February 5-7, 2014: X. Fortune
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X
THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
(Jupiter)“‘I turned me about thrice in every way; and always I came at the last unto Thee.’ For Thou art hidden in every thing I love, in all that I desire.”
MEDITATION COLOR: Violet.
HEBREW LETTER: Kaf, palm. It means “hand,” particularly the palm or grasping aspect thereof; and, more generally, any curve or cycle, e.g., “dish”; and thus the concept of circularity. The closing hand also signifies a developing grasp of a situation, co-signified by this letter-name’s other literal meaning, “rock, cliff.” Ru, wheel, breath; circulation of blood and breath; thus, getting and storing prana. Note analogy of Kaf Peh to Kappa Phi.
CARD NAME: “Wheel” comes from the Indo-European root khel-, “to revolve, move around, sojourn, dwell.” Other words stemming from this root include many Jupiter-themed words such as colony, cult, cultivate, culture, as well as cycle, cyclone, collar, pole, pulley. Other occult-themed words from this same Indo-European root include talisman (from the Greek telos, “completion of a cycle”) and chakra (from Sanskrit cakram, “circle, wheel”). – “Fortune” comes from the Latin fortuna, from fors, “chance”; but note its relationship to fortis, “strength”!
ESOTERIC MEANING: The Consciousness of the Desired, Which Fulfills. It receives the divine Influence that flows into it as a result of the blessing it confers upon all that exists.
TREE of LIFE: Netzach to Chesed. (Links ‘Victory’ and ‘Mercy’; or Desire with Memory. The sanctification of one’s desire in the RECOLLECTION that the HGA is the One Desire reflected in each manifest expression of desire. “Fortune” befits this path between two benefics.)
ESOTERIC TITLE: The Lord of the Forces of Life
TANTRIC & ALCHEMICAL SIGNIFICANCE: “Lord of the Forces of Life.” kteis + phallos, “a unity of supreme attainment and delight.”
DIVINATION: Change in fortune. Usually means good fortune and happiness, a “turn for the better” (since the fact of consultation implies anxiety or discontent). Law, rhythm, pattern, cycles. Intoxication of success.
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Day one:
The violet sphere feels...regal...the idea of royalty enters my mind.The wheel at the top of the card is intimately connected with everything in the rest of the card. it appears to be generating activity below it. The lightning it generates descends below, like a flash of inspiration and thoughts descending from the heavens.
Setting in motion what appears to be a wheel of evolution that draws various forces that speed it up and slow it down.
3 creatures occupy the wheel: a reptilian creature, a monkey and a sphinx. To me they represent an evolution from our most primitive state to our most refined state.
Day Two:
Violet - red and blue combined, the mixing of water and fireThe purple background is the vault of Nuit's body. The supernal triangle is firmly established in the distance behind the circle, like a silent witness to everything that is happening in front of it.
The giant structure at the top of the card powers the wheel below it with lightning, with the spokes of the wheel generating some sort of vacuum.
The Sphinx, Monkey and Crocodile play on the wheel, each one more intelligent than the other. The three creatures bring to mind the Nephesh, the Ruach & the Neschamah.
Day Three:
A sudden flash of insight, a hunch, a message from the Gods that serves as a gamechanger.I am constantly brought back to the three creatures on the Wheel.
The crocodile is attached to the wheel by it's tail. It carries an anhk and crook and even though it's firmly attached to the wheel, it has no control of the wheel. It's not riding the wheel, the wheel is taking IT for a ride.
The Monkey hangs onto the wheel with his hands and foot. It is smiling. It is enjoying the ride. It's got the hang of it.
The Sphinx has mastered the ride. It sits comfortably balanced at the top of the wheel, holding a sword upright, demonstrating it's mastery.
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- Color: abundance, dignity, fullness, joy, love, overflow of positive emotion…
- Whirlpool… the center looks like the Eye in the Triangle.
- Multitude of experiences… craving for varieties of experience and giving oneself to that, whatever they may be;the joy is in this cycling motion itself.
- The wheel – what a revolutionary step for human kind! going far away, learning, expansion of view in every kind.
- The whole World is the Wheel (there’s the “secret” connection of 4 and 10 again).
- Mandala; the basic idea of a Temple; enter through any door (from any point of the circumference), but come to the center.
- 10 spokes = Sephirot; 3 Gunes on the circumference = polar opposites of the manifested world and their balanced Middle.
- NB: re Qabalistic contentedness of Malkuth and Chesed: 10 x 4 = 40, they are both Water, He first and He second of Tetragrammaton
- The secret of Kaph is in the balance of Yin and Yang.
- Whole Universe functions in cycles; it’s a “hidden mechanics”, like multitude of circles turning, and mutually connected (for example, the clock mechanism).
- Yet, every circle has its hub, and all the hubs – all the variety of them, although different- individual – are at the same time one single hub.
