The Tarot of Eli, LLC-Major Arcana: Dreams of Gaia Tarot-Key 12- Love and Key 13-Union & Thoth Tarot- ATU 6-The Lovers

#tarotqabalahthothelitarotstrickingly.com

By now you may have realized that the Dreams of Gaia Tarot is not read the same way as Traditional Tarot or Thoth Tarot. Ravynne Phelan, the author and artist, has created her own Dream Patterns for divination. However, it is such a useful tarot, with great insights and wisdom, that it will be compared to Thoth Tarot by me, no matter how feeble my attempt. It can also be used in traditional tarot layouts and it still works well in these. However, I would stick to her layouts for the maximum benefit of these cards. So get the Tarot deck which comes with its own instructive book.

The Dreams of Gaia-Key 12 Love, is comparable to the Thoth Lovers Card-ATU 6. Love, is considered by the author of the Dreams of Gaia deck, to be the 4th reason for being made manifest. As a personal- being, it is to be experienced from the dependent and need-based love, to the greatest Unconditional Universal Love. From Eros-love of flesh, to Philo-love of family, and Agapé-Spiritual love or love of Spirit. Love is a long journey of Self-Knowledge. From love of self, and love of others, and on to the Great Love that is Self. Love has many forms in the Human, as well as Nature, for there is sexual love, platonic love, playful and affectionate love, selfless love, crazy love, hormonally induced love and much more expressions of this unique state of union. Not only are we multifaceted, so is love and it is neither intrinsically good or bad. Love is the Cosmic Force of Spirit, that will shape our self-knowledge or tear it down. All of which depends on how we choose to experience it. Contrary to the belief of some, we do have a choice in what we experience love as, for we have a choice in how we perceive love. Either self-absorbed possessive or Universal Freedom Expressive.

As Carl Jung has stated, in each of our Unconscious minds, is the "perfect other", the perfect concept of female and the perfect concept of Male. Many of us, often to our dismay, spend our entire lives looking for that perfection in the outer self-conscious world, hoping to find our "Twin Flame" who is the Anima -Feminine Spirit and the Animus-Masculine Soul, the first Lovers whose union is the mechanism for manifestation. This love is beyond the life and death of physical being. Even in our brains, are the copies of the Original She and He, right and left hemispheres. These are the physical suites of the Original 2 of the One. When the right and left, work as one whole self-consciousness, one who is 2, who cooperate as One. Hence, Muse (Anima) and Creator (Male) work as one. Here Intuition, the feminine, works at one with the rational, the male measurer, the architect "within". Then the Creatrix and Creator are united in one's own brain, and the body becomes the "honeymoon suite" of the Divine Creative and Love, that "adorable fire", is the light that guides the body's new journey.

Each human being has a right and left hemisphere in the brain, which we classify as male and female, the right being female, left being male. The left or male side is in charge of the right side of the body and the right brain or female side is in charge of the left side of the body.

www.selfgrowth.com/articles/two_energies_one_body.html

When the Dreams of Gaia-Key 12-Love is thrown in a divination, it implies:

• Love.
• Infatuation.
• Love for self. 
• Confidence.
• Love for life. 
• Expansion. 
• A past love enters your life.
•  

And it is time to:

• Honor your body as a temple.
• Stop making comparisons, all lover's are a unique expression of love.
• Make time to love and nurture yourself.
• Do what makes your heart sing. 
• Love and enjoy your uniqueness.
• Open your heart to new loves. 

