The seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is פ (Pe, Pei or Phe) who’s numeric significance is 80 and its kabalistic significance is 17. 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: The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah, Esoteric Course of Kabalah, and Manual of Practical Magic, 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 № 17
The symbol of Venus shows us that the Circle Of The Spirit must be above the Cross, Sex, that is to Say, Sex under the control of the Spirit. The sign inverted represents that the Spirit is dominated by Sex.
HEBRAIC LETTER: “PEI”.
HOUR: EIGHTH HOUR OF APOLLONIUS. “the astral virtues of the elements, and of the seeds of every kind.”
TRANSCENDENTAL AXIOM: “SOME MEN BEG FOR SIGNS SO AS TO BELIEVE AND OTHERS BEG FOR WISDOM SO AS TO ACT, BUT THE HOPEFUL HEART HAS EVERYTHING IN ITS HOPES.”
-From Ch.103 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor
HOPE (PHE)
1. The Magician can talk with the gods any time they want to.
2. We can see the gods face to face, without dying.
3. Whosoever wants to talk with the sidereal gods does not need carnival Horoscopes.
4. We should transform ourselves into terribly divine beings.
5. To converse with the sidereal gods we should learn to get out in the Astral Body.
6. In Astral Body we have to learn to transport ourselves to the temple of the planetary gods.
7. Being outside the body the Magician walks in circles from right to left, placing the imagination and willpower on the Planetary Temple they desire to visit.
8. Then the Magician will follow a straight line walking in the direction of the Temple.
9. To the right of every Cosmic Temple there is a white column.
10. To the left of every Cosmic Temple there is a black column.
11. The Magician greets the Guardian on the right, saying: JACHIN
12. The Magician greets the Guardian on the left, saying: BOAZ.
13. In the interior of the Temple we can speak with the planetary Gods to get to know our authentic and legitimate Horoscopes.
14. The persons who have one transverse line on the forehead are children of GABRIEL;
those who have two lines are children of RAPHAEL;
those who have three are children of URIEL;
those who have four are children of MICHAEL;
those who have five are children of SAMAEL;
those who have six are children of ZACHARIEL;
and those who have seven are children of ORIFIEL.
-Paraphrase from Ch.17 of Manual of Practical Magic by Samael Aun Weor,
available in Magic, Alchemy, and the Great Work
The Seventeenth Arcanum: ARCANUM 17
If we carefully study the esoteric content of this Arcanum, we will discover PERFECT ALCHEMY. We need to work with the gold and with the silver, with the Sun and with the Moon in order to incarnate the Star, this STAR has eight points. Really the star of eight points is Venus.
Whosoever attains the VENUSIAN INITIATION has the bliss of incarnating the Dragon of Wisdom (the Internal Christ), Arcanum Seventeen represents Hope.
The Gnostic Student should be very careful with the work in the Laboratorium Oratorium. Since the betrayal of the Sanctuary of Vulcan, the Doctrine of Ahriman was spread everywhere; this is the Doctrine of the Nicholaitans that transforms human beings into Demons.
The Adepts of the Left Hand Path color their Doctrine a very beautiful hue filled with ineffable and Sublime mysticism. Many are the Brethren of the Path who have entered this tenebrous path. The basic foundation of the Doctrine of the Nicholaitans consists of SPILLING THE CUP OF HERMES. These children of Darkness spill the Ens Seminis during their practices of Sexual Magic.
Billions of solar atoms are lost through orgasm with the loss of the Ens Seminis, which are replaced by billions of atoms from the Secret enemy. These Satanic atoms are picked up from the atomic infernos of the Human Being by the creative organs after orgasm. When such Satanic atoms attempt to rise through the sympathetic canals to the brain, they are downwardly precipitated by the three RAYS OF THE FATHER, OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
When these kinds of tenebrous atoms descend, they violently crash against a Master Atom of the Black Lodge that resides in the fundamental Chakra of the coccygeal bone. This Black Atomic God then receives a formidable impulse which gives him power to negatively awaken the Kundalini, or igneous serpent of our magical powers [as the Kundartiguator or Kundibuffer organ].
In this Case, the Kundalini descends downward to the atomic infernos of the Human Being and becomes the Tail of Satan. This is how the Human Being is definitively born in the Abyss as a Submerged Sub-Lunar Type of Demon. There are many students of the luminous Path that have gone astray through this Black path. It is good to remember that THE GREAT MASTERS OF THE SANCTUARY OF VULCAN fell under this subtle temptation and were converted into terrible, perverse Demons.
