The Journey of the Soul

Gentlepeople,

The Journey of the Soul is an interesting story for all of us. Mystics who travel the other planes generally describe it as a seven-step journey. Many of them use different words, and some use the same words but differently. As I synthesize their teachings, I’ve come up with the following seven steps — again, the words I use may be different or they may be used differently:

0. We start out as a new soul within the Mind of the Divine. At this point , we are a thought form and we are a Child of the Divine. Everything “here” is a potential inhabitant of the seven planes of existence. On the Tree of Life, this is called the Plane of Life, the Ain Soph Aur, the Plane of Livingness or the “negative matter” of the Universe. Everything here is potential matter and potential energy but it is alive within the Mind of the Divine. We are united with the Divine until we enter the first plane of incarnation. This is the realm of the angels, archangels and all the other things we can imagine. If it can exist, it exists here in the Mind of the Divine just as we do.

1. We make a conscious decision to enter the first plane, the World of Transition into Spirit. We are still the potential spirit we were on the first plane, but we are now also a potential incarnated being on the Portal of the World of Air. But we’re not really here. At least, we’re not completely here. This World of Awareness (Kether) is described as “being here but not here.” Quantum physics proves this ancient writing to be true. We vibrate between “being here and not being here.” When we’re “not here,” we’re still within the Mind of the Divine. In other words, we never leave our spiritual home, we merely vibrate between it and “here.” This is the Plane of Being and we are now a human being. Everything else is a “being” of their own kind here on the First Plane.

2. We make a conscious decision to descend further into the flesh and we enter the World of Air as a living spirit. We are now an independent “mind” living within the Mind of the Divine and we have self-determination. At this stage of our being, we remain God-realized. And when we rise into this plane after having “fallen” into the flesh, we again attain the state of God-realization. We exist now in the (0) Plane of Life, the (1) Plane of Being, and 2) the Plane of Spirit. We are in the World of Air. We are in the place of Duality between Intention (Chokmah) and Belief (Binah). We are on the Second Plane, the Plane of the Spirit.

3. We make a conscious decision to reflect upon our own ideas, to separate ourselves from the Mind of the Divine. We consciously decide to do this so we may learn more about ourselves. This process is called “Entering the Abyss,” and it’s a process where we enter the space between the World of Air and the World of Water. It is here in this place of transition between Water and Air that we will create our own soul if we decide to enter further into incarnation. Not all spirits make that decision. Not all spirits even decide to enter the Abyss. We now also exist in the Abyss, the Plane of Separation.

4. We make a conscious decision to allow our thoughts to churn our own emotions and we move into our soul in the Wold of Water. This is the soul our spirit created in the Abyss in a manner mimicking the way in which the Divine created us and together we and the Divine created our spirit on the First Plane of Existence and which we inhabited or “became” on the Second Plane of Existence. We are now a thinking and feeling soul in the World of Water (Chesed, Giburah and Tiphereth). We are now soul-realized and when we ascend the Tree of Life to this place we will once again be soul-realized. We are on the Fourth Plane, the Plane of the Soul.

5. We make a conscious decision to allow the thoughts and emotions of our soul to generate desires. Esoterically this is said to be the “immaculate birth” of the virgin mother, our soul (Mari), sparked by the seed of the father, our spirit (Jo Seph). We are now on the portal between the World of Water and the World of Fire. This portal is called Paroketh and it is the Veil of Illusion because all of our desires are illusions that we created in our own emotions with our own thoughts. We created these desires so we could learn more about ourselves – just as the Divine created us to learn more about Itself. It is here we create our own ego so we may learn. We are now on the Fifth Plane of Existence.

6. We make a conscious decision to enter into our Ego, our Desire Body. We cross the Portal, the Veil of Illusion and we forget our true being as a living Being, Spirit and Soul — our own personal trinity of the Creator Being, Father Spirit and Mother Soul. In the language of the ancients, our own Creator Being is God, Father Spirit is Jo Seph and Mother Soul is Mari. We now reside in the World of Fire and we are a Living Being, Spirit, Soul and Ego. In this place we are said to be self-realized. As we descend or ascend the Tree of Life to this place of Hod, Netzatch and Yesode, this World of Fire, we are again self-realized. We are on the Sixth Plane, the Plane of the Ego.

7. We make a conscious decision to enter the flesh, to become incarnate as a physical being in the World of Earth. As we do this we pass through the Veil of Ignorance and we completely forget who and what we truly are. We do not remember our Being, Spirit, Soul or Ego. We express all of them in our lives, but we don’t remember who and what we truly are. We are born in ignorance and we learn what we learn. But all this time five levels of our existence are trying to help us remember and learn. These five levels of our existence are our Ego, Soul, Spirit, Being and the Divine. Not knowing this, we create personae to protect and express ourselves in this physical reality. We are now on the Seventh Plane, the Plane of Ignorance and the Plane of Personae.

