THE WORLD/ SATURN

Transformation from worldly form to spiritual

Manifestation Process

BASIS OF ACTION / Samskaras

Ring Pass Not

• That which is fixed in form, rises to the consciousness of vital force.
  
  
• Attainment, harmonious synthesis of the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, or of the four Jungian "functions": Sensation, Feeling, Thinking, and Intuition. (Represented by the figures in the corners, who also refer to the four faces on the chariot in Ezekiel's Merkavah vision.)
  
  
• Complete manifestation. The red wrappings are infinity symbols; repeated here they demonstrate "As above, so below." This symbol appears in Key 1, The Magus, and Key 8, Strength. The horizontal figure eight is ascribed to Hermes, Mercury, and shows dominion.

• The "8" is a sine-wave, or a mobius strip. It represents rhythm, involution/evolution, the double helix of DNA, the cyclic nature of the universe. It is related to the Yin-Yang glyph, and the Tipharet Helix.

• Tav is the last of the last seven, culminating the sequence of conditions or effects.

• The wands the woman holds are silver, suggesting mercury and the mental, psychic connection. Wands also signify generative power. Rods (or wands) appear in Key 0, Key 1, Key 7, Key 9, and Key 21.
  
  
• Some say this is the Magus, reflected in the macrocosm. The circular wreath represents the healthy green circle of the Earth.
  
  
• Tav, in Hebrew, means "mark," "sign," or "cross." Tav is a "Double Letter," with two sounds.

• The letter Tav symbolizes the final, official seal to the completion of the Great Work of Liberation. This is seen as the world when it was new, on the seventh day. Tav is a personal logo, brand or "chop."

THE WORLD

• Tav, at the grounded root, is the realm of the Samskaras. Samskaras are the Yogic way of describing character. Samskaras are "deeply grooved, or etched." To explain the samskaras, we use the analogy of a lake. The ripples and currents on the surface of the water create solid forms on the bottom; "shadow" ripples, though made of sand and pebbles. In turn, these submerged forms influence the flow of the water. These underwater dunes also morph constantly, on a different time scale.

  In the same way, thought waves create reality. Repeated thought patterns create our daily reality, as well as genetic, cellular character traits in our souls. Samskaras account for what we call Karma, or Heredity, in the context of reincarnation. Samskaras are at the root of the Jiva's (Tipharet) separating desire from Source, or Keter.

  MANTRA

  Repeated thought forms in Yoga are called mantras, and are invoked continuously to keep the mind focused on God, and to re-shape the Samskaras in more spiritual directions. There are mantras for every activity. Yoga mantras are in Sanskrit, a language whose every letter is tuned to the harmonies of the human mind/soul. Often, a mantra is given specifically to a student by the Guru, or teacher.

  

  OM MANI PADME HUM

  The "Heart Mantra" is one of many mantras, believed to bring healing to all. It is believed the actual creation of the sounds combined with breath brings the soul closer to source, or the infinite bliss of Krishna, the Divine Mother, or whatever aspect of deity the aspirant is focusing on.

  

  "The One God Is Allah," and Mohammed is his Prophet. This is one of the key Muslim prayers, and indeed, every syllable of the Koran is believed to resonate with spiritual potency. Islam, which means "slave of God," believes that Arabic is the language of heaven, and that paradise is closed to non-Arabic speakers.

  Forms of Buddhism use prayer in various ways - the Nicheren Shoishus meditating with "nam yoho renge kyo" and various Sutras, or the Zen practitioners using Koans to stump the mind, and confound its accustomed patterns. Hindus, Sufis, Druids, and many others recite scriptures and sacred poetry to focus the mind on the spiritual dimension.

  Christians have some prayers that are especially sacred and ritualized, using the Passion of Christ for example, to achieve mystical attendance to God, The Holy Ghost, Jesus, or the Virgin Mary.

  Modern seekers, shedding the baggage of the ancient religions, are designing new liturgies, putting their thoughts and Spiritual yearnings into poetic language, and creating new rituals as well.

  The Jewish prayer service is a vast, complex and beautiful arrangement of Biblical excerpts, writings of the prophets, and Kabalistic poems and acrostics, that has evolved since deepest antiquity. Hebrew, the "Lashon ha Kodesh" (sacred tongue) has properties in its pronunciation that release the light in the "neshama" or "soul," the same light that is trapped in the Klippot, discussed in Tzimtzum.

• The Hebrew above (read right to left) says: "eeyoon tufeela," which means "absorbed in prayer." T'fila, prayer, comes from the word "l'hitpalel" which means to "judge oneself." It also means "Praise." The first person in the Bible to pray silently was a woman, Hannah.

• In western humanist parlance, this has emerged as "The Power of Positive Thinking," or affirmation meditations, thoughts intentionally repeated to change inner beliefs. Example affirmations are: "I approve of myself," and "I am patient, calm, and healthy."

  This also describes the "Manifestation Process," whereby a goal is (sometimes vaguely at first) dreamed of, visualized, refined, defined, made clearer, focused on, urged towards, attended to, and finally made solid and polished in the real world.

• The Manifestation Process is mapped on the Tree of Life. Atzilut, the world of Emanation, is the first hints of the idea. Briah, the world of creation from nothing, is the first "sketch on a napkin." Yetzirah is the actual building, "base coat," "blocking in," or construction of foundation. Assiah is the final coat of paint, the polishing, the touch-ups, and the little bow on top. A chart showing the four worlds is on the Overview Page.

• The Manifestation Process is not always so orderly. Often the process is only noticable in retrospect. What may have seemed haphazard while it was happening can in the end appear to have been well planned. This is like the story about the guy who "draws the targets around the arrows after they've landed."
  
  

• In the Cube of Space, Tav is the center point.
  

Saturn's placement at birth influences the person's work in life, their obstacles, the challenges that will test them and build character.

Saturn shows how a person will mature, and how they will learn to cope with adversity. Saturn teaches transformation, and initiation. Saturn's rewards are the sweetest, for they are the hardest won. Afflictions to Saturn can create inhibition, timidity, cruelty, violence, melancholy, a knack for trouble, bad work situations, abuse of power, or resentment.

Saturn, and the earth signs it rules, are the arbiters of the highest initiation. Christ, Buddha, and the Virgin Mary are Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo, respectively, in our mythic systems. Initiation is earned, and only when the aspirant can use higher consciousness in the Real World is the initiation authentic.

Saturn is associated with the "Ring Pass Not" - a term normally used when referring to the orb of energetic influence of a planet or body, and can also be applied to other forms of life. The ring-pass-not is the combination of the different energy sheaths that human or cosmic spirits gather around themselves.

"A profoundly mystical and suggestive term signifying the circle or bounds or frontiers within which is contained the consciousness of those who are still under the sway of the delusion of separateness -- and this applies whether the ring be large or small. It does not signify any one especial occasion or condition, but is a general term applicable to any state in which an entity, having reached a certain stage of evolutionary growth of the unfolding of consciousness, finds itself unable to pass into a still higher state because of some delusion under which the consciousness is laboring, be that delusion mental or spiritual." (From The Occult Glossary).

Saturn is the boundary between the inner or "personal" planets, and the outer, "impersonal" planets. The inner planets are about refining our responses, and relating with other people; the outer planets are things beyond our conscious control, and our reactions to them.

We work on the inner planets in the first half of our lives, and the outer in the second. Of course the inner planet work is a crucial foundation for the later life work.

Saturn's connection to 'The World,' Key 21, and earthiness, is symbolic of its hard reality. The square and the cross are associated with matter; while we live on this earth, we are like spirits caught in amber, or nailed to a cross. Spirit, coping with material existence, is forced into transformation, and growth.

Saturn's tests, when worked on sincerely, provide the sweetest rewards. Incremental progress, a Saturnian hallmark, is also an attribute of spiritual growth.

There is an additional discussion of Saturn on the Glyphs page in the left frame.

Saturn is Exalted in Libra, and Rules Capricorn. Saturn's detriment is Cancer/Leo and its fall is Aries.

The Sepher associated with Saturn is Binah.

Saturn's higher octave is Pluto.