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Path 32, The World
Attributed to Saturn, the planet of Limitation, and linked through the Hebrew letter Tau with the symbology of the Cross, Path 32 represents the first journey of the Initiate as she or he moves beyond the normal states of consciousess.
Linking Malkuth, the Physical World, with Yesod, the mysterious Moon-ruled realm of the Subconscious and Astral Plane, the Dancer in the Tarot card symbolises perfect balance and acceptance of the role of the dense material world in which we live and in which we should serve the Spirit.
This Path is linked with the myths of the Earth Goddesses and the Underworld, which carry the hidden meanings of Life, Death and Re-birth. To understand this path we need to follow Persephone down to Hades’ Kingdom under the Earth, giving our coin or Obolos to Charon, the ferryman who will convey us over the underground river Styx, which separates life and death.
As well as the initiate’s first Path, this way must be taken when we die physically, and the link between the Personality and the Physical World is lost. It is well to know it now, while we are alive and evolving, so that we might remember its lessons when we go that way again.
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