This opera is about the path of the Self-realization of the Being. Puccini unveiled, in his work, the intimate process and development of the soul, how to unify the consciousness with Christ and the Divine Mother. Self-realization is the complete integration of the soul with the Being, to manifest the complete potential of our Tree of Life. We seek to realize the Self, the Divine Mother, and all the parts of our Being, while our divinity, our Being, seeks to realize us.
As stated by Samael Aun Weor in Tarot and Kabbalah: Our own particular Monad (Self, Being) needs us and we need it. Once, while speaking with my Monad, my Monad told me, “I am self-realizing Thee; what I am doing, I am doing for Thee.”
The Divine Mother Kundalini, the divine feminine, the Heavenly Princess Turandot, will only marry a man of noble blood. To possess noble blood is to be an initiate, to successfully complete the necessary trials, ordeals, and rites of purification. This is to be worthy to achieve the goal: Self-realization, the Resurrection of the Being within the soul.
The Minor and Major Mysteries
Act I demonstrated the Minor Mysteries, the probationary path. The Minor Mysteries exist to test the disciple, to see whether one will qualify for entering the Major Mysteries. Any disciple must be tested to see if he or she is serious about the path of initiation. According to Samael Aun Weor, there are nine degrees or initiations of Minor Mysteries that the student must pass before qualifying for the Major Mysteries or Initiations of Fire: the awakening and development of the Kundalini.
The Minor Mysteries involve ordeals and mystical experiences. The disciple, in the astral world, witnesses him or herself entering the interior of the earth. Symbolically, we must face our own psychological impurities, our own filthiness and degeneration. This is not so that we can become morbid people, filled with self-flagellation and shame. The sole intention of introspection, of meditation, is to acquire change. We must make an inner account of ourselves: what defects do we possess in abundance, and what virtues do we lack? If we do not confront ourselves, if we are unwilling to take responsibility and ownership of our mistakes, then we will not enter the Major Mysteries. People who fail in the probationary path eventually leave Gnosis, simply because they see no benefit from the practices. They cannot confront the reality of their mind and the psychological causes of their suffering. The student must be tested and prepared for awakening and raising the Kundalini in a marriage. The serpentine fire rises within the spinal canals of the lower five bodies of the Tree of Life: Malkuth, the physical body; Yesod, the vital body; Hod, the astral body; Netzach, the mental body; and Tiphereth, the causal body. Raising and developing the Kundalini within the spine of each body constitutes one initiation of Major Mysteries. The Major Mysteries, or five Initiations of Fire, are accomplished through the Perfect Matrimony: the union of two pure souls, one who loves more, and the other who loves better. Single and married people can advance through the Minor Mysteries, but only married couples can awaken the sacred fire of Kundalini and enter the Major Mysteries or Mysteries of the Fire. Calaf, the exiled Prince of Tartary, conquered certain trials and temptations in Act I. He was tested in his resolve and pursuit of initiation. Every student who enters Gnosis is on probation. All must walk the probationary path, to complete the Minor Mysteries. Before the law of divinity and karma, we are given the opportunity to prove ourselves in the Minor Mysteries, since all of us, without exception, are delinquents, demons, criminals before God. Anyone who has the ego alive is an infidel, an unbeliever, a stranger to the kingdom of heaven. It doesn't matter what we believe, because if we possess anger, lust, desire, it means we are not perfect, but are demonic beings. The purpose of these studies is to know the heavens of the Tree of Life, to no longer be an outsider, an inhabitant of the Abyss. This can only occur when we remove the garbage of the psyche, our psychological defects. For as Jesus taught us: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. —Matthew 5:48
Calaf undergoes the Minor Mysteries in his confrontations with three enigmatic figures: Ping, Pang, and Pong. As I stated, the mystery of their significance is found in the vowels of their names: I, A, O. Ping, Pang, and Pong represent Diablo, the devil, the ego. These three individuals help Turandot to govern the lunar multitudes. Who are the lunar multitudes? The people of Peking who worship the moon, mechanicity and the Second Death. Similarly, the commoners also clamored and confronted the Prince, seeking to dissuade him from ringing the fatal gong three times to awaken the Divine Princess Turandot.
Ringing the gong three times symbolizes the work in a matrimony. Remember that the Kundalini is coiled three and a half times, asleep, within the Chakra Muladhara, until the couple awakens the serpent of fire through sexual magic. The number three also reminds us of the three primary forces: Holy Affirmation (man), Holy Negation (woman), and Holy Conciliation (sexual union). Once that serpent is awakened, it begins its journey up the thirty-three vertebrate of the spinal column, the thirty-three canyons or degrees of Freemasonry. The work of raising the Kundalini up each vertebra is the path of the Major Mysteries, which are symbolized by Turandot's three riddles. These three riddles synthesize and contain within themselves the mysteries of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Kabbalah and Alchemy, which we will explain in detail today. The Mysteries of Diablo, IAO, Lucifer
The counselors of the palace—Ping, Pang, and Pong—announce the call of the city’s fatal gong. The palace and the streets are stirred, in uproar, because a new disciple has awakened the serpentine fire Kundalini, the Divine Princess Turandot, within his spinal column. The Prince Calaf has entered the Major Mysteries... a rare and dangerous occurrence! Many are those who challenge love (Binah, the Holy Spirit) but fail to eliminate the ego. The trials of the thirteenth arcanum—the work against the disintegration of the animal "I"—is tremendously difficult, precisely due to the nature of the mind and temptation.
In relation to this topic, Ping, Pang, and Pong represent Diablo, IAO, the power of Lucifer. This name scandalizes the religious fanatics who do not understand esoterism, who have been educated poorly. Yet when we comprehend some etymology and have direct experiences from meditation, the beauty of Lucifer’s role in the cosmic drama becomes clear. Lucifer is not just some person outside of us, but something internal and personal for each one of us. Each one of us has his own Lucifer, who is part of our Being. Lucifer comes from the Latin term lucis: “light”; and fer, fero: “to bear, carry, support, lift, hold, take up”; these terms literally join to form “bearer of light.” But what is that light? The Christic energy. Lucifer in heaven is divine, is Christ. Lucifer is the power that gives sexual impulse or longing, which is natural, divine. Without sexual power, without the creative fire, we cannot experience divine love, the beauty of the soul, or the perfect matrimony. The energies of Lucifer are beyond good and evil, but are channeled and conditioned based on our level of being. The problem is not the light, but when it is channeled through the ego. When the light becomes corrupted due to our own desires, defects, and impurities, that light constitutes Diablo, the devil. Lucifer is our own light that we have polluted within our psyche due to our mistaken actions. Because we created the ego, we transformed Lucifer into a devil, into diablo. Lucifer is properly named Christus-Lucifer, the light of Christ, because this light is part of our Being, but who is mixed with desire, with egotism, due to our own mistakes. Lucifer is the part of our Being who provides tests and temptations in this physical world and in dreams. But why? Why would part of our Being do this? His purpose in the path of Self-realization is to provide us with necessary training and experiences. Without temptation, we could not develop wisdom. Does an inexperienced soldier, who trains inconsistently, equal a seasoned warrior who trains his hardest every day? The same principle applies to meditation and the development of the soul. People who never face great adversities, painful tragedies, can never really know their true character and develop qualities like heroism, veracity, and strength. Temptation is fire. Triumph over temptation is light. Lucifer gives us the fires and pressure of adversity so that we can perceive our own defects. Without terrible ordeals, we cannot see our most secret faults. Without temptation, we cannot confront ourselves and change. Therefore, Lucifer, portrayed through Ping, Pang, and Pong, Diablo, IAO, plays an essential function in this opera. At the beginning of Act II, Ping, Pang and Pong are organizing preparations for either a wedding or a funeral. This indicates to us that Lucifer is very active in the probationary path, as well as the trials of the thirteenth arcanum, the Major Mysteries. They are preparing for the outcome of the funereal trials, the three riddles that Calaf must answer before Turandot and the palace. Everyone is agitated because no one knows what the result will be: will Calaf become a Master of Major Mysteries, or will he fail and enter devolution within the abyss? Such a struggle is beautifully depicted in Friedrich Nietzsche’s book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The following excerpt comes from “On the Tree of the Mountainside,” or the Tree of Life that stands upon the mountain of initiation. Zarathustra here gives some advice to a young boy who longs for the heights, who wants to enter the Major Mysteries. You are not yet free, you still search for freedom. You are worn from your search and overawake. You aspire to the free heights, your soul thirsts for the stars (for Urania, the Divine Mother Nut, the cosmic space in the Egyptian mysteries). But your wicked instincts, too, thirst for freedom. Your wild dogs want freedom; they bark with joy in their cellar when your spirit plans to open all prisons. —Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
This indicates that when you’re raising the Kundalini up the mountain of your spine, within your individual tree of life, the forces of good and evil enter conflict, battle. This is demonstrated by the writings of Samael Aun Weor. He indicates that we must wage very terrible battles against the ego as we raise the Kundalini in each of the thirty-three vertebrae of the spine. The following is from Igneous Rose:
Within the sexual matrass of our organic laboratory, the explosions of passionate fire combine certain ethereal, astral, mental, volitive, conscious, and divine arcana. This occurs to elaborate certain igneous elements, whose substantial principles belong to the Innermost, with the ardent fire of the erotic thirst.
