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Autumn is the time of year when the earth’s axis begins to tilt away from the sun, days becoming shorter and nights longer.  The Autumnal Equinox (around September 21) is that crossing point when the day and night are of equal length. The word Equinox originates from the Latin word aequinoctium.  Aequinoctium is constructed of the roots aequo (“even”) and nox (“night”), literally meaning “equal night.”

In contrast to the Vernal Equinox (Spring) when life is renewed, it is during the Autumnal season that living things hibernate, slow down, and die.  Instead of springing forth from the surface of the earth, life withdraws, contracts and is naturally drawn down into the planet.  And from this time until the Vernal Equinox the earth passes through a natural period of cleansing in preparation for the Spring.

This process is represented in Greek mythology through the story of Persephone (Roman = Proserpina, Mysteries = Kore, meaning “maiden”).  This daughter of Zeus (King of the gods; Roman = Jupiter) and Demeter (Goddess of Grain; Roman = Ceres) was abducted by Hades (Roman = Pluto) the Lord of the Underworld.

persephone

Pluto carried Persephone to his dark domain, within the interior of the planet, to make her his wife.  Entreated by Demeter, Zeus commanded his brother (Hades) to return the chaste Persephone.  However, upon learning that Persephone partook of a pomegranate fruit during her captivity in the Underworld he declared that she must remain every year in the darkness of the netherworld for every seed she consumed.  She ate six seeds.  Thus, for six months Demeter, Goddess of grain and the harvest, retreats from the world to mourn the loss of her daughter.  The withdrawal of this Goddess of nature results in the death and/or stasis of natural life on the planet.  When her daughter returns to her (the Spring Equinox) then Demeter rejoices resulting in the renewal of life and abundance in the natural world.

Each year this drama was celebrated by the Greek Eleusinian Mystery schools, in the month of Boedromion (September).  At the beginning of the ceremony all those participating purified themselves through ritual baptism by bathing in the sea and sacrificing a piglet.  Throughout the ceremony the initiate would fast and undergo a symbolic death of the old self.  At the end of the ceremony the priestesses would reveal the vision of the holy night (Halloween = Hallow’s Even, the holy evening), said to have been a fire symbolizing life after death.  Of course, these are all symbols understood by those with knowledge of the mysteries (and explained below).

This Eleusinian practice contained both public and esoteric (hidden) components.  Certain rituals like the procession from Athens to Eleusis announcing the harvest and the new season were public events.  But only the initiates participated in the esoteric rites and understood the hidden significance of the external ritual.  And this same exoteric/esoteric event was/is recognized in cultures throughout the world.

The Mexican Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) can be traced back to the Aztecs, Mayans, Nahua and Totonac. Originally celebrated near the onset of Autumn, it was the Spanish that moved the popular festival to coincide with the Catholic All Saints/All Souls Day in their attempts to convert the locals. It was common practice during the celebration to display skulls as symbols of death and rebirth.   The festival was itself presided over by the Lady of the Dead, the goddess Mictecacihuatl or Coatlicue.  Coatlicue (“Serpent-skirt”), virgin mother of the Aztec Christs Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli, was represented in the image of a human caduceus with two serpents for a head, representing (to those who knew the mysteries) the means of mystical death and rebirth.  The exoteric tradition is/was a celebration of children and the remembrance of dead relatives.

In the Hindu tradition of Durga Puja it is believed that the autumnal festival was a consequence of Rama's prayer to the goddess Durga, out of season (in autumn instead of spring), seeking her blessings before venturing out to kill the Rakshasa (demon) king Ravana.  In the exoteric tradition Durga is worshipped as the all-powerful demon-slaying goddess (an incarnation of Shakti) in addition to being an example of the loving, caring mother.  By esoteric understanding she further represents the aspect of Divine Mother Death (power of Shakti), whom directly administers the process of mystical death (of egos, internal demons) within the initiate, in preparation of his/her rebirth.  The festival Mahalaya Amavasya is also celebrated at the onset of Autumn, dedicated to the remembrance or worship of the souls of forefathers.

In Japan autumn is associated with Higan, a seven day period in which offerings of food, flowers, incense, and prayers are offered at the tombs of ancestors.  In Buddhism the change in seasons is symbolic of crossing from the shore of illusion and ignorance to the other shore of enlightenment, the end (death) of ignorance.  Again both the exoteric and esoteric aspects are apparent.

The Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot takes place in Autumn.  It is a festival of joy that commemorates the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the desert and lived out of temporary shelters (sukkot).  At that ceremony water was traditionally drawn from deep wells beneath the Temple and poured onto the altar.  This is, of course, an exoteric ritual symbolizing a very significant esoteric teaching veiled behind the symbols of the number forty - the drawing of water from beneath the temple, and offering the cleansing water to the altar (all of which are explained below).

The ancient Egyptians celebrated an Autumnal Festival dedicated to the mother goddess Hathor, the Divine Cow.  It was a forty-day festival that celebrated the union of Hathor and Horus, an Egyptian Christ.  The child of this union, Harsomtus, was born in the forty days of celebration.

The American tradition of Halloween is understood to be a direct descendant of the Celtic tradition in the United Kingdom.  According to this tradition November 1 marked the beginning of the New Year and the coming of winter.  The festival of Samhain (“summer’s end”) was celebrated the night before the New Year, presided over by the Lord of the Dead (Welsh = Arawn, Irish = Donn). The Celts traditionally recognized a twofold division of the year, summer running from Beltane (“fire of Bel” = Belenus, Celtic Christ), the Vernal Equinox to Samhain, (the Autumnal Equinox), and winter running from Samhain to Beltane.  During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead returned to mingle with the living and food was left on the doors for them. In order to scare away the evil spirits, people would wear masks and light bonfires. Large wickerwork figures were also constructed and burnt in mock sacrifice. It is said in the exoteric tradition that the wickerwork figures represented a vegetation spirit.  The symbol of the figure with the appearance (empty shell = Klipoth) of a man can be readily recognized esoterically as the aspect of an initiate that must die (within the Alchemical Fires / Forge of Vulcan) in order for the real man to be born (explained below).

