Zephyros
I suppose one of the reasons I find this one so perplexing, is personal. It represents exactly those qualities I find so hard to emulate. I suppose intellectual control is among the greatest chains that bind us.
Having trouble with the Hanged Man
Always Wondering
You might be interested in Jim Eshelman's latest book, Pearls of Wisdom, due out next month. One part of the book is Jim's diary of his 5=6 operation. Jim describes himself as straight, but his diary often reflects gender and polarity flips (sometimes even trans-gender) throughout. You will love it.
Thanks, I think I will. Easy is easy, but boring.
AW
Always Wondering
I find Cheth perplexing. My main mode is feeling or emotional. It was quite a change for me to apply intellect to my spirituality. I grew up a dumb blond and actually got a lot out of that.
I hung upside down too. And cried for a while. Those first realizations of Mem were no fun at all.
AW
ravenest
I think that depends on one's 'tendencies' - some need to really develop their controlling aspect of the intellect and some need to dial it down. That's the good thing about following a system that is balanced and not developed by oneself.
I am very Lunar ... I would never have come up with such a solar mediation as Liber Resh ... I never wanted to do it when it first arose ... but once into it I saw the value as a balance for me.
Balance ... the more one gets out of balance the harder it is to stop from tipping over.
Aeon418
Have you ever read the editorial in Black Pearl no.5 - "The Soul in the Machine"?
If yes, how confronting did you find it? Did it make you feel uncomfortable?
If you don't already have, Black Pearl, you can download all 11 issues here:
http://thelema.org/publications/bp.html
They are an absolute gold mine of information.
Zephyros
Thanks. I downloaded the first a while ago, but with so much on my plate I have a tendency to flit. I'll download all of them when I get home.
In any case, I've continued working on this, and have made a few discoveries, about which I am still unsure, but here goes. In this region of the Tree we see two triangles formed, one to the right and the other to the left of Tiphareth. In my entries on Fortune, I remarked that the figures on the wheel seem to be the right-hand triangle, and of course IAO. We have Virgo/Isis, Scorpio/Apophis (actually figured as Osiris) and finally Jupiter, which I will get to presently.
On the left hand side, the classic dying formula of IAO is more pronounced, and my gut tells me this says something about the precession of the Aeons. Isis mourning, Adjustment, ever accepting; Apophis as the Gates of Matter (as Fortune writes, that incarnation implies disincarnation, to be born is to die); and Osiris himself, properly a glyph of the Age of Pisces.
It seems we have two aspects of the IAO formula, the active and the passive, the dying and the living. This sounded better in my head, but Chesed, the Sephira of unlimited outpouring of the elements, in this case outpouring to Fortune, suggests unlimited growth; the God does not die, but is Everborn. Seen from this perspective, Isis isn't mourning, she is an ever-willing virgin, a symbol of unlimited potential. Apophis restores Death to its rightful place as a process of decay (the slime at the bottom of the sea made from dead animals, giving growth to new vegetation, humanity "dying" as fish to become land-dwellers, etc.). This leaves Osiris not as dying, but as Horus, the impetus of the universe itself. In addition, as you said, Aeon, Chesed is the Sephirah of the general Will, while Geburah is that of the specific one.
Geburah as initiating the Osirian IAO implies limitation, suffering, growth from death. The Will is dependent on dying in order to sublimate itself. Chesed as initiating the "updated" IAO shows that although it is the general Will, the specific and the general are the same, pronouncing the deity of Man himself. Do your Will, and you have the universe at your back. It is as though the Aeons shifted from one tendency of limitation to the opposite side of the Piller of Mercy. By the time the Aeon of Maat comes by, perhaps there will be a new Tree.
I've lost myself, but I hope you get my drift.
In any case, I've continued working on this, and have made a few discoveries, about which I am still unsure, but here goes. In this region of the Tree we see two triangles formed, one to the right and the other to the left of Tiphareth. In my entries on Fortune, I remarked that the figures on the wheel seem to be the right-hand triangle, and of course IAO. We have Virgo/Isis, Scorpio/Apophis (actually figured as Osiris) and finally Jupiter, which I will get to presently.
On the left hand side, the classic dying formula of IAO is more pronounced, and my gut tells me this says something about the precession of the Aeons. Isis mourning, Adjustment, ever accepting; Apophis as the Gates of Matter (as Fortune writes, that incarnation implies disincarnation, to be born is to die); and Osiris himself, properly a glyph of the Age of Pisces.
It seems we have two aspects of the IAO formula, the active and the passive, the dying and the living. This sounded better in my head, but Chesed, the Sephira of unlimited outpouring of the elements, in this case outpouring to Fortune, suggests unlimited growth; the God does not die, but is Everborn. Seen from this perspective, Isis isn't mourning, she is an ever-willing virgin, a symbol of unlimited potential. Apophis restores Death to its rightful place as a process of decay (the slime at the bottom of the sea made from dead animals, giving growth to new vegetation, humanity "dying" as fish to become land-dwellers, etc.). This leaves Osiris not as dying, but as Horus, the impetus of the universe itself. In addition, as you said, Aeon, Chesed is the Sephirah of the general Will, while Geburah is that of the specific one.
Geburah as initiating the Osirian IAO implies limitation, suffering, growth from death. The Will is dependent on dying in order to sublimate itself. Chesed as initiating the "updated" IAO shows that although it is the general Will, the specific and the general are the same, pronouncing the deity of Man himself. Do your Will, and you have the universe at your back. It is as though the Aeons shifted from one tendency of limitation to the opposite side of the Piller of Mercy. By the time the Aeon of Maat comes by, perhaps there will be a new Tree.
I've lost myself, but I hope you get my drift.
Aeon418
I said Chokmah not Chesed. If I were to attribute anything to Chesed it would be Love, not Will.
Zephyros
Oops, sorry. Still, apart from that, it still makes sense to me, somehow.
Aeon418
The 'Everborning' part is right on the money though. At the individual personality level the formula of IAO looks and feels like the classic drama of life, catastrophe(death), and resurrection. But it's an illusion, a defect of perception. In actual fact the personality-self never evolves through cyclical growth. It might even 'appear' to be following a "Path of Return", but it's not. (Although that is a very useful metaphor.) What is really happening is the dilation and opening up of the personality allows more of the True Self to be born. The personality-self is merely a 'vehicle', but it's not until the attainment of Tiphareth that this is realized and the on going process of continually giving birth to one's self is understood in it's proper perspective. What once looked like the great drama of the Dying God is now seen as labour pains.
Take a look at Atu XXI The Universe. Those four Kerubs are the personality-self that most of us call I. If the personality is rigid and constricted it's going to be a very painful and stressful birth. But various spiritual practices can help us dilate and expand.
Keep breathing. One more push. I can see the head.
Zephyros
This is such a beautiful, yet elusive, card. Just when you think you get it, it turns topsy-turvy and unbalances you.
Still, this is the card I have worked the most on, and I guess I needed it. Chapter 7 of Magick really helped a lot, as did a few other sources. Of all the cards I have studied until now, this one is the one that challenged me most personally.
Anyway, enough about me. The idea of sacrifice is, according to the BoT, a bad one, and with good reason. There is no sacrifice, no self-degradation, only change and continuous growth. In the old Aeon, that of Osiris, the sperm was seen to die when entering the egg, thus creating the cycle of life. However, as we know now, that is a preposterous theory as, if the sperm were to die, there would be nothing. The Fire of the present Aeon destroys separations, allowing, finally, for the "annihilation of the self in the Beloved," but only through the ecstatic union of opposites, the "right opposition implied in marriage." Although the sperm, after union, no longer exists in it previous form, rather than being dead, it is even more alive because it has achieved union.
Now, the story of Noah is also mentioned, and is all about water, death and redemption. However, in it hides meaning I had not seen before, and Noah's very name tells his story. Nun of death, putrefaction, fish, a very watery letter. Chet, the vessel of life, the Ark. This is also a metaphor for childbirth and perhaps even of the evolution of Man from the ocean.
Now, the reason I bring Noah up, is the "reason" why the HM connects Geburah and Hod. Hod is the emanation of intellect, also of manifestation and the waking world, in essence, Eve, where we are made flesh. Geburah takes the divine will and restricts it, pressing it into an envelope of flesh. Now, this could be interpreted as a form of suffering, but as we said before about ecstatic union, and as the card itself amply illustrates, what we have is the Will entering the flesh (reminiscent of Jesus, obviously) as an act of Love and that, is what perpetuates the cycle. This card also illustrates man's inherent deity not as a flawed piece of meat, but as product, culmination and all-important child of the divine union with what is essentially itself.
Well, got a little too mystical there, hope you see my point. Still a difficult card, though, can't be understood "actively" but only "passively."
Still, this is the card I have worked the most on, and I guess I needed it. Chapter 7 of Magick really helped a lot, as did a few other sources. Of all the cards I have studied until now, this one is the one that challenged me most personally.
Anyway, enough about me. The idea of sacrifice is, according to the BoT, a bad one, and with good reason. There is no sacrifice, no self-degradation, only change and continuous growth. In the old Aeon, that of Osiris, the sperm was seen to die when entering the egg, thus creating the cycle of life. However, as we know now, that is a preposterous theory as, if the sperm were to die, there would be nothing. The Fire of the present Aeon destroys separations, allowing, finally, for the "annihilation of the self in the Beloved," but only through the ecstatic union of opposites, the "right opposition implied in marriage." Although the sperm, after union, no longer exists in it previous form, rather than being dead, it is even more alive because it has achieved union.
Now, the story of Noah is also mentioned, and is all about water, death and redemption. However, in it hides meaning I had not seen before, and Noah's very name tells his story. Nun of death, putrefaction, fish, a very watery letter. Chet, the vessel of life, the Ark. This is also a metaphor for childbirth and perhaps even of the evolution of Man from the ocean.
Now, the reason I bring Noah up, is the "reason" why the HM connects Geburah and Hod. Hod is the emanation of intellect, also of manifestation and the waking world, in essence, Eve, where we are made flesh. Geburah takes the divine will and restricts it, pressing it into an envelope of flesh. Now, this could be interpreted as a form of suffering, but as we said before about ecstatic union, and as the card itself amply illustrates, what we have is the Will entering the flesh (reminiscent of Jesus, obviously) as an act of Love and that, is what perpetuates the cycle. This card also illustrates man's inherent deity not as a flawed piece of meat, but as product, culmination and all-important child of the divine union with what is essentially itself.
Well, got a little too mystical there, hope you see my point. Still a difficult card, though, can't be understood "actively" but only "passively."
