Psalm 74:2: Remember thy congregation, which thou hast
purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this
mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt
Rod in old Hebrew is 'shebet'. This literally means stick,
but the stick or magical tool in hermetic literature is not meant to be
"spare the rod spoil the child" the "Rod" here is meant to
be the authority and basic will of the highest powers. Rod as 'shebet' means
the following: rod, sceptre, staff, tribe. Its important to realize that this
statement of the "rod" here in our Hermit Arcana is telling us that
man can always depend upon the Rod or Staff for balance and support. This means
that Hierarchy is there to assist us as the Heavenly "tribe". or
Staff. Like the staff of the church. Its not difficult to realize that
"stick" is the physical representation of this archaic form of
Priestly Vestment or Tool. The MITRE of the Hierophant is now the Rod of the Hermit.
Meaning that the Authority of the Hierophant has now passed. The church is no
longer in power and the child in the lovers card has chosen to become a fully
supported Emanation of the Power of the Heavenly Tribe by transmuting the Arrow
of Cupid into this Staff.
Next i'd like to call attention to the words of Alice Bailey
from Initiation Human and Solar :
there are four levels of power descending through the Rods
of Initiation
1. Cosmic
2. Solar
3. Planetary
4. Hierarchical, used by an occult Hierarchy for minor
initiations, and for the first two initiations of manas by the Bodhisattva.
Manas is the MAN all philosophy talks about. This is the non
gendered , asexual Initiate in the SK Thinker, or One who Thinks. 9 in hermetic
philosophy and Pythagorean Mysteries represents the MAN. Also in Pythagorean
philosophy the rod represents the "cabiric chain" basically as Bailey
indicates the Rods are used to transmit power to us by this Heavenly Hierarchy,
or Tribe.
IN Christine Payne Towler's book Underground Stream she says
of the Hermit in the chapter Holy Blood, Holy Tarot, " These individuals
learned how to create spaces inside of their ego for the overshadowing invasion
by the archetypes".
I'd bring attention to this fact that All healers use a Rod
to do the healing. Similar to Moses and all Adepts. Here for the first time we
are hearing about the practical aspects of Magical Implements, its to do the
work of the Tribe that we are blessed to be in contact with via the Cabiric
Chain.
As Above so Below
IN GNOSIS
Tim
