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1. Very few students of occultism know anything at all about the fountain-head whence their tradition springs. Many of them do not even know there is a Western Tradition. Scholarship is baffled by the intentional blinds and defences with which initiates both ancient and modern have wrapped themselves about, and concludes that the few fragments of a literature which have come down to us are medieval forgeries. They would be greatly surprised if they knew that these fragments, supplemented by manuscripts that have never been allowed to pass out of the hands of initiates, and completed by an oral tradition, are handed down in schools of initiation to this day, and are used as the bases of the practical work of the Yoga of the West.
2. The adepts of those races whose evolutionary destiny is to
conquer the physical plane have evolved a Yoga technique of their
own which is adapted to their special problems and peculiar
needs. This technique is based upon the well-known but little
understood Qabalah, the Wisdom of Israel.
3. It may be asked why it is that the Western nations should
go to the Hebrew culture for their mystical tradition? The answer
to this question will be readily understood by those who are
acquainted with the esoteric theory concerning races and
sub-races. Everything must have a source. Cultures do not spring
out of nothing. The seed-bearers of each new phase of culture
must of necessity arise within the preceding culture. No one can
deny that Judaism was the matrix of the European spiritual
culture when they recall the fact that Jesus and Paul were both
Jews. No race except the Jewish race could possibly have served
as the stock upon which the new dispensation was to be grafted
because no other race was monotheistic. Pantheism and polytheism
had had their day and a new and more spiritual culture was due.
The Christian races owe their religion to the Jewish culture as
surely as the Buddhist races of the East owe theirs to the Hindu
culture.
4. The mysticism of Israel supplies the foundation of modern
Western occultism. It forms the theoretical basis upon which all
ceremonial is developed. Its famous glyph, the Tree of Life, is
the best meditation symbol we possess because it is the most
comprehensive.
5. It is not my intention to write a historical study of the
sources of the Qabalah, but rather to show the uses that are made
of it by modern students of the Mysteries. For although the roots
of our system are in tradition, there is no reason why we should
be hidebound by tradition. A technique that is being actually
practised is a growing thing, for the experience of each worker
enriches it and becomes part of the common heritage.
6. It is not necessarily incumbent upon us to do certain
things or hold certain ideas because the Rabbis who lived before
Christ had certain views. The world has moved on since those days
and we are under a new dispensation but what was true in
principle then will be true in principle now, and of value to us.
The modern Qabalist is the heir of the ancient Qabalist, but he
must reinterpret doctrine and reformulate method in the light of
the present dispensation if the heritage he has received is to be
of any practical value to him.
7. I do not claim that the modern Qabalistic teachings as I
have learnt them are identical with those of the pre-Christian
Rabbis, but I claim that they are the legitimate descendants
thereof and the natural development therefrom.
8. The nearer the source the purer the stream. In order to
discover first principles we must go to the fountain-head. But a
river receives many tributaries in the course of its flow, and
these need not necessarily be polluted. If we want to discover
whether they are pure or not, we compare them with the pristine
stream, and if they pass this test they may well be permitted to
mingle with the main body of waters and swell their strength. So
it is with a tradition: that which is not antagonistic will be
assimilated. We must always test the purity of a tradition by
reference to first principles, but we shall equally judge of the
vitality of a tradition by its power to assimilate. It is only a
dead faith which remains uninfluenced by contemporary
thought.
9. The original stream of Hebraic mysticism has received many
tributaries. We see its rise among the nomad star-worshippers of
Chaldea, where Abraham in his tent among his flocks hears the
voice of God. But Abraham has a shadowy background in which vast
forms move half-seen. The mysterious figure of a great
priest-king, "born without father, without mother, without
descent; having neither beginning of days nor end of life,"
administers to him the first Eucharistic feast of bread and wine
after the battle with the Kings in the valley, the sinister Kings
of Edom, "who ruled ere there was a king in Israel, whose
kingdoms are unbalanced force."
10. Generation by generation we trace the intercourse of the
princes of Israel with the priest-kings of Egypt. Abraham and
Jacob went thither; Joseph and Moses were intimately associated
with the court of the royal adepts. When we read of Solomon
sending to Hiram, King of Tyre, for men materials to aid in the
building of the Temple we know that the famous Tyrian Mysteries
must have profoundly influenced the Hebrew esotericism. When we
read of Daniel being educated in the palaces of Babylon we know
that the wisdom of the Magi must have been accessible to Hebrew
illuminati.
11. This ancient mystical tradition of the Hebrews possessed
three literatures: the Books of the Law and the Prophets, which
are known to us as the Old Testament; the Talmud, or collection
of learned commentaries thereon; and the Qabalah, or mystical
interpretation thereof. Of these three the ancient Rabbis say
that the first is the body of the tradition, the second its
rational soul, and the third its immortal spirit. Ignorant men
may with profit read the first; learned men study the second; but
the wise meditate upon the third. It is a strange thing that
Christian exegesis has never sought the keys to the Old Testament
in the Qabalah.
12. In Our Lord's day there were three schools of religious
thought in Palestine: the Pharisees and the Sadducees, of whom we
read so frequently in the Gospels; and the Essenes, who are never
referred to. Esoteric tradition avers that the boy Jesus ben
Joseph, when His calibre was recognised by the learned doctors of
the Law who heard Him speak in the Temple at the age of twelve,
was sent by them to the Essenian community near the Dead Sea to
be trained in the mystical tradition of Israel, and that He
remained there until He came to John to be baptised in the Jordan
before commencing His mission at the age of thirty. Be that as it
may, the closing clause of the Lord's Prayer is pure Qabalism.
Malkuth, the Kingdom, Hod, the Power, Netzach, the Glory, form
the basal triangle of the Tree of Life, with Yesod, the
Foundation, or Receptacle of Influences, as the central point.
Whoever formulated that prayer knew his Qabalah.
13. Christianity had its esotericism in the Gnosis, which owed
much to both Greek and Egyptian thought. In the system of
Pythagoras we see an adaptation of the Qabalistic principles to
Greek mysticism.
14. The exoteric, state-organised section of the Christian
Church persecuted and stamped out the esoteric section,
destroying every trace of its literature upon which it could lay
hands in striving to eradicate the very memory of a gnosis from
human history. It is recorded that the baths and bakehouses of
Alexandria were fired for six months with the manuscripts from
the great library. Very little remains to us of our spiritual
heritage in the ancient wisdom. Everything that was above ground
was swept away, and it is only with the excavation of ancient
monuments the sands have swallowed that we are beginning to
rediscover its fragments.
15. It was not until the fifteenth century, when the power of
the Church was beginning to show signs of weakening, that men
dared to commit to paper the traditional Wisdom of Israel.
Scholars declare that the Qabalah is a medieval forgery because
they cannot trace a succession of early manuscripts, but those
who know the manner of working of esoteric fraternities know that
a whole cosmogony and psychology can be conveyed in a glyph which
means nothing to the uninitiated. These strange old charts could
be handed on from generation to generation, their explanation
being communicated verbally, and the true interpretation would
never be lost. When in doubt as to the explanation of some
abstruse point, reference would be made to the sacred glyph, and
meditation thereon would unfold what generations of meditation
had ensouled therein. It is well known to mystics that if a man
meditates upon a symbol around which certain ideas have been
associated by past meditation, he will obtain access to those
ideas, even if the glyph has never been elucidated to him by
those who have received the oral tradition "by mouth to ear."
16. The organised temporal force of the Church availed to
drive all rivals from the field and destroy their traces. We
little know what seeds of mystical tradition sprang up only to be
cut down during the Dark Ages; but mysticism is inherent in the
human race, and although the Church had destroyed all roots of
tradition in her group-soul, nevertheless devout spirits within
her fold rediscovered the technique of the soul's approach to God
and developed a characteristic Yoga of their own, closely akin to
the Bhakti Yoga of the East. The literature of Catholicism is
rich in treatises on mystical theology which reveal practical
acquaintance with the higher states of consciousness though a
somewhat naive conception of the psychology thereof, thus
revealing the poverty of a system which does not avail itself of
the experience of tradition.
17. The Bhakti Yoga of the Catholic Church is only suitable
for those whose temperament is naturally devotional and who find
their readiest expression in loving self-sacrifice. But it is not
everybody who is of this type, and Christianity is unfortunate in
not having any choice of systems to offer its aspirants. The
East, being tolerant, is wise, and has developed various Yoga
methods, each of which is pursued by its adherents to the
exclusion of the others, and yet none would deny that the other
methods are also paths to God for those to whom they are
suited.
18. In consequence of this deplorable limitation on the part
of our theology many Western aspirants take up Eastern methods.
For those who are able to live in Eastern conditions and work
under the immediate supervision of a guru, this may prove
satisfactory, but it seldom gives good results when the various
systems are pursued with no other guide than a book and under
unmodified Western conditions.
19. It is for this reason that I would recommend to the white
races the traditional Western system, which is admirably adapted
to their psychic constitution. It gives immediate results, and if
done under proper supervision, not only does it not disturb the
mental or physical equipoise, as happens with regrettable
frequency when unsuitable systems are used, but it produces a
unique vitality. It is this peculiar vitality of the adepts which
led to the tradition of the elixir of life. I have known a number
of people in my time who might justly be considered adepts, and I
have always been struck by that peculiar ageless vitality they
all possessed.
20. On the other hand, however, I can only endorse what all
the gurus of the Eastern Tradition have always averred—that
any system of psycho-spiritual development can only be safely and
adequately carried on under the personal supervision of an
experienced teacher. For this reason, although I shall give in
these pages the principles of the mystical Qabalah, I do not
consider it would be in anybody's interest to give the keys to
its practice even if by the terms of the obligation of my own
initiation I were not forbidden to do so. But, on the other hand,
I do not consider it fair to the reader to introduce intentional
blinds and misinformation, and to the best of my knowledge and
belief the information I give is accurate, even if
incomplete.
21. The Thirty-two Mystical Paths of the Concealed Glory are
ways of life, and those who want to unravel their secrets must
tread them. As I myself was trained, so can anyone be trained who
is willing to undergo the discipline, and I will gladly indicate
the way to any earnest seeker.
1. No student will ever make any progress in spiritual development who flits from system to system; first using some New Thought affirmations, then some Yoga breathing exercises and meditation-postures, and following these by an attempt at the mystical methods of prayer. Each of these systems has its value, but that value can only be realized if the system is carried out in its entirety. They are the calisthenics of consciousness, and aim at gradually developing the powers of the mind. The value does not lie in the prescribed exercises as ends in themselves, but in the powers that will be developed if they are persevered with. If we intend to take our occult studies seriously and make of them anything more than desultory light reading, we must choose our system and carry it out faithfully until we arrive, if not at its ultimate goal, at any rate at definite practical results and a permanent enhancement of consciousness. After this has been achieved we may, not without advantage, experiment with the methods that have been developed upon other Paths, and build up an eclectic technique and philosophy therefrom; but the student who sets out to be an eclectic before he has made himself an expert will never be anything more than a dabbler.
2. Whoever has any practical experience of the different
methods of spiritual development knows that the method must fit
the temperament, and that it must also be adapted to the grade of
development of the student. Westerners especially such as prefer
the occult to the mystic path, often come seeking initiation at a
stage of spiritual development which an Eastern guru would
consider exceedingly immature. Any method that is to be available
for the West must have in its lower grades a technique which can
be used as a stepping-stone by these undeveloped students; to ask
them to rise immediately to metaphysical heights is useless in
the case of the great majority, and prevents a start from being
made.
3. For a system of spiritual development to be applicable in
the West it must fulfill certain well-defined requirements. To
begin with, its elementary technique must be such that it is
readily grasped by minds that have in them nothing of the mystic.
Secondly, the forces it brings to bear to stimulate the
development of the higher aspects of consciousness must be
sufficiently powerful and concentrated to penetrate the
relatively dense vehicles of the average Westerner, who makes
nothing whatever of subtle vibrations. Thirdly, as few Europeans,
following a racial dharma of material development, have either
the opportunity or the inclination to lead the life of a recluse,
the forces employed must be handled in such a way that they can
be made available during the brief periods that the modern man or
woman can, at the commencement of the Path, snatch from their
daily avocations to give to the pursuit. They must, that is to
say, be handled by a technique which enables them to be readily
concentrated and equally readily dispersed, because it is not
possible to maintain these high psychic tensions while living the
hard-driving life of the citizen of a European city. Experience
proves with unfailing regularity that the methods of psychic
development which are effectual and satisfactory for the recluse
produce neurotic conditions and breakdowns in the person who
pursues them while compelled to endure the strain of modern
life.
4. So much the worse for modern life, some may say, and adduce
this undeniable fact as an argument for modifying our Western
ways of living. Far be it from me to maintain that our
civilisation is perfect, or that wisdom originated and will die
with us, but it appears to me that if our karma (or destiny) has
caused us to be incarnated in a body of a certain racial type and
temperament, it may be concluded that that is the discipline and
experience which the Lords of Karma consider we need in this
incarnation, and that we shall not advance the cause of our
evolution by avoiding or evading it. I have seen so many attempts
at spiritual development that were simply evasions of life's
problems that I am suspicious of any system which involves a
breach with the group-soul of the race. Nor am I impressed by a
dedication to the higher life which manifests itself by
peculiarities of clothing and bearing and by the manner of
cutting, or omitting to cut, the hair. True spirituality never
advertises itself.
5. The racial dharma of the West is the conquest of dense
matter. If this were realised it would explain many problems in
the relationships of West and East. In order that we may conquer
dense matter and develop the concrete mind we are endowed by our
racial heritage with a particular type of physical body and
nervous system, just as other races, such as the Mongolian and
the Negro, are endowed with other types.
6. It is injudicious to apply to one type of psycho-physical
make-up the developing methods adapted to another; they will
either fail to produce adequate results, or produce unforeseen
and possibly undesirable results. To say this is not to condemn
the Eastern methods, nor decry the Western constitution, which is
as God made it, but to reaffirm the old adage that one man's meat
is another man's poison.
7. The dharma of the West differs from that of the East; is it
therefore desirable to try and implant Eastern ideals in a
Westerner? Withdrawal from the earth-plane is not his line of
progress. The normal, healthy Westerner has no desire to escape
from life, his urge is to conquer it and reduce it to order and
harmony. It is only the pathological types who long to "cease
upon the midnight with no pain," to be free from the wheel of
birth and death; the normal Western temperament demands "life,
more life."
8. It is this concentration of life-force that the Western
occultist seeks in his operations. He does not try to escape from
matter into spirit, leaving an unconquered country behind him to
get on as best it may; he wants to bring the Godhead down into
manhood and make Divine Law prevail even in the Kingdom of the
Shades. This is the root-motive for the acquisition of occult
powers upon the Right-hand Path, and explains why initiates do
not abandon all for the mystic Divine Union, but cultivate a
White Magic.
9. It is this White Magic, which consists in the application
of occult powers to spiritual ends, by means of which a large
proportion of the training and development of the Western
aspirant is carried out. I have seen something of a good many
different systems, and in my opinion the person who tries to
dispense with ceremonial is working at a great disadvantage.
Development by meditation alone is a slow process in the West,
because the mind-stuff upon which it has to work, and the mental
atmosphere in which the work has to be done, are very resistant.
The only purely meditative school of Western Yoga is that of the
Quakers, and I think that they would agree that their path is for
the few; the Catholic Church combines Mantra Yoga with its Bhakti
Yoga.
10. It is by means of formula that the occultist selects and
concentrates the forces he wishes to work with. These formulae
are based upon the Qabalistic Tree of Life, and whatever system
he may be working, whether he be assuming the god-forms of Egypt
or evoking the inspiration of Iacchus with chant and dance, he
has the diagram of the Tree at the back of his mind. It is in the
symbolism of the Tree that Western initiates are drilled, and it
supplies the essential ground plan of classification to which all
other systems can be related. The Ray upon which the Western
aspirant works has manifested itself—through many different
cultures and developed a characteristic technique in each. The
modern initiate works a synthetic system, sometimes using an
Egyptian, a Greek, or even a Druidic method, for different
methods are best suited for different purposes and conditions. In
all cases, however, the operation he designs is strictly related
to the Paths of the Tree of which he is master. If he possesses
the grade which corresponds to the Sephirah Netzach, he can work
with the manifestation of the force of that aspect of the Godhead
(distinguished by the Qabalists by the name of Tetragrammaton
Elohim) in whatever system he may select. In the Egyptian system
it will be the Isis of Nature; in the Greek, Aphrodite; in the
Nordic, Freya; in the Druidic, Keridwen. In other words, he
possesses the powers of the Sphere of Venus in whatever
traditional system he may be using. Having attained a grade in
one system, he has access to the equivalent grades of all the
other systems of his Tradition.
11. But although he may use these other systems as occasion
serves, experience proves that the Qabalah supplies the best
groundwork and the best system upon which to train a student
before he begins to experiment with the pagan systems. The
Qabalah is essentially monotheistic; the potencies it classifies
are always regarded as the messengers of God and not His
fellow-workers. This principle enforces the concept of a
centralized government of the Cosmos and of the grip of the
Divine Law upon the whole of manifestation—a very necessary
principle with which to imbue any student of the Arcane forces.
It is the purity, sanity, and clarity of the Qabalistic concepts
as resumed in the formula of the Tree of Life which makes that
glyph such an admirable one for the meditations that exalt
consciousness and justify us in calling the Qabalah the Yoga of
the West.
1. Speaking of the method of the Qabalah, one of the ancient Rabbis says that an angel coming down to earth would have to take on human form in order to converse with men. The curious symbol-system known to us as the Tree of Life is an attempt to reduce to diagrammatic form every force and factor in the manifested universe and the soul of man; to correlate them one to another and reveal them spread out as on a map so that the relative positions of each unit can be seen and the relations between them traced. In brief, the Tree of Life is a compendium of science, psychology, philosophy, and theology.
2. The student of the Qabalah goes to work in exactly the
opposite way to the student of natural science; the latter builds
up synthetic concepts; the former analyses abstract concepts. It
goes without saying, however, that before a concept can be
analysed it must first be assembled. Someone must have thought
out the principles that are resumed in the symbol which is the
object of meditation of the Qabalist. Who then were the first
Qabalists who built up the whole scheme? The Rabbis are unanimous
upon this point, they were angels. In other words, it was beings
of another order of creation than humanity who gave the Chosen
People their Qabalah.
3. To the modern mind this may seem as absurd a statement as
the doctrine that babies are found under gooseberry bushes; but
if we study the many mystical systems of comparative religion we
find that all the illuminati are in agreement upon this point.
All men and women who have had practical experience of the
spiritual life tell us that they are taught by Divine beings. We
shall be very foolish if we altogether disregard such a cloud of
witnesses, especially those of us who never have had any personal
experience of the higher states of consciousness.
4. There are some psychologists who will tell us that the
Angels of the Qabalists and the Gods and Manus of other systems
are our own repressed complexes; there are others with less
limited outlook who will tell us that these Divine Beings are the
latent capacities of our own higher selves. To the devotional
mystic this is not a point of any great moment; he gets his
results, and that is all he cares about; but the philosophical
mystic, in other words the occultist, thinks the matter out and
arrives at certain conclusions. These conclusions, however, can
only be understood when we know what we mean by reality and have
a clear line of demarcation between the subjective and the
objective. Any one who is trained in philosophical method knows
that this is asking a good deal.
5. The Indian schools of metaphysics have most elaborate and
intricate systems of philosophy which attempt to define these
ideas and render them thinkable; and though generations of seers
have given their lives to the task, the concepts still remain so
abstract that it is only after a long course of discipline,
called Yoga in the East, that the mind is able to apprehend them
at all.
6. The Qabalist goes to work in a different way. He does not
attempt to make the mind rise up on the wings of metaphysics into
the rarefied air of abstract reality; he formulates a concrete
symbol that the eye can see, and lets it represent the abstract
reality that no untrained human mind can grasp.
7. It is exactly the same principle as algebra. Let X
represent the unknown quantity, let Y represent the half of X,
and let Z represent something we know. If we begin to experiment
with Y; to find out its relation to Z, and in what proportions,
it soon ceases to be entirely unknown; we have learnt something
at any rate about it; and if we are sufficiently skilful we may
in the end be able to express Y in terms of Z, and then we shall
begin to understand X.
8. There are a great many symbols which are used as objects of
meditation; the Cross in Christendom; the god-forms in the
Egyptian system; phallic symbols in other faiths. These symbols
are used by the uninitiated as a means of concentrating the mind
and introducing into it certain thoughts, calling up certain
associated ideas, and stimulating certain feelings. The initiate,
however, uses a symbol-system differently; he uses it as an
algebra by means of which he will read the secrets of unknown
potencies; in other words, he uses the symbol as a means of
guiding thought out into the Unseen and Incomprehensible.
9. And how does he do this? He does it by using a composite
symbol; a symbol which is an unattached unit would not serve his
purpose. In contemplating such a composite symbol as the Tree of
Life he observes that there are definite relations between its
parts. There are some parts of which he knows something; there
are others of which he can intuit something, or, more crudely,
make a guess, reasoning from first principles. The mind leaps
from one known to another known and in so doing traverses certain
distances, metaphorically speaking; it is like a traveller in the
desert who knows the situation of two oases and makes a forced
march between them. He would never have dared to push out into
the desert from the first oasis if he had not known the location
of the second; but at the end of his journey he not only knows
much more about the characteristics of the second oasis, but he
has also observed the country lying between them. Thus, making
forced marches from oasis to oasis, backwards and forwards across
the desert, he gradually explores it; nevertheless, the desert is
incapable of supporting life.
10. So it is with the Qabalistic system of notation. The
things it renders are unthinkable and yet the mind, tracking from
symbol to symbol, manages to think about them; and although we
have to be content to see in a glass darkly, yet we have every
reason to hope that ultimately we shall see face to face and know
even as we are known; for the human mind grows by exercise, and
that which was at first as unthinkable as mathematics to the
child who cannot manage his sums, finally comes within the range
of our realisation. By thinking about a thing, we build concepts
of it.
11. It is said that thought grew out of language, not language
out of thought. What words are to thought, symbols are to
intuition. Curious as it may seem, the symbol precedes the
elucidation; that is why we declare that the Qabalah is a growing
system, not a historic monument. There is more to be got out of
the Qabalistic symbols today than there was in the time of the
old dispensation because our mental content is richer in ideas.
How much more, for instance, does the Sephirah Yesod, wherein
work the forces of growth and reproduction, mean to the biologist
than to the ancient rabbi? Everything that has to do with growth
and reproduction is resumed in the Sphere of the Moon. But this
Sphere, as represented upon the Tree of Life, is set about with
Paths leading to other Sephiroth; therefore the biological
Qabalist knows that there must be certain definite relationships
between the forces subsumed in Yesod and those represented by the
symbols assigned to these Paths. Brooding over these symbols, he
gets glimpses of relationships that do not reveal themselves when
the material aspect of things is considered; and when he comes to
work these out in the material of his studies he finds that
therein are hidden important clues; and so upon the Tree, one
thing leads to another, explanation of hidden causes arising out
of the proportions and relations of the various individual
symbols composing this mighty synthetic glyph.
12. Each symbol, moreover, admits of interpretation upon the
different planes, and through its astrological associations can
be related to the gods of any pantheon, thus opening up vast new
fields of implication in which the mind ranges endlessly, symbol
leading on to symbol in an unbroken chain of associations; symbol
confirming symbol as the many-branching threads gather themselves
together into a synthetic glyph once more, and each symbol
capable of interpretation in terms of whatever plane the mind may
be functioning upon.
13. This mighty, all-embracing glyph of the soul of man and of
the universe, by virtue of its logical association of symbols,
evokes images in the mind; but these images are not randomly
evolved, but follow along well-defined association-tracks in the
Universal Mind. The symbol of the Tree is to the Universal Mind
what the dream is to the individual ego—it is a glyph
synthesised from subconsciousness to represent the hidden
forces.
14. The universe is really a thought-form projected from the
mind of God. The Qabalistic Tree might be likened to a
dream-picture arising from the subconsciousness of God and
dramatising the subconscious content of Deity. In other words, if
the universe is the conscious end-product of the mental activity
of the Logos, the Tree is the symbolic representation of the raw
material of the Divine consciousness and of the processes whereby
the universe came into being.
15. But the Tree applies not only to the Macrocosm but to the
Microcosm which, as all occultists realise, is a replica in
miniature. It is for this reason that divination is possible.
That little-understood and much-maligned art has for its
philosophical basis the System of Correspondences represented by
symbols. The correspondences between the soul of man and the
universe are not arbitrary, but arise out of developmental
identities. Certain aspects of consciousness were developed in
response to certain phases of evolution, and therefore embody the
same principles; consequently they react to the same influences.
A man's soul is like a lagoon connected with the sea by a
submerged channel; although to all outward seeming it is
land-locked, nevertheless its water level rises and falls with
the tides of the sea because of the hidden connection. So it is
with human consciousness, there is a subconscious connection
between each individual soul and the world-soul deep hidden in
the most primitive depths of subconsciousness, and in consequence
we share in the rise and fall of the cosmic tides.
16. Each symbol upon the Tree represents a cosmic force or
factor. When the mind concentrates upon it, it comes into touch
with that force; in other words, a surface channel, a channel in
consciousness, has been made between the conscious mind of the
individual and a particular factor in the world-soul, and through
this channel the waters of the ocean pour into the lagoon. The
aspirant who uses the Tree as his meditation-symbol establishes
point by point the union between his soul and the world-soul.