THE NARROW DOOR
There are many students of occultism who are convinced that many paths exist in order to reach God. There are some who affirm that three paths exist; there are others who state that seven paths exist, and still others who believe that twelve paths exist. We state that the three, the seven and the twelve are reduced to one, which is SEX.
We have carefully studied the four Gospels and have not found within any of the four Gospels such an affirmation that states that there are multiple ways to reach God. This affirmation is ABSOLUTELY FALSE. Really such an affirmation is a Sophism in order to cheat those who are naïve.
Jesus, the Chief of the Souls only spoke of one Door and of one straight and difficult narrow path. He never stated that there were multiple ways to reach God. Everyone that says this is a solemn liar. The Great Master Jesus textually stated the following:
“From the time the master of the house may have risen up, and may have shut the door, and ye may begin without standing, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us, and he shall answer saying to you, I have not known you whence ye are,
Then ye may begin to say, We did eat before thee, and did drink, and in our broad places thou didst teach;
And he shall say, I say to you, I have not known you whence ye are;
Depart from me, all ye workers of the unrighteousness.
There shall be there the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth, when ye may see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the reign of God, and yourselves being cast out without” [Luke 13: 24-28]
Really those who are saved are very few. Because few are those who enter through that strait, narrow and difficult door of Sex. There is no other door. No other door has ever existed and will never exist. The Mechanical Evolution of Nature DOES NOT SAVE ANYONE, time does not save anybody.
It is necessary to be born, and this subject of birth has been, is, and will always be an absolutely Sexual problem. Thus, anyone who wants to be born again has to work with the Sap of Life that is contained within the two sacred cups that the naked woman of Arcanum 17 has in her two hands.
THE THREE RAYS
It has been stated that there exist three Rays of intimate SELF-Realization. These three Rays illuminate only one door, and only one Path, sex. The three Rays are: MYSTICISM, YOGA, and the PERFECT MATRIMONY. However, without the Arcanum A.Z.F., it is not possible to advance a single step on the PATH OF THE RAZOR’S EDGE (Spinal Medulla).
YOGA
In the Western World, the teachings of Yoga have been delivered in a very bad manner. A lot of PSEUDO-SAPIENT Yogis have spread the false belief that the true Yogi must be infrasexual (an ENEMY OF SEX). Some of these false Yogis have never even visited India. They are infrasexual Pseudo-Yogis. These ignoramuses believe that with these Yogic exercises, such as ASANAS, PRANAYAMAS, etc., they are going to achieve in-depth realization.
The worst of these cases is that they not only have such false beliefs, but additionally they propagate them; thus, they cause many people to stray away from the STRAIGHT, NARROW AND DIFFICULT DOOR that leads to the Light. No authentically Initiated Yogi from India would ever think that with Pranayamas or Asanas, etc., Intimate Realization could be achieved!
Every legitimate Hindustani Yogi knows very well that such yogic exercises are only supplementary exercises, that are very useful for their Health and for the development of their powers, etc. Only the western Pseudo-yogis have within their minds that with these mentioned exercises they would be able to SELF-REALIZE. In the Ashrams of India Sexual Magic is practiced very secretly!
Every true initiated Yogi from India works with the Arcanum A.Z.F. taught by the Great Hindustani Yogis that have visited the Western World, and if this has not been taught by these Great initiated Hindustani Yogis, if this has not been published in the books of Yoga, it was precisely to avoid scandals.
Sex is the Stumbling Stone and the ‘Rock of Scandal’. You can be absolutely sure that those Yogis who do not practice Sexual Magic will never achieve birth in the Superior Worlds. The one who affirms the contrary is a liar, an impostor.
ASTROLOGY
In each REINCARNATION the human Being is born under a different star.
A wise man stated: “I raise my eyes towards the Stars that will come to my rescue; nonetheless, I always follow the Star which guides my interior.”
Really, that Star is always the same; it does not change in any of our reincarnations. It is the Star of the Father. Thus, what is most important for us is to INCARNATE THE STAR OF THE FATHER. Behold here the Mystery of Arcanum 17.
When the Sap (which is contained within the Gold and Silver Cups) is wisely combined and transmuted, it allows us to attain the Incarnation of the Star. THE STAR, CRUCIFIED ON THE CROSS, IS THE CHRIST.
