03-19-2012, 06:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-21-2012, 11:01 AM by abstrktion.)
Just thought I'd chime in on this topic--my thoughts on The Choice are a bit mixed in with some other bits; this is an excerpt from the website where I'm starting to put up some artistic impressions of the archetypes. The page numbers in book IV and other references are given on my site, but for whatever reason, don't seem to copy here. Here is the site: http://www.zhibit.org/abstrktion/part-1-introduction
The First Distortion, Veiling, and The Choice
Archetypes one through nine developed before the experiment of extending the first distortion (full free will) with the first tool (veiling between consciousness and unconsciousness such that we forget where we came from and who we’ve been). This means that they were developed in Logoi which had not yet innovated the experiment of free will. Each of these Logoi had different sets within the one through nine.
RA points out that there were Logoi who did not include free will, but that after much experimentation, it was found that free will creates stronger catalyst for polarization. RA tells us that “the purpose of polarity is to develop the potential to do work” and “work is done far more efficiently and with greater purity, intensity, and variety by the voluntary searching of mind/body/spirit complexes.”
Our Logos, its own unique system, chose free will as well as the veiling process. Interestingly, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints frames this as a war in heaven wherein one-third of the hosts of heaven chose Satan’s plan for salvation, one which did not include free will. In that doctrine, all of us incarnate here on earth at one point chose the plan of free will and the rest did not take on physical bodies. It seems to me that We (i.e., the One Infinite Creator of which we are each a part) must have thought the game would be better played blindfolded! I have to appreciate the humor and challenge in that as I try to oblige the One Infinite Creator by doing my part to gather experience (so We can know Ourselves better…) and to win back through that veil to greater understanding, seeking Christ on the other side who has assured us that he stands there waiting for us: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.”
The last card of the deck, number 22, is termed by Ra “The Choice” and it represents the complex of concepts having to do with choosing to serve the self or others. The journey through involution has this for its goal: RA states that “upon the foundation of the transformation of each complex, with free will guided by the root concepts offered in these cycles, the Logos offered this density the basic architecture of a building and the construction and the synthesizing of data culminating in The Choice.” So whereas in 2nd Density, the goals were to develop growth and consciousness , in 3rd Density, the goal is polarization for harvest into 4th Density. In sum, RA remarks, “the prelude to choice must encompass the laying of the foundation, the establishment of the illusion and the viability of that which can be made spiritually viable. The remainder of the densities is continuous refining of choice…the choice is…the work of a moment but is the axis upon which creation turns.”
The Choice is very important and even Ra felt that “the one great breakthrough which was made after our work in third density was done was the proper emphasis given to the Arcanum Number Twenty-Two which we have called The Choice. In our own experience we were aware that such a unifying archetype existed but did not give that archetype the proper complex of concepts in order to most efficaciously use that archetype in order to promote our evolution.” I think it is very telling that Ra chose to call this a “unifying” archetype, considering the fact that it implies duality in the illusion we typically consider “reality.” In essence, I believe Ra means to instruct us that these two seemingly different ways of being in the world are just two sides of one coin. It is useful for us to understand that “the One Infinite Creator is no respecter of polarity but offers Itself in full to all.” This is difficult to swallow, particularly when those of the service to self path are making things disagreeable for the rest of us and offering their polarity to others. Nevertheless, both polarities offer ways of experiencing the Creator. I suppose we can take some comfort, however, in the idea that Ra also tells us that this particular Logos has a bias towards “kindness” and the choice of service to others is “the more efficient polarity.”
The Questioner posits that Ra may have felt like they didn’t truly appreciate The Choice because their harvest was overwhelmingly positive and so they may not have had a truly informed understanding of the negative polarity. RA says that this is precisely correct “in one way,” implying that there was more to this than the one idea. RA continues by stating that this archetype can be “helpful in sharpening the basic view of the Significator of Mind, Body, and Spirit and, further, throws into starker relief the Transformation and Great Way of Mind, Body, and Spirit complexes.”
One thing every painter knows is that you can’t see the light unless you have a dark area that contrasts with it—and vice versa, you can’t make the light shine out unless you first lay down a layer of darker color with which it can be contrasted. This idea came to me in its fullness while I was painting the Matrix of Spirit. The only clear description I had of it was that it was “the darkest darkness”—but how can one paint that? A totally black painting? Well, just painting black didn’t seem too interesting to me, so I decided it could be a very dark sphere in the center of the painting with swirling bits around it. However, what I realized as I was trying to create the darkness, was that I first had to put down a layer of light so that the darkness would become visible.
Still, in the end, eventually the opposition created by the distortion of free will and the veiling will not last. In 6th dimension, all those on the left-hand path cross back over for “God is love” —those that have chosen to explore “that which they are not” will come face to face with that which they are and wholeness will be restored. RA states that in “the density of unity, the positive and negative paths must needs take in each other for all now must be seen as love/light and light/love.”
As a final thought…it must always be kept in mind that the work with the tarot—or any other system—is but a means to an end. RA states, “the archetypal mind does not resolve any paradoxes or bring all into unity…therefore, may we ask the student to look up from inward working and behold the glory, the might, the majesty, the mystery, and the peace of oneness.” RA further asserts that they do not wish “to place before the consideration of any mind/body/spirit complex which seeks its evolution the palest tint of the idea that these images are anything but a resource for working in the area of the development of the faith and the will.”