It is commonly understood that the “Hallow” of Halloween derives from the Anglo-Saxon word halig, meaning holy. In Celtic tradition the hallows are further understood to be related to the “paraphernalia of magic”: Sword, Staff/Wand, Cauldron (a degeneration of the chalice) and Stone.  Again, these are symbols immediately recognized by those with an understanding of the mysteries (i.e. Sword = the lingam, the fire, the active principle; Staff = the illuminated spine of the Master; Chalice = the yoni, the waters, the passive/receptive principle; Stone = the philosophic stone, the waters of Yesod, the Mercury of occult science).

When the Romans invaded Britain, they embellished the tradition with their own dedicated to the goddess Pomona, which was also a celebration of the harvest and a time spent honoring the dead.

Through even a brief study of the Autumnal celebrations of different cultures one can begin to see the connection.  Woven within this tapestry of external practices, the esoteric teachings are evident to those “with ears to hear”.  The process of death in nature becomes the perfect metaphor for the autumn of the Initiate as he enters “his winter of discontent”.  The seed must die within itself in order to germinate and generate new life.  The seed cannot become a tree if it does not cease to be a seed.

Halloween

People asked for signs from Christ, but he gave only the sign of Jonah.

Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here. - Matthew 12:38-41

And so we turn to Jonah…

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. - Jonah 3

Halloween (All Hallow’s Even or “the holy evening”) is celebrated October the 31st, forty days after the Autumnal Equinox on September 21st.  Even a superficial study of the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible reveals a prolific appearance of this number: forty days of the universal flood; forty years the Israelites were in the wilderness before being allowed entrance to the “land of milk and honey”; forty days Moses was on Mt. Sinai before receiving the Ten Commandments; forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness before gathering his disciples; forty days Goliath challenged the Israelites before his defeat by David.  But this symbol is not exclusive to the Judeo-Christian tradition: forty days Horus struggled with Seth before his eventual victory; Zoroaster had his great revelation in his 40th year; forty days Buddha was under the Boddhi Tree to attain enlightenment; the tale of the trials of Odysseus in the Odyssey occurs over a period of forty days.  It becomes clear that the number forty is a universal symbol because it veils the same universal Truth.

In an effort to better understand this Truth we will turn to the Judeo-Christian tradition for help.  Forty is the Kabalistic value of the Hebrew letter מ Mem.  The character Mem is a symbol for water (Moses = משה Moshe = מ Mem (water), ש Shin (fire), ה Hei (womb) = born of fire and water).  In esotericism, water symbolizes the creative forces that coagulate within the ninth sphere of the Kabalistic Tree of Life, Yesod (“foundation”).  These are the Genesiac Waters of creation and of destruction related with the Holy Spirit.  Remember that Shiva (Hindu Holy Spirit) is the God of creation and destruction.  The material world is destroyed by the forty-day inundation of water, which is the same water of which Jesus the Christ tells Nicodemus he must be born again. The proper use of these waters results in the creation of the vehicles of the soul and in the destruction of the ego.  To understand the proper use of the waters please see the lectures entitled…

Arcanum 13 of the Tarot

Whereas the Kabalistic value of מ Mem is 40, the numeric value of Mem is thirteen because it is the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet (13 = 1 + 3 = 4 = 40).  Thus, Mem is also related to the 13th Arcanum, Immortality.  A study of Arcanum 13 reveals the relationship between death and rebirth.  It illustrates the harvest season (Autumn).  The reaper harvests the values of what has been previously sown, as new (and different) life grows from the fertile soil of the previous crop’s demise.   It indicates radical change, the kind of change that can only occur through the psychological death of the old self so that something new can be born.

The number 40 refers to a long period of time in which a lot of (mystical) death must occur within the waters of Yesod.  But it also indicates the means by which (mystical) death occurs: 40 = 4 + 0 = 4; 13 = 1 + 3 = 4. The number 4 represents the Fourth Man, the one in the Tao, equilibrium.  Excellent psychological equilibrium is necessary for the synthesis of the 4 elements to occur within the waters of creation, Yesod.

The Lingam inserted in the Yoni is wisely utilized for this purpose.  But the purpose is to create spiritually and not physically.  The sexual creative energies are retained and sublimated instead of spilled and squandered.  This same force is utilized for the purpose of mystical, psychological death of the ego.

And so we return to Jonah:

Within the name of Jonah is contained the same mysteries that are contained in his story.

The Hebrew name of Jonah is יונה Yonah.  The name itself means dove.  Already we are told that the doctrine of Jonah is related to the Holy Spirit.  Recall the moment that the Holy Spirit descended as a dove on Jesus at his baptism.  This symbol of baptism illustrates how the Holy Spirit is received through true baptism in the waters of Yesod (the River Jordan).  In world tradition the Holy Spirit is frequently represented as a beautiful/graceful bird, usually indigenous to the region of any particular tradition: Hindu = Hamsa Swan; Aztec = Quetzal Bird; Egyptian = Ibis; Greek = Eagle; etc.

Noah utilized the dove (of the Holy Spirit) three times (the wise use of the three solar atoms given by the Logos; the work of the Three Mountains) to confirm the presence of the flood waters.  And in his 601st year the waters receded (601 = 6 + 1 = 7 = Triumph, religare/”union” with his Innermost, Chesed = 7th Sephirah, creating from the bottom up).

