The eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is ח (Heth or Cheth) who’s numeric significance is 8 and its kabalistic significance is also 8. There are many ways of representing this letter/sign, some of which were used in the ancient world, here are some examples:

The following information is from 3 books: Manual of Practical Magic, Esoteric Course of Kabalah, and The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah, all by Samael Aun Weor. Some of the information is repeated, but is presented here so that there is a single place to find all relevant material.

ARCANUM № 8

Arcanum № 8: signifies Hard Tests, it is Rectitude, Justice, Equilibrium.

One must seek the good, cost what it may, just as the Masters of Medicine when they treat an ill person who is dying, they intend to save them because that is the Law, they fulfill the Law by doing good.

Within Arcanum № 8 are to be found Initiatic Tests.

KABALISTIC SEPHIROTH: “HOD”.

HEBRAIC LETTER: “CHETH.”

TRANSCENDENTAL AXIOM: “BUILD AN ALTAR IN YOUR HEART, BUT DO NOT MAKE AN ALTAR OF YOUR HEART.”

-From Ch.94 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor

 

JUSTICE (CHETH)

1. When an inferior Law is transcended by a superior Law, a superior Law washes away the inferior Law.

2. The Lion of the Law is combated with the Scale.

3. Do good deeds so that you can pay your debts.

4. Our disciples should learn to travel in the Astral Body.

5. Our disciples should learn to go in the Astral Body to the offices of the Lords of Karma.

6. Our disciples should learn to manage their businesses (the businesses of Karma), personally.

7. There are forty-two Judges of Karma.

8. The Lords of Karma grant credit to whosoever asks for it, but all credit has to be paid by working in the great work of the FATHER.

9. When our disciples want to ask for help from the Lords of Karma they paint a Star of six points on the ground, they open their arms in the shape of a scale.

10. And they move their arms in the shape of a Scale, up and down, keeping the Mind concentrated on ANUBIS, who is the Chief of the Lords of Karma.

11. Then we can mentally ask the Lords of Karma for the desired service.

12. While moving the arms in the shape of a Scale, we vocalize the syllables: “NI, NE, NO, NU, NA.”

13. In this manner we ask for help from the Lords of Karma in moments of danger or need.

14. However I tell thee that it is better to travel in the Astral Body to the Offices of Karma to speak personally with the Judges of the Law.

-Paraphrase from Ch.8 of Manual of Practical Magic by Samael Aun Weor,
available in Magic, Alchemy, and the Great Work

 

The Eighth Arcanum: ARCANUM 8

Let us study, in this lecture, the Eighth Key of Basil Valentine from the illustration of Viridarium Chymicum. The Eight Key is a clear and perfect Alchemical allegory of the processes of death and resurrection that inevitably occur in the esoteric preparation of the Philosophical Stone.

The entire inner preparation of the stone and the metallic transmutation are represented in this allegory. The entire human material employed in this work dies, it becomes rotten, corrupted and becomes blackened within the Philosophical Egg, then it becomes marvelously white.

The entire summary of the Great Work is found within the Philosophical Egg. The masculine – feminine sexual principles are contained within the egg.

Thus, like the Fledgling that emerges from the Egg, or like the Universe of Brahma that emerges from the Golden Egg, the Master emerges the same way from the Philosophical Egg.

In the Eighth Key an illustration of the Viridarium Chymicum, death is represented by a corpse, putrefaction is represented by crows, the crop is represented by a humble farmer, the growth by an ear of wheat, and the resurrection by a deceased person who rises from the grave (or sepulcher) and by an angel that plays the trumpet of the Final Judgment.

We, the Gnostics know that the corpse, death, in the Eighth Key of Basil Valentine represents the Two Witnesses of Revelations [11:3-6] that are now dead.

Through the Alchemical putrefaction, represented by the crows, through the works of Alchemy, the Two Witnesses resurrect. Our Motto is THELEMA. The entire power is found enveloped within the seed, who’s symbol is the ear of wheat.

The sacred angel that we carry within, plays his trumpet and the Two Witnesses rise from the grave. Two archers, one who hits the bull’s eye and the other who misses, symbolize the two ALCHEMICAL interpretations that can occur, the correct and the erroneous. The White Sexual Magic and the Black Sexual Magic. The Alchemy of Gold and Erotic Satanism.

