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2. Extract from Astrology Section @ The Kabbalah Centre [covers Aquarius, star sign associated with The Star];
3. Extract from "Authentic Jewish Mysticism and Thought" [covers Tzaddi, Hebrew letter associated with The 28th Path];
4. TZADIK Image and commentary from "the Judy Racz Gallery"
5. Extract from "Understanding The Kabbalah" by Edward Albertson [covers path no. 28]
6. Extract from "Twenty-two Arcana by a Gnostic Instructor." (Arcanum 17).
7. Extract from "The Initiatic Path In The Arcane Of Tarot And Kabbalah" By Samael Aun Weor.
8. Extract from "Skrying on the Tree of Life" by Chic Cicero & Sandra Tabatha Cicero [A textbook for practical work with the Qabalah].
9. Extract from "The Pythagorean Tarot ~ An Interpretation of the Major and Minor Arcana on Pythagorean and Alchemical Principles © 1996" by John Opsopaus.
10. Extract from "The Path of The Star - Tzaddi" © Ann Skea.
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Zeus & Ganymede, Rip van Winkle, The Elves & the Shoemaker, East of the Sun and West of the Moon. |
| Hebrew Letter [Tzaddi, fish hook] | Astrological Influence [Aquarius] | Tarot Designation [The Star] | Magical Gifts [grail, star, apple, eagle] | Tales & Myths |
| 1. Introduction. |
To Part 0; Getting Started
To Part 1; On Method
| Netzach (Sphere #7, Victory) | The Star (Card #17, The 28th Path). | YETZIRAH ~ Astral, Angelic World |
| Yesod (Sphere #9, Foundation) | The Star (Card #17, The 28th Path). | YETZIRAH ~ Astral, Angelic World |
| 2. "Astrology" |
The month of Shevat correlates with the astrological sign of Aquarius, which is an air sign. It is the third of the air signs: Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. Aquarius represents the Left Column of the three. Aquarius is ruled by two planets. Traditional astrology attributes control of this month to Saturn, and modern astrology has given credit to Uranus, discovered by the astronomer William Hershel on March 13, 1781.
Saturn, the seventh planet in the solar system, is the planet of judgment, order, responsibility, discipline and laws. Uranus is the eighth planet in the solar system, the one that breaks the proximity and limitations of seven - seven days, the seventh day, seven colors, seven notes etc.
Uranus elevates us to new consciousness and new concepts beyond limitation. This is why the Age of Aquarius and the month of Aquarius are considered times of change. Both are times of new knowledge, inventions, humanity, the need to help, to understand and to support the needy.
The energy of Uranus also connects to the air element - intellectualism, innovations, and new concepts that will bring the world to a higher level of consciousness.
Aquarians are rebellious by nature because they are constantly faced with penetrating questions concerning their individuality, their uniqueness and their identity. This is the reason that they strive to break old boundaries. To Aquarians, the past is but a fleeting moment, and they disconnect from the past in order to find a fresh and unfamiliar reality, a new truth to fit the new times. Uranus orbits the sun every 84 years, which explains the common phenomenon of the “midlife crisis” that plagues 40-42 year olds. It is actually a case of Aquarius-it is, when we begin to question our life’s purpose and make plans for the next 40 or so years.
Aquarians make excellent computer technicians, scientists, and social workers. They thrive doing anything revolutionary, especially in tasks that carry the flag of social-political revolution.
Age of Aquarius
The Kabbalists explain that the Age of Aquarius began approximately 400 years ago and is considered the Age of Revelation, or the Age of Redemption. Why does Aquarius, or "Shvat" according the Hebrew calendar, symbolize redemption? Because Aquarians perceive the world as unified, and Kabbalists consider this to be the basis of true redemption. Redemption is when all negativity is cleansed, when humanity is free of evil and fragmentation. Because of their higher level of consciousness, Aquarians are directly linked to this redemptive moment.
