Six of Wands

Three lotus wands and three phoenix wands cross in an ordered lattice, with nine flames burning steadily at the crossings.

Tiphareth, Beauty, in Atziluth, the world of emanation. 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 Fire: the element balanced at the heart of the Tree. Jupiter in the second decan of Leo gives the lion its generous, kingly aspect.

Jupiter in the second decan of Leo (10°–20°, about Aug 2–11). Jupiter is expansion, generosity, luck, law and the king's mercy. On the Tree it is Chesed; among the trumps it is Fortune, the wheel that turns by its own law.

Leo is fixed Fire: the lion, the heart, the height of summer, pride and generosity. The Sun rules it. It is the kerubic sign of Fire, and its trump is Lust. The trump of Leo is Lust.

This decan is ruled by the Prince of Wands, whose arc runs from 21° Cancer to 20° Leo. The two Shem angels of the decan are Yerathel and Seheiah.

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.

Intuition confirmed and celebrated; the direction taken has proved right. The Wands are usually read as the intuition function in Jung's typology, an interpretive convention rather than a text of Jung's.

Rider-Waite calls the suit Wands, Rods or Staves. 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 Victory) is shared by both traditions.

Jupiter at its best gives generosity, wisdom, faith, humour, mentorship, good fortune. At its worst: arrogance, dogmatism, self-righteousness, overpromising, gluttony, waste, the guru complex.

Leo (“I will”) brings generosity, creativity, warmth, courage, leadership, loyalty, playfulness. Its shadow is vanity, arrogance, need for applause, drama, domineering.

Together: Jupiter has no essential dignity or debility in Leo. 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 Aug 2–11, so it is the decan card of anyone born then; their court card is the Prince of Wands. Find a birthday.