Meditations on the Tarot - Excerpts

[AshvinP]

I am sharing here some very interesting excerpts from Letter 2 of 'Meditations on the Tarot', which images the fourfold convolutions of spiritual reality, which Cleric has also illustrated several times here. I find it really helpful to contemplate the image of the High Priestess in conjunction with the following text (I chose a more colorful and detailed image than the one presented in the book, which could also have drawbacks). We don't need to analyze the image for every detail or to make rigid associations with the words, but can let it work more loosely and fluidly on our heartfelt thinking as a living token of remembrance. That is originally how and why these images came into be-ing through the work of initiates. They were never meant as mere food for the discursive intellect, which is what we normally find in modern commentaries.

The text highlights how higher development consists in working on the attunement of our be-ing across all folds of the spiritual convolution, as a living, organic structure. Clearly that is neglected by many spiritual paths today, such as exoteric religious and 'nondual' mystical approaches. Even if the latter proclaims to work holistically on the body-soul-spirit organism in theory, it fails to do so in practice, which is evident from the sort of thinking (or inclination not to think) which results from it. The lower personality is not redeemed through such a mystical path but abandoned, which ironically only reinforces its tendencies during normal waking life. Inevitably the soul-life fragments and reality is only viewed through the confines of personal feelings and restricted conceptions. There is a lot more detail between these excerpts which can be viewed at the link Federica previously shared. Any if anyone else is inclined to share passages which resonated with their spiritual seeking, please do!

***

As we have pointed out, one becomes conscious of the pure act of intelligence only by means of its reflection. We require an inner mirror in order to be conscious of the pure act or to know “whence it comes or whither it goes”. The breath of the Spirit—or the pure act of intelligence—is certainly an event, but it does not suffice, itself alone, for us to become conscious of it. Con-sciousness (con-science) is the result of two principles—the active, activating principle and the passive, reflecting principle. In order to know from where the breath of the Spirit comes and where it goes, Water is required to reflect it. This is why the conversation of the Master with Nicodemus, to which we have referred, enunciates the absolute condition for the conscious experience of the Divine Spirit—or the Kingdom of God: 

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of Water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." (John iii, 5)

“Truly, truly”—the Master refers here twice to “truth” in this mantric (i.e. magical) formula of the reality of consciousness. By these words he states that full consciousness of the truth is the result of “inbreathed” truth and reflected truth. Reintegrated consciousness, which is the Kingdom of God, presupposes two renovations, of a significance comparable to birth, in the two constituent elements of consciousness—active Spirit and reflecting Water. Spirit must become divine Breath in place of arbitrary, personal activity, and Water must become a perfect mirror of the divine Breath instead of being agitated by disturbances of the imagination, passions and personal desires. Reintegrated consciousness must be born of Water and Spirit, after Water has once again become Virginal and Spirit has once again become divine Breath or the Holy Spirit.

...Christian yoga does not aspire directly to unity, but rather to the unity of two. This is very important for understanding the standpoint which one takes towards the infinitely serious problem of unity and duality. For this problem can open the door to truly divine mysteries and can also close them to us…for ever, perhaps, who knows? Everything Everything depends on its comprehension. We can decide in favour of monism and say to ourselves that there can be only one sole essence, one sole being. Or we can decide—in view of considerable historical and personal experience—in favour of dualism and say to ourselves that there are two principles in the world: good and evil, spirit and matter, and that, entirely incomprehensible though this duality is at root, it must be admitted as an incontestable fact. We can, moreover, decide in favour of a third point of view, namely that of love as the cosmic principle which presupposes duality and postulates its non-substantial but essential unity.
...
"All who came before me are thieves and robbers." (John x, 8) 

There is a profound mystery in these words. Indeed, how may they be understood alongside numerous other sayings of the Master referring to Moses, David and other prophets, who were all before him? Now, it is a matter here not of theft and robbery, but of the principle of initiation before and after Jesus Christ. The masters prior to His Coming taught the experience of God at the expense of the personality, which had to be diminished when it was “seized” by God or “immersed” in God. In this sense—in the sense of the diminution or augmentation of the “talent of gold” entrusted to humanity, the personality, which is the “image and likeness of God” (Goethe: Das höchste Gut der Erdenkinder ist doch die Personlichkeit, i.e. “The highest treasure of the children of earth is surely the personality”)—the masters prior to Christ were “thieves and robbers”. They certainly bore testimony to God but the way which they taught and practised was that of depersonalisation, which made them witnesses (“martyrs”) of God. The greatness of Bhagavan, the Buddha, was the high degree of depersonalisation which he attained. The masters of yoga are masters of depersonalisation. The ancient philosophers—those who really lived as “philosophers”—practised depersonalisation. This is the case above all with the Stoics. And this is why all those who have chosen the way of depersonalisation are unable to cry and why they have dry eyes for ever. For it is the personality which cries and which alone is capable of the “gift of tears”. 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew v, 4). 

Therefore this is one aspect at least (there is also another more profound one, but I do not know if it will be possible to write about it in one of the following Letters) according to which we may say that the mysterious words relating to “thieves and robbers” can become a source of radiant light. When the Gospel speaks of those who came before Jesus Christ, it is not only time which the word “before” designates, but also the grade of initiation—they are thieves and robbers with respect to the personality, since they taught the depersonalisation of the human being. In contrast, the Master also says: “I have come that they (the sheep) may have life, and have it abundantly” (John x, 10); in other words, the Master has come in order to render more living that which is dear to him and which is menaced with dangers, i.e. the sheep as the image of the personality! This appears inconceivable in the presence of the ideal of the personality according to Nietzsche and his “superman” or the great historical personalities such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon…and the “great personalities” of modern times! 