- Kaph: viewpoint (as from a top of the hill), seeing all these various cycles, their relations and mutual dependence, their inherent laws and principles they function by; 3 and 10 are numerical statements of the basic patterns; 11 is the number of Magick because it’s the factor of the hub inside the 10-spokes wheel.
- The three figures on the wheel are also Initiators; they “preside” over individual initiation and rotate their position over time; the aspirant meets them in this order: Typhon, Hermanubis, Sphinx (Typhon’s sword and head is turned downward, Hermanubis’ is focused on the very turning of the wheel, and Sphinx seats peacefully on the top, with its head upright).
- Sexuality; the secret of successful magick (it has to be in accordance with the True Will); flux.
- Wisdom here is in understanding the Cycles, in insight that everything has its phases and that the cycles are continuous. This makes one truly free (Exemptus!).
- This wheel creates centrifugal force, jets of energy flow out of its turning… expansion…. it takes little effort to go with that flow, but it takes tremendous effort to go through it to the center.
- NB: the head of the Sphinx is partially in the “Upper sphere”, where there are no spiral forces of these jets emanating from the wheel, but stars… from the smaller stars, which are like reflections of the greater stars, there are ”thunderbolts” (electrical charging) hitting the “below”-world.
- Eternity (the wheel keeps turning and turning).
- Details seen as part of the whole, of wider picture.
- There are 10 stars above: T.O.L.; it’s a “higher” level, where there is no whirling; and there is also a circular form like a disc – portraying different kind of cyclicity?
- All the above stars emanate from one star, and all are directly connected with it – Kether as omni-present principle, on all levels.
- Love; aspiration, attraction; magnetic force.
- This principle, Kaph, seems directly corespondent to Yesod.
- Grandiosity, widening motion, magnitude, traveling, motion.
- The Joy of God as it is reflected in the joy of existence of all the living creatures.
- Laughter – pure, Humor, pleasure.
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I've always found this card a little challenging. It's always changing course and I can never seem to get a good grasp of it.
The one image that I have is of a rotating wheel (3 dimensional) with a peg fixed to one point of the rim, viewed in profile (2 dimensional). In profile, the round motion of the peg is seen as a binary up-and-down motion.
The shift in consciousness of life as an on-off/yes-no dichotomy, to seeing everything as revolving motion. Day and night are just the revolutions of our planet. Breathing in and out, heartbeats, life and death, are just cycles. The underlying message is profoundly joyous, Jovial!
I'm reminded of the famous laws of thermodynamics. That energy can neither be created or destroyed, but only converted into other forms.
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Tarot Meditation: "Fortune"
4.19.14
10:11-10:33 A.M.
Fair meditation: tired/stressed, experienced certain difficulties with visualization but this will dissipate with practice. I was entranced by the whirling energy and brilliant colors of the design--what a beautifully conceived card! The Wheel of Dhamma (Law) constantly whirling, the transference of energy constantly in flux. The regal manner of the Sphinx, who upholds the Law by virtue of the Sword: short Roman type. The Roman methods of jurisdiction established many precedents for Law/Government, many still implemented today. The mode of Victory: Chesed and Netzach, Mercy and Love. The Kingdom is established by the wise and merciful Sage/Philosopher who understands the revolution of energies and thus meets every change with regal equanimity. I reached rapture while contemplating the Wheel: the thunder and lightning descends from the firmament with power into a whirling maelstrom which is nonetheless still. The hand of the ruler at the bottom of the Wheel: the King holds the divine scepter in his fist: the power of rulership and divine authority. "The gloved hand or the mailed fist," the wrath and paternal benevolence of Zeus; vengeance, mirth, or mercy; the revolution of matter.
4.19.14
--I realize that the palm is raised in benediction in certain types of social intercourse. Zeus/Jupiter was regarded in ancient times as the patron god of strangers and wanderers; it was a custom in ancient Greece to entertain any stranger, beggar, or suppliant as sacred to Zeus.
11:22-11:39 P.M.
Good insights with this meditation: the lightnings and the whirling forces seem to originate in the Supernal Realm, from which all things manifest. The means of manifestation are intellectually inscrutable: the Roman numeral X represents 10, the full establishment of the decimal system--so a form of completion--but also "x" the incalculable factor. "There is a factor infinite and unknown." Thus the unwise king may lose his throne and the beggar be made to rule: all things are fixedly impermanent. The lightnings reflect the flash of Fortune/Inspiration which often comes "in the 11th hour." Note how the hand plays a fundamental role in human relations: the handshake of meeting, the angry shaking of the fist, the open palm of benediction, or the open palm of "halt!"--all tokens of Jovian quality. This paternal property underlies the mores which give cohesion to society. This is exemplified by the regal demeanor of the king.
"This card thus represents the Universe in its aspect as a continual change of state." Book of Thoth
10:07-10:22 A.M.
