Journey into The Sun

Ave brothers and sisters of Light!

Here we are continuing our discussion and studies upon the 19th Arcanum titled The Sun. In the conversations with everyone about these keys, its to be remembered that they were invented by the adepts of The Western Mystery Tradition. These adepts were thinkers of the highest capacity. Here we have discussed the general symbols and how our Tradition sees them, but its indispensable to be trained with an actual study of the schools because there are methods that aren't being discussed here, not because of a lack of information,but because experience has its own time line.

Without further commentary let us focus upon the symbol of just The Sun first. As can be easily seen there are eight straight rays and eight curvy rays. There are 125 lines behind the sun as well. There is a picture of a man and also drops descending from the sun in the colors red , yellow and blue.

There are so many levels of teaching in just these brief descriptions. Like for instance in Kabbalah as taught by Isaac Luria or his honorific name The Ari, gave teachings called "Etz Chayim" or " Tree of Life" . Lurianic Kabbalah is based upon the works of The Ari. Further expounded by Rav (which means teacher) Yehuda Ashlag. Rav Ashlag or his honorific name Baal Ha Sulam which means "the master of the ladder" wrote a commentary on "Etz Chayim" titled "Talmud Eser Sefirot". This work is in Hebrew and is quite technical . Talmud Eser Sefirot or Ten Luminious Emmanations is the major commentary of The Ari's text and includes Etz Chayim, unfortunately the entire treatise is only available in Hebrew, translations are supposedly being developed but as of yet there is no progress on the complete works.

NOTE: If the reader is interested in Lurianic Kabbalah there is a site http://www.kabbalah.info that is an authentic school called Bnei Baruch. This site is incomparable to any other and the most beloved Dr. Michael Laitman is the real decendent of Lurianic Kabbalah! Best of all the teachings are FREE!

continuing ... Another work by Rav Ashlag is The Sulam Commentary or The Ladder Commentary , here is my deepest intuition of the reason for 125 lines. The Zohar written by Simon Bar Yochai in the 1st to 5th century is a commentary on the first five books of the Hebrew Bible called Torah. in the Sulam Commentary , Rav Ashlag comments upon The Zohar. Here is explained that each Rav of the Zohar represents 1 Sefirot and each word has a Sefirotic Root. Every Letter has a metaphysical teaching and the sole point is to rise 125 levels to the highest attainment in the teaching , these levels aren't arbitrary they are actual levels of the sefirot and "olam" or worlds. With this complex system the path to spiritual enlightenment is laid out before us in Lurianic Kabbalah. Bnei Baruch goes into great depth and in the author's strict but non derogatory assessment is far deeper and more grounded in truth than its counterpart the infamous Kabbalah Center. ( Can't say much about Kabbalah Center, Berg's lawyers are very interested in maintaining the name and reputation of this organization to the extent that it can't be mentioned much without serious repercussions)

This is Authentic Kabbalah. What we have inherited is a symbolic version of this system called The Mystical Kabbalah or Practical Kabbalah. So whats all this have to do with fortune cards?? Well maybe the number 125 is arbitrary but i doubt it, even when referred to by exponents of the Western Mystery Schools the number is 5X5X5 which is explained by Laitman in the Zohar as the Partzufim and Sefirot including a deep teaching about "Zeir Anpin" which as an oversimplification includes Six Sefirot: Chesed, Gevurah , Tifferet, Netzach, Hod and Yesod. The Lurianic count this group as 1 Called the Countanance or Zeir Anpin , Translated as "Small Face"

Like i said this card has Deep Teachings. Alchemical , Magical, Hermetic, Rosicrucian and many more schools can be expounded by the simple symbol here of the sun its 8 straight rays, 8 curvy rays, 125 other lines, face and color. Not to mention the drops..

For brevity sake we will stop here, but hopefully the reader will start to grasp the concepts that are being presented. They are not arbitrary and please if interested in Authentic Kabbalah visit Bnei Baruch, its amazing when combined with our Authentic Western Tradition.