Aquarians are unique… they stand out in a crowd and cannot be ignored. They show great promise as children and as adults they are idealists who strive to change the universe with original ideas. They are rebels, and their concern is the well being of humanity as a whole. They rebel against established ways of doing things, always looking to find new, better ways to solve world problems.
Though Aquarians seek justice for all, this is a global quest, not a personal one. They support things that are grand and noble, while they fail to be sensitive to those around them who are suffering. Aquarians often lack a sense of the practical, and they are passionately independent and private. Their desire for originality causes them to set themselves apart from the crowd. Despite their friendliness and open-mindedness, they are also the most stubborn of all signs. They reject all established structures, and fight to maintain their individuality and freedom in order to exercise their innovative ideas. They detest confinement of any sort.
Yet the most challenging barrier they face is most often their own egos. Even as they begin to make changes in their lives, their focus tends to be external, and they have trouble really changing from deep within.
Aquarians have the power to break free of the limitations of the physical world. But to manifest this power, they must control the aspects of their nature that interfere with its accomplishment. Aquarians are capable of helping humanity, as long as their own ideas do not become more important than the cause itself. True spirituality means being part of humanity, not above it. Unfortunately, Aquarians usually have such high opinions of themselves that imposing their own views can become their sole objective. Aquarians must conquer their pride, and realize that they have been entrusted with their attributes in order to manifest a certain force in this world. They are merely channels for this energy, and so are not entitled to personal glory.
For those born under the sign of Aquarius and for those now about to become influenced by the cosmic energy of Aquarius, you can attain the consciousness of a cosmic reality and feel responsible for humanity as a whole. You can know true friendship and perhaps even universal fraternity. And Aquarians have the strength for this task, from past lives. You can experience an exceptional and unique adventure in the history of humanity if you manage the most difficult restriction – silencing your ego and practicing humility and modesty while living in simplicity."
| 3. Authentic Jewish Mysticism and Thought; |
The Hebrew LettersTzadik: The Faith of the Righteous One
"The tzadik lives by his faith." The form of the letter tzadik or tzadi, resembles that of the alef more than any other letter. The twenty-two letters of the alef-beit pair into eleven "form mates," the two letters whose forms most closely resemble one another, as taught in Kabbalah. The "mate" of the alef, the Master of the Universe, is the tzadik, "the righteous one," upon whom the world stands, as is said: "The tzadik is the foundation of the world."
The letter tzadik begins the word, tzelem, the Divine "image" in which God created man. In Kabbalah we are taught that the tzadik of tzelem corresponds to the three conscious levels of soul: mind, heart, and action, whereas the two following letters (lamed and mem) of tzelem correspond to the two transcendent levels of the soul, "the living one" (chayah) and "the single one" (yechidah), respectively, as discussed in the letter hei (tzadik in at'bash). These two levels become conscious as two states of faith in the inner awareness of the tzadik: faith in the Transcendent Light of God, the ultimate source of creation, and faith in the very Essence of God, the ultimate source of the revelation of Torah and mitzvot. For this reason the word tzadik (204) equals in gematria two times emunah, "faith" (102). Also in the verse "the tzadik lives in his faith," the letters of the word b'emunato," "in his faith," can be read as "two levels of faith." "Living in one's faith" means experiencing greatest joy in one's service of God, as explained in Tanya.
The word eitz, "tree," created on the third day, equals in gematria tzelem, 160, the "Divine image" in which man was created on the sixth day. "Man is the tree of the field." In Kabbalah, the third day, tiferet ("beauty"), is the origin of the sixth day, yesod ("foundation"). Tiferet and yesod totally integrate in the secret of the "middle line" - "the body and the brit are considered one." In Sefer Yetzirah we are taught that the twelve simple letters of the twenty-two letters of the alef-beit correspond to the twelve months of the year. Also, each month relates in particular to a specific "sense" in the soul. The letter tzadik is the letter of the month of Shevat, whose "sense" is that of "eating." The fifteenth (middle) day of Shevat, Tu b'Shevat, is the New Year of Trees. (The Rabbinic word for tree, "ilan," equals 91, the union of the two letters alef and tzadik, which is also the union of the two values 26 plus 65 [(2 · 13) plus (5 · 13) = 7 · 13 = 1 plus 2 plus … plus 13 = the "triangle" of 13], the value of the Name Havayah as it is written (yud-hei-vav-hei) and read (alef-dalet-nun-yud).