The Tarot is the Book of Life and it teaches us about the five worlds of Spirit, Air, Water, Fire and Earth. We express these five worlds through our Being, Spirit, Soul, Ego and Personae. The “we” that expresses these five worlds is the thought form and life that remains with the Divine as a Child of the Divine. Our Being, Spirit, Soul, Ego and Personae are all expressions of that unique Child of the Divine we know to be the person we truly are.

Namaste, (I bow to the Child of the Divine that is you.)
John

More About Spiritual Air

Spiritual Air is composed of three spheres and three paths. The three spheres of influence are Awareness (1), Intention (2) and Belief (3). The three spiritual paths are Self Realization (19), Soul Realization (20) and Divine Realization (21). These three spheres refers to the aces, twos and threes, and the three paths refer to Major Arcana Keys The Sun XIX, Judgment XX and the World XXI.

We can do nothing until we become Aware (1) it is possible and we can do it. Without Awareness we remain in ignorance of our potential and everything else. The aces are a reflection of our awareness of something within the Element of the ace.

We can do nothing until and unless we actually decide to do it. This decision to do something is our intention (2). Without an intention to do or become something, we will never do or become anything. We remain ignorant and helpless. Twos are an expression of our intentions regarding their Element.

We can do nothing until and unless we believe (3) it can be done and we can do it. Without belief in ourselves we are completely helpless to do anything. Without the belief that something can be done, we will never be able to do it. Threes are an expression of our beliefs regarding their Element.

To change the energy of three (belief) into two (intention) or two into three, we need to realize (19) we are a spiritual being with the free will to do and become anything we want to do and become. Self-realization helps us believe what we intend and create intentions based upon what we believe. Key XIX is the Sun and Self-realization.

To change the energy of three (belief) into one (awareness) or one into three, we need to realize (20) we are a spiritual being with the free will to do anything we want to do and become anything we want to become. Soul-realization helps us become aware (1) and it helps us learn to believe (3) as represented by Key XX Judgment.

To change the energy of two (intention) into one (awareness) or one into two, our soul needs to realize (21) we are a part of the Divine with the free will to do anything we want to do and become anything we want to become. Divine-realization helps us become aware (1) and it helps us decide to intend, to decide our intentions (2). This is represented by the World Key XXI.

Our Spheres of Awareness, Intentions and Beliefs together with the spiritual paths of Self, Soul and Divine Realization are our very own Spiritual World of Air. We are these things and we can become these things on a higher and higher level of spiritual awareness. That’s why we choose to travel the Path of the Fool through the Worlds of Water and Fire into the World of manifestation, the World of Earth.

We all traveled that path. We all made that decision. We’re here and that’s the proof that we did and we are. Now our decision is whether we want to remain in the World of Earth or travel the Path of Return to our Spiritual Home right here in the Spiritual World of Air. We have free will – the choice is ours and ours alone.

The Mystery of the Veils

You and I reside in this physical reality we know to be the World of Earth. Everything we see, hear, touch, smell or taste is “real” to us. Nothing appears to be invisible to our senses. This is the state of being in the World of Earth. The Worlds of Fire, Water and Air are invisible and unknown to us. We live below and under the “spell” of the Veil of Ignorance.

Our Ego resides in the World of Fire. It sees everything in the World of Earth as an illusion. Our Ego sees, hears, touches, tastes and smells everything in the World of Fire as being “real.” But the Worlds of Water and Air are invisible to it. We and our Ego both live below and under the spell of the Veil of Illusion. We live under the spell of two veils, the two Veils of Illusion and Ignorance.

Our Soul resides in the World of Water. It sees everything in the Worlds of Earth and Fire as an illusion. This includes our body, brain and Ego as well as everything else that resides in these two”lower” worlds. Our Soul sees, hears, touches, tastes and smells everything in the World of Water as “real” but the World of Air is invisible to our Soul. The World of Air is also invisible to our Ego and to us.

We, our Soul and Ego all live below the Veil of Reflection and we’re under a spell that makes us think the reflection is us and our world. We think we are this body, this mind and this Ego and this Soul. We are not. It is true that everything in the Worlds of Water, Fire and Earth is a reflection. But it is not true that the “real” us is a part of this reflection.

Our Spirit resides in the World of Air and it knows everything in the Worlds of Water, Fire and Earth is a reflection of itself and it sees this reflection as an illusion. Our Spirit is our True Self, the real “us.” Everything in the World of Air appears real to our Spirit.

When we become our Ego by raising up and uniting the personae we so very much cherish and nourish in this life, we too see the illusion and understand our previous ignorance. We become a “being of Fire” and reside on this Earth without being a part of the illusion. We work for the greater good while preserving everything and everybody. We maintain the illusion because we know it is a necessary part of the Divine Creation.

