TAROT INTERPRETATION

LessonSix
Before readingthis lesson,review the lessonsdealingwith Keys 20,13 and 6 in TAROT
FUNDAMENTALS, and with the lettersShin,Nun andZain. Let a little time elapsebetween
this review and the study of the lessonnow in your hands. Then you will get a great deal
more out of what follows.
In the T'arotKey representingthe fifth stageof spiritual unfoldment, personality was depicted
by two small children dancingin a fairy ring. In I(ey 20, the two children are mergedinto one
who now has the fatherand mother on eitherside. The child has its back to the spectator,so
that the sex is indeterminate,though it seemsto be a boy. The child is the new conceptof
personality,born ofsubconsciousness,
yet fatheredby consciousknowledgeand reasoning.
One of the secretsof Key 20 is that the child's fatherand mother are lifted up becausethe
child is rising.
We seeherethe stageof unfoldmentimmediatelyprecedingcosmic consciousness.The scene
has somefeaturesof the physicalplane,but closerexaminationshowsthat it must be referred
io tlreiiietapliysicali'ealiii. Tlie figui-es.thoughiiude,aie iroi flesh-color.but gi'ay.Tiie light
that shineshere "never shoneon land or sea." Mountainsrise in the distance,but they are
mountainsof ice. The whole suggestionis that this is the fluidic region beyondthe range of
physicalsensation.
This is confirmedby the position of the humanfigures. In this picturethey rise from
rectangularcolfins. The samegeneralsuggestionis given in older versionsof I(ey 20. By
tireir shape,the coffins representthe limitations of three-dimensionalconsciousness.
In symbolism,the part is often put for the whole . . . in this instancefor a whole impossibleto
show in a picture. The figures standat right anglesto the coffins. This remindsus that the
fourth dimensionis at right anglesto all the dimensionswe know. Thereforethe meaningof
personalityand its parents,self-consciollsness
this detail of the designis that the regenerated
and subconsciousness,
are now liberatedfrom the limitations of three-dimensional
consciousness.
They have been set free by a trumpet-blast,soundedby an angelwhoseflaming wings signi$t
that he personif,tes
the elementof fire, attributedby Qabaliststo the letter Shin. This angel is
not somecelestialbeing come down to earth. . . no visitor from the skies. His trumpet-call
comesfrom the GreatWithin. This whole sceneis a representation
of interior metaphysical
experience.

11,10300

7 ' t lR O T I N T E R P R E T A T I O N .

On the physical plane,sensationis stimulatedby radiantenergy,fluids, gasesand solids.

Theseare the fire, water,air and earthof the old physics,symbolizedby the wand, cup, sword
and pentacleon the Magician's table. Besidesthesefour, Westernoccultism,especiallyin
alcherny,recognizesa fifth, termedtlie Quintessence.
Liberation is the result of tlie unfoldrnentof the potenciesof the cosmic fire within us. In
I(ey 20, the symbolismolearlyindicatesthat soundis the specialform assumedby the
'Iake
liberatingagency.
this in no figurative or allegoricalsense. Soundvibration is what
actually setsus free. This is why the tradition of a "Lost Word" whosepronunciationis a key
to magical powersis mentionedagainand againin Westernoccultism. This is why, in
Egyptianrituals, the candidateis repeatedlychallengedand cannotpassuntil he has
pronouncedthe challenger'scorrectname. To this day, without knowing what it really
mealls,we say the greatnameAmen (lhN) at the end of prayers;and thoseof us who have
someknowledgeof Hinduism are familiar with the importanceof the mystic syllable,AUM.
A practicaloccultist makesdaily use of soundvibration. Even if he has neverheardof the
greatermysteriesof sound,the meresttyro who repeatsan affirmation is using this power,
whetherhe uttersthe words of the affirmation aloud,or merely recitesthem mentally. In the
Orient, the dominantidea of a brief sentenceis expressedin a sequenceof tonesrelatedto that
idea,and this Oriental scienceof the correlationof soundand thought is known as mantra
'fhe
yogs.
samescienceis employedfor healingby the WesternSchool.
In i(ey 20, however,the stressis upon the Soundless
Sound,sometimescalledthe Voice of
Silence.
This
calls
the
us higher,out of the mortality of personsborn from certainparents,
into the parentless state. This is the statewhich is "after the order of Melchizedek."
According to the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews(seeHebrews7), Melchizedekwas
"without father,without mother,without descent,having neitherbeginningof days,nor end of
lil'e; but made like unto a Son of God; abidinga priest continually."
(lncidentally,the words, "after the order of Melchizedek,"which occur in one of the Psalms
and also in the Epistle to the Hebrews,are by no meansa referenceto a secretorder of
priesthoodon the "higher planes." The Hebrew and Greekwords "after the order of' when
translated,really mean"like unto, similar to, having like propertiesor qualities." Often some
pseudo-occultisttells his followers wondroustalesaboutthe supposed"Order of
Melchizedek." Therehave appearedmany "Heads" or "Messengers"of the "only genuine
Order of Melchizedek,"with talesof high initiation in caves,in remotemountainretreats,in
all mannerof Arabian Nights' surroundings.Yet the whole nonsensicalstructureof false
pretensetestson the ignoranoeof pretendersand believersalike, who do not know what the
word "order," in this particularconnection,really means.)
When one hearsthe Inner Voice, throughthe activity of the "parentless,"subtle,metaphysical
soundvibration, one is fi'eedfiom all senseof being a mortal and having earthly parentsancl
genealogy. One then knows that the I AM really is . . . the timeless,eternal,immortal SELF,