In the Alchemy of Gold the ejaculation of the Ens Seminis does not exist. In Erotic Satanism the ejaculation of the Ens Seminis does exist.

In India, the Black Yogis (Asura Samphata) ejaculate the Ens Seminis (Shuhsra) in order to criminally mix it with the feminine “Raja” within the vagina. Then, by handling the Vajroli in a negative way, they reabsorb this fluid already mixed with the feminine Raja.

The Black Yogis (Bons and Dugpas) believe that they are wisely achieving the union of the solar and lunar atoms in order to awaken the Kundalini. The result of such Black Tantrism is the negative awakening of the Serpent.

Therefore instead of ascending, the Serpent descends downwards into the atomic infernos of man and becomes the Tail of Satan. This is how these Black Yogis end up separating themselves from their Internal God forever. They are Demons. So, that is Black Magic. Through this method the two witnesses of the Apocalypse never resurrect because this way leads into the Abyss and the Second Death. Therefore, whosoever ejaculates their seminal liquor [orgasm] withdraws themselves from their Inner God.

The Yogis who practice the Urdhavareta Yoga (Positive Sexual Magic) do not ejaculate their Ens Seminis. In this case, the combination of Shuhsa (solar atoms) and Raja (lunar atoms) is performed within the Philosophical Egg, in other words, within our own Sexual Laboratory of the alchemist. Thus, this is how the Two Witnesses resurrect.

“These are the Two Olive Trees, and the Two Candlesticks standing before the God of the Earth.
And if any man will hurt them, fire comes out of their mouths, and devours their enemies.
And if any man would want to hurt them, it is necessary that he must be thus killed.

These have power to close heaven (to those who practice sexual magic with seminal ejaculation), that it does not rain in the days of their Prophecy: and they have power over (the human) Waters to convert them into blood, and to smite the (philosophical) earth (the human organism of fornicators) with all kinds of plagues, as often as they will (according with the Law).” -Revelation 11: 4-6.

DISPOSITION OF THE TWO WITNESSES

The two witnesses are a Semi-Etheric, Semi-Physical pair of sympathetic cords that are entwined along the spinal medulla, forming the Holy Eight, the sign of the Infinite. In the male, the two witnesses depart from the right and left testicles and in the female they depart from the ovaries. These two witnesses are located to the right and left sides of the dorsal spine.

The two witnesses alternatively ascend from left to right until forming a marvelous knot in that space located between the two eyebrows, thereafter they continue through the nasal cavities. The two witnesses connect the sexual organs with the nasal cavities.

The ganglionic cord that comes from the left side is cold, lunar and the ganglionic cord that proceeds from the right side is hot, solar. These two nervous cords are graciously knotted in the coccyx. When the solar and lunar atoms of the seminal system make contact in the Triveni (next to the coccyx), then the Kundalini awakens.

Sexual union among initiates has only one objective: to establish a contact between opposite poles in order to awaken the Kundalini.

With the sexual contact, the mercury of secret philosophy multiplies (the seminal liquor increases). When the Ens Seminis is not ejaculated it is transmuted into seminal vapors. These vapors, at the same time, convert themselves into energies and are bipolarized into positive and negative. The positive are solar forces. The negative are lunar forces.

These solar and lunar energies rise through the pair of sympathetic cords that are known as the two witnesses (Idá and Pingalá). The medullar channel has an internal orifice that normally is found closed in common people. However the seminal vapors open up this orifice so that the Sacred Serpent can enter there within that medullar channel.

It is necessary to warn the Gnostic-Rosicrucian Brethren that they must learn how to polarize the sacred fire of the Kundalini. Some devotees eat meat everyday and drink alcohol, with the pretext of working in the Great Work, and then they bestially enjoy carnal passion (even when they do not waste the Ens Seminis, then they pleasurably enjoy lust). Therefore, the result of this is that these devotees totally polarize the fire within the chakras of their lower abdomen and then lose the happiness of enjoying the bliss of the Lotus of a Thousand Petals.

Such a Lotus flower is found situated in the pineal gland, which is the crown of saints that shines over the head of the great initiates. The Lotus of a Thousand Petals converts us into Masters of Samadhi (ecstasy).