The "king of trees" is the palm tree, of which is said: "The tzadik like a date palm will flower." The root "to flower" (perach) equals 288, the secret of the 288 fallen sparks, elevated by the service of the tzadik in his Divine consciousness while involved in the act of eating. In all the seemingly mundane activities of the tzadik he "knows" (i.e., contacts, as explained above in the secret of the two previous letters of the alef-beit, the ayin and the pei) God, as is said: "In all your [mundane] ways know Him."
The original spelling of the letter tzadik is tzadi, which means "to hunt." The holy "sense of eating," the "sense" of the letter tzadik, is the ability to hunt in order to redeem and elevate the 288 fallen sparks of the breaking of the vessels, as discussed above. "The tzadik eats to the satisfaction of his soul" is the verse most relevant to the secret of the service of the month of Shevat. The redeemed sparks serve to elevate the consciousness of the soul of the tzadik to ever higher levels of Divine perception."
| 4. TZADIK |
Image from the Judy Racz Gallery. The following text from there;"The letter TZADI(often called tzadik) is the symbol of righteousness, faith and humility. There are two forms of the letter: the bent form which is used at the beginning or in the middle of a word, and the upright form used at the end of a word. A TZADIK is a very special kind of person who has great faith and very intimate contact with God. His deep faith and knowledge of God is received "directly from the mouth of God", his whole life is dedicated to revealing this knowledge and love to others. He is like a palm tree which flowers and brings fruit. He gathers the fallen sparks of divine consciousness and elevates them to God. He opens the 50 gates of understanding for God's chosen people, so that each person is enabled through his help, according to his or her own special need, to understand the wonders of Divine Love. In the Hebrew alef-beit each letter is 'paired' with one of the other letters, according to its form and significance. TZADIK is the 'mate' of ALEF, the letter which symbolises God. So the tzadik is chosen to be the future companion of the Messiah, helping to actualise all the potential of the created Universe. In other words, the tzadik is chosen by God and freely accepts to submit himself in total humility to be His instrument in bringing about the salvation of all humanity, by the revelation of His Love and teaching through His chosen people. The numerical value of the letter tzadi is ninety, which represents "total consciousness' in Kabbalah. Sarah, mother of Isaac, and thus the first mother of Israel, was ninety years old when she gave birth to her son. Her deep consciousness of God is associated with her laughter 'within herself', the child within her womb being the result of God's promise. In the painting the bent TZADIK shows Sarah, pregnant with Isaac. Sarah and her age of ninety years is associated with the ninety "amens" that the tzadik says daily, expressing his simple faith and deep awareness of truth. In forming the letter TZADIK, the letter YUD is enwedged in the upper right of the letter NUN. YUD represents the creative lifeforce which actualises the potential in the bent-over letter NUN, the symbol of every created being. (The relationship of YUD and NUN is like that of form and matter in all created reality: YUD gives the form to matter, NUN.) The tzadik is in such intimate union with God, that he is able to shape reality according to his will. The emanation of God's Power is represented in the painting by the streams of light flowing from ALEF to the TZADIK. The little sparks in the dark circles are the sparks of divine consciousness gathered by the tzadik and taken up to God, i.e., the tzadik fulfils both the function of bringing down divine revelation and taking up all our prayers to God."
