23 mem (water)

Mem, the mother letter of water, links Geburah's carrying out of cosmic law with Hod's concentration of energy into forms. Mem teaches that the manipulation of forms in Hod must submit to Geburah's higher will. Mem means 'water', the reflective waters of consciousness, flowing from Kether through Gimel. The job of our consciousness is to transmit impulses between the will and the planes of form. It should enable us to be firmly guided by the true (divine) will, not the limited ideas adopted by the personality. Then Mem will become "The Stable Intelligence (...) because it has the virtue of consistency among all its numerations". The order of divine will is superior to and differ from the concepts developed by human language and culture. Therefore the process og Mem challenges our concepts of order and chaos, known and unknown. It stretches the waters of consciousness into the collective domain, where, as described by C.G.Jung: "all life flows in suspension", under divine will. The limitations of knowing are sacrificed. The Hanged Man, the tarot trump pictured below, suggests Mem as a process of reversal and crucifixion upon the alter of (watery) consciousness. All known forms and judgment must be left behind in order to experience the higher reality, where all opposites are reconciled. As dictated by the will, it is not a matter of choice, but of trust.

Meaning of Letter: Water.		Type of Letter: Maternal Letter: Water.		Value: 40.
Place	Between Geburah and Hod in the Pillar of Severity, opposite to the path of Kaph, the choice of luck.
"32 Paths of Wisdom"	"The Twenty-third Path is the Stable Intelligence, and it is so called because it has the virtue of consistency among all numerations."
Tarot Trump	12. The Hanged Man. The Spirit of the Mighty Waters. The water redeemer. Law of Reversal.
Virtue / Vice: Passive / Victim.			Astrology: Element of Water.
The four worlds	Atziluth	Briah	Yetzirah	Assiah
Meanings of Trump	Patience	Stoical	Reflective	Stiff
Colours	Deep blue	Sea green	Deep olive-green	White, flecked purple, like mother-of-pearl
Tarot affirmation 1:	"I give up all the old attachments, prejudices and fears. I give up all that inhibits my growth. I have faith that my sacrifice of the limitations of the known will lead me to new and bountiful rewards and fullfillment".
Tarot affirmation 2	"I am the Hanged Man, forgiving and sacrificing".
Magical symbols	Christian cross. Wine.
Body	Right mid back and sides. Large intestine (ascending/transverse). Emotional disorders. Skrying. Body-will.
Mythology	Sacrificed gods. The crucifixion of Christ. Odin hanging from the World Tree. Mermaid or merman.
Other symbols	G Sharp. Camomile. Bayberry. Harebell. Lime tree. Snake.

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