Arcanum 4

The Fourth Arcanum is very interesting. It refers to the cross of four points, the cubic stone, which is the foundation of the Great Work. It is a stone that must be chiselled.

When referring to the schools of the Fourth Way, we find that Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, and Nicoll had written what they knew, but their expositions suffer from many mistakes. For example, Gurdjieff committed the error of mistaking the Kundalini with the abominable Kundabuffer organ, and Ouspensky committed the same error. We cannot desist recognizing the existence of that blind fohatic force that has people hypnotized; yet this one has nothing to do with the Kundalini, but with the Kundabuffer that is the lunar fire. The Bible refers to the forty-four fires, but only two great fires can be spoken of: Kundalini and Kundabuffer.

The Kundalini is the Pentecostal fire, the lightning of Vulcan ascending through the dorsal spine, the positive fire that crystallizes in worlds and suns. Its antithesis is the Kundabuffer, the negative fire that crystallizes in those psychological aggregates, those quarrelling and screaming “I’s” that we carry within and which are negative crystallizations that have people immersed into unconsciousness.

Gurdjieff also committed the error of not speaking about the lunar bodies that everyone has. He only says that we must transform the Being and that we must build the solar bodies. Ouspensky speaks about the Second Birth, but his teachings are incomplete. To begin with, the solar bodies have to be built in the Ninth Sphere, thus reaching the Second Birth. But neither Gurdjieff nor Ouspensky give the clue.

The school of the Fourth Way is very ancient; it comes from the archaic lands. It is the foundation of the great mysteries and is found alive in Gnosticism, and in the religions of the Egyptians, Lemurians, Atlanteans, Phoenicians, etc.

One has to tread the path by that Fourth Way. We need to march with equilibrium in science, philosophy, art, and religion.

In the staged arts of long ago, the individual would receive information in his three brains: motor, emotional, and intellectual. In the schools of today however, only the intellectual brain receives information. Neurosis and the sick states of the mind are due to this. Mental disequilibrium is avoided by balancing the three brains.

Science itself is contained within all of the cosmos; science exists even when the study of sciences does not exist.

The Fourth Arcanum of the Tarot is the holy and mysterious Tetragrammaton. The sacred name of the Eternal One has four letters: יהוה (Iod, Hei, Vav, Hei).

These are four letters which take us into the Ninth Sphere, the forge of the Cyclops, the famous flaming forge of Vulcan, sex, in order to raise the sacred serpent of our magical powers, and to take this serpent into our heart. Thus, we receive the sacred cross of the initiation in the temple of the Divine Mother.

The number four also represents the four physical elements, and the four elements of Alchemy:

The ancient alchemists stated that the sulphur must fecundate the mercury of the secret philosophy in order for the salt to be regenerated. In other words, the fire must fecundate the water in order for the human being to be regenerated and Self-realized.

In the Fourth Arcanum we also find the secret of the sphinx, and this arcanum reminds us of the four sacred animals of Sexual Alchemy.

• Lion: Hides the enigma of the Fire; claws of a lion
• Man: Water; the face of a man; Intelligence
• Eagle: Air; the wings of the sphinx; Spirit
• Bull: Earth; the back hooves; Tenacity

These are the values representative of the sphinx, the four elements of solar Alchemy. We need the tenacity of the bull and the wings of the Spirit.

The sphinx speaks to us about the Great Work that must be performed with the four elements. During a certain occasion I had an interview with the elemental of the sphinx; this is a marvellous elemental. The elemental came with its feet covered with mud. The elemental blessed me and I said unto it, “I understand why you come with your feet covered with mud. It is because of this age of Kali Yuga.”

The entrance into the old, archaic temples was commonly a hidden hole in some mysterious spot of the dense jungle. We departed from Eden through the door of sex, and only through that door can we return to Eden. Eden is the same sex. It is the narrow, straight and difficult door that leads us into the light.

In the solitude of these mysterious sanctuaries, the neophytes were submitted to the four initiatic ordeals. The ordeals of fire, air, water, and earth always defined the diverse purifications of the neophytes.

The neophytes are submitted to the four initiatic ordeals which are verified in the internal worlds. The human being still is not a king or queen of nature, but the human being is called to be a king in accordance to Melchisedec.

Disciples must be tested by the four elements in order to examine them. They are submitted to ordeals in the forty-nine regions of thought. These ordeals are for everyone, man and woman. One can help oneself by having pure thoughts, but this is not enough: meditation is necessary.

All students of Kabbalah must be familiar with all of the elemental creatures:

• Air: Sylphs
• Water: Undines and Nereides (Mermaids)
• Fire: Salamanders
• Earth: Gnomes

These elements are utilized in order to work on the transmutation of lead into gold upon the central mountain range (the dorsal spine).

In the words Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei, we find the mystery of the Tetragrammaton (the Holy Four), the four words, the four elements. More profoundly, we find our Being, our most complete Divinity.

From the Ain Soph, which is a Super-Divine Atom of each one of us, the three Primary Forces (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) emanate and give their final synthesis: 3 + 1 = 4.

Tetragrammaton is: יהוה. This is the sacred summation of the number four.

Synthesis

- The Master is formed by Atman-Buddhi.

- Atman is the Innermost.

- Buddhi is the Divine Soul, meaning the Divine Consciousness of the Innermost.

- When a Logos wants to redeem a world, it emanates from itself a celestial prototype formed by Atman-Buddhi.

- The Logos is the Sephirothic Crown, the individual Ray from which the Innermost Himself emanated. This Ray is Triune; it is the Holy Trinity within each one of us.

- Thus, every Logos is Triune.

- The Father is Kether, the Elder of Days.

- The Son is the Cosmic Christ in us.

- The Holy Spirit is the Divine Mother in us.

- The Mother carries a lamp in her hand. That lamp is the Innermost who burns within our heart.