Week 24: Binah in Assiah and the 3 of Disks

General Symbolic of Binah:

Binah (understanding, comprehension) radiates from the top of the left column of the Tree of Life and assumes a feminine function. Chokmah being the masculine aspect of what is proper to the seed, Binah is the femininity that unfolds the seed and gives birth. The very notion of "understanding" confirms the receptive nature of the sephirath.

Anything that gives form to serve as a vehicle for life is her work. She is the matrix through which life can manifest itself. At the same time, it should be held in mind that life enclosed in a form is less free than when it has no limit. The form encloses life, while at the same time allowing it to organise itself. Form disciplines force with merciless rigour. The presence of a form is at the same time what allows life to manifest itself, and its condemnation to death. The divine spark is immortal, nothing in it can age or die. But the incarnated spirit sees the death of its vehicle programmed from the dawn of its existence.

Motherhood is more than the conception and beginning of a new human life. It is the principle of existence that unfolds through independent entities, fathers inseminate, while mothers disseminate. Fatherhood transmits power, motherhood distributes it. Thus it continues the circuit of creation. Although motherhood is related to other sephiroth, Binah allows us to understand one of its connotations: separation. We can cite numerous images: the mourning of Isis, the suffering of the Virgin at the foot of the cross... If motherhood leads to birth, it goes hand in hand with separation.

Binah testifies that it is impossible to reach Kether if we do not go through the feminine and maternal concept of divinity.

Wherever there is a network of intertwined forces in balance, Binah's action is present. If we consider the atom as a stable unit of the physical plane, we see it as a manifestation of Binah. The same is true for the balance of forces that keep the planetary revolutions functioning.

Before the forces of the universe began to stabilize, it was all up to Chokmah; there were no limits to the impulse. As soon as Chokmah and Binah had found their equilibrium, everything belonged to Binah, stability was immutable. But Kether, from whom everything emanated, continued to generate the unmanifested powers. Force flowed into the universe, the sum of the forces increased. This new influx destroyed the previous balance, due to the successive action and reaction of Chokmah and Binah combined. Then the action and reaction began again, the phase of Chokmah where dynamism prevails over the static state of Binah. And so on... Each time, the balance between the two sephiroth settles in a different form to be upset once again when Kether, still emanating, breaks the balance in favor of the dynamic principle opposed to the static principle.

It follows that Binah, the permanent brake and regulator of Chokmah impulses, can be misunderstood. She can be seen as the malignant force, the enemy, the adversary, the woman. Without a bad pun, from Saturn to Satan, the transition is easy.

The fall came from knowledge (Daath), by a projection of Binah through the abyss towards matter. When this happened, the original equilibrium was destroyed. In fact the first fall was not that of man but that of the deity. In a word God fell to appear as humanity. The ocean of Binah overturned, the cup turned over. By this breaking of the circuit at Binah, an extension of existence crossed the abyss and formed the rest of the Tree of Life. We must follow the path of return, reintegration, to regain our place in the primordial scheme.

Binah in Assiah: Saturn

In Hebrew, Saturn is called "Shabbathai", which means "the seventh". It is the seventh planet known to the ancients, and the planets visible to the naked eye. It governs Saturday (Saturn's day), a period of rest granted to the creature and its creator after a period of work and effort. "Seven" is frequently considered a perfect number, the most used in symbolism. It corresponds to the seven periods of creation, to the six direction radiating from a central point (top, bottom, left, right, front, back). In fact seven and its multiples were considered evil by the Babylonians. Hence the inaction decreed for those days.

It may seem curious that Saturn is associated with the maternal principle on the Tree of Life. In fact Saturn is connected to time (Chronos). The paternal creation is instantaneous, while the mother has to go through a prolonged gestation period before the seed germinates

The 3 of Disks - Work:

“The influence of Binah in the sphere of Earth shows the material establishment of the idea of the Universe, the determination of its basic form. It is ruled by Mars in Capricornus; he is exalted in that Sign, and therefore at his best. His energy is constructive, like that of the builder or engineer. The card represents a pyramid viewed from above the apex. The base is formed by three wheels-Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt; Sattvas, Rajas, and Tamas in the Hindu system; Aleph, Shin, and Mem-Air, Fire, and Water-the three Mother letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
This pyramid is situated in the great Sea of Binah in the Night of Time, but the sea is solidified; hence the colours of the back- ground are mottled, a cold thin dark grey with a pattern of indigo and green. The sides of the pyramid have a strong reddish tint, showing the influence of Mars.”
(The Book of Thoth)

Picture of the card:
http://www.esotericmeanings.com/wp-c...hoth-tarot.jpg