Читать книгу Tarot and the Medici Patience. Grimoire - Petr Krylov - Страница 23

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Thus, as mentioned in the previous chapter, all things in this world are composed of four fundamental (for the sake of simplicity) primal energies of the Elements—Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Meanwhile, each energy, upon every level (from the physical to the Divine), manifests, embodies, is interpreted, and depicted in the most myriad ways.

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Here’s the situation.

Let us take, for example, a word like 'cat.'

This word boasts a perfectly concrete and unambiguous spelling.

Yet in our world, it refers to dozens of species and billions of felines. And they often look nothing alike. Compare, for instance, the Sphynx cat—more reminiscent of a rat—to, say, a lynx.

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Rice Cats, courtesy of a search on Pixabay.com.²⁵¹

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Naturally, having lived many years and encountered hundreds of cats in your lifetime, each of you can unerringly recognize a cat, whatever form it may take.

But suppose you had never set eyes on this object before. Would you be able to recognize it in a new disguise?

For instance, what sort of device do you see in this picture?

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And in this one?

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How about this one?

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This one?

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This one?

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This one?

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And finally—this one?

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What do all these images have in common?

Curiously enough, all of them are computers.

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From top to bottom: a mechanical arithmometer, a computer from the '70s, a computer from the '80s, Stonehenge, the Pyramid of Chichen Itza, the planet Earth from space, the spiral galaxy M31, and, at last, a modern computer.

Naturally, everyone recognized the modern computer. After all, they've seen it countless times and have been told, over and over, 'This is a computer.'

But when it comes to its other variants and incarnations—especially when you throw scale into the mix—not everyone would be so quick on the uptake.

Yet, all the objects paraded above, when viewed from a certain angle, are encapsulated by a single word: 'computer.'

How, you might ask, could such a marvel come to pass?

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The division of the Elements into ten Denomination-digits by level of strength (which are, in fact, dimensions of an object or event) allows for the most diverse array of things to be symbolized in a code of numbers and symbols.

For instance, to describe ALL objects or events in the Universe.

From a grain of sand to the Universe itself, from the dance of an atom to the Act of God's Creation.

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For example, on the physical level, one might use the following symbolic interpretations:

1 – a push, an impulse, a solitary object, the initial spark.

2 – interaction between objects.

3 – a system of objects.

4 – nature, naturalness, a simple form.

5 – a Portal, a Wicket, a source.

6 – circulation, exchange.

7 – harmony, balance, equilibrium, purification.

8 – resilience, an intricate composite form.

9 – completion, mastery, perfection.

10 – transition to a new level, transformation.

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Let us explore the manifestations of symbols such as numbers across several layers. Since our world is governed by the decimal system, these are the numbers from 1 to 10.

For simplicity's sake, let us contemplate them through five principal levels of energy. We shall journey from the energy of the Lands to the energy of Metal.

Their corresponding interpretations, for example, might appear as follows:

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For those seeking deeper insight and more elaborate interpretations, one might, for example, peruse the magnum opus of Avessalom Podvodny—'Kabbalah of Numbers.'260

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Any object, beyond being viewed in terms of Denominations, may also be considered through the prism of various projections upon the Elemental Cube. That is, the projections of an object upon such Elements as Earth, water, Fire, Air, Life, and Death.

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'Rabbits—it's not just about the premium fur!'

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Let us, for our amusement, consider the classic comedic vignette by A. Moiseenko and A. Danilets.261

In this vignette, we playfully toy with a simple idea through humor.

The very same object—a rabbit, for instance—can be seen from entirely different vantage points.

For example, a rabbit is not just a fine pelt, but also two or three kilograms of dietary meat.

Yet jesting aside, let us take a more systematic approach to our rabbit, examining it through all six Elements of the Elemental Cube.

Here, the Elemental Cube is a six-faced cube, each facet representing a plane of the Elements—Earth, water, Fire, Air, Life, and Death.

A gentle reminder for the newcomers:

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The Element Earth is coarse matter and everything connected with it;

The Element of Water is the realm of feelings, emotions, memory, and all that is bound to them;

The Element of Fire holds sway over thoughts, will, ideas, and all that walks in their company;

The Element of Air governs the realm of possibilities, chance, structures, and the future in all its branching multiplicity;

The Element of Life reveals the universe in the forms of birth, growth, and becoming;

The Element of Death is the sphere where the Universe reveals itself through fading, aging, degradation, and decay.

