Chicago Gnosis Podcast The Eternal Tarot of Alchemy and Kabbalah 06 Indecision
To arrive at complete knowledge of divinity, the soul must undergo specific trials and temptations, symbolized by the Sixth Arcanum of the tarot. The disciple must confront, in a state of equanimity, insight, and dispassion, the undesirable elements he or she carries within the psyche. Such egotistical elements come in the form of pride, anger, greed, gluttony, laziness, envy, and most of all, the capital defect of lust. Sexual desire is the original sin that expelled Adam and Eve from Eden, the primordial blissful state of the consciousness. To return to Eden, one must enter through the same door one left: sexuality. It is not by renouncing sex that one can overcome lust, but by learning to work in a perfect matrimony to transmute selfishness and desire into conscious love.
This lecture explores alchemical and kabbalistic teachings within the Zohar, especially the significance of the Hebrew letter Vav, its representation as the spinal column, and its appearance within the first verse of Genesis: (Bereshit Bara Elohim At Ha-Shamayim Vey-At Ha'aretz): "In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth."
Discover the mysteries of Da'ath, alchemical knowledge, as defined through serpent mysticism: the positive brazen serpent that healed the Israelites in the wilderness and the tempting serpent of Eden. You will also learn about the initiatic significance of the seven days of Genesis; the symbolism of the Menorah, the seal of Solomon / Star of David, and the left / right hand paths in the Qur'an; the relationship between alchemy and abstinence as explained in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra; as well as the hidden meaning of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, particularly the famous first movement.
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