The Mystery of the Sphinx

The hieroglyph of the sphinx is found very often in the walls of the temples of Egypt and this is why it is usually called the sphinx of Egypt. We are going to explain its mystery, but first of all let us know that this mysterious icon is also found in Persia, Babylon. It is an icon that represents the elemental forces of nature. It is very important for us to comprehend its mystery. 

As we see in the graphic of the tenth card of the Tarot, the sphinx is located on top of the wheel of samsara, the wheel of fortune. 

On the right and left sides of the wheel, we find two figures or personages. On the right we find Hermanubis, a name that joints Hermes and Anubis. This implies that in order to rotate in that wheel the activity of Hermes / Mercury and the law of karma (which Anubis oversees) is indispensable, very simple. On the left we find the fallen Typhon, which symbolizes the devolving, returning forces of nature on the spinning wheel. On the right side evolution is represented by Hermes and Anubis. On the left, devolution is represented by Typhon Baphomet, this monster with the face of a crocodile or hippopotamus. 

In the waters beneath them we find two serpents. The one in the right represents what in India is called Kundalini. This serpentine force is described by Moses in the Bible in the book of Numbers as the serpent of brass:

“And the people spoke against the Elohim, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul has been weary of this light bread. And יהוה Jehovah sent “נחשים השרפים Nahashim Seraphim” fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against יהוה Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto יהוה Jehovah, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And יהוה Jehovah said unto Moses, Make thee a “שרף Seraph” fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live. And Moses made a “נחש נחשת Nahash Nahashoth” serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a "נחש Nahash” serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the “נחש נחשת Nahash Nahashoth” serpent of brass, he lived.” —Numbers 21: 5-9

The fiery serpents are the Seraphim, the fiery forces of the sephirah Geburah. This is why Jehovah said to Moses: 

"Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten (by the fiery serpents), when he looks upon it, shall live.”

Of course, this is full of an alchemical symbolism, because brass is a mixture of two metals, namely, copper and tin; they represent the masculine and feminine forces that we need to combine in order to awaken the third force, which is brass, which in Sanskrit is called Kundalini, and in Christianity it is called the fire of the Holy Ghost or fire of the Holy Spirit. 

On the bottom left we see the opposite of that serpent, which is in esotericism is called the Kundabuffer organ, which is that organ that develops in the psyche of individuals that abuse the  seraphim or sexual creative forces of Geburah — the sexual energy — and therefore, they become slaves of passion. Moses describes passion as the tempting serpent of Eden: 

“And the serpent (the sense of touch) was more subtle than any beast of the field (שדה Shaddah or שדי Shaddai) which Jehovah Elohim had made.” —Genesis 3:1

Everything related to sexual degeneration is represented by the left serpent, the Kundabuffer; and everything related to sexual regeneration is represented by the positive forces of chastity (the upright way to take care of the sexual energy) which is represented by the serpent of the right, the Kundalini. 

These two serpents are also represented in the Caduceus of Mercury or the Caduceus of Hermes. These are called Ida and Pingala, and in the book of Genesis Moses call them “Adam and Eve,” the two serpentine forces on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

So the three aspects or divisions that we see depicted on the tenth card of the Tarot are telling us a lot, yet we are going to give here only the synthesis in order for us to intuitively comprehend the rest. 

The tenth card of the tarot is called Retribution, since on the wheel of samsara we receive according to our deeds.

What? The good we shall receive from Elohim, and shall we not receive the evil? - Job 2: 10

The number 10 ten is very significant, since it is related with the mysteries of lingam-yoni. 

As you see, on top of the wheel of fortune or wheel of samsara, we find that icon that we call the sphinx, which is an elemental, living force in the internal worlds that represents Mother Nature. Usually the face of the sphinx is feminine, but on different murals from different cultures in Asia we can find sphinxes with masculine faces. Whether masculine or feminine, the face represents intelligence. Now, let us delve deeper, in order to comprehend this marvelous icon. 

In the Bible in the Book of Genesis and Exodus and many of its books the name Egypt is often written, however, in the Bible, in the Hebrew language, Egypt is מצרים Mitzrahim or מצרימה Mitzrahima, this is how Egypt is pronounced in Hebrew, which as a word hides many kabbalistic meanings that we have explained in many lectures. Kabbalistically, Mitzrahim מצרים or Mitzrahima מצרימה “Egypt” represents the whole planet Earth. People always associate the sphinx with Egypt, because many writers associate it with Egypt. Moses, for instance, who wrote the first five books of the Bible, was an Egyptian. We can prove this when reading the book of Exodus. Moses was an Egyptian fugitive, who slew another Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. 

“And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.” —Exodus 2: 13-15

“Moses was called an Egyptian by the daughters of Jethro, when they said to him: 

“An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.” —Exodus 2:19  

“Moses was born in Egypt and he reared to it, and there he became initiated in the secret doctrine. 'A goodly man,' for he saw the Lord clearly (Numbers 12:8) and not in dark speeches. He was a divine man, a man of God, (Deuteronomy 33:1) a recipient of divine science as no other man had ever enjoyed before. 

“‘And in hand of the Egyptian was a spear.' This was the scepter or rod of God that was handed to Moses, as mentioned by scripture: 'And the rod of the Elohim was in my hand,' Exodus 17:9 the rod which was made when the sun rose for the first time, and on it was engraved the Shem-Ham-Aphorash, or most holy divine name. By it he smote the rock, as it is written: 'And he struck the rock with his rod twice. 'Num. 20:11 Then said the Holy One: 'Moses, my rod was not given to thee to be used thus. I swear, by thy life, from this moment thou shalt not retain it.' Therefore we read: 'He descended with the rod,' which proved a great affliction for Israel, for then the rod was taken away. 'And he wrested the spear from out of the hand of the Egyptian,' meaning the rod, and it was never seen again. Then, furthermore, he read: 'He killed him with his spear for the sin committed by a wrong use of the rod.” —Zohar

Moses escaped from Egypt, because he killed another Egyptian. Indeed, this is symbol that we have to comprehend, because Moses represents the sephirah Tiphereth, the body of will or causal body. We killed the Egyptian in us, which means the elemental forces that relates to the mysteries of Egypt. 

“Eros and Anteros, Cain and Abel, live within ourselves in an intense struggle until the moment we discover the mystery of the sphinx. Then we grasp the flaming sword, liberating ourselves from the wheel of the centuries.” —Samael Aun Weor

Prophets in the Bible always address Egypt as something very special, and it is because in the time of Atlantis (that continent that was engulfed by the universal flood) initiates were studying the forces of nature. The society that studied the elemental forces of nature was named Akaldan society. The initiates from that Atlantean society were the ones who built not only the sphinx of Egypt, but also other sphinxes that we find in different cultures in Asia and America. The Egyptian pyramids are Atlantean, as well as the pyramids that we also find in the continent of America. The Atlanteans had a great college of mysteries in which great initiates like Moses were instructed. For instance, Pythagoras from Greece, even Jesus - if we read the Gospels, we will read how Jesus went to Egypt and from Egypt he returned into the Holy Land in order to teach his knowledge, his Gnosis. 

The Atlantean sphinx symbolizes the forces of the four elements of nature gathered in one force, or better said, it is the elemental divine hidden force within the four elements. By applying the law of analogies we have to understand that in Kabbalistic esotericism the sephirah Malkuth, our physicality, is also called Egypt. So Malkuth represents either the planet Earth as a whole or our physicality — both are related to Egypt. Only in this way we can understand why Egypt is mentioned in the Bible and many other books. For instance, regarding the mystery, the myth of the sphinx, we find in Europe the story of Oedipus king and the riddle of the sphinx. The sphinx sat in front of Thebes and asked everyone who came there a riddle. The one who answered it, the sphinx let him go, but if he could not answer the riddle, then the sphinx ate him. Nobody ever knew the answer but Oedipus (which means "swollen-foot").