No, dear Unknown Friend, possession by the will-to-power or the will-to-glory makes neither the personality nor its greatness. The “sheep” in the language of love of the Master signify neither the “great personality” nor the “little personality”, but simply the individual soul which lives. He wants the soul to live without danger and to have as intensive a life as God has destined for it.

...This, therefore, is all that it seems to me necessary to say on the subject of the problem of two and its significance—the resolution of this problem being the key to the second Arcanum, the High Priestess. For this is the arcanum of the twofoldness underlying consciousness—spontaneous activity and its reflection; it is the arcanum of the transformation of the pure act into representation, of representation into memory pictures, of memory pictures into the word, and of the word into written characters or the book. The High Priestess wears a three-layered tiara and holds an open book. The tiara is laden with precious stones, which suggests the idea that it is by way of three stages that the crystallisation of the pure act descends through the three higher and invisible planes before arriving at the fourth stage—the book. For the problems that the symbol implies are: reflection, memory, word and writing; or, in other words—revelation and tradition, spoken and written; or, to express it in a single word—GNOSIS.

It is concerned with gnosis and not at all with science, since gnosis is exactly what the Card of the High Priestess expresses both in its entirety and in its details, namely the descent of revelation (the pure act or essence reflected by substance) down to the final stage—or “book”. Science, on the contrary, begins with facts (the “characters” of the book of Nature) and ascends from facts to laws and from laws to principles. Gnosis is the reflection of that which is above; science, in contrast, is the interpretation of that which is below. The last stage of gnosis is the world of facts, where it becomes fact itself, i.e. it becomes “book”; the first stage of science is the world of facts which it “reads”, in order to arrive at laws and principles....The essence of pure mysticism is creative activity. One becomes a mystic when one dares to elevate oneself—i.e. “to stand upright”, then even more upright, and ever more upright—beyond all created being as far as the essence of Being, the divine, creative fire. “Concentration without effort” is burning without smoke or crackling fire. On the part of the human being it is the act of daring to aspire to the supreme Reality, and this act is real and effective only when the soul is serene and the body completely relaxed—without smoke and crackling fire...

Now, this transformation of mystical experience into knowledge takes place in stages. The first is the pure reflection or a kind of imaginative repetition of the experience. The second stage is its entrance into memory. The third stage is its assimilation in thought and feeling, in a manner where it becomes a “message” or inner word. The fourth stage, lastly, is reached when it becomes a communicable symbol or “writing”, or “book”—i.e. when it is formulated. The pure reflection of mystical experience is without image and without word. It is purely movement. Here consciousness is moved by the immediate contact with that which transcends it, with the trans-subjective. This experience is as certain as the experience belonging to the sense of touch in the physical world and is, at the same time, as much devoid of form, colour and sound as the sense of touch. For this reason one can compare it with this sense and designate it as “spiritual touch” or “intuition”. ...Just as spiritual touch is the mystical sense, so there is a “gnostic sense”, a “magical sense” and a special “Hermetic-philosophical sense”. Full consciousness of the sacred name YHVH can only be attained by the united experience of these four senses and the practice of four different methods. For the fundamental thesis of Hermetic epistemology (or “gnoseology”) is that “each object of knowledge demands a method of knowledge which is proper to it”. This thesis or rule signifies that one ought never to apply the same method of knowledge on different planes, but only to different objects belonging to the same plane. A crying example of ignorance of this law is “cybernetic psychology”, which wants to explain man and his psychic life by mechanical, material laws.

Each mode of experience and knowledge when pushed to its limit becomes a sense or engenders a special sense. He who dares to aspire to the experience of the unique essence of Being will develop the mystical sense or spiritual touch. If he wants not only to live but also to learn to understand what he lives through, he will develop the gnostic sense. And if he wants to put into practice what he has understood from mystical experience, he will develop the magical sense. If, lastly, he wants all that he has experienced, understood and practised to be not limited to himself and his time, but to become communicable to others and to be transmitted to future generations, he must develop the Hermetic-philosophical sense, and in practising it he will “write his book”.

...The tradition is a living one only when it constitutes a complete organism, when it is the result of the union of mysticism, gnosis, magic and Hermetic philosophy. If this is not so, it decays and dies. And the death of the tradition manifests itself in the degeneration of its constituent elements, which become separated. Then, Hermetic philosophy separated from magic, gnosis and mysticism becomes a parasitic system of autonomous thought which is, truth to tell, a veritable psycho-pathological complex, because it bewitches or enslaves human consciousness and deprives it of its liberty. A person who has had the misfortune to fall victim to the spell of a philosophical system (and the spells of sorcerers are mere trifles in comparison to the disastrous effect of the spell of a philosophical system!) can no longer see the world, or people, or historic events, as they are; he sees everything only through the distorting prism of the system by which he is possessed.
...
Passing on to mysticism which has not given birth to gnosis, magic and Hermetic philosophy—such a mysticism must, sooner or later, necessarily degenerate into “spiritual enjoyment” or “intoxication”. The mystic who wants only the experience of mystical states without understanding them, without drawing practical conclusions from them for life, and without wanting to be useful to others, who forgets everyone and everything in order to enjoy the mystical experience, can be compared to a spiritual drunkard. So tradition can only live—as with all other living organisms—when it is a complete organism of mysticism, gnosis and effective magic, which manifests itself outwardly as Hermetic philosophy. This means to say simply that a tradition cannot live unless the whole human being lives through it, in it, and for it. For the whole human being is at one and the same time a mystic, a gnostic, a magician and a philosopher, i.e. he is religious, contemplative, artistic and intelligent. Everyone believes in something, understands something, is capable of something and thinks something. It is human nature which determines whether a tradition will live or die. And it is also human nature which is capable of giving birth to a complete tradition and keeping it living. Because the four “senses”—mystical, gnostic, magical and philosophical—exist, be it in potentiality or in actuality, in each human being.

