
and cast his cosmic testicles into Earth's ocean, combining
stardust and spittle (cf. Aphrodisias, sexual); see chapter
one of Genesis in the old testament, the sixth and last day
of creation is Venus' Day, the mode of humankind's creating.
Aphrodite was worshipped as "Goddess of the Sea" by ancient
seafarers who relied heavily on stars for navigation. Homer
refers to Venus as daughter of Zeus & Dione, and the fickle
spouse of the lame blacksmith God, Hephaistos (Lat. Vulcan).
Aphrodite's most powerful lover is Ares, and so she is said
to be mother of Anteros, Eros, Harmonia, Phobos, and Deimos
by their father Mars (see Lesson #V The Tower) Aphrodite is
also said to be mother of Aeneas and Lyrus by Anchises, and
Hermaphroditus by Hermes, Eryx by Poseidon, also Priapus by
Dionysus. Venus is the most beautiful promoter of fertility,
and patron goddess of prostitutes (in the vulgar sense when
you stop and think about it). Her numerous epithets include
Anadyomene, sea-born; Genetrix, creator; Eupoloios, meaning
fair voyage; and Pandemos of all people. Her Empress traits
are shared by middle-eastern, & eastern fertility Goddesses,
particularly Astarte, & Ishtar (cognate to I'star for which
Easter is named, cf. the bright morning star...of Bethlehem).
Hence, the ankh, astrological symbol for Venus, is engraved
in the garden tombe of Joseph of Aramaethea located outside
the ancient gates of Damascus (just north of old Jerusalem).
Ishtar is the one great Goddess of the heaven in Babylonian
mythology--verily the Empress. The Greek myths of Aphrodite
similarly reflect life's cyclic nature, that the Gods often
engage in divine "conflict" out of which the Gods incarnate
to live and die again and again throughout the grand cycles
of life according to the divine purpose of creation. Greeks
were powerfully attracted to Aphrodite as the goddess whose
love & hope resurrects her lover out of the depths of Hades.
#IV THE SUN
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Trump: THE SUN
Planet: Sun
Roman: SOLIS/Apollo
Greek: Apollon/Helios
Sphere: Majesty
Synodic: n/a
Sidereal: 365.26/1.000
Heaven: Fourth
Arcana: IV
Pitch: D > C
Species: lesser melodic
Order: W-H-W-W-W-H (7)
Mode: Dorian
Muse: Melpomene
Goddess: Tragedy
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The tarot card of The Sun symbolizes the fourth sidereal
heaven of Sol, the sphere of strength, power and majesty.
His muse is Melpomene, or lesser melodic Dorian modality
(ancient Phrygian) who begins the fourth order of heaven
namely Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Moon, Mercury & Venus,
in that order. Souls incarnated from the splendor of the
Sun bring with them spiritual strength, courage, and the
heliocentric infinity-forces (see Lesson #VIII The Star),
the assurance of fixed stability, reliability, steadfast
resolve. Solar souls know the sun-blots of consciousness
(dark depressions on the photosphere are called sunspots).
Melpomene holds the mask of tragedy complementing Thalia
muse of Neptune--who holds the mask of the divine comedy
(see Lesson #IX, The Hermit). Melpomene is depicted hold-
ing in her right hand the mask worn by tragedians and in
her left hand the roll containing her parts to be played.
Her robe is beautifully draped in generous folds while a
mantle falls over her shoulder. Sometimes she's pictured
wearing a diadem or wreath, and holding a small sword or
club to mete out Sol's tragic endings. Dorian is tragedy.
The Sun is average as middle-aged yellow stars go but is
near enough to the Earth to project a magnitude of minus
26.8. At 886k miles mean equatorial diameter, the Sun is
half-way between the largest and the smallest observable
stars, so is classified common yellow spectrum class G2V.
The sidereal rotation period of the Sun is slower at the
poles than it is at the equator, variable between thirty-
six days down to twenty-five days respectively above the
convective zones, with 25.38 days clear down to the core.
In synodic terms, this breaks down to about 26.8 days at
the solar equator, 28.2 days at 30* solar latitude, 30.8
days at 60* latitude, 31.8 days at 75*. The mean synodic
rotation number of the Sun (Carrington) is ~27.2753 days.
At the solar core, temperatures are believed to reach up
to fifteen million degrees Kelvin; cooler on the surface
at 5800 K, sunspot umbra 4240 K, penumbra 5680 K, chromo-
sphere between 4300 to 50,000 K & corona between 800,000
to 3,000,000 K. All this energy creates immense pressure
at the core estimated at 340,000,000,000 (billion) Earth-
atmospheres i.e. nearly 5,000,000,000,000 (trillion) psi.