The goal is to develop the faith and the will so that we might eventually come to a place where we fully experience Unity.
The First Distortion, Veiling, and The Choice
Archetypes one through nine developed before the experiment of extending the first distortion (full free will) with the first tool (veiling between consciousness and unconsciousness such that we forget where we came from and who we’ve been). This means that they were developed in Logoi which had not yet innovated the experiment of free will. Each of these Logoi had different sets within the one through nine.
RA points out that there were Logoi who did not include free will, but that after much experimentation, it was found that free will creates stronger catalyst for polarization. RA tells us that “the purpose of polarity is to develop the potential to do work” and “work is done far more efficiently and with greater purity, intensity, and variety by the voluntary searching of mind/body/spirit complexes.”
Our Logos, its own unique system, chose free will as well as the veiling process. Interestingly, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints frames this as a war in heaven wherein one-third of the hosts of heaven chose Satan’s plan for salvation, one which did not include free will. In that doctrine, all of us incarnate here on earth at one point chose the plan of free will and the rest did not take on physical bodies. It seems to me that We (i.e., the One Infinite Creator of which we are each a part) must have thought the game would be better played blindfolded! I have to appreciate the humor and challenge in that as I try to oblige the One Infinite Creator by doing my part to gather experience (so We can know Ourselves better…) and to win back through that veil to greater understanding, seeking Christ on the other side who has assured us that he stands there waiting for us: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.”
The last card of the deck, number 22, is termed by Ra “The Choice” and it represents the complex of concepts having to do with choosing to serve the self or others. The journey through involution has this for its goal: RA states that “upon the foundation of the transformation of each complex, with free will guided by the root concepts offered in these cycles, the Logos offered this density the basic architecture of a building and the construction and the synthesizing of data culminating in The Choice.” So whereas in 2nd Density, the goals were to develop growth and consciousness , in 3rd Density, the goal is polarization for harvest into 4th Density. In sum, RA remarks, “the prelude to choice must encompass the laying of the foundation, the establishment of the illusion and the viability of that which can be made spiritually viable. The remainder of the densities is continuous refining of choice…the choice is…the work of a moment but is the axis upon which creation turns.”
The Choice is very important and even Ra felt that “the one great breakthrough which was made after our work in third density was done was the proper emphasis given to the Arcanum Number Twenty-Two which we have called The Choice. In our own experience we were aware that such a unifying archetype existed but did not give that archetype the proper complex of concepts in order to most efficaciously use that archetype in order to promote our evolution.” I think it is very telling that Ra chose to call this a “unifying” archetype, considering the fact that it implies duality in the illusion we typically consider “reality.” In essence, I believe Ra means to instruct us that these two seemingly different ways of being in the world are just two sides of one coin. It is useful for us to understand that “the One Infinite Creator is no respecter of polarity but offers Itself in full to all.” This is difficult to swallow, particularly when those of the service to self path are making things disagreeable for the rest of us and offering their polarity to others. Nevertheless, both polarities offer ways of experiencing the Creator. I suppose we can take some comfort, however, in the idea that Ra also tells us that this particular Logos has a bias towards “kindness” and the choice of service to others is “the more efficient polarity.”
The Questioner posits that Ra may have felt like they didn’t truly appreciate The Choice because their harvest was overwhelmingly positive and so they may not have had a truly informed understanding of the negative polarity. RA says that this is precisely correct “in one way,” implying that there was more to this than the one idea. RA continues by stating that this archetype can be “helpful in sharpening the basic view of the Significator of Mind, Body, and Spirit and, further, throws into starker relief the Transformation and Great Way of Mind, Body, and Spirit complexes.”
One thing every painter knows is that you can’t see the light unless you have a dark area that contrasts with it—and vice versa, you can’t make the light shine out unless you first lay down a layer of darker color with which it can be contrasted. This idea came to me in its fullness while I was painting the Matrix of Spirit. The only clear description I had of it was that it was “the darkest darkness”—but how can one paint that? A totally black painting? Well, just painting black didn’t seem too interesting to me, so I decided it could be a very dark sphere in the center of the painting with swirling bits around it. However, what I realized as I was trying to create the darkness, was that I first had to put down a layer of light so that the darkness would become visible.
Still, in the end, eventually the opposition created by the distortion of free will and the veiling will not last. In 6th dimension, all those on the left-hand path cross back over for “God is love” —those that have chosen to explore “that which they are not” will come face to face with that which they are and wholeness will be restored. RA states that in “the density of unity, the positive and negative paths must needs take in each other for all now must be seen as love/light and light/love.”
As a final thought…it must always be kept in mind that the work with the tarot—or any other system—is but a means to an end. RA states, “the archetypal mind does not resolve any paradoxes or bring all into unity…therefore, may we ask the student to look up from inward working and behold the glory, the might, the majesty, the mystery, and the peace of oneness.” RA further asserts that they do not wish “to place before the consideration of any mind/body/spirit complex which seeks its evolution the palest tint of the idea that these images are anything but a resource for working in the area of the development of the faith and the will.”
The goal is to develop the faith and the will so that we might eventually come to a place where we fully experience Unity.
![[+]](https://www.bring4th.org/forums/images/collapse_collapsed.png)