What Does the Platypus have to do with Hermetical Studies??

So what does Ornithorhynchus Anatinus

want to do with magical studies and hermeticism? 

The original name was Platypus anatinus, from Greek and Latin words meaning "flat-footed, duck-like". After realising that the name "platypus" had already be given to a group of beetles (scarabs..I'm just saying...), the scientist involved assigned the platypus the scientific name of Ornithorhynchus Anatinus, the first word of which means "bird-like snout".



While Doing some study and meditation of the tenth KEY of the Tarot....I started to think in outlandish ways about....

I chose this image of the tenth key because I think this artist's interpretation is quite novel.

And it fits the sacred scribblings below.

If your interested in her art please follow the link below.

http://annalobello.deviantart.com/gallery/

I came across an interesting dialogue on the tenth key.

In the wonderful book Meditations on the Tarot A Journey in Christian Hermeticism by Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar the author writes brilliantly on the secret meanings of the tenth Key.

In his main points the author covers three topics.

1. The Relevance of the Wheel, before and after the Great Separation of the soul from the divine....
2. The Importance of the Monkey and Dog
3. The Meaningfulness of the Sphinx

______________________________________________________

The Wheel-

• Represents a cycle. 
• The wheel at one time was the open wheel or spiral, which held an opening by which the divine could visit and exist with the mankind
• As one myth tells the serpent said man could never really be free while God was partaking in his existence, that only by living separate from God could man truly "know" freedom.  So the serpent wrapped itself around the open wheel (spiral) and began whirling itself around. Thus trapping man in and God out.

The Monkey:

• Is the cycle of involution
• It is moving away from perfection

The Dog:

• Is the cycle of evolution
• It is always drawn toward the higher being drawn to man being drawn to God

The sphinx:

• The perfected beast is outside the spinning wheel.
• It represents the soul when it is redeemed from the eternal return (the horror of reincarnation).

Understood in terms of the fall evolution or redemption gives rise to the question of it opposite involution. The greatest involution being that of the fall, so that understood side by side with the once proliferate existence of the great and inviable dinosaurs a new awareness blossoms, the progeny of the serpent gave rise to many species.  

So in a way we are the descendants of the serpent, at least in as far as in our flesh. "Human Beings, as cerebral beings, are indeed 'Children of the serpent' or 'Children of Darkness'."  The author explains that the serpent is recognized and revered for its power and magic.  

Also the author suggests that many hermetics and spiritualists of the past have missed the other great magical power of the evolved and divinely given power of the Dove.  The gift that woman while guarding the memory of the open world presented herself as a rending of the veil so that life and light from outside the closed circle of the serpent could have a "portal" into the world of darkness.  That in the breaking open of the wheel and the injection by the father of the son into the world by way of the Holy Spirit, a new evolution of spirit was made possible.  So while the enfoldment of serpent based power is tempting in the "in the world approach" it is however a less effective and less magical source of power than the unfolding of the Dove's radiating power.  And in choosing and asking for grace and divinity the mind will often times not comprehend in the darkness of the Ororubus the light which is given to it and blossomed in the soul and spirit.  Just as the glands are blind and unawares of the evolved light of the Lotus Blossoms or chakras which correspond to them.

"These two tendencies have their traditional designations.  They are "light" and "darkness", i.e. radiation and enfoldment, respectively.  This is why the Gospel according to John, in describing the cosmic drama, says: "Light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehendeth it not" (John 1:5) --- (kai to phos en te skotia phainei, kai he skotia auto katelaben; et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt).

______________________________
So what many find that's so interesting about the Platypus is that it is a trinity of reptile, bird, and mammal.  In this way this very unique animal is like our spirits, they contains the contending serpent force, the reptilian energy of darkness and the dove force, the bird energy of light and then the human will that balances them, which could be considered the unifying mammalian energy, when compared to the plucky platypus.

Be wise as serpents and innocents as doves....(Matthew X:16)

The platypus is in some ways the miraculous presence of the sphinx or the earthly symbol of the sphinx.  I see it as a masterfully mixed metaphor for the initiate, spiritual seeker, or religious devotee.  

And as initiates, religious devotees, or prophets extend themselves to grope into the mysteries they seem grow beyond the 5 ordinary senses and  like the curious platypus begin to develop a sixth sense.  Did you know that the platypus is the only  mammal to have a recognized and well defined electro magnetic field sensing organ? Yes indeed, that special duck bill is a specialized organ that senses the subtle and vibrational energies of surrounding electromagnetic fields.  As the platypus senses in mysterious ways so do true seekers rend the veil and begin to sense in ways never understood before.

All of this should be remembered with a responsibility about perdition and salvation.  We are either evolving or involving.  And we can tell by whether or not we accept the responsibility of that process and recognizing our true natures we wish to perfect ourselves and open our vessels to holy spirit and reach for the Divine.  For when we are open wheels miraculous evolution of spirit, mind, and body are possible.  So that, many will remember, we inherit our places in the lineage of the serpent but we choose to take our places in the lineage of the Dove, through the greatest love ever known.  

Yours in Light, Love, and Knowledge

Special PaJamas