Tiphereth: The Heart's Crucible

The Spiritual Gateway to Higher Consciousness

“A sagacious mind improves the operation of the heavens as a skillful farmer, by cultivation, improves nature.”  - Ptolemy

If you’ve ever spent time in a rural area at night, you can imagine how our ancestors grew to fear the dark.  Great myths and stories were told about the monsters that lurk in the dark, about shapeshifters who can transform into animals, or terrifying specters that prey on the unwary. These tales served as warnings and lessons, embodying the unknown perils that lay beyond the flickering safety of the firelight. As night fell, the world transformed into a vast, unknowable wilderness where every shadow could conceal a predator, and every rustle in the underbrush might signal danger. 

In prehistoric times, the night was a realm of real danger. Even today, it feels as though monsters more easily emerge in the dark, and we tend to believe the chimeras that the night conjures – those fantastic beasts and figments of our imaginations that seem all too real in the shadowy hours.

In a way, the dark is a metaphor for how we perceive the world. Our waking consciousness is like walking in the dark, guided only by faint moonlight.  

For most of us, this is our experience. We grope in the darkness, walking blindly into the unknown, relying on the dim light of our lower intellect to guide us. 

Much like the moon, the lower intellect does not produce its own light; it borrows from something higher. Therefore, the lower intellect can only illuminate to a certain extent, reflecting a portion of greater knowledge, much as the moon reflects the sun’s rays. This partial light guides us but also leaves vast spaces shrouded in shadow.

To rely on the lower intellect alone is to walk in darkness, relying only on moonlight to guide your way.  You can make guesses about the terrain, but you'll never know if you're heading in the right direction. Very often, you wind up stuck or following one of the many chimeras that mislead and confound, leading you further away from true understanding. 

To exist here in the lower mind without the guiding light of the Higher is to exist in illusion and delusion.  

In some way, this is a great test for adepts.  Can you consciously pierce through illusion by navigating the terrain of Yesod, utilize the reason of Hod, and handle the fire of Netzach?  Can you bring these 3 into sufficient balance?  If so, then the spiritual heart of the Tree of Life can become open to you. 

Welcome to Tiphereth, the gateway to the Spiritual. 

“The Sun is a centre of energy and a storehouse of power. Each living being contains within itself a centre of life, which may grow to be a Sun. In the heart of the regenerated, the divine power, stimulated by the Light of the Logos, grows into a Sun which illuminates his mind.”

-The Secret Symbols of The Rosicrucians, Franz Hartmann 

Tiphereth, positioned at the center of the Tree of Life, is referred to as the "Meditating Intelligence." It acts as a nexus where all energies of the Sephiroth converge—both from above and below—serving as a crucible for the transmutation of lower forms into higher forces and vice versa.

Symbolically, this transformative process is often represented by the hexagram, which illustrates the dynamic interchange between the divine and the material realms.

Dion Fortune highlights this in her writings, describing Tiphereth as the place where "archetypal ideals are brought to a focus and transmuted into archetypal ideas," effectively making it the Place of Incarnation.

It is thus associated with the concept of the divine made manifest, often referred to as the "Child." In the Qabbalistic framework, while "God the Father" correlates to Kether, "God the Son" is attributed to Tiphereth, encapsulating the incarnation of divine essence into form.

She further highlights the role of Tiphereth as not just a point of transition but as a connector between the higher divine and the earthly, stating,

"Tiphereth, the Son, 'shows us' Kether, the Father." 

This illustrates Tiphereth's crucial role in bridging the material and the spiritual realms, much like Yesod serves as the gateway from the material to the astral plane.

Tiphereth as an intelligence transcends mere intellectual acuity or factual knowledge; it represents a deeper discernment and comprehension, and a capacity for true understanding—what might be termed as 'Knowledge' in a spiritual sense.

In the book Greater Community Spirituality, author Marshall Vian Summers introduces a philosophy called “The Greater Community Way of Knowledge” which he claims was given to him in order to assist humanity in interacting with intelligences from beyond the planet.

