All the great mystical traditions speak about the dangers of the initiatic path, how it is easy to have esoteric knowledge while lacking discretion, foresight, and wisdom. Many followers of spiritual and religious groups fail to truly enact the principles of their scriptures, thereby resulting in tremendous suffering, conflict, and ignorance.

These people are known as pharisees, fanatical adherents to the dead letter of religion who lack a comprehensive, experiential understanding of what their traditions teach. Such individuals in every spiritual teaching embody the terrible reality of the Fool, the Bohemians of the Tarot who believe they possess the totality of true knowledge when they only know a fraction of it.

This arcanum depicts the tragedy, failure, and downfall of the initiate who, while close to the end goal of Self-realization, does not know how to maintain chastity, thereby transforming him or her into a lunatic or follower of egotistical, mechanical nature. Discover the warnings of this arcanum through the works of the prophets, the Qur'an, the Sufis, Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the kabbalistic Zohar, and the mysteries of the Hebrew letter Shin.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/arcanum-21-transmutation