The Catalyst of the Body
The Affected
-Archetype Ten-

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 Catalyst of the Body is the archetype of the body as potentiated self. It is the perspective of observation that encompasses all sensory information and the energetic web of the body complex. The persona of this archetype is the Affected—the one who is present to and seeks to understand the catalytic activity that arises when the Wild Woman responds to the Sage’s intervention.

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Overview of the Archetype

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The Catalyst of the Body is symbolized by a wheel held in place by two columns. At the base of the columns is a winged orb with two snakes rising on either side. The wheel has an inner ring and an outer ring held together by eight spokes. On the left side of the wheel, Typhon or Set rides the gravitational swing downward. On the right side, Hermanubis climbs the turning wheel upward. Above the wheel a circular platform holds a sphinx with a spear aimed at the right side of the wheel.

Symbolic Elements

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The Wheel and the Columns

The wheel represents the body complex and its energy web. Everything in the physical world with which one interacts is part of the body complex because the aura extends at least fifty feet beyond the skin. The turning of the wheel is the constant cyclical motion of the body complex. The two columns represent the foundational construction of the third-density illusion as a world of moral polarity. The pillars of good and evil support the entire energy web of the body; there is no possibility of escape from experience with and choice between these forces.

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Hermanubis, Typhon, and the Spokes

Hermanubis and Typhon represent the energies and entities attracted to the body according to the specific condition of its energy web. This attraction is akin to magnetism: some influences bring pleasure, comfort, and fortune; others bring pain, discomfort, and misfortune. The eight spokes represent the octaves of experience expressed in the energy centers of the body and their manifestations as primal drives. The eighth spoke is hidden behind the pillars because the eighth energy center, representing the beginning of the next octave, remains outside ordinary experience.

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The Sphinx and the Winged Orb

The sphinx stands on a platform above the wheel and represents the conscious body after the potentiating action: all that remains is to wait for the intended effect. Its four component animals correspond to the four virtuous activities of the magician—to know, to will, to dare, and to be silent—characterizing the Sage at his most virtuous. The sphinx faces left and is armed against the left-hand side, indicating that negatively polarizing catalyst is easier to see and that defense and attack are characteristic of the left-hand path. On the right side the sphinx is vulnerable, indicating the importance of disarming oneself on the right-hand path. The winged orb at the base is the sigil of the covenant with spirit.

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Functions and Dynamics

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The Catalyst of the Body is the offspring of a potentiated matrix. The catalytic activity is the Wild Woman’s reaction to the Sage’s action—a pure expression of natural justice that enacts a subtle reflection of the potential coiled in the Sage’s initial intervention. Fortune and misfortune befall the body through events that seem unconnected and random. The Affected does not process the catalyst; he is present to it and reveals its nature as interpreted through his own lens. He believes that some previous action or pattern of actions has caused the current circumstance and sets himself to the task of working out how he has brought it upon himself. Even inaction is action.

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The Role of Catalysts

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The function of the Affected is to allow the catalytic activity of the body to be known to and understood by the mind in as detailed a way as possible. The clearer the Affected can get about the specific actions taken and how they caused the outcomes observed, the more productive the processing of the catalyst will be. He is motivated by the desire to calm the volatile and apparently random mechanisms of the physical world. His empowering capacity is the ability to hold complex causal relationships before awareness all at once. His virtues are the conviction that every apparently random event has an explanation that can be traced back to prior action and the ability to notice the minute details of an event.

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Veiling and Unveiling

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The inner and outer wheel refer to the inner and outer natures of the body. The laws of physical motion and the workings of the body are largely hidden from conscious awareness. The deeper nature of the body is ethereal rather than merely physical. Because this ethereal body is not understood, conceptualization of the body complex tends to remain on the outer level of causal physical interactions. The wheel within the wheel suggests the attractiveness of materialistic explanations that cannot dig beneath the surface. Both fortune and misfortune hold to the inner wheel; their true causes cannot be understood until the workings of the inner wheel are grasped.

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Polarity and Balance

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In right-hand path polarization the Affected is Contrite. Unfortunate events tend to polarize positive; the Contrite takes responsibility for each action, feels remorse for boundary violations and neglected chances for service, and does not attempt to defend himself. He is grateful for blessings but does not believe he uniquely deserves them. In left-hand path polarization the Affected is Emboldened. Fortunate events tend to polarize negative; the Emboldened examines past behavior to maximize the ability to bring fortune to himself and publicly takes credit for his causal role. When misfortune arrives he examines his actions to become more subtle so that he is less likely to be caught. Mixed expressions are the common condition; pure polarized expressions are the ideals toward which Transformation moves.

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Integration and Transformation

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The Affected does not process catalyst; he makes its nature available to the mind. Processing occurs in the Experience of the Body. Distorted expressions include the view that apparently random events really are random, so that catalyst rarely enters the mind for integration, and a lack of sensitivity to circumstances as they present themselves. Integration occurs as the Affected learns to hold the complex causal relationships of the body’s energy web before awareness without defense or denial. Each clear recognition of how prior action produced current fortune or misfortune prepares the ground for the Experience of the Body and, eventually, for Transformation in the body cycle.

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Practical Application

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In practical terms, working with the Catalyst of the Body involves noticing when fortune or misfortune has befallen the body or its immediate environment and setting oneself to the task of tracing the causal relationships back to prior conscious action or inaction. Meditation and honest self-inquiry can reveal the minute details of events that the Affected is uniquely able to notice. The work is not to force an immediate change of behavior but to remain present to the catalytic activity long enough for its nature to become clear. By allowing the Affected to examine the consequences of the Sage’s intervention without defense or denial, the seeker creates the conditions under which the Experience of the Body can integrate the catalyst and the cycle of the body can continue.

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Summary

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The Catalyst of the Body is the body as potentiated self—the Affected who is present to and seeks to understand the catalytic activity that arises when the Wild Woman responds to the Sage’s intervention. Through its symbolism of the wheel, the columns of polarity, Hermanubis and Typhon, and the sphinx, it shows how the energy web of the body attracts fortune and misfortune according to prior action and how the conscious body waits for the intended effect. This archetype guides the seeker to remain present to the apparently random events of the physical world, to trace them back to prior conscious intervention, and to allow the nature of the catalyst to become clear so that the Experience of the Body may integrate it.