This results in a tremendous access of energy to the individual
soul; it is this which endows it with magical powers.
17. But just as the universe must be ruled by God, so must the
many-sided soul of man be ruled by its god—the spirit of
man. The Higher Self must dominate its universe or there will be
unbalanced force; each factor will rule its own aspect, and they
will war among themselves. Then do we have the rule of the Kings
of Edom, whose kingdoms are unbalanced force.
18. Thus do we see in the Tree a glyph of the soul of man and
the universe, and in the legends associated with it the history
of the evolution of the soul and the Way of Initiation.
1. The point of view from which I approach the Holy Qabalah in these pages differs, so far as I know, from that of all other writers on the subject, for to me it is a living system of spiritual development, not a historical curiosity. Few people, even among those interested in occultism, realise that there is an active Esoteric Tradition in our midst, handed down in private manuscripts and by "mouth to ear." Still fewer know that it is the Holy Qabalah, the mystic system of Israel, which forms its basis. But where may we look more aptly for our occult inspiration than to the Tradition which gave us the Christ?
2. The interpretation of the Qabalah is not to be found,
however, among the Rabbis of the Outer Israel, who are Hebrews
after the flesh, but among those who are the Chosen People after
the spirit—in other words, the initiates. Neither is the
Qabalah, as I have learnt it, a purely Hebraic system, for it has
been supplemented during medieval times by much alchemical lore
and by the intimate association with it of that most marvellous
system of symbolism, the Tarot.
3. In my presentation of the subject, therefore, I do not
appeal so much to tradition in support of my views, as to modern
practice among those who make use of the Qabalah as their method
of occult technique. It may be alleged against me that the
ancient Rabbis knew nothing of some of the concepts here set
forth; to this I reply that it is hardly to be expected that they
should, as these things were not known in their day, but are the
work of their successors of the Spiritual Israel. For my part,
although I would not willingly mislead anyone concerning the
teachings of those of ancient days, and upon matters of
historical accuracy stand subject to correction from any who are
better informed than I am in these matters (and their name is
legion), I care not one jot for the authority of tradition if it
hampers the free development of a system of such practical value
as the Holy Qabalah, and I use the work of my predecessors as a
quarry whence I fetch the stone to build my city. Neither am I
limited to this quarry by any ordinance that I know of; but fetch
also cedar from Lebanon and gold from Ophir if it suits my
purpose.
4. Let it be clearly understood, therefore, that I do not say,
This is the teaching of the ancient Rabbis; rather do I say, This
is the practice of the modern Qabalists, and for us a much more
vital matter, for it is a practical system of spiritual
unfoldment; it is the Yoga of the West.
5. Having thus guarded myself as far as possible against blame
for not having done what I never undertook to do, let me now
define my own position in the matter of scholarship and general
qualifications for the task in hand. So far as actual scholarship
goes, I am in the same class as William Shakespeare, having
little Latin and less Greek, and of Hebrew only that peculiar
portion which is cultivated by occultists—the ability to
transliterate unpointed Hebrew script for the purposes of
Gematric calculations. Of any knowledge of Hebrew as a language I
am guiltless.
6. Whether such frank acknowledgment of my deficiencies will
serve to disarm criticism I do not know; no doubt it will be
alleged against me, and not without justification, that one so
ill-equipped should not have undertaken the task at all. To this
I reply that if one saw a man dying injured, should the admitted
absence of a medical qualification debar one from going to his
assistance and giving him what help one could, pending the
arrival of qualified attention? My work upon the Qabalah is of
the nature of first aid. I find an invaluable system lying
neglected, and ill-qualified for the task as I may be, I am
striving to draw attention to its possibilities and restore it to
its proper place as the key to Western occultism; and it is my
chief hope in so doing that it may attract the attention of
scholars, and that they will continue the task of translation and
investigation of the Qabalistic manuscripts, which are as yet a
vein of which only the outcroppings have been worked.
7. One qualification for my task I can plead in justification,
however. For the last ten years I have lived and moved and had my
being in the Practical Qabalah; I have used its methods both
subjectively and objectively till they have become a part of
myself; and I know from experience what they yield in psychic and
spiritual results, and their incalculable value as a method of
using the mind.
8. It is not required of those who would use the Qabalah as
their Yoga that they should acquire any extensive knowledge of
the Hebrew language; all they need is to be able to read and
write the Hebrew characters. The modern Qabalah has been pretty
thoroughly naturalised in the English language, but it retains,
and must ever retain, all its Words of Power in Hebrew, which is
the sacred language of the West just as Sanskrit is the sacred
language of the East. There are those who have objected to the
free employment of Sanskrit terms in occult literature, and no
doubt they will object even more strongly to the employment of
Hebrew characters, but their use is unavoidable, for every letter
in Hebrew is also a number, and the numbers to which words add up
are not only an important clue to their significance, but can
also be used to express the relationships existing between
different ideas and potencies.
9. According to MacGregor Mathers, in the admirable essay
which forms the introduction to his book, the Qabalah is usually
classed under four heads:
* The Practical Qabalah, which deals with talismanic and ceremonial magic.
* The Dogmatic Qabalah, which consists of the Qabalistic literature.
* The Literal Qabalah, which deals with the use of letters and numbers.
* The Unwritten Qabalah, which consists of a correct knowledge of the manner in which the symbol-systems are arranged on the Tree of Life, and concerning which MacGregor Mathers says, "I may say no more on this point, not even whether I myself have or have not received it." But as this portentous hint is elaborated by the late Mrs MacGregor Mathers in her introduction to the new edition of his book in the following plain-spoken words, "Simultaneously with the publication of the Qabalah in 1887, he received instructions from his occult teachers to prepare what was eventually to become his esoteric school," it may be justifiable to say that if he did receive the Unwritten Qabalah, it has for some years ceased to be unwritten, for after a quarrel with MacGregor Mathers, Aleister Crowley, the well-known author and scholar, published the lot. His books are now rare and hard to come by, and being much valued by the more scholarly of esotericists, their price has gone up out of sight, and they seldom come into the second-hand book market.
10. The breaking of an initiation oath is a serious matter,
and a thing that I, for my part, do not care to do; but I admit
of no authority that debars me from collecting and collating all
available material that has been published upon any subject, and
interpreting it according to the best of my understanding. In
these pages it is the system given by Crowley of which I shall
avail myself to supplement the points upon which MacGregor
Mathers, Wynn Westcott, and A. E. Waite, the principal modern
authorities upon the Qabalah, are silent.
11. As to whether I myself have received any knowledge of the
Unwritten Qabalah, it would as ill beseem me as MacGregor Mathers
to be explicit upon this point, and having followed his classic
example of burying my head in the sand and waving my tail, I will
return to the consideration of the matter in hand.
12. The essence of the Unwritten Qabalah lies in the knowledge
of the order in which certain sets of symbols are arranged upon
the Tree of Life. This Tree, Otz Chiim, consists of the Ten Holy
Sephiroth arranged in a particular pattern and connected by lines
which are called the "Thirty-two Paths of the Sepher Yetzirah,"
or Divine Emanations (see The Sepher Yetzirah, by Wynn
Westcott). Here there exists one of the "blinds" or traps for the
uninitiated, in which the ancient Rabbis delighted. We find, if
we count them, that there are twenty-two, not thirty-two Paths
upon the Tree; but for their purposes the Rabbis treated the Ten
Sephiroth themselves as Paths, thus misleading the uninitiated.
Thus the first ten Paths of the Sepher Yetzirah are assigned to
the Ten Sephiroth, and the following twenty-two to the actual
Paths themselves. It will then be seen how the twenty-two letters
of the Hebrew alphabet can be associated with the Paths without
discrepancy or overlapping. With them also are associated the
twenty-two Tarot trumps, the Atus, or Abodes of Thoth. Concerning
the Tarot cards there are three modern authorities of note: Dr.
Encausse, or "Papus," the French writer; Mr. A. E. Waite; and the
MSS. of MacGregor Mathers' Order of the Golden Dawn, which
Crowley published upon his own authority. All three are
different. Concerning the system Mr. Waite gives, he himself
says, "There is another method known to initiates." There is
reason to suppose that this is the method used by Mathers. Papus
disagrees with both these writers in his method, but as his
system does violence to many of the correspondences when placed
upon the Tree, the final test of all systems, and as the
Mathers-Crowley system fits admirably, I think we may justly
conclude that the latter is the correct traditional order, and I
propose to adhere to it in these pages.
13. The Qabalists further placed upon the Paths of the Tree
the Signs of the Zodiac, the Planets, and the Elements. Now there
are twelve Signs, seven Planets, and four Elements, making
twenty-three symbols in all. How are these to be fitted on to the
Twenty-two Paths? Herein is another "blind," but the solution is
simple. Upon the physical plane we are ourselves in the Element
of Earth, therefore that symbol does not appear upon the Paths
which lead into the Unseen. Remove this, and we are left with
twenty-two symbols, which fit accurately and, correctly placed,
are found to correspond perfectly with the Tarot trumps, each
elucidating the other in the most remarkable fashion, and giving
the keys to esoteric astrology and Tarot divination.
14. The essence of each Path is to be found in the fact that
it connects two of the Sephiroth, and we can only understand its
significance by taking into account the nature of the linked
Spheres upon the Tree. But a Sephirah cannot be understood upon a
single plane; it has a fourfold nature. The Qabalists express
this by saying that there are four worlds:
* Atziluth, the Archetypal World, or World of Emanations; the Divine World.
* Briah, the World of Creation, also called Khorsia, the World of Thrones.
* Yetzirah, the World of Formation and of Angels.
* Assiah, the World of Action; the World of Matter.
(See MacGregor Mathers, The Qabalah Unveiled.)
15. The Ten Holy Sephiroth are held to have each its own point
of contact with each of the four Worlds of the Qabalists. In the
Atziluthic World they manifest through the Ten Holy Names of God;
in other words, the Great Unmanifest, shadowed forth through the
Three Negative Veils of Existence which hang behind the Crown,
declares itself in manifestation as ten different aspects which
are represented by the different names used to denote Deity in
the Hebrew Scriptures. These are variously rendered in the
Authorised Version, and a knowledge of their true significance
and the spheres to which they belong enables us to read many of
the riddles of the Old Testament.
16. In the Briatic World the Divine Emanations are held to
manifest through the Ten Mighty Archangels, whose names play such
an important part in ceremonial magic; it is the worn and effaced
remnants of these Words of Power that are the "barbarous names of
evocation" of mediaeval magic, "not one letter of which may be
changed." Why this is so may readily be seen when we remember
that in Hebrew a letter is also a number, and the numbers of a
Name have an important significance.
17. In the Yetziratic World the Divine Emanations manifest,
not through a single Being, but through different types of
beings, which are called the Angelic Hosts or Choirs.
18. The Assiatic World is not, strictly speaking, the World of
Matter when viewed from the Sephirotic standpoint, but rather the
Lower Astral and Etheric Planes which, together, form the
background of matter. Upon the physical plane the Divine
Emanations manifest through what may not inaptly be called the
Ten Mundane Chakras, likening these centres of manifestation to
the centres that exist in the human body, an exact analogy. These
Chakras are the Primum Mobile or First Swirlings, the Sphere of
the Zodiac, the seven planets, and the Elements taken
together—ten in all.
19. It will be seen from the foregoing that each Sephirah will
therefore consist, firstly, of its Mundane Chakra; secondly, of
an angelic host of beings, Devas or Archons, Principalities or
Powers, according to the terminology used; thirdly, an
Archangelic Consciousness, or Throne; and fourthly, a special
aspect of the Deity. God as He is, in His entirety, being hidden
behind the Negative Veils of Existence, incomprehensible to
unenlightened human consciousness.
20. The Sephiroth may justly be considered macrocosmic, and
the Paths microcosmic; for the Sephiroth, connected as they
sometimes are in old diagrams by a flash of lightning, which is
often depicted as hilted like a fiery sword, represent the
successive Divine Emanations which constitute creative evolution;
whereas the Paths represent the successive stages of the
unfolding of cosmic realisation in human consciousness; in old
pictures a serpent is often depicted as twined about the boughs
of the Tree. This is the serpent Nechushtan "who holdeth his tail
in his mouth," the symbol of wisdom and initiation. The coils of
this serpent, when correctly arranged upon the Tree, cross each
of the Paths in succession and serve to indicate the order in
which they should be numbered. With the help of this glyph, then,
it is a simple matter to arrange all the tables of symbols in
their correct positions upon the Tree, granted that the symbols
are given in their correct order in the tables. In certain modern
books which rank as authorities upon the subject the correct
order is not given, the writers apparently holding that this
should not be revealed to the uninitiated. But as this order is
given correctly in certain older books, and, for the matter of
that, in the Bible itself and the Qabalistic literature, there
seems to me no point in deliberately misleading students with
spurious information. To refuse to divulge anything may be
justifiable, but how is it possible to justify the handing on of
misleading statements? No one is going to be persecuted nowadays
for their studies in unorthodox sciences, so there can be but one
purpose in withholding teaching that relates solely to the theory
of the universe and the philosophy arising therefrom, and in no
way to the methods of practical magic, and that purpose is to
retain a monopoly of the knowledge which confers prestige, if not
power.
21. For my part I believe that this selfishness and
exclusiveness is the bane of the occult movement rather than its
safeguard. It is the old sin of retaining the knowledge of God in
the hands of a priesthood and denying it to all outside the
sacred clan; justifiable enough when the people were savages, but
unjustifiable in the case of the modern student. For when all is
said and done, the desired information can be worked out from
existing literature by those who care to take the trouble, or
purchased plainly set forth by those who can afford high prices
for books now rare. Surely the possession of ample time and ample
cash should not be the test of the fitness to obtain the Sacred
Wisdom?
22. No doubt I shall expose myself to a shower of abuse from
the self-constituted guardians of this knowledge who may hold
that their precious secrets have been betrayed. To this I reply
that I am not betraying anything that is secret, but collecting
that which has already been given to the world and is of a simple
and well-known nature. When I first had access to certain
manuscripts, I believed them to be secret, and unknown to the
world at large, but a wider acquaintance with occult literature
has revealed to me that the information is to be found scattered
broadcast through it. Much, in fact, to which the initiate is
sworn to secrecy has been published by Mathers and Wynn Westcott
themselves, and as recently as 1926 a new edition of Mathers'
work on the Qabalah was brought out under the editorship of his
widow (who may be assumed to have known his wishes), and in that
work will be found most of the tables that I give in these pages.
As these catalogues of beings were originally given to the world
by Isaiah, Ezekiel, and various mediaeval Rabbis, it may justly
be held that the copyright in them has lapsed owing to the
passage of time. In any case such ownership as there may be in
these ideas is vested in the original author and not in any
subsequent commentator, and that author, according to the Qabalah
itself, is the Archangel Metatron.
23. Much that was once common knowledge has been gathered up
and confined under the initiate's oath of secrecy. It is
Crowley's jibe at his teachers that they bound him to secrecy
with terrible oaths and then "confided the Hebrew alphabet to his
safe keeping."
24. The philosophy of the Qabalah is the esotericism of the
West. In it we find such a cosmogony as is found in the Stanzas
of Dyzan, which were the basis of Mme. Blavatsky's work. Herein
she found the framework of traditional doctrine which she
expounded in her great book, The Secret Doctrine. This
Qabalistic Cosmogony is the Christian Gnosis. Without it we have
an incomplete system in our religion, and it is this incomplete
system which has been the weakness of Christianity. The Early
Fathers, in the homely metaphor, threw away the baby with the
bath-water. A very cursory acquaintance with the Qabalah serves
to show that here we have the essential keys to the riddles of
Scripture in general and the prophetic books in particular. Is
there any good reason why initiates of the present day should put
all this knowledge into a secret box and sit upon the lid? If
they consider that I am wrong to give accurate information upon
matters which they consider their private preserve, I reply that
this is a free country and they are entitled to their
opinion.
1. The esotericist, when endeavouring to formulate his philosophy for communication to others, is confronted by the fact that his knowledge of the higher forms of existence is obtained by a process other than thought; and this process only commences when thought is left behind. Consequently it is only in that region of consciousness which transcends thought that the highest form of transcendental ideas is known and understood; and it is only to those who are able to use this aspect of consciousness that he can communicate his ideas in their original form. When he wants to communicate these ideas to those who have had no experience of this mode of consciousness, he must either crystallise them into form or fail to convey any adequate impression. Mystics have used every imaginable simile in the endeavour to convey their impressions; philosophers have lost themselves in a maze of words; and all to no purpose so far as the unilluminated soul is concerned. The Qabalists, however, use another method. They do not try to explain to the mind that which the mind is not equipped to deal with; they give it a series of symbols to meditate upon, and these enable it to build the stairway of realisation step by step and to climb where it cannot fly. The mind can no more grasp transcendent philosophy than the eye can see music.
2. The Tree of Life, as cannot too often be emphasised, is not
so much a system as a method; those who formulated it realised
the important truth that in order to obtain clarity of vision one
must circumscribe the field of vision. Most philosophers founded
their systems upon the Absolute; but this is a shifting
foundation, for the human mind can neither define nor grasp the
Absolute. Some others try to use a negation for their foundation,
declaring that the Absolute is, and must ever be, unknowable. The
Qabalists do neither of these things. They content themselves
with saying that the Absolute is unknown to the state of
consciousness which is normal to human beings.
3. For the purposes of their system, therefore, they draw a
veil at a certain point in manifestation, not because there is
nothing there, but because the mind, as such, must stop there,
When the human mind has been brought to its highest stage of
development, and consciousness can detach itself and, as it were,
stand upon its own shoulders, we may be able to penetrate the
Veils of Negative Existence, as they are called. But for all
practical purposes we can understand the nature of the cosmos if
we are content to accept the Veils as philosophical conventions,
and realise that they correspond to human limitations, not to
cosmic conditions. The origin of things is inexplicable in terms
of our philosophy. However far we push our inquiries back into
origins in the world of manifestation, we find a preceding
existence. It is only when we are content to draw the Veil of
Negative Existence across the path which leads back to beginnings
that we get a background against which a First Cause becomes
visible. And this First Cause is not a rootless origin, but a
First Appearance on the Plane of Manifestation. Thus far and no
farther can the mind go back; but we must always remember that
different minds go back different distances, and that for some
the Veil is drawn in one place, and for others in another. The
ignorant man goes no further than the concept of God as an old
man with a long white beard who sat on a golden throne and gave
orders for creation. The scientist will go back a little further
before he is compelled to draw a veil called the ether; and the
philosopher will go back yet further before he draws a veil
called the Absolute; but the initiate will go back furthest of
all because he has learnt to do his thinking in symbols, and
symbols are to the mind what tools are to the hand—an
extended application of its powers.
4. The Qabalist takes for his starting-point Kether, the
Crown, the first Sephirah which he symbolises by the figure One,
Unity, and by the Point within the Circle. From this he traces
backward the three Veils of Negative Existence. This is quite a
different matter from starting at the Absolute and trying to work
forwards into evolution. It may not yield immediately accurate
and complete knowledge of the origin of all things, but it
enables the mind to make a start; and unless we can make a start
we have no hope of a finish.
5. The Qabalist, then, starts where he can—at the first
point that is within the reach of finite consciousness. Kether is
equated with the most transcendent form of God that we can
conceive, Whose name is Ehieh, translated in the Authorised
Version of the Bible as "I am," or, more explicitly, the
Self-Existing One, Pure Being.
6. But these words are words and nothing more unless they
convey an impression to the mind, and in themselves they cannot
do that. They must be related to other ideas before they have any
significance. We only begin to understand Kether when we study
Chokmah, the Second Sephirah, its emanation; it is only when we
see the full unfoldment of the Ten Sephiroth that we are ready to
approach Kether, and then we approach it with the data that gives
us the key to its nature. In working with the Tree it is wisest
to keep on going over it, rather than to concentrate upon a
single point until it is mastered, for one thing explains
another, and it is out of the perception of the relationships
between the different symbols that enlightenment arises. Again we
say, the Tree is a method of using the mind, not a system of
knowledge.
7. But at the moment we are not engaged in the study of the
Emanations, but of origins, so far as the human mind may hope to
penetrate them; and paradoxical as it may appear, we shall
penetrate further when we draw the Veils across them than when we
try to pierce the darkness. We will, then, sum up the position of
Kether in one sentence, a sentence that can have but little
significance for the student approaching the subject for the
first time, but which must be borne in mind, for its significance
will begin to dawn presently. In so doing, we are adhering to the
ancient esoteric tradition of giving the student a symbol to
incubate till it hatches in his mind, rather than explicit
instruction which would convey nothing to him. The seed-sentence
then, which we cast into the subconscious mind of the reader, is
this: "Kether is the Malkuth of the Unmanifest." Mathers says
(op. cit.): "The limitless ocean of negative light does not
proceed from a centre, for it is centreless, but it concentrates
a centre, which is the number One of the manifested Sephiroth,
Kether, the Crown, the First Sephirah."
8. These words in themselves contain contradictions and
unthinkable; negative light is simply a way of saying that the
thing described, though having certain qualities in common with
light, is nevertheless not light as we know it. This tells us
very little about that which it is intended to describe. We are
told not to make the mistake of thinking of it as light, but we
are not told how to think of it as it really is, and for the very
good reason that the mind is not equipped with any images under
which to represent it, and must therefore let it alone till
growth takes place. Nevertheless, although these words do not
tell us all that we would like to know, they convey certain
images to imagination; these sink into the subconscious mind and
thence are evoked when ideas enter the conscious mind which are
related to them. Thus knowledge grows from more to more when the
Qabalistic method is given its practical application as the Yoga
of the West.
9. The Qabalists recognise four planes of manifestation, and
three planes of unmanifestation, or Negative Existence. The first
of these is called Ain, Negativity; the second, Ain Soph, the
Limitless; the third, Ain Soph Aur, the Limitless Light. It is
out of this last that Kether is concentrated. These three terms
are called the three Veils of Negative Existence—depending
back from Kether; in other words, they are the algebraic symbols
that enable us to think of that which transcends thought, and
which at the same time hide that which they represent; they are
the masks of transcendent realities. If we think of the states of
negative existence in terms of anything that we know, we shall
err, for whatever else they may be, they cannot be that, being
unmanifest. The expression "Veils," therefore, teaches us to use
these ideas as counters, of no value in themselves, but useful to
us in our calculations. This is the true use of all symbols; they
veil that which they represent until we can reduce them to terms
we can comprehend; nevertheless they enable us to use in our
calculations ideas which would otherwise be unthinkable. And as
the essence of the Tree lies in the fact that it causes its
symbols to elucidate one another by means of their relative
positions, these Veils serve as the scaffolding of thought,
enabling us to take our bearings in regions as yet uncharted.
Such Veils, or non-concrete symbols, are, however, of no value to
us unless one side of the Veil abuts upon known country. The
Veils, in fact, while they conceal that which they represent,
enable us to see clearly that to which they form a background.
This is their function, and the only reason they are referred to.
It is only by reason of our infirmities that we need to have
these unresolvable symbols presented to us, and the mind
disciplined in esoteric philosophy soon learns to work within
these limitations and accept as a painted veil the symbol of that
which lies beyond its ken. This way lies the unfoldment of
wisdom, for the mind grows with what it feeds upon, and one of
these days, when we have climbed to Kether, we may hope to
stretch out our hands and rend the Veil and look through into the
Limitless Light. The esotericist does not limit himself by
declaring the Unknown to be the Unknowable, for he is above all
things an evolutionist, and knows that that which we cannot
compass today we may achieve tomorrow of cosmic time. He knows,
too, that evolutionary time is an individual matter upon the
inner planes, and is measured, not regulated, by the revolution
of the earth upon its axis.
10. These three Veils—Ain, Negativity; Ain Soph, the
Limitless; and Ain Soph Aur, the Limitless Light—though we
cannot hope to understand them, nevertheless suggest to our minds
certain ideas. Negativity implies Being or existence of a nature
which we cannot comprehend. We cannot conceive of a thing which
is, and yet is not; therefore we must conceive of a form of being
of which we have never had any conscious experience; a form of
being which, according to our concepts of existence, does not
exist, and yet, if one may express it so, exists according to its
own idea of existence. In the words of a very wise man: There are
more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our
philosophy.
11. But although we say that Negative Existence is outside the
range of our realisation, it does not mean that we are outside
the range of its influence. If this were so, we could dismiss it
as nonexistent so far as we are concerned, and our interest in it
would be at an end. On the contrary, although we have not direct
access to its being, all that we know as existing has its roots
in this Negative Existence, so that, although we cannot know it
directly, we have experience of it at once remove. That is to
say, although we cannot know its nature, we know its effects, in
the same way as we are ignorant of the nature of electricity yet
are able to turn it to good account in our lives, and from our
experience of its effects we are able to come to certain
conclusions concerning some at least of the qualities it must
possess. Those who have penetrated furthest into the Unseen have
given us symbolic descriptions by means of which we may turn our
minds in the direction of the Absolute, even if we cannot reach
it. They have spoken of Negative Existence as Light: "Ain Soph
Aur, the Limitless Light." They have spoken of the First Manifest
as Sound: "In the beginning was the Word." I remember once
hearing a man, who was an adept if ever there was one, say, "If
you want to know what God is, I can tell you in one word: God is
pressure." And immediately an image leapt to my mind and a
realization followed. I could conceive the outflowing of life
through every channel of existence. I felt that a genuine
realisation of the nature of God had been conveyed to me. And
yet, if one came to analyse the words, there was nothing in them;
nevertheless they had the power to convey an image, a symbol, to
the mind, and the mind, working upon it in the realm of intuition
beyond the sphere of reason, achieved a realisation, even if that
realisation could only be reduced to the sphere of concrete
thought as an image.
