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The Syzygy Oracle: Transformational Tarot and The Tree of Life

Ego, essence and the evolution of consciousness

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

CHAPTER 1

Initiating

Theme: I trust

Mantra: Breathe in trust, breathe out fear

Archetype: The Initiate

Mentor: Eve and the apple

Essential Oil: Lemon and Peppermint

Traditional Deck: 0, The Fool

Hebrew Letter/Number and Words relevant to the spiritual journey

The first Hebrew letter/number Alef is without sound. It resembles two yuds, divided yet connected by a diagonal vav. One is a mirror image of the other, just as we, spiritual beings on a human journey, reflect the Divine. The spark of godliness that resides within each living being connects us continually with our Wellspring and Source, as we manifest our innate essence in the world. As the two yuds are connected through the dividing bridge, we too are forever connected to Divinity.

As the first letter and number of the alphabet, Alef represents the excitement of new beginnings and invites bold courage, heroism, individuality, and self-determination. Alef celebrates curiosity. It is the first step into the exploration, invention and leadership required to move into the Mystery.

Alef is one. Silent, it is the breath without which life is not possible. Its numerical significance is Oneness, the original state from which we each emerge and into which we all return. From the darkness and silence of 'no-thingness' all is created with light.

Hebrew words starting alef:

echad (one) emunah (faith) ahavah (love) or (light)

Card 1, Alef, Initiating: Image and Story

At the start of any journey we meet The Initiate. In the course of a lifetime as our spiritual evolution and transformation occurs, The Initiate emerges many times. Her message is about reclaiming the inner 'Eve' described in the prolog—the curiosity, courage and trust that resides within every human being. With little awareness of where she is going or what awaits her, with an innocent naiveté and a sense of adventure, she begins anew and steps into 'reality'—unaware that her belief system provides the foundation of her experience during the earthly sojourn. Her every thought, feeling, and action is based on her belief and intention, which then color her perception of her own reality.

The Initiate chooses to experience life in human form with the goal of bringing Divinity to physicality, and as she does so, her experiences and perceptions become part of the Akashic Record of all that was, is and shall be. She agrees to move temporarily out of the unity of Oneness, flowing through the veil of illusionary separation and into the material world. It is here she will bring her personal unconsciousness into full awareness, as her offering to Divinity.

As all things are birthed in the mysterious darkness of nothingness, she emerges before the dawn of a new day. Behind her, twenty-two beams of light, each of a different hue, represent the twenty-two pathways on her journey. She resonates with the luminescence of the moon and will always be deeply affected by it. Emerging from Kairos before night gives way to day, before the mystery recedes into the bright light of the sun, she prepares to step into Chronos. She will learn to find balance between light and dark as she walks the borderland of consciousness. Gifted with freewill, she will discover how to balance individual choice and communal responsibility. In all things, she will need to be able to both graciously give and to receive.

Naked and without artifice, she steps forward into the night from the cave of her beginnings—the letter alef that decorates its outer walls reflect the glow of the fiery center of the Earth. She brings her unique energy into being. In her right hand of consciousness, she holds a crystal ball that, at the start of her journey, projects the image of the apple. As she progresses, it will reflect changing symbols for her intuitive awakening. In her left hand, she carries the wand of transformation, crystal terminals at both ends, connecting her with the world of spirit and the world of materiality that she now bridges.

Her necklace has four beads, each bearing one of the Hebrew letters of the Holy Tetragrammaton—YHVH, the key to the UnNameable Essence in whose image we are created. Each bead represents the sanctity of one of Four Worlds of Intuition/Intention, Thought, Feeling and Action. These four realms, here colored purple, blue, red and green interweave constantly, creating reality, represented by the intermeshed four circles of cycles on to which she steps.

Archetypal Mentor

Eve, as described in the prolog, is the first female archetype of western culture. Reclaimed and revealed as heroic, she is the archetype of The Initiate. Eve brings her gifts of naiveté, openness, hope, trust, curiosity, courage, faith, joy, adventure and anticipation. She knows that she is blessed in all things and that her curiosity is what moves the human story forward, just as Divinity intends her to do when she is ready. She knows that she is never alone—even after leaving the Garden to experience life in the physical realm.

Dancing in her footsteps, following the clues of coincidence and synchronicity, we are able to access the deeper significance of all events. Her confidence and courage comes from knowing that she is fortified with intuition, imagination and inspiration. She has access to many powerful archetypal figures that support, encourage and guide her on her journey.