The intervention of the Holy Spirit is pivotal in the work of an initiate on the Path.  Without it there can be no (alchemical) birth and no (mystical) death.  This is why Jesus specifies to Nicodemus that he must be born again of water (Yesod) and of the (fire of the Holy) Spirit.  This is also related to Jesus’ explanation to the Pharisees that all sins are forgiven except those against the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, the name Yonah (Jonah) breaks into the four Hebrew letters of:

jonah-hebrew

Yonhe or Yonah

י Iod = the phallus and the masculine principle; fire

ו Vav = the staff, spine

נ Nun = fish (sperm/ovum)

ה Hei = the uterus and the feminine principle; water

In Jonah’s very name is the lesson of Alchemy, the proper use of the Holy Spirit: the uniting of the lingam-yoni within the waters (without spasm), using the fire of the Holy Spirit to raise the bronze serpent on the staff/the spine.  The fish is, of course, a symbol of the Christ, which lives within the waters of creation (and is the waters as related to the Holy Spirit).

The Hebraic Talmud further offers that “Yonah, son of Amitai, was at pilgrimage to Jerusalem and he entered the rejoicing of water drawing (alchemy) and the Holy Spirit rested upon him (as when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan)."

And yet a further study of the name “Yonah” reveals another aspect of the Path.   As previously mentioned, each Hebrew letter possesses a numeric value.  Kaballistically adding the values of the characters in Jonah’s name results in the sum of eight.  Arcanum number eight is related with Judgment, Ordeals and Suffering.  It is the number of Job, the number of the Bodhisattva.  Remember that the great Bodhisattva Padmasambhava was born in the midst of a lake at the age of eight.

ה Hei (5)  +  נ Nun (14)  +   ו Vav (6)  +  י Iod(10) = 8 (Justice, Suffering = Job)

Arcanum 8 of the Tarot

The number eight is the number of the Infinite.  The Eighth Arcanum of the Tarot is a woman with a sword in her hand before the scale of Cosmic Justice.  Without woman no Initiate can receive the sword (the igneous serpent of Kundalini).  The sign of the Infinite signifies work in the Ninth Sphere and this is sex. The sign of the infinite represents the path of Ida/Ob and Pingala/Od in the miraculous ascension of seminal energy towards the brain in the form of an eight.  And it is the middle path, between these two polarities that is the secret path through which the serpent ascends.  But it is necessary to equilibrate the forces; it is necessary and completely urgent to sanctify ourselves and to practice the Arcanum AZF.  The forces of man and woman are equilibrated in love and wisdom. The number eight is also a number related to the eventual goal of the Bodhisattva who walks the path of Job, the Eighth Venustic Initiation.

Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. - Jonah 1:1-3

Jonah’s flight to Tarshish is related to the first negation of Peter.  This is the first step of the Initiate, to accept the call of the Being, the Will of the Father, and begin walking the Path of the Great Arcanum.  This means denying the egocentric self, whom is attached to worldly ambitions, in order to do the work of the Being.  Thus, he must descend to the ninth sphere and into his own Klipoth, from the presence of the Lord.  Nineveh is the aggregate of egos represented by the “civilization” that is built within to fill the void that is left by the absence of a connection with God.   This is a compensation that is made internally, which is reflected in the physical world.  Nineveh is created as a material substitute for God, a false idol, and is therefore against God.  Thus Jonah’s Being summons him to bring Nineveh to repent.  Jonah pays the fare to begin this Great Work.  There is a price to be given this opportunity and this price is paid with Dharma.

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

The Initiate must face from moment to moment the decision to do the Will of the Being or the will of the ego.  The passions and attachments of the ego arise like a tempest through ordeals that shake and threaten to break the very “ship” of the Initiate.  But it is through weathering such ordeals that one becomes familiar with the activities of his/her own egos and builds Faith in the Being and the Work.

(And the Lord answered Job) Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. - Job 38:3

This is Faith built through experience, not the blind faith of beliefs.

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not enlightened by fixed teachings but by an intuitive process that is spontaneous and natural. –Mahaprajnaparamita

Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

The consciousness is still asleep during this process.  This is why the work memory disciplines of self-remembering and self-observation are important tools for training the awareness of freed consciousness.

So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

It is imperative to awaken consciousness and put an end to our ignorance.  We must call upon God, our Innermost, for help in the work.  It is only by the Grace of God that such as the Great Work may be accomplished.

And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

The word “Hebrew” means “comes from the other side of the river” (of Jordan – Yesod).  The river, of course, is related to the waters of Yesod.  On the Tree of Life the other side of the river refers to the Sephirah (representing the many Heavens) that are superior to the Sephirah of Yesod.  The One who comes from the other side of the river is the Being.  Jonah is speaking as the superior aspect of his own Monad.   On this side of the river is Malkuth (the physical world) and Klipoth (the Abyss).  Notice on the Tree of Life that the way to the other side of the river is through the river (of Yesod) itself.

10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him. Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

The sailors are aspects of Jonah’s own consciousness.  The consciousness knows his mission as the Human Soul is to descend into the 9th sphere (be cast into the waters) and the “sailors” trapped in ego are afraid for themselves.  Sincere work in the waters of Yesod, the Forge of Vulcan, means death for the Ego.  Thus they hesitate to cast him into the waters (of Yesod) until they have no choice.  There is also the fact that Jonah must pay significant karma as a Boddhisattva.  Thus, even the consciousness that is free (and belongs to the Being) is not going to let it be that ‘easy’.

14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

Thus, Pilate (the traitor of the Mind) washes his hands.  The darkness of the mind does not comprehend the Light of the Being.  Instead the Pharisee (Intermediate Mind of blind dogma) stands before God and says, “I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” - Luke 18:11

The Pharisee does not understand the way of the Being.  The Pharisee rests his laurels on the Second Law, Deuteronomical Law.  The Bodhisattva answers to the First Law, the Law of the Father.  The Superior Law always eclipses the Inferior Law.  There are many examples of this principle in the Bible in which the Pharisees condemn the Master Jesus and his disciples for unlawfully healing the sick and plucking corn to eat on the Sabbath, or for breaking bread with sinners, or eating with unwashed hands, etc.

And to these rebukes Jesus the Christ replies:

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.”

But the Pharisees are confounded by Wisdom.  The Lord is thus condemned by the egostistical, animal mind.