12. We must clearly realise that in these highly abstract
regions the mind can use nothing but symbols; but these symbols
have the power to convey realisations to minds that know how to
use them; these symbols are the seeds of thought whence
understanding arises, even if we are not able to expand the
symbol itself into a concrete realisation.
13. Little by little, like a rising tide, realisation is
concreting the Abstract, assimilating and expressing in terms of
its own nature things which belong to another sphere; and we
shall make a great mistake if we try to prove with Herbert
Spencer that because a thing is unknown by any capacity of the
mind we at present possess, that it must for ever be Unknowable.
Time is not only increasing our knowledge, but evolution is
increasing our capacity and initiation, which is the
forcing-house of evolution, bringing faculties to birth out of
due season, brings the consciousness of the adept within reach of
vast apprehensions which are as yet below the horizon of the
human mind. These ideas, though clearly apprehended by himself
after another mode of consciousness, cannot be conveyed by him to
anyone who does not share this mode of consciousness. He can only
put them forth in symbolic form; but any mind that has in any way
had experience of this wider mode of functioning will be able to
lay hold on these ideas on their own plane, although it may be
unable to translate them into the sphere of conscious thought. In
this way, therefore, in the literature of esoteric science there
are scattered seed-ideas such as "God is pressure" and "Kether is
the Malkuth of Negative Existence." These images, whose content
does not belong to our sphere at all, are as the male germs of
thought which fecundate the ova of concrete realisation. In
themselves they are incapable of maintaining more than the
fugitive existence in consciousness as a flash of realisation,
but without them the ova of philosophical thought will be
infertile. Impregnated by them, however, though their substance
is absorbed and lost in the very act of impregnation growth takes
place within the formless germ of thought, and ultimately, after
due gestation beyond the threshold of consciousness, the mind
gives birth to an idea.
14. If we want to get the best out of our minds, we must learn
to allow for this period of latency, this impregnation of our
minds by something outside our plane of existence, and its
gestation beyond the threshold of consciousness. The invocations
of an initiation ceremony are designed to call down this
impregnating influence upon the consciousness of the candidate.
Hence it is that the Paths of the Tree, which are the stages of
illumination of the soul, are intimately associated with the
symbolism of initiation ceremonies.
1. Before we can understand the significance of any individual Sephirah, we must grasp the broad outlines of the Otz Chiim, the Tree of Life, as a whole.
2. It is a glyph, that is to say a composite symbol, which is
intended to represent the cosmos in its entirety and the soul of
man as related thereto; and the more we study it, the more we see
that it is an amazingly adequate representation; we use it as the
engineer or the mathematician uses his sliding-rule, to scan and
calculate the intricacies of existence, visible and invisible, in
external nature or the hidden depth of the soul.
3. It is represented, as will be seen from Diagram III, as a
set of ten circles arranged in a certain pattern, and connected
among themselves by lines. The circles are the Ten Holy
Sephiroth, and the connecting lines are the Paths, twenty-two in
number.
4. Each Sephirah (which is the singular form of the word of
which Sephiroth is the plural) is a phase of evolution, and in
the language of the Rabbis they are called the Ten Holy
Emanations. The Paths between them are phases of subjective
consciousness, the Paths or grades (Latin, gradus, step) by which
the soul unfolds its realisation of the cosmos. The Sephiroth are
objective; the Paths are subjective.
5. Let it be recalled again that I am not expounding the
traditional Qabalah of the Rabbis as a historical curio, but the
structure that has been raised upon it by generations of
students, initiates all of them, adepts some of them, who have
made the Tree of Life their instrument of spiritual development
and magical work. This is the modern Qabalah, the Alchemical
Qabalah as it has sometimes been called, and it contains all
manner of things beside traditional Rabbinical lore, as will be
seen in due course.
6. Let us now consider the general lay-out and significance of
the Tree. It will be seen that the circles which represent the
Sephiroth are arranged in three vertical columns (see Diagram I),
and that at the head of the centre, higher than any other,
forming the apex of the topmost triangle of Sephiroth, is the
Sephirah Kether, to which we referred in the previous chapter. To
quote again the words of MacGregor Mathers, "The limitless ocean
of negative light does not proceed from a centre, for it is
centreless, but it concentrates a centre, which is the number one
of the manifested Sephiroth, Kether, the Crown, the First
Sephirah."
7. Mme. Blavatsky draws from Eastern sources the term "The
point within the circle" to express the First Becoming of
manifestation, and the idea is contained in the Rabbinical term,
Nequdah Rashunah, the Primal Point, a name applied to Kether.
8. But Kether does not represent a position in space. The Ain
Soph Aur has been called a circle whose centre is every-where and
whose circumference is nowhere, a statement which, like so many
in occultism, is inconceivable, yet nevertheless presents an
image to the mind and therefore serves its purpose. Kether, then
(and for the matter of that, all the other Sephiroth), is a state
or condition of existence. We must always bear in mind that the
planes do not tower up one above another into the empyrean like
the storeys of a building, but are conditions of being, states of
existence of different types, and though they developed
successively in time, they occur simultaneously in space;
existence of all types being present in a single being, as we
realise when we remember that the being of man is made up of a
physical body, emotions, mind, and spirit, all occupying the same
space at the same time.
9. If anyone has ever watched a heated liquid, at saturation
point, crystallise out as it cools, they will have a useful
symbol of Kether. Fill a tumbler with boiling water and dissolve
in it as much sugar as it will take up, and then, as the mixture
cools, watch the sugar crystals appearing. When you have done
this in actuality, and not merely read about it, you will have a
concept under which you can think of the First Manifest coming
into existence out of the Primordial Unmanifest. The liquid is
transparent and formless, but a change occurs within it, and
crystals, solid, visible, and of a definite form, begin to
appear. Equally may we conceive that a change occurs within the
Limitless Light, and Kether crystallises out.
10. I do not propose at the present moment to go deeply into
the nature of any of the Sephiroth, but merely to indicate the
general scheme of the Tree. We shall go over the ground again and
again in the course of these pages until a comprehensive concept
is built up. This can only be done gradually, and if we spend a
great deal of time upon an individual point before the student
has a general concept, much of that time will be wasted because
the bearing of that concept on the scheme as a whole will not be
understood. The Rabbis themselves apply to Kether the titles,
Concealed of the Concealed, and the Inscrutable Height, hinting
that there is not a great deal that the human mind can hope to
know about Kether.
11. It is worthy of note that Exoteric Judaism, to whose
liabilities Christianity is the not altogether fortunate heir,
does not contain any concept of the Emanations, or overflowing of
the Sephiroth one from another. It declares that God made the sea
and the hills and the beasts of the field, and we visualise this
process, if we visualise it at all, as the work of a celestial
craftsman fashioning each new phase of manifestation and putting
the finished product in its place in the world. This concept kept
science back for hundreds of years in Western Europe, and in the
end men of science had to break with religion and endure
persecution as heretics in order to arrive at that conception of
evolution which was explicitly taught in the Mystic Tradition of
Israel, a tradition with which the writers of the Old Testament
were unquestionably familiar, for their works are full of
Qabalistic references and implications.
12. The Qabalah does not conceive of God as fabricating
creation stage by stage, but thinks of the different phases of
manifestation as evolving one from another, as if each Sephirah
were a pool which, being filled, overflowed into a lower pool. To
borrow again from MacGregor Mathers, hidden in an acorn is an oak
with its acorns, and hidden in each of these is an oak with its
acorns. So each Sephirah contains the Potentiality of all that
come after it in the scale of downflowing manifestation. Kether
contains the rest of the Sephiroth, nine in number; and Chokmah,
the second, contains the potentialities of all its successors,
eight in number. But in each Sephirah only one aspect of
manifestation is unfolded; the subsequent ones remain latent, and
the preceding ones are received by reflection. Each Sephirah,
then, is a pure form of existence in its essence; the influence
of preceding phases of evolution is external to it, being
reflected. These aspects, as it were, having been crystallised
out in the previous stages, are no longer in solution in the
outflowing stream of manifestation which ever proceeds from the
Unmanifest through the channel of Kether. When therefore we want
to find the essential nature, the basis of manifestation, of a
particular type of existence, we get it in the Sephirah to which
it corresponds when we meditate upon that Sephirah in its primal
form; for there are four forms, or worlds, under which the
Qabalists conceive of the Tree, and these we will consider in due
course. They are only referred to now in order that the student
may have enough background to see his picture in perspective.
13. The student will find it very helpful to refer to the
chapters in The Ancient Wisdom, by Annie Besant, which
deal with the phases of evolution. These throw much light upon
the subject with which we are dealing, though the system of
classification is not the same.
14. Let us conceive of Kether, then, as a fountain which fills
its basin, and the overflow therefrom feeds another fountain,
which in its turn fills its basin and overflows. The Unmanifest
for ever flows under pressure into Kether, and there comes a time
when evolution has gone as far as it can in the extreme
simplicity of the form of existence of the First Manifest. All
possible combinations have been formed, and they have undergone
all possible permutations. Action and reaction are stereotyped,
there can be no new development save the combining of the
combinations among themselves. Force has formed all possible
units; the next phase of development is for these units to
combine into more complex structures. When this occurs, a new and
more highly organised phase of existence begins; all that has
already been evolved remains, but that which evolves now is more
than the sum of the previously existing parts, for new capacities
come into being.
15. This new phase represents a change of mode of existence.
Just as Kether crystallized out of the Limitless Light, so the
second Sephirah, Chokmah, crystallises out of Kether in this new
mode of being, this new system of actions and reactions which
have ceased to be simple and direct and become complex and
tangential. We now have two modes of existence, the simplicity of
Kether and the relative complexity of Chokmah; both these are so
simple that no kind of life known to us could be maintained in
them; nevertheless, they are the forerunners of organic life. We
might say that Kether is the first activity of manifestation,
movement; it is a condition of pure becoming, Rashith ha
Gilgalim, the First Swirlings, the commencement of Whirling
Motions as it is called by the Qabalists—Primum Mobile as
it is called by the Alchemists. Chokmah, the Second Sephirah, is
called by the Rabbis Mazloth, the Sphere of the Zodiac. Here we
have introduced the concept of the circle with its segments.
Creation has moved onwards. Out of the primordial Egg has
developed the Serpent that holdeth his tail in his mouth, as Mme.
Blavatsky chronicles in her invaluable storehouses of archaic
symbolism, the Secret Doctrine and Isis
Unveiled.
16. In a similar manner to that in which Kether overflowed
into Chokmah does Chokmah overflow into Binah, the Third
Sephirah. The Paths pursued by the Emanations in these successive
overflowings is represented upon the Tree of Life by a Lightning
Flash, or in some diagrams by a Flaming Sword. It will be
observed by reference to Diagram I that the Lightning Flash must
proceed from Kether outwards and downwards to the right to reach
Chokmah, and then turns on a level course to the left and
proceeds an equal distance beyond Kether upon that side, and
there establishes Binah. The result is a triangular figure upon
the glyph, and it is called the Triangle of the Three Supernals,
or the First Trinity and is separated from the rest of the
Sephiroth by the Abyss, which normal human consciousness cannot
cross. Here are the roots of existence, hidden from our eyes.
1. Having considered in outline the development of the three first Divine Emanations, we are now in a position to obtain a deeper insight into their nature and significance, for we can study them in relation to each other. This is the only way to study the Sephiroth, for a single Sephirah, taken by itself, is barren of significance. The Tree of Life is essentially a scheme of relationships, stresses, and reflections (see Diagram II).
2. The Rabbinical books apply many curious appellations to the
Sephiroth, and we learn much from considering these; for every
word in these books has a weighty significance, and none are used
lightly or for the sake of idle poetic imagery; all are as
precise as scientific terms, which, in fact, is what they
are.
3. The meaning of the word Kether, we have already noted, is
Crown. Chokmah means Wisdom, and Binah means Understanding. But
pendent to these two latter Sephiroth is a curious and mysterious
third, which is never represented in the glyph of the Tree; this
is the invisible Sephirah, Daath, Knowledge, and it is said to be
formed out of the conjunction of Chokmah and Binah and is
situated astride the Abyss. Crowley tells us that Daath is in
another dimension to the other Sephiroth, and forms the apex of a
pyramid of which Kether, Chokmah, and Binah form the three basal
angles. To me, Daath presents the idea of realisation and
consciousness.
4. Let us now proceed to elucidate the Three Supernals
according to the method of the mystical Qabalah, which consists
in filling the mind with all the correspondences and symbols
assigned thereto and letting contemplation work among them.
5. It will be observed that these three and their mysterious
fourth all contain symbolism relating to the head, which in the
archetypal man represents the highest level of consciousness.
When we seek in the Rabbinical literature to see what further
names may have been applied to them, we find yet more head
symbolism applied to Kether; this, although not specifically
referred to them, may be taken to embrace the other two Supernals
also, for they are aspects of Kether on a lower plane.
6. The Rabbis called Kether, among other titles, which we need
not consider now, Arik Anpin, The Vast Countenance, The White
Head, The Head Which Is Not. The magical symbol of Kether,
according to Crowley, is an ancient bearded king seen in profile.
MacGregor Mathers says: "The symbolism of the Vast Countenance is
that of a profile in which one side only of the countenance is
seen; or as it is said in the Qabalah, 'In him is all right
side.'" The left side, being turned towards the Unmanifest, is
for us like the dark side of the moon.
7. But Kether is primarily the Crown. Now the Crown is not the
head, but rests upon it and above it. Therefore Kether cannot be
consciousness, but the raw material of consciousness when
considered microcosmically, and the raw material of existence
when considered macrocosmically. For there is this twofold way of
considering the Tree, as we have already noted; it can be
regarded as the universe and as the soul of man, and these two
aspects throw light upon each other. In the words of the Emerald
Tablet of Hermes: "As above, so below."
8. Kether differentiates into Chokmah and Binah before it
achieves phenomenal existence, and these two are called by the
Qabalists, Abba, the Supernal Father, and Ama, the Supernal
Mother. Binah is also called the Great Sea, and Shabbathai, the
Sphere of Saturn. As we continue, we shall find that the
Sephiroth are called successively the Spheres of the Planets, but
Binah is the first of the Emanations to be so assigned; Kether is
called the First Whirlings, and Chokmah the Sphere of the
Zodiac.
9. Now Saturn is the Father of the Gods; he is the greatest of
the old gods that were the predecessors of the Olympians over
which Jupiter rules. In the secret titles attributed to the Tarot
trumps, the Path of Saturn is called, according to Crowley, The
Great One of the Night of Time.
10. We have, then, Kether differentiating into an active male
potency, Chokmah, and a passive female potency, Binah, and these
are placed at the head of the two side columns formed by the
vertical alignment of the Sephiroth in their spacing on the Tree
of Life. Of these two columns, the left-hand one under Binah is
called Severity; the right-hand one under Chokmah is called
Mercy; the middle one under Kether is called Mildness, and it is
said to be the Column of Equilibrium. These two side columns are
the two pillars that stand at the entrance to King Solomon's
Temple and are represented in all Lodges of the Mysteries, the
candidate himself, when he stands between them, is the Middle
Pillar of Equilibrium.
11. Here we meet with the idea put forth by Mme. Blavatsky,
that there can be no manifestation without differentiation into
the Pairs of Opposites. Kether differentiates its two aspects as
Chokmah and Binah, and manifestation is in being. Now in this
supernal triangle, The Head Which Is Not, the Father and the
Mother, we have the root concept of our cosmogony, and we shall
return to it again and again under innumerable aspects, and each
time that we return to it we shall receive illumination. These
earlier chapters do not attempt to deal with any of the points
exhaustively for reasons already noted, for the student
unfamiliar with the subject (and there are very few students who
are familiar with it) has not yet got the necessary mental
furniture of facts to enable him to appreciate the significance
of a more detailed study; we are at the present moment engaged in
assembling this furniture; in due course we shall begin to
arrange it into a house of life, and study it in detail.
12. Binah, the Superior Mother (as distinguished from Malkuth,
the Inferior Mother, the Bride of Microprosopos, the Isis of
Nature, the Tenth Sephirah), is two-aspected, and these aspects
are distinguished as Ama, the Dark Sterile Mother, and Aima, the
Bright Fertile Mother. We have already noted that she is called
the Great Sea, Marah, which not only means Bitter, but also is
the root of Mary; and here we meet again the idea of the Mother,
at first virgin, and then with child by the Holy Spirit.
13. By the association of Binah with the sea we are reminded
that life had its primordial beginnings in the waters; from the
sea arose Venus, the archetypal woman. The association of Saturn
suggests the idea of primordial age: "Before the gods that made
the gods had drunk at eve their fill." It suggests the most
ancient rocks: "Within the shady stillness of the vale ... sat
grey-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone." Max Heindel speaks of the
Lords of Form as among the earliest phases of evolution, and an
inspirational work in my possession, The Cosmic Doctrine,
speaks of the Lords of Form as the Laws of Geology.
14. Considering again the symbolism of the two lateral columns
of the Tree, we see Chokmah and Binah as Force and Form, the two
units of manifestation.
15. It would not profit us to go more deeply into the endless
ramifications of this symbolism at the present moment, for it is
carrying us beyond the three Sephiroth we have already studied.
Let us proceed to a further consideration of the mysterious
Daath, which never appears on the Tree, and to which no
Deity-name or angelic host is assigned and which has no mundane
symbol in planet or element, as have all the other stations on
the Tree.
16. Daath is produced by the conjunction of Chokmah and Binah,
as has been already noted. The Supernal Father, Abba, marries the
Supernal Mother, Ama, and Daath is the issue. Now Daath is called
some curious things by the Qabalists; we will note a few of
them.
17. In verse 38 of the Book of Concealed Mystery (Mathers'
English translation from the Latin translation of Knorr von
Rosenroth) it says: "For Father and Mother are perpetually
conjoined in Yesod, the Foundation (the ninth Sephirah), but
concealed under the mystery of Daath or Knowledge"; and in verse
40 we read concerning Daath: "The man that shall say, I am the
Lord's, he descendeth ... Yod (the tenth letter of the Hebrew
alphabet) is the foundation of Knowledge of the Father; but all
things are called Byodo, that is, all things are applied to Yod
concerning which this discourse is. All things cohere in the
tongue which is concealed in the mother. That is, through Daath
or Knowledge, whereby Wisdom is combined with Understanding, and
the Beautiful Path (Tiphareth, the Sixth Sephirah) with his bride
the Queen (Malkuth, the Tenth Sephirah); and this is the
concealed idea, or soul, pervading the whole emanation. Since it
is opened for that which proceedeth from itself; that is, Daath
is itself the beautiful path, but also the inner, whereto Moses
referred; and that Path lieth hid within the mother, and is the
medium of its conjunction." When it is noted that Yod is
identical with the Lingam in the Hindu system; and that Kether,
Daath, and the Beautiful Path, Tiphareth, the Sixth Sephirah, are
in a line on the Middle Pillar of the Tree, which equates with
the spine in man, the microcosm; and that Kundalini is coiled in
Yesod, also on the Middle Pillar, we shall see that we have here
an important key for those who are equipped to use it.
18. In the Greater Holy Assembly, verse 566 (Mathers'
translation), we read concerning the Head of Microprosopos, whose
whole body is being taken as a glyph of the cosmos: "From the
Third Cavity there goes forth a thousand times a thousand
conclaves and assemblies, wherein Daath, Knowledge, is contained
and dwelleth. And the hollow place of this cavity is between the
other two cavities; and all these conclaves are filled from
either side. This is that which is written in Proverbs, 'And in
knowledge (Daath) shall the conclaves be filled.' And those three
are expanded over the whole body, on this side and on that, and
with them does the whole body cohere, and the body is contained
by them on every side, and through the whole body are they
expanded and diffused."
19. When it is recalled that Daath is situated at the Point
where the Abyss bisects the Middle Pillar, and that up the Middle
Pillar lies the Path of the Arrow, the way by which consciousness
goes when the psychic rises on the Planes, and that here also is
Kundalini, we see that in Daath is the secret of both generation
and regeneration, the key to the manifestation of all things
through the differentiation into pairs of Opposites and their
union in a Third.
20. Thus doth the Tree unfold its secrets to the
Qabalists.
21. The Second Triangle upon the Tree of Life is formed of the
Sephiroth Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphareth. Chesed is formed by the
overflowing of Binah, and is situated in the Right-hand Pillar of
Mercy, immediately below Chokmah; the angle of the Lightning
Flash, which is used to indicate the course of the emanations
upon the Tree, slopes downwards to the right across the glyph,
from Binah at the head of the Pillar of Severity to Chesed, which
occupies the middle section of the Pillar of Mercy. Then the
Flash turns and goes horizontally across the glyph back again to
the Pillar of Severity, in the middle section of which is found
the Sephirah Geburah. Down and to the right slopes once more the
symbol of emanating force, and indicates the Sephirah Tiphareth,
which occupies the very centre of the Tree in the Pillar of
Mildness or Equilibrium. These three Sephiroth constitute the
next functional triangle we have to consider, and although we do
not intend to go exhaustively into their symbolism until we have
completed our schematic survey of the whole system, it is
necessary to say enough to give some clue to their significance
and enable them to be assigned to a place in the concept we are
building up. This concept is so vast and so infinite in its
elaboration of detail that to attempt to teach it exhaustively
from A to Z must end in confusion. Only gradually can it reveal
its significance to the student as one aspect interprets another.
My method of teaching the Tree may not be ideal from the point of
view of systematic thought, but I believe it is the only one
which will enable the beginner to "get the hang" of the subject.
It was upon the Tree that I got my own mystical training, and I
have lived and moved and had my being in its company for a good
many years now, so I feel that I am competent to speak upon it
from the point of view of practical mysticism; for I know from my
own experience the difficulties of getting hold of the Qabalistic
system, so intricate, abstract, and voluminous, and yet so
comprehensive and satisfactory when once it is mastered.
22. Before we can consider the Second Triangle of the Tree as
a unit, we must know the meaning of its component Sephiroth.
Chesed means Mercy or Love; it is also called Gedulah, Greatness
or Magnificence, and to it is assigned the Sphere of the planet
Jupiter. Geburah means Strength; it is also called Pachad, Fear;
to it is assigned the Sphere of the planet Mars. Tiphareth means
Beauty, and to it is assigned the Sphere of the Sun. When the
gods of the various pagan pantheons are being correlated with the
Spheres on the Tree, it will be found that the sacrificed gods
invariably come on to Tiphareth, and for this reason it has been
called the Christ centre in the Christian Qabalah.
23. We now have sufficient material to make a survey of the
Second Triangle. Jupiter, the beneficent ruler and lawgiver, is
balanced by Mars the Warrior, the fiery and destructive force,
and the two are equilibrated in Tiphareth, the Redeemer. In the
Supernal Triangle we see the primary Sephirah emanating a pair of
opposites which express the two sides of its nature, Chokmah,
Force, and Binah, Form, masculine and feminine Sephiroth
respectively. In the Second Triangle we have the pairs of
opposites which find their equilibrium in a third, placed upon
the Middle Pillar of the Tree. From this we deduce that the First
Triangle derives its significance from that which lies behind it,
and the Second Triangle derives its significance from that into
which it issues forth. In the First Triangle we find a
representation of the creative forces of the substance of the
universe; in the Second we have a representation of the governing
forces of evolving life. In Chesed is the wise and kindly king,
the father of his people, organising his realm, building up
industry, fostering learning, and bringing the gifts of
civilisation. In Geburah we have a warrior king, leading his
people in battle, defending his kingdom from the assaults of the
enemy, extending his boundaries by conquest, punishing crime, and
destroying evil-doers, In Tiphareth we have the Saviour,
sacrificed upon the Cross for the salvation of his people, and
thereby bringing Geburah into equilibrium with Gedulah, or
Chesed. Here we find the sphere of all the beneficent sun-gods
and healing gods. Thus we see that the mercies of Gedulah and the
severities of Geburah unite for the healing of the nations.
24. Behind Tiphareth, traversing the Tree, is drawn Paroketh,
the Veil of the Temple, the analogue, on a lower plane, of the
Abyss which separates the Three Supernals from the rest of the
Tree. Like the Abyss, the Veil marks a chasm in consciousness.
The mode of mentation on one side of the chasm differs in kind
from the mode of mentation prevailing upon the other. Tiphareth
is the highest sphere to which normal human consciousness can
rise. When Philip said to Our Lord, "Show us the Father," Jesus
replied, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." All the
human mind can know of Kether is its reflection in Tiphareth, the
Christ-centre, the Sphere of the Son. Paroketh is the Veil of the
Temple which was rent asunder at the Crucifixion.
25. We now come in our brief preliminary survey to the Third
Triangle composed of the Sephiroth Netzach, Hod, and Yesod.
Netzach is the basal Sephirah of the Pillar of Mercy, Hod is the
basal Sephirah of the Pillar of Severity, and Yesod is upon the
Middle Pillar of Mildness or Equilibrium, in direct alignment
with Kether and Tiphareth. Thus the Third Triangle is an exact
replica of the Second Triangle upon a lower arc.
