26 April - (Earth) Liber LXV, 1:37-39
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37. So they will reproach thy servant, saying: Who hath set thee to save us?
The little world is the microcosm; the Servant is the mind or Ruach;
Salvation is the return of Saturn to his throne and an end to the rule of the Olympians...38. He will be sore distressed.
Because it is without true understanding. After all, it's just a servant—it does what it is told to do. Understanding is above the abyss, beyond the mind's ability to comprehend it. At best, the mind can only be a faithful servant.
39. All they understand not that thou and I are fashioning a boat of mother-of-pearl. We will sail down the river of Amrit even to the yew-groves of Yama, where we may rejoice exceedingly.
Yama is the Hindu god of death, and Yew trees are traditionally associated with Saturn, graveyards, and death...
An existence will be made that is beyond life and death. The petal of Amaranth from the sweet, low brow of Hathor is the perfect unity of love figured in the fourteenth path of Daleth, The Empress, Venus/Hathor. In this mode, the soul and it's lord are locked in an immortal embrace, sailing down the river of Amrit.
The universe is resolved into the bliss of this embrace because Saturn eats his children as Yama among the Yew groves. And Jupiter as the evil demiurge is thwarted.
Note: Yew is a very slowly growing tree. This is one reason why it is associated with Saturn. It would not be wrong to see this grove as a reference to the trees of eternity from the first chapter of the Book of the Law.
Love and Will
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39. All they understand not that thou and I are fashioning a boat of mother-of-pearl. We will sail down the river of Amrit even to the yew-groves of Yama, where we may rejoice exceedingly.
There's an image here that resonates with an older image of mine. It's the image of the Garden of Eden - not literally, but as an ideal - that sacred place of bliss where one walks in the Garden with Adonai. And I ask myself is this? Are these the Yew-Groves of Yama? And I just see a ship made of stars, travelling down a stream toward a garden made of stars, and my heart yearns for the beauty and the love.
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Damn Robert you are good my man.
I got pretty much what you said, not as lengthy nor as clear tho.
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37. So they will reproach thy servant, saying: Who hath set thee to save us?
38. He will be sore distressed.
39. All they understand not that thou and I are fashioning a boat of mother-of-pearl. We will sail down the river of Amrit even to the yew-groves of Yama, where we may rejoice exceedingly.I also got, after a short period of confusion, that "thy servant" is the Ruach/the Scribe. The Ruach, being petitioned by the Nephesh, will be distressed and unable to come up with a good answer as to why events are the way they are, being restricted to using logic.
I got the yew/Yama/death symbolism as well.
It's difficult to really put my perceptions into words. The sets of verses the past 2 days have related to me on a very personal level, something that's not easily translatable.
@RobertAllen said
"[
Note: Yew is a very slowly growing tree. This is one reason why it is associated with Saturn. It would not be wrong to see this grove as a reference to the trees of eternity from the first chapter of the Book of the Law."This is awesome; I never thought of this before.
93, 93/93.
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"Could the life of a man be depicted as the drawing of a bow?"
I don't have an answer for that however mentioning a bow brings to mind Qesheth
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@Dar said
"Could the life of a man be depicted as the drawing of a bow?"
The Arrow is a primary symbol of the path from Yesod to Tipareth straight up the Middle Pillar, the Tarot Trump XIV "Art", and the 5th Aether in The Vision and the Voice.
Funny enough it made me think of a quote by Jim Morrison (not intending to be too predictable here
) I read a while back:"You could say it's an accident that I was ideally suited for the work I am doing. It's the feeling of a bow string being pulled back for 22 years and suddenly being let go...
"However, more specific to these verses, it categorizes for me the despair, doubt, and pain in the mind that goes along with trooping through life in justifying the commitments we make. The speaker of the verses obviously had a connection to a source above this haze that revealed it as part of the journey in divinity. Thats what it means to me right now anyway.
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@Dar said
"Yew was the traditional wood for making the English Longbow - a bow equal in length to the height of a man. Could the life of a man be depicted as the drawing of a bow?"
For me the bow combines the idea of death and love: cupids bow and it's presence in some designs of the The Lovers tarot card; the death idea is obvious. As a weapon, it has mystical overtones. It is air-born, of the air, like thought; it overcomes distance and separation, suggesting Samadhi.
Cupid is the child of Venus. Venus is the Yetziratic attribution of the path of Daleth...
If the drawing of the bow is equal to the life of a wo/man, then its release is the measure of his/her end.
Love and Will
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93,
37. So they will reproach thy servant, saying: Who hath set thee to save us?
Also, the use of the word 'set' seems a little awkward, which makes it jump out. Set and Saturn are considered the same...also furthering the ideas put forth of the Redeemed Daughter (Earth) who becomes the Mother in Binah's Understanding (Saturn). With all the correspondences to Saturn previously mentioned in this post, it seems to fit rather well.
38. He will be sore distressed.
39. All they understand not that thou and I are fashioning a boat of mother-of-pearl. We will sail down the river of Amrit even to the yew-groves of Yama, where we may rejoice exceedingly.These verses really speak to me of the struggle of helping other people, who want some sort of authority or proofs to look to (as objective evidence), before they start the Work. They don't Understand that the only Authority is found in the Work...
I definitely used to be "distressed" about those things...how noble of me! Now, I admit being selfish and I don't have the time to save others. I'm too busy saving myself for marriage.
Love is the law, love under will.
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I realize that I am just starting to learn but I see this somewhat differently. Maybe because of my inexperience with Thelemic ideology, I should not post. Even in learning I feel I have some understanding and will share it.
"37. So they will reproach thy servant, saying: Who hath set thee to save us?"
Definitions of reproach (v)
re•proach [ ri prṓch ]- criticize somebody: to criticize somebody for doing something wrong
- feel blameworthy: to feel ashamed because you know you have done something wrong
- criticism: criticism or disapproval for having done something wrong, or an expression of this
Retrieved from www.bing.com/search?q=+what+does+reproach+mean&form=MSNH14&qs=n&sk=&sc=1-23&x=0&y=0
Here they are criticizing him in the same way that they criticized Christ saying “Who hath sent thee to save us?” This seems to be a mocking tone that they are using.
"38. He will be sore distressed. "
This verse does not exactly say who he is. Is he the people that are mocking or he the person that is being mocked?"39. All they understand not that thou and I are fashioning a boat of mother-of-pearl. We will sail down the river of Amrit even to the yew-groves of Yama, where we may rejoice exceedingly. "
They did not understand that a boat of mother-of-pearl is being made of them (see 24 April) by possibly Crawley and VVVVV.
I am still not sure about who or what this multitude of men are as my question of 24 April has not been answered.
I will note that rejoicing exceedingly is the same terms used by those that go to heaven and set on the right hand of God. In this setting it does seem to be a returning of the spirits as Dar pointed out.
@Dar said
" The perhaps the arrow would be the spirit, the soul the bow, and when the arrow is released upon death and returns then the stuff of the soul (the yew - no longer serving a function as the bow) returns to the yew groves of Yama."
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37. So they will reproach thy servant, saying: Who hath set thee to save us?
The first time I read this passage the word 'set' stood out. I expected 'sent' to be used. It gave me much to think about.