The mysteries of Lucifer, Arcanum 15: Passion, is the work of eliminating the ego within the sexual act. By removing the impurities of the mind, we whiten the darkness of the devil and create light. Temptation is fire. Triumph over temptation is light!
It’s interesting that 1 + 5 = 6. Arcanum 6: Indecision, the Lovers. The same kabbalistic addition exists with the 33 vertebrae of the spine: 3 + 3 = 6. In Arcanum 6, the disciple finds himself caught between the Virgin on his right: the Divine Mother Turandot, and the Whore on his left: Santa Maria, the Queen of fornication and the abyss. This struggle exists within the spinal column of any initiate practicing sexual alchemy. The path of the right is a wedding. The path of the left is a funeral. The disciple will either ascend the Tree of Life victoriously, or will shamefully enter the submerged devolution of the infernal worlds. If we fail to eliminate the ego, then hell will do it for us. If the Prince Calaf succeeds in the ordeals, he will die in the ego and be born as a soul, which is why Samael Aun Weor indicated in The Perfect Matrimony: The path of life is formed by the hoof prints of the horse of death. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony
Pang prepares for a wedding with red lanterns. Pong prepares for a funeral with white lanterns. This is interesting because colors have a very profound significance within esoterism. The three primary colors: blue, yellow, and red, refer to the three primary forces: Kether, the Father; Chokmah, the Son; and Binah, the Holy Spirit. Holy Affirmation (the Father, blue), Holy Negation (the Son, yellow), and Holy Conciliation (the Holy Spirit, red).
The colors red, white, and black were typically associated with coral incense used by the Aztecs in their offerings to the Holy Spirit, Tlaloc: the God of Rain. The waters relate to Binah, the Divine Princess Shekinah, which is why the Genesiatic waters of transmutation are deeply related to the dramas of this opera. Likewise, the colors red, white, and black depict the purity of the creative, sexual waters within the disciple. We become purified and developed as a consciousness based on the purity of our sexual energy. In the beginning, our sexual energies are black, filthy, darkened to clairvoyant sight. Through the spiritual work and the death of the ego, those energies become white, cleansed, pure, chaste. Afterward, through the awakening of the sacred fire, the energies become red with the serpent Kundalini. These gradations of development occur in relation to the Initiations of Fire upon the Tree of Life. Therefore, Ping, Pang, and Pong prepare for a wedding and a funeral, because the forces of life and death are two aspects of the same thing. Binah amongst the Hindus is Shiva-Shakti, the giver and taker of life: Creator-Destroyer. Shiva-Shakti, the sexual power of the Holy Spirit, can create or take life. When the seminal energy is conserved and transformed, it gives birth to the soul. But when the sexual energy is expelled, we experience spiritual death, the loss of the soul. Binah can give birth to the soul and provide death to the ego. This is the solar path. Or—Binah can give birth to the ego and produce the death of the soul within hell. Such is the devolving, lunar path of the black magicians. These two ways are described in detail in our lecture on Arcanum 8: Justice. Initiation, Princes, and Fallen Bodhisattvas
Ping laments and proclaims the state of China since the terrible reign of Turandot: her kingdom is saturated with the blood of princes. This is interesting because people think of Lucifer as some evil figure. Puccini, however, portrays Lucifer with a lot of wisdom and understanding. The truth is that Lucifer provides ordeals with the express purpose of helping us develop light. Lucifer, therefore, does not work with Turandot so that we can fail, but so that we can succeed. This is evidenced by the great displeasure Ping, Pang, and Pong feel regarding the countless executions in Turandot’s kingdom.
But what is a prince or Meleck in esoterism? A master or warrior of Tiphereth, someone who created the solar bodies in the perfect matrimony. Such a person possesses the Solar Astral, Solar Mental, and Solar Causal Bodies. Such beings are called true human beings, because a true human being possesses these three vehicles and has the fire of Kundalini present within each one of them. Such princes, in the past, once raised the Kundalini within the lower five Sephiroth of the Tree of Life and became what are known as Twice Born. To be born again is a matter of sexual alchemy, of using the creative energies to give birth to the solar bodies. There exist five initiations of fire or Major Mysteries. Through the First Initiation of Fire, such initiates raised the Kundalini within the spine of the physical body. Through the Second Initiation of Fire, they raised the Kundalini within the spine of the vital body. Through the Third Initiation of Fire, they raised the Kundalini within their lunar astral phantom and created the Solar Astral Body. Through the Fourth Initiation of Fire, they raised the Kundalini within the spine of their lunar mental specter and created a Solar Mental Body. And through the Fifth Initiation of Fire, they raised the Kundalini within the spine of the Essence and gave birth to the Solar Causal Body. Many princes or masters were trying to answer Turandot’s three riddles, a symbol of working in the Initiations of Fire. To successfully answer the three riddles indicates that one creates the three solar bodies of gnosticism: Christ Astral, Christ Mind, and Christ Will. It’s interesting, therefore, that Ping announces how many princes, or Malachim, were trying to marry Turandot by answering the three riddles. Why would a prince, who has solar bodies, try to enter the Major Mysteries again? This indicates that such Malachim were fallen, fallen initiates, or fallen Bodhisattvas. How does one fall? Through sex, through being tempted by the sexual energy—Lucifer—by engaging in fornication after having achieved initiation. This is very serious—very grave—because these initiates betrayed the light. What is a Bodhisattva? A master of Tiphereth who incarnates Christ. Bodhi literally means “wisdom, light,” and sattva signifies, “essence or incarnation of.” A Bodhisattva is an incarnation of wisdom, Chokmah in Kabbalah, Christ. Just because a person incarnates Christ and completes the work, doesn’t mean that one is safe from falling, from making mistakes. Many Bodhisattvas, many Malachim or masters, fell because they engaged in the sexual act when it was forbidden to them, and since they could not control Lucifer, the sexual impulse. This is what happened with Count Zanoni… When Bodhisattvas fall, they lose the light. Christ withdraws from them. According to Samael Aun Weor, such beings are truly worse than demons. But why? They had great responsibility and betrayed their commitment to Christ. Demons are at least consistent, but a fallen Bodhisattva betrayed the Lord. Therefore, who can trust them? It’s important to note that we should not make the effort to find such people in the Gnostic Movement. Many students become fascinated with this subject and want to find and follow fallen Bodhisattvas. This is very mistaken, because, as we said, fallen Bodhisattvas are worse than demons. Why should we take advice from someone who betrayed Christ? We should only be concerned with the teachings and with our own practice—that is all! It’s true that there are many fallen initiates within the Gnostic Movement who are trying to rise again. This is commendable. However, such people, when discovering their past, should not divulge their history to the public. It’s quite horrendous and ironic to admit that one is a fallen prince, a fallen Meleck. There’s nothing glorious about it, nothing to be proud about. To be proud for having fallen is to be proud of having murdered one's God. As you can see, it's quite atrocious, monstrous, to feel proud of such a fact... We have a very special Sanskrit term to describe such not-so-special beings. We call fallen Bodhisattvas and initiates by the term hasnamussen. A hasnamuss (singular for hasnamussen) signifies a being who may have solar bodies and development in heaven, but also has development in the ego. Such a being has a double center of gravity: one that is divine, within the spirit, but another that is diabolic, within the ego. Hasnamussen are beings with a split personality. Therefore, they are very dangerous, because in any moment, their diabolic center of gravity may manifest. If we look at some etymology of the original Sanskrit, we can unpack many interesting levels of meaning:
A hasnamuss is a “thief, mouse, who voraciously devours or consumes a stone with sorrow, with pain.” What is that stone? Yesod, the sexual energy. In heaven, the sexual stone provides bliss, the foundation of our spiritual temple, but in hell, provides damnation and suffering. In hell, one is crushed by the destructive powers of Yesod, by the stone, through the lunar path of devolution. A mouse is a symbol of the ego; this can also refer to a thief, because the ego steals the energies of God, uses it for corruption; to voraciously and passionately consume, indulge in, or spend the sexual energy for lustful purposes, produces pain. Therefore, it happens in this opera that many princes, men of noble blood, fallen human beings, hasnamussen, wanted to return to Turandot, the Divine Mother, again. They seek to recapitulate initiation, to raise the sacred fire of Kundalini once again within their solar bodies. Through fornication, those sexual fires were extinguished, and must be rekindled once again. Therefore, Ping announces that many fallen princes, hasnamussen, have been killed during the terrible reign of Turandot. In other words, the Divine Mother has slain many initiates through the Second Death. Why do people fail in these studies? People do not comprehend and eliminate their own ego. Or, even worse, disciples decide not to rise once finding the path of initiation again. Therefore, as evidenced by the executed princes in this opera, they failed the ordeals of the thirteenth arcanum and entered devolution. 
The Four Cardinal Points and the Tree of Life
We also spoke about the four directions. The North is Chesed, the right pillar of the Tree of Life. The south relates to the left pillar of the Tree of Life. The West is Malkuth, where the sun sets and vanishes into the darkness of Klipoth, the hell realms. The sun rises in Tiphereth, the Middle East, because Tiphereth is the middle of the Tree of Life and is astrologically associated with the Solar Logos, with Christ. It’s easy to see that Tiphereth is the center of the pillar of equilibrium and receives the forces of the top trinity, the Logoic Triangle above, the latter allegorizing the Far East: the heavenly city of China.