-From Ch.17 of Esoteric Course of Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor
Description of the Card of the 17th Arcanum: “HOPE”
In the middle part is a woman who is watering the earth with the two elixirs (Masculine and Feminine). Upon her head is a lotus flower indicating her developed Chakras.
In the upper part shines the eight-rayed star of Venus symbolizing that after the Initiations of Fire come those of Light.
-From Ch.17 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor
ESOTERIC SIGNIFICANCE of Arcanum 17
We need to work with the gold and the silver, with the Sun and the Moon in order to incarnate the Star of Eight Points, the MORNING STAR. Really, the Star of Eight Points is Venus.
Whosoever obtains the Venustic Initiation has the joy of incarnating the DRAGON OF WISDOM (THE INTERNAL CHRIST). One must work with Fire and Water to receive the Venustic Initiation. The Star Crucified upon the Cross is the Christ of the Abraxas, the Son of Man, the Verb incarnated.
In the Revelation of Saint John there is documentation about Venus the MORNING STAR : “And he that overcometh… I will give him the Morning Star”. (Rev. 2:26-28). “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star.” (Rev. 22:16).
Christ is the Star of Dawn. When one receives the Venustic Initiation Christ enters the Soul. When we decapitate and dissolve the “I”, the Myself, we then receive the Venustic Initiation. Whosoever receives this incarnates their Star. The Star is the SON OF MAN; the Truth. No one can seek the truth.
The Truth cannot be known by the “I”. No one can search for that which he does not know. Satan, the “I”, the Ego which we carry within, CAN NOT KNOW THE TRUTH. The Truth cannot be studied, read, or recognized by the Mind. The Truth is absolutely different from all that can be read, studied or recognized by the Mind.
The Truth arrives when we have Decapitated and Dissolved the “I”. The various truths of people are none other than projections of the Mind. Decapitate your own “I”, dissolve it with rigorous purifications. In this manner you achieve the Venustic Initiation. Then you will incarnate the Truth. The Verb will be made flesh in you. You will incarnate the Son of Man and receive the Morning Star.
Everyone who wants to incarnate the Star must work with the Essence of Life contained in the Two Sacred Vessels which the naked Woman of Arcanum 17 has in her hands. The Star which guides us Internally is the FATHER STAR. The important thing for us is to Incarnate that Father Star. Here we have the Mystery of Arcanum 17.
The Sap contained in the vessels of Gold and Silver, when wisely combined and transmuted, enables us to achieve the incarnation of the Star. THE STAR CRUCIFIED UPON THE CROSS IS THE CHRIST.
-From Ch.17 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor
INITIATIC SIGNIFICANCE of Arcanum 17
ALL PEOPLE ARE “LUNAR”, the Moon moves them here and there and the Moon takes them everywhere. Let us analyze this detail: the first seven years of the life of childhood are Lunar; they are brought by the Moon.
The second septenary; the years from 7 to 14 are Mercurian, the child moves this way and that, goes to school; he needs to move.
The third septenary is from 14 to 21 years and is Venusian, here the sting is felt and there are love interests. It is obvious that at 14 years of age the sexual glands enter into activity and their influence manifests in the human being.
From 21 to 42 years there are 3 septenaries (the 4th, 5th, and 6th) or 3 Solar periods, this is the struggle to gain our place in life. In that epoch (21-42) what one is manifests exactly as it is.
The seventh septenary is from 42 to 49 years and it is Martian. There are struggles, it is a decisive epoch for each one.
The eighth septenary is from 49 to 56 years, this is the influence of Jupiter in the human being, in that period for those who have good karma things go well economically; for those who do not, things go badly.
In the ninth septenary from 56 to 63 years, old Saturn enters, and old age comes to the human being, it is a Saturnian period ruled by the Ancient of the Heavens, the person may presume himself to be whatever he wishes.
After the age of 63 years we enter old age; the Lunar influence comes once again. The Moon brings one and the Moon takes one.
If the life of the human being is examined, it is seen that everything is ruled by the Moon, and when one enters into the Internal Worlds, ONE ENTERS VIA THE DOORWAY OF THE MOON. The important thing is to transform the Moon into the Sun, and to attain this, one must work with the Gold and the Silver.