The sphinx asked: "Who is the being that goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?" Then Oedipus answered: "The human being.” But his answer was not complete; he did not go into the depth of its meaning. 

“The crime of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, was that he failed to understand the sphinx; that he destroyed the scourge of Thebes without being pure enough to complete the expiation in the name of his people. The plague, in consequence, avenged speedily the death of the monster, and the King of Thebes, forced to abdicate, sacrificed himself to the terrible manes of the sphinx, more alive and voracious than ever when it had passed from the domain of form into that of idea. Oedipus divined what was man and he put out his own  yes because he did not see what was God. He divulged half of the Great Arcanum, and, to save his people, it was necessary for him to bear the remaining half of the terrible secret into exile and the grave.” —Eliphas Levi 

According to that myth, Oedipus killed his father without knowing that he was his father, who was the king of Thebes. And after that he married his mother without knowing that she was his mother and with her he had many children. When he knew his crime he pulled out his eyes. Oedipus killed his father and married his mother, this is something very symbolic; we have to delve, to inquire about it, we must not mistakenly read myths superficially, because myths are marvelous, truthful, treasure coffers; for instance, similar to the story of Oedipus, Moses killed an Egyptian and fled. During his exile he married Sephora, Sephirah, the Shekinah. 

“All of the ten known sephiroth come from Sephirah, the Divine Mother; she dwells in the heart temple.” —Samael Aun Weor

"Rabbi Simeon said: "The secret doctrine (of Torah or Tarot) and its teaching have relation to two ב beth ( בית houses), or more explicitly the human (בית house of Binah) and the divine (בית house of Binah), the lower (וה man-woman in Yesod), and (יה Jah in Daath) the higher Self, as it is written:

And (the two Hei of והיה va’heieh the tetragrammaton) shall be for a sanctuary (to י Iod and ו Vav); but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both (בית Beth) houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. - Isaiah 8: 14

“Of these two (ה ה Heis), one (in Daath, the throat) is (יה Jah) a mystery beyond human comprehension, and the other (וה man-woman in Yesod-sex), though exceedingly occult, are within the range of (Binah) understanding.

“The first (ה Hei, in the throat) is symbolized by the Great Voice mentioned in (Deuteronomy 5: 23). 'The Great Voice or Logos את הקול Ath Ha’kwol that ceases not,' that is always resounding and speaking within us though unheard and unrecognized by the external ear. By it has been delivered and spoken the esoteric teachings known as 'the voice of Jacob' that they may become known.

"Now this great interior voice (הקול- Hei’kwol) and the word (or Logos את Ath) which expresses it are as it were two houses, the one visible, the other invisible. One is the eternal Wisdom (חכמה עלאה Chokmah ilaah) hidden and concealed in (Daath) the divine mind and sent forth the great interior voice; the other the Voice of Jacob or esoteric teachings expressed by words, especially by the term בראשית Barashyth, or as it may be differently written and explained by the words בית beth ראשית reshyth, meaning the house or doctrine called ראשית reshyth or beginning."

"The scriptures beginning (בית beth ראשית reshyth) with the words, ברא אלה-ים Bara Elah-Yam (created the Sea Goddess), the mystical meaning of which is the same as is contained in the words: Vyeben Jehovah Elohim Ath Azla ויבן יהוה אלהים את הצלע (Jehovah Elohim formed the rib).

"Likewise, The mystic signification of the words: את השמים Ath Ha Schamayim (Ath, the heavens), is the same as ויבאה אל־האדם vayebah El Ha-Adam (and brought her (אלה-ים Elah-Yam) unto Adam). Thus, the words ואת הארץ Ve-Ath Ha-Aretz (and Ath, the earth) also have the same occult meaning of עצם מעצמי atzm matzmi, (bone of my bone)."

It is written: 'The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until (by means of the conjuration of the four) I make thine enemies as footstool of thy feet (Malkuth)' (Psalm 110: 1).

"These words refer to (יהוה אלהים Jehovah Elohim, sephirah Binah) the Supreme. saying to אדני Adonia (Malkuth, the Queen) next in being to Him, 'sit thou on my right hand, that the West (Malkuth) may become joined to the East (Tiphereth), the left (foot, fire Geburah, left pillar) to the right (foot, water Gedulah, right pillar), so that the power and might of the idolatrous nations (from Klipoth) may not prevail, but become broken and dissipated. 'My Lord (יהוה Jehovah) said unto my Lady (Adonia אדני),' have also the same signification as 'Jacob said unto the Lord' as is seen in the words: Behold, (Aun און - sexual strength) the ark of the covenant of אדון Adon (the Lord) of all the earth (Malkuth) passes over (upon the third foot, through the central pillar, the staff of the Patriarchs) before you into Jordan. - Joshua 3: 11 - Zohar

So, in the name of God יהוה Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei, the first letter Hei represents the Divine Mother, the second Hei is the daughter, the sexual force in our physicality, it is written:

“And there went a man (the Iod, the fire) of the (first Hei, the) house of Levi (the Holy Spirit, sephirah Binah), and took (the second Hei, Malkuth) to wife a daughter of Levi (the Holy Spirit, sephirah Binah). - Exodus 2: 1

In order to work with these two Heis, we have to work with יהוה Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei, the elemental forces of the sphinx. Moses, the causal body, the son of a daughter of Levi, has the will to do it; this, we have to deeply comprehend and understand.    

For instance, in the famous icon, the Tree of Life, the four feet or four elements, are at the very bottom, where we find Egypt, which in Hebrew in the Tree of Life it is called מלכות Malkuth or מלכותה Malkutha, which means “the kingdom” or “the queen,” the Shekinah. Why? Because it is the feminine sephirah that absorbs all the nine heavens above it, is the tenth of the sephiroth in the kabbalistic Tree of Life. Malkuth sits at the bottom of the Tree of Life, underneath Yesod. In alchemy, the sephirah Malkuth symbolizes the bride, the queen of the sephirah Tiphereth, the king, which symbolizes the bridegroom. The sephirah Yesod (sex) unites the vertical beam, the Lingam of Tiphereth, to the horizontal beam, the Yoni of Malkuth, and this is why Malkuth, the kingdom, is represented by the cross. 

The cross is the symbol of the four elements of nature, the same elements that we find in the sphinx. When we talk about the ten sephiroth of the Tree of Life, we have to depart from the point of view that the ten sephiroth are located in our physicality or points of reference, because all of the forces of the four elements descend into Malkuth through the four rivers of Eden: fire from Geburah, left pillar; water from Chesed, right pillar; air from Tiphereth, central pillar; these three are mixed in the Nile of the earth, Mitzrayimah, Egypt. 

Location of the ten sephiroth within the physical body: 

1. Kether: the crown, in the superior part of the head

2. Chokmah: right side of the brain. 

3. Binah: left side of the brain.

4. Chesed: in the right arm.

5. Geburah: in the left arm.

6. Tiphereth: in the heart.

7. Netzach: in the right leg.

8. Hod: in the left leg.

9. Yesod: in the sexual organs.

10. Malkuth: in the feet. 

This graphic shows the magnetic location of the ten sephiroth in our physicality looking at them from behind. According to esotericism, the Tree of Life is the spinal column. The spine is the famous Tree of Life that we find in the book of Genesis. This is how all these ten sephiroth are connected in the body. We might say that the arms, the legs, are branches, the canopy of that tree is our head. The Book of Genesis before addressing the humanity of the Garden of Eden, it talks about trees:

And Elohim said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.- Genesis 1:11,12

"The herb yielding seed," that is, the lunar angels (from Yesod) named "herbs" who cast their seed into (the spinal medulla, the Sushumna, of) the earth (the physicality of those initiates who practice sexual alchemy) from which come human creatures (solar bodies).

"And the fruit tree yielding fruit." The word ‘fruit’ here repeated twice indicates the (semen in the) male and female sexes, for as one tree is fructified by another tree, so (in sexual alchemy) is the (ovum of the) female made prolific by the (spermatozoon of the) male (when they are transmuted).