When viewed through filters, the Sun appears to glow red-
orange with a fiery, flaming edge, but is far too hot to
maintain permanent surface features--its luminous sphere
in a perpetually energetic gaseous state composed mainly
of hydrogen and helium. The energy of the Sun comes from
nuclear fission, or its conversion of hydrogen to helium
which energy migrates up to the surface and radiates out
into space as extra-radioactive solar wind. Solar flares
occur without warning, sending billions of particles out
into space. This solar radiation is what prevents manned
missions into outer space beyond the Van Allen Belt. See?
At birth, Zeus presented Apollon with a cap, a lyre, and
a chariot drawn by sacred swans, who circled seven times
around the island of Delos whence Apollo was born on the
seventh day of the month Bysios, var. Pysios, "lunisolar
month of oracular inquiry." [Mestrius Plutarchos, 'Greek
Questions' 292.D.9ff; cited as Plu.2.292e; IG22.1126.45].
The seventh of Bysios was usually just before the spring,
although the ancient Greek calendar varied from place to
place and from year to year by inconsistent or localized
intercalary leap-year rules, festivals, temples, rituals,
etc. Ancient traditions hold the Hebrew-Egyptian priest
Moses was also born on the seventh day of the lunarsolar
month Adar(II) the seventh day of which is also, usually,
just before spring. Notably Moses' souljourn was the Sun.
Likewise, Apollo was regarded as the powerful God of law
and order. Moses & Apollo are competing for the same God.
Thus the number seven and seven swans are held sacred by
Apollo, who is depicted as wearing a crown of seven rays.
But rather than being fed mother's milk he was nourished
with sweet nectar and quickly threw off his baby clothes
to assume his manly form. The myth continues that Apollo
set forth with his bow and arrow, in search of sanctuary.
He settles in a mountain gorge where awaits the terrible
dragon Python who'd been summoned there in order to kill
Apollo's mother, Leto. Instead, Apollo kills Python with
one of his powerful arrows (reminiscent of "coronal mass
ejection" and intensely-powerful, radioactive solar wind).
After patting himself on the back and setting a crown of
laurel leaves upon his own head, Apollon establishes his
sanctuary in the valley of Phokis (cognate focus) at the
center of Greece on the southern slopes of Mt. Parnassus,
at the oracle of Pytho which was renamed Delphi (delphis,
dolphin) in honor of this powerful God's first mammalian
incarnation. It was at this shrine, the presiding oracle
Pythia whose predecessors had similarly conjured visions
and dreams of the past, present and future (since remote
antiquity, according to some they would speak in tongues)
willingly devoted her talent to the exceedingly-powerful,
youthful and radiant God. Apollo's attributions match up
well with his classic mythology, his radiant strength in
Leo, his youthful joy, & his children of the fifth house.
Apollo's victory over Python was celebrated every eighth
year during the Delphic festivals of Stepterion. Notably,
there were many other oracles such as those operating in
Delos, Tenedos and elsewhere, and not only in Greece but
all over the world. But the most important oracle in the
world would become the Oracle at Delphi. Because Apollon
had slain Python, Pythia became personal oracle. Thus it
was that Apollon acquired the world's most famous oracle
and place of sanctuary, along with the Delphic Tripod of
Plataia (Constantine the 1st would later remove the last
of these Delphic tripods and take it to his "Hippodrome"
in then Constantinople). The tripod originally served as
a chair for the presiding oracle. Its saddle was a large
golden bowl solidly affixed to three long elegant golden
slats for its legs--though ancient depictions show three
heavier vertical golden columns as the tripod's supports,
as depicted on the most ancient Greek coins and works of
art--often shown topped with three golden rings or hoops
called omphalos, which in the Greek means "world's navel"
or umbilical chord, the center of whose navel (Pluton at
the center of Earth) is shown as a smooth white stone or
pebble. The white stone is said to represent the Earth's
divine energies which is centered as gravity is centered
about her sphere. The ring on the chair's back served as
back support or lumbar terminal, with two rings in front
for the priestess to grip tightly with her hands, as the
second and third conductive terminals to amplify Pythias
connection with the Earth's energy centers as if raising
Kundulini through the seven major chakras...root, sacral,
solar, heart, throat, brow, & crown. It seems the tripod
enhanced the oracle's psychic senses by "connecting" her
with Mother Earth. According to some, the famous Delphic
oracle made utterances in divinely-inspired verses which
only the temple priest could interpret, but the oracle's
prophecies were usually equivocal, or just too ambiguous
to be understood at the time, its meanings undiscernible
until those events came to pass: then her prophecy could
clearly be understood. Is it any wonder that Nostradamus'
prophecies predictably frustrate gentile audiences until
after the fact--confounding them all the more! Better to
recognize that prophecy & fulfillment share common roots.
