The aces and the veils...

Ravenswing

Hi guys--

I'm still working on that deck of mine-- when I got a new light (for me at least) on the aces.

The GD calls them all 'roots of the power'.

Suddenly I saw them reaching 'up' through Kether. Wand, Cup, Sword-- the three negative veils. Pentacle-- the 'womb' in which the tree resides.


I really like these images....


fly well
Raven
 

jmd

There are two ways I can understand your insight, Ravenswing - either as each of the three veils (being 'kept' by one of the three non-circular Aces) is each placed above the other, or, alternatively, Keter itself 'becomes' the Ace of Coins, from which (or into which) the Aces of Swords, Cups and Batons emerge as roots into the higher un-manifest spiritual Ain Sof.

For the latter, I attach a rather quickly put together version...
 

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Ravenswing

jmd said:
Keter itself 'becomes' the Ace of Coins, from which (or into which) the Aces of Swords, Cups and Batons emerge as roots into the higher un-manifest spiritual Ain Sof.

That's pretty much how it's appearing to me except I see the Ace of Coins as the result of tzimtzum (sp??)-- it is the 'womb' in which the tree resides, not a 'part' of the tree itself. All four aces converge, intersecting at the point which "becomes" Kether.

You might picture Ain as an infinite plane, Ain Soph as a hyperbola, Ain Soph Aur as a parabola inside the hyperbola, and the "withdrawl of God" as an oval inside the parabola. They can be arranged such that their "points of origin" coincide. This point would be Kether.

Notice that the plane, the hyperbola and the parabola have infinite areas, whereas the oval is finite...


fly well
Raven
 

Azdaja

Are they are reaching into the veils of negative existence, or from the Kether of Assiah into the Malkuth of Yetzirah?
Keep in mind that disks = earth = Assiah, swords = air = yetzirah, cups = water = briah, and wands = fire = atziluth.
The 3 veils would 'not' really have such attributions, thus their namesake.

Just some thoughts.
 

jmd

Welcome to Aeclectic, Azdaja.

It may indeed be worth keeping in mind that though some do make those correlations you present, there are also others who do not think that these are in the least correct.

Coins, and each of the other suits, has been linked by various people to each of the four elements.

As such, and whether the two-step correlation from suit-to-element-to-world is therefore warranted is in question. Of course, each of us has particular preference... but in my personal view it is not the case that, for example, swords = air... nor, for that matter, is it unquestionable that air = yetzirah, as opposed to, for example, atzilut.

There are certainly some who tend to view a 4 X 10 structure, with Tree above Tree (or interpenetrating with the Malkut of one 'being' the Tifaret of the other)... yet the Tree is one, and the Sefirot are ten and not eleven, ten and not nine...
 

Azdaja

jmd:
thanks for the welcome.

"As such, and whether the two-step correlation from suit-to-element-to-world is therefore warranted is in question."

Sure, I can agree with that. The symbol is not the thing. My reason for pointing the correlation out was to show that the four 'weapons' can be applied to 'higher' (notice quotes) aspects of positive existance and this, to me, would make more sense than applying them to something that negatively exists.

When making these correlations much is up for debate. Swords could certainly = air as a weapon of division/seperation, such things being in the realm of the ego and ordinary thought (airy phenomenon). Swords could also = fire as, well, a weapon of war. Also as a phallic symbol (stabbing, piercing), though I feel wands do a better job there. There would of course also be watery and earthy aspects here, but I'd have a difficult time viewing the sword as a weapon of water or earth.

"There are certainly some who tend to view a 4 X 10 structure, with Tree above Tree"

I see it as a useful symbol.

You have gotten me thinking. If you don't mind, could you tell me to which elements you apply each 'weapon'?
 

jmd

I generally and often prefer to not make a direct correlation between implement and element, as I personally see that each implement partakes of all elements.

Still, there are often predominances that suggest themselves to reflection when one determines that each will be a representative of an element.

In such a case only, I tend to correlate swords with Fire (but not solely - they often have a very strong Water quality), cups with Water (but not solely - they often have a very strong Air quality), Batons with Air (but not solely, they often have a very strong Earth quality), and Coins with Earth (but not solely - they often have a strong Fire quality).

With regards to the Four Worlds, Atzilut, being 'in the mind of God', may also be related to Air; Briah to Water; Yetzirah to Fire; and Assiah to Earth.

Again, these are not FIXED, but rather qualitative descriptions that only partially capture, in each case, one of the four elements of each of these worlds.

I personally think we often have a desire to categorise and make strict correlations between items that breach their respective fields. As analogy or metaphor, that has its uses - but when the one becomes subdued to the qualities of that which was used to illustrate, it robs its riches.

That, to me, is also my biggest criticism of the work of the GD and its derivatives.