Archetypes in pair

[Nau7ik]

I have begun the second portion of the archetypal study where we contemplate and meditate upon pairs of archetypes; their natural compliments.

The first pairing is Matrix and Potentiator of Mind. Male and female. Creative, receptive. Without and within; inner and outer.




An interesting symbol that I noticed with this method is that in the card of the Magician there is a caged bird. The bird is caged within a square/cube, which represents the material illusion. This concept means that the magician is as a caged bird, unable to take flight, without the “activator in Potentiation”. Left by itself, the magician cannot move. It can be said that the magician is working within the material illusion, on space/time.

The High Priestess has a similar concept in her card: she sits upon a rectangular, square block/cube. She is outside of the material illusion (but near at hand, as Ra put it.) The Priestess is similarly blocked in that left by herself she is left waiting, abiding; Veiled and unknown. She is richly fertile (the grapes on her covering) but none of that can bloom, per se, when the creative energy is not seeding (reaching for) the deep mind. Reaching for understanding. She can be said to represent time/space.

Another interesting set of symbols I noticed was that they both work with the “tools of their trade”. This is represented by the four elemental weapons upon the magicians altar. The High Priestess holds a scroll on her lap. It is a scroll of knowledge and understanding. Both of these “sets of tools” enrich one another! Understanding enriched the conscious mind and discipline opens the deep unconscious mind. There is an equal give and take. They beautifully flow into one another. In fact I would say that the picture is incomplete without the interplay of the Magician and Priestess.

An important consideration: who is it that is “reaching”? The Matrix and Potentiator represent aspects, pure archetypes of Mind. It is the Significator who wills the reaching which sets the processes of mind in motion. He is truly the actor and acted upon. It’s also interesting to note that the Significator has for its pair the Choice! I shall get to that pairing in due time.

I want to continuing sharing some of my insights on this thread as I continue on with the study of pairs. I invite all of you to join me in this journey! Feel free to share your observations, contemplations, insights, and understandings so that we may all gain a deeper understanding of the archetypal mind.

[zvonimir]

https://archive.org/details/practicalast...n/page/n10

perhaps this source can aid you in your seeking.....

THE 22 MAJOR ARCANES
ARCANE I. (A = i.)THE MAGUS
The Magus (magician) is standing in the
attitude of the will-power about to act; he
is dressed in white, the emblem of purity,
with a circle of gold around his brow, emblem
of eternal light; he holds in the right
hand a scepter tipped with a circle, the emblem
of creative intelligence. He raises
this scepter toward Heaven to indicate his
aspirations to wisdom, science and moral
force. His left hand....

[JustLikeYou]

To me, the pairing of the Matrix and Potentiator of Mind is romantic attraction. I think all of the mind archetypes tell a love story between the conscious and unconscious, and this first pairing is the first stage. They have noticed each other and desire to know each other, but they are also both hiding behind the plausible deniability that the veiling affords us. The High Priestess makes herself attractive in an effort to invite the Magician: she wants him to work up the guts to approach her, but she won't give direct signals because that makes it too easy for him. After all, she's already done most of the work by making herself attractive. The Magician, on the other hand, knows he needs to merit her affection, so he prepares to approach her and demonstrate through courage and determination that it will be worth it for her to open up to him.

I think this kind of romance account can characterize not only sexual relationships, but also friendships, and even academic pursuits. In general, these two archetypes show us the energy exchange between the knower and the known, where the desire to know has no ulterior motive: she is the pure object of his interest. Additionally, he believes that when he comes to know her, he will feel free of the burden of his desire. The cage that holds the bird, then, is his desire unfulfilled. He feels trapped because he wants what he does not have and does not know how to get. In her, he sees the fulfillment of the desires that trap him in a state of longing.

[Nau7ik]

That was beautiful and incredible, JustLikeYou. I love the way you described the initial “romance” between the Magician and High Priestess. It is an excellent way of looking at the relationship/polarity.
Thank you, my friend!

[flofrog]

Totally agree Nau7ik on how JustLikeYou, you describe the relationship.

There is something very staid and aloof about the High Priestess. Attraction that a hieratic woman may present. Like perhaps Cleopatra in Egypt to Ceasar, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, etc..

[Nau7ik]

I’m having a hard time with the study in pairs. I’m trying to study them as laid out by Ra. Can anyone help me see the polarity of the Transformation/Great Way of Mind (The Lovers/The Chariot)?

I also had difficulty with the Hierophant and the Choice pairing. That made me realize I do not understand the Choice very well. As the Fool, I understand it as the leap of faith, the spiritual Fool, in his element by stepping into air. But when I look at that Egyptian version I am at a loss to explain it. There are some similarities such as the jugs he carries balanced on his shoulder. Maybe the crocodile is similar to the dog. The Significator mentally chooses the direction of his Will and the Choice is the living and walking of that initial choice? Within/without.

I am starting to realize the wisdom of Ra’s suggestion to stick to one system of study. I study Qabalah but I am not using Qabalistic principles to study the 22 archetypes. I am using the LOO and the Church of Light deck. I want to finish what I’ve started first and possibly just stick to studying Tarot with the Key of the Tree of Life.

What are your thoughts?

[JustLikeYou]

I’m having a hard time with the study in pairs.

