The Hierophant / Significator Meditation

[Nau7ik]

I did a contemplative meditation of V. The Hierophant, Hebrew letter Vav ו, Taurus ♉️. It was an excellent meditation! One can consider Ra’s statements on the Significator of Mind and find resonance with the Qabalistic understanding of V. Vav ו signifies a “nail” (important concept).

79.42 ▶ Questioner: Then I will just ask for the one of the archetypes which I am least understanding at this point if I can use that word at all. I am still very much in the dark, so to speak, with respect to the Hierophant and precisely what it is. Could you give me some other indication of what that is, please?

Ra: I am Ra. You have been most interested in the Significator which must needs become complex. The Hierophant is the original archetype of mind which has been made complex through the subtile movements of the conscious and unconscious. The complexities of mind were evolved rather than the simple melding of experience from Potentiator to Matrix.

The mind itself became an actor possessed of free will and, more especially, will. As the Significator of the mind, the Hierophant has the will to know, but what shall it do with its knowledge, and for what reasons does it seek? The potential[s] of a complex significator are manifold.

Vav ו is the “Triumphant and Eternal Intelligence” according to the Sefer Yetzirah. I’m going to quote the entire meditation this time. I thought this one was special. Feel free to meditate on this passage from The Book of Tokens yourself!

THE MEDITATION ON VAV

1 AS that which uniteth all things
In the world of the manifest,
I am rightly made known by VAV, the Nail.
Because I am all, and in all,
Therefore am I the link or bond
Which joineth together
The parts of the fabric of existence.
In all the universe there is no break.
By bonds indissoluble
Each point is fastened to every other.

2 Behind the separate existences
Is the unity of my being,
Which is as a net,
Gathering together all these many forms.
Nothing existeth alone;
All things are in combination.
Manifestation requireth
The appearance of separate parts.
When I show forth my power,
What I bring into existence
Must seem other than myself;
And because I am wholly free,
I present myself to myself
In an endless variety of forms.
Yet is the seeming isolation of class and kind,
The separateness of creatures,
Naught but illusion which deludeth me not,
Nor are they by it deceived
In whom my Wisdom has ripened.

3 Unfathomed and unfathomable
Is the Great Deep
Of mine interior nature.
In the unplumbed abyss of the No-Thing
Mine Eternal Will ariseth,
And by the rising of that Will
The No-Thing cometh forth
Into the appearance of Something.

4 That Will is the Small Point of all beginning,
And its coming forth is a search for itself.
For that Will is a hunger,
And a desire,
And a longing.
My nature being changeless,
This eager longing altereth not.
It is a thing concluded before all manifestation,
A purpose unalterably decided upon,
A determination which I confirm by mine experience.
Out of that longing
Cometh the fixing of the boundaries
Of the universe.
By it I draw the circle of the Something
Which emergeth from the illimitable Deep of the No-Thing.
Therefore is this longing the root of GEBURAH, Severity,
For it restricteth the liberty of the No-Thing,
And produceth an appearance of limitation and
separateness therein.

5 The Nail is a perfect symbol of this Severity.
It hath a property of sharpness and stringency,
Like the point of a nail;
And again, as a nail fasteneth together
The parts of a house,
So doth the desire of coming forth
Join together the parts of the universe,
My dwelling-place.

6 These are mysteries, O Israel,
Difficult to understand.
With much searching shalt thou still fail
To grasp them,
Unless thy search be rightly prosecuted.
Yet the Way to Understanding is ever open
To him who will follow it steadfastly.
It is the Way of the Heart,
And thou shalt be guided therein
By thine own inner Hearing.

7 Even this aspect of my nature
Which presenteth itself under the signature of the letter VAV
Is a promise and a fulfillment of the Way of Life.
Manifesting myself as the link
Which uniteth all the separate parts of my creation,
I make myself known as the bond of union
Between creature and creature,
And between the creatures and their Creator.

The Creator is myself,
And I am the Nail which joineth thee to me.
In thee am I ever present,
And thou hast only to turn within to find me.

Shut thine ears
To the confusion of the world which surroundeth thee.
Open thine inner hearing.
Aspire earnestly to me.
Verily thine aspiration is from me,
And what sendeth thee in search of me
Is that same eager longing which hath brought thee forth;
And it hath brought forth, too,
The four worlds and all that they contain.

8 Thy search for me
Is mine own search for myself,
Nor shall that quest of mine,
Which seemeth now to thee to be
Thine own pursuit of wisdom and of understanding,
Be doomed to failure.
Whosoever thou art that readest or hearest these words,
Know that thou shalt come to me.

9 I am the revealer of all mysteries.
None other is the Teacher of any man.
These words that thou readest,
Or that, perchance, are read to thee ——
Whose words are they but mine?
I have brought thee before me for instruction,
And whether thou receivest it willingly or unwillingly,
Know that because thou hast this day heard or read these words,
Thou art henceforth consciously united to me.

Today thou mayest reject me.
Today thou mayest receive these words with scorn.
Yet it shall be that my Voice
Shall go with thee henceforth forever.
When thou sleepest it shall instruct thee,
And even when thou art busiest with the affairs of daily life,
It shall ring suddenly in thine inner ear.