26. The meaning of Netzach is Victory, and to it is assigned
the Sphere of the planet Venus; the meaning of Hod is Glory, and
to it is assigned the Sphere of the planet Mercury; the meaning
of Yesod is Foundation, and to it is assigned the Sphere of the
Moon.
27. While the Second Triangle might not inaptly be termed the
Ethical Triangle, the Third may well be called the Magical
Triangle; and if we assign to Kether the Sphere of the Three in
One, the undivided Unity, and to Tiphareth the Sphere of the
Redeemer or Son, we may be justified in referring to Yesod the
Sphere of the Holy Spirit, the Enlightener; this is an
attribution of the Christian Trinity that fits better upon the
Tree than its assignation to the Three Supernals, which brings
the Son in the place of Abba, the Father, and the Holy Spirit in
the place of Ama, the Mother, and is obviously irrelevant and
productive of innumerable discrepancies in the correspondences
and symbolisms. In this we see an example of the value of the
Tree as a method of counterchecking vision or meditation; correct
attributions fit upon the Tree through endless ramifications of
symbolism, as we saw when considering Binah as the Mother;
incorrect symbolism breaks down and reveals its bizarre
associations at the first attempt to follow out a chain of
correspondences. It is amazing what ramifications of
association-chains can be followed when the attribution is
correct. It seems as if it were only the extent of our knowledge
which limits the length of the chain that can be linked logically
together; it will extend through science, art, mathematics, and
the epochs of history; through ethics, psychology, and
physiology. It was this peculiar method of using the mind which
in all probability gave the ancients their premature knowledge of
natural science, knowledge which has had to await the invention
of instruments of precision for its confirmation. We get clues to
this method in the dream-analysis of analytical psychology. We
might describe it as the symbol-using power of the subconscious
mind. It is an instructive experiment to toss a mass of
irrelevant symbolism into the mind and watch it sort itself out
in meditation upon the Tree, rising into consciousness in long
association-chains like dream analysis.
28. Netzach is the Sphere of the Goddess of Nature, Venus. Hod
is the Sphere of Mercury, the Greek analogue of the Egyptian
Thoth, Lord of Books and Learning. Observing their opposition, we
shall expect to find two different aspects represented in them,
these finding their equilibrium in a third, Yesod, the Sphere of
Luna. We see then a Triangle Composed of the Lady of Nature, the
Lord of Books, and the Mistress of Witchcraft; in other words,
subconsciousness and superconsciousness correlate in
psychism.
29. Anyone who is familiar with practical mysticism knows that
there are three paths of superconsciousness—devotional
mysticism, which correlates with Tiphareth; nature mysticism, of
the inebriating Dionysian type, which equates with the Venus
Sphere of Netzach; and intellectual mysticism of the occult type,
which equates with Hod, the Sphere of Thoth, Lord of Magic.
Tiphareth, as will be seen by reference to the diagram of the
Tree, belongs to a higher plane than any member of the Third
Triangle; Yesod, on the other hand, is drawing very near to the
Sphere of Earth.
30. To Yesod are assigned all the deities that have the moon
in their symbolism: Luna herself; Hecate, with her dominion over
evil magic; and Diana, with her presidency over child-birth. The
physical moon, Yesod in Assiah, as the Qabalists would say, with
its twenty-eight day cycle, correlates with the reproductive
cycle of the human female. If the symbolism of the luna-crescent
be traced through the various pantheons it will be found that the
deities associated with it are predominantly female; it is
interesting to note in confirmation of our assignation of the
Holy Spirit to Yesod that according to MacGregor Mathers the Holy
Spirit is a feminine force. He says (Kabbalah Unveiled p.
22): "We are usually told that the Holy Spirit is masculine. But
the word Ruach, Spirit, is feminine, as appears from the
following passage of the Sepher Yetzirah, 'Achath
(feminine, not Achad, masculine), Ruach Elohim Chiim: One is she,
the Spirit of the Elohim of Life.'" When we consider the Middle
Pillar as referring to levels of consciousness we shall find
further confirmation of this view.
31. There remains for our final consideration the Sephirah
Malkuth, the Kingdom of Earth. This Sephirah differs from the
others in several respects. Firstly, it is not part of any
equilibrated triangle, but is said to be the receptacle of the
influences of all the others. Secondly, it is a fallen Sephirah,
for it was cut off from the rest of the Tree by the Fall, and the
coils of the Stooping Dragon arising from the World of Shells,
the Kingdoms of Unbalanced Force, separate it from its brethren.
Behind the shoulder of the Queen, the Bride of Microprosopos
(Malkuth), the Serpent rears his head, and here is said to be the
place of severest judgments. The Sphere of Malkuth abuts upon the
Hells of the Averse Sephiroth, the Qliphoth, or evil demons. It
is the firmament whereby Elohim separated the supernal waters of
Binah from the infernal waters of Leviathan.
32. The signification of the Qliphoth must be considered fully
in due course; but having referred to them here in order to
explain the position of Malkuth, we must say something further in
order to render the explanation intelligible.
33. The Qliphoth (singular Qliphah, an immodest woman or
harlot) are the Evil or Averse Sephiroth, each an emanation of
unbalanced force from its corresponding Sphere upon the Holy
Tree; these emanations took place during the critical periods
of evolution when the Sephiroth were not in equilibrium. For this
reason they are referred to as the Kings of Unbalanced Force, the
Kings of Edom, "who ruled before there was a king in Israel," as
the Bible puts it; and in the words of the Siphrah
Ditsniutha, the Book of Concealed Mystery (Mathers'
translation), "For before there was equilibrium, countenance
beheld not countenance. And the kings of ancient time were dead,
and their crowns were found no more; and the earth was
desolate."
34. We have now completed our preliminary survey of the Tree
of Life, and the arrangement of the Ten Holy Sephiroth thereon;
we also have some clue to their significance and have been given
a hint or two of the manner in which the mind works when it uses
these cosmic symbols for its meditations. Consequently we are now
in a position to assign each fresh bit of information to its
correct position in our scheme; we are building up the jigsaw
puzzle with a knowledge of the outlines of the picture. Crowley
has aptly likened the Tree to a card-index file, in which each
symbol is an envelope. This is a simile which it would be
difficult to improve upon. In the course of our studies we shall
begin to fill these filing cases, and to find the cross-indexing
among them indicated by the appearance of the same symbol in
other associations.
1. There are various methods by which the Ten Holy Sephiroth can be grouped upon the Tree of Life. Of these it cannot be said that one is correct and another incorrect; they serve different purposes and throw much light upon the meaning of the individual Sephiroth by revealing their associations and equilibrium.
2. They are also of value because they enable the decimal
system of the Tree to be equated with the three, four, and
sevenfold systems.
3. The primary conformation of the Tree is into three Pillars.
It will be observed by reference to the diagrams that the
Sephiroth readily lend themselves to this threefold vertical
division, for they are arranged in three columns. These are
called the Right-hand Pillar of Mercy, the Left-hand Pillar of
Severity, and the Middle Pillar of Mildness or Equilibrium (see
Diagram I).
4. Before proceeding any further we must make clear the
significance of the right and left sides of the Tree. As we look
at the Tree in the diagram we see Binah, Geburah, and Hod upon
the left side, and Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach upon the right
side; this is the way we view the Tree when we are using it to
represent the Macrocosm. But when we are using it to represent
the Microcosm, that is our own being, we, as it were, back into
it, so that the Middle Pillar equates with the spine, and the
Pillar that contains Binah, Geburah, and Hod with the right side,
and the Pillar that contains Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach with
the left side. These three Pillars can also be equated with the
Shushumna, Ida, and Pingala of the Yoga system. It is very
important to remember the reversal of the Tree when it is used as
a subjective symbol, otherwise confusion results. In his valuable
book upon the literature of the Qabalah, The Holy
Kabbalah, Mr. Waite, in the frontispiece, for some reason
best known to himself, reverses the usual presentation of the
Tree; but it may be taken for granted that most representations
of the symbol give the objective Tree, not the subjective. When
the Tree is being used to indicate the lines of force in the
aura, it is the subjective Tree that must be used, so that
Geburah equates with the right arm. In all cases, of course, the
Middle Pillar remains steadfast.
5. The Pillar of Severity is considered to be negative or
feminine, and the Pillar of Mercy to be positive or masculine.
Superficially it may be thought that these attributions lead to
incompatible symbolism, but a study of the Pillars in the light
of what we now know concerning the individual Sephiroth will
reveal that the incompatibilities are purely superficial and that
the deeper significance of the symbolism is entirely
consonant.
6. It will be observed that the line which indicates the
successive development of the Sephiroth zigzags from side to side
of the glyph and has been aptly named the Lightning Flash in
consequence. This indicates graphically that the Sephiroth are
successively positive, negative, and equilibrated. This is a far
better representation of the process of creation than if the
Spheres were represented one above another in a straight line,
for it indicates the difference in the nature of the Divine
Emanations and their relations to each other; for when we look at
the glyph of the Tree we readily perceive the relations existing
between the different Sephiroth, and see how they group, reflect,
and react upon each other.
7. At the head of the Pillar of Severity, the negative,
feminine Pillar, is Binah, the Great Mother. Now to Binah is
assigned the Sphere of Saturn, and Saturn is the Giver of Form.
At the head of the Pillar of Mercy is Chokmah, the Supernal
Father, a male potency. Thus we see that we have here the
apposition of Form and Force.
8. In the Second Trinity we have the apposition of Chesed
(Jupiter) and Geburah (Mars). Again we have the pairs of
opposites of construction in Jupiter, the lawgiver and beneficent
ruler, and destruction in Mars, the warrior and destroyer of
evil. It may be asked why such a male potency as Geburah should
be placed in the feminine Pillar. It must be remembered that Mars
is a destructive potency, one of the infortunes in astrology. The
positive builds up, the negative breaks down; the positive is a
kinetic force, the negative is a static force.
9. These aspects appear again in Netzach at the base of the
Pillar of Mercy, and Hod at the base of the Pillar of Severity.
Netzach is Venus, the Green Nature Ray, elemental force, the
initiation of the emotions. Hod is Mercury, Hermes, the
initiation of knowledge. Netzach is instinct and emotion, a
kinetic force; Hod is intellect, concrete thought, the reduction
of intuitive knowledge to form.
10. We must remember, however, that each Sephirah is negative,
that is to say feminine, in relation to its predecessor, whence
it emanates and whence it receives the Divine Influence; and
positive, masculine, or stimulating in respect of its successor,
to whom it transmits the Divine Influence. Therefore each
Sephirah is bisexual, like a magnet of which one pole must of
necessity be negative and the other positive. We may perhaps
explain matters further by an analogy with astrology, and say
that a Sephirah in the feminine Pillar is well-dignified when it
is functioning in its negative aspect, and ill-dignified when
functioning positively; and that in the masculine Pillar the
position is reversed. Thus Binah, Saturn, is well-dignified when
providing stability and endurance, but ill-dignified when the
overplus of resistance causes it to become actively aggressive
and we get obstruction and the accretion of effete matter. On the
other hand, Chesed, Mercy, is well-dignified when ordering and
preserving all things harmoniously; but ill-dignified when mercy
becomes sentimentality and it usurps the Sphere of Saturn,
preserving that which the fiery energy of Mars, its opposite
number, the Sephirah Geburah, should sweep out of existence.
11. The two Pillars, then, represent the positive and negative
forces in Nature, the active and passive, the destructive and
constructive, concreting form and free-moving force.
12. The Sephiroth on the Middle Pillar may be taken as
representing levels of consciousness and the planes on which they
operate. Malkuth is sensory consciousness; Yesod is astral
psychism; Tiphareth is illuminated consciousness, the highest
aspect of the personality with which the individuality has
coalesced; this is the condition which really constitutes
initiation; it is the consciousness of the higher self brought
through into the personality. It is a gleam of higher
consciousness coming from behind the veil Paroketh. It is for
this reason that the Messiahs and Saviours of the world are
assigned to Tiphareth in the symbolism of the Tree, for they were
the Light-Bringers to humanity; and as all who bring fire from
heaven must do, they died the sacrificial death for the sake of
mankind. It is here, too, that we die to the lower self in order
that we may rise in the higher self. "In Jesu morimur."
13. The Middle Pillar rises through Daath, the Invisible
Sephirah, which we have already seen is Knowledge according to
the Rabbis, and conscious awareness or apprehension according to
the terminology of the psychologist. At the head of this Pillar
is Kether, the Crown, the Root of all Being. Consciousness, then,
reaches from the spiritual essence of Kether, through the
realisation of Daath, which carries it across the Abyss, into the
translated consciousness of Tiphareth, whither it is brought by
the sacrifice of the Christ which rends the veil Paroketh; then
on into the psychic consciousness of Yesod, the Sphere of the
Moon, and thence to the sensory brain consciousness of
Malkuth.
14. Thus does consciousness descend in the course of
involution, which is the term applied to that phase of evolution
which leads down from the First Manifest through the subtle
planes of existence to dense matter; the esotericist should,
strictly speaking, only use the term evolution when describing
the ascent from matter back to spirit, for then is evolved that
which was involved in the descent through the subtle phases of
development. It is obvious that nothing can be evolved, unfolded,
which was not previously involved, infolded. The actual course of
evolution follows the track of the Lightning Flash or Flaming
Sword, from Kether to Malkuth in the order of development of the
Sephiroth previously described; but consciousness descends plane
by plane, and only begins to manifest when the polarizing
Sephiroth are in equilibrium; therefore the modes of
consciousness are assigned to the Equilibrating Sephiroth upon
the Middle Pillar, but the magical powers are assigned to the
opposing Sephiroth, each at the end of the beam of the balance of
the pairs of opposites.
15. The Way of Initiation follows the coilings of the Serpent
of Wisdom upon the Tree; but the Way of Illumination follows the
Path of the Arrow which is shot from the Bow of Promise, Qesheth,
the rainbow of astral colours that spreads like a halo behind
Yesod. This is the way of the mystic as distinguished from that
of the occultist; it is swift and direct, and free from the
danger of the temptation of unbalanced force that is met with in
either pillar, but it confers no magical powers save those of
sacrifice in Tiphareth and psychism in Yesod.
16. We have noted the Three Trinities of the Tree in our
preliminary discussion of the Ten Sephiroth. Let us recapitulate
these again for clearness' sake. Mathers calls the First Trinity
of Kether, Chokmah, and Binah the Intellectual World; the Second
Trinity of Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphareth the Moral World; and
the Third Trinity of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod the Material World.
To my way of thinking, this terminology is misleading, for these
words do not connote in our minds what is meant by these Worlds.
The intellect is essentially a concreting of intuition and
apprehension, and as such is an unsuitable term for the World of
the Three Supernals. With the use of the term Moral World for
Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphareth I agree; it is identical with my
term, Ethical Triangle; but with the term Material World for the
Trinity of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod I emphatically disagree, for
this term belongs exclusively to Malkuth. These three Sephiroth
are not material but astral, and for this Trinity I propose the
term Astral, or Magical World; it is not well to wrest words from
their dictionary meaning, even if you define your use of them,
and this Mathers has not troubled to do.
17. The Intellectual Sphere is not so much a level as a
Pillar, for the intellect, being the content of consciousness, is
essentially synthetic. These terms, however, are apparently taken
from a somewhat crude translation of the Hebrew names given to
the four levels into which the Qabalists divide
manifestation.
18. These four levels permit of yet another grouping of the
Sephiroth. The highest of these is Atziluth, the Archetypal
World, consisting of Kether. The second, Briah, called the
Creative World, consists of Chokmah and Binah, the Supernal Abba
and Ama, Father and Mother. The third level is that of Yetzirah,
the Formative World, consisting of the six central Sephiroth,
viz. Chesed, Geburah, Tiphareth, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. The
fourth World is Assiah, the Material World, represented by
Malkuth.
19. The Ten Sephiroth are also conformed into Seven Palaces.
In the First Palace are the Three Supernals; in the Seventh
Palace are Yesod and Malkuth; and the rest of the Sephiroth each
has a Palace to itself. The grouping is of interest as revealing
the intimate relationship of Yesod and Malkuth, and enabling the
tenfold scale of the Qabalah to be equated with the sevenfold
scale of Theosophy.
20. There is also a threefold division of the Sephiroth which
is very important in Qabalistic symbolism. In this system Kether
is given the title of Arik Anpin, the Vast Countenance. This is
manifested as Abba, the Supernal Father, Chokmah, and Ama, the
Supernal Mother, Binah, these being the positive and negative
aspects of the Three in One. These two differentiated aspects,
when united, are, according to Mathers, Elohim, that curious
Divine Name which is a feminine noun with a masculine plural
attached to it. This union takes place in Daath, the invisible
Sephirah.
21. The next six Sephiroth are conformed into Zeir Anpin, the
Lesser Countenance, or Microprosopos, whose special Sephirah is
Tiphareth. The remaining Sephirah, Malkuth, is called the Bride
of Microprosopos.
22. Microprosopos is also sometimes called the King; Malkuth
is then called the Queen. She is also called the Lesser Mother or
Terrestrial Eve as distinguished from Binah, the Supernal
Mother.
23. These different methods of classifying the Sephiroth are
not competing systems, but are designed to enable the decimal
system of the Qabalists to be equated with other systems, using a
threefold notation, such as the Christian, or as we have already
noted, a sevenfold system like Theosophy; they are also valuable
as indicating functional affiliations among the Sephiroth
themselves.
24. The final system of classification which we must note is
under the presidency of the Three Mother Letters of the Hebrew
alphabet: Aleph, A; Mem, M; and Shin, Sh. These three, according
to the Yetziratic attribution of the Hebrew alphabet, are
assigned to the three elements of Air, Water, and Fire. Under the
presidency of Aleph is the Airy triad of Kether, in which is the
Root of Air, reflecting downward through Tiphareth, the Solar
Fire, into Yesod, the Lunar radiance. In Binah is the Root of
Water (Marah, the Great Sea), reflected through Chesed into Hod,
under the presidency of Mem, the Mother of Water. In Chokmah is
the Root of Fire, reflected downwards through Geburah into
Netzach, under the presidency of Shin, the Mother of Fire.
25. These groupings must be borne in mind, for they aid
greatly in understanding the significance of individual
Sephiroth, for, as we have already pointed out in various
connections, a Sephirah is best interpreted by its
affiliations.
1. We have already noted the division of the Sephiroth into the Four Worlds of the Qabalists, for this is one of the methods of classification much employed in Qabalistic thought and of great value when studying evolution. We must remember, however, that the Tree is not an arbitrary method of classification, and because a thing is classified under one head in one system it does not mean that it cannot equally properly be classified under another head in another system. The reappearance of the same symbol in a different Sphere often affords valuable clues.
2. Under another method of classification the Ten Holy
Sephiroth are considered as appearing in each Qabalistic World
upon another arc or level of manifestation; so that just as Ain
Soph Aur, the Limitless Light of the Unmanifest, concentrated a
point, which was Kether, and the emanations worked down through
increasing grades of density to Malkuth, so the Malkuth of
Atziluth is conceived of as giving rise to the Kether of Briah,
and so on consecutively down the planes, the Malkuth of Briah
giving rise to the Kether of Yetzirah, the Malkuth of Yetzirah
giving rise to the Kether of Assiah, and the Malkuth of Assiah,
in its lowest aspect, abutting upon the Qliphoth.
3. It is Atziluth, however, which is considered the natural
sphere of the Sephiroth as such, and for this reason it is called
the World of Emanations. It is here, and here only, that God acts
directly and not through His ministers. In Briah He acts through
the mediation of the Archangels, in Yetzirah through the Angelic
Orders, and in Assiah through those centres which I have named
the Mundane Chakras—the planets, elements, and signs of the
Zodiac.
4. We have, then, in these four sets of symbols a complete
system of notation for expressing the mode of function of any
given power at any given level, and this system of notation is
the basis of ceremonial magic with its Names of Power, and also
of talismanic magic and the Tarot system of divination. It is for
this reason that it is said of the "barbarous names of evocation"
that not so much as a letter may be changed, for these names are
formulae based on the Hebrew alphabet, which is the sacred
language of the West as Sanskrit is the sacred language of the
East. In Hebrew, moreover, each letter is also a number, so the
Names are numerical formulae; a most intricate system of
metaphysical mathematics, called Gematria, is based on this
principle. There are aspects of Gematria which I, at the present
stage of my knowledge at any rate, consider debased and idle,
being the accretions of superstition, but the basic idea of the
system of cosmic mathematics unquestionably enshrines great
truths and contains great possibilities. Using this system, it is
possible to unravel the relationships of all manner of cosmic
factors if the correct Hebrew spelling of the Names of Power is
known, for these Names were formulated in accordance with the
principles of Gematria, and therefore Gematria supplies the key
to them. But this aspect of our subject, fascinating as it is, we
cannot enter upon now.
5. In the Archetypal World of Atziluth there are assigned to
the Ten Sephiroth ten forms of the Divine Name. Anyone who has
read the Bible cannot fail to have observed that God is referred
to under divers titles, as the Lord, as the Lord God, as the
Father, and by several other appellations. Now these are not
literary devices to avoid needless repetition, but are exact
metaphysical terms, and according to the Name used we know the
aspect of Divine force in question and the plane on which it is
functioning.
6. In the world of Briah it is held that the mighty Archangels
carry out the mandates of God and give them expression, and
assigned to the Sephirothic Spheres on the Tree in this World are
the names of these ten mighty spirits.
7. In Yetzirah it is the choirs of angels, innumerable in
their concourse, who carry out the Divine commands; and these
also are assigned to their Sephirothic Spheres, thus enabling us
to know their mode and level of function.
8. In Assiah, as we have already noted, certain natural
centres of force are given similar correspondences. We will
consider all these associations when we come to study the
Sephiroth in detail.
9. In the symbolic rendering of the Ten Holy Sephiroth in the
Four Worlds there is another important set of factors to be
considered, and these are the four colour scales classified by
Crowley as the King scale, assigned to the Atziluthic World; the
Queen scale, assigned to the Briatic World; the Emperor scale,
assigned to the Yetziratic World; and the Empress scale, assigned
to the Assiatic World.
10. This fourfold classification has a far-reaching
significance in all Qabalistic matters, and also in Western
magic, which is largely based upon the Qabalah. It is said to be
under the presidency of the Four Letters of Tetragrammaton, the
Sacred Name popularly rendered as Jehovah. In Hebrew, which has
no vowels in its alphabet, this word is spelt YHVH, or, according
to the Hebrew names of these letters, Yod, He, Vau, He. The
vowels are indicated in Hebrew by points inserted in and under
the square letters of the script, which is written from right to
left. These vowel-points were only introduced at a comparatively
recent date, and the older Hebrew scripts are unpointed so that
the reader cannot see the pronunciation of any proper name for
himself, but needs to have it communicated to him by someone who
knows it. The true mystical pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton
is said to be one of the arcana of the Mysteries.
11. To the Four Letters of the Name are allotted any fourfold
mystical classification, and by means of their correspondences we
can trace all manner of relationships, and these are very
important in practical occultism, as will be seen later.
12. Four important fourfold divisions find a place under them,
thus enabling us to see their relationships among themselves.
These are the Four Worlds of the Qabalists; the four elements of
the alchemists; the fourfold classification of the signs of the
Zodiac and the planets into triplicities, employed by the
astrologers; and the four suits of the Tarot pack used in
divination. This fourfold classification resembles the Rosetta
Stone which gave the key to the Egyptian hieroglyphs, for on it
were inscriptions in Egyptian and Greek; Greek being known, it
was possible to work out the meaning of the corresponding
Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is the method of arranging all these
sets of factors on the Tree which gives the real esoteric clue to
each of these systems of practical occultism. Without this key
they have no philosophical basis and become matters of rule of
thumb and superstition. It is for this reason that the initiated
occultist will have nothing to do with the uninitiated
fortune-teller, for he knows that, lacking this key, his system
is valueless. Hence the vital importance of the Tree in Western
occultism. It is our basis, our standard of measurement, and our
textbook.
13. To understand a Sephirah, then, we need to know firstly
its primary correspondences in the Four Worlds; its secondary
correspondences in the four systems of practical occultism
mentioned above; and, thirdly, any other correspondences we can
by any means gather together, in order that the testimony of many
witnesses may yield the truth. Of this gathering of
correspondences there can be no end, for the whole cosmos on all
its planes corresponds in endless sequences. We are constantly
adding to our knowledge if we are good students of occult
science. No better simile than that of the card-index system
could possibly have been found.
14. But yet again we must remind the reader in this connection
that the Qabalah is as much a method of using the mind as a
system of knowledge. If we have the knowledge without having
acquired the Qabalistic technique of mentation, it is of little
use to us. In fact, we might go so far as to say that it is not
possible to acquire any great degree of knowledge until this
technique of the mind has been mastered; for it is not the
conscious mind to which the Tree appeals, but subconsciousness,
for the logical method of the Qabalah is the logical method of
dream association; but in the case of the Qabalah the dreamer is
the racial subconsciousness, the oversoul of the peoples, the
Earth-spirit. Into communion with this Earth-soul the adept
enters by means of meditation on the prescribed symbols. This is
the real import of the Tree and its correspondences.
