Duality and Thelema
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
@Dar es Alrah said
"
@Middleman said
"It seems someone wandered out of the kitchen."It seems something wandered out of the zoo."
Seems all this talk of Duality is descending to the level of Nephesh?
Remember: As Brothers (and Sisters) fight ye!
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
Really?
You think?
Ya know what thou, Dar is a big girl and can speak for herself, but.......
If you know that what you are saying is going to illicit a negative response, and the comments really do not add at all to the growth and health of life.....And I know that it is known to many of the regulars and longtime posters, that some members are extremely different, explosive and in the cyber world may seem extreme....
Why would you carry it on?
do you think she forgot, do you think she came back for more?
Janet is an extremely carring, considerate and honest young lady and I know I count my lucky stars that she was able to return to TOT, with her head on straight and her passion on her sleeve.She is not a bird, she is a human being with feelings.
I spend hours a day in my kitchen, and I love it. I am a wonderful human being, maybe if more people spent time in the kitchen learning how to nurture life, life that was brought into this plane through suffering you blokes can only dream up, maybe then you can experience passion, and understand what the F she is getting at.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
Awww... But you've misinterpreted my man-compliment.
Dar is a ferocious bird of prey in the intellectual realm, and I don't think she aspires to anything less.
And you yourself have shown more courage in dealing with me than most, and at one time in particular when I was particularly bent and really appreciated the pushback.
At times, I require gloves as well, so there's no lesser-than intended.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
@Sardonyx said
"Awww... But you've misinterpreted my man-compliment.
Dar is a ferocious bird of prey in the intellectual realm, and I don't think she aspires to anything less.
And you yourself have shown more courage in dealing with me than most, and at one time in particular when I was particularly bent and really appreciated the pushback.
At times, I require gloves as well, so there's no lesser-than intended."
Which was why I quoted Liber AL, not to make a holier than though statement, I find it helps to look at these things with a healthy dose of humour.
Apologies though for any offences caused though.
The whole us/them mentality thing, be it in regards to gender, race, or whatever is laughable to be honest, and I find that when I notice it creeping into my sensorium I tend to put it in it's place with humour PDQ.
That doesn't stop the ol' lizard brained tribalism in me sometimes getting out of hand, call it a post-patriarchal Aeon hangover. 2000+ years of hard wired (often by necessity) bigotry doesn't just disappear over night.
I consider myself quite liberated really, but I'll admit to occasionally having thoughts that are beneath me.
At least most of the guys and gals on here are actually working on it.93 93/93
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
@Middleman said
"Seriously though, I've always thought that 'receptive' was a better word than 'passive' as both sides are 'active'."
Its an etymological problem then.
I'm sure Dar knows exactly what she means by passive, and I'm equally sure that others know exactly what they mean by it.
The moral is, if your going to use a potentially contentious term in a discussion and it causes friction, its worth while discussing exactly what each party means by choosing that particular word. Otherwise we'll just get more of these off-topic posts.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
When I took advanced writing courses, I learned an important fact.
Verbs, action words, are considered either active, or passive. One is not right or wrong, but in different pieces of writing one is more appropriate.
Verbs are not receptive, from what I gleened.
I ate my sausage......active
The sausage was eaten by me.....passiveI also learned how we as a culture have been taught to dehumanize others, espicially others that do not conform, that challenge and confront, that make us uncomfortable. For years, I referred to my husbands mother as, my mother in law, and it took my adept sister to point out that I was doing this, and that it was because she MIL was challenging. I have to stop an d pause a moment, but I call her Maryann now.
While we may think that it is a term of endearment, or a compliment to be compared to an animal, I know I have a strong affinity to Tiger, it is dehumanizing, and IMO in this stage of the game we as a species would do well to embrace humanity, and being human and all the blessings that gift has to give us.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
@Veronica said
"When I took advanced writing courses, I learned an important fact.
Verbs, action words, are considered either active, or passive. One is not right or wrong, but in different pieces of writing one is more appropriate.
Verbs are not receptive, from what I gleened.
I ate my sausage......active
The sausage was eaten by me.....passiveI also learned how we as a culture have been taught to dehumanize others, espicially others that do not conform, that challenge and confront, that make us uncomfortable. For years, I referred to my husbands mother as, my mother in law, and it took my adept sister to point out that I was doing this, and that it was because she MIL was challenging. I have to stop an d pause a moment, but I call her Maryann now.