The Work in the Laboratorium-Oratorium is a true mystical ceremony that must not be profaned by animal desire or by sinful thoughts. Sex is the Sanctum Santorum of the Temple. Before entering the Sanctum of the Sanctum, purify your mind from any kind of impure thought.

ESOTERIC ORDEALS

The Initiatic ordeals are enveloped in Arcanum Eight. Each initiation, each degree, has its ordeals. These Initiatic ordeals become tougher each time, in accordance with the Initiatic degree.

The number Eight is the degree of Job. This sign, this number, signifies trials and pains. These Initiatic ordeals are performed in the superior worlds and in the physical world.

EIGHTH CARD OF THE TAROT

In Arcanum Eight of the Tarot, a woman with a sword in her hand appears, she is facing the Scale of Cosmic Justice. Really, only she can deliver the sword to the Magician. Thus, an Initiate without a woman cannot receive the sword (and vice versa).

There exists the Eve-Venus, the instinctive woman. The Venus-Eve, the noble woman of the home. There also exist Venus-Urania, the woman initiated into the great mysteries and finally, we affirm the existence of the Urania-Venus, the female Adept, the woman that is self-realized in depth.

THE FLAMING FIRE

The flaming fire opens the Seven Churches of Revelations (Seven magnetic centers of the spinal medulla).

We conquer the powers of the earth with the first center (situated at the level of the sexual organs).

With the Second center (situated at the level of the prostate/uterus) we conquer the waters.

With the third center (situated at the level of the navel) we conquer the universal fire.

With the fourth center (situated at the level of the heart) we conquer the air. The heart is the Sanctuary of Sephirah, the Mother of the Sephiroth, the Cosmic Divine Mother.

With the fifth center (situated at the level of the larynx) we receive the sacred ear and dominate the Akasa with which we can preserve the physical body alive (even during the great cosmic nights).

With the Sixth center, situated between the two eyebrows, we conquer the magnetic center of the Father. Then we become clairvoyant.

With the Seventh center situated in the pineal gland we receive Polyvoyance, the intuitive sight, Ecstasy.

THE EQUILIBRIUM OF THE SCALES

The woman of Arcanum Eight of the Tarot has the scales in one hand, and the sword in the other. It is necessary to equilibrate the forces, it is necessary and urgent to absolutely sanctify ourselves and to practice the Arcanum A.Z.F., the forces of a man and a woman equilibrate themselves in love and in wisdom. The double cross of the Pentacles of Pythagoras and of Ezekiel, represent Arcanum Eight.

Venus equilibrates the works of Mars; Mercury equilibrates and realizes the works of the Sun and of the Moon, above and below. In the Macrocosmos and in the Microcosmos Man. The works of the Sun and of the Moon, the man and the woman are equilibrated by the Mercury of the Secret Philosophy (the Ens Seminis).

A Yogi (or a Yogini) cannot self-realize themselves without the Arcanum A.Z.F., therefore those who want to exclude the Arcanum A.Z.F. from their whole Yoga are violating the Law of the Eighth Arcanum. They are failures.

Old Saturn balances Thundering Jupiter, the Father of all Gods. This is the law of equilibrium.

-From Ch.8 of Esoteric Course of Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor

 

Description of the Card of the 8th Arcanum: “JUSTICE”

In the Waters of Life of this Arcanum the Serpent is shown biting its own tail, forming the sign of the Cosmic Mother, the Infinite (0), (zero).

One finds a woman kneeling upon a tumulus with 3 steps which represents the Arcanum A.Z.F. (Water plus Fire equals Consciousness).

In her left hand the woman holds the Sword of Power pointing upwards, and with her other hand balances the scales, indicating that a balance must exist between the MIND, HEART AND SEX.

Ra appears in the upper part of the card, (this is the other symbol for Ra apart from the wings).

-From Ch.8 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor

 

ESOTERIC SIGNIFICANCE of Arcanum 8

Arcanum № 8 is JUDGEMENT, the № 8 is the number of JOB; ORDEALS AND SUFFERING , the esoteric correspondence of this is represented by a sword. The number 8 is the NUMBER OF THE INFINITE.

The vital forces of the Fire of Phlegethon and the Water of Acheron circulate, intertwining in the Ninth Sphere in the heart of the Earth in the form of an eight.

The sign of the Infinite is also formed within the spinal column.

