Total freedom isn't the same as freedom from the particular. For example, financial freedom is a particular freedom. Financial independence is a wonderful thing to have. Total freedom, though, isn't freedom from financial dependence. Total freedom isn't merely freedom from social constraints, financial or familial. Total freedom is all this and freedom from oneself, or rather, selves. In The Tower card, we see various figures falling from the toppling structure. These figures represent, among other things, the sub-personalities of the psyche. The latter manifest themselves in many ways, which differs from person to person. They can become pathological at times. The role of mother, for example, can become pathological when a woman is unable to bear children; therefore, to fill the empty space, she smothers and infantilizes her husband.
Sub-personalities are experienced by almost everyone as "inner voices," such as the inner-critic, the inner-victim, the inner-hero, and so on. They're usually contradictory by nature and come into conflict with the reality of the total personality. This conflict can become agonizing in sensitive individuals but are typically ignored by those of a more or less banal disposition---a hypocrite, for example. One man prides himself on being honest only to one day discover that he actually lies quite often. He may preach fidelity to others all the while practicing quite the opposite himself. In fact, he may defend himself even when caught red-handed! One personality is a saint, the other is a sinner, and never the twain shall meet!
Total freedom requires the abdication of these sub-personalities. One learns to see past these partial selves and into the nondual heart of consciousness. This entails a breakdown of the inhibitive reflexes of the self-system, which in turn creates a tremendous revolution in the brain; a revolution that is, more often than not, experienced as downright unbearable.
The ego is not a noun but a verb. It's not one thing, but many things. A person can be a Confucian moralist one minute and a Pan-like hedonist the next and may not find anything wrong with such a contradiction. It requires unshakable vigilance and honesty to recognize the toxicity of this schizophrenic state. The eye of God, seen objectively witnessing the entire scene from above The Tower, represents this honest look at oneself. This honesty lies at the very heart of the transformation hiding beneath the rubble of The Tower.
This renewal process occurs on many levels, from artistic to religious, and the energy which fuels it is the alchemical principle called Sulphur. The vessel into which this energy flows is found in The Aeon card. The Aeon is a marginal state between the rebirth of the creative urge and the expression of that energy. To renew the creative urge it’s often necessary to "die" to all creative projects. We experience this whenever we step away from a project, then return to it later with fresh eyes to find the solution waiting for us.
Paradoxical problems can’t be solved on the same plane as the problem itself. Is it possible, then, to remain in the center of this movement? If it is possible then we must certainly see the importance of finding that center. If we become familiar with that center, so much so that we come to call it "home", then we won’t experience any trauma in the immolation of the various masks we wear. We will, in fact, discover that it's the very essence of bliss! The integration that occurs at this level is symbolized in The Tower by the Phoenix, symbol of eternal renewal. We don't see this mythic bird in the present card, but we can sense its presence in The Aeon. The act of immolation is portrayed here, in The Tower, whilst the Phoenix rising from the ashes is the essence of The Aeon.
In The Aeon, we see enthroned in the background the Egyptian god of Force and Fire, Ra Hoor Kuith.
In the "Book of the Law", Ra Hoor Kuith says:
"I am the Lord of the Double Wand of Power; the wand of the force of Coph Nia---but my left hand is empty, for I have crushed an Universe; and nought remains." *(Ch.3, V.72)
Another interpretation of The Tower pertains to creative frustration, the remedy for which we've already discussed. But what's most important about this remedy is that it can and should be applied to the mind itself. We should always make room for periods of healthy introversion, creating a space in which we’re open to transpersonal guidance. I can't begin to express the value in cultivating the ability to "turn off" the external world so that you can listen to the voice of your Holy Guardian Angel. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to protect this flower from a world addicted to activity and speed, and it takes a careful balance to function in both worlds simultaneously.
Try this:
The next time you're feeling emotionally overwhelmed, sit down in a comfortable posture, alone, without any disturbance. Don't do anything. Don't dwell on the intricacies of the situation. Instead, simply be and allow whatever's there to be there without your interference. Then watch!
The key to transcending The Tower and arriving at the new dawn of The Aeon is twofold:
1. Don't seek transcendence; simply be with yourself.
2. Expand your field of awareness; don’t narrow it down by concentrating on something.
One way to do this is to remain aware of the emotional disturbance while bringing something else into the picture; something neutral, like the breath. Expand your awareness to include both the emotional disturbance and the breath. Don't do anything with the breath; simply include it in your passive observation. From there you can expand your field of awareness even more to include the sensations in your body.
You've now expanded your field of awareness to a level beyond that of the emotional disturbance!
By looking upon the emotional disturbance, your breath, and the sensations in your body as one unitary movement, you've transcended the entire problem. It's very subtle, but if you can do it then you've achieved something incredible. This unitary process creates a protective field, ironically, by exposing you to the entire movement of a given problem. In the card, the Abraxas Serpent symbolizes this unitary movement from identification to dis-identification, for the serpent sheds its skin.