| 5. Extract from "Understanding The Kabbalah" by Edward Albertson. |
| 6. Extract from "Twenty-two Arcana by a Gnostic Instructor." (Arcanum 17) |
| Notes; I took this from the website; "Gnostic Teachings". In the Index page of the course the following text; "This free online course provides a thorough introduction to the initiatic principles contained in the twenty-two arcana of the Tarot and the Hebrew letters. This is an intensive and very deep study, and should be approached in combination with meditation. Only through practical work (Gnosis: experiential knowledge) can true understanding be found." Intensive and deep does sound accurate from what I've read so far, it looks like a valuable resource and more time should be spent there. This link to a offline copy of the full webpage on my flashdrive. |
Firstly we have to understand the name Aphrodite. The name Aphrodite is derived from her birth; Aphros is related to the foam of the sea. When the God Cronos took his scythe and castrated his heavenly father (Ouranos), he took the removed genitals and cast them into the divine mother ocean, and when the genitals of his father struck the water, the waters foamed and from the foam arose the beautiful perfection of Aphrodite. Thus her name means “born of the foam of the sea.”
Here we see Venus arising from the sea upon a shell and the Greek word for shell is Cties or Kteis. This is the Greek word for “shell,” which is also a word for the feminine sexual organs, but this word is also used in architecture, specifically in masonry. The Kties is a pedestal, a foundation, upon which is placed a pillar. Here we see the Tao cross, the pedestal, the foundation of Kteis topped by the phallus, a pillar. In ancient masonry this was the symbolic representation of the connection of the lingam-yoni or the phallus and the uterus, and if you were to take this symbol and look down on it from above you would see a circle with a dot in the middle. The circle is the Kteis, the feminine sexual principle, and within it is the dot, the masculine sexual principle.
If we extend the point into the cross of the Mother and Father, now we have the Celtic cross, a cross within a circle. This represents the same thing as the Ankh, the crossing of man and woman within the environment of the Divine Mother, or in other words how nature is regenerated.
In synthesis, the sexual impulse which drives every creature arises from the divine sexual forces emanating from the “foam of the sea” – the sexual chaos or womb of nature.
Nature is regenerated through the sexual forces, which act within the womb of Divine Mother Nature. The cross is the source of life, is the crossing of male and female, and when that cross is active, when it is enflamed, when it is energized, that cross spins and becomes the swastika, that ancient symbol, ubiquitous across the face of the Earth, present in every culture.
There are actually two stories explaining the birth of Venus, the birth of Aphrodite, and there is a reason for the two different stories. The first is that she is born when Cronos, in other words Saturn, performs a circumcision with his scythe, a symbol of his will, and those sexual masculine forces are combined with the sacred waters of the divine mother ocean - the sea - and from that chaste union the foam of the waters are churned. Emerging from those waters is the Divine Mother Aphrodite, Venus. Incidentally, the goddess Lakshmi from India is born in the same way, when the waters of the ocean are churned she is born and a lotus appears upon those waters.
The alternate version of the birth of Aphrodite is told by Homer. Homer explains that Aphrodite is born of a daughter of Zeus and Dione. In this case this aspect of Aphrodite is called Dionaea, or Aphrodite Pandemos or the common Aphrodite; this is the inferior aspect that is concerned with physical satisfaction of animal sensation, animal desire. This impure Aphrodite is perceived to be in direct opposition to the heavenly one (Urania, yet another name for the pure Divine Mother). This is why we see in the graphic of the Arcanum 17 two triangles in the waters, one which is white, which points upwards, is Aphrodite-Urania, the pure heavenly goddess of love who exists within the waters of Yesod, the sexual force. The black triangle pointing downwards is the domain of Lilith, Aphrodite-Pandemos, the fallen Sophia, who is Sophia-Prunikos.
So we find then a great duality in the forces of Aphrodite or the goddess of love. These two rival aspects are summarized and best understood when we analyze our own inner tendencies. In the case of a woman we can find that a woman has the capacity for different kinds of love, pure love and impure love. The pure love that a woman naturally has towards a child is a love that that is natural, beautiful and unconditioned - at least in its root. This can we say is an example –a materialistic, superficial example - of what is called pure love or chaste love, but within that same woman will also be the love of attachment; even with that same child, which the mother can love so purely, that love can become the love of attachment and the mother can become attached to the child. So we see this potential for love to change shape, for love to change direction. The one who bestows upon the psyche the capacity to love is Venus-Aphrodite, or own inner Divine Mother. She does this for our own good, for love is the essence of God.
