Six of Cups—Sun in Scorpio—Lord of Pleasure
The glowing sun meets sexual Scorpio and the Lord of Pleasure is born. This combination magnifies the energy of the senses. This card is often illustrated with the giving of gifts.
Seven of Cups—Venus in Scorpio—Lord of Illusory Success
Enchanting Venus meets deeply imaginative Scorpio and the Lord of Illusory Success is born. Things that hypnotize us are not always what they seem. This card is often illustrated with cups floating in the air like a vision.
Sagittarius
Flickering Flames (Mutable Fire)
Eight of Wands—Mercury in Sagittarius—Lord of Swiftness
Perceptive Mercury meets extroverted Sagittarius and the Lord of Swiftness is born. Speed of the mind and action of the heart make for great haste and the turning of events. This card is often illustrated with wands flying through the air toward an unknown destination.
Nine of Wands—Moon in Sagittarius—Lord of Great Strength
The subtle moon meets enthusiastic Sagittarius and the Lord of Great Strength is born. Energy bursting from unseen reserves can result in amazing feats. The card is often illustrated with the figure of a person moving through a gate.
Ten of Wands—Saturn in Sagittarius—Lord of Oppression
Authoritarian Saturn meets optimistic Sagittarius and the Lord of Oppression is born. A domineering personality can feel like death to a person who is open and free. This card is often illustrated with an individual who carries a very heavy load.
Capricorn
Fresh and Fecund (Cardinal Earth)
Two of Pentacles—Jupiter in Capricorn—Lord of Harmonious Change
Spiritual Jupiter and helpful Capricorn meet and the Lord of Harmonious Change is born. An effortless and pleasurable alteration is a joy to behold. This card is often illustrated with a juggler who balances two balls.
Three of Pentacles—Mars in Capricorn—Lord of Material Works
Driving Mars meets determined Capricorn and the Lord of Material Works is born. What type of effort is required to construct something in the material world? This card is usually expressed with three people collaborating.
Four of Pentacles—Sun in Capricorn—Lord of Earthly Power
Regenerative sun meets ambitious Capricorn and the Lord of Earthy Power is born. The power of earth lies in its ability to produce, nurture, and regenerate. The Four of Pentacles is often illustrated with a figure who grasps his belongings.
Aquarius
Stillness (Fixed Air)
Five of Swords—Venus in Aquarius—Lord of Defeat
How does the meeting of stunning Venus and imaginative Aquarius spur the Lord of Defeat? The two are set in their ways. They refuse to budge and are so protective they become dangerous to themselves and others. This card is usually illustrated with a fight showing clear winners and losers.
Six of Swords—Mercury in Aquarius—Lord of Earned Success
Intellectual Mercury and innovative Aquarius meet and the Lord of Earned Success is born. How is earned success different from inherited success? Which is more valuable? This card is often illustrated with figures crossing a body of water in a boat.
Seven of Swords—Moon in Aquarius—Lord of Unstable Effort
The fickle moon meets eccentric Aquarius and the Lord of Unstable Effort is born. What makes an effort unstable? Is it lack of planning, bad luck, or a plan doomed from the beginning? This card is usually illustrated with a thieving figure.
Pisces
Rippling Waves (Mutable Water)
Eight of Cups—Saturn in Pisces—Lord of Abandoned Success
Authoritative Saturn meets gentle Pisces and the Lord of Abandoned Success is born. What does it mean to abandon personal success? Can leaving achievements behind be a good thing? This card is often illustrated as a person beginning an upward journey.
Nine of Cups—Jupiter in Pisces—Lord of Material Happiness
Lucky Jupiter meets generous Pisces and the Lord of Material Happiness is born. Luck and generosity meet delicious results. This card is often illustrated with a magic genie on the verge of granting a wish.
Ten of Cups—Mars in Pisces—Lord of Perfected Success
Instinctual Mars meets compassionate Pisces and the Lord of Perfected Success is born. Fire meets love with spectacular results. Usually the card is illustrated with a “happily ever after” ending.