When we become our Soul by raising up our purified Ego, by giving up all of our wants, desires, passions, cravings, addictions and needs, we too see the the illusion of the World of Fire. We understand both the necessity and reality of the Veils of Illusion and Ignorance. We are a “Being of Loving Kindness” and we live in this physical world (Earth) or in the Astral World (Fire) as an adept.

When we become our Spirit by raising up our purified Soul, we become a “Being of Light” which is to say we become a wise one filled with all knowledge, a sage and a master. From our vantage point in the World of Air we see everything in the lower worlds as an illusion, as a reflection of our own mind. And we see everything in the World of Air as “real.” We live in the Astral (Fire) and Ethereal (Water) Worlds as ascended masters and master adepts. Rarely we come to Earth as an Avatar or “Great Teacher.”

We know we exist within the Mind of the Divine, and we know we’ve separated from the Divine to be a part of the Creation. But we also know we’ve always been and always will be a part of the Divine. And when this phase of the Creation is over we’ll still be a part of the Divine.

Next week we’ll show you how all of this fits into the Tarot. In the meantime, have a great week.

The Transition Between Water and Air

Between the World of Water, our emotional center, and the World of Air, our mental center, is the Great Abyss. This Great Abyss has many names but the one that describes its function best is the Veil of Reflection. For the World of Air is the World of Mind; and when the Mind reflects upon itself, it creates the World of Water, the World of Emotions.

The Veil of Reflection is five distinct paths that connect the World of Water with the World of Air. These Paths are the Paths of Self-deception (15), Awakening (16), Hope (17), Fantasy (18) and the Path of Free Will (22). These paths yield the following alternative names for the Veil of Reflection: the Veil of Lies (15), Veil of Deep Sleep (16), Veil of Hopelessness (17), Veil of Delusion (18) and the Veil of Manifestation (22).

We deceive ourselves (15) when we change the energy of six into three and we discover truth (15) when we convert threes into the energy of sixes. This is the Path of the Devil (15)

We awaken to reality (16) when we convert the energy of fives into threes and we fall asleep (16) when we convert the energy of threes into fives. This is the Path of the Tower (16).

We find new hope (17) when we change the energy of six into two and we discover hopelessness when we do the opposite. This is the Path of the Star (17).

We live in fantasy and delude ourselves (18) when we convert the energy of fours into two; and we awaken to reality when we convert the energy of twos into four. This is the Path of the Moon (18)

The Path of Free Will (22) gives us the right to change the energy of ones into six and sixes into one. This is the Path of Decision where we all decide to incarnate into the flesh or not. Once we make that decision we fall from the World of Air through the Tree of Life into the World of Earth and we are born as a helpless, ignorant human being.

This is the Path of the Fool (22 = 0) . This is the Path we all travel in this physical reality. When we travel down this Path of Decision, this Path of Free Will, we manifest in the flesh. When we travel back up this Path of Decision, this Path of Free Will, we return to the World of Air, the World of Reality, the World Between Manifestation and Beyond Manifestation.

The Abyss is the Veil of Reflection below which everything is manifest and above which everything is in a state of readiness to manifest. Our spiritual home is above the Abyss. School is below the Abyss.

When we have the energy of four, five or six and we want to convert it into the energy of one, two or three, we use the lessons of the Devil, Tower, Star, Moon and Fool. We use the same cards to convert the energy the other way. These are the paths we use to convert one kind of energy into another. These are the paths we use (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22) to change mental energy (1, 2, 3) into emotional energy (4, 5 , 6). These are the same paths we use to convert emotional energy into mental energy.

More About Spiritual Water

The fours, fives and sixes of the Tarot deck are representatives of the spheres of Compassion (4), Chaos (5) and Harmony (6) on the Tree of Life and according to the Kaballah. The basic energy of the fours is loving kindness and compassion, of the fives is chaos and emotional uproar, and of the sixes is balance and harmony.

The three paths that connect these three spheres are the paths of Justice (11), Transformation (13) and Verification (14) . These three spheres (4,5,6) and three paths (11,13,14) are the World of Water. They are the home of our emotions, all of our emotions, and we form our relationships based on our emotions.

To change the energy of sixes to fives, or to change the energy of fives to six all we need to realize is that everything in our life is exactly the way it’s supposed to be, everything is absolutely fair and just in our life. It is what it is, and it will remain that way until we change it. We use the energy of Key 11.

To change the energy of sixes to fours, and fours to sixes, all we need to do is transform ourselves, to change our behavior. We act the way we do because that’s the way we want to act, If the way we act is not serving us, we can change our behavior, we can transform ourselves and become whatever we want to become. We use the energy of Key 13.

