Bringing Your Reality Into Form – The 3rdth Path
The 3rd path in the Yoga of the West tradition, Kabbalah using the Tarot, is the path known as Binah, the birth giver. This is the cosmic gate from which the Light brings being into form. The numbers 3 of each suit in the Tarot deck, 4 cards combined, reflect the energy at work here. On this path order of all comes into existence. This is the hub of paths that includes the Magician, the Empress, the Chariot and the Lovers, a hub of synthesis. This path is a fusion of opposites; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We achieve this whole by fulfilling the work we are born to create, rejoicing in the profound recognition of what is valuable, experiencing birth pain in our hearts and knowing objective truth.
The first card is the 3 of Pentacles, which portrays three figures in conference in what can only be a cathedral. This card depicts sacred work, service. A workman is standing above a priest and a “judge,” in a clown cloak. The workman is the artist and he is raised above the others. The artist’s work, the work of creation is what is most important. This image makes me think of Michelangelo painting The Last Judgment in the Sistine chapel in the Vatican. The Pope’s master of ceremonies, Biagio de Cesena, insulted the painting and Michelangelo responded by portraying him as Minos, in the hell part of the picture with ass’ ears and a snake biting his penis. Funny but, in the workings of this path, dangerous, because if the three do not come to agreement the great work goes undone. Wholeness requires us to unify the three aspects of ourselves that these figures represent. Doing our true work in the world requires us to balance our creative perfectionist, with our spirituality and our practical worldly concerns (making a living).
The second card is the 3 of Cups. The name of this path, Binah, means understanding. The three figures in this card have come to full understanding. They have come together to rejoice in a spirit of equality to celebrate what is most valuable to them, their mutual understanding. Also, from the harvest fruit all around them, they are celebrating mutual success. These figures dance in a circle, not in a line, no one comes first, no one comes last. Wholeness requires us to put aside our individual ego and celebrate be part of a group without the need to be exceptional.
The third card on this third path is the Three of Swords. Three is a magic number and this three of Swords is THE card of creativity. The look of the three swords stabbing into a heart brings to mind heartbreak. But the pain in this Fire card is birth pain, the pain of creation, the pain of the right thing happening. No body gets out of this world alive. There is nothing to do with pain except take it into our hearts and in so doing transform it into creative energy. It is up to us to create the world we experience. To master the path of the Three of Swords is to master the understanding that the formation forces of life deliver what we need, not what we want.
The final card on this path of creative fulfillment is the Three of Wands, symbolizing intuition: knowing. The lone figure standing above all represents understanding what needs to be brought into being. The figure in this card stands centered in knowing, looking out over the sea of possibility. The figure’s right hand, the hand that symbolizes bringing the material world into form, rests securely on the right wand. This is the path of the prophets, the saints, the visionaries; the path of genius that changes the world as we know it. Wholeness on this path requires us to find centered knowing.
This reading is meant for the practice of Yoga of the West, a Tarot meditation designed to build a bridge of intuition between the reader’s unconscious and conscious mind. People also consult the cards as an oracle. Caution is advised. An oracle opens the door to spiritual deception as easily as spiritual truth. To read more about Yoga of the West go to https://choosinghonor.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/yoga-of-the-west-a-mindfulness-practice-that-uses-the-tarot-to-reflect-the-workings-of-the-light/
Blessed Day
Illustration from the Albano Waite Tarot deck reproduced by permission of Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902. Copyright c 1990 by US Games Inc., Stamford, CT. Further reproduction prohibited.
The Path of the Fool – Aleph on the Tree of Life
The ALEPH path is represented by THE FOOL archetype. This is the leap of faith consciousness on the Tree of Life. ALEPH is shaded on the diagram to the left.
The Fool in Tarot is the zero path, the ALEPH path of unlimited potential. In many ways The Fool is all of us on every path on our journey on the Tree of Life. This Fool path is one on which all that we need manifests because we follow the Light, that from which all things come, without question. The Fool has no fear or anxiety; he’s a newborn soul about to step off a cliff into the material world. He has all the tools he needs in the bag on the staff, but he hasn’t opened the bag yet. He knows that he can trust in the long, straight and narrow path his staff represents: his will. The white rose in his left hand represents purity of thought. The little white dog nipping at his heels is his guardian. The dog will protect him, but he will also push him to learn the lessons that he came here to learn.. Life is wasted if no lessons are learned. The mountains behind the Fool represent the realms of Light that he has just left, and will spend his life trying to attain again. The valley he is about to step into represents our own physical, material world. The Fool willingly walks right off the cliff of the unknown in order to be who he/she was born to be and create what he/she was born to create. This path is also a path of understanding that even if you fall on your face or make a fool of yourself, everything will be all right, “just pick your self up, dust your self off, and start all over again.” Wholeness for the Fool is found in seeking and knowing what he/she does not know.
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Tagged as aleph, being, change of consciousness, climbing the tree of life, Tarot, the fool, tree of life honor