Updated 9-26-24  

STAGE 4 MEDITATION – FIRE
The Holy of Holies of the Light World

THE KNOWLEDGE & LIVING SYMBOLISM OF STAGE 4

 

 

Truth is like a diamond with many facets; each facet is a complete, albeit, unique expression of the spiritual knowledge which seamlessly integrates with all the other facets to reveal the one Truth. In this example, the diamond represents the teachings of Christ from the New Testament. Each facet of this diamond is a unique view which has meaning for different people; it feeds their yearning and touches their heart in a particular way. Organized religion is one of those facets which has served its followers for many centuries despite its being fragmented into numerous denominations and belief systems with differing perspectives on Christ’s teachings.

 

There are many disciples of Christ, both past and present, who believe in the doctrine that there are “two churches:” the church of Peter and the church of John. This doctrine teaches that these will manifest as “two epochs:” namely, the epoch of Peter followed by the epoch of John. The doctrine teaches that the church of Peter is coming to an end, more or less, in particular, the papacy which is its visible symbol, and that the spirit of John, the disciple loved by the Master, will replace it. In this way it teaches that the “exoteric” church of Peter will make way for the “esoteric” church of John, which will be that of individual freedom.

 

The beloved disciple who listened to the beating of the Master’s heart was, is and always will be the representative and guardian of this heart. And, just as the heart is not called upon to replace the head, so John is not called upon to succeed Peter; his mission is to keep the life and soul of the Church alive until the Second Coming of the Lord. This is why John has never claimed and never will claim the office of directing the body of the Church. He vivifies this body, but does not direct its actions.  

 

There is a rich history of those who chose “the esoteric path,” like the: mystics, hermits and ascetics known as the Church Fathers. Over the centuries, there were also the alchemists, the Crusaders, and the Rosicrucians, to name a few, and even Spiritual Christians. The point is that each facet which truly follows Christ’s teachings represents a viable facet on the Christ diamond, each presenting a unique perspective of the One Truth.

 

Note to the Reader: Some people are wary at the mention of Tarot cards and I fully understand this. There are psychics who have denigrated these important teachings by turning them into a “divination parlor trick” making forecasts for unsuspecting people. This is not how they were meant to be used and God has warned people, especially in the Old Testament, to keep away from “spirits of divination.”

 

On this site, the teachings of the Tarot cards are used to reveal to the spiritual aspirant the individual pathways of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life which were configured into the archetypal and immortal Adamic body. These pathways are also within each human being on this planet. Learning about the Tree of Life through these cards will open new perceptions to higher dimensions within your True Self. See the diagram at the bottom of this page.   

 

Introduction

 

The ideal pathway for the spiritual aspirant is the slow and steady awakening to the inner teachings of the arisen Christ. Like the mysterious life-force which transforms an acorn into the reality of an oak tree, this awakening gradually moves us upward on the path to the realization of our true Self within. The spiritual transformation of our being and soul begins in the animal body with its primal instincts, impulses, and cravings as described in Stage 1. The elemental components of earth, water, air and fire, of which our physical body is comprised, are the same as the tree. The earth is its body, the water is its sap, the leaves exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide to breathe, and the fire or light of life in the tree is the mysterious agent of growth.

 

If we were to delve into the arcane mysteries of life, we would discover that all of elemental nature is simply an extension of the primordial, archetypal, Adamic nature-body God created in the beginning. The mineral kingdom (bones), the vegetable kingdom (vital system), and the animal kingdom (instinctual physical body) are all configured and sustained by the fire of the life-force. There is consciousness in each of these kingdoms: deep dreaming in the mineral; lucid dreaming in the vegetable; the animal kingdom is conscious, but humanity is the only kingdom that is self-conscious. All kingdoms originate from the primordial male/female Adamic body; and not the other way around.

