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I have lots of Tarot decks, so some time ago I took and old Rider-Wait Tarot deck I had and glued the major arcana to a white piece of cardboard. The cardboard measured 20-inches by 20-inches (0.508-meters by 0.508-meters), to make the Tarot Tablet displayed in my previous post. This was the second Tarot Tablet that I made, the first was back when I was first learning about it. Keys 1 thru 7, depict principles, keys 8 thru 14 depict agencies through which those principles work, and keys 15 through 21, depict conditions that those agencies work on.
If you concentrate daily on the Tarot Tablet it has the ability to transform you for the better. When you concentrate on it you are taking in the symbolism of the entire Major Arcana all at once. But it is also helpful to learn the Seven Stages as depicted in the tablet. Each stage has a practical application and they all build on each other. As you pass through the seven stages nothing will be added to your present equipment. Although powers already in the depths of your being may be expressed. Hidden potencies may become manifested abilities. What is in you will come out. Therefore we say “unfoldment” and not “attainment.”
The First Stage (Key-1, Key-8, and Key-15):
Spiritual unfoldment means releasing latent potencies that now may be bound up or involved in particular limitations of name and form, which may constitute your personality at its current stage of evolution.
Key-1, The Magician, works through Key-8, Strength, onto Key-15, The Devil. The essence of Key-1 is ATTENTION, which I have already covered, Key-8, Strength, takes us back to nature, a contrast with Key-7. The symbolism in Key-8 is related to the serpent, or what some call the “serpent energy,” kundalini, etc. Commonly the serpent has been associated with evil, largely due to the Adam and Eve story. But here they are talking about energy that is coiled up within you. That energy has wavy motion and is spiral. Therefore it is associated with a snake. This energy is the instrument of liberation when it is used correctly.
It is the agency for our attention. How we use our attention has a direct effect on our serpent energy. Amazing how the symbolism of the serpent energy works on conditions bought about by Key-15, The Devil, when many think that the serpent is the devil. I have a little more I want to say about Key-8, then I will move to Key-15, then summarize the three cards together. You can contemplate these three cards by themselves, and take notes on what comes to you in your contemplation. The woman in Key-8 is another version of the High Priestess, The Empress, and the female in Key-6.
In the Rider-Wait deck, the woman in Key-8 wears a white garment similar to The Magician, and has over her head the same horizontal figure eight as The Magician. The symbol of infinity, which denotes that Key-1 and Key-8 are about endless activity. The serpent power within us is and actual force which we employ everyday. Learning how to work efficiently with this power is part of the daily work for students of Ageless Wisdom. One method to control it is to establish a clear perception that all the various forms of physical existence are merely transformations of this one energy. This is the energy that transforms everything, including you.
Everything in this world is but a disguise for the one thing. The essential nature of the one thing is spirit. The secret of change is in the serpent energy. It is important not to have anxiety when working with the serpent energy, a way of doing this is to identify your efforts with the One Spirit. Perception from The Magician works on the serpent energy. Do not get caught up in results. Ask for guidance from within yourself, and approach this not in a mechanized way but in a solemn way, with humility. As king of beasts, the lion in Key-8 is symbolic of the highest form of development in the kingdoms of nature. Key-8, Strength, shows what occurs when cosmic fire is controlled by self-conscious acts of attention.
Key-15, The Devil, is the condition that is changed when attention/concentration effectively works through Key-8. In Key-15 the background is dark, symbolizing ignorance. The central figure is and androgyne goat having the wings of a bat, the arms and hands of a man, and the legs and feet of and eagle. Key-15 is all about limitation and appearances. This devil seems to be saying, “what is visible, what can be grasped by the senses, is all there is.” This is the basic fallacy of materialism. The Devil, Key-15, is a symbol of bondage to appearances.
All forces are phases of the One Force, each having a distinct peculiarity of its own. The One Force may be viewed as electricity which may be specialized in and through appropriate instruments, or manifestations. The devil in Key-15, has a reversed pentagram over its head, the reverse pentagram is often a sign used by devil worshippers. The secret is to get that pentagram turned upright. You can make the sign of an upright pentagram with your hand, this information is online, and it could be used for banishing entities, or situations, or drawing near to you entities or situations. Its’ a very simple technique, which I’ve said can be found online. The upright pentagram was in ancient times embraced as a Christian symbol.
Key-15 has the attribute of mirth, and incongruity is often the basis of mirth. We laugh at that which is out of place. We may also laugh when we realize our own ignorance. One of the healthiest things we can do is to laugh at ourselves. When things look like the devil, laughter puts us more quickly in the right mood to find a solution. The entire Key-15 is related to outward appearances. Appearances deceive when we take them at face value. Learn to laugh at appearances, laugh at the notion of the devil. The most effective resistance to error is ridicule. One has only to look at Key-15 to see the assemblage of incongruities that are ridiculous. Whenever we look at the world of appearances we see duality. Yet, it can be a wonderful experience to look upon and know how to enjoy the phantasmagoria of outward appearances. The troubles people have are mostly due to a mistaken belief that the way things look is the way reality actually is. The wisdom doctrines say that the author of this cosmic comedy-drama, which we live in here on earth, lives in and through all of the actors created. Not some far away God, but and indwelling presence. Never are we closer to God when we play and laugh.
Summary:
Attention (Key-1), or more accurately concentration, gains strength (Key-8), to work through appearances (Key-15). Contemplate these three keys and see how they work on each other. The First Stage of Spiritual Unfoldment begins with our attention which has a direct effect on us and our surroundings.
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