Guided Visualization into the Eighth Sephirah of the Tree of Life, Hod
You can use this guided meditation for personal practice to connect more deeply with the magical image of the eighth sephirah Hod to explore truth, riddles, and integration of opposites. Hod, which means Splendor, is associated with the planet Mercury. Its magical image is a winged hermaphrodite. And its experience is the Vision of Splendor. Read on to experience this guided visualization for yourself!
Find a video recording of the meditation at the end of this post.
See the playlist for the 2026 Tarot Pathworking on the Tree of Life series.
Overview of the Meditation Into the Magical Image of Hod
This meditation can be done seated or lying down. Eyes are typically closed, but you can adjust as needed to get the most out of the experience. You might like to have an eye pillow or sleep mask for darkness, and a blanket or sweater to keep you warm.
This meditation uses your imagination to enter a scene meet the character there. We’ll start in the familiar coffee shop, walk to the art gallery, find the statue of the magical image of Hod, the Hermaphrodite, then transfer to the image’s location to experience what it has to offer.
Let’s begin.
Preparation
Come into a good meditation posture. If you are doing this meditation seated, sit toward the front of the chair with the spine straight, the chin tucked in slightly, and the feet flat on the floor. The feet can rest on a cushion if that’s more comfortable. Check in with your body and see if you need to make any adjustments for comfort. You’ll want to find a posture you can hold for the length of the meditation, which will be about twelve minutes.
Be aware of your body, how it feels, what’s supporting it, the space around you. Place your hands palm up in your lap, or by your side. Adjust as needed to be comfortable and allow for best meditation experience.
Turn your awareness now to your breathing. Watch how the breath flows in and out of the body. How your breath connects your body to the space around it. Allow the breath to soften and deepen until you’re breathing deep down into your belly.
The Cafe: Our Rendezvous Point
In your mind’s eye, imagine or remember a favorite coffee or tea shop, someplace that you always feel welcome and comfortable, but can also sit quietly undisturbed. Imagine the scene as fully as you can. This cafe is our rendezvous spot and we’ll start and end the meditation here.
You remember the last time you were here, and eagerly head down the lane to the art gallery.
You enter into the gift shop. The person behind the register smiles and nods but doesn’t say anything.
The Gallery of Magical Images
Then you head through the wide archway that’s across from the entrance and enter the rotunda.
Around the outer edge of the rotunda are a series of statues. You look around, remembering your last visit, and curious about what will happen.
You notice the statues you saw the previous times you were here, the Magical Images of Malkuth, the young woman on the stone throne, and Yesod, the beautiful man very strong, and smile, remembering your experiences.
Then you notice an interesting statue. It’s a winged hermaphrodite. They’re wearing an orange loincloth and sandals, holding a staff in the right hand and a lantern in the left. You contemplate this statue. Why a loincloth? Why do they hold a staff and lantern?
You walk around the statue, noticing the material it’s made from, the size, its texture. What does it remind you of?
The Landscape of the Magical Image of Hod
The lights flicker and you find yourself in an entirely different environment. You’re standing in the central atrium of an old library. You look around, getting your bearings, and note the placement of shelves, stairs, front desk, tables, and other special spaces that catch your eye. You look up to the clerestory and see the sun shining in the windows.
Are there other people around?
As you look around, you notice a tall figure pushing a wheeled cart and shelving books. You decide you might as well approach.
You come closer to the person but can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman. Briefly, you wonder if it would be polite to ask their pronouns, but decide to wait and see. You have to admit there’s a certain feeling you get when you can’t pin down the details of a situation.
Meeting the Magical Image of Hod
They’re dressed all in orange with a blue work apron over their clothes. What are you thinking about as you walk toward them?
Then they turn and beam a great big smile at you. You can’t help but smile back.
They ask how they can help. What goes through your mind?
As a variety of options spins through your mind, you settle on a straightforward answer. “I’m doing a research project and wonder if you can point me in the right direction.” That seems like a safe opener.
“Absolutely!” Is the reply and another shining smile. “What do you want to research?”
You blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. What do you tell the person?
“Oh! Sounds interesting!” they reply. “That section is over here.”
Experiencing the Symbols of Hod
You follow this brilliant soul through the stacks and toward the back of the library. You pass through a doorway into a small, cramped section tightly packed with close shelves overflowing with books. This must be an older section, perhaps the original library.
They lead you to a section filled with books on a particular topic. The library aide picks up a volume and says, “this is a great overview on the topic. Could be a good place to start.” They hand you the book. You take it in your hands. How does it feel?
