Alternatively, we can bring the Eight of Batons into relation with the 3rd Letter of the Divine Alphabet: Gimel; the Third Arcanum: The Empress; and the quality of “Sacred Magic.” This finds its radiation in the Tree of Life between the sephira on the crown (Eternity) and the left side of the head (Warmth). Those who know the Grail Knight’s Practice can then perform the 3rd part: the Gethsemane Experience; “Thy Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” (See Six of Batons, conversation two for the realisation that unlike the prior Suits of the Minor Arcana, in which the “turning point” of the Suit was the Five, here in the Batons the “turning point” may be the Six).
The Apocalypse readings for the Eight of Batons come from Chapter 21:3-8:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look: The tabernacle of God is with human beings, and he will tabernacle with them, and they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them [as their God], and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and no longer will there be death, no longer will there be sorrow or lamentation or pain, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who sat upon the throne said, “Look: I make all things new.” And he said, “Write, because these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said, “It is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who thirsts I will give freely from the fountain of life’s water. The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be a God to him and he will be a son to me. But, for the whorish and sorcerers and idolaters and all the liars, their part is in the marsh burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”
The Unknown Friends 