Prospero's Books

A vast freedom we have not known since Newton

From Stuart A. Kauffman's Reinventing the Sacred, which I've just finished and recommend highly:

If we reinvent the sacred to mean the wonder of the creativity in the universe, biosphere, human history, and culture, are we not inevitably invited to honor all of life and the planet that sustains it? As we unleash the vast extinction [that] accompanies our global ecological footprint, we are destroying the creativity in the biosphere that we should rightly honor . . . .

Can I logically "force" you to see the sacred in the creativity in nature and join in basing a global ethic on that sacredness? . . . No, I cannot logically force you. But I can invite you. The very creativity in the universe, the wholly liberating creativity in the universe we share and partially cocreate, can invite you, for that creativity is a vast freedom we have not known, since Newton, that we shared with the cosmos, the biosphere, and human life. Accepting that invitation, while recognizing the evil we do and that happens, may be wise for us all (275-76).

Meditations on the Tarot 5: The Pope

(This post is fifth in a series on the book Meditations on the Tarot. See the first for explanation.)

5. The Pope

• The number 5: The number 5 stands, according to Eliphas Levi, for "the domination of the mind over the (four) elements" (106). For the author of Meditations on the Tarot, the number also represents the five wounds of Christ, and the five senses "though which the objective world, withot regard to our will, imposes itself on us." The author continues, "But the senses are organs of perception, not of action. Imagine that the five organs of action--the limbs, including the head in its function as a limb--were to have analogous wounds, i.e. that the five currents of will of which they are an expression were to give access to an objective will which would be to personal desires what sense perceptions are to play of fantasy" (110).

• The Pope: The Pope is performing a blessing, a benediction: "the putting into action of divine power transcending the individual thought and will of the one who is blessed as well as the one who is pronouncing the blessing" (100).

• The two columns (and the two acolytes): "The Cabbala compares the role of prayer and benediction to the double movement, ascending and descending, similar to the circulation of the blood. The prayers of humanity rise toward God and, after having been divinely 'oxidised', are transformed into benedictions which descend below from above. . . . The two blue columns behind the Pope symbolise in the first place this twofold current." They also symbolize "the two columns of the Sephiroth Tree [of the Kabbalah], the pillar of Mercy and that of Severity, and similarly the two pillars of the Temple of Solomon, Jachin and Boaz" (100).Just as prayer and benediction are analogous to the circulation of the blood, they are also analogous to respiration, breathing out and breathing in. Respiration, says the author, can be "horizontal" (taking place between "outside" and "inside") or "vertical" (taking place between "above" and "below"). "The 'sting of death' . . . is the abrupt passage from horizontal to vertical respiration. Yet he who has learnt vertical respiration whilst living will be spared from this 'sting of death'" (100). "The law of horizontal respiration is: 'Love your neighbour as yourself'"; that of vertical respiration is "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind'" (101). 

• The Pope's triple cross: The three-level cross represents the "three levels of horizontal respiration . . . : love of Nature; love of one's neighbour; love of the beings of the spiritual hierarchies," and "the three stages of vertical respiration . . . : purification (by divine breath); illumination (by divine light); mystical union (in divine fire)" (101). Two other sets of three are also featured in this chapter. One set comprises the traditional monastic vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity (112-114). The other set comprises the journey "from the natural state ('limbo') and from the state of human suffering ('purgatory') to that of the blessedness of the divine state ('paradise')" (115-16).  [This journey parallels Dante's journey, as well as Joseph Campbell's monomyth, the journey of the hero. It is also the pattern of open systems, moving from a relatively organized status quo, through the threat of disorganization, to a new level of organization.]

Meditations on the Tarot 3: The Empress

(This post is third in a series on the book Meditations on the Tarot. See the first for explanation.)

3. The Empress

• The number 3: This number reminds us that the third stage in Hermetic Christian practice is sacred magic. (See the discussion of the High Priestess's tiara for all four stages.) Sacred magic is the sublimation of "lower" human nature--and conscious participation in the evolution of the Cosmos. "Instead of aspiring to power over the forces of Nature by means of the destruction of matter, Hermeticism aspires to conscious participation with the constructive forces of the world on the basis of an alliance and a cordial communion with them" (68). The number three also reminds us of the Trinity, of course, and of Jesus's statement "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John xiv, 6). "This formula is at the same time the summation of the first three Arcana of the Tarot, i.e. the arcanum of the true way of mystical spontaneity, the arcanum of revealed truth or gnosis, and the arcanum of transforming life or sacred magic" (66). The role of the sacred magician is to align his or her "human will" with "divine will" (56).

• The crown of the Empress: "The crown is the divine authorization of magic. It is only magic crowned from above which is not usurpatory. The crown is that which renders it legitimate" (54). "The crowned head indicates the power of the Divine over consciousness" (54).

