Hey AW!
I'll bite. I'm doing the IDS with the Liber T which is a Thoth clone with a decanic twist.
The Lord of Oppression is a card of which I have an intimate knowledge, and one that comes up for me repeatedly in certain situations (often involving stalled creative projects and running-to-stay-in-one-place situations).
Firstly. the decan we're looking at is Sagittarius 3: Saturn in Sagittarius. So right off the bat we have astrological trouble: Saturn is the weightiest and gloomiest of the planets, and Sag is the most effervescent of the fire trine. So from an astro point of view this is like dropping a cinder block on a candelabrum.
The
Picatrix says this is a decan: "of evil inclinations, of adverse and evil effects and of swiftness in these same things and in evil inclinations, of hostility, dispersion, and of doing evilly."
Not so good.
Then we stir in the Qabalah for some extra morbidity. This is Malkuth in Atziluth, the most intangible inspired element in its most degraded and polluted form. Imagine the initial divine spark has burnt out, smoldered for as long as it could, and now is suffocating under a thick layer of ash.
Okay... so that's the theoretical bits about this decan.
Practically, I find that this card often points to overexertion with little reward. Needless investment in losing propositions. But well-dignified, it can indicate a kind of dogged sacrifice that will eventually bear fruit. Dogged is a good word for this card in positive and negattive readings. But it generally points to carrying a load you didn't sign up for and there's always the sense that injustice will factor into the reading. If you're getting this when you feel like progress is being made, I would look to the friction that you're working against... the elements that might be impeding you whether or not youre aware of them. I find that it indicates that things won't be fair and that good deeds won't necessarily be rewarded. Work lots, expect little.
Hope some of that is helpful...
Scion