@matthew
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
-
Thanks Jessica! I lined up The Sun, The Chariot, The Emperor and Death in order and I see your connection of a lineage there. That’s really interesting! Also, I had not connected The Sun card to the Death card before but now I can how they share the same symbol of the white horse. Really appreciate your perspective on this.
-
That’s funny, Jake. And it’s an interesting take on Da’ath, Malkuth, and the Abyss. Thanks for posting the link.
Here is another perspective for the conversation: Lurianic Kabbalah suggests that God created the universe, and thereby the Abyss, by creating a vacuum inside himself; or through the concept of the tziumtzum.
‘Creation’ typically implies the joining, or bringing together, of materials to add them together. However, creation can also be achieved, paradoxically, by removing material. For instance, the marble statue of David before it was chiseled out.
This method of creation is also referred to in the Sefer Yetzirah, in the first verse of the first chapter “With 32 mystical paths of Wisdom engraved Yah.” Engraving, in this context, may be understood as creating negative shapes by removing/engraving/chiseling away material. The tziumtzum appears to function without Da’ath in this worldview.
The concept of Malkuth as the excrement of the two lower triads on the Tree of Life makes it difficult to understand the Lord’s Prayer that is the cornerstone of so many rituals within Western Esotericism: “To Thine be the Kingdom/Malkuth, the Power, and the Glory.” Interesting points from the link, and thanks for keeping the conversation going!
-
On the subject of Dion Fortune’s concept of the Tree of Life as a Filing Cabinet:
“Once he has mastered a working knowledge of the concepts of esoteric cosmogony and has the general scheme of symbolism assigned to each Sephirah well fixed in his memory, the student is equipped with a card-index system and can commence filing, collecting the material for his files from every imaginable source in archaeology, folk-lore, mystical religion, travellers’ tales, and the speculations of ancient and modern philosophy and ultra-modern science” (Mystical Qabalah, 85).
Although I agree with Dion Fortune on many points, and this is an interesting concept; I am not entirely in agreement here.
Matt
-
On the subject of the QLIPHOTH:
Chapter 26 in Dion Fortune’s Mystical Qabalah (277-283) is devoted entirely to the Qliphoth. Here is a brief excerpt from the chapter:
“The Qliphoth are aptly termed the evil and averse Sephiroth, for they are not independent principles or factors in the cosmic scheme, but the unbalanced and destructive aspect of the Holy Stations themselves. There are, in fact, not two Trees, but one Tree, a Qliphah being the reverse of a coin of which the obverse is the Sephirah.
Whoever uses the Tree as a magical system must perforce know the Spheres of the Qliphoth, because he has no option but to deal with them” (278).I hope this is helpful.
Matt
-
Hello Book Club,
Correction to my comment on Chapter 7:
Regardie states “Cedar wood, for instance, if employed in the construction of the Altar, would bring about an imaginative association Jupiter; whereas Oak is an attribution of Mars” (162).
In Moon Magic, the protagonist is introduced against among “…a long semicircle of scarlet-clad figures brilliant against the dark panelled oak of the background…” (Moon Magic, 1).
In the Mystical Qabbalah, Mars is the mundane Chakra of Gevurah, whose color in Yetzirah is Scarlet Red; corresponding to the scarlet-clad figures in Moon Magic, and when in Yetzirah corresponds to the FIVE OF SWORDS.
This suggests that Fortune correlates the protagonist in Moon Magic to the FIVE OF SWORDS based on Regardie’s observation that Oak is an attribution of Mars.
The correct name of that protagonist, who is being signaled to by the Oak/Mars reference and the FIVE OF SWORDS, is Malcom. I incorrectly stated a different name on the call which I hope did not cause any confusion.
Sincerely,
Matt -
-
I really enjoyed watching this, Jake. Thank you for posting. This certainly helps not only better understand the 4th dimension, but also why it’s so difficult to imagine. Another commentator on Kabbalah suggests that the 32 paths represent the 32 vertices of a five-dimensional hyper cube – so, again this theme of transitive dimensions moving up and down the Tree of Life.
Also, I like that Sagan used an apple to illustrate it – a kind of forbidden fruit/secret knowledge theme…
(Thinking out loud here) what does this imply for the World of Formation/Yetzirah and the Sefirot Yesod that the Astral Light is 4D? How does this inform patchwork in Yetzirah?
-
Hello,
Of all the cards (RWS) with a saddled horse and rider, the Knight of Wands is the only card where the rider appears to be pull stopping the horse.
The Death card, and Knight of Cups, horse is trotting forward, the Knight of Swords is charging ahead; and the Knight of Pentacles is at a relaxed stand still.
Curious if anyone has insight onto why the Knight of Wands rider is pulling to an abrupt stop?
-
-
Hello Naha,
The protagonist, Wilfred, refers frequently to dolphin fireplace andirons throughout the novel, for example:
“…Morgan put a match to the sea-fire of driftwood on the big hearth I had made for her between my two dolphins…” (Chapter 12)
“…huge fire of drift that blazed between my beloved dolphins” (Chapter 24)
“…save my two dolphins still…in the fire place…” (Chapter 26)
Why does Fortune repeatedly bring the reader’s attention to this imagery of dolphins? Are they related to Isis in some significant way or are they hinting at the King of Cups card; or some other reason?
Respectfully,
Matt -
Good question, not sure about a deity in Qabbalah related to Binah, but, Binah in Hebrew begins with the letter (Bet) which is significant because the Hebrew Bible begins with the (Bet)/Bereshit meaning “in the beginning.”
Betzalel (also beginning with Bet), was the architect of the Ark of the Covenant, and his qualifications according to Exodus 31:3 “I have filled him with the Spirit of God (Kether), with Wisdom (Chakmah), with Understanding (Binah)…” so this appears to suggest Binah may signal to the Creation account in Genesis (Bereshit), and the building of the Ark of the Covenant.
Also, Wisdom (Chakmah) and Understanding (Binah) may imply Solomon, and the building of the Temple. It may be the case that when Fortune signals to Binah, she is signaling to the temple-building/world creation aspect in housing a deity that would be consistent with the story line in Moon Magic.
Thoughts?
-
-
