The Syzygy Oracle: Transformational Tarot and the Tree of Life: Ego, Essence and the Evolution of Consciousness - Brossura

Mendel, Heather

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1782791604 ISBN 13: 9781782791607

Casa editrice: Dodona Books, 2013

Riassunto

Syzygy? Jung used the term to describe the balancing of the opposites. Astronomically, syzygy (pronounced si-zi-gee) refers to a specific conjunction of the sun, moon and earth. On Mother Earth, the planet we call home, we are profoundly influenced by the radiance of the sun as well as the reflected light of the moon as we walk between light and darkness, physically and metaphorically. Solar energy evolves the ego and lunar energy evolves our essence. We learn the balance the two as we travel the twenty-two pathways of Kabbalah’s Tree of Life. Honoring The Sacred Feminine, the spiritual practice offered here is an invitation to recognize and welcome intuitive wisdom more definitively into everyday awareness. A fresh interpretation of the traditional Major Arcana for women, here the patriarchal layering of the cards is lifted to reveal a timeless and timely revelation of intuitive wisdom in a sequence of insightful, profound, and empowering teachings for any woman who wishes to read her own life story as more substantive than superficial. Twenty-two of these cards reinterpret the Tarot’s Major Arcana. Aligning the cards with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, we access three levels of soul consciousness, in Hebrew known as nefesh, ruach and neshamah through the specific letter, number and story of each card. Meet inspirational archetypes from world culture to light the way. Through meditations and mantras, discover your personal hero’s journey that is a crucial part of evolving consciousness.Ten additional cards representing the sefirot or energy centers, offer the Tree of Life as an experiential introduction to Kabbalah. Coincidence and kabbalah, symbols and synchronicities, metaphors and mantras enrich and deepen life’s experience. This mythic and metaphoric interpretation liberates these cards solely from the realm of prognostication and presents a meditative and inspirational tool for a daily personal practice. Heather Mendel’s elegant, powerful images, full of mystery and complexity, will forever change the way you view the wisdom of the ancient Tarot.

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Informazioni sull?autore

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="624" style="border-collapse:collapse;"><tr style="height:15pt;"><td style="width:468pt;padding:0.75pt 0.75pt 0pt 0.75pt;border-top:none;border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none" valign="bottom" width="624" nowrap=""><span style="tab-stops:left 107.25pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Heather Mendel</span><span> is a mystic, artist, writer, speaker and teacher of spiritual wisdom. She is a columnist for The Women&#39;s Press: voices, views and visions of San Luis Obispo County. She lives in San Luis Obispo, California.</span></span><br></td></tr></table><span></span>

Estratto. © Ristampato con autorizzazione. Tutti i diritti riservati.

The Syzygy Oracle: Transformational Tarot and The Tree of Life

Ego, essence and the evolution of consciousness

By Heather Mendel

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

Copyright © 2012 Heather Mendel
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-78279-160-7

Contents

Acknowledgements...........................................................
xii
Introduction...............................................................
1
Prolog.....................................................................
22
The Twenty-Two Cards.......................................................
1 Initiating...............................................................
27
2 Focusing.................................................................
33
3 Allowing.................................................................
41
4 Nurturing................................................................
49
5 Structuring..............................................................
55
6 Attending................................................................
63
7 Acknowledging............................................................
71
8 Balancing................................................................
79
9 Discerning...............................................................
87
10 Questing................................................................
95
11 Revolving...............................................................
103
12 Harnessing..............................................................
111
13 Inverting...............................................................
119
14 Releasing...............................................................
127
15 Transmuting.............................................................
135
16 Constricting............................................................
143
17 Revealing...............................................................
151
18 Contemplating...........................................................
159
19 Reflecting..............................................................
167
20 Illuminating............................................................
175
21 Realizing...............................................................
183
22 Becoming................................................................
189
The Tree of Life and the Sefirot...........................................
195
Ten Portals of Becoming (The Additional Ten Cards).........................
1 Spark....................................................................
197
2 Wisdom...................................................................
199
3 Understanding............................................................
201
4 Compassion...............................................................
203
5 Strength.................................................................
205
6 Harmony..................................................................
207
7 Innovation...............................................................
209
8 Tradition................................................................
211
9 Imagery..................................................................
213
10 Physicality.............................................................
215
Appendix...................................................................
216
Glossary...................................................................
218
Bibliography...............................................................
221

CHAPTER 1

Initiating

Theme: I trust

Mantra: Breathe in trust, breathe out fear

Archetype: The Initiate

Mentor: Eve and the apple

Essential Oil: Lemon and Peppermint

Traditional Deck: 0, The Fool

Hebrew Letter/Number and Words relevant to thespiritual journey

The first Hebrew letter/number Alef is without sound. Itresembles two yuds, divided yet connected by a diagonal vav.One is a mirror image of the other, just as we, spiritual beings ona human journey, reflect the Divine. The spark of godliness thatresides within each living being connects us continually with ourWellspring and Source, as we manifest our innate essence in theworld. As the two yuds are connected through the dividingbridge, we too are forever connected to Divinity.