15. The highest of the Four Worlds, Atziluth, the plane of
pure Deity, is called by the Qabalists the Archetypal World. It
is also called, in the somewhat clumsy translation of MacGregor
Mathers, the Intellectual World. This term is misleading. It is
only intellectual as we commonly understand the word as relating
to the mind, the rational intellect, in so far as it is the realm
of archetypal ideas. But these ideas are entirely abstract, and
are conceived by a function of consciousness quite outside the
range of mind as we know it. Therefore to call this level the
Intellectual World is to mislead the reader, unless at the same
time we say that by intellect we mean something quite different
to what the dictionary means. This is a poor way of expressing
our ideas. It is far better to coin a new term with a precise
meaning than to use an old one in a misleading sense, especially
as, in the case of Atziluth, there is an excellent term already
current, the term Archetypal, which exactly describes it.
16. The Atziluthic World is said by the Qabalists to be under
the presidency of the Yod of the Sacred Name of Tetragrammaton.
We may justly deduce from this that in any other fourfold system
whatever is said to be also under the presidency of Yod will
refer to the Atziluthic, or purely spiritual aspect of that force
or subject. Among other associations given by different
authorities are the Wands suit of the Tarot pack and the Element
of Fire. It will be apparent to anyone who has any knowledge of
occult matters that as soon as we know the element to which a
symbol is assigned, we know a good deal, for it opens up all the
ramifications of astrology for us, and we can trace out its
astrological affinities through the triplicities of the Zodiac
and the affinities of the planets with them. As soon as we know
what Zodiacal and planetary associations exist, we are in a
position to explore the correlated symbolism of any pantheon, for
all the gods and goddesses of all the systems that the human mind
has ever invented have astrological associations. The stories of
their adventures are really parables of the workings of cosmic
forces. Through this maze of symbolism we could never hope to
find our way unaided, but if we anchor the end of each chain of
correspondences to its Sephirah, we have the clue we need.
17. All systems of esoteric thought, as well as all popular
theologies, attribute the construction and presidency of the
different parts of the manifested universe to the mediation of
intelligent and purposive beings, working under the instruction
of Deity. Modern thought has tried to escape from the
implications of this concept by reducing manifestation to a
matter of mechanics; it has not succeeded, and there are signs
that it is not far from the point when it will perceive mind as
being at the root of form.
18. The concepts of the Ancient Wisdom may be crude from the
standpoint of modern philosophy, but we are forced to admit that
the causative force behind manifestation is more akin in its
nature to mind than to matter. To go a step further and personify
the different types of force is a legitimate analogy, provided we
realise that the entity which is the soul of the force may differ
as much in kind and degree from our minds as our bodies differ in
type and scale from the bodies of the planets. We shall be nearer
an understanding of nature if we look for mind in the background
than if we refuse to admit that the visible universe has an
invisible framework. The ether of the physicists is closer akin
to mind than to matter; time and space, as understood by the
modern philosopher, are more like modes of consciousness than
linear measures.
19. The initiates of the Ancient Wisdom made no bones about
their philosophy; they took each factor in Nature and personified
it, gave it a name, and built up a symbolic figure to represent
it, just as British artists have by their collective efforts
produced a standard Britannia, a female figure with shield
charged with the Union Jack, a lion at her feet, a trident in her
hand, a helmet on her head, and the sea in the back ground.
Analysing this figure as we would a Qabalistic symbol, we realise
that these individual symbols in the complex glyph have each a
significance. The various crosses which make up the Union Jack
refer to the four races united in the United Kingdom. The helmet
is that of Minerva, the trident is that of Neptune; the lion
would need a chapter to himself to elucidate his symbolism. In
fact, an occult glyph is more akin to a coat of arms than
anything else, and the person who builds up a glyph goes to work
in the same way as a herald designing a coat of arms. For in
heraldry every symbol has its exact meaning, and these are
combined into the coat of arms that represents the family and
affiliations of the man who bears it, and tells us his station in
life. A magical figure is the coat of arms of the force it
represents.
20. These magical figures are built up to represent the
different modes of the manifestation of cosmic force in its
different types and on its different levels. They are given
names, and the initiate thinks of them as persons, not troubling
himself about their metaphysical foundations. Consequently, for
all practical purposes they are persons, for whatever they may be
in actual fact, they have been personalised, and thought-forms
have been built up on the astral plane to represent them. These,
being charged with force, are of the nature of artificial
elementals; but the force with which they are charged being
cosmic, they are much more than what we ordinarily imply when we
speak of artificial elementals, and we assign them to the angelic
kingdom and call them angels or archangels according to their
grade. An angelic being, then, may be defined as a cosmic force
whose apparent vehicle of manifestation to psychic consciousness
is a form built up by the human imagination. In practical
occultism, these forms are built up with great care and the most
elaborate attention to the details of the symbolism, and are used
to evoke the force required; anyone who has had experience of
their use will agree that they are peculiarly effectual for the
purposes for which they are designed. By holding the magical
image in it and vibrating the traditional name assigned thereto,
remarkable phenomena are obtained.
21. As we have already noted, it is necessary to use the
mental technique of the Qabalists in order to get any sense out
of the Qabalah; this formulation of the image and vibration of
the name is designed to put the student in touch with the forces
behind each Sphere of the Tree, and when he comes into touch in
this way his consciousness is illuminated and his nature
energised by the force thus contacted, and he obtains remarkable
illuminations from his contemplation of the symbols. These
illuminations are not a generalized flooding of light, as in the
case of the Christian mystic, but a specific energising and
illumination according to the Sphere opened up; Hod gives
understanding of sciences, Yesod understanding of life-force and
its tidal modes of functioning. When Hod is contacted we become
filled with enthusiasm and energy for research; when Yesod is
contacted we enter deeply into psychic consciousness and touch
the hidden life-forces of the earth and our own natures. These
are matters of experience; those who have used the method know
what it yields them. Whatever may be the rational foundations of
the system, as an empirical method it yields results.
22. If we want to study a Sephirah—in other words, if we
want to investigate the aspect of Nature to which it
refers—we not only study it intellectually and meditate
upon it, but we try to get into psychic and intuitive touch with
its influence and Sphere. In order to accomplish this, we always
start at the top and try to get into spiritual touch with the
aspect of Deity which emanated that Sphere and manifests in it.
If this is not done, the forces belonging to the Sphere on the
elemental levels may get out of hand and cause difficulties.
Starting under the presidency of the Divine Name, however, no
evil can enter.
23. Having adored the Creator and Sustainer of All under His
Holy Name in the Sphere we are investigating, we next invoke the
Archangel of the Sphere, the mighty spiritual being in whom we
personify the forces that built up that level of evolution and
continue to function in the corresponding aspect of Nature. We
ask the blessing of the Archangel, and beg that he will bid the
Order of Angels assigned to that Sphere that they shall be
friendly and helpful towards us in the realm of nature in which
they function. By the time we have done this, we shall be
thoroughly tuned to the keynote of the Sphere we are
investigating, and be ready to follow out the ramifications of
the correspondences of that Sephirah and its cognate symbols.
24. Approached in this way, we shall find the
association-chains far richer in symbolism than we have ever
believed to be possible, for the subconscious mind has been
stirred and one of its many chambers of imagery thrown open, to
the exclusion of all the others. The association-chains that rise
into consciousness should therefore be free from any admixture of
extraneous ideas and true to type.
25. First we review in our minds all the possible symbols that
we can recollect, and as these present themselves to
consciousness we try and see their import and bearing upon the
secrets of the Sphere under investigation.
But we do not try too hard; for if we concentrate upon a
symbol and strain at it, as it were, we shall close the meshes of
the tenuous veil that shields the subconscious mind. In these
investigations, half meditation, half reverie, we want to work on
the borders of consciousness and subconsciousness so as to induce
that which is subconscious to cross the threshold and come within
our reach.
26. As we proceed thus, following out the ramifications of the
association-chains, we shall find that a running comment of
intuition accompanies the process, and after the experiment has
been repeated two or three times we shall feel that we know that
Sephirah in a peculiarly intimate way, that we feel at home
there, that the feel of it is quite different to that of the
other Sephiroth which we have not yet worked with.
We shall also find that some Sephiroth are more congenial to
us than others, and that we get better results when working with
them than we do with the uncongenial ones, where the
association-chains keep on breaking and the doors of
subconsciousness resolutely refuse to open to our knocking. One
pupil of mine could do excellent meditations on Binah-Saturn, and
Tiphareth, the Redeemer, but did not get on at all well with
Geburah-Severity-Mars.
27. I shall never forget my own experience with the first
attempt I made at this method. I was working on the Thirty-second
Path, the Path of Saturn, uniting Malkuth and Yesod, a very
difficult and treacherous Path. In my horoscope Saturn is not
well aspected, and I have often experienced his opposing
influence in my affairs. But after I had succeeded in treading
the Path of Saturn out into the indigo darkness of the Unseen
until the Moon of Yesod rose in purple and silver over the
horizon, I felt that I had received the initiation of Saturn,
that he was no longer inimical to me, but a friend who, though
candid and stern, was to be trusted to protect me from mistakes
and rash judgments.
I realised his function as the tester, and not the antagonist
or avenger. I realised him as Time with his scythe, but knew also
why he was called in Hebrew, Shabbathai, rest, "for he giveth his
beloved sleep." After that, the Thirty-second Path was open to
me, not only on the Tree, but in life, for the forces and
problems symbolised by that Path and its correspondences had
become harmonised in my soul.
From these two brief examples it will be seen that the
meditations upon the Tree form a most practical and exact system
of mystical development; and one that is peculiarly valuable in
that it is equilibrated, for the different aspects of
manifestation are, as it were, dissected out and dealt with in
turn, nothing being neglected. By the time we have trodden all
the Paths of the Tree we shall have learnt the lessons of Death
and the Devil, as well as of the Angel and the High Priest.
Path on the Tree of Life: 11. Kether-Chokmah.
1. The Sepher Yetzirah refers to the Ten Sephiroth themselves, as well as the lines connecting them, as Paths, and justly so, for they are all equally channels of Divine influence; but it is usual in practical working to consider the lines between the Sephiroth only as the Paths, and the Sephiroth themselves as Spheres upon the Tree. This is one of the many tricks and blinds to be found in the Qabalistic system, for if we think of the Paths as thirty-two in number, as they are given in the Sepher Yetzirah, we shall not be able to equate them with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet which, with their numerical value and correspondences, form the key to the Paths.
Path on the Tree of Life: 12. Kether-Binah.
2. Each Path is said to represent the equilibrium of the two
Sephiroth it connects, and we have to study it in the light of
our knowledge of these Sephiroth if we are to appreciate its
significance. Certain symbols are also assigned to the Paths
themselves. These are, as already noted, the twenty-two letters
of the Hebrew alphabet; the signs of the Zodiac, the planets, and
the elements. Now there are twelve signs in the Zodiac, seven
planets, and four elements, making in all twenty-three symbols.
How are these to be arranged on Twenty-two Paths? Here is another
Qabalistic blind to puzzle the uninitiated. The answer is quite
simple when it is known. Our consciousness being in the element
of Earth, we do not need the symbol of earth in our calculations
when we make contact with the Unseen, so we leave it out and then
find ourselves with the correct set of correspondences. Malkuth
is all the earth we need for practical purposes.
Path on the Tree of Life: 13. Kether-Tiphareth.
3. The third set of symbols to go upon the Paths are the
twenty-two trumps or major arcana of the Tarot pack. With these
three sets of symbols and the colours of the four colour scales,
our major symbolism is complete; the minor symbolism consists of
the innumerable ramifications of the correspondences through all
systems and planes.
Path on the Tree of Life: 14. Binah-Chokmah.
4. The Tree of Life, astrology, and the Tarot are not three
mystical systems, but three aspects of one and the same system,
and each is unintelligible without the others. It is only when we
study astrology on the basis of the Tree that we have a
philosophical system; equally does this apply to the Tarot system
of divination, and the Tarot itself, with its comprehensive
interpretations, gives the key to the Tree as applied to human
life.
Path on the Tree of Life: 15. Chokmah-Tiphhareth.
5. Astrology is so elusive because the uninitiated astrologer
works on one plane only; but the initiated astrologer, with the
Tree as his ground-plan, interprets on the four planes of the
Four Worlds, and the effect of, shall we say, Saturn, is very
different in Atziluth, where it is the Divine Mother, Binah, to
what it is in Assiah.
Path on the Tree of Life: 16. Chokah-Hesed.
6. All systems of divination and all systems of practical
magic find their principles and philosophy based upon the Tree;
whoever tries to use them without this key is like the foolhardy
person who has a pharmacopoeia of patent medicines and doses
himself and his friends according to the descriptions given in
the advertisements, wherein backache includes every disease which
does not cause pain in front. The initiate who knows his Tree is
like the scientific physician who understands the principles of
physiology and the chemistry of drugs, and prescribes
accordingly.
Path on the Tree of Life: 17. Binah-Tipharet.
7. Various methods of attributing the Tarot cards have been
worked out from traditional sources. In his little book, The
Key to the Tarot, A. E. Waite gives the chief of these; but
refrains from indicating which, in his opinion, is the correct
one. In his valuable tabulation of esoteric symbolism,
"777" Crowley has no such reticence, but gives the system
as it is known among initiates. This is the method I propose to
follow in these pages, for I believe it to be the correct because
the correspondences work out without discrepancies, a thing they
do in none of the other systems.
Path on the Tree of Life: 18. Binah-Geburah.
8. According to this system, the four suits of the Tarot pack
are assigned to the Four Worlds of the Qabalists and the four
elements of the Alchemists. The suit of Wands is assigned to
Atziluth and Fire. The suit of Cups to Briah and Water. The suit
of Swords to Yetzirah and Air. The suit of Pentacles or Coins to
Assiah and Earth.
Path on the Tree of Life: 19. Geburah-Hesed.
9. The four aces are assigned to Kether, the first Sephirah;
the four twos to Chokmah, the second Sephirah; and so on down the
pack, the four tens being assigned to Malkuth. It will thus be
seen that the cards of the four suits of the Tarot pack represent
the action of the Divine Forces in each sphere and on each level
of nature. Equally, if we know the significance of the Tarot
cards we shall obtain much light on the nature of the Paths and
Spheres to which they are assigned. Both these systems, the Tarot
and the Tree, being of immemorial antiquity, their origins lost
in the vistas of the ages, there is an enormous mass of symbolic
correspondences accumulated around each of them. Every practical
occultist who has ever worked with the Tree has added to this
stock of associations, making the symbols live in the Astral by
means of his operations. The Tree and its keys are infinite in
their adaptability.
Path on the Tree of Life: 20. Hesed-Tiphareth.
10. The four court-cards of the Tarot are called in modern
packs, King, Queen, Knight, and Knave; but in the traditional
packs they are, according to Crowley, arranged and symbolised
differently. The King, being a mounted figure, indicating the
swift action of the Yod of Tetragrammaton in the sphere of the
suit; the Queen, as in the modern packs, is a seated figure,
represents the steadfast forces of the He of Tetragrammaton; the
Prince of the esoteric Tarot is a seated figure, corresponding to
the Vau of Tetragrammaton; and the Princess, the Knave of the
modern packs, correspond to the He final of the Sacred Name.
Path on the Tree of Life: 21. Hesed-Netzach.
11. The twenty-two trumps are arranged in various ways by
various authorities, of which Mr. Waite gives a selection, but in
our system we will follow the order given by Crowley for reasons
already discussed.
Path on the Tree of Life: 22. Geburah-Tipharet.
12. In these pages we propose to give the philosophical Tree
of Life, and enough practical instruction to render it available
for meditation purposes; but we do not propose to give the
Practical Qabalah, which is used for magical purposes; because
that can only properly be learnt and safely practised in a Temple
of the Mysteries. Reference must be made to the Practical
Qabalah, however, in order to render some of the concepts
intelligible, but those who are rightfully in possession of its
keys need have no fear that these keys will be revealed to the
uninitiated in these pages, for I am quite alive to the
consequences of so doing.
Path on the Tree of Life: 23. Geburah-Hod.
13. If, from the information here given, and as a result of
pursuing the methods described herein, anyone is able to work out
for himself the keys of the Practical Qabalah, as he well may,
can any dispute that he is entitled to them?
Path on the Tree of Life: 24. Tiphareth-Netzach.
14. The Tree is enormously valuable as a meditation glyph,
quite apart from its use in magic. By meditation such as I have
described in my account of my own experiences on the
Thirty-second Path, it is possible to equilibrate the warring
elements in one's own nature and bring them into harmonious
balance. It is also possible to get into sympathetic rapport with
the different aspects of Nature which these symbols represent
when applied to the Macrocosm, even if these forces are not given
a definite form in talismanic magic. The information that is
obtained from the study of one's own horoscope is not to be
accepted passively as the dispensation of Fate from which there
is no appeal. We ought to realise that talismanic magic, or the
less concentrated method of meditation upon the Tree, should be
used to compensate all unbalanced force in the horoscope and
bring all into equilibrium. Talismanic magic is to astrology what
medical treatment is to medical diagnosis.
Path on the Tree of Life: 25. Tiphareth-Yesod.
15. It is not possible for me to give any formulae of
practical magic here; before such formulae can be made use of it
is necessary to have received the grades of initiation to which
they belong. Without these grades the student is no better off
than the person who tries to diagnose and treat his own
complaints after reading a medical textbook. That delightful
humorist, Jerome K. Jerome, has told us what happens in such a
case. The unfortunate imagines that he has every disease
described therein, except housemaid's knee, and cannot make up
his mind as to the appropriate treatment, for everything he
fancies is contra-indicated.
Path on the Tree of Life: 26. Tiphareth-Hod.
16. The ritual initiations of the Greater Mysteries of the
Western Esoteric Tradition are based upon the principles of the
Tree of Life. Each grade corresponds to a Sephirah and confers,
or should confer, if the Order working them is worthy of the
name, the powers of that sphere of nature. Likewise it opens up
the Paths leading to that Sephirah, so that the initiate is said
to be Lord of the Thirty-second Path when he has taken the
initiation that corresponds to Yesod, or Lord of the
Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Paths when he has
taken the initiation corresponding to Tiphareth, which
constitutes him a full initiate. Beyond this lie the higher
grades of adepthood.
Path on the Tree of Life: 27. Hod-Netzach.
17. The aim of each grade of initiation of the Greater
Mysteries is to introduce the candidate to the Sphere of each
Sephirah in turn, working from Malkuth up the Tree. The
instructions given in each grade concern the symbolism and forces
of the Sphere to which it refers and the Paths that equilibrate
it. The sign and word of the grade are used when treading these
Paths in the spirit-vision or projecting by them on the astral
plane. Consequently the initiate is able to move with accuracy
and certainty into whatsoever sphere of the Unseen he desires to
penetrate, and to countercheck all beings he meets and all
visions he sees, for he knows what the colours of the Paths are
in all four scales, and he checks his vision by these. If he is
working up the Thirty-second path of Saturn, whose colours are
all in the sombre hues of indigo, dark blue and black, he knows
that something is amiss if a scarlet-robed figure presents
itself. Either that figure is illusive, or he himself has
wandered off the Path.
Path on the Tree of Life: 28. Netzach-Yesod.
18. To project the astral body along the Paths it is necessary
for many reasons to hold the degrees of initiation to which they
correspond; chief among which is that, unless one has received
the grade, one will be unknown to guardians of the Paths, and
they will be inimical rather than helpful, and do all in their
power to turn the wanderer back. Secondly, if one should succeed
in forcing one's way past the guardian, one still has no means of
counterchecking the vision or knowing whether one is on or off
the Path, and there are plenty of beings in the lower sphere who
are only too ready to take advantage of presumptuous
ignorance.
Path on the Tree of Life: 29. Netzach-Malkuth.
19. These considerations, however, need in no way discourage
anyone who wishes to meditate upon the Paths and Spheres in the
manner I have described; and in the course of his meditations he
may so enter into the spirit of the Path that its guardian shall
come to know him and make him welcome. He will then literally
have initiated himself, and no one can deny his right to be
there.
Path on the Tree of Life: 30. Hod-Yesod.
20. The Tree, considered from the initiatory standpoint, is
the link between the microcosm, which is man, and the Macrocosm,
which is God made manifest in Nature. A ritual initiation is the
act of linking the microcosmic Sephirah, the chakra, with the
Macrocosmic Sephirah; it is the introduction of a newcomer to the
Sphere by those who are already there. They construct a symbolic
representation of the Sphere on the physical plane in the
furniture of the temple; they construct an astral replica of it
by concentrated imagination; and by means of invocation they call
down into this temple not made with hands the forces of the
Sphere of the Sephirah they are working upon.
Path on the Tree of Life: 31. Hod-Malkuth.
21. These forces stimulate the corresponding chakras of the
initiate and wake them to activity in his aura. The process of
self-initiation by the meditations I have described is slower
than the processes of ritual initiation, but it is sure enough if
persevered with by a suitable person, but one cannot teach a
jelly-fish to sing by feeding it on canary-seed.
Path on the Tree of Life: 32. Yesod-Malkuth.
1. As above, so below, man is a miniature macrocosm. All the factors that go to the make-up of the manifested universe are present in his nature. Hence, in his perfection, he is said to be higher than the angels. At the present time, however, the angels are fully evolved beings and man is not. Thus he is as much lower than the angels as a three-year old child is less developed than a three-year-old dog.
2. Hitherto we have considered the Tree of Life as an epitome
of the Macrocosm, the universe, and the use of its symbols to put
us in touch with the different spheres of objective Nature. We
will now consider it in relation to the subjective sphere of the
nature of the individual.
3. The accepted correspondences, as given by Crowley (who,
unfortunately, never gives his authorities, so we do not know
when he is using MacGregor Mathers' system and when he is relying
upon his independent researches), are based partly on the
astrological attribution of the planets assigned to the different
Sephiroth, and partly upon a crude anatomical scheme of the human
form standing with its back to the Tree. This is too crude for
our purposes, and probably represents the work of later
generations of scribes; during the Middle Ages the Qabalah was
rediscovered by European philosophers, and they grafted
astrological and alchemical symbolism upon its system. Moreover,
the Rabbis themselves used an extremely detailed set of
anatomical metaphors, discussing in detail the significance of
every hair on the head of God, and even the more intimate parts
of His anatomy. Such references cannot be taken literally and
applied to the human form.
4. The Sephiroth, individually and in their pattern of
relationships, represent in relation to the Macrocosm the
successive phases of evolution, and in relation to the Microcosm
the different levels of consciousness and factors of character.
That these levels of consciousness have some relation to the
psychic centres of the physical body is a reasonable assumption,
but we must not be crude and mediaeval in the conclusions we
draw. Occult anatomy and physiology have been worked out in
detail in the Yoga science of the Hindus, and we can learn much
from their teachings. The latest advances in physiology are
pointing to the conclusion that the link between mind and matter
is to be sought primarily in the endocrine system of ductless
glands and only secondarily in the brain and central nervous
system. We can learn much from this source of knowledge also, and
piecing together all the information we can collect from every
source, we may finally arrive by inductive reasoning at what the
ancients learnt by means of the intuitive and deductive methods
which they brought to such a high degree of perfection in their
Mystery schools.
5. It is generally agreed that the chakras, or psychic centres
described in Yoga literature, are not situated inside the organs
with which they are associated, but in the auric envelope at
spots roughly approximating thereto. We shall do well, therefore,
not to associate the different Sephiroth with the limbs and other
parts of our anatomy, but to regard the use of such analogies as
metaphorical and look for the psychic principles which they may
be held to represent.
6. Before proceeding to a detailed study of each Sephirah from
this standpoint, it is very helpful to have a general survey of
the Tree as a whole, because so much of the elucidation of the
symbolism depends upon the relationship of one symbol to another
in the pattern of the Tree. This chapter must needs be discursive
and inconclusive, but it will enable the detailed study of the
individual Sephiroth to be much more effectually carried out.
7. The first and most obvious division of the Tree is into the
three Pillars, and this immediately reminds us of the three
channels of Prana described by the yogis, Ida, Pingala, and
Shushumna; and the two principles, the Yin and the Yang of
Chinese philosophy, and the Tao, or Way, which is the equilibrium
between them. By the agreement of witnesses truth is established,
and when we find three of the great metaphysical systems of the
world in complete agreement, we may conclude that we are dealing
with established principles and should accept them as such.
8. The Central Pillar should, in my opinion, be taken to
represent consciousness, and the two side pillars as the positive
and negative factors of manifestation. It is noteworthy that in
the Yoga system consciousness is extended when Kundalini rises
through the central channel of the Shushumna, and that the
Western magical operation of Rising on the Planes takes place up
the Central Pillar of the Tree; that is to say, the symbolism
employed to induce this extension of consciousness does not take
the Sephiroth in their numerical order, commencing with Malkuth,
but goes from Malkuth to Yesod, and Yesod to Tiphareth, by what
is called the Path of the Arrow.
9. Malkuth, the Sphere of Earth, is taken by occultists as
signifying brain-consciousness, as is proved by the fact that
after any astral projection the ceremonial return is made to
Malkuth and normal consciousness reestablished therein.
10. Yesod, the Sphere of Levanah, the Moon, is taken as
psychic consciousness, and also as the reproductive centre.
Tiphareth is taken as the higher psychism, the true illuminated
vision, and is associated with the highest grade of the
initiation of the personality, as is evidenced by the fact that
to it is assigned, in the system taken by Crowley from Mathers,
the first of the grades of adepthood.
11. Daath, the mysterious, invisible Sephirah, which is never
marked upon the Tree, is associated in the Western system with
the nape of the neck, the point where the spine meets the skull,
the spot at which the development of the brain from the notochord
took place in our primeval ancestors. Daath is usually held to
represent the consciousness of another dimension, or the
consciousness of another level or plane; it essentially
represents the idea of change of key.
