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The Tarot of Eli
The Thoth Tarot- Ace of Swords & The Night Sun Tarot-Ace of Swords:
Both represent the Primordial Energy of Air (in the language of the elements- the Essence of Mind) Air being the combination of Fire and Water, lacks the individual Purity of the two, as well as the focus. Therefore, as Wind it goes which ever way the heated currents send it. In other words, any idea will do.
This Tarot card being an Ace, represents the seed of mind. Hence, it is the First card of Mind and represents the Sword of the Magus with its twenty-two rayed diadem of light, 22= 2x11, which is the Magical manifestation of Chokmah, Wisdom, and the Logos. Accordingly, Crowley put the Word of Law upon the the Thoth Sword's blade which sends forth a blaze of light that banished the dark clouds of the Mind. The Night Sun Tarot, also illustrates the purity and brightness of this "seed of Mind", with its diadem of light and a great blazing sun at its tip.
Raised upward, The Thoth Ace of Swords invokes the Divine Crown of Spiritual Brightness. Also raised up, the Night Sun Tarot Sword pierces the Christ's crown of thrones. The fact that the "seed of Mind" is an invoked device, places it in contrast to a natural force and can be directed for good or evil. We all know that the Mind is not necessarily evil or good; it's lack of empathy makes it appear evil, as any idea will do for the Mind's concentration of "I AM" (invoked) force. All thought is a "experiment in Self Awareness". Therefore, any experience will do.
THE Tarot ACE OF SWORDS:
Represents the influence of Kether (Crown) in the Astral world of fleeting forms. It is the symbol of force called upon, which is a force invoked to cause and/or compel change. This could be either good or ill willed or as a Qabalist would say, this force is both dynamic and erratic, having the potential to be applied at will to different situations. The Ace of Swords, has often been called the Sword of Whirling force and strength through trouble and/or Doom. The Doom implication is reinforced by the "Crown of thorns" as shown on the Night Sun Tarot.
Swords represent Air/Mind and the Sword of Air as depicted on this card, shows us the very nature of this force. he alchemical symbol for Air, is the Triangle with bar, as shown on the Night Sun Tarot Card.
Since Air is hidden currents of force applied, it can be fleeting in its influence. Sometimes air can be seen as calm, other times as destructive, like when it "blows" down your house. Mind/Air is the unseen force of Will that often creates situations seemingly out of nowhere! This card is known as justice upholding Divine Authority; and it may become the Sword of Wrath, Punishment and Affliction.
This Sword of Will, is often called an Athamae, the knife/dagger/sword that is used in Wicca, and other types of invoking ritual magic, as a symbol of focused will by the magic practitioner.
As you may guess, to be able to focus this Force of Kether upon the Astral World of fleeting forms (#9-Yesod) is to hold those forms in your abeyance and/ or to compel change in situations that you define. However, Kether is the Original Will --Primal Will, that begins the Mental Process of Will-to-Force and Will-to-Form, a neutral process. Yet this card is also often called the Sword of Good and Evil.
Good because as Will is properly used to expand and liberate life----it is of Good Will.
Bad if unknowingly or knowingly used to interrupt and /or reverse the motion of life expansion--such as a willfully closed mind, which is a mind in stagnation, rather than an willfully open mind of expansion. Will to Force must move, so if perverted, it does so in reverse or live spelled backward which is called evil. This reversal of force is detrimental to the form of the one who invokes for ill purposes.
So as we know, force can be applied well or ill... but Force is necessary to create form and must be applied to animate forms. The union of Force and Form is necessary for Life. I often call it "movement" and "Form" or movement and repose. Kether is the underlying cause of Motion.
The Unknowable Kether, is often depicted as the Point, The Crown and the Swastika, as explained in past blogs; However, these only direct us into a journey of understanding, that has no goal. We may say the goal, is to understand the Infinite, but the word infinite, even if understood, is a human invention. Thus infinite is inadequate to explain the "No-Thing" before Time.
The point (.) could represent the Singularity that was before the Big Bang but as the words may imply some vast understanding, this explanation is empty of experience and thus to us, incomprehensible.
Yet, we are also potentially anything, which makes us not as comfortably understood as one would like. It Seems that the Divine Collective Unconscious, wishes us to be as vast as our forms seem to be limited. This is seen by the Imagination's ability to expand concepts so far beyond reality, that maybe, reality is just imagined; one moment we are the Human dreaming of being a microwave of Spiral Energy, the next we are Spiral Energy (microwave) dreaming we are a human. Much like that old Chinese tale of a man dreaming he was a butter fly, then upon awakening he wondered if he was a butterfly dreaming he was a human. When Considering Kether, one is much the same.
Zhuangzi’s -Butterfly Dream:
The most well-known of Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu) parables is the Butterfly Dream anecdote, which (in translation by Lin Yutang) goes like this:
"Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things."
The Qabalist knows that All is Mind, and we are not talking about the human consciousness, but the Mind that the Dream of the Universe floats in. The Ace of Swords is a "seed or essence" of Mind. The Root Powers of Air and symbolizes the influence of Kether in the Astral World of fluid light.
This action may be understood as the motion in the Currents of the Formative World-Yetzira (The Triangle formed by #7-Netzach, #8-Hod and #9-Yesod) and/or the realm of Astral Psycho-Fluid; However, that is just the "elephant's foot print in the mud" and not the Power itself. The Astral realms are the realms of Fleeting Forms...nothing yet solid. Thus the Ace of Swords is a potent card which can be extremely good or extremely evil.
