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world to increase the light. The cross of the hilt of the sword tells him to cut himself free, mak ing certain that he has no auric or karmic ties around him, so that he doesn’t still give out the idea that the world ‘does’ it to him, or that he does it to the world! It is about owning and taking complete responsibility for our ideas and actions and then we are our own true initiators.
The cup and the sword allow the movement of inspiration from the wand to the pentacle to take place and then the manifesta tion is complete. Without the sword we can see that the pentacle wouldn’t be gold, for it could be corrupted by outer influences. The sword is the one that makes certain that we all have our own circle, that there are no ties to bind us, that nothing is pulling us down and that the gold of the solar plexus centre radiates, so ena bling the whole of the body to become incorruptible.
These four elements, or the four aspects represented by wands, pentacles, cups and swords in the minor Arcana are the beginning of everyday life and the totality of the cosmic world at the same time. They tie up with the cosmic patterns of the stars and so link to the astrological signs.
The wand is fire, which is action and this is seen in Aries, which is the first sign to come in. This is the fiery direction that becomes domination in Leo. So Aries initiates a movement into a direction, or impulse. Leo is the dominating fire of life that has to find its own truth in dominating itself, then with Sagittarius the fire has to learn to point upwards and inwards. When the arrow keeps going downward, or towards the outer, we are looking at the Earth rather than looking at God, so then that fiery element goes into self-destruction. A fiery person that doesn’t look within is definitely in danger of burning out. If we want to dominate the world with our good or bad ideas, we slide into power and the lust for more. We have to learn to dominate our passions.
The cup represents the element water, which in its highest meaning is the great water of Heaven. Rain is what links the creative creature and his God and water is psychic life. So we start with Cancer, the origin of life, the Mary or mother who is the awak-ener of the psychic life. Then in Scorpio we have the hidden life, the mystery, sexuality and death, which bring the questions that the anxious man is going to ask, about the transition towards the Spirit. Pis ces, with the fishes, is completely submerged into the psychic life, revealing the difficulty with the two currents; one is going up and the other going down. It has to become the purified waters of the Soul, as Jesus (the Soul) demonstrated, by asking us to go beyond the physical and emotional worlds. Action has no value to man if it is not directed by the realm of the Soul, which is eventually the high est representation of the cup.
The sword, which is air, is Spirit inform ing the heart. In Gemini we have the mind that wakes up and its power touches every thing. It has to find stability. In Libra, we find a balance between the desire to dominate in Leo and the acceptance of sacrifice in Virgo. This middle point can truly only be achieved in this world, for there is no other possible place where it can be found. Once we have the middle point we’re home. Unless we can simultaneously experience life and witness it with detachment, we are not going to find the narrow door to the higher mind in the Soul. Air in Aquarius will allow the mind of humanity to go beyond the understanding of life as survival and will start to perceive the oneness of life in the cosmic waters. The mental/spiritual life of the air and the water will show us the way through. The mind of the average Aquarian has to work very hard at this point, to recognise other people’s point of view and reality, as equally important as their own. It is one great mind made of trillions of points of view.
The pentacle represents matter and the biological life of our bodies; this is where all initiation must start. It doesn’t matter which way we take, we have to go deeper and deeper into the Earth to reach the heart of the cells, which are the building blocks of life. This is the importance of the cave, for there is no birth without a cave and its potential of bursting into light. The test of probation on Earth gives man the trust or the backup of the world in which he lives. So we have the bull, Taurus, offering its endurance and devel oping the perseverance and the patience to find the light. Virgo has the resignation that forgets self through devotion, because we know that we hold the promise of the world in us. There is still a hint of accountability, judgement and criticism here, because Earth is the product of that fantastic Active Intelligence which will be able to see every single little detail that is not right, so it is only through devotion that we can completely resign ourselves to the idea that this is the way the world is; it is perfect as it is and not as we want it! Then in the great Capricorn we have the self-realised man, clothed in his own silence and secrets. He bears and holds the secret and he sometimes doesn’t even realise that he’s got a secret in him; all he knows is his silence. He has in front of him in his hand the entire cre ated world; all the mental thoughts and all the possibilities. That is a heavy weight and we can see why Capricorn can either be so stern or the depressive comic.
To be an initiate is not to be a disincarnate ‘master’, meaning an entity that doesn’t need to come back and experience matter; rather he is looking for the middle way. He has always known that wher ever he is in matter, the middle way is so right that he doesn’t need protection, because by being his own true nature he has become that middle way himself.
The Magician goes back into hell, meaning back into the dust of the past and although he’s been there before, he’s not done it on this particular round. He is very much in the world though he is engaged in taking possession of the means of domination of his per sonality; he must not see it as a way to get out. The Tarot is anthro-pocentric, meaning it is the journey of man through the medium in which we live, which is nature and it is only The Fool at the end of the journey who can take us back into this world, with more oppor tunity to love and understand. The mind has to soar and uplift, so as to truly understand that matter and form are the shadowy mis understanding of a higher reality that is to come. Yet mankind has to be grounded enough to act in the world. Matter is the past and we’re all past mistakes!
The table in front of The Magician has three visible legs and the fourth one is outside the picture. The three legs represent three of the four corners of Solomon’s temple and are the pillars of strength, wisdom and beauty. The fourth pillar is there, but is not visible, for it is man himself, the initiate, who is there to give stability in space and time. It is his spir itual power that gives a strong, stable consistency to the material manifestation of the building of the edifice, so that we can go from the impermanence of manifestation to the clarity of Spirit. Number 3 is the beginning of manifestation and is the great Trinity that isn’t yet viable, so the plan is drawn but is unstable. To make it viable we want the Number 1 to come back to make the fourth element; this is man with his spiritual courage and vision, rendering the great work of the Trinity viable. Without men recognising the Trinity in life, it cannot be perceived and named and therefore might not even exist. We bring it down into matter through our own recognition of love, strength, wisdom and beauty and through these the spiritual power is reborn.
In the manifested, material world the temple has four columns and a table has four legs, so another, more material way to see the fourth hidden leg would be as all the institutions. Everything that has to do with the secular world; groups, tribes, associations, nations and party politics: everything that gives stability to a society would be the fourth leg of that table. The initiate has replaced that by a spiritual foundation, rather than a material foundation and this is why we don’t need to see it, for it is not of this world. This confirms the fact that our Magician is very much outside the secular world; even if he is working in it he’s not at all taken in by it and so it has no authority over him. He has spiritual authority only, so that fourth leg really belongs to the higher plan of the Soul kingdom. This path that we are looking at is not for newcomers.
The red tulip is a recognised symbol for a superior initiation. When we see it depicted in ancient art that is its meaning. In the picture the little tulip is just opening, so it is the beginning
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