The spiritual aspirant, the seeker, is seeking to become one with that love, but in order to arrive at such perfection that love has to be comprehended and made real, made spontaneous. In other words for pure love to manifest, the impure love must be removed. So then we have two forms of love to analyze and comprehend within ourselves; conscious love, which is the love of non-attachment, the simple, pure love of which the book of Second Corinthians speaks. When Paul writes that love does not seek its own, this is the love of chastity, of pure love unblemished with desire.
Every great master, every great prophet, embodies and represents conscious love. The great master Jesus beautifully exemplified all of the characteristics of conscious love in his gentleness and in his veracity. We find the same beautiful, exemplary behaviors in the master Moses, and in Buddha, in Quetzalcoatl. The path that all of these great prophets taught was the path to comprehend and realize the nature of conscious love.
In order to do that, we need to understand the second type, which is passionate love, attachment love, or in other words, conditioned love. This is the love that is filtered by desire. The love of a parent for a child has the potential to be pure, but generally it is not because we are so absorbed within our desires, within our fears, within our hopes, our egotistical hopes. The type of love that a parent has for a child can become tyranny when the conditional love, attachment-love, seeks to impress its will upon the child. The love between a man and a woman is the same; the potential exists for that love to be pure, to be a love of non-attachment, to be chaste love, but usually it is not. This is because the ego gets involved with its Pride, its Lust, its Fear. The ego wants to feel safe, the ego wants to be in control, the ego wants guarantees, proofs, promises and so our love can become tyranny; in other words it becomes impure love, which belongs to the Klipoth.
Love in these forms has to be understood, within our own behaviors, within our own mind. What are we attracted to? What draws our attention? What draws out of us what we think is love? When we experience something that we call love, is it conditional? Is it something we experience and enjoy because it makes us feel good, because it makes us look good? Because it makes us feel safe? Because it makes us feel important? Successful?
Pure love does not seek its own; pure love does not seek to feed itself with sensation, with possessions, with anything. Desire is the great corrupter.
Aphrodite is known to be the bestower of sexual virility, sexual attraction; she is the one who draws men and women together, but when she is impure - or in other words, corrupted by the desires of our own mind - she becomes Lilith, she becomes Nahemah. She becomes that fallen goddess who tempts, who seduces, and causes disharmony and discord.
In the stories of the ancient Gods and Goddesses we find many symbols of the seductive and the destructive powers of Venus/Aphrodite. We also find many stories of how she assists her children, her worshipers, so we need to understand this duality of Impure Love and Pure Love. These same qualities have to be examined within our own religion, within our own beliefs, within our own theories, within any doctrine which we study."
| 7. Extract from "The Initiatic Path In The Arcane Of Tarot And Kabbalah" By Samael Aun Weor (pg 57). |
| Notes; propheticmystic.com has a copy of this book on it's site although I'm not sure the site itself is worth exploring. I thought the book might be worth a squiz because the previous (note 7.) seemed heavily inspired by Samael Aun Weor. This particular extract isn't immediately inspiring but as with many things being looked towards for guidance right now more time needs to be spent with it before creating a final verdict. This link to an offline copy on my drive. |
The hieroglyph of Arcanum number 17 is the radiant star and eternal youth. In this Arcanum a naked woman appears who sprinkles the vital fluid of Universal Life which comes from two vessels; one of gold and one of silver.
If we carefully study the esoteric content of this Arcanum we discover perfect Alchemy.
We need to work with the gold and the silver, with the Sun and the Moon in order to incarnate the eight-pointed star, the Morning Star.
Really, the eight-pointed star is Venus. Whoever obtains the Venustic Initiation has the joy of incarnating the Dragon of Wisdom (the Internal Christ).
One must work with Fire and Water to receive the Venustic Initiation.
The star crucified upon the cross is the Christ of the Abraxas, the Son of Man, the Verb incarnated.
There is documentation about Venus the Morning Star in the Apocalypse of Saint John: “And he that overcometh... I will give him the Morning Star”. (Apocalypse 2.26-28).