The sign of the Infinite means to work in the Ninth Sphere, and this indicates Sex.

Arcanum № 8 of the Tarot is a woman with a sword in her hand before the Scales of Cosmic Justice.

Really only she can present THE SWORD TO THE MAGICIAN; WITHOUT THE WOMAN THERE IS NO INITIATION AND HE DOES NOT RECEIVE THE SWORD (AND VICE VERSA).

There is Eve-Venus the instinctive woman, and there is Venus-Eve the woman of the home. There is Venus-Urania, the woman initiated in the Great Mysteries. And finally we affirm the existence of Urania-Venus, the Woman Adept, the woman who is the fully realized woman.

[In the same way, we can say: there is the Adam-Mars, the instinctive man; and there is the Mars-Adam, the man of the home (the householder). There is the Mars-Uranus, the man initiated into the Great Mysteries and, finally, there exists the Uranus-Mars, the Male Adept, the fully realized man.]

The woman of Arcanum № 8 of the Tarot has the Scales in one hand and the Sword in the other.

It is necessary to balance the forces, it is urgent and necessary to absolutely sanctify ourselves and practice the Arcanum A.Z.F; the forces of man and woman are balanced in Love and in Wisdom.

The miraculous ascent of the Seminal Energy to the brain is made possible due to a certain pair of nerve filaments which, in the form of an Eight, extend to the left and right of the Dorsal Spine.

In Chinese Philosophy this pair of filaments is known by the classic names of “Yin” and “Yang”, being the Path of “Tao” the Middle Way, the Medullar Canal, the Secret Way by which the SERPENT ascends.

Obviously the first of these two channels is of a Lunar nature, whilst the second is ostensibly of a Solar type.

When the Lunar and Solar atoms make contact with the triveni near the coccyx, this awakens the IGNEOUS SERPENT OF OUR MAGICAL POWERS.

The Serpent which forms the figure of a circle, in that GNOSTIC trance of DEVOURING ITS OWN TAIL, is an extraordinary synthesis of that marvelous message of Lord Quetzalcoatl, or in the vertical position, which illustrates the Maya or Nahuatl idea of the Divine Viper devouring the Soul and Spirit of Man; or finally the Sexual Flames consuming the Animal Ego, annihilating it, reducing it to ashes.

The Serpent is unquestionably the esoteric symbol of Wisdom and Occult Knowledge.

The Serpent has been related with the God of Wisdom since ancient times.

The Serpent is the sacred symbol of Thoth, and of all the other Holy Gods such as Hermes, Serapis, Jesus, Quetzalcoatl, Buddha, Tlaloc, Dante, Zoroaster, Bochica etc., etc., etc.

Any Adept of the UNIVERSAL WHITE FRATERNITY may correctly be represented by the “Great Serpent”; that which occupies such a prominent position amongst the symbols of the Gods which appear upon the black stones of the buildings of Babylon.

Aesculapius, Pluto, Esmun, Kneph, are all, according to Dupuis , Deities with the attributes of the Serpent. ALL ARE HEALERS, GIVERS OF SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH AND OF ILLUMINATION.

The Brahmins obtained their cosmogony, science and cultural arts from the famous “Naga-Maya” who were later called “Danavas”; the “Naga” and the Brahmin used the sacred symbol of the Feathered Serpent, an indisputably Mexican and Mayan emblem.

The UPANISHADS contain a treatise on the Science of Serpents, or, that which is the same, the Science of Occult Knowledge.

The “Nagas” (Serpents) of Esoteric Buddhism are Real Men, perfect, Self-Realized, by virtue of their occult knowledge and protection of the Law of Buddha by means of which they correctly interpret his metaphysical doctrine.

The Great Kabir Jesus of Nazareth would never have advised his disciples that they should “BE WISE LIKE THE SERPENT” if it had been a symbol of Evil.

We would do well to remember the Ophites, the Gnostic Egyptian sages of the “FRATERNITY OF THE SERPENT”, in their ceremonies they would never have made a live snake an object of adoration, being the emblem of Wisdom, the Divine Sophia, if that reptile had been associated with the powers of Evil.

THE SERPENT OR SAVING LOGOS INSPIRES MAN BY RECOGNIZING HIS IDENTITY WITH THE LOGOS AND THUS RETURNING HIM TO HIS PROPER ESSENCE, WHICH IS HIS LOGOS.

