Dearly beloved readers:
I have taken the pleasure of sending you on this occasion another of the engravings referring to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this case I send you the engraving referring to…
…SPIRITUS FORTITVDINIS
─’The Spirit of Strength─
In this other artistic work, the author wanted to show us another of the great manifestations of the Holy Spirit, in this case the one referring to the capacity that He possesses to provide souls with the strength or power necessary to face the various circumstances of our existence.
To enter fully into our description, we must observe that the central figure of our engraving is composed of a maiden. But why are all these gifts attributed to the Holy Spirit represented in the form of women or maidens? Answer: If we remember our study of the Sephirotic Tree in the light of Gnosis, we will remember that the spouse of the Divine Mother is precisely the Holy Spirit, with which we easily understand that both He and She form a whole that inebriates the devotee with their transcendental metaphysical gifts or qualities.
First, we observe that the head of this woman is surrounded by fire, giving us to understand that she is enlightened. Certainly, it is the fire that ends up illuminating us throughout our existence, if we work in the lit Forge of Vulcan, as our teachings express it well. That is why our motto is Thelema and INRI, in other words: Will and Fire.
Then we see that the woman in our illustration has a laurel wreath, a symbol of victory, spiritual or material victories.
Later, when describing the clothing of our beautiful maiden, it is pointed out to us that on her right side, specifically on her right shoulder, she wears the skin of the Nemean Lion, in the style of Hercules from Greek mythology. This is an allusion to the fortitude or strength that we need at a given moment to counteract a danger, a disease, a tribulation, etc., etc., etc… Obviously, such strength is going to come from the ineffable Holy Spirit.
But, as if that were not enough, she rests her right arm on a club, a weapon also used by the mythological solar hero ─namely: Hercules─ to combat all the evil forces that lied in wait for him during the twelve labors assigned to him by the Gods as a condition for his return to Olympus. This club represents the strength that the most sacred Holy Spirit can infuse us with when we are beset by evil entities or by adversities in general.
It is unquestionable that, during our work in the Ninth Sphere, we can and must appeal to the Holy Spirit so that He defends us by destroying with His Sacred Fire what is known as the undesirable psychological aggregates ─namely: defects─, and if our request is sincere, profound and full of faith, both He and His consort Stella Maris will reduce to ashes those energetic monsters that we carry within us, that is the Law.
Even without working in the mysteries of Vulcan, we can invoke the divine Holy Spirit to beg Him to remove from us all kinds of darkness, whether interior or exterior, let us notforget that.
When we need to speak to people and instill strength in them to continue in the battle against the ANIMAL EGO, our best ally will always be the Holy Spirit. He is also the great revealer in the midst of any confusion we or others may experience in trying to fight against Satan.
Likewise, every time our moral strength wanes, we must resort to the strength that the spouse of the Divine Madonna can give us, and He will immediately come to our aid to put His energy where our weaknesses are. The great crises that arise when we are confronting the evil one and his legions can be overcome with the help of the Divine Fire of the Third Logos. Likewise, when we find ourselves numb from the lunar cold in our daily lives, it will be enough to light a candle and pray to the blessed Holy Spirit to strengthen us and fill us with enthusiasm in the midst of the aridity of the Secret Path.
We will always need to be assisted by the energy of the Holy Spirit, for the path that has been revealed to us by the blessed Master Samael Aun Weor is indeed a path full of dangers on the inside and on the outside, and none better than the Holy Spirit could warn us of such pitfalls or traps that open up for the intrepid adventurer who goes in search of his Great Inner Reality.
When we need light to understand why we might feel stuck in a part of our pilgrimage, it will be precisely the Holy Spirit who will indicate to us, perhaps in the inner worlds, in the oneiric world or in our daily life of the three-dimensional life, the solution to our uncertainties, our sadness or our lack of will, this must be very clear to us.
Now I show you the phrase that appears at the bottom of our engraving. It is a Latin phrase that reads as follows:
“Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis suis: Deus Israel ipse dabit virtutem, et fortitudinem plebi suae. Psal.67”.
Translation: ‘God is wonderful to his saints. The God of Israel himself will give strength and courage to his people.’
This belongs to Psalm 67. I now write to you the biblical reference related to that psalm:
“Exhortation to the nations, to praise God
67 God be merciful to us and bless us;
and cause His face to shine upon us; Selah.
2 That Your way may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
let all the peoples praise You.
4 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for You shall judge the people righteously,
and govern the nations on earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
let all the peoples praise You.
6 Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God, our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us,
and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.”
We have to understand as the people of Israel, not the people located in the Middle East of the current geography, but the people of devotees or Initiates who seek IS ─namely: ISIS, the Divine Mother─, RA ─the solar force─ and EL ─translate as: ELIHU, ELIJAH, HE, THE BEING─.
I will now add a few sentences for your reflection:
“The force that is not directed by wisdom collapses of its own accord.”
Horace
“Force does not consist in overthrowing an enemy but in reducing his anger.”
Plutarch
“It is an excellent thing to have the strength of a giant, but to use it like a giant is typical of a tyrant.”
Shakespeare
“A weak flame takes shape at the blow of the smallest wind, but the hurricane extinguishes a fire at the root.”
Shakespeare
“To be strong is to be happy.”
Longfellow
OMNIA VINCIT AMOR.
─’Love conquers all’─.
KWEN KHAN KHU
