The claws of the lion of the sphinx represent fire; the head of the sphinx represents water; the bull’s legs of the sphinx represent the Earth element; the wings of the sphinx represent the element air. There are four virtues that are needed to be able to reach the intimate self-realization of the Being: one must have the courage of the lion, the intelligence of the human being, the wings of the spirit and the tenacity of the bull; only in this way is it possible to reach the intimate self-realization of the Being. The True Origin of the Human Being, Samael Aun Weor
Od and Obd
(Hebrew; some translate Odb as Ob) A Kabbalistic symbol representing two energetic forces in the body, known in Sanskrit as Ida and Pingala.
“You are my witness (Hebrew: עד OD), saith Iod Hei Vav Hei, and my servant (Hebrew: עבד OBD) whom I have chosen: that ye may know (Da’ath) and believe me, that these are the faces of your Binah: before me “El” (Chesed) was not formed, neither shall he (Chesed) become after me (Binah). I, even I, am Iod Hei Vav Hei; and AIN as part of me is one savior.” – Isaiah 43: 10, 11
Od
Hebrew: עד) “The Universal Medicine is, for the soul, supreme reason and absolute justice; for the mind, it is mathematical and practical truth; for the body, it is the quintessence, which is a combination of gold and light. In the superior world, the first matter of the Great Work is enthusiasm and activity; in the intermediate world, it is intelligence and industry; in the inferior world, it is labour; in science it is sulfur, Mercury and Salt, which, volatilized and fixed alternately, compose the AZOTH of the sages. sulfur corresponds to the elementary form of fire, Mercury to air and water, Salt to earth. All masters in alchemy who have written concerning the Great Work have employed symbolical and figurative expressions, and have been right in so doing, not only to deter the profane from operations which would be dangerous for them, but to make themselves intelligible to adepts by revealing the entire world of analogies which is ruled by the one and sovereign dogma of Hermes. For such, gold and silver are the Sun and Moon, or the King and Queen; sulfur is the Flying Eagle; Mercury is the winged and bearded Hermaphrodite, throned upon a cube and crowned with flames; matter or Salt is the Winged Dragon; metals in the molten state are Lions of various colours; finally, the whole work is symbolized by the Pelican and Phoenix. Hermetic art is, therefore, at one and the same time, a religion, a philosophy and a natural science. Considered as religion, it is that of the ancient Magi and the initiates of all the ages; as a philosophy, its principles may be found in the school of Alexandria and in the theories of Pythagoras; as science, its principles must be sought from Paracelsus, Nicholas Flamel and Raymund Lully. The science is true only for those who accept and understand the philosophy and religion, while its processes are successful only for the adept who has attained sovereign volition, and has thus become monarch of the elementary world, for the Great Agent of the solar work is that force described in the Hermetic Symbol of the “Emerald Table”: it is universal magical power; it is the igneous spiritual motor; it is the OD of the Hebrews and the Astral Light, according to the expression which we have adopted in this work. There is the secret, living and philosophical fire, of which all Hermetic philosophers speak only under the most mysterious reservations; there is the universal sperm, the secret of which they guarded, representing it only under the emblem of the caduceus of Hermes. Here then is the great Hermetic Arcanum, and we reveal it for the first time clearly and devoid of mystical figures: that which the adepts term dead substances are bodies as found in Nature; living substances are those which have been assimilated and magnetized by the science and will of the operator. Therefore the Great Work is something more than a chemical operation: it is an actual creation of the human Word initiated into the power of the Word of God Himself.” – Eliphas Levi, Dogma et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1855)
John 1: 1-11
In the beginning was the (first) Logos, and the (second) Logos was with Elohim, and the (third) Logos was Elohim. The same was (Bareshith Bera Elohim) in the beginning with Elohim. All things (דברים debarim) were made by him (Yod-Havah Elohim יהוה אלהים); and without him (יהוה אלהים) was not any thing made that was made. In him (Yod-Havah Elohim Binah) was life (Chaiah); and the life was the light of men (אישים Yishim). And the light (of יהוה the Tetragrammaton) shines in darkness; and the darkness (upon the face of the abyss) comprehended it not. There was a man (Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphereth represented in the letter ש Shin) sent from Elohim (in Daath), whose name was John (Jesus, Moses, Mohammad, Krishna, Siddhartha Gautama, etc.). The same came (as Lucifer, light-bearer) for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all (אישים Yishim) men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent (as Lucifer, light-bearer) to bear witness of that Light. That (יהוה Tetragrammaton) was the true Light, which enlighten every man (איש Yish or ש Shin) that (as יהשוה Yeshuah) comes into the world. He (as יהשוה Yeshuah) was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He (as יהשוה Yeshuah) came unto his own, and his own received him not.