04-13-2012, 08:31 AM
The Great Way of the Body: The Alchemist
![[Image: eVHZL.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/eVHZL.jpg)
I'll begin with a few quotations:
100.5
The Great Way of Mind, Body, or Spirit is intended to limn the milieu within which the work of mind, body, or spirit shall be placed.
100.9
We ask that the student consider the Great Way not as the culmination of a series of seven activities or functions but as a far more clearly delineated image of the environment within which the mind, body, or spirit shall function.
103.11
The entire mood, shall we say, of the Great Way is indeed dependent upon its notable difference from the Significator...
The Great Way of the Mind, the Body, or the Spirit draws the environment which has been the new architecture caused by the veiling process and, thusly, dipped in the great, limitless current of time/space.
In the Great Way of the Body, the Alchemist, there is a more than merely notable difference from the Significator, the Shaman. Whereas the Shaman dangles from the limb of a tree in a conscious sacrifice, the Alchemist appears to have none of the limiting features of the Shaman. The Alchemist has wings on both his back and feet, giving him not only freedom, but freedom beyond the common limitations of the human body. The Significator, on the other hand, binds himself beyond the common limitations of the human body.
This "notable" difference -- the freedom of the Alchemist versus the limitation of the Shaman -- calls to mind the First Primal Distortion of the Law of One: Free Will. This distortion is the consequence of the emergenceo of the concept of "finity" in the vast depths of Intelligent Infinity (see Session 13). The word "finite" means, of course, limitation. Therefore, in these two cards, we have a reflection of the original paradox: freedom is limitation. The Shaman depicts the limitations which must be taken on in order to have a bodily experience; however, the evolutionary context of the taking on of limitation is one of freedom within the confines of those limits. Let us imagine the pinnacle of bodily evolution: the master of Inner Alchemy. There are documented instances of eastern Masters who have honed their manipulations of the bodily energies ("chi") to the point of being able to manifest seemingly miraculous deeds. Tibetans can impress handprints into stone, and a healer has been recorded sending wooden chopsticks through tables and starting fires with only his hands.
To use an analogy for the paradoxical union of freedom and limitation: The freedom of limitation is the freedom to learn how to fly. If you could teleport or be omnipresent, flight would be pointless, so the freedom of the Alchemist is the freedom to fully explore the boundaries of limitation.
79.40
The Archetype Seven is one difficult to enunciate. We may call it the Path, the Way, or the Great Way of the Mind. Its foundation is a reflection and substantial summary of Archetypes One through Six.
Extending this structure, we can assume that the Great Way of the Body's "foundation is a reflection and substantial summary" of Archetypes 8 through 13. The balance in cards 8 (scales) and 11 (cup and birds upon her head) is reflected in the delicate precision of the alchemist's pouring of the water of life from the cup of the unmanifest into the cup of the manifest. Not a single drop is spilled. The power of card 11 is also reflected in the Alchemist's four wings. The hidden flame of the Sage flickers upon the head of the Alchemist, lighting the way with wisdom. The wheel is also reflected in the Alchemist's cups: the Alchemist is both the projector, pouring the water, and the receiver, catching the water. This depicts the net effect of the system which we call "karma": what you put out you get back, but in doing so you learn to transmute what you put out from silver to gold. The transformation is also reflected in this card in the shape of the wings on the Alchemist's back. One of them is extended as if in flight, while the other is at rest. This suggests that there are occasions when the Alchemist moves rapidly, experiencing a great transformation through a quantized shift in the nature of its very structure. When the Alchemist flies upon the larger set of wings, the Phoenix burns and is reborn. The smaller set of wings upon the Alchemist's feet thus represent the slower and steadier movements of the Catalyst and Experience of the Body, the constant movement and progressive adaptation of the body to its environment.
81.14
The Great Way of the Body must be seen, as are all the archetypes of the body, to be a mirror image of the thrust of the activity of the mind. The body is the creature of the mind and is the instrument of manifestation for the fruits of mind and spirit. Therefore, you may see the body as providing the athanor through which the Alchemist manifests gold.
The Victor rides in his chariot, drawn forward by Time at the behest of the driving energy of Spirit. The Victor's movement is determined by the degree to which he is capable of lifting the veil, incrementally extending his vision and experience. The stopping and going of the sphinxes suggests periods of gradual change through reflection and periods of swift transformation through quantum shift in the Transformation.
