Great Way of the Spirit

[Nau7ik]

XXI. The Universe



The bottom of this card has me thinking a lot. The female is playing a harp, and this harp has the head of a man. The top most portion of the card shows us the realization of the Great Way, or as the Ra Material puts it, contact with Intelligent Infinity. Ra also says the use of intelligent energy.
The dove is surrounded by the shape of a square of the Holy Living Creatures and a circle of flowers. The flowers are similar to the Significator of Spirit, the Sun. Which has a connection to the Great Way.
Maybe it’s just me, but I see a square shape, so it suggests to me that the great way is realized within the material illusion but the dove is surrounded by a circle, which is magical and suggests time/space.

My rough interpretation is that the female depicts the body and the male the mind. The body and mind work in harmony which allows for the realization of the great way of spirit, contact with intelligent Infinity. The Universe is open to the seeker.

I’m not entirely sure though. That’s what I’m having trouble with, what exactly do the male and female correspond to? It doesn’t make sense that the body plays the mind. It’s the other way around. So then maybe I’m not understanding what the figures are intended to represent.

There’s very little material to go on with the archetypes of Body and easpecially spirit in the Ra Material. Ra left that to be worked out by ourselves.

I’m open to all suggestions and interpretations!

[Highrculling]

The picture reminds me of something from the book Bringers of the Dawn(my thanks goes to the authors), Chapter 18, it goes:

quote/
Sound carries a certain frequency, and the body recognizes the frequency. The body is keyed to respond to the acceptability of the frequency.

The great master musicians such as Beethoven and Mozart were coded to bring in information of a stable nature, for they received the harmonics of sound at the time when there was great darkness over the planet. In order to keep a certain remembrance open in the minds of the human race, lower vibratory rates of sound were translated into the minds of these masters.

Sound is going to evolve. Now human beings can become the instruments for sound through toning. Human beings become the flute, the piano, the harp, the oboe, and the tuba. They allow energies to use their physical bodies to make a variety of sounds that they do not direct or attempt to control the range of. Spirit plays, and human beings simply observe the attendance of the symphony that they and all the others are performing. It is quite profound.

These harmonics can be utilized in incredible ways, for harmonics can evolve many things. One of the things that is important for utilizing these harmonics is to be very silent once the harmonics are complete. The harmonics alter something; they open the door. Certain combinations of sounds played through the human body unlock information and frequencies of intelligence. ...
/unquote

I just thought it might have some relevance here. I sure hope so. The whole chapter is quite an interesting read, as is the book

[Jade]

My interpretation is subtly different than yours, I'm not sure if it matters much.

I see the female as the subconscious mind (High Priestess) and the male is the conscious mind (Magician). The fact that his body has become an "instrument" implies that he has "tuned" the body with the work of the (already tuned) conscious mind (potentiator of the body) - as Ra says that one must initiate and understand the mind before one can initiate the body.

To me the implication is that the subconscious mind/intelligent infinity/the higher self is able to "play" the tuned incarnate conscious mind like an instrument, performing whatever songs and motifs are necessary in the moment - joy, sadness, frustration, whatever the appropriate emotion is, he (conscious mind) is ready for her (subconscious mind) to play it. This way they are working in harmony in the manifest realms. This is what is referred to as "doing the will of the Creator", which is usually opposed to what we think of as "free will" - the will to do what we want, Creator be damned.

Ra uses "instrument" to refer to Carla almost exclusively. They use this analogy in other ways, as well. For instance, the octaves are musical. Anyway, I think this quote says what I think the Great Way is about:

54.16 ▶ Questioner: Let me make an analogy that I have just thought of. A seven-stringed musical instrument may be played by deflecting each string [a] full deflection and releasing it and getting a note. Or, once the strings are capable of being deflected through their full deflection (producing a note), instead of producing the notes this way taking the individual creative personality and deflecting each the proper amount in proper sequence to produce the music. Is this correct?

Ra: I am Ra. This is correct. In the balanced individual the energies lie waiting for the hand of the Creator to pluck harmony.

If an instrument has 7 strings, and only 3 are available, the music that the Creator is able to play is going to be off. It can still play, but "the disharmony jangles the sensitive":

4.6 ▶ Questioner: Is the large pyramid at Giza still usable for this purpose, or is it no longer functioning?

Ra: I am Ra. That, like many other pyramid structures, is like the piano out of tune. It, as this instrument would express, plays the tune but, oh, so poorly. The disharmony jangles the sensitive. Only the ghost of the streaming still remains due to the shifting of the streaming points which is in turn due to the shifting electromagnetic field of your planet; due also to the discordant vibratory complexes of those who have used the initiatory and healing place for less compassionate purposes.

