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Interrelationships of the Great Ways - JustLikeYou - 03-16-2012
This analysis was sent to plenum as a PM, but he encouraged me to post it as a thread:
The Great Way archetypes are, as Ra says in reference to #7, a depiction of the environment in which the evolution of the relevant complex occurs. You have properly associated them with the violet ray as a kind of picture of the whole that precedes. Ra comments in reference to the Chariot that the nature of the card is most easily seen when one examines the differences between this card and the Significator card. My interpretation of this statement is that the Significator depicts the relevant complex (mind, body or spirit) as a static image; whereas the Great Way depicts that same complex as a dynamic process. To elucidate this in the Mind cycle, consider that the Significator rests upon solid, unmoving ground under a 2-dimensional structure. The Great Way, on the other hand, rides in a 3-dimensional chariot. The Significator describes what the complex is and what it does. It is the "heart" of the complex. The Great Way describes where it is going and how it gets there. Ra emphasizes that the Great Way is not to be seen as an "end goal". I would add that this goal is certainly depicted, but it is not the ultimate point of the card. The whole point of these three cards is to give an overall image of the dynamic evolutionary process that the particular complex undergoes.
Now to address your question more specifically. Yes, I have given these cards my own titles, though I change these names frequently ;-). They are, in order: The Path to Self-Mastery, The Path to Transfiguration, The Path to Apotheosis. I chose these words with the intention of including all the connotations that they already have in the English language.
Inter-relationships. Let us consider a person who is learning a traditional martial discipline. This person is typically trained in two ways: there is a philosophy which must be learned and a set of motions which must be mastered. While one may study the philosophy apart from actually practicing the discipline, there is much that will be lacking in this kind of approach. Aikido, for example, teaches that one must blend with the energy of the aggressor in order to disarm the situation while minimizing harm inflicted to either self or other-self. It is important to know this while one is learning the discipline, but if one does not also learn the physical techniques, this knowledge is never tested. We see, then, that the inter-relationship between the Great Way of the Mind and the Great Way of the Body is that when the mind is divested of a sufficient amount of knowledge, this knowledge must then be put to the test in a manifest experience. Thus, the mind and body must be trained in parallel so that they may both be tested simultaneously.
As always, it is very important to recognize that the body is a Creature and not a Creator. It is the mind that Creates the body. Therefore, the dynamic process which the mind undergoes in learning about itself (and therefore mastering itself) hinges greatly on the perception it has concerning the body it has created. It doesn't matter how much the mind knows about itself, it will still Create the body (and when I say "body" I include the manifest reality which surrounds your physical vehicle. This is merely a macrocosm of your own body). The mind always has the opportunity to learn more about itself if it only examines the manifestations it generates. When the mind changes, the body changes. If the mind attempts to change without changing the body, the mind only tricks itself into pretending to change, for one cannot change without affecting the other. When the two are in harmony, the mind knows that the body is the ultimate test of the soundness, stability, peace, the mastery of the mind over itself. Therefore, the mind will see that the body is the key to its greatest perfection. It is the body which allows the mind to render that which is rough into that which is refined. So we see that the Path to Self-Mastery must necessarily run parallel to the Path to Transfiguration.
As the Great Way of the Body is the reflection of the Great Way of the Mind, I take these two in conjunction to be a reflection of the Great Way of the Spirit. If we examine card #21, we'll see that the unconscious aspect of the self is playing the conscious aspect of the self like a harp. This card describes a path of greater and greater trust in the naturalness of the process, for how can the conscious part of myself be played as a harp if it does not relax and allow the music to simply flow? In fact, "Flow" (in the hip-hop sense) is an excellent alternate name for this card. It is when we allow ourselves to simply flow and know that what comes forth is perfect that we have truly made contact with Intelligent Infinity. Carla is an excellent example of the end-goal depicted in this card. But remember that the end-goal is not the ultimate point. The point is that there is a dynamic process. In truth, what is often missed in this card is that the unconscious self must learn how to play the instrument just as the instrument must learn how to be played. If you look at the Significator of the Spirit, you will see how this is a dynamic picture of the static Significator: the male and female (conscious and unconscious) portions of the self stand together in harmony, looking into each others eyes, holding each others hands. When we engage the evolution of the spirit, we seek to intermingle these two lovers in an ongoing project of creating the most beautiful music.
This picture of the Path to Apotheosis (the path to godhood) is reflected in both of the other Great Way cards thus: The Great Way of the Mind is a male aspect of the self which must learn how to use a female aspect of itself (the body) as a tool for achieving greater self-mastery, thereby transforming the body into a work of art. Just so, the female aspect of the self (the abundant yet hidden fullness of the spirit) must be allowed to use the male aspect of the self (the dim light of conscious spirituality) as a tool to achieve a continuous and uninterrupted flow which can then bring the divine directly down into not only the spirit, but also the mind and body. You see, when the mind has achieved a certain level of self-mastery and is capable of living in harmony with the body such that it can use the body to transform its own self-mastery into a powerful manifest reality, then the entity as a whole is capable of contacting the divine in order to bring it into both mind and body. This third path also runs parallel to the first two, but it typically does not begin until much later than the other two are begun.
And yes, you are very right to attempt to view these cards through the lens of the disciplines of mind, body and spirit as Ra offers them in sessions 5 and 6.
RE: Interrelationships of the Great Ways - abstrktion - 03-25-2012
Copied from another thread per JustLikeYou's suggestion...