Anonymous . Meditations on the Tarot (pp. 42-43). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

[AshvinP]

I would like to share here another excerpt from the Letter 3 on the Empress tarot, since it expresses much more effectively what I was also trying to express to Eugene on the other thread re: modern secular science in contrast to Christian esoteric science.

***




One can understand the idea of the “great work” when one compares it with the ideal of modern exact science. For the idea of science is power—practical technical power and intellectual technical power. The intellectual aspect of the scientific ideal is to reduce the multiplicity of phenomena to a limited number of laws and then reduce these to a single simple formula. It is a matter, in the last analysis, of mechanising the intellect in such a manner that it calculates the world instead of understanding it. Then one would attain intellectual technical power. The practical aspect of the scientific ideal is revealed in the progress of modern science from the eighteenth century to the present day. Its essential stages are the discoveries and putting into man’s service, successively, of steam, electricity and atomic energy. But as different as these appear to be, these discoveries are based only on a single principle, namely the principle of the destruction of matter, by which energy is freed in order to be captured anew by man so as to be put at his service. It is so with the little regular explosions of petrol which produce the energy to drive a car. And it is so with the destruction of atoms, by means of the technique of neutron bombardment, which produces atomic energy. That it is a matter of coal, petrol, or hydrohydrogen atoms, is not important; it is always a case of the production of energy as a consequence of the destruction of matter. For the practical aspect of the scientific ideal is the domination of Nature by means of putting into play the principle of destruction or death.

Imagine, dear Unknown Friend, efforts and discoveries in the opposite direction, in the direction of construction or life. Imagine, not an explosion, but rather the blossoming out of a constructive “atomic bomb”. It is not too difficult to imagine, because each little acorn is such a “constructive bomb” and the oak is only the visible result of the slow “explosion”—or blossoming out—of this “bomb”. Imagine it, and you will have the ideal of the great work or the idea of the Tree of Life. The image itself of the tree comprises the negation of the technical and mechanical element. It is the living synthesis of celestial light and elements of the earth. Not only is it the synthesis of heaven and earth, it constantly synthesises that which descends from above and that which ascends from below. Now, the ideal of Hermeticism is contrary to that of science. Instead of aspiring to power over the forces of Nature by means of the destruction of matter, Hermeticism aspires to conscious participation with the constructive forces of the world on the basis of an alliance and a cordial communion with them. Science wants to compel Nature to obedience to the will of man such as it is; Hermeticism—or the philosophy of sacred magic—on the contrary wants to purify, illumine and change the will and nature of man in order to bring them into harmony with the creative principle of Nature (natura naturans) and to render them capable of receiving its willingly bestowed revelation. The “great work”, as an ideal, is therefore the state of the human being who is in peace, alliance, harmony and collaboration with life. This is the “fruit” of the Tree of Life.

“Putting forth the hand and taking”—this is the motif, the method and the ideal of science. It is the will-to-power underlying the scientific attitude which is prevented by the flaming sword of the Guardian of Eden from repeating the act committed with respect to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But the motif, method and ideal of Hermeticism is contrary to that of science. The will-to-serve underlies the fundamental Hermetic attitude. Instead of putting forward the hand to take, the human being opens his mind, his heart and his will to receive that which will be graciously bestowed upon him. The inspiration, illumination and intuition that he seeks are not so much conquests accomplished by his will; they are rather gifts from above, preceded by the efforts of the human will endeavouring to become worthy.

[Federica]

I am sharing here some very interesting excerpts from Letter 2 of 'Meditations on the Tarot', which images the fourfold convolutions of spiritual reality, which Cleric has also illustrated several times here. I find it really helpful to contemplate the image of the High Priestess in conjunction with the following text (I chose a more colorful and detailed image than the one presented in the book, which could also have drawbacks). We don't need to analyze the image for every detail or to make rigid associations with the words, but can let it work more loosely and fluidly on our heartfelt thinking as a living token of remembrance. That is originally how and why these images came into be-ing through the work of initiates. They were never meant as mere food for the discursive intellect, which is what we normally find in modern commentaries.

The text highlights how higher development consists in working on the attunement of our be-ing across all folds of the spiritual convolution, as a living, organic structure. Clearly that is neglected by many spiritual paths today, such as exoteric religious and 'nondual' mystical approaches. Even if the latter proclaims to work holistically on the body-soul-spirit organism in theory, it fails to do so in practice, which is evident from the sort of thinking (or inclination not to think) which results from it. The lower personality is not redeemed through such a mystical path but abandoned, which ironically only reinforces its tendencies during normal waking life. Inevitably the soul-life fragments and reality is only viewed through the confines of personal feelings and restricted conceptions. There is a lot more detail between these excerpts which can be viewed at the link Federica previously shared. If anyone else is inclined to share passages which resonated with their spiritual seeking, please do!

***

Thanks, Ashvin! Diving into this book, as well as into the other works of the author, promises to be very interesting indeed. Nonetheless, in order to be sufficiently understood, I feel it requires a certain level of 'spiritual agility' that I haven't developed so far. For example, had I read the excerpt without your introduction, I would have failed to recognize the four convolutions as recently presented by Cleric, and I would have tried to read the four senses - mystical, gnostic, magical, and philosophical - in terms of willing, feeling, thinking instead. But I still much appreciate the intuitions these letters, or cards, may elicit.


