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The Lovers: The 17th Path

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ALLIES OF GEMINI

   “The Fall, in Genesis, is the original trauma of humanity and symbolically reveals the lack of connection between the soul and the personality. The Archangel Raphael opens his arms, welcoming Adam and Eve back to paradise; the serpent who brought self-awareness does not offer the fruit anymore. The serpent, instead, is symbolizing rebirth, the rebirth of the conscious awareness of the whole spiritual Self, and it also symbolizes the kundalini, the serpent force coiled at the base of the spine that moves up through the primary chakras and causes them to blossom with the potent life-force. The tree with fall colors no longer symbolizes The Fall, but the cycles of birth and death and regeneration. Twelve leaves, symbolizing the energies of the zodiac, flame near Adam, and the tree, so close to Adam, suggests that he, as the archetypal human being, is manifesting all of the fiery energies of the cosmos. Even so, as the archetypal masculine being, Adam is gazing at the archetypal feminine being, Eve, who is looking at the Archangel for spiritual guidance, and there is a connection at all levels of being.”
   “‘The Lovers’ connects Beauty with Understanding, which is a path between the soul, or conscious self of the enlightened individual, and the Emanation of spiritual intuition, known as the Neshama. We see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the Archangel Raphael, ‘Healer of God,’ above them. The sun, source of all life, shines above Raphael. The image essentially reveals the healing of the psyche, in the sense that all aspects of the individual are now integrated--a return to Eden, so to speak.”
   “But I don’t see just one person--I see a man and a woman, an Archangel, and the sun.”
   “This makes more sense if you remember the basic divisions of the psyche. The incarnated personality balances polarities, containing both masculine and feminine characteristics. Adam and Eve, in other words, represent the lower personality. The Archangel represents the evolutionary personality or Individuality, which embraces both male and female characteristics and contains the essence of all incarnations, in what is more commonly called ‘the soul.’ The sun is the divine core, the True Self, which is a spark from the light of the Source. At this stage of integration, or ‘innocence,’ the individual is now integrated at all levels, from the highest spiritual vibration to the densest physical matter of the body.”
   “But I thought that the Crown contains the highest spiritual vibration, Mr. M. Doesn’t this path connect with the third Emanation?”
   “Yes, but remember, Understanding, receiving the direct influxes of both Wisdom and the Crown, combines the energies of all three, and therefore all three collectively are known as Neshama, or spirit. The Crown is our spiritual essence, our oneness with God; Wisdom is the spiritual will; and the third Emanation is the spiritual Understanding that combines all three, so all three supernal Emanations together form a unit that is also sometimes referred to as Neshama.
   “The astrological sign is Gemini, two mythological brothers, one mortal, and one immortal. Part of the ‘innocence’ of the fully integrated individual is the recognition that part of the self is mortal and part of the self is immortal, but nothing is lost in the mind of God. You will shed your lower personality like the snake sheds its skin, but the memory of it as well as the actual spiritual essence of the individual, remain, so there is nothing to mourn.”
   “Does that mean that death loses its sting, Mr. M?”
   “Yes, it does, but that doesn’t mean you should just become lazy and complacent and not care about anything. The Hebrew letter is zayin, which means ‘sword.’ The sword, of course, is a symbol for the element of Air and is associated with the intellect. In other words, you need to use your head to balance the whole self and cut away anything that interferes with the alignment of the divine spark, the evolutionary personality, and the lower personality.
   “The God-name is Jehovah, Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh, the Tetragrammaton, which refers to all the levels of being--spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical--all aligned so that the personal energy field is in harmony with the Universal Energy Field.”

Eight of Swords: Jupiter in Gemini, Mercury in Hod

   "Look, Mr. M, that lady is still trapped by those swords!"

