All the letters
ס

Samekh

When it is flowing

You hold things up. You are the support the people around you lean on, and you do it with a quiet faith that there is somewhere worth heading. You can keep a long journey going, propping up spirits and pointing at the horizon when everyone else wants to quit.

When it is strained

You prop up what should be allowed to fall, or lean so far toward the horizon that you forget the ground under your feet. You can wear yourself out holding people or plans together long past their time, or chase the far-off goal so restlessly that you are never quite here.

The details

Letter
סSamekh
Category
Simple
Letter picture
The Prop · support
Planet / element
Sagittarius ♐
Card
Temperance (XIV)
Path
Tiphareth ↔ Yesod

This system, and the Golden Dawn

Sefer Yetzirah (this system)

Sagittarius ♐ · Temperance (XIV)

Golden Dawn

Sagittarius ♐ ✓ · Temperance (XIV)

The two systems agree on this letter.

Across the three spheres

UniverseYearSoul
Sagittarius ♐In preparationIn preparation

The Year and Soul columns are being rebuilt from Hayman §§39, 41, 52 and will fill in as that reading is verified.

Sources: Peter Hayman, Sefer Yesira (Mohr Siebeck, 2004). Aryeh Kaplan; Saadia Gaon commentary.