The Transformation of the Spirit
-Archetype Twenty-

In the Law of One material, the archetypes form a fundamental part of understanding the structure and evolution of the mind, body, and spirit. The Transformation of the Spirit depicts the process of spiritual rebirth that arises from the living death of entombment within the physical illusion. The persona is the Prophet—the one who hears the call from beyond after all desire has dissipated and the only activity available is to stop struggling and allow the process to occur.

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Overview of the Archetype

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The Transformation of the Spirit is symbolized by three human figures emerging from an open sarcophagus, all of them wrapped tightly in burial cloth so that their limbs are immobile. The first to emerge is male, the second is female, and the third is a child. In the upper portion of the image a winged figure with a tongue of fire above its head sounds a trumpet. Rays of light emanate from the trumpeter. A square banner with a cross hangs from the trumpet. A scarab beetle adorns the sarcophagus.

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Symbolic Elements

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The Three Figures and the Sarcophagus

The male and female figures represent the veiled and transparent sides of the human experience. The child represents the unified spirit into which the two gendered sides transform when they finally merge with each other. The child is the offspring of the two parents, generated by their union. The three of them are bound and unable to move, which indicates that in the energy of this archetype there is nothing at all to be done. The only activity available is to stop struggling and just allow the process to occur. The sarcophagus itself is rectangular in shape, representing the physical illusion. The physical illusion is an experience of limitation. The human body limits the capacity of the spirit, whose natural state is boundless freedom. We are bound by the frailty, incapacity, short lifespan, and the carefully planned illusion of separation that characterize third density. The sarcophagus represents all these limitations. To emerge from the sarcophagus is not to leave limitations behind. This is the spirit cycle, so the figures that emerge are not bodies or minds—they are the spirit itself. The body remains a body, with all the same third density limitations it had before resurrection, but the spirit does not have to be bound by those limitations. The spirit continues to ensoul the body but, upon resurrection, no longer feels trapped within it.

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The Banner, the Scarab, and the Trumpeter

The square banner with a cross on it reiterates the interpretation of the sarcophagus. The square is the physical illusion and the cross represents the necessity of sacrifice within third density. When we come to a crossroads we can either turn right, turn left, or continue on as we were. Since choice between the two moral polarities is the basic theme of this existence, these three options are the only ones available, and in choosing one we reject the others. Even after resurrection the necessity of choosing within a world of limitation does not disappear. The scarab beetle captures the repeating nature of this archetype. A scarab beetle is a dung beetle. The ancient Egyptians associated this creature with renewal and resurrection because the dung beetle would lay eggs inside the lump of dung so that the newly hatched beetles would be surrounded by food on their birth. The Transformation of the Spirit is not a phenomenon that happens once and for all. It happens over and over. The trumpeter calls from beyond; it is the One Infinite Creator itself reaching into the spirit complex and pulling it toward itself. The rays of light illuminate the new world, filling it with meaning and purpose. The call of the trumpeter pulls the mummified bodies out of the tomb and lifts the lid off the sarcophagus. It is crucial that the trumpet is aimed at the right side of the card, because only those on the right-hand path will hear such a call. The left-hand path is shut off to any influences from beyond the self.

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Functions and Dynamics

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The persona of this archetype is concerned with spiritual calling at the most profound level. Although the image on the card emphasizes the end result of transformation, the stage prior to the opening of the casket is equally important. The context in which spiritual call sounds is that of living death. Before we emerge from the tomb we are enclosed within it, trapped and unable to escape. We are not physically or mentally dead, but to the spirit it feels like we are already entombed. Nothing is exciting, nothing is pleasing, no emotions stir us, we have little desire to accomplish anything, and our will to live is sapped. We lie in the spiritual tomb merely awaiting bodily death. This kind of entombment can manifest as clinical depression, provided there is no underlying neurological or hormonal cause. The tomb just is the physical world. Entrapment in the tomb is entrapment in the physical world. There are as many ways to feel entrapped in the physical world as there are human beings.

