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The Potentiator of the Body: The Sage

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78.11 The potentiator of the body complex, then, may be called Wisdom for it is only through judgment that the unceasing activities and proclivities of the body complex may be experienced in useful modes.

79.19 The Potentiator of the Body then is that which, being informed, regulates activity.

This card represents, for me, that part of my Mind/Body/Spirit complex which takes control of my physical vehicle and manipulates it with full awareness of what it is doing. This card can be likened to a martial arts master insofar as that master is at every moment in full possession of his bodily movements.

The Potentiator of the Body is your power to act, a mirror-image of the Potentiator of the Mind whose power is to give knowledge. Whereas the High Priestess depicts the unconscious self which reconfigures the conscious self by informing it, the Sage depicts conscious self which reconfigures the unconscious self by virtue of already being informed.

Though I have often thought of this card (and the entire Body Cycle) as depicting the mind's relationship to the body because words like "judgment" and "informed" both seem mental in content, the Potentiator of the Body, a male archetype, can also be seen as that aspect of your body complex which is conscious of itself.

Whereas the deep thrust of the Mind Cycle is a lifting of the veil to view and operate the mechanisms which control your experience, the deep thrust of the Body Cycle (based on my interpretations of the Significator, the Hanged Man, and Great Way, The Alchemist) seems to be a balanced act of sacrificing energy in order to produce the fruits called for by the mind. Thus, it seems that the responsibility of the Mind Complex (as indicated by the Heirophant and Chariot cards) is to decide the kind of experience created by the body complex based on its relationship with itself. Conversely, we can then project that the responsibility of the Body Complex (as a "mirror image of the thrust of the activity of the mind") is to bring its resources into a more and more perfect balance in order that the unmanifest (the contents of the silver cup) may be poured into the manifest (the gold cup) without spilling a drop. The mind decides what will be, whereas the body decides the means by which it will be. Thus, it make sense to attribute to the body a conscious aspect, for the Body Complex itself seems to be capable of a kind of autonomy, despite its dependence upon the Mind Complex.

The easiest way for me to see the autonomy of the body in my life is to look at my habits. Every single day, there are things I do habitually: when I brush my teeth, the specific motions and progression from tooth to tooth as all determined by previous habit; when I wake up in the morning, the number of times I hit the snoozer is determined by habit; when I eat, the motions and even the choice of which part of the meal I will eat first is determined by habit. If these kinds of habits represent the body's act of committing resources to its efforts, then whenever I follow a habit, I am displaying the unconscious body, and whenever I create a habit, I am displaying the conscious body.

So:

The Matrix of the Body is the body acting without any attempt to revise its habits. Imagine the habits you have which are a consequence of the way you were raised. If your parents were lenient and untidy, you might have a habit of living in an untidy space. These ongoing unconscious and unexamined aspects of the actions you take in the physical reality are the matrix in which bodily change occurs. There is always a flow and a balance, it may be that that flow is aggressive and violent, as the lion suggests, but it is nevertheless a flow.

The Potentiator of the Body is the body acting in an effort to create a habit. This archetype can be seen as your knowledge of positive actions and steps that can be taken in order to change your habit. What the Potentiator is "informed" about is the kind of actions which would be effective in the physical illusion; the "judgment" of the Potentiator is its ability to decide which direction the flow of the Matrix will take. The Potentiator redirects the constant flow of the Matrix.

Now we can expand this confined sense of the Body Cycle into a more expanded sense. While we can imagine the Body Cycle as relating primarily to habits, it is important to realize that the sum total of your habits are what literally bring you the physical reality that you experience. Your Body Complex is constantly generating the physical experience at the behest of the Mind Complex. The energy centers in the Body Complex are constantly emitting frequencies which attract to you or repel from you certain kinds of bodily experiences, and the content of this attraction and repulsion ranges from headaches and orgasms to work environments and friends. Everything around your physical vehicle is part of the Matrix of the Body because it is all generated by your day-to-day habits. And every approach you take to acting within the world is an effort to either revise or continue to follow your habits.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Mind Complex to grasp and know those aspects of itself which are hidden. This responsibility includes coming to an awareness of the presence of particular habits in your Body Complex, as well as addressing the aspect of the Mind's relationship to itself which has created that particular habit by delivering information to the Matrix of the Body through the Potentiator, the judgment, the habit creator, in the Body.

This is Ra on the Disciplines of the Body in Session 5:

5.2 The second area of learn/teaching is the study/understanding of the body complexes. It is necessary to know your body well. This is a matter of using the mind to examine how the feelings, the biases, what you would call the emotions, affect various portions of the body complex. It shall be necessary to both understand the bodily polarities and to accept them, repeating in a chemical/physical manifestation the work you have done upon the mind bethinking the consciousness.