To change the chaotic energy of fives to fours, we merely need to verify that the changes we are making in our life are the changes we really want to make. To change the energy of fours that does not serve us because it’s too meek and sweet into the chaotic and empowering energy of fives, we merely need to verify that the changes we’re making in our life serve us better. They are the changes we want to make. We use the energy of Key 14.

We are not our emotions. We are not the World of Water, but we can choose to let our emotions run our life or we can choose to take control of them. The process is to realize that what goes round comes round (10), realize that our life is exactly what we created it to be (11), change our thinking (12), change our behavior (13) and verify these changes are what we want because they serve us better. We verify these changes move us along our own chosen spiritual path and benefit all the people in our life.

The World of Water is the World of Our Emotions. We feel the whole range of anger, anxiety and sorrow and all the mixtures of these emotions resulting in resentments, guilt and shame. It is these things we bring to our relationships as well as our inner strength, compassion, loving kindness and happiness.

We are complex human beings and the World of Water is part of the chaos that makes us uniquely us.

The Transition Between Fire and Water

Between the World of Fire and the World of Water is the Veil of Illusion. Everything on this side of that veil is an illusion. All of our personal Fire is an illusion. All of our personal Earth are illusions. Being illusions, they are not real. But we are. We’re spiritual beings and we lack nothing. We really have no needs. We just think we do.

Five more spiritual skills are required to pierce the Veil of Illusion and find ourselves in the true reality. These spiritual skills are 7) inspiration, 8) endurance, 9) illumination, 10) return and 12) reversal. These spiritual skills are needed in addition to the six we’ve already discussed:

1) pay attention = Magician
2) remember = High Priestess
3) imagine = Empress
4) reason it out = Emperor
5) intuition = Hierophant
6) discriminate = Lovers

The Chariot teaches us to receive inspiration (7) from the Divine. Strength (8) reminds us that we have the strength and endurance to accomplish anything we want to do. The Hermit (9) illuminates the way for us so we can see where we’re going and we light the path for others to follow. Return (10) is the wheel that goes round and round bringing us what we have given away. The Hanged Man (12) admonishes us to change our thinking.

To pierce the Veil of Illusion and see the true reality of life we need to (12) change our thinking about life, about who and what we truly are. To see the true reality of anything we need to change our thinking. To change the energy of seven into four we must change our thinking.

To pierce the Veil of Illusion we need to understand that what goes round comes round (10). What we do to others is what happens to us. To receive love, we must first give away our love. To receive anything, we must give it away. When we give it away we’re open to receiving more of it in return. To change the energy of eight to five we must apply the Law of Giving and Receiving to our thinking and to our life.

To pierce the Veil of Illusion we must follow the light (9) and become a good example for others. Some people will always look up to us and follow our example no matter what we do. We will always look up to some people and follow them. But we always have the choice to choose whom we follow. To change the power of sevens to six, we must follow the path of light that best serves our spiritual needs.

To pierce the Veil of Illusion we must endure more than we ever thought we could endure (8), we must find the inner strength to continue. The Divine never asks us to endure more than we can. Our Highest Self never exposes us to more than we can overcome with our own inner strength. To change the power of eights to six, all we need to do is endure. We have the inner strength to overcome all our problems. To change the power of eights to six we need to follow the path of inner strength and endure.

To pierce the Veil of Illusion, we need to learn how to receive inspiration (7) from above, how to become receptive to the Divine influence that can assist us on our spiritual journey. We all have a direct connection to the Divine and we can use it whenever we want. To change the power of nines to six, we become receptive to Divine influence in our life.

For these reasons the Veil of Illusion is also called the Veil of (7) Discouragement, (8) Weakness, (9) Darkness, (10) Greed and (12) Obstinacy. This reminds us that these things are all illusions that we have the ability to overcome.

The Tarot is a great book. It is the Book of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Use it wisely and it bears wonderful fruit.

More About Spiritual Fire

Gentlepeople,

Three paths connect the three spheres within the World of Fire. These three paths are spiritual skills we use to balance our passions, desires, wants and needs, our World of Fire. These skills are imagination, intuition and discrimination.

The Empress imagines a wonderful place and she lives there. She is pregnant with imagination and she is a symbol for imagining. She connects the 9s and the 8s. She is the energy needed to change the energy of a 9 into the energy of an 8.

The Hierophant intuits meaning from his higher self and uses that intuitive insight to guide his personal Fire, and to survive in this physical life. He connects the 9s and 7s. He is the energy needed to change the energy of 9 to the energy of 7. He is a symbol for intuition and intuitive insights.

The Lovers discriminate between imagination and intuition, right and wrong, good and evil, beneficial and detrimental. They connect the 7s and 8s and provide the energy required to change the energy of an 8 to the energy of a 7. They are a symbol for the act of discriminating and they represent the human conscience.

