&"Winding Staircases&" in Masonry and the Tree of Li
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All (but mostly Jim Eshelman):
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.Jim, in your excellent lecture on the Mysteries put on by the Aiwass Study Group, you gave an analysis of the symbolism of the "Winding Staircases" leading to the Middle Chamber of King Solomon's Temple in the Fellowcraft degree, where Masons are said to receive their "wages" (initiatiatory Light). I was jotting down notes furiously and unfortunately am not as good as I used to be about keeping my pen writing while my brain still takes in new info, so I did not catch exactly how you made the 3, 5, and 7 steps of teh Staircases correspond to the initiate's ascent of the Tree.
Would you mind going through this again? Indeed, if you have the tiem, perhaps you might consider summarizing again the entire symbolic interpretation (the Pillars, materials used to make same, the Wages' stated forms, etc), which I found quite enlightening.
Thank you for your insight!
Love is the law, love under Will.-Michael
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Two interpretations of 3, 5, 7.
First, the Paths on the Tree of Life valued at 3, 5, and 7 and those three - Gimel, Heh, and Zayin - which connect the three Supernals to Tiphereth.
Second - and more relevant to those instances where there are 7 steps taken, with pauses or parsing on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th - there are 7 steps up the Middle Pillar counting Paths and Sephiroth. Therefore, with the first step being Malkuth, the 3rd, 5th, and 7th are Yesod, Tiphereth, and Kether.