In Solar Light and Love

Questions, Comments or Concerns mailto: fratercml@gmail.com

Sumer is finally here !

Ave fellow travelers and light bearers

Now we are making a shift from the card titled Judgement to the Key titled The Sun. As you can see the card chosen for our study is the marseilles card. One because this deck is one of the oldest and second is because the popular Rider-Waite Deck shows an entirely different scene. In the Western Tradition of Mystery Schools and Fraternal Societies, the Key is pictured in the same scene shown here.There are two children , The Sun and its rays, the wall and water , and the divine drops. These elements are going to be the 'basis' of our study and the interpretation of these symbols will be given in several seperate essays , as usual.

There seams to be a 'typo' in the title of this post to some, Sumer spelled without the proper seasonal attributes is the first supposed meaning, actually the spelling is intentional and indicates some deep History behind the methods and teachings of the Tarot Keys. The Art or Great Work of the Sumerians as passed to the Chaledeans , Egyptians, and finally to the Jewish tribes of Israel and the 'Hieros Gamos' of the Hellenistic Gnostics. All the teachings upon the Secret Essence in the Eastern School of Tantric Buddhism called Vajrayana, can also be summed up in this key. Though it shows the actual manifestation and not the cause or mediating influence but the result titled "Regeneration".

Regeneration is a term that eventually we will get into in more depth, as far as can be said of the topic. This spiritual principle is the main secret behind 'Spiritual Alchemy' and other practices. The Tarot Key 19 titled 'The Sun' is similar to our interpretation of The 18th Key titled 'The Moon'. This card doesn't point to our conventional idea of The Sun in the known cosmos or even the other galaxies and suns thereof, when the Key calls this force 'The Sun' its talking about its spiritual essence and not the thing that we see daily. The reason its titled 'The Sun' is because this key is sun 'like'. That is one of the Keys to interpretation. The symbols aren't literal objects but unknown elements of the picture indicated. With deep Kabbalistic and Spiritual Truth embedded within we can start to infer what the meaning is by the concentration of the mind.

This Key isn't very simple at all and requires deep analysis. It holds so many 'passwords' so to speak of other grades of consciousness. For the time being though we will just start to touch upon the aspect of Reintegration or Regeneration as being the recapturing of the youthful mind. The mind of the child isn't dumb. its inexperienced, yet its experience is very valid when you look at the concept of time. As a linear progression from one spatial point to another. Time would be the duration between the gaps . Therefore the one who says that children are to be "seen and not heard" is passing up the wisdom of the Universal Spirit for the conflicted and limited perspective of the so called 'Adult'.

In a spacial context this card reaches beyond because it doesn't show that the two forces are aware of their separateness. When the sun shines on the mind of man the delusions of the mind cease to hold weight, In buddhism this is called 'Enlightenment" the clarity of the mind is shown for the first time through meditative means and in the stillness time space, causation and duration become "Conceptual Labels" and not "Reality". The mind is not exactly what most of us take it to be, sure it can compute, and discern, analyze and infer, deduce solutions from seeming difficult problems. Yet these functions are part of the repair on the damage of its cause. The mind as said by the buddhists is "Clear and Knowing" is the mind of The Sun. The ever shining always present light of our real essence. Maybe this is why the child is so happy. Their minds aren't developed enough to suffer as bad as us "mature" adults.

Comments mailto: fratercml@gmail.com

In light and Love

Hades, Pluto and Horus

Ave Fraters and Sorors

In this finalization of the 20^th Arcanum titled Judgement, we are considering the Gods of World Mythology attributed to this path. The work on this portion of our study is going to come primarily from renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell’s The Masks of God is a superbly written work, and should be referenced constantly in regard to the mythological motifs and concepts behind our Tree of Life.