12. Kether is called the Crown. Now a crown is above the head,
and Kether is generally held to represent a form of consciousness
which is not achieved during incarnation. It is essentially
outside the scheme of things so far as the planes of form are
concerned. The spiritual experience associated with Kether is
Union with God, and whoso achieves that experience is said to
enter into the Light and come not forth again.
13. These Sephiroth unquestionably have their correlations in
the chakras of the Hindu system, but the correspondences are
given differently by different authorities. As the method of
classification is different, the West using a fourfold system and
the East a sevenfold system, correlation is not easy to obtain,
and in my opinion it is better to look for first principles
rather than obtain a tidy pattern of arrangement which does
violence to the correspondences.
14. The only two writers known to me who have attempted this
correlation are Crowley and General J. F. C. Fuller. General
Fuller assigns the Muladhara Lotus to Malkuth, pointing out that
its four petals correspond with the four elements. It is
interesting to note that in the Queen scale of colour, as given
by Crowley, the Sphere of Malkuth is represented as divided into
four quarters, coloured respectively citrine, olive, russet, and
black, to represent the four elements, and bearing the closest
resemblance to the usual representations of the Four-petalled
Lotus.
15. This Lotus is represented as situated in the perineum and
is associated with the anus and the function of excretion. In
column XXI of the table of correspondences given by Crowley in
the attributes the buttocks and anus of the Perfected Man to
Malkuth. I consider that from every point of view the attribution
of Fuller, who refers the Muladhara Lotus to Malkuth, is to be
preferred to that of Crowley, who in column CXVIII refers it to
Yesod, thus contradicting himself. In the infantile mind,
according to Freud, the functions of reproduction and excretion
are confused, but I don't consider that this attribution is one
that can be generally accepted or ought to be perpetuated.
16. Malkuth, viewed as the Muladhara Lotus, represents, we may
take it, the end-result of the life processes, their final
concretion in form, and their submission to the disintegrating
influences of death in order that their substance may be utilised
again. The form into which they have been organised by the slow
processes of evolution has served its purpose, and the force must
be set free; this is the spiritual significance of the processes
of excretion, putrefaction, and decomposition.
17. The Svadisthana Chakra, the Six-petalled Lotus, at the
base of the generative organs, is assigned by General Fuller to
Yesod. This agrees with the Western tradition, which assigns
Yesod to the reproductive organs of the Divine Man; its
astrological correspondence with the Moon, Diana-Hecate, also
agrees with this attribution. Crowley, though assigning Yesod to
the phallus in column XXI of "777" assigns the Svadisthana
Lotus to Hod, Mercury. It is difficult to understand this
attribution, and as he does not give his authority, I consider it
better to adhere to the principle of referring the levels of
consciousness to the Central Pillar.
18. Tiphareth, by universal consent, represents the solar
plexus and breast; it therefore seems reasonable to attribute to
it the Manipura and Anahata Chakras, as Crowley does. Fuller
attributes these chakras to Geburah and Chesed, but as these two
Sephiroth find their equilibrium in Tiphareth, this attribution
presents no difficulty and causes no discrepancy.
19. In the same way the Visuddha Chakra, which in the Hindu
system correlates with the larynx and is referred to Binah by
Crowley, and the Ajna Chakra at the root of the nose, which
correlates with the pineal gland and is referred to Chokmah by
the same authority, may be taken as uniting for function in
Daath, situated at the base of the skull.
20. The Sahasrara Chakra, the Thousand-petalled Lotus,
situated above the head, is referred by Crowley to Kether, and
there can be little reason to quarrel with this attribution, for
it is foreshadowed in the very name of the First Path, Kether,
the Crown, which rests upon and above the head.
21. The two flanking pillars of Severity and Mercy can be seen
as representing the positive and negative principles—and
their respective Sephiroth as representing the modes of
functioning of these forces upon the different levels.
22. The Pillar of Severity contains Binah, Geburah, and Hod,
or Saturn, Mars, and Mercury. The Pillar of Mercy contains
Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach, or the Zodiac, Jupiter, and Venus.
Chokmah and Binah, in the symbolism of the Qabalah, are
represented by male and female figures and are the supernal
Father and Mother, or in more philosophical language, the
positive and negative principles of the universe, the Yin and the
Yang, of which maleness and femaleness are but specialised
aspects.
23. Chesed (Jupiter) and Geburah (Mars) are both represented
in Qabalistic symbolism as crowned figures, the former a lawgiver
upon his throne, and the latter a warrior king in his chariot.
These are the constructive and destructive principles
respectively. It is interesting to note that Binah, the supernal
Mother, is also Saturn, the solidifier, who connects through his
sickle with Death with his scythe, and Time with his hour-glass.
In Binah we find the root of Form. It is said of Malkuth in the
Sepher Yetzirah that it sitteth upon the throne of
Binah—matter has its root in Binah-Saturn-Death; form is
the destroyer of force. With this passive destroyer goes also the
active destroyer, and we find Mars-Geburah immediately below it
on the Pillar of Severity; thus is the force locked up in form
set free by the destructive influence of Mars, the Siva aspect of
the Godhead. Chokmah, the Zodiac, represents kinetic force; and
Chesed, Jupiter, the benign king, represents organised force; and
the two are synthesised in Tiphareth, the Christ-centre, the
Redeemer and Equilibrator.
24. The next trinity, of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, represents
the magical and astral side of things. Netzach (Venus) represents
the higher aspects of the elemental forces, the Green Ray; and
Hod (Mercury) represents the mind side of magic. The one is the
mystic and the other the occult, and they synthesise in the
elemental Yesod. This pair of Sephiroth should never be
considered apart, any more than the upper pair of Geburah and
Gedulah, which is another name for Chesed. This is indicated by
the fact that the Qabalah attributes them respectively to the
right and left arms and the left and right legs.
25. It will thus be seen that the three form-Sephiroth are in
the Pillar of Severity, and the three force-Sephiroth in the
Pillar of Mercy, and between them, in the Pillar of Equilibrium,
are set the different levels of consciousness. The Pillar of
Severity, with Binah at its head, is the female principle, the
Pingala of the Hindus and the Yang of the Chinese; the Pillar of
Mercy, with Chokmah at its head, is the Ida of the Hindus and the
Yin of the Chinese; and the Pillar of Equilibrium is Shushumna
and Tao.
1. All students of comparative religion and its poor relation, folk-lore, are agreed that primitive man, observing and beginning to analyse the natural phenomena surrounding him, attributed them to the agency of beings akin to himself in nature and type, but transcending him in power. As he could not see them, he not unnaturally called them invisible; and as he could not see his own mind during life, or his friend's soul after death, he concluded that the beings that produced natural phenomena were of the same nature as the invisible but active mind and soul.
2. Now all this sounds very crude as it is put by the
anthropologists, but that is only because when translating savage
ideas they choose words that have crude associations. For
instance, the standard translation of one of the chief scriptures
of China refers to the venerable philosopher Lao Tse as "the Old
Boy." This sounds comical to European ears, yet it is not so far
removed from the words of another Scripture which has been
fortunate enough to receive translation at the hands of those who
reverenced it—"Except ye become as a little child." I am
not a sinologue, but I incline to the opinion that the
translation "Eternal Child" would have been equally accurate and
in better taste.
3. There is a saying in the Mysteries, "See that ye blaspheme
not the Name by which another knoweth his God. For if ye do this
in Allah, ye will do it in Adonai."
4. And after all, was primitive man so very far off the mark
when he attributed the causation of natural phenomena to
activities of the same nature as the thought-processes of the
human mind, but upon a higher arc? Is not that the Point towards
which both physics and metaphysics are gradually converging?
Supposing we were to recast the statement of the savage
philosopher and say, The essential nature of man is similar in
type to that of his Creator, would we be held to have said
anything either blasphemous or ridiculous?
5. We may personalise natural forces in terms of human
consciousness; or we may abstract human consciousness in terms of
natural forces; both are legitimate proceedings in occult
metaphysics, and the process yields some very interesting clues
and some very important practical applications. We must not,
however, make the mistake of the ignorant, and say A is B when we
mean A is of the same nature as B. But equally we may
legitimately avail ourselves of the Hermetic axiom, "As above, so
below," because if A and B are of the same nature, the laws
governing A can be predicated concerning B. What is true of the
drop is true of the ocean. Consequently, if we know anything
concerning the nature of A, we may conclude that, allowing for
the difference in scale, it will apply to B. This is the method
of analogy used in the inductive science of the ancients, and
provided it is counter-checked by observation and experiment, it
can yield some very fruitful results and cut out many leagues of
weary wandering in the dark.
6. The personification and deification of the natural forces
was man's first crude and shrewd attempt to evolve a monistic
theory of the universe and save himself from the destructive and
crippling influence of an unresolved dualism. As age by age
extended his knowledge and elaborated his intellectual processes,
he read more and more significance into the first simple
classifications. Nevertheless, he did not discard his original
classifications, because they were fundamentally sound and
represented actualities. He simply elaborated and extended them,
and finally, when he fell on evil times, overlaid them with
superstition.
7. We should not, therefore, regard the pagan pantheons as so
many aberrations of the human mind; nor should we try to
understand them from the viewpoint of the uninstructed and
uninitiated; we should try to find out what they must have meant
to the highly intelligent and cultured high-priests of the cults
in their heyday. Compare Mme. David-Neel and W. B. Seabrook on
the subject of heathen rites with the reports of the average
missionary. Seabrook shows us the spiritual significance of
voodoo, and Mme. David-Neel shows us the metaphysical aspect of
Thibetan magic. These things appear in one way to the sympathetic
observer who wins the confidence of the exponents of these
systems and succeeds in being received into their holy of holies
as a friend, and who goes to learn instead of merely to observe
and ridicule, and in another way to the "beef-fed zealot" who
walks into the holy place in his dirty boots and gets stoned by
the indignant worshippers.
8. In judging these things let us consider the form
Christianity would present if approached in the same way.
Unsympathetic observers would probably conclude that we
worshipped a sheep, and the Holy Ghost would yield some
spectacular interpretations. Let us credit other people with
using metaphors if we do not expect to be taken literally
ourselves. The outer form of the ancient pagan faiths is no
cruder than Christianity in backward Latin countries, where Jesus
Christ is represented in topper and tails and the Virgin Mary in
lace-edged pantaloons. The inner form of the ancient faiths can
compare very favourably with the best of our modern
metaphysicians. After all, they produced Plato and Plotinus. The
human mind does not change, and what is true of ourselves is
probably true of the pagans. The Lamb of God which taketh away
the sins of the world is only another version of the Bull of
Mithra which does the same thing, the only difference being that
the ancient initiate was literally "washed in blood" and the
modern one takes it metaphorically. Autres temps, autres
moeurs.
9. If we approach those whom we elect to call pagans, both
ancient and modern, in a reverent and sympathetic spirit, knowing
that Allah and Brahma and Amen-Ra are but other names for that
which we worship as God, we shall learn a very great deal that
was forgotten in Europe when the Gnosis was stamped out and its
literature destroyed.
10. We shall find, however, that the pagan faiths present
their teaching in a form that is not readily assimilable by the
European mind, and that if we are to arrive at its significance
we must restate it in our own terms. We must correlate the
metaphysical concept with the pagan symbol; then we shall be able
to apply to the former the vast mass of mystical experience which
generations of contemplatives and experimental psychologists have
organised about the latter. And when we speak of experimental
psychologists, we must not make the mistake of thinking that they
are an exclusively modern product, because the priests of the
ancient Mysteries, with their temple sleep and deliberately
induced hypnogogic visions, were nothing more nor less than
experimental psychologists, though their art has been lost, like
many other of the ancient arts, and is only being laboriously
recovered piecemeal in the more advanced circles of scientific
thought.
11. The method used by the modern initiate for interpreting
the language spoken by the ancient myths is a very simple and
effectual one. He finds in the Qabalistic Tree of Life a link
between the highly stylistic pagan systems and his own more
rational methods; the Jew, Asiatic by blood and monotheistic by
religion, has a foot in both worlds. Upon the Tree of Life with
its Ten Holy Sephiroth the modern occultist bases both a
metaphysic and a magic. He uses a philosophical conception of the
Tree to interpret what it represents to his conscious mind, and
he uses a magical and ceremonial application of its symbolism to
link it up with his subconscious mind. The initiate,
consequently, makes the best of both worlds, ancient and modern;
for the modern world is all surface consciousness, and has
forgotten and repressed the subconsciousness, to its own great
hurt; and the ancient world was mainly subconsciousness,
consciousness having been but recently evolved. When the two are
linked up and brought into polarised function they yield
superconsciousness, which is the goal of the initiate.
12. Holding the foregoing conceptions in mind, let us now try
to coordinate the ancient pantheons with the Spheres upon the
Tree of Life. There are ten such Spheres, the Ten Holy Sephiroth,
and between these we must distribute, according to type, the
different gods and goddesses of whatever pantheon we wish to
study; we are then in a position to interpret their significance
in the light of what we already know concerning the principles
represented by the Tree, and to add to our knowledge of the Tree
all that is available concerning the significance of the ancient
deities.
13. This is, obviously, of great intellectual value—but
there is another value which does not so readily appear to the
average man who has had no experience of Mystery workings; the
performance of a ceremonial rite symbolically representing the
working of the force personified as a god, has a very marked and
even drastic effect on the subconscious mind of any person who is
at all susceptible to psychic influences. The ancients had
brought these rites to a very high pitch of perfection, and when
we moderns are trying to reconstruct the lost art of practical
magic we can go to them with great profit. The whole philosophy
of European magic is based upon the Tree, and no one can hope to
understand it or use it intelligently who has not been trained in
the Qabalistic methods. It is this lack of training which makes
popular occultism so very apt to degenerate into the crudest
superstition. "Your number in your name" becomes a different
thing when we understand the mathematical Qabalah; fortunes in
tea-cups are another matter when we understand the significance
of the Magical Images and the method of their formulation and
interpretation as a psychological device for penetrating the veil
of the unconscious.
14. Broadly speaking, then, we sort out the gods and goddesses
of all the pagan pantheons into the ten pigeon-holes of the Ten
Holy Sephiroth, relying chiefly upon their astrological
associations to guide us, because astrology is the one universal
language, for all people see the same Planets. Space is referred
to Kether, the Zodiac to Chokmah, the seven planets to the next
seven Sephiroth, and Earth to Malkuth, Consequently, any god who
has an analogy with Saturn will be referred to Binah, as will any
goddess who might be termed the primordial mother, the Superior
Eve, as distinguished from the Inferior Eve, the Bride of
Microprosopos, Malkuth. The Supernal Triangle of Kether, Chokmah,
and Binah always refers to the Old Gods, which every pantheon
recognises as the predecessors of those forms of Godhead
worshipped by the current faith. Thus Rhea and Kronos would be
referred to Binah and Chokmah, and Jupiter to Chesed. All the
corn goddesses refer to Malkuth, and all the lunar goddesses to
Yesod. The war gods and destructive gods, or divine devils, refer
to Geburah, and the goddesses of love to Netzach. The initiator
gods of wisdom are referred to Hod, and the sacrificed gods and
redeemers to Tiphareth. So great an authority as Richard Payne
Knight in his valuable book, The Symbolic Language of Ancient
Art and Mythology, speaks of "the remarkable concurrence of
the allegories, symbols, and titles of ancient mythology in
favour of the mystic system of emanations." With this clue we
sort out the pantheons, thus enabling ourselves to compare like
with like and make the one illuminate the other.
15. In the system he gives in his book of correspondences,
777, Crowley assigns the gods to the Paths as well as to
the Sephiroth. This, in my opinion, is a mistake and leads to
confusion. It is the Sephiroth alone that represent natural
forces; the Paths are states of consciousness. The Sephiroth are
objective and the Paths are subjective. It is for this reason
that in the working glyph of the Tree used by initiates the
Sephiroth are always represented in one Colour Scale and the
Paths in another. Those who possess this glyph will know to what
I refer.
16. The Paths themselves, in my opinion, should be regarded as
under the direct presidency of the Holy Names governing their
Sephirothic attributions only, and should not be confused with
other pantheons; for although we may go to other systems for
intellectual enlightenment, we are unwise to attempt to mix the
methods of practical working and unfoldment of consciousness.
17. For instance, the Seventeenth Path, between Tiphareth and
Binah, is assigned by the Sepher Yetzirah to the Element
of Air. We are far wiser to work it with the rite of the Element
of Air and the Holy Names assigned thereto, and to approach it
through the appropriate Tattva, rather than confuse the issue
with the associations of the assorted collection of deities,
Castor and Pollux, Janus, Apollo, Merti, and other incompatibles
assigned to it by Crowley, whose correspondences present an
inextricable tangle of associations.
18. The Sephiroth should be interpreted macrocosmically, and
the Paths microcosmically; thus we shall find the clue to the
Tree in both man and nature.
1. If among the readers who have followed these studies in the Qabalah thus far there are any of the more advanced students of Western occultism, they will no doubt have found much more that is familiar than is new or original. In working upon this storehouse of ancient knowledge we are in the position of excavators working on the site of a buried temple; we are digging up fragments rather than studying a coherent system; for the system, though coherent enough in its heyday, was broken and scattered and defaced by the persecutions of twenty centuries or unenlightened bigotry and spiritual jealousy.
2. More work has been done upon these scattered fragments than
is generally realised, however. Mme. Blavatsky gathered together
a great mass of data and exposed it to the gaze of a public which
understood it little better than the child gazing at the cases in
a museum and marvelling at the queer things they contain. The
scholarly work of G. R. S. Mead has given us much information
concerning the Gnosis, the esoteric tradition of the Western
world during the earlier centuries of our epoch; Mrs. Atwood's
monumental book has revealed the significance of the Alchemical
symbolism to us. None of these, however, have expounded the
Western Tradition as initiates of that Tradition, but have
approached it from outside and either pieced together its
fragments, or, as in the case of Mme. Blavatsky, interpreted it
by analogy in the light of the more familiar system of another
Tradition.
3. Those who approached the study of the subject from the
inside—that is to say, with the initiatory keys—and
employed it as a practical system for the exaltation of
consciousness have, for the most part, maintained a secrecy
which, though it might have been not only justifiable and even
essential in the days when the Holy Inquisition rewarded such
researches with the stake, is difficult to assign to any more
creditable motive in our liberal age than a desire to create and
maintain prestige. A very effectual "corner" in occult practice,
if not in occult knowledge, has been established and maintained
among English-speaking peoples for the last quarter of a century.
A "corner" that effectually defeated the spiritual impulse which
should have given rise to a renaissance of the Mysteries during
the last quarter of the last century. Consequently, the earth
being ripe for the sowing and the wheat not being broadcast
therein, the four winds brought strange seeds to the waiting
ground, and a tropical growth sprang up that, having no roots in
racial tradition, withered away or developed strange forms.
4. The buried temple of our native tradition has in actuality
been excavated in part at any rate, but the rescued fragments
have not been made available for students according to the
honourable traditions of European scholarship, but have been
gathered together into private collections the keys whereof have
rested in the pockets of individuals who have opened and closed
the doors in an entirely arbitrary fashion. I have no doubt these
pages will cause heart-burnings in certain quarters whose private
collections they depreciate in value. But I have no doubt also
that the innumerable students who essayed the Western Path in
vain may find in these pages the keys to what was
incomprehensible to them in the method, or perhaps, to be more
accurate, the complete lack of method, in which they were
trained. Speaking for myself, it took me ten years' work in the
dark before I found the keys, and I only found these in the end
because I was sufficiently psychic to pick up the Inner Plane
contacts. I find it difficult to believe that any useful purpose
is served by deliberately darkening counsel or by withholding
from the student keys and explanations that are essential to his
work. If the student is unworthy to be trained, do not let us
train him. If he is to be trained at all, let us train him
properly.
5. In the following pages I have done my best to elucidate the
principles governing the use of magical symbolism. The practical
use of the ceremonial method is best attempted under the guidance
of one who is already experienced in its use; to work alone or
with equally inexperienced comrades is to run unnecessary risks,
but there is no reason why anyone should not experiment with the
meditative method.
6. In order to use the magical symbols effectually one has to
make the contact of each individual symbol. It is of little use
to make a list of symbols and proceed to the construction of a
ritual. In magic, as in violin-playing, one has to "make one's
notes"; one does not find them ready-made as on the piano. The
student of the violin has to learn to make each individual note
before he can play an air. So it is with any occult operation, we
must know how to construct and contact the magical images before
we can work with them.
7. The sets of symbols associated with each of the Thirty-two
Paths are used by the initiate to build up the magical images; it
is necessary that he should know these symbols not only in
theory, but also in practice; that is to say, he must not only
have them thoroughly well rooted in his memory, but must also
have performed meditations upon them individually until he has
penetrated their significance and experienced the force they
represent. To know the vast range of symbols associated with each
Path is, of course, the work of a lifetime, but the student must
learn the key-symbols of each Path as the essential preliminary
to his studies; he is then able to recognise all other
symbol-forms as they come his way and assign them to their proper
classification. His knowledge will thus develop under two
aspects: firstly, the knowledge of the symbolism in its infinite
ramifications; and secondly, the philosophy of the interpretation
of that symbolism. Once he has mastered a working knowledge of
the concepts of esoteric cosmogony and has the general scheme of
symbolism assigned to each Sephirah well fixed in his memory, the
student is equipped with a card-index system and can commence
filing, collecting the material for his files from every
imaginable source in archeology, folk-lore, mystical religion,
travellers' tales, and the speculations of ancient and modern
philosophy and ultramodern science.
8. The uninitiated inquirer may wonder how the enormous mass
of data is kept sorted in the memory. To begin with, the serious
student who uses the Tree as his meditation method works at it
regularly every day. Moreover, it will be found by experience
that the assignation of symbols to each Sephirah has a peculiar
logical basis, hidden somewhere deep in the subconscious mind,
and the symbol-sequences are not nearly so difficult to remember
as might be supposed, especially if they have been used for
meditation. Some of the symbols refer to the concepts of esoteric
philosophy, some to the methods of projecting consciousness in
vision, and some to the composing of ceremonial. The student must
remember, however, that the symbols will never yield their
significance to conscious meditation alone, however correctly and
completely they are known; they must be used as the initiates
intended them to be used, to evoke images from the subconscious
mind into conscious content.
9. One set of symbols is assigned to the Ten Holy Sephiroth
themselves, and another set to the Twenty-two Paths that connect
them. Some of the symbols, however, occur in both sets, and all
of them interconnect through their astrological and numerical
correlations. This sounds most perplexingly complex, but in
actual practice it is far simpler than it sounds, because the
work is not done with the conscious mind, but with the
subconscious mind, and it matters very little in what manner the
symbols are pitch-forked into it, the strange demon that sits
behind the censor sorts them out, picking that which it requires
and rejecting all else, until finally a coherent pattern
reappears in consciousness that only requires analysis to yield
its significance after the same manner as a dream.
10. A vision evoked by the use of the Tree is, in fact, an
artificially produced waking dream, deliberately motived and
consciously related to some chosen subject whereby not only the
subconscious content, but also the superconscious perceptions are
evoked and rendered intelligible to consciousness. In a
spontaneous dream the symbols are drawn at random from
experience; in the Qabalistic vision, however, the picture is
evoked from a limited set of symbols to which consciousness is
rigidly restricted by a highly trained habit of concentration. It
is this peculiar power to turn the mind loose within determined
limits which constitutes the technique of occult meditation, and
it is only to be acquired by constant practice over a
considerable period. It is this which constitutes the difference
between the trained and the untrained occultist; the untrained
person may be able to detach consciousness from the control of
the directing personality and thus allow the images to rise, but
he has no power to restrict and select what shall appear, and
consequently anything may appear, including a varying proportion
of subconscious content. The trained occultist, however,
accustomed to use this method in his meditations, is able to
swing instantly clear of the normal subconscious content unless
it is disturbed by emotion, in which case he is liable to be
entangled in its meshes; but even in this case his method is his
protection, for he is immediately able to recognise confused
symbolism in the images because he has a definite standard of
comparison with which to compare them.
11. In studying the Tree the student should always think of
each Sephirah under the threefold aspect we have already
mentioned of philosophy, psychism, and magic; to this end he
should always think of it firstly as representing a certain
factor in the evolution of the cosmos in the immemorial past of
cosmic time, whether it remains in manifestation, has passed
away, or has not yet arrived at the level of dense matter.
12. With this aspect of the Tree are also taken the curious
cryptic texts of the Sepher Yetzirah, one to each Path.
These most baffling utterances have a curious way of yielding
sudden flashes of illumination to meditation and are by no means
to be rejected as rubbish, incomprehensible though they may
appear at first sight.
13. Another source of illumination is to be found in the
additional titles of the Sephiroth, each of which has anything
from one to two or three dozen. These are graphic descriptive
names applied to the various Sephiroth by the ancient Rabbis and
found scattered through the Qabalistic literature, and they tell
us a great many things. For instance, the titles "Concealed of
the Concealed" and "Primordial Point" that are applied to Kether
convey a good deal to those who know where to look for it.