The Sacred Serpent or Savior Logos sleeps coiled within the depths of the ARK, mystically lying in wait; awaiting the instant of being awakened.

KUNDALINI, the Igneous Serpent of our Magical Powers, coiled within the Magnetic Center of the coccyx (the base of the spinal column) shines like a flash of lightning.

Those who study Nahatl or Hindu Esoteric Physiology stress the transcendental concept of a marvelous Magnetic center located at the base of the vertebral column halfway between the anal orifice and the sexual organs.

In the center of the “MULHADARA CHAKRA” there is a yellow square which is invisible to the physical eyes but perceptible by means of Clairvoyance or the Sixth Sense; according to the Hindu, this square represents the Earth Element.

It has been said that within that yellow square there is a “Yoni” or “Uterus”, and that within the middle of this one finds a “Lingam” or erotic “Phallus” around which is found coiled the Serpent; the mysterious Psychic Energy called Kundalini.

The esoteric structure of this Magnetic Center, together with its unusual location between the SEXUAL ORGANS and the anus, provide a solid irrefutable basis for the Tantric Schools of India and Tibet.

IT IS UNQUESTIONABLE THAT ONLY BY MEANS OF THE SAHAJA MAITHUNA OR SEXUAL MAGIC THAT THE SERPENT CAN BE AWAKENED.

The Crown formed of an Asp, the Thermuthis, belongs to Isis, our individual and PARTICULAR DIVINE MOTHER KUNDALINI, because each one of us has our own.

The Serpent as Feminine Deity within us is the wife of the Holy Spirit; our Virgin Mother weeping at the foot of the Sexual Cross, her heart pierced by 7 Daggers.

The Serpent of the Great Mysteries is indubitably the feminine aspect of the Logos, God the Mother, the wife of Shiva, she is Isis, Adonia, Tonantzin, Rhea, Mary, or better said, Ram-Io, Cibeles, Opis, Dero, Flora, Paula, IO, Akka, the Great Mother in sanskrit, the Goddess of the Lha, Lares or Spirits from here below, the anguished Mother of HUITZILOPOCHTLI, Aka or the Turkish White Goddess, the Chalcidean Minerva of the Initiatic Mysteries, the Akabolzub of the Lunar Temple of Chichen-Itza (Yucatan) etc, etc.

-From Ch.8 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor

 

INITIATIC SIGNIFICANCE of Arcanum 8

In Arcanum 8 we find the EIGHTH KEY OF BASIL VALENTINE. He was, no doubt, a great Gnostic. The Gospel of Valentine is admirable; the Eighth Key refers to the processes of Life and of Death in the Philosophical Stone carved with the hammer of Intelligence and the chisel of Willpower.

The Eighth Key is a clear and perfect Alchemical allegory of the processes of the Death and Resurrection which inevitably follow in the esoteric preparation of the Philosophical Stone which is between the columns Jakin and Boaz.

The brute stone must be polished in order to transform it into a cubic stone. The STONE IS PETER, and refers to the blessed Waters of Amrita. In the perfect edges and angles of the Stone we see the man who works with Amrita. The Brute Stone and the chiseled stone are situated at the entrance of the Temple beyond the columns.

The CHISELED STONE is to the right, its particularity is that it has “Nine Angles” forming “FOUR CROSSES”. Those who raise the Temple upon the sands fail, it must be raised upon the Living Rock, upon the Stone.

All human matter employed in this work dies, putrefies, rots and goes black in the Philosophical Egg; then it whitens marvelously.

That is to say, within us the Black dies; then the White appears, which makes Masters of us. Let us remember for a moment the work in the Ninth Sphere, the dissolution of the “I”.

Let us remember the work in the Purgatorial Region, the Initiates appear there like putrefying cadavers because all of those larvae that we have within us, rise to the surface giving the Bodies of the Initiate the appearance of a decomposing cadaver.

In the Eighth Key, being an illustration of the Viridarium Chymicum, Death is represented by a cadaver, Putrefaction by some horns, the Sowing by a humble peasant, growth by an ear of wheat, the Resurrection is represented by a corpse who rises from the sepulcher and by an Angel who sounds the trumpet of the Final Judgment.