Here is more expansion on that analogy:

54.6 ▶ Questioner: What I meant was that a mind/body/spirit complex then can have a body activated that is one of these seven rays. Is this correct?

Ra: I am Ra. This is correct in the same sense as it is correct to state that any one may play a complex instrument which develops an euphonious harmonic vibration complex such as your piano and can play this so well that it might offer concerts to the public, as you would say. In other words, although it is true that each true-color vehicle is available potentially there is skill and discipline needed in order to avail the self of the more advanced or lighter vehicles.

[anagogy]

XXI. The Universe



The bottom of this card has me thinking a lot. The female is playing a harp, and this harp has the head of a man. The top most portion of the card shows us the realization of the Great Way, or as the Ra Material puts it, contact with Intelligent Infinity. Ra also says the use of intelligent energy.
The dove is surrounded by the shape of a square of the Holy Living Creatures and a circle of flowers. The flowers are similar to the Significator of Spirit, the Sun. Which has a connection to the Great Way.
Maybe it’s just me, but I see a square shape, so it suggests to me that the great way is realized within the material illusion but the dove is surrounded by a circle, which is magical and suggests time/space.

Note: I replaced the picture with the older version because I like it better.

The creatures around the bird represent the 4 elements.

The lion represents fire. The goat represents earth (sometimes this is replaced with a bull or calf as in your image). The bird represents air. And the face represents water. The bird centered in the middle represents the integration of the 4 elements. The flowers surrounding it, with 3 petal each represent the integration of mind, body, and spirit. They also represent beauty and the 12 astrological signs. Of course, you will get different answers to what represents what, but this is my interpretation.

The elements arranged in this fashion represent the pentagram, an archetypal spiritual magical structure used for opening a gateway to intelligent infinity. That is what it is used for, and why you see it pop up in so many different cultures.

Again, as I said you will get a lot of different answers as to what represents what, so the only way you can know if I'm right or wrong about these correspondences is to do a lot of inner work. The lion represents the astrological sign Leo, a fire sign. The bird represents Gemini, an air sign. The face represents Pisces, a water sign. And the goat represents Capricorn, an earth sign.

My rough interpretation is that the female depicts the body and the male the mind. The body and mind work in harmony which allows for the realization of the great way of spirit, contact with intelligent Infinity. The Universe is open to the seeker.

I’m not entirely sure though. That’s what I’m having trouble with, what exactly do the male and female correspond to? It doesn’t make sense that the body plays the mind. It’s the other way around. So then maybe I’m not understanding what the figures are intended to represent.

The female playing the strings of the instrument with the male face represents a being who is operating almost totally from intuition rather than logical analysis.

When one penetrates intelligent infinity, the intuition guides the actor, and because it is operating from a state of pure connection, the outcome is the manifestation of the harmony of the elements which, again, is what the pentagram is. It is an archetypal structure and symbol of the elements working in such conjunction that one is able to open the gateway, bringing infinite intelligence through.

[Nau7ik]

Wonderful! Thanks to all of you! It seems I wasn’t as off as I thought I was. I was getting the sense that the female could represent the Higher Self, who is pictured as feminine in Kabbalah, the Neshamah.

The four creatures indeed suggest the four elements, our correspondes are different but we recognize that it’s intended to represent the four elements with the dove as spirit in the middle, suggesting the Pentagram, spirit over matter. The human is Aquarius-air, the Lion is Leo-Fire, the Ox is Taurus-Earth, and the Eagle is Water-Scorpio. The dove is Akasha, spirit. I didn’t count the flowers, but there are 12 there which is obviously referring to zodiac. And then the three petals suggesting the mind body and spirit in harmonious equilibrium. (The Chiaoth haKadesh, the Holy Living Creatures at each portion of the sphere of the zodiac.)

So then, the female represents the Intuitive Mind which plucks the melody of our Being, by the Hand of the Creator (contact with Intelligent Infinity). The Intuitive Mind requires the balance of the mind and body for it to descent. If we consider the Significator of Spirit, the Sun, we can see that this is so. The Great Way is “thusly dipped in the limitless current of time/space.”

This is a beautiful and deep card!

[anagogy]

The four creatures indeed suggest the four elements, our correspondes are different but we recognize that it’s intended to represent the four elements with the dove as spirit in the middle, suggesting the Pentagram, spirit over matter. The human is Aquarius-air, the Lion is Leo-Fire, the Ox is Taurus-Earth, and the Eagle is Water-Scorpio.

