All Text, Music, and Illustrations, including Paintings, Photographs, and 3D models, Copyright © 2022 by Jim Robbins.
ROOMS THAT DREAM:
APT. 38
In the middle of the front room in Apt. 38 is a throne. On the right side of the throne is a black marble pillar, on the left side a white marble pillar. Connecting the two pillars is a tapestry of stars with full moons representing different archetypal energies. When you sit on the throne, you feel like you are in the center of a matrix and that the matrix somehow also exists at the center of your psyche. The matrix outside of you contains dimensions of Universal Consciousness while the matrix inside of you contains the same energies that connect you to those dimensions of Universal Consciousness. Your personal consciousness, so limited by the physical conditions of Apt. 38, can transcend the realities of your space and time, which seem to exist so far below you now as you connect with the dimensions of nonlocal consciousness. To your left you sense the Emanation of Mercy and experience the qualities of Jupiter, and you are suddenly filled with the magnificence, harmony, and abundance of both Universal Consciousness and the human spirit. On your right, you experience the intense power and discipline and strength of Mars, as well as a fire that burns away all negativity in your heart and mind. You experience the harmonizing and healing energies of the Sun and the types of love and beauty associated with Venus and the splendor of the human mind associated with Mercury. You travel all the paths connecting the archetypal states of being as well, each path with its own archetypal energies that also exist within you. Eventually, your mind floats among innumerable galaxies in the zodiac, and after awhile you experience a massive light at the center of all creation. Suddenly, the cosmos collapses into a point of light that shrinks until it can barely be perceived within the surrounding blackness. You have drifted beyond the matrix into a field of negative existence from which the cosmos has emanated, but with the power of your personal consciousness, you find that you can return to the throne in the middle of the front room in Apt. 38.
(You realize that you are still on the right path because next to the throne you find an essay by Justin C....)
KNOW THYSELF
In addition to Beauty, thirty-one other paths exist on the Tree of Life that reveal other energies of the Universal Mind that other cultures have represented as symbolic figures down through the ages. All of these energies exist within us, hence another key maxim, “As above, so below.” Quite simply, the goal of this spiritual modality is to stimulate and awaken the energies of all thirty-two paths so that your personal energy field is in tune with the Universal Energy Field and you become a fully realized spiritual being in human form. By using the Tarot in ritual, in other words, you will eventually build the Tree of Life in your aura, activating energies within you that have been symbolically represented by Gods, Archangels, and Angels down through the ages. You can transcend your local reality and experience nonlocal consciousness: There is no part of you that is not part of the Gods.
Doors to the Universal Mind exist within the energy centers known in Eastern spiritual traditions as the chakras. In what I consider the most authentic and significant Western mystical tradition, the Qabalah, the seven primary chakras are expanded to form the symbolic matrix of the Tree of Life. The symbols of the Tarot and the Tree of Life connect us with the basic powers and energies of the Universal Mind. By connecting with the forces behind the symbols, each of us can realize our potential as divine spiritual beings.
I discovered all of this after I started meditating in my early forties to relieve stress. At the time, I was an agnostic with no interest at all in spiritual matters. However, I got bored just lying around on my couch, so I bought a book that recommended mentally purifying the chakras during meditation. That’s when all heaven and hell broke loose.
After mentally purifying my chakras for many days, one afternoon I had a vision of a horizontal, gray figure-eight floating above my head. I could see the walls of my room clearly as well, so I thought for a moment that I had opened my eyes. I blinked and the figure-eight disappeared. I had no idea what the vision signified, and I quickly dismissed it, but a few days later I bought a deck of Universal Waite Tarot Cards and found the infinity symbol associated with several figures.
Soon after my vision of the infinity symbol, I had a vision of a golden, equal-armed cross with angels at each end. Each angel wore a robe, one red, one yellow, one blue, and one white, but remained otherwise indistinct. Soon afterwards, I discovered that the equal-armed cross appears in several places on the Tree and in the Tarot and is an archetypal symbol that has surfaced in cultures all over the world down through the ages. After repeatedly experiencing the vision, I discovered two mystical rituals that feature the equal-armed cross with an Archangel at each end: The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) and the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram (SIRP).
