Dear Peter, Your post was quite lovely. :) I really love what you did with the Pattern on the Trestleboard!!! >> Bardon's statement about Love is a complicated one to say the very least. Showing much resemblence to Aliester Crowley's statement of "Love is the Law, the Law under a strong will." << Actually, his statement in IIH was fairly straight forward. Essentially he was pointing out that the magician must at all times (and especially when interacting with astral beings) be in control of their own emotions. For the magician, emotion must be *intentional*, not reactionary, and the magician must at all times be aware of, and in control of, that which motivates their actions. >> This statement, I believe, relates to the last Tarot key, the World (Tav) and is something that is beautifully simplistic and complicated all at the same time. << To tie the simplicity and complexity together, one must first examine the meaning of this word 'love'. As a *quality*, it is rooted in *attraction*. The *quantity* -- i.e., inclusiveness vs. exclusiveness -- of attraction varies depending upon the level at which it is manifest. The essence of 'love' is the mental realm law of "like attracts like" which I've mentioned in the past. This law has its *manifest* root in Chesed/Gedulah in which sequence first manifests as an expression of degrees of similarity. It is the force which binds the infinite number of sequentialized parts -- which each represent a degree of *difference* from each other, along with a degree of similarity -- together into a Unity. It is the glue of Unity at every level. Tav represents the densest manifestation of attraction. Here the power of attraction is so dense that the result is Malkuth. From an initiatory perspective, Tav and The World represent the initiate's molding of their character and reshaping of their mundane life circumstances. In the image that I present in my "32 Paths of Wisdom Tarot", the initiate is shown *consciously and willfully* controlling, wielding and manipulating the forces which enter into Malkuth -- because she has established her affinity/similarity with each of the forces resident within her personality. Or, as it's stated in the "32 Paths of Wisdom" document: "The 32nd Path is called the Serving (or Administrative) Consciousness, because it directs the motions of the seven planets, each in its own proper course." As a glyph, the Letter Tav is composed of the Resh (the conscious awareness) and the Vav (the universal fixative or fixator), thus indicating *conscious and intentional* manifestation of the Universal Laws which bind all things together >From a magical perspective, the magician wields Tav through the attractive power that one thing has for another thing based upon the points of similarity that exist between those two separate things. The *differences* are combined to form a new degree of similarity and are the fiery ingredient which causes the unification of two things to equal more than the sum of their parts. Essential to this is the faculty of perception. One must first be able to fully *see* the factors one is dealing with. Or, as the Torah verse symbolizes it: "And Elohim *saw everything that S/He had made* and, behold! -- it was very good." In terms of emotional love, this means that one must be able to step back and clearly perceive what motivates and gives rise to the emotion. Emotional human love is really what the caution of "love *under* will" -- not *over* will -- is referring to. It's a warning that the magician must not be controlled *by* their strong emotions, specifically those which attract them. Iox asked about "true love". This is one of those phrases that is impossible to give just one single definition to since it is such a personal valuation. In terms of emotional love, its definition depends totally on what *you* feel and think and upon *your* personal experiences. For some folks, "true" love is just another name for extreme sexual attraction and for others it is a deep emotional compatibility and commitment -- both these definitions are equally "true" for the individuals involved. Emotional love is not composed of just one ingredient that can be named. At its root is attraction, but the human psyche is so complex that "attraction" can be a quite dysfunctional motivation. For the magician however, emotional love, *just like any other emotion*, must be closely examined for what it is. And its *expression* must become a *conscious choice* as opposed to it being an emotion that one is slave to. In this way at least *you* become *true* to love. Perhaps it's better to question how truly one loves than it is to question the truth of love itself. :) >> Though I shall be sharing my understanding of this Tarot key sooner or later. Most likely once I've sent off a draft to Rawn. << As always, I look forward to whatever you write. :) My best to you, :) Rawn Clark 17 Dec 2003 rawnclark@... rawn@... http://www.ABardonCompanion.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BardonPraxis http://E.webring.com/hub?ring=arionthebardonwe