Tarot Card Comparisons: The Thoth Tarot- Key 11-Lust & The Legends Tarot- Key 11- Strength

The Thoth Tarot- Key 11- Lust & The Legends Tarot-Key 11-Strength:

In many tradition Tarot Decks, key 11 is called STRENGTH, and the Legends Tarot is no different; However, in Aleister Crowley's estimation, the word Strength doesn't do this discription of intelligence justice; an opinion I share. This may at first confuse the reader.

The  LUST/Strength Card is Key,11 of the Thoth Tarot and Key 11, Strength, in The Legends Tarot. Yet many Tarot decks, such as the Golden Dawn or Rider-Waite-Smith, represent Key 11 as the Justice card. This can all be confusing to the new tarot reader.

Hence, I'll choose to place Key 11-Lust with Key 11, Strength Card, as does Robert Wang in his book, THE QABALISTIC TAROT.

Crowley knew of the "Divine Frenzy", the Vigorous Expression of Self, and the Universal need of "I Will Be".  He commented in the Equinox:"In Daath is said to be the Head of the Great Serpent Nechesh or Leviathon, called evil to conceal its Holiness." Interestingly, Crowley had the seven headed beast of the Apocalypse, of which he personally identified with, as his representation of Lust and/or Divine Vigor. Upon the Beasts back, rides the Scarlett Woman, as a representative of the Vestal Virgins. This seemingly counter-intuitive representation goes along with the argument that the Divine Creative, only creates good and/or what it wants. Therefore, what looks to be evil, is really good. In Qabalah this is known as the comment, "If it exists, it is supposed to".

The Lust Card-Key 11, is the Path of Teth, the 19th Path on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The Hebrew letter, Teth, means snake, which is often refereed to as Serpent Force. The zodiacal sign assigned to this card is Sun Powered  sign of Leo; Leo is symbolized as a Lion, while Teth, is a Snake, the combination of these two, is the Lion-Serpent, the idea of which fostered the Dragon images of the ancients.The interchangeability of the Lion and the Serpent symbols represents an important key in understanding the great embedded profundities of this card.

 

The Serpent is missing in the Legends Tarot-Key 11, where one would think the artist would have the female rider, astride a dragon. However, he has placed the normal Dragon Companion, on a dark-winged horse of the Apocalypse.

What is to be noted on the Legends Tarot Strength card, is that the woman, seems to easily control the Dark Horse, without a bridle. So by her own great internal strength is she controlling this powerful beast of death.Using the title Strength, this card traditionally signifies the eternal spirit and its abilities to overcome all obstacles. 

On the Tree of Life, The Supernal  Triangle is composed of Kether (Crown), Chokma (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding), and is composed of what Paul Foster Case stated in his BOOK OF TOKENS, as the "Radiant darkness of the Limitless light." The Supernal Triangle is above the Abyss, while the Path of Teth crosses just below it (the yellow path of Strength- between Chesed and Geburah). Thus, the Path of Teth, Lust, is the first Path of Microprosopus (Microcosm or Lesser Countenance) and the Primary Path of the Higher Self, linking great opposites below the Abyss.

As symbols interchange, such as the Lion and Serpent, one understands that the realities these symbols represent, can  also be interchanged.  In truth, the  1st law of Thermodynamics; "One Energy that can not be created nor destroyed, only transformed", is the One Spirit of Qabalah, and can take any form it wills and in great diversity; as the Universe has shown.  

Wisdom, is often represented by the snake holding its tail in its mouth (also an 8 symbol laying on its side and called the Lemniscate). Many of us of the western cultures, know that the Serpent was also considered the Tempter, in the garden of Eden myth. However, since it is Fiery, the Serpent is vital Life Force, and/or the Redeemer. But then the Sun itself is both Tempter, that uses the seductive warmth of the solar caress to tempt one to stay too long sunbathing and in the worst case senerio, of burning the tempted-sun bather to near death on the beach and yet still a Redeemer, by providing Vital Life Force.