In his series The Allies of Humanity, Marshall Vian Summers cautions that humanity is rapidly approaching contact with extraterrestrial intelligences. He warns that these intelligences possess the capability to manipulate our perceptions. According to Summers, Knowledge represents the one element that remains impervious to manipulation and stands as our strongest defense against external influence.

He defines Knowledge as an unwavering, higher intelligence that subtly aids in guiding us toward our greater potential.

He writes, “Knowledge will indicate what must be done, what must be learned, what must be avoided, and what must be claimed.  Here your intellectual understanding will have genuine direction and Wisdom behind it.  Here your physical skills will have a foundation upon which to function.  What you have learned in the world, which represents your intellectual and physical training, will now have a greater foundation that can be guided by Knowledge.”

Knowledge here is embodied by the Higher Self, which, as described by Ra, represents your future self in a perfected state. Analogous to how the sun's mass creates gravitational pull, the Higher Self exerts a similar pull on our consciousness, encouraging us to aspire toward it.

To the ancients, the sun was more than a mere celestial body; it symbolized divine illumination and was seen as a reflection of an invisible, spiritual Sun.

Similarly, in spiritual terms, the totality of the mind/body/spirit complex acts as the "Sun behind the sun" for consciousness. It illuminates the Higher Self, which in turn sheds light on the lower consciousness that constitutes our waking reality.

Ra explains, 

“The mind/body/spirit complex totality is that which may be called upon by the higher self aspect, just as the mind/body/spirit complex calls upon the higher self.”

The sun illuminates the solar system, and in doing so, it informs. It acts as a broadcaster of information, much like the Higher Self, which supplies the necessary information to its lower, conscious self.

As a mediator, the sun facilitates our connection to the higher by being a direct representative of the higher, in “miniature”.  The sun also processes information received from the larger universe and broadcasts this information into the system, acting as a sort of waystation for universal energies to make their way into our reality. 

As Barbara Marcinak writes in her book “Earth:  Pleiadian Keys to the Living Library”, 

“Great waves of energy and telepathic codes for civilizations are sent on cosmic highways from the Pleiades to your sun. Your sun transfers the energy to you and the moon.”

Interestingly, the sun does regulate energies coming into the solar system via the protective boundary known as the heliospheric current sheet. This sheet functions as both a “shield” around the solar system and a pathway, regulating the flow of cosmic energy entering the inner solar system. Incoming cosmic waves and particles from interstellar sources are influenced by this heliospheric structure; their paths are deflected, absorbed, or modified depending on the sun’s magnetic activity.

Visual depiction of the heliospheric current sheet

The sun, which guides our solar system, radiates information to the planets under its care and lays the foundation for the experiences we all share here. It's not surprising, then, that ancient cultures revered the sun as a divine symbol, as seen in myths like those of Horus and Osiris in Egyptian lore, and in more contemporary stories, such as that of Christ.

Isis nursing Horus

These deities were seen as representatives of the Divine, acting as symbolic mediators between Heaven and Earth. To the ancients, the sun itself was viewed as a representative of something higher, termed a “sub-logoi” by Ra.

Though it dominates our sky and is the most powerful force in our solar system, it draws its power from something even greater.  

The author Franz Hartmann in his book The Secret Symbols of The Rosicrucians writes, 

“The terrestrial sun is the image or reflection of the invisible celestial sun; the former is in the realm of Spirit what the latter is in the realm of Matter; but the latter receives its power from the former.”

The physical world is receptive, serving as a realm of effects where the causes originate from the spiritual world.

Thus, the physical world is the sphere of effects while the spiritual world is the sphere of causation. 

However, an effect cannot manifest, nor can a cause be discerned without mediation between the two realms. This function is served by the intellect or soul nature, often referred to as "the Mediator."

According to Manly P. Hall in his book The Secret Teachings of All Ages, this mediating force was what ancient Christians referred to as the Christ energy. Hall explains, "Christ, personified as the higher intellect and soul nature, is called ‘the Mediator’ who, by virtue of His position and power, proclaims:

‘No man cometh to the Father but by me.’" 

Our Higher Self acts as a mediator within us, establishing our connection to the greater power of the One Infinite. The Higher Self, as a sun, possesses its own spiritual gravity, to which you contribute. 