 

The invisible life-force/spiritual light which animates our physical form and the world around us comes from the breath of life and the divine spark of light which was breathed into the nostrils of Adam. We live, move, and have our being in the mind, life, light and breath of our Father in Heaven. From the Father Creator, we have received intelligence, life-force, breath and spirit. The physical body would be a lifeless carcass if it were not for the breath of life within it; the breath of life is seamlessly interwoven with the spark of light God placed in our soul. Our individual soul is the breath of life in the body which circulates in our physical, psychic, mental and spiritual beingness while being fully imprinted by our life experiences in the 4-fold soul.

 

On the path of spiritual initiation, we begin in the substantial elemental body in Stage 1 and move upward to the less substantial psyche in Stage 2. It is in the less substantial where the invisible matrixes or forms of our bodies and the objects of the world exist in the watery psychic substance of the Form World (diagram below). The fluidity of the lower psychic realm is where dark desires, anxious thoughts, insecurities, and bodily urges are created from our unstable emotions; these intermingle and linger in the “contaminated” waters of the lower psychic mind below the diaphragm. (See: the Shadow-self)

 

 

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The ego-mind is stimulated and captivated by these physical and psychic energies and the psychic soul is contaminated by them. The focus of Stage 2 is purifying and cleansing the soul in order for it to be free from the dark and negative forces of the world. When the “infected” psychic soul is purified and free of these dark energies, only then can the higher cognitive (psychic/mental) awaken and realize the light energies above the diaphragm – the refined consciousness of the rarified, spiritual energies in the higher psychic of Stage 3 meditation.

 

In the Stage 3 heart center, the less substantial becomes transformed into the insubstantial. In this play on words, this simply means our animal soul has been purified and resurrected from the elemental nature-body and the psychic nature of the body-mind, and it is further purified as it enters into the Holy Fire and spiritual light of the Christ Spirit in the Sacred Heart.

 

Like the symbolism of the Phoenix rising from the ashes, the remaining imperfections, selfishness and willfulness of the ego-personality will be evaporated in this Holy Fire; this is not symbolic, but a reality one will welcome into their life experience. When the meditation in the Sacred Heart reaches its fullness, one is literally born into the Kingdom of Heaven in this world; this is the fulfillment of Christ’s teachings. This is what Jesus meant when He said we must die and be reborn; the body-mind, ego-mind and the chattering-mind are minimized so the true-Self emerges and becomes conscious and present.

 

“Ignore & disengage from the “chattering” ego-mind and focus the will on the silent presence of your
 unique individuality within the center of your being. This will reveal your true Self-Identity.”

 

Tree of Life Meditation

 

Stage 3 meditation focuses on integrating the personal-self with the higher psychic energies of the heart. Stage 4 is not about personal transformation; it is about totally letting go (mentally & emotionally detaching) of the ego-self and understanding what it is to JUST BE in the Divine Presence. Stage 4 is, in part, about the experience the Sacred Heart has with the spiritual centers in the brain (pineal, pituitary) as they become synchronistically intertwined; that is, one is “teaching the mind to feel and the heart to think.” These spiritualized energies seamlessly integrate the Light of Intelligence of the Father principle with the Love/Wisdom of the Mother principle and from this divine union emerges the Knowing-Self (Conscious Intuition). 

 

From my research, the Tree of Life is a dynamic symbol which is used to represent a variety of aspects of the human body and its spiritual potentials. The configuration of the Tree is also used as a means to express varying aspects of creation as well as spiritual states. An example of this (below) is the “lightning bolt” on the Sephiroth Tree representing the descent of life in the creation of the Human Tree. Christian Hermeticist use the symbolism of the Kabbalistic Tree with the 10 Sephiroth and 22 paths or channels (= the lines connecting the 10 sefirah spheres) which represent the aspects, qualities, and characteristics of God’s own nature manifested in the visible and invisible human form.

 

The Sephiroth are archetypal symbols representing the esoteric knowledge of humanity’s life experiences and the spiritual potential of human beings who are created with godly attributes. Each Sephirah is considered to be an emanation of the divine light energy which flows from the unseen world through Kether (Crown) into manifestation. This flow of light is indicated by the lightning flash shown on diagrams of the Sephirotic Tree which passes through each Sephirah in turn according to their enumerations.