The body is a creature of the mind’s creation. It has its biases. The biological bias must be first completely understood and then the opposite bias allowed to find full expression in understanding. Again, the process of acceptance of the body as a balanced, as well as polarized, individual may then be accomplished. It is then the task to extend this understanding to the bodies of the other-selves whom you will meet.

By including other body complexes into the Disciplines of the Body, the implication is that these other body complexes fall into the larger context of the Body Cycle. Everything physical is a body complex of some kind, therefore, all of physical reality lies at the heart of the Body Cycle.

So let us speak about the symbols of this particular card.

The Sage is old, which indicates the passage of long spans of time. It is always noted that experience begets wisdom and that usually experience comes with time. This concept also indicates to me that the disciplines of the body are not the first step. The Sage must have already mastered his own mind before he comes up with any useful ways of acting within the manifest reality. Unless you know what is causing habits that you no longer want, you will never have the power to change those habits. The Sage is old because he has already learned many lessons before he has done anything at all.

The Sage is walking, which signifies the mobility of the Body Complex as compared to the immobility of the Mind Complex. 97.10: "Consider for the self, O student, whether your thoughts can walk."

The Sage faces left, suggesting that the left-hand path is somewhat easier to see than the right hand path. In the context of the function of this card, that tells me that the it is easier to think of positive actions for changing habits which seek to control the manifest reality than it is to think of positive actions which seek to accept.

Two snakes walk just in front of him, wearing hats which signify the female and male energies. The proximity of the two snakes suggests a balance between the male and female energies, but they are not in union, which suggests that they occur each in phases. Thus, we see that the Sage often follows the Female wisdom and the Male wisdom at different times, yet the Sage's communication with these two forms of wisdom is balanced, each getting its turn. Nevertheless, they both lead him onward together, so each next phase is just another necessary aspect of the long process of making balanced use of the Body Complex.

The skirt is once again sharply angled on the left side of the figure, signifying the great distance that the left-hand path creates between different Body Complexes.

Time to address the most significant symbols. The Sage holds a lamp in his left hand. The left hand, in my interpretation, is the input hand, so the lamp must be what the Potentiator of the Body (as a function) takes in. The lamp, the flame, represents the light that "informs" the body so that it may be "experienced in useful modes". If this card is referred to as Wisdom, the wisdom itself is depicted by the flame in the lamp.

The Sage holds a staff in his right hand. As the output hand, this side depicts the yield of this Archetype's effect on your experience. What is known to the Sage is wisdom and what is put forth by the Sage (male archetype that he is) is an action. Thus, the staff appears to me as a tool, more than anything else. The staff represents the body itself in the hand of the wise Sage who knows myriad uses for this one simple tool.

As the flame is the inner guidance to which the conscious aspect of your body has access in order to act wisely in the world, the staff is the tool for enacting that wisdom. If we imagine the mating, the coupling of that female Matrix of the Body and the male Potentiator of the Body, the staff is that which enters into the Matrix in order to divert the constant flow.

I have interpreted the Potentiator as the Significator Hidden from itself. In this card, the rectangular cape signifies the hidden nature of the Potentiator. This cape hides the flame from all but the Potentiator himself, and it is the decision of the Potentiator to reveal his wisdom through his actions. It is useful to imagine this hidden flame as a guru. The guru wants to teach you as much as you can learn, but you are simply not capable of grasping the later lessons until you have grasped the earlier ones. Similarly, your wise self knows that there are many possible ways to act in any given situation, but not all of them will come to be and most of them are best not even mentioned. It is also worth mentioning that there is a double-blind situation with the Matrix and the Potentiator. The Matrix is blindfolded and the Potentiator protects his light with a cape. The significance of this is that there is a great divide between the conscious and unconscious aspects of the body, much greater than that of the mind.
Hello Dear JustLikeYou,

Thank You for a Comprehensive interpretation/description if this Archetype.

Unfortunately, despite your Thoughts-Generosity, I have quite big problem with this Archetype. I simply do not understand it.

How “not-a-Mind” can be “informed”, can represent “Wisdom”? Many Beings are making quite close connections between both Potentiators of the Body and Mind, but it only confuses my further, as some of the “functions”/”attributes” assigned to the Body Potentiator, possess for me clearly aspects of the Mind – especially “Knowledge” and “Informing function”.
Even when I consider “oppositeness” of both Paths (Body & Mind), any “explanation” of this Archetype (No. 9) is of Mind-Nature for me. It’s almost as I cannot distinct where Mind ends and Body begins (in terms of “Knowledge” / “Knowing” / “Informing”).