Transformation can be confusing but it should be known that without the flow of vital life force between opposites, there would be no diversity. Nor would there be "Limited Light", or Solar power, that all manifestation is constructed of. Thus, we have the Greater Countenance, the Macrosopus (Macrocosm), of Limitless Light, that can only be known as Darkness or Dark Fire (Dark Energy), designing Two (Male- Female) Self concepts from O; The "I Will BE" of Kether, twisting it by "self contemplation" into 8, so that limits could be produced by the interchange of Forces and Form. The Dark Light is the invisible/unseen subjective infinity of the One,(Macrosopus) and the Limited light of manifestation is the Objective, and knowable finite side of the One (Microsopus). The whole of which is often called by Gnostics as "The Mirror"---one side infinitely dark; the Abyss, and the other side reflective of the image of all who look into it. That could also be called the Unconscious and the consciousness.

To put this simply, The Lust of the One, by becoming 2 (8) who are always joined in impassioned flow or mutual attraction, (electric and magnetic), is the stuff of Vital Life Force. I think you can now see why Vital Life force, is also called "sex energy".

The Lion symbol of the Seven Head Beast in the Thoth Tarot, in the context of the Qabalah, has to do with Lustful Strength and is not a representation of intellect, as it refers to the greatest strength of all, the light of the Sun/Son, the ruler of Leo, as the "Divine Frenzy" of Creation.  The Solar Power represented in the Lust or Strength Card, can open the Higher levels of Consciousness beyond the Sun/Son (Tiphareth) itself.

The graphic representation of the Ancient god Mithra, whose body was that of a man and whose head was that of a lion, depicts this concept anthropomorphically.

The Brute force (symbolized by the Lion) of Kundalini (Serpent Force--Vital Life Force) can be used destructively or constructively, and on the very Path of Teth, flows  the Vital Life force from Chesed (Mercy) to Geburah (Severity) which forges the Sword of Geburah, indicating the possibility of the initiate being overwhelmed by the power which one evokes. We are reminded ( Re-Minded) here, that as the Sun is a vital life force to manifestation, the Dark Sun, is vital to the flow of Higher Thought, but knowing your limits, will keep you from becoming Sun burned in the flesh, and the severity of a Mind Burn ( Emotional trauma) in the consciousness. Lust, in a Godly sense, can "burn out your lights"! So the initiate must become adept at Self Knowledge, so that they don't damage their "I sight" when joining intelligence with Higher Intellectual Forces.

 

Putting aside metaphor, too much Sun/Vital Force can be dangerous as it also powers emotion, so that is why the Tantrics, and Gnostics, go through long, diligent meditations, exercises of intellect, and philological devices so that this flow of Vital Life Force is unblocked, unrestricted, (not feared) and can flow through and out into another, forming a Vital Spiral of energy flow, that Re-Vitalizes Life all around them, as well as, in them. The rising up of the "Lion Serpent",  vitalizes the Seven main body Chakras (Seven heads of the Beast). So all of you who wish to experience the Rapture of Kundalini, note that the Rapture can become a Raptor to those whose "House is not built on a strong foundation"; and the foundation is of Love. Love is what holds your molecules together, even under the rapid increase in atomic vibration that your body under goes when the "Kundalini rises". In the Universe,The Lust of God, is the Orgasm caused by union of opposites, that never stops flowing as Love and/or Loving to Be.

 

 As I stated, I agree with Aleister Crowley's expansion of the STRENGTH card, into the LUST card because the Passion-The Vital Force of Universal Construction, "the motion within the movement" of everything, is the Passionate expression of the I into Am- as 2, who then Join to become One Passion that creates All, i.e.. the Active and Passive force of Kundalini, and/or  of Lion-Serpent. It can also be called "Serpent theory" instead of the Quantum Physics "String Theory", where every particle  has a serpentine string of active and passive energy with in it and becomes two particles (positive/active and negative/passive) as it enters this limited light universe.  In other words, there is within all, vibratory strings of  Vital Fiery Force.  Thus, Lust, where active and passive forces come together, seems a more appropriate understanding of the underlying "motion" of Life.