10 Forever art thou bound to me,
And in a day,
Or a month,
Or a year,
Or a lifetime,
Or a hundred lifetimes,
Thou shalt know this, even as I know it.

And when thou hast reached this goal,
What shall be a day,
Or a month,
Or a year,
Or a lifetime,
Or a hundred lifetimes?
Time ceaseth for those who come to me.
The quest will be forgotten
When thou hast reached the Goal.

[loostudent]

This is the concept of mind I least understand. I don't even know what the word significator means (English us not my language). Is this something that signifies? Is this the same as "indicator"? Are these the fruits of learning?

[AnthroHeart]

I've understood the significator as something that makes something else significant or important.

[flofrog]

yes Wolf, to me too, and he would be a contact bridge. Somehow the word Significator talks to me completely but I would be hard to bring another word for him/her.

Very beautiful meditation, Nau7ik, thank you so much !!!

[Nau7ik]

A major point i glean from the meditation is that the Significator / Hierophant is Willfull. He has desire / will to know himself. The Significator of each complex can be paired with The Choice. The Signifcator of Mind therefore is “possessed of free will, and more especially, Will.”

“As Above, So Below.” The Microcosm is a reflection of the Macrocosm.

Think about this concept above (or behind) the Matrix, Potentiator, Catalyst, and Experience. These four are intimately interconnected. They flow one into the next almost seamlessly. The archetypes are things in themselves, remember this. Alone, the Matrix cannot act. He is like a bird in a cage without his female counterpart, the High Priestess/Potentiator. The Significator is the one who is acting and affected or acted upon. It is then the Significator who experiences and uses the catalyst that has been potenialized by the reaching of the Matrix.
And I think that was what Ra meant when Ra described the Significator as a “simple and unified concept”.

92.34 ▶ Questioner: I will just, then, attempt an example of the Potentiator of Mind acting. Would, as the infant gains time in incarnation, [it] experience the Potentiator offering both positive and negative potential acts, or thoughts, shall I say, for the Matrix to experience which then begin to accumulate, shall I say, in the Matrix and color it one way or the other in polarity depending upon its continuing choice of that polarity offered by the Potentiator? Is this in any way correct?

Ra: I am Ra. Firstly, again may we distinguish between the archetypical mind and the process of incarnational experience of the mind/body/spirit complex.

Secondly, each potentiation which has been reached for by the Matrix is recorded by the Matrix but experienced by the Significator. The experience of the Significator of this potentiated activity is of course dependent upon the acuity of its processes of Catalyst and Experience.

May we ask if there are briefer queries before we leave this instrument?

There’s a lot more to be said about the Hierophant, I’m sure, but this is all I’ve gotten so far.

If we pair the Hierophant with the Choice: for what reason do we seek? For what reason do we do what we do? For the service of others or for the service of the self?

The archetypes are like a blueprint of the deep mind. They are resources in that they are undistorted archetypal processes that we can look to for aid in polarization. For example, being consciously aware of “The Choice” when paired with the Significator will affect Transformation of Mind, the consistent choosing of one polarity or the other, thereby paving the Great Way of the Mind. We can invoke the archetypes more and more purely / undistorted with an increased understanding of them.

[flofrog]

The archetypes are like a blueprint of the deep mind. They are resources in that they are undistorted archetypal processes that we can look to for aid in polarization. For example, being consciously aware of “The Choice” when paired with the Significator will affect Transformation of Mind, the consistent choosing of one polarity or the other, thereby paving the Great Way of the Mind. We can invoke the archetypes more and more purely / undistorted with an increased understanding of them.

Thank you so much Nau7ik, particularly for this end of your post, but for the whole post too.
It took me along time to get the meaning of how the cards were in fact a blueprint. I had this very limited view, even though I kept reading and reading Ra about them, how they could really have their use, and why their study was so important. I just had this sort of instant limited view of : just live your life day by day aimed to service to others.

The blueprint of the deep mind is such an excellent description.

[Nau7ik]

I’m with you flofrog! I never really understood how exactly the archetypal mind is a resource. This is a fairly new understanding for me as well. What got me realizing their use as a resource was Ra’s suggestion of how to study the archetypes: first, individually as Matrix, Potentiator, etc. It just clicked suddenly, and I’ve been studying the Ra Material for years now.

*edit* This quote I came across while reading today:

93.14 ▶ Questioner: Then the adept, in becoming familiar with the Logos’s archetype in each case, would then be able to most efficiently use the Logos’s plan for evolution. Is this correct?

Ra: I am Ra. In the archetypical mind one has the resource of not specifically a plan for evolution but rather a blueprint or architecture of the nature of evolution. This may seem to be a small distinction, but it has significance in perceiving more clearly the use of this resource of the deep mind.

I had a real concern on my mind about how best to approach my study of the archetypal mind. I asked the I-Ching for advice:

“Wind follows upon wind, wandering the earth, penetrating gently but persistently:
The Superior Person expands his influence by reaffirming his decisions and carrying out his promises.
Small, persistent, focused effort brings success. Seek advice from someone you respect.”

That was inspiring to me.