These energies are as much a part of the World of Fire as the 7s, 8s, and 9s in the Tarot deck and the suit of Wands. They are also spiritual energies that we can use to subdue or enhance our own Fire energy. We can use our imagination, intuition and conscience to subdue or expand our needs, wants, desires, passions, cravings, addictions, drives, energy and striving.

When a seven, eight or nine in our reading doesn’t make a lot of sense, perhaps the card connecting our problem card to the other two Fire cards will shed some light on our problem. It never fails to amaze me when the Empress, Hierophant or Lovers give me the answers I need even though they’re only implied by the reading.

Peace,
John

More About Earth Fire

Gentlepeople,

According to the Kaballah there is a veil between the World of Earth and the World of Fire. This Veil is called the Veil of Ignorance.  It’s also called the Veil of Forgetfulness, the Veil of Inattention, and the Veil of Illogical Thinking.  When we come down from our spiritual home into manifestation, we cross this veil and we forget our true spiritual nature, we become ignorant of our true beingness, we don’t pay attention to the reality of life and we do illogical things.

To return to the World of Fire from the physical reality, we need to travel back through this Veil of Forgetfulness. That voyage requires us to pay attention to our awareness, remember as much as we can about our spiritual home and reason it all out for ourselves. If we do this we will awaken to our true reality and we will enter the World of Fire, the Astral Plane which is the matrix upon which the physical is built. These three spiritual tasks are represented in the Tarot by the Magician, High Priestess and Emperor.

The Magician, brings Divine energy from above and sends it to the physical world represented by the implements on the table. The Magician pays attention to the Divine energy and the work of this energy in sustaining the physical reality by paying attention gains insights into life. He is a symbol of the spiritual task of paying attention to everything within and around us.

The High Priestess holds the Akashic records of our life, a complete record of everything we are or ever have been. She is a symbol of our spiritual task of remembering. Her message is to remember the past.

The Emperor sits and thinks. He thinks about everything in his awareness and everything he remembers. The Emperor relies on the information he gains from the Magician and the High Priestess.

Those with a deeper interest in this subject will learn a great deal about the Tarot by knowing the Magician connects the 10s and 9s, the High Priestess connects the 10s and 8s, and the Emperor connects the 10s and 7s. These cards are the bridge between these two numbers. To change the energy of a 10 card to a 7 card requires the act of reasoning it all out. To change the energy of a 10 card to an 8 requires the act of remembering the past. To change the energy of a 10 to a 9 requires that we pay attention.

The energy of a 10 can change to the energy of any other card, but that will require two or more steps as we shall see. In the meantime, pay attention to all you have learned, remember everything and reason it all out for yourself. The tarot will give you all the answers you ever need, but the final decision in all things is entirely up to you.
Peace,
John

More About the Element of Air

Gentlepeople,

To review: We know our body and personae are of the World of Earth. We know the World of Earth is the Child of the World of Fire and our personae are the children of our Ego. We know our World of Fire is the Child of our World of Water and our soul is the parent of our ego. To this we now add the World of Air is the parent of the World of Water and our True Self, our spirit, is the parent of our soul. Most of the mystics talk about the Worlds of these four Elements like this:

Earth = Physical Body + Personae
Fire = Astral Body + Ego
Water = Ethereal Body + Soul
Air = Mental Body + Spirit

The World of Air is the world of our thoughts and ideas, intentions, beliefs, imagination, memory and attitudes. The fact the World of Air is the parent of the World of Water means our thoughts are the parent of our emotions. What we think causes us to feel. The more we think, the more we feel.

Take a simple thing like somebody saying something we don’t like. If we think about it, we start to feel upset about it. The more we think about it, the more upset we become and we start to feel frustrated or irritated about the words that were spoken. The more we think about it the angrier we become. Our feelings are the children of our thoughts.

Is it possible that by changing our thinking we can change our feelings? Is is possible that by changing our feelings we can change our wants, needs and desires? Is it possible that by changing our World of Air we change our World of Water and our World of Fire? Yes, it appears all of these things are possible.

The Modern Essenes teach that if we want to heal our body of any physical condition (World of Earth) all we need to do is resolve our emotional issues (World of Water). If we want to resolve our emotional issues, all we have to do is change our thinking (World of Air). They believe that to change our thinking we need to pay more attention to our intuitive insights and reconnect to the Divine. In their paradigm, all healing comes from the Divine. http://ModernEssenes.com

Their healing techniques are probably the most powerful energy healing techniques available to us. This is probably because they address issues in all four worlds of Air, Water, Fire and Earth as well as our Spiritual World. We are, after all, a whole person operating in all of the Elements all the time.

Our mind is our Ego, our Lower Self in the World of Fire as expressed through our Personae in the World of Earth. Our intuition is our Higher Self, our Soul in the World of Water. Our Soul speaks to our Ego, to us, intuitively. Our intuitive insights are messages from our Higher Self.