15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

Remember the Saviors of countless traditions who were cast into the waters as infants: Moses, Perseus, Karttikeya, Romulus and Remus, Maui, etc. Nor should it be forgotten the many Saviors born from stone (the philosophic stone/liquid stone of Mercury = the waters of Yesod): the Persian Mithras, the Babylonian Enkidu, the Chinese Qi, the earliest Norse Gods, etc.  The Apache Savior is even named “Child-of–the Water” as a direct reference to the means of his (Alchemical) birth.  It is within the waters (of Yesod) that the real Human Being is born.

16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

Now IAOH had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

A great fish swallows Jonah.  This fish is Leviathan.  Leviathan is Lucifer.  Lucifer (Lat. Lux = light; Fer = bearer, bringer) is the bearer of light.  He is the shadow of the Christ, the psychological trainer from whom the Initiate must steal the fire of the Gods.  This work is accomplished in the descent into the 9th Sphere of Yesod.  For three days and three nights the Bodhisattva must overcome the tests of Lucifer.  The three mountains of (Alchemical) Birth, (Mystical) Death, and Sacrifice are the three days and nights of the Bodhisattva.  Thus Jesus was heard to say,

I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. - Mark 14:58

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. - Matthew 12:40

To walk the path of the Bodhisattva one must know and practice the science of Alchemy.  This is how the vehicles of the Soul, the To Soma Heliakon, are fabricated.  This is how the Golden Child, the Savior is born in the First Mountain.  But it is only the Human Soul who walks the Direct Path that is allowed to proceed to the work of the Second Mountain and be truly Twice-born.  To truly be Twice-born requires completion of the Second Mountain, (complete psychological) Death. Remember the words of the wise King Drupada, from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, who states “among all men those who are twice-born are the best.”

The tale of Pinocchio is the story of the Initiate.  He is a wooden boy that must learn the knowledge of good and evil and be swallowed and eventually regurgitated by the whale (Leviathan) in order to become a real Human Being.  The means by which he emerged from the belly of the whale, and rescued his lost Father, was with fire.  The fire of the Holy Spirit expresses through the Alchemical waters of Yesod so that the Mercabah, the fiery chariot of the Soul, may be created to carry Elijah (the Twice-born) to Heaven (the realm of the Father).

1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. - Jonah 2

The brave ones, the heroes who voluntarily descend into the 9th sphere to be swallowed by Leviathan, are descending into their own Klipoth.  For it is in this great abyss, the “belly of hell”, that the legion of egos reside.  And thus it is here the work of death, annihilation of the ego (the false “I”) must take place.

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. - Mark 2:17

3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

The “holy temple” is the Temple of the Being (the seven bodies), within which is found the foundation stone of the temple.  Yesod is the 9th sphere and literally means “foundation”.  The foundation stone of the temple, Yesod, is found in the sexual glands.  The 9-faced Stone of Masonry, the Cornerstone, comes from the Mercurial Waters.  This stone lies between the Pillars of the Temple Jachin (Chockmah – Chesed – Netzach) and Boaz (Binah – Geburah – Hod), Mercy of the Father (Chesed) and Justice of the Mother (Geburah).

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. - Isaiah 28:16

Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? - Matthew 21:42

This cornerstone is Peter (patar, petra = “rock”), the rock upon which Jesus says he will build his church.  The Persian Christ, Mithras, is called “Theos ek Petras”, or “God from the Rock”, revealing the same knowledge of the Gospel of Peter.

5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

As the Initiate descends into the work of the 9th sphere, he discovers how the “weeds” of the Animal Mind “wrap about the head”, the head of the Intellectual Animal; how the Sensory Mind, that knows only the stimulation of the five senses, and the Intermediate Mind, that knows only dogma and systems of belief, obstruct the experience of the Inner Mind, the Superlative Consciousness of the Being.

Thus, the egostistical Animal Mind is confined to a subjective, false, experience of the world.  The false impressions received by this lunar mind imprison the consciousness in a cage of identification with desire. The wisdom of Solomon in Ecclesiastes states “Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.” The second noble truth of Gautama Buddha states very clearly that suffering arises from attachment to desires.  Krishna confirms this many times in the pages of the Bhagavad Gita “When a man has given up the desires of his heart and is satisfied with the Self (the Being, God) alone, be sure that he has reached the highest state.  The sage, whose mind is unruffled in suffering, whose desire is not roused by enjoyment, who is without attachment, anger, or fear – take him to be one who stands at that lofty level.”  It is a Truth that is stressed by Masters of every tradition because it is this attachment to desire-sensation that turns the painful wheel of Samsara, imprisoning every Intellectual Animal within the confines of “the earth with her bars”.

7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

The choice is to observe the false idols of the ego or the mercy of the Father Who is in Heaven.  Again in the words of the wise King Solomon “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”  The experience of the egocentric, materialistic mind is subjective and lives to satisfy its own desires.  It is a vain liar.  The Being, Chesed (“Mercy”), is forsaken by those who pursue the will of the ego.

9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

Jonah is ready to pay what he owes. It is with the 30 silver coins that Judas cast to the floor of the temple that one begins to pay what is owed (Karma).  Silver is related with the lunar forces of the Moon, with materialism. The thirty silver coins represent the three (3+0=3) traitors of the mind (Pilate), the heart (Caiaphas), and the actions (Judas).  The silver coins are the Ens Seminis cast to the floor of Temple of the Lord when one fornicates in the mind, heart, and actions.  It is the spilling of the Cup of Hermes. This is how the Innermost is sold for 30 pieces of silver.  The silver must not be cast to the floor of the Temple, but must be alchemically transmuted into the gold of the To Soma Heliakon.  Judas must be hung from the Tree of Knowledge in order to receive the gospel of John the Beloved (Tiphereth, the heart). Odin, Father of the Norse Pantheon, knew the Mysteries of Judas when he hung himself for nine days on the World Tree (Tree of Life), Yggdrasil, in the pursuit of Wisdom:

Odin recounts in the Norse Edda:

I know that I hung on a high windy tree
for nine long nights;
pierced by a spear – Odin’s pledge-
given myself to myself.
No one can tell about that tree,
From what deep roots it rises.