The only way so far, when it makes any sense to me, is when I depict Potentiator of the Body as “un-veiled, male part of the Self” (in such take, High Priestess from Mind Path, would be “un-veiled, female part of Self”).
From such perspective, Potentiator of the Body would be responsible for all non-volitional/unveiled activities (maintenance) and sensations (reaction to direct Experience) of the Body. Therefore whenever the Mind’s and Spirit’s activity leads to some profound change, it can be (also) “read” within/through the Body, based on It’s reactions/sensations.  

Therefore the “only” element of “Consciousness” on the Body Path would be that of time/space nature, that ensure/provide Body/Physical Equilibrium. Every other, “Conscious” activities of the Body are govern by the Mind (with Spirit’s insights) – and in case of those I do see very close and interwoven connection/aspects of both Mind and Body Paths (respectively Arcanum(s): 3 and 10, 4 and 11, 5 and 12, 6 and 13, plus of course The Great Way which is the “meeting ground” of all three aspect of Self).
However I’m uncertain how to connect Arcanum 2 and 9 differently, than I’ve described it above (female/male part of un-veiled Self).

I would be Grateful for any Assistance/Help/Support.


All I have Best in me for You
This is a very good question.

It's important to keep in mind that one of the key distinctions between conscious and unconscious is that the conscious is active while the unconscious is passive. Hence, the conscious self does, while the unconscious self is. From this perspective, the Potentiator of the Body cannot be the passive sensory receptor. It undoubtedly has access to the sensory self, but it must play an active role. From the most common sense perspective possible, just imagine that the Potentiator of the Body is the brain's activity without recourse to the mind. Hence, "mindless" work such as memorization and non-interpretive physical pattern recognition.

As the Potentiator of the Body begins to work in harmony with mind, it takes elements of the mind's Story and contributes detailed information to them: new data. That is why I now call this archetype the Researcher. The brain memorizes, while the mind interprets. The brain picks out trends while the mind associates these trends with meaning. The Potentiator of the Body notices that the cars are moving slower today than they did yesterday. The mind, however, assigns an interpretation (cause) to this observed pattern.

I actually just posted a nice long article on this archetype if you want to read it.

http://thearchitecture.josephdartez.com/...mentation/
Thank You, Dear JustLikeYou, for your Reply.

I’ve read most of what You’ve wrote under suggested link – by “most” I mean main text, main texts for both “Wild One” ("Matrix of the Body" in your terminology/label-ism) and “Researcher” ("Potentiator of the Mind" in your terminology/label-ism) and “The Inner Researcher” in “unfolding section”. I’ll get back to it, when I’m done with my “First Interpretation/Impression” of an Entire Great Way (I’m especially drawn to the Spirit Path for some reason).

However, I think I understand now better Potentiator of the Body. “Physical Apparatus” is of course an “Information-Bringer” for the Mind, as Mind is blind within physical reality without “physical counterpart” – The Body, that perceives, stores and process to some/necessary degree Information.
Let’s take “Attention” – it is what You have your Mind/Consciousness Focused at – for example reading those words (watching TV, making love, etc.). Parallelly, there are overwhelming amount of “things”/Events happens around You and I fully agree, that Body is Aware of them All – it is Our Mind, that is ignorant to them and I think it is the Potentiator of the Body, that possess the power/ability to enter the Mind’s Focus (for example when some threat appears unexpectedly). Focus of the Mind is too limited to grasp every action within immediate physical environment – it is a Body role/function/property/ability/duty.

Thinking of it, it is the Mind that is a Wanderer within third-density, who is Hosted by a “Native Being” – Physical Body.

Such understanding is consonant with Words of Seth regarding physical vehicle.
Body possess it’s own Consciousness, which is “composed” of all Consciousnesses of all Organs, which Consciousness in turn is “composed” with all Consciousness of “chemical particles” – and Theirs are “composed” of Consciousnesses the Atoms, etc. Therefore within Body Consciousness there’s Great Understanding of Cooperation and Unity.
Even if “Main Consciousness” (Seth used label “Main”) leaves temporally the Body (during OoBE or during the Dream), the Body is perfectly capable of maintaining It-Self (sustaining physical Equilibrium). It is only the long absence of “Main-Consciousness” that is a threat for the Body, as Mind is necessary for the “Body’s Nourishment/Care”.

I’m writing all above because despite such Knowledge I did underestimate the Body and I’ve diminished It’s Role/Capability/Worth and I’m offering my “Mistake” as “possible Mind-Catalyst” – especially for Other-Selves that prefers “working within Mind” rather than “external environment” (to bring described situation within Mind, to understand and “enliven”/”bring to life”/Visualize each “Role”/Element/an Entire Environment, to “replay it” and to “relive it”, as to Feel/Experience as fully as possible, in order to recreate “Experience” – I guess it is some form of “Self-imposed Catalyst”).

