Cobbler=Sandalphon?
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@KRVB MMShCh said
""Nor is it fitting for the cobbler to prate of the Royal matter. O cobbler! mend me this shoe, that I may walk. O king! if I be thy son, let us speak of the Embassy to the King thy Brother." - LXV I:11"
I guess the first thing this brings to mind is "the slaves shall serve" and Crowley's lengthy commentaries thereon.
Though (I'm sure you know) there are many interesting ways of interpreting CCXX II:58 that don't reek of Social Darwinism!
(Or, to paraphrase Jim, Chapter II doesn't need to be the "kick the homeless when they ask for spare change" Chapter...)"the King thy Brother" also just seems like a poetic way of saying "another King" or referring to "the community of Kings."
Steve
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I take the cobbler to represent the Ruach (and maybe Nefesh). The ordinary mind has its role, but is not suitable for grasping things above the Abyss (the Royal Matter). So, for example, pretty much anything I have posted on this forum is an instance of the cobbler prating of the Royal Matter.
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@gmugmble said
"I take the cobbler to represent the Ruach (and maybe Nefesh)."
I can conceive of it representing Nephesh/Malkuth if "cobbler" did in fact signify Sandalphon - but why do you feel that way about it? & why Ruach?
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@KRVB MMShCh said
"why Ruach?"
Mostly because it's the ruach that prates.
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@gmugmble said
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@KRVB MMShCh said
"why Ruach?"Mostly because it's the ruach that prates."
I see...that does make sense - but then why cobbler?
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@KRVB MMShCh said
"why cobbler?"
A good question, but honestly I never really thought about it. Qabalistic symbolism aside, I always thought there was a fairly obvious sense to this verse: if you are not an Adept, then don't try to act like one; instead, be about your business. Applied to the individual, it means don't let the "lower" parts of your soul get all haughty and pretend to know things about the spirit. [Perhaps this just seems like the "obvious" meaning to me because it's a lesson I really need to be learning.]
Why Sandalphon? Are you suggesting a pun on the word "sandal"? Or is it that the feet correspond (in some systems) to Malkuth?
One avenue of meditation might be to consider cobbler -> shoes -> feet -> Pisces.
Another (since I mentioned sandals) is to reflect that the ankh symbol is actually a picture of a sandal strap.
And (since I mentioned puns) I can't help but remember that Gurdjieff was amused by the fact that in English the word for the highest part of your being (soul) and the lowest part of your body (sole) were the same. And both of these can be attributed to Pisces.
So the sense is that if you are not an Adept (a King), then busy yourself with the work of mending your "shoes", i.e., your vehicle for going, i.e., your life (ankh), i.e., your soul.
And by "you", of course, I mean "me".
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I just thought to add that the sandal (shoe?) is normally attributed to Yesod (foundation).
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O king! if I be thy son, let us speak of the Embassy to the King thy Brother
"Not sure of the meaning, but what comes to mind is a uniting of body (embassy) with mind (king) or more an establishment of communication between the two.
As they would be 'brothers' having come from the same 'parent'(source).
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@Uni_Verse said
"I just thought to add that the sandal (shoe?) is normally attributed to Yesod (foundation).
"
O king! if I be thy son, let us speak of the Embassy to the King thy Brother
"Not sure of the meaning, but what comes to mind is a uniting of body (embassy) with mind (king) or more an establishment of communication between the two.
As they would be 'brothers' having come from the same 'parent'(source)."
93 Uni_Verse,
Thank you for your input. Regarding the shoe/Yesod connection - I am not sure. The only other Sephirah I have seen be compared with the idea of a 'shoe' was Chokmah and the Ophanim. Ophanim, meaning 'wheels', has been described as the medium that the prevents the chariot(in this analogy, Kether) from causing harm to the road(Malkuth). I have never, though, been satisfied with this analogy as Kether is in Malkuth & Malkuth in Kether - also, replacing 'wheels' with 'shoe' causes an imperfect analogy as it is not the road that is damaged but the foot. Are you comparing 'shoe' to Yesod based on 'Foundation'? I can see that.
93 93/93 -
93!
I was comparing shoe to sandal, which is the magical 'weapon' of Yesod.
(check Table I, section XLI in 777)Which represent the spiritual foundation the magician stands on.
As was said earlier...
@gmugmble said
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Another (since I mentioned sandals) is to reflect that the ankh symbol is actually a picture of a sandal strap.
"The ankh symbolizes the power to move forward, life in its fullest sense.
So, I was reading the first part of the quote as saying:
"It is not fitting for someone working on foundations to prate on higher matters. O worker! Mend me this foundation, so that I may move forward"93 1
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@Uni_Verse said
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"So, I was reading the first part of the quote as saying:
"It is not fitting for someone working on foundations to prate on higher matters. O worker! Mend me this foundation, so that I may move forward"""a fine synopsis - thank you guys!
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@gmugmble said
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"Why Sandalphon? Are you suggesting a pun on the word "sandal"? Or is it that the feet correspond (in some systems) to Malkuth?""I am not sure if it was based on a pun but I first saw the association of Sandalphon & sandal in one of the Head of the Order of Sophian Gnostics(OSG) books, 'Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ'.
The Pisces meditation is quite astute - Yesod/sandal/Pisces/Atu XVIII...thanks gmugmble! 93's
- Danny N.
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@gmugmble said
"Why Sandalphon? Are you suggesting a pun on the word "sandal"?"
That's not a pun. The name literally means "the sound of sandals."