Quote:80.10 Questioner: The fifteenth archetype is the Matrix of the Spirit and has been called the Devil. Can you tell me why that is so?

Ra: I am Ra. We do not wish to be facile in such a central query, but we may note that the nature of the spirit is so infinitely subtle that the fructifying influence of light upon the great darkness of the spirit is very often not as apparent as the darkness itself. The progress chosen by many adepts becomes a confused path as each adept attempts to use the Catalyst of the Spirit. Few there are which are successful in grasping the light of the sun. By far, the majority of adepts remain groping in the moonlight and, as we have said, this light can deceive as well as uncover hidden mystery. Therefore, the melody, shall we say, of this matrix often seems to be of a negative and evil, as you would call it, nature.

(02-20-2012, 03:11 AM)plenum Wrote: The Devil Card is card 15 in the Major Arcana. It forms the First Archetype of the Chain of Spirit. Let us put it in it's place:

The Great Chain of Spirit

1 Devil, 2 Lightning Struck Tower, 3 Star, 4 Moon, 5 Sun, 6 Judgement, 7 Cosmos

I think I may have alluded to this previously, but the Chain of Spirit deals with 'spiritual Light'; the use of it, the invoking of it, the manipulation of it, and the projection of it. It is, therefore, the unlocking of great power, and offers the finite mind/body access to almost limitless reserves.

these are, of course, my words and thoughts; I will try to make it transparent where I have taken from Ra (in quotes) and where I am presenting personal interpretation (the rest). This is offered as catalyst, and nothing more.

let us see some pics:



the image on the left is from the stock standard Ryder-Waite deck, and the other one is from the very pretty Gilded Tarot deck.

- -

let us invoke Ra:

Quote:80.10 Questioner: The fifteenth archetype is the Matrix of the Spirit and has been called the Devil. Can you tell me why that is so?

Ra: I am Ra. We do not wish to be facile in such a central query, but we may note that the nature of the spirit is so infinitely subtle that the fructifying influence of light upon the great darkness of the spirit is very often not as apparent as the darkness itself. The progress chosen by many adepts becomes a confused path as each adept attempts to use the Catalyst of the Spirit. Few there are which are successful in grasping the light of the sun. By far, the majority of adepts remain groping in the moonlight and, as we have said, this light can deceive as well as uncover hidden mystery. Therefore, the melody, shall we say, of this matrix often seems to be of a negative and evil, as you would call it, nature.

Ra here offers a jumble-bag of thoughts re the Devil, the Star (the Catalyst of the Spirit), the Sun, and the 'groping in the Moonlight'.

my takeaway from this is that the Devil Card represents the first sparklings of Incipient Awareness.

- -


let us look at the Chain of Spirit once more:

1 Devil, 2 Lightning Struck Tower, 3 Star, 4 Moon, 5 Sun, 6 Judgement, 7 Cosmos

you can see clearly that apart from card 1 and 6 we have increasing intensities and consistencies of Light in this sequence. Card 1 represents a form of 'Metaphorical Darkness', enlivened by First Awareness, and Card 6, the Judgement, is an ability to call on the Light of the Cosmos, ie all of Creation Itself.

look at the cards again:

in the Ryder-Waite, we see the human female and male being bound, chained, and this is the chaining to Ignorance of the True Self (metaphorical darkness). In the other image, this is made even more clear; with the helmet covering the eyes entirely, ie one who is Aware, but unable to see.

this 'Darkness' is only remedied in the next card - the Lightning Struck Tower - which, for a moment, illuminates the Landscape in which one is dwelling, and offers a 'flash' of insight or 'spiritual light' to recalibrate the Truth and Compass of our Journey.

- -

the child in the womb may be another metaphor; one who is aware but unable to see; not because of any inner deficiency, but because the Light is not reaching that place of current dwelling. As such, the Devil is somewhat frustrated, maybe a bit angry too. It, too, seeks the light as do we all.

(02-20-2012, 09:16 AM)3DMonkey Wrote: Are we the matrices, or are we the potentiators?

