Arcanum 4 The Emperor
Description of the plate
The serpent, which is a symbol of mastery, protrudes from the forehead of the Emperor. This crown, formed by an aspid, is the thermuthis which belongs to Isis, our particular Divine Mother Kundalini. Also on his head is a bonnet with four points, four angles, which represent the four elements, the four Gospels, the four Vedas, etc. On the bonnet there is also the still (the recipient, the sexual organs), the furnace (the Muladhara chakra, the spinal column), and the distillery (the brain).
He holds the staff of power in his right hand. He is seated on the perfectly chiselled Cubic Stone, product of the previous arcana. Within the stone is the cat, which is the fire. In the waters of life is the rod of command, which is the vertebral column.
Esoteric Significance of the Arcanum
The cross has four points. The cross of the initiation is phallic; the intersection of the vertical phallus in the feminine cteis forms the cross. It is the cross of initiation that we must carry upon our shoulders.
We must comprehend that the cross with its four points symbolizes the four cardinal points of the earth: north, south, east, and west; the four ages: gold, silver, copper and iron; the four seasons of the year; the four phases of the moon; the four ways of science, philosophy, art, and religion.
When we speak about the four ways, we must comprehend that the four ways are really one way. This way is the narrow and straight way of the razor’s edge, the path of the revolution of the consciousness.
The cross is a very ancient symbol that is continually utilized in all the religions of the world. One who considers it an exclusive emblem of a religious sect commits an error. When the Conquistadors of Spain arrived in the Holy Land of the Aztecs of Mexico, they found crosses upon all the altars.
The sign of the cross, as in the sublime monogram of our Lord the Christ, the cross of Saint Andrew and the miraculous keys of Saint Peter are all marvellous replicas of equal Alchemical and Kabbalistic value. It is therefore the sign capable of securing the victory for the laborers of the Great Work.
The sexual cross, the living symbol of the crossing of the lingam-yoni, has the unmistakable and marvellous print of the three nails that were used to immolate the Christ-matter. These nails are the image of the Three Purifications of Iron and Fire. Our Lord could not achieve the Resurrection without them.
The cross is the ancient alchemical hieroglyph of the crucible (creuset), which in the past, in French, was called “cruzel,” or “croiset.” In Latin it was called “crucibulum,” or “crisol,” which had as its root “crux,” “crucis,” or “cross.” It is evident that all of this invites us to reflect.
It is in the crucible that the raw matter of the Great Work suffers the passion of the Lord with infinite patience. In the erotic crucible of Sexual Alchemy, the ego dies and the Phoenix bird is reborn within its own ashes: INRI, “In Necis Renascor Integer,” which means, “In death I am reborn intact and pure.”
The intersection of the vertical phallus within the horizontal uterus makes a cross. This is something that can be easily verified.
If we reflect very seriously on that intimate relationship that exists between the “S” and the Tao Cross, or “T,” we arrive at the logical conclusion that only through the crossing of the lingam-yoni, (phallus and uterus), with radical exclusion of the physiological orgasm, one can awaken the Kundalini, which is the igneous serpent of our magical powers.
In the Nahuatl and Mayan conception of the cross, the Nahuatl “Nahui-ollin,” sacred symbol of the cosmic movement, is the sacred swastika of the great mysteries, which was always defined as the cross in movement.
The two possible orientations of the swastika clearly represent the masculine and feminine, positive and negative principles of nature. Two swastikas placed exactly over each other, in opposite directions, undoubtedly form the Potenzada cross, and represent the erotic conjunction of the sexes in this sense.
According to the Aztec legend, a couple, a man and a woman, were the ones that invented fire. This is only possible with the cross in movement, INRI, “Ignis Natura Renovatur Integra,” meaning, “Fire Renews Nature Incessantly.”
The cross also reveals the quadrature of the circle which is the key of perpetual movement. That perpetual movement is only possible through the sexual force of the Third Logos. Perpetual movement will finish and the cosmic unhingement could happen if the energy of the Third Logos stopped flowing in the Universe. The Third Logos organizes the fundamental vortex of every rising universe and the infinitesimal vertex of the ulterior atom of any creation.
With the Fourth Arcanum of the Tarot, the Being carries the cross of initiation over his shoulder.
If we make the following Kabbalistic addition of the Fourth Arcanum (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10) we find that 10 equals one (1 + 0 = 1), the Monad. Tetragrammaton is equal to the Monad.