"By his side there stands a table which represents the four elements (earth, water, fire, air), the physical plane." Samael Aun Weor
That was written by Samael Aun Weor in relation to the table as seen on the first Tarot card, the Magician, I have a few questions about some of the symbols on this card. I will number them to keep things simple:
1. Why does the table, or rather what is it about the table that represents the four elements? Analyzing this, I know that a table should have four legs to support the bench on top, although these are not shown in the image.
2. The vase, moon and sword on the table with the Ibis bird underneath, is there any significance about their positioning (objects on top, bird underneath) in relation to the magician and the stone as we can see a similar configuration with the magician on top and the cubic stone of Yesod underneath, this would indicate some sort of relationship between the two (bird and stone, items on the table and the magician). To Samael the items on top of the table appear disorganized, to me they look perfectly positioned, maybe if the vase was upside down or on its side, that message would be more obvious to me, some of these things threw me off.
3. With his left hand, the magician is holding a staff, which according to Samael, represents the spine, is the staff universally accepted as the symbol for the spine? Which traditions utilize this symbol in the same way?
4. If the magician is self-realized, because of the risen serpent on his crown, how does this self-realization relate with Kether?
"Place the mind in quietude and silence and go to sleep imagining the figure of the Holy Eight (the Infinite) and tracing the sign over the heart as previously mentioned" Samael Aun Weor
5. There is a similar practice in Tibetan Buddhism where the monk would imagine in his or her heart-space the letter A (in Tibetan of course), this would apparently aid one in attaining conscious awareness within the astral realm, is there any relation between the sign of the Holy Eight, the Tibetan letter A and the two practices mentioned? They are supposed to do the same thing!
6. Are these two symbols (below) the same? Apart from the visual differences, they are both structurally endless...