Understanding the relationship between this card and these kua may prove difficult for some; because the way to the congruence depends upon an ability to cross lines of demarcation artificially drawn between levels of meaning and then observe the common themes regardless of the symbols used to convey that meaning.

Crowley: Purity is to live only to the highest; and the highest is all; ... Gracious influence enters the matter. ... liability to be led away by enthusiasm; "moon-struck" unless balance maintained. (BT p. 254-255)

Crowley: It is a symbol of complete spiritual purity; it is initiation in its most secret and intimate form, descending upon the human consciousness from the ultimate divine consciousness. Looked at from below, it is the pure and unwavering aspiration of the man to the godhead, his source. (BT p. 24)

Wilhelm: (kua 61) The wind blows over the lake and stirs the surface of the water. Thus visible effects of the invisible manifest themselves. The hexagram consists of firm lines above and below, while it is open in the center. This indicates a heart free of prejudices and therefore open to the truth. On the other hand, each of the two trigrams has a firm line in the middle; this indicates the force of inner truth in the influences they represent. ... The attributes of the two trigrams are: above, gentleness, forebearance toward inferiors; below, joyousness in obeying superiors. Such conditions create the basis of a mutual confidence that makes achievements possible. (p. 235)

The common concept between these two descriptions is; being influenced by or influencing through the force of purity or inner truth. For Crowley, the source of this influence is the godhead or divine consciousness. For the Confucian philosophers of the I Ching this influence manifests in the superior man, who in turn was influenced by a source similar in essence to the one mentioned by Crowley. Crowley emphasizes the original source and describes the relationship between it and the aspirant as an initiation. For Wilhelm and the I Ching the source that is emphasized is the human carrier of the power and his/her relationship to others as teacher.

It is important to recognize that both the card and the kua describe the path of purity or inner truth as a two way street. From the perspective of the source it is influence. From the point of view of the recipient it is aspiration. For both entities the secret of success is a recognition of their respective roles and the proper method of approach.

Crowley: ... in short, a symbol of the highest initiation. ... (BT p. 74) it represents the influence and the means of manifestation (or from below, of attainment) in itself. ... (A) direct connection between the Father (as spirit) and the Son (as manifestation). (BT p. 72)

Kua 19 "APPROACH" has four meanings: (p. 78-79)

• 1. "becoming great".

• 2. "... concept of approach, especially of what is strong and highly placed in relation to what is lower."

• 3. "In general, the setting to work on affairs."

• 4. "The attitude of condescension of a man in high position toward the people."

Kua 19, The image: THE IMAGE OF APPROACH. THUS THE SUPERIOR MAN IS INEXHAUSTIBLE IN HIS WILL TO TEACH, AND WITHOUT LIMITS IN HIS TOLERATION AND PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE. (p. 79)

The actions, attitudes, and attributes of gods and men or attributes of nature and men are interchangeable. Rulers, teachers and other functionaries are inflated to gods and deflated to sub-personalities within an individuals "society of mind." The same principles and concepts can be demonstrated using the appropriate symbols in their appropriate contexts.

The flexibility and adaptability of symbols to convey information and meaning is both their boon and their bane. This flexibility provides the creative mind with an enormous range of choice for the expression of meaning. For the recipient of the message this variety can seem to be a chaos. The original intent and meaning may not be perceived; but persistence, openness, and one's own flexibility may provide for a new and equally creative perception which has its own unique, but related meaning. The creativity resides in both the sender and the receiver. Be open to a creative misunderstanding.

Crowley warns that unless one attains a balanced state of mind regarding this contact with the godhead one could get carried away with enthusiasm over the content of any messages thus received. Even though the superior man is without limits in his desire to teach and protect the people; still he must be able to acknowledge the value and meaning of limitation in order to pursue his goals with firmness and clarity.

Wilhelm: (kua 60 "LIMITATION") In relation to the moral sphere it means the fixed limits that the superior man sets upon his actions ... (p. 231)

Kua 60, The image: THUS THE SUPERIOR MAN CREATES NUMBER AND MEASURE. (p. 232)

Crowley: In this card is the one link between the archetypal and formative worlds. (BT p. 74)

From earliest times the great sages and teachers have used the inherent ordering power of number to express the most abstract of their truths in concrete form. Number mysticism is a most powerful means of transmitting truths of the natural and mental worlds. Because number is in itself an abstraction and at the same time a concrete entity capable of manipulation; it has been useful for the expression of relationships which pertain in the natural world and relationships which apply to the worlds of imagination.

In the imagination of man reside the inhabitants of the "society of mind." All of the functions of mind and their resulting actions in the physical world stem from entities which have been termed archetypes. Number is perhaps the primary archetype. The ordering principle inherent in number provides the model for order in the material world. In times past the rulers and teachers ordered the physical environment in accordance with the perceived order of the archetypal world. Cities and temples were laid out in archetypal patterns and their measures were made to conform to numbers believed to reflect positive attributes of the divine geometry. This was one way of demonstrating to heaven man's willingness to be taught the ways of the gods.

