03/24/17 - TZADDI, The Emperor, Aries
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"36. Many have arisen, being wise. They have said "Seek out the glittering Image in the place ever golden, and unite yourselves with It."
- Many have arisen, being foolish. They have said, "Stoop down unto the darkly splendid world, and be wedded to that Blind Creature of the Slime."
- I who am beyond Wisdom and Folly, arise and say unto you: achieve both weddings! Unite yourselves with both!
- Beware, beware, I say, lest ye seek after the one and lose the other.
- My adepts stand upright; their head above the heavens, their feet below the hells.
- But since one is naturally attracted to the Angel, another to the Demon, let the first strengthen the lower link, the last attach more firmly to the higher."
If this doesn't ring true in practical life, I don't know what does. In my personal life I see the swinging pendulum, which has vacillated between opposite ideals. But the harder it swings in one direction, the harder it swings back. Which is ok, so long as it's under control.
The oath of a Practicus includes: "to prosecute the Great Work: which is, to obtain control of the vacillations of my own being."
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For wholeness to be reached, you must plunge into it & fully experience (this also means: accept and understand) both the Light and the Dark, the "virtuous" and the "hideous", Heaven & Hell, etc. What a sharp difference from the morality of the previous Aeon!
"There is joy in the setting-out; there is joy in the journey; there is joy in the goal." - this is so beautiful and True.
But you can't actually teach (instruct how-to) someone to experience it. Either they are ready (so the fish-hook catches them naturally, and lifts them up, in their individual pace), or they are not. There is a way that you can teach, though: it's by your very life, by example.
The fearful, sad & sorrowful, etc. are destroyed by the very laws of the Universe; they are closed for the fullness of experience, their partial participation in life spontaneously cuts them off from the vital, initiating current of Will-Love. -
Tzaddi / Emperor describes the powers of the self-consciousness to set in order/organize. We consciously define a premise and the subconsciousness will blindly follow deductions from this premise.
"I bring joy to your pleasure, peace to your languor, wisdom to your folly"
This describes the method of equilibrium (lamed)"All that ye do is right, if so be that ye enjoy it"
To achieve the consciousness of continuity in this life, our self-consciousness must learn to accept a fundamental premise that everything also contains its opposite. We must prove this to ourselves over & over until we learn to accept this premise automatically.
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'The weak, the timid, the imperfect, the cowardly, the poor, the tearful --- these are mine enemies, and I am come to destroy them'
I dont see this as 'other people' I see this as internal. The universe destroying unhappy people is revolting, RHK destroying these personalities and leaving the self intact is much more realistic.'But since one is naturally attracted to the Angel, another to the Demon, let the first strengthen the lower link, the last attach more firmly to the higher. '
Handy instruction that I've been following out.
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The turning in of concentrated meditation, that dangling hook of consciousness snaring the sparkling fish of death, of what is beyond the worldly veils. Righteous joy, and the promise of a transmuted experience through volitional change in perception. Condemnation of false interpretations that yield sorrow, anger or ennui--these lose the golden thread, spiraling into weakness, timidity and cowardice. Focus inward, instead, be strong, find the companion of the self in all his or her fullness, not in tearful compassion for the sick and imperfect, but in the delicious acceptance of light and of dark. Be prudent and equanimitous in the approach, lest one fall too far into wisdom or folly, both of which might lead the soul astray.
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"21. Light, Life, Love; Force, Fantasy, Fire; these do I bring you: mine hands are full of these.
22. There is joy in the setting-out; there is joy in the journey; there is joy in the goal.
23. Only if ye are sorrowful, or weary, or angry, or discomforted; then ye may know that ye have lost the golden thread, the thread wherewith I guide you to the heart of the groves of Eleusis."The journey of initiation, although superficially frightening (in the revelation of both Wisdom and Folly), is an abundant joy that is streaming with life. The text beautifully illustrates the splendorous victory of the steadfast initiate's foundation in the equilibration of internal forces.