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Fig. Games of light, games of shadow. All objects are apparitions.²⁶²263

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Then, if we consider the rabbit:

from the viewpoint of the Element Earth – it is meat, fur, entrails, bones, blood – all that is material and can be felt by hand;

from the viewpoint of the Element water – it is a toy, perhaps a friend, an amusing and endearing creature;

from the viewpoint of the Element Fire – the rabbit is the living embodiment of the instinct to be forever gnawing on something;

Through the lens of the Element Air, the rabbit is a geometric progression of creatures, ever-adapting to their habitat;

Through the lens of the Element Life, the rabbit is an irresistible force of multiplication and survival; Should you doubt this—simply google the fate of rabbits in Australia;264

Through the lens of the Element Death, the rabbit is a mortal being, perpetually struggling against death by means of countless offspring.

Bear in mind, projections onto particular Elements are, at heart, a certain kind of 'mirror reflection.'

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When contemplating objects, their symbolic numerical denomination may be combined with the angle of perception according to the Elements.

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Rice Everyone desires it, everyone seeks it. Everyone needs it so much – delectable sustenance!²⁶⁵

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For example, a plump, well-fed rabbit may be catalogued as an Eight of Lands. That is, a stable form of Matter.

For instance, a cheerful, exuberant rabbit might be inscribed as an Ace of Water. In other words, a surge of feelings and emotions.

Or, a gnawing, burrowing rabbit as a Deuce of Fire. That is, the willful interaction of the rabbit with the World.

For instance, a family of rabbits may be depicted as the Three of Air. That is, a chain of coincidences giving rise to a system (the family).

For example, a population of rabbits in the World might be portrayed as the Four of Life. Perhaps the Element of Life in the Tarot cards was signified by a Rose blossom. In other words, the natural, organic expression of Life as a species.

For instance, a dying rabbit might be described as the Ten of Death. The Element of Death in Tarot cards may well have been marked by a human skull. That is, a dying rabbit is nothing less than a transformation by Death.

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Rice We spin, we twist, we turn. Everything we wish, we understand.²⁶⁶

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Yet the very same object, depending on your perspective, can acquire the most wildly varied status—whether in terms of Denomination or in its projection upon the Elements.

And that’s entirely normal—after all, anyone can pick up any object and rotate it, regarding it from all sides.

No one ever seems surprised, twirling a pencil, that from one angle it looks like the letter ‘I’, from another a ‘-’, and from a third, it’s practically a ‘.’

Likewise, depending on the angle and plane of consideration, one and the same object may acquire the most varied of statuses.

For example, in the material world, a single object may have entirely different length, width, and height.

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In Kabbalah, Stalking, and the Medici Solitaire, the very same object can possess completely different Denominations when projected onto the faces of the Cube of Elements.

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For example, a house as a shape fashioned from bricks—a Four of Earth.

A house as a work of art—a Nine of Earth.

The house as a system of binding connections—the Six of Lands.

That same house, say, as a financial exchange, is a system of emotional interactions and monetary traffic—in other words, the Six of Water and the Six of Lands.

That same house, when constructed as the incarnation of a blueprint—the Ten of Air.

The house, as the architectural unit of the city, is the Ace of Lands.

The house as the structural unit of a city is the Ace of Air.

The house as the hearth of the family and the seat of comfort and happiness—let’s say, the Eight of Water.

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In other words, the symbolism of an object's description hinges, first and foremost, on the chosen perspective and the framing of the question.

This fact must not be overlooked when contemplating Kabbalah, Tarot, divination, Stalking, or the Medici Solitaire.

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Yet there exists another sly little nuance of projection.

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As one increases the scale—meaning, as one recedes from the object—any object, as a rule, diminishes to a mere point.

Similarly, when we expand our frame of reference, the Kabbalistic Denomination of any object tends to gravitate toward Unity.

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An exception to this rule may be those objects and events that are parts of other, grander entities, which, when viewed on a larger scale, begin to manifest in their true forms.

For instance, a dozen rabbits (Three of Lands), when one magnifies the scale of observation and stretches the temporal frame, could, even in the wilds of Australia, resemble the Ten of Air.

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It is precisely here that fledgling stalkers and diviners stumble. Neglecting to account for perspective, scale, the framing of the inquiry, or the boundaries of time—and relying instead on generic interpretations of symbols—one can swiftly become ensnared in a dead end and offer an erroneous symbolic reading.

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It is the very understanding of how the system of Denominations forms, and its projection onto the boundaries of the Elements, that grants the key to accurately and fruitfully defining the Denominations and suits of events.

On the other hand, the attentive reader might suspect that any object can be assigned any Denomination and suit, depending on one’s point of view.

This claim, in the author's opinion, is rather contentious and shall not be addressed here, as it stretches far beyond the simple acquaintance with the material intended at this stage.

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Meanwhile, putting into words the semantic burden of a symbol is, more often than not, a feeble endeavor, for multidimensional semantic holographic objects are notoriously unwilling to be voiced by the rather meager means of human speech.267