"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of Water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." (John iii, 5)


Curiously, I have encountered this same verse at the same time quoted in a very different context in Martinus' The ideal food:

My words are for those beings who want to train themselves to be the highest instruments for the unfolding of wisdom and love, and who wish to take part in making "the kingdom of God" or the real human kingdom a fact on Earth. For those that have the ability to see it, my words are a scientific supplement to those of Christ to Nicodemus – "Without being born anew of water and the spirit one cannot enter the kingdom of God". "The kingdom of God" is that kingdom in which there is no "crying or torment", it is that kingdom in which "righteousness lives". This in turn means the kingdom that I, in "Livets Bog", refer to as "the real human kingdom". As the individual's physical body consists mainly of water, being born again of "water" is the same as being born in a new physical body. But a new physical body does not mean merely a new incarnation but a new kind of physical body. This new kind of physical body is "the real human body", which is at the moment developing rapidly, precisely because of the very disgust growing in the individual for the eating of corpses, or blood- and meat-eating.

But in the way the verse is interpreted here by Anonymous, I appreciate the depth of meaning it adds to the "still waters" in prayer:

"Water must become a perfect mirror of the divine Breath instead of being agitated by disturbances of the imagination, passions and personal desires. Reintegrated consciousness must be born of Water and Spirit, after Water has once again become Virginal and Spirit has once again become divine Breath or the Holy Spirit"


"All who came before me are thieves and robbers." (John x, 8)


Here I am confused about the interpretation of the verse in terms of "personality" being the object of robbery by masters in initiation before, but not after, Jesus Christ. I first thought the "personality" referred to the "I", but it becomes clear that the soul, not the "I", is meant to have been the object of theft before Christ, that Christ has given back to man, intending to make it more living. "[The Master] wants the soul to live without danger and to have as intensive a life as God has destined for it.". Could you please comment?

[AshvinP]

I am sharing here some very interesting excerpts from Letter 2 of 'Meditations on the Tarot', which images the fourfold convolutions of spiritual reality, which Cleric has also illustrated several times here. I find it really helpful to contemplate the image of the High Priestess in conjunction with the following text (I chose a more colorful and detailed image than the one presented in the book, which could also have drawbacks). We don't need to analyze the image for every detail or to make rigid associations with the words, but can let it work more loosely and fluidly on our heartfelt thinking as a living token of remembrance. That is originally how and why these images came into be-ing through the work of initiates. They were never meant as mere food for the discursive intellect, which is what we normally find in modern commentaries.

The text highlights how higher development consists in working on the attunement of our be-ing across all folds of the spiritual convolution, as a living, organic structure. Clearly that is neglected by many spiritual paths today, such as exoteric religious and 'nondual' mystical approaches. Even if the latter proclaims to work holistically on the body-soul-spirit organism in theory, it fails to do so in practice, which is evident from the sort of thinking (or inclination not to think) which results from it. The lower personality is not redeemed through such a mystical path but abandoned, which ironically only reinforces its tendencies during normal waking life. Inevitably the soul-life fragments and reality is only viewed through the confines of personal feelings and restricted conceptions. There is a lot more detail between these excerpts which can be viewed at the link Federica previously shared. If anyone else is inclined to share passages which resonated with their spiritual seeking, please do!

***

Thanks, Ashvin! Diving into this book, as well as into the other works of the author, promises to be very interesting indeed. Nonetheless, in order to be sufficiently understood, I feel it requires a certain level of 'spiritual agility' that I haven't developed so far. For example, had I read the excerpt without your introduction, I would have failed to recognize the four convolutions as recently presented by Cleric, and I would have tried to read the four senses - mystical, gnostic, magical, and philosophical - in terms of willing, feeling, thinking instead. But I still much appreciate the intuitions these letters, or cards, may elicit.

Federica,

You would not have been incorrect to make that association - generally all of these archetypal structures of experience are overlapping. Here is a list of some of the fourfold strctures we could say are overlapping:

Saturn-Sun-Moon-Earth
Physical-Etheric-Astral-I
Human-Animal-Plant-Mineral
Intuition-Inspiration-Imagination-Intellect

Cleric mentioned in the latest illustration:

Physical-Life-Soul-Spiritual
Willing-Feeling-Thinking-Sensing
Fire-Air-Water-Earth

Of course, simply listing these out does little to kindle our understanding of their relations with each other which have developed in the course of evolution, which are quite precise. And we can fall into traps if we make them into too rigid categorizations with hard delineations. After all, the reality is that they are all living forces which are superimposed in our current experience and the path of modern initation is precisely the process of differentiatng them, teasing them out in our first-person transforming states of be-ing. I think that, for the most part, it's best to simply follow the meanings of the terms in the context they were written and the associations to other terminology will naturally arise later. Especially within Christian esoteric streams, it will become very evident how many different systems relate, as was evident for us when approaching Martinus.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of Water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." (John iii, 5)


Curiously, I have encountered this same verse at the same time quoted in a very different context in Martinus' The ideal food:

My words are for those beings who want to train themselves to be the highest instruments for the unfolding of wisdom and love, and who wish to take part in making "the kingdom of God" or the real human kingdom a fact on Earth. For those that have the ability to see it, my words are a scientific supplement to those of Christ to Nicodemus – "Without being born anew of water and the spirit one cannot enter the kingdom of God". "The kingdom of God" is that kingdom in which there is no "crying or torment", it is that kingdom in which "righteousness lives". This in turn means the kingdom that I, in "Livets Bog", refer to as "the real human kingdom". As the individual's physical body consists mainly of water, being born again of "water" is the same as being born in a new physical body. But a new physical body does not mean merely a new incarnation but a new kind of physical body. This new kind of physical body is "the real human body", which is at the moment developing rapidly, precisely because of the very disgust growing in the individual for the eating of corpses, or blood- and meat-eating.