You open the book and look at the title page. The font is a bit odd, so you squint a bit to make it out. What does it say?
The figure guides you toward one of the old, long wooden tables and you find a seat.
“I think I’ll want to take some notes, but I forgot my notebook…is there paper I can use?”
“Absolutely!” They remove a handful of pencils and notecards from their apron and hand them to you.
“Wow! Thanks, this is perfect.” You smile and settle in to read. You furrow your brows when the library worker brings over an old fashioned lantern to give you extra light. Definitely a much older part of the library!
A Conversation of Riddles
You open the book to the table of contents. You scan down the list. One chapter title catches your eye and feels like the perfect place to get answers to your questions. Where do you start?
You spend some time studying, taking notes, and cross-referencing facts. What ideas are forming based on this study?
The person in orange returns. They ask you how it’s going. You say that you have a few questions for them. They say, “Sure, shoot.”
You ask your first question. They respond, “Well, yes and no.” What question did you ask?
You try another tactic. They respond, “It’s not so much an either/or as it is a both/and.” What question did you ask?
You continue with this curious line of question and answer for a while, trying to get a straight answer from this friendly but frustrating being.
From Randomness to order
They say, “Let me show you something.”
They lead you back out into the central section of the library, over to the stairs, and up to the upper level gallery. The library is truly huge, you wonder how many books it holds. All the tables seem quite small down in the lower level.
It was only a few moments ago that you had your nose buried in a book, making notes on a small pad, hesitating over individual words as you zoomed in on the precise meaning intended in the work. Now, you have a bird’s eye view of everything. The realization of precisely how much knowledge is in the world. The fleeting feeling that as paramount as that turn of phrase was moments ago, now it is a speck of dust in the infinity of ideas.
“Do you know what I do all day long?” your guide says. “I take the chaos of things that are out of place and I return them to exactly where they need to be. I do this over and over, one cart at a time, one section at a time, one call number at a time, one volume at a time. Randomness to order. Much of what you’ve learned is wrong. But one thing in particular. I am the energy that denies the victory of entropy. This is the battle I fight hour by hour, day by day.”
The Perspective of Opposites
They turn away from the expansive view and head down the narrow space between the stacks.
Elegant fingers soothingly move out-of-place titles into their proper order. They go down one aisle and up another. You follow, from the bright echoing overlook down the dark, close shelves, and back out to the open gallery again. Your body claims the experience of the vast general view to the crushingly specific and back again. You realize that the research you’re doing needs this, it needs…perspective. Wide open context gives meaning to fidgety details.
Magical Power of Hod: The Vision of Splendor
Your companion turns toward you just as the sun comes out from behind some clouds. They smile. You see something so much greater than the individual in front of you, you see the wide open context of them and well as the perfectly arranged detail. The light refracts and breaks into a rainbow aura and you see the infinity in the individual.
The light grows even brighter and you are completely blinded.
Returning Step by Step to the Rendezvous Point
When your sight comes back, your guide is just a statue.
You are back in the gallery.
The whole thing felt so real, but at the same time you wonder if it was all in your imagination.
You look around the rotunda, then exit through the gift shop. The person behind the register nods and smiles.
You wander back to the cafe for sustenance and to contemplate this curious experience.
As you get comfortable in the cafe, in the special spot you always like to claim, and as you adjust back to the familiarity of this place you often visit, you feel you are ready to end the meditation.
Ending The Meditation
I’ll count backward from ten, and you can feel yourself returning to waking reality like walking down a spiral staircase. By the time I get to 1, you’ll be back in the here and now.
10…9…8… You become aware of the chair you’re sitting on.
7…6…5… You become aware of the space you’re in.
4…3…2…1 Welcome back! The meditation is now over.
Wiggle your fingers and toes. Stretch and take a deep breath. You are back to reality, but with greater insight and a new contact in the spirit world.
Take a moment to think through what happened. It might be useful to journal your experiences.
Anytime you’d like to visit the winged hermaphrodite, you can follow this simple process to connect with them.
Video of the Guided Meditation Into the Magical Image of Hod
Join the Tarot Pathworking on the Tree of Life study group (free!) throughout 2026 via either of these options: Greater Seattle Tarot Meetup or the Denver Tarot Geeks.
We will use the magical images of the sephiroth to begin and end our pathworking process, and Hod will start the Path of Peh in the 2026 Tarot Pathworking Series.