As the first letter and number of the alphabet, Alef represents theexcitement of new beginnings and invites bold courage, heroism,individuality, and self-determination. Alef celebrates curiosity. Itis the first step into the exploration, invention and leadershiprequired to move into the Mystery.

Alef is one. Silent, it is the breath without which life is notpossible. Its numerical significance is Oneness, the original statefrom which we each emerge and into which we all return. Fromthe darkness and silence of 'no-thingness' all is created withlight.

Hebrew words starting alef:

echad (one) emunah (faith) ahavah (love) or (light)

Card 1, Alef, Initiating: Image and Story

At the start of any journey we meet The Initiate. In the course ofa lifetime as our spiritual evolution and transformation occurs,The Initiate emerges many times. Her message is aboutreclaiming the inner 'Eve' described in the prolog—the curiosity,courage and trust that resides within every human being. Withlittle awareness of where she is going or what awaits her, with aninnocent naiveté and a sense of adventure, she begins anew andsteps into 'reality'—unaware that her belief system provides thefoundation of her experience during the earthly sojourn. Herevery thought, feeling, and action is based on her belief andintention, which then color her perception of her own reality.

The Initiate chooses to experience life in human form with thegoal of bringing Divinity to physicality, and as she does so, herexperiences and perceptions become part of the Akashic Recordof all that was, is and shall be. She agrees to move temporarilyout of the unity of Oneness, flowing through the veil ofillusionary separation and into the material world. It is here shewill bring her personal unconsciousness into full awareness, asher offering to Divinity.

As all things are birthed in the mysterious darkness of nothingness,she emerges before the dawn of a new day. Behind her,twenty-two beams of light, each of a different hue, represent thetwenty-two pathways on her journey. She resonates with theluminescence of the moon and will always be deeply affected byit. Emerging from Kairos before night gives way to day, beforethe mystery recedes into the bright light of the sun, she preparesto step into Chronos. She will learn to find balance between lightand dark as she walks the borderland of consciousness. Giftedwith freewill, she will discover how to balance individual choiceand communal responsibility. In all things, she will need to beable to both graciously give and to receive.

Naked and without artifice, she steps forward into the nightfrom the cave of her beginnings—the letter alef that decorates itsouter walls reflect the glow of the fiery center of the Earth. Shebrings her unique energy into being. In her right hand ofconsciousness, she holds a crystal ball that, at the start of herjourney, projects the image of the apple. As she progresses, it willreflect changing symbols for her intuitive awakening. In her lefthand, she carries the wand of transformation, crystal terminals atboth ends, connecting her with the world of spirit and the worldof materiality that she now bridges.

Her necklace has four beads, each bearing one of the Hebrewletters of the Holy Tetragrammaton—YHVH, the key to theUnNameable Essence in whose image we are created. Each beadrepresents the sanctity of one of Four Worlds ofIntuition/Intention, Thought, Feeling and Action. These fourrealms, here colored purple, blue, red and green interweaveconstantly, creating reality, represented by the intermeshed fourcircles of cycles on to which she steps.

Archetypal Mentor

Eve, as described in the prolog, is the first female archetype ofwestern culture. Reclaimed and revealed as heroic, she is thearchetype of The Initiate. Eve brings her gifts of naiveté,openness, hope, trust, curiosity, courage, faith, joy, adventureand anticipation. She knows that she is blessed in all things andthat her curiosity is what moves the human story forward, just asDivinity intends her to do when she is ready. She knows that sheis never alone—even after leaving the Garden to experience lifein the physical realm.

Dancing in her footsteps, following the clues of coincidenceand synchronicity, we are able to access the deeper significanceof all events. Her confidence and courage comes from knowingthat she is fortified with intuition, imagination and inspiration.She has access to many powerful archetypal figures that support,encourage and guide her on her journey.

