Arcanum 14 Temperance
Description of the Plate
In the waters of life we find three flowers. A serpent is climbing the middle one. These three flowers represent:
- Sat, the Innermost, Atman
- Chit, Buddhi, the Spiritual Soul
- Ananda, Superior Manas, the Human Soul
The three flowers also represent:
- The sacred fire
- The raw matter
- The mixture
In the middle of the plate, an angel shows the triad and the quaternary (the four bodies of sin) on her vesture. On her forehead shines a sun with fourteen rays; seven visible rays and seven invisible rays. The visible rays represent the seven planets and the invisible ones represent the seven chakras.
The angel has two cups, or jars, with which she mixes two elixirs. One cup is of gold and contains the red elixir. The other is of silver containing the white elixir. Combined they produce the Elixir of Longevity. Many masters, such as Babaji, Sanat Kumara, Paracelsus, etc., have achieved immortality.
Esoteric Significance of the Arcanum
In the Fourteenth Arcanum appears an angel with the Sun on her forehead, with a cup in each hand, performing the mixing of the red elixir with the white elixir. The Elixir of Longevity is a result of the mixture of these two. Undoubtedly, this is the elixir that was sought after by so many medieval alchemists. The white elixir is the woman and the red elixir is the man. It is impossible to create the Elixir of Longevity without these two. The woman’s elixir emanates from the Moon and the man’s elixir from the Sun. This is the significance of the colors of the two elixirs.
When the septenary man is sexually united with the septenary woman, the addition is made that gives us the Fourteenth Arcanum of the Tarot. Furthermore, it is important to state that both the man and the woman have seven principles. The most important and the fastest center of the human being is the sexual center.
The process of creating a new being is performed within the laws of the musical octaves. The seven notes of the musical scale are the foundation of all creation. If we transmute the creative energy, we initiate a new octave in the ethereal world. The result is the creation of a vehicle with which we can consciously penetrate all of the departments of the kingdom.
A third octave will permit us to engender the true astral body, the Christ Astral. When reaching these heights, the old lunar astral body, the phantom, is left reduced to an empty shell which, little by little, will be disintegrated.
A fourth octave permits us to engender a Christ Mind. This vehicle gives us true wisdom and unity of thought. Only one who engenders the Christ Mind has the right to say, “I have a mental body.” The common current mental body is only a phantom shape. This mental body really converts itself into an empty shell when the true mind is born. Then, the old one is disintegrated and is reduced to cosmic dust.
In the fifth musical octave, the true causal body is engendered. When reaching this height, we incarnate the soul.
Thus, we can have a real existence. Before this moment, we do not have real existence.