Thus, amongst these vegetable angels (from Yesod) there are male and female (polarizations)! They are those called cherubim and thimroth (or Pingala and Ida). Who and what are the thimroth? They are angelic beings who are present in the incense of burnt offerings and are therefore called תימרות עשן thimroth aschan (pillars of smoke) and are thus helpers to initiates during their (sexual alchemical) worship.

"Who is this that goes up by the desert, as a תימרות עשן thimroth aschan (pillars of smoke) of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?" - Song of Solomon 3: 6

"Yielding fruit," that is to say, angels in male and female forms resembling human beings with this special difference, they are of majestic form and noble countenance, whilst the cherubim are smaller in stature and of frailer build. Scripture saith of them, "they have the figure of a man," which is the synthesis of all figures and forms, because bearing the impress of the Holy Name whose four letters Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei correspond to and symbolize the four quarters of the world, North, South, East and West.

Michael (Ra, the Solar Logos) is stationed at the North (the Zenith) and the faces of all the angelic hosts are directed towards him as being their chief. Scripture further states, they have the forms of a man (water), a lion (fire), an ox (earth) and an eagle (air). By the face of a man is meant the face of the male and female blended (by means of the waters during the pact of sexual alchemy) into one. Therefore, "Fruit tree bearing fruit after his kind whose seed is in itself." These words designate the initiates who conserve their (sexual) seed to advantage. "Upon the earth" refer to those who (fornicate upon the earth, those who) live a dissipated life, that which is therefore unlawful and forbidden. - Zohar

So: “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah Elohim made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for Jehovah Elohim had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not Ha’Adam (Moses) to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And Jehovah Elohim formed Adam of the dust of the ground (Malkuth, the Bride), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Adam became a living soul. And Jehovah Elohim planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put Ha’Adam whom he had formed. And out of the ground made Jehovah Elohim to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” - Genesis 2: 4-9

When we read these quotations alchemically, we have to understand that those trees are people, human beings that are associated with the plant kingdom. Why? Because the plant kingdom is where we see perfect alchemical chastity. See how trees give flowers, beautiful scented flowers, which become fruits that we eat. When we see the plant kingdom, we love it; different beautiful plants, which transform different cosmic forces that are the outcome of alchemy, or better said, the outcome of the transmutation of the creative force of the Holy Spirit in nature. We have to imitate the plant kingdom by solving the riddle of the sphinx, which represents chastity in the animal kingdom. Of course, in the animal kingdom we also find beautiful creatures, but with the difference that in the animal kingdom there is the vice of fornication. Even though animals obey the laws of nature, they fornicate, but only when they are in heat. Animals waste the sexual creative essence or matter of their bodies, while in the plant kingdom they do not. This is why Moses symbolize the plant kingdom with Adam and Eve, but also, the tempting serpent among the animals or beasts of the field. 

We are in the animal kingdom, since we are rational mammals or intellectual animals; we are accustomed to fornicate like any other animal. We, as humanoids, do not imitate the plants, but the animals. All the prophets that came into this planet in different areas of the planet, came in order to teach how to imitate the plants, but animal generation, animal desire, is strong in us and this is why we have to overcome it. This is the alchemy that Moses teaches in his books.

The Bible also talks how the pyramids and the sphinx of Egypt were built by the Israelites. Indeed, the Israelites were the ones who built the pyramids and the marvelous temples of mysteries in Egypt and not only in Egypt, but all over the world. Nevertheless, when we are addressing the Israelites, we are not addressing those Israelite Immigrants (פלשתי pel·is·tē') or Israelite-Palestines of this three-dimensional world in the Middle East and who are fighting there in order to establish themselves in that land. For us esoterically, alchemically, the Israelites are the archetypes, the prototypes, the primeval psyche or soul elements, engendered, within the womb of Is, Isis, the Divine Mother, the Spirit of the earth, by Ra-El, the Sun God; thus, the children of Israel exist within any true human being, and are in potentiality in the humanoid, animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms. 

“The expression, "Congregation of Israel," in the first instance, refers to the first born children of Light, or, as they are termed in the Book of Job, the morning stars, who, along with the Children of Elohim, sang their song of praise at the creation of the world. In an extended sense, it includes the true children of light who have attained unto the Divine Life.

"I am the narcissus of Sharon and the lilies of the valleys. As a lily amongst the thorns, so is my love among the daughters." - Song of Solomon. 2:2 

“This word "שושנה Shoshana” lily (rose), what does it mean and symbolize? It symbolizes the congregation of Israel; and as lilies are either red or white in color, so the members of this congregation are divided into two classes, distinguished by their rigorous justice and uprightness, or by their gentleness, kindness and compassion. These are environed about with thirteen ways or degrees of mercy, as the lily has thirteen leaves (13 sephiroth) surrounding it on all sides.

“Furthermore, intervening between the first (בראשית בר אאלהים AElohim) and the second אלהים Elohim, mentioned in Genesis 1: 1,2, are thirteen words corresponding to these thirteen leaves (13 sephiroth) of the lily and the degrees of mercy surrounding the congregation of Israel. The divine name Elohim is mentioned again, and wherefore? In order to show the symbolic meaning of the five strong leaves which surround the lily, the occult meaning of which has reference to the five ways of salvation, corresponding to five gates of mercy. Respecting this mystery of five, it is written: "I will take the cup of salvation,"Psalms 116:13 which is the cup of blessing, and which must stand or repose upon five fingers only, similar to the lily supported and sustained by its five strong leaves. For this reason the lily symbolizes the cup of blessing, as there are five words between the second and the third Elohim mentioned in the Book of Genesis. One of these words is אור A U R, meaning light. This אור Aur light was treated and became enclosed as an embyro in the Berith, or covenant, and, entering into the lily as a principle of life, made it fruitful, and this is what is called in Scripture "fruit tree, yielding fruit whose seed is in itself" Genesis 1:29; and as this life principle, entering into the Berith, caused itself to become manifested in forty-two kinds of second matter, so has it produced the Shemhamphorash, the great and ineffable divine name of God, composed of forty-two letters, which operated in the creation of the world.” —Zohar

This quotation is very important for us to comprehend. People ignore that Israel is within them; it is all of those archetypes, and that we need to work with them. 

Thus, where are the Israelites? They are in Egypt, in our physicality. And if we want them to build pyramids, the Pyramid of Thoth and the sphinx, they have to enter into the path. Those prototypes or archetypes have to enter into the initiation. And for that we have to find the door, the way in which the initiatic doors will be open for us internally. When somebody enters into the path, internally, they always face the sphinx, because this is an elemental that represents nature. Personally, I had an experience with the sphinx, but I knew before that event that that was the elemental Intercessor of Mother Nature and that elemental behaves according to the individual who the elemental is approaching in the initiation. In my case, for instance, I remember that that elemental came with a veil, covering her nose and lips, and I immediately understood, and I lift a veil a little bit and the elemental said: "Be careful, do not disrespect me". And I said: "Yes, I want your blessing and I will not disrespect you". Yes, I understood there that that elemental was warning me as if saying: "You are going to unveil and to talk about the mystery of my nose and lips", which is precisely related to Gnosis, the knowledge, the doctrine that we teach in this day and age. If you want to inquire about the mystery of the nose and lips or the mouth, I will answer you, yet, before going into the mystery – let us observe the sphinx in Egypt in this day and age: her nose and lips are destroyed, nose and mouth are no longer there. We are going to explain why. Comprehend, nothing happens by coincidence, because in Egypt and other cultures we see exactly how the sphinx should appear. But the sphinx in Egypt that represents precisely the whole planet is the one that we are going to explain, which means the same in any place. Before that I have to tell you that all those elements that we find in the sphinx are also mentioned by Ezekiel in the bible:

"And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the North, a great cloud, and a fire unfolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures [that represents the four elements]. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of Adam. [The translation says "of a man", but the right translation should be Adam, because אדם Adam is 1+4+40 = 9, the name that holds the צלם Tzalem, the image of God in the ninth sephirah, Yesod-sex.] And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. And they had the hands (יד Iod in Hebrew] of Adam under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of אדם Adam, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle."  —Ezekiel 1: 4-10

These four creatures are also mentioned in the book of Revelation 4: 6-8 

“And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”

We have to kabbalistically know the mystery of these four elements. Here we find the sphinx of Persia; they call it the sphinx that represented the King Darius of Persia. Let us read what the Master Samael Aun Weor states about these animals.  

