Where were we? We’re in the middle of discussing the obscure Telescope of Zoroaster (ZT), a manual of divination and spirituality originally published in French in 1796 (FZT) at the close of the French Revolution, which was later translated into German in 1797 (GZT) and then again in an abridged form as part of Johann Scheible’s 1846 Das Kloster (vol. 3, part II, chapter VII) (KZT), with Scheible’s work then translated into English in 2013 as released by Ouroboros Press (OZT).  Although OZT is how most people nowadays tend to encounter this system, I put out my own English translation of FZT out a bit ago as part of my research, and while that translation was just part of the work I’ve been up to, there’s so much more to review, consider, and discover when it comes to this fascinating form of divination.  Last time, we talked about the actual process of performing divination with ZT. If you need a refresher on what we talked about last time, go read the last post!

※ For those following along with their own copy of ZT (get yours here!), this post does not touch on any specific chapter of the text.

As I mentioned early on, there has been very little literature written about ZT, whether as a larger analysis of the text or as applications and explorations of it, and I think this post series of mine may well be the first (or one of the first) in English to treat on ZT in any extensive manner.  However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything else we might turn to—in fact, there is actually one such text that can help us out here: Karl Kern’s 1933 work Die wahrsagende Kabbala der Magier: die Kabbala des Zoroaster (WKM). This same book was later reprinted in 2009 under the name “Baron André-Robert Andréa de Nerciat” (for reasons that will likely become clear in the next paragraph) by Verlag Edition Geheimes Wissen.

Admittedly, I can’t find much information about Kern: what little I can find is that he was a German occultist who eventually got taken up with Ariosophy, a German völkisch ideological spirituality which was mutually interpermeable with Theosophy at the time.  To be sure, Karl Kern was at odds with broader Theosophical leadership; Corinna Treitel’s A Science for the Soul: Occultism and the Genesis of the Modern German talks about such differences and issues (pp. 102—107), as well as the similarities and shared origins of perspective in matters of race and racialized spirituality.  Kern was active in ariosophical groups in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, published several books and periodicals involved in such a milieu, and was connected to similar völkisch movements that played a part in the rise of the Third Reich; for more on this, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke’s The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and their Influence on Nazi Theology is a good work to consult.

Normally, I would be nothing short of happy to pass over such a person and just let him sink forgotten into the dark abyss of history, to say nothing of how much he ought to be rightfully condemned for his rancidly offensive ideologies, but in this case, he’s one of the few people I can find to have ever written about ZT, making WKM worth our attention if only for our research into ZT.  Given the sparseness of information I can find on Kern, I can’t say what came upon him to write a book about ZT.  In all likelihood (at least to my mind), it’s probably no more than the fact that he came across KZT as part of his research in German folklore and magical practices in Scheible’s Das Kloster, and, intrigued in the system of ZT that bore some semblance to numerology and similar forms of occult practices that he and his colleagues were already into along with its repeated vitriol aimed at more popular, common forms of occult and esoteric practices, he decided to publish his own primer.  While this text preserves some of the material verbatim from KZT while abridging other parts even further than KZT did of FZT, it does away with much of the supplemental material while also providing a lengthy case study and example of its own.  Notably, Kern incorporated the recently-discovered Uranus and Neptune into its system as synonyms for spirit-Sun and spirit-Moon, respectively:

The words “material” and “spiritual” here mean “physical” and “moral”, or “elemental” and “ethereal”.  One would also be justified (taking it with a grain of salt) in assigning Psychomena to Neptune and Psychelia to Uranus.

Each Intelligence is represented by the sign of the planet to which it is attached. For the sake of simplicity and easier distinction, one always finds the sign of Neptune for the Psychomena and the sign of Uranus for the Psychelia on the table of Intelligences and Numbers.

For the most part, what one finds in WKM is largely similar to KZT, except that WKM devotes a whole chapter to “Ein Beispiel”, a complete case study of a single Great Mirror, which I’d like to provide and discuss today, especially because ZT itself doesn’t provide any such example.  I apologize for the length of this post (I wanted to quote the whole example in full plus provide my own insight and commentary on it) as well as the roughness (I am worse at German than I am at French, and I’m already no good at French).  For the purposes of this translation, WKM uses the words “stone” and “field” to call what we’ve been referring to respectively as “tile” and “house”.