Nine mighty songs I learned …
and I came to drink of that costly mead
the holy vessel held (Cup of Hermes, Holy Grail).

Thus I learned the secret lore,
prospered and waxed in Wisdom.

10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

The first day of Jonah within the great fish (Leviathan-Lucifer) is the First Mountain of Initiation, Alchemical Birth.  The second day is the Second Mountain, Mystical Death, at the end of which is Resurrection.  The third day within the great fish (Leviathan-Lucifer) is the Third Mountain, Sacrifice.  Thus, after three days Jonah is a resurrected Master.  He lives in harmony with the Great Law and is ready to do the work of his Father as an awakened avatar of the Christ.   He is “vomited” upon dry land, because he is no longer permitted to work within the waters of Alchemy.  The proper use of the sexual force that was utilized to create the Twice Born is now prohibited to him.  The work of the seven days of creation of the true Human Being is complete and the sex belongs to the Monad now.

Thus, Isis could only find thirteen pieces (Arcanum 13, see above) of the dead God Osiris. The fourteenth piece, his phallus, was swallowed by a fish, never to be found thereafter.  His phallus was lost forever, because as a resurrected Master he was prohibited from the sexual act.  Every lustful element was already dead in him.  He had attained perfection in the sex.  Therefore, Isis replaced his phallus with a member of gold. The lead of the ego was transmuted into the gold of the consciousness. Deep within the Mountain is found the fiery forge of Vulcan.  It is here that the mysteries of Daath are cast.

Thus the Master Jesus explains to the scribes and Pharisees,

Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.  But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. - Matthew 22:29-32

Only the Twice Born, who has died within himself and been born “of water and of the (fire of the) Holy Spirit”, is truly living.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. - John 3:6

Those whom have not completed the Great Work are truly dead.  They are no better than “whitened sepulchers”, with the appearance of beauty and virtue on the outside, while containing only fetid and rotting corpses (of Ego and spiritual death) within.

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

1 And the Word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. - Jonah 3

The “Word of the Lord” came unto Jonah.  The word is a reference to the creative power of the Logos, the Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. - John 1:1

The Prophet Jonah lived the drama of the three days (Three Mountains) and incarnated the Christ, becoming one with the Word, the Verb.  He is thus ready to preach the Word of the Lord, to do the Work of the Christ.  Nineveh is a city of “three days’ journey”, again referencing the work (Three Mountains) that must be done to accomplish the journey of the Bodhisattva.

4 And Jonah began (in September the 21st.) to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said:

Yet forty days (in October the 31st.), and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Remember the aforementioned symbol of the number forty in relation to death and rebirth (see above)?  At the end of his forty days in the wilderness and overcoming Lucifer…

Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. - Mark 1:14-15

The external Prophet (Jonah, the Bodhisattva) carries this teaching of redemption to the people of the world, while the internal Prophet (the Atom Nous) preaches it to the consciousness.

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them (in Halloween); and he did it not.

Trick or Treat!  Unlike the Egyptians, in the story of Moses, the people of Nineveh chose “Treat”.  They listened to the Word of the Prophet and repented.  The fasting and wearing of sackcloth are symbols of this repentance and of the sincerity to deny the will of the flesh for the Will of God, the way of material desire for the way of the Being.  Thus, the Second Death is averted.  As prophesied by Jonah, the end of Nineveh is inevitable.  The Spirit, the consciousness, the Monad are immortal.  The ego, the “I”, the false personality are not.  When one’s opportunities to transcend the wheel of Samsara through conscious effort have been exhausted then the Second Death (of Revelations 21) is inevitable.

On the battlefield of the great war of the Mahabharata (in the Baghavad Gita), Krishna (the Christ) addresses the warrior Arjuna (the Human Soul) who is hesitant to slay the numerous kinsman and friends (his own egos) who stand against him:  “The Lord said: I am mighty, world-destroying Time, now engaged here in slaying these men.  Even without you, all these warriors standing arrayed in the opposing armies (of the ego) shall not live.  Therefore stand up and win glory (of the Being); conquer your enemies and enjoy an opulent kingdom.  By Me and none other have they already been slain…Be not distressed by fear.  Fight, and you shall conquer your foes in the battle (of Self-realization).”  The Human Soul is always identified with the warrior (Arjuna, Lancelot, Perseus, Mohammed, etc).  He must fight a war of endless battles against impossible odds to attain realization of the Self, the Being.

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. - Matthew 10:34

Jonah 4:

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

Upon completion of the Great Work the Bodhisattva achieves a particular level of objective reasoning of his/her Being.  There exist levels of perfection even among the perfected.  There are six degrees of cognizant objective reasoning of the Being.  Each degree is represented by a “horn of light” upon the head.  The horns of a Master are not to be confused with those of a demon.  The horns of a Master arise from the top of the head indicating an illumined pineal gland (throne of the Spirit)/illuminated intellect, whereas the horns of a demon protrude from the forehead as a symbol of the intellect of the Animal Mind, the Satanic Intellect.  Jonah did not achieve the level of objective knowledge after resurrection that he anticipated.  The source of his displeasure is disappointment towards his own level of knowledge of good and evil and objective reasoning of the Being.

2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.  

Recounting his faithful efforts to do the work of his Being, Jonah recognizes the need to know God better and thus consciously renounces the level of perfection already achieved.  But since he has already been decapitated he cannot be recapitated.  At this point a Bodhisattva is left with the choice of either descending with the permission of the Being or to “fall”.  The only way for a Bodhisattva to fall is to fornicate.

Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city and there made him a booth (sukkah), and sat under it in the shadow (ego), till he might see what would become of the city.  