Evil, is Live spelled backwards, and basically implies devolution rather than evolution.
To move forward progressively, is Living, to Move backward or to digress , is "living in the past and therefore dying in the present" which is a from of "living dead", hence evil. Therefore, we have philosopher's saying."Let the dead bury the dead...".
The Mind is called the Element of Air, for it is Heated by Inner Passions, as Air is heated by Sun, and directed by will and thus it can become violent and life threatening. However, this is avoided if the Will of Spirit, is the controller of Passion rather than the survival mind of the animal. Under the focused Will-to-be that is spirit, the Mind becomes Life Expanding and Liberating.
The Ace of Wands represents a natural force, while the Ace of Swords represents that which is invoked; A force called upon.
The currents generated by Kether on the Astral are both dynamic and erratic, having the potential to be applied at will to different situations. Thus, we have the description of a "whirling force" that gains strength through trouble. To Qabalists, this is an affirmation of Divine authority and may become the Sword of Wrath, and/or a "Crown of Thorns", implying, punishment and affliction. Pure mind has no conscience, it is up to us to supply discrimination to thought. The Pure Mind is shown in the art of the Night Sun Ace of Swords, as a bright yellow background, the color assigned to the element of air, as well as, filled with "sacred geometery".
But let us not despair, for the Ace of Swords represents the Sword of the Magus crowned in the twenty-two diadem of light. To those of magic, the number 22 refers to Atu known as 22=2x11, the Magical manifestation of Chokmah, Wisdom, and the Logos. In Hebrew letters, (that are numbers), is the Word of Law, that blazes forth clearing the dark clouds of a Mind based on fear, or survival thinking. I would suggest getting the Book 777 by Aleister Crowley to further study this, as the words "Achath Ruach Elohim Chiim" are the numbers 777 and means in English translation,"One is Spirit of the Gods of the Living". The Ruach being Tiphareth, the Solar Logos. There is a lot of investigative Gematria (Qabalistic Numerology) to understand here so get the book!
We all would like to think that there is a "good thought" , although we think that "be love" is a good thought----it isn't. Simply because Love is not a thought it is a force in action. Thought being what it is, idea, makes it a deep dark and slippery mystery. That is why the Supreme Spirit Identity, made human bodies. Thought must be felt in the most sensual detail, to insure its viability to empower and liberate the Alive from self imposed operational limitation. This is especially true in a psychosomatic form, such as a living body.
If you feel bad about someone's reaction to you and blame them for your feelings; you're not paying attention to why you have a body. The Body you own, operate and delight in, is a power tool whose very purpose is to react to Your thought; it can't give sensation (feelings) to any thought outside of it! It is the thoughts of the inhabiting consciousness that the body feels. Others can't make you feel anything by their thoughts! Therefore, if you have "bad feelings", it's your very own thought process that is causing them---not someone else. If you wish to use the body as a proper "thought filtering and enacting power device" you must be as the Magus, and be the Will of the body, giving none of the bodies action to "others". I AM Me, has nothing to do with the weakness of seeking validation. You are made manifest, which is a description of Truth. Truth says, "If made manifest, you had to be made by Divine Validation". No other validation is to be sought or needs to be sought. Beware thoughts, they are not truth, and they are tricky places to reside in. The individual mind is a deceiver, not because it is evil, but because ANY THOUGHT WILL DO...there is no consideration of empathy or discernment.
The sensual human body, is a "test bed" for thought and will tell you, by its reaction to conscious thought, what expands and liberates its power to act or what depletes its abilities to function properly. Remember, to think ill of anyone, place or thing, and you will feel ill. Think Well, and you,ll feel well. That is why the best balanced way to operate is "Do unto another, as you would have done to you." In doing so, your life becomes a joyous/happy/wealthy motion in this psychosomatic state of being! Don't Trust thoughts, examine them. Remember, you are not a thought, You are a Thinker. Hence,Thinkers are not thought, anymore than a truck diver is a truck. Thought is what you do to operate a sensual living vehicle for your own personal self-awareness, in fact, the Hermetic Qabalah sees thought as the "First Matter". Being Invisible Spirit, you need to create a self image to be "self-aware" and begin by manipulating "first matter" by I AM... which is a declaration of existence. The Body is a gift that clarifies thought for Wise creation and greater self-awareness and it is the "Me" that the I AM identifies. "Above all things Know thyself ", is Why The Invisible Divine built a universe of images. The Divine Creative knows Self through creation!
WHEN THE ACE OF SWORDS IS THROWN DURING A DIVINATION:
- It implies;
- Mental clarity and inventiveness.
- Problems being overcome with Original thinking.
- The dawning of a new intellectual process.
- Acting with logic and discrimination
- Strength in adversity. Out of evil some good will come. Something that looks bleak can surprisingly turn out to be promising.
- Doom. this is the card of Morgan the Fate. Finality, Tragedy, and ultimate fate; However, it is release, freedom from past restraint and a new lightness and/or a kind of salvation.
- The beginning of and idea or information. The arising of Inner insight.
- This card depends on the surrounding cards to show whether it is fate or rebirth.
- A whirling force of strength gained through trouble.
- it is a singular affirmation of Justice, upholding Divine Authority, and can also be the Sword of Wrath, Punishment and affliction.
- Justice will prevail in an issue within a years time.
- New mental self image is being considered.
Thank you for your interest, comments and supportive donations. May you live long and prosper.
The Thoth Tarot-Ace of Swords, compared to the NIght Sun Tarot-Ace of Swords:
