With the final card of Virgo we come to the end of the story of Earth, as told through the pentacle minors.  It is a story of bodies, of things, of money; it's the story of the life of matter.  In the 2, 3, and 4 of Disks we fired the engines of material ambition.  In the 5, 6, and 7 we sought to attain and preserve material success. And in the 8, 9, and 10, we tend to our material legacy. We built a livelihood, we sought our purpose, we fashion an inheritance for our successors. Whatever we first conceived, we have now brought to earth and made real; as above, so below.  The Magician, major arcanum of Mercury, shows us it is so!

Welcome to the beautifully curated garden of the 'Little Empress'!  Who is the 'Little Empress'? Why, the 9 of Pentacles - a woman who has accomplished works of great beauty and created her own little world; at the touch of her hands, that which is useful and lovely seems to bloom and grow. The flowers on her gown mirror the glyph of Venus on the Empress' shield. Her walled paradise seems like perfection itself.  But is it really?!

What a drama-free scene the 8 of Pentacles presents! after the 7 of Wands’ desperate measures. Some consider this card to be a crashing bore, but it is my natal decan and I beg to differ. Though each of the artisan's pentacles may appear identical, you can be certain he is honing his craft incrementally with each one. He is lost in the trance of perfection. He sees only the work before him, but in that work resides the world entire.

The 5, 6, and 7 of Wands tell a classic story of heroism. In the 5, our hero proved her mettle against others.  In the 6, she rose to public fame, even kingship. But here in the 7, something has gone wrong!  The crowds that cheered her on just 10 days ago - one decan - have turned against her. Standing on a high prominence, she faces opposition, protests, rebellion.  She's a hot mess - she can't even find a matching pair of shoes!  What now?

 Fame! Accolades! Kudos! Victory! in the 6 of Wands, we find glorious Jupiter bestowing his blessings on the heart of the Sun's own sign, Leo. Is it any surprise that we seem to have stumbled upon a triumphal procession in progress? In the fixed heart of Leo, the solar light is steady and bright, illuminating Jupiter's boundless glittering gifts.