Hades as we all know is the God of the Underworld, but what does that mean? I believe that the term underworld is exactly what it says “under” the “world”, but what world? In kabbalah we are taught about the “four olamim”or Worlds. This conception is a piece of complex Kabbalism, and should be understood when dealing with the tree. As this is the channel from Malkuth, which represents sensate living and manifestations thereof, we are taken into the realm of the densest expression of the depicted “Solar Fire”. As Persephone is coaxed to the underworld by a peculiar looking flower, the goddess is defiled and sent into servitude. In the popularized version of the story, Persephone is taken and Hecate, her mother ,makes a plea to Hades to release her. Hades concedes ,and lets Persephone have her freedom , but only partially. Here the initiate’s of our Western Mystery Tradition hold up a stalk of grain, to symbolize her victorious emergence. Pluto is similar to the Greek Hades, but is the Roman Version. In Pluto lies a mystery of Astronomical Truth , and depicts the travels of the sun through the darkness and its emergence as well.

When we discuss Horus, it is well known that he is the Son of Isis and Osiris. Horus was the Son aspect of the Sun God. Before the adoption of Ra, Horus represented the child god, he is also related to Harpocrates. This in turn is probably deeply related to the Elusinian and Isis cults . Since Horus was part of the established Royal Pharaohs along with an immortalized Osiris , Egyptians would have known that the two would have symbolized each other and deeply impressed Silence upon the minds of the Initiate. In our modern tradition there is a phrase “ TO KNOW, TO WILL, TO DARE AND BE SILENT”. For the Hellenistic traditions held Silence to be a portal to actual Gnosis and Wisdom. In the myth of Horus he is set against a dual force called Set. This was the eternal conflict of the opposites, Horus however was able to produce reconciliation which is what the late CG Jung called the psychological solution to our one-sidedness. Therefore the figures rising out of the caskets not only represent the reconciliation of the opposites but the intervention of the divine Fire that guides the risen spirit through the process of Harmonization and Equilibrium.

Thought for the Day: Here we will try something new. In the analysis of the previous Keys, there has been much conceptual thinking and less emphasis upon practical application of the Tarot itself. This is actually not the intention of these essays, in fact the whole intention is to supplement, and add to the already practiced art of Divination and development of the Magical Intuition. So from now on we will have an application of practical nature, therefore, eliminating the aspect of pure abstraction and no practice.

Here goes: For 5 minutes clear your mind of any distractions of polarization, meaning when it comes to the difficult times of the day’s activities, make no judgment on them . Attempt to bring the mind to complete rest, and silence. Take deep breathes as this will stimulate the auric system, and produce new thoughts which in turn, make new thought-forms ,and influence the external situation in a different way. Instead of trying to understand the problem or conflict , make efforts to forget about it temporarily. Once you’re sure that your sounds are coming from the Triumphant Fire within , rather than Chaotic Hades outside, take a fresh look at the situation with the light of your inner Sun of Horus , and see the world through the Divine Child Harpocrates eyes.

In light and love

(Special Thanks to my Beloved Wife for the editorial work)

Balance and Pathwork

Hello Brothers and Sisters of The Light!

At this juncture I think it would be important to mention at the close of this Key the 20^th Arcanum titled Judgement, a word or two about the method used to travel in our little essays. As you may see the figures arising out of their sepulchers are colored gray. This color is not death, it is the balancing of the energies from the two sides of nature, but to understand the actual way we are working with the cards a bit of instruction is now necessary.

The organization in the late 1800’s early 1900’s called the Golden Dawn was an extension of a Rosicrucian organization called Socitas Rosicruciana in Anglia or Society Rosicrucians in England. The Dr. Wynn Westcott , Magus of this organization and a high ranking Mason in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, was the discoverer of some rare Cipher Documents. These documents were the rituals and knowledge lectures of this group of Theurgical magicians called the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn heavily relied upon Jewish Kabbalah as their structure in the “Grades” of the Order.

In the later grades of Adeptship the members were given a document that was titled M and it had the attributions of the Tarot and descriptions of the Keys. As the organization got larger A.E. Waite was admitted , progressed to Adeptship and was the progenitor of the Rider Waite Tarot , He and artist Pamela Coleman Smith were the formative influences of this popularized version of an earlier deck called the Marseilles.

