The Mystic Path - Path 31
7:55 AM
As stated earlier in the year, my beloved and I are embarking upon a 15 month long Pathworking on The Qabalah Tree of Life. You can read what that's all about here. In the meantime, I will be 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 done Path 32, now for Path 31 .....
Path 32 was interesting and an excellent start to the Pathworking for any proper Initiation into the Mysteries. Path 31 still begins the journey from Malkuth, another reminder that all true esoteric work takes place here on Earth, not elsewhere. But now this Path leads to Hod, the more intellectual, numbers-based Sephirah of the Tree.
With Hod's planetary body being of Mercury, the primary element for this Path then is Fire. But, it is not wild fire for the purging of things, it is a controlled fire, a flame of the Perpetual Intelligence. To understand Path 31 is to understand the origins of man. The discovery of fire led to man's evolutionary leap from being at the mercy of the elements, to controlling one's environment. "It is a fact that fire stimulates thought, and thought is the basis of form. Without thought nothing can be brought to the physical level." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p. 29) The Greek Goddess Hestia (whose name means 'hearth') is perfect symbol for this, as she presided over the fires of domestication which sat in every home in the family unit as well as the community: ""She is therefore at the very hub of civilization [which makes this] the Path of the Hearth Fire, that is the building of a home and raising a family according to spiritual principle." (Knight, p.31-32)
Another myth associated with this Path is that of Prometheus (whose name means Foresight), who defied the Gods to bring the secret of fire to man. Again, fire denotes the higher, spiritual Will of consciousness, the awakening of true identity and individuality. Fire not only protected man from the elements, but is the element of the Blacksmith, leading to the development and forging of tools and weapons. This suggests the honing of our spiritual Will applied in real life: the Path leads from Malkuth to Hod, but also leads from Hod to Malkuth. How can we best apply our spiritual principles in this world?
" . . . this path is one of learning passed from a higher level. Fire was man's liberator from the inertia that grips when one is hungry and cold. Inertia is also the vice of Malkuth our starting point." (Aschroft-Nowicki, p.30)
The Hebrew Letter for this Path is Shin, which means Tooth, itself very much resembling the flames of a flickering fire. The tooth is a symbol for creativity, cutting and grinding one's way through life. As Gareth Knight says, "...the Hebrew Letter indicates that the Path is concerned with individuation--spiritual evolution through the discipline of experience and the development of powers of creation." (p.33) In the Flaming Sword sequence of creation from Kether to Malkuth, Hod comoes after the highly imaginative waters of Netzach, therefore Hod is about communicating those ideas into Form.
The Tarot Trump is Judgement, or as we know what "judgement" means in this work, discernment and/or adjustment. This again implies one's ability to refine your works, your communication, your actions to conform to the Spiritual Will of one's Higher Self.
" . . .the Way of Evolution is a process of harmonisation [sic] of the contending forces arising from the most primitive levels. The middle way between two opposites is suggested by the shape of the letter Shin. This Middle Way is shown also on the Tarot Trump, for the true design seems to have been a child rising from a tomb and the man and woman [on] each side rising from the ground, not as persons, but as principles of positive and negative in Nature. The child is the growing point in the evolving man." (Knight p.33-34)
SOURCES:
The Shining Paths: An Experiential Journey through the Tree of Life by Dolores Aschroft - Nowicki
A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Volume II by Gareth Knight
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