Without Alchemy this Arcanum could not be understood; the most important thing is to Transmute the Lead into Gold, this is the work which must be realized in the Forge of the Cyclops.
The vital part of this Arcanum 17 is in the Venustic Initiation, it is the highest part of this Arcanum and is represented by the Eight-Pointed Star of Venus; if we carefully observe the symbol of Venus we find:
THE CIRCLE; THE SPIRIT.
THE CROSS; SEX UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE SPIRIT.
The inverse of the sign represents the Spirit which is dominated by Sex: This is what happens on Earth, that Sex has dominated the Spirit. In its positive aspect, Venus (the Star of Dawn) is very grand, is marvelous, and is the Venustic Initiation, but in its negative part however, we find the Luciferic aspect.
The ideal time for ASTRAL PROJECTION is at Dawn, the Hour of Venus, but if one is not at a very pure level, the Luciferic Currents pull. Remember Venus-Lucifer which has two aspects, just as there is the Sacred Fire which rises (Kundalini), and there is the fire which descends (Kundartiguador). All of the work with Alchemy is to attain the Venustic Initiation, this is really something very difficult.
We have the case of Madame Blavatsky who married Count Blavatsky, after two months of marriage she was separated from him without having had a sexual relationship, she traveled to India and was in Shangri-La.
Her mission was grandiose, she wrote the “Secret Doctrine”, in Volume 6, she finishes by inviting those who read it to practice Alchemy, without which one cannot attain Self-Realization. She was already mature when she married Colonel Olscott, this marriage was not motivated by passion, the reason is to be found in the Internal Worlds, and she created the Solar Bodies.
Madame Blavatsky is a Lady Adept who realized the Great Work, she did not however attain the Venustic Initiation. She is preparing to take the body of a man because she is going to be born in the U.S.A. She has been given encouragement in order to not dismay because to renounce the Great Nirvana and have to return to this world is not an agreeable thing.
Sex is necessary to achieve the Venustic Initiation because there are Seven Serpents of Fire which correspond to the Seven Bodies: the Physical, Etheric, Astral, Mental, Causal, Buddhic, and that of the Intimus or the Atmic; a Serpent corresponds to each one, there being in total 7 Serpents; two groups of three with the sublime coronation which unites us with the Father, with the Law.
He who wishes to attain the Venustic Initiation must raise THE SEVEN SERPENTS OF LIGHT. The first to be raised is that of the Physical Body in order to receive the First Venustic Initiation, then that of the Vital Body which corresponds to the second Venustic Initiation, and so on successively.
The Incarnation of the Christ begins with the Venustic Initiation and is experienced in two forms; first in the symbolic form, and after having developed all which is given in the Initiations, it is then lived, this is the crude reality to practice what is preached; it is an arduous work.
Christ is the Master of Masters. It is erroneous of people to believe that Jesus is the only Christ. Hermes, Quetzalcoatl, Fu-Xi, Krishna, etc., also incarnated the Christ. This Incarnated-one must do as he preaches, and this he does, being God he becomes Man, he has to fight against his own passions, against Everything; gold is tested with fire and it is always victorious.
He Incarnates, becomes a Man when necessary. And he does it with the objective of changing the world. He is the Being of our Being, in him we are all One; He, He, He, He, submerges into the Father and He in turn, submerges in Him. He who incarnates the Christ passes the test and goes far beyond Nirvana, to the Worlds of Super-Happiness and Joy. Only the valiant enter this Path.
If one does not know how to hold onto the Father with force, and to the Mother with soul, life and heart, one does not reach the goal, one Fails. One must hold onto one’s Father and one’s Mother, “developing love”. If one does not have love, then how will one be able to seek solace in one’s parents?
In this world there is actually no Rose-Cross school, the single and authentic one being in the Internal Worlds; I was submitted to a test in the Rose-Cross Monastery, it was the test of Patience. One is intentionally given the test of Patience.
-From Ch.39 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor
SYNTHESIS of Arcanum 17:
The Lamb of God is Christ, he washes away the sins of the world, but for this one must Work. He is the True Instructor of the world. In Egypt, Christ was Osiris; whosoever incarnated Him was a new Osirified One, and they had to sacrifice themselves for all of humanity.
ONE MUST KNOW HOW TO BE PATIENT.
ONE MUST KNOW HOW TO BE SERENE.
-From Ch.39 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor
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Gnostic Tarot & Kabbalah - Arcanum 17
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