"Lion’s claws: Hides the enigma of Fire. Human face: Water; Intelligence; Eagle’s wings: Air; the wings of the Spirit; Bull’s back hooves; Earth Tenacity These are the values representative of the sphinx, the four elements of solar Alchemy. We need the tenacity of the bull and the wings of the Spirit. The sphinx speaks to us about the Great Work that must be performed with the four elements. During a certain occasion he had also an interview with the elemental of the sphinx. But in his case, as you see, the elemental came with a feet covered with mud. "The elemental blessed me and I said unto it, “ I understand why you come with your feet covered with mud. It is because of this age of Kali Yuga." - Samael Aun Weor

Kali Yuga is the Iron Age, in which humanity is really desecrating all the elements.   

When we alchemically study the Air, among the four elements of Nature, then, any type of wind, wing or any type of bird represents the spirit, the air. In Christianity, for instance, the Holy Dove represents the Holy Spirit. This is why in different religious mythologies we find different aerial creatures that are used by the prophets or by masters or Devas in order to travel on them through the heavens. Winged animals always represent the forces of nature that enable the initiates to fly through the heavens by utilizing, by channeling the natural forces of the elements through their own body, this is a mystery of Alchemy. For instance, in this bas-relief, we see the face of a male, king as the face of a winged sphinx. 

The original sphinx that is in Egypt had a crown with nine spikes that symbolize the ninth sphere, the world of Yesod, this means that our brain has to act and work accordingly with the image of God, which is within the sexual force. 

Why is the sphinx with a face of human being? We find that not all but some Egyptian hieroglyphs have animal faces, but the sphinx, especially this sphinx in particular, have, whether male or female, human face, which represents the human being. The human face represents the element water, intelligence. In many lectures we explained that the water that the Book of Genesis or any book of esotericism or Alchemy talks about, represents the creative sexual waters that in our organism are situated in two areas, namely, the cerebrospinal fluid, upon which the brain and the spinal medulla float, which is positively polarized, we would say it is masculine; and the genital fluid, which is the feminine polarization of those waters located in our sexual organs. In kabbalah, in alchemy, we call the sexual genital fluid “sperm” (literally “seed” whether masculine or feminine). Thus, in alchemy sperm is either the masculine or feminine genital fluids. Thus, in our body, the masculine or feminine sexual glands contain the feminine creative sexual fluids. Thus, this is how, in relation with the creative force of the waters, we are, individually speaking, positive and negative, active and passive, giving and receiving. This is why water represents intelligence. 

When we talk astrologically about the four elements, we acknowledge that these relate to the zodiacal signs under which every physical person is born. There are twelve zodiacal signs related with the twelve tribes of Israel, which are (I repeat) archetypes within our psyche, which polarize according to the zodiacal sign in order to attract the forces of the zodiac in relation with the element that that sign relates to: Aries, Sagittarius, Leo are fire; Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra are air; then we have water, which is Scorpio, Cancer and Pisces; while the earth is Virgo, Capricorn, and Taurus. 

So, through reincarnation we see how the twelve forces of the zodiac, twelve tribes of Israel, share the four elements in us. And this is how אדמה Adamah, our physicality, get all of those forces. This is why we are reborn in different zodiacal signs during many lives in order to get rounded with those forces that the book of Genesis call "dust of אדמה Adamah, the ground" (Malkuth-Egypt) that we need to crystallize through alchemy, in order to create Adam, the human being, inside of us, as it is written: 

""And יהוה אלהים Jehovah Elohim formed Adam from the dust of (אדמה Adamah) the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Adam became a living soul." - Genesis 2: 7

So, who is the being that goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening? Oedipus answered: The man! Better said, Adam, the human being. 

When utilizing our common sense superficially, we will say: "Well, in the morning when we are babies, we just go on four feet, namely, the arms and legs in order to walk around, but once we are developed we start walking on our two feet, and when we are old, we go on three feet, because we need a cane.” Right? That will be the easier answer, and if that is the right answer, then, everybody would have the right to be the king of Thebes, yet in order to be a king we have to be a Malachim. We have to develop a Malachim, the king of nature, the human being within. And how do we develop a Malachim? We develop it by accomplishing with what the elemental of the sphinx of nature demands. 

Listen, in order to have the right to be called a human being we have to have seven bodies, not only Malkuth, the human physical body, and Yesod, its vital superior aspect. We have to have also the internal solar bodies, namely the sephiroth Hod, Netzach, Tiphereth, and the נשמת חיים Neshamoth Chaim, the breath of life, namely, Geburah and Chesed; these are the bodies that bear the human image, that we must develop, these are the bodies that make of Adam a - נפש חיה Nephesh Chaiah - a living soul. 

Hod is the emotional body that is commonly called the astral body, this we have to create – it expresses itself through the human emotional center. A human being controls his emotional center, his human emotions; a human being is not a slave of bestial emotions. In this day and age people have the physical shape of a human being; nevertheless, they do not have the human shape in Hod, the emotional world. They express bestial emotions trough their emotional center, they are slaves of fear, hatred, lust, and all of those animal emotions that they carry within and which they call human emotions, this is a wrong assertion. Self-esteem is not human, yet, to love our neighbor as we love our God, our True Self, is. Observe the animal kingdom and you will see that any animal have those bestial attributes, namely, self-esteem, vanity, pride. In this moments, for instance, intellectual animals are fighting for supremacy on the whole planet: "this is my land, this is my country, this is my flag! And this is how I am," they say. As animals of different species, people are identified with mediocracy.  For instance, observe the canines or the cats in the jungle how they mark their territory by spraying their urine, their pestilence. Hippopotamuses do not spray urine, they spray their feces in order to mark their territory! In the world of dreams, feces and urine are the symbols of money. Thus to be filthy rich means to be full of that. And as we see on TV, if other animals come next to their marked territory, they fight. Why? Because they are animals. That is instinctual, that is naturally animal. Are we, rational animals, superior to the irrational animals? Did we overcome our bestiality? No! We are still fighting, defending our marked territories, "Markets". Let us see, for instance, right now, without going so far, somebody is promising to build a wall in order to separate Mexico from United States. Likewise, there are other threats in different countries of the world. Why? It is because we still are animals. In other planets (it is not that we believe in extraterrestrials, we know that they exist - we have had experiences with them) they have only one home - the whole planet, all of them share it. They come here in their cosmic ships and see what we have and that even in one same country some intellectual animals are trying to be independent from other rational mammals, this, in order to be independent, in order to make another country within that country. Our present situation is really sad. But this is how we earthlings are. Most of us are still in the level of animal. Racism, prejudice, this is how this is call it. If we do not annihilate that animality that we carry within, we will continue existing under different nonsensical laws, meaning, man made laws in order to try to survive in this mess or this hell that we have created by ourselves, because indeed, this is a problem that we have created. 

Prophets have come in order to teach us how to overcome our bestiality, but we insist in feeding it, thus we get what we deserve. If we want to change this society, this planet, we have to change ourselves. It is not by waiting others to change, as people say:  “if you change, then I will also change.” No! I will change and if you do not change, I do not care, but I want to overcome my bestial level. This is precisely what we have to do, but we are always waiting for somebody else to do it. “If somebody does it, then I will.” That is the intellectual, mediocre, animal way of thinking. 