Conversely, the Alchemist, a "reflection in opposites" (79.19) of the Victor, flies at his own will without the constraint of the chariot. Whereas the Victor is free to ride where he wills, he must remain in the chariot. The Alchemist, however, is not bound in his experience the way the Victor is. The mind does not move, but watches the motion of his environment through his decision to know. The body, however, does all of the moving, flying at great speed to show the mind all that it calls forth. With each lifting of the veil, the act of the pouring of the waters of life changes its nature: it becomes just a little more difficult. Ever notice that when you learn a lesson, life brings new and greater challenges? Both figures have similar levels of freedom, but they are opposite in that the mind is confined to its vehicle and therefore must experience indirectly, while the body is the vehicle and therefore may experience directly.
Whereas the Victor comes to know that which he already is, the Alchemist becomes what he has the potential to be.
The pouring of the waters of life is the athanor. The consistent heat of the athanor which provides a stable environment for the transmutation is the other-worldly radiance of the sun at the Alchemist's head, the spirit's blessing and support of this process. As the body is created by the mind, the mind can only bring forth gold if it makes contact with the spirit and allows the spirit to flow through it all the way into manifestation in the body. In this sense, the sun represents both the mind and the spirit, for the body has no direct contact with the spirit: the mind must mediate.
This Archetype's most profound presence in our world, historically, is in the process of the evolution of bodies. Evolution is the macrocosmic experience of transmuting what was once only potential into what is now manifest. While the most powerful archetype of body which is active at this time is the Transformation, we can still see this transformation as a movement within the greater context of the Great Way. The Great Way shows us the purpose of the Transformation: we are not merely to become something else; we are to become something else under the guiding influence of a unified mind and spirit enlivening the body with the firey energy by which the "statue is forged in the fire" (77.15). Let us never forget that without space/time, no balancing of energies could ever happen, and thus no great evolution could happen. The Alchemist is truly the angelic wings upon which we fly up, higher and higher toward the heavens.
Upon the microcosmic scale of my own life, the Alchemist is the story of my own growth as a physical beign interacting with a physical world. My environment was not always what it is now. In refining my own attitudes and habits of action, I have transformed not only my personal physical vehicle, but the entire atmosphere in which I experience this physical reality. Discipline has afforded me a home which is more pleasant and comfortable than any I have ever had. It has afforded me a harmonious relationship with a woman I love, and a relatively stress-free work environment. These things, which I did not have a few years ago, are macrocosmic versions of the evolutionary story of my own microcosmic body. It is the changes in my actions which have begotten the changes in my world. And upon an even more microcosmic scale, these changes have begotten changes in the chemistry of my physical vehicle. I am more sensitive, but also healthier. Again, witness the continuing challenge of evolution: as my body becomes more sensitive, it requites ever more balance to maintain comfort.
I'll begin with a few quotations:
100.5
The Great Way of Mind, Body, or Spirit is intended to limn the milieu within which the work of mind, body, or spirit shall be placed.
100.9
We ask that the student consider the Great Way not as the culmination of a series of seven activities or functions but as a far more clearly delineated image of the environment within which the mind, body, or spirit shall function.
103.11
The entire mood, shall we say, of the Great Way is indeed dependent upon its notable difference from the Significator...
The Great Way of the Mind, the Body, or the Spirit draws the environment which has been the new architecture caused by the veiling process and, thusly, dipped in the great, limitless current of time/space.
In the Great Way of the Body, the Alchemist, there is a more than merely notable difference from the Significator, the Shaman. Whereas the Shaman dangles from the limb of a tree in a conscious sacrifice, the Alchemist appears to have none of the limiting features of the Shaman. The Alchemist has wings on both his back and feet, giving him not only freedom, but freedom beyond the common limitations of the human body. The Significator, on the other hand, binds himself beyond the common limitations of the human body.
This "notable" difference -- the freedom of the Alchemist versus the limitation of the Shaman -- calls to mind the First Primal Distortion of the Law of One: Free Will. This distortion is the consequence of the emergenceo of the concept of "finity" in the vast depths of Intelligent Infinity (see Session 13). The word "finite" means, of course, limitation. Therefore, in these two cards, we have a reflection of the original paradox: freedom is limitation. The Shaman depicts the limitations which must be taken on in order to have a bodily experience; however, the evolutionary context of the taking on of limitation is one of freedom within the confines of those limits. Let us imagine the pinnacle of bodily evolution: the master of Inner Alchemy. There are documented instances of eastern Masters who have honed their manipulations of the bodily energies ("chi") to the point of being able to manifest seemingly miraculous deeds. Tibetans can impress handprints into stone, and a healer has been recorded sending wooden chopsticks through tables and starting fires with only his hands.
To use an analogy for the paradoxical union of freedom and limitation: The freedom of limitation is the freedom to learn how to fly. If you could teleport or be omnipresent, flight would be pointless, so the freedom of the Alchemist is the freedom to fully explore the boundaries of limitation.
79.40
The Archetype Seven is one difficult to enunciate. We may call it the Path, the Way, or the Great Way of the Mind. Its foundation is a reflection and substantial summary of Archetypes One through Six.