The sun rises in Tiphereth and sets in Malkuth. The forces of Christ, the top Trinity, enter Tiphereth, the heart, and descend into hell, with the purpose of illuminating the abyss of the subconsciousness, the unconsciousness, and the infraconsciousness. When the ego, the abyss, has been purified, when the disciple fulfills the Buddhist Annihilation, the soul can rise again with the Christic force. This is the dawn of Resurrection, perfection, within the Far East. The four directions bear profound Kabbalistic principles. In the North, we have colder regions, which represent for us how the forces of the spirit relate to the mountains of initiation, to the cold, a symbol of chastity. Therefore, Friedrich Nietzsche often spoke about the mountains, snow, and purity of the spirit in relation to the North. The North is Tartary, the northern tract of central Asia, which is mentioned often in this opera. Then we have the South relating to the left pillar of the Tree of Life, which is significant, because the southern regions of our globe are hotter, obviously. We go south of the equator, we find more tropical regions. The southern region therefore relates to heat, to fire, which is profound. The left pillar originates passion, sexual power, creative impulse, sexual craving. It’s also the reason why the left pillar can take one to Binah, Turandot, the Divine Mother, or into the infernal worlds. The left pillar is the left serpent, Ida, awakened in us through sexual heat, through a matrimony. The equator relates to the middle pillar of the Tree of Life. Just as the equator is the center of balance for the planet, likewise the pillar of equilibrium balances Mercy and Justice, the pillar of the right and the pillar of the left, in the Kabbalah. Tiphereth, the Prince Calaf, has the duty of balancing all the forces of the Tree of Life within himself, because he is the center of the pillar of equilibrium. Human willpower or human soul is responsible for balancing everything in the spiritual work. We find in this opera that the Prince makes the entire city of Peking revolve around him, or as Friedrich Nietzsche stated in Thus Spoke Zarathustra: “Can you compel the very stars to revolve around you?” Through our willpower, we learn to raise the forces of the sun, s-u-n, as well as the Son, s-o-n, the Christ, up our spine, to reach the Far East. 
The Tarot and the Tree of Life
According to Ping, China once slept with the peace of 70,000 centuries. But again, what is China and the Far East according to Kabbalah? The City of Peace is known as Jerusalem, Jeru-Shalom in Hebrew, Daru-Salaam in Arabic. That heavenly city is the top trinity of the Tree of Life: Kether, Chokmah, Binah; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. China, the heavenly city, the Far East, the Logoic Triangle, was once at peace for 70,000 centuries, which is not a literal number, but a symbol. To interpret these mysteries, we must refer to the Eternal Tarot of Alchemy and Kabbalah, since numbers play a symbolic function within opera. Turandot is otherwise known as Shekinah, the feminine aspect of Binah, the Holy Spirit. She is the Mother of our Innermost Spirit. She is the Mother of the Tarot, the Mother of the Book cited in the Qur’an (as we mentioned in Arcanum 2: The High Priestess). It’s also interesting that the name Turandot sounds like Tarot, the Torah, the law. Samael Aun Weor even mentions that the Divine Mother is "the terror of love and law." Therefore, to comprehend the mysteries of the spirit, we must utilize the sacred arcana. 
Arcanum 7 is the seventh card of the tarot: Triumph. The conquering spirit, Chesed, drives the chariot of war: the solar bodies, in this card. He is our Innermost God who conquers the lower seven sephiroth of the Tree of Life. Arcanum 7 indicates how the spirit achieves wars and victories in His battles against the ego, so that peace may reign within the heavenly kingdom.
He accomplishes this war through his human soul: Tiphereth. The kabbalists often refer to the Sephirah Tiphereth as Israel, which is an acrostic: Isis-Ra-El. Isis is the Divine Mother, Ra is the Solar Logos, the Christ, and El is the Spirit, Chesed. Israel is the esoteric name related to the fifth Sephirah from the bottom to the middle of the Tree of Life. Tiphereth is the Prince Calaf. Remember that in Kabbalah, Israel is in love with Shekinah, the Holy Spirit. Prince Calaf wants to marry Turandot. The same meaning is here. This opera symbolizes how the human soul wants to die to the ego and achieve Self-realization. By raising the sacred fire up the lower seven bodies or Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, the initiate achieves Triumph, Arcanum 7. Once the ego is annihilated, the human soul can prepare for the process of Resurrection, to be married to or absorbed within the eighth Sephirah of the Tree of Life: Binah. This process is beautifully depicted in Act III of this opera. It’s interesting that Ping, Pang, and Pong announce that six men were slain in the Year of the Mouse, eight in the Year of the Dog, and thirteen in the terrible Year of the Tiger, according to Chinese astrology. All of this deserves a profound kabbalistic analysis.
Arcanum 6 is Indecision, the work of the human soul to fight against the Whore of the mind. The whore is egotistical desire within the intellect, heart, and sex of the disciple. When you place the number 6 within each of the three brains, you form the diabolic number 666: the ego. 6 + 6 + 6 = 18, Arcanum 18: Twilight. Twilight is the card associated with the terrible struggle between the forces of light and darkness, which especially occurs before the dawn of Resurrection in Act III. With Arcanum 6, the disciple must observe, meditate, and comprehend desire within the intellectual, emotional, and motor-instinctive-sexual brains. Remember that six princes died in the Year of the Mouse. The word hasnamuss contains the word muss, or mouse, in Sanskrit. Muss can also mean “thief.” So six initiates died in the Year of the Thief, since the ego is a thief; it squanders and abuses the energies of God. While the ego is a thief, we likewise must become thieves of the spirit: stealing the energies of sex for the purposes of divinity. Such is the mystery of Baphomet, Arcanum 15: Passion. Kabbalistically, 1 + 5 = 6, again, since we steal fire from the devil through the Arcanum of the Lovers. Also of note is the fact that the king of Tartary was also slain; he had a bow six cubits long, another reference to Arcanum 6. He was tempted in the Arcanum of the Lovers. This reminds us of how Timur, the former king of Tartary, Prince Calaf’s father, has lost everything due to the downfall of the human soul, Tiphereth, the Sixth Sephirah from the top to the middle of the Tree of Life. Remember that Timur, in the opera, is blind. The powers of the spirit are blind in us, the eyes of Ra are incapacitated. Our spiritual sight is lost through breaking the sixth commandment: chastity. Samson also lost his sight by giving away his secret, his hair, chastity, to דְלִילָה Delilah, to ד Daleth: the doorway into Lilith. Lilith is the whore of Arcanum Six: the night of the infernal worlds, the Abyss. It’s not a coincidence that the number six even sounds like “sex,” a reference to the rites of chastity. Through breaking the sixth commandment, the law of sex, we become demons. When the powers of the Spirit, Chesed, the North, are in command of our spinal column, then we become kings of Tartary, the Emperor of the Tarot. But when we allow the forces of the Spirit to crumble, to fall, through lust and the left pillar of the Tree of Life, we become kings of hell, the Tartarus. We are spiritually blind, ignorant, lost within hell, Peking. However, by working against the ego, we achieve Arcanum 8: Justice. This card relates to the Caduceus of Mercury, as we explained earlier, or how we balance the scale of the infinite within our spinal medulla. This is accomplished through psychological equilibrium within our mind, heart, and body. 
In Arcanum 8, we see a woman kneeling in prayer upon three steps, symbolic of the three elements of alchemy: salt, sulfur, and mercury. In her left hand is a sword and above her right hand, a scale levitates. She is the Divine Mother, or any female initiate who is achieving equilibrium in her psyche. When we work with the left serpent of the Tree of Life, the force of Ida, we are working with the left pillar of the Tree of Life. This also signifies the work with ז Zayin, the Kundalini within the spine.
The left pillar of the Tree of life is governed by Binah: Intelligence, but also Geburah: Justice. Remember that the kabbalists teach how the soul and spirit are elevated through the work of the left pillar, by controlling the lunar energies of the left serpent: Ida. The lunar serpent can either raise one towards redemption or lead the soul into damnation, depending on how it is used. Also remember that Liu, the servant of Timur, proclaims at the beginning of Act I, “How my master is fallen! Will someone raise him for me?” Geburah, the Divine Soul, Liu, asks for help to raise the spirit. This is when Prince Calaf emerges. Through our human willpower, Tiphereth, is how we can raise our spiritual forces. We achieve liberation with the help of Geburah and the left pillar of the Tree of Life. When the left, lunar serpent, Ida, obeys the commands the spirit, the right, solar serpentine energies of Pingala, we achieve Justice, equilibrium within the soul. So eight men were slain in the Year of the Dog. The dog is a symbol of sexual instinct, sexual desire, Lucifer. In the Greek myths, Cerberus is the dog who guards the entrance into the infernal worlds. Heracles, the Cosmic Christ, had to rescue him and take him out of the Abyss in one of the twelve labors. This dog is pleasant towards those who enter the hell realms, but is vicious and violent towards those who want to leave. This symbolizes how hell is easy to enter and difficult to escape: fornication is tempting and easy, but chastity and initiation is difficult. The lusts of the mind, our desires, fight against us when we try to steal the sexual fire from the devil. Since eight princes died in the Year of the Dog, we can conclude that the disciple will enter devolution when failing to work with the left and right pillars of the Tree of Life, with chastity.
Thirteen princes were slain in the terrible Year of the Tiger. The tiger is a beautiful symbol of the sexual energy as well, Christ. We remember the Tiger Knights, the Jaguar Knights from the Aztec pantheon, who, according to Samael Aun Weor, were masters of the thirteenth arcanum: mystical death. They worked in the full elimination of their desires, their ego. Therefore, they are great warriors, great masters. They achieved perfection.