The Dreams of Gaia, Key 13- Union, embraces the union of the Anima, and Animus, in all of us. The Union card symbolizes the whole person-a person who began as a Soul-born of the One that is Two. The Soul manifested persona, as a whole expression of its Self-Knowing. However, we are born into a conflicted world, and the process of dividing us from our Soul's, and thereby, conquering our brains, begins in infancy. Brains are easily conquered in an infant, for the brain isn't fully formed until one is any where from 17 to 21 years of age. In its early stages, the brain is more of animal brain than that of a human. Its priorities are based on survival thinking, and therefore, fear of rejection based. The Unconsciousness, the Mind of Imagination, of Creation and of the Soul, is more of a reality to the child than the uncompleted brain. A child's "imaginary friends" aren't unreal, for that is the reality of the Soul, and many "friends" reside in there, for the Soul is full of the personalities it has created since the beginning of time. The Child is the entire collective Persona of the Soul who is full of wonder, joy, innocence, and completely tolerant. All is One, and the Soul knows that. However, the body gives One the senses of self, where one becomes intimate with all things. Through these startling new sensual and unusual experiences of the outer world, one is easily made to focus on the flesh, rather than the Spiritual Self. It is called "Pleasure- Pain Training" and/or "brainwashing", something the Patriarchal religions, governments and/or cultures do to each of their children, for it was done to them. From the Soul's acceptance of All, to discrimination, represion, denial, limitation and all forms of divisionism, we are taught to be "Adults". The Patriarch is a War Group Soul, that believes in Secrets, for keeping people ignorant is Power over the people and allows the "Bullies" and/or 1% to rule the majority of mankind. Since a Ruler is defined as "one who controls definition", words stop being communication and become propaganda, so even worded definitions of yourself, are illusions, lies and ruler-manipulation of your imagination. To Rule One's imagination is the goal of the Patriarch, because everything, is imagined! To image is to make image of.... it is the Anima-Creatrix intelligence. To measure, to enforce restriction, is the Animus or Masculine intelligence. Neither intelligence is necessarily right or wrong, good or bad. They are Data-form imagined, and Information, form measured. The true measurement of Life, is time. Time is what oppresses energy, so that it can be measured as a form/information. For information, has a beginning and an end. Data, is formless. Hence, will to force and will to form, are the greatest lovers in the Universe. In Qabalah they are called Binah-All Mother, who is Will to Form and Chokmah-All Father- who is Will to Force. When the world of mankind is ruled by "Will to Force" we get war, hate, bigotry, oppression as in oppressed movement. When a world is totally ruled by "Will to Form", we get Oneness, but no individuality. We need to combine both, so that Individuals are one in their self sovereignty. Each, unto themselves a ruler. To do that we must have the Wisdom of I AM another way to be You, but am not trying to be you. I Am Me and discovering the Vastness of Me, is my life's journey, as your journey is your own vastness to discover. This requires love, not divisionism. Just because you are a different way to be me, doesn't mean I have to fear, hate or humiliate you. For that is the law of the Patriarchy. Rather, I let you be you, and I be me, without the need to prove "which is best". That is proven by the harmony within the Self.

That harmony within Self is the equalized union of Anima and Animus. The Patriarchy thrives on war, the Matriarchy thrives on fertility and fecundness, the two in marriage Thrive on Love. In this state, the energy-in-motion, (self energy expressed-emotion) is equalized between "Will to Force" and "Will to Form", by the Knowledge of Self. I AM Me. Me is the Story we emote, in to the outside world. Me is a story that the I AM (I is Cosmic Will-Am is Cosmic Mind); I AM is the whole Divine Creative. The Data of the Divine Creative is "I", " Am" is the Self-Awareness of I and/or information of the "I"; Me is the Divine Creation of Self-In-form-ation. Above all things, know thyself. Ignorance of self is the Patriarchy's tool of manipulation. In Form as Self, is the Divine Creative's Universe of I AM Me. The inner you-the I AM- must become the authority (author) of the outer you-Me. Then the Lovers are united and life is most beloved. Hence, when All that is Self, is in harmony and alignment, there is Love. Discord, is the symphony orchestrated by the Patriarchy. Love is the harmony, when the Inner She and Inner He are harmonious dance partners, and/or harmonious in the energy-in-motion that is "Life".

In the Dreams of Gaia- Key 13-Union card, we see presented the Dragonish forces of Will to Form and Will to Force, united by the all see "I" (eye) of Kether/One Energy-One Mind. That dragonish adorable fire, is seen on the head of the humanoid figure and represents the alchemical Red Lion (Sulphur) and White Eagle (Salt), represented as such on the Thoth Card, and who once united are both  he and she, and/or a Hermes-Aphrodite and/or hermaphrodite.The Whole person is one whose chakras, (whirling pools of light) are all alight, and aligned.

