Tzaddi is the fish hook, attributed to Aquarius and the Star.
Daleth is the door, attributed to Venus and the Empress.
Yod is the hand, attributed to Virgo and the Hermit.
First off, I'm using the GD attributions here as opposed to Crowley's (in which Tzaddi is attributed to Aries and the Emperor). In practice, I've used both attributions (each of which have all sorts of relevance), but I was taught using the GD attributions and they're more or less hard wired into my soul at this point. Much of what follows applies to both sets of attributions.
The Sepher Yetzirah attributes the function of meditation to the letter Tzaddi. In the act of meditation, the fish hook is cast into the depths of the sea of the higher unconscious, represented here by Daleth and the Empress. Daleth, as the door, further represents the transition from outwardly focused awareness to inwardly focused awareness. The shallow waters, which are those first encountered when learning the art of meditation, represent the personal unconscious, whereas the deeper waters represent the collective unconscious. The deeper waters make for much better fishing, but it takes some work to reach them.
The Yod represents what we hope to catch in our meditation. It is the primal fire of being, the secret seed of the inmost self, the light of Wisdom. Yod also represents the origin of the archetypes in Atziluth. These archetypes flower in Briah and take form in Yetzirah. We have access to the archetypes through the higher unconscious (as opposed to the lower unconscious, where dwell the shadow elements, the rejected parts of the persona, fantasies and hidden fears, the animal instincts, etc). Casting the fish hook into those pregnant waters results in visionary experience, direct perception of the archetypes in the formative world. As the hook is cast further and further out, we open up to mystical experience, in which the individual is wholly dissolved into the universal. Of course, any encounter with archetype brings with it great transformation.
The path of Tzaddi spans Yesod to Netzach, mirroring the path of Resh which spans Yesod to Hod. The path of Resh, attributed to the Sun, leads to a greater understanding of archetypal names and forms. The level of understanding developed on the path of Resh is still linked to the intellectual mind (it links the intellect with the intuition). The level of understanding attributed to the path of Tzaddi goes wholly beyond the intellectual. The intellect can't grasp it at all. This level of understanding is more akin to the mystery of the starry night sky than to the sun. The light shining forth from the lamp of the Hermit on this path can be grasped by the intuition alone.
Daleth and Yod together represent the fruition of the seed. This is a path of creation, Yod representing the primal creative fire and Daleth representing the matrix of creation itself. It is said that the universe is maintained by the mind of God in eternal meditation (being of a Thelemic bent, I would say that the universe is maintained by the mind of the individual at its most exalted level). This is a perpetual creative act, engendering constant change, constant transformation. The highest level of mind is represented by Yod, Daleth is the very stuff of creation, alchemical Salt in its highest aspect, and Tzaddi represents the whole process of creation. This, of course, is mirrored on the lower levels of being as well. Every creative act works according to this mechanism.
On a technical level, Daleth is attributed to Venus, while Yod is attributed to Virgo, which is ruled by Mercury. The conjunction of Venus and Mercury mirrors the sign of Aquarius, which is an air sign symbolized by a water bearer.
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