This gravity attracts the self, and as the gravity well deepens, you are drawn closer to it.

A depiction of the“gravity well” caused by the Sun

Qu’o says,

 “The higher self is your self at a point within sixth density where the lessons of unity have been so far advanced that you as an entity have become aware in sixth density that you are moving away from close contact with that which has been laid within your memory as the occurrences of all of the densities up through sixth.

They are falling away from you at this point and your mind, heart and will are turning ever more toward the face of the Creator. You are acquiring enough spiritual gravity that you are aware that this is your goodbye to the self of this creation. You are not any longer interested in your personality shell. You are ready to be absorbed into the godhead principle once again.”

Qu’o’s choice of words in this passage is interesting, particularly when they state, “You are acquiring enough spiritual gravity”.  This suggests that we are playing a role in increasing the “mass” of the Higher Self.  

This makes sense when you consider one of the Higher Self’s roles as a “storehouse” of past lives.  This concept is illustrated quite well in the books Journeys Out of the Body, Far Journeys, and Ultimate Journey by author Robert Monroe.

Robert Monroe (1915–1995) was a pioneering figure in the study of human consciousness and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). He was originally a successful businessman in the broadcasting industry before his interest in altered states of consciousness led him to found The Monroe Institute in Virginia.

Robert Monroe

Robert Monroe's journey into the exploration of out-of-body experiences (OBEs) began somewhat unexpectedly in the 1950s. At the time, Monroe was a successful executive in the broadcasting industry, running a radio station and involved in producing television shows. His life took a pivotal turn when he started experiencing spontaneous OBEs after trying out a new type of technology he was developing called Hemi-Synch, which used various tones to induce states of consciousness.

In his books, he details his journeys in the astral realm, and in his later books Far Journey’s and Ultimate Journey, Monroe details his experience encountering his Higher Self, or what he calls the “I-There”.  Monroe's concept of the "I-There" encompasses the individual's total existence across different dimensions and incarnations, serving as a more comprehensive understanding of self that includes past, present, and potential future experiences.

In his book Ultimate Journey, he details his various conversations with his “I-There”.  

“I-There:  We are what is meant by ‘the total is greater than the sum of the parts’.

Robert:  Then you are the total of what I have been, whatever or however that was.

I-There:  The focal point, the tip of the pyramid of you and more, including you as you are now.”

The conversation continues.

“Robert:  Let me get this straight.  You’ve been helping me all my life?

I-There:  Certainly, we have.  Sometimes you appreciated it, sometimes you didn’t. 

Robert:  How far back does this go?

I-There:  Before you were born. 

Robert:  You had better tell me.  I don’t remember. 

I-There:  You wouldn’t.  You didn’t exist.  We made the decision to become human again.  We selected the time and place and organized the DNA mix - elements from the physical and elements from us.  We took those parts of us that seemed most appropriate, rolled them up into one, and sent them in.  There you-and we-were!

Robert:  What exactly did you send in?

I-There:  Personalities, memories.  What else?

Robert:  Yes…I’ve tracked some of them down.  Does this happen with everyone - with all humans?

I-There:  As far as we know.  Some don’t have as much experience as we do, or as much to choose from.”

In another conversation, Robert and his I-There discuss how many lives exist in his Higher Self.

“Robert:  There must be a tremendous amount of experience stored here, in you… in us.  How many lifetimes are there?

I-There:  A thousand perhaps, or more.  We stopped counting long ago.  Every possible situation is here, every emotion.  There is nothing you can encounter in Earth life that isn’t stored here…in fifty different ways.

Robert:  Then what am I doing, going through it all over again?

I-There:  To find one final piece.  And you are very close.  When you have it, we lift off.  We shall be gone.

Let’s unpack this for a moment. Robert Monroe describes his Higher Self as a sort of “HQ”, containing a repository of memory / past lives, and is actively engaged in selecting experiences that would most benefit his current incarnation. 

This resonates with Ra’s description of the Higher Self as 

“...that self which exists with full understanding of the accumulation of experiences of the entity, aids the entity in achieving healing of the experiences which have not been learned properly and assists as you have indicated in further life experience programming, as you may call it.”

