透特塔罗

The Prince of Wands represents the airy part of Fire, with its faculty of expanding and volatilising. He is a warrior in complete armour of scale mail, but his arms are bare on account of his vigour and activity. He rides upon a sea of flames, both waved and salient.

• The Rayed Crown with the Lion's Head: He wears a rayed crown surmounted by a winged lion's head, from which depends a curtain of flame. The lion represents Leo — the fixed, royal aspect of Fire — while the wings suggest the airy quality that lifts and expands that energy into the intellectual realm.
• The Sigil of To Mega Therion: Upon his breast is the sigil of the Great Beast, marking him as the active expression of Thelemic Will — the published record of what the Knight and Queen have done in secret.
• The Phoenix Wand: In his left hand he bears the Phoenix Wand of Power and Energy, the wand of the Second Adept. The phoenix is the symbol of death and resurrection — the Prince carries the capacity to transform and renew Fire through the power of Air (intellect).
• The Lion Drawing the Chariot: With his other arm he reins the lion which draws his chariot, fortified by a wheel radiating flame. The chariot signifies sustained, directed movement — unlike the Knight's single explosive charge, the Prince carries his energy forward over time, though he must constantly struggle to control the beast that propels him.
• The Bare Arms: His arms are uncovered despite his full armour, emphasizing raw physical vigour and the need for direct, unmediated contact with the forces he commands.

The Prince of Wands represents the airy part of Fire. He rules from the 20th degree of Cancer to the 20th degree of Leo. In the Tetragrammaton, the Princes correspond to the letter Vau — the Son of the Queen (the old King's daughter) by the Knight who has won her. He is the active issue of their union and its manifestation. He is the intellectual image of their union. His action is consequently more enduring than that of his forbears. In one respect he acquires a relative permanence, because he is the published record of what has been done in secret. Also, he is the Dying God, redeeming his Bride in the hour and by the virtue of his murder.

The moral qualities appropriate to this figure are swiftness and strength. But he is sometimes inclined to act on impulse, sometimes easily led by external influences, sometimes — especially in trifles — a prey to indecision. He is often violent, especially in the expression of an opinion, but he does not necessarily hold the opinion about which he is so emphatic. He states a vigorous proposition for the sake of stating it. He is in fact very slow to make up his mind thoroughly on any subject, but always sees both sides of every question. He is essentially just, but always feels that justice is not to be attained in the intellectual world.

His character is intensely noble and generous. He may be an extravagant boaster while slyly laughing both at the object of his boast and at himself for making it. He is romantic, especially in matters of history and tradition, to the point of folly. His courage is fanatically strong, and his endurance indefatigable. He is always fighting against odds and always wins in the long — the very long — run. This is principally due to his enormous capacity for work, which he exercises for its own sake without lust of result.

When badly dignified, each quality finds its antithesis. There is great cruelty in him, partly sadistic and partly due to callousness arising from indifference. He may be intolerant, prejudiced, and idle. He may furthermore be an empty boaster and a great coward.

In the Yi King, the airy part of Fire is represented by the 42nd hexagram, Yi (Increase). Full of virtue and confident therein, he contemplates work of stupendous scope. In this he may achieve immense success, but this course is fraught with commensurate danger.

The Prince of Wands represents the archetype of the Puer Aeternus — the Eternal Youth — in its most dynamic and intellectually charged form. He is the creative energy of Fire that has been given a vehicle (the chariot) and a direction (the intellect of Air), but has not yet reached material completion.

Psychologically, the Prince is the figure who can see every side of a question, argue any position with passionate conviction, and then abandon it moments later. This is not hypocrisy — it is the restless movement of an intellect that has been set on fire. He embodies the creative individual who is bursting with ideas, projects, and visions of "work of stupendous scope," but who struggles to bring any single one to ground. The bare arms amid full armour capture this paradox: immense strength and vigour, but also a fundamental vulnerability born from the refusal to fully protect oneself.

His status as the "Dying God" connects him to one of the deepest Jungian motifs: the necessary sacrifice of youthful omnipotence in service of genuine transformation. The Puer must eventually die to his own inflation — his sense that sheer brilliance and force of will can accomplish everything — in order to become something real. Until that death occurs, he oscillates between grandiosity ("an extravagant boaster") and self-mockery ("slyly laughing at himself"), between fanatical courage and the paralysis of seeing too many sides at once.

As the Airy part of Fire and the letter Vau of the Tetragrammaton in the Wands suit, the Prince represents intellect (Air) operating within the domain of will and creativity (Fire). Vau means "Nail" — the fastener, the connector — and the Prince's function is precisely to connect the initial impulse (Knight/Yod) with the receptive container (Queen/Heh) and project their combined energy outward as a coherent intellectual vision. In Jungian terms, he is the thinking function activated by passion — not cold analysis but the fiery intelligence that perceives patterns, constructs arguments, and envisions grand designs.

His zodiacal range — 20° Cancer to 20° Leo — brings a profound tension to his character. Cancer's final decan contributes emotional depth, protectiveness, and a hidden sensitivity beneath the armoured exterior; Leo's first two decans add solar confidence, creative ambition, and the desire to be seen and acknowledged. Psychologically, this combination produces the individual who is genuinely brilliant and deeply feeling but who disguises vulnerability behind theatrical displays of confidence. The influence of Cancer's last decan is what gives the Prince his "mysterious" quality — the sense that beneath the boasting and the jokes, there is a private depth that few are permitted to see. The Yi King's hexagram Yi (Increase) confirms the Prince's enormous potential: "full of virtue and confident therein, he contemplates work of stupendous scope" — but warns that this very confidence, if not grounded by commitment, is "fraught with commensurate danger."

The Prince of Wands appearing in psychological work signals enormous creative potential and intellectual energy — but warns that this energy must eventually commit to a single form or risk dissipating into brilliant but fruitless motion.