But in the case of Peking, we find that thirteen initiates were slain in the Year of the Tiger. This means that these initiates were slain in hell, through the Second Death, because they failed to rise in the solar path. The dualism of Arcanum 13 is allegorized in the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. He writes the following in his chapter “On Chastity,” or “Abstinence”: I love the forest. It is bad to live in cities: there, too many are in heat (because most people take the heat and sexual fire of the left pillar of the Tree of Life and use it for fornication, for desire).
So what is mud? It is ego. What does it mean to have mud and spirit mixed? It means to be a fallen Bodhisattva, a hasnamuss with a double center of gravity. There is nothing worse than being a hasnamuss with a double polarity. A fallen Bodhisattva has a lot of power in hell, through enmeshing his or her spirit within the filthiness of the ego.
Friedrich Nietzsche continues: Would that ye were perfect—at least as animals! But to animals belongs innocence.
Why are animals innocent, even though they fornicate? They don’t have the intellect yet. They are still evolving within the mechanical forces of nature. They simply obey their instincts, without question or rationalization. They don’t have the capacity to discern good from evil, purity from impurity. They are innocent elementals. Once those souls enter the humanoid kingdom, they receive the intellect and become intellectual animals.
Those souls are then given the commandments to not engage in sexuality as animals, to enter a higher kingdom, the sexuality of true human beings. The sexuality of Malachim, of angels, is chaste. Since we have the intellect and can rationalize, we are more accountable for our actions: we are no longer innocent. It is at this point in our evolution whereby we can become true human beings: princes or Malachim with solar bodies. Animals cannot achieve that until becoming intellectual humanoids, because an animal does not have the intellect yet, cannot reason, or discern good from evil. Also, we don’t need to reject sex as something filthy, but comprehend and use it in a pure way. Chastity or alchemy is purity of sex, not rejection of it. This is why Nietzsche counsels you “to innocence in your instincts.” In the East, the Tiger refers to Christ. It also refers to the creative energies one must conquer in oneself. The Western equivalent, within the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition, is the Lion of Judah. Going further with numerology, the sum of all deaths under Turandot is: 6 + 8 + 13 = 27 = 2 + 7 = 9: The Hermit. 27 is a very interesting number in gnostic esoterism because the 27th is the most Christic day of the month. The forces of the Solar Logos are most active at this time. We even have special holidays related to the 27th of each month, which we celebrate within our Gnostic Churches. We also have the Advent of Samael on October 27th, 1954. We always celebrate certain Gnostic rituals on the 27th of the month in remembrance of divinity, and on October 27th we celebrate the incarnation of the Martian Christ within His Bodhisattva Samael Aun Weor. 27 also relates to the heart beat of any planet. Every planet has a specific term or lifespan, which is measured by the palpitations of the planet’s vitality or heart. Just as we all have a set number of heart beats for our own life, likewise every planet has its own heartbeat, or cosmic rhythms. These energetic palpitations fluctuate in accordance with the harmony of the worlds. Each heart beat in any planet spans 27,000 years. There also exist 2,700,000,000 heartbeats or palpitations within a planet’s life before it must become a cadaver, a corpse, a moon. 
2 + 7 = 9, the Ninth Arcanum: The Hermit. The ninth sephirah of the Tree of Life, from the top to the bottom, is Yesod: the Foundation Stone. This is the Great Arcanum, the mysteries of sexual alchemy. Prince Calaf is precisely the Hermit who walks the path of initiation. Symbolically, he carries the staff of the patriarchs, the spinal column, and the lamp of Hermes, the wisdom of the mercurial science, the secret of chastity.
The Role of Lucifer in the Divine Trials
Given our understanding of what Ping, Pang, and Pong represent, it’s interesting that they lament the state of disorder in which Peking resides. Ping, Pang, and Pong feel great aversion for what they are doing. They despise sending men to death. When people think of Diablo, the devil, Lucifer, they think of some being that is external and entirely evil. They don’t understand that Lucifer is inside of us; in our internal heavens he was divine, but when mixed with ego, desire, he is Diablo.
Contrary to popular belief, Lucifer, the light of the Being, our psychological trainer, does not like when the soul fails. The reason why Lucifer gives ordeals is so that we can conquer them. He wants us to obtain Self-realization. He tempts us so that we can become victorious. However, in the vast majority of cases, many disciples are failing in the work of the elimination of the ego. Lucifer’s regal obligation is to assist Turandot, signified by the all the funerals Ping, Pang, and Pong prepare. And so they are greatly dissatisfied. You notice that they are not happy with so many dead princes. All they want is to return to the peace of their ancestral homes. Ping wants to go back to his house in Honan, Pang with the forests of Tsiang, and Pong with a garden new Kiu. This is why Nietzsche stated, “I love the forest. In the cities, too many are in heat.” The counselors’ ancestral homes bear profound significance. They represent the original, pristine quality of the soul before the fall into degeneration. The house of Honan, the forests of Tsiang, and the Garden of Kiu, all represent the Garden of Eden, Yesod. We must return to Eden through the secret gate: Lucifer, the sexual instinct. The peace of one's ancestral home represents the happiness of the soul, since Eden in Hebrew means “bliss, voluptuousness.” Such bliss and peace are experienced in the perfect matrimony, between man and woman. The light of Christus-Lucifer was pure before it became degenerated through fornication. Lucifer was heavenly above, but fell from grace when we indulged in desire. The only way to return home is through the door we exited—Eden, sexuality. Lucifer suffers within the ego. He provides us with fire and temptation so that we can transform the devil into an angel. The myth of Prometheus teaches us this doctrine. Remember that Prometheus was punished by the Gods, because he gave fire to man. This is a symbol for how, as intellectual animals, we squandered the fire of the sexual energy and imprisoned Lucifer to the rock of suffering, to Yesod. In the myth, Prometheus was tortured daily by a vulture, a symbol of our ego. The ego eats the liver of Lucifer everyday, leaves at night as his wound heals, and returns to repeat the same situation. This represents how we continuously waste our energy through desire, the vulture, and make Lucifer, the Christic light, suffer. Our sexual behaviors determine if we have light or not. If we are impure, IAO suffers in the soul as Diablo. But if you annihilate the ego, IAO is liberated. Recall the Wizard of Oz, whether the film or the book. The flying monkeys, known as the Winkies, were servants of the Wicked Witch of the West. Those flying monkeys are the powers of IAO, but trapped in hell, devolution, degeneration. In the story, the Winkies chant, “O IO, IAO.” That is because the power of Lucifer, IAO, is channeled through the ego. This changes when Dorothy, the Essence, throws water on the Wicked Witch of the West. It's quite a memorable moment in the film when the witch melts, representative of how through transmutation and alchemy, the waters of sexual magic, we can disintegrate the ego. Afterward, the Winkies are freed from the witch’s influence and thank Dorothy, because now the powers of Lucifer are freed from the Abyss. The four cardinal points of the compass relate to the four elements, as we discussed in Arcanum 4: The Emperor. Each direction of the compass has its mantra and element, as signified by:
In The Wizard of Oz, the North is associated with the Good Witch Glinda, RAM-IO, the Divine Feminine. The East relates to the wind, since the Prana, the breath of the Sun, rises in the East, in Tiphereth, through the mysteries of Da’ath: sexual knowledge. The West relates to water, which we use to work against the darkness of the mind in Klipoth, the hell realms. And the South relates to the powers of the left pillar, the lunar fires of the serpent Ida, which we must purify and raise through alchemy. This is why the author of the second part of The Flight of the Feathered Serpent taught: Look for the knowledge, which arrived again from the East (Tiphereth)!
Ever hear of the slang, when "things go South?" Hence you can see that if one fornicates, things really “go South," the soul enters degeneration. To fall into the West, into Klipoth, is certainly not pleasant either.