Pathway

The pathway assigned to Initiating travels between Spark and Wisdom. From this realm, we access intuition, intention, inspiration and imagination—all portals to the wisdom of the ages. We have at our disposal these powerful tools to assist our living consciously and creatively in every moment. As children, we walk the path of wonder and awe, exuberant with the sheer joy of being in a human body. As adults we can recapture those feelings and memories that encourage new discoveries in every moment. Everything is alive and wondrous.

Summary

Step boldly into the Mystery. Don't believe everything you think. Know that all is possible. Trust that everything unfolds as it should.

Questions

1 What do you believe to be true?

2 Do you believe curiosity is a blessing?

3 What is emerging for you now?

4 How do you strengthen your courage?

Meditation

Consider the translations of the following Hebrew words that begin with alef. What do these words mean to you?

One echad

Faith emunah

Love ahavah

Light or

Select one of the words to think about today. Journal your thoughts and feelings. What symbols represents the word for you?

Ralph Waldo Emerson teaches: "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."

When doing anything for the first time, or starting something again that we have not done for some time, we are taught to say:

Blessed are you, Sacred Wellspring of All Life, who has supported us, protected us and brought us to this moment. Amen

The Shehechiyanu, adapted from The New Union Prayer Book

CHAPTER 2

Focusing

Theme: I believe

Mantra: Breathe in possibility, breathe out limitation

Archetype: The Magus

Mentor: The Fairy Godmother and the wand

Essential Oil: Rosemary

Traditional Deck: 1, The Magician

Hebrew Letter/Number and Words relevant to the spiritual journey

The second Hebrew letter/number Bet is pronounced as it appears. Its shape resembles a combination of three vavs, reminiscent of a box that opens on the left. As the first letter of the Torah, it is as a portal from which the sacred text emerges. We read Hebrew from right to left, so this initial bet is a cornucopia from which all wisdom flows.

In Hebrew, bet means 'house,' grounded on the earth. It reminds us that as we ground ourselves in the physical realm of Chronos during our earthly incarnation, the home of our Soul remains in Kairos—in the once-upon-a-time, vertical dimension of the Eternal Now. Just as the letter shape of bet is open, we need to remain open to the intuitive as we root ourselves firmly on Mother Earth.

Bet suggests blessings abound and as we focus on those we presently enjoy, we find ways to express our appreciation, so inviting abundance into our lives.

Bet, as the number 2, is a reminder of the duality-based reality of the physical world, essential for our ability to choose. In our decision-making process, as we mature spiritually, we learn to trust our gut feelings in making the best choices for the highest good of all concerned.

Hebrew words starting with bet:

b'rachah (blessing) binah (wisdom) boreh (create) brit (covenant)

Card 2, Bet, Focusing: Image and Story

This is the card that reminds us we bridge two worlds, one revealed, the other concealed. Duality offers alternatives, the prerequisite for being able to continually make the choices required to exercise our freewill as we navigate our way through physicality. Our decisions reflect both our level of awareness and our beliefs. The Magus reminds us that we can accomplish whatever we believe to be possible. In touch with her and her realm of the intuitive, we constantly reinvest enchantment into the seemingly mundane world.

The gift she offers is two-fold—firstly, an ability to focus and become aware of what we believe; secondly, the ability to magically manifest miracles. We are capable of doing so much more than we believe we can. The Magus reminds us that where attention goes, our energy flows. As we always focus on something, she invites us to become conscious of where our attention is being placed. We learn that in order to creatively manifest, we need to attend to the present moment and the task at hand. She stands between Chronos and Kairos—the latter, the timeless, symbolic realm of imagination, myth, and metaphor and the former, the linear, structured world of logic and rationality where time is measured by clock and calendar. We need both to live our lives fully. The Magus inspires us to constantly draw the intuitive down into our everyday lives.

Above her, appear two triple-ringed, eighteen-pointed portals. In Hebrew, eighteen is the symbol for chai (life.) Here, two of these stars represent the dualities between which we walk as we create our own reality—light and darkness, life and death. The triple rings represent the three- dimensional reality of which we are presently aware. On her head, her double spiral crown at the level of the third eye, reminds us that our possibilities are endless, limited only by our imagination.