In the Golden Dawn each Tarot Card corresponded to many attributes and was a system of categorization , however the most important were the Hebrew letter attributed, A number , the Magical Sign and the Name of the card. The colors aren’t arbitrary either they are in what was known as the “Color Scale” of the Kabbalah. Each card has an attribution in the Kabbalistic “Tree of Life” and therefore is called a “Path”. This is known. Each “path” is the connecting channel of two Sefirot which are ten circles in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

Here is where we will start. The way we’ve been following as you probably noticed is not in sequential order by numeration but in the fashion of pathwork upon this diagram. We are first going from a Sefirot to another by means of the Tarot card. By using our imagination and actively engaging our minds in the crystallized form we are becoming acquainted with the “Roots” of this system. First we go from the Sefirot we are at, which for all of us starting is Malkuth , then we go from the middle to the left and right, only in the path of the moon is it appropriate to start out right before left. Once balanced we can proceed to the next sefirot. We are now at the end of the essays on the 20^th Key and are moving to the Sphere of Yesod , We will then follow this same schematic.

In accordance with balance and equilibrium we are going to proceed but first about the color grey, it is a mixture of the color black and white or two opposing colors called flashing colors. The attributions of color are important because they are the scales that tell us the attributions of the card and the particular elements in later study. Each thing is a Kabbalistic idea, and each idea manifests in the model of the Tree of Life. Here we have 3 humans that are balanced by the Cosmic Fire and have attained the Wisdom of the Sefirot Chokmah . Since Keter is White and Binah Black the wisdom of the body these images depict is the attainment of the Chokmah element.

For now this is were we will end, but as we progress more and more, the tarot will take on a different meaning other than the common one of Divination, it will be our map on the road to Spiritual Destiny.

In Light and Love.

The Final Judgement??

Ave brothers and sisters of the light!

Here we are presented with the 20th Arcanum and most of the evident symbols are that of death, judgement and some kind of angel blowing a trumpet. This isn't the actual meaning of the card. Nor does it mean that once we die we will be judged by gods seven seals... blah blah. The card was designed this way to pass through the Orthodoxy of the scrutinizing public officials of early medieval Europe.

The actual doctrine of this key is pretty complex. As we talked about in our last "conventicle" , we said that the seven rays of sound were related to the seven 'chakras' of the Indian philosophical tradition. What wasn't discussed was how this element is activated and why the figures are positioned the way they are and depicted in our key.

The Hebrew letter that corresponds with this key is Shin.
Shin is called one of three mother letters in a Kabbalistic treatise called Sepher Yetzerah. The particular attribution to this Letter is Fire and the name Tooth. As we have been instructed from the builders of the Mystery Schools of antiquity . The Fire and Tooth represent the assimilation of food and the energy produced from that action. Here the assimilation is that of a spiritual substance producing an effect of fire in the spiritual body composed primarily of the seven chakras and nerve currents and channels.

In our definition of the word Judgement means "completion" or a Finalizing of a process. Not the last judgement of the church and has no eschatological connections whatsoever. Here is showed a great method of the east regarding sound and the chakras. The words of power or mantras are the building principles of the manifest universe. This is in accordance with the Buddhist Vajrayana and Raja Yoga schools of the East and the works of Hellenistic Egypt and Pythagorean philosophies as well.

It is no real surprise that form is a manifestation of Vibratory powers and that from this ultimate realm of sound form shape and color take place. In this Key its depicted that a shaping sound will release us from our graves of corporeal existence and the bondage of the third dimensional restriction.

In light and love

Frater Cor Meum Lucidum

Seven Rays of Light and Sound

Ave fellow seekers of Light.

As mentioned in the previous post. We are embarking upon a new phase of our journey, one that will leave us in utter possession of another piece of the puzzle of our ancient arcanum of the Tarot.

As these papers are mainly meant as an aid to study , its impossible to completely exhaust the possibilities of each key to teach and illuminate its possessor. What will be done, if anything is hopefully do what we are aiming to explain has already taken place. The process of salvation has already been completed . Our problem, if you wish to call it that, is to become aware with this solution to our state of existence and beingness.