So why would a figure like Lucifer be evil if Ping, Pang, and Pong are not pleased with the failure of many souls? Why does the tempter not want the soul to go South and West, but rather than North and East, kabbalistically speaking? What Lucifer wants most of all is to return home to the Absolute. When we eliminate the ego, unifying the soul with the purified Lucifer, we become terribly divine Archangels, knowing the Tree of Life. We become Wizards of Oz, Otz Ha Da’ath Tob Vey Ra עץ הדעת טוב ורע, Wizards of the Tree of Knowledge, knowing good and evil completely. But if we have ego, we cannot go anywhere. Lucifer wants Resurrection. Ping, Pang, and Pong want a Prince to achieve the divine marriage with Turandot, the Holy Spirit. Binah, the Holy Spirit, must absorb the lower seven sephiroth of the Tree of Life through the process of Resurrection. Yet this can only happen with the radical death of desire. Lucifer cares for Self-realization, evidenced by Ping, Pang, and Pong singing of the death of princes while the chorus shouts, “Gira la cote… grind the wheel, sharpen the executioners ax… blood and death!”—the song of the abyss. The counselors sing, “Addio, amore! Addio, razza! Addio, stirpe divina! E finisce la Cina!” This translates as, “Farewell to love! Farewell to our race! Farewell, divine lineage! And China comes to an end!” An esoteric translation could include, “Farewell to the solar initiates! Farewell to the Aryan Root Race! Farewell to the solar dynasties, the masters of initiation, the heavenly kingdom of China, Jerusalem!” The race of the gods has ended; the reign of China, the top, Logoic triangle, is no more, since we are in the Kali Yuga, the Age of Darkness, an era populated by demons, hasnamussen, black magicians. The Aztecs also stated in their codices that in the era of the Fifth Sun, the gods would die. There will be no solar men in our Aryan Root Race. Therefore, Friedrich Nietzsche famously postulated, “God is dead.” But in the future era of the Sixth Sun, the Koradi Root Race, “the gods will be reborn.” Ping, Pang, and Pong also sing how, if Calaf succeeds in the riddles, they will lead him to the bridal chamber with a lantern. Remember that Lucifer is the sexual impulse, the mysteries of the bridal chamber, of Da’ath: alchemical knowledge. The lantern reminds us of hermetic wisdom, the lamp of Hermes within the Ninth Arcanum: the Hermit. That lamp, that energy, guides the initiate in meditation and daily life. When you have light, you know how to walk the spiritual path. Ping, Pang, and Pong also proclaim that they will sing of love till daybreak. Through marriage with Binah, through Resurrection, one is permanently established within the dawn of the Solar Logos, the Christ. The counselors also sing, ecstatically, of “the unclad body initiated into the mystery.” Through the perfect matrimony, husband and wife work in sexual cooperation, transmuting the sexual energy and annihilating desire. The couple uses the left pillar of the Tree of Life, raising ז Zayin, the Kundalini sword of the Divine Mother, to achieve liberation. But for that, the couple must conquer temptation, Lucifer, the serpent of Eden. Our inner Klipoth must be cleaned, completely. The nine infernal spheres of the Tree of Zaqqum, the tree of hell, must be purified. Yet for that to happen, the Prince Calaf, Tiphereth, must first answer the three riddles of Turandot. These three riddles synthesize the three mother letters of Kabbalah, the four elements, the four cardinal points, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Palace of Peking
When we begin the path, the solar dynasties, the angels, the Buddhas, welcome us with internal experiences. A palace in esoterism bears profound significance, since in the internal planes, seeing or entering a palace indicates ascension and entrance into the mysteries. Entering a temple or palace signifies divine favor and acceptance of the gods.
Any palace dedicated to the solar dynasties is made of gold, symbolic of the solar principles of the Christ. The Temple of Solomon, Sholomah, the Solar-Man, was made of gold. Samael Aun Weor mentions how the Church of Laodicea, in the internal planes, is made completely of gold, a representation of how this Church, the Chakra Sahasrara, the Lotus of a Thousand Petals, connects us with the heights of divinity. The funereal trials take place in the palace, showing us that they are not meant to punish the soul. People often think of ordeals as something blind, given from a mistaken and blind sense of divine retribution. The truth is that ordeals are given to the Essence, the consciousness, from divinity, represented by the fact that Prince Calaf must stand before the nobles of China, the aristocracy, the divine beings, to answer Turandot’s riddles. The reason why the buddhas, the Elohim, the divine beings, provide the initiate tests, is to see them qualify. The divine beings want us to enter the superior worlds with victory, with consciousness, with development. They don’t want the initiates to fail, but to conquer, but the only way for them to enter heaven is to be purified, for as stated in the book of Matthew, Chapter 11, verse 12: The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. ―Matthew 11:12
We must be violent to our own ego by working with our Divine Mother Death. We must learn to fall into the arms of Devi Kundalini, according to Nietzsche. To do so is to face great adversity. As shown in the opera, we must overcome such challenges with sincerity, serenity, patience, and zeal. While divinity provides the ordeals to help the initiates, they do not ignore that such ordeals are very dangerous. How we respond to these tests will determine our fate.
The Negative Confessions and the Egyptian Book of the Dead
In this next image, we see the Temple of Maat, Goddess of Truth and Justice. Puccini was well aware of the Egyptian Book of the Dead of Ani, which is the basis for his opera. Just as Prince Calaf must prove his psychological worth before the nobles of China and the Princess Turandot, likewise Ani and his wife Tutu must present themselves in the Temple of Maat to have Ani’s heart weighed.
Anubis is the supreme lord of Karma in our solar system, who weighs the hearts of the Egyptian initiates to register the purity of their soul. The heart is balanced with a feather, symbolizing how the mind must be balanced with the heart. The feather represents the air, the qualities of the intellectual brain, while the heart symbolizes the fires of the emotional brain. Notice also that a monkey sits on top of the scale, representing desire in the motor-instinctive-sexual brain. Ani must balance his three brains through the elimination of the ego, meaning: he must achieve psychological equilibrium and balance. To receive divine favor and join the solar dynasties, he must be pure. If he fails, the monster Ammut, with the face of a crocodile, will devour him, a symbol of the forces of devolution that will swallow the initiate. 
Arcanum 21: Transmutation, is the Fool of the Tarot. Those who fail to transmute and eliminate desire end up as fools, bohemians, imbeciles. The crocodile of the card threatens to swallow the initiate standing over it and the waters of sexuality. If the disciple fails to defeat his own lust, then the abyss and the Second Death, represented by the crocodile or the monster Ammut, will devour him.
It’s also important to understand that the Goddess Maat is the Divine Mother Death, since מוות Mutt in Hebrew means “death.” It is only through death of the ego that one can obtain truth, justice, and the entrance into the temples of the divine mysteries. Maat also, in Egyptian mythology, did not exist until Ra, the Solar Logos, rose from the ocean of נ Nun, the sexual energy. נ Nun signifies the sperm or ovum, since נ Nun in Aramaic signifies a “fish.” The sperm or ovum are “fish” that swim in our creative waters, מים Mayim in Hebrew. From the sperm and ovum emerge all life. Similarly, we generate the Divine Mother Kundalini in our spine enter the kingdom of truth and justice when we transmute our sperm and ovum into energy. Remember also that the Hebrew name מרים Miriam, Mary, signifies, “to raise, to elevate,” since we are spiritually raised by working with the sexual waters of מ Mem. On the right, the god Thoth prepares to document and inscribe the fate of the initiate. There is no middle ground. There will either be victory on the solar path, or failure: entrance into the lunar submerged spheres, the Klipoth. As the Qur’an teaches us in Surah 22, verse 70: Do you not know that Allah knows whatever there is in the sky (the nine heavens or sephiroth of the Tree of Life) and the earth (with its nine submerged spheres)? That is indeed in a Book. That is indeed easy for Allah. —Al-Ḥajj, The Pilgrimage 70
On top of the image of the Temple of Maat are judges, including Hu, Sia, Hathor, Horus (or Aur-us, Oros, the gold or light of the divine spirit), Isis (the Divine Mother), Nepthys, Nut, Geb, and others.
There exist 42 Judges of Karma who evaluate the souls of the dead. These judges determine where the defunct will be placed in the cosmos based on their psychological qualities and actions. This is represented in the opera by the aristocrats and nobles who watch along with the commoners in the palace. Accompanying this image of the Temple of Maat is a ritual prayer from the Egyptian Book of the Dead: the “Negative Confessions.” In it, the soul proclaims before the Tribunals of Justice that it has never sinned, because it has achieved radical death of the ego. Puccini knew this teaching well and allegorizes how Prince Calaf must overcome such funereal trials within the hall of justice and truth, the Temple of Maat, the heavenly palace of China, the Celestial Jerusalem. Samael Aun Weor speaks extensively about these “Negative Confessions” in his book Cosmic Teachings of a Lama: (From the Papyrus of Nu) Calaf’s Entrance to the Palace
The Divine Emperor greets Prince Calaf. The Emperor’s name is never given in the opera, but it explains the meaning of this character very profoundly. Altoum is Kether, the Father, whom the crowds of nobles and aristocrats, as well as the multitudes of commoners, greet with such reverence, inspiration, and grandiosity. The palace of Peking sings in ecstasy before the throne of Kether, Emperor Altoum, because He is the Father of all lights, the height of heights, the Mercy of Mercies.
It’s significant that the mantra Tum is found in His name, Al-Tum. We explained the meaning of the mantra Tum in Arcanum Nine, which refers to the three primary forces. The consonant T relates to Kether, since the name כֶּתֶר Kether even possesses the same consonant, the Hebrew letter ת Tav, symbol of the seal of truth, divinity. The vowel U represents Chokmah, Christ, wisdom. The mantra M relates to Binah, the Holy Spirit, because מ Mem represents the waters. With the mantra Tum, we invoke the three primary forces within our three brains: Kether, the Father, in the intellectual brain; Chokmah, the Son, in the emotional brain; and Binah, the Holy Spirit, within the motor-instinctive-sexual brain. Samael Aun Weor explains in Tarot and Kabbalah: The Self-realized Monad is powerful. It has power over the fire, air, water, and earth (which can also signify the four cardinal points of the Tree of Life). That is why in the Egyptian Book of the Dead the devotee directs himself towards Horus and says, “I fortify your legs and your arms.” Likewise, the devotee asks Horus to fortify his three brains (intellectual, emotional and motor). This is because Horus needs the devotee to have his three brains strong. —Arcanum 7: Triumph
The mantra Tum is exceptional and is inferenced in this opera, since Prince Calaf is tested in his three brains, through three riddles, to evaluate his worthiness before the divine hierarchies of Altoum, El-Tum, the three primary forces of Tum in conjunction with the Hebrew spirit, אל El, Chesed.