According to Qu'o, the Higher Self is in a state of continual growth, constantly accruing "spiritual gravity." Drawing on the analogy of the Higher Self as the sun, we can understand that if the sun were to increase in size, objects within the solar system would be progressively drawn closer to it. As the mass of the sun increased, it would eventually become large enough to be capable of forming a black hole.

Direct radio image of a supermassive black hole

A black hole is a region in space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it.

The current theory on how black holes form is that when a massive star reaches the end of its life cycle and can no longer sustain the nuclear fusion reactions that keep it stable. 

As the nuclear fuel in the star's core is exhausted, it loses the outward pressure needed to counterbalance the force of gravity. This imbalance causes the star to undergo a catastrophic collapse.

During this process, the core of the star contracts rapidly as its material is pulled inward by gravity.

The collapse continues until all the material is compacted into an infinitely dense point called a singularity, encapsulated within a boundary known as the event horizon. 

Qu’o says, 

“At the end of this density, it is as if you have entered a black hole, and, indeed, the physical black holes that your scientists have seen are physical aspects of this metaphysical process of spiritual gravity and the return of all that there is into the heart of the one infinite Creator.”

We are drawn toward the center by the spiritual gravity of the Higher Self. When sufficient mass is accumulated, the Higher Self steps into infinity. This process, as described by Qu'o, resembles what we might typically refer to as "Enlightenment."

"Enlightenment" represents a heightened state of awareness and is often associated with figures such as Gautama Buddha and Christ, who epitomize this condition through their teachings and lives. The Buddha, for instance, is said to have attained enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. 

This intense meditation focused his consciousness onto a singular point, enabling him to penetrate infinity, much like the theoretical formation of a black hole in space.

This is similar to how Ra described the octave level of reality: “The intelligence or consciousness of foci have reached a state where their, shall we say, spiritual nature or mass calls them inward, inward, inward until all is coalesced.”

Qu’o adds an additional description, 

“The journey of the seeker is from its Source to its Source. It is a circular journey—or, rather, a spiral journey—of learning, awakening, manifesting and gaining the strength within each part of the field of consciousness that is your true self that in time, as you would call it, enables an entity to have the spiritual mass to be affected by spiritual gravity, which becomes more and more nearly irresistible until, ultimately, there is no interest whatsoever in manifestation, but only in becoming the unthinking, unsolidified, infinite and unself-conscious Logos or Love, that is, the nature of the one infinite Creator.”

Imagine this experience of being drawn into the event horizon of the self, propelled by an immense spiritual gravity:

You feel as if you are being pulled backward inside your head towards a single point.  What you are looking at gets brighter somehow, as if an inner light that was always there is suddenly visible.  You look around the room you are in and everything looks brighter.  You feel as if your consciousness has been split into two:  The first part is the familiar "small self," the ego, which is entrenched in routine perceptions and reactions.

This is the part that navigates the daily grind, filled with thoughts, emotions, and the constant chattering of the mind.

Then, there emerges a second part, previously unexperienced—a silent observer, detached and serene. It’s as if the framework of your consciousness has split into two distinct layers: one is the active, thinking mind, ever analyzing and judging; the other is pure awareness, simply observing without attachment or response.

It feels as if you have broken through a barrier inside of your head and landed into an ocean of water, except the water is made up of light.  There is light, so much light, but you cannot see it, yet it radiates everywhere.  It is the invisible light of the “midnight sun”. 

The light is radiating out from you into your environment.  You can feel the light fill up a space like water fills up a cup when you enter a room.

You feel completely balanced inside, and this completely balanced state results in a strange feeling, one that is so foreign it defies explanation.  That feeling is a feeling of fulfillment so deep that no desire is possible.  You have transcended desire completely. 

It is a strange place to be and difficult to grasp.  You realize that all of our lives are ruled by desire, and it becomes obvious why the Buddha said the root of all suffering is desire.  You realize just how much desire ruled your mind. 

