Salt, Saturn, Sexual Ecstasy, and Spiritual Bliss

"The heart girt with a serpent is my Name!" Chaldean Oracles
Salt is a symbol of wisdom and learning. Saturn, is associated with Ouroboros, the Great Serpent biting its tail, symbolic of limitation. As such it is closely allied with the earth, but also all of material creation, and those things which border on non-being, or Eternity. In one 15th century manuscript, the serpent is made of two colors, red and green. Red is outside and green is inside. Green, the color of Nature and of Venus, is the beginning of the Work. Red, the color of the Stone, and Mars, is the end of the Work.
"Sapiens dominabitur astris." The wise shall exercise dominion over the stars. As we correct the astrological imbalances (ie psychic centers or chakras) within ourselves, astrological conditions outside have less of a negative effect on us. We gain dominion over the 'stellar' forces and can "make the sun shine in our oratory when we will it so."
The seventeenth century pupil of Jakob Boehme, Gichtel placed the cosmic spiral, or "Wheel of Nature" within the human body. J.G. Gichtel's Theosophica Practica, 1898. Saturn is the crown, Jupiter the brow, Mars the throat, Sun with a serpent around it, the heart, Venus liver, Mercury the spleen, and Moon the sexual organs, or in straight theosophic decent down the Tree. It is the Heart with a serpent that attracts our attention. Here he also places the Element of Fire.
Egyptian initiates were also called scarabs because they pushed along the egg of their regeneration.
Mysteria Magica, vol 3 The Magical Philosophy: The brow included in the Middle Pillar (called: Clavis Rei [1st Formula] The Rousing of the Citadels) and the color scale varies with each center. An additional use of the rising twin serpents of the Caduceus are included at the end. The brow is attributed to Saturn, and is said to balance out the Yesod center, as well as add power to the remaining centers in the Middle Pillar as the Golden Dawn and Aurem Solis present it.
Alchemically, Salt is derived from the union of Elemental Earth and Elemental Water (or Assiah and Yetzirah), the Secret Fire is 'hidden' in the Salt (material body) and represents the unconscious, instinctual forces that seek release. It is sometimes called "Hellfire" in that if uncontrolled, or poorly released, it can reek havoc on the body and psyche of the student, via its purifying effects. This is illustrated by the 31st Path, or Path of Fire, sometimes mistaken for "Purgatory" or "Hell" by the un-regenerated who pass through this Path after death. This Path is also under the direction of Mercury and Shin, the symbols of spiritual guidance and evolution. For those interested in Notarikon, Shin shares the same numerical value, 300, as the Hebrew phrase, "The Spirit of the Living God."
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Matthew 3:11
The letter Shin is often used in meditation as a symbol of Divine light, life, love, or presence. It is imagined above the head, just touching the crown, then inside the head proper (as it is associated with intelligence and the energy of the nervous system in the Sepher Yetzirah), descending into the heart, and finally, expanding from there to engulf the meditator in a sea of ​​fire. Because it consists of three flaming Yods, or tongues, it is sometimes associated with the flaming tongues of Pentecost, and a variety of Trinitarian concepts.
Several possible interpretations are available to use regarding this statement: One suggests that John the Baptist was initiating repentance as well as entrance into the watery world of Yetzirah, but that Jesus, was offering a path of initiation into the fire of the Soul, or full adepthood. A second interpretation is that John was offering initiation up the 29th Path, or the Path of Water; while Jesus was offering the harder and more rigorous Path of Fire, or the 31st Path to his disciples. Neither of these is a definitive answer, only a modern kabbalistic attempt to understand Scripture in the context of initiatic practices. The mention of the Holy Spirit is more informative however, as this phrase was adopted by the Jews during the period of the Babylonian Captivity and represents the origin of Persian and Chaldean influences on Jewish mystical beliefs.
The term Holy Spirit (Ruach Elohim) is derived from the Zend Avesta, and the phrase, Spenta Mainyu, or "Holy (Creative) Spirit". The creative power is implied and not stated in the original, an appears to be lost in subsequent translations into modern languages ​​via Jewish and Christian traditions. This Spenta Maiynu is a purifying and regenerating energy and intelligence with a cosmic host of six or seven intelligence's at its command.
"It [Spenta Mainyu] is the self-realizing quality or activity of Ahura Mazda (the Good Mind); it is the self-generating energy that leads to the creation and evolution of the universe. Spenta Mainyu is dynamic and creation is an ongoing process. For Zoroaster, holiness meant also abundance, growth, and health. Spenta Mainyu represents the principle of augmentation and development in the universe. "(F. Mehr, p.29)
This power and their beings comprise the Mathrem, or Mathra, literally, 'the sacred word of power', which is the basis for the development of the practice of mantra in India and "Words of Power" in the Middle East and Egypt. Manthrem or Mathra is in its own right held to be the supreme mantra from which all others are derived, in the same fashion as YHVH is the origin of all Hebrew Divine Names. This is mentioned because in Persia and Babylon, the convergence of what would develop into semi-independent Eastern and Western esoteric practices is complete. In one respect, it could be said to be the original home of yoga, kabbalah, alchemy, and magic as we know them. Period art and architecture shows winged creatures familiar to Jewish and Egyptian tradition, planetary diagrams, an early version of the Tree of Life, and several variations of the intertwined serpent motif.