In order that Apollo could enjoy the brilliance of skies
throughout the year, he would leave Delphi at the autumn-
al equinox and travel to the land of the hyperboreans on
the northern shores of the river Ocean, which flowed all
around the Earth. At the vernal equinox, Apollo returned
to Delphi where nightingales would sing in welcoming him
back home. The Hyperboreans enjoyed eternal lives before
banishment, chastisement, pain, suffering and death came
upon the world. Apollo is the vanquisher of all darkness.
Just as Artemis (see Lesson #I The Moon) launched arrows
causing the death of females for whom the cause of death
was undetermined, so her twin brother Apollo sent arrows
which brought death upon males whence the cause of death
was undetermined. Thus Apollo and Artemis work in tandem,
astronomically balancing the masculine & feminine traits.
Recall that Apollo and Artemis killed seven sons & seven
daughters of Queen Niobe, since she'd compared them with
the Sun & Moon in Leto's presence...fatal miscalculation!
"The Sun, that is Apollo, is Leader of the Muses,
and inasmuch as He completes our life with good
order, He produces in the world Aesculapius; for
even before the world was He had the latter by
his side."--Emp. Julian 'Upon the Sovereign Sun'
Aesculapius (Asklepios), god of medicine, was the mortal
son of Apollo by Coronis, hence Homer refers to Apollo's
son in the human sense as a "skillful physician" who was
so skillful at healing that he could even raise the dead.
This made Hades feel threatened, and so he complained to
Zeus, who in turn struck Asklepios down with a lightning
bolt--on account of his healing practices threatening to
void Hades' underworld, by raising all men from the dead.
We can view this in the temporal sense as raising a dead
person back to life only to have them inexorably die all
over again at some later date. However, to rise from the
dead in the eternal sense insists that soul-body be made
Christ-indivisible. This is healing on the highest order.
To paraphrase the great historian Josephus, don't be too
surprised that our human body is created to live forever.
Notably the skilled physician personified by Aesculapius
had special talents in surgery and made use of medicinal
plants, crystals, and all manner of homeopathic remedies
reminiscent of the shaman or tribal witchdoctors, verily
of the Mercurian souljourn (see Lesson #II The Magician).
Among Aesculapius' children, are his two daughters named
Hygeia (hygieinos, hygiene, healthful) and also, Panacea
(panakeia, cure-all for every illness, fix-all for every
problem such as the mythical fountain of youth). Mercury
& Apollo are the spheres of healing, just as cleanliness,
Hygeia is next to godliness, Panacea! So the hippocratic
oath sworn by physicians (who pray to Hermes) begin with
an invocation for the great physician Apollon, Asclepius,
Hygieia & Panacea, and all the other Gods & Goddesses of
the Pantheion. Note here that the single caduceus (Lewis
& Short dictionary states "kind. Gk kerukeion a herald's
staff...a staff of peaceable embassy...orig. olive-stick
with stemmata which afterwards were formed into serpents)
as the staff of Asclepius became the double-helix symbol.
In Dr. Max Luscher's 'The Luscher Color Test' on page 63
he writes: "Yellow corresponds symbolically to welcoming
warmth of sunlight...to the cheerful spirit...happiness."
#V THE TOWER
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Trump: THE TOWER
Planet: Mars
Roman: MARTIS
Greek: Ares
Sphere: Victory
Synodic: 780.0
Sidereal: 686.98/1.881
Heaven: Fifth
Arcana: V
Pitch: E > C
Species: lesser w/b2
Order: H-W-W-W-H-W (7)
Mode: Phrygian
Muse: Eratho
Goddess: Lyric
________________________
The tarot card of The Tower symbolizes the fifth sidereal
heaven of Mars, the sphere of warmongering, combativeness,
hostility, madness, wrath, hypersensitivity, irritability,
temper, conquest, aggressiveness, audacity, assertiveness,
bellicosity, frenzy, daringness, persistence, victory etc.
The muse of Mars is Eratho, or diatonic modality of lyric
which is the Phrygian mode (lesser w/ b2, ancient Dorian),
beginning the fifth order of heaven, namely Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Moon, Mercury, Venus, & Sun, verily in that order.
Mars is the fourth planet out from the Sun & first planet
beyond Earth's own orbit at a mean distance of 1.52366231
AU (227,936,640km J2000), thus is sidereally fifth heaven.