While we may think that it is a term of endearment, or a compliment to be compared to an animal, I know I have a strong affinity to Tiger, it is dehumanizing, and IMO in this stage of the game we as a species would do well to embrace humanity, and being human and all the blessings that gift has to give us."
Thats actually a very interesting point, terms of endearment being used to de-humanize others.
Food for thought, thanks.
93 93/93
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
-
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
As the title of this thread suggests, this is an enormous subject that I expect will foster little more than vague, far-reaching statements (which I rather like, actually). I'm curious as to people's experience in encountering "Pairs of Opposites," specifically in esoteric study.
One of the most significant spiritual experiences of my life was in a dream I had some years back. At this point in my life, I was absolutely obsessed with Gender, and why manifested existence has taken the forms it has; why two sexes? why ten fingers, ten toes, etc? But I always found myself coming back to Gender. The dream climaxed in a Union with a "Knowledge-Bearing Light," who bestowed a communication upon me that answered all my seeking and offered me much much more, which I promptly partook of. What happened next is something I can hardly describe, but "peace unutterable" would be the closest attempt I could make.
An obvious consideration in the context of Gender is Nuit and Hadit. However, at present, I find myself deeply concerned with 666, Lion-Serpents, and Solar-Phallic imagery in general. To me, while this is all cognate with sunlight and semen (and thus seemingly opens up a whole world of mythological allegory between sexual conception and the sun's light upon the earth), it would paradoxically seem to be a marriage between Lunar and Solar imagery: it is a composite of the Lunar Serpent, who sheds it's skin as the moon sheds it's shadow, and the Solar Lion, with its powerful transmissive roar and round solar face.
I suppose there are always multiple ways of reading the same thing: one could easily attribute the sun to the serpent, as the serpent never closes its eyes, while the sun never gives up its light; it takes it's light with it, and it is we who are left in the darkness of night. However, as I've almost exclusively seen the Lion-Serpent presented in a Solar-Phallic context, its left me to wonder if there is a corresponding Lunar-Ovic (so to speak) image that I am missing. Or maybe the appropriate context for the Lion-Serpent imagery does lie in a Lunar-Solar Union, and therefore may be symbolic of the Child principle itself. But this comes at odds with the Chokmah attributions I have heavily considered, as the Lion-Serpent is "The Beast," in my understanding
Qabalistically, I've also noticed that one can take the Paths in Pairs. Starting from the Bottom of the Tree, or the Tail of Nechushtan, its starts off wonderfully: The Universe and The Aeon (Spirit), The Sun and The Moon, and The Emperor and The Tower all seem to fit well together as pairs. Has anyone had much experience with studying the Paths in this context?
Also Qabalistically, every one of the Three Gates is rendered by two horizontally oriented Sephiroth. I can't help but believe there is incredible significance to this, and I'm hoping someone here can embellish on this regard.
The Father & Mother and Son & Daughter of Tetragrammaton can also be read in pairs, Macrocosm and Microcosm respectively.
Some really huge ones for me lately have been Hate & Love and Relationship & Identity. I actually intend to write an essay on Relationship & Identity soon. These two ideas represent to me the two fundamental approaches to Deity: any given religion will either encourage a relationship to deity or an identity with deity. While I typically have always held identity as superior, recent experiences have begun to reveal to me that Identity is actually created by Relationship, and perhaps even vice-versa.
On Hate & Love: somethings that have always stuck with me (and I believe this is all from the first part of Eight Lectures on Yoga) in my studies have been Crowley's convictions that it is infinitely more fruitful to scrap the rules and make your own, and also the idea that the mind hates routine. This, of course, is all my attempt to convey his statements in my own terms, and not necessarily a direct quotation. While this has typically left me almost completely dismissive of the very system I am aspiring to, I am reminded of how very near hate is to love itself, and perhaps one must do what one hates daily, even as one does what one loves daily, in order to achieve Balance.
This is getting really long, and I do wish to hear what anyone has to say about this, so I will reel it in and bring it to a close here. I hope all of this isn't too terribly disjointed.
Love is the law, love under will.
"