But in the way the verse is interpreted here by Anonymous, I appreciate the depth of meaning it adds to the "still waters" in prayer:

"Water must become a perfect mirror of the divine Breath instead of being agitated by disturbances of the imagination, passions and personal desires. Reintegrated consciousness must be born of Water and Spirit, after Water has once again become Virginal and Spirit has once again become divine Breath or the Holy Spirit"


"All who came before me are thieves and robbers." (John x, 8)


Here I am confused about the interpretation of the verse in terms of "personality" being the object of robbery by masters in initiation before, but not after, Jesus Christ. I first thought the "personality" referred to the "I", but it becomes clear that the soul, not the "I", is meant to have been the object of theft before Christ, that Christ has given back to man, intending to make it more living. "[The Master] wants the soul to live without danger and to have as intensive a life as God has destined for it.". Could you please comment?

We can say the personality is the lower ego-I, tied to the soul-life which is entangled with the Earthly sensuous-intellectual context. Generally it is our identity in any given incarnation, rather than the 'individuality' which passes through all incarnations and is therefore associated with the archetypal context of the Spheres. Before Christ, a living gradient between this lower personality and the higher "I" (individuality) could not be established in lucid thinking consciousness. Consider the following:

Yesterday I described how in the ancient Mysteries the bodily nature of man was treated so that it became able to free its soul nature in both directions. I said that the two main aspects of this in the ancient Mysteries were, on the one hand, the draught of forgetfulness, and, on the other hand, the occasioning of states of anxiety, fear, shock. The draught of forgetfulness, I said, wiped from memory everything pertaining to ordinary earthly life. But this negative effect was not the main point. The main point was that during the process of coming to Mystery knowledge the brain was actually made physically softer, as a result of which the spiritual element which is usually held off was no longer held off by the brain but allowed through, so that the pupil became aware of his soul and spirit element and knew that this had been in him even before birth, or rather, even before conception.

The other aspect was the shock which caused the organism to become rigid. When the organism grows rigid it no longer absorbs the soul and spirit element in the way it usually does with regard to its expression in the will. On the one hand the rigid bodily organism withdraws from the element of soul and spirit, and on the other hand the element of soul and spirit becomes perceptible to the pupil. Through the softening of the brain the thought aspect of the soul became perceptible to the pupil of the ancient Mysteries, and through the rigidifying of the rest of the organism the will aspect became perceptible. In this way, initiation gave the pupil a perception, a picture of the element of soul and spirit within him. But this picture was dreamlike in character. For what was it that was freed on the one hand towards the thought aspect, and on the other hand towards the will aspect? It was that part which descends from realms of spirit and soul to unite with the physical, bodily nature of man. Only by taking possession of the body can it become capable of making use of the senses and of the intellect. It needs the body for these things. Without the use of the body these things remain dreamlike, they remain dull, twilit. So by receiving his detached soul and spirit element as a result of the processes described, the pupil received something dreamlike, which, however, also contained a thought element.

So the normal thinking personality had to be abandoned to a certain extent. The ancient intitiation had to rob a person of that personality to bring about higher states of consciousness. In some cases, it was even necessary to bring about a state akin to physical death for 3 days. That is what prevented any systematic spiritual science from developing like it has now and can continue to into the future. Through modern intiation, we can maintain the physical integrity and discern the precise relations of how the higher 'I' incarnates into the lower personality from incarnation to incarnation, and thereby consciously work to attune the intents of the latter with those of the former. It is through that fully conscious gradient from the dense to the subtle, empowered by the impulse of Love, that all of humanity and the Earth organism as a whole can be redeemed.

[Federica]

Here is a list of some of the fourfold strctures we could say are overlapping:

Saturn-Sun-Moon-Earth
Physical-Etheric-Astral-I
Human-Animal-Plant-Mineral
Intuition-Inspiration-Imagination-Intellect

Cleric mentioned in the latest illustration:

Physical-Life-Soul-Spiritual
Willing-Feeling-Thinking-Sensing
Fire-Air-Water-Earth


I think that, for the most part, it's best to simply follow the meanings of the terms in the context they were written and the associations to other terminology will naturally arise later. Especially within Christian esoteric streams, it will become very evident how many different systems relate, as was evident for us when approaching Martinus.

Yes. For some reason I have a tendency to search for correpondences, but I get it's best to be patient, and let the meaning work on us misteriously at first.

We can say the personality is the lower ego-I, tied to the soul-life which is entangled with the Earthly sensuous-intellectual context. Generally it is our identity in any given incarnation, rather than the 'individuality' which passes through all incarnations and is therefore associated with the archetypal context of the Spheres. Before Christ, a living gradient between this lower personality and the higher "I" (individuality) could not be established in lucid thinking consciousness.

This was well understood, as in, for example, OMA's book "Man's two natures, human and divine". The unclear part was that the soul/personality is referred to as "the highest treasure of the children of earth", "dear to the Master and menaced with dangers", as something that should "have as intensive a life as God has destined for it", and not as the lower ego-I entangled with the Earthly sensual-intellectual context. But in the context of the evolving methods of initiation, the whole thing becomes very clear, thank you!

