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.
This Path is our first connection to Chokmah, the prime masculine godhead of the universe. The title of Chokmah is Wisdom; the title of Chesed is Mercy. However, another title in the esoteric literature granted to Chesed is Glory. Chic and Sandra Cicero refer to the Talmudic scriptures, which dubs this Path as "the pleasure of the Glory" because it is "the harmonious influence of the divine energy as it is passed between these two similar spheres on the Pillar of Mercy." (A Garden of Pomegranates, p.442)
This harmonious influence can first be realized through the Hebrew letter Vav or Vau, which is the nail. This is the tool which fastens or joins, the conjunction between the Wisdom of Chokmah and the Glory of Chesed, the Divine Will's influence over the Individuality. When looking at this Path's parallel counterpart on the Tree of Life (Path 18 - Binah to Geburah) the Hebrew letter is Cheth, the fence. Seeing these in relation to each other we can surmise that this Path of the nail "drives home the lesson that it must be the Divine Will that comes before all else. That Will is implanted within the fence, like a seed within the womb." (Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, The Shining Paths, p.141) This is a common sentiment shared within this Path: the seed of the womb. The dove (a representation of Venus) is another symbol with equal weight, which is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit filling the womb of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Consciousness. We must be like Mary, and open ourselves to being impregnated with the seed from Chokmah. Or rather, in the case of Vav, get nailed! :)
Another aspect of Vav to consider is its place in the name of God, the Tetragrammaton, JHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh). Explained by Gareth Knight, Vav is "active manifestation in Form, the result of the union of opposites of Yod and Heh [...] From an esoteric Christian standpoint the Nail is a significant symbol, being (in triplicity) that which nails the Spirit to the Cross of Matter." (A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Vol.II, p. 179)
The astrological attribution, Taurus, has perhaps more written about it for Path 16 than any other path we have come across. There is too much to get into here, but further study is recommended. In short, Taurus represents the Bull Kerub of the Four Holy Living Creatures, which is "Earth in its strongest most balanced form," according to Crowley. (The Book of Thoth, p. 79) The figure in his Thoth Trump is enraptured by the Bull Kerub, as well as sentried by elephants, another representation of the Taurus nature. Further, in terms of the body/chakra system, Taurus operates via the throat. "This makes it part of the human speech apparatus on the physical level and part of the sequence of the Creative Word on the higher levels." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p.142)
The Tarot Trump is the Hierophant, who is the emissary of the Primal Source, also called the Magus of the Eternal. A Magus is one who has the ability mediate power from one level of being to another. "The Eternal is in Kether and the Unmanifest and is brought into manifestation through Chokmah [...], and thence to the Individuality for transmission to Earth by the everyday life of the Personality." (Knight, p. 180) Hence the Hierophant is also the priest officiating the alchymical wedding between the two halves of the Self: the higher self (Individuality) and the lower self (Personality). The two kneeling figures before him (it is moot whether they are both male, female, or male and female) are receiving the teaching from the priest, "in much the same way that a priest at a wedding takes the bride and groom to the high altar to speak privately to them at some point in the ceremony. It is knowledge being passed secretly from a higher to a lower level, as such it needs a lot of thought and meditation." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p.142)
With this, the final word comes from Chic and Sandra Cicero, with the knowledge that we are the two kneeling before the priest in this secret counsel: "On this path we must learn to still the inner 'chatter' of our minds and strain to distinguish that one true inner voice of wisdom. This means that we are to sharpen our faculty of listening whenever we engage in meditation and ritual work." (p.443)