The Golden Dawn Astrological Timing
Seasons
Aces: Wands
Summer
Cups
Autumn
Swords
Spring
Pentacles
Winter
Moon Cycles
Pentacles
New Moon
Swords
Waxing Moon
Wands
Full Moon
Cups
Waning Moon
Times of the Day
Pentacles
Midnight to Sunrise
Swords
Sunrise to Noon
Wands
Noon to Twilight
Twilight to Midnight
Major Arcana Timing
The Fool
Uranus/Aquarius
January 21–February 20
The Magician
Mercury/Gemini
and Virgo
May 21–June 20 and
August 21–September 20
The High Priestess
The Moon/Cancer
June 21–July 20
The Empress
Venus/Taurus
and Libra
April 21–May 20 and September 21–October 20
The Emperor
Aries
March 21–April 20
The Hierophant
Taurus
April 21–May 20
The Lovers
Gemini
May 21–June 20
The Chariot
Cancer
June 21–July 20
Strength
Leo
July 21–August 20
The Hermit
Virgo
August 21–September 20
The Wheel of Fortune
Sagittarius
November 21–December 20
Justice
Libra
September 21–October 20
The Hanged Man
Neptune/Pisces
February 21–March 20
Death
Scorpio
October 21–November 20
Temperance
Sagittarius
November 21–December 20
The Devil
Capricorn
December 21–January 20
The Tower
Mars/Aries
March 21–April 20
The Star
Aquarius
January 21–February 20
The Moon
Pisces
February 21–March 20
The Sun
The Sun/Leo
July 21–August 20
Judgement
Pluto/Scorpio
October 21–November 20
The World
Saturn/Capricorn
December 21–January 20
Minor Arcana Timing (approx. dates)
Two of Wands
March 21–30
Three of Wands
March 31–April 10
Four of Wands
April 11–20
Five of Pentacles
April 21–30
Six of Pentacles
May 1–10
Seven of Pentacles
May 11–20
Eight of Swords
May 21–31
Nine of Swords
June 1–10
Ten of Swords
June 11–20
Two of Cups
June 21–July 1
Three of Cups
July 2–11
Four of Cups
July 12–21
Five of Wands
July 22–August 1
Six of Wands
August 2–11
Seven of Wands
August 12–22
Eight of Pentacles
August 23–September 1
Nine of Pentacles
September 2–11
Ten of Pentacles
September 12–22
Two of Swords
September 23–October 2
Three of Swords
October 3–12
Four of Swords
October 13–22
Five of Cups
October 23–November 2
Six of Cups
November 3–12
Seven of Cups
November 13–22
Eight of Wands
November 23–December 2
Nine of Wands
December 3–12
Ten of Wands
December 13–21
Two of Pentacles
December 22–30
Three of Pentacles
December 31–January 9
Four of Pentacles
January 10–19
Five of Swords
January 20–29
Six of Swords
January 30–February 8
Seven of Swords
February 9–18
Eight of Cups
February 19–28
Nine of Cups
March 1–10
Ten of Cups
March 11–20
Timing Using the Court Cards
Queen of Wands
March 11–April 10
King of Pentacles
April 11–May 10
Knight of Swords
May 11–June 10
Queen of Cups
June 11–July 11
King of Wands
July 12–August 11
Knight of Pentacles
August 12–September 11
Queen of Swords
September 12–October 12
King of Cups
October 13–November 12
Knight of Wands
November 13–December 12
Queen of Pentacles
December 13–January 9
King of Swords
January 10–February 8
Knight of Cups
February 9–March 10
[contents]
chapter six
Tiphareth (Beauty)
The Major Arcana
The Fool
Stories can be sung, some painted, some written in poetry or prose. But all stories can be told, and told so that every human being can understand them.
Pamela Colman Smith32
Sacred
The Fool is infused with the energy of dawn and the possibility of a new day. He walks in pure optimism. The Fool brings life as he stands at the forefront of unfolding consciousness. The Fool is so pure, so fresh, that he carries the number of ultimate potentiality: zero. He is the human soul manifest and aware of itself in the material world. He is so fresh that he does not think ahead of himself or place preconceived judgments on the world around him. The Fool is the state of the soul as it enters the world.
Waite says of the Fool, “He is the spirit in search of experience.” Waite could be describing each of us. Aren’t we all searching for experience? Experience defines us. It teaches us who we are. The Fool’s journey is the adventure shaping each and every one of us on the planet. Every day brings us possibilities and opportunities ranging the spectrum from pleasant to challenging. The Fool greets every experience head-on. Doing so, the experience tempers who the Fool becomes as he travels through the tarot and down the road of life.
The Fool is a clearinghouse of the senses. He is perception, feeling, and experience. He is the way in which he organizes the world inside the body. The Fool looks at the world in pure innocence and without predetermined labels. He never tires of looking, seeing, and observing because the world is continually new under his step.
The Fool contains every card of the tarot deck inside of him the same way you are the unique container for your personal life experience. An individual’s life appears to occur out
side because we view others from an external viewpoint. Life, however, occurs within each individual’s interior life. Individual consciousness processes events, happenings, and relationships on the inside, not the outside. Buddha says, “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
The Fool is the first card of the RWS deck. The number zero connects the Fool to the World card, acting as a jewelry clasp between cyclical endings and beginnings. The Fool’s placement in tarot has changed over the decades. Ancient decks carried an unnumbered Fool. Eighteenth and nineteenth-century decks placed the Fool between Judgement and the World. The Golden Dawn placed the Fool at the front of the major arcana, which allowed the corresponding astrology to line up with the cards. The most usable tarot deck of the twentieth century was born.
Waite speaks to the Fool’s expression when he says, “His countenance is full of intelligence and expectant dream.” His statement reminds us the Fool is not a simpleton. The Fool is an energetic creature who desires stimulation and adventure. Waite calls him “a prince of the other world.” The other world is the invisible world. The Fool passed through the veil from supernatural to natural, from subconscious to conscious. Waite says, “The sun, which shines behind him, knows whence he came, whither he is going, and how he will return by another path after many days.” Waite’s statement posits the sun as the source of all life and magic. Waite speaks of the Kabbalistic journey of emergence and return when he states the Fool will return by another path. The Tree of Life’s paths are each connected to specific tarot cards. The journey of emergence begins at the top of the tree and moves downward until the soul, idea, or thing is made manifest in the material world. The journey of return occurs as the Fool moves back up the tree to convene with the divine energy pouring though the top of the tree. Like the child who grows up and leaves home only to return home as a fully formed adult, so will the Fool move forth into the unknown to discover who he is.