“The Great Way of the Mind, the Body, or the Spirit draws the environment which has been the new architecture caused by the veiling process and, thusly, dipped in the great, limitless current of time/space.” This supports the idea that the patterning offered by The Great Ways is the understanding of the relations and totality of the other archetypes; it offers the structures for dealing with the options available to a self-willed, seemingly separate entity, providing the largest number of archetypal patterns offered by Logoi thus far. However, a separate analysis could be made regarding the word “draws”—does Ra mean “pulls into itself,” “outlines,” or “pulls along” (like a wagon)? I like the idea of it meaning “pulls to itself” even though the idea of “pulls along” might be suggested by the title of the traditional tarot card. For me, this “pulls to itself” suggests an orbit.
RA asserts strongly that The Great Way of the Mind is not the final point in a progression: RA states, “we may suggest that the student look at the Great Way of the Mind, not as that which is attained after contact with intelligent infinity, but rather as that portion of the archetypal mind which denotes and configures the particular framework within which the Mind, the Body, or the Spirit archetypes move.” Thus we see that “The Great Way” denotes something more akin to a “road,” maybe even a “roundabout” than a destination. RA even takes the trouble of stating this a second time in different words: “We ask that the student consider the Great Way not as the culmination of a series of seven activities or functions but as a far more clearly delineated image of the environment within which the mind, body, or spirit shall function.”
So The Great Way of the Mind is an environment. That makes it a static archetype, a form in which the other archetypes “move”—the archetypes being like cars in a roundabout, or even like planets orbiting a sun, or moons/satellites orbiting a planet.
“The Great Way of the Body must be seen, as are all the archetypes of the body, to be a mirror image of the thrust of the activity of the mind. The body is the creature of the mind and is the instrument of manifestation for the fruits of mind and spirit. Therefore, you may see the body as providing the athanor [or furnace] through which the Alchemist manifests gold.” Here again, we see that the Great Way isn’t the end of a progression.
In this case, we must look at the characteristics of the athanor: it provides the conditions under which the agent manifests. It is also interesting that Ra clarifies that The Great Way isn’t the Alchemist himself, as the traditional tarot title might imply. Instead, The Great Way of the Body is the tool of the Alchemist. It isn’t even that which is transformed, but rather the conditions and environment in which the transformation takes place. This is interesting as it implies that it is not the body that undergoes transformation, but rather, it is that which the body houses that transforms—the Spirit. If we continue to work analogically, the agent, that is the Alchemist, is really Mind—or Potentiated Consciousness--or Will...
So now we have the idea that The Great Way of the Body is the patterning that suggests how we should understand and interpret “the body”—as an environment that gives rise to the circumstances under which manifestation of spiritual/transformative growth might occur.
Summing it up thus far, if The Great Way of the Mind is the environment of the journey, where we encounter all the archetypal resonances, The Great Way of the Body is the environment that generates manifestation.
So that leaves The Great Way of the Spirit. All Ra gives us on this archetypal patterning is that it “represents contact with intelligent infinity” and that such contact would result in “unspeakable joy.”
If we were to follow the paradigm set by the other Great Ways, then somehow, The Great Way of the Spirit should be an environment—but what kind? What lives there? How does it function? What is its relation to the other Great Ways?
If the archetypes in total “move” in The Great Way of the Mind, then The Great Way of the Spirit orbits/moves/functions within it as well (interesting…orbiting within something instead of around it…). Drawing from this idea, it could be that the other archetypes of each category exhibit a similar behavior with regard to the other Great Ways, all within The Great Way of the Mind. Indeed, if The Great Way of the Body is the patterning that informs us of how to use the circumstances of Life to achieve transformation of the Spirit, then truly, it does sound like all the archetypes of the body are within it.
So then, it is reasonable to posit that The Great Way of the Spirit houses the other archetypes of spirit, in some way suggesting to the entity that comes into resonance with them the ways in which they may be used together, and when they have been used, and the Spirit transforms in such a way that it can contact intelligent infinity, unspeakable joy, that is, union with God, is the result.
In sum, I chose “Space” as the title for The Great Way of Mind because all moves within it. I chose “Union” as the title for the Great Way of the Spirit because even within the illusion of separation, we exist in Oneness. I chose “Time” as the title for The Great Way of the Body because it is one of the most significant conditioning circumstances of the manifested Life; it is an “active” or “force” archetype, pushing in on the Significator.
JustLikeYou’s precisely sums up the relation of The Great Way to the Significator: “Whereas the Significator depicts the complex, the Great Way depicts the entire cycle which brings the Significator experience. Thus one may think of the cycle and the Great Way as being analogous to the mathematical set (cycle) that contains itself. So the Significator can be viewed as the Complex without any vision of the process of evolution occurring, whereas the Great Way depicts the Complex within the context of the process of evolution.”
This is as far as I've gotten in thinking about the cycle of spirit--if anyone could comment on my ideas so I can see better the inconsistencies, let me know. Please understand; however, that my goal isn't to build up images, but to get down to the basics. I'm trying for the most simple, primitive, aspect of each archetypal pattern--that's what I eventually want to paint.
RA says, " You may well consider the very informative difference between a thing in itself and its relationships or functions. There is much study of archetype which is actually the study of functions, relationships, and correspondences...however, the archetypes are, first and most profoundly, things in themselves and the pondering of them and their purest relationships with each other should be the most useful foundation for the study of the archtypical mind."