WKM gives the following Great Mirror:

Note that the ⛢ symbol in house 22 is the usual astrological glyph for Uranus, which WKM uses as a substitute/synonym for Psykomena.  The small text by each house in the outer belt of the Great Mirror indicates a lustral period (period of five years), such that house 20 represents years 0—5, house 21 years 5—10, house 22 years 10—15, and so on through house 37 representing years 85—90.

WKM opens up the context and case of the reading to be investigated, a reading done for a middle-aged man:

…The good principle Sisamoro was drawn in the course of the operation, saying many valuable things. Any good event displayed will be amplified by this; conversely, every bad event is weakened at first, but then ultimately led to the good. The influence of the good principle is effective on all fields and on all stones. It is very important to note when Sisamoro is drawn from the urn, i.e. on which space it would fall if it were allowed to be treated as one of the beings. In our case, Sisamoro was drawn as the 15th stone, so it would have fallen on the 15th field ruled by Mercury. With this, something important can already be seen, because we can state that the seeker is undoubtedly strongly mercurial, that he desires and loves for trade and change, enjoys travel and business, but also that he has a lucky hand in all business. Even if it may often seem different, he can finally call treasures, profit and wealth his own.

WKM follows one of the bits of advice given in ZT where one should “observe at which junction in the laying out of pieces for a Great Mirror where a Principle or Spirit appears”.  In this case, WKM notes on what tile of the Great Mirror Sisamoro would have fallen on, and makes a note about that.

Now let’s look at the first stone, in our case 37, which is assigned to the Sun and which has fallen into field 1 (of Uranus). 37 indicates heated feelings, passion, and temperament. Field 1 as the center of the entire mirror is the field of greatness and power, the groundbreaking field for life as a whole. Even a Kabbalist with only a small power of deduction will interpret this situation in such a way that a person with great passion, with all his feeling and temperament, is willing to go the way to spiritual power and greatness. If we further break down the number 37 into its two digits 3 and 7, we see that firstly love must have a dominant influence in life, and secondly that Mars’ number 7 inclines to strong vehemence of wanting and accomplishing. On the one hand, love is inspired and stimulated by Mars, but on the other hand, Mars is tempered and tamed by Erosia (Venus). People flare up easily, but never for long.

Recall how WKM gives Uranus to Psykelia/spirit-Sun.  Also recall ZT’s reminder that “whenever a simple number appears joined with another to form a compound number, each of the two digits still preserves something that is primitively proper to them, wherever it may fall in some mirror or in some orbit, even one most foreign to its planet or angel”.

Now to field 3, which speaks of beauty and happy love. The stone 33 of virtuous marriage and harmony is drawn into this field and means that the seeker finds his love only in marriage, that only marriage offers him the possibility of walking the path that leads to the top.

This fact is underlined by the number 81 that fell on field 4. A woman who accompanies the lot-drawer into old age will be his protection and shield on the way to the recognition that corresponds to his talents. It is suitable for inciting and rousing him and for bringing him to the goal of 9 (the reduction of 81), to happiness and success, because if we look closely at 81, in this number the female being (8) is connected to the individuality (1).

Number 86 is in field 5, which indicates treasures and profits. This is a stone assigned to Lethophoro (Saturn) and has something to do with hospitals, especially nurses. The conclusion is that the querent makes an acquaintance with a woman (8), who is clever (6) and who works in a hospital. As a result of this acquaintance, he will suffer unexpected setbacks in business terms. Ultimately, however, since Sisamoro has temporally moved to the field of Mercury (field 5 falls not only in the Sun’s orbit but also in the orbit of Mercury), this affair will end well. Indeed, there may be some gain for the querent as he gains experience and, as the old saying goes, learns from damage.

Note how the location at which Sisamoro was drawn affects not just the interpretation of that house and the tile that eventually fills it, but to all the tiles in that house’s orbit.