Pathway

The pathway assigned to Initiating travels between Spark andWisdom. From this realm, we access intuition, intention, inspirationand imagination—all portals to the wisdom of the ages. Wehave at our disposal these powerful tools to assist our livingconsciously and creatively in every moment. As children, wewalk the path of wonder and awe, exuberant with the sheer joy ofbeing in a human body. As adults we can recapture those feelingsand memories that encourage new discoveries in every moment.Everything is alive and wondrous.

Summary

Step boldly into the Mystery. Don't believe everything you think.Know that all is possible. Trust that everything unfolds as itshould.

Questions

1 What do you believe to be true?

2 Do you believe curiosity is a blessing?

3 What is emerging for you now?

4 How do you strengthen your courage?

Meditation

Consider the translations of the following Hebrew words thatbegin with alef. What do these words mean to you?

One echad

Faith emunah

Love ahavah

Light or

Select one of the words to think about today. Journal yourthoughts and feelings. What symbols represents the word foryou?

Ralph Waldo Emerson teaches: "All I have seen teaches me totrust the Creator for all I have not seen."

When doing anything for the first time, or starting somethingagain that we have not done for some time, we are taught tosay:

Blessed are you, Sacred Wellspring of All Life, who hassupported us, protected us and brought us to this moment.Amen

The Shehechiyanu, adapted from The New Union Prayer Book

CHAPTER 2

Focusing

Theme: I believe

Mantra: Breathe in possibility, breathe out limitation

Archetype: The Magus

Mentor: The Fairy Godmother and the wand

Essential Oil: Rosemary

Traditional Deck: 1, The Magician

Hebrew Letter/Number and Words relevant to thespiritual journey

The second Hebrew letter/number Bet is pronounced as itappears. Its shape resembles a combination of three vavs,reminiscent of a box that opens on the left. As the first letter ofthe Torah, it is as a portal from which the sacred text emerges. Weread Hebrew from right to left, so this initial bet is a cornucopiafrom which all wisdom flows.

In Hebrew, bet means 'house,' grounded on the earth. It remindsus that as we ground ourselves in the physical realm of Chronosduring our earthly incarnation, the home of our Soul remains inKairos—in the once-upon-a-time, vertical dimension of theEternal Now. Just as the letter shape of bet is open, we need toremain open to the intuitive as we root ourselves firmly onMother Earth.

Bet suggests blessings abound and as we focus on those wepresently enjoy, we find ways to express our appreciation, soinviting abundance into our lives.

Bet, as the number 2, is a reminder of the duality-based reality ofthe physical world, essential for our ability to choose. In ourdecision-making process, as we mature spiritually, we learn totrust our gut feelings in making the best choices for the highestgood of all concerned.

Hebrew words starting with bet:

b'rachah (blessing) binah (wisdom) boreh (create) brit (covenant)

Card 2, Bet, Focusing: Image and Story

This is the card that reminds us we bridge two worlds, onerevealed, the other concealed. Duality offers alternatives, theprerequisite for being able to continually make the choicesrequired to exercise our freewill as we navigate our way throughphysicality. Our decisions reflect both our level of awareness andour beliefs. The Magus reminds us that we can accomplishwhatever we believe to be possible. In touch with her and herrealm of the intuitive, we constantly reinvest enchantment intothe seemingly mundane world.

The gift she offers is two-fold—firstly, an ability to focus andbecome aware of what we believe; secondly, the ability tomagically manifest miracles. We are capable of doing so muchmore than we believe we can. The Magus reminds us that whereattention goes, our energy flows. As we always focus onsomething, she invites us to become conscious of where ourattention is being placed. We learn that in order to creativelymanifest, we need to attend to the present moment and the taskat hand. She stands between Chronos and Kairos—the latter, thetimeless, symbolic realm of imagination, myth, and metaphorand the former, the linear, structured world of logic and rationalitywhere time is measured by clock and calendar. We needboth to live our lives fully. The Magus inspires us to constantlydraw the intuitive down into our everyday lives.

Above her, appear two triple-ringed, eighteen-pointedportals. In Hebrew, eighteen is the symbol for chai (life.) Here,two of these stars represent the dualities between which we walkas we create our own reality—light and darkness, life and death.The triple rings represent the three- dimensional reality of whichwe are presently aware. On her head, her double spiral crown atthe level of the third eye, reminds us that our possibilities areendless, limited only by our imagination.

The double-terminal wand that bridges the visible andinvisible is in her right hand of consciousness, drawing down theenergies of transformation. Co-creators with Divinity, with theaid of The Magus, we learn to transform the ordinary into theextraordinary.