I found the study of the pairs to be uniquely challenging, too. I didn't realize how little I understood them until I tried to make sense of the pairings. I eventually decided that I couldn't make sense of the pairings unless I had imagined each of the archetypes as personas or characters or roles, each with a specific set of concerns, strengths, and tendencies. The pairings then began to represent the possibilities for human relationships in which we play roles with respect to one another.

Can anyone help me see the polarity of the Transformation/Great Way of Mind (The Lovers/The Chariot)?

Per my suggestion above, it should help if you think of the Transformation of Mind as a single persona. On the card, there are three figures, each with a different perspective, so you'll need to make sense of the presence of multiple figures within a single persona. My interpretation is that the persona exists in relation to another persona; it can't be properly imagined otherwise. I also associate these archetypes with the feminine masculine polarity. The Transformation strikes me as feminine because it is all about the polarity within the unconscious of the sacred and the profane. The unconscious mind has elements that pull in different directions from each other, so while it is the same unconscious, it has two distinct personifications. The name I landed on for this archetype is the Muse.

The same approach should be applied to the Great Way of the Mind as well. Of course, since these are archetypal relationships, you can be sure that you haven't landed on the correct interpretation if the relationship is arcane and unfamiliar. The archetypes are the pure, original possibilities for our existence as personalities, so they should be very familiar to us, both in life and in our stories. In other words, the two in the pairing need to be obvious matches for each other. For the Great Way of the Mind, I landed on the name Hero. Now I know this word has lots of archetypal baggage, and a good argument can be made that the Fool is the Hero archetype. So my understanding of this archetype is that he is the Hero in the romantic sense of the word: he gets the girl in the end (think rom-com). Of course, since mind is all about stories and coming to know, the romance does not need to be sexual; rather, romance is about the desire to know and the meaningfulness of having committed to a relationship in which you come to know another better.

I also had difficulty with the Hierophant and the Choice pairing. That made me realize I do not understand the Choice very well. As the Fool, I understand it as the leap of faith, the spiritual Fool, in his element by stepping into air. But when I look at that Egyptian version I am at a loss to explain it. There are some similarities such as the jugs he carries balanced on his shoulder. Maybe the crocodile is similar to the dog. The Significator mentally chooses the direction of his Will and the Choice is the living and walking of that initial choice? Within/without.

I interpret the Fool as the subjective self whose act of choosing is identical to its act of paying attention. So, since the mind is a storyteller, I think of the Fool in relation to it as the audience.

[Quan]

That was beautiful and incredible, JustLikeYou. I love the way you described the initial “romance” between the Magician and High Priestess. It is an excellent way of looking at the relationship/polarity.
Thank you, my friend!

Ahh study of Tarot, good luck Nau7ik its a beautiful journey.. 'different strokes for different folks' is most fitting in this study or perhaps whatever floats your boat
Sorry but cannot help but laugh was that intentional pun "That was beautiful and incredible, JustLikeYou"  shouldn't it be that was beautiful and incredible,just like you  and possibly humorous side effect of JustLikeYou found in choosing the name, love it! JustLikeYou.

[Nau7ik]

I feel like I am making some progress with the Significator / Choice pairing. When I got to the Hanged Man / The Choice I realized that the Choice archetype is always the same when paired with THE Significator of each complex. In the Hanged Man Card we have a reversed Cruz Ansata, other versions show a cross surmounting a triangle by the limbs of the Hanged Man. So this could mean that the Hanged Man is “redeeming” the Self. It’s like a baptism in water. Hanged Man is associated with Elemental water. He sacrifices in order to redeem the light, which is represented by his illuminated head. The word “redemption” finally made sense to me in relation to this card. The light is redeemed from darkness.

13 is Death, which is Transformation, and 14 is the resurrected Dying God, I.e. the initiate. He has the green skin of Osiris.
This card along with 13 and 14 show us spiritual initiation, the formula of the Dying God. I am very fascinated by these particular cards. One dies a symbolic death to be reborn again in a higher spiritual capacity. The Great Way of the Body is the Alchemist / Temperance who is treading the path of the Royal Road (in the R.W. tarot).

Significators are both actors and acted upons. When paired with the Choice, the Significator May choose polarizing action upon either path. This is indicated, I believe, by the dual Sun in XXII. A black sun and an illumined sun.

[ricdaw]

I feel like I am making some progress with the Significator / Choice pairing. 

Significators are both actors and acted upons. When paired with the Choice, the Significator May choose polarizing action upon either path. 

Indeed!  And also this, the Significators are you.  When I see the grid of cards, it is the Significator of the Mind that I "stand upright" so that it can walk around and stand upon the other Archetypes, like a chess piece walking on the chessboard.  

The Significator of the Mind.  Essentially the thinking you, along with all the attributes and characteristics, biases, you selected for this incarnation, and the sum total of all the ones that you had before in previous lives.  All your earthy experiences are "recorded" in this card.  This is your experiencing and evolving Self living a life in the Earth Life School.

The Significator of the Body.  Literally, your physical body as the thing that encapsulates and give life to the Mind.  It has chosen physical attributes and characteristics too, from your pre-life planning.  You choose your genes, because you chose your parents.

The Significator of the Sun.  How your Spirit shines (or absorbs) as you choose your activities to advance your polarity choice.  Or how it stays the same as when you were born, if you sleep through this lifetime without choosing.