Lls0300

TAROT

INTERPRETATION:

having neitherbeginningnor end. Thus, in this sixth stageof spiritual unfoldment,one is

consciouslyawarethat one was neverborn and will neverdie.
T'heagencyin this work is symbolizedby Key 13 which hasto do with the fiery Mars force.
Key 20 also representsthe elementof fire becausethe latter correspondsto the letter Shin.
Link this up with I(ey 16 which is attributedto Mars. Liberationhas an aspectof destruction.
Hindus indicatethis when they say that Shiva,the destroyer,is the greatLord of Yoga.
Every changein consciousness
tearsdown cells. Human lif'e is an invisible conflasration.
Thus the first characterof the word Shin (|tllJ) is D, which meanstooth. As the office of
teeth is to breakdown the structureof the food we eat so that solar energymay be releasedby
fttrther processesof digestionand assimilation,so, in higher aspectsof unfoldment,the fiery
Lifb-breathbreaksdown cells in our bodies. The liberationof the fiery essencesof thesecells
is what makesus awareof statesof consciousness
beyondthought. Long beforethis may
occllr, however,the Mars fbrce must burn up cells which obstructthe free flow of the
Life-power through certainbodily channels.
flonsider one specificinstance. The spinalcord is a tube. In young children it is open at the
lower end so that the serpentpower coiled in the sacralplexus can rise through it. This is why
little chilclrenoften have metaphysicalvision, and why they sometimeshave invisible
playmates,both humanand animal. As they grow older, this tube is closedat the lower end in
orcierthat the greatly increasedactivity of the Viars force, at the time of puberty,may not
make the serpentpower rise prematurelyand injure the brain, as it sometimesdoesin
adtllescentdementia.
This is a rviseprovision of nailtre,but when a practicaloccultist seeksto gain metaphysical
vision, he must apply the Mars force to destroythe cells which closethe lower end of the
spinal tube. By openingit again,he really becomes"as a little child."
Knowledge of tlris fact has led foolish experimentersinto disastrousattemptsto open the
spinaltube by concentratingon the centerat its base. Personswho have graspedthe truth that
all this work is done,not by personality,but by the Life-power itself, will not make this
mistake. Strive to understandthat the awakeningof the higher vision is accordingto law and
involves a physiologicalchange. On your headbe it, if you begin to concentrateon the
centersin order to hastenunfoldment. No studentknows enoughto attemptanything of the
kind, exceptunderthe guidanceof a truly competentteacherwho is really clairvoyant. Even
such a teacherwill usually give instructionin the safemethodsof meditationwhich lead to the
sameresult without subjectingthe studentto the graverisks attendingdirect concentration.
The three letters,I t U, will revealto a Qabalistthe main factorsat work in the sixth stageof
spiritual unfoldment. Shin (lt) standsfor cosmicfire. Yod (t) representsthe working of that
fire in what alchemistscall "the black dragonof putrefaction,"that is, the intestinaltract,
governedby the zodracalsign Virgo, attributedto Yod. The final Nun (l) is the symbol of that

us0300

TtlRO7' I N'fE RPR ETAT'l ON:

fire after it has beenextractedflom fbod, water and air by variousassimilativeprocesses,and,