Her left hand points to the Earth, the sacred space on whichwe dwell. In her magic cauldron that floats above the ground arethe four elements—fire, air (wind), water and earth (crystals)representing the Four Worlds of Intuition/Intention, Thought,Feeling and Action. By blending their energies in differentcombinations, magic is possible as we create our own reality. Thequiet majesty of her presence reminds us to be fully aware ineach moment, to focus in stillness on the miraculous thatsurrounds us.

Flowing within the waters of the cauldron, are the letters ofthe alphabet and the basic geometric shapes—the point, circle,line, triangle and rectangle—building blocks of the thoughts,images and words that shape our personal worldview. TheMagus reminds us that just as the stream of water flows from thecauldron, spiritual awareness flows around us, ready to nurtureour every creative imagining. She teaches that things are notalways as they appear, even in bright sunlight. In this card, thepatterned background almost disappears into a darkness that isnot empty. It is filled with possibility and potential awaiting ourcreative attention and play. The fabric of her robe, as well as thewalls of the cauldron are enhanced with the same designed gridof the letter bet that fills the darkness. Where does one thing endand another begin?

In the emotional realm too, things may not be as they seem.To our young and evolving egos it may not be obvious thatemotional pain is the signal that we may not be seeing things intheir fullness. We rush to judgment, forgetting that what webelieve to be real is merely a belief pattern. Clinging to a beliefcan cause pain. Allowing discomfort just to be, can be the sourceof its dissolution. Pain is the reminder to call on the transformativemagic of The Magus within. She invites us to focus on themagical tools we have at our disposal—the fire of intention tocreate anew; the waters of thought, spring of creative reasoning;the winds of emotion, which blow away the cobwebs of whatwas, introducing new possibilities from which to choose; and thefaceted crystals of the dimension of action—the elements of thephysical world that await our shaping. We learn to visualize, toexpect and to accept in gratitude. It all begins in the realms offire—the level of intuition/intention that is the basis of everythought, feeling and action we experience and which sets inmotion the results for which we are responsible.

Archetypal Mentor

The Fairy Godmother is an aspect of the Sacred Feminine weeasily recognize from our stories and fairytales. As we mature,she still dwells somewhere within us as a dependable source ofstrength and support, responding when we need her comfortingembrace. Seemingly like magic, she appears in many forms whenwe call. Perhaps a friend stops by, or we overhear a stranger'swords in the supermarket. Sometimes, we unintentionally open abook on a particular page or really take note of the words of asong we have heard without listening many times in the past. Sheappears in visions and dreams as well. When we feel confused orabandoned, she provides the recognition that each of us craves.She reminds us that anything is possible. To sense her, all weneed is become aware of her presence and take heed of what sheoffers. She soothes and encourages, suggesting alternative waysof viewing present circumstances. From her, we learn to attendto and honor our own gut feelings, hunches and dreams. Sheinvites us to take note of all synchronicities, serendipities andcoincidences. An angelic presence, she reminds us we can alwaystake shelter beneath the wings of the Shechinah—the immanentand feminine face of the Divine.

Pathway

The pathway of Focusing runs between Spark and Harmony,emanating from the point of light and order as it enters thechaotic darkness and moves directly to the heart of the Tree. Allthings are possible when we still the mind and turn inwards tohear the intuitive whispers flowing from the sefirah, Spark.Paying attention to the inner voice will lead us to harmony as weevolve in consciousness and pay heed to the intuitive. In earlychildhood, fairy tales and myths are magically alive for us as werevel in the truth we hear beyond the words. These stories fill uswith wonder and enchantment. Open to the spiritual realm, werecognize its animating force in nature and the animal, mineraland plant realms. As we become attuned to the physical world,we forget what we once knew and as adults need reminders, sothat we can focus our attention beyond the mundane.

Summary

Our beliefs circumscribe our reality. Nothing is quite as itappears on the surface. Energy flows where attention goes. Focuson what you are trying to accomplish.

Questions

1 What rituals bring you into the present moment?

2 How do your thoughts shape your belief?

3 What is your portal into enchantment?

4 How does intuition feature in your life?

Meditation

Consider the translations of the following Hebrew words thatbegin with bet. What do these words mean to you?

Blessing b'rachah

Wisdom binah

Create boreh

Covenant brit

Select one of the words to think about today. Journal yourthoughts and feelings. What symbols represents the word foryou?

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Syzygy Oracle: Transformational Tarot and The Tree of Life by Heather Mendel. Copyright © 2012 Heather Mendel. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: Dodona Books
• Data di pubblicazione: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1782791604
• ISBN 13: 9781782791607
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Lingua: Inglese
• Numero di pagine: 223
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile