Influence

Buddhismhex 31

Tanha (Craving) — The Origin of Suffering

Tanha (Pali) or trishna (Sanskrit) is identified in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta — the Buddha's first discourse at Sarnath — as the samudaya (origin) of dukkha, constituting the Second Noble Truth. The Pali canon distinguishes three species: kama-tanha (craving for sensory gratification), bhava-tanha (craving for continued existence), and vibhava-tanha (craving for annihilation). Within the twelve nidanas of pratityasamutpada as recorded in the Samyutta Nikaya, tanha occupies the eighth position, arising conditioned by vedana (feeling) — it is the precise hinge-point where the chain can be broken, because between vedana and tanha lies the gap where sati (mindfulness) can intervene before compulsive reactivity solidifies into upadana (clinging).

Christian Mysticismhex 31

Fifth Mansion — Prayer of Union

The Quinta Morada brings the oración de unión — a brief but unmistakable suspension of the soul's faculties (potencias) in which understanding, memory, and will are wholly absorbed in God. Teresa of Ávila employs her famous image of the silkworm dying in the cocoon and emerging as a white butterfly (mariposa blanca) to describe the soul's transformation. The certitude of this union is absolute yet incommunicable — a foretaste of the unio mystica that transcends all discursive knowing, confirmed not by vision but by its lasting fruits of humility and desire for the Cross.

I-Chinghex 31

Xián (咸) — Influence

Judgment: 咸 (reciprocity, mutuality; conjoined, symbiosis) · 亨 (fulfillment, satisfaction; completeness) · 利 (worthwhile, rewarding, beneficial) · 貞 (to persist; be loyal, dedicated, in earnest) · 取 (to pair, mate with; choose, seek, court, marry) · 女 (a, the maiden; young woman, lady) · 吉 (is promising, auspicious, hopeful, lucky) Image: 山 (a, the mountain) · 上 (atop, up on, at the top of, high upon) · 有 (is, there is) · 澤 (a, the lake, pool, pond, marsh) · 咸 (reciprocity) · 君 (a, the noble, worthy, honored) · 子 (young one, heir, disciple) · 以 (accordingly, therefore, thus) · 虛 (is empty, open, unpreoccupied; wants) · 受 (to accept, receive, welcome, enjoying) · 人 (another, the other; humanity, others) Line 1: 咸 (moving, persuaded, in touched with) · 其 (in, by the, one's own, that, those) · 拇 (big toes) Line 2: 咸 (moving, persuaded, in touched with) · 其 (in, by the, one's own, those) · 腓 (lower legs, calves) · 凶 (disappointing, unfortunate, unlucky) · 居 (to abide, maintain; remain, stay, sit still) · 吉 (is promising, fortunate, timely; bodes well) Line 3: 咸 (moving, persuaded, in touched with) · 其 (in, by the, one's own, those) · 股 (thighs, loins, hips, haunches) · 執 (manage, control, round up, containing) · 其 (those, these, such, one's; what, that which) · 隨 (consequences, pursuits; follows, comes after) · 往 (to go ahead, proceed, continue on, thus) · 吝 (is embarrassing, regrettable, wretchedness) Line 4: 貞 (persistence; steady, firm, steadfastness) · 吉 (is promising, auspicious, hopeful, timely) · 悔 (regrets, remorse; regret, repent and) · 亡 (pass, disappear, dissolves; move on) · 憧 (if, where unsettled, irresolute, distracted) · 憧 (and ambivalent, wavering, undecided, vacillating) · 往 (in whether to go; in goings) · 來 (or to come; and comings) · 朋 (your companions, associates; alliances) · 從 (will follow; attend to; conform to, be like) · 爾 (your) · 思 (thoughts, thinking, train of thought, plan) Line 5: 咸 (moving, persuaded, in touched with) · 其 (in, by the, one's own, that) · 脢 (neck and shoulders, upper back, trapezius) · 無 (without, with no, avoiding; nothing) · 悔 (regrets, remorse; to regret, repent) Line 6: 咸 (moving, persuaded, in touched with) · 其 (in, by one's own, those) · 輔 (maxilla) · 頰 (jawbones: and mandible, jowls) · 舌 (and tongue)

Ifáhex 31

Oshun — Sweet Waters, Love, Abundance, Diplomacy

Oshun is the Orisha of odò (rivers), ìfẹ́ (love), ọmọ bíbí (fertility), and ìjẹ́pàtàkì (diplomacy through attraction). Her sacred site is the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, where the Osun River carries her àṣẹ. In the Ifá narratives, Oshun alone succeeded in persuading Ogun to leave his self-imposed exile in the forest and return to serve civilization — accomplishing through oyin (honey/sweetness) what all other Orishas failed to achieve through force. Oshun governs omi dídùn (sweet/fresh water), distinguishing her domain from Yemoja's salt water, and her ese Ifá teach that strategic gentleness and àrà (beauty wielded with intention) are forms of power more durable than coercion.

