Through the Looking Glass: Transmutations of Aquarius
The Star and its Precession
L’Histoire de Folies d’une Étoile
Back in the old days, Aquarius ♒︎ was ruled by Saturn ♄, and attributed to the path of Tzaddi צ, the Hook.
Uranus ⛢ was discovered in 1781 by Sir William Herschel ♅ (the symbol is an H for Herschel). It took a little over a century for Uranus to be related to Aquarius, and eventually given dominion over Saturn’s sign.
In 1904, Aleister Crowley received the Book of the Law, Liber AL vel Legis, in which Aiwass mysteriously stated: All these old letters of my Book are aright; but Tzaddi is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise.
This secret would not be unraveled by Crowley for decades, at least not publicly. In the Book of Thoth (1944) he writes of the revelation:
“This was exceedingly annoying. If Tzaddi was not "the Star", what was? And what was Tzaddi? He tried for years to counter-change this card, "The Star", which is numbered XVII, with some other. He had no success. It was many years later that the solution came to him. Tzaddi is "The Emperor"; and therefore the positions of XVII and IV must be counterchanged. This attribution is very satisfactory.
Yes, but it is something a great deal more than satisfactory; it is, to clear thought, the most convincing evidence possible that the Book of the Law is a genuine message from the Secret Chiefs. For "The Star" is referred to Aquarius in the Zodiac, and "The Emperor” to Aries. Now Aries and Aquarius are on each side of Pisces, just as Leo and Libra are on each side of Virgo; that is to say, the correction in the Book of the Law gives a perfect symmetry in the zodiacal attribution, just as if a loop were formed at one end of the ellipse to correspond exactly with the existing loop at the other end.
These matters sound rather technical; in fact, they are; but the more one studies the Tarot, the more one perceives the admirable symmetry and perfection of the symbolism. Yet, even to the layman, it ought to be evident that balance and fitness are essential to any perfection.”
At this point Aquarius has undergone two massive transformations: it is no longer ruled by Saturn, but Uranus, and no longer attributed to Tzaddi, but He ה. (If you want to read about Tzaddi as it relates to the Emperor, you can read my article.) Where does this leave us? Are these two shifts related? How does this affect the meaning and function of the sign astrologically?
It is the Stars
“The stars above us, govern our conditions.“
As Shakespeare states it, it must be true, and in fact, it was true. This is, I think, the very argument made by the Tzaddi ruled, Aquarian tarot card: the Star.
In my chapter on the card, I wrote: This is the image of the astrological theory underpinning much of the Tarot’s structure. A human being unknowingly influenced by distant heavenly bodies.
This motif is even clearer in old depictions of astrology in art.
In J.J. Grandville’s piece La Mauvaise Étoile, he shows an anthropomorphized star literally puppeteering humans below.
This is the perfect symbol of what Aquarius, and astrology as whole represented: distant influence and control from above. This is Tzaddi צ, the star is control of man, hook, line, and sinker.