The Body as the Means of Action

[Plenum]

I've highlighted in a couple of previous threads how the cycles of archetypes have an inherent theme.  For eg, the Archetypes of the Spirit (cards 15-21) have a theme of light, and Archetypes of the Mind feature a sphere of inner power.

The Archetypes of the Body (cards 8-14) have been more elusive to me.  It's only just recently that I've delved back into them, and tried to find a yield of understanding that I can use to help resolve some leftover issues regards my relationship to my body and the physical.

I think I've come across a nifty piece of connecting evidence just recently.

JustLikeYou mentioned that the Significators offer a clue as the primary function of what that Significator is referring to.  For the Mind, the significator references the cogitation of thoughts, for the Spirit, it is about a relationship to the Light/Universal Intelligence, and for the Body, I believe it is about the means of Concrete Action.

The middle three cards of the Body may illustrate this better.  They all feature a prominent use of the hands.  The hands, of course, referencing a means of action or manifestation.

Catalyst of the Body:
Experience of the Body:
Significator of the Body:

the last card, especially, shows that the power of the self sinks down into the hands, almost with the force of a spiritual gravity.

If you also look at the other Body Archetypes, you can see a prominent use of the hands, each with a different 'instrumentation'.  (The Transformation - Death, the Great Way - the Alchemist, Balance and Wisdom).

The hands are also featured in the other archetypes (the non-body archetypes) but not with the degree of emphasis and variety that is present in these ones.

The hands are the means of action.  The Body is the way that we express the self in action in relation to others.