Teth: Path 19, Strength and Leo

Detail of path 19, Teth, joining Chesed and Geburah on Kircher’s 1653 Tree of Life — Detail cropped from Kircher’s public-domain 1653 plate. The crop preserves nearby labels so the node or path remains visible in context.

The letter name is commonly glossed “serpent.” Kircher places it between Chesed and Geburah; the Golden Dawn later aligns it with Leo and Strength. Each statement belongs to a different historical layer.

Path: 19
Letter and value: ט · 9
Letter class: Simple letter
Connection: Chesed → Geburah
Golden Dawn: Leo · Strength
Crowley: Lust

SEFER YETZIRAH LAYER

Teth among the simple letters

Teth belongs to the twelve simple letters in Sefer Yetzirah, associated with months and zodiacal signs. Their exact ordering varies by recension; the text does not draw the later Chesed to Geburah connection assigned to Teth.

Teth is a simple letter in the twelvefold group. Leo is the later sign attribution; the serpent gloss is conventional and does not by itself assign a tarot card.

PRINTED DIAGRAM · 1653

From Chesed to Geburah

Kircher prints Teth on the horizontal joining Chesed and the severe fifth sphere. The line balances mercy and force directly, making controlled power a geometrical problem.

Chesed contributes steadfast kindness or mercy, while Geburah contributes strength or might.

GOLDEN DAWN ATTRIBUTION

Leo and Strength

The Golden Dawn correspondence gives path 19 the attribution Leo and the tarot trump Strength. This row is later than Kircher’s plate and much later than the letter classification.

CROWLEY AND 777

Lust in the later table

Golden Dawn uses Strength and Leo. Crowley renames the card Lust, shifting emphasis from restraint to conscious participation in force while retaining Teth and Leo.

The changed title or letter assignment is substantive. Printing both labels without a date would collapse a historical revision into an apparent synonym.

MODERN SYNTHESIS

What later readers make of the path

Modern readings divide between mastering instinct and embracing vital energy. The difference often reflects whether a reader follows Strength imagery or Crowley’s Lust revision.

WORKED READING

Read path 19 in sequence

Hold the endpoints fixed and change only the card title. Strength frames the Chesed–Geburah tension as control; Lust frames it as full engagement. Leo and Teth remain constant, so the comparison isolates the editorial effect of renaming.