Resh is the head, specifically the face or countenance, attributed to Sol and The Sun.
Yod is the hand, attributed to Virgo and The Hermit.
Shin is the tooth, attributed to Fire/Spirit and Judgment or The Aeon.
The implications of the letters Resh, Yod and Shin are very similar to those of the letters that spell Shin - Shin, Yod and Nun (see below). The contrast between Yod as primal fire, unmanifest and potential, and Shin as manifested fire is present in both letter sequences. The most obvious difference is that on the path of Shin, it is the fish that mediates between the two types of fire, indicating that the process is beneath the surface (of the waters, of life, of consciousness), whereas on the path of Resh the transition occurs in the clear light of the sun. The sun is ripening and fructifying, causing the seed to grow to provide flower and fruit.
The paths of Shin and Resh comprise two phases of a single process. On the path of Shin, the process occurs in the body (both the physical body and the etheric). The subtle seed of higher light within is caused to grow by the application of spiritual fire at its lowest level.
The path of Resh involves the same process on a slightly higher arc. Here, the process occurs in the subconscious. The seed in this case is planted by meditation and work, images from the collective unconscious are immersed in the depths (the fertile soil) of Yesod, that impressionable substance which comprises the astral light as well as the Lunar nature of the aspirant. It is the sun that causes the seeds, these pregnant names and images, to grow in the light of day.
The path of Resh leads from Yesod to Hod. In Hod is the beginning of Understanding (reflected down the Tree from Binah) in the form of gnosis of jnana. Sacred or symbolic images are able, at this level of development (corresponding with the Practicus grade), to be understood in a way that transcends the rational. The names and images that have been planted in Yesod grow along the path of Resh to become as chalices in Hod. There they hold the water of understanding; through the Sun's ripening heat they become more than mere names and images.
In the Neophyte initiation ritual of the Golden Dawn (I am going somewhere with this, so stay with me tiger) the Kerux leads the candidate clockwise around the temple two times on the path of circumambulation (the Kerux is here represented by The Hermit as Anubis). The first time, the candidate is blindfolded, the second time the circumambulation takes place "in the light". The candidate follows the Kerux first unconsciously, then consciously. This process closely parallels the two paths of Shin and Resh.
Between the two circumambulations, the candidate is taken before the altar in the center of the hall on which sits a cross and a triangle (together comprising the symbol of the order). There the three main officers stand around the candidate in the form of a triangle, making a tetrahedron above the candidate's head with their wands. The altar is at the center of a cross formed from the elemental altars at the quarters of the temple. These altars support the four elements symbolically linked to the parts of the candidate's body (physical, etheric and astral). This is the most dramatic moment in the ritual, and in one sense it unites the cross with the triangle.
In the Golden Dawn Practicus initiation ritual (in which the candidate is initiated into Hod, as well as the paths of Shin and Resh), the admission badge for the path of Shin is the tetrahedron, and the admission badge for the path of Resh is the equal armed cross. It's clear that the paths of Shin and Resh, which are symbolically linked, further develop a process that is set in motion during the Neophyte initiation, and which is shown by the full spelling of the Hebrew letters in question.
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