20
The Magician

200: Raysh forms Mercury / Kawkab

Keyword: Cosmic Container

Formative symbolism: Raysh forms Mercury, the Magician, at the 9th Sephirot, Yesod. Spelled Kaf-Waw-Kaf-Bayt, Kawkab (one of the Kawkabim, messengers) shows a double response to sensual input: inner and outer. The World and Sun realized.

Raysh (200), the cosmic container of all existence, has its roots in the intense organic movement of the universe (raysh-yod-SHEEN).

[Tarot Index]

The Magician is traditionally placed second, after the Fool, in the place of Bayt. This requires torturous logic to find hermetic associations with the letter Bayt, the house or archetypal container. Raysh, which forms Mercury/Kawkab in the universe, is the obvious fit as the cosmic container of the energy of Qof. In the Sun (Kaf/20) the encompassing wreath of the World (Bayt/2) has been replaced with the wall, as it provides a container or physical supports for the development of the natural world, nourished by the undifferentiated energy of the sun. The Magician (Raysh/200) points to this relationship of archetypal, existential and cosmic containers with his gesture -- as above, so below, in the hierarchy of structuration of energy. His gesture becomes especially meaningful when Raysh/Mercury is found in its natural place in the Tree of Life: the ninth sephirot. Levels of Containment Archetypal 1 2 3 Existential 10 20 30 Cosmic 100 200 300 The Magician as Raysh, cosmic container, accepts the energy of Qof and transforms it into Sheen, which animates the whole universe with its return reflection from Tav. See Tarot: Natural Order for a deeper examination of the 2-20-200 column of containment and duality. See: Ayn-Sof