 

 

 

The illustration below uses the symbolism of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life to understand the Human Tree of Life, especially in the spiritual Light World of Stage 4 where we focus on the awakening of DAATH. In the Kabbalah, this highest dimension is referred to as World of Emanation. The Kabbalistic Tree of Life is one of the oldest revelatory teachings which still has the unbroken documentation from its original source. This was given to the Hebrew people long ago, but in more modern times, it has been fully embraced by Christians; this body of teachings is referred to as Christian Hermeticism.

 

The 10 Sephiroth are the primary framework contained in the Kabbalistic Tree and the Human Tree which reside in the spiritual dimensions of Emanation, Creation, Form, and the physical world of Action. The diagram below is the Kabbalistic Tree of Life configured with the male and female Sephiroth aligned as the right and left pillars respectively; the middle pillar is androgynous – male/female untied. In this case, the Sephirotic Tree is used to explain the relationship of the male/female attributes, the union or synthesis of these polarities, and how they benefit us spiritually as described in Stage 4 Meditation.

 

 

Each Sephirah is a nexus of divine energy that emanates a variety of attributes which are relative to the World in which it rests. These attributes enable the Kabbalist to perceive and to utilize the differing symbols and characteristics of each particular Sephirah or to ascertain the knowledge when two Sephiroth of opposite polarities are in alignment in the same World; this is the same strategy used in the different stages of meditation. The most powerful alignment is in the masculine and feminine pillars with each being comprised of three Sephiroth which originate and flow from KETHER (Crown); the forces of the two pillars join together in YESOD (Foundation) in the creation of the material world called MALKUTH (Kingdom) in the World of Action.

 

The 22 paths or channels on the Tree of Life are progressive steps of spiritual initiation revealed in the esoteric understanding of the 22 cards of the Major Arcana of the Tarot; each card represents one of the lines. (For those who are interested in the cards & their paths, see the diagram at bottom of page.) The living symbolism of each card represents the gradual unfoldment of the spiritual path for the individual aspirant. The symbolism of the Tree of Life along with meditation practice reveals the relationship of these pathways which open consciousness to the sublime states of our divine origin.

 

 

The archetypal symbolism of the Tree of Life represents many different states or levels of: the creation, the cosmos, the galaxy, the solar system and the 4 worlds of human experience in the Adamic body. The 4 worlds represent the descent of the Life-force into the human world (Kingdom) that corresponds to the 4 stages of meditation which is the ascent of the Life-force up the central channel; explained on this site. Coincidentally, these stages of meditation were created about 15 years before I began studying the Kabbalah. Since that time, the Kabbalah has seamlessly integrated itself into these meditation teachings like two facets of the diamond which are in perfect alignment with one another.

 

In the Kabbalah, the practice of meditation is called KAVANA which means profound meditation. This is the same as Stage 4 meditation which focuses on uniting Will and Intuition (DAATH) by focusing and holding the Christ Light on Daath to awaken and make intuition conscious. The symbolism of the Sephiroth in the Tree of Life represents the original matrix or blueprint of the primordial, etheric male/female soul of Adam which is the same soul matrix animating the physical form humanity now embodies. One soul, but there are unique life experiences and psychic/mental/physical expressions in each individual soul making the One soul seem like many; we humans are like snowflakes, all different, but the same.

 

This is the same primordial Adamic body/soul Jesus embodied for his mission in the material world two thousand years ago. Jesus the Christ redeemed this “fallen body” of humanity by taking on the sins, darkness and violence of collective humanity and allowing for His life to be sacrificed so the sins of humanity were absolved. Through His sacrifice, all the souls of humanity who believed in Him and the teachings He shared were/are given the opportunity to begin anew by the forgiveness of their sins and the purification of their souls. In reality, the “Fall” occurred prior to the terrestrial life of mankind; the original sin was committed by souls in Eden so the physical body had nothing to do with it.

