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I - The MagicianThe ConnectorDescription of the Illustration:An impressive image of the planet Mercury with an all-knowing face is surrounded by eight doves and raised upon a dais before an awed audience who listens with rapt attention as he instructs them, vaguely reminiscent of "The Wizard of Oz". Off to the left and partially concealed behind a curtain is the messenger god Hermes, the creator of the illusion of the god-like Mercurian image. Hermes is in disguise himself, for although he holds his caduceus and wears his characteristic winged sandals and hat, he has added the wings to the tuxedo and black top hat of a common street magician. The upper left sphere is orange (Hod) while the lower right sphere is divided into four equal colors of russet, navy, citrine, and olive (Malkuth). Element: Air, Androgynous
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II - The High PriestessThe InitiatrixDescription of the Illustration:A Hindu woman, reminiscent of the goddess Shakti, squats as though birthing. On her forehead is the Silver Star. Below her is her manifestation, the Qabalistic Tree of Life to which she has just given birth. Surrounding her is the cycle of the moon - on the left the new moon, above the waxing half moon, the full moon to the right, and the waning half moon below the Tree of Life. Behind her are nine stars of the Star Universe. The upper left sphere is Orange (Hod) while the lower right sphere is purple (Yesod). Element: Water, Feminine The Ordinary World...Early Experiences, Enemies and Allies, Programming and ConditioningThe Fool incarnates into the Ordinary World with a few “spiritual governors” already in place. The first is the duality of opposites; the second is the struggle of power, will, and knowledge over intuition, truth, and understanding.The Magician and the High Priestess initiate the Fool into the duality of existence, for one of the first laws of the material universe is that as soon as we name some aspect of a polar experience, we invoke its opposite. (Only in the Purities or Virtues of life do we discover an escape from duality, for you can only undo or contaminate a Purity—it has no opposite.) The Animus...Within each of us there is the animus, the inner male personality. This is The Magician who introduces the Fool to the transmissive, positive (often called masculine) side of existence—the world of action through creative force and intellect.The Magician points the Way to controlling the Four Elements through the Higher Will, and is the representative of Chokmah on Earth, the True Man. However, the Fool cannot yet perceive The Magician in himself, and so begins to seek outside himself for a dim reflection, finding only the apparency of a grand illusionist rather than the power of his True Will. The Anima...The High Priestess, on the other hand, is the anima, the inner female personality; it is she who tutors the Fool in the passive, negative (sometimes called feminine) side of existence—the womb of his dark, unconscious potential that waits for the active principle to spark it into manifestation.She is the pure muse of the Fool’s True Self upon his subconscious mind, and contains both the monsters that the Fool most fears as well as the mysteries that he longs to grasp. She is able to initiate the Fool into the mysteries of Nuit (the Star Universe), but her secrets are trapped in the Fool’s subconscious, waiting for the Fool to birth and bring them to life.
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