Good visualization today: fragmented at times, but my concentration on the egg/sphere of colored light is getting better. (I find that when my awareness is pure it seems to activate the unconscious mind to a certain extent via the sphere thus allowing the card to interact with deeper levels of the mind.) I am reminded that the wheel is popularly considered the first development necessary to a civilized culture. (Anthropologists might argue that language, the written word, and agrarian development are paramount to civilization, but we'll leave such arguments to the academics.) Three Gunas, ten spokes: 13, Achad, Unity. X, the Pars Fortuna in Astrology, the factor of Luck. Jupiter, IAO-Pater, the All-Father, infinitely benevolent (even His seeming wrath is as a strong king protecting his kingdom.) Zeus, the royal aspect: the king remains unchanged despite any apparent negative or positive revolution of phenomena but yet adapts his means to the occasion; grace and mercy are qualities paramount to the king, but strength as well (fortis): firm, but open to supplication from the ruled. A very sublime and soothing card, to me, as it represents benevolence. I very much enjoyed meditation with this card. In divination this is always an encouraging card to pull.
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"Quote Avshalom Binyamin: I've always found this card a little challenging."
When I started the B.O.T.A. course work years ago, B.O.T.A sent out a letter of encouragement with the lesson on Atu-10. I wrote them back, asking why did they feel the need to include a letter with that lesson? There response back was this “The majority of Tarot students dropped out when they get to this card.” I remember My life speeded up when I started working with Atu 10. Just my 2 cents
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Meph I'm astounded at the scope and depth of what you got out of working with this card. Holy shit. Amazing.
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@Al-Shariyf said
"Meph I'm astounded at the scope and depth of what you got out of working with this card. Holy (****). Amazing."
I am deeply honored. What a wonderful vindication of my often trying devotion to this project. I take the Work rather seriously, and if there is any merit to the results I've obtained it is to be ascribed the veracity of the methods taught by the teachers of the Temple of Thelema. This Order is in direct alignment with the Thelemic current, and it is only by the enlightened guidance of of my superiors (you guys
) that I've attained any sort of progress at all.All that can be said is that earnest effort is duly rewarded. In the language of the I Ching, "perseverance furthers."
I am deeply indebted to your appreciation of my efforts and for the instruction offered by the Temple.
93's
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Meditation 1
Purple in the background of the card – color of Yesod – hence makes me think about the depth of the subconscious - and so it indicates to me that this image might be seen as the mind of the practitioner
Presence of archetypes – sphinx (lion and human), crocodile (also - Sobek) and baboon (also - Hanuman) all interlaced within the wheel , seemingly perpetuating its motion – each archetype can be interpreted in terms of human qualities – physical or psychological – so to me this indeed can be an image of one’s internal psychological qualities:
Sphinx – brings to mind power of the sphinx – to know, to will, to dare and to keep silent. Sobek – holding magickal implements – ankh (eternal life) and crop (rulership). Baboon also associated with Thoth – learning; here can present agility and strength both physical or that of thought and mind
Turning of the wheel – reminds me of the turning of the wheel of Dharma
Electrical current – power of insight in the mind, connections being formed between neuronsMeditation 2
Wheel as a symbol of cyclic pattern/existence
What goes around – comes around – karma: action and reaction
The triumphant hand/fist on the wheel – around it emerge rays
Wheel consists of 10 spokes and is gold in color – one way of interpreting as indicating good fortune on material level, context of fulfilled material/basic needs as basis on which psychological progress and spiritual work begin and are put into motion
9 stars on top from which lighting flashes emerge – foundation (9-Yesod) is secure and established which powers up electrically the wheel of fortune – the movement of one’s destiny for the better; the archetypal characters on the wheel are engaged and come to life with all the characteristics and qualities that they embody
Sphinx holds a sword –and is on the top of the wheel – conquering/taking over one’s path of destiny/karma/action
Image looks like machinery of karma – mechanical and powered up, charged and very much in motion; reminds me of Tesla’s experiments. Understanding mechanics of karma allows one to operate the machineryMeditation 3
Triangle (light purple) in the background – the number three also connecting to three archetypal characters on the wheel; also connects to 9 stars from which lighting flashes emerge – relative to them as 3 x 3 = 9; 9 corresponds to the Moon and Moon corresponds to the subconscious
Lighting flash – also looks like a golden thread which forms valuable connections in the mind; insight like I said before
The wheel also appears as a stylized iris of the eye and its placement in front of a triangle makes me think of the eye in the triangle – which indicates the quality of seeing in a greater sense of the word – to mean not only visually beholding but being aware, awakening; eye in triangle also associates with Horus.
The stars in the background – on each side we have 5 pointed stars which connect to the center star which is 10-pointed – indicating integration (in this case integration of two polarities of the mind – intuition and intellect if I were to assign left and right side to roles of the left and right hemisphere of the brain). Perhaps the wheel can be likened to pineal gland metaphorically if I am to view this card as a metaphorical representation of the brain.
“Rays” which spring from the wheel – the spark that comes from turning wheel – in the context of a saying “spinning one’s wheels” meaning one is thinking about something – here sparks and power come from the motion of the wheel which then in turn activates lighting and the rest of the machinery of the mind/brain and/or karma. The wheel is that which puts things into motion.