[AshvinP]

Here is a list of some of the fourfold strctures we could say are overlapping:

Saturn-Sun-Moon-Earth
Physical-Etheric-Astral-I
Human-Animal-Plant-Mineral
Intuition-Inspiration-Imagination-Intellect

Cleric mentioned in the latest illustration:

Physical-Life-Soul-Spiritual
Willing-Feeling-Thinking-Sensing
Fire-Air-Water-Earth


I think that, for the most part, it's best to simply follow the meanings of the terms in the context they were written and the associations to other terminology will naturally arise later. Especially within Christian esoteric streams, it will become very evident how many different systems relate, as was evident for us when approaching Martinus.

Yes. For some reason I have a tendency to search for correpondences, but I get it's best to be patient, and let the meaning work on us misteriously at first.

We can say the personality is the lower ego-I, tied to the soul-life which is entangled with the Earthly sensuous-intellectual context. Generally it is our identity in any given incarnation, rather than the 'individuality' which passes through all incarnations and is therefore associated with the archetypal context of the Spheres. Before Christ, a living gradient between this lower personality and the higher "I" (individuality) could not be established in lucid thinking consciousness.

This was well understood, as in, for example, OMA's book "Man's two natures, human and divine". The unclear part was that the soul/personality is referred to as "the highest treasure of the children of earth", "dear to the Master and menaced with dangers", as something that should "have as intensive a life as God has destined for it", and not as the lower ego-I entangled with the Earthly sensual-intellectual context. But in the context of the evolving methods of initiation, the whole thing becomes very clear, thank you!

Right, since humanity can only become truly 'human' if it attains the creative freedom to participate in the process of Cosmic redemption. Without the birth of the uniquely individual personality, that would be impossible. The Divine individuality had to die in the Earthly personality for it to be reborn in the Spirit.

Ex Deo nascimur
In Christo morimur
Per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus

[AshvinP]

These passages on the Emperor card relates to what we have called the liminal spaces of our normal conceptual-perceptual existence, in which the spirit worlds are embedded. Likewise, it relates to what has been called the 'inversion horizon' which we approach and cross through concentration and spiritual practice, in which our normal ways of thinking-perceiving the World are flipped around, so to speak, as we sacrifice our old habits of thinking-being and let new living ideals inflow our consciousness. We could also call it a 'polar reversal', as in the poles of a magnetic field switching (which is not a one-off event, but a gradual reorientation). I especially found the quote from Lao Tzu fascinating, in so far as it prefigures the Christ sayings of the Gospels.

***





The Emperor has established in himself this fourfold emptiness. This is why he is “Emperor”; this is why he is authority. He has made a place in himself for the divine name YHVH, which is the source of authority. He has renounced personal intellectual initiative—and the emptiness which results is filled by divine initiative or the YOD of the sacred name. He has renounced action and movement—and the void which results is filled by revelationary action and magical movement from above, i.e. by the HÉ and VAU of the divine name. Finally, he has renounced his personal mission, he has become anonymous—and the emptiness which results is filled with authority (or the second HÉ of the divine name), i.e. he becomes the source of law and order.

Lao Tzu reveals the arcanum of authority in his Tao Te Ching. He says:

"Thirty spokes unite in one nave, and because of the part where nothing exists we have the use of a carriage wheel. Clay is moulded into vessels, and because of the space where nothing exists we are able to use them as vessels. Doors and windows are cut out in the walls of a house, and because they are empty spaces, we are able to use them. Therefore, on the one hand we have the benefit of existence, and on the other, we make use of non-existence…[and again:] Be humble, and you will remain entire. Be bent, and you will remain straight. Be vacant, and you will remain full. Be worn, and you will remain new. He who has little will receive. He who has much will be embarrassed. Therefore the sage keeps to One and becomes the standard for the world. He does not display himself; therefore he shines. He does not approve himself; therefore he is noted. He does not praise himself; therefore he has merit. He does not glory in himself; therefore he excels. And because he does not compete; therefore no one in the world can compete with him because he has authority." (Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching xi and xxii; trsl. Ch’u Ta-Kao, London, 1953, p. 23 and p. 34)

God governs the world by authority, and not by force. If this were not so, there would be neither freedom nor law in the world; and the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer (Pater Noster); “Sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra”, would lose all meaning. He who prays these petitions does so solely with the purpose of affirming and increasing divine authority and not divine power. The God who is almighty—not virtually but actually—has no need at all to be petitioned that his reign may come and that his will may be done. The meaning of this prayer is that God is powerful only in so far as his authority is freely recognised and accepted. Prayer is the act of such recognition and acceptance. One is free to be believing or unbelieving. Nothing and no one can compel us to have faith—no scientific discovery, no logical argument, no physical torture can force us to believe, i.e. to freely recognise and accept the authority of God. But on the other hand, once this authority is recognised and accepted, the powerless becomes powerful. Then divine power can manifest itself—and this is why it is said that a grain of faith is sufficient to move mountains.

The Christian world worships the Crucifix, i.e. the image expressing the paradox of almighty God reduced to a state of extreme powerlessness...

The statement: freedom or existence is inalienable, can be understood as the highest gift, the very greatest value imaginable—then this would be a foretaste of paradise; or as condemnation to “perpetual existence”—then this would be a foretaste of hell. Because no one “sends” us anywhere—freedom not being a theatre. It is we ourselves who make the choice. Love existence, and you have chosen heaven; hate it, and there you have chosen hell.

Now, God is with respect to free beings either the ruling King (in the sense of authority such as that taught by the fourth Arcanum of the Tarot) or the Crucified. He is King with regard to those of his beings who voluntarily accept (who “believe”) his authority; he is Crucified with respect to those beings who abuse their freedom and “worship idols”, i.e. who replace divine authority by a substitute.