The laws, the doctrine, in order to change are given to everybody, but of course we know that not everybody is going to change, since normally everybody feels deep affection for the degeneration in which they wallow, which is animal: rational mammal degeneration. Indeed, they care very much for their animality. 

We come with Gnosis and we unveil the mysteries, and the majority of humanoids are protesting: "What?! To follow human laws? To stop being an animal? To avoid animal procreation? And to start procreating as human beings? Forget it!" People love the animal orgasm. But we have to insist, because this is what the masters of the temple of Egypt in the internal worlds are telling us: "Teach, unveil the mysteries. If they take it - good! If they do not take it - respect their free will.” Thus, this is what we are doing. 

Sequentially, when we go into the mysteries of the sphinx we find that it has a face of a human being. We selected the face of Tutankhamen to illustrate it, because he is a human being, he is a great master, but unfortunately his tomb was desecrated. But on Tutankhamen’s face we find precisely how the sphinx was in the beginning - beautiful; now it is just ruins. 

What does the vulture on the forehead of Tutankhamen represent? The vulture represents the mystery of death - the death, the annihilation of the animal that we have within. Observe the vultures; there are many programs on TV where we can see how the vultures devour the corpses, when they find a corpse, they go and devour it; they only leave the bones for the hyenas until everything disappears. Thus, this is what we have to do with ourselves psychologically speaking, because the animals that we are warning you to fight against are those animals that we have, namely, lust, anger, greed, laziness, pride, gluttony, vanity, self-esteem and all of those animal elements that in this day and age are worshiped by the fiendish ignoramuses of this wrongly called humanity.  

Presently, anybody who is very lustful becomes a celebrity, who through misleading propaganda is worshiped.  They say, this one from the sphere of Lilith is “out of the closet,” then everybody applauds, because he or she without shame is openly talking about their degeneration. Yet, when we talk about the regeneration that we have to do, we can count with the fingers of the hand how many people agree with it. Pornographic theaters are filled with intellectual animals and those who sell pornographic movies become filthy rich. 

Intellectual animals are not human beings. Human beings respect themselves, they respect their sexual energy, because that is the water of Genesis. 

Alchemically, the element water is represented by the human being, it is called intelligence. It is because the intelligence that we utilize in the brain is nourished by the hormones of the sexual energy through the spinal medulla; this is how brain, medulla and genitalia are connected. Sex is what is called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Sexual hormones nourish the brain and medulla. This is why it is written that in the beginning the Spirit of God was hovering upon the face of the waters. When people read that verse from Genesis, immediately they think: "Oh, yes, this is the ocean of the planet earth, and the spirit of God hovering there upon that ocean.” They do not realize that Genesis is addressing their particular Earth. They ignore that their particular Earth, which is their physicality, is formless and void inside – the image of God, the human being, is not there, therein are only a lot of animals. Nevertheless, the spirit of God (the Ruach Elohim) is hovering in their sexual waters, because without Binah (the Holy Spirit), without Hermes, without the Mercury of philosophy, no mineral kingdom, plant kingdom, animal kingdom, nor intellectual animal kingdom can exist. 

We came from the sexual act. People say, for instance: "Why do I suffer? Why God created me like this?" We answer: "Stop and reflect! You said that God created you – are not you perhaps a child of a man and a woman in the sexual act?" "Oh Yes, yes, my father and my mother, of course". "Was God there when they performed that sexual act? Were they remembering God or were they just indulged in their lust? Animal lust?" Talk to them and ask them. Because if  animal lust was present in the sexual act where you were created, then you were not created by God; you are indeed a child of lust or in other words, a child of the devil, as the Bible states, or Satan if you want. Satan, that devil that you are afraid of, he is not outside, he is inside of you, and in the same way that your parents created you in the sexual act with lust as any animal, likewise you also multiply. So don't say that God created you. If you insist and say: “I was created in His own image,” so we answer: "Oh, yes? So God is lustful? Is that the image that you have of God? Is God a lustful being or a pure intelligent entity?” 

God is not a person. God is an energy, it is a force; the electricity is a force and circulates within you, as it circulates in the tree or in any animal and multiplies. But if you want to be in the image and likeness of God, you have to follow the rules of Alchemy, which are written in the Bible, in the Koran, in the Bhagavad Gita, in many others sacred books. Follow those rules and we will see if the human being will emerge within you. And then you have the right to say: "God created me". Then you will have the right to call God your father. But if you are just breaking the law that is written: "you should not do this, you should not do that", and if you are doing it, don't say that God is your father. That is why we admire more the atheists that have the guts to say: "We are atheists, we do not believe in God,” so at least they are not attributing their degeneration to God. But those who are believing in God, they say: "Oh, God made me like this and according to what is written, I have to go and fight and kill my brothers and sisters that do not believe in what I believe.” It is sad, but that is our situation. 

A true human being has to have the sight of a lion, the fire, the light enters through your eyes, and this is how you capture the light, the fire of nature with different shapes, with different figures. So that lion that you find in the sphinx sees through the eyes and through the paws of the lion, has the strength and knows how to utilize the fire, the sexual fire.

If you study, you will find that the bull (ox) relates always to the sense of hearing and that is why the shepherds always know how to handle the animals through their ears by singing or the cowboys in order for the cows to obey, because they are related to the ear. 

And what about the nose that represents the eagle, the Spirit? Any bird relates to your breath. You need the Spirit, the breath,  Ruach, as it is called in Kabbalah, in order to be alive. Of course you can smell, you can find the scent of anything through your nose, but the air enters there in order for you to be alive and to nourish your blood. How long can an individual be without breath? Without eating you can be alive even for forty days of fasting, but without breathing? Because God is precisely that Ruach element in the air - your breath. And that is why you need the Spirit. The nostrils are connected to the ovaries and the testicles. When you study alchemy, you discover that; the clue in order to transform and to channel sexual energy or to transform the sexual matter, which is called semen, into energy, the clue is in the nostrils; knowing how to breathe. If you are single, with Pranayama, and if you are married, in the very sexual act. You have to learn how to breathe, because if you do not control your nostrils, then you lose your sexual matter. If you lose your sexual matter, there goes also the energy, creative energy of the Holy Spirit or Kundalini. The creative energy of God is in the genitalia; if you want to create a human being into the image of God, you need to know how to handle the sexual energy. But if we continue using it as we use it, in the animal way, then we can create only animals, intellectual or rational, but they will always be animals. This is why scientists state: "There are two types of animals in nature: the irrational and the rational.” So we are the rationals, but we are animals. 

Human beings are different; they knows how to utilize their nostrils, the duality. If you observe the face, there is duality there: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth. According to the symbols of Kabbalah in the Zohar, it says: "Speech relates to the human being.” We have that power; thanks to the speech I am teaching you, I am telling you; thanks to the speech we communicate, we learn a language and we communicate. That is the difference; even though the animals also talk, they do not rationalize. They talk just by instinct. If you concentrate, as we explained in one of our lectures, I was one day meditating and then I heard somebody screaming: "Take me out of here! Take me out of here!" At that moment I was returning into my physical body and finally I entered into my physicality. Then I started listening to what I heard out of my body, but no longer I was hearing "Take me out of here!", I was just hearing howling "meows" which a cat that in the physical plane was uttering in his own language, but in the internal planes, in the astral plane, we understand the language of the animals, and they talk only the way that they need to talk without using reasoning, because they are not rational; they are irrational. But they talk. Only the intellectual animal, the rational mammal, is given the doctrine in order for this creature to have the opportunity to change and to become a human being. 

Moreover, we need to know how to use the word: 

"In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God". This is the beginning with God.  By the word all things were created; and without the word was not any thing created that was created. In the word is life; and the life is the light of men.” - John 1: 1-4

When you read that in Greek, you read “En Arche.” This Arche is the beginning, from that comes the word archetype. En Arche is the Logos. Logos in Greek means “word,” but in Greek esotericism Logos is something very powerful; the Logos is fire, is thunder, intelligence. That is why Greeks represented that intelligence, that fire, that Logos, that word as Zeus, Jupiter, throwing lightning and thunder. It doesn't mean that they believed that God was there in the clouds throwing thunder and lightning bolts against humanity. Greeks knew the symbolism of the word in the way that also the Zohar knows the symbolism of the word, because God is the word, the Logos.