The butterfly is the genitalia, of the humanoid figure, for the butterfly symbolizes the ability to reincarnate self and/or reproduce. Twin kissing fish join as 2 lovers, and the celtic maze is below is the serpentine and/or phallic force of masculine/ the ability to ejaculate energy placing what was contained, into motion. We would call that "life force". She contains, he emotes. So saying that women are "too emotional" is a misstatement. For She is the magnetic Vessel that contains energy, Will to Form; He is the "Will to Force" which is what will does when expressing energy for the purpose of manipulation. Emotion, breaks free of the vessel. Hence, He is really more emotional than She and that is why the male is manipulated, in all its malicious cleverness, by the Patriarch, who through indoctrination, has divided men from their power by calling women "silly emotion" and/therefore, dividing men from their True Emotion, Passion, which is centered on She. Only a man who thinks less of a woman, meaning less passionate about union with her, can be a "Lover of State"/The Patriarchy.

Truth being, all of us are Spirit-Mind-Body, none separate, all a Trinity that is One. I am He and She, a woman is She and He, the emphasis of our life depends on the one expressed as a "Me", neither better nor worse than the other. Each a special way to Will. Yet the One is both as 0=2, and the 2 are always trying to reunite as One. Male and Female, female and male, our greatest passion is the "Other" for all energy wished to return to formless chaos~! The Second law of thermodynamics: Everything proceeds from order to disorder. Therefore, Love is a form of annihilation. Where separates become one, the individual is annihilated. Lovers, become equalized wills. This Self annihilation, is easily seen as colors, or separate frequencies of light...let's say red and blue. For when you combine red and blue, you get neither red nor blue, but purple is created. Purple is the individual annihilation of red and blue. That is why all males and females are looking for their "twin flame" and/or "soul mate", so that the feeling of being separated is annihilated, where they form a type of hermaphrodite form and call it Union. Hence, the imagination and the rationale, seek to become One, in the divine marriage of the Will to Force and the Will to Form, that lies within all of us. To experience that Union as a Me is the purpose of Life itself.

When the Key 13-Union card is thrown in a divination, it implies:

• Love.
• Infatuation. 
• Love for Self.
• Confidence.
• Love for life.
• Expansion. 

The Oracle of the Gods is the Child-Voice of Love in Thins own Soul; hear thou it. Heed not the Siren-Voice of Sense, or the Phantom-Voice of Reason: rest in Simplicity, and listen to the Silence.

-Crowley

The Thoth-ATU 6- THE LOVERS is represented in the astrological sign of Gemini and is about the joining together of the female yin and the male yang. The magnetic and electric forces joining together to create a greater Self. This card represents the universal principle of the art and craft of relationship; the union of opposites that creates everything. The Lovers is about the Duality of the Divine Creative---Goddess/God or Anima/Animus and everything about this card is duality returning to One. Thus the journey of the twins, a universal motif found in all cultures. Hansel and Gretel, Raggedy Andy and Raggedy Ann; all the famous couples throughout history reflect this archetype of the Lovers.

The Lovers card is about love and relationships and reminds us that we are to be joyful and innocent in love (the two children) while exhibiting curiosity and playfulness; the adult couple facing each other remind us of loyalty and commitment. The Hermit, whose hands are in blessing over the white queen and the black king, reminds us of the need to be alone and granting the gift of spaciousness for the purpose of individual contemplation, introspection and inner self-mediation. All parts of balanced and the flowing rhythm of Love. The Iron gates in the background of the Thoth card symbolize the Lovers' need not to be limited, bared or restrained in their relationship. When this card is drawn it often symbolizes a loving relationship, soon to be or even a marriage and/or the inner balanced dance of the female and male intellectual forces in an individual.

In the Text, THIRTY TWO PATHS OF WISDOM, Dr. Paul Foster Case called THE LOVERS, the Disposing Intelligence. The complexity of this card can barely be presented by the image on the card, and is even difficult to understand as a disposing intelligence, even though it disposes of separation and the man-made personality.

