Qabbalah is western mysticism, and western mysticism is mostly about alchemy, or taking something undesirable and changing it into something desirable. Yoga is the alchemy of the east, and alchemy is the yoga of the west. I will be talking some about the alchemy of consciousness, and the components in our physical body that we may use to transform things in our lives. We have many, many tools, available to us.
The most acceptable records say that Qabbalah was developed in the twelfth century, in France. But some will say it goes back further than that. It is the mystical interpretation of the first 5-books of the Old Testament, which goes back before Jesus Christ. Some of the origins of Kabbalah date back to the Egyptians. Regardless, Kabbalah did have a hand in developing the Tarot. The 22-letters of the Hebrew alphabet are associated with the 22-Tarot Major Arcana Cards.
The four suits of the Minor Arcana reflect the Tetragrammaton, or the four letter name of God, as viewed by the Jewish religion. The Jews and the Hindus have one of the oldest religions still active and flourishing here on Earth today. I am really only posting a summary here, but if you want me to expand on something I said, ask.
Key-2, The High Priestess:
The number two implies duplication, whereas number one is singular. This is the contrast, but as I said, it also complements the card that came before it. The High Priestess is a depiction of our sub-conscious mind. It is a receptive feminine feature that we all possess. The Empress, Key-3, which is the next card I will cover, is a pregnant High Priestess. The High Priestess is receptive to suggestions from our waking self-consciousness. In other words, self-consciousness influences and makes sub-consciousness pregnant with its suggestions, and they are given birth by way of the Empress.
Gender is on every level of existence, even in our consciousness. But gender means much more than sex. All of the planes of existence correspond to the other planes of existence. The Kybalion, a book on Hermetic philosophy, says “Gender is in everything, everything has its masculine and feminine principles; Gender manifests on all planes.” We have the principles of gender in our own consciousness.
The High Priestess is a mysterious female, whose concern are the records of the past. What we call “memory.” Memory is the basic power of sub-conscious, and the High Priestess. Educating yourself involves attention, Key-1, and memory, Key-2, working together. Much of faulty memory usually comes from a lack of attention. It is helpful to give our sub-conscious clear images. Sub-consciousness has and automatic filing system, unlike self-consciousness, which is manual as we operate the function of our attention. Subconscious is automatic, meaning it is impulsive. No I am not saying females are impulsive, although the feminine principle has been blamed as being overly emotional. More to the point, the laws of recall work automatically; we make them useless by inattention. Tarot Card Key-2 symbolizes all the laws of recall in its picture. Sub-consciousness keeps a perfect record of all our experiences.
The cosmic law of association is that of compare and contrast, sub-consciousness automatically groups together images that are the same. You smell apple pie and it reminds you of your grandmothers apple pie; this is conscious association at work from the sub-conscious level. But we often can easier recall recent events than we can those in a distant past. The High Priestess does not have to turn her scroll to reveal what she has just recorded. Repetition is another part of the law of recall, and that is symbolized in Key-2. The number two is about duplication. See a person day after day and you will recognize them from a distance. Repetition is also part of learning, and can improve memory. Intensity is another attribute associated with memory. We usually remember our first experience of something, because it is new, grabbed our attention, and have little to associate it with. Intensity also means how impact and experience imprinted on us.
There are lots of memory techniques, and consistently concentrating on Key-2 can help to improve your memory. You can learn the Tarot and engrain it in your memory, or you can just concentrate on the cards and the pictures speak a language that is understood by our sub-consciousness. It is a universal language of pictorial symbolism, which is what images are. Mathematics are a universal language and so are pictures or images. The longer you look at and image the more you incorporate that image into your being. It is similar to a mantra or and affirmation. The Magician, Key-1, and The High Priestess, Key-2, are involved in and intimate relationship. Put another way, our waking self-conscious is intimately involved with our own sub-conscious. Everything is relating to everything else.
The High Priestess literally means “the chief female elder,” it applies to Hecate and other moon goddesses of the ancients, including the Egyptian Isis and the Hindu Maya or Prakriti. Under the figures of these goddesses the priesthood of old times concealed their knowledge of the power of subconscious. Sub-conscious powers are universal and they are also personal. What appears to us as wood or stone, as various sorts of minerals, as bodies of plants and animals, as the matter entering into forms around us, according to kabbalah, is held to be actually the subconscious level of manifestation coming into being. Sub-consciousness operates the automatic systems in our physical body. The actual substance of the physical plane, on which we live, from which all forms perceptible are built, is energy working at the sub-conscious level. Consciousness goes through changes in form that appear as physical objects.
Peace and Good Journey