   "She seems more imprisoned by fear than anything else. Her bonds are so loose that they seem about to fall off, and the swords, though long and sharp, do not actually imprison her. Behind her looms a castle on a cliff, but no one is guarding her. We are in the realm of Gemini, and in this realm we will see more of the mortal than the immortal aspects of life. The mortal side unfortunately is often trapped by fear, but she is not only trapped by fear but also by limiting beliefs. The eighth sphere on the Tree of Life is the Emanation of Splendor, associated with Mercury, a God who “shortens force” through thought, and thought-forms can establish splendor in the human psyche, but they can also create “mind-forged manacles” that bind us with unproductive and limiting thoughts and behavior. However, the influence of Jupiter can be felt as well. Jupiter is the God of expansive, orderly, upbuilding force. The restrictions of the intellect in the material realm can blind a person to the creative expansiveness of the spirit, but for our friend, the bonds could be loosening and the blindfold could fall off at any moment. Whatever “authority” put her in that position is off in the distance on a cliff, and the influence of Jupiter might soon liberate her so that, aware of the infinitude and magnificence and harmony within, she manages to free herself and live an abundant spiritual life."

Nine of Swords: Mars in Gemini, Moon in Yesod

   "That person is still very sad, Mr. M."

   "Yes, she is still in darkness. Again, we are seeing the mortal aspects of Gemini, the sorrow and despair and cruelty. We have witnessed the immortal aspects of Gemini on the path of The Lovers, but here nine swords hang horizontally over the bed, three of which, as our friend bends forward, seem to pierce the four chakras related to the spiritual dimension of the self: the crown, the third eye, the throat, and the heart. At first glance, our friend seems to be suffering from the effects of cruelty, which is a vice of Mars, or she might be suffering from grief, which is a common result of the constant change associated with the Moon. However, the influences of Mars and Gemini can also be felt on a deeper level. Our friend is experiencing a blockage of the life-force between the higher and lower chakras, the energy centers in the aura. Stress and trauma from dysfunction and cruelty can close or block the chakras. Our friend is covering her eyes, blinding herself to the spiritual dimension, hence the blackness in the background. All levels of being are connected, and this is no different in the chakra system of the aura. The power of Mars on the physical level is in part linked to a balance of the higher chakras with the lower chakras, the life-force flowing harmoniously throughout the whole system, both upward and downward. When a blockage exists between the spiritual and physical levels, the life-force on the lower levels, which includes romantic passion, also associated with the Moon, is adversely affected, and weakness and mental and emotional suffering can result. It’s no accident that for our friend the spiritual dimension is blacked out and the lower half of the body is covered. However, there is always hope. On the blanket are red roses, red symbolically associated with both Mars and romantic love. Also on the blanket are astrological signs, a reminder that the psyche always has the potential to balance the life-forces and regain the health of the body and heart and mind."

   "I really wish that she would feel better soon, Mr. M."

Ten of Swords: Sun in Gemini

   "We're seeing the mortal aspects of Gemini, aren't we, Mr. M?"

   "Yes, indeed, not just death but hatred and anger and cruelty. The swords are positioned vertically to suggest that our friend's ruin was orchestrated carefully and carried out by more than one person. Notice though that the water is calm, the black storm clouds lifting, and there is no blood on the ground. The sky is yellow, suggesting either dusk or dawn. Either way, the Sun, associated with the higher self in Beauty, the sixth Emanation on the Tree of Life, is peeking through. The moment of ruin is paralyzing, like death, which suggests, on a symbolic level, the inability to move on, but even though everything is lost, a moment of calm illumination has arrived. Our friend here has been targeted by a group, but no matter how horrible, death, as revealed by the path of the same name, is transformation, which can occur not only on the physical level, but on the emotional, mental, and spiritual levels as well, and what eventually follows is regeneration. Both the Sun and Gemini have an influence on this level in the tenth Emanation. The Sun suggests the spirit, the Source, which might peek through for a moment. Remember that the Gemini myth concerns the twin brothers Castor and Pollux, one mortal, the other immortal. When the mortal one died, Zeus formed a constellation so that mortal and immortal could be joined together, which I interpret to mean that the essence of the mortal self remains within the immortal self."

   "That's how I want to interpret it too. Thanks, Mr. M, you made me feel better."

Go on a different adventure with Mr. M.