All of this represents that we must die in ourselves; the “Ego”, the “Myself” must become White, Pure, Clean, Perfect.

The stage of Putrefaction is when one is within the Purgatorial Region, represented by the horns, a cadaver in a state of putrefaction appears there, with repulsive, animalesque forms, reptiles, spiders, filthy worms, horrible larvae.

WITH THE AID OF THE DIVINE MOTHER, KUNDALINI, THOSE ANIMALISTIC FORMS ARE REDUCED TO COSMIC DUST.

After the Seeds of the Ego have been incinerated, with the Purification of the rotting mass in Purgatory, the Initiate bathes in the rivers Lethe and Eunoe, his Bodies shining marvelously.

[Note: In Dante’s Divine Comedy, upon reaching the Garden of Eden at the top of Mount Purgatory, the penitents are first washed in the waters of the river Lethe in order to forget the memories of their mortal sins. They then pass through Eunoe to strengthen the memories of their good deeds in life. See the section below called “The Rivers of Lethe and Eunoe” for more information on this topic.]

He must be later confirmed in the Sex-Light and then comes the Initiatic Resurrection, represented by the Angel who plays the trumpet. Jesus, after his Resurrection, taught his disciples for many years. The interesting thing is that all of that putrefaction is realized in the Philosophical Egg (Sex).

One comes to be confirmed by the Light in the Eighth Key of Basil Valentine. After attaining the SECOND BIRTH, Sex is prohibited, and the Master is told:

“You may not return to work in the Ninth Sphere because you would then resuscitate the “I” and you have been freed of it, your esoteric ordeals have terminated and Sex remains prohibited to you for all of Eternity.”

Sex is the lowest part of Initiation, and if we wish to achieve Illumination, Self-Realization, we have to draw back the Veil of Isis, which is the Adamic Sexual Veil.

In the Philosophical Egg (Sex), which represents the germ of all life, is found all of the work of the Great Work. The Masculine-Feminine Sexual principles are contained within the Egg. Just as the fledgling (the hatchling, newborn bird or beginner) emerges from the egg; just as the Universe emerges from the Golden Egg of Brahma; so too does the Master emerge from the Philosophical Egg.

DUE TO THIS IT IS SAID THAT THEY ARE SONS OF THE STONES AND THEY RENDER CULT TO THE STONES.

We Gnostics know that the cadaver, the Death of the Eighth Key represents the Two Witnesses of Revelations (11:3-6) which are now dead.

Through the Alchemical Putrefaction, represented by the two horns, through the works of Alchemy, the TWO WITNESSES are resurrected. All power is found enclosed within the Ear of Wheat. The Sacred Angel, which we carry within, sounds his trumpet and the Two Witnesses arise from the sepulcher.

The Two Witnesses are a pair of sympathetic channels, semi-etheric, semi-physical, which are entwined about the Spinal Column forming the Caduceus of Mercury, the Holy Eight, the sign of the Infinite and they are known in the East as Ida and Pingala.

Eight is the Number of Job, man of Holy Patience. That number represents the life and sacrifice of Job which is the path which leads the Initiate towards the Second Birth. The ordeals are very hard, we need the Patience of Saint Job; without it, it is impossible for one to do this Work.

A grave illness came to Job (Job 2:9) (the flesh of Lazarus was rotting; Luke 16:19-31), the friends of Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (the Three Traitors of the Internal Christ) said to him: “If you are a friend of God’s then why don’t you complain?”; he said: “the Lord giveth [and] the Lord taketh away” (Job 1:21). The Number of Job is Patience and Meekness ; here lies the path of “Putrefaction”.

The original Bible, which includes the works of the Aeneid, the Odyssey and Maccabees, bears witness to this, examples of the abovementioned Bible are to be found in the Museum in London, in the Vatican, and the Museum of Washington. The modern Bible is a cadaver. The Bible is an Arcanum; in Psalms, Chapter 19 it deals with the Tarot .

Initiatic Ordeals are contained within Arcanum № 8. Each Initiation, each degree, has its ordeals. The Initiatic Ordeals become more and more demanding in accordance with the Initiatic Degree. The Number Eight is the Degree of Job; this sign, this number, signifies Ordeals and Suffering.