“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” (Apocalypse 22.16).
Christ is the Dawn Star. When one receives the Venustic Initiation Christ enters the Soul. When we decapitate and dissolve the “I”, the myself, we then receive the Venustic Initiation. He who receives this incarnates his Star.
The Star is the Son of Man, the truth. No-one can seek the truth. The truth cannot be known by the “I”. No-one can search for that which he does not know. Satan, the “I”, the ego which we carry within, is unable to know the truth. The truth cannot be studied, read, or recognised by the mind. The truth is absolutely different from all that can be read, studied or recognised by the mind. The truth advenes when we have decapitated and dissolved the “I”.
The various truths of people are none other than projections of the mind. Decapitate your own “I”, dissolve it with rigorous purifications. In this manner you achieve the Venustic Initiation. Then you will incarnate the truth. The Verb will be made flesh in you. You will incarnate the Son of Man and receive the Morning Star.
Everyone who wants to incarnate the Star must work with the Essence of Life contained in the two sacred vessels which the naked woman of Arcanum 17 has in her hands.
The star which guides us internally is the Father Star. The important thing for us is to incarnate that Father Star. Here we have the mystery of Arcanum 17. The Essence contained in the vessels of Gold and Silver, when wisely combined and transmuted, enables us to achieve the incarnation of the Star. The Star crucified upon the Cross is the Christ."
| 8. Extract from "Skrying on the Tree of Life" by Chic Cicero & Sandra Tabatha Cicero [A textbook for practical work with the Qabalah] (pg 111). |
| Notes; 4shared.com has a copy of this book on it's site last time I checked. It's probably the one book I should have read already but just never got round to. Or a better way to say that is it's been put off until now, because at this point I think I'm ready to start with the practical work. This link to an offline copy on my drive. |
The Twenty-eighth Path is called the Natural Intelligence; by it is completed and perfected the nature of all that exists beneath the Sun. The "Natural Intelligence" informs us that "all that exists beneath the Sun" is "natural." Even the things that we perceive as supernatural or abnormal, such as the powers of magic, divination, telekinesis, and other so-called supernormal activities, are, in fact, totally natural. They belong to a nature that is "completed and perfected." Through our gradual evolution, what we regard today as mysterious occurrences may someday be explained as easily as the phenomena of lightning or the aurora borealis.
The Twenty-eighth Path connects the emotive mirad in Netzach with the astral foundation in Yesod. It is therefore a path of deep meditation and contemplation. This is focused meditation, a higher form of meditation than that found on the previous path. The process of focused meditation involves concentrating on certain symbols that act as portals to inner knowledge of the cosmos. Through meditation, one consciously participates in the expansion of universal understanding. The Hebrew letter Tzaddi means "fishhook," which alludes to the role this path plays in the act of meditation. The student uses the energies of this path to cast the fishhook (of focused meditation) into the waters of the subconscious in order to catch a bit of divine knowledge. Included within that knowledge is the brief but profound realization that we are the subject of continuous contemplation by the divine lifesource on the nature of its own essence. In those short-lived moments where our meditations on the divine come face to face with the divine's meditations on us, true illumination occurs.
One of the tasks to be completed on this path is to learn that patience goes hand-in-hand with the practice of meditation. The student mustn't get discouraged if his meditations are not immediately fruitful. Like the fisherman who waits patiently for a nibble on the hook, the student must be diligent in his work."