The number 12, which as a Venus-ruled number signifies joy-bringing love and success, falls into field 6, which governs domesticity. The combination of the 12 stone in field 6 shows that the querent has a happy and joyful home, that he appreciates true domesticity, that only from such an environment his individuality (1) can have a positive effect on his fellow human beings (2), and that as a result love (reduction of 3) is strengthened again. As always in life, there is a feedback loop here: one supports the other and this other in turn supports the one. An inheritance is also entirely within the realm of possibility.

If we go to field 7 (old age and health), we find it assigned the number 39, which means happy love. The combination of 7 and 39 underscores the fact that we drew from 33 on field 3 and 81 on field 4.

Note a pattern being formed here, drawn out between different tiles and houses that touch on a similar thread.

We have now considered the center field 1 with the inner zone, which together form the small hexagon, in very brief outlines. However, we have not yet fully exhausted the content of each stone combined with its field. Just as each of the fields 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 belongs to the solar orbit, so too does each individual field also belong to another planetary orbit. Thus field 2 belongs to Mars, field 3 to Venus, field 4 to Jupiter, field 5 to Mercury, field 6 to the Moon, and field 7 to Saturn. This allows for yet another view and illumination from each of these vantage points. A fact that has already been established can perhaps be strengthened or weakened or even changed or varied in one way or another. In the course of the further interpretation of the large mirror we will find such relationships again and again. Thus, a tremendously far-reaching connection and determination of facts and events is possible.

This last bit isn’t quite touching on the whole “fractal direction” thing I touched on before, but is touching on something similar: when a house belongs to multiple orbits at once, that house can be understood from each planet’s perspective accordingly.

Let’s look at the fields of the planetary zone, which together with the small hexagon (central zone plus center) forms the middle hexagon. In field 8, which indicates severe physical suffering, is Mars. As a result of military activity, the lot-drawer is likely to be in serious danger to his life. This becomes even clearer if we consider the field of Mars itself, field 9 (indicating military status) has the number 50 in it (danger avoided). If we also go back to field 2 with stone 65 (salvation) and look at the small triangle 8 — 9 — 2, then there is no other conclusion: as a soldier, the querent has come into very grave danger to life, but it turns out good when his rescue comes to pass and the downfall is avoided. On the other hand, if we relate Mars falling into field 8 to field 7 with the number 39, then a warning to the querent should be in order to exercise caution in matters of love. The warning appears even more justified by the number 85 (faithless woman), which falls on the adjacent field 19 (envy, unhappiness, anger).

Look at the use of an ideal triangle here, a small one between houses 2—8—9!  This was spurred on initially because the Intelligence tile of Adamasto (which already indicates violence) fell into the house indicating harm, so of course we might want to investigate that for more details.  Likewise, another ideal small triangle between houses 8—7—17 is inspected, too, along similar lines.  We should take care whenever an Intelligence tile appears, it would seem, and consider the tiles around it especially carefully.

Field 10 of romantic adventures is covered by the Saturnine number 14, which announces implausibility [Unglaubwürdigkeit]. With figures who are probably a bit dubious in their views and in their character, the querent will experience many adventures. He will find himself in situations that, although one might enjoy reading about in a novel to while away long hours, are anything but pleasant in personal life. Once again, these events are linked to Mars. i.e. with the warlike, but at the same time with Venus, since field 10 is common to both planetary orbits. The possibility of learning more about this is given by looking at the triangle 2 — 3 — 10, then the triangle 10 — 23 — 24, and finally by looking at the small hexagon 2 — 3 — 11 — 24 — 23 — 9, whose center of field 10 is considered. But that may be left out here as going too far. Let us just mention this one fact: if we decompose the number 14 into the digits 1 and 4, we learn that these events and occurrences are occurring or have occurred at a time when the querent (individual as 1) has traveled a great deal (4).

Not only does WKM make use of ideal triangles, but also makes use of ideal hexagons as well, but admits that doing so here may be overdoing it, either on trying to squeeze out all possible details from such a notion or at least for doing so for the sake of an example.  Still, useful to note that we may not be limited to ideal triangles alone when investigating accidental interpretations of the tiles.