 

“For to worship God in thought and spirit with singleness of heart, to revere God in all his works,
and to give thanks to God, whose will, and his alone, is wholly filled with goodness

 - this is the philosophy unsullied by intrusive cravings for unprofitable knowledge.”

Hermes Trismegistus

 

DAATH and the Tree of Life

 

The profound meditation of Stage 4 endeavors to probe the depths of the sublime World of Emanation and to gain access to this deep silence within by means of sympathy, rather than through the exercise of one’s own logical, analytical mind. This is explained in Christ and Sophia by Valentin Tomberg, “This happens when the head’s imaginative thinking descends to the area of breathing. It does not lose clarity and precision, but acquires the quality of consciously following the cosmic lines, or currents, of thought that flow through a person and become clear, well-defined figures. This is the function of the perceptive force whose central currents are in the area of the larynx.” This is what makes it possible for people to perceive spiritual truths directly.

 

As represented in the diagram above and the one below, this means focusing on the balance point between the masculine principle and the feminine principle; between the Light of Intelligence and Wisdom in the Light World of Emanation. In the middle pillar is DAATH or Intuition, i.e., where acquired and acquirable knowledge of created forms and latent and actualized knowledge of Life merge. This is referred to as intelligence illumined by grace – grace being the principle actualizing within us latent knowledge of the image and likeness of God.

 

In the second diagram above, there are four Sephiroth present on the middle pillar: KETHER (Crown), TIPHERETH (Beauty), YESOD (Foundation) and MALKUTH (Kingdom). When looking at the Sephiroth Tree, one might be inclined to think there should be another Sephirah in the center of the upper hexagon, which in fact, there is. This is the location of the sphere of DAATH which means Knowledge or Intuition, the child of CHOKMAH and BINAH. However, it is not shown in the Tree for it represents a higher dimensional knowledge which must be drawn from the whole Tree.

 

This particular unification represents the Great Work which must be accomplished by humankind. It is the universal plan for all seekers to discover their equivalence for themselves in order that each may become a conscious cooperator in the Divine Scheme of Creation. Therefore, we find an “Abyss” in which there is no direct link between CHOKMAH and BINAH. So, ironically, DAATH is nowhere to be found on the Sephiroth Tree.

 

However, DAATH (Conscious Intuition) is represented as an incomplete Sephirah or even as a mirage and frequently, it is totally missing from the Sephiroth Tree. The spiritual mystery surrounding DAATH, especially for the Christian aspirant, cannot be under-estimated, for it is the highest spiritual state to be experienced in Christian meditation. The experience of the “Knowing Self” or conscious intuition is something to be created by the individual aspirant through profound meditation; it is to be brought to life and awakened through the focused Will as a newly arisen Sephiroth on the Tree of Life.

 

The spiritual aim of the school of Kabbalah is the same as that of Christian Hermeticism; it is the task of consciously realizing intuition. In reality, intuition emerges in meditation from the union or “alchemical marriage” of the Father/Mother principles of creation; awakened intuition is the “pearl of great price” spoken of in Matt 13:46. In life, the life-force emanating from KETHER flows in the human body through the middle pillar as artistic or aesthetic creativity in the solar plexus or TIPHERETH (Beauty) and/or as love between the sexes in the root chakra or YESOD (Foundation).

 

However, for the spiritual aspirant, there is a third type of union of Intelligence and Wisdom – it is the Gnostic union which is the conscious awakening of DAATH or Conscious Intuition. This occurs as the aspirant achieves complete fusion or marriage of the principles of Intelligence/Wisdom and Reason/Conscience (Rightness). Thus, the feminine principles of wisdom and conscience unite with the masculine principles of the Light of Intelligence and reason, perceiving sympathetically, the synthesis which awakens the I AM or conscious intuition – intelligence illumined by grace.