However, I have mixed Feelings/Thoughts regarding this quote from your Blog, Dear JustLikeYou:
Quote:We might notice, for example, that in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, there were distinct and apparently intentional similarities between the many different characters who appeared in the books. As soon as we ask, “Why did Asimov write these similarities into his characters and plots?” we cease to be Researchers.
Only to understand concept of “characters within a novel” – which is an abstract concept - in relation to One’s immediate experience”, is a function of The Mind. I think that Body reacts/responds to more direct stimuli, that is as physical as the Body It-Self. I fully agree with “patterns detection” (as to classify repetitive groups of stimuli into “patterns”) and with Context/Story-Bringer Mind – but I think You sometimes assign Mind's functions to the Body (as overestimating It – an opposite tendency to mine, btw Smile ).

I’m Very Open for further discussion Smile


All I have Best in me for You
third-density-being Wrote:I think You sometimes assign Mind's functions to the Body (as overestimating It – an opposite tendency to mine, btw

You're probably right. In many ways, I'm groping in the dark concerning archetypes. Some things I accept more firmly than others, and I use these as the foundation upon which I judge whether I've accurately described an archetype or not. In the case of the distinction between mind and body, the firmest foundation I have is that the mind interprets and imagines while the body measures and acts. The two, however, are in constant communication. I wrote a section on this in the article called "The Importance of the Story." The upshot of this section is that the Stories we mentally adopt (by moving through the mind archetype cycles) provide tools to the body to aid in its measurement. These tools are a concept-laden vocabulary with which to construct methods of measurement. Thus, we would never have invented an electron microscope if we did not already have a concept of an electron and how it might used in observation.

Using the example you object to, namely observation of a pattern in a fictional story, the tools at the body's disposal are the use of language and the ability to connect complex groups of words together into a coherent story. The body, however, can piggyback on the mind's ability to interpret written word to observe this story as a form of raw data, just like we can program algorithms in a computer to recognize the same patterns. Like the computer, the body cannot extend itself beyond bare pattern-recognition. Interpretation of the significance of these patterns is the distinct province of mind.

Having said this, I am always looking for new and clearer ways to distinguish mind from both body and spirit. Your help on this front is very much appreciated.
Thank You, Dear JustLikeYou, for your answer.

(07-03-2015, 03:33 PM)JustLikeYou Wrote: [ -> ](...)
Using the example you object to, namely observation of a pattern in a fictional story, the tools at the body's disposal are the use of language and the ability to connect complex groups of words together into a coherent story. The body, however, can piggyback on the mind's ability to interpret written word to observe this story as a form of raw data, just like we can program algorithms in a computer to recognize the same patterns. Like the computer, the body cannot extend itself beyond bare pattern-recognition. Interpretation of the significance of these patterns is the distinct province of mind.

Again, It seems that I underestimated the Body – the language – I truly didn’t took it into consideration.
There are Beings whom after brain-injury was unable to speak in orderly fashion or They “forget” (as lost access to) learned “things” – among them were languages as well.
Emphasizing this fact, it is very hard to determine where Mind’s functions begins and where’s Body’s ends. Although to assume that Body is capable to conceptualize basic abstract “phenomenon” (like character in the book) is a thought-provoking, but there’s no real base to definitely determine it.

I think that Language may be this “line” that goes between Mind and Body. For Mind language is a tool of communication thoughts and of learning about that, what is understood as “external”. Therefore I guess both Aspect of Self are contributing to the means of communication and there even may be some “shared areas/regions/aspects”, in which allotment of each differs according to situation/state of Mind/Body condition (i.e. One might be tired, distracted, etc. and than allotment/involvement of each changes accordingly).


Such doubts makes “Archetypes Translation” into One’s Experience very difficult. What if One assign Mind’s function to the Body and will “read His/Her” Experience through Body’s Path? Or understand Body’s function as Mind’s and will try to fit Body’s Experience within Mind’s Path?
From all mistakes One could make in work with an Archetypes, this seems to be most significant. Because even when One would “misinterpret” given Archetype, It can reveal It’s meaning to the Seeker in the process of Work (i.e. during meditation). But when One would ponder and meditating on “incorrect Archetype in relation to His/Her experience” – how could such Being be “informed” about it by “Self”/”Archetype resonance”?
This is my greatest concern in regards to The Great Way.