We come to the field of Venus, field 11, into which falls stone 29, “Confusion of the Great”; pride and falsehood lies here. The time of the marriage (stone 33 on the adjacent field 3) falls in a period of external unrest and confusion. Nevertheless, this marriage will be happy, although there will be friction, but it must be a karmically determined union, since the case, which according to the probability calculation is quite rare, has occurred that the stone of the legal marriage has fallen into the orbit of Venus itself.

Note how the presence of 29 “confusion/whirlwind of the great” in the house of Venus itself impacts all the tiles in the orbit of Venus on the Great Mirror; the tiles still mean what they do where they fall, but they are impacted all the same in that general region of the Great Mirror.

The Mercury stone on field 12 (marriage) teaches that this marriage can also be called ideal for advancement in business terms. Some schemers will try to disrupt the marriage, but they do so in vain (thus through Sisamoro), and instead the querent will achieve the opposite of the hateful desires of envious people and come to a job that allows him to travel much and rake in profit. This is underlined by the triangle 4 — 3 — 12 with the stones “advanced female age” (81), “marriage” (33) and “intrigues, opposition” (4).  This is also seen through the triangle 11 — 26 — 12, because the number 92 in field 26 means that the querent will find protection (92) even in confused situations (29) and still wins (Mercury 4).

When WKM says “Mercury stone”, it’s referring not to the Intelligence tile for Panurgio, but to the primitive Number tile 4, which is Panurgio’s numeric representative.  Note again how the presence of Sisamoro can be felt here because of the influence of it in the house of Mercury itself.

The number 64 (losses, judgments) in field 13 (wisdom, science) teaches that the path to spiritual perfection is by no means always completely smooth. It may be mentioned here that this path leads to a spiritual height from field 1 (greatness, power) via field 13 (wisdom, science) to field 28 (moral perfection). If we look at this path in our Great Mirror, we come to the following conclusion: At the beginning of his earthly journey, the one who casts the lot is a sensual person who is ruled by hot feelings and strong passion (37). A woman (81) joins him on the path of life and soothes him by his side. Losses and touches with courts (64) brought on by the activity and the burning ambition may at times seem inhibiting, but in the end his talented disposition (67) will prevail and perfection will be achieved through energetic self-control (7 affects 6 and 6 affects 7).

Rather than reading an ideal figure within the Great Mirror, WKM does something different here; it’s like we’re tracing a ray straight from the center of the Great Mirror out to one of its corners.  It’s a technique not stated in ZT, but it makes sense, especially if we extend the notion of “fractal directions” on each individual tile of the Great Mirror; thus, the rightmost corner of the Great Mirror is the Jovianest extension possible of anything coming from the center of the Mirror.

We now turn to field 14, in which we see stone 21. 21 indicates the birth of a son. If, however, we look at 21 in connection with 81 and 64 (i.e. the triangle 14 — 4 — 13) for a closer look, we see that the son (21) arising from the union of the individual with the woman (81) immediately falls into loss (64). This fact is underlined when looking at the small diamond 14 — 4 — 12 — 13. Then there is the stone of opposition. A stillbirth or an abortion is therefore within the realms of possibility and probability. But the stone 21 also indicates in general that two people are getting to know each other, and it is likely to be a man who paves the way for the person seeking a release to a respected position, to a recognized work in public. (Recall a friend and protector previously indicated by the number 65 on field 2.) Since field 14 falls within the orbit of Mercury and also belongs to the orbit of Jupiter, engaging in scientific matters will also bring success in business.

WKM uses a small diamond here as well to understand complex situations, here looking at the diamond produced from houses 14—4—12—13 (tiles 21, 81, 4, 64).

This becomes all the more clear to us when we look at the field of Mercury, field 15, with the stone 72 falling on it, because here it is expressed that dealing with religious questions leads Mercury favorably. The querent is strongly religiously inclined. He combines the highly spiritual in his life with his own practical sense, and thus achieves a position that will bring him great success, high reputation, and public recognition in both the intellectual and economic fields. If we connect the number 72 with the number 21, we come to the conclusion that the aforementioned encounter with a man must be a deeply religious person, and an active person of genius.