| 9. Extract from "The Pythagorean Tarot ~ An Interpretation of the Major and Minor Arcana on Pythagorean and Alchemical Principles © 1996" by John Opsopaus. |
| Notes; At some point I'd read about specific meanings of the various symbols that appear in a Trump card, for example the significance of there being eight stars in the Star Tarot Trump and the significance of one star being larger than the rest. It might have been in some of Regardie's material. I spent so much time looking for that to put here, but haven't found it yet. What I did find came from this website. I was very impressed and definitely recommend it, this is just some of the text dealing with the water part but it gets into the stars and the nakedness and the tree etc. This link to an offline copy on my drive. Small update; might have been text from divineparadox.com that gave me some insight as to the symbolism behind the imagery of Tarot. Revisiting it well it's not quite as in-depth to warrant quoting it or anything but the link is supplied just in-case anyway. |
"The Lake of Memory in front of the woman is the Abyssal Womb of Rebirth (Re-collection), from which she emerged and to which she will return. In psychological terms the pool holds the waters of the collective unconscious, which flow, deep and dark, beyond the control of any individual. The woman fills her vessels from the pool, taking whatever the unconscious has to offer, and, after consciously blending and decanting the insights offered, returns the water to its source, aerated and refreshed. Though she cannot divert the strong current of the Abyss, she can make her small contribution to its substance and flow. She is Mnemosyne rejuvenating the waters of the Lake of Memory. (Case 175; Nichols 295, 305-7; Pollack I.111; Sharman-Burke 107)
As we see her, the Astral Woman has emerged from the Abyss and sits, high and dry, grounded in physical reality, the world of sensation. But she hovers on the boundary of earth and water, where individual reality meets the collective unconscious; here the two may interact creatively, for she is perched on the threshold of consciousness. (Gad 268; Nichols 295; Pollack I.111; Sharman-Burke 107)
In general, duplication symbolizes conscious discrimination, and we see that it is ubiquitous on the solid earth of consciousness: two vases, two trees, two pools, two animals, etc. (Nichols 298)
The Astral Woman kneels with her left foot on the earth, which shows that she is thoroughly grounded in reality and the world of the body (and the five senses). However, with suggestive symbology (which appears, it seems, as early as the Lando tarot of 1760), she balances herself with her right foot on the surface of the pool, thus she gets her balance through subtle contact with the collective unconscious. Further, because she kneels with her left (unconscious) leg but balances with her right (conscious), we see that she is instinctively grounded, but makes a conscious effort to lean on the collective unconscious. (Case 179-80; Kaplan I.150)
The two rhytons (drinking horns) contain two forms, each with its own purpose, of the same spiritual essence, represented by water, the Aqua Permanens (Enduring Water) or Alkahest (Universal Solvent) of the alchemists, Ambrosia and Nepenthe, which releases us from the bonds of the past. Jung called this essence libido (desire), and defined it as the general (not only sexual) psychological and vital energy (Jung, EJ 17, 51). In psychological terms, this is the emotional energy that fuels everyday life, and the woman has dipped it out of the pool, the stream of the collective unconscious. (Gad 267-8; Nichols 299, 301-2)
The left (unconscious) hand holds the silver vessel and pours the more passive force, spiritual libido, the impulse to know, into material consciousness and the world of sensation; thus the force divides into the five streams of the senses. This input of unconscious, spiritual energy nourishes the intellectual seeds hidden in the earth, where they will germinate unseen by consciousness. The water loosens the earth, so that the seeds can sprout more easily, bringing insights and intuitions into the light of day; the water makes the soil malleable, unlike the hard-baked bricks of the Tower. The earth symbolizes the integration of this unconscious energy into body-wisdom. (Case 175; Crowley 109; Nichols 299, 302, 305; Sharman-Burke 107)
The right (conscious) hand holds the golden vessel and pours the more active force, physical libido, the impulse to live, into the subconscious pool. The concentric ripples integrate the center with the circumference, and represent the circumambulation of the unconscious around the integrated Self. Since the woman pours water into water, which symbolizes procreation, we see that this energy is essentially sexual. (Crowley 109; Gad 272; Nichols 299, 302, 304; Sharman-Burke 107)
In this case the energy returned to the unconscious stream has been aerated and refreshed - revivified by its circulation through the individual conscious mind. In particular, active imagination and meditation can be used to accomplish this recirculation. The resulting effect of individual thought on the collective unconscious is miniscule but real. (Case 175-6; Nichols 295, 305-8) The figure of the Astral Woman recalls Aquarius, the water bearer, which is ruled by Saturn (her husband). Her meditative mixing and remixing of the waters of the unconscious is characteristic of the Aquarian Age. (Crowley 109; Nichols 304) The drinking horns in 16.Star are the same ones held by 7.Temperance (note 1 + 6 = 7), but there the mixing was accomplished at the personal level; here it is at the cosmic level (Nichols 296)."