Initiatic Ordeals are fulfilled in the Superior Worlds and in the Physical World. The ordeals of Initiation are truly terrible. Great Patience is necessary so as not to fall into the Abyss. We are tested many times.

-From Ch.30 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor

 

SYNTHESIS of Arcanum 8:

When our disciples wish to beg help from the Lords of Karma, paint the Star of Six Points upon the ground, open the arms in the form of a scale and move them upwards and downwards having the mind concentrated on Anubis. We can then beg the Lords of Karma for the desired favor.

Whilst moving the arms in the form of a scale, vocalize the syllables: NI, NE, NO, NU, NA.

[Note: See the “Not ” Rune given in Ch.40 of Esoteric Course of Runic Magic (Christmas Message 1968-69) by Samael Aun Weor] or our class on the “Not ” Rune in Gnostic Runology

This is the way we may beg assistance of the Lords of Karma in moments of necessity or danger.

All credit must be paid for.

-From Ch.30 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor

 

EXCERPT: The Rivers of Lethe and Eunoe

The Purgatorial Region is very painful and I wanted to leave from there, I was longing for my emancipation. CATON, the Angel of Purgatory, fights in those molecular regions for the souls freedom. This Angel greatly suffered when he lived in this world. Any Initiate knows that when in Utica, Africa, this Being was a man who preferred death, instead of living under the chains of slavery.

I also wanted liberty, therefore I asked for it, and it was granted unto me. Each time that a soul abandons the Purgatorial Region, an intense joy originates within the heart of CATON. So, the longed for moment arrived… Since I had known the temporal and eternal fire and had departed from abrupt ways and from narrowness, I had to encounter the Sun inside of my own soul.

Thus, I felt that from the unknown, something mysterious was forcing, straining the intimate atomic doors of my interior universe.

My fears were useless, vain was the resistance, ‘It’ was compelling me, constraining me, pressing me, and finally, (oh God of mine!) I felt myself transformed. The Cosmic Christ had entered within me. But, my individuality? Where had it gone? What had happened to my vain human personality? Where was it?

Only remembrances of the Holy Land were coming into my memory: The humble birth in the stable of the world, the baptism in the River Jordan, the fast in the wilderness, the Transfiguration, Jerusalem – the beloved city of the Prophets, the human multitudes of those times, the Doctors of the Law, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, etc.

I was floating in the surrounding environment of the temple. I courageously advanced towards a table before which the Modern Caiaphases, the most high Dignitaries of the failing Church, were seated. They were revested with their sacerdotal habits and the cross was hanging from their necks. They were projecting, planning, tracing insidious and perfidious plans against me in secrecy. “You thought that I would not return, but I am here again.” This was the only thing that occurred to me to utter.

Moments later, the LORD had gone out of me, and I again felt myself an individual. Then, together with Litelantes, I rested for brief moments at the foot of my cross.

I cannot deny that lamentably the thorns of the heavy crosspiece were hurting me, and I had a brief discussion with Litelantes about it. Afterwards, she and I advanced towards the platform of the temple. A Master took the floor in order to say that CHRIST has no individuality and that HE incarnates and manifests HIMSELF inside any MAN who is properly prepared.

It is clear that the word MAN is extremely demanding. Diogenes did not find a single MAN in Athens. The Intellectual Animal is not a MAN (human being). In order to become one, one needs to be dressed with the Wedding Garment of the soul, the famous TO SOMA HELIAKON, the body, or better if we say, the bodies of the SOLAR MAN. Fortunately, I built those bodies of gold in the Forge of the Cyclops, in the Flaming Forge of Vulcan.

Hercules had repeated all of his tasks, all of his labors, inside of me. He had to strangle all of the poisoned serpents which wanted to take his life when he was still. a child. He had to decapitate the Hydra of Lerna, to clean the stable of Augeias, to kill the lion of Nemea, to take out Cerberus the infernal dog from within the frightful Tartarous, etc.

Hercules, the Christ practices what he teaches, and each time when he incarnates inside of a MAN, he repeats the whole of his Cosmic Drama. This is why the Lord is the Master of Masters.

It is written that the Son of Man has to descend into the atomic infernos of Nature. It is written that the Son of Man has to ascend to heaven, after passing through the purgatorial region.

The Son of Man has to carefully submerge himself within the waters of Lethe in order to reconquer innocence.