Although not stated here, remember that house 15 (the house of Mercury) is where Sisamoro was originally drawn.  Thus, this very tile, no matter how fortunate it may already have been, is significantly increased in its beneficial qualities.

The number 25 is in field 16 of maladministration. This Martian number indicates indebted family, flaws, and civil unrest. If we want to understand the meaning of this stone in field 16, then let’s look at the triangle 16 — 5 — 15 with the stones 25, 86, and 72. The event mentioned earlier (stone 86 on field 5) is explained in more detail here as this matter has a bad effect on the family, especially in economic terms. However, this is only temporary, because the number 72 and (if we continue to form a small lozenge by adding the field 32 with stone 93 “circle of joy, happiness”) the number 93 lets everything run out well. If we then connect the number 25 with number 72, it becomes clear that dealing with religious questions falls into a time of external confusion, but is then also likely to have a drastic and thus confusing effect on existing conditions and upheavals for some people to bring forth.

The family field 17 is filled with the number 49, which characterizes the querent as a good speaker and, through his eloquence, prophesies an unconditional ascent. This success will certainly affect the family and make a strong impression on domesticity. The success of eloquence is confirmed by the Uranian number 9, which announces elevation and happy successes. The querent will achieve an introspection and mental harmony that will allow him to overcome weakness and brooding hours (field 18). Considering the triangle 17 — 18 — 6 with the stones “eloquence”, “rising”, “nobility/exaltation/luck” and “joy, success”, this interpretation is presented as incontrovertible and irrevocable.

Again, remember that Uranus is WKM’s substitute for spirit-Sun/Psykomena here, and that 9 is the primitive Number representation of Psykomena.

Field 19 (envy, unhappiness and anger) closes the planetary zone. This field of Saturn is occupied by the Mercurial stone 85, which indicates anything unpleasant with a woman. This constellation is caused by Mars on field 8. However, its favorable outcome can be seen from the number 9 on field 18. The number 39 on field 7 has a favorable effect. (This is all considered in the context of the small lozenge 18 — 19 — 8 — 7.)

Thus far we have now considered the planetary belt. We may well have taken a deep look into the disposition of character and the course of events in life of the person who throws the lottery. It remains to consider and interpret the stones falling on the fields of the border zone.

Recall the Great Dial and how, in concentric movement, the outer belt indicates lustral periods, 5-year spans of life.  We haven’t treated on this too much yet, but the outer belt of the Great Mirror can also be understood to represent particular segments of the life of someone as well.  This can be seen by some of the indications and semantic fields given in the list of house meanings in ZT’s “Seventh Step”, e.g. how house 20 represents birth, house 21 infancy, house 22 puberty, and so forth.

Stone 76 falls in field 20 of birth and inactivity. This stone is assigned to Mercury, and since this number indicates striving for fame, it is not far-fetched to assume that destiny instilled in the querent a desire for recognition and esteem from birth; ambition undoubtedly lies within him. It is not a so-called “field, forest, and meadow” ambition, but—as we notice when breaking down the number 76 into its digits 7 and 6—a strong activity, a pronounced determination (7) for cleverness and wisdom (6). Mars (Adamasto) is here directed and restrained by Jupiter (Aglae), who banishes and eliminates every opportunity to get a bad reputation and harm oneself through effervescence. Since Adamasto (Mars) himself lies next to the field of birth (field 20) on field 8 of severe physical ailments, the conclusion is obvious that the mother of the querent was in grave danger during childbirth, and also that the life of the querent itself was hanging by a thread.

Recall how this Great Mirror was composed for a middle-aged man, but here we are investigating his birth and origins.  The Great Mirror can be used to show forth someone’s entire life, both past and present and future.

The stone 24 (meritorious family) in the following field 21 (wanton pranks) proves that the youth of the querent passed in a pleasant and not-at-all poor environment. He had a happy youth.  This is also underlined by Uranus itself on field 22; as has already been said, the individual fields of the border zone each contain a period of five years for the man, but for women, from the 20th to the 31st fields, four and then seven years each. From looking at the fields that now follow, we can see in broad outline the entire biography of the querent.

Although lustral periods are in general five years long, for women it’s a bit different (and, again, we’ll cover that more in a future post), hence the bit about them being four years for women here in these coming houses.

In the field 23 of youth we find the stone 75 assigned to Erosia (Venus), signifying unhappy passion. In the period from 15 to 20 years of age, the querent already had his first disappointment in love. Because stone 50 lies in the field of fog 9, the lovers have been separated. Field 23 falls within the orbit of Mars; the love was therefore passionate and deeply sensual in nature. Stone 14 on field 10 indicates that some intrigues or gossip, which caused so much mischief, have severed the connection, since field 23 belongs to the orbit of Mars, showing that this happened in a quite abrupt form.

The stone 54 (victory, successful processes) on field 24 (violent passion and sensuality) can hardly be interpreted otherwise than with the assumption that the querent did not win his heart’s beloved in the usual way, but that he had to wrest her from a rival. Small implausible things and slander (see stone 14 in field 10) were blasted out, as is unfortunately so often the case today, where nobody begrudges anyone anything. The querent got to know his wife between the ages of 20 and 25. We can see that the marriage actually came about, despite all the gossip (14 in field 10 and stone 29 of falsehood in field 2), by forming and looking at the small diamond 3 — 10 — 24 — 11, for the point of this diamond is formed by the stone 33 (virtuous, enduring love) on field 3 (happy love).

Note now WKM makes a point of noting the “point” of a diamond as having particular importance.

We move on to field 25 (debauchery and infidelity). Here we find stone 90, which means renunciation and withdrawal. The combination of the meaning of the field and the stone clearly indicates that a certain estrangement must have occurred in the relationship between the man and his wife between the ages of twenty-five and thirty. As the adjacent stone 29 says, this event must have happened at a time of public unrest and confusion.

As the stone 92 proves with its meaning “help, protector” on field 26 (enduring love and constancy), the event just mentioned did not last very long, because between years 30 to 35 the querent has returned to himself and to reason. However, he did not do so without having suffered temporary business damage, as a consideration of the diamond 12 — 11 — 25 — 26 teaches, the point of which is the Mercurial stone 4. However, the temporary damage was then superseded by a period of flourishing and rising up (see the number 92 in its field combined with the number 4 in its field).

From the 35th to the 40th year of life follows a period of busiest business and intellectual activity, as stone 15 proves with its meaning “skill and aptitude”. Since this stone is in field 27 (marital status), a strong perseverance in married life is also indicated for this time—but it is also a time of unrest. If we consider the triangle 12 — 26 — 27, the querent makes numerous journeys (stone 4) which are very profitable, but since all fields belong to the orbit of Uranus, a journey of the entire marital status will probably also take place, i.e. a resettlement to another place. This resettlement will create a comfortable environment with spiritually high people (stone 92). If we also add field 13 with stone 64 into this triangle and thus form a small lozenge, we see that the querent has a much to do with judgments in the same period of time, and will suffer some losses as a result. In the end, however, such affairs end well, since the entire Great Mirror is illumined by the good principle Sisamoro.

In the period between the ages of 40 and 45, the querent will have strong, lasting and very lucrative success in everything he takes on. On field 28 (moral perfection and maturity in all things) lies the Mercurial stone 67. This stone fulfills everything that its digit announce and promised in the opposite direction, i.e. as the number 76 in the field of birth 20. The talent, mental and business abilities of the querent now have an opportunity to make an impact. All wise thoughts (6), risen in stormy youth and purified and clarified in many of life’s perils, into which the querent leads himself through his strong Mars-winnings, cleansed of all rotten leaves and blossoms which the storm of life tore off and chased away, will now find their realization. Ideas become actions; undertakings, no matter how daring (7), are carried out with prudence and wise calculation (6). The time of maturity and harvest has come, and the harvest will be above average; it will be a great harvest, indeed.

Note how WKM points out connections between tiles of reversed numbers, e.g. 67 and 76.

The time of strong, successful activity will continue in the following five years, i.e. from the 45th to the 50th year of life, because the Martian stone 34 lies in field 29 (prudence and philosophy), the stone always promising good progress in all matters, including marriage, through its presence. As stone 64 in field 13 indicates when the triangle 29 — 13 — 28 is formed, processes will hardly be reported during this time either, but the outcome is always beyond doubt. The loser will always emerge victorious.