Jonah is back to square one.  The sun (the Solar Logos, the Christ) rises in the East.  As the Apocalypse of St. John instructs those who hath ears to hear, the coming of the Christ hearkens one’s own internal Apocalypse as the seven seals are opened, beginning with the seal of the Church of Ephesus, the Muladhara Chakra.  The fiery serpent of the Kundalini that is coiled three and a half times in the coccyx (Muladhara Chakra) must awaken to begin the ascent up the spine.  This is the same serpent of Midgard (Norse tradition) whose awakening announces Armageddon.  Remember that it is the mighty strength of Thor (the Holy Spirit) that drags the serpent Jormungand to the surface of the water.  The serpent arises in the East (Church of Ephesus, Muladhara) and sets in the West (Church of Laodicea, Sahasrara).  As each seal (Churches = Chakras) is opened the death of the terrestrial world is certain.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God… - Revelations 7:2

Jonah is watchful of the “city” (the legion of egos within), self-observing.  This is a lesson that we must always be on guard against our own inhuman elements.

And the Lord prepared a gourd (the pumpkin), and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceedingly glad of the gourd (the pumpkin).

The powers of the Gourd (Pumpkin) belong to the Hermetic Priesthood of Netzach (the Universal Mind).

The gourd that delivers Jonah from his grief represents the creation of the Solar Mind (Netzach).  However, the one who has created the Solar Mind, but is not yet free of ego must still struggle with the Animal Mind (Satan).  Both minds offer comfort.  The Solar Mind offers comfort to the consciousness, the Animal Mind offers “comfort” to the ego. The power of the Arhat lies in knowing how to convert Satan into Christ mind, by casting out the demons of his mind when using Christ-will and thus building Human Soul.  This is a painful process.

This symbol can be found in the Halloween tradition of pumpkins.  Traditionally, it is said that gourds (the American gourd, the pumpkin, which became the popular choice over the traditional European varieties) were hollowed out with scary faces carved in them and illuminated by a candle from within.  The illuminated face was intended to frighten the evil spirits said to roam on the night of All Hallows Eve.  Irish tradition offers an interesting origin of the name Jack-o-Lantern.  Jack was a stingy and mean-minded fellow that enjoyed causing mischief.  He even tricked the devil into a tree, trapping him there by the placement of crosses at its base.  He made the devil promise not to take his soul when he died.  The devil agreed.  Jack carried on with his tricks until the day he died.  Upon his death he approached the gates of Heaven.  But when he was denied entrance on account of his many vices he went to Hell.  But true to his word the devil denied him entrance.  Jack was thus left to aimlessly wander the earth in darkness between Heaven and Hell.  However, the devil gave him the parting gift of a burning ember from the infernos of Hell, placed within a gourd to illuminate his path.  Thus he became known as Jack-of-the-Lantern (Jack-o-Lantern).

Stealing fire (of the Christ) from the devil to light the way through the darkness (of Ego) is the story of the Initiate.  This symbol is illustrated in the Ninth Arcanum, The Hermit.  The Gourd symbolizes the Mind and Christ is the Light that must illuminate the Spirit (Innermost) within the Mind. The Spirit must be seated on His Throne. “…this is why we have to descend into the Darkness in order to destroy the "I", Satan, to then snatch away this Light from the Darkness.” - Tarot and Kabbalah by Samael Aun Weor

“The light and the fire convert the material-mind into Christ-mind, while the Arhat illuminates his caverns with the torch of his candlestick. After Jonah was vomited from the fish, he preached in Nineveh and he sat beneath a pumpkin gourd.  He did this in order to work with the powers of the mind that blaze within the sparks of the cosmic mind’s glowing embers.

People do not understand the symbol of Jonah, despite the fact that Christ resurrected after three days.  People ask for signs from Christ, but he gave only the sign of Jonah.” -  Igneous Rose, by Samael Aun Weor

Furthermore, the Master Samael explains how the elemental of the pumpkin gourd is intimately connected with the Mental Plane and the waters.  The connection is clear to those who have some understanding of the relationship between the Pineal Gland and the Sexual Organs.  Jonah (“dove” of the Holy Spirit) utilizes the science of the pumpkin gourd to invite the masses to repent:

We can work with the multitudes with the powers of the elemental of the pumpkin gourd.  The elemental of the pumpkin gourd has terrific powers over the multitudes.  Jonah made Nineveh repent of its sins with the elemental magic of the pumpkin gourd…

….Jonah was three days in the belly of a fish.  On the third day, the fish vomited him onto the square of Nineveh.  Jonah then seated himself beneath a pumpkin gourd, and all the people of Nineveh repented.  They tore their vestures, covered their bodies with sackcloth and proclaimed a fast.

I want you now to understand, oh Arhat, the existing intimate relationship between the fish of the sea and the pumpkin gourd.  There is a powerful Angel who governs the fish of the sea and the elementals of the gourd plants.  The current of life that passes through the fish of the sea is the same current that passes through the vegetable family of the pumpkin gourd. The igneous Angel who governs the gourd plants is the same ardent flame who governs all the fish of the immense sea. - Igneous Rose, by Samael Aun Weor

7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day (November 1, All Saint’s Day), and it smote the gourd (the pumpkin) that it withered.

“Remove your vile vestments because they are filled with worms from all rotting matter.  The worm of the rotting matter dries and kills the pumpkin gourd.” - Igneous Rose, by Samael Aun Weor

The animal nature of the egocentric mind rots the gourd of the intellect.  The horrible worms of desire feed upon the degeneration of the sensual mind.  It is important and necessary to understand and act upon the lesson of John the Baptist (Netzach, the Mind) if one is to receive the Gospel of John the Beloved (Tiphereth, the Heart). The intellectual mind must be decapitated.

Even the Solar Mind is the Inferior Manas (Mind) in comparison to the Superior Manas of Tiphereth.  The Inferior Mind thinks.  The Superior Mind knows.  If one is thinking one is not Being.  The Lord is the God of “I AM”.  Thus says the Lord “I AM that I AM” - Exodus 3:14.  Any Intellectual Animal can think, but only the illuminated one knows through not thinking.  Everything is happening.  Thinking does not exist except in the mind.