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The Role of Catalysts

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The Transformation of the Spirit arises when the living death of spiritual entombment has made all previous modes of taking pleasure in life unavailable. The call can only be heard in a state of spiritual entombment because the noise of creature comforts and the pleasure of life would otherwise drown it out. On the personal level the Prophet comes to grips with the aspects of life that are entirely unchangeable. The physical illusion as a sarcophagus represents something that cannot be helped and cannot be changed. On the interpersonal level the Prophet appears at a crisis point in a relationship in which both sides experience an inability to enjoy the relationship as they once did. On the social level an organization that was once enthusiastic now plods forward, sleepwalking through the usual steps.

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Veiling and Unveiling

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The three figures are bound and unable to move. The only activity available is to stop struggling and allow the process to occur. The veil between the transparent and hidden sides remains, yet the child represents the unified spirit into which the two sides transform when they finally merge. The trumpeter calls from beyond the personal, incarnate self. Unveiling occurs as the lid of the sarcophagus opens and a new world filled with new and fascinating pleasures is revealed. The spirit continues to ensoul the body but no longer feels trapped within it.

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Polarity and Balance

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The right-hand path Prophet awaits a call from beyond the personal, incarnate self. Opening the self to a higher power is understood in left-hand path circles to be the distinctive characteristic of the right-hand path. The right-hand path Prophet is helpless on his own. Personal will and drive have shown the Prophet that there is nothing special about his incarnate capabilities. Faced with the impossibility of being what he wants with all his heart to be, the Prophet’s experience of entombment is a kind of despair over being who he is. Within the tomb he must learn to trust the Creator completely. When he has found this trust the call will sound, the tomb will open, and the higher will of the Creator will fill him. The left-hand path Prophet has a more difficult road. For him there is nothing beyond the personal, incarnate self. The experience of living entombment is an intense festering of spiritual wounds. His own will to crush the weakness within him and to manifest power greater than that of his rivals is what calls him out of the tomb. Mixed expressions are the common condition. The Transformation of the Spirit only offers itself as a choice between polarizing further along the path already trodden or else remaining in the tomb.

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Integration and Transformation

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The Prophet must allow the transformation to happen. If they are successful, then the lid of the sarcophagus will open and a new world filled with new and fascinating pleasures will be revealed. Distorted expressions include remaining in the tomb by continuing to hope for the miracle that changes the unchangeable limitation, or attempting to force the opening of the sarcophagus through personal will before the call has been heard. Integration occurs as the Prophet admits the powerlessness of the incarnate self, stops struggling against the immovable nature of the physical reality, and allows the call to sound. When the call is heeded the three figures emerge, the child of the unified spirit is born, and the cycle of catalyst and experience continues at a higher degree of polarity.

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Practical Application

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In practical terms, working with the Transformation of the Spirit involves recognizing the living death of spiritual entombment and the unchangeable limitations of the physical world. Meditation and honest self-inquiry can reveal the aspects of life that cannot be helped and cannot be changed, and the despair that arises from continuing to hope for the miracle. The work is not to force the opening of the sarcophagus but to stop struggling, admit that one is in a tomb, and allow the call from beyond to sound. By learning to love the lemons that life has handed over—by focusing attention on the hard limitations until they become appealing rather than repellent—the seeker creates the conditions under which the Prophet may hear the call and the three figures may

emerge.

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Summary

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The Transformation of the Spirit is the spiritual rebirth that arises from the living death of entombment within the physical illusion. Through its symbolism of the three bound figures emerging from the sarcophagus, the winged trumpeter with the tongue of fire, the banner of the cross, and the scarab beetle, it shows that there is nothing to be done except to stop struggling and allow the process to occur, and that the call from beyond can only be heard in the silence of the tomb. This archetype guides the seeker to recognize the unchangeable limitations of third density, to admit powerlessness before them, and to allow the call of the One Infinite Creator to lift the lid so that the unified spirit may be born and the cycle of catalyst and experience may continue.