Oftentimes people use the four fixed elements, hence the traditional astrological associations. I believe two of them are fixed and two are mutable, hence the difference in my associations. But use whatever resonates with you most.

The correspondences could change depending on what you are using this archetype for in my opinion.

[Nau7ik]

I have completed all of the meditations in the Book of Tokens by Paul Foster Case. It took a few months but it was absolutely worth it. I finished it with a strong feeling of gratitude.

There was an “Epilogos” on MALKUTH at the very end of the book. It is very much related to the Great Way of the Spirit. So I am going to share part of it here: **(GUPH is the physical body)

In the physical universe of GUPH
Is the breaking up of the ONE into the four
which are the basis of the many.
And to MALKUTH is the GUPH attributed, Because the GUPH cometh not to perfection
but by the formation of bodies.
It is written that “KETHER is in MALKUTH and MALKUTH is in KETHER,
but after a different manner.”
In KETHER I am the ONE, the Indivisible, But in MALKUTH that same ONE,
Which I AM,
Appeareth as four and cometh into manifestation
As the ten which returneth unto the ONE.
But to enter the Kingdom there must always be two,
For the Wheel turneth not
but by the alternation of opposite forces.
Yet my Kingdom of ADONAI is not the kingdom
of this world’s illusion;
And the bodies of the servants of ADONAI
Must be freed from that illusion
Ere they may serve as transparent channels
For the Light which descendeth from Above.
The law of ADONAI is other than the laws of men; For in the laws of men hath entered confusion.
This must needs be,

Since mankind still remaineth a work unfinished. Yet be on guard,
Ye who seek to be numbered amongst
the sons and daughters of the true Israel,
Lest ye mistake the half-formed concepts
of an earlier stage of growth for final truths.
The Great Work directeth itself always
toward the building of the Temple of ADONAI,
And in its earlier stages there are needs which do not continue
throughout the building process.
Yet men mistake the scaffolding for the building itself, And thus pay idolatrous reverence to old rules
which have no longer any useful purpose. Watch therefore, O ye who would rule
as the Lord ruleth,
Lest ye usurp the rights of the Lord.
His and His alone, is the Temple,
And ye who are concerned with the building
are not its owners.
Not thine but Mine is the work.
Not thine but Mine is the Temple;
For Me and Me only is it planned and built,
And Mine are the ordinances established
For thy guidance in the service of the Light.
For truly is KETHER in MALKUTH,
And in KETHER I dwell solitary without a second.
What think ye then,
Hath any man or woman
A right of ownership higher than Mine?

Mine is thy body,
Thou who seekest to find Me. Mine and Mine alone.
Mine is the Substance of all that cometh into manifestation through the thought, or
word or action of any of Mine instruments.
Never shall they who remain deluded by the illusion of separateness become clear channels
for the Outpouring of My Will,
Until all the follies of “thine” and “mine” are cleared out by the
irresistible downpouring of My Power...

It’s a few pages long, so I tried to quote only the portion that is relevant to Arcanum XXI The Universe. It goes on to say that LOVE is the way, not reason. Love comes before reason lest reason be barren and sterile.

Yet is all this naught but words, Without the key supplied
by the understanding heart. Love is that key.
Love, not reason;
For reason followeth after love,
And when reason would enslave love, Then is reason but a tyrant
Punishing itself with what it trieth in vain
to enslave.
Love cometh first as thou mayest see in Tarot, Where the Empress cometh before the Emperor. Without love reason is sterile,
For love is the generatrix of true imagery. Reason can arrange, reason can harvest;
But the harvester weareth also
the mask of death.
So this thy body is the instrument Whereon may be played the Song of Life. Nay,itismorethanthis;
For on this harp of ten thousand strings, The wind of the Spirit moveth ever,
And soundeth night and day the melodies
and harmonies of that Eternal Song.

Beautiful, wise, loving!

[unity100]

XXI. The Universe



The bottom of this card has me thinking a lot. The female is playing a harp, and this harp has the head of a man. The top most portion of the card shows us the realization of the Great Way, or as the Ra Material puts it, contact with Intelligent Infinity. Ra also says the use of intelligent energy.
The dove is surrounded by the shape of a square of the Holy Living Creatures and a circle of flowers. The flowers are similar to the Significator of Spirit, the Sun. Which has a connection to the Great Way.
Maybe it’s just me, but I see a square shape, so it suggests to me that the great way is realized within the material illusion but the dove is surrounded by a circle, which is magical and suggests time/space.

My rough interpretation is that the female depicts the body and the male the mind. The body and mind work in harmony which allows for the realization of the great way of spirit, contact with intelligent Infinity. The Universe is open to the seeker.