In field 30 (disloyalty and aversion) lies stone 20 (dissolution of interests and the focal point). This is to say that the querent will be in the public eye and in the spotlight, but that he will be met with strong resentment from many people. This is the time between the ages of 50 and 55. Let’s look at the triangle made with field 15 with the stone 72 (religion) for a closer interpretation, field 14 with the stone 21 (the connection with a male friend), and field 30 with stone 20. This makes it clear to us why the querent is the focus and why he gets caught up in a whirlpool of negative, dismissive criticism. In his striving to bring true religion (72) actively (broken out into the digit 7) into mankind (digit 2), he must encounter resistance. After all, the crowd never wants to be disturbed from their rest and would rather lie motionless in the pond than go the way of life in the sunshine of a racial-culture religion. A loyal friend (21) will stand by his side to help him in the battle for his soul.

Remember that WKM was written by an Ariosophist in the early years of the Third Reich; Rassenkulturreligion “racial-culture religion” is a völkisch concept from Kern’s Ariosophist milieu, needless to say, and is reflective of the abominable ideology of the author of WKM rather than anything that the tiles or houses of ZT themselves would suggest.

Anyone who dares to go public must always be prepared for hostilities. That goes without saying, and the discerning person will always be able to use the quality of his enemy as a measure of his own worth; he will often value the enemy as his friend. But it is different when this enemy wears skirts. A woman knows no bounds when she is angry, which a man always knows how to draw gallantly even in the fiercest battle. The querent will still experience this at the age of 55 to 60, because on the field 31 (dangerous destiny) lies stone 84, which indicates a treacherous woman, one whose appearance and nature can probably only be described aptly with the word “hysterical”. Here the querent may be careful, he may carefully sift through the acquaintances, and he will then also succeed in escaping the snare and then, on the field 32 of unrest and travel, lies stone 93 which brings peace, letting him breathe easy in a circle of friends, renewing him, of which love and loyalty (digit 3 in 93) can be experienced. In this epoch (60 to 65 years of age) he will undertake many more journeys, bringing success and happiness, often where it is not even suspected.

On field 33 (“inconstancy”) we find stone 58, which indicates to the querent the death of a female being close to him, i.e. between his 65th and 70th year of life. This event will upset him. As indicated by the adjacent stone 49 on field 17, he will again enter a period of renewed activity, he will speak and act, he will experience another ascent. But stone 71 (shattered nerves) on field 34 (old age) shows that he will have dared too much. The  querent is no longer the youngest and strongest; he is now between 70 and 75 years of age. The restless activity and sacrifice will wear out the nerves. The loss indicated in field 33 will not be forgotten. Ponder and ponder, plan and plan—it wears him down, and he sees it.

And now he enters a time when, recognized in society (stone 2), he enjoys the evening of life (field 35, “inactivity”). He looks at his work which he has finished.  Mentally and spiritually mature, full of knowledge and inwardly balanced and one with the universe, with his God, he enters field 36, i.e. between the ages of 80 and 85, as Saturn himself determines, the journey into the country of the hereafter.

In the ideal case, house 37 represents the end of life, with 90 years being the maximum lifespan of a human being (according to the notion of ZT).  However, WKM doesn’t bother with even inspecting house 37 at this point, since we see Saturn/Lethophoro in house 36 already; this suggests strongly, especially as we’re already in the orbit of Saturn in house 36, that the querent will die between the years of 80 and 85, so there’s no further point to investigating the rest.

I know that was a lot, but as it turns out, a Great Mirror has a lot of information and detail, even without resorting to secondary queries or back-up mirrors—and this was just an illustrative example, no less, which didn’t even flesh out all the ideal figures it pointed out.  And even then, I don’t think we’re done talking about WKM yet; the above is just 17 pages from the book, but there’s a lot more in there with a few other details and tricks that aren’t in ZT, either.  Given that this is one of the few books that discusses the divinatory system of ZT besides ZT itself, it’s worth our time to dig in a bit deeper; we’ll do so next time.