Here we find astrological and natural symbolism speaking about as plainly as we are capable
of hearing. A woman opening/closing the mouth of a lion gives us both Leo and the female
character of Tayt, the cell. Here energy may assume the two contrary qualities of
the Sun, wealth and poverty, according to its success in building
physical structures. This is why the action of the female figure should be kept
ambiguous -- the point is not to either open or close the lion's mouth, but in
knowing when to do either. And that the key to the lion's (serpent's) power is in the
transformation (liberation) of the feminine (Waite's infinity sign).
Strength refers to the completion of the archetypal level of the development of energy, under
the sign of Tayt, 9. Only with the next card, the Hermit, do the energies actually come
into existence. Here, in Leo, we find ourselves at a switch point in the Zodiac.
Hayt, 8, forms Sartan, 60.9.700; Tayt, 9, forms Hamah, the Sun, 8.40.5. Each sign contains
each other's formative. Energy can go either way.
To review: Aleph/the Fool falls into the World and their interaction produces the movement of the Wheel,
which is met by the resistance of the Tower -- these are preconditions of Life, the Emperor -- which
fuse matter and Spirit (High Priest) to proliferate possibilities (Lovers) from unstructured
energy/consciousness (Chariot) to form a seed or cell (Strength) for existence (Yod).
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