We
are currently engaged in an almost two-year initiatory Pathworking with
The Qabalah Tree of Life. You can read what that's all about here. In the meantime, I have been documenting our work as we explore the Paths.
It is important to know these are brief notes. A true understanding of each Path begs a vital understanding of the Sephiroth connecting them. Further research on your own is highly recommended.
It is important to know these are brief notes. A true understanding of each Path begs a vital understanding of the Sephiroth connecting them. Further research on your own is highly recommended.
We have completed Path 18, now for Path 17 .....
Path 17 is an often misunderstood path, as many liken the Tarot card of The Lovers to being about the love between two people, "true love," marriage, etc. When, in fact, is more closely related to the previously cited Hermetic allegory of The Cymical Marriage of Christian Rosenkreutz, which is itself a metaphor for the uniting of Spirit (God) and Matter (us). "The Lovers," says Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, "can be seen here as the duality found in all of us." (The Shining Paths, p. 135) When descending from the Tree, "it is the first card in which more than one figure appears," says Aleister Crowley. "In its original form, it was the story of Creation." (The Book of Thoth, p. 80)
From this we must understand and pay attention to the Sephiroth connecting this Path: Binah, the Great Mother, breaking down the Forms of the Universe into the Son of Tiphareth, Matter in its highest form."This the path where the descending divine life-force begins creation through division. For the student ascending this path, a direct reversal of this process takes place. The separateness of the individual is dissolved into the unified whole of the divine." (Chic & Sandra Cicero, A Garden of Pomegranates, p. 418) This is the true path to non-dual awareness.
So the Hebrew letter of Zayen (or Zain) is the perfect symbol for this path: the Sword. The Sword both cuts down and defends. The Sword separates, and it is in this separateness that the two parts can become whole. "Once the separation of this path is overcome, the rewards are great, and the Lovers are received by the Great Mother into herself, a return to Eden in a way." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p.136) This is the division of us from the Divine, if you will, and the reunification of the two is the reward. "There must be a separation between the part of the Self that stays in Heaven and the part that descends into manifestation. This separation is part of the Vision of Sorrow of Binah [...] the Heavenly Twins [of the Tarot Trump] though similar, and united by relationship and love, are separate beings. Without separation there could be no demonstration of Love."
(Gareth Knight, A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Vol. II, p. 162)
The Sword, according to Crowley, is a symbol of analysis; the whole sword suit of the Tarot is the suit of the intellect. So it is this period of separation which brings a clarification to a person's true alignment to the Will of Spirit. "The subject of this card is Analysis, followed by Synthesis. The first question asked by science is: 'Of what are things composed?' This having been answered, the next question is: 'How shall we recombine them to our greater advantage?'" (Crowley, p. 82)
This reenacts the allegorical processes of which Binah interacts with Tiphareth, as we can see in how the sword is made: "A sword is made from matter taken from the earth and purified (smelted) by great heat, then shaped and tempered by repeated blows and alternate reheatings in fire and cooling in water. A pretty fair description of a human soul undergoing the refining needed for ultimate Divinity." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p.135 - 136)
Many meanings can be derived from the legends of King Arthur and Excalibur, especially within the Western Mystery Tradition. Most especially that the mystical sword came from and eventually returned to the Lady of the Lake (Binah). "The Sword may be considered to be the power of polarity--on all its levels. Excalibur is a case in point where this obviously applies, and its scabbard, which Merlin said was worth more than the sword itself and which was stolen by the sorceress Morgan Le Fay, represents the knowledge of the application of this power." (Knight, p. 163)
To end, the most crucial experience to take from this path is Binah's connection to the Holy Guardian Angel, which the Knowledge and Conversation Of is the most holy of the holiest endeavors. To explain this significance, I will conclude with a series of Gareth Knight's writings on the Holy Guardian Angel and its associations with Path 17, which is probably the most lucid in all esoteric literature:
"The Holy Guardian Angel is not the Individuality, but that aspect of the 'Group Thought-form' of God which impressed the Swarm of Divine Sparks at the beginning of Time. When the Swarm broke up to undergo individual experience in manifestation the 'Group Thought-form' broke up also, each fragment connected with a particular Divine Spark. [...] The Holy Guardian Angel may be considered to be that part of a human being which reveals his purpose in manifestation to him in accordance with the Divine Plan.
"The astrological sign, Gemini, the Twins, indicates the true relation that should exist between the Holy Guardian Angel and Individuality. They should be a reflection of one another.
"The shape of the [Hebrew] letter [Zain] suggests a sword and, in another way, the action of the Holy Guardian Angel. The Holy Guardian Angel is Knowledge and Purpose on its own high level and is indicated by the Yod at the top of the letter. The Holy Guardian Angel projects a 'rod' of Knowledge and Purpose downward into manifestation and this is represented by the vertical line of the letter. There is nothing attached to the lower end of this shaft for the inner opportunity presented has to be seized and acted upon." (Knight, p. 1159-162)
