Along the Path of Death

Tonight, I did an invocation of the god the Golden Dawn tradition associates with the Death card of the tarot. I began with the normal preliminaries.

Then, I spent 15 minutes focussing on the Universal Waite Death card. I noticed some things I hadn't spotted before.

• The rose on the banner is an inverted Pentagram. This to me is coming to represent spirit descending through balanced elemental forces. I will have to look up more classic definitions but that is how it struck me in my meditation.
• The figures on the ground represent those elements in some form or fashing they are all dead or about to die. This I feel is more representative of the shells we build around those elements, their control over us. Rather than the elements themselves dieing.
• The pope is focused upon Death instead of the initiatory pillars in the background. This is hinted at by the match of his robe's color and that of the rising sun.
• The ship upon the waters shows the path of Scorpio can be traveled safely.

I used the non-ownership concept in bringing down the energy to form the god-form image in the temple and the GD vibratory formula's for enlivening that form. The monstrous form grew quickly.  I saluted it in GD fashion. Then, I told it what I was doing and asked that it take me along the path of Death. Only then did we become one.

I was immediately told that to do this properly I should have called upon the forces of the sephiro that connect to this path, Netzach and Tipereth. I was told to vibrate the names. I was then asked for a symbol I do not know. That resulted in being told that I could be taken part way. To this, I assented.

The lesson of the tarot card was reaffirmed. Yes, we look at death and always fail to see what is beyond it, the purpose behind the death.

I cannot recall at the moment the landscape I found myself upon.   The god told me to proceed. The ground quickly changed to black earth, dry. The earth was fertile, very fertile, but there was no water. The sky too was the same black. This was a desert.

Eventually, I did see the rising sun through the pillars like on the card and a sunny path through green rolling hills. I was told to proceed. I saw a pool in the distance and was told to stop. My momentum kept carrying me forward as I tried to slow my progress. Still, I ceased movement well short of the pool. At least a mile by mundane earth standards. I was told that was pool of grief. Those that drink of its waters remain in that state evermore and this was as far as I was allowed.

I was encouraged to return soon with the aforementioned item. I asked if this journey would play out in my life and the god said to expect that. I did leave the tarot card on my altar. I will return very soon.

I can easily understand the theme of the pool of water. I too have held on to grief and we've all heard stories of people that pine away for lost loved ones rather than proceeding on their own journeys with reverence.

Edit: When joining with the god my hands and arms 'glued' to my sides. So harshly that the deity instructed me to consciously relax them to avoid distraction.