As the ruler of the palace, the Emperor has seen the death of many initiates. Therefore, he questions the stranger, the Prince Calaf, to see whether he is determined and sincere in his efforts. He questions the prince not because he doesn’t want to see Calaf succeed, but because he is conscious of the dangers and the results of those who don’t qualify. The Emperor states, in synthesis, “Please leave, so that I do not have to be responsible for or see your death! I have too much blood on my hands!” Even in the Metropolitan Opera performance we watched—staring Placido Domingo as Calaf—portrays the Emperor wringing his hands with grief. Three times does Prince Calaf state, “Son of Heaven (Kether), I beg you to let me try my fortune!” This indicates how we must be determined to perform the work in each of our three brains, to learn how to fortify Horus within our mind, emotions, and sex; Netzach, the mental body; Hod, the astral body; and Yesod, the vital body. The Emperor finally states, “Stranger in love with death (Binah, the Divine Mother Turandot). So be it!” Every initiate, when completing any spiritual works, always proclaim, “So be it!” This is very well known amongst members of the Gnostic Church. At this point in the opera, the executioner of the law of karma returns to remind Calaf of his solemn duty before the solar hierarchies, to conquer himself through answering the three riddles, or to fail and enter the infernal worlds after being judged unworthy. After the executioner leaves, a chorus of children enter, singing praises to the Divine Princess Turandot. It’s interesting that the children, symbolizing the youthful, vital principles of the moon, follow after the deadly proclamation of fatality and death, Saturn. The moon, astrologically, relates to the forces of Saturn. Through death of the ego, the rites of Saturn, Saturday, the Sabbath or sexual alchemy, is how we are born again as innocent children in the kingdom of heaven. The children proclaim, “Do you not hear the thousand voices calling from the desert to the sea?” These are the virginal sparks or elemental souls of nature evolving from the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms. The elementals seek the bounty and blessings of Turandot, reminding the Prince Calaf of the glories of Self-realization that await him through the path of mystical death. 
Turandot’s Entrance
Turandot then emerges. She relates how thousands of years ago, Princess Lou-Ling "ruled in silence (of the spirit) and pure (chaste) joy, defying the abhorred tyranny of (fornicating) man with constancy (chastity) and firmness." Thousands of years is symbolic of esoteric ages, Logoic ages, development from initiation, as Samael Aun Weor describes in The Major Mysteries. This indicates how the soul once knew the Logos and the Divine Mother, the Princess Lou-Ling.
In the past, the Divine Mother was pure, untainted, within the soul. Through fornication, the soul fell and lost its perfection, and the energies of the Divine Mother were defiled. Turandot is lamenting that loss, the violation of Lou-Ling's purity. Her chastity was broken through the failure and degeneration of the soul. People who watch this opera think that Turandot is just a woman who is very vengeful towards men, because the King of Tartary raped her ancestress. The symbology of this drama, however, teaches us to not interpret things so literally. Through fornication, we sin against the Holy Ghost and become strangers from the kingdom of heaven. We took the forces of the spirit, of Tartary, of the North, and threw them into hell, the Tartarus, the West. Therefore, due to our lust, Turandot is enraged with us because we fell. In synthesis, all of us have sinned against the Goddess Moon. She rejects Calaf because he is impure, with ego. She even proclaims, “No man shall possess me!” or better said, “No fornicator shall have me!” It is only through the complete death of the ego that we can Self-realize, marry, or resurrect within Binah, the Divine Mother. The commoners, the crowds in the palace, relate how Lou-Ling was raped when the King of Tartary unfurled his seven standards. Seven once again reminds us of the Seventh Arcanum: battles, struggles, wars and pain. This is very interesting given that Calaf and Timur once ruled the Kingdom of Tartary: now Calaf, having been expelled from his kingdom, seeks to regain the divine through his marriage with Turandot. He, as the Bodhisattva, seeks to reconcile the conflicting forces of the Tartars (the soul trapped in the abominable ego) with the heavenly China (the Celestial Jerusalem, the Far East). Tartary refers to the spiritual forces of the north that are now channeled in hell, the Tartarus, and must be redeemed. Prince Calaf is therefore a hasnamuss, since he is trapped in Klipoth, and yet he wants to recapitulate his past initiations through the trials. Turandot also relates how Lou-Ling was dragged away by a stranger like Calaf. She emphasizes this detail very much, “You are a stranger. You are a foreigner. You do not belong here!” But what does her insistence on his "strangeness" mean? When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Any fornicator is a stranger to God, for the ways of fornication are strange and unnatural to the divine. Therefore, it is appropriate that at the beginning of this path, we are referred to as a “straniero, strangers.” In Jewish terms, we are gentiles, goyim, non-Jews. In strict esoteric language, a Jew is a master who has incarnated Yew, IAO, Christ. If we do not have Christ developed inside, then we are goyim, people with ego, since even the term goyim, backwards, can sound like “ego.”
However, divinity does not withhold favor from the fallen soul, because the Emperor and others show concern for Calaf and want him to be victorious in the trials. Or as stated in Deuteronomy 10:19: “Love the ger, stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Egypt, in the Bible, represents Malkuth, the physical body. We are strangers in Malkuth, this physical world, because we long, as the Essence, to return to the heavens, the stars, the Far East. Turandot reprimands Calaf, that he is too unclean to marry Her. This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t want him to succeed. It only indicates that the Divine Mother is the terror of love and law. She is very demanding towards the soul. Absolute perfection is needed for resurrection. Therefore, she challenges him: "No (fornicating) man shall possess me." And: "The riddles are three, death one!" To which Calaf replies: "The riddles are three, life is one!" Both repeat their proclamations together in this beautiful aria. Truly, as we mentioned earlier, life and death are one. Love and death share same roots. As stated in Beethoven’s ninth symphony, or the poem by Schiller upon which the ninth symphony was based: “Both sinners and saints follow Her path of roses.” Through Shakti, the Divine Feminine, we are destroyed and reborn, or as it is taught by the Christian mantra INRI: "In Necis Renascor Integer" ("In death I am reborn intact and pure"). The Three Riddles and the Three Mother Letters of Kabbalah
To help explain the significance of the three ordeals, it is necessary to refer to the three mother letters of Hebraic Kabbalah. These letters are:
The three riddles or questions synthesize the entire work of the First Mountain: the path of Initiation. These riddles represent the air, water, and fire; the three brains; the three solar bodies we must create through the perfect matrimony; and the three elements of alchemy. These three ordeals symbolize the work with water (Ens Seminis), Fire (Kundalini) and Air (Prana) of sexual alchemy. They also represent the brute semen (מ Mem, water), the metallic soul of the sperm (Mercury, Air, א Aleph), and the sulfur fecundating the sexual energy (the Kundalini Fire, ש Shin). Samael Aun Weor explains the synthesis of these three alchemical elements in The Aquarian Message: The philosophical fire must be searched for within the ens seminis. In the beginning, this fire is nothing more than a dry and terrestrial exhalation incorporated into seminal steam.
Samael Aun Weor also explains the following in The Gnostic Bible: The Pistis Sophia Unveiled:
Three Witnesses in heaven exist: the Father, the Logos, and the Holy Spirit. Three Witnesses on Earth exist: the Breath (א Aleph), the Blood (ש Shin), and the Water (מ Mem). —Samael Aun Weor
Kether, Chokmah, and Binah are those Logoic energies that produce the awakening of the consciousness. They animate our three brains or psychological centers: Kether, the Father, in the intellectual brain; Chokmah, the Logos, in the emotional brain; and Binah, the Holy Spirit, within the motor-instinctive-sexual brain.
The three witnesses on earth represent psycho-spiritual and physiological elements, forces that, when utilized and transformed in sexual alchemy, produce the creation of the soul, the solar bodies. These three witnesses on earth also represent the three mother letters of Kabbalah. They also relate to the three brains, א Aleph, the air, in the intellectual brain; ש Shin, the fire, in the emotional brain; and מ Mem, the waters, in the motor-instinctive-sexual brain. The true human being is formed by the creation of three solar bodies: the Christ Astral (symbolized by blood, the wine of the Lord in the solar eucharist), the Christ Mind (the Breath of God); and Christ Will (the waters of the spirit). There is some interesting Hebrew etymology related to the assimilation of oxygen into the bloodstream. When א Aleph, the breath, the prana, is inhaled through our lungs and assimilated into our bloodstream in a conscious way, we begin to initiate spiritual forces. The Hebrew word דם Dam means “blood,” so Aleph-Dam forms אדם Adam, the perfect human being. Contained within Adam are the three witnesses: the blood, the breath, and the waters of the spirit, the seminal matter that is transmuted into fire and light. The Three Principles of Alchemy within the Zohar
The three riddles also correspond to teachings given within the Zohar. Puccini, as a master of Freemasonry, Kabbalah, and Alchemy, incorporated Jewish mysticism into his dramas, specifically with the three questions Turandot poses to Calaf. These riddles synthesize the work with creating solar bodies in the perfect matrimony. The Zohar can also elucidate how Puccini depicts three dynamics of the same thing: the principles of alchemy.
