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Page 1 of 21944 · PDF PAGE 121
THE MAGUS I. DE MERCURIO1 Here follows a very full description of the nature of Mercury in several aspects, particu‐ larly his relation with Jupiter and the Sun: “In the Beginning was the Word, the Logos, who is Mercury; and is therefore to be identified with Christ. Both are messengers; their birth mysteries are similar; the pranks of their childhood are similar. In the Vision of the Universal Mercury, Hermes is seen descending upon the sea, which refers to Mary.2 The Crucifixion represents the Caduceus; the two thieves, the two serpents; the …
1944 · PDF PAGE 59
I. THE JUGGLER This card is referred to the letter Beth, which means a house, and is attributed to the planet Mercury. The ideas connected with this symbol are so complex and so multifarious that it seems better to attach to this general description certain documents which bear upon dif‐ ferent aspects of this card. The whole will then form an adequate basis for the full interpreta‐ tion of the card through study, meditation, and use. The French title of this card in the medieval pack is “Le Bâteleur”, the Bearer of the Bâton.1 Mercury is pre‐e…
1944 · PDF PAGE 122
here that Mercury and Venus are the planets between us and the sun, as if the Mother and the Son were mediators between us and the Father.) 1From The Paris Working. 2The path of Beth on the Tree of Life shows him descending from Kether, the Crown, upon Binah, the Great Sea. (See diagram). Note Christ as the Healer, and also his own expression: “The Son of Man cometh as a thief in the night.” Also this scripture (Matthew xxiv, 24‐7): “For as the lightning cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West, so shall also the coming of the Son …
1944 · PDF PAGE 200
…e the fulifilment of the Will of Love in abounding joy. It is the spiritual basis of fertility. The card is referred to the influence of Mercury in Cancer; this carries further the above thesis. Mercury is the Will or Word of the All‐Father; here its influence descends upon the most receptive of the Signs. At the same time, the combination of these forms of energy brings in the possibility of somewhat mysterious ideas. Binah, the Great Sea, is the Moon in one aspect, but Saturn in an‐ other; and Mercury, besides being the Word or Will of the Al…
1944 · PDF PAGE 238
…represents the final issue of the Energy. Here is great and final solidification. The force is completely expended and results in death. Mercury rules this card in Virgo; and this may imply that the acquired wealth, being inert, will be dissi‐ pated unless put to further use by devoting its power to objects other than mere accumula‐ tion. The disks, or (as they have now become) coins, are arranged on the Tree of Life, but the Tenth coin is much larger than the rest; the image indicates the futility of material gain. These disks are inscribed wi…
1944 · PDF PAGE 265
DIAGRAM 4. THE CADUCEUS This diagram illustrates the Tree of Life, the Cosmos as the Wand or creative force of Mercury, that is of the balanced energy which has created the illusion of existence. It will be noted that the shape of the symbol shows the three Mother letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Shin, Aleph and Mem, in its three sections. The importance of this symbol is mainly that the Tarot is primarily the Book of Thoth or Tahuti, the Egyptian Mercury. For the understanding of this book it is necessary to learn how to transmute instinctively…
1944 · PDF PAGE 232
…Five, Geburah, in the suit of Earth, shows the disruption of the Elements, just as in the other suits. This is emphasized by the rule of Mercury in Taurus, types of energy which are opposed. It needs a very powerful Mercury to upset Taurus; so the natural meaning is Intelligence applied to Labour. The symbol represents five disks in the form of the inverted Pentagram, instability in the very foundations of Matter. The effect is that of an earthquake. They are, however, repre‐ sentative of the five Tatvas; these hold together, on a very low plan…
1944 · PDF PAGE 81
…Virgo represents the lowest, most receptive, most feminine form of earth, and forms the crust over Hades. Yet not only is Virgo ruled by Mercury, but Mercury is exalted therein. Compare the Ten of Disks, and the general doctrine that the climax of the Descent into Matter is the signal for the redintegration by Spirit. It is the Formula of the Princess, the mode of ful‐ filment of the Great Work. This card recalls the Legend of Persephone, and herein is a dogma. Concealed within Mercury is a light which pervades all parts of the Universe equally…
1944 · PDF PAGE 80
… The letter Yod is the first letter of the name Tetragrammaton, and this symbolizes the Father, who is Wisdom; he is the highest form of Mercury, and the Logos, the Creator of all worlds. Accordingly, his representative in physical life is the spermatozoon; this is why the card is called The Hermit. The figure of the Hermit himself recalls the shape of the letter Yod, and the colour of his cloak is the colour of Binah, in whom he gestates. In his hand he holds a Lamp whose centre is the Sun, portrayed in the likeness of the Sigil of the great K…
1944 · PDF PAGE 239
Among the Geomantic figures, Mercury in Virgo is Conjunctio [?GEOMANTIC PIC HERE]. The meaning, conjunction, is shown plainly by the attraction of the descending (fe‐ male) Triangle, the cipher of the Yoni, to the ascending (male) Triangle, that of the Lingam. This union completed, they appear interlaced, forming [?] the figure of Capricornus, the Sign in which the Sun finds his rebirth. It is the holy Hexagram, the symbol of the uniting of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm, the accomplishment of the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and …