But you haven’t “conquered” desire or withheld it or something like that.  You simply were pulled through a type of gateway into an infinite space, where the only way to be is in perfect balance. Being in this state of mind makes you realize that life is like being on a scale of sorts, your mind determining just how far you will tip the scale one way or the other.  Desire is seen as a weight that has been lifted.  

Another strange observation happens in this state.  You feel as if you are “behind” your mind, observing as if from behind a veil.  Spiritual gravity has pulled you so deep you literally broke through your conscious mind and are now observing your lower mind having thoughts!  It’s as if the lower mind is someone else entirely.  You recognize it’s you, but you don’t identify with it as strongly.  It is as if the lower mind were a mask and you have taken it off for the first time.

Your lower mind thinks, “Oh wow what an experience!”, yet you are not identified with that thought at all.  You literally see from a higher vantage point and are witnessing yourself have those thoughts.  You try to have a thought, but this lower portion is the one having the thought, not you.  You cannot think where you are.  This is where thought originates, it’s not where it is formed.  

Having this meta-view allows you to completely control your mind.  You feel as if the mind you once knew, the conscious “ego” self we all know, is a very small part of who you actually are, while your main consciousness is now in this vast, ocean-like space.  

You look in the mirror and staring back at you is a serene face, completely calm and balanced.  You realize the depictions of the Buddha with that slight smile, and eyes slightly closed as if totally relaxed, are 100% accurate. 

Your face is doing this without trying.  The one detail these artists get wrong, though, is the eyes.  You see that your eyes are beaming with light, sparkling almost, and are now as deep as the deepest oceans.  Everything about you feels very different. 

And the light you feel inside is also outside of you, radiating around your head like a halo. You suddenly understand why depictions of holy figures show this halo.  It is because you have now become a sun, radiating out light everywhere.  

Of course, to live in this state all of the time is not possible in this density.  One can only visit for a time before one has to come back.    

Ultimately, the Higher Self serves as a resource for its lower selves. While most people won't experience contact with their Higher Self as explicitly as Robert Monroe did, they still receive insights frequently—mostly through dreams or subconscious thoughts that occasionally surface. Over time, with practice, it's possible to develop a more direct connection. 

For example, you might pose a question to your Higher Self before going to sleep and then analyze any dreams from that night. Often, the Higher Self communicates through symbolic dreams that, once interpreted, can provide answers. 

The Higher Self respects the free will of its lower selves, so often its responses come in metaphors that require interpretation. This can also be explored through meditation: pose a question to your Higher Self and during meditation, be mindful of any thoughts or images that emerge.

Sometimes, the answer from the Higher Self might appear serendipitously in the form of a book or an article that provides the guidance you seek. Other times, it might manifest through a person who can offer assistance. Either way, if you ask sincerely and your question aligns with the principles of free will, the Higher Self will provide an answer.

The closer you are to your Higher Self, the clearer your answers will become. The author Tom Montalk describes this connection in his writings, noting,

“...the more you vector towards becoming the Higher Self, the more objectively the Higher Self can interact with you. A weak connection means its guidance is limited to faint intuitive impressions, symbolic dreams, certain synchronicities, and so on. A stronger connection would allow direct inner conversation, which is clearly more objective than vague impressions. The voice of the Higher Self is often described as a ‘small, still voice’ meaning an inner knowing that is easily drowned out by mental distractions. 

A prolonged and sincere effort to think, feel, and act like the Higher Self — to live from the highest part of you, the heart of your soul — increases the feedback loop and widens your capacity to act as a channel for your future self.”

As prehistoric humans roamed the shadowy landscapes, they were driven by the clear divide between the familiar and the fearful unknown. Moonlight served as both a shield and a backdrop, casting shadows that sparked fears and fueled imaginations, eventually crafting the rich tapestry of myths and legends that have defined human culture.

Similarly, the journey through Yesod resembles a trek through the psychological thicket and shadows within our minds. We must engage with our deepest fears, desires, and thoughts—elements often hidden in the obscure corners of our unconscious.

It is only by recognizing the shadows for what they are and by "removing the rocks and thorns that block the heart" that Tiphereth can be opened to us.  And it is in Tiphereth where true enlightenment and understanding are found.