Rabbi Shim’on resolved the conflict [between the left and right pillars of the Tree of Life, as we discussed in Arcanum 8: Justice], opening with a verse: “It is written, Next to the enclosure are the rings to be, as housings for the poles (Exodus 25:27). Who is that enclosure? A closed site, opened only by a single narrow path, intimated secretly." —Zohar
What does a ring symbolize in the internal worlds? Marriage, Yesod, alchemy. To see seven rings in the internal worlds indicates the perfect matrimony, the union of two souls within all seven planes of cosmic consciousness, the lower seven Sephiroth of the Tree of Life and beyond.
A ring also represents woman, the uterus, while the poles are phallic in nature, the masculine sexual organ. But what is the enclosure? A symbol of woman as well, the feminine sexual organs, or “single narrow path, intimated secretly." The woman is the intimate, secret gate to Eden, which has only been allegorized in the scriptures and never taught explicitly until the 1950's. Thereby it is filled, and traces gates to kindle lamps. Because it is a site hidden and concealed, it is called enclosure; this is the world that is coming (Binah). —Zohar
Why would the sexual act, the perfect matrimony, alchemy, be the way or gate to “kindle lamps”? Arcanum Nine shows us the Hermit of the tarot, who carries in his left hand the lamp of Hermes, Mercury, alchemical wisdom. We generate light through working with sexual transmutation, so that we can perceive where we are in our work. We also have seven lamps related to our spinal medulla, the seven chakras that must be awakened and enlivened through fire.
The sexual act is the world that will emerge, manifest, because Binah, the Holy Spirit, is the generator and supreme regenerator of the perfect human being. Are the rings [of the perfect matrimony] to be—supernal rings linked to one another [since the supernal triangle, the top trinity of the Tree of Life, also relates to the three mother letters of Kabalah], (מ Mem) water from air (א Aleph), air from fire (ש Shin), fire from water (מ Mem), all linked to each other, emerging from one another, like rings. They all gaze at that enclosure, into which merges the supernal river [of Da’ath, the Akashic fiery waters of השמים Ha-Shamayim, the heavens that Elohim created in the opening of Genesis] to water them, and they merge in it. —Zohar
The rings of the perfect matrimony symbolize the solar bodies: Christ Astral, Christ Mind, and Christ Will, which merge with and are created by the fiery waters of Da’ath, השמים Ha-Shamayim. As stated in Genesis 1:1:
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ
ש Shin is fire, and מים Mayim is water, for when we work in a marriage, the waters of Yesod become inflamed with the fires, the ש Shin, of Christ, to create the heavens within us, the Christified soul: the solar bodies. This is Genesis, generation, which Prince Calaf must achieve if he wishes to enter the congregation of Israel, the kingdom of China, the Far East. Those without wedding garments, solar bodies, who fail to create them through the three ordeals of the Divine Princess Shekinah, will be cast out to outer darkness, where only the weeping and gnashing of teeth will be heard.
Housings for the poles—these supernal rings are housings designated for the poles, the chariots below, for one derives from the side of fire, one from the side of water, one from the side of air, and so with them all, constituting a chariot for the ark. —Zohar
What is a chariot? A solar body. Remember that the spirit in Arcanum 7 drives the chariot of war. Chesed, our inner God, must conquer the lower sephiroth of the Tree of Life to obtain Triumph.
One solar body corresponds to the side of fire (Hod, the Solar Astral Body), one from the side of air (Netzach, the Solar Mental Body), and another from the side of water (Tiphereth, the Solar Causal Body). All of these constitute a chariot for the ark, the Great Arcanum, the Ark of the Covenant of Sexual Alchemy between God and man. So whoever approaches should approach these poles, not what lies within. As we say to the Nazarite, "Go around, around! Do not come near the vineyard!" Except for those worthy of serving within, privileged to enter and draw near. Of this is written: An outsider who comes near shall be put to death (Numbers 1:51). —Zohar
Who are the Nazarenes? H.P. Blavatsky stated that they are:
The same as the St. John Christians; called the Mendaeans or Sabeans. They designate Christ ‘a false Messiah’ and only recognize John the Baptist, whom they call the "great Nazar." ―H.P. Blavatsky
A Nazarene, in this case, refers to any person who studies esoterism but does not accept Christ, Iod-Chavah, Chokmah, wisdom. They are told to not draw near to the vineyard, the Garden of a marriage, because only those who were worthy and prepared would receive instructions regarding the Great Arcanum.
Why must outsiders not draw near? Because they are fornicators. Therefore, notice how Turandot ostracizes Calaf by calling him a stranger, an outsider. To approach Turandot, one must be perfectly chaste in thought, word, and deed. One must respond consciously to the three ordeals through meditating on and annihilating the ego. The first ordeal states: In the dark night flies a many-hued phantom. It soars and spreads its wings above the gloomy human crowd. The whole world calls to it, the whole world implores it. At dawn the phantom vanishes, to be reborn in every heart. And every night 'tis born anew, and every day it dies. ―Turandot
Calaf provides the correct answer: "Hope!" (א Aleph). Hope, as an aerial quality or characteristic of the psyche, refers to the Spirit, Ruach Elohim or wind of God. א Aleph is Prana, the force of life that animates every atom of our physical and spiritual being.
When conquering this ordeal, the negative aspect of the serpent criticizes Calaf, when Turandot says, “Hope that leaves one disillusioned,” meaning, “you will fall no matter what.” Why would Turandot say this? It’s because, as we mentioned in our first lecture, the serpent is dual: in heaven she is Kundalini. In hell she is Kundabuffer. Both aspects are represented in the trials. Turandot continues: It kindles like a flame, but it is not flame. At times it is a frenzy; it is fever, force, passion! Inertia makes it flag. If you lose heart or die it grows cold, but dream of conquest and it flares up. Its voice you heed in trepidation; it glows like the setting sun! ―Turandot
Calaf panics, as any initiate does before the terrifying ordeals of the Thirteenth Arcanum. All of us need to radically die to the ego. Therefore, divinity helps us by showing us a sunset in the internal planes, which indicates how the Solar Logos needs us to die to desire.
Liù, who is watching with Timur in the crowd, pronounces: "It is for love!" The heart. Thereafter, Calaf provides the correct answer again: "Blood!" (ש Shin). This shows us how the Divine Soul, Buddhi, Geburah, Liù, always aids Tiphereth, the human soul, in battle against the ego, against the Second Death. Blood, as a quality of passion, is the flame or fire of Christ. ש Shin is the fire that Moshe (Moses) saw on Mount Horeb, the immaculate Lord who appeared as the burning bush. It is interesting that Christ is love, and in the ordeal relating to ש Shin, Liù proclaims that Calaf is fighting for love. There are also many interesting astrological correspondences in this scene. Chokmah, the Solar Christ, manifests in Geburah because Geburah is not only governed by Mars, but the Sun. Mars relates to blood and bloodshed, while the Sun relates to splendor, radiance, Christ. Both planets relate to Geburah, since blood “glows like the setting sun” when “in trepidation.” The solar logos, the Christ, ש Shin, must inflame our blood through alchemy. When conquering this ordeal, the Chorus replies, “Hold on, persist, you answerer of riddles!” Turandot has them hit by the guards, representing how, during the ordeals, the negative serpent fights for dominance within the initiates. As we discussed in Arcanum 9, the serpent of Moses fights the serpents of the Egyptians (the black magicians of Malkuth and Klipoth). The third and final ordeal sums up the mystery of Initiation: Ice which gives you fire, and which your fire freezes still more! Lily-white and dark, if it allows you your freedom it makes you a slave. If it accepts you as a slave it makes you a King! ―Turandot
After doubt, consternation and fear, Calaf triumphs in the ordeals and answers: "Victory is mine! My fire will melt your ice: Turandot!"
Turandot, as ice that burns and fire that freezes, refers to the waters of sexuality, the Mayim (מים) of Yesod. Mayim relates to Miriam, the Virgin Mary, Stella Maris, the Virgin of the Sea. Let us remember the Ninth Sphere of Dante's Inferno, where the lost souls, embedded in the ice of Cocytus, burn with the cold until their complete disintegration through the Second Death. Such is the path of death through the waters in hell. מ Mem, however, as the final ordeal, also contains the mystery of Initiation, for it is through the sexual waters that one dies and is reborn on the solar path, through initiation. The sexual energies are “lily white” through chastity, as any clairvoyant can see the light of a person’s kidneys, wherein is registered within the internal bodies the level of chastity or lust of an individual. Darkness or animal passion is the blackness of the ego, which darkens the astral and mental bodies of demons, the Lucifers. Also, if you freely give into fornication, Kali makes you a slave of hell. Become a slave of chastity and the Divine Mother, and you will become free, a Meleck, a twice born, a king of Tiphereth. Let us also remember that מ Mem is the thirteenth letter of Hebraic Kabbalah and refers to the Thirteenth Arcanum, which contains the very essence this opera. Notice that the three riddles got progressively harder, from air: the mind, to fire: the heart, to water: our sexuality. This indicates how the aerial nature of our thoughts, א Aleph, is easiest to control. Thoughts are the slowest aspect of our three-brained machine. The fires of the emotional brain, ש Shin, are much more difficult, dangerous, because the emotional center is much faster than the intellect. Emotions are very difficult to control, especially when they are strong. However, self-restraint is needed in ordeals and initiation, which is our own life intensely lived with rectitude and love. The greatest ordeal involves facing our own lust in the motor-instinctive-sexual brain, מ Mem, the most volatile, dangerous, and consequential of the three centers, as portrayed by Calaf’s near defeat and silence during the final riddle. Since the brain of action is quickest, it is the most difficult to control. In synthesis, these three mother letters of Kabbalah contain the entire work we must perform. These letters also relate once again to IAO:
Lucifer works through א Aleph in the head, ש Shin in the heart, and מ Mem in sex. These letters refer specifically to the three primary forces within the three brains: Kether (א Aleph), Chokmah (ש Shin) and Binah (מ Mem). This is how the Initiate is tested by the Divine Mother, to prove his worthiness through the rites of purification. The ego must die in all three brains. Of important note are the three wise men at the funereal trials. These are the three magi of Christ’s Nativity. They witness the ordeals and await the moment when Christ will be born within the heart of the initiate, within the Prince Calaf. They represent the black, white, and gold kings: the gradations of mastery amongst the Bodhisattvas. Black kings possess ego, yet they have Christ inside, which makes them solar kings at the beginning level. White kings possess no ego, while gold kings have achieved resurrection within the Sephirah Binah. The three magi unveil the scrolls, the answers to Turandot’s riddles after Calaf has answered them, because they represent the three magi who approach the birth of Christ within the soul. This occurs at towards the end of this Act. 
