Lust
The Daughter of the Flaming Sword
Rider-Waite: Strength
Strength as joy: the passion that rides the beast instead of chaining it.
| Trump | XI of the 22 (Atu) |
|---|---|
| Letter | ט Teth, “serpent”, value 9, Simple letter |
| Path | Path 19, Chesed to Geburah |
| Astrology | ♌︎ Leo, fixed Fire, Jul 22 – Aug 22 |
| Old title | The Daughter of the Flaming Sword |
| Rider-Waite | Strength (numbered VIII there) |
| Colour | Greenish yellow (King scale) |
In a reading
Passion, vitality, courage, the joyous use of all the energies; strength that comes from union with one's animal nature rather than from suppressing it. Badly placed: lust without joy, violence, energy without direction.
Working with the card
| Do | Commit with your whole appetite; let the energy work for you. |
|---|---|
| Bring | Courage, vitality, delight in the force itself. |
| Beware | Appetite running the rider; intoxication as an end. |
| Ask | What would I do if I trusted my own energy? |
Correspondences
On the card
Babalon, the Scarlet Woman, rides naked and joyous on the seven-headed Beast, one hand raising the Holy Grail of the blood of the saints, the reins hanging loose. The Beast's heads include a lion-serpent and creatures of every kind; ten horns and the light of rapture surround them.
Kabbalah
Teth, the serpent, on path 19 from Chesed to Geburah: the serpent of kundalini that joins Mercy and Severity in a single current. Teth's shape is the coiled serpent; the card is the lion-serpent Abraxas.
Astrology
Leo, fixed Fire, ruled by the Sun: the lion, the heart, the height of summer. The decans of Leo are the Five, Six and Seven of Wands.
Number
Eleven, the number of magick and of the union of the pentagram with the hexagram, and Teth's value 9. Crowley numbers the card XI in the Golden Dawn manner and treats it as the dynamic complement of Adjustment (VIII).
Depth psychology
The integrated shadow: instinct owned and ridden rather than repressed, the sacred marriage of ego and animal soul. Its danger is possession by the very energy it celebrates.
Thoth and Rider-Waite
Waite's Strength shows a woman gently closing a lion's mouth, numbered VIII; Crowley's Lust, numbered XI, shows the woman riding and glorying in the beast, the very opposite of restraint.
Where sources differ
Numbering: the Golden Dawn and Crowley give XI; Waite gives VIII to Strength.
The sign in depth
| Dates | Jul 22 – Aug 22 |
|---|---|
| Type | Fixed Fire |
| Ruler | The Sun |
| Exalts | No planet |
| Weakens | Saturn (detriment) |
| Motto | “I will” |
| Body | Heart, spine |
| Opposite | Aquarius, The Star |
| Gifts | Generosity, creativity, warmth, courage, leadership, loyalty, playfulness |
| Shadow | Vanity, arrogance, need for applause, drama, domineering |
More in the astrology chapters: Leo.
Related cards
Pairs with
- לVIII Adjustment Lust (XI) and Adjustment (VIII), the exchanged pair
- חVII The Chariot The cup Babalon raises is the Grail of the Chariot
The decans of Leo
- ♄︎Five of Wands StrifeSaturn, Jul 22–Aug 1
- ♃︎Six of Wands VictoryJupiter, Aug 2–11
- ♂︎Seven of Wands ValourMars, Aug 12–22
Courts ruling Leo
Other paths touching Chesed
Other paths touching Geburah
Correspondences follow the Golden Dawn system as used in Crowley's Book of Thoth and Liber 777. Paintings by Lady Frieda Harris, © Ordo Templi Orientis. Where sources differ.