The concept of Descartes “I think, therefore I am” is completely false.  The one who thinks does not really exist, because the One Who Is (and expresses through the true Human Being) is the Innermost. And the Innermost does not think, He knows.

“To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
(It is the mind that identifies with the slings and arrows of fortune through the law of the pendulum, swinging towards pleasure and away from pain, never in equilibrium)
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles (see Jonah 1:4),
(to act/do, not to think or rationalize)
And by opposing end them? To die (in ego): to sleep (in consciousness);
No more; (these are the options, to sleep in darkness or end the darkness and awaken to the light)” – from Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head (the pumpkin) of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

The sun is the physical manifestation of the Christ.  It sacrifices of itself unconditionally from moment to moment so that life may exist in this solar system.  Like a vehement wind, egotistical passions (orchestrated by Lucifer, the Shadow of the Christ) cause Jonah great pain as the Animal Mind withers under the healing power of the Christ.  The Solar Christ gives every resurrected Master his own level of objective reasoning.  And this is obtained through sacrifice, the way of the Christ: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”  Jonah recognizes the need to die, to hang Judas from the Tree.  This work is accomplished in the Ninth Sphere with the “cross” of the Lingam-Yoni.  Peter (the “Rock”, Philosophic Stone) is crucified upside down to indicate the need to descend into the Ninth Sphere, into one’s own particular Klipoth, to do the work of the cross.  This is the imperative purpose of the Human Soul, to comprehend the egos that live within the obscurity of one’s own psychology that express through the three brains (Intellectual, Emotional, Motor/Instinctive/Sexual), that they may be annihilated.

Only by dying in these elements does the Initiate perform the Will of the Being.  And only thus can one save the necessary energy in order to achieve the Intimate Self-realization of the Being.

9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

It is the Being (specifically the Divine Mother) that creates the vehicles of the soul and thus the Solar Mind.  It is easy for the Initiate to become identified with these vehicles, which bring him comfort (and in fact powers).  It is the ego that identifies and says, “These are mine.”  But these vehicles are created by the Being and belong to the Being.  They are created in the dark of night and born within the womb of Divine Mother.  Remember that Genesis occurs in darkness.  The germinating seed is buried within the darkness of the earth, the embryo is conceived within the darkness of the womb.  The Initiatic process also begins in darkness (of Ego), as does the Alchemical creation of the To Soma Heliakon.

But that which was born in darkness also perishes in darkness.  The darkness in which the Human Soul is gestated is also the darkness of the Animal Mind, the Ego.  Christ is born into the stable of the Animal Mind, as a light that shines through the darkness.  The darkness is the false “prince” of this age of Kali Yuga, the three headed Black Dragon (of the Apocalypse) that must be decapitated. The three heads are the three traitors that are carried within - the Demon of Desire (Judas), the Demon of the Mind (Pilate), and the Demon of Evil Will (Caiaphus).  It is imperative that these traitors must perish in the darkness faced by the bodhisattva in the descent into the Ninth Sphere, into the nine Dantesque regions of his own Inferno.

11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six-score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?”

The number six is a number related to the Human Soul (see Tree of Life).   The Human Soul is sent by his own particular Father Who is in Heaven, to do His Work.  He is given Ten Commandments (Twelve in Esotericism) to follow, as related with the Ten objective Sephiroth of the Tree of Life.   The Sixth Commandment is “Thou shalt not fornicate.”  This commandment is related to the Sixth Sephorah of the Tree of Life, Tiphereth (the Human Soul).  It is thus the primary Commandment of the Human Soul that seeks to do the Will of the Father.

It is important here to clarify the mistranslation of this Commandment appearing in many texts as “Thou shalt not commit adultery”.  The original Hebrew for the Sixth Commandment is read as “Lo ha Niap”.  “Niap” (Nun-Aleph-Peh) in an English-Hebrew Dictionary means “fornicate”.  Thus the correct translation of the complete phrase  “Lo ha Niap” is “Do not you Fornicate”.  The First Commandment of the Human Soul is not to fornicate.  This is why chastity is traditionally an important virtue encouraged in the religions of the world.  But chastity is again a term the meaning of which has been lost to the dictates of dogma.  Chastity does not mean celibacy.  Chastity means abstaining from the sexual spasm, not spilling the cup of Hermes. One who practices Alchemy (White Tantra) is chaste and remains a virgin despite sexual connection, conception, and birth. Chastity is not abstention from sexual connection; it is abstention from the orgasm.  When a couple is united sexually in chastity (Alchemy), the Holy Spirit (Binah) is the Third Witness of that union.  It is the fire of the Holy Spirit within the Waters of Yesod, the Ens Seminis, that truly baptizes the couple.

The number six is also related to the Sixth Arcanum, Indecision.  This Arcanum illustrates the Initiate (Human Soul) trapped between the choice of the virgin or the whore.  One will take him to religare (“unity”) with his Being while the other will lead him into the Abyss.  But he is ‘fallen’ as indicated by the downward facing triangle in the waters in which he stands.  Thus he is facing the whore indicating his penchant towards desire-sensation (of the ego), despite his intention to walk the Path, as indicated by the direction of his feet (toward the female Master/Divine Mother). As with the “six-score thousand persons of Ninevah” he wants to do what is right, but clouded by the ignorance of ego cannot discern between his left hand and his right hand. This is the one that wants God (Truth), but also wants that which is against God (greed, lust, pride, etc).  And this is the choice of the individual from moment to moment – to walk the narrow Path of the Being that leads to life or the broad path of the ego that leads to destruction (note the Angel of the Law in the Superior aspect of the Arcanum with weapon poised to deliver justice to the whore).

The fallen Human Soul, which is related to the number six in Tarot and Kabbalah fornicates in mind (6), heart (6), and action (6).

