Now Food of the Wise enters a circular room with walls made of ash and sandalwood. He sees a vine trunk with a pile of white, shining salt on top. Above this trunk is the picture shown at the start of this post, with a crowned white lion and a bunch of grapes resting on a salver that is being kept aloft by the smoke coming from a lit brazier.
To his right and left are two doors which lead to very different places. One leads to a dry, hot plain and the other to a lake that ends in a black marble building. He approaches the vine trunk and takes some of the white, shining salt, which the sages call:
If you're observant, you might recognize this as being the same name the 6th sage gave to the grapes he gifted to Food of the Wise in section six. Hall translated this name as "Regeneration" and McLean translated it as "Marash-resha." If we try a direct translation, we get "Ploughed" (נכוחרשא).
Whatever the translation is, we know that the salt and grapes are connected. In the image above the trunk, the white lion possibly symbolizes the salt (this reference guide states that lions often represent salt or other 'pure' substances), and it rests on the platter by the grapes. They levitate above a burning brazier, suggesting that something should be burned.
It turns out that salt can actually be extracted from the ashes of grape stems and skins. The yield is small, but an alchemist could have discovered this, making it an interesting little secret. This could explain why both the grapes and the salt share the same name. Also worth noting: the pile of salt is on a vine trunk-- a grape vine seems likely.
He rubs the salt all over his body, letting it soak into his skin. He reads the characters on the painting.
The characters, according to Manly P Hall, say "Kindle a light at the appointed time-- the seventh hour of the dawning" and "Honor is paid to the giver of life." These are instructions for when to create the grape salt. If we consider planetary days and hours, we have some hints that point to Tuesday for Mars (grapes, fire). The seventh hour of sunlight on a Tuesday is assigned to Jupiter, who could be called a 'giver of life' considering his many children. Add to this that there was a Roman festival for wine harvests that honored Jupiter... It's reasonable to conclude that, at the hour of Jupiter on a Tuesday, we should light the fire to burn the grapes.
Why bother extracting salt from grapes? Clearly, grapes are special in some way. It could be their role in winemaking, considering how important wine has been to human culture and spiritual practices. I found this podcast, which goes deeper into the symbolism of grapes. One meaning of grapes that they mention near the beginning is "rebirth." That seems to fit the theme so far.
Now our narrator needs to choose a door to enter.
He looks to the arid plain first, considering it as an option. The heat that wafts in through the door is intense. Then he looks to the lake. The water is dark and still. He knows he can't go back after making this decision.
The choice here is clear: hot, dry fire or cold, wet water. So far, Food of the Wise has had success when dealing with water, but not with fire. His journey seems to be shaped by the depths of his emotions and subconscious, whereas for someone else there could be more outside influences. Water turns us inwards while fire has us act outwards. After feeling the heat radiating from the 'fire' door, he chooses the lake. The narrator has chosen water, maybe because he wants to continue the inner work he started in section three. Even knowing how difficult this inner work can be, he chooses to pursue it, committed to understanding himself on a deeper level.
The water is dark and still. In the distance, he sees a bridge called:
One thing that stands out is the fact that there's what appears to be a sideways symbol for Cancer in the upper left corner, which suits the water theme. McLean translates the name of the bridge to be "Bâsh" while Hall says it's called "the strong to be subdued." Neither of them seems concerned with the Cancer symbol. Aside from that, the symbols appear to be Persian, but I don't know enough to find a translation.
There's a rocky shore next to the lake, but Food of the Wise decides to wade through the water instead. However, the water is incredibly thick, and he finds that it takes him thirteen days to reach the other side. Sorting through your emotions and really getting to know yourself is a lot of work, but it's necessary. True transformation requires patience and perseverance.
The number of days could be referencing the thirteen lunar cycles in a year. The sideways symbol I mentioned before is for Cancer, which is ruled by the moon. This all ties nicely into the 'feminine/subconscious/dark' theme.
Next time, we'll join Food of the Wise at the new shore he's reached.
Stay safe!
- me
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