While it is lengthy this blog is more of an aside then a stand alone blog. This is tied closely to the Magician Card. I've decided to put it on the end of that blog and as a stand alone blog because I cover some important topics and had a bit of an epiphany about this when working with the Magician Card. The Third blog that I wrote in response to studying the Magician Card- on the how the Magician Card and the Hebrew letter Beth are related will be published next week.
When reading about the Magician Card I came across a fascinating statement. First he quotes Waite saying that what is on the table are the "implements of the four Tarot suits"... "The Magician's problem is to arrange them in proper order." Wands symbolize Air, Swords represent Fire, Cups symbolize Water and the Coins or Pentacles represent Earth. By studying the Tarot Suites clearly we can learn more about the complicated aspects of these Elements. Case's description of these are fascinating, "In ceremonial magic, these implements are the staff, the cup of libations and divination, the Magic sword, and the Pentacle or talisman. On the Pentacle are written engraved words, numbers, geometrical figures, and sigil. These are determined by the magical operation...In this instance, the sigil..is the pentalpha..." The fact that both Waite and Case attempt to confuse this topic shows that it's a highly coveted secret in the Esoteric Circles to which they belonged. The Correct Order The fascinating thing is that we know the order of the elements. The Inidgenous Medicene Wheel of North America is what Laird Scranton would call a "highly cultivated" symbol. I've covered in my blog (and it will be the first thing I cover when I return to vlogging one day) the four directions and elements of the Medicene Wheel. The medicene wheel is the wheel of life with each direction assigned a stage of life, a season and the elements. Now, not all tribes agree on how to work the circle...clockwise or counter clockwise. To create something we need to work it clockwise which corresponds with Yet we know the order is Air, Fire, Water and Earth. We get the urge or idea in the realm or "world" (as Paul Foster Case would describe it) of Air, then we take action on it in the realm of Fire, then we create it in the realm of Water and finally we have the finished product in the realm of Earth. I've been working with this wisdom teaching for years now. I just realized when formulating this blog in my mind (I literally envision it in my head before transcribing it on my phone) the role of the Water phase of the process. Bashar describes our level of reality, some call it 3D, as being Ice- like in nature. I was always curious why the color symbol for water was White and not Blue. I realized it's because this is the stage of Crystalization. This is the stage where things take form. Take for example you want a coffee from Starbucks. First, it comes to you as an urge or idea within your mind. That's the realm of Air. Then you take action by getting into the car, driving to Starbucks and ordering the drink. That's the realm of Fire. Third, your name is called and your drink (previously only a concept in your mind) is sitting on the counter. Fourth, is the realm of Earth where you pick up and drink the coffee. Involution and Evolution Michelle like the "Mystery of the Goddess" that has hundreds of stories about the Sleeping Goddess around the world and even contained in a Bible story...the Four Elements and Directions should be common knowledge. Plus, on one symbolic level it explains the descent of souls into matter. Bashar describes Physical Material Reality as far in the Darkness, very slow compared to the rest of Creation and Ice Like in nature. We have slowed the process of Creation (the weaving of the Four Elements together) way down to master it and become individualized. The Medicene Wheel shows that first urge of souls to become a part of PMR, the action they took (pushing into Matter as Edgar Cacye called it), the physical result being human bodies, and then the Earth being the finite experiences we have here. That is the process of spiritual involution. If we want to end the cycle of reincarnation we have to go counter clockwise on the Medicene Wheel. Whether you call this the Ascension or Awakening or Enlightenment it is the same thing. We start with our solid state of mind- what Buddhists call a rock- that is full of conditioning from this and past lives. Then we make our mind fluid once again...flexible and open minded by challenging those preconceived "solid" truths. Using the process of discernment we discard those that have lead to our disempowerment and unhappiness. Third, when the mind is no longer iced over by a bunch of limiting ideas we can start to take actions in our lives that go with the flow...much more like Fire then the Ice of the Water stage. We have an inspired life. Fourth, finally we find joy in ambiguity. There is a joy in uncertainty...a joy from not having the need or desire to be constantly creating but just BE...being totally present in the moment without the desire to be in a different state of being by harnessing the force of Creation. That's why working the Medicene Wheel clockwise and counter-clockwise are both correct perspectives. They simply serve different purposes...one to create and in a way be bond to Physical Material Reality and the second to discover Liberation. The Order Case Gives Knowing the Medicene Wheel it is funny that Case tries to obstificate the Order of the elements. He explains them as, "As elements of natural life they refer to fire (wand), water (cup), air (sword) and Earth (coin or Pentacle)...they correspond to the letters IHVH." The latter part of that is the Hebrew name for God. Also considered the "hidden" name. Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh. That could be it's own meditation but I wanted to mention it here. He also gives the order wrong again when he shares this insight: "...the four implements correspond to four ancient esoteric admonitions, which sum up the whole practical application of occult law. These admonitions are: (1) To Will (wand), (2) To Know (cup), (3) To Dare (sword) and (4) To Be Silent (pentacle)." Pg 44 Again, he lists the elements out of Order. Wand- Fire, Cup- Water, Sword-Air and Pentacle- Earth. Yet, when he quotes Eliphas Levi we find that the elements are in orrect order in the quote... "The Pentagram expresses the minds domination over the elements, and it is by this sign that we bind the demons of the air, the spirits of fire, the specters of water, and the ghosts of the Earth...it's complete comprehension is the key of the two worlds- it is absolute natural philosophy and natural science. "pg 44 The demons of Air our are erratic Thoughts (monkey mind as some call it), the spirits of Fire are untamed Desire, the specters of Water are irrational Emotions, and the ghosts of Earth are irrational Fear. Fear based people would take this other directions (which is why a Good Tarot had to be created- people are scared of spirits and demons) but all of it boils down to practical and perhaps even boring (in some circles) explaination. The act of meditation is the method to tame all of the undesirable aspects of the elements. When we realize there isn't a big baddie out there to overcome but the Work is to turn within and tame these elements within ourselves...well that's Work. People are naturally suspicious and jealous of those who do the Work. The reason is people who use this approach to life are naturally happier and more prosperous then others. Most people feel as though they have to bust their butts to achieve anything ...that life is an uphill climb filled with hard work with little reward. Spirit, or the Natural Order, effortlessly rewards those who are in the flow and in alignment with the Divine Will. When we are not in the flow of the Divine Will we feel as though we are banging our heads against the wall. We try to force our will and desires on the Natural Order that is completely unohased and unaware of the fsct we are trying to use it to solely benefit ourselves and remake the world in our own image (an act of futility). We feel out of control as our erratic thoughts, raging desires, irrational emotions and fear for our safety. Now that iveI've explained thay...Eliphas Levi lists the elements in the proper order! So those admonitions should be: 1) To Dare 2.) To Will 3.) To Know 4.) To Be Silent What is very entertaining is that if we view the Tarot as embodying the involution or descent into matter...these admonitions correlate with the Tarot Carss. 0 The Fool - To Dare 1 The Magician- To Will 2. The High Priestess- To Know 3. The Emperor- To Be Silent This application does work with the meanings behind the cards. The Ogdoad- The Eight I want to touch on this here. Now, the Ogdoad, the Ennead or Eight Ancestors of the Dogon connect with the Four Elements. Each Pair of these primordial beings corrsapond to a Female and Masculine representation of the Four Elements. In the Ennead, for example, the first two were Shu (Air) and TefNut (Moisture). Both involve air. Now, the interesting thing is that the highly cultivated (referencing Laird Scranton again) Dogon religion says that those eight ancestors "descended out of order" when the eighth ancestor descended out of order leading to Chaos (which is interesting because the 7th ancestor to descend- if your looking at the Ennead- is Set God of Chaos). What is said is that hte 8th ancestor killed the 7th ancestor and descended first. Next to nothing is known about the Eight member of the Ennead- Nephthys. In the Kabbalah when Malkuth "fell" or, in truth, "fell asleep/appeared to die," it created chaos in the "heavens" and Malkuth to be "cut off" (seperated) for fear that the Multiplicity of Malkuth would overwhelm the other Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. Hidden deeply in esoteric traditions is the concept that an error in the descent of the Male and Female pairs of the Elements is what caused the Illusion of Seperation. Some think that the correction for this is the Awakening of the Goddesss and that somehow the speration between the world of Spirit where we act as a sort of Hive Mind and physical life will cease to exist. Some believe that death will cease on Earth...which doesn't work either. I am more of a person that believes that the souls that were working to individualize will be released from Samsara and be allowed to visit other realms or return home to the Creator to help perform the Divine Will at a higher level then the Angels...and to be, as Edgar Cacye says, a companion to the Creator. Just as a Robot is a sub-par companion to a human so an Angel that just carries out it's programming or performs the task exactly as assigned- is not an adequate companion to the Creator. Even Bashar says of all the Cosmos only humans do not feel and know their connection to what he calls All-That-Is. Again, I personally believe that the Earth is a place, a school, where souls gain individuation. This is a school where we've slowed the process of Creation down so we can safely learn about it in a sort of independent simulation but think of it as real so that we have really stand to lose something when we die. Take for example, when you're playing a video game, yes you can get upset when you die because of the time you've invested in trying to beat a level...yet, the game contain some pretty wild stuff and you're not totally freaked out because you know it's not real. However, I must note and return to something that I already covered in my Magician Tarot Card post: Waite explains, "Christian Gnosticisim speak of Rebirth in Christ as a change "unto the Ogdoad." The Resurrection of Christ (which is not a person but an abstract concept- Christ Consciousness) is said to have 'fixed' the mistaken descent of the first eight ancestors. He does not explain how that works or what is changed. Anyways, this was more of an aside and an elaboration of the idea of the Order of the Four Elements that the Magician- assigned to the element of Air but wearing the red Robe of Desire/Fire- is trying to master. The Ogdoad and trying to figure out where the exact mistake was made in the order of the Masculine and Feminine elements is a monumental task. Every time I attempt to look into that I have a break down so I figure that's above my pay grade spiritually.
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Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
April 2024
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