Inherent Worthiness of the Body

[sunnysideup]

I'd like to offer some thoughts on Card 12 today, which is the Significator of the Body.


I, like others have also expressed, have experienced a certain level of dissociation from the physical, which has led to perhaps an overactivity on the mental level, which is perhaps an unbalanced state.

The physical is very much a part of who we are; and is the place where the mind is able to meet and greet others in a concrete way.  It is the means by which one is able to see the effects of our thoughts; and their true consequences.

so what does this Archetype have to offer in terms of understanding?

well, the figure has strung himself upside down (by choice).  His hands are also tied.

what can we take away from this?

well, the body is not what it seems to be, just like the mind is not what it seems to be.  Without further examination, the physical illusion of our reality is most convincing; without further analysis, everything seems most real.

And yet, through the pursuit of spirituality and metaphysics, there is a singular understanding which is conveyed.  Which is that the world in which we live in is just an Illusion, or a Phantasm of personal projections and preconceived attitudes.  We get the experiences that are attracted to us.

The body/physical is a means by which we can come to further examine the consequences of our thoughts.  Quite often, it is the final means by which karma/thoughtforms come to reveal themselves to us.

So the body can be examined; it can be strung up, put upside down, and be on display for ourselves and others.  It is a true mirror of where we are energetically.

The hands being bound show that the means of action are also not what they appear to be.  Rather than the hands making change, it is the energy which is funneled down through the entire physical complex (from the feet downwards, as depicted, which is how the kundalini rises, from the feet to the crown), to where the final effects are expressed through the hands.  It is not the hands which take action independently.  They are animated by everything that comes before, and are just the final outward expression of integrated action.

The right leg crossed to the left is something that I am not sure.

As is the head turned to the left, which is also something present in the Emperor card.

Interesting insights, Plen. I especially like your interpretation on the body hanging upside down with the kundalini rising from feet to crown. I myself find card 12 a tough one to crack plus there's also very little to go on. However I noticed that it is his left leg that is tied up and his right leg is free to move, which made me think that perhaps the sts path is somehow tied up to a certain set of conditions. Also and this may very well be of no significance, but it seems to me that eventhough his hands are tied up, he would still be able to untie his leg if he so chooses.