Ladder

What this is

A ladder set upright, rungs ascending, at the head of the eighth folio. It is the emblem of advancement step by step, of the climb between earth and what is above it. Its verses speak of rising, of preferment, and of progress made one rung at a time.

What it governs

Presides over advancement, ascent, preferment, and progress by degrees. Folio 8. It rules the climb from low to high and the patience the climb demands.

Its properties

Its colour is the brown of oak and the gold at the top of the climb; its number eight, the rung above the seven. The quality is aspiration, the willingness to rise by effort rather than by leap. In shadow it is over-reaching, the rung skipped and the fall that follows, ambition that kicks away the ladder others must use.

Where else it appears

The same note is Jacob's ladder with its angels ascending and descending between earth and heaven; the seven-runged ladder of the mysteries by which the soul climbs the planetary spheres; the degrees of any school that raise the seeker stage by stage; the alchemists' scala by which the base ascends to the perfected. One ladder, many climbers on the same rungs.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

It surfaces as the Folio of the Day and as a closing folio, and it is the natural folio for questions of advancement, of eminence, and of preferment in your pursuits. When it heads your day, take the next rung rather than eyeing the top; the day rewards steady ascent and punishes the reckless leap. In a reading it answers questions of rising with yes-by-degrees and counsels patience with the climb.

Why it matters

It stands eighth because most fates rise or fall by degrees rather than all at once, and the Ladder is the oracle's emblem of earned ascent. It asks you to climb honestly and to leave the ladder standing for those behind you.

Correspondences

planet

Jupiter

element

Air

zodiac

Sagittarius

number

8

day

Thursday

colour

Oak-brown, gold

metal

Tin