 

 

 

 

The Stage 4 diagram below is a representation of the Human Tree of Life. It represents the manifestation of the life-force and spiritual potential in the individual human being which also expresses in the dual-polarity of masculine/feminine or active/passive columns of: Self-Knowledge/Self-identity; Reason/Conscience; Desire/Feeling and the “foundation point” of the Body/Body-mind. This is my diagram, integrating knowledge from Thinking and Destiny with the Kabbalistic Tree of Life as well as meditation insights. The previous stages of meditation prepare the aspirant for Stage 4; in Stage 4, simply focus and hold the Light of Intelligence/Wisdom in the area of larynx and be open to new insight from the Holy Spirit.  

 

 

The Great Arcana

 

The Hermetic tradition teaches the existence of three Great Arcana which are the cross-channels between the male/female pillars in the World of Emanation, Creation and Formation. There are twenty-two channels joining the ten Sephiroth in the Sephirotic Tree (left diagram). Beyond the ten Sephiroth, special significance is attached to the three “crossing-points” on the middle pillar of horizontal channels with the vertical channels (right diagram).

 

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ST. ANDREW’S CROSS

 

These three crossing-points (image on right above), each marked in the scheme by a St. Andrew’s cross, indicate the “metaphysical or psychological points” where the three tasks named “Great Arcana” are to be realized.* These same points represent the transformational work in the stages of meditation on this site: Stage 1 (Body-Mind), Stage 2 (Lower psychic), Stage 3 (Sacred Heart), and Stage 4 (The Holy of Holies) respectively.

 

The first Great Arcanum called the “Great Magical Arcanum” is situated at the crossing-point of the horizontal channel joining the Sephiroth NETZACH (Victory) and HOD (Glory), and the vertical channel joining TIPHERETH (Beauty) and YESOD (Foundation). It belongs to the World of Formation.

 

The second Great Arcanum, the “Arcanum of Moral Geniality,” is situated at the crossing point of the horizontal channel joining the Sephiroth GEBURAH (Judgment) and CHESED (Mercy) and, and the vertical channel joining KETHER (Crown) and TIPHERETH (Beauty). It belongs to the World of Creation.

 

The third Great Arcanum, that of geniality in the domain of knowledge, the “Gnostic Arcanum” is situated at the crossing-point of the horizontal channel joining the Sephiroth CHOKMAH (Intelligence) and BINAH (Wisdom) [from the A.E. Waite Sephiroth], and the vertical channel joining KETHER (Crown) and TIPHERETH (Beauty). It is the state of consciousness that Kabbalists call DAATH, that the Hindu yogis call Samadhi, and that we call here Intuition. It belongs to the World of Emanation, i.e., the sphere of divine respiration, the sphere of the Holy Spirit.

 

The Great Magical Arcanum is therefore the center of the cross formed by the current “Inspired Elevation – Certainty of Knowledge” and the current “Beauty – Love.” It is a matter, therefore, of the task of realizing the marriage of the creative fire of imagination with the limpid clarity of the waters of thought in the current which goes out from Beauty and ends in Love.

 

The Great Arcanum of the moral life is the center of the cross formed by the binary “Magnanimity – Justice” in the current “Divine Radiation – Beauty.” It is a matter of the realization of the marriage of the charity which pardons all and everything with the judgment of strict justice in the current which emanates from divine Essence and arrives at the realization of Beauty.

 

The Great Arcanum of knowledge is the center of the cross formed by the binary “Wisdom – Intelligence” in the current “Divine Radiation – Beauty.” It is a matter of the realization of the marriage of revelation from above with argumentative intelligence based on experience.

 

The three Great Arcana of the tradition are therefore three crosses formed by the vertical middle pillar and three horizontal channels on the Sephiroth Tree. This is why the triple cross is the traditional symbol of complete initiation, and this is also why the title Trismegistus (“thrice greatest”) is attributed to the founder of Hermeticism, the author of the Emerald Table.