“Barashyth Bara Elohim בראשית ברא אלהים “In the beginning, Elohim created" should be rendered as (Beth-Rash בית-ראש, the daughter’s crown) created Elohim, that is, the crown, the primal radiance, the origin of all words, "בראשית Barashyth ברא אלהים, created Elohim." The use of the word ברא bara (created) need to be considered, for it occurs again in the words: ויברא אלהים את האדם בצלמו Va’Iod Bara Elohim Ath Ha’Adam B’Tzalemu, meaning, "And Iod created Elohim, HaAdam (Kadmon) his image." (Genesis 1: 27)   This radiance, or crown denotes the mysterious One called בראשית Barashyth because this radiance is the (Iod) beginning of all things. In answer to the desire of Moses to know the name of such Seity, it was given אהיה אשר אהיה Eheieh Asher Eheieh, "I am who I become." The sacred name Eheieh is as a two-sided figure, whilst the name Elohim is as a crown; and Asher a word formed of the same letters as the word ראש Rash (head or crown) is a synonym of Elohim and proceeds or comes forth from בראשית Barashyth. Whilst the primal radiance or divine ray of life was dormant and unmanifested it was impossible for it to become known by any word or term whatsoever.

“But after operating in (Akasha) the boundless ether that permeates the entire Abstract Absolute Space, the receptacle of all forms and prototypes of created things in the universe that was to be, then אשר Asher, representing the divine essence, took upon itself the form of ראש Rash (head or crown) between the two אהיה Eheieh's of the divine appellation, אהיה אשר אהיה Eheieh Asher Eheieh (I am who I become). Observe now, that the word בראשית Barashyth is composed of ראש Rash (head or crown), synonym of אשר Asher, and Beth (house or daughter). Hence the occult signification or rendering of the words "Barashyth Bara Elohim בראשית ברא אלהים" is this: When ראש Rash (אשר Asher) the divine germ from which emanated and expanded (Akasha) the boundless ether, appeared, and this ether (Akasha) became differentiated into form and color giving rise to the universe (בית Beth, the daughter) or palace of the great king, then was created Elohim the great secret (male female) fructifying principle of nature, which was and is as a point that gives rise to lines which produce surfaces, or as the letter Iod, whence proceed (את Ath, the Logos) all the other letters of the alphabet.” - Zohar

Thus, when you experience and hear the word of God, you hear a thunder and when you see the essence of that thunder, you see fire coming from the clouds of mystery, and then you see the vibration of the thunder and that lighting going into your heart and piercing you, and you tremble with superior emotional force comprehending that it is God talking to you in the astral plane, of course. But when you see that in the physical plane, it is also amazing to hear the thunder and the lightning of the sky. It is the Logos. In the beginning that thunder, that bolt of light came from the nebula and from that nebula the matter was crystallizing little by little into a planet. And this is why it is said that in the beginning God said: "Let there be light". But of course, in order to understand, when you read it in English or other language, even in Hebrew, the word "light" is very strong, but when you hear or you enter into the nebula and hear the thunder or the lightning creating the Earth, then you understand why it says that in the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. But it is a thunder, it is a force; it is fire. It is not an individual, it is an intelligence that is of course coming from the abstract absolute space and takes form; and in the internal worlds that force can also take a shape of an old man and talk to you, and after talking to you he disintegrates that form, because he doesn't need it. 

That light and fire is what God is, and as light and fire God is diluted in all the universe; this is what is called the Logos in Greek. So when you say Logos in Greek that relates to יהוה the Tetragrammaton, the holy name of God, that has four letters, because those four letters are Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei. That is the holy name of God that in the Bible is translated as Jehovah. Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei יהוה represents the four elements of nature. The holy Tetragrammaton is the true human being in itself, is the sphinx; it is just another symbol. And that is why in ancient times, when the Kabbalists were going to name God, they said: "Now that you know the mystery of the four elements the Tetragrammaton, you have to understand that י Iod (the first letter of the tetragrammaton) is the masculine principle of creation, it is the active principle of creation. And this is why, when we name Adam, we say Iod; Iod is Adam Kadmon. But where are the other three letters of that famous Tetragrammaton? 

If you want to write Eve in Hebrew, then you use the other three letters Hei-Vav-Hei הוה (Eve). This is why, the Kabbalists named Adam and Eve Iod-Chavah, because when Adam, the Iod, fills the gap of the first letter Hei of the tetragrammaton, the shape of the letter Chet of חוה Chavah is formed, meaning the two male female sexual polarities expressing themselves through Vav-Hei, and that is Eve, the mother of all living. Thus, from Eve, our mother, the feminine sex, comes either masculine or feminine, this is why Eve is not הוה Havah, but חוה Chavah, Chet is another letter similar to Hei, but complete, with no gap. So, Iod-Chavah is how you pronounce the name of God Kabbalistically, thus, by saying Iod-Chavah we attract the forces of the Tetragrammaton and make it dual. This is why the sphinx said: "Who is the being that goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?" The one who knows the mystery, answers: that being is “Iod-Chavah," Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. It is the being who knows the mystery of יהוה Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei, which is the mystery of יחוה Iod-Chavah, the duality within IAO יהו Iod-Hei-Vav 10+5+6 = 21 = 3, the trinity.  Well then, says the sphinx, if you want to fulfill the mystery of the three triangles of the tree of life within, you shall not continue eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil like an animal. 

So, remember that יהו Iod-Hei-Vav manifest through your three brains, namely, intellectual brain, emotional brain and motor-sexual-instinctual brain, in your Hei, your physicality. Know that through those three brains that you have as an intellectual animal, the Father expresses through your brain, the Son through your heart, and the Holy Spirit through your sexual force. Crystallize those forces within your spine, because usually in the animals they pass through, but you have to learn how to retain them. And if you retain them, then in the evening of your life, if you pass all initiations, you will go on three feet, namely, the two serpentine feet, the feet of the rooster of the Abraxas, or two polarities Ida and Pingala that you have entwined in the Sushumna, your third foot, or Kundalini serpent, the serpent of brass that fiery serpent or Seraph that Moses set upon a pole, your spinal medulla, which is the staff of the patriarchs.  

About the serpent of brass on the forehead of Tutankhamen, it is written:

“And יהוה אלהים Jehovah Elohim (the sephirah Binah) commanded Ha’Adam, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” - Genesis 2: 16, 17

Rabbi Joseph said: "Tradition states that this command of יהוה אלהים Jehovah Elohim (the sephirah Binah) is related to the sin of idolatry, denoted by the word צו ‘Tzu’ 'commanded;' to blasphemy, by the name יהוה Jehovah; the denial of divine justice, by that of אלהים 'Elohim,' by the word האדם 'Ha’Adam,' the crime of murder (הא ‘Ha’ the breath of God in the דם ‘Dom’ blood), and fornication, by the words ויאמר 'and said unto Iod.' In answer to the question that may arise, were there so many men in the world that the Divine Being saw fit to ordain these commands on Adam, it can be said that in this tree were involved all the negative behests, so that whoever violated them became numbered with transgressors guilty either of idolatry, murder or Fornication (Incest): of idolatry through the denial (during the sexual act) of יהוה Jehovah (Binah, the Holy Spirit) above (in the mind, the brain, the canopy of) the tree (of knowledge. Idolatry does not pertain to the worshipping of external religious statues and icons. An idol is defined as any mental religious image or psychological mental attachment that controls our mind emotion, habits, instinctual and sexual behavior); of murder, for the one (who reaches the orgasm) cuts, kills life, Chaiah the soul of Binah, that during the sexual act descends as fire or sexual potency from the Sephirah Geburah on the left side of the tree (of life) and which is under the domination of Samael; of Fornication or Incest, as (the root of) this tree is (the genitalia) the female principle (the sephirah Malkuth, the Schekinah, the wife of Binah).