I'd say thats a pretty insightful interpretation.

I’m not entirely sure though. That’s what I’m having trouble with, what exactly do the male and female correspond to? It doesn’t make sense that the body plays the mind. It’s the other way around. So then maybe I’m not understanding what the figures are intended to represent.

There’s very little material to go on with the archetypes of Body and easpecially spirit in the Ra Material. Ra left that to be worked out by ourselves.

Seeing the female as the subconscious, female and the harp as conscious, male, could be more productive.

[Highrculling]

The female playing the strings of the instrument with the male face represents a being who is operating almost totally from intuition rather than logical analysis.

When one penetrates intelligent infinity, the intuition guides the actor, and because it is operating from a state of pure connection, ...

This sounds like a very interesting state of being, anagogy. But for everyday folks who are not very close to intelligent infinity, the aforementioned state, the card 21, and the use of intuition will still have some degree of relevance to us, right?

"for we know what we know by a process of direct intuition."  Latwii  1979.3.18

From this statement I gathered that higher density beings still use the intuition a lot, like it's going to be around for a very long time. So it's all a matter of degrees, of the openness of the intuitive channel of an individual in the various densities, always attempting to develop this function/faculty...? Does anybody think I'm making sense here..

As a side question, with this statement: "However, the entity who penetrates intelligent infinity is basically capable of walking the universe with unfettered tread." 48.10, does anyone know "the world" here means “the third density world", or "the 1~7 density octave world"? I believe it means the former, since it makes no sense "to jump a density". If I'm correct here, then there will be an Intelligent Infinity in each of the densities, and the steady state of a 4th density being is kind of a "post 3rd density Intelligent Infinity" state?   ...

"and in many ways intuitive knowledge is superior to any other kind." Seth  P46
"The mechanism of inspiration involves an extraordinary faculty of desire or will to know or to receive in a certain area accompanied by the ability to open to and trust in what you may call intuition."LoO 38.4
"QUESTION:  I wonder if you can clarify to some extent the connection or the disassociation between the subconscious and intuition?
ANSWER:  If you distinguish intuition from insight, we might say that it is the highest form. Intuition is never wrong. An instinct can be wrong. It can be harmful, it can come from the lower nature of the personality. Intuition comes from the superconscious, if you want to be technical about it. Intuition has the further distinction of being conscious. ..."  pathwork lecture 55

So friends, what do you generally think of intuition? What is the practical use, and how do I make proper use of it? What's its role? Is it simply "to inform intelligence"49.4, just like that? Does intuition have the most relevance with this card, or with other card(s)? Which one, and why? Any thoughts/insights will be helpful! Much apprish.

[BridgesToLight]

Wow. Nice.
For most of my life I strived to be more of a man , then most men, in my professional life.
And it worked, right up until my overwork, anxiety and conscious, caught up to me.
My intuition was cut off (an amusing sidestory), I operated nearly completely from the rational, logical, masculine part of me.
I hated being a girl, and even before connecting to these concepts I shunned intuition and feelings.
What a rollercoaster of highs, lows,sickness and terror.
Even though I saw and spoke with spirits as a child, I had so locked this away I could not access, nor find, my intuition.
The road back required vigilant mapping of feelings in my body and the surrounding happenings.
Clearing a ton of chemicals from my body and life, meditation and eventually stumbling upon dowsing/divining changed everything.
Strengthening, exercising my intuition and divining skills have served this path so well.
I now hear my guides again, and even have new ones, as well as the occasional pop in deceased, and it all started with radical gratitude and swinging a pendulum.
Amazing trip

[flofrog]

Could intuition be the conduit to intelligent infinity and this intuition gets more and more opened by practices such as meditation ? This, at least, was how it seemed it worked and works for me...

Great thread, thank you Nau and everyone !

[Highrculling]

Wow. Nice.
For most of my life I strived to be more of a man , then most men, in my professional life.
And it worked, right up until my overwork, anxiety and conscious, caught up to me.
My intuition was cut off (an amusing sidestory), I operated nearly completely from the rational, logical, masculine part of me.
I hated being a girl, and even before connecting to these concepts I shunned intuition and feelings.
What a rollercoaster of highs, lows,sickness and terror.
Even though I saw and spoke with spirits as a child, I had so locked this away I could not access, nor find, my intuition.
The road back required vigilant mapping of feelings in my body and the surrounding happenings.
Clearing a ton of chemicals from my body and life, meditation and eventually stumbling upon dowsing/divining changed everything.
Strengthening, exercising my intuition and divining skills have served this path so well.
I now hear my guides again, and even have new ones, as well as the occasional pop in deceased, and it all started with radical gratitude and swinging a pendulum.
Amazing trip

