Nicolaitans

Arcanum VII is called  The Chariot, or Curriculum Hermetis, meaning  the Chariot of Hermes;   Mouni Sadhu calls this trump The Conqueror.  Prior to explaining this card, our author presents us with “the scheme of the first six arcana, which gives us the basis for the seventh, as the final link in the FIRST SEPTENARY of the Tarot.”  This he summarizes as “Husband (1) fecundates the wife (2) resulting in the birth of the child (3) which, being fed and nursed physically and astrally (4) attains sufficient authority (4) to manifest itself on the astral plane (5) in the name of the whole family; but there meets with the dilemma of good and evil (6) chooses the GOOD and gains the victory (7).  For the Seventh Arcanum means just that VICTORY.”

Mouni Sadhu presents us with an illustration of the Septenaries of the Tarot, showing three hexagrams with a center point.  These Septenaries represent God, Man, and The Universe.  On the first one, which we are concerned, the upper triangle has Spirit, Matter, Creation.  And the Inverse triangle shows Will, Intelligence, and Beauty.  The point is untitled, so I assume it is Victory.

In the Introduction of this book, our author displayed seven triangles representing the twenty-two arcana.  This I proposed as “Swearing an oath in the name of Jehovah God”, the Tetragrammaton.  Instead of forming groupings by 3, we have now formed three Hexagons.  Since the hexagram equals six, the point representing seven is the Conqueror of the Hexagram.  My thought is that this could, for example, represent the Chief Prince of Israel, which nation is represented by a hexagram on their flag.  Of course, in the occult world, this chief prince is not Michael, who serves God.  Michael has been assigned to the sixth arcana; not the seventh. A name is proposed in a later chart showing Anael, or Uriel, as the Conqueror of the Hexagram (Michael).  But of course in the book of Revelation we see Michael and his angels casting Satan down from heaven to earth at some point in the future.

Mouni Sadhu further describes Arcanum VII as displaying a blue canopy, strewn with golden pentagrams.  He says that these are the dwellers on the higher sub-planes of the astral world.  “These pentagrams surpass the man by their powers, but also assist him, by giving their protection.  The canopy is supported by four columns,” the Hermetic virtues of TO DARE, TO BE SILENT, TO KNOW, AND TO TRY.

Our Conqueror has armor which protects him from attack: three right angles. His armour is (1) correctness of his logic, (2) the arranging of his thoughts in a right form and (3) keenness and infallibility in physical realization.  The chariot has aspects described by Ezekiel which involve the visions he saw of a moveable throne of God and the cherubims.  Occult practitioners often interpret his vision as being the witness of the visit of a Mother Ship of alien gods.

Much of the commentary on Arcanum VII involves instruction in ceremonial magical rituals.  We see that each Arcanum leads the magician further down into the depths of Satan. I would like to consider the Conqueror sitting in his chariot.   Sisera, the Captain of the host of Jabin, was notable for his 900 chariots of iron.  The LORD sold Israel into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, because of the evil they had done in the sight of the LORD.  Judges 4 and 5 detail this history. Sisera, a military commander who has numerical associations with the number 666, and the priesthood of Lucifer, was not victorious in the end.  Then we have that wicked King Ahab who was wounded and bled to death in his chariot.

In the Book of Revelation,  notable for its repeat use of the number Seven, we find reference in chapter two to some group which has infiltrated both of the churches in Ephesus and Pergamos.  This is the Nicolaitans, whose deeds and doctrine God says he hates.  Nicolaitans means Conqueror of the People.  In the case of Pergamos, we find a great temple described as “where Satan’s seat is”.  While there are those in this church who honor God, Revelation 2:14-15 says this: “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. ”

The seat of Satan at Pergamos

Revelation 2:16 warns, Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”  Who is giving this warning?  It is Jesus Christ who is the Victory, the Conqueror, who sits at the right hand of God.

The Star of your god Remphan

Arcanum VI is represented by the Hebrew letter Vau, the number 6, and the hieroglyph of the eye and the ear. Although not pointed out by Mouni Sadhu, I would like to note that Vau is also The Nail, a symbol often used to denote Satan.  This tarot card shows a young man with two women;  the one on his right is trying to show him the right way, and the one on the left represents temptation to do the wrong thing.  Mouni Sadhu explains that the three figures on the right side of the man form an evolutionary triangle reflecting the virtue in the young man.  The three figures on the left therefore form an involutionary triangle.  A mirror image has been created with the man standing at a crossroads of decision making.  Indirectly we can also see the form of the stauros. Mouni Sadhu has named this tarot card Temptation rather than The Lovers, as others have done.  One of the names also given Arcanum VI is The Enamoured One, which seems to capture both ideas.

“Analogy and reflection are the principles on which is built the pentacle of this Arcanum, the Great Hexagram, or Solomon’s Star, or the Seal of Solomon, the personal side of the Great Pentacle of Solomon, Sign of the Macrocosm, and so on.  This pentacle is a combination of two triangles, one of which is the reflection of the other.  In the center of the hexagram we see a stauros symbolizing the process of fecundation: the vertical arm is active and male, the horizontal one is passive and female.”  Mouni Sadhu then adds that this pentacle contains within it almost the whole content of Arcanum VI.

Tau in center of Hexagram

After looking at several concepts and applying the hexagram idea of ascending and descending triangles, our author asks, “But where will we find the necessary instruction for the true choice between the two triangles?  Tradition tells us that it comes from  the SPIRITUAL HARMONY in us.”  He then turns to the Hermetic conception of harmony; “the neutralization of the binaries of  ‘Adam-Eve”, ‘Activity-susceptibility’ inside of the astral man himself”.

 Temptation, as a persuasive power affecting our eyes and ears,  creates a crossway in the heart and mind of fallen mankind. We should remind ourselves that when Jesus Christ died on the Cross and accomplished our redemption, his life and death also condemned sin in the flesh.  Arcanum VI undervalues the end result of the decisions men make in their lifetime.

Whereas this tarot card shows an innocent  looking cherub shooting an arrow which is punitive, according to Mouni Sadhu, into the evil woman on the left side, most of us have seen Valentine’s Day  cards where the arrow was the cause of infatuation.  When I view this archer in the card, and the idea of temptation as originating from the Devil, I think of Obadiah 1:14. It says, “Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.”  Solomon in the book of Proverbs contrasts Wisdom with the Strange Woman, and gives warning against that persuasive harlot whose path leads to hell.  James 1:14-15 says, ” But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

It is interesting to note that modern Israel displays the hexagram of this Arcanum on its flag.  Amos 5:25-26 asks, “Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?  But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.” In the book of Acts, Stephan addressed the council of the Jews, referencing this Old Testament passage, but he called their image, “the star of your god Remphan”.  The Hexagram does not so much seem to be a sign of temptation in its first stages, so much as a sign of the finality of judgment upon the tempted who as 2 Timothy 4:4 notes, “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”