Six of Swords

Six swords meet at the centre of a rose-cross, forming a hexagram; the arrangement is perfect and luminous.

Tiphareth, Beauty, in Yetzirah, the world of formation. Beauty, the centre of the Tree and the Son of the Name: self-conscious mind, the heart, the place where the light of the Crown is reflected in a balanced form. Tiphareth is the Sun. The Sixes are Tiphareth in the four worlds and are the most harmonious cards of each suit; the Princes belong here.

Tiphareth in the world of Air: mind at the balanced centre, the hexagram. Mercury in the second decan of Aquarius is intellect in the sign of the ideal.

Mercury in the second decan of Aquarius (10°–20°, about Jan 30–Feb 8). Mercury is the messenger: mind, speech, writing, trade, sleight of hand, the go-between. On the Tree it is Hod, Splendour; among the trumps it is the Magus, and the Magus's ape is the lie that language makes possible.

Aquarius is fixed Air: the water-bearer who pours out the stars, the collective mind, the ideal. Saturn rules it traditionally (Uranus in modern practice). It is the kerubic sign of Air, and its trump is the Star. The trump of Aquarius is The Star.

This decan is ruled by the Prince of Swords, whose arc runs from 21° Capricorn to 20° Aquarius. The two Shem angels of the decan are Anauel and Mehiel.

Self-conscious mind: the hexagram, balance regained at a higher level, the heart. Tiphareth, Beauty. The Sixes are the most harmonious cards of each suit; the Lovers is trump VI.

Thinking at its best: the distinction made cleanly, the whole seen. The Swords are usually read as the thinking function in Jung's typology, an interpretive convention rather than a text of Jung's.

Rider-Waite calls the suit Swords. Its small cards carry scenes; the Thoth small cards carry the suit emblems arranged geometrically, with the keyword printed at the bottom and the colours of their Sephirah and decan. The Golden Dawn title (Lord of Earned Success) is shared by both traditions.

Mercury at its best gives wit, eloquence, adaptability, curiosity, skill. At its worst: manipulation, lying, anxiety, superficiality, nervous overthinking.

Aquarius (“I know”) brings originality, idealism, friendship, independence, objectivity, reform. Its shadow is detachment, contrarianism, cold intellectualism, stubborn ideology, aloofness.

Together: Mercury has no essential dignity or debility in Aquarius. Dignity explains part of the title and the Sephirah explains the rest: a planet at home in its sign can still sit in a hard sphere, and a weak planet can be carried by a strong one.

The Sun crosses this decan around Jan 30–Feb 8, so it is the decan card of anyone born then; their court card is the Prince of Swords. Find a birthday.