The power of number can be intoxicating. One can become "moon-struck" and be carried away with enthusiasm for the beauty of and usefulness of number. Numerology is the occult form of this intoxication. For the man of science and reason; a faith in the truths expressed through numbers, to the exclusion of the truth of human equations, is his excess. In regard to this tendency to be carried away by enthusiasm for the messages one might receive while communing with the source of inner truth; Wilhelm states.

Wilhelm: (kua 60) Unlimited possibilities are not suited to man; if they existed, his life would dissolve in the boundless. To become strong, a man's life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted. The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding himself with these limitations and by determining for himself what his duty is. (p. 232)

Kua 61, line 4: THE MOON NEARLY AT THE FULL. THE TEAM HORSE GOES ASTRAY. (p. 238)

Wilhelm, in reference to this line, counsels humility and reverence when approaching the source of enlightenment. Another and supplementary interpretation of this image would see one of the team horses going astray by becoming "moon-struck" while under the influence of the moon light; which after all is only reflected light and not the true source.

Crowley: (I Ching, kua 19 line 3) Be cautious, or advance may lead thee astray.

We will now examine the symbol and image forms that Crowley and the I Ching use to express the principles and concepts contained in their card and kua.

Crowley: She (the woman in the card) is clothed only in the luminous veil of light. It is important for high initiation to regard Light not as the perfect manifestation of the Eternal Spirit, but rather as the veil which hides that Spirit. ... Thus she is light and the body of light. She is the truth behind the veil of light . She is the soul of light . (BT p. 73)

When we examine the structure of kua 61 "INNER TRUTH" we can see, with no difficulty, that it expresses the same concept in another artistic form.

 <--The "veil of light" surrounding --
                                     ¦
 <-- The feminine, receptive         ¦
 <-- "Goddess"                       ¦
                                     ¦
 <-- the "truth" behind the veil    --

This kua expresses in graphic form the source and goal of inspiration for the initiate. The four outer lines are yang, or the light giving principle; they surround the two inner yin lines which represent the feminine. The empty space of these two yin lines represent both the ultimate mystery and the means of contacting that mystery. After piercing the veil of light which surrounds the inner truth one views an emptiness which is the source of all. It is that which is behind the manifestations of yin and yang. The two yin lines reside in that region of the kua assigned to man. The upper two lines represent heaven and the lower two lines represent the earth. The yin lines denote openness and receptivity to the approach of spirit on the part of the initiate.

Wilhelm: (kua 61) The character FU (truth) is actually the picture of a birds foot over a fledgling. It suggests the idea of brooding. An egg is hollow. The light giving power must work to quicken it from outside, but there must be a germ of life within, if life is to be awakened. (p. 235)

Crowley: She (the woman on the card) is; potentially the Goddess of fertility, the idea behind all form. (and so the picture includes) nascent forms - seeds, pods, etc. By symbolizing the beginning of life. (BT p. 73)

To which we can add the egg as another cognate symbol.

Crowley: change, alternation, increase and decrease, fluctuations

Wilhelm: (kua 19 line 2) When the stimulus to approach comes from a high place, and when a man has the inner strength and consistency that need no admonition, good fortune will ensue. Nor need the future cause any concern. He is well aware that everything earthly is transitory, and that descent follows upon every rise, ... (p. 80)

The Hebrew letter associated with this card is GIMEL, which means "camel." The relationship between the camel and the concepts illustrated by the card and the kua may seem forced. The carrier and teacher of inner truth must traverse what seems to him/her a desert of falsehoods. The camel carries its own source of nourishment within its body. The superior person carries inner truth with which to traverse the desert of material existence.

To summarize: The basic message of "THE PRIESTESS" and the 3 kua; "APPROACH," "LIMITATION," and "INNER TRUTH" is: The means by which influence from above approaches the aspirant, which is also the path by which the aspirant approaches "the" inner truth or a personal inner truth.

The material world is full of limits and limitations. The aspirant wishes to experience something of the limitless. To do so he must breakthrough the veils of limitation which surround it. The method of approach is a trade off of limitations. The aspirant begins a program of initiation with rules and duties voluntarily accepted; all of which culminates in a refined, even purified, will which acts out the influence received from the veiled source of the creative essence. Such acts transmit to the material realm something of the spiritual. The superior person thus becomes an agent of the divine and as such is viewed by others as a source and path to the true source.

If the aspirant to the inner truth is unprepared for this role his actions may be destructive. Over enthusiasm (fanaticism) is an uncontrolled state which does not allow the initiate to accept his limitations and the limitations of those he seeks to influence. This disregard for the facts of existence often creates more harm than good.