14. We can also, once we are acquainted with the symbolism,
assign to the various Sephiroth their equivalent gods in other
systems, and when we look up the symbols, functions, cosmic
concepts, and methods of worship assigned to these deities we get
a fresh flood of illumination. By the use of a good mythological
dictionary or an encyclopaedia, Frazer's Golden Bough, and
Mme. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine and Isis Unveiled,
we can, by the mere application of diligence, read a great many
riddles that at first appeared insoluble, and the exercise is a
fascinating one. When used thus the Tree is peculiarly valuable,
because its diagrammatic form causes things to be seen in
relation to each other, thus causing them to throw light upon
each other.
15. In order to manipulate the psychic aspect of the Tree and
its Paths the occultist uses images, because it is by means of
images and the names that evoke them that vision is formulated.
He associates with each Sephirah a primary symbol, which is
called its Magical Image. Secondly, he associates with it in his
mind a geometrical form which, in various ways, embodies its
characteristics, and when he composes symbols he uses that form
as the basis. For instance, Geburah, Mars, the Fifth Sephirah,
has assigned to it a pentagon or five-sided figure. Any symbol of
Geburah, whether it be a talisman, an altar to Mars, or a mental
picture of a symbol, would be in the form of a pentagon coloured
in one of the colours of the Mars colour scale.
16. The most important forms upon the Tree, however, are those
associated with the four Names of Power assigned to each
Sephirah; with these are associated four colours in which they
are conceived to manifest in a symbolic form in each of the Four
Worlds of the Qabalists. The highest of these is the God-name,
which manifests in Atziluth, the plane of spirit, and is the
supreme Name of Power of that Sephirothic Sphere and dominates
all its aspects, whether cosmic, evolutionary, or subjective. It
represents the idea underlying the development of manifestation
in that Sphere; the idea that runs through all subsequent
evolution and expresses itself in all ensuing effects and
manifestations.
17. The second Name of Power is that of the Archangel of the
Sphere, and represents the organised consciousness of the being
through the activities of which the evolution of that phase was
inaugurated and directed. Although these beings are represented
pictorially as of human form, though etherealised, it must not be
thought that life and consciousness as we know them in any way
correspond to their nature. They are more akin in essence to
natural forces, yet if we consider them simply as unintelligent
energy we shall have no adequate concept of their nature, because
they are essentially individualised, intelligent, and purposive.
Both these ideas must enter into our concept, modifying each
other, till finally we shall arrive at a realisation that differs
very widely from anything to which Western thought is
accustomed.
18. The third Name of Power denominates, not one being, but a
whole class of beings, the choirs of angels as they are called by
the rabbis, and these again represent intelligent natural
forces.
19. The fourth denominates what we have called the Mundane
Chakra, that is to say the celestial object which is looked upon
as the product of the particular phase of evolution which took
place under the presidency of that Sephirah and which represents
it.
20. The third aspect under which we consider the Sephiroth is
the magical aspect and is essentially practical. To arrive at
this, we think of what may be experienced under the presidency of
these different aspects of deity-manifestation, and what powers
may be wielded by the magician when he has mastered their
lessons.
21. Each Sephirah has assigned to it a virtue, which
represents its ideal aspect, the gift which it brings to
evolution; and a vice which is the result of the overplus of its
qualities. For instance, Geburah, Mars, has for its virtues
energy and courage, and for its vices cruelty and
destructiveness. The student of astrology will at once recognise
that the virtues and vices attributed to the various Sephiroth
are derived from the characteristics of the planets associated
with them, and will find that in this correspondence a whole new
line of approach to astrology is opened up.
22. The spiritual experience as I prefer to call it, or occult
power as Crowley calls it, is a profound realisation or vision of
some aspect of cosmic science. This constitutes the essence of
the initiation of the grade assigned to each Sephirah, for in the
Greater Mysteries of the West the grades are associated with the
Sephiroth.
23. The mediaeval Qabalists also assigned a part of the body
to each Sephirah, but this must not be taken too literally; the
real key is to be found in the realisation that the different
Sephiroth represent factors in consciousness, and if we take
Geburah as the strong right arm, we must realise that it really
means the dynamic will, the executive capacity, the destruction
of the effete and unbalanced.
24. Each Sephirah and Path has assigned to it symbolic
animals, plants, and precious stones. It is necessary that the
student should know these for two reasons: firstly, they give
some very important keys to the relations of the gods of the
different pantheons to the Sephiroth; and secondly, they form
part of the symbolism of the Astral Paths and serve as landmarks
when travelling in the spirit-vision. For instance, if one saw a
horse (Mars) or a jackal (Luna) in the sphere of Netzach (Venus),
one would know that there was confusion of plane and the vision
was not reliable. In her Sphere one would expect to see her
doves, and a spotted beast, such as a lynx or leopard.
25. It may be thought that the association of the symbolic
beasts with the gods and goddesses in the old myths is entirely
arbitrary and the fruit of the poetic imagination, which, like
the wind, bloweth where it listeth. To this the occultist answers
that the poetic imagination is not an arbitrary thing and refers
the sceptic to the works of Dr. Jung of Zurich, the famous
psychiatrist, and to the essays of the Irish poet, "A. E.," in
particular Song and its Fountains, wherein he analyses the
nature of his own sources of inspiration. From the intrinsic
nature of his poetry, and from many passing references in his
works, I think we may be entitled to claim "A. E." as one of that
band of students who have been nurtured on the mystical Qabalah.
At any rate, what he has to say is sound Qabalistic doctrine and
extremely illuminating to our present argument.
26. Dr. Jung has a great deal to say concerning the
myth-making faculty of the human mind, and the occultist knows it
to be true. He knows also, however, that its implications are
much farther reaching than psychology has yet suspected. The mind
of poet or mystic, dwelling upon the great natural forces and
factors of the manifested universe, has, by the creative use of
the imagination, penetrated far more deeply into their secret
causes and springs of being than has the scientist; it is not for
nothing that the racial imagination, working thus, has come to
associate certain animals with certain gods; a brief examination
of the examples cited serves to show the basis of the
association. The doves of Venus show her gentler aspect, and the
cat-beasts her sinister beauty.
27. The association of plants with the different Paths rests
upon a twofold basis. Firstly, there are plants traditionally
associated with the legends of the gods, as is corn with Ceres
and the vine with Dionysos; these we find associated with the
Sephiroth, with which the functions of these gods are
correlated—corn with Malkuth and the vine with Tiphareth,
the Christ-centre, wherewith are associated all the Sacrificed
Gods and the givers of illumination.
28. Plants are also associated with the Sephiroth in another
way; the old doctrine of signatures assigned various plants to
the presidency of various planets in a somewhat erratic fashion.
In some cases there was a genuine association, in others it was
arbitrary and superstitious. Old Culpepper and other ancient
herbalists have a great deal to say on the subject, and some very
interesting researches are being done on the Anthroposophical
experimental farms.
29. In a similar way certain drugs are associated with the
different Sephiroth; and here again we need to distinguish the
superstitious from the mystical. The arbitrary attribution of
drugs cannot always be justified by actual experiment, but we may
safely say that whole classes of drugs could be regarded as under
the presidency of certain Sephiroth because they partake of the
nature of certain modes of activity which are classified under
these Sephiroth. For instance, all aphrodisiacs could justly be
assigned to Netzach (Venus), and all abortifacients to Yesod in
her Hecate aspect; analgesics to Chesed (Mercy), and irritants
and caustics to Geburah (Severity).
30. This opens up a very interesting aspect of the study of
materia medica—the psychic and psychological aspect
of drug activity. It was this aspect which was especially studied
by the initiate-physicians such as Paracelsus, and it was the
ignorant and superstitious abuse of this aspect by uninitiated
physicians that led to the extraordinary aberrations of
folk-medicine.
31. The occultist knows that there is a psychological aspect
to every physiological action and function; he also knows that it
is possible powerfully to reinforce the action of all drugs by
the appropriate mental action, and that certain chemically inert
substances lend themselves effectually to the transmission and
storing of mental activities, just as other substances are
effectual conductors or insulators of electricity.
32. This consideration brings us to the question of the
association of certain precious stones and metals with the
different Sephiroth, an association determined by both
astrological and alchemical considerations. As is well known to
psychics, crystalline substances, metals, and certain liquids are
the best media for conveying or storing subtle forces. Colour
plays an important part in the visions induced by meditation on
the various Sephiroth, and it is found by experience that a
crystal of the appropriate colour is the best material out of
which to make a talisman: a blood-red ruby for the fiery Martian
forces of Geburah; an emerald for the Green Ray nature forces of
Netzach.
33. Perfumes, especially incense, are also associated with the
different Sephiroth. As has already been noted, certain spiritual
experiences and certain modes of consciousness are assigned to
each Sphere on the Tree; it is well known that nothing induces
states of mind or stimulates psychic consciousness more
effectually than odours. "Scents are surer than sights or sounds
to make your heart-strings crack," says the most objective of
poets, and the experience of practical occultists proves this to
be true. There are certain aromatic substances associated by
tradition with the different gods and goddesses, and these are
most effectually potent to stimulate the mood which is in harmony
with the function of that deity.
34. Magical weapons are also included in the long lists of
symbols and substances associated with each Path. A magical
weapon is an instrument of some sort which is used in the
evocation of a particular force, or is the vehicle of its
manifestation, such as the rod of the magician or the bowl of
water or crystal sphere of the seer. The assignation of the
magical weapons to the Paths tells us a good deal about the
nature of the Paths, because we can deduce therefrom the kind of
power that operates in the particular sphere in question.
35. As already noted, the various divinatory systems have
their relations with the Tree and find their subtlest clues
therein. The associations of astrology are readily traced through
the symbolism of the planets and elements and their triplicities,
houses, and rulership; geomancy links with the Tree via
astrology; and the Tarot, the most satisfactory of all the
systems of divination, rises from and finds its explanation in
the Tree and nowhere else. That may seem a dogmatic statement to
the scholarly historian searching for traces of the origin of
those mysterious cards, and, may we add, most lamentably failing
to find it; but when it is realised that the initiate works the
Tarot and the Tree together, and that they dovetail into each
other at every imaginable angle, it will be seen that such an
array of correspondences could be neither arbitrary nor
fortuitous.
36. A most interesting and important aspect of the practical
work of the Tree concerns the manner in which ceremonial and
talismanic magic are used to compensate the findings of the
divinatory sciences. Each prick-symbol of geomancy, each card of
the Tarot, and each horoscopic factor have their places assigned
to them on the Paths of the Tree, and the occultist with the
necessary knowledge can put together a ritual or design a
talisman to compensate or reinforce each and any of these.
37. It is for this reason that divination by the uninitiated
is apt to bring bad luck in its train, for it stirs the subtle
forces by concentrating the mind upon them, without compensating
that which is out of equilibrium by the appropriate magical
effort.
1. In Part I we considered the general scheme and method of using the Qabalistic Tree of Life. We now come to the detailed study of the individual Sephiroth. This study must necessarily be tentative, for a life's research could be given to the significance of the correspondences that spread in endless ramifications from every symbol associated with each Sephirah. But a start must be made, hence these tentative jottings; for I do not consider the following chapters on the individual Sephiroth worthy to be called anything better than this, even though they are the fruit of ten years' meditation on that marvelous composite symbol.
2. The Tables of Correspondences at the head of each section
consist of a selection of the principal symbols and ideas
associated with each Sephirah, and have no claim whatsoever to
comprehensiveness. They contain, however, the more significant
symbols, and are sufficient to enable the student to gain a sound
philosophical grasp of the subject, and experiment for himself in
the use of the Tree as a meditation symbol.
3. The references are taken chiefly from "777," by
Aleister Crowley, who got them from the MacGregor Mathers MSS.
Mathers, so far as I have been able to trace his references, for
he gives no authorities, drew upon the work of Dr. Dee and Sir
Edward Kelly; Cornelius Agrippa; Raymond Lully and Pietro de
Abano among the earlier writers. Among the moderns the same
material is found scattered through the works of Knorr von
Rosenroth; Wynn Westcott; Eliphas Levi; Mrs. Atwood; Mme.
Blavatsky; Anna Kingsford; Mabel Collins; Papus (Encausse); St.
Martin; Gerald Massey; G. R. S. Mead, and many others. To some of
these it is probable he was indebted; others may have been
indebted to him; some of them were actually members of the Order
of the Golden Dawn which he founded.
4. Other sources of information are Frazer's Golden
Bough; the works of Wallis Budge; the writings of Drs. Jung
and Freud; the translations of Dr. Jowett from the Greek; the
Sacred Books of the East Series, the Loeb Classical
Library; the translation of Plotinus by Stephen MacKenna; the
translation of the Zohar issued by the Soncino Press; and last,
but by no means the least valuable source of information, the
Holy Bible. So much for occult secrecy!
5. It will be seen that the symbols assigned to each Sephirah
are classified in regular order under certain headings. To
understand the significance attached to these different sections
by the occultist and the use he makes of them it is necessary to
explain the method of classification in detail.
6. SECTION 1. The Title assigned to the Sephirah.—Its
name is given first in Hebrew and then in English, and the Hebrew
spelling appended. The accurate spelling of all proper names used
in the Qabalah is vitally important because of the numerical
value attached to them by the Qabalists and the use made of the
significance of these numbers by those who work the numerological
methods. I am neither a numerologist nor a mathematician, and I
do not therefore propose to comment on that which lies outside
the sphere of my knowledge. I merely give the data for the
convenience of those who can appreciate its significance.
7. SECTION 2. The Magical Image and the Symbols associated
with each Sephirah.—The magical image is the mental picture
which the occultist builds up to represent the Sephirah, and its
details yield many significant symbols to meditation. These
images are so old, and have been built with such a wealth of
magical working, that they are apt to build themselves up of
their own accord during meditation upon the Sephiroth. In the
course of my own work on the Qabalah I saw most of them long
before I had access to the tables that gave them. In practical
working the initiated adept builds them detailed symbolism, and
it is a very valuable magical exercise up to practise the
visualisation of the magical images in their fullest detail. Much
of this detail can be gleaned from the accounts I give of each
Sephirah, but readers who have specialised knowledge of the
Eastern or classical pantheons any can elaborate these images to
any extent, surrounding them with all the paraphernalia of the
gods assigned to each Station on the Tree; these can be
identified through their astrological associations.
8. SECTION 3. The Situation on the Tree.—This throws an
immense amount of light upon any meditation, for it reveals the
equilibrium of the spiritual forces working in nature. For
instance, Geburah (Mars) and Chesed or Gedulah (Jupiter) are
opposite each other upon the Tree. The warrior king and the wise
and benign lawgiver of peace balance each other. Geburah when
unbalanced becomes cruelty and oppression, and Gedulah when
unbalanced suffers evil to multiply.
9. SECTION 4. The Yetziratic Text.—This consists of the
description of the Sphere or Path given in the Sepher
Yetzirah, or Book of Formations. The translation I have used
is that of Wynn Westcott.
10. These descriptions are exceedingly cryptic, but they will
from time to time yield a flash of inspiration, and undoubtedly
contain the essence of the Qabalistic philosophy.
11. SECTION 5. Descriptive Titles.—A catalogue of the
names that have been applied to that particular Sephirah in the
Rabbinical literature. These throw great light on the subject and
are also useful to the student for purposes of reference when
tracing out the ideas associated with a particular Sephirah.
12. SECTION 6. The Names of Power assigned to each
Sephira.—The God-name represents the most spiritual form of
the force and is conceived of as representing the functioning of
that force in the Kingdom of Atziluth, the highest of the Four
Kingdoms of the Qabalists.
13. The Archangelic Names represent the functioning of a force
in Briah, the Kingdom of the higher mind, are the archetypal
ideas.
14. Angelic choirs correspond to the Kingdom of or the Astral
Plane, and the Mundane Chakras are representatives of each force
in the Kingdom of Assiah—the Material Plane.
15. What I call in my tables the spiritual experience assigned
to each Sephirah is called by Crowley the magical
power—whereas this term may be rightly assigned to the
Twenty-two paths, it is misleading when applied to the Sephiroth.
I have changed the term in relation to the Sephiroth themselves,
but retained it in reference to the Paths for reasons which will
presently be seen.
16. SECTION 7. The Virtues and Vices assigned to each Sephirah
of the Tree.—These indicate the qualities necessary in
order to take the initiation of that grade, and the form that is
taken by any unbalanced force in that sphere. In the highest
grade of all, before form is developed, there is no
correspondence.
17. SECTION 8. Correspondence in Microcosm.—The
microcosm—which is man, corresponds with the Sephirothic
macrocosm, and is important from many practical standpoints,
particularly that of spiritual healing and astrology.
18. SECTION 9. The Four Suits of the Tarot Pack.—The
assignation of the Tarot cards to the Tree opens up immense
ranges of practical importance and forms the philosophical basis
of the divinatory art.
19. If the reader keeps these explanations in mind, he will be
able to follow the lines of reasoning and allusion developed in
the elucidation of the symbolism assign to each Sephirah.
20. There is an immense work to be done in correlating the
different polytheistic pantheons and the angelologies of
Christian, Hebrew, and Mohammedan faiths with the classifications
of the Tree. This has been done tentatively by Crowley, and is, I
fancy, original work and not derived from Mathers. Its
implications are not altogether clear to me, and I doubt if I
could subscribe to all of them. An immensely wide range of
scholarship is necessary for the satisfactory accomplishment of
this branch, a range of scholarship which I do not possess. I
shall therefore content myself with touching upon such points as
have come within the range of my knowledge and make no attempt in
the present pages at an ordered classification.
21. SECTION 10. The Flashing Colours.—This is only of
use to advanced students who possess the necessary keys.
Title: Kether, the Crown. (Hebrew: Kaph, Tau, Resh) Magical Image: An ancient bearded king seen in profile. Situation on the Tree: At the head of the Pillar of Equilibrium in the Supernal Triangle. Yetziratic Text: The First Path is called the Admirable or Hidden Intelligence because it is the Light giving the power of comprehension of the First Principle, which hath no beginning. And it is the Primal Glory, because no created being can attain to its essence. Titles Given to Kether: Existence of Existences. Concealed of the Concealed. Ancient of Ancients. Ancient of Days. The Primordial Point. The Point within the Circle. The Most High. The Vast Countenance. The White Head. The Head which is not. Macroprosopos. Amen. Lux Occulta. Lux Interna. He. God-Name: Eheieh. Archangel: Metatron. Order of Angels: Holy living creatures. Chaioth ha Qadesh. Mundane Chakra: Rashith ha Gilgalim. Primum Mobile. First Swirlings. Spiritual Experience: Union with God. Virtue: Attainment. Completion of the Great Work. Vice: -- Correspondence In Microcosm: The Cranium. The Sah. Yechidah. The Divine Spark. The Thousand-petalled Lotus. Symbols: The point. The crown. The swastika. Tarot Cards: The four Aces.
- Ace of Wands: Root of the Powers of Fire. - Ace of Cups: Root of the Powers of Water. - Ace of Swords: Root of the Powers of Air. - Ace of Pentacles: Root of the Powers of Earth. Colour in Atziluth: Brilliance. Colour in Briah: Pure white brilliance. Colour in Yetzirah: Pure white brilliance. Colour in Assiah: White, flecked gold.
1. Kether, the Crown, is placed at the head of the Middle
Pillar of Equilibrium, and from it depend backwards the Negative
Veils of Existence. I have already written concerning the use of
these Negative Veils as a background to thought, so I will not
repeat myself upon this point, but remind the reader that Kether,
the First Manifest, represents the primal crystallisation into
manifestation of that which was hitherto unmanifest and therefore
unknowable by us. Concerning the root from which Kether springs
we can know nothing; but concerning Kether itself we can know
something. It may be for us at our stage of development the Great
Unknown, but it is not the Great Unknowable. The mind of the
magus must compass it in his higher visions. In my own
experiences with the operation known as Rising on the Planes,
which consists in carrying consciousness up the Middle Pillar by
means of concentration on the successive symbols and the Paths,
Kether, on the one occasion when I touched its fringe, appeared
as a blinding white light, in which all thought went completely
blank.
2. In Kether there is no form but only pure being, whatever
that may be. It is, one might say, a latency only one degree
removed from non-existence. Such concepts must necessarily be
vague, and I am ill-equipped to give them such definiteness as
they might possess, but I am quite satisfied that we should
recognise grades of becoming, and that the crude differentiation
of Being and Nonbeing does not represent the facts. With
manifested existence there come into being the pairs of
opposites; but in Kether there is no division into the pairs of
opposites, which must wait for their manifestation till Chokmah
and Binah are emanated.
3. Kether, then, is the One, and existed before there was any
reflection of itself to serve it for an image in consciousness
and set up polarity. We must believe that it transcended all
known laws of manifestation by existing alone, without reaction.
But when we speak of Kether it must be remembered that we do not
mean a person, but a state of existence, and this state of
existing substance must have been utterly inert, pure being
without activity, until the activity began which emanated
Chokmah.
4. The human mind, knowing no other mode of existence than
that of form and activity, has the greatest difficulty in
obtaining any adequate concept of an entirely formless state of
passivity which is nevertheless most distinctly not non-being.
Yet this effort must be made if we are to understand cosmic
philosophy in its fundamentals. We must not draw the Veils of
Negative Existence in front of Kether or we shall condemn
ourselves to a perpetual unresolved duality; God and the Devil
will for ever war in our cosmos, and there can be no finality to
their conflict. We must train the mind to conceive the state of
pure being without attributes or activities; we may think of it
as the blinding white light, undifferentiated into rays by the
prism of form; or we may think of it as the darkness of
interstellar space, which is nothing, yet contains the
potentialities of all things. These symbols, dwelt upon by the
inner eye, are a greater aid to the understanding of Kether than
any amount of exact philosophical definitions. We cannot define
Kether; we can only indicate it.
5. It is a continual surprise and illumination to discover the
extraordinary significance of the hints contained in the tables
of correspondences, and the manner in which they lead the mind on
from concept to concept when pondered upon. The First Sephirah is
called the Crown, be it noted, not the head. Now the Crown is
something superimposed upon the head, and this gives us a clear
hint that Kether is of our cosmos, but not in it. We also find
its microcosmic correspondence in the Thousand-petalled Lotus,
the Sahasrara Chakra, which is in the aura immediately above the
head. This, I think, teaches us clearly that the innermost
spiritual essence of anything, whether man or world, is never in
actual manifestation, but is always the underlying,
behind-standing basis or root whence all springs, belonging in
fact to a different dimension, a different order of being. It is
this concept of the different types of existence which is
fundamental to esoteric philosophy, and must always be borne in
mind when considering the invisible kingdoms of the magician, or
operative occultist.
6. In the Vedanta philosophy Kether would undoubtedly equate
with Parabrahman, Chokmah with Brahman, and Binah with
Mulaprakriti. In the other great Systems of human thought Kether
equates with their primary concept and may be taken as the Father
of the Gods. If for them the universe originated in space, then
Kether is the Sky God. If it originated in water, Kether is the
primordial ocean. Always we find in connection with Kether the
sense of formlessness and timelessness. The gods of Kether are
terrible gods which eat their children, for Kether, although the
parent of all, reabsorbs the universe back into itself at the end
of an epoch of evolution.
7. Kether is the abyss whence all arose, and back into which
it will fall at the end of its epoch. Therefore in exoteric myths
associated with Kether we find the implication of non-existence.
In esoteric concepts, however, we learn that such a concept is
erroneous. Kether is the intensest form of existence, pure being
unlimited by form or reaction; but it is existence of another
type than that to which we are accustomed, and therefore it
appears to us as non-existence because it conforms to none of the
requirements we are accustomed to think of as determining
existence. This concept of other modes of existence is implicit
in our philosophy and must ever be borne in mind, for it is the
key to Kether, and Kether is the key to the Tree of Life.
8. The Yetziratic Text descriptive of Kether, like all the
sayings of the Sepher Yetzirah, is a hidden saying. It
calls Kether the Hidden Intelligence, and this appellation is
confirmed by several other of the titles given to Kether in
Qabalistic literature. It is the Concealed of the Concealed, the
Inscrutable Height, the Head which is not. Here again we get
confirmation of the idea that the crown is above the head of the
Celestial Man, Adam Kadmon; that pure being stands behind
manifestation and is not absorbed into it, but rather emanates or
projects it. As we express ourselves in our works, so does Kether
express itself in manifestation. But a man's works do not
constitute his personality, but are the expression of its natural
activity. So it is with Kether; its mode of existence is not
manifested, but is the cause of manifestation.
9. We have hitherto considered Kether in Atziluth, that is to
say, as its essential and primal essence. We must now consider
Kether as it appears in the three other Kingdoms distinguished by
the Qabalists.
10. Each Kingdom or plane of manifestation has its primary
form; matter, for instance, is in all probability primarily
electric, and this is expressed by the esotericists as the
etheric sub-plane which lies behind the four elemental planes of
Earth, Air, Fire, and Water; or in other words, the four
conditions of dense matter, solid, liquid, gaseous, and
etheric.
11. The Qabalists conceive of the Tree as existing in each of
the four Kingdoms of Atziluth, pure spirit; Briah, archetypal
mind; Yetzirah, astral picture-consciousness; and Assiah, the
material world in both its dense and subtler aspects. The
operations of the forces of each Sephirah are represented in each
world under the presidency of a Divine Name, or Word of Power,
and these words give the keys to the operations of practical
occultism upon the planes. The God-name represents the action of
the Sephirah in the world of Atziluth, pure spirit; when the
occultist invokes the forces of a Sephirah by the God-name, it
means that he desires to contact its most abstract essence, that
he is seeking the spiritual principle underlying and conditioning
that particular mode of manifestation. It is a maxim of White
Occultism that every operation should commence with the
invocation of the God-name of the Sphere in which the operation
is to take place. This ensures that the operation shall be in
harmony with cosmic law. The balance of natural force is not
lightly to be overset. It is essential to the safety of the
magician that he should conduct his operations in accordance with
cosmic law; therefore he must seek to understand the spiritual
principle involved in every problem and work it out accordingly.