In meditation, a person can sometimes feel that he or she has slipped from the individual mind into the collective mind, from the personal to the transpersonal, as though channeled from a stream into the ocean. At those moments, symbols can surface into consciousness, revealing spiritual principles that can ripple out in the individual’s life in significant ways in the days and months and years that follow. When an archetype surfaces in astral consciousness, its significance can even flow out into the world of action--the physical plane. For instance, as happened with me, a person who envisions a golden equal-armed cross during meditation might find out later that gold symbolizes the incorruptibility of spirit, and then that the cross itself corresponds to the four elements of the wise, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth, in harmony with each other. The person might then discover that the cross is the basis for key rituals where the practitioner creates a three-dimensional space to launch the mind into the fourth dimension of spirit. Then the individual, as I did, might actually begin practicing the rituals as a way to progress in the Great Work of self-transformation. The full meaning of a symbol from the archetypal world often takes weeks or months or even years to unfold, but one archetypal symbol can have a life-changing impact that can lead to a lifetime of adventure in the “forest of symbols.”
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and The Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram both include the great Archangels of the Elements, Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, and Auriel, who were represented as the indistinct angels in my vision. One of the most important aspects of this practice is contacting these great beings, who are like the Gods of other cultures; for instance, the Archangel Raphael is very much like Apollo. A relationship with these Archangels is essential because they immerse you in the elemental energies and stimulate those energies so that you can then receive the influx of the other energies represented by the Tree of Life, such as the energies of the planets and the zodiac. A God or Archangel is a distinct power of the Universal Mind. With the help of the Archangels, you can expand and purify your consciousness and help others in ways that most people would find hard to believe or even imagine. They are intermediaries between the supreme powers of Universal Consciousness and our individual, "local" consciousness in the physical plane.
Through mental purification of the chakras I experienced a much deeper level of relaxation as well as optimal health. I visualized the primary chakras as turning margarita glasses with a different color of margarita mix in each one. Starting with red at the bottom, the primary chakras follow a rainbow pattern of colors. Next is orange in the sacral chakra in the stomach region, then yellow in the solar plexus region, then green in the heart center, pale blue in the throat, violet in the third eye between the brows, and brilliant white, which combines all colors, in the crown chakra. The goal of this purification process is to identity the impurities within the chakras and mentally wipe them out with a damp, white cloth.
The root chakra is associated with a sense of being grounded in physical reality. At first, when I gazed into the root chakra, I saw nothing but brown muck. I wiped and wiped but I couldn't get all of the muck out. Undaunted, I continued for several days until the muck was gone. Then I moved to the sacral chakra, associated with sexuality, creativity, and emotions, and to my surprise I discovered a blue film coating the orange margarita mix. Again, it took me a long time to wipe out the blue film. I discovered later that the chakras of complimentary colors regulate each other. My throat chakra was dampening the sacral chakra to repress my emotions, something we all must do to survive in this society. Feeling blue, anyone? When I gazed with my mind's eye into the solar plexus chakra, associated with wisdom, the intellect, and personal power, I saw extremely bright yellow, so bright that it seemed way out of balance. Growing up a male in this society I was often encouraged to be dominant and in control; I realized that shining such a bright yellow light was one way of subtly establishing dominance. I wiped out the chakra to get it more into balance.
My heart chakra was totally black, which worried me because my father had died of a heart attack at the age of fifty-five. I am not an evil person, but I am human—I have experienced more than my share of betrayal and lies and backstabbing, so I wasn't surprised to find black energy in my heart. However, even though I spent many hours wiping the blackness away, it returned because we are deluged by negative energies in this society. After I completely cleansed my heart, I moved to the next chakra. Since I am a writer, composer, and artist, I spend a great deal of time expressing myself and communicating, so I wasn't surprised that my throat chakra was untainted. My third eye chakra was another matter. I spent hours pulling black blindfolds that were tied together out of that chakra. That is when I unexpectedly began to have visions of spiritual symbols.
It soon became clear to me that the Tree of Life is an expanded, symbolic version of the seven primary chakras, with three pillars that represent polarities within the chakra system. In simplified terms, the pillar on one side represents force, the one on the other represents form, and the middle pillar represents balance. So it was no coincidence that I began to have visions of symbols associated with the Tarot and the Tree of Life after I cleansed my chakras. I had in the process cleansed the Tree of Life within my aura.
I eventually understood a key concept of spiritual development: Different spiritual dimensions are associated with the primary chakras within the human aura; therefore, the stimulation and awakening of a chakra can be a life-altering experience. Moreover, like the physical body, each chakra within the personal energy field actually needs to be stimulated and nourished by the corresponding spiritual energies of the Universal Energy Field. If you doubt me, consider the purpose of the Gods and Goddesses of every major religion: They are symbolic representations of basic (archetypal) spiritual energies that exist in both the Universal Mind and in the Tree of Life within the human aura. The personal energy field of the aura reflects the Universal Energy Field, which is how humans are made in God's image and why humans are god-like.