having beenconvertedinto nerve-force,is storedup in the Mars centerruling the region
to the sign Scorpio.
corresponding
The nerve-forcein the Mars centeris raiseduntil it energizesa centerin the brain. Then we
emergefiom the world of senseand threedimensionsinto the supersensual
world known as
the fourth dimension. None ever doesthis work for himself. It is doneby the SELF working
within him.
To be sure,the studentemploysmental and physicalexercises;but eventheseare not his own
doing as he soon finds out when he becomesin somemeasureproficient. The object of all
suchpracticesis, or shouldbe, to deepenone's understandingof the truth that no human
personalityever doesanything of itself. The object of all training is to get the inadequate
personalityout of the way so that the true SELF, which knowsiust what, how, and when to do
it, may find no resistanceto the free expressionof its perfectmasteryof rnind and body. In
the beginning,the studentseemsto hirnselfto be getting out of the way. l,ater on, he finds
that not eventhis is his "own" action. It is the anselwho setsus free.not we ourselves.
We have rnentionedthe fact that the bodiesof the humanf-rguresare gray, and if you have
revier,vedour analysisof the symbols,you will rememberthat the man is maintaininga
passiveposture,while the woman is actively holding up her handsto receivean influx of
power liom above. At this sixth stageof spirittral unfoldment, there begins to be manifest the
peculiarity of the consciousness
beyondthe level of intellectualthought,a peculiarity for
and
which we have no adequatewords. It is a reversalof the usualrelationsof consciousness
quiet.
apparently
so
that
self-consciousness,
hitherto
active,
becomes
subconsciousness,
Observe,too, that in contrastto Key 6, wherethe man looks at the woman, and in contrastto
l(ey 1, where the Magician looks clorvn,this man looks up, and his gazeis fixed on the angel.
persists;but it is no longer the
ln the sixth stageof spiritualunfoldrnent,self-consciousness
now appearsto be the more active member
dominant element. If anything,subconsciousness
is quite still, sinceit
of the personalmentalpair. On the other hand,while self-consciousness
hasrealizedthat personalitydoesnothing of itself, this denial is not by any meansthe
extinction of personality. It is a different evaluationof the meaningof self-consciousness.
Nor is this statemerely an intellectualconvictionor conclusion. lt is a vivid experience.
At this stageof unfoldment,the last enemy,death,is overcome,becausethe experienceitself
is a transmutationof the very folce which destroysour physicalbodies. It is an actual
fiom their bondageto the physical plane.
Iiberationof the higher vehiclesof consciousness
This liberation is effectedby the decayand destructionof the physicalorganism. This
liberation is even more than this, but at this point in our work, it is not wise to enterinto
details. It is enoughto say that in the sixth stageof unfoldment,what is raisedis an
incorruptiblebody which, as St. Paul tells us, is "sown corruptible." The secretof this sowing
and reapingis shown in the symbolismof Key 13.

11,10300

,I'A
IIO T I N T E R P tIETA T I O N

The processwhich leadsto this result is hinted at in THE EMERALD TABLET: "Thou shalt
separatethe earthfrom the fire, the subtlefiom the gross,suavely,and with greatingenuity. It
ascendsfrom earth to heaven,and descendsto earth again,and receivesthe power of the
superiorsand of the inferiors."
The principle involved is a gentle,gradualand careful separationof the finer vehicles of the
Life-power from the grosserones. This operationis performed,as alchemistsput it, by the aid
of Mercury, which is the planetaryruler of Gemini, the zodiacalsign symbolizedby I(ey 6.
The separationis an act of discrimination. The whole work of separatingthe subtle fiom the
gross,of extricatingthe finer vehiclesof fbur-dimensionalconsciousness
from their bondsof
flesh, calls fbr the applicationof the principle explainedin our analysisof Key 6, in TAROT
FTINDAMENTALS.
The result of right discliminationis mental equilibrium. Until this equilibrium is established,
tliere is continualfriction betweenself-consciousness
and subconsciousness,
so that the very
law of suggestion,which brings aboutso many seemingmiracleswhen it is constructively
applied,actsnegativelyto intensify our inner disharmony.
When we graspour true relationto the Life-power; when we understandthat unfailing
wisdorn finds expression,howeverinadequate,through all our thoughtsand words; when we
begin to rest our lives upon the fbunciaiionof EternaiBeing, our perceprionsof thesetruths,
and our endeavorsto live them, begin to affect the structureof all our vehicles. For
subconsciousness
eagerlyacceptsthe implicits of theseperceptionsand conceptionsand
beginsto act upon them.
It then becomes,as shown in Keys 6 and 20,the immediaterecipientof the all-wise direction
of the Life-power. The personalconsciousness
(the man) becomesa passiveobserverof daily
experience.This doesnot meanthat subconsciousness
is the superiorof the two moclesof
personalconsciousness.No error is more productiveof unfortunateresultsthan the one which
leacisto dependenceon subconsciousness
for guidance. We are to recognizethat its highest
offlce is to serveas a channel for guidance;but the guidanceitself comesalways from
superconsciousness.
When this truth is understoodand lived, we are actuallyreborn. The story of the virgin birth,
told in many versionsof the ancientmysteries,is re-enactedin us. The little child,
regeneratedpersonality,conceivedby the FIoly Spirit (RuachElohim), is born of the liberated
wolnan, becausethe direct action of the Life-power on subconsciousness
builds uD a new
conceptionof-personality
within us.
Mclre than this, the "seedof the woman," as we readin the Bible prophecy,now crushesthe
serpent'sheadby overcomingthe illusion of separateness
and with that illusion, the lie of
deatlr. The new man is the little child of I(ey 20, and,in this sixth stageof unfoldment,it is
he who, through his ability to enterfour-dimensionalconsciousness,
doestruly lead personal
sell'-consciousness
into a new world.
us0300