Every operation, therefore, must have its final unification or
resolution in Eheieh, the God-name of Kether in Atziluth.
12. The invocation of Deity under the name of Eheieh, that is
to say the affirmation of pure being, eternal, unchanging,
without attributes or activities, underlying, maintaining, and
conditioning all, is the primary formula of all magical working.
It is only when the mind is imbued with the realisation of this
endless unchanging being of the utmost concentration and
intensity that it can have any realisation of limitless power.
Energy derived from any other source is a limited and partial
energy. In Kether alone is the pure source of all energy. The
operations of the magician that aim at the concentrating of
energy (and what operations do not?) must always start with
Kether, because here we touch the upwelling force arising from
the Great Unmanifest, the reservoir of limitless power. It is
through Kether, from the Great Unmanifest hidden behind the Veils
of Negative Existence, that power is drawn. If we draw power from
any specialised sphere of nature, we are, as it were, robbing
Peter to pay Paul. The power has come from somewhere, and gone
somewhere, and it has to be accounted for at the final reckoning.
It is for this reason that it has been held that the magician
pays in suffering for what he wins by magical means. This is true
if his operation is performed in any of the lower spheres of
nature; but if it starts in the Kether of Atziluth, he is drawing
unmanifest force into manifestation; he is adding to the
resources of the universe, and provided he keeps the forces in
equilibrium, there need be no untoward reaction and no payment in
suffering for the use of the magical powers.
13. This is a point of tremendous practical importance.
Students have been taught that the Three Supernals, Kether,
Chokmah, and Binah, are beyond the range of practical working so
long as we are in incarnation. True, they are beyond the range of
brain consciousness, but they are the essential basis of all
magical calculations, and if we do not work from this basis we
have no cosmic foundation, but are poised between heaven and
earth and find no place of rest or security, but must ever
maintain the magical stresses that keep the astral forms in
being.
14. The great difference between Christian Science and the
cruder forms of New Thought and Auto-suggestion is that it starts
all its workings in the Divine Life; and utterly irrational
though its attempts to philosophise its system may be, its
methods are empirically sound. The occultist, and especially the
practitioner of ceremonial magic, if uninstructed in this
discipline, tends to start his operation without any reference to
cosmic law or spiritual principle; consequently the astral images
he forms are like foreign bodies in the organism of the Celestial
Man, or Macrocosm, and all the forces of nature are spontaneously
directed towards the elimination of the foreign substance and the
restoration of the normal equilibrium of stresses. Nature fights
the magician tooth and nail; consequently, whosoever has resorted
to unconsecrated magic may never lay down his sword, but must
always be on the defensive in order to maintain that which he has
won. But the adept who starts his work in the Kether of Atziluth,
that is to say in spiritual principle, and works that principle
downwards to its expression on the planes of form, employing
power drawn from the Unmanifest for this purpose, has made his
Operation a part of the cosmic process, and Nature is with him
instead of against him.
15. We cannot hope to understand the nature of Kether in
Atziluth, but we can open our consciousness to its influence; and
its influence is very powerful and gives a strange sense of
eternity and immortality. We may know when the invocation of
Eheieh in its pure white brilliance has been effectual, because
we shall find ourselves realising with complete conviction the
utter impermanence and insignificance of the planes of form and
the supreme importance of the One Life which conditions all form
as clay in the hands of the potter.
16. Meditation upon Kether gives us an intuitive realisation
that the issue of an Operation does not matter in the very least.
"Let the dirt play with the dirt if it pleases the dirt." Once
that realisation has been obtained we have lordship over the
astral images and can turn them this way and that as it pleases
us. It is only when the operator cares nothing for the outcome of
the operation on the physical plane that he attains to this
complete lordship over the astral images. He is concerned simply
and solely with the handling of forces and the bringing of them
through into manifestation in form; but he does not care what
form the forces may ultimately assume, he leaves that to them;
for they will assuredly assume the form that is most consonant
with their nature, and thus be truer to cosmic law than any
design which his limited knowledge could assign to them. This is
the real key to all magical operations, and their sole
justification, for we may not turn the universe round and about
to suit our whim or convenience, but are only justified in the
deliberate work of magic when we work with the great tide of
evolving life in order to bring ourselves into fullness of life
whatever form that experience or manifestation may take. "I am
come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly," said Our Lord, and that should be the word of the
magician. Life, and life alone, should be his word, and not any
specialised manifestation of it as Wisdom, Power, nor even
Love.
17. Those who have followed the preceding discussion point by
point may now be able to see some significance in the cryptic
words of the Yetziratic Text assigned to Kether. The words
"Hidden Intelligence" convey a hint of the unmanifest nature of
the existence of Kether, which is confirmed by the statement that
"No created being can attain to its essence"; that is to say, no
being using as its vehicle of consciousness any organism of the
planes of form. When, however, consciousness has been exalted to
the point where it transcends thought, it receives from the
"Primal Glory" 'the power of comprehension of the First
Principle'; or in other words, "Then shall we know even as we are
known."
18. Eheieh, I Am That I Am, pure being, is the God-name of
Kether, and its magical image is an ancient bearded king seen in
profile. The Zohar says of this ancient bearded king that he is
all right side; we do not see the magical image of Kether
full-face, that is to say complete, but only partially. There is
an aspect which must ever be hidden from us, like the hidden side
of the moon. This side of Kether is the side that is towards the
Unmanifest, which the nature of our manifested consciousness
prevents us from comprehending, and which must ever be a sealed
book to us. But accepting this limitation we may gaze in
contemplation upon the aspect of Kether, the profile of the
ancient bearded king, presented to us reflected downwards into
form.
19. Ancient is this king, the Ancient of Ancients, the Ancient
of Days, for he was from the beginning, when countenance beheld
not countenance. A king he is, because he rules all things
according to his supreme and unquestioned will. In other words,
it is the nature of Kether that conditions all things, because
all things are evolved from it. Bearded he is, because in the
curious symbolism of the rabbis every hair of his beard has
significance.
20. The manifestation of the forces of Kether in Briah, the
world of archetypal mind, is said to be through the archangel
Metatron, the Prince of Countenances, who tradition avers was the
teacher of Moses. The Sepher Yetzirah says of the Tenth
Path, Malkuth, that "it causes an influence to flow from the
Prince of Countenances, the archangel of Kether, and is the
source of illumination of all the lights of the universe." Thus
plainly do we learn that not only does spirit flow out into
manifestation in matter, but matter by its own energy draws
spirit into manifestation, an important point for the
practitioner of magic, for it teaches him that he is justified in
his operations and that man is not required to wait upon the word
of the Lord, but may call upon God to hear him.
21. The angels of Kether, operating in the Yetziratic world,
are the Chaioth ha Qadesh, Holy Living Creatures, and their name
carries the mind to the Chariot Vision of Ezekiel and the Four
Holy Creatures before the Throne. The fact that the four aces of
the Tarot, assigned to Kether, are regarded as representing the
roots of the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water further
bears out this association. We may look, then, to Kether as the
fountain-head of the elements. This concept clears up many occult
and metaphysical difficulties that occur if we limit their
operation to the astral plane and regard elementals as little
better than devils, as some schools of transcendental thought
appear to do.
22. The whole question of the angels, archons, and elementals
is a very vexed and very important one in occultism, because its
practical application to magic is immediate. Christian thought
can tolerate with an effort the idea of archangels, but the
ministering spirits, the messengers who are flames of fire, and
the heavenly builders, are alien to its theology; God, alone and
in an instant, made the heavens and earth. The Great Architect of
the universe is also the bricklayer. Not so does esoteric
science. The initiate knows the legions of spiritual beings who
are agents of God's will and the vehicles of creative activity.
It is through these that he works, by the grace of their ruling
archangel. But an archangel cannot be conjured by any spell,
however potent. Rather is it that when we effect an operation of
the Sphere of a particular Sephirah, the archangel works through
us for the fulfilment of its mission. The art of the magician
therefore lies in aligning himself with cosmic force in order
that the operation he desires to perform may come about as a part
of the working of cosmic activities. If he be truly purified and
dedicated, this will be the case with all his desires; and if he
be not truly purified and dedicated, he is no adept, and his word
is not a word of power.
23. It is interesting to note that in the World of Assiah the
title of the Sphere of Kether is Rashith ha Gilgalim, or First
Swirlings, thus indicating that the rabbis were acquainted with
the Nebular Theory before science was acquainted with the
telescope. The manner in which the ancients deduced the basic
facts of cosmogony by purely intuitive means and the use of the
method of correspondences, centuries before the invention and
perfection of the instruments of precision which enabled modern
man to make the same discoveries from another angle, must be a
matter of perpetual amazement to anyone who comes to the
traditional philosophy unbiased.
24. As above, so below. The microcosm corresponds to the
macrocosm, and we must therefore seek in man the Kether above the
head which shines with a pure white brilliance in Adam Kadmon,
the Heavenly Man. The rabbis call it the Yechidah, the Divine
Spark; the Egyptians call it the Sah; the Hindus call it the
Thousand-petalled Lotus. But under all these names we have the
same idea—the nucleus of pure spirit which emanates but
does not indwell its many manifestations upon the planes of
form.
25. It is said that never while in incarnation can we rise to
the consciousness of Kether in Atziluth and retain the physical
vehicle intact against our return. Even as Enoch walked with God
and was not, so the man that has the vision of Kether is
disrupted so far as the vehicle of incarnation is concerned. Why
this must be is readily discerned when we remember that we cannot
enter into a mode of consciousness save by reproducing it in
ourselves, just as music means nothing to us unless the heart
sings with it. If therefore we reproduce in ourselves the mode of
being of that which has neither form nor activities, it follows
that we must free ourselves from form and activity. If we succeed
in doing so, that which is held together by the form-mode of
consciousness will fall apart and return to its elements. Thus
dissolved, it cannot be reassembled by returning consciousness.
Therefore when we aspire to the Vision of Kether in Atziluth we
must be prepared to enter into the Light and come not forth
again.
26. This does not imply that Nirvana is annihilation, as an
ignorant rendering of Eastern philosophy has taught European
thought; but it does imply a complete change of mode or
dimension. What we shall be when we find ourselves ranked with
the Holy Living Creatures, we do not know, and none who achieved
the vision of Kether in Atziluth have returned to tell us; but
tradition avers that there are those who have done so, and that
they are intimately concerned with the evolution of humanity and
are the prototypes of those supermen concerning whom all races
have a tradition; a tradition which, unfortunately, of recent
years has been cheapened and debased by pseudo-occult teaching.
Whatever these beings may or may not be, it is safe to say that
they have neither astral form nor human personality, but are as
flames in the fire which is God. The state of the soul which has
attained Nirvana may best be likened to a wheel that has lost its
rim and whose spokes have become rays that penetrate and
interpenetrate the whole creation; a centre of radiation to whose
influence no limit is set save that of its own dynamism, and
which maintains its identity as a nucleus of energy.
27. The Spiritual Experience assigned to Kether is said to be
Union with God. This is the end and aim of all mystical
experience, and if we look for any other goal we are as those who
build a house in the world of illusion. Anything that holds him
back from the straight path to this goal is felt by the mystic to
be a bond that binds, and as such to be broken. All that holds
consciousness to form, all desires other than the one
desire—these are to him evils, and from the standpoint of
his philosophy he is right, and to act otherwise would invalidate
his technique.
28. But this is not the only test which the mystic has to
face; it is required of him that he shall fulfill the
requirements of the planes of form before he is free to commence
his withdrawal and escape from form. There is a Left-hand Path
that leads to Kether, the Kether of the Qliphoth, which is the
Kingdom of Chaos. If he embarks upon the Mystic Path prematurely
it is thither he goes, and not to the Kingdom of Light. To the
man who is naturally of the Mystic Path the discipline of form is
uncongenial, and it is the subtlest of temptations to abandon the
struggle with the life of form that resists his mastery and
retreat back up the planes before the nadir has been rounded and
the lessons of form have been learnt. Form is the matrix in which
the fluidic consciousness is held till it acquires an
organisation proof against dispersal; till it becomes a nucleus
of individuality differentiated out of the amorphous sea of pure
being. If the matrix be broken too soon, before the fluidic
consciousness had become set as an organised system of stresses
stereotyped by repetition, consciousness settles back again into
formlessness, even as the clay returns to mud if freed from the
supporting restraint of the mould before it has set. If there is
a mystic whose mysticism produces mundane incapacity or any form
of dissociation of consciousness, we know that the mould had been
broken too soon for him, and he must return to the discipline of
form until its lesson has been learnt and his consciousness has
attained a coherent and cohesive organisation that not even
Nirvana can disrupt. Let him hew wood and carry water in the
service of the Temple if he will, but let him not profane its
holy place with his pathologies and immaturities.
29. The virtue assigned to Kether is that of Attainment, the
Completion of the Great Work, to use a term borrowed from the
alchemists. Without completion there can be no attainment, and
without attainment no completion. Good intentions weigh light in
the scale of cosmic justice; it is by our completed work that we
are known. True, we have all eternity in which to complete it,
but complete it we must, even to the final Yod. There is no mercy
in perfect justice save that which gives us leave to try
again.
30. Kether, viewed from the standpoint of form, is the crown
of the kingdom of oblivion. Unless we have realisation of the
nature of the life of the pure white light we shall have little
temptation to strive for the Crown which is not of this order of
being at all; and if we have this realisation, then are we free
from the bondage of manifestation and can speak to all forms as
one having authority.
Title: Chokmah, Wisdom. (Hebrew: Cheth, Kaph, Mem, He.) Magical Image: A bearded male figure. Situation on the Tree: At the head of the Pillar of Mercy in the Supernal Triangle. Yetziratic Text: The Second Path is called the Illuminating Intelligence. It is the Crown of Creation, the Splendour of Unity, equalling it. It is exalted above every head, and is named by Qabalists the Second Glory. Titles Given to Chokmah: Power of Yetzirah. Ah. Abba. The Supernal Father. Tetragrammaton. Yod of Tetragrammaton. God-Name: Jehovah. Archangel: Ratziel. Order of Angels: Auphanim, Wheels. Mundane Chakra: Mazloth, the Zodiac. Spiritual Experience: The Vision of God face to face. Virtue: Devotion. Vice: -- Correspondence in Microcosm: The left side of the face. Symbols: The Lingam. The Phallus. The Yod of Tetragrammaton. The Inner Robe of Glory. The Standing-stone. The Tower. The Uplifted Rod of Power. The Straight Line. Tarot Cards: The four Twos.
- Two of Wands: Dominion. - Two of Cups: Love. - Two Of Swords: Peace restored. - Two Of Pentacles: Harmonious change. Colour in Atziluth: Pure soft blue. Colour in Briah: Grey. Colour in Yetzirah: Pearl-grey, iridescent. Colour in Assiah: White flecked with red, blue, and yellow.
1. Every phase of evolution commences by being in a state of
unstable force and proceeds through organisation to equilibrium.
Equilibrium having been achieved, no further development is
possible without once more oversetting the stability and passing
through a phase of contending forces. As we have already seen,
Kether is the Point formulated in the Void. According to Euclid's
definition, a point has position but no dimensions. If, however,
a point may be conceived of as extending through space, it
becomes a line. The nature of the organisation and evolution of
the Three Supernals is so remote from our experience that we can
only conceive of them symbolically; but if we conceive of the
Primordial Point which is Kether as being extended into the line
which is Chokmah, we shall have as adequate a symbolic
representation as we may hope to achieve at our present state of
understanding.
2. This forth-flowing energy, represented by the straight line
or the uplifted rod of power, is essentially dynamic. It is, in
fact, the primary dynamism, for we cannot conceive the
crystallisation of Kether in space as a dynamic process; it
partakes rather of a staticism of the limiting of the formless
and free in the bonds of form, tenuous as that form may be in our
eyes.
3. The limits of the organisation of such a form having been
reached, the ever-inflowing force of the Unmanifest transcends
its limitations, demanding fresh modes of development,
establishing fresh relationships and stresses. It is this
out-driving of unorganised, uncompensated force which is Chokmah,
and because Chokmah is a dynamic Sephirah, ever out-flowing in
boundless energy, we do well to look upon it as a channel for the
passage of force rather than a receptacle for the storage of
force.
4. Chokmah is not an organising Sephirah, but it is the Great
Stimulator of the Universe. It is from Chokmah that Binah, the
Third Sephirah, receives its influx of emanation, and Binah is
the first of the organising, stabilising Sephiroth. It is not
possible to understand either of the paired Sephiroth without
considering its mate; therefore in order to understand Chokmah we
shall have to say something about Binah. Let it be noted, then,
that Binah is assigned to the planet Saturn and is called the
Superior Mother.
5. In Binah and Chokmah we have the archetypal Positive and
Negative; the primordial Maleness and Femaleness, established
while "countenance beheld not countenance" and manifestation was
incipient. It is from these primary Pairs of Opposites that the
Pillars of the Universe spring, between which is woven the web of
Manifestation.
6. As we have already noted, the Tree of Life is a
diagrammatic representation of the Universe on which the positive
and negative, male and female aspects are represented by the two
flanking Pillars of Mercy and Severity. It may seem strange to
uninstructed thought that the title of Mercy should be given to
the male or positive Pillar, and that of Severity to the female
Pillar; but when it is realised that the dynamic male type of
force is the stimulator of up-building and evolution, and that
the female type of force is the builder of forms, it will be seen
that the nomenclature is apt; for form, although it is the
builder and organiser, is also the limiter; each form that is
built must in turn be outgrown, lose its usefulness, and so
become a hindrance to evolving life, and therefore the bringer-in
of dissolution and decay, which lead on to death. The Father is
the Giver of life; but the Mother is the Giver of death, because
her womb is the gate of ingress to matter, and through her life
is ensouled in form, and no form can be either infinite or
eternal. Death is implicit in birth.
7. It is between these two polarising aspects of
manifestation—the Supernal Father and the Supernal
Mother—that the web of Life is woven; souls going back and
forth between them like a weaver's shuttle. In our individual
lives, in our physiological rhythms, and in the history of the
rise and fall of nations, we observe the same rhythmic
periodicity.
8. In these, the first paired Sephiroth, we have the key to
sex—the pair of biological opposites, maleness and
femaleness. But the pairing of opposites does not only occur in
type, it also occurs in time, and we have alternating epochs in
our lives, in our physiological processes, and in the history of
nations, during which activity and passivity, construction and
destruction alternately prevail; the knowledge of the periodicity
of these cycles is part of the secret, guarded, ancient wisdom of
the initiates, and is worked out astrologically and
Qabalistically.
9. The Magical Image of Chokmah and the symbols assigned to it
bear out this idea. The Magical Image is that of a bearded male,
bearded to indicate maturity; the father who has proved his
manhood, not the untried virgin male. The symbolic language
speaks plainly, and the lingam of the Hindus and the phallus of
the Greeks are the male generative organ in their respective
tongues. The standing-stone, the tower, and the uplifted rod all
signify the same virile member at its most potent.
10. It must not be thought, however, that Chokmah is a phallic
or sexual symbol and nothing else. It is primarily a dynamic or
positive symbol, for maleness is a form of dynamic force, just as
femaleness is a form of static, latent, or potential force, inert
till stimulus be given. The whole is greater than the part, and
Chokmah and Binah are wholes of which sex is a part. In
understanding the relationship which sex has to polarising force
as a whole, we find the key to the right understanding of sex,
and we can assess against a cosmic standard the teachings of
psychology and morality relating thereto. We can also see how it
comes about that the subconscious mind of man can represent the
sexes by so many and such diverse symbols, as the Freudians aver;
and why sublimation of the sexual instinct is possible, as the
moralists aver. Manifestation, then, is sexual insomuch as it
takes place always in terms of the pairs of opposites; and sex is
cosmic and spiritual because it has its roots in the Three
Supernals. We must learn not to dissociate the airy flower from
the earthy root, for the flower that is cut off from its root
fades, and its seeds are barren; whereas the root, secure in
mother earth, can produce flower after flower and bring their
fruit to maturity. Nature is greater and truer than conventional
morality, which is often nothing but taboo and totemism. Happy
the people whose morality embodies Nature's laws, for they shall
lead harmonious lives and increase and multiply and possess the
earth. Unhappy the people whose morality is a savage system of
taboos designed to propitiate an imaginary Moloch of a deity, for
they shall be sterile and sinful. Equally unhappy the people
whose morality outrages the sanctity of natural process and in
plucking the flower has no regard for the fruit, for they shall
be diseased of body and corrupt of estate.
11. In Chokmah, then, we must see both the creative Word which
said "Let there be light," and the lingam of Siva and the phallus
adored by the Bacchantes. We must learn to recognise dynamic
force, and revere it wherever we see it, for its God-name is
Jehovah Tetragrammaton. We see it in the spread tail of the
peacock and the iridescence of the neck of the dove; but we also
hear it in the yowl of the tom-cat and smell it in the stench of
the he-goat. Likewise we meet it in the colonising adventurers of
the most virile epochs of our history, notably those of Elizabeth
and Victoria—both women! We see it again in the man
diligent in his toil, strenuous in his profession, in order that
his home may be provided for. All these are types of Chokmah,
whose additional titles are Abba-Father. In all these
manifestations let us see the father, the giver of life to the
unborn as well as the male lusting after its mate; thus we shall
get a truer perspective in matters of sex. The Victorian
attitude, in its reaction against Restoration grossness,
practically arrived at the standard of the most primitive tribes,
who, travellers tell us, do not associate the union of the sexes
with the production of offspring.
12. The colour of Chokmah is said to be grey; in its higher
aspects, pearl-grey, iridescent. In this we see the veiling of
the pure white light of Kether descending in its path of
emanation towards Binah, whose colour is black.
13. The Mundane Chakra, or direct physical manifestation of
Chokmah, is said to be the Zodiac, called in Hebrew Mazloth. We
thus see that the ancient rabbis rightly understood the process
of the evolution of our solar system.
14. The Yetziratic Text assigned to Chokmah is, as usual,
exceedingly obscure in its wording; nevertheless we can gather
from it certain illuminating hints. The Second Path, as it
denominates Chokmah, it calls the Illuminating Intelligence. We
have already referred to the creative Word which said "Let there
be light." Among the symbols assigned to Chokmah in "777"
(Mathers-Crowley system) is that of the Inner Robe of Glory, a
gnostic term. These two ideas, taken together, lead on the
imagination to the idea of the ensouling life, the illuminating
spirit. It is the male force that implants the fecundating spark
in the passive ovum on all planes and transforms its inert
latency into the active up-building of growth and evolution. It
is the dynamic force of life, which is spirit, that ensouls the
clay of physical form and constitutes the Inner Robe of Glory
that is worn by all beings in whom is the breath of life. Force
embodied in form, and form ensouled by force, is signified by the
Illuminating Intelligence and the Inner Robe of Glory.
15. The Yetziratic Text also calls Chokmah the Crown of
Creation, thus implying that, like Kether, it is overshadowing
and external to, rather than imminent and absorbed in, the
manifested Universe. Actually it is the virile force of Chokmah
which gives the impulse to manifestation, and thus is prior to
manifestation itself. The Voice of the Logos was crying "Let
there be light" long ere the waters were separated from the
waters and the firmament appeared. This idea is further borne out
in the phrase of the Yetziratic Text which speaks of Chokmah as
the Splendour of Unity, equalling it, thus clearly indicating its
affinity to Kether, Unity, rather than to the planes of dualistic
form. The word splendour, as used here, clearly indicates an
emanation, or shining forth, and teaches us to think of Chokmah
as the emanating influence of pure being rather than as a thing
in itself. This again leads us on to a truer apprehension of sex.
Let it be made quite clear, however, that the sphere of Chokmah
has nothing to do with fertility cults as such, save that
maleness, dynamic force, is the primary life-giver and caller
into manifestation. Though the higher and lower manifestations of
dynamic force are the same in essence, they are upon different
levels; Priapus is not identical with Jehovah. Nevertheless, the
root of Priapus is to be found in Jehovah, and the manifestation
of God the Father is to be found in Priapus, as is indicated by
the fact that the rabbis call Chokmah the Yod of Tetragrammaton,
and Yod is identical with lingam in their phraseology.
16. It is curious that the Sepher Yetzirah says of two
of the Sephiroth that they are exalted above every head—a
contradictory statement; yet in the fact that it is made with
regard to Chokmah and Malkuth there is illumination for us if we
ponder its significance. Chokmah is the Supernal Father, Malkuth
is the Inferior Mother, and the text which declares her
exaltation above every head also says that she sitteth upon the
throne of Binah, the Superior Mother, the negative counterpart of
Chokmah. Now Chokmah is the most abstract form of force, and
Malkuth is the densest form of matter; so in this statement we
have a hint that each of this pair of extreme opposites is the
supreme manifestation of its own type; and both are equally holy
in their different ways.
17. We must distinguish between the fertility rite, the
vitality rite, and the illumination or inspiration rite, which
calls down the Pentecostal tongues of flame. The fertility cult
aims at plain and simple reproduction, whether of flocks, fields,
or wives; it belongs to Yesod, and has nothing whatever to do
with the vitality