THE LOVERS, the represented by the Hebrew letter Zain, and/or the Path of Zain ( meaning Sword), which runs between Binah (understanding) and Tiphareth (Beauty) and connects the Pure Conscious, from which all forms emerged (Binah) with the central or fulcrum point of Manifestation (Tiphareth). The Term Lovers, seems simple enough, yet it is a complex and profound card, as it is not about the love of two humans, but rather the Twins or duality of the individual united in pursuit of Divine Love. The True meaning of Key 6, is embedded in the Astrological sign Gemini, The Twins. The Dual intelligent Forces of Male and Female, (electric and magnetic), are what THE LOVERS proposes to unite. These are equal and opposite Intelligence that must be united as a major step towards the Godhead on the Tree of Life. The surging of the Divine One Energy, across the Abyss into manifestation, formed stable dualities. The Lovers card is also representative of the loving relationship a Magi must make of the Cain and Able inside each of us, i.e. the animal and spirit or subconscious and consciousness.

The Great Work, is a return to the primeval state (As above so below) by the communion or "marriage" of these dualities of manifestation.

As Robert Wang wrote about the Path of Zain (meaning; sword or armor) in his book: THE QABALISTIC TAROT," Thus this path may be considered the aspect of the Garden of Eden, from which mankind was expelled, but to which it may earn re-entry by conscious dealing with what has been called the inner Sun and Moon. The whole key to the Great Work is uniting of the Sun and the Moon under Mercury (the planet ruling Gemini)."

On the Thoth Tarot Card, THE LOVERS, the Sun is the man, the Moon is the Woman, and the Divine Fire that is above the Abyss (The Vital Force or Serpent Force), is represented as Cupid. Dr.Paul Foster Case has stated that, the Sun is self-consciousness and that the Moon is unconsciousness. Dr. Paul Foster Case, considered these are both aspects of the One Life Breath, each working half of the body. Today we know them as the Male half and the Female half of the human brain. As Case has stated, “When the Solar and Lunar currents of the Life-Power are rightly perceived, rightly discriminated, and when their operation is kept in proper order, the personality of the man engaged in this practice becomes a free, unobstructed channel for the outpouring of the cosmic life force." Case considered THE LOVERS card to represent one of the dualities united by the Spiritual Self. Just as most Tantric, and Gnostic practitioner's do. To the Qabalist, The Lovers, represents the union of manifested opposites under the Divine Love of the Supernal (Upper triangle of the Tree of Life) through Binah---The Great Mother. Thus, the Crowley Thoth Deck Card depicts the theme of union as and Alchemical "Hermetic Marriage" of the component parts of the seeker.

The Path of Zain is an active path, for the self-control and will attributed to Mercury which directs the movement and integration of opposites, is not passive; in fact, it is the fiery force or the Serpent Force known as the Kundalini which is masculine fiery force, united with the Feminine Watery force (flowing in waves as "serpentine:), both in equal measure and full of fiery dynamic and inspirational qualities and shown as the Caduceus.

The inner hermetic marriage is a red-hot marriage, complete with Honey Moon and resulting "little death". For sure there is a type of death here, as the process of crossing the Abyss means the death of one's own concepts of self. This devastating passage is a willful and total self-destruction and immersion into the Divine. This hermetic marriage is explained within a quote from the Gnostic Text,The Gospel of Didymos Judas Thomas of the Nag Hammadi Library, where it is written that Jesus answered his disciples with:: (22) " When you make the Two One, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female, female; and when you fashion eyes in place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then you will enter the kingdom." This Jesus/Zeus obviously knew of the Principles attributed to THE LOVERS card, but then he was a Nazarene Gnostic Master which is a Qabalist...the Word Zeus Christos is Greek and refers to the Son of Zeus. There was no letter "J" until the 13th Century.

The Term Lovers, seems simple enough, yet it is a complex and profound card, as it is not about the love of two humans, though often defined as such, but rather the Twins or duality of the individual united in pursuit of Divine Love. The True meaning of ATU 6, is embedded in the Astrological sign Gemini, The Twins. The Dual intelligent Forces of Male and Female, (electric and magnetic), are what THE LOVERS proposes to unite. These are equal and opposite Intelligence that must be united as a major step towards the Godhead on the Tree of Life. The surging of the Divine One Energy, across the Abyss into manifestation, formed stable dualities.The Great Work, is a return to the primeval state (As above so below) by the communion or "marriage" of these dualities in and of manifestation.