Now if only the rest of the world would understand this!
The Tower obviously symbolizes war and violence. Out of all the creatures on this beautiful earth, why are human beings so quick to kill? Animals also kill, and not just for food, for greed also. But human beings actually come together to kill each other and animals in record numbers. Mankind has been given the power of strategic thought, and this ability is refined to a degree not enjoyed by other animals. Man has superior reasoning faculties but remains animalistic nonetheless. Monkeys behave in a similar way. Apes will fight for supremacy, for women, for property. It would seem that man is nothing but a monkey with superior intellect and less hair!
Individual aggression becomes collective aggression and culminates in war. In addition to this, the earth is overpopulated, and the only solution seems to be mass suicide, homicide, and abortion. Our politicians are after power, not peace; so we can't rely on them for the solution. They're on the same level as that of the problem. The individual must act upon himself; there’s no other way.
Even if we attain Utopia we can look forward to its demise, for unless humanity intrinsically changes war will always exist. If within your own being there's disorder, which is also a form of war, then you are adding to the war of the world.
Then there's the issue of equality. Equality isn't the same thing as sameness. Between the worldview of a black man and that of a Chinese there's an immense difference. The problem of prejudice occurs when these differences are viewed as hostile rather than complimentary. Imagine what would become of the earth should the soil suddenly hate the rain! The soil isn't the same as the rain in texture but they're not inimical to one another. Each culture has something to offer the other and this can't be fully appreciated until one first honors these differences.
Man isn't the same as woman, but no one sees anything wrong with this. If they did then they’d cease to fall in love. Why sleep with the enemy? Men and women aren’t the same but they're equal. It's only equality that can bring about a change in this world, in my opinion, not s
ameness. If a person can see his entire field of awareness with an equal eye, and have compassion for what he sees, then he'll end the war within himself. The governing factor in such a glace is compassion, just as the governing factor in healthy human relationship is love and mutual respect.
Can you look upon yourself with the same acceptance as you would your own child? If you can than you have, in your own small way, contributed to the ending of the violence in this world. You must look at yourself with compassion and understanding. This is the awakening of unconditional regard, which is true Love. There must be a love of truth, of that which is immanent; clear perception without the conditioned response. Such clear perception has the power to clear away the cobwebs of self-deception and is always concerned with what's right and true. In order to appreciate the relevance of such a thing we must first get a taste of what it is. This is the reason for all true spiritual disciplines: to acquire the taste for truth. It's the mutual love of truth which will abolish the ugly specter of war, both in the individual and the world at large.
In closing, I'd like to share with you an interesting synchronicity regarding the Thelemic holy book, “Liber Al vel Legis." In Chapter Three, verse seventy-one, the god of War and Vengeance, Ra-Hoor-Khuith, says:
"Hail! ye twin warriors about the pillars of the world! for your time is night at hand."
And in verse seventy-three, he continues:
"Paste the sheets from right to left and from top to bottom: then behold!"
In the year 2001, I stood on the front porch of my mother's house marveling at the approaching dawn. I was there on housesitting duty while my mother, stepfather, and sister were vacationing in New Jersey. I can't remember exactly how it happened, but at some point, I glanced toward the heavens and saw something I'll never forget. I saw, suspended in the blue sky of dawn, an image of three heads---all of soldiers---set against the background of a full-color, waving American flag! The image remained for as long as I chose to look at it, and I remained transfixed for what seemed like hours before finally turning away to reflect upon what happened. It wasn't long thereafter that the horror of 9/11 would shock the nation from its dream of national security.
I don't know if Aiwass---the extraterrestrial being who supposedly dictated the "Liber Al" to Crowley in the year 1904---had in mind what I'm about to reveal when he dictated that seventy-first verse, and I'll leave it to the reader to decide upon a personal verdict.
The "twin warriors about the pillars of the world" could easily be a reference to the “twin towers” of the World Trade Center. I'm not saying that it is a reference, only that it could be. That said, there's a trick with a ten or twenty-dollar bill in which you fold it in such a way that it looks like an airplane. After it's folded---indeed from right to left, top to bottom---the image of two towers appear, with smoke emanating from them in a way that accurately simulates the areas hit by the airliners in the Twin Tower attacks.
Also, it's said that an American flag was left standing atop the rubble when finally the towers had collapsed. In the same folded currency note you'll see, on the other side of the paper, an American flag standing atop a mound, which is really the roof of the American House of Treasury. In The Tower, the god Dis Pater, located at the bottom of the card, is the Lord of the Underworld and of Riches: the Roman Pluto.
Coincidence? Perhaps. But consider the following:
9/11 corresponds, according to the numerological art of Gematria, to the Hebrew phrase "Bar Shachath", meaning "Pit of Destruction", and is a reference to the fifth Hell, which corresponds, Kabbalistically, to the fifth Sephira, Geburah, sphere of war-like Mars. And what's the tarot trump that corresponds to Mars?