Sufismhex 31

The Beloved (معشوق) — Divine Union as Erotic Love

The Ma'shuq (معشوق) — the Beloved — is the central figure of Sufi ishq (passionate love) poetry, in which the soul's relationship to al-Haqq is expressed through the vocabulary of human erotic love. This is not allegory but tahqiq (realization): Rumi in the Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi and Ibn al-Farid in the Khamriyyah demonstrate that ishq at its most intense is already a tajalli of divine love. Rabia al-Adawiyya established the theological foundation by declaring her love for God was of two kinds: a selfish love (because He is her joy) and a love worthy of Him (because He is worthy of love regardless of the lover's state). The Beloved is not a metaphor for God — rather, every human beloved is an unwitting mirror of the one Ma'shuq whose face (wajh) is disclosed in all beautiful forms.

Alchemyhex 31

Copper (♀ Venus)

Copper is the metal of Venus (♀), the planet of love, beauty, and harmonious union. In the sevenfold metal-planet affinity studied by Kollerstrom, copper's warm reddish luster and excellent conductivity mirror Venus's qualities of attraction and connection. On the island of Cyprus — etymological source of both 'copper' (cuprum) and Aphrodite's cult — the metal was sacred to the goddess. Alchemically, copper sits between the noble metals (gold, silver) and the base metals (lead, iron), embodying the mediating, relational principle that draws opposites toward conjunction.

Alchemyhex 31

Conjunction (Coniunctio)

Coniunctio (the Conjunction) is the sacred marriage of opposites within the alchemical vessel — Sol and Luna, Sulfur and Mercury, Red King and White Queen united to produce the Rebis, the hermaphroditic perfection. The Rosarium Philosophorum devotes its central sequence of woodcuts to this hieros gamos, showing the royal pair embracing, dying together, and rising as one body. As the Britannica account of alchemy explains, coniunctio is not mere mixing but a union in which both constituents are transformed beyond recognition. It is the operative heart of the Magnum Opus: without the marriage of contraries, no Stone can be born.

Ancient Egyptianhex 31

Hathor (𓉡) — Joy, Love, Music, Intoxication

Hwt-Hor (Hathor) is the cow-goddess of joy, music, love, and drunkenness, whose temple at Dendera was the center of festivals where sacred intoxication brought worshippers into communion with the divine. She carries the sistrum and the menat necklace, instruments whose sound drives away isfet and restores ma'at through pleasure rather than force. The Destruction of Mankind myth reveals her dual nature: Ra sent her as Sekhmet to punish humanity, then had to flood the fields with beer dyed red to trick her back into her benevolent Hathor form. She is simultaneously Lady of the West who welcomes the dead into the afterlife, and Lady of the Sycamore who offers food and drink to the ka in the Field of Reeds.

Hinduismhex 31

Svadhisthana — Sacral Chakra, Creative Waters

Svadhisthana (sva = self, adhisthana = dwelling place) is the second chakra in the shat-chakra system, associated with the apas tattva (water element). The Sat-Cakra-Nirupana describes it as a six-petaled vermilion lotus located at the sacral plexus, governing kama (desire), procreation, and rasa (aesthetic and vital fluid). Its bija mantra is VAM, its presiding deities Vishnu and Rakini. In the subtle body (sukshma sharira), Svadhisthana is where prana encounters the pull of creative and sensory experience — the seat that must be neither repressed nor indulged but channeled upward through vairagya (dispassion) and abhyasa (practice).

I-Chinghex 31

Mountain (☶) — Keeping Still

One of the eight fundamental trigrams. Mountain (☶) represents Keeping Still — the power of stillness, meditation, and the boundary that defines. A yang line rests atop two yin lines, the third son, the gate between worlds.

I-Chinghex 31

Lake (☱) — Joyous

One of the eight fundamental trigrams. Lake (☱) represents Joyous — open expressiveness, shared delight, and the pleasure of communication. A yin line opens above two yang lines, the youngest daughter, the smile that invites.

Tarothex 31

The Lovers

Major Arcana VI, The Lovers depicts a man and woman beneath the archangel Raphael, who blesses and sanctifies their union from above. Waite's Pictorial Key presents this card as the mystery of choice and the sacrament of relationship — not mere romance but the moment consciousness recognizes its complement. In earlier Marseille decks, a youth stands between two women, forced to choose between virtue and vice. The card's numerological position at VI marks the first moral crossroads in the Fool's journey, where the individual self must reckon with the other.

Western Astrologyhex 31

Libra (♎) — Cardinal Air, The Harmonizer

Libra spans 180-210 degrees as the cardinal air sign, ruled by Venus. It marks the autumnal equinox — the point of exact balance between day and night — and governs the seventh house of partnership, contracts, and open enemies. In the Tetrabiblos, Ptolemy classifies Libra as hot and moist, emphasizing its social and relational orientation. The Scales are the only inanimate symbol in the zodiac, reflecting Libra's concern with abstract principles of justice, proportion, and aesthetic harmony; Cafe Astrology identifies its cardinal drive as the active pursuit of equilibrium in relationship.

Western Astrologyhex 31

Venus (♀) — Love, Beauty, Value

Venus is the planet of love, beauty, pleasure, and value, with its domiciles in Taurus and Libra and its exaltation in Pisces. In the Hellenistic tradition, Venus belongs to the nocturnal sect and is classified as a benefic — one of the two planets whose influence is inherently fortunate. Astrodienst describes Venus as governing the principle of attraction: what we desire, what we find beautiful, and how we create harmony in relationship. Cafe Astrology distinguishes Venus's two domiciles as complementary expressions — in Taurus, Venus savors sensory pleasure and material beauty; in Libra, Venus seeks balance, reciprocity, and aesthetic proportion between persons.