Going mental??

[Eric Sommermann <esomm@...>]

Hello all,

This is my first post to Praxis. I've been on FBM for a year or so, 
but I haven't written a lot on there really. So I guess I'll 
re-introduce myself. My name is Eric Sommermann and I live in 
Minnesota. I have been practicing the IIH for quite a while, and like 
many of you, I could never say enough to express my gratitude for 
having this Path before me. I don't really have a 'religion', apart 
from Hermetics, but treasure the wisdom found in every culture. I 
guess I'm just another one of those 'melting pot' people that seem to 
be showing up everywhere!

I decided I've been lurking around here long enough. I actually have 
a whole mouthful of questions about the mental body, so bless those who 
are patient! Most of my questions are a result of comparing the 
terminology of Bardon to that of the Archeous and 8TM, so I hope they 
are appropriate for Praxis. I must say that I've found the work with 
the Archeous and 8TM complement the IIH perfectly. So thanks Rawn!

The relations between the physical and astral terminologies seem 
clear enough to me. But when I look at the mental level stuff, well, 
I have more questions than answers!

My first question is about thoughts and ideas. Bardon mentions that 
ideas are from the Akashic plane. Does this correspond with essential 
meaning in the Archeous , and the Fire region of the mental body ? 
If so, then I'd guess that thoughts are electromagnetic clothing for 
the ideas in the mental plane, and would be in the air region of the 
mental body. The emotional significance would be the next layer of 
clothing and would be astral.

My next level of quandary has to do with confusion over what is the 
Self, what is the Spirit, and what is the mental body. These terms 
seem to overlap from what I can tell, but I'm hoping for more clarity. 
In the IIH, it sounds as if the Self is the 'spiritual EGO' and 
is Akashic. Is this the true self, and if so where is this found on the 
Tree of Return? (Kether, Ain Soph)? Bardon does relate the Akasha to 
Binah in KTQ, as I recall. He also talks about the Will, Intellect, 
Feeling and Consciousness as the funda-mental qualities of the 
Spirit in the IIH. How do these compare to the Planetary levels 
of the mental body in the 8TM? The IIH doesn't seem to differentiate 
the levels of self as much as the 8TM, so it would be nice to see how 
the terminology fits together. For example in the 4th card fragment 
in Frabato, Bardon mentions the personality as being the combination of 
Will, Intellect and Feeling. Is this the same as the combination called 
personality if the 8TM (which is Lunar), or the consciousness in 
the IIH (Malkuth in 8TM)? Then there is the sub-conscious, which is the 
polar opposite of consciousness in the IIH? It sounds from the 8TM as 
if this were Lunar. Lastly, where is the Will or Intellect of the 
IIH found in the Tree?

My last confusion relates to perception. Given the answers to the 
above questions, where does perception fit into the planetary scheme of 
things, and into the levels of self? And how does this connect to 
the 'feeling' from the IIH which is mental/ spiritual, and the 
'reflective mental matrix'?

Anyhow, thanks in advance for sorting through all of this. I hope my 
questions don't drive anyone into a mental institution.

All the Best,

Eric