 

Much has been written on the gnostic, moral and magical Great Arcana, and now I am making my contribution; no doubt still more will be written in the future. What is being presented here is simply a matter of applying a system of meditation on the Great Arcanum to the marriage of Intelligence and Wisdom in the context of the two other Great Arcana of the tradition. For the three Great Arcana are, truth to tell, only three aspects on three planes of one single Great Arcanum of the marriage of opposites in the head, in the heart and in the will.

 

In other words, it is a matter of three aspects of the sole Great Arcanum of the Cross, since it is always the cross which realizes the marriage of opposites including that of the formal knowledge of intelligence and the material knowledge due to revelation from above. Intuition is the fruit of the gradual transmutation of intelligence which has put its light at the disposal of the whisperings of wisdom. The gnostic aspect of the Great Arcanum of the “marriage of opposites,” is thus the transmutation of Intelligence which is occupied with the “how” of things into an intuitive organ which is occupied with the “what” of things. It is, at the same time, the transformation of the revelation of Wisdom from beyond the threshold of intelligence into intelligible language and communications that can be assimilated by the intelligence.

 

In other words, the unconscious, instead of shocking intelligence, allies itself with it, penetrates it, and becomes luminous within it. But this takes place only after the more-or-less long and painful experience of the crucifixion of consciousness on the cross formed by the pair of opposites: subjectivity – objectivity (the vertical pillar), and the pair of opposites: intelligence – unconscious wisdom (the horizontal). It is this cross where the gradual approach, alliance and, eventually, the union of intelligence and unconscious wisdom is affected. At the beginning of this process intelligence and unconscious wisdom have so little in common that communication between them is reduced almost entirely to dreams, i.e., to the state of consciousness where intelligence, although present, is most passive.

 

When and if this communication is extended to the waking state, the language of communication then becomes that of symbols including the 22 paths of the Tarot. As intelligence and wisdom consciously evolve to the degree of mutual comprehension, they will understand directly without the intermediary of dreams and symbols. It is only then that their union is achieved, i.e., that the state of consciousness called “in-tuition” (or inner-teaching) or what Cabbalists identify with DAATH, is attained.

 

 

John 16:23, “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give to you.”

                                                                                                                        

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~ There are occasions when we lose that perfect clarity and stillness which brought us to the Holy of Holies; this means the small flame which is in the heart’s center is disturbed and flickering. When this occurs we must return to the Sacred Heart until we find peace and clarity of the Christ Light once again. The heart and brain are synchronistically united; the small flame in the heart represents the Christ Light in the brain. Only when the flame in the heart is steady and peaceful again can one cross the abyss and return to the Light world and the Divine Presence. Teach your heart to think and your mind to feel.

 

I Thank the Beautiful Presence

To the north, south, east and west, and in all the spaces and corners of my home,
I breathe the exhalation of the universe and I know I am not alone,
And in this wondrous atmosphere, I walk on sacred ground,
Remembering and feeling thankful the world is spinning round.
O, how wondrous to ponder how the light is inhaled even in the dark,
To open up my mind and adjust the crosshairs of my heart;
And to give my soul direction which is beyond time and place,
So, that even with no coordinates, I feel the presence of grace.
Then, as peace, hope and oneness infuse every single, grateful breath,
Love adjusts my altitude, and I know there is no death.
Then, I thank my stars, I have one foot tethered to the sacred ground,
As I float as long as I can, so gently spinning around,
Inhaling the holy universe into my little temple-home,
Thanking the beautiful presence which tells me, I am not alone.
 

 

 

 

 

 

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Note: Intelligence is very different from intellect. Intellect is an outward-looking instrument of the ego-personality which focuses on analyzing objective reality, breaking it down into individual pieces attempting to understand these pieces endlessly. The “Light of Intelligence” is higher Intelligence of the Divine World.

* Paraphrased from (An open-sourced book) Meditations on the Tarot by Anonymous (Valentin Tomberg)