At 6,794 km equatorial diameter (0.5326 ER), Mars is over
half the size of Earth. Mars appears red to the naked eye,
and when viewed through a telescope the feared Red Planet
reveals his dark markings, his reddish, ferruginous, even
pinkish colorings. Mars is covered by iron-rich dust with
many basaltic(igneous) rocks--owing to the composition of
its crust. White icecaps at the poles are composed mainly
of frozen H2O (water) and carbon dioxide (dry ice). These
features respond to Mars' tropical seasonal changes which
result from its ~25.19* rotational obliquity to its helio-
centric orbit (i.e., Mars' equatorial tilt to the Martian
ecliptic i.e. some 1.8506 degrees inclined to the Earth's
ecliptic). Thus for astrological charts on Mars, we'd use
the Martian ecliptic (not Earth's). Mars takes almost two
tropical Earth-years (present long-term average 1.8808476)
to complete one, 360* sidereal orbit; averaging 24.622962
earth-hours (1.02595675 solar earth-days) to complete one,
360* sidereal rotation. On the long-term average, a solar
day of Mars is equal to about 24 hours, 39 minutes & 35.2
seconds--or less than forty minutes longer than one solar
day on Earth. This daily period varies significantly, due
to Mars' moderate orbital eccentricity of 0.09341233(FK5).
There's evidence that Mars was once a lot warmer, and had
plenty of flowing liquid water, indicative of climate and
seasons similar to those of Earth--in view of the myriads
of dried-out river canals apparent on the Martian surface;
e.g. the deep line of green named the Mariner Rift Valley.
It must've rained or snowed in the Martian mountains then
ran down cutting channels and forming riverbeds. Mars has
the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, at
17 miles (27 km, 90,000') elevation and 320 miles(520 km)
across! Most believe this "missing" water was frozen into
the Martian permafrost although a planet-wide catastrophe
would also account for this now-parched atmosphere. There
are cratered spots on Mars believed to be extinct volcano
vents. These craters fill up temporarily with dust during
windstorms then empty out again after each tempest passes.
(cf. anger which almost instantly "fills up" then empties
just as quickly; cf. starry cup concerning soul's descent
into matter, ref. Macrobius, Bk. I. Ch. 12). These planet-
wide dust storms can last several weeks and coincide with
Mars' winter solstice in the northern hemisphere which in
turn coincides with Martian perihelion (i.e., the nearest
approach to the Sun). Mars exhibits somewhat "Earth-like"
seasons, but more extreme with greater daily and seasonal
variation in pressure and temperature etc. than any other
planet in the solar system--but it wasn't always the case.
Mars' thin atmosphere rises sixty miles above the surface,
and is composed primarily of carbon dioxide (95.32%) with
2.7% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, 0.13% oxygen, 0.03% water, and
0.00025% neon. The Martian surface is very cold & dry and
is covered with a plentitude of rocks and boulders--and a
plethora of anomalous monuments and causeways, which seem
to be remnants of a long-forgotten civilization gone awry.
Mars has no ozone layer and has no oceans. Like its dried-
up channels and riverbeds, whole ancient floodplains bear
testimony to the abundance of water which used to sustain
life on Mars. At present there is little or no protection
from intense solar radiation, although Mars receives only
about half the solar energy as what continuously bombards
the Earth & Moon. At the Martian equator, the temperature
ranges from 80 degrees Fahrenheit in broad daylight, then
plunges rapidly to an arctic-like -150 degrees F at night.
Many astronomers have reported a controversial phenomenon
called the blue haze also seen as a violet layer apparent
in photographs taken with red and blue filters. Rationale
for this phenomenon abounds, but explanations are dubious.
Mars' pronounced red color stands in contrast to its dark
markings. Mars' two companion satellites, Phobos & Deimos,
are so named for fear and terror, stifling and paralyzing
effects against our initiative by terror and dread. These
twin fearmongers accompany Ares, the ambitious God of war,
son of Zeus & Hera, brother of Aphrodite, Arge, Eileityia,
Eris and Hebe. By Aphrodite, he was the father to Anteros,
Enyo, Deimos, Harmonia, Pallor and Phobos. Ares generally
is less popular and less successful in his endeavors than
other Olympian Gods. Athena personified nobler aspects of
warfare, glory, honor and victory, while Ares personified
more brutal aspects of warfare, and so was often depicted
as wearing military armor. Ares is the "bully" of Gods, a
brute inclined to commit violence, shed blood and plunder.
The dog and vulture are Ares' escutcheons, being first to
brave the battlefields. Also, the wolf and the woodpecker
are held sacred by Ares. To be an offshoot of Mars refers
to Ares' souljourners, heroes who demonstrate great valor
and formidability via fighting against worthy adversaries.
As the myth goes, Ares was caught in a "love affair" with
Aphrodite. Her husband Hephaestus caught him then exposed
him to ridicule, revealing that Ares had behaved dishonor-
ably. In contrast, the Roman Mars is named after Ares who
became honored above Jupiter as chief God of the conquest,
and so The Tower is symbolic of an unconquerable conquest.
