Key 14 - Temperance

The topic for this morning is the test of initiation. And the Tarot key, as you can see, is Tarot key number 14, Temperance. Now in occultism and mysticism we hear much talk about initiation as such we've all read many books that give us many beautiful fairy tales we hear all kinds of the most delightful stories about what initiation is especially in various metaphysical novels and the result is we get a very erroneous idea regarding this extraordinary state of evolution that does take place amongst human beings and incidentally that takes place, that is, the initiation and therefore tests of initiation.

And that takes place sometimes quite often amongst those who've earned the privilege of such tests. I hope you heard me say privilege.

Now then, let's try to get this whole idea a little clarified together.

In the qabalistic method of return the training the self same training I always like to remind you that was undertaken by rabbi Jesus the training that helped him to attain to his his deepest and highest awarenesses.

In this training, we have a very specific point continuously and continuously reiterated. And that point has to do with transmutation or transformation of the personality as an absolute requisite for spiritual unfoldment, or for evolution, for the attainment of higher states of awareness, for indeed passing tests of initiation.

Now on the Qabalistic tree of life, I'd like you to note that this particular tarot key joins foundation, the violet Sephirah, which means sphere of activity of consciousness, it joins foundation to beauty.

That's Tarot Key 14 temperance. That's the path that joins.

Now I'd like to remind you that beauty, which is central to the Qabalistic tree of life, is also allotted to that which we call the seat of the consciousness of Adam. Adam, remember, meaning humanity, all humanity.

It is also assigned to the Hebrew word Ben, which means son, and specifically son of God.

And indeed, this is the point where, or the seat, where the strivings, the aspirations of the soul are aimed towards whether the soul is recognizing this consciously or not. In other words, to become a fully aware son of God or a fully aware offspring of the divine. To develop the awareness of one's own essential humanity, that is Adam, as being the begotten of the one God. Now, humanity, mind you, not one person. Humanity, which is Adam.

So that all initiation, and initiations certainly do take place. What is initiation?

Well, if you wanted to go in for dictionary meaning specifically, you might say it's the beginning something, to initiate. Initiate. But in occultism we have a larger meaning that we give it. It certainly means to begin something, in other words to undertake something. So that in our work, in the Western Mystery Training System, an initiate is one who has undertaken by a vow, and that vow Vow can be a self-vow, not known by another, that is, another on a physical plane, or it can be a vow undertaken amongst a group of others who share this aspiration, the aspiration that has to do with making a very specific vow to persevere through trials, through tests, to persevere in every way, shape, and form, to persevere with everything one has, with the depth and height and intensity of one's being, in order to attain to union with God, in order to attain the higher states of consciousness with which come, incidentally, the larger powers, and to use these higher states of consciousness as they come which are various inner initiations you might say sometimes having outer correlations to use these higher states of consciousness for the welfare of humanity to use these increased powers for the protection of other human beings indeed of all life for their protection from guess what ourselves we do not stop to realize that this is the complete essence of all training in true spiritual work indeed so much is this the essence that in our work we make no bones about certain portions of it for example we do not hesitate to say to you beloved ones if you are not prepared to put this kind of teaching into practice you're better off leaving us go elsewhere go to some elementary metaphysics or rejoin the non-aspirant in their worldly interests.

You're better off because if you do not have these basic motives or if you are not prepared to do all you can to develop these purified motives because to begin with our motives cannot be that pure yet or we wouldn't need evolution, purification which you see this angel certainly attending to.

But at least we have to realize that we're not going to be given a bunch of very potent techniques, which, like abacadabra, you know, suddenly will be given the secrets that will make us marvelous and mighty and spiritual and noble and powerful and adored and implored and so on we're not going to be handed any such mighty secret because that is of a way to be that. Because the mighty secret has to do with our learning how to be these things ourselves. No one else and nothing else is going to suddenly confer upon you any of the things you desire.

This is the basic, honest, and very definitely reiterated truth.

Now, why is a person better off if they're not prepared to at least work at their own purification, self-transmutation? Why are they then better off to go elsewhere? It's because when you start just playing around, whether it's a self-deception or not, when you start playing around with fire and haven't learned how to handle fire, you know what's going to happen. You're going to get yourself burned.

When, in other words, you start working with the tarot keys. These keys were designed by the elder brethren for the aid of our evolution.

Now, part of what they do, they stimulate subconsciousness so intensely when we work with them that this stimulus is something we have to be prepared to handle.

We have to be prepared to handle it because when you stimulate water, say you stir up water, you're not just going to stir up the sparkling clear water on top, you're going to stimulate the whole bit it, and the various garbage levels that have sunk to the bottom and are influencing the whole, they're going to get stirred also, because stirring is stirring.

Therefore, this stirring of subconsciousness, which does take place, requires the kind of of devotion to truth, the kind of desire for spiritual attainment, which will make us want to become aware of what it is that's being stirred. You've often heard me use the analogy of the boiling filling of the waters or fluids, which really is taking place right here in this tarot card, you know. And this boiling process does what? It brings the scum to the top. And when we We have truly dedicated ourselves to become something more than mere mass atoms, but one of the chosen, one of the ... and we can't be chosen unless we call, nor can we be chosen chosen after we call in the final analysis unless we develop whatever is required, that is the abilities with which to serve, the abilities which have to do with our temperament, our nature, our beingness, our thinking, our feeling, our doing and our failure to do.

All of these now this is true of everyone incidentally in a sense that is the reception of so called repercussions whether these people are conscious aspirants or not but it's a matter of degree it is a matter of degree when we have been guided and there's only one guide that's the higher self and that's symbolized here by the Archangel Michael in this Tarot key, when we are guided to an area where we're going to be receiving the methods and the stimulus which will stir these levels of consciousness, the higher self is certainly putting us through a test for a possible initiation right now, but what is the higher self? Is it something outside of you?

Is it? That's where you make the biggest mistake, if you think so.

Because the Archangel Michael here, incidentally also known as the Archangel of the Sun, S-U-N, and remember the sphere of the activity of the sun on the on the qabalistic tree of life is beauty s-u-n as well as s-o-n begotten divinely begotten this archangel of the sun is actually what one might call a ray of the divine life breath emanating from the higher self which is your higher self and my higher self the higher self of humanity of adam albeit each of us are are what you might call individualized rays, or we are rays being individualized, because we are individualized only to the degree that we stop being a response mechanism to the animal nature, which here is being worked on, as you can see, by the higher self. And again, I repeat, your higher self.

So the tests of initiation that we receive, which we'll speak a little bit more about in a moment, actually do not come from anything outside.

They come from our own higher inner true selfhood. And these tests have to be self-applied.

It is nothing outside that gives us either the pain or the joy. Everything is given to us by our own higher self which is our true selfhood now our problem is as we've often pointed out that we identify our selfhood either with this the personality and the personality remember is the personal portion of the ray that is being grown transmuted tested by the higher self so that we either identify with really the personality portion which brings problems because that makes us therefore identify with something separated from others so that we feel separate we feel others are separate and the moment we feel separate we open ourselves to the kind of thinking, feeling and doing that is damaging to other people and that's something because it's only to the degree that when we hurt another it hurts us which is really a special way of experiencing the unity of God whether we know it or not it's only in that to that in that measure that we're truly acting from a center of the depth of our being well then when we identify with this personality self we are then thinking and feeling as isolated beings and thinking of others as isolated beings then another problem is so many spiritual aspirants think of this higher self as being something above separate and above above, whereas the personality is something separate and below. Well, again then, this is false imagery, because if our center of I, or feeling of I am-ness, is really in that something up there, and divided from the something down there, whatever it is those two things are in us, then again, we are placing our selfhood in categories where we are sort of a triple schizophrenic, you know, in a sense. And again, how are we going to be responding in proper measure to the kind of conditions that must come that have to do with our growth process initiation remember although it always has to do with the fact that we undertake to start something an initiate is one who hasn't only started but is working at it so every true occult aspirant if that aspirant has taken this oath is working at developing the transmutation and transformations consciously because only through humanity Adam only through man only through the be gotten can the perfection of the attainment of man take place so that the hebrew letter here is assigned to wrath but also assigned to what verification verification now how and why well it's the another one of the words that are assigned to the letter is has to do with support or stability because it's peg or prop now a prop is what something props us up you notice how this tarot key goes from foundation and foundation therefore can be thought of as the prop or the support of consciousness of humanity so we have to see this higher self as being the support or the prop. And the support or the prop has to be tested. Now in this sense, you see, we have idea of verification. Now take this out into other areas, into examination, because if we're testing a foundation, the foundation has to be the foundation by which we live our lives notice therefore that mikhail the higher self has one foot in the water in the water and the other foot on solid ground showing and indicating that our higher self your higher self my higher self is with the life breath which is the begotten offspring of God is actually has one portion of its being in the mind stuff remember water is always the mind stuff in the mind stuff of the most high and in its concrete manifestation on its concrete manifestation dr case gives the analogy of it being similar to the idea of electricity in a bulb the light is at the same time connected with the dynamo from which it is coming and the filament from which it is glowing at the same time Now, the next thing to note, which is very important here, is the transmutational works taking place which actually have to do with the complete requirement for the passing of the tests of initiation. Because notice the eagle. Now, what is the eagle a symbol of? In astrology, the eagle is called the higher aspect of Scorpio.

So the energies, the reproductive energies are involved here.

Back here then we look at the Tarot key, the higher self, the Archangel Michael, is dropping little yodes.

Yodes, remember, amongst other things, are the basis for every single Hebrew letter. That's one of the reasons it's called the Flame Alphabet, the ancient Chaldean Hebrew Flame Alphabet.

Now, these yods, then, are symbols of all that is, since it is said, God created with the Hebrew letters. This is part of the training that's received by true Qabalists, by the true Western mystery training system. It has to do with the fact then that these yodes, which are a symbol of the flame of God, and remember the Archangel Michael is Archangel of the sun, the flame, the fires, with a torch flame, these yodes are being dropped on the eagle. And if you will remember that the eagle also represents the enlightened or the higher level of the reproductive energies perhaps it will help you to see that you are being told that the tests of initiation are very much involved with what you are doing with your reproductive energies very much indeed even our eastern brethren make quite a point of the fact that the coiled up kundalini energy at the base of the spine and kundalini incidentally is another word for serpent or serpent power which has also been been assigned to the Scorpio energy amongst other things and even to this letter, Samic.

That's one of the three aspects of the serpent power. Even our Eastern brethren make it very clear that the energy, the reproductive energy, is the energy which on the physical plane brings forth Jung it is the same energy with which one experiences liberation cosmic consciousness and in the book of tokens the meditation on this particular tarot key it says of the self declaration of the higher self I am as one testing thee in the furnace for what? To bring out the purity of the gold to burn out the dross d-r-o-s-s the impure and this is a process of love not of hate we all then go through these various tests and the few who have come in at least with some kind of knowing already are not going to have to go through very much of the wrath before they find that one of the most important things in self-transmutation is to train ourselves to see all of union everywhere, the union between two flowers, the union between two creatures as being divine, and therefore we undertake a greater responsibility within ourselves. The point is, if you are a spiritual aspirant, there is never a second that you you are not under test by your own higher soul.

There are times when there are more major tests. In other words, lots of little aspects gather together, so we face major conditions. But our lives can become something so glorious and eventually should and will. If we'd only remember to walk through our days with the reminder of this Tarot key, This Archangel Michael is our own inner higher self, working upon our energies and animal nature only to the degree that we consciously, in the personality areas, permit and work with this. Remember one of the old occult axioms I shall look upon every circumstance of my life as being a particular dealing of god with my soul let's then stop looking upon that which we experience as the wrath that is the painful experiences let's stop looking upon painful experiences as being evidences of something that we should moan about or groan about let's stop making negative images in our own emotions let's start using every uncomfortable experience as as being an evidence to us of this divine love that is shaping growing teaching wisdom beauty all good you are being prepared for attainment and initiation to ever higher levels.

And from the depth, the very depth, from the innermost levels of those who've gone before us, there pours this blessing via the higher self. It is there in you right now.

And you will be able to say with the psalmist and with all the other Qabalists in the Bible, you will be able to say if I holy holy art thou oh Lord if I climb up into heaven thou art there if I descend into hell thou art there also there with me if I take the wings of the morning and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea even there does thy hand guide me thy right hand holds me if I say per adventure the darkness shall cover me even the night is light unto thee holy holy art thou Lord of the universe thou holdest me in this light and my my darkness becomes brighter as I pass the initiations, the testings that thou bringest me.