Trying to better grasp spirit.

[Taralie Peterdaughter]

I am still trying so hard to wrap my head around what spirit is.  This quote by Ra doesnt really help me.  Can anybody explain it to me?   Maybe if i thought about it in a different way.....thanks!!

This spirit complex is the channel whereby the inpourings from all of the various universal, planetary, and personal inpourings may be funneled into the roots of consciousness and whereby consciousness may be funneled to the gateway of intelligent infinity through the balanced intelligent energy of body and mind.

And if you really understand can you explain how it relates specifically to the last 7 major arcana?  Thx!!

The first question: "what is spirit?" I found the following Ra quote helpful:

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Ra: [...] imagine, if you will, the function of the magnet. The magnet has two poles. One reaches up. The other goes down. The function of the spirit is to integrate the upreaching yearning of the mind/body energy with the downpouring and streaming of infinite intelligence.

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I would say that spirit is truth. And truth is also awareness (beingness). It is also the magnetizing sense of unity with all that is. What is the difference between spirit and mind? One is like light, the other, the mind, is like color reflecting off an object. The color is reflected light -- it has specific content and form. The form that is illuminated by this light is like the body, which also has particular characteristics. There are a lot of analogies you could use. Ponder the relationship between force and form. I would describe the spirit as beingness and mind as the mirror for beingness and the reflection of that is the outer universe (the body). The outer universe reflects the inner universe (on a macroscopic and microscopic scale). And the mind is that identity that exists along that continuum. The mind imagines separation, unless it has, through the process of transformation and use of catalyst become a perfectly polished mirror for beingness or spirit. In such a case, it will no longer imagine separation where it never actually was. A distorted mirror will reflect a distorted image. But the function of the mind is to reflect beingness, just as the function of the spirit is to integrate by illumination. By the disciplined use of faith and will, the mirror is gradually polished to the point of providing an accurate reflection/experience of the potentiated one infinite creator.   

So you can think of the "spirit complex" as the relationship between infinite truth and whatever degree of falsity the mind has latched onto, or identified with (distortion/smudges on mirror). A distortion can begin to be less distorted as this dialog grows. Or you can think of it as the relationship between the truth of infinite unity and the illusion of separation. It is also described as a "shuttle" because it "conveys" information back and forth. When opened, it allows information to travel to and from self and creator. It is important to note this communication between self and creator is always occurring, but when opened it becomes conscious to whatever degree it is opened.

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Ra: [...] The third area is the spiritual complex which embodies the fields of force and consciousness which are the least distorted of your mind/body/spirit complex. The exploration and balancing of the spirit complex is indeed the longest and most subtle part of your learn/teaching. We have considered the mind as a tree. The mind controls the body. With the mind single-pointed, balanced, and aware, the body comfortable in whatever biases and distortions make it appropriately balanced for that instrument, the instrument is then ready to proceed with the great work.

That is the work of wind and fire. The spiritual body energy field is a pathway, or channel. When body and mind are receptive and open, then the spirit can become a functioning shuttle or communicator from the entity’s individual energy of will upwards, and from the streamings of the creative fire and wind downwards. [...]  

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Sometimes Ra refers to "spiritual entropy" that negative beings are constantly experiencing while trying to move closer to the creators infinite power (which prevents them from gaining more power). I would describe it as the "resistance to unity". Positive beings don't experience this same degree of spiritual entropy while trying to integrate with the creator, because they can readily accept that all are the creator, as opposed to just the self or a few elite selves. The negatives have no problem with the creators power, but they have major problems integrating or balancing the creators love. "Because unity contains all, it cannot abhor any."

En·tro·py

1.PHYSICS: a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.

2. lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.

Your second question is very broad, so it is difficult to give you anything substantial. But it is about the relationship between truth/light and falsity/dark played out in an alchemical (transformative) sense.

Do you have a more specific question regarding the last 7 arcana?

Anyway, I hope that helps!