The double-terminal wand that bridges the visible and invisible is in her right hand of consciousness, drawing down the energies of transformation. Co-creators with Divinity, with the aid of The Magus, we learn to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Her left hand points to the Earth, the sacred space on which we dwell. In her magic cauldron that floats above the ground are the four elements—fire, air (wind), water and earth (crystals) representing the Four Worlds of Intuition/Intention, Thought, Feeling and Action. By blending their energies in different combinations, magic is possible as we create our own reality. The quiet majesty of her presence reminds us to be fully aware in each moment, to focus in stillness on the miraculous that surrounds us.

Flowing within the waters of the cauldron, are the letters of the alphabet and the basic geometric shapes—the point, circle, line, triangle and rectangle—building blocks of the thoughts, images and words that shape our personal worldview. The Magus reminds us that just as the stream of water flows from the cauldron, spiritual awareness flows around us, ready to nurture our every creative imagining. She teaches that things are not always as they appear, even in bright sunlight. In this card, the patterned background almost disappears into a darkness that is not empty. It is filled with possibility and potential awaiting our creative attention and play. The fabric of her robe, as well as the walls of the cauldron are enhanced with the same designed grid of the letter bet that fills the darkness. Where does one thing end and another begin?

In the emotional realm too, things may not be as they seem. To our young and evolving egos it may not be obvious that emotional pain is the signal that we may not be seeing things in their fullness. We rush to judgment, forgetting that what we believe to be real is merely a belief pattern. Clinging to a belief can cause pain. Allowing discomfort just to be, can be the source of its dissolution. Pain is the reminder to call on the transformative magic of The Magus within. She invites us to focus on the magical tools we have at our disposal—the fire of intention to create anew; the waters of thought, spring of creative reasoning; the winds of emotion, which blow away the cobwebs of what was, introducing new possibilities from which to choose; and the faceted crystals of the dimension of action—the elements of the physical world that await our shaping. We learn to visualize, to expect and to accept in gratitude. It all begins in the realms of fire—the level of intuition/intention that is the basis of every thought, feeling and action we experience and which sets in motion the results for which we are responsible.

Archetypal Mentor

The Fairy Godmother is an aspect of the Sacred Feminine we easily recognize from our stories and fairytales. As we mature, she still dwells somewhere within us as a dependable source of strength and support, responding when we need her comforting embrace. Seemingly like magic, she appears in many forms when we call. Perhaps a friend stops by, or we overhear a stranger's words in the supermarket. Sometimes, we unintentionally open a book on a particular page or really take note of the words of a song we have heard without listening many times in the past. She appears in visions and dreams as well. When we feel confused or abandoned, she provides the recognition that each of us craves. She reminds us that anything is possible. To sense her, all we need is become aware of her presence and take heed of what she offers. She soothes and encourages, suggesting alternative ways of viewing present circumstances. From her, we learn to attend to and honor our own gut feelings, hunches and dreams. She invites us to take note of all synchronicities, serendipities and coincidences. An angelic presence, she reminds us we can always take shelter beneath the wings of the Shechinah—the immanent and feminine face of the Divine.

Pathway

The pathway of Focusing runs between Spark and Harmony, emanating from the point of light and order as it enters the chaotic darkness and moves directly to the heart of the Tree. All things are possible when we still the mind and turn inwards to hear the intuitive whispers flowing from the sefirah, Spark. Paying attention to the inner voice will lead us to harmony as we evolve in consciousness and pay heed to the intuitive. In early childhood, fairy tales and myths are magically alive for us as we revel in the truth we hear beyond the words. These stories fill us with wonder and enchantment. Open to the spiritual realm, we recognize its animating force in nature and the animal, mineral and plant realms. As we become attuned to the physical world, we forget what we once knew and as adults need reminders, so that we can focus our attention beyond the mundane.

Summary

Our beliefs circumscribe our reality. Nothing is quite as it appears on the surface. Energy flows where attention goes. Focus on what you are trying to accomplish.

Questions

1 What rituals bring you into the present moment?

2 How do your thoughts shape your belief?

3 What is your portal into enchantment?

4 How does intuition feature in your life?

Meditation

Consider the translations of the following Hebrew words that begin with bet. What do these words mean to you?

Blessing b'rachah

Wisdom binah

Create boreh

Covenant brit

Select one of the words to think about today. Journal your thoughts and feelings. What symbols represents the word for you?
(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Syzygy Oracle: Transformational Tarot and The Tree of Life by Heather Mendel. Copyright © 2012 Heather Mendel. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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