The Star, The Moon, and The Sun in relation to the positive adept

[ricdaw]

Hierophant = YOU. You are significant. Without you, what's the point of talking about this lifetime?

It seems to me that this depends on your definition of "YOU." A common psychological model (the one that Jung embraced) is that there is an ego and a self. The ego is what you think of as yourself. The self is much broader and more encompassing than the ego (for the ego is within it). Although I tend to avoid copying and pasting disparate theoretical models upon one another, the parallel seems fairly close here.

The Hierophant, as I understand it, is the incarnate self, the self which thinks, feels, acts, etc.

I agree.

It is a sub-logos in its own right, given the freedom to choose how it will respond to itself by virtue of the veil between the conscious and unconscious. This "little self," however, is not the only thing that we mean when we say "I." Those who have a requisite level of spiritual awareness tend to refer sometimes to the greater self, the self that perceives union of all with all, in the use of the word "I."

Without drawing the boundaries between the little "I" and the Higher Self "I", I think of the Heirophant as that portion which is exercising Free Will in this lifetime. (Of course, within any larger gameplan laid down by the Higher Self ahead of the incarnation, or by the smaller "I" who is actively participating in the spiritual progression.)

Sun = All That Is. The card is not about achieving a state of enlightenment. The Sun is about God. God loves (shines) on absolutely everyone. Positive polarity people and negative polarity people equally. It is an "equal opportunity" god for all. The card is not an exhortation or reward. The card is describing the fact that the primary "significance" of God is continuous and absolute love for everyone all the time without exception. We do not achieve the Sun. We bask in it. Novice and Adept alike. We are offered all of it at all times. The card is not a reward for high achievement. It is our birthright from the get-go. And it is enormous comfort. No matter how badly we screw up, no matter how much we achieve, God's love is utterly unchanged and constant. There is no GREATER love/rewards for the highly motivated and high achiever. God's love does not favor anyone. The whole point of this card is unconditional acceptance by All That Is.

This is where I'll really have to disagree. Whereas the Hierophant depicts the incarnate sub-logos, whose lifespan is equal to a single lifetime, the Sun depics the discarnate sub-logos, whose lifespan has is equal to an octave of experience. The Hierophant, then, is sub-logos to the logos that is the inner Sun, or Polaris.

While Logos and Sub-Logos are part of Ra's teachings, I don't believe that the cards express any of that teaching. You are correct that the Sun is a sub-logos. But I don't think the sun in the Sun card is meant to be a sub-logos depiction. It is intended to represent instead All That Is. The ancient Egyptians (probably?) didn't have any idea of galaxy or universe so I am reluctant to conclude that the card carries forward that learn/teaching. I posit that the sun is intended to represent God, not a sub-logos of God, for the purposes of the tarot and its teachings. But I do agree with you on the larger structure.

This Sun is not the One Infinite Creator, for the Logos is the manifestation of the OIC. The Logos is the focused Intelligent Energy which seeks to manifest the potential of Intelligent Infinity, which is the OIC.

I totally agree with you, but don't think the tarot expresses these truths.

[The Significator of the Spirit] is not a description of a person who has achieved a certain level of spiritual advancement.

I agree and I disagree.

The Hierophant depicts a person who consciously and carefully creates his own experience. The Hanged Man depicts a person who consciously and carefully accepts limitations and offers resources for the purpose of manifesting an experience..

I think the Hanged Man is not a person. It is a symbolic representation of "a body" (generic, non-personal) that is of service to the Hierophant. I don't think the card means limitations (except possibly in a tarot reading). Nor is it a call to accept limitations. The significance of this card, to me, is that the body is useful, but working on the body or for the body (or for anything physical for that matter) is not warranted. The body is disposable in the greater scheme of things. And physicality, and its seeming importance, is illusion. The body is a means to an end.

The activity of the Sun is to exist always in a state of perfect unity with the All, to be at peace with the self and therefore enlightened. As Ra says, "The crown is already upon the head." Although the Spirit always exists in this place, we do not always have access to this experience in a conscious and undistorted way. Thus, the experience of the Sun undistorted is a privilege won by spiritual advancement, despite the fact that it was always there whether you knew it or not. As the buddhists say, you are already enlightened; you just have to learn that you are.

That is quite beautiful.[/i]