Self-discipline may open new channels of creative expression, but relying on what we can discover alone, in a single lifetime, can limit what flows through those channels. There are those ahead of us who have learned the wisdom of the ages. The lesson of this Tarot Pope is that what cannot be acquired alone in one lifetime must be handed down as a body of accumulated wisdom from one generation to the next.
The Pope sits in his private chambers. Arranged behind him are a hundred Books of Knowledge. In his right hand are depictions of four of his predecessors; in his left hand is his Rod of Office. His alb and chasuble are Kashmir wool; the alb deep indigo, the chasuble worked in an ancient paisley pattern, symbolic of the Pythagorean comma and the investiture of magic into music. His stole is symbolic of his wealth of knowledge in its colour and knotted fringe.