King and Crucified at one and the same time—this is the mystery of Pilate’s inscription on the cross of Calvary: Iesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum (cf. John xix, 19: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”). Almighty and powerless, both at once—this is why miracles of healing in human history were able to be accomplished by saints whilst bloody wars and disasters raged around them! Freedom—freedom is the true throne of God and is his cross at the same time. Freedom is the key to comprehension of the role of God in history—to comprehension of the God of love and the God-King, without the sacrilege of making him a tyrant and without the blasphemy of doubting his power or of doubting his very existence…God is all-powerful in history in as much as there is faith; and he is crucified in so far as one turns away from him.
...
Now, the reflection of the idea of divine withdrawal and divine crucifixion is found to be indicated, as we have seen, in the fourth Arcanum of the Tarot, the Emperor. The Emperor reigns by pure authority; he reigns over free beings, i.e. not by means of the sword, but by means of the sceptre. The sceptre itself bears a globe with a cross above. The sceptre therefore expresses in as clear as possible a manner the central idea of the Arcanum: just as the world (the globe) is ruled by the cross, so is the power of the Emperor over the terrestrial globe subject to the sign of the cross. The power of the Emperor reflects divine power. And just as the latter is effected by divine contraction (tsimtsum) and by voluntary divine powerlessness (crucifixion), so the power of the Emperor is effected by the contraction of his personal forces (the belt drawn tight by the Emperor) and by voluntary immobility (the crossed legs of the Emperor) at his post (the seat or throne of the Emperor).
...
No, the post of the Emperor does not belong any longer either to those who desire it or to the choice of the people. It is reserved to the choice of heaven alone. It has become occult. And the crown, the sceptre, the throne, the coat-of-arms of the Emperor are to be found in the catacombs…in the catacombs—this means to say: under absolute protection.

Now, the Emperor on the fourth Card is alone, without a court or retinue. His throne is in no way to be found in a room of the imperial palace, but rather in the open—in the open in an uncultivated field, not located in a town. A meagre clump of grass by his foot is there as the whole imperial court—as all the witnesses of his imperial splendour. But the clear sky is spread above him. He is a silhouette on the background of the sky. Alone in the presence of the sky—this is how the Emperor is.

One could ask: Why is the astonishing fact that the Emperor is found with his throne in the open air (under the starry sky, if you wish) overlooked by so many authors on the Tarot? Why have they not stated the fact that the Emperor is alone, without a court or retinue? I believe that it is because it is rarely that one lets the symbol, the image of the symbol as such, say all that it has to say through its unique context. One lets it say a little, and one is suddenly more interested in one’s own thoughts, i.e. in what one has to say oneself, rather than what the symbol has to say.

Yet the Card is specific: the Emperor is alone in open air in an uncultivated field and with a tuft of grass as his only company—save for the sky and the earth. The Card teaches us the arcanum of the authority of the Emperor, although it may be unrecognised, occult, unknown and unappreciated. It is a matter of the crown, the sceptre, the throne and the coat-of-arms being guarded, without any witnesses other than the sky and the earth, by a solitary man leaning against the throne, with his legs crossed, wearing a crown, holding the sceptre and clasping his belt. It is authority as such and it is the post of authority as such which is expressed here.

Anonymous . Meditations on the Tarot (p. 79). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[Federica]

Ashvin,

In this Emperor card, I am finding great insights to substantiate the understanding of human freedom vs divine power, in relation to the crucifixion. For someone like me with poor knowledge of Christianity, it's very interesting, thanks for sharing.

I actually went to the complete version (that you linked at the top of this thread) and that's where I could follow the sequence of excerpts, and get the sense of the card. Maybe the Kindle version is a summarized account. If so, I'd say the full version is worth reading, or at least it was for me. For example, I appreciate this passage:



The Christian world worships the Crucifix, i.e. the image expressing the
paradox of almighty God reduced to a state of extreme powerlessness. And it
is in this paradox that one sees the highest revelation of the Divine in the
whole history of mankind. One sees there the most perfect revelation of the
God of love.

But it is not so that every human being finding himself facing the Crucifix
may be thus divinely moved. There are those who react in the opposite way. It
was so at the time of Calvary; it is so today.

And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and
saying:…If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.
(Matthew xxvii, 39-40)


I cite these well-known things because they reveal a certain dogma
underlying them. It is the dogma or philosophical principle which states that
truth and power are identical; that which is powerful is true and that which is
powerless is false. According to this dogma or philosophical principle (which
has become that of modern technological science) power is the absolute
criterium and supreme ideal of truth. Only that which is powerful is of the
Divine.

The worship of the idol of power conceived of as the superman, above all
when one identifies oneself with it, is relatively inoffensive—being,
fundamentally, infantile. But this is not so with the other category of power
worshippers, namely those who project this ideal onto God himself. Their
faith in God depends only on the power of God; if God was powerless, they
would not believe in him. It is they who teach that God has created souls
predestined to eternal damnation and others predestined to salvation; it is they
who make God responsible for the entire history of the human race, including
all its atrocities. God, they say, “chastises” his disobedient children by means
of wars, revolutions, tyrannies and other similar things. How could it be
otherwise? God is almighty, therefore all that happens is only able to happen
through his action or with his consent.
The idol of power has such a hold on some human minds that they prefer
a God who is a mixture of good and evil, provided that he is powerful, to a
God of love who governs only by the intrinsic authority of the Divine—by
truth, beauty and goodness almighty to—i.e. they prefer a God who is actually almighty to
the crucified God.
Now the history of the human race since the Fall is that of the prodigal
son. It is not a matter of “the law of involution and evolution according to the
divine plan” of modern Theosophists, but rather of an abuse of freedom
similar to that of the prodigal son. And the key formula of the history of
humanity is to be found neither in the progress of civilisation nor in the
process of evolution or in any other “process”, but rather in the parable of the
prodigal son, in the words:

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.
(Luke xv, 18-19)

Is mankind therefore solely responsible for its history? Without a doubt—
because it is not God who has willed it to be as such. God is crucified in it.
One understands this when one takes account of the significance of the
fact of human freedom, and likewise the freedom of the beings of the spiritual
hierarchies—the Angels, Archangels, Principalities, Powers, Virtues,
Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim. All these beings—including
man (the Ischim)—have an existence that is either real or illusionary. If they
have a real existence, if they are not a mirage, they are independent entities
endowed not only with a phenomenal independence but also a noumenal
independence. Now, noumenal independence is what we understand by
freedom. Freedom, in fact, is nothing other than the real and complete
existence of a being created by God. To be free and to exist are synonymous
from a moral and spiritual point of view.

[AshvinP]

Ashvin,

In this Emperor card, I am finding great insights to substantiate the understanding of human freedom vs divine power, in relation to the crucifixion. For someone like me with poor knowledge of Christianity, it's very interesting, thanks for sharing.

I actually went to the complete version (that you linked at the top of this thread) and that's where I could follow the sequence of excerpts, and get the sense of the card. Maybe the Kindle version is a summarized account. If so, I'd say the full version is worth reading, or at least it was for me. For example, I appreciate this passage:



The Christian world worships the Crucifix, i.e. the image expressing the
paradox of almighty God reduced to a state of extreme powerlessness. And it
is in this paradox that one sees the highest revelation of the Divine in the
whole history of mankind. One sees there the most perfect revelation of the
God of love.

But it is not so that every human being finding himself facing the Crucifix
may be thus divinely moved. There are those who react in the opposite way. It
was so at the time of Calvary; it is so today.

And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and
saying:…If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.
(Matthew xxvii, 39-40)


I cite these well-known things because they reveal a certain dogma
underlying them. It is the dogma or philosophical principle which states that
truth and power are identical; that which is powerful is true and that which is
powerless is false. According to this dogma or philosophical principle (which
has become that of modern technological science) power is the absolute
criterium and supreme ideal of truth. Only that which is powerful is of the
Divine.

The worship of the idol of power conceived of as the superman, above all
when one identifies oneself with it, is relatively inoffensive—being,
fundamentally, infantile. But this is not so with the other category of power
worshippers, namely those who project this ideal onto God himself. Their
faith in God depends only on the power of God; if God was powerless, they
would not believe in him. It is they who teach that God has created souls
predestined to eternal damnation and others predestined to salvation; it is they
who make God responsible for the entire history of the human race, including
all its atrocities. God, they say, “chastises” his disobedient children by means
of wars, revolutions, tyrannies and other similar things. How could it be
otherwise? God is almighty, therefore all that happens is only able to happen
through his action or with his consent.
The idol of power has such a hold on some human minds that they prefer
a God who is a mixture of good and evil, provided that he is powerful, to a
God of love who governs only by the intrinsic authority of the Divine—by
truth, beauty and goodness almighty to—i.e. they prefer a God who is actually almighty to
the crucified God.
Now the history of the human race since the Fall is that of the prodigal
son. It is not a matter of “the law of involution and evolution according to the
divine plan” of modern Theosophists, but rather of an abuse of freedom
similar to that of the prodigal son. And the key formula of the history of
humanity is to be found neither in the progress of civilisation nor in the
process of evolution or in any other “process”, but rather in the parable of the
prodigal son, in the words:

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.
(Luke xv, 18-19)

Is mankind therefore solely responsible for its history? Without a doubt—
because it is not God who has willed it to be as such. God is crucified in it.
One understands this when one takes account of the significance of the
fact of human freedom, and likewise the freedom of the beings of the spiritual
hierarchies—the Angels, Archangels, Principalities, Powers, Virtues,
Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim. All these beings—including
man (the Ischim)—have an existence that is either real or illusionary. If they
have a real existence, if they are not a mirage, they are independent entities
endowed not only with a phenomenal independence but also a noumenal
independence. Now, noumenal independence is what we understand by
freedom. Freedom, in fact, is nothing other than the real and complete
existence of a being created by God. To be free and to exist are synonymous
from a moral and spiritual point of view.

Federica,

I'm glad you are following along and learning from it.

I should have mentioned before, I am only selectively sharing certain excerpts from the chapters here and there, skipping some parts, based on the overall point I am trying to emphasize. So I think most of what you shared is also in the Kindle edition. But I also intend it to be a prompting for anyone to go check out the entire text, if some part of it catches their attention, because I am finding all of it really valuable to contemplate. The author really intended for the readers to use it as a pointer towards spiritual exercises for higher thinking consciousness. Thanks for sharing more of the context!

Hermetic philosophy is not composed of the Cabbala, astrology, magic and alchemy. These four branches sprouting from the trunk do not make the trunk, rather they live from the trunk. The trunk is the manifested unity of mysticism, gnosis and sacred magic. There are no theories; there is only experience, including here the intellectual experience of arcana and symbols. Mystical experience is the root, the gnostic experience of revelation is its sap and the experience or practice of sacred magic is its wood. For this reason its teaching—or the “body” of its tradition—consists of spiritual exercises and all its arcana (including the Arcana of the Tarot) are practical spiritual exercises, whose aim is to awaken from sleep ever-deeper layers of consciousness. Necessary commentaries and corollaries accompany this practice and constitute the “bark” of the trunk.

Anonymous . Meditations on the Tarot (p. 91). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.