#VI THE EMPEROR
________________________
Trump: THE EMPEROR
Planet: Jupiter
Roman: IOVIS/Deus
Greek: Zeus
Sphere: Charity
Synodic: 399.9
Sidereal: 4332.2/11.86
Heaven: Sixth
Arcana: VI
Pitch: F > C
Species: greater w/#4
Order: W-W-W-H-W-W (7)
Mode: Lydian
Muse: Euterpe
Goddess: Melody
________________________
The tarot card of the Emperor symbolizes the sixth sidereal
heaven of the "king planet" Jupiter, sphere of augmentation,
enlargement, expansiveness, joviality, nobility, excellency,
affluence, privilege, dignity, charitableness, universality,
universalism, benevolence, exuberance, immunity, leadership,
governance, farsightedness, travel far and abroad, holistic,
broadminded, comprehensiveness, inclusiveness, "eagle-eyed".
The muse of Jupiter is Euterpe, diatonic modality of melody
which is the Lydian mode (greater w/#4, ancient Hypolydian),
the sixth order of the heavens, being Jupiter, Saturn, Moon,
Mercury, Venus, Sun & Mars, very specifically in that order.
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is the largest
astronomical planet in the solar system (the Sun is rightly
called a planet by sovereign astrologues as is Gaea's Moon).
The Jovian Giant orbits far beyond Mars, and far beyond the
asteroid belt, at mean distance of 778,415,560 km, or about
483,685,000 miles (5.20336301 AU @ J2000). Jupiter measures
142,984 km at the equator(88,850 miles) spinning like a top
with a sidereal day of merely 9 hours 55 minutes 27 seconds,
i.e., constantly rotating at over 28,000 mph at the equator.
One 360* sidereal orbit of Jupiter takes about 11.8626 mean
tropical Earth-years to complete (synodic year 1.095 years).
Jupiter appears as a giant striped orb whose bands of color,
clouds and storms run parallel to the equator--its patterns
rapidly changing in both width and color due to the dynamic
weather activity within. The atmosphere of Jupiter is thick,
10s of 1000s of miles deep, which could constitute the mass
of the entire planet; described as 90% hydrogen, 10% helium,
traces of methane, ammonia, water & miscellaneous compounds,
as being put under increasing pressure at the Jovian depths.
Jupiter was well-named by the ancients as the "king" planet,
IOVIS in the Latin, & Zeus of the classical Greek pantheion,
supreme ruler among the heavenly realms--verily The Emperor.
Jupiter exerts an especially strong gravitational influence
on the orbits of comets, hence the Jupiter family of comets.
Jupiter has an intense radiation belt in its magnetic field
or magnetosphere, a source of very powerful radio emissions.
Jupiter is surrounded by no less than 28 natural satellites,
including the well-known Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Galileo viewed Jupiter's four brightest moons using a crude
telescope hence these were dubbed the "Galilean" satellites.
Speaking of which, quoting from an article dated 11/30/2001,
surprising observations were made for Jupiter's moon Europa:
"'This extra thick layer of ice near the poles wants to
spin out toward the equator'... But because the ice is
locked into a global crust, it cannot simply spin out
in all directions. Instead, the entire shell of the
moon wanders. This effect was originally predicted by
Gregory Ojakangas and David Stevenson in 1989."
In fact, the great "sleeping prophet" Edgar Cayce described
just such crustal-displacements in his readings on Atlantis
and other prehistoric high-cultures whose extant corruption
brought them worldwide cataclysmic destruction. Even Albert
Einstein postdicted this decades before 1989, where he said:
"In a polar region there is continual deposition of ice,
which is not symmetrically distributed about the pole.
The earth's rotation acts on these unsymmetrically de-
posited masses, and produces centrifugal momentum that
is transmitted to the rigid crust of the earth. The
constantly increasing centrifugal momentum produced in
this way will, when it has reached a certain point pro-
duce a movement of the earth's crust over the rest of
the earth's body..."--Albert Einstein, from his foreword
to professor C.H. Hapgood's 'Earth's Shifting Crust' p.1
Continuing with Jupiter...
The Great Red Spot is observed to be a complex storm, whose
colossal clouds reach thirty miles atop surrounding regions.
Jupiter is extremely cold at its surface, with a mean cloud
temperature of -121* C. The temperature is believed to rise
above 6,000* K at a depth of 10,000 km (6200 miles), and is
under extreme pressure, enough to break hydrogen atoms down
into a liquid metallic state--said to be near one million b.