With great urgency we need to forget the sinful and absurd past, which is the origin of much bitterness.

The Lethe and Eunoe are certainly, and without the least bit of doubt, a single river of clear and profound waters.

On one side, its waters delectably descend singing upon its rocky bed, carrying the marvelous virtue which erases the memory of sin, the remembrances of ‘Myself’. Its name is Lethe.

The other so holy and sublime shore, has the delectable enchantment of fortifying virtues, and its name is Eunoe.

It is obvious that the tenebrous remembrances of too many yesterdays must be erased, because, to our own disgrace, they have the tendency of actualizing, projecting themselves into the future through the alley of the present.

In the name of Truth, I have to say that the profound work within the waters of Lethe is frightfully difficult and more bitter than bile.

The matter of passing beyond the body, affections and the mind is not easy. Too many beloved shadows live within time…. The memories of desire persist, they refuse to die, they do not want to disappear.

But, what about sex? The Maithuna? Sex Yoga? Then what, oh God of mine?! The Twice Born already know very well that they cannot return into the Flaming Forge of Vulcan.

It is obvious that the Maithuna is vital, cardinal and definitive in order to build the Wedding Garment of the soul, the To Soma Heliakon. However, any Initiate knows that this is only the inferior work of the Initiation.

Sex is forbidden for the Son of Man, this is known by the Gods, and as thus it is written.

First, we must work with the Third Logos in the Ninth Sphere, until reaching the Second Birth (which the great Kabir Jesus spoke of to the Rabbi Nicodemus). Afterwards, we need to work with the Second Logos, and then sex is prohibited.

The error of many pseudo-esoterists and pseudo-occultists, monks and anchorites consists of renouncing sex without having previously built the Solar Bodies in the Forge of the Cyclops.

These sincere mistaken ones want to work with the Second Logos, without previously having worked with the Third Logos. Behold, here is their mistake.

The definitive and radical sexual abstention is only commendatory for the Twice Born, for the Son of Man.

Whosoever is admitted into the temple of the Twice Born must dissolve the ego, must incinerate the seeds of the ‘I’ and must bathe in the waters of Lethe. This is known by the Gods, the Sparks, the Flames, the resplendent Dragons of Wisdom.

Truly, no one could pass beyond the sex, the affections and the mind, without previously having bathed within the waters of Lethe.

After the Second Birth, we need to tear the sexual Adamic Veil (or Veil of Isis) into pieces in order to penetrate into the Great Mysteries.

Children of the Earth’ Listen to your instructors, who are the Children of the Fire. Adepts of the Light! You must invoke your Divine Mother Kundalini and then submerge yourselves into the profound waters of Lethe.

-Paraphrase from Ch.38 of Esoteric Course of Runic Magic
(Christmas Message 1968-69) by Samael Aun Weor

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Book of the Patriarch Job

Since Arcanum 8 is called the “Number” or “Degree” of Job, we have included this explanation of the Book of Job:

“The Book of Job is a complete representation of the ancient Initiation and of the people that preceded this Great Ceremony.

The Neophyte, in this book he sees himself dispossessed of everything, even of his children, and affected by an impure illness.

His wife distresses him, mocking the confidence he puts in a God that treats him in such a way, and his three friends ELIPHAZ, BILDAD, ZOPHAR, torment him judging him to be impious, surely meriting such a punishment…

Job, then, cried out for a champion, a Liberator, because he knows that this one (SHIVA) is eternal and is going to redeem him from the slavery of the Earth (by means of the Intimate Resurrection), repairing his skin.

Job, by Divine permission, sees himself tormented, dispossessed, ill, under the cruel action of those malignant beings that Aristotle called “the black birds”; St Paul called them: “The Cruel Powers of the Air”; the Church calls them: “the demons”; Theosophy and the Kabbalah call them: “the elementals”, etc., etc., etc….

However, as Job is just and sings the theme of his own justification faced with such rigors of Destiny, he wins at last with the Sacred IT of his Crucifixion in the lacerated flesh, and Jehovah (the Interior YOD-HEVE of each one) allows the Healing Angels, or JINN, to treat him; their classic leader as found in other books such as the book of Tobias, is the Archangel Raphael.”

-Paraphrase from Ch.43 of The Three Mountains by Samael Aun Weor

 

 

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