Well in my case, I never got to explore the Intellect very much, even if I wanted to. My intellect is kind of slow/clumsy, somewhere around the medium point among the population. Nothing much I can do about that. My intuition has been kind of sharp. And I intuitively knew how not smart I am. LOL. I was quite frustrated over this for some time(for being intellectually lame), but later I got over it(still salty tho hehehe).
So you can see I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I had to adjust to the slowness/clumsiness of my intellect(with all its implications), and basically Love that. And seek ways to utilize my handy intuition.
I feel like my intellect/intuition ratio has turned my into a walking potentiator of some sort. I really think I could work very well with smart people, in a mutually strengthening way.
Although in real life, the majority of smart people prefer to press their apparent advantage, so as to be more exclusive/distinguished. But I am hopeful.
Sounds like you had quite a ride finding the way back, you definitely went pretty far. It's good to know you are more balanced now. Thumb up to that.
I don't usually receive communication in terms hearing(I hope the deceased managed not to be spooky), don't use much pendulum neither. For me it's typically Q&A by way of inspiration. I might try out the pendulum in the future.

[Jade]

I'm not sure I agree with the interpretation that the Great Way symbolizes one of pure intuition. Intuition is an aspect of the subconscious mind, which has been veiled from us, and it does take the will to seek beyond the veil and achieve a state where we are receiving communication from the subconscious mind. However, I see it specifically denoting harmony between the conscious AND subconscious mind.

Yes, the subconscious mind is "playing" the conscious mind, but he is her instrument, and he must be tuned a ready for her to play, or else she cannot do anything. It makes me think of this quote from a Dirty Projectors song: "I am glad that I got to know that I might sing the melody but I don't set the tempo."

In the mind cycle, the conscious mind much choose which path it seeks to work together with the subconscious mind: Either harmonization or subjugation.

In the body cycle, we must do the same: We either work together with the body or learn to subjugate it so it performs for us.

So there are two ways to achieve this total harmonization of mind, body, and spirit. The mind and body must be tuned to a state of usefulness so that the spirit can be used as a vehicle to do further work in consciousness. Intuition is important, but more important (to the positive path) is faith, hope, and polarity. Only through these acts of will is the intuition meaningful at all. As Ra says, both the prostituted deep mind and the virginal deep mind invite and await the reaching. And, following the intuition might lead us places to where we wouldn't choose ourselves. The polarity protects from the former, and faith and hope protect from the latter.

[Nau7ik]

Could intuition be the conduit to intelligent infinity and this intuition gets more and more opened by practices such as meditation ? This, at least, was how it seemed it worked and works for me...

Great thread, thank you Nau and everyone !

Yes I feel the same! Like it’s a conduit of the Higher Self actually. I always think in terms of the Tree of Life; it, then, the Higher Self, is called the Neshamah, which is apart of the Supernal spheres which correspond to super consciousness. Intuition comes down from across the Abyss (the metaphorical distance separating the Mind of God and the Mind of Man.)


And @Jade, beautiful! I like your interpretation a lot!

[ricdaw]

XXI. The Universe

Both figures, eyes wide open in awareness and recognition of purpose.

She, dressed in white, shines with STO light.

He, bent into service of her plucking fingers, makes music.  Three strings = triangle.  Music of the spirit.

She, kneels in service to the action. Making Song.

He, Third Eye blazing with the awesome symbolic headgear triangle, he "sees" what must be done . . .  which is not "doing" at all.  Neither figure is moving.  There is no Action here.  No thrust.  No force.

It is Beingness.  Light and Music to reach out to all Others, All of Us.  And Song, a Song for God on the wings of that bird flying to Heaven.

These two are Done with Doing.  They have Become. They are BEING.

Some might call that Love.

[Morrish]

Exquisite reading.

[flofrog]

I so agree Morrish. Welcome here,

[dreamoftheiris]

The bird in the center relates to the Cross, the symbol of the unity of the higher and lower. Of Man’s true purpose: That of the “Meditator” between heaven and earth.

It also relates to the Kabbalistic and Alchemical “language of the birds” - a secret and perfect language and the key to perfect knowledge. Those who understand the language of the birds can see the hidden symbolism in everything.

The Great Way of the Spirit represents the individual capable of dissecting the hidden behind the word, to liberate the spirit within.

“What unsuspected marvels we should find, if we knew how to dissect words, to strip them of their bark and liberate the spirit, the divine light which is within” - Fulcanelli