Jupiter's main ring is about 6500 km (4000 miles) wide with
an outer perimeter about 129,000 km (80,000 miles) measured
from Jupiter's geocenter. There's a halo within the ring at
its edge, some 20,000 km (12,500 miles) thick and 30,500 km
(19,000 miles) wide. Beyond the main ring are two "gossamer"
rings, one beginning at the main ring's outer perimeter and
about 52,000 km (32,000 miles) wide, the other beginning at
181,000km (112,000 miles) and 40,000 km (25,000 miles) wide.
The main ring is very thin, less than 10 km (6 miles) thick.
Zeus is the sixth and youngest son born under Titans Kronos
& Rhea (masculine & feminine energy of the same God of time).
Upon the birth of Zeus, Rhea presents Kronos with a blanket
concealing a stone--which Kronos promptly swallows when his
rings are edge-on (every 14.75 years per long-term averages),
fearing that one of his children shall succeed his reign by
election in the war of ten sidereal years, i.e. ten planets
each from their respective sidereal orbits in the spirit of
prophecy. Hence, Zeus rules in the heavens, and so our king
planet is represented by the tarot card of The Emperor. See?
Essentially, the brightness of Zeus shineth through charity.
The Jupiter souljourn can be likened to jolly ole' St. Nick
whose concern for others(poor in spirit) is put into action.
To care for others, to care about others. That is supremacy.
Zeus fathered myriad children by as many mothers, including
the Seasons by the Titaness Themis, Eunomia, Dike, Eirene &
the Fates; by Demeter Zeus begat Persophone; and Muses born
of Mnemosyne; the Graces by Eurynome; the twins Apollon and
Artemis by Leto; Aphrodite by Dione; Ares, Hebe, Eileithyia
and Hephaestus by Hera. Beyond this, a plethora of children
are attributed to Zeus' amatory propensity to be fruitful &
multiply, by seducing both goddesses and mortal women alike!
As the most exalted God on Mt Olympus, Zeus is known as the
God of brightness. The eagle is held sacred by Zeus, flying
above and beyond where mortal eyes can see. His attribution
is the thunderbolt, the highly-focused power of the heavens.
Thus Apollo is said to scatter the arrows of Zeus on mortal
man, his rays(thunderbolts) of enlightenment upon the world.
#VII JUDGMENT
________________________
Trump: JUDGMENT
Planet: Saturn
Roman: SATVRNI/Scythe
Greek: Kronos
Sphere: Judgment/Time
Synodic: 378.1
Sidereal: 10760./29.45
Heaven: Seventh
Arcana: VII
Pitch: G > C
Species: greater w/b7
Order: W-W-H-W-W-H (7)
Mode: Mixolydian
Muse: Polihymnia
Goddess: Hymnody
________________________
The tarot card of Judgment symbolizes the seventh sidereal
heaven of Saturn (Gk. Kronos), the seventh heavenly sphere,
the scythe of time. Saturn is the height of limitation and
reflection, contemplation and introspection, that boundary
of experience defined by its oft razor-sharp, cutting edge.
Scythe, sickle, machete. It's over, it's finished, the end.
Saturnian, saturnine, the sabbath, sabbatic seventh, seven
times seven the overworked land lay fallow and rejuvenates.
O hallowed number VII your heavens and earth are completed.
The Gods blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because
in it the Gods rested from all His works which He had made.
The muse of Saturn is Polihymnia, diatonic mode of hymnody,
meaning "many hymns" in the Mixolydian mode (greater w/ b7,
ancient Hypophrygian)--the seventh order of heaven: Saturn,
Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars and Jupiter, in that order.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun at a mean distance
of 1,426,731,900 km or about 886,530,100 miles (9.53707032
AU J2000). Saturn measures 120,540km (74,900 miles) at its
equator and has a mean sidereal day of 10 hours 39 minutes
22 seconds i.e. rotating 22,000 mph at the equator--nearly
as fast as Jupiter's sidereal day (see Lesson #VI Emperor).
One sidereal orbit of Saturn takes about 29.44750 tropical
Earth-years to complete (synodic year equals ~1.035 years).
Although nearly 75,000 miles across at the equator, Saturn
measures significantly less, about 67,500 miles, along the
poles and so is the most oblate planet in our solar system.
Saturn's composition is described as mostly hydrogen (97%),
3% helium, with traces of methane and ammonia; thus is the
least-dense planet in our solar system is 70gm/cm^3 or 30%
less than water. Saturn's appearance is similar to Jupiter
but is fainter with soft yellow and gold atmospheric bands,
thus ancient mythological associations of Saturn with gold.
Saturn's breathtaking system of rings turn edge-on as seen
from Earth on average every 14.75 tropical Earth-years. As
classical mythology recounts "Saturn swallows his children"
when the rings are invisible. Hubble space telescope shows
that these rings are never completely invisible but almost.
