The Student

Atu VI is commonly called “The Lovers”. The ‘Golden Dawn’ version of this image is a fascinating break from the now-classic Waite-Smith version, where a hero rushes in to rescue a maiden in distress. There have been other versions that emphasize what was only hinted within the Crowley-Harris version: “Eve” and “Lilith” flanking the central figure. “Lilith” was ‘the first wife’, but was ‘made’ unruly. ‘She’ was then divorced, and then “Eve” was brought about to be ‘obedient’. (The legend of “Eve” eating the fruit, aside from the vast other interpretations, was a confusion of ‘her’ with the ‘disobedient’ “Lilith”.) “Eve” tends to be depicted as “soft and beautiful”, while “Lilith” tends to be depicted as “hard and ugly”. Read: “control-able” and “un-control-able”; or rather, “easily definable” and “not so easily definable”. “Eve” was ‘easy on the eyes’, whereas “Lilith” was ‘difficult on the eyes’.

The two brides “Eve” and “Lilith” represent what the ‘Gnostics’ called “The Eidolon” and “The Daemon”. They are the “Intimate Lovers”, always bound in a Marriage. That marriage is not “forthcoming” except for those who still imagine that their separation is “a given”. And that is what is described by this Trump: the supposition that their relation is “separate”. This is not an error: at this stage of conception, the individual still imagines that these two are “separate” and must yet still be “externally conjoined”. This icon is not about the actual “union”; it is rather about an imagination of the “separate” condition, the “need” to “join hands”. That is why this Trump is rather still within a ‘prepatory’ stage.

Atu V depicts “The Teacher”, and is sequentially placed between Atu IV “The Divine Upstart” and Atu VI “The Devout Follower”. The ‘Teacher’ is placed in the awkward position of tending to both “the chosen ruler” and “the disciple”. Atu IV represents the receiver of instruction that is not required to receive instruction. Atu VI represents the receiver of instruction that is required to receive instruction. The Student will thereby gain the full benefit of “previous wisdom” that the “divine emperor” will miss out. The ‘Teacher’ has to cajole the ‘Emperor’, but can demand the ‘Student’.

“The Student” is placed in the unique condition of Being Oriented by ‘an experienced other’. Atu VI is rather an extension of Atu 0 in the sense of “abandonment of the previous”. “What I thought I knew is now abrogate, and now I place myself willingly to receive new information.” The mind-set of a real Student is hardly ‘passive’; it actually requires a form of ‘will’ that The Emperor cannot even cognize. In the most extreme example, what is thought of as ‘will’ must be totally overthrown in favor of complete obedience. Thus, you have in various traditions the “hoodwinking” of the young initiate — which is not merely a metaphor of “you were blind and now you see”. When done properly, this tactic has the “back-door” effect of engendering ‘will’ in a way that no instruction of ‘willful behavior’ can match. When done improperly, the ‘Teacher’ has merely “a slave”.

So, the series of lessons ensue, and if successful, then at Atu XIV the Marriage of ‘The Eidolon’ and ‘The Daemon’ is actually consummated!

O-A-Hum
OPD

A Revisit to The Book of TARO

[This was my second attempt to ‘objectify’ my comprehension of “the Tarot”. It appears as if I “dropped the ball” after Atu XIV; but rather, I was attempting to hone a presentation that dealt more immediately with the Adventure of A Developing Adept.]

Summer Solstice 2010

The Initial Partition
00 The Fool has taken the plunge into the previous Unknown — all previous programming does not quite synchronize with the “New Notions” suspected by the altered cognisance.
— there are some initial stages the poor fool must stumble through —

01 The Integral Part
The first genuine wonderings of “Why I AM Here-Now”.
Once you have given up the previous expectations, whether based only on your own as-developed substantial imaginations, or in combination with the substantial imaginations of those surrounding your initial psyche-somatic development, you are faced with a very-compromising impasse of deciding if you might want to ‘see-&-hear’ an indication that you ‘have’ a ‘unique path’, that is truly ‘all-your-own’.

02 The Integrated Wholistic System
The “warm hug” of ‘feeling’ some sense that “All Belong Together”.
If you actually achieve that sense of ‘unique path all-your-own’, then you risk sensing also the ‘all-your-not-own’. The fish sensing the water-current beyond its local position. That trans-local sensation does not yet ‘determine’ the following specifier factors — this is simply the “shock” of ‘wholism’.

03 Life
The Realm of Happening, of mere Re-Action.
Nature Happens. Many of us are taught to view these Happenings as somehow “magically, mysteriously planned” by some ‘controlling factor’ (a “magic hand” or some other non-sense). There is no need for a “God-Model” for all this Happening to occur. From the very ‘essential’ arisings of ‘may-be’ sub-atomic particles, they happen to exist long enough to combine into atomic structure; then those combine into meta-atomic structure; then those combine into molecular structure; then those combine into cellular structure … ! This comprehensive ‘ladder’ of constructive combinations apparently conduces to the ‘extension-of-existence’ of what ‘begins’ as Virtual Particles of Mass.”The Empress” represents that “invisible hand” ‘behind’ the construction of that ‘ladder’, for those who still imagine the “invisible hand” metaphor.For those who have truly ‘stepped off the cliff’, the “invisible hand” eventually disappears.