(07-03-2015, 03:33 PM)JustLikeYou Wrote: [ -> ]Having said this, I am always looking for new and clearer ways to distinguish mind from both body and spirit. Your help on this front is very much appreciated.

Thank You, and I should to. I have this annoying tendency to look for “correct answers” (Mind’s deviation). Such approach to the Archetypes is wrong, induces “stiffness of Understanding” and possess rather “blocking properties” than “facilitating” one’s in regards to Work with The Great Way.

Therefore I apologize for “pointing” anything I perceived as “incorrect” within your own Understanding JustLikeYou – it was inappropriate/douche-like (a Catalyst for me to process).


All I have Best in me for You
third-density-being, I'm not at all complaining, nor is my invitation to you to help keep my thinking honest in any way disingenuous. I don't get nearly enough criticism on these topics, so I am glad to get it where I can.

I think you may misunderstand what I was saying about language. The body does not understand language any more than a computer does. You mention that brain damage can inhibit language capabilities. This, as you surmise, does suggest that the body uses language, even if it does not understand it. Inability to find the right words is a common experience among people with brain damage or Alzheimer's. Interestingly, this indicates that they are capable of identifying concepts, but incapable of linking the linguistic signs (i.e. words) to the concept. Hence, the language itself belongs to the body, but the concepts to which it points belong to the mind. The ease with which we use language as a conveyor of concept indicates the intimate connection between body and mind, but, despite the richness of their interface, the two are still experientially distinct. Again, A.I. clearly demonstrates this to us: a computer can use language for pattern recognition and algorithmic action, but it cannot formulate its own interpretations of the language, despite achieving ever subtler and more complex patterns.

third-density-being Wrote:But when One would ponder and meditating on “incorrect Archetype in relation to His/Her experience” – how could such Being be “informed” about it by “Self”/”Archetype resonance”?

Third density is not a place where certainty can be found. We use all the tools in our rational/intuitive/mystical arsenal to come to the clearest and most coherent description of reality. Certainty is not an appropriate target, but we can at least hope for stability. If the archetypes are existing entities, and if we can identify them by their resonance, then each ought to have a very distinct flavor to it. My experience verifies this claim. The more time you spend with the Archetypes, the more stable your approach to them will be. While you may begin by forming inaccurate connections between archetype and experience, the very act of reaching will reveal them to you more and more clearly. Like any persistent student, your diligence will be rewarded with clarity. I began in just such a way: audaciously making claims about which archetypes describe which kinds of experiences, only to recant my hasty claims a few months later. These threads are an excellent example of my cruder efforts.
A big thanks JustLikeYou for your image and your explanation of the Potentialisator of the Body. So far, with the image of the Sage (as found in the_ra_contact_volume_2) which looks a lot like a knight-monk (like the Templars) setting out to conquer "Heavenly Jerusalem", I have had the most great difficulty in understanding this archetype, and your explanation really clarifies the matter.

For my part, I would like to add a very enlightening metaconcept to this explanation. That of "Direction of evolution", developed by the Russians evolutionary biologists  at the beginning of the 20th century, and especially by the school of Wladimir Vernadsky (the father of the Biosphere). A metaconcept which was a central element of my thesis in Ecological Economics (unfortunately only in French, apart from the title and the summary) and which explain us how the intelligent energy, throughout evolution, of the Biosphere (1st density ) and the Ecosphere (2nd density), tended to polarize the species in such a way as to concentrate in their fiber the maximum energy of reduction (like wood) and oxidation (like flowers), that is summarized under the term redox energy.

By applying this same concept to the Anthroposphere (3rd density), we can therefore effectively consider the master of martial arts (I am thinking above all of Taïchi Chuan and Aikido) as the one who concentrates in him the maximum amount of universal energy ( ki, or chi) by polarizing it through respiration, ie through inspiration (oxidation) and expiration or breath (reduction). It is through this polarization of the universal energy that he potentiates within himself (matrix of the body), to make it the perfectly controlled source of his potential for action in the material universe.

In this sense, the terms "Wisdom" or "The Sage" (name of the archetype), with a somewhat too "mental" (in the classic sense) and philosophical connotation, do not seem to me really appropriate to describe the Potentiator of the body, unless this wisdom be seen as that of, for example, the accomplished "Taoist" master, perfectly incorporated into the matter of the world. In this same sense, the image of the Potentiator of the body (which we see at the very beginning of this Post) is quite relevant when we see at his feet the two snakes, who wear the white crown (Low Egypt) and the Red Crown (Upper Egypt), which symbolize the two great forms of polarized energy. But it is less relevant when we see this curvy "old man" with his white hair, which in this case brings us back to the traditional (mental) philosopher with his white beard.