Moshe, Moses, and Hashem: the Name of God
After answering the three riddles successfully, Calaf has become a twice born, a master of Tiphereth, whereby the crowd congratulates him ecstatically. He has formed the solar bodies in himself and has achieved the Second Birth. Anyone who reaches the Fifth Initiation of Fire is a twice born with the Christ Astral, Christ Mind, and Christ Will.
While Calaf’s victory is rather quick in the opera, the ordeals in actual life take many years of patient work and sufferings. It is said Madame Blavatsky created her solar bodies in ten years with Colonel Olcott, since she worked hard at first as an individual yogini. People with less training beforehand take even longer. After conquering the ordeals, Turandot is upset. She cries that despite her defeat, she will not marry any man. But why? This indicates to us that Calaf, while becoming victorious in his ordeals to a certain degree, still has ego, and cannot yet attain complete union with the divine. While Calaf succeeds, Turandot refuses to marry him because he is still impure; he still has ego. People often think that Turandot is stubborn, sexually prudent to deny Calaf, but Kabbalists understand how the Princess Shekinah won’t resurrect within a soul that still has ego. In terms of Masonry, he is an Adeptus Minor in Tiphereth, not Adeptus Major in Geburah or Adeptus Exemptus in Chesed. To rise higher on the Tree of Life, one needs perfection in mastery on the Second Mountain, the complete death of desire so as to achieve the goal: resurrection. The Emperor Altoum says that Turandot’s vow to marry is sacred. She still refuses. Her marriage vow is the pact of alchemy, which the Nirvani Buddhas follow at their level. The problem at this point in the opera is that Turandot, Binah, still wants further development, but a choice must be made by the human soul. Calaf, Tiphereth, either will remain in Nirvana and force Turandot to suffer because he is a hasnamuss with the ego very alive, or he will renounce Nirvana and win the love of Turandot by seeking absolute perfection through the complete death of the ego. Calaf is presented with a choice after completing the riddles. He says he will not force Turandot into his arms unwillingly but sings that he will have her afire with love, once his own impurities are completely dead. Remember that Venus is love, which astrologically relates to Tiphereth. When Prince Calaf renounces heaven, marriage, he obtains the Venustic Initiation, which is the incarnation of Christ, the Solar Logos, within Tiphereth, since this Sephirah is also governed by the sun. Only masters who renounce Nirvana to return to Malkuth to help suffering humanity, those who have Bodhichitta: the compassionate mind of unsurpassed enlightenment, who strive to eliminate the ego in its entirety, can become Bodhisattvas, incarnations of Chokmah, wisdom, Christ. This is what Samael Aun Weor referred to as the Direct Path, the path of the Bodhisattvas who eliminate the ego in one life, rather than over the span of countless aeons on the Spiral, Nirvanic Path. Bodhisattvas work to completely destroy the ego in one life and to achieve resurrection, marriage with Binah: the Holy Spirit, once all impurities are removed from the soul. Calaf, therefore, renounces Nirvana, marriage with Turandot at his level, and accepts that Turandot denies him now because his ego is still very alive. However, he says he will have her love him and will not force her to do what she does not want. This is why the crowd says, “You are strong!" because he is taking the Direct Path. Only the strong take this path, which involves tremendous sufferings and hardship, since to fully annihilate the ego is a work of perfection in mastery. Most initiates, once reaching Nirvana, end up taking the easier, Spiral Path, and since such Nirvanis do not eliminate the ego immediately, nor sacrifice themselves out of love for others who suffer in Malkuth, they do not incarnate Christ. When the crowd says, “You are strong,” they are indicating that Calaf is now Thrice-honored, blessed by the three primary forces that have descended to help him. The three rays of the Sun in Arcanum Nine have descended to aid the Prince, the Hermit of the great mysteries, specifically the incarnation of Chokmah within his heart. These mysteries are well described in Kabbalah through the symbolism of Moses. Moses in the Bible is a symbol for a psychological principle we must develop, and which is portrayed in this opera. Only a Moshe, a Moses, can take the Direct Path. Moses or משה Moshe literally means “born of water and fire.” He represents our Christic willpower that has the solar bodies created through initiation. The letter א Aleph can relate to ה Hei, the breath or womb through which one is born, the “hhhhh…” sound. א Aleph or ה Hei is the Solar Mental Body, ש Shin the Solar Astral Body, and מ Mem the Solar Causal Body created in alchemy, which Calaf achieved by answering the riddles. Combine ה Hei, ש Shin, and מ Mem, and you spell השם Hashem: the Name. This is the sacred appellation of God, יהוה Iod-Chavah, Jehovah, Christ, within Judaism. The Jews pray to Jehovah as follows: “Baruch Hashem Adonai!” or “Blessed be the Name of the Lord!” Instead of pronouncing the Unutterable Name, Jehovah, they use השם Hashem to reference יהוה Iod-Chavah, Jehovah, which is the sacred name of God in the Sephirah Chokmah: Christ. Spell השם Hashem backwards, and you make משה Moshe, Moses. Only by forming Moses in ourselves, the solar bodies, can we incarnate Hashem: Christ. See how everything is beautifully hidden in Kabbalah? This is well described in Chapter 3 of the Book of John, whereby Jesus describes this process of the Second Birth. 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The crowd becomes silent after Calaf’s determination and decision to take the Straight Path of the Bodhisattvas. Surprisingly, this is the moment when the Prince presents Turandot with one riddle that she must answer. If she fails to answer it, she must marry him at dawn. But if she discovers the answer, he will gladly die in the morning hours.
He asks her if she can guess his name. How do you say “the Name” in Hebrew? השם Hashem. Calaf asks Turandot to guess his name, or the Name: השם Hashem, indicating that he has Christ within him, the Solar Logos. He tells her to guess his secret, his mystery, which is the alchemical genesis of the Son of Man. For just as Calaf raised the serpent of Moses up his spine within the wilderness, he has incarnated Christ in himself, and now the Son of Man, Christ, the Serpents of Light, must be lifted up in his spine through the second half of the First Mountain. According to Samael Aun Weor, Christ is the Lost Word, lost to humanity, but found and realized by the solar initiates upon the path of alchemy. Calaf is now in possession of the Lost Word, Chokmah, Christ, in his heart. If Turandot, in this case, the negative serpent or Kundabuffer organ, can tempt him, find out his name, his secret, make him fall through fornication, he will die at dawn. Dawn is a symbol of resurrection, for anyone who incarnates Christ now raises the Serpents of Light and afterward enters the Second Mountain: the work of the complete annihilation of the ego before the dawn of Resurrection. Prince Calaf was in exile from his kingdom. He was lost, lost the sacred word, his kingdom, his prince hood. But he gains it again when he answers the three riddles in court, he incarnates Christ and becomes the Son of Man. He then asks Turandot to guess his name, the Lost Word, because he is in possession of it. Before, Prince Calaf told his father Timur not to say his name, because they were in danger. Now that the Prince incarnated the Lost Word, he continues to challenge love (Binah) through possessing Hashem, Iod-Chavah, the Name. The sacred name of Tiphereth in the world of Atziluth is "Eloha va Daath Iod Hei Vau Hei." This translates as "Goddess of Knowledge," stressing the great relationship between the Human Soul and Binah and Chokmah (Iod-Chavah). The significance of Calaf's name (in Da'ath, the mysteries of Alchemy) will be treated upon in the final Act. Emperor Altoum, El-Tum, the Being, is Osiris, Jupiter, Father of the Gods, Emperor of the heavenly kingdom of China, Lord of Mount Olympus, the mountain of initiation. With adulation for Calaf, Altoum states, "I hope that with the dawn, I will be able to call you my son." What Son? The Christ, the Son of Man who will rise from the dead and conquer death. As the Prince and Turandot disperse, the chorus sings of the Emperor's divine glories. The fact that we end this Act with a chorus emphasizes the Verb, the Logos, the Word. Christ has not only entered within Calaf, but the Lord is going to raise the serpents of light within lower seven Sephiroth, represented by the multitudes of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who sing with the sacred Verb to celebrate the divine Emperor. The opera will now move ahead to the works of Heracles, a symbol of Chokmah, the Solar Logos. As described by Samael Aun Weor in The Three Mountains, Heracles performed twelve labors upon the Mountain of Resurrection, which we will see represented within Act III.
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