(02-20-2012, 02:58 PM)Meerie Wrote:

(02-20-2012, 09:16 AM)3DMonkey Wrote: Are we the matrices, or are we the potentiators?

Aren't we both? the matrix is the conscious and the potentiator the unconscious.
We have both aspects.

(02-20-2012, 02:59 PM)3DMonkey Wrote: When lust arises in an individual or two, there is a consciousness birthed in the mind, there is movement birthed in the body, and there is a darkness birthed in the spirit. Skipping to spirit, the darkness birthed between two individuals in lust is potentiated by flashes of 'light', or realizations of one another's awareness, and these flashes turn into passion. ...

(06-15-2021, 11:22 AM)dreamoftheiris Wrote: The Matrix of the Spirit is also called “The Devil” in tarot.   In the Brotherhood of Light deck, the devil is depicted as the Egyptian deity Typhon, the spirit of the Adversary.  Typhon means insolence and pride and represents egotism and self-centeredness.   This archetype suggests the lesson as to how it happens that beings can forfeit their freedom and become slaves of a monstrous entity that makes them degenerate by rendering them similar to it.  

Its theme is one of the generations of negative thought forms and of the power that they have over those who generate them.  It is the Arcanum of the creation of artificial beings and of the slavery into which the creator can fall - becoming a slave of his own creation.

The ego is just such a thought form.  Grafted onto us during development as an infant, the Ego functions as a way to interact in mostly material existence.  Its purpose is as an interface, allowing you to function within this plane.  Its domain is the material and is concerned with physical survival.

In a perfect world, the veil between worlds is not as tightly shut, and the higher takes command over the lower and thus has command over the ego.  However, in our world, we are lost in the lower and our egos often have full command of us and often keep us enslaved. We become lost in the roles we play, in the masks we wear.

For some, this mask is all there is.  For others, the calling of Spirit penetrates through and beckons them forward.  

The self-centered desires of the ego, when followed, often result in destruction and enslavement.  You become what you focus on.  Those that focus on the lower, attract and become the lower.  Those that focus on the higher, attract and become the higher.  The difference can sometimes be subtle.  The lower feels desperate and urgent.  The higher feels more subtle.  One demands.  The other suggests.  This is how to tell the difference between the urgings of the lower and the subtle pull of the higher.

The more we follow the lower, the more we become enslaved by it.  The deeper the darkness becomes.  

Ra says, “The Matrix of the Spirit is what you may call the Night of the Soul or Primeval Darkness”.

This archetype can be seen as the difference between inspiration and counter inspiration.  

Every moment is a choice and the choice of what to be inspired by is critical to the development of the adept.  

To be inspired by that which is false demands the adept to immerse themselves in that which is false.  Likewise, for adepts to be inspired by that which is true requires the adept to see through falsity.  Just how it is easier to gain weight than to lose it, the starting position of everyone who comes through 3D reality at this time is darkness.  It requires constant vigilance, work, and applied wisdom to see through falsity.  Some, such as wanderers, have a better developed Spirit that can help them see through it easier than others.  But it requires work nonetheless to avoid the trappings of Typhon.  

Ra says,
“The adept, then, is working with the power of hidden things illuminated by that which can be false or true. To embrace falsity, to know it, to seek it, and to use it gives a power that is most great.”

While the darkness is deep in this matrix, the divine flash of lighting can break through and provide a glimpse and insight into a path out of the dark.

Surrounding Typhon and his slaves are fallen pillars.  In the Potentiator of the Mind, Isis is shown between two great pillars symbolizing the fact that Nature attains productivity by means of polarity.  The pillars represent two out of three pillars of the Tree of Life.  These are Strength and Wisdom with the third pillar being Harmony which is placed between them.  

Two pillars are also often represented archetypally as entrances to sacred places.  They represent an important gateway or passage toward the unknown.  

The destruction of the pillars by Typhon reinforces the image of this archetype being darkness by cutting off this gateway to the Spiritual.  Without the guiding influence of Spirit, chaos, destruction, and enslavement reign supreme, and those that attempt to serve the Ego eventually become enslaved by it.