"And they heard (את־קול Ath Kol) the Logos of Jehovah Elohim (the sephirah Binah) moving about in the garden (their physicality)" (Genesis 3: 8). These words allude to the voice of Elohim heard by Israel (the sephirah Tiphereth) when at Mount Sinai (the second triangle of the tree of life), and as scripture says: "Did ever a people hear the voice of Elohim (Gibor) speaking out of the midst of the fire (of the sephirah Geburah)?" (Deuteronomy 4: 33). On hearing this voice the (פלשתי pel·is·tē') immigrants, strangers or aliens (psychological aggregates of evil will) in Israel (the sephirah Tiphereth, the Human Soul) perished, for they it was who said: "Let not Elohim speak with us lest we die" (Exodus 20: 19). After their (psychological) death the law was given (to Moses, the Causal Body).

The (Kabbalists) ignoramuses of the present time who know not and recognize no other law than that of Selfishness (self-will), are incarnations of these (פלשתי pel·is·tē') immigrants, strangers, invaders (psychological aggregates of evil will) and are indicated by the words: "Cursed is the one who lies with any manner of (psychological) beast" (Deuteronomy 27: 21), because they derive their origin from (the bestial orgasm) the (tempting kundabuffer) serpent to whom it was said: "Cursed are thou above all cattle and above every beast of the field" (Genesis 3: 14).

Many (sexual) impurities exist in Israel and are as dangerous and noxious as snakes and serpents. There are those that originated at first from the tempting (kundabuffer) serpent, also those of idolators who resemble the wild animals and savage beasts of the field (of the sephirah Yesod, sex). There is also the impurity arising from wrongdoing (evil will, self-will) in daily life and still more, the impurity of the evil-minded. All these are found afflicting (the archetypes of) Israel, yet there is no greater impurity than that of Amalek or that personified evil called and known as "The Elohim of this world." It is that (animal sexual desire) "which poisons all within and hardens all the feeling." (Animal sexual desire) causes the death of the soul and transforms it into an idolater, a worshipper of the world and its golden image of wealth. The occult name (of these fiery serpents) is  (Seraphim, or the creative fire that descends from the sephirah Geburah) סמאל Samael, "סמ Sam” drug, poison, toxin, medicine, potion; perfume of "אל El” God." Though סמאל Samael is the name (in the world Briah, the world of creation, of the Angel that commands) the (fiery) serpent (Seraphim) that tempted and seduced Adam and Eve, yet (the Seraphim) are in them one and the same (sexual passional animal fire), and are in both (either man or woman) cursed alike.

"And Jehovah Elohim (the Schekinah) called Adam and said: 'Where are thou?'" (איכה aicha). In this verse Elohim showed to Adam the destruction of the temple or holy place (his physicality), causing great sorrow and anguish of heart, as alluded to in the verse of scripture beginning with this word "איכה aicha." "How does (Thebes) the city sit solitary that was full of people" (Lamentation 1:1). In both these passages of scripture this word "איכה aicha" is as a mournful note in a bar of music. It will not, however, always be so. The time will arrive when the Holy One shall banish and destroy all (sexual) evil in the world as it is written: "Death is swallowed up forever and Jehovah Elohim (the Schekinah) will wipe away tears from all faces and the rebuke of his people (humanity) shall be taken away from off all the earth" (Isaiah 25: 8), and in that day Jehovah shall be One and His name One.” - Zechariah 14:9

When (the Seraphim or fiery living forces of) Samael descended (from the sephirah Geburah) on (the sephirah Malkuth) the earth plane (our physicality), rode on a (fiery) serpent (a Seraphim). When this fire appeared under the serpentine form (in the body), it is called Satan. Whatever its name, Satan is the being known as the spirit of evil. It is said that when (the fire of) Samael descended from on high (of the sephirah Geburah) as just described, all the other Chaioth (animal life forces of the sephirah Malkuth, the body) fled away frightened and terrified (by the sexual fiery force of the sephirah Geburah)."  —Zohar

“I want you to understand that during those times of the Lemurian continent, when humanity still did not possess the abominable Kundabuffer organ, all people were balanced, and they lived in harmony and peace. Yet, an unexpected event occurred as a result of the erroneous calculations of certain (Elohim) sacred individuals: the comet Kondoor collided with the planet Earth. Then, as consequence of that collision, a frightful catastrophe was produced.

“Some gigantic islands—better said, quasi-continents—that were densely populated, sank into the ocean, and millions of human beings perished. The Earth was in a chaotic state, leaving the geological layers in an unstable situation. Therefore, the layers trembled incessantly. Great earthquakes and frightful tsunamis were produced, and since the equilibrium of the geological layers was lost, there was no stability in our world and human life threatened to disappear.

“During that age, some (Elohim) sacred individuals came to the Earth. I want to emphatically mention the Archangel Sakaki and his most high commission, consisting of a group of specialists. These individuals studied the problem and decided that in order to stabilize the geological layers of our world, it was necessary to implant the abominable Kundabuffer organ in our humanity.” —Samael Aun Weor

“For Elohim do know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Elohim, knowing good and evil.” - Genesis 3:5

“By these persuasive and guileful words (דברים Debarim), the Elohim deceived the woman (the sexual organ) and thus caused death to enter into the world (of the sephirah Malkuth, that is, the lower nature then ceased to be amenable to and obey the dictates and supremacy of the higher Self). The Elohim succeeded in doing this by means of the sephirah Chokmah (wisdom), prostituting and using it for their evil purposes and thus caused the (physical) world to become accurst, and the tree (of life) which the Holy One had planted (in the midst of the body) to become destroyed. What (by the animal sexual forces of the sephirah Yesod) Adam lost (the fire of) Samael gained (in the sephirah Malkuth) and enjoyed until the apparition of another sacred tree in the person of Jacob, who, by means of wisdom, acquired paternal blessings which neither (the Seraphim from Geburah, commanded by) Samael on high nor Esau below (in Malkuth) should be able to enjoy. Jacob was therefore an after type of the first Adam; and here we see that as (the animal sexual forces of the sephirah Yesod from the fires of) Samael deprived Adam of blessings proceeding from the first tree, so Jacob (the sephirah Tiphereth, the heart, through sexual alchemy) deprived (the animal fires of) Samael of blessing (energies) above (in the head) and below (in the genitalia) proceeding from (the spine) a tree (of life) having a human form.

“This is the (alchemical) mystic meaning of the words, 'And there wrestled a man with him' (Genesis 32: 24).

'The (sense of touch), the serpent (or sexual animal passion) was more subtle than any beast of (השדה Ha’Shaddai) the field (or feminine sexual organ).' These words refer to the tempting serpent, the (fiery forces of the) angel (from the sephirah Geburah) that brought death into the (physical) world, and knowing this, we can understand the meaning of scripture, 'And Elohim said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me' (Genesis 6: 13). (Through Adam’s fornication) the angel of death (the sephirah Geburah) having destroyed the divine life in man, who now had become wholly physical, governed and controlled by his animal (sense of touch) or lower nature, and therefore dead and impervious to the heavenly influence of the Higher Self.

"And he said unto the woman (the sexual organ), Yea, (אף aph) hath Elohim said, you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?" (Genesis 3: 1). Rabbi Jose said: "The serpent began his discourse with אף aph (poison) and thus cast it into the world. What he said was this, 'By this tree (sexual force) the Holy One created the world, eat ye therefore of it (better said, transmute ye also the sexual force) and become equal to Elohim and able to distinguish between good and evil.'" —Zohar

"And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." - Genesis 3: 2,3

"In saying, 'From every tree of the garden thou mayest eat' Elohim indicated that even if Adam should commit all these sins (through the four senses), he was not to despair. Thus we see that the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and other prophets, have (alchemically) eaten of it and did not die at once. Elohim wished to warn Adam against (orgasm) tasting of the tree of death, as it is written, 'but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shall not eat of it, for whoever does so (reaches the orgasm) dies as if he had taken poison.' 'But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,' Elohim has commanded, 'We should not eat of it, neither shall we touch it, lest we die.' 'The fruit of the tree' denotes the (sperm in the) woman (better said, the sperm, the iod in Malkuth, our physicality). - Zohar

Questions and Answers

Audience: In Arcanum 22 they have four jars that have four animals. Are those four jars related to the sphinx?