Chakras, in other words, are links to other dimensions, and they need energies from those spiritual dimensions as much as the physical body needs food. That is the reason why major religions throughout history feature pantheons of Angels or Gods; the religions personify the archetypal energies as idealized human beings to make the energies more real and understandable, but they are actually powerful subtle forces, not humans. Through worship of the Gods or Angels, an individual can connect with the archetypal spiritual energies of the Universal Energy Field, thereby sustaining and empowering the different dimensions within the psyche.
In many spiritual traditions, cleansing is a crucial step in the process of spiritual development. A person must eliminate negative energies from the body and the aura to progress on the path. Having many food allergies, intolerances, and chemical sensitivities, I first had to eliminate everything in my diet that made me ill or unable to think clearly. Only after I had made a serious attempt to cleanse my body was I able to effectively wipe away negative energies, revealed in various forms to psychic vision, in each one of my chakras while also forgiving myself and others. I felt purified after I had dumped trash from my crown chakra for several days. When I had completed the purification process, I had a vision of a many-petalled, brilliant white flower. I thought at first that it was a stunning white rose with innumerable petals, but a voice in my head stated, “Lotus.” I went on-line and discovered that the thousand-petaled lotus is symbolically associated with the crown chakra.
I envisioned a few of the symbols many times, the most persistent being the golden, equal-armed cross with indistinct angels at each end, the golden plate and chalice on the brilliant white tablecloth, and the golden crown. I finally realized that together the golden symbols represent the harmony, abundance, and magnificence of the human spirit.
The mystic uses the basic structure of the equal-armed cross to perform rituals based on the four cardinal directions—east, south, west and north, respectively—-to invoke Archangels who rule the Elements of the Wise: Archangel Raphael (Air), Archangel Michael (Fire), Archangel Gabriel (Water), and Archangel Uriel (Earth). These four Elements represent subtle energies close to the physical plane, not the elements in the periodic table. The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram clears an area of negative energies and for me has effectively kept negative entities of all types away from my energy field. The Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram (SIRP), has enabled me to experience other dimensions through nonlocal consciousness and has helped to heal me with powerful Elemental energies.
After I realized that the equal-armed cross with indistinct angels at each end on one level symbolizes the basic structure of the banishing and invoking rituals, I started performing the rituals, purely for the sake of experiment. One day, even though I felt like I was performing the invoking ritual very awkwardly, I suddenly felt like I was being swarmed by innumerable points of light emanating from the Archangel Raphael. Then I found myself in a thought bubble of startling complexity. In my mind's eye, I saw mathematical symbols and equations floating all around me, which was odd, since I am not mathematically inclined, and I experienced a profound sense of eternity that erased my personality. In terms of intellectual and spiritual development, I felt like an amoeba compared to these astonishing Archangels.
Correspondences of the SIRP
In the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram, Archangel Raphael is associated with YHVH, or Jehovah, the Heavenly Father, in the east, as well as with the Emanation known as Wisdom (Chokmah in Hebrew). Archangel Michael is associated with Elohim, the Heavenly Mother, in the south, as well as with the Emanation known as Understanding (Binah in Hebrew). "Wisdom" and "Understanding" are Supernal, or celestial, Emanations above the Abyss. Archangel Gabriel is associated with El in the west, as well as with the Emanation known as Mercy (Chesed in Hebrew), the first Emanation below the Abyss that separates the heavenly Supernal Emanations from the planes of manifestation. Archangel Auriel is associated with Adonai in the north, as well as with the Emanation known as The Kingdom (Malkuth in Hebrew), the Emanation of physical life where the subtle forces manifest. As I mentioned in the previous post, the energies of the Archangels are also associated with other paths, the knowledge of which can inspire you to perform powerful rituals based on the SIRP.
Some might complain that this spiritual practice is too complicated or too “esoteric.” The word esoteric simply means “for the few.” At this point, the basic principles of every spiritual tradition are for the few. After my “awakening,” I have experienced different spiritual modalities that continue to have a major impact on people’s lives, such as Reiki and Deeksha and Qigong, but I have never witnessed a crowd of people clamoring for more information about any of those traditions either. I would even argue, based on my experience, that relatively few people have truly internalized the basic principles of Christianity, despite its wide appeal.
If you wish to continue with these studies, I must caution you. If you do not have the purist of intentions as you proceed in the Great Work—if, for instance, you are not attempting to serve the Divine Will for the highest possible good, you will no doubt be subject to severe trials in your life. After years of experience, I can assure you that purifying the mind is absolutely necessary in this practice. As I discovered, you can get to “know yourself” through a process of clearing the body, emotions, intellect, and spirit of negativity and in the process you can also experience how each of us is a facet of Universal Consciousness.
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself
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