Week 21: Chesed in Assiah and the 4 of Disks

General Symbolic of Chesed:

With Chesed (grace), also called Gebulah (mercy) by the Zohar, we reach a stage of Life accessible to the human consciousness. Although Chesed is the fourth sephirah, it is the first one that is on the side of the abyss, and we can look upon it as the fountain from which the blessings of Creation flow. It symbolizes the highest level of perceptible manifestation.

As the fourth sephirah, Chesed is seen as the summary of the supernals that preceded it, whose qualities it retains. Going up the Tree, she is the seventh count of Malkuth. It contains all that has been acquired during the ascent. When this point is reached, man must have accumulated enough to spill the surplus to less advanced beings. This is similar to the acquisition of a fortune built up during existence, which one redistributes before crossing the abyss of death where the acquired currency is not current.

In descending the Tree, Chesed's position reminds us that the manifestation of the divine in the form of mercy must precede severity.

By going up the Tree, we learn that we can benefit from the clemency of Providence before we are confronted with divine justice. But no matter how severe our trials and experiences may be, mercy and benevolence await us in the last place.

Geburah is the stick and Chesed the carrot, the oldest tricks that can make us do something.

From Chesed's position on the Clemency pillar, we can see that this sephirah is Chokmah repeated at a lower level. Chesed is the father in his benevolent aspect, the one who protects, generates, preserves. He continues the work of Binah, organizing and preserving what the Universal Father engendered. Chesed is therefore goodness, unlimited benevolence. He compensates by his clemency for the severity of Geburah. He is a cohesive force, if we compare it to the destructive power of Geburah.

Metabolism, a vital process of assimilation, is a perpetual alternation of construction and destruction, and a good image of the Chesed-Geburah alternation necessary for the life of the organism.

The images attributed to Chesed and Geburah are respectively a benevolent king sitting on his throne and a warrior-king standing on his chariot.

Chesed is the compassion of age resulting from experience. The smile of a baby, the sunset over the ocean, the pressure of a beloved hand, are all words in Chesed's language that we must learn to listen to.

The virtue assigned to this sphere is obedience. We must sacrifice much of our independence and selfishness if we are to enjoy the benefits of a complex social life.

The human qualities of Chesed are all linked to the phenomena of relationship with others: kindness, love, the impulse to give, to share, to offer.

Chesed in Assiah: Jupiter

In astrology, Jupiter is called the great benevolent. The Semitic name for Jupiter and Tzedeg means righteousness, prosperity and happiness as a result of good conduct and integrity.

The 4 of Disks - Power:

“The Four, Chesed, shows the establishment of the Universe in three dimensions, that is, below the Abyss. The generating idea is exhibited in its full material sense. The card is ruled by the Sun in Capricornus, the Sign in which he is reborn. The disks are very large and solid; the suggestion of the card is that of a fortress. This represents Law and Order, maintained by constant authority and vigilance. The disks themselves are square; revolution is very opposite to the card; and they contain the signs of the Four Elements. For all that, they revolve; defence is valid only when violently active. So far as it appears stationary, it is the "dead centre" of the engineer; and Capricornus is the point at which the Sun "turns again Northward''. The background is of deep azure, flecked yellow, suggesting a moat; but beyond this is a pattern of green and indigo to represent the guarded fields whose security is assured by the fortress.

In the Yi King, Sol in Capricornus is represented by the Second Hexagram, Khwan, which is the Female Principle. Compare the English word Queen, Anglo-Saxon Cwen, old Mercian Kwoen. Cognate are Icelandic Kvan, Gothic Kwens, woman. The Indo-Germanic type is g (w)eni and the Sanskrit root GwEN. Note also Cwm, coombe, and agnate words, meaning an enclosed valley, usually with water running from it. Womb---possibly a softened form?

Compare also the innumerable words, derived from the root Gas, Which imply an enclosed and fortified space. Case, castle, chest, cyst, chaste, incest and so on.

The primary radicle in all this class of words is the guttural. Observe the Hebrew attributions: Gimel, the moon; Cheth, Cancer, the house of the moon; Kaph, the Wheel; Qoph, the Moon, XVIII, Guttur, the throat. Sounds so made suggest the other throat; one is the channel of respiration and nutrition, the other of reproduction and elimination.”
(The Book of Thoth)

Picture of the card:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/34/93...a5e02acf40.jpg