Our Spirit is our True Self in the World of Air and it usually speaks to our Soul. Occassionally, our Spirit speaks directly with our Ego and we call this Divine Inspiration because our Spirit is in direct contact with the Divine all the time.

Here’s another way of looking at it. As humans (Personae) we travel in the World of Earth as fast as our feet and animals or vehicles of transportation can carry us. In our astral body (Ego) we travel in the Worlds of Fire and Earth at any speed up to the speed of light. In our ethereal body (Soul) we travel at any speed up to the speed of thought in the Worlds of Water, Fire and Earth. But in our mental body (Spirit) we think and we are there in the Worlds of Earth, Fire, Water and Air, and we have no need to travel. Think and we’re already there.

To learn more about astral, ethereal and spirit travel see the lessons at http://UniversalGnostic.com/astral/index.html.

In the World of Air we learn that Tarot is part of everything. Hidden in the cards are the lessons of the Elements, Kaballah, Spiritual Alchemy, Golden Dawn, Masonry, healing and life. In the next few weeks we’ll learn more about these things as we study the interactions of the Four Worlds and the Four Elements.

In the meantime, have a great week.

Peace,
John

More About the Element of Water

Gentlepeople,

If our personae are of the Earth and our Ego is of the World of Fire, then our ego must be the parent of our personae because the World of Fire is the parent of the World of Earth. My question is: If I change the parent, do I change the child?

If I change my needs, wants, desires, passions, cravings, addictions, energy, drive and striving, do I change what’s happening to me in the physical reality? Everything I know about the Tree of Life tells me YES! Everything I intuitively feel tells me YES! Everything I hear about “The Secret” and read in my metaphysical and esoteric books also says YES! Everything I know about healing tells me YES!

It must be so. Change my inner self and I change my world. Change my ego and I change my personae. Change my ego and I change my world. Change my World of Fire and I change my World of Earth. Change my ego and I change me.

The other question I have is that if my ego is the parent of my personae, who is the parent of my ego?

According to the Kaballah, the parent of the World of Fire is the World of Water. Fire is born in Water. Passions, desires and all the other attributes of Fire are born in our emotions. The World of Water is our emotions. The World of Water is also the home of our soul. Therefore our soul is the parent of our ego. Most of the mystics and spiritual masters of all ages  that I read  agree with that statement.

We already know that the World of Water is the complete gamut of all the emotions we can ever experience and all of the relationships we can ever enjoy. Out of all these emotions and all of these relationships are born all of our wants, needs, desires, passions, cravings, additions, energy, drive and striving. Out of our Water is born our Fire; and out of our Fire is born our Earth.

If the Earth cards speak about my personae and the Fire cards speak about my ego, then it’s logical to assume the Water cards speak to and about my soul. If I can change my life in the World of Earth by changing my World of Fire, I must be able to change my World of Fire by changing my World of Water.

Change my emotions and my relationships with other people and I change my needs, wants, desires, passions and more. Change my Water and I change my Fire. Change my soul and I change my ego. Change my ego and I change my personae. The essence is that I need to pay attention to my emotions, identify the ones that serve me and those that don’t. Then go to work on the emotions that don’t serve me well.

Sounds easy. I wonder if Tarot can help me do that.

There’s no doubt in my mind that it will. I just have to admit I need to work on my anger, fear, resentfulness, sadness, greed, lust, blame, blaming, shame, guilt, non-acceptance, non-forgiveness, non-compassion and a few other emotions that don’t nurture me or others.

Sounds like work. It is. But there are a couple of tools that can help you resolve these kinds of emotional issues. The first is an easier path but I recommend them both:

http://PathoftheHealingDragon.com

http://AlchemicalOrder.com

Peace,
John

More About the Element of Fire

Gentlepeople,

My persona at any given time is always in the Earth Element and never moves into any other Element. It lives and dies in the Earth Element. One way of looking at this is to say all of the Earth Element cards in the Tarot speak about things relating to my particular persona being considered.
My ego is who I am in this physical body. My ego is the sum total of everything I am inside myself. My ego is not my body but it resides inside me someplace. Everything I am or pretend to be is an expression of my ego. My ego appears to be in complete command of my personas. In fact, my ego appears to be the “real” me that wears these false masks called personas.

My ego does not reside in the World of Earth but it does control my personas that do. The World of Fire, the World of Passions and Desire is the World of My Ego. In this world I automatically express all of my lower nature, because my ego is my lower nature. The Great Secret of Esoteric Masons, the Magical Golden Dawn and Spiritual Alchemy is that I have the free will to decide to rise above my ego.

And, I have the free will to do exactly what I decide to do. I can decide to become addicted to the things of this physical world and place all of my efforts in collecting as much of what I want as I can. Or I can decide to improve myself and become a more accepting, more forgiving, more loving and more spiritual person.