1944 · PDF PAGE 74
father was Ares, Zeus or Hermes—that is, Mars, Jupiter or Mercury. His appearance in this card suggests that Hermes is the true sire; and this view is confirmed by the fact that it is not altogether easy to distinguish him from the child Mercury, for they have in common wanton‐ ness) irresponsibility, and the love of playing tricks. But in this image are peculiar characteris‐ tics. He carries a bow and arrows in a golden quiver. (He is sometimes represented with a torch.) He has golden wings, and is blindfolded. From this, it may appear that he…
1944 · PDF PAGE 60
…apt. standing; and thus He is the messenger of the gods, represents precisely that Lingam, the Word of creation whose speech is silence. Mercury, however, represents action in all forms and phases. He is the fluidic basis of all transmission of activity; and, on the dynamic theory of the Universe, he is himself the sub‐ stance thereof. He is, in the language of modern physics, that electric charge which is the first manifestation of the ring of ten indefinable ideas, as pre viously explained. He is thus continu‐ ous creation. Logically also, be…
1944 · PDF PAGE 167
… of Cups); it is a “big Khan”, the trigram of Luna with each line doubled. But it is also suggestive of the Geomantic figure Conjunctio, Mercury in Virgo, corresponding very closely indeed with the Fire of Earth attri‐ bution in the Qabalistic system. To the Chinese sages, moreover, the shape of the figure gave the idea of a bird. The meaning is, accordingly, modified by human influence of the more frivolous and irresponsible kind, Shakespeare’s “little wanton harlotry”, the French cynic’s “Souvent femme vane”, and the fickle mob of Coriolanus;…
1944 · PDF PAGE 183
to Mercury in Virgo. When wealth accumulates beyond a certain point, it must either become completely inert and cease to be wealth, or call in the aid of intelligence to use it rightly. This must necessarily happen in spheres which have nothing whatever to do with material posses‐ sions, as such. In this way, Carnegie establishes a Library, Rockefeller endows Research, sim‐ ply because there is nothing else to do. But all this doctrine lies behind the card; it is the inner meaning of the card. There is another view to consider, that this is the…
1944 · PDF PAGE 229
…tive, like that of the builder or engineer. The card represents a pyramid viewed from above the apex. The base is formed by three wheels‐Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt; Sattvas, Rajas, and Tamas in the Hindu system; Aleph, Shin, and Mem‐Air, Fire, and Water‐the three Mother letters of the Hebrew al‐ phabet. This pyramid is situated in the great Sea of Binah in the Night of Time, but the sea is solidified; hence the colours of the back‐ ground are mottled, a cold thin dark grey with a pat‐ tern of indigo and green. The sides of the pyramid have a st…
1944 · PDF PAGE 194
… EIGHT OF WANDS The remaining three cards of the suit belong to Sagittarius, which represents the sub‐ tilizing of the Fiery energy; and Mercury rules the card, thus bringing down from Chokmah the message of the original Will. The card also refers to Hod, splendour, in the suit of Fire, whence it refers to the phe‐ nomena of speech, light, electricity. The pictorial representation of the card shows the Light‐wands turned into electrical rays, sustaining or even constituting Matter by their vibrating energy. Above this restored uni‐ verse shines…
1944 · PDF PAGE 95
…n or copper, as might be supposed from modern usage. It represents a balanced combination of the three alchemical principles, Sul‐ phur, Mercury and Salt. These names have no connection with substances so named by the vulgar; they have already been described in Atu I. III and IV. The counsel to “visit the interior of the earth” is a recapitulation (on a higher plane) of the first formula of the Work which has been the so constant theme of these essays. The im‐ portant word in the injunction is the central word RECTIFICANDO; it implies the right…
1944 · PDF PAGE 47
…rious interwoven fashions with all the triads that occur in these cards, notably Fire, Water, Air; Fa‐ ther, Mother, Son; Sulphur, Salt, Mercury; Rajas, Sattvas and Tamas. The really important feature of this card is that its number should be 0. It represents therefore the Negative above the Tree of Life, the source of all things. It is the Qabalistic Zero. It is the equation of the Universe, the initial and final balance of the opposites; Air, in this card, therefore quintessentially means a vacuum. In the medieval pack, the title of the card …
1944 · PDF PAGE 83
…r, tends ultimately to sink into the original inertia. The Gunas are represented in European philosophy by the three qualities, sulphur, mercury and salt, already pictured in Atu I, III and IV. But in this card the attribution is some‐ what different. The Sphinx is composed of the four Kerubs, shown in Atu V, the bull, the lion, the eagle and the man. These correspond, furthermore, to the four magical virtues, to Know, to Will, to Dare, and to Keep Silence.1 This Sphinx represents the element of sulphur, and is exalted, temporarily, upon the su…
1944 · PDF PAGE 235
PRUDENCE EIGHT OF DISKS The number Eight, Hod, is very helpful in this card, because it represents Mercury in his most spiritual aspect, and he both rules and is exalted in the sign of Virgo, which belongs to the Decan, and is governed by the Sun. It signifies intelligence lovingly applied to material matters, especially those of the agriculturalist, the artificer and the engineer. One might suggest that this card marks the turn of the tide. The seven of Disks is in one sense the fullest possible establishment of Matter—compare Atu XV—the lowes…