2 of Pentacles/Disks: Capricorn I
Hermetic title: Change / Harmonious Change
Decan ruler (Chaldean): Jupiter
Corresponding majors: The Wheel of Fortune [Jupiter] + The Devil [Capricorn]
Dates: December 21- December 30
With the December solstice we greet the Lord of Change - the Cosmic Juggler, the Lord of the jovial Forces of Life standing before the saturnine Gates of Matter. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, he is like a spark of light struck in flinty darkness on the longest night of the year. For those of us in the south, it is the longest day. But whether we are observing a winter or a summer solstice, all of us have reached one end of a tether. The earth inches forward in its orbit and, almost imperceptibly, our allotments of shadow and light - the Holly King and the Oak King - exchange places.
Saturn and Jupiter, Do-Si-Do!
In our journey through the thirty-six decans and the thirty-six minor arcana, we experience solstices and equinoxes - the four "solar" observances - as a shift from 10 to 2. More precisely:
In terms of astrological dignity, the current shift from 10 of Wands to 2 of Pentacles is particularly interesting. The 10 of Wands corresponds to the Saturn-ruled final decan of Sagittarius; the 2 of Pentacles corresponds to the Jupiter-ruled initial decan of Capricorn. So we have a handover from a Saturn-ruled decan in a Jupiter-ruled sign to a Jupiter-ruled decan in a Saturn-ruled sign. You can put this another way: it's a handover from a malefic-ruled decan in the sign of a benefic to a benefic-ruled decan in the sign of a malefic. This is the only such consecutive changeover of dignity in the entire series of 36.
Therefore, in this transition from 10 of Wands to 2 of Pentacles, we can see clearly some archetypally contrasting dynamics: expansion versus constriction, irresistible force versus immovable object. The expanding sprout strains against the constraining husk! This applies both physically (about which more in a moment) and metaphysically.
We can also look at this dynamic elementally, for fire (Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius) and earth (Saturn-ruled Capricorn) embody the relationship between heat and fuel, energy and mass. If the 10 of Wands is the last glowing charcoaled chunk of firewood in last night's bonfire, the 2 of Pentacles is the first bright spark dancing on the tinder in the cold stone hearth at dawn.
The only constant is change
As the forces of saturnine compression and jovial expansion contend, some consistent properties emerge: motion, change, the passage of time. Compression and expansion, after all, drive a combustion engine! The 2 of Pentacles literally sets the suit in motion. The definition of energy is the ability to do work or cause change. What is the title of the 2 of Pentacles? The Lord of Change. And the 3 of Pentacles? The Lord of Work.
Iconographically, 2 of Pentacles always show two wheel-like forms and a connecting belt. Now when in a simple two-wheel pulley system, the belt may be "open," like an O, or the belt may be "crossed," like an X or an infinity sign. The interesting thing about the 2 of Pentacles is that the belt is *always* crossed. And you know what? A crossed belt leads to reversed rotation. Bear with me - here's a GIF.
Mesmerizing, isn’t it?
As you can see, the wheels are turning in opposite directions. Doesn't that remind you of something? Say, the diminishing length of sunlight until the day of the solstice, when it ceases shrinking, turns around, and begins to increase? What's more, the apparent position of the sun from a fixed point on earth traces this very shape - the solar analemma. (Also, I can't help thinking of the undulating sine-wave flight pattern of the hoopoe, a crested Eurasian bird associated by Picatrix with this decan.)
The pentacles and their opposing direction can be represented in other ways. Tarot de Marseille 2 of Coins cards are famous for bearing the maker's mark on an S-shaped ribbon; in the French cartomantic tradition, one meaning of the card was "un embarras" - a reversal of fortune. But my favorite shape derived from the two-wheel, crossed-belt phenomenon that is the 2 of Pentacles is the hourglass. You can see one on Mel Meleen's Tabula Mundi 2 of Disks. Time and its passage are so central to the understanding of this card. Saturn/Chronos, ruler of Capricorn, is so often pictured with a scythe or sickle to suggest mortality. But sometimes he exchanges his sickle for an hourglass.
L: Jean Noblet Tarot de Marseille, ed. Flornoy.