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six (666). - Revelation 13:18

And thus the First Commandment states,

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. - Mark 12:30

The number six-score thousand (120,000) is also a reference to The Apostolate, Arcanum Twelve (120,000 = 12).  The Apostolate hangs from the symbol of the earth to indicate that he is a slave to matter.  His body forms the symbol of the fallen - a cross (the sex) formed by his legs over a triangle (the Monad) formed by his arms.  This is a symbol that represents the sex dominating reason. The whole work of Arcanum Twelve is to invert the symbol until the triangle is above the cross: the Monad, reason, controlling the sex.  For this to occur the twelve must be transformed.  The means to do this lies within the number twelve itself (12 = 1 + 2 = 3, Binah = The Holy Spirit).  The wise use of the Holy Spirit within the waters of Yesod (as previously discussed) will convert the negative aspects of the fallen soul into the positive aspects of the Standing Man, the Human Soul.

The number six is again referenced within the inferior aspect of The Apostolate in a variation of the Seal of Solomon. The superior triangle, pointing upwards, represents the Trinity of the Logos.  The inferior triangle, pointing downwards, represents the three traitors of desire/action (Judas), mind (Pilate) and evil will (Caiaphas) – the antithesis of the Divine Triad.  The three coins that are falling from the bound hands of the Apostolate into the waters represent the values of the Logos that have been squandered through the misuse of the sex.  Remember the thirty (30 = 3) coins cast by Judas to the floor of the temple?  When foolishly squandered these values are converted into the three traitors of the intellect, emotions and actions.  But when wisely utilized through the science of Alchemy then one fabricates the brazen armor of the great heroes within the forge of Vulcan (the sex), announcing the Apocalypse of all that is against God (the three traitors, ego, etc.).    Thus the Seal of Solomon is depicted in the waters of Arcanum Twelve, to indicate the means to retrieve the lost coins, by descending into the Ninth Sphere - Alchemy. In this respect the Seal of Solomon is the Star of Bethlehem that guides the way to the Christ.

Why is the Lord God interested in the “cattle” of Ninevah (Jonah 4:11, above)?

Bodhisattvas, as incarnations of the Christ, are frequently depicted in the role of cowherd and/or shepherd.  The Hindu Savior Krishna is raised as a cowherd.  The Jewish Messiah Moses becomes a shepherd before his divine mission to Egypt. Abraham is a cowherd of vast property.  The Greek hero/Sun God Apollo, considered the patron defender of herds, serves as a cowherd for nine years (in addition to possessing his own immortal herd).  The Persian Savior Mithra, the “Good Cowherd”, is the giver and protector of cattle.  Jesus the Christ, the Great Kabir, refers to himself as “the Good Shepherd”.  The Celtic Christ, Belenus, is both a shepherd and cowherd.

The herds that are lovingly watched over by these fatherly Masters are the consciousness.  Externally, these Masters have assumed the responsibility of nurturing the consciousness of their students and disciples.

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. - John 10:16

Internally one’s own Divine Father, the superior aspect of the Monad, is responsible for the spiritual development of the consciousness.

My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. - John 10:29

The Divine Father, Chesed (“Mercy”), will not abandon the “cattle”, the consciousness, of Ninevah.  This means that He will not abandon the consciousness of His own faithful Human Soul (Jonah).  Nor will he abandon the faithful of those that He has sent his Human Soul to shepherd, the people of Ninevah.

All Saint's Day

When Jesus died, he cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” - Matt.27: 50-53           

The Day of The Dead or All Saints Day is celebrated on November 1st. It is an esoteric festivity for the triumphant dead; a celebration for those who have succeeded in dying in themselves, who have achieved the triumphant emergence from their Averno after their Halloween (holy evening).  Eliminating all of their ego these victorious ones have defeated their suffering (Karma) of their Being.  These are souls who, through the course of their Initiatic life, achieved religare (“union”) with their Internal God and who were not condemned to the Second Death or to the torment of the infernal worlds.

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (the Mind), the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).  - Ephesians 2:1-5

The victorious ones who overcome death do so by dying in those elements that make them “dead in trespasses and sins”, ego.  They defeat the “prince of the power of the air”.  The power of the air is the Mind.  The Mind is the power of the Satanic will of the Chief Feature, the “prince”.  It is through the Mind that “desires of the flesh”, gratification of the ego, are fulfilled.  Thus it is the Animal Mind, the stubborn mule, that must be conquered so that the Being may triumphantly ride it into the heavenly Jerusalem.  But in the “children of disobedience” (the current humanity) it is the donkey that rides on the back of the owner.

Conclusion

It is during the Autumnal season that all things hibernate, slow down, and die.  Life withdraws, contracts and is naturally drawn down into the earth.  And from this time until the Vernal Equinox the earth passes through a natural period of cleansing in preparation for the rebirth of Spring. Thus, this season provides an example that should be followed in the Initiatic process.

Hiram Abiff, of Masonic legend, lies entombed at the center of the earth, within the Ninth Sphere.  We must descend into our own psychological earth, to the depths of our own Klipoth, the Ninth Sphere of Neptune.  And through the wise use of the Ninth Sphere (Yesod, the sex), we must comprehend and annihilate the egos that reside in every infernal level of Klipoth.  Only then can Hiram (the Christ) be resurrected from his sepulcher (during Easter).

Halloween is a festivity that teaches us the importance of mystical death; the need to comprehend that the mind is isolated and under the domination of the unconscious shadows of the ego.

If we are able to recognize that we are not Buddhas, Angels, or Saints then we are able to change. Is it possible to become what we are not if we continue to grasp onto what we are? A seed cannot become a tree without first dying as a seed.  We cannot become angels if we do not die to what makes us demons. Within the mysteries of Halloween is not only the reminder of this lesson of death, but also the means to achieve it.  Halloween is therefore an esoteric and profound celebration not to be mistaken with the vulgar and degenerated holiday that is celebrated in this age of Kali Yuga.

May the light of the Christ illuminate our “pumpkins.”