Instructor: Yes, those four jars are the four Gods of death: Mestha, Hapi, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef. These are the four gods of death according to the Egyptian pantheon. This means that in order to reach the 22nd Arcanum, which is the self-realization of the self or the realization of all the 22 archetypes of Israel within you, you have to pass through the ordeal of death. And the four Gods of death have to give the "OK", and then you are self-realized. We find in the Egyptian Tarot cards many of these four elements symbolized in them. These four forces are called in Kabbalah Chaioth Ha Kadosh, in Christianity they are the Seraphim, and the being that reaches that level, receives a ring with the star of six points, then the four creatures say: "Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh Iod-Chavah Tzabaoth", which is “Holy Holy Holy Lord of Hosts,” Lord of Armies. And that is precisely the symbol of that being that reached the level of human being, in which all the forces of nature are manifesting. Isaiah said: 

"And I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." - Isaiah 6: 1-3

What else? You, your physicality is full of glory, and then you not only have that light in your physicality, but inside too. And it is glowing; it is Jesus of Nazareth there in front of you or Mohamed or Krishna or Buddha; those individuals that work with those forces and became that. Fanatic ignoramuses criticize other religions, when talking about these different animals that symbolize the elements of nature, they say: “they are worshiping idols,” we answer them: "we find the same symbols in the Bible, but written in different way". It is not that only the other religions were symbolizing those elements in different ways - we also find them in Isaiah and also in other books, like the Book of Revelation:

“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever.” —Revelation 4: 8, 9

Revelation is filled with a lot of symbols; animal forces that are related to initiations. Do you have any other questions?

Audience:  In alchemy we often see that the lion is depicted as being green. Does that relate to what you were talking about plants?

Instructor: The green lion? Well, in Alchemy there are different colors, different animals that initiate has to learn how to interpret. The green lion represents the force of hope. The green color is color of hope. You remember that when the box of Pandora was opened and all of those creatures came out, and at last came only hope. That hope is the lord - it is Christ. Hope is the holy fire of pentecost that if we achive its incarnation, it can transform ourselves into human beings. That is the green lion; it is the representation of the Lord in us, if we awake that fire, that hope. If you study Alchemy, symbols, you will find a lot of symbols that the alchemists of the middle ages left for us. Actually, the alchemists of the middle ages, they learned that from the moors that invaded Spain in Europe. They taught them alchemy. So all of that wisdom that you find in Alchemy is from Egypt. That is why great alchemists like Paracelsus, Nicolas Flamel, Raymond Llully and many others developed the level of human being thanks to those teachings that they learned from the Alchemists of Egypt. 

The green lion, as Samael Aun Weor stated, “is our internal Angel, our Innermost.” The Innermost, our own particular Spirit, who works under direction of the Logos. Now, the Innermost in relation with the sphinx is symbolized by the eagle's wings. The wings, the air that penetrates through the nose of the sphinx. That is why it is stated that the door in order to enter into the mysteries of the sphinx is in the nose; not that there is a literal door in the nose, but that the breath of life, the Ruach Elohim that the Bible talks about, that hovers upon the face of the water, is the Spirit, is the clue, the key in order to create the human being, the winged angel within; this is how the winged lion and the winged bull of alchemy are also formed within. This is why the sphinx is close to the pyramids, because the pyramids symbolize Thoth, the Ibis God, and in itself the pyramid symbolize the human mind that we have to create through the science of Alchemy and the one that does it is the green lion. In other words, the green lion is the Innermost that devours the fire of the Logos that is hidden within the air, within the water and within the earth. And the only way to release the fire of the Logos within through our spinal medulla is by knowing how to control the waters of sexuality by knowing how to breathe and how to mantrilize during the sexual act, this is what is called the science of Alchemy, because knowledge is related with Daath (the throat), with the mouth, speech. This is how we express what we know or, in other words, what we develop within.

"Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (the Lion that devours the Sun), the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." - Revelation 5: 5

As Eliphas Levi said: "The science of Alchemy is the absolute and complete possession of the truth within". This is why all the sages of all the centuries have always hidden this word "science" and replaced it for another one, which is what we know as Gnosis, which means knowledge. But in order to acquire knowledge inside in the consciousness we have to understand that knowledge hides the duality, supposes the duad: the being who knows, which in this case is the Spirit, the green lion, and an object known. That object known comes from within, from the waters, because in the sexual waters is where we have the seed that contains the genes, that contains the knowledge, the DNA of our father and mother, and backwards in time - the knowledge of the universe. So the duad is the generator, the generator of society and the law. That is why the duad implies good and evil - Gnosis, knowledge, the tree of science through which we multiply and create. And this knowledge, of course, is Adam and Eve, which is represented by the Tetragrammaton Iod-Hei-Vav-Hei, because Iod is Adam and Cheveh or Chavah is Eve, which is translated as Jah-Havah or Jehovah, the Divine Tetragrammaton. So here you see how knowledge develops and creates a human being in us by creating the astral solar body, the mental solar body, by knowing how to manipulate the sexual force in order to create the human being within. That is why the Master Samael Aun Weor stated in the Arcanum 18: 

"It is necessary to study, to analyze, and to reflect profoundly on the esoteric content of this arcanum. The Eighteenth Arcanum is light and darkness, white magic and black magic. This is found represented in the white dog and the black dog, the white pyramid and the black pyramid. By Kabbalistically adding the Eighteenth Arcanum, we find: 1 + 8 = 9, the Ninth Sphere, sex. We have already stated that within our planetary organism there are nine interior layers. These are the nine cellars of occult Masonry." —Samael Aun Weor

So that is why when we talk about sexuality, we have to address the pyramid, because the pyramid represents the mind. Of course, there are two types of minds in relation to Number 18. We have the mind that is identified with the beast 666, which is the Number 18. That beast is the animal mind that is identified with Lilith an Nahemad, with fornication and all that sexual degeneration that is popular in this day and age. But we, Gnostics, are teaching chastity, the way in which we can take advantage of our sexual energy that is represented by the white dog of the Arcanum 18. And in these times and this year 2016 is very significant, because 16 is a fulminated tower, and if we add the number 2 or the year 2000 to the number 16, we have 18, which is precisely the representation of the 9th sphere twice, the way in which we degenerate ourselves through sexual degeneration or we purify ourselves through sexual regeneration by knowing how to utilize our nose, by allowing the Ruach Elohim (the green lion), by allowing the eagle to fly into our inner-selves and to transmute the water into energy; our sexual waters into energy in order for the human being to be born within us. Master Samael Aun Weor stated: 

"Originally the head of the sphinx had a nine-pointed crown of steel representing the Ninth Sphere, sex. And it also had a staff in its right paw, in its hand the flaming sword. The current sphinx is stripped of all of these symbols, but originally it had them all... All of them symbolize the esoteric path, the sacred way that we must tread, namely the mysteries of the Ninth Sphere, sex, the work with the four elements of nature within ourselves here and now in order to create the existential superior bodies of the Being and become a true human being." 

And that is precisely the mystery of the crown of the sphinx and the mystery of the face that in this case we are showing with the face of Tutankhamen, who was a true human being, who had the green lion incarnated within him. And that is the mystery, of the nose and that mouth that is destroyed in this day and age, because people ignore the mysteries of sexual alchemy, the mysteries of Pranayama, through which intellectual animals can become true human beings.