The Kundalini, or Fiery Lion Serpent is the Vital aspect of Life Force, which in manifestation, is duality of passivity and activity. Kundalini is known as the Sacred Fire, when in its active phase, purposely un-directed by individual Will.

The UNIVERSE key 21, is the completion of the LUST CARD, and you'll see the Woman figure riding the Lion Serpent on the Lust card, or petting the Lion in the traditional Strength card, or dancing with the Serpent Force in the Universe card. Both  illustrations are arcane veils, concealing of principles, though at different ends of manifestation. Hence, Crowley, identified the Invisibility of this Powerful Womb like force with the Invisible Sephiroth of Daath.

In Thoth Tarot, LUST is the beginning of  the Microcosm and THE UNIVERSE is the completion of it. Both of these cards are of "that which is Womb", at the Highest Level, the womb-mind/man who has tamed the Lion-Serpent and the womb-mind/man who dances in space surrounded by the Cherubim of the  four elements, are both expressions of that which is  the EMPRESS key 3 and/or Binah, the 3rd Sephiroth.

Again, this is a very powerful path and those of sensitive psyche, will be profoundly affected. One must appreciate the fact, that this Path of Teth, Lust/Strength, is a statement of methodology; whereby, the Will controls the Vital Life Energy with intent; Hence, emotions. We must also remember, that the word Power, means "the ability to do work" and our body, if Loved as a master Craftsman loves and adores one's favorite- tools, gives us Will -Power in this dimension of  crystallized energy. Here, in Malkuth our psyche has the power to weave our very own frequencies of Vital Life Force into masterpieces! This requires a focused willful intelligence, and not some mad hatter personality, that can't even control its own thought. 

Therefore, Skry this card only after you are capable of holding a one-thought or image focus during an entire meditation!  Any Psyche that Touches the Lust OF The Great Father/Mother, will be profoundly charged, changed, and expanded beyond comfortable perspectives, all of which can be dangerous to our delicate egos. In other words, one must be diligently trained in channeling higher and higher vibratory levels of Vital Life Force, with loving mind, before they "Ride the Lion-Serpent". That is also why A.Crowley calls the Traditional Strength card Lust. For even the "little lust" of the manifested (Microcosm) seems to be  beyond the cultural survival mind's or small-ego's control, as every politicians "secret life"  will show. It is hard to imagine, what the Macrocosmic Lust would do to such a psyche made weak by "fear of rejection"... but then again, we have examples in Adolf Hitler, Stalin, etc.

Lust/Strength represents a very important initiatory formula dealing with Serpent Power. This Spiraling Power of Spiritual Microwaves, is the Force that opens, or stimulates all the Chakras (energy centers) in the Human body. The Principles embedded in the Lust or Strength Card, tell us how to use this power.  This is a "Divine Frenzy" which when stated Alchemically,"the heat of the furnace  makes the Stone" or if religious,"inflame thyself with Prayer". The Heat applied, is the great passion or "adorable Fire" within the confines of  Tantric exercises, or the exercise of the Middle Pillar (Aleister Crowley's book,777), all of which I recommend the interested party research.

Crowley's imagery may shock some, as he presents the Whore of Babylon, taming the Lion-Serpent but then he understood that the epitome of virginity (sign of Virgo), was the Sacred Virgins of the Temples, before Christianity, made them "evil women" or Saints, of which both perspectives were confusingly applied. The Christian word 'Whore" is a bastardization of the Greek word, Hetacrate, meaning female companion. Something more for the diligent student to investigate!

If ill dignified: Obstinacy.

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