• Her right (to us) arm, holding a sceptre: "The right arm . . . , which bears a sceptre topped by a cross mounted on a globe of gold, represents the power of consciousness over force" (54). The globe of the sceptre "is formed by two cups, one [symbolizing the Divine will] upside down, supporting the cross and turned downwards or 'below', the other [symbolizing the human will] turned upwards and supported by the staff, is open towards the 'above'" (59-60). The power of sacred magic "results from the influx from the cross which flows from the upper cup into the empty lower cup and from there descends through the staff in order to be concentrated at its extremity as . . . a drop. Or to express it in other words: the Holy Blood from above concentrates itself and becomes a 'drop' of human blood by the human word and action. Perhaps you will say: but this is the Holy Grail, it is the mystical Eucharist of which you speak! Yes, this is exactly to do with the Holy Grail . . . . For it is there, and only there, that the power of sacred magic resides" (60).

• Her left (to us) arm, holding a shield: "The left arm, which carries a shield bearig an eagle, signifies the power of energy over matter" (54). "The aim of sacred magic . . . is represented by the shield that the Empress holds in place of the book which the High Priestess holds. Sacred gnosis has as its aim the communicable expression (or 'book') of mystical revelation, whilst the aim of sacred magic is liberating action, i.e. the restoration of freedom to beings who have partially or totally lost it. . . . it is nothing other than to give the freeedom to see, to hear, to walk to live, to follow an ideal and to be truly oneself" (61).

• Her throne: "The throne on which the Empress is seated represents . . . the role of sacred magic in the world. . . . It is . . . the mineral, plant, animal and human realms of Nature--in a word, Nature in its entirety--which constitute the domain of sacred magic. The reason for the existence of sacred magic stems from the Fall and the whole domain of the Fall--comprising fallen Nature, fallen man and the fallen hierarchies" (62). "Browning was right in having said, 'Nature is supernatural'. For its supernatural origin still manifests itself in its vital elan. To want to live! Good Lord, what a profession of faith, what a manifestation of hope and what ardour of love!" (72) The throne is the phenomenon of the whole of sacred magic as it has manifested itself, as it is manifesting itself, and as it will manifest itself in the history of mankind. It is the historical body which reveals its soul and spirit. By 'body' I mean that which makes possible direct action in the world of facts. . . . This body is like a tree which has a certain number of branches which bear many leaves, but whose roots are in heaven. . . . Is this the Tree of the Sephiroth of the Cabala? . . . . Or, again, the Tree of Life?" (65) "The Tree of Life is the source of the miracles of generation, transformation, rejuvination, healing and liberation. Conscious participation with it, ad perpetranda miracula rei unis [to accomplish the miracles of the one thing] as the Emerald Table expresses it, is the 'great work' of sacred magic" (67).

• The "wings" of her throne: "The throne of the Empress has a back. It strongly resembles two wings . . . . Could not one see the back here in the form of two petrified and immobilised wings, but which had once been genuine wings and which are again potentially so?" (63)

Meditations on the Tarot 2: The High Priestess

(See my post on Arcanum 1 for explanation.)

2. The High Priestess

• The number 2: This number reminds us that the goal of Christian mysticism is not loss of the self but the "unity of two," the self and God, through love. This love is symbolized in Genesis by "the divine Breath and its Reflection" (33), the creative act of the Spirit moving across the reflective face of the water. [In reflecting on our direct experience of the Divine, we reenact the Creation.] The Christian mystics' "union with the Divine is not the absorption of their being by Divine Being, but rather the experience of the breath of Divine Love" (36).
• The Priestess as woman: The word sophia, wisdom, is feminine. "The intellect being the reflection--or light--of the fire principle of love, can only be the feminine principle, Sophia or Wisdom, who assists the Creator in the work of creation, according to the Old Testament. The gnostic tradition also considers Sophia as the feminine principle. Pure intellect is that which reflects; love is that which acts" (39).
• Her three-layered, bejeweled tiara and her book: The three-layered crown and book symbolize the four stages of Hermetic Christian practice: "It is by way of three stages that the crystallisation of the pure act descends through the three higher and invisible planes before arriving at the fourth stage--the book" (40). "The first [stage] is the pure reflection or a kind of imaginative repetition of the experience. The second stage is its entrance into memory. The third stage is its assimilation in thought and feeling, in a manner where it becomes a 'message' or inner word. The fourth stage, lastly, is reached when it becomes a communicable symbol or 'writing', or 'book'--i.e. when it is formulated" (41). Each of these stages has a corresponding "sense" and can be represented by a letter of the Tetragrammaton: the "mystical sense" (Yodh), the "gnostic sense" (He), the "magical" sense (Vav), and the "Hermetic-philosophical sense" (He). "Full consciousness of the sacred name YHVH can only be attained by the united experience of these four senses and the practice of four different methods. . . . He who dares to aspire to the experience of the unique essence of Being will develop the mystical sense. . . . If he wants not only to live but also to learn to understand what he lives through, he will develop the gnostic sense. And if he wants to put into practice what he has understood from mystical experience, he will develop the magical sense. If, lastly, he wants all that he has experienced, understood and practised to be not limited to himself and his time, but to become communicable to others and to be transmitted to future generations, he must develop the Hermetic-philosophical sense, and in practising it he will 'write his book'" (42).
• Her seated position: "To be seated signifies a relationship between the vertical and horizontal which corresponds to the task of the outward projection (horizontal, book) of the descending revelation (vertical, tiara). This position indicates the practical method of gnosis, just as the standing Magician indicates the practical method of mysticism. The Magician dares--for this reason he is standing. The High Priestess knows--this is why she is seated. The transformation from to dare to to know consists in the change of position from that of the Magician to that of the High Priestess" (40). [The Masonic ring I wear carries an early American Masonic motto: Vide, Aude, Tace--Know, Dare, Be Silent.]