The Tower! A card portraying exactly what happened on 9/11.
Tarot is a game. It widens our lens and utilizes our tendency to look outside of ourselves for answers. It offers us a series of colorful, archetypal figures upon which we unknowingly project the substrata of our psyche. In those hidden depths we find our own spirit, which is inseparable from the spirit of our age and times. These things are present NOW, and not in some imaginary future.
Speaking of widened lenses, do you hear those ecstatic cries coming from the heavens? “To me! To me!” they echo. Let’s take off our shoes, as we’re standing on holy ground. And who’s our hostess but the Queen of Space Herself: Nuith.
PHASE THREE
(From The Star to The Universe)
The Child and the Butterfly
"Be cheerful, sir, for our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air, and, like the baseless fabric of this vision, the cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, and, like this insubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rack behind: We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
-Shakespeare ("The Tempest")
The Star:
The Daughter of the Firmament
The Dweller between the Waters
Trump #17
Zodiacal Trump of Aquarius
Saturn (some say Uranus) Rules—Neptune Exalted
Path: #15 (Chokmah to Tiphareth)
Letter: He ("window") (numerical value: 5.)
Helpful Quotes
"Pour water on thyself: thus shalt thou be a Fountain to the Universe.
Find thyself in every Star!
Achieve thou every possibility!"
-Aleister Crowley
"Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing and any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt."
-Nuith, Liber Al Vel Legis, Chapter one, verse 22.
"Is it possible to live on this earth not having a single image about anybody—including god, if there is such an entity—no image about your wife and your children and your husband, or anyone? Not to have a single image? Then it is possible never to be hurt."
-J. Krishnamurti
"For men whose minds are forever focused on me, whose love has grown deep through meditation, I am easy to reach, Arjuna."
-Krishna to Arjuna (*From the "Bhagavad-Gita.")
Contemplation
The Star is the messenger of the invisible, the promise of things unseen, manifesting as the power of faith. It must be understood that faith isn’t the same thing as belief. Faith knows, belief assumes. Belief has to have an answer for everything because belief is basically fear-oriented. Faith, on the other hand, is courage-oriented. If a "believer" is afraid of death he'll cling to his belief in heaven, where one lives forever in eternal bliss. He may not believe in ghosts and goblins, unicorns and the like, but heaven? —To him that's as certain as death itself!
Belief can give you an answer to the question, "Why do you believe?" If you ask a Christian why she believes she'll go to heaven after death she'll say, "Because Jesus died for my sins and the Bible says so." But her answer is almost always rooted in assumption. She knows nothing of Christ, for the truth is that she never met him. The person of faith, on the other hand, isn't concerned with death at all. Death is meaningless as far as being afraid of it is concerned.
Most people, at some point in their lives, are haunted by a vague but nagging sense that something's missing, but few can actually name the space that needs to be filled. This feeling fuels the impetus to search, which is the arising of faith.
A flower doesn't know that the sky exists, but the flower can sense that something like the sky is there. If the flower has no faith in the sky then the seed won't open, the roots will never push through the soil and the petals never open to the sun. Similarly, when you become rooted in yourself, you can sense that a much greater possibility exists for you. You may not be able to see it, you may only sense it, but nobody can tell you it's not there. True, you may not be able to prove to anyone that this greater possibility is there, but you have faith. So, when the season is right, your petals will unfold, your perfume will be released, and you'll c
ome to know the freedom of your inner sky.
The Star is the perfume of the lotus held by The Empress.
Until you discover the inner river which leads to the ocean of freedom you’ll substitute by projecting false hopes upon the horizon. The Star of the Thoth deck reminds us to always aspire to the highest peak.
Says Nuith:
"Follow out the ordeals of my knowledge! Seek me only! Then the joys of my love will redeem ye from all pain."
In the card, we see a beautiful naked woman descending from heaven, bathing in Her own divine essence. What exactly is this "essence"? To answer this question, we must turn to the "Book of the Law"—the entire first chapter of which a dialogue between the Queen of Space is and Aleister Crowley—for in this book, allegedly channeled by Crowley in Cairo, Egypt, 1904, Nuith reveals herself.
Since she's the "Unity of the Unity of all things," the goddess Nuith, in order to manifest to the human mind in a way that it can both comprehend and contain, must appear in such a way that reveals Her divinity without fatally overwhelming the mind of the recipient (Chokmah/Tiphareth axis). The most efficient way to do this is to use beauty as a vehicle (Tiphareth). Most people are familiar with the philosophical maxim, "Beauty is Truth" but, as I've said elsewhere, this may not be entirely accurate. Beauty is related to Truth in much the same way as light is related to spirituality; that is, analogously.
Predicting The Present Page 23
