Lust:

 

Lust:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

The next card we’ll look at is the Lust ATU which corresponds to the path of Teth (Lamed). Now, anyone familiar with the Tree of Life will notice that this card is seemingly in the wrong place. However, it is not! In the old deck, Judgement (Adjustment) took the place of this card, but the revelation in the Book of the Law concerning the Tarot, has flipped the whole tree upside down and Lust has become the 11^th ATU, although it is still associated with the 19^th path. It is all quite confusing, I know… Lust is a martial card and corresponds to the path leading from Geburah to Tiphareth, or Mars and the Sun respectively.

This card represents strength and conquest for the sake of conquest, one may say this card represents Will, as moving forward unhampered by feelings that may stop it from acting. Being the path between Geburah and Tiphareth, it is associated with the Great Work of an Adept, once having attained and is working in accordance with his True Will, he has the inertia of the universe supporting him. The Royal Wedding is in the process of being consummated, and this is a celebration of marriage, thus the card is sometimes referred to as The Daughter of the Flaming Sword. There is great joy and confidence in the knowledge that one is doing exactly what he or she is supposed to and the only way to fail is to stop, there is beauty in such confidence and so this card corresponds to the sign of Leo. Therefore, when drawing this card, it is symbolic of the momentum of inertia, the current course has all the pieces in place for success, and the only requisite for achieving this, would be to stay the course.

The sign of Leo is associated with the Herculean Tasks and hence the Great Work. The lion that is representative of the sign is the lion that Heracles slayed as his first task called the Nemean Lion. It was believed that the lion was invulnerable and impossible to kill, the lion was so terrifying that even Heracles was unsure whether or not he was able to defeat the beast. In the end, Heracles did kill the lion and was immortalized for his feats of heroism, and this is the myth’s connection to the Great Work. One interpretation of the Great Work, within the Western Esoteric Tradition, is the work which has been accomplished by all the great mages, artists, alchemists, philosophers, poets and writers, wherein those who have accomplished it, have been recognized and immortalized for their contributions to humanity. This is represented by the fact that in ancient Greek artwork, Heracles is always depicted with the Nemean Lion’s pelt around his waist. This was done so that he was instantly recognized by everyone and remembered for the Great Work he achieved, known as the Herculean Tasks.

“Love is the law, love under will.”