The Most Holy Trinosophia: Section Seven

French with English translation

Simplified English version

Food of the Wise finds an oval-shaped steel tub which fills with clear water upon his arrival. There's also a fine white sand at the bottom, used to purify the water. The steel vessel is on three brass feet. Brass is copper (Venus) mixed with zinc and steel is iron (Mars) mixed with carbon, so we have both the masculine and the feminine here, though they may just be watered-down versions.

On the side of the tub that faces the door from which our narrator came, there's a black (earth) panel with characters engraved on it. We aren't told what it says. There's a linen veil nearby and two green marble columns supporting a round marble plaque. The plaque is the same as the image at the beginning of this post. Here's the description given:

"...above the vessel two green marble columns supported a round marble placque. One saw there, surrounded by two inscriptions, the figure of the sacred seal formed of a cross in four colours, attached to a golden crosspiece which upheld two other concentric circles, the larger one being black, the other red."

Lots of circles here. We have two little red circles inside two black circles balanced on top of the cross. The fact that duality is prominent in this drawing leads to me to believe that the metals being associated with Venus and Mars is significant. It gives me the sense that the masculine and feminine should be balanced.

One thing you'll notice looking at the picture is that the colors of the cross have moved again. Now blue is on top with red on the left, black on the bottom, and white on the right.

One of the columns has an ax attached to it. The ax has a silver (Moon) blade and a blue handle. The ax is called:

After he reads the inscriptions on the plaque, Food of the Wise washes his hands in the vessel. Then he just hops right in. He stayed in there for three days. When he got out, the water was gray with rust-colored particles.

So, it seems pretty obvious that this is a cleansing ritual of some kind, maybe with the Venus and Mars metals of the tub being important.

This part is pretty interesting: Food of the Wise tries to dry himself off with the linen veil, but new drops of water form on his skin. Like, the veil is absorbing the water, but then new water just shows up, almost like he's sweating it. He gives up trying to dry himself this way and instead decides to air-dry, lying down in the shade for six days. He finally dries and notices that he feels stronger. He takes a little walk and comes back to the tub.

The water that was in the tub before is gone, replaced with a red liquid. The sand is now gray and metallic, though we're not told what kind of metal. He hops in again, but only for a few minutes. When he gets out, he realizes that he absorbed some of the liquid. Like a sponge, y'all. Weird. It's a contrast to before: liquid was continuously coming out of him, but now he's absorbing it.

He decides not to dry himself with the linen veil because the red liquid is so corrosive that he thinks it'll destroy the fabric. He goes to lay on a bed of warm sand for seven days.

He returns to the tub again and finds it the way it was originally: full of clear water and white sand. He decides to take one more bath (it's been three baths now) and washes himself very thoroughly. This time he could dry himself with no problems. Now that he's followed the purification instructions (which I assume is what the plaque told him), he leaves this gallery, which he has been in for a total of sixteen days.

Let's interpret some things. One thing I find curious is that we've got some "almost but not quite" symbols. Brass for Venus, steel for Mars, but also the oval shape of the tub. This is the first time we've seen an oval in the text, and there are circles around (like the plaque). I think this is supposed to symbolize something about seeing from another perspective (since a circle would look like an oval from most angles).

Let's talk about the ax's name. It's in Hebrew. Here are some possible interpretations:

Direct translation - Kalkenharam (not a word, it seems) - קלקנחרם

Manly P Hall - Destroyer (also "Lift the voice to its fullness in chant or song")

Adam McLean - Calcanthum, a blue salt of copper

Playing with letters:

• 100 Loud - ק לקנח רם (added spaces)

• Easy to Boycott - קל קנ חרם (added spaces in different spots)

• To be harassed - לקנחרם (took away the first letter)

• Economy - כלכנהרם (changed the kufs to kavs and the chet to he)

I like McLean's translation best here. After all, the ax has a blue handle, plus it gives us more copper. Silver is associated with the moon while copper is associated with Venus, so we have a lot of femininity in this ax, which might normally be considered more of a masculine implement. This gives us another metaphor for balance. All of that said, the ax isn't used. The narrator just takes note of it, so we can assume it matters for some reason. There's nothing here to chop, so I think it's just supposed to serve as a reminder to balance the masculine and feminine properties.

The first bath seems pretty standard, for the most part. He washes his hands first, which, when paired with the abundant Hebrew so far, makes me think of ritual handwashing and ritual washing. It's possible this section takes inspiration from those practices.

After the first bath (in which he soaks for three days), he tries to dry himself off only to find that, no matter how much water the veil absorbs, he is still wet. New water droplets replace the ones he's dried. This could have a couple different meanings, one being that he is 'sweating out' his impurities. But then why the veil? Why is he specifically given a veil to dry off? I think this ties back into the symbolism of veils in occultism in general. The veil covers his eyes from the truth. As long as he has the veil (normal understanding of the world), he can't rid himself of the impurities. It's only after he stops trying to use the veil (removes the veil from his eyes, sees the truth) that he eventually dries. He dries for six days, making this first bathing process take a total of nine days. I think the extended drying time is important; it shows that even when you've removed the veil, these things take time. He also lies down to dry in the shade, which could be significant. Normally one would dry in the sun to speed up the process. This could show that he knows he has to take his time to dry properly, or it could have something to do with embracing the 'darker' parts of reality/himself.

The second bath is a red liquid that our narrator absorbs into his body. I took this to be him going through tough experiences, which gives him strength. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" vibes. He's afraid to use the veil on the red liquid because he's worried the liquid will corrode it, which is why I think it must be a metaphor for unpleasant times. This could also suggest that some experiences are too transformative to be wiped away. Instead of attempting to dry himself with the veil, he goes to lie in warm sand for seven days. Seven is a significant number in spirituality. I took this as a type of healing. He's just gone through some difficult things, but lying in warm sand could be comforting. Seven can symbolize completion (think of the myth of the world being created in seven days), so it's possible this is to show that he's fully healing from his trauma.

Now that his impurities have been sweated out in the first bath and he's survived the emotional trials of the second bath, Food of the Wise can take the third bath. This time, he is purified. He uses the veil-- possibly suggesting that he's ready to reintegrate into 'normal' society-- and successfully dries. No water is leaking from him or being absorbed into him. He has the correct amount of 'water' in him now.

Water is strongly associated with emotions and the unconscious self. This entire passage is about Food of the Wise ridding himself of unnecessary emotions, experiencing hardships, and healing from the painful emotions. Emotional balance is vital to spiritual work. First, the veil (which hides the truth) is useless to him, so he stops using it. Then he's unable to use the veil, since it would be completely destroyed (the illusion of 'reality' can't compare to the actual reality he is experiencing). Finally, he is able to use the veil (he can pretend to not see the truth, which allows him to blend into society, an important quality for survival).

He leaves the area after spending a total of sixteen days there. 1 + 6 = 7, so this gives us that spiritual number again.

That about wraps up section seven (oh, seven again!).

Stay safe!

- me