Notes from a lecture by Reverend Ann Davies
Reprinted in the Zenith News Notes No 116, June 2017.
Introduction to Tarot Key 17, The Star and Meditation
Tarot Key 17, The Star, symbolizes meditation as a powerful practice of concentration, purification, and spiritual awakening. This article delves into how meditation helps us move beyond old patterns of separation and sin, cleansing our desires to receive higher consciousness. Discover the keys to unlocking peace and illumination by embracing responsibility and transformation on your inner journey.
Tarot Key 17 Symbolizes Meditation and Concentration
Tarot Key 17 symbolically represents meditation. Concentration is automatically a part of meditation. Look to Key 1 for the ability to hold the awareness within a field of attention and to keep the mind on one basic idea. We have to be interested with care and feeling for meditation to work.
Connection Between Desire and Foundation on the Tree of Life
Key 17 connects Desire and Foundation on the Tree of Life. Foundation represents the subconscious patterns of the past and reproductive organs of the Grand Man. The combination of these forces on the Tree would give us some inkling of the forces to work with. Foundation is utilising the waters, the woman in Key 17 has her knee on the ground but her foot is steadying the body.
Feet are linked with Pisces and Tarot Key 18 The Moon.
The path in this key moves forward via the use of feet and the movement here comes from the wild animal to the tamed animal. The dog goes up between the towers that man has built.
The Towers and Human Ignorance
The towers have been built by man and represent Key 16 The Tower. The two figures in this key are being knocked out of the Tower of Babel. We have built this tower. This tower is our isolation and ignorance. The figures are being freed by the power of God through the planet Mars, again reminding us of the reproductive energies.
Any kind of meditation automatically includes the reproductive energies. Key 16 precedes the ability to meditate. The pairs of opposites related to this key are Grace and Sin. Sin is the ignorant misuse of the reproductive energies and selfish use of our powers. All this comes from the sense of isolation and the ideas that life is separate and we are separate from each other. This has inevitable repercussions.
Freedom from Sin Requires Inner Change
Being freed from sin does not require our accepting someone or something being our saviour. No amount of accepting anything frees us from sin. We can only free ourselves by changing our thinking, feeling and action. The Grace of God doesn’t come to those who hang onto their outworn patterns and actions.
Tzaddi is the fish hook and the fish is assigned to Tarot Key 13 Death. This key is assigned to Scorpio which again, rules the reproductive energies. All occult training teaches us that all reproductive energies are the expression of God.
The Creative Waters of Consciousness
Key 13 is the Imaginative Intelligence. Death means change and transformation. The fish of Nun lives in the creative waters of consciousness. All things began in the waters of consciousness. In Key 17 these waters are seen as the water in the pool and the waters in the vases, the five senses. Your body and five senses are part of the pool, they will always return to the pool, therefore any sense of separateness is only in our minds, its not real.
“Your body and five senses are part of the pool, they will always return to the pool, therefore any sense of separateness is only in our minds, it’s not real.”
Reverend Ann Davies
Purifying Desire to Find True Peace
A white rose can be seen in Tarot Key 0 The Fool and Tarot Key 13 Death. This white rose is Superconsciousness and represents purified desire. In death and transformation the purified reproductive energies pour and are involved in change.
In order to find the true peace and meditation we have to work at purifying our desire nature.
Meditation as Natural Intelligence
It is natural to human consciousness to meditate. Key 17 is therefore called the Natural Intelligence. We don’t have to learn how to meditate, we have been doing it all our lives, but we do have to clean out all the garbage, the nonsense and the ignorance. No-one will do this for us. No amount of tearing our hair or tear-jerking will purify us.
We do have to be willing to permit the illumination from above come in and transmute our ignorance. Be willing to let go of that which is outworn. Many are hooked into and latched onto negative habit patterns and won’t let go.
Responsibility and Willingness for Higher Consciousness
This is an impure use of meditation. Higher consciousness can’t take place so long as desire is being misused. We have to be willing to assume responsibility for our relationships. Only with willingness to die to the old patterns will higher levels of consciousness come into our field of awareness.
The Role of the Hierophant and Inner Voice
Tarot Key 5 The Hierophant is the revealer of the mysteries. When we are willing to give up our negativity the True Inner Voice can speak.
Realisation and Revelation are not psychic.
We must have a willingness to know Truth. There is a certain something which happens when deep inside we are ready to give up the old patterns, then that is the time when the willingness to experience reality and Truth can come in.
Meditation Requires Desire and Real Problems
We do love to dramatise and play games with ourselves but our consciousness is creative all the time. Our imagination is always making way for manifestation. The very act of creating brings death to old conditions.
Real meditation requires a problem and a real want to know.
Stop meditating on your conflicts – do this by facing them and be willing to see what’s behind them. Work on the purification of your desire nature.
The readiness for peace has to be there.
If it means a lot to you, you will get your answer.
Meditating in the lotus pose
The Lord of Life’s Intention for Meditation
The Lord of Life means for us to meditate and walk in serenity. Our training is preparing you to hold joy, not sorrow.
The treasures we take with us are non-physical.
Never base your values on what we see on the physical plane.
True perfection is to love and be loved and to see perfection your beloved.
God is where we look. It is here and there, it is in that voice, it is in those eyes, it is in the lines on the face. We must see God everywhere we are looking.
“True perfection is to love and be loved and to see perfection your beloved. God is where we look.”
Reverend Ann Davies
Meditation Reveals Cosmic Love and Unity
We have to meditate to receive our answers. It reveals itself.
Cosmic Love is right here now, it is Unity and Love which is ours as we are the Children of the Divine Mind and we can never be anything else.
Read more here by Reverend Ann Davies: A brief history of B.O.T.A. by Rev Ann Davies
More about Reverend Ann Davies can be found on bota.org.