THE LOVERS and THE ART card of the Thoth Deck Tarot are amongst the most difficult to understand. The Path of the Art Card is Samekh (Meaning Prop) and requires a complete integration of the Personality in its subordination to the Greater Ego (whole-self) in Tiphareth and the Path of THE LOVERS is Zain (Sword of Armor) requires a complete integration of the total self, manifest in the Microcosm, returning the soul to the aspect of the "Garden" or Macrocosm, from which it emerged.

Thus, we can say that Art is the equilibrium of the Lower Self and THE LOVERS, is the balance of the Higher Self.

In Crowley's card, we have the Royal Marriage of opposites, presided over by the hooded figure that is both the Hermit and Mercury. Eve and Lilith are shown above the couple, with cupid aiming an arrow, symbolizing will. The (illustration of Lilith and Lord Python)

On the Thoth Card the Black King wears a crown of gold, bears a lance, and is attended by the Red Lion, while the Kings black child holds the lance in one hand and a club in the other. The White Queen, crown in silver, is attended by the White Eagle and her white child, that is interchanged with the black child, holds flowers in one hand and the bottom of the Grail in the other. The Product of this union, is the Orphic Egg that is the very essence of Life itself.

The symbolism of the 2 children, has been noted by Crowley as Cain and Abel, which may seem out of place in a card called THE LOVERS.; However, the process of The Marriage is both reciprocal and repeated over and over again as it is defined by the infinity sign of Mercury-Magus, since the Sun and the Moon unite under Mercury. First one "Brother" dies, being absorbed into the other than there is a return to a balance of opposites after which the second "Brother" is killed and absorbed into the first. Theoretically, return to the Godhead requires that we incarnate repeatedly, in the twelve signs of the Zodiac, reaching perfection in each of the types of incarnation. The Christos incarnation is the perfection reached in Tiphareth which means Beauty in English and is the result of cyclic synchronicity. It is where the Trinity of the Supernal Triangle (Kether-Chokmah-Binah) is United with the Trinity of the lower triangle (Netzach, Hod, Yesod) in the Material Temple of the human body- in Malkuth. So one could say that we are all a *ménage à trois of Spirit-Mind-Body. You, see the Hermit, who represents Spirit, is the One, the Man and Woman are the couple, that makes three.

*A ménage à trois is the French term describing a relationship or domestic arrangement in which three people, often a married couple and another lover, share a sexual relationship, although the relationship might or might not involve all three persons having sexual relations with each other. The French phrase literally translates as "household of three".

THE LOVERS card also relates to the Hermetic Marriage, or "Chemical Wedding", as written in the 17th century in a text called: The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenceutz which is one of the key documents of Hermetic-Qabalist. I've found this alchemical text very readable, much like a fairy tale, and yet one of the most profound pieces of esoteric or Gnostic symbolism ever written. The fact that the word Sword or Armor (Zain) is the word meaning of this path and that blood is spilled on this path, are all reconciled and/ or reinforced in this text .This understanding requires some meditation on the Alchemical text.

When THE LOVERS is thrown during a reading, it is stating a principle of:

• Art and Craft of Relationship.
• What is also suggested is the magical image of the power of surrender in which one form is given up in order to attain another.
• Being involved in a process of cooperation. ---combining energies for a common goal.
• Yin Yang attraction of polarities, or universal forces for one another.
• The power of sexual surrender to the Goddess within.
• This card can also mean a love affair with some sort of trial or choice involved... be it marriage or profane love.
• There is the Tantric Philosophy here also, only through physical union with a female can either a man or god, achieve true reality and the power to deal with it; A Spiritual/ sexual union, is required for shamans, priests, and holy men with the female is required before they gain full possession of their powers and the same union of opposites goes for Priestesses and female shamans.
• In other words, the union of rational male right brain with imaginative female left brain must be a thing of beauty.

When the Lovers card is ill defined by the surrounding cards:

• Unattainable ideal of love.
• Repressive neurosis. 
• Self-sacrifice. 
• Indecisiveness.

Thank you for your interest, comments and supportive donations. May you live long and prosper.