Extending this structure, we can assume that the Great Way of the Body's "foundation is a reflection and substantial summary" of Archetypes 8 through 13. The balance in cards 8 (scales) and 11 (cup and birds upon her head) is reflected in the delicate precision of the alchemist's pouring of the water of life from the cup of the unmanifest into the cup of the manifest. Not a single drop is spilled. The power of card 11 is also reflected in the Alchemist's four wings. The hidden flame of the Sage flickers upon the head of the Alchemist, lighting the way with wisdom. The wheel is also reflected in the Alchemist's cups: the Alchemist is both the projector, pouring the water, and the receiver, catching the water. This depicts the net effect of the system which we call "karma": what you put out you get back, but in doing so you learn to transmute what you put out from silver to gold. The transformation is also reflected in this card in the shape of the wings on the Alchemist's back. One of them is extended as if in flight, while the other is at rest. This suggests that there are occasions when the Alchemist moves rapidly, experiencing a great transformation through a quantized shift in the nature of its very structure. When the Alchemist flies upon the larger set of wings, the Phoenix burns and is reborn. The smaller set of wings upon the Alchemist's feet thus represent the slower and steadier movements of the Catalyst and Experience of the Body, the constant movement and progressive adaptation of the body to its environment.
81.14
The Great Way of the Body must be seen, as are all the archetypes of the body, to be a mirror image of the thrust of the activity of the mind. The body is the creature of the mind and is the instrument of manifestation for the fruits of mind and spirit. Therefore, you may see the body as providing the athanor through which the Alchemist manifests gold.
The Victor rides in his chariot, drawn forward by Time at the behest of the driving energy of Spirit. The Victor's movement is determined by the degree to which he is capable of lifting the veil, incrementally extending his vision and experience. The stopping and going of the sphinxes suggests periods of gradual change through reflection and periods of swift transformation through quantum shift in the Transformation.
Conversely, the Alchemist, a "reflection in opposites" (79.19) of the Victor, flies at his own will without the constraint of the chariot. Whereas the Victor is free to ride where he wills, he must remain in the chariot. The Alchemist, however, is not bound in his experience the way the Victor is. The mind does not move, but watches the motion of his environment through his decision to know. The body, however, does all of the moving, flying at great speed to show the mind all that it calls forth. With each lifting of the veil, the act of the pouring of the waters of life changes its nature: it becomes just a little more difficult. Ever notice that when you learn a lesson, life brings new and greater challenges? Both figures have similar levels of freedom, but they are opposite in that the mind is confined to its vehicle and therefore must experience indirectly, while the body is the vehicle and therefore may experience directly.
Whereas the Victor comes to know that which he already is, the Alchemist becomes what he has the potential to be.
The pouring of the waters of life is the athanor. The consistent heat of the athanor which provides a stable environment for the transmutation is the other-worldly radiance of the sun at the Alchemist's head, the spirit's blessing and support of this process. As the body is created by the mind, the mind can only bring forth gold if it makes contact with the spirit and allows the spirit to flow through it all the way into manifestation in the body. In this sense, the sun represents both the mind and the spirit, for the body has no direct contact with the spirit: the mind must mediate.
This Archetype's most profound presence in our world, historically, is in the process of the evolution of bodies. Evolution is the macrocosmic experience of transmuting what was once only potential into what is now manifest. While the most powerful archetype of body which is active at this time is the Transformation, we can still see this transformation as a movement within the greater context of the Great Way. The Great Way shows us the purpose of the Transformation: we are not merely to become something else; we are to become something else under the guiding influence of a unified mind and spirit enlivening the body with the firey energy by which the "statue is forged in the fire" (77.15). Let us never forget that without space/time, no balancing of energies could ever happen, and thus no great evolution could happen. The Alchemist is truly the angelic wings upon which we fly up, higher and higher toward the heavens.
Upon the microcosmic scale of my own life, the Alchemist is the story of my own growth as a physical beign interacting with a physical world. My environment was not always what it is now. In refining my own attitudes and habits of action, I have transformed not only my personal physical vehicle, but the entire atmosphere in which I experience this physical reality. Discipline has afforded me a home which is more pleasant and comfortable than any I have ever had. It has afforded me a harmonious relationship with a woman I love, and a relatively stress-free work environment. These things, which I did not have a few years ago, are macrocosmic versions of the evolutionary story of my own microcosmic body. It is the changes in my actions which have begotten the changes in my world. And upon an even more microcosmic scale, these changes have begotten changes in the chemistry of my physical vehicle. I am more sensitive, but also healthier. Again, witness the continuing challenge of evolution: as my body becomes more sensitive, it requites ever more balance to maintain comfort.