The Path of Tav – Shifting Changes of Existence
Pen and ink
Gregory B. Stewart
The following is the frontispiece to the Fellow of the Craft, a book on the second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry.
This image is a nontraditional interpretation of the second degree in that it illustrates more the Hermetic/Kabalistic aspect of the degree and the movement between the first degree (Apprentice) and the third degree (Master Mason).
Loaded with esoteric symbolism, the image depicts the transit upon the path of Tav in the tree of life. This transit is like ascending a tall tower, moving from malkuth towards yesod.
Unlike its sisters, this work symbolizes the transitive states between the points on the tree and the internal transition that occurs in that process. Represented are the symbols of the bull, eagle, lion, and man spanning the open chasm of space. At the top, the seeker becomes the light, shining into the universe.
The tarot card XXI, the world, is represented here in the elemental images of the
It is the path through the astral. Traveling up the 15 stairs of the fellowcraft, the journey is the administrative intelligence of an otherwise blind evolution from one state to another. Elevating from the base material into the etherial or astral. It is the path of knowledge.