Enough said. Here we will find there are Seven sounds that are being projected from the trumpet of the angel Gabriel. In this picture its the manifestation of deeper causes. Therefore this is the reason the card shows the image of an external sound. Because it isn't concerned so much with the causes as the actual manifestation of the cause and mediator directly depicted above it and termed "Realization" in the process of the Seven step method of the tarot.

Each sound projection represents a different sphere or center so to speak and is highly related to the "wheel". Since the card "judgement" is used to represent the 20th arcanum for a moment we will digress to the symbolism of numbers again in tarot. As mentioned earlier each symbol , attribute and correlation of the Tarot Keys are anything but arbitrarily set on the card. In fact each and every image, color , letter, word, number. and sign means a infinite amount of things that can be interrelated in the world of the Occult Sciences. This is why the Tarot holds such an amazing position in the Mystery Schools, not only by its design, archetypes, but the forces energies and powers that are released by " those who know" how to use the pack of cards.

In Numerical symbolism of the Key , the number represents first the power and cause and the result or manifestation of the cause. Here its the 0 brought about by the power of 2 which we have not covered yet. Needless to say the number 20 is only paralleled by the number 10 as the numbers with zeros in them. the card with the attribute of 10 is the Wheel of Fortune. We wont go into the symbolism but know that since we are tracing backward all the powers and causes of the entire arcanum 0-20 goes into the symbolism of this card. Each key represents the prior elements of its foundation in causes and is the final manifestation of the causes before it.

As 10 represents the arcanum of the "wheel" we are also to pay close attention to the seven "wheels" or hindu chakras. In the western tradition the "Great Work" is to be performed upon this base element. The chakras are the centers that are being called into operation here by the seven sounds also representing the seven rays of light and the seven chakras or planets.

In the key the angel Gabriel is calling with all seven sounds representing the entire sphere of our senses and energy centers. This means that when the completion of the work is done the process is going to take into account our spiritual centers which are called "wheels" and referred in our key to as the seven sounds.

In Light and Love

Frater Cor Meum Lucidum

Who am I to Judge

Ave Brothers and Sisters of the Light!

Welcome to the Gnostic Tarot Blog and our discussion of tarot card titled Judgement or Key 20. In the 20th arcanum we are presented with mainly the figures in the front being summoned by the call of the angel up top and out of this resurection the figures seem gray for dead human beings, and like the day of judgement in our popularized version of this concept.

However this isn't the call at all. The figures are actually representations of the states of mind that are being summoned by the angel. The call is by the trumpet with seven lines representing seven sounds. but most importantly is the sepulchers that are being opened.

Here our risen beings are being risen out of their third dimensional consciousness to a forth dimension . Now this idea seams silly at first but if we look at the childs sepulcher the top is completely gone. representing the innocence of a child and the limitlessness of that mind. Here in the key the graves are on the ocean not the dirt. They aren't buried on a grave they are buried at sea or as water in esoteric symbolism always represents the Subconscious or Unconscious.

Out of this ocean of souls rises out of the third dimensional a forth dimension that is completely out of our perception of time, space, and causation. This is the breaking free of Mara in the Hindu tradition and the call of the higher to our minds that exists in the higher states of dimension. In the forth dimension there is no time , space , or causation. This is why the judgement card isn't a bad or scary card. We aren't judged by the Past , Present and Future of our minds. We aren't held in bondage to the Space of our immediate vicinity or the Causation of our deductive reasoning. In fact it is the forth dimensional judgement that is the day of judgement. This is why Buddha himself said that " karma is the most subtle and difficult of teachings". The Buddha was Awake.

Perhaps this arcanum will allow us as a human race to start and have compassion on others and ourselves. That there is no reason to project our guilt onto another because of fear of death, and that after all , we can't fathom the judgement that will take place because in order to do that we would have to be in the forth dimension of consciousness unlimited by Time, Space and Causation.

In Light and Love

Frater Cor Meum Lucidum