Briefly, the rings are designated by the letters A through
G, with a couple of significant gaps in between. These are,
in order of their discovery, rings 'A' 122,200km, B 92,200,
C 73,200, D 67,000, E 230,000, F 140,600, & G 170,000; the
significant gaps are named the Cassini Division at 119,000,
and Keeler (Encke) Gap at 133,500. Each ring & gap has its
own orbital period ranging from 4.9 hours for the 'D' ring,
to 31.3 for ring 'E'. Of these major ring divisions, rings
A, B & C are wide, and plainly visible through a telescope.
The other ring divisions are much fainter and difficult to
see. Each ring is subdivided into 1000s of "ringlets" that
are, for the greatest part, only two to three dozen meters
thick and are made of ice crystals and assorted impurities.
When Galileo first viewed Saturn's rings, they were nearly
at maximum angle to Earth. At other times the rings seemed
to disappear prompting Galileo to ask Has Saturn swallowed
his children?...in reference to Saturn's ancient mythology.
The most common photographs of Saturn are taken with rings
at their greatest angularity to the Earth. However, due to
Saturn's orbital eccentricity (0.054151 J2000), the Sun is
seen to illuminate Saturn's northern hemisphere for nearly
15.75 tropical Earth-years whereas the southern hemisphere
sees less than 13.75 years of sunlight, so these intervals
average 14.75 years. Notably, Nostradamus referred to this
maximum angle of the rings as "Saturne fenera", translated
verbatim "Saturn turned and Sun-dried". That's interesting,
since Galileo was born barely two years before Nostradamus
died in the summer of 1566. Understand? A little over half
of the ring-disappearing acts are described as oscillating
triple passages by astronomers, lasting 8.5 to 9 months as
Saturn crosses back and forth, south-north-south and north-
south-north, as viewed along the plane of Earth's ecliptic.
There are eighteen confirmed moons of Saturn, plus a dozen
or more "provisional" satellites pending some verification.
Titan is the largest of Saturn's moons at 5150km (3200 mi).
#VIII THE STAR
________________________
Trump: THE STAR
Planet: Stars/Uranus
Roman: Caelest.Firma./Uranus
Greek: Kosmikos/Ouranos
Sphere: Infinity/Extremes
Synodic: 369.7
Sidereal: 30685./84.02 (Uranus)
Sidereal: 1.00004 (Earth-stars)
Heaven: Eighth
Arcana: VIII
Pitch: A < C
Species: lesser natural, +bass
Order: W-H-W-W-H-W-W (8)
Mode: Bass Aeolian
Muse: Urania
Goddess: Astronomy
________________________
The tarot card of The Star symbolizes the eighth sidereal
heaven of Ouranos & Uranus for which the three "rungs" in
the numeral VIII inspires the golden ladder rising beyond
Saturn's binding rings of time (see Lesson #VII Judgment),
reaching the constellations upon the caelestial firmament
in clear-view of the fixed stars illuminating the heavens,
in clair-voyance of nearby Neptune(see Lesson #IX Hermit).
Ouranos, Uranus, sphere of new beginnings on the resonant
octave of the lunar foundation; the deepest, the furthest,
the faintest, the subtlest--drawing upon the most intense
contradistinctions and starkest of all possible contrasts,
black or white, all or nothing, it's this way or that way.
The muse of Ouranos, Uranus, Urania, diatonic modality of
astronomy, begins on the bass octave of the Moon's lesser-
natural Aeolian mode (ancient Hypodorian) and is composed
of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn,
which is the eighth order of the heavens and is the first
order to include Neptune and Pluto on Mercury's and Venus'
resonant lower octave, respectively. The Uranian is ultra-
sensitive, hyper-receptive; at times to extreme opposites,
unresponsive, unreceptive, the switch is either on or off
and may toggle between these opposites at breakneck speed.
#IX THE HERMIT
________________________
Trump: THE HERMIT
Planet: Seasons/Neptune
Roman: Mobile/Neptune
Greek: Poseidon
Sphere: Wisdom/Sapience
Synodic: 367.5
Sidereal: 60190./164.8 (Neptune)
Sidereal: 1.00000 (Earth-seasons)
Heaven: Ninth
Arcana: IX
Pitch: B < C
Species: lesser w/b2 & b5 +bass
Order: H-W-W-H-W-W-W-H (9)
Mode: Bass Locrian
Muse: Thalia
Goddess: Divine Comedy
________________________
The tarot card of The Hermit symbolizes the ninth sidereal
heaven of Poseidon and the waters aloft terra firma, which
includes Gaea's seasons, oceans, rivers and streams, upper
and lower atmosphere, her climate from solid ground to the
vacuum of inner space. Everywhere water is about the Earth,
solid, liquid and vapor, Neptune rules over the clouds and
ice, rain and hail, sleet and snow, as underground springs
Poseidon rules over earthquakes, cataclysms & earthchanges,
her seasonal variations, wholly the Earth's tropical realm.