04 Effort
The First Realm of Make-Happen — the First Sense of Action.
Here is the first sense that something Different Must Happen. There is no ‘certainty’ associated with this stage, except that you must plant yourself firmly into the Focus of some Intended Action. You take the Throne of some Empire that you May Construct.

05 Aim
The Second Realm of Make-Happen — the First Sense of Construction.
There are those who have walked the path you look toward. Once you set into the Throne of Power, there are plenty of others who can provide many clues as to How You Might Accomplish. They are qualified, if you have ‘open eyes-and-ears’, to provide the rudiments for you to build your empire. They bring the ‘tools’ and some basic ‘instruction’. Then they leave the wanna-be Emperor to build the Empire. As the Emperor developes, the Teacher(s) of that Emperor are always available for consultation.

06 Orientation
The Third Realm of Make-Happen — the First Sense of Direction.
The Emperor has the ‘tools’ and ‘instructions’ by the Teacher(s) — they have given the Emperor the Arrow.
But they cannot instruct What Direction that Arrow must Go. Here is a horizon between the pre-construct and the post-construct of the developing Adept — the first necessity of the ‘student’ to take some ‘initial self-making’. The ceremonial tradition is to Bind and Hoodwink the Candidate walking fresh into “The Process”.
Only the ‘Individual’ can figure the Direction of the Aim.

The Second Partition of the TARO (07-14) is entirely involved with the Orientation of the Arrow-Aim.

07 Somatic Orientation
The Somatic Vehicle (The Body) ‘contains’ an ‘orienter’ which, because we stand ‘perpendicular’ to the ‘gravity well’, aims with the ‘parallels’ of the Planetary Matrix, and thus square to the Bio-Neural Column. ‘It’ behaves as a ‘torrent’ expanding bi-laterally from the “belly”-‘visceral center’ of the Body Structure, aligning this bio-physical Vehicle with its home-planet.

08 Psychetic Orientation
The Psychetic Vehicle (The Mind) ‘contains’ an ‘orienter’ which, because we stand ‘perpendicular’ to the ‘gravity well’, aims with any ‘perpendicular’ to the Planetary Matrix, and thus square to our Visceral Orientation. ‘It’ behaves as a ‘vortex’ contracting bi-longitudinally into the Bio-Neural Column of the Body Structure; contracting ‘from’ the vast Local Environment, unto contracting ‘further’ to ‘point’ to the focus of the immediate gravity well.

09 Focal Orientation
Once you become consonant with the Basic Planetary Navigation Dynamics, you might ‘feel’ that you are a Vortex of Purpose. This Personal Vortex is omnidirectional.

10 Local Orientation
As you ‘feel’ the Vortex of Purpose, you will ‘feel’ concurrently the Torrent of Context, also omnidirectional. Here occurs the personal awareness of One’s Participation in the Realm of Accident: to actually perceive how you re-actively participate in the Accidental Happenings of Nature-Dynamics. This is probably the hardest ‘slap-in-the-face’ to the evolving Adept. We like to imagine that we are ‘purposely acting’ in all our movements.

11 Desire Orientation
Here is the moment of transition from Just Happening to Actual Doing. Genuine Change is always born of some sense-of-frustration, catalyzing a ‘violent’ re-orientation. Here the Different Must Happen transforms into the Different Must Intentionally Occur.

12 Work Orientation
Now the genuine teachings of the genuine teachers take solid hold upon the ‘new’ Desire Orientation. The Adept generates the Conviction to Do Genuine Work. Here is Self-Generated Discipline: taking the instructed techniques and enfolding them into necessary exercises, for personal benefit. Here you become your own teacher — for now, thinking that personal teaching is the ‘be-all-end-all’ method — unsuspecting of the Path you have chosen.

Orientation is basically complete, and now follows the post-orientation traumas.

13 The Strip-Down
The techniques given to the evolving Adept, genuinely exercised, produce a ‘surprising’ result: That Which You Thought You Were is Utterly Destroyed ! Now you are entirely naked and exposed, and your sense is exposed to finding any-some recover.

14 The Re-Dressing
From some ‘mysterious avenue’, you are provided a New Suit. This is probably the most ‘dangerous’ period in the adventure. There are many ‘tailors’ waiting in the periphery to provide New Suits to the naked-and-exposed. Here is the danger in finding One’s “Holy Guardian Angel”. The Adept must be very watchful of the offering ‘tailors’. You must have “given yourself to the Beloved” to find the genuine “Re-Tailor”, or you will ‘re-dress’ into the suit of a trans-personal “usury entity”.

The Third Partition of the TARO (15-21) is involved with the Assimilation of That Arrow-Aim with the Concourse of All.

O-A-Hum
OPD
originally published June 19, 2010