R: Tabula Mundi Colores Arcus, by M. M. Meleen
350 years have elapsed between these images, but you can still discern the underlying shape they have in common.
Properties of the Wheel
Jupiter, like all the traditional planets except for Mars, governs five decans. So far in our journey through the 36 decans, we have encountered four of them. It occurred to me that since Jupiter corresponds with the Wheel of Fortune, we might be able to draw some conclusions about how a wheel's physical and metaphysical properties relate to one another. (We talked about this at some length in the 6 of Wands, where we got to enjoy life at the top of the wheel.)
[I don't mean for these to be definitive answers - I'm still thinking it through and asking questions. What role does dignity play? Are there differences in magical efficacy? Could we do this for all seven planets? I bet we could try!]
Guess how many numbers there are on a roulette wheel? 36.
And what if you add every number from 1 to 36? 666.
Spooky!
Lord of Luck, Master of Skill
If the Wheel of Fortune is fate's roulette, the Devil is the Master of the Game (in fact, I just found out! that one nickname for roulette is "the devil's game"). So to me, the 2 of Pentacles exemplifies the game mindset: Saturn provides the rules, Jupiter provides the element of randomness. In games where skill and luck contend, there is always a chance that good fortune will strike. But the sober statistician, strategic and calculating, wins in the long run. (Would I take a 2 of Pentacles talisman, appropriately Jupiter-consecrated, into a poker game? You bet I would! Yes, Jupiter is in fall despite his decanic dignity. So, as with the 8 of Wands talisman, I would view it as a collaborative effort - a boost to help you make your own luck, as it were)
In this faceoff between the Devil and Fortune, every conceivable outcome is at stake. According to the Picatrix, the signification of this decan is "Happiness, joy, and bringing things to an end that are sluggish, weak, and proceeding poorly." There is a phrase for this decan in Agrippa that particularly grabs my attention: "for profit and loss by debility". This likely has something to do with Jupiter's fall. But it also makes me think of hedge funds, in which you have the capacity to buy long or short, thus leveraging both profit and loss to your benefit. Whether you hear the giddy glockenspiel of the jackpot or the tocsin knell of bankruptcy - and what that means to you - are to some extent under your control.
The Wild Hunt
Finally, let's remember that the solstice kicks off Yule season. Yule is the season of the Wild Hunt, when Odin at his most demonic leads a host of spectres through the darkness, and only the strong-spirited travel abroad. And remember how, in the last decan, we talked about the arrow striking its target? In this span of ten days falls, we celebrate the return of Odin's son - beautiful Baldur, the solar god, killed by an arrow tipped with a sharpened sprig of mistletoe. As we celebrate the longest night, we can think of Baldur dwelling now in the underworld, where he shall stay till Ragnärok itself.
The Wild Hunt of Odin, Peter Nicolai Arbo (1872)
Odin’s entourage, it is said, does not descend below the height of where the ox throws his yoke. Prudent travelers throw themselves to the ground on the night of his hunt!
So death is integral to the solstice and lurking in the subtext of the 2 of Pentacles. One astute podcast listener observed to me that the 2 of Pentacles' remarkable hat reminded her of the camel-hair hat or sikke worn by the whirling dervishes of Sufism. Its shape is meant to evoke a tombstone; the dance itself both observes and summons the death of the ego.
During this lore-filled season, haunted by hunts, frenzy, dances of death, sun-god sacrifices, I like to think that mysteries of reincarnation are happening. In practice I have found that this card eases communication with the past and with ancestors. It calls up a dense nexus of ritual and belief, questions of incarnation, the multiple selves we bear within us. When we embrace beneath Baldur's mistletoe, we invoke the reconciliation that invites life back from death, the turn toward light and life in the midst of the darkest hour.
The Takeaway
When you receive the 2 of Pentacles, consider that much is in play. Nothing can stay the same, but within that formula of change there are opportunities. Now is a time to tender up your old selves and redeem them for something new. Be open to messages traveling across distant reaches of space and time. Though your body may be anchored for now in the Lord of Change, let your attention turn toward its opposing number, the Lord of Love, for they belong to one another.
(And - if you like - go ahead and make a talisman for your next game of chance, and let me know what happens!)
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
- Lao Tzu