Poseidon, Neptune, mighty sphere of wisdom on the resonant
bass octave of Mercury's Locrian mode (ancient Mixolydian);
whose muse is Thalia, the divine comedy via Neptune, Pluto,
Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Moon--exactly in that order,
which is the ninth, diatonic sidereal order of the heavens.
#X THE FOOL
________________________
Trump: THE FOOL
Planet: Earth/Terra Firma/Pluto
Roman: EMPIREVM/Primum Mobile
Greek: Empeiros/Gaea/Hades
Sphere: Center of Activity
Synodic: 366.7
Sidereal: 90800. 247.9 (Pluto)
Sidereal: 0.00000 (Earth-geocentric)
Heaven: Tenth
Arcana: X
Pitch: C = C
Species: greater natural, +middle
Order: W-W-H-W-W-W-H-W-W (10)
Mode: Center Ionian
Muse: Mnemosyne
Goddess: Memory
________________________
The tarot card of The Fool symbolizes the developing tenth
sidereal heaven of Pluton-Hades and his Wealth under terra
firma, clear down to the white pebble at Earth's geocenter,
the center of activity where the Gods & Goddesses converge
in the brilliant white light of the Empireum, the Empyrean,
our crystalline mother of psychometric memories. Mnemosyne
and her nine radiant daughters, 10 diatonic sidereal modes
of heaven gathered together primum mobile, heaven-on-earth,
our sphere of activity, the terrestrial houses of the Gods
in the temple of the Living God. You should say I REMEMBER!
Pluton-Hades, our central sphere on the resonant octave of
Venus' greater perfect *Ionian mode(ancient Lydian) at the
center of human hearing: Pluto, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Moon & Mercury, in that order, which is the tenth sidereal
order of the heavens--the ephemeris or daybook of the Gods.
*FOOTNOTE ON MODALITIES OF URANUS, NEPTUNE & PLUTO:
The three outer planets who are symbolized by the
tarot cards of The Star, The Hermit, and The Fool,
respectively, their three modalities are actually
composed of eight planets, nine planets, then ten
planets, respectively. The precise correspondence
of each planet, muse, mode, trump card, etc., are
summarized by the following chart:
DIATONIC SIDEREAL MODES IN THE OCTAVE
(Tarot,Orbit,Planet,Pitch,Mode,Muse,Goddess)
Tar S# Pla Key Mod Mus God Relative Middle C
FOO 10 Plu C Ion Mne Mem <=C equal middle C
HER 9 Nep B Loc Tha Com <=B below middle C
STA 8 Ura A Aeo Ura Ast <=A below middle C <=bottom
---------------------------------------------
JUD 7 Sat G Mix Pol Hym <=G above middle C
EMP 6 Jup F Lyd Eut Mel <=F above middle C
TOW 5 Mar E Phr Era Lyr <=E above middle C
SUN 4 Sun D Dor Mel Tra <=D above middle C
---------------------------------------------
EMP 3 Ven C Ion Ter Dan <=C above middle C <=top
MAG 2 Mer B Loc Kal Epi <=B above middle C
MOO 1 Moo A Aeo Kli His <=A above middle C
As to see in the table above, the sidereal modality
of The Star (Uranus) is composed of eight tones not
seven, and The Hermit (Neptune) is composed of nine
tones, not eight or seven, and finally, The Fool is
composed of fully ten tones not just nine, eight or
seven as its sidereal predecessors. That is exactly
why, for example, the sidereal modality of The Star
is the Aeolian mode per the bass octave of the Moon,
and so is composed of eight tones, with emphasis on
the A below middle C or the resonant bass octave of
the Moon. See? The same principle holds for Neptune
and Pluto (Hermit & Fool), proving incontrovertibly
that the sidereal ethoi of the muses Urania, Thalia,
and Mnemosyne, are distinct from Klio, Kaliope, and
Terpsichore, by virtue of their added bass tonality,
thus are inclusive for the three outer planets; and
so Uranus has 8 tones, Neptune has 9 & Pluto has 10.
____________________________________________________
End Chapter 3. See Chapter 4 for continuation...
Daniel Joseph Min
*Min's Compleat Tarot Pak:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9IBCQ0PN375...@Gilgamesh-frog.org
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John Griffin
> [ river of shit snipped ]
When someone is ready for part four, he'll let you know.
Hold your breath.