| 10. Extract from "The Path of The Star - Tzaddi" © Ann Skea. |
| Notes; This came as a bit of an eye opener and at a point where I'm thinking to stop adding more to this page, it's already getting a bit too much at least hopefully enough so that the point gets got. But the idea was so facinating, and gave such a breath of fresh air around how to explore this thing that I couldn't resist including it. Basically a scholar takes us through the work of a poet from the perspective of Tarot and Kabbalah. Definitely something I think will come in very handy, at least as a question of application. Online here, Offline here. |
"Paradoxically, in Ted's poem this nightmare land of dreams is both in and around Sylvia. He describes it as a land full of horrors which she dared not wake "with" and yet it was also the place she could not wake up "from". It was her own heart of darkness, a "juju land" which was as much part of her as her "African lips"11. In Spain, although she did not understand its "language" of death, she instinctively recognized that darkness and recoiled. Yet, in the paintings of Bosch (perhaps in his triptychs "Earthly Delights" and "The Haywain" in the Madrid Prado, which deal with the Fall of Man and are full of imaginary, surreal, half-human creatures indulging in all the real and perverted 'pleasures' of our fallen world12) Sylvia was touched by the "spidery hand" of the Goddess and she saw how horrors could be transformed into art. And in her own poem, Spider' (SPCP 48 - 9), she turned to Anansi, the Mercurial spider trickster-god of African and Caribbean folktales, to convey the "barbarous" truth of death and life in our world13.
In 'Anansi', too, Sylvia transformed an actual event in which she and Ted had spent half-an-hour "playing god", as she put it in her journal (SPJ 14 Aug. 1956), into a kind of parable of human arrogance and hypocrisy. She did not spell out this parable, and quite possibly she was not consciously aware of making it, for the "black deus ex machina" in her poem is not two human beings misusing their own predatory powers to disturb the natural balance, but the spider which is hunting ants for food. Her poem, however, does show her awareness of the fact that, to us, the hunt may look like a game, the hunter like a predator satisfying its lust, and the continuing unbroken activity of the group from which the prey is chosen like a lack of "scruple". All of which moral sentiments we humans frequently apply, inappropriately, to the purely instinctive actions of animals which hunt only to eat. Yet, at the same time, we either refuse to acknowledge our own deliberate killing 'games' or, as in the bullfight or in war, we rationalize our actions in some way14.
In her poem, Sylvia did not acknowledge any moral scruple over the deadly game she and Ted had played with the ants and flies; nor did she let any real feelings seep into the poem. She did not spell out any analogy between the creatures' lives and our own. But she echoed the excuse humans frequently use to avoid responsibility when she suggested that the ants lacked scruple because they were "obeying orders", although she exonerated them by the phrase "of instinct" which immediately follows, and she made nothing more of this echo.
In Spain, Sylvia clearly became acutely aware of the ugliness beneath the civilized veneer: the "Goya funeral grin"15 which lay beneath the surface of Spanish life. But Ted saw more in her reaction to this than simple recoil: he saw hate, fear and panic. And in retrospect he understood that such excess was Sylvia's instinctive, self-defensive response to the recognition of some similar, threatening ugliness within herself. Yet this recognition was still unconscious. Sylvia, at this time stood on the edge of her own exploration of her subconscious world, but she was unaware of this. Ted's final vision of her in 'You Hated Spain' suggests many things, but above all it shows Sylvia as the "new soul" she was on this Path. Here, alone at the edge of the Goddess's waters, lit by the Goddess's moon, she waits naively for a "ferry" to carry her to safety. She is still happy; still does not understand that her "honeymoon" world has changed. All her poems are "still to be found": but to find them she must wake, enter these waters, and learn to deal with the horrors of her inner world."
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