Book of the Year

The second annual Prospero's Books Book of the Year is Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe Is Just Right for Life, by physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies.

A few sentences from the first pages of the book (especially when read alongside this blog's description, at the top left of each page) may suggest why it was chosen:

About 350 years ago, the greatest magician who ever lived finally stumbled on the key to the universe--a cosmic code that would open the floodgates of knowledge. This was Isaac Newton--mystic, theologian, and alchemist--and in spite of his mystical leanings, he did more than anyone to change the age of magic into the age of science . . . .

The word science is derived from the Latin scientia, simply meaning "knowledge." Originally it was just one of many arcane methods used to probe beyond the limitations of our senses in the hope of accessing an unseen reality. The particular brand of "magic" employed by the early scientists involved hitherto unfamiliar and specialized procedures, such as manipulating mathematical symbols on pieces of paper and coaxing matter to behave in strange ways. . . .

The ancients were right: beneath the surface complexity of nature lies a hidden subtext, written a subtle mathematical code. This cosmic code contains contains the secret rules on which the universe runs (4).

(The 2006 Book of the Year was The Museum of Lost Wonder.)

An organism with a life history of its own

A new addition to the Sacred Text library is the 1908 book The Grateful Dead, by Gordon Hall Gerould, from which Jerry Garcia may have taken the name for his band.

Deadheads (fans of the band) will doubtless agree with one of Gerould's conclusions:

The Grateful Dead is an organism with a life history of its own.

Rest in peace, Jerry.

The only eternal bridge

Patricia, at BookLust, quotes from The World To Come by Dara Horn:

"Remember the story you learned as a child: When the hour arrives for us to proceed to the next world, there will be two bridges to it, one made of iron and one made of paper," Peretz intoned. His words were heavy, but his voice floated on rings of smoke, a breath of fire and ash waiting to descend and consume them. Der Nister swallowed, breathing in the master's air. "The wicked will run to the iron bridge, but it will collapse under their weight. The righteous will cross the paper bridge, and it will support them all. Paper is the only eternal bridge. Your purpose as a writer is to achieve one task, and one task only: to build a paper bridge to the world to come."

(Thanks to Changing Places for the link.)

A daily reading fix

With all the books I read, I rarely discipline myself to dip into the same book every day, and to enjoy the continuity that can result.

So I was delighted today to learn about DailyLit, a free service that will send you the full text of a book in daily e-mail messages. Dante's Inferno, for example, arrives in 38 parts, while Darwin's On the Origin of Species takes 205 messages, a well-spent seven months.

Because I love science fiction (and haven't read any for a long time) and because I love Walt Disney World, I'm starting with Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, in 65 installments. I'm going to try to make it the first thing I read each morning for the next couple of months.

Many 19th-century novels, some of Dickens's for example, were first published in installments, and readers waited eagerly for each new piece. I'll see if it works for me.

(Thanks to 43 Folders for letting me know.)

God found I wasn't there

Religious fundamentalists are often guilty of lifting text out of its context--such as quoting the ban on homosexuality in Leviticus without noting that it's surrounded by many obsolete, and mostly unobserved, laws.

Atheist fundamentalists are often guilty of the same wrong. Two recently published collections of "atheist" quotations--and quite a few Web sites--reproduce the first four lines of Robert Frost's eight-line poem "Not All There":

I turned to speak to God
About the world's despair;
But to make bad matters worse
I found God wasn't there.

What's left out is the remaining four-line stanza:

God turned to speak to me
(Don't anybody laugh)
God found I wasn't there--
At least not over half.

The poem as a whole makes a complex statement, reflecting the complexity, nuance, and ambiguity of Frost's religious thought. Quoting only the first stanza is intellectually dishonest, doing great disservice to Frost--and, more importantly, to the reader. 

Come in! Wander around!

The Museum of Lost Wonder, Prospero's Books' 2006 Book of the Year, has a wonderful animated tour on its Web site.

I could live there.

Come in! Wander around! Push buttons!