John the Baptist and The Chariot

It may be strange to connect John the Baptist to VII The chariot, but there is good reason for doing so. The Nativity of John the Baptist, celebrated each June 24th, roughly coincides with the transition into the sign of Cancer on the 21st. Cancer, of course, is the sign associated with VII The Chariot. Cancer also being the cardinal sign of water represents the initial onrush of that element. Remember that John baptized with water, as opposed to Christ, whose coming John foretold, but who baptized "in the Spirit."

The Chariot is associated with the Holy Grail, the womb of life, the cup of the Goddess, in which is poured blood. In Christian symbolism blood and water are synonymous, which is particularly interesting given Cancer's watery nature.

The transition into Cancer on the 21st, coinciding with the Summer Solstice, represents the pinnacle of the sun's strength throughout the solar year. The solstice is the longest day of the year and all subsequent days steadily shorten. On this day the sun is at the height of its power, and in the scheme of the solar year, is when it seems most indestructible. This is a theme carried out in the Roman celebration of Sol Invictus, though this holiday was celebrated around the time of Christmas (around December 24th when the sun seems to "regenerate" after its steady decline in force through the fall).

Perhaps what remains mysterious is why the Church decided to place John the Baptist's Nativity a the same time as the transition into Cancer and the Summer Solstice. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that John himself "was not the light, but came to testify to the light." Because of this we can see his connection to Cancer (being watery), and a more general connection to the sun (as Cancer is not ruled or associated with the sun directly in any way). Therefore John's association is more aquatic than solar. In some ways we can see John as the Cup Bearer, he who bears the Grail filled with the Blood, which is solar, which is synonymous with Christ. Perhaps we can even vaguely associate John with a form of Binah, the Goddess. Indeed, John the Baptist is often depicted as an effeminate youth in Renaissance art. John conveyed the solar redemptive message, but was not the essence of redemption itself.

Let us also take note of The Chariot's associations with paths and directions. Being the bridge between Binah, the Mother of Form, and Geburah, the Power of God, The Chariot represents the form of power, or rather form being empowered. Really the distinction is irrelevant. Regardless, the energy of Geburah is given form through the Understanding the Soul is capable of. Enlightened by Wisdom, the Understanding first begets Mercy, whose main operation is to generate, but so that all things may be balanced Understanding also begets Power, whose primary function is to energize and destroy. The Chariot therefore destroys all other paths but the One True Path, which is True Will, which is Destiny, which is the cornerstone of personal Salvation, which is the Holy Guardian Angel, which is Christ.

Remember, too, that John the Baptist is always associated with the prophecy of Isaiah that says, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, 'Prepare, ye, the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" John prepared the way, clearing it for the future sowing and reaping represented in Christ's Life, Death, and Resurrection. John made the path straight, much like the path of the Chariot. In other words, the Chariot represents a direct route for energy to take. It teaches us that the most potent energy, the most triumphant energy, is that which is grounded to only one direction and purpose. Ultimately that purpose must be solar in nature (and therefore connected to Light, Life, Love, and Liberty), must be geared towards Self, and must therefore be self-redeeming. Baptism, as we know, destroys original sin. It washes away our transgression and wipes us clean. Clearly this is a reference to Geburah's destructive and cleansing quality. Sin is the condition of life in which the consciousness is swept side to side by distractions, impulses, and desires. It is the condition of multiplicity, of disorder, and disobedience. It is to have no power over the world because one does not have power over oneself. The only recourse is purification through destruction. Through metaphysical baptism (which the ritual and sacrament of Baptism reflects), one may transcend to the victorious state of the Chariot. This is a state of being in which one becomes a vessel, a conduit for the Living God, and follows His precepts. And to follow His commandment is to Love Him, and truly "there is nothing that can unite the divided but love." The Chariot therefore also represents a condition of intense love in which the individual is lost in the mystery of the Eternal Self, which is the God of the personal Universe - the architect of one's experience over the Aeons. "There are love and love. There is the Dove and the Serpent Choose ye well!" Love, we must remember, must eradicate differentiation. In The Chariot, one is so knit to the Path of God by the power of love that one becomes as the prophets Elijah and Enoch, and "goes to walk with God." To do so is to never be known again and is akin to Nirvana. 


This condition is thus a state of grace and perfection - remember that the Chariot's number is 418, ABRAHADABRA, the cipher of the Great Work, and the word that opens all doors. When one delves deeper, one also draws the connection between ABRAHADABRA and Harpocrates, the god of Silence, the Babe in the Egg of Blue, whose Silence is the secret key to all locks, whose amorphous essence is the answer to all mysteries. Being associated with Kether, Harpocrates is also the Spirit. 


Everything connects. Baptism through water, which is blood, leads to grace, which is victory over the world and the self (an interior version of the exterior projected world); the path of grace leads to baptism in the Spirit, which is Salvation. Salvation is love of the Eternal Self to such a degree that one commits to following the path laid out by the Eternal Self in all things. Their path becomes straight, though surrounded on all sides by the desert. 

The Erotic Art of Living

Oscar Wilde once said, "Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power." There is such overwhelming truth to this statement; its validity is experienced everywhere. Sexuality is the foundation of many of our drives and motivations, and our media culture is inundated with it to the point where it is impossible to escape it. Perhaps we grieve the loss of "childhood innocence" because it represents a time when the sexual impulse doesn't exist (though Freud of course would argue against that), and all the emotional problems that arise from it likewise don't exist. We can all agree that sexuality is complicated for everyone, and that it in turn complicates everything it comes in contact with. It certainly adds a complexity to our relationships with others either for good or ill. The desire that becomes inflamed in us for another person can become consuming, distorting, or enrapturing. But we must remember that the absolute basis for sexuality is undeniably the biological need to procreate. Sex in general has become so cheapened by sentimentalization and capitalism that it has become almost ugly. 

The Platonic Spheres

The esoteric Kabbalists and Hermeticists tell us that the sephira of Yesod is associated with the genitals, animal instinct, and procreation. It is also "the moon on a lower arc," as of course Luna in her highest aspect is represented by the path of Gimel descending from the Highest of Kether to the Son of Tiphareth. The Platonists developed the concept of a geocentric universe in which the planets occupy "spheres," or ring-like metaphysical territories that surround their path of orbit around the earth. The order of the planetary spheres in emanation outward from the earth was Luna, Mercury, Venus, Sol, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and something called the Primum Mobile - the "first mover." I hope you will notice that the order of the Platonic spheres is perfectly in line with the order of the Kabbalistic Sephiroth, where following Malkuth/Earth, we have Yesod/Luna, Hod/Mercury, Netzach/Venus, Tiphareth/Sol, Geburah/Mars, Chesed/Jupiter, Binah/Saturn, Chokhmah/Fixed Stars, and Kether/Primum Mobile. 


In Classical thought, the sphere of the moon was considered the source of fate, that which cruelly ties man to the earth, forces him to labor and die. The goal of all budding mystery cults at the turn of the first century was essentially apotheosis (the process by which man becomes a god), or something much akin to it. The deities worshipped by mystery cults were thought to occupy certain planetary spheres, it was believed that if one offered supplication to them throughout life that deity would then redeem the spirit of the individual after death. Prior to this period, Greco-Romans didn't have much of a conceptualization of the afterlife. One simply became a shade, neither enjoying any benefits nor suffering any punishments. With the development of a Western concept of an afterlife and the popularization of Plato's ideas regarding the soul and spirit of man, people became more concerned with the condition of these metaphysical substances, and thus redeeming gods such as Christ, Dionysus, or Mithras became more prominent. Religion became focused on saving man from his fatalistic attachment to materiality and corporeality that was the result of living under the sway of the ever-changing moon. The alternative was remaining in a cycle of reincarnation, as the heaviness of the spirit, weighed down by attachment, would inevitably be drawn into another body. 


All Savior gods are represented by the Son in Tiphareth, which is also Sol and directly above Yesod, Luna, on the Middle Pillar. Compared to Yesod, which is a sephira of illusion and deception, Tiphareth is truth and reality as it is truly meant to be seen. Still drawing from Plato, Tiphareth is the true sun in his famous cave allegory. We see the light of Yesod, the moon, and believe it to be the only source of light, the only ever-changing reality. But the truth of reality lies in Tiphareth, the sun which is the original source of the lunar light. Tiphareth is eternal, balanced, and the change it represents is more benign. For truly there is nothing on the Sephiroth that does not move or change in some capacity. This is the change and evolution of the spirit throughout all lifetimes, whereas Yesod is the evolution of the body, being associated also with vegetable growth. Put simply, Tiphareth is the light of Reason, which endows all existence with purpose and destiny. 


When we synthesize all of these seemingly disparate ideas, we come to the perhaps startling realization that basis of salvation is, as St. Hildegard von Bingen always said, Virginity and Chastity. And yet not. For salvation always comes at the price of death; the solar divinity must give of his body and blood, his life force, in order to redeem the fallen. What better represents the life force itself than the sexual drive? The innate biological impetus to create life in one's own image? The artists of the Renaissance (literary, visual, and musical) all equated the orgasm with death, and for good reason. Death is the orgasmic release of life energy from the body, which allows it to transmute itself and assume a new form for the next life. The energy sublimates and attempts to rise above the planetary influences, so to speak. If it cannot do so it is eventually dragged down by its material attachments and is reinstated in material existence. 


It is our obsession with base sexuality that leaves us under the sway of Luna and Yesod, ignorant and blind to any greater self-purpose than procreation. We may have some inkling of knowledge about our purpose since the Redeemer lives within us and organizes our universe so that we might know Him. But as St. Paul wrote, we do indeed see Him through a glass darkly until we meet face to face. Our lives remain a seemingly cluttered and confusing cluster of symbols, signs, and mysteries. 

From Hildegard's Ordo Virtutum.
The soul being tempted by carnal
sin. 

Therefore, the Truth and Reason of Tiphareth is the personal "Why" veiled behind our sexual impulse. It is the Divine Mandate that motivates man to create himself through his own hands and works. Every act is a magickal act, a sexual act, in which one brings into manifestation not a copy of their biological self, but their own divine self. Salvation is the recognition of Identity and Destiny, which are synonymous, and the simultaneous harnessing of that Wisdom to create discriminately with purpose. The result is clean, without attachment or obligation to anyone other than one's own self. It is content to operate on its own accord, and it cannot be manipulated by anyone other than yourself. It is the origin of free will, the eternal "yes," the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and, being erotic in essence, is the essence of pure health and happiness. The spiritual Marriage is the wedding of the procreative passions with self knowledge. To offer oneself as a Virgin to God is to declare oneself chaste to all things that are not of the True Self. It is the adherence and dedication to the reason behind individual destiny. It is to realize and be aware that you are as a field constantly being plowed by the hands of God. To allow yourself to falter and deviate because of the passions and the biological need to procreate is to take the more difficult road. 


This is not to say that sexuality is lacking in morality, for one can remain a Vestal Virgin despite whatever sexual encounters one may have. And it is true that the sexual impulse is holy. To close it up within the body is as much a sin as giving it out indiscriminately. We were made to love and to give that love; apotheosis is to give the world one's unique creative essence constantly, without ceasing, with purpose, direction, and integrity. It is to transform life into art.