All it takes is a little belief in myself and the Divine, a little emotional power to make it happen and a desire to do it. If I lack any of these, I don’t fail, I’m just not ready. If I keep working, I will succeed. If I stop working, I will stop growing and stay where I am. That’s called procrastination and that’s O.K. After all, I have an eternity to change my ways. Besides, I wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t have the desire to be born here in this reality for some reason.

The problem is, once people get a glimpse of the other side of the Veil of Ignorance, they don’t want to spend any more time in this World of Pain and Suffering than they absolutely need to spend here. So, they go to work. Here are a few of the techniques they use:

Alchemy – see http://AlchemicalOrder.com
Essene Healing Breath – see http://ModernEssenes.com
Intentional Prayer – see http://IntentionalPrayer.com
Kriya Power Medication – see http://GnosticYoga.com
Magic and Ritual – See http://MagicalGoldenDawn.com
Masonry – see http://EsotericMasons.com

If my ego resides in the World of Fire, then it’s possible all of the Tarot cards assigned to the World of Fire speak about my ego, the issues of my ego, the weaknesses and faults of my ego and the things my ego needs to do to become more accepting, more forgiving, more loving and more spiritual.

Just maybe, tarot is a tool for helping me do just that. What do you think?

Peace,
John

More About the Element of Earth

Gentlepeople,

People are very complex. Each of us wears many masks. One mask is for our parents. Another for our children and others for our friends, acquaintances, our boss, fellow employees or fellow students, teachers, salespeople and people we want to impress like lovers.

Each of these masks we wear are called a persona. A persona is defined by some as being a figment of our imagination that we invent to act like something we are not or to pretend to be something we don’t think we are. However you define it, a persona is not the true “us.” It’s the real “us” acting like something or somebody else.

Personas are not the real “us.” Personas are the masks the real “us” wears to cope with the world and everything in the world, to get what we need or what we think we need, to protect ourselves from pain and suffering.

To me, personas express the Element of Earth precisely. We are not our body. We are not our possessions. We are not our job, our finances or our health. We use all of these to express who and what we are, who and what we desire, who and what we feel and who and what we think; but we are not any of them.

Therefore, in my opinion, my personas are an expression of the Element of Earth in my personal being. Your personas are an expression of the Element of Earth in your being.

Peace,
John
TarotInstitute.com

The Element of Earth

Gentlepeople,

There are some ancient stories about women birthing children fathered by their own male child. In the animal kingdom this happens frequently. However it happened, the World of Fire matured and impregnated the World of Water to birth the World of Earth. Fire and Water are the parents of Earth and Air is the grandfather. Therefore we should be able to see a family resemblance in Earth.

We do. Part of the Element of Earth is all about money, health and possessions, that have no meaning for Air, Water or Fire. But, Earth has three spheres of expression that are more familiar to them. One sphere of expression is the feelings Earth has about it’s material things and money. Another is the thoughts Earth has about it’s things and money. And, the third is all about the needs, wants, desires and passion Earth has concerning its money, things and health.

We could say the Element of Earth is very complex and appears to be divided into four segments: 1) Earth that has nothing to do with Air, Water or Fire, 2) Earth that has everything to do with Air, 3) Earth that is all about Water, and 4) Earth that is all about Fire. In other words, the four expressions of the Element of Earth are 1) material things, possessions, our body, health and finances, 2) our thoughts about those things, 3) our feelings about those things, and 4) our passions for them.

In the teachings of the Golden Dawn and the Kaballah, the bottom-most sphere on the Tree of Life is divided into four parts. Each part represents one of these four expressions of the World of Earth. That is the four parts are pure Earth, Air of Earth, Water of Earth and Fire of Earth. Spiritual Alchemy teaches the same thing in a different way.

Most authors attribute the suit of coins or pentacles to the Element of Earth. But we already know we can make any assignment we want. And no matter what assignment we do make, that system will always work for us.

We also know we can define the suit of Earth to match our own reading style. I usually use upright Earth for financial affairs and inverted Earth for health. But what I do is for me and it may not work for you at all. Conversely, what works for you may very well not work for me at all. We each get to decide for ourselves what works for us. And nobody has the right to tell us that what we decide is wrong. It may be wrong for them; but if it works for me, then it’s right for me. If it works for you, then it’s right for you.

Your helpful thoughts and ideas are solicited.

Peace,
John
TarotInstitute.com

The Element of Fire

Gentlepeople,

According to ancient tradition, the Element of Air (male)impregnated the Element of Water (female) and brought forth a child of their passion known as the Element of Fire. Another way of saying this is the the World of Mind was passionately seduced by the World of Water and the result of their passion is the World of Fire. Yet another way is that Eve seduced Adam and the result was a passionate son Cain who murdered his brother Able.

The Element of Fire is assigned to the World of our Belly. Thoughts are a product of the World of Mind assigned to our head. Emotions are a product of the World of Emotions assigned to our heart. Passions are a product of the World of Fire assigned to our belly.

According to the ancient teachings of the Kaballah, passions are a result of continually thinking about something that creates strong emotions within us, emotions that become a passion. First we have a thought and then we have feelings about that thought. This gives rise to other thoughts and emotions about the same thing. It’s this churning of thoughts and emotions that create passions. It’s the constant interation of the World of Air with the World of Water than manifests the World of Fire.

The World of Fire is expressed through three spheres of influence. The first sphere of expression is created when thoughts and emotions combine and churn violently thus creating passions, needs, wants, cravings, desires and addictions.

The second sphere of expression in the World of Fire is created when thoughts impact emotions and those emotions grow in power to become fears, anger, grief, sorrow, guilt, shame and blame.

The third sphere of expression in the World of Fire is created when our thoughts continue to impact our emotions and those thought-charged emotions grow in power to become our way of judging, comparing, blaming and building expections and prejudices.

Most tarot decks and authors assign the suit of wands to the World of Fire. But we can assign any suit of our choice to the World of Fire, the World of our Passions. Tarot will always work no matter how we define the suits or what we decide the cards will mean.

It works like this: We decide what suits we want to assign to what Elements, Worlds or whatever. We consciously decide what meaning we want to assign to each card. Our subconscious mind knows everything our conscious mind is doing. When we get ready to do a reading, our subconscious mind will select exactly the right cards to tell youexactly what you need to know.

So, decide what suit you want to assign to the World of Fire and define what the upright and inverted cards will mean for that suit. That’s what the suit will mean for you. (Your subconscious mind knows that.)

Peace,
John
TarotInstitute.com

The Element of Water

Gentlepeople,

According to ancient tradition, the Element of Air gave birth to the Element of Water. This birth itself is something we will discuss in a few weeks. The World of Air begot the World of Water. The World of Mind birthed the World of Emotions.

The Element of Water is assigned to the World of the Heart, also known as the World of Emotions. According to this ancient teaching as expressed in the Kaballah, the World of Water is the result of our thinking. First we have a thought and then we have a feeling about that thought. The thoughts is called our “mind.” The feeling that arises out of our tought is called our “heart.”

The World of Water is where we do all our feeling. It’s where we feel the result of our thinking. This is where we feel compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, love, power, anger, fear, sorrow, harmony, peace, inner strength, happiness and joy. This is where we feel the combinations of these emotions such as resentments, guilt, blame, shame and mercy.

Our feelings can be grouped in three spheres or centers of influence.

Our sphere of compassion expresses our feelings of mercy, compassion, kindness, remorse, kind-heartedness, benevolence, tenderness, gentleness, graciousness, acceptance, forgiveness, love and all the negative variations of these emotions.

Our sphere of power expresses our feelings of anger, rage, wrath, fury, irritation, igdignation, annoyance, resentment, vexation, exasperation, fear, anxiety, apprehension, worry, concern, forboding, misgiving, dread, sorrow, sadness, grief, distress, woe, misery, anguish, melancholy, depression, heartbreak and all the positive variations of these emotions.

Our sphere of harmony is where we emotionally balance our blame, shame, guilt, conflicts, discords, dissentions, dissonance, arguements and disagreements. It is here we find ways to emotionally reach agreement, accord, conformity, empathy, sympathy, conguity. It is here we feel the equality, fairness, equity, equilibribrium and symmetry of life, humanity and the whole of creation.

We feel all of these things and more in our heart, in our own personal World of Water. We empathize with others and feel all of their emotions and we tune into life and feel all of the feelings of life imaginable. More than this, we tune into the Divine and feel more than we ever thought possible.

Most tarot decks and authors assign the suit of cups to the World of Water. But we can assign any suit of our choice to the World of Water, the World of our Emotions. We need not be tied to “tradition,” nor to believe everything we read or hear about.

Decide what suit you want to use for the World of Water, the World of Emotions. Then choose one key word for both the upright and inverted positions of the cards in this suit. You can start by using one key word for upright and another for inverted cards from any of the words already given above or any others you add to this list.

Remember our admonitions from the World of Air: You can assign any words you want to any suit for any reason and call it anything you want to call it. You are creating your own tarot system and there’s no reason you can’t be creative or borrow what you want or change anything you want to create, borrow or change.

Just for the record, in the present system I’m using, I assign thoughts and ideas to upright swords and attitudes to inverted swords. For Water, I assign “compassion” to the upright cards and “power” to the inverted. Here I use all of the words assigned to these two centers of influence according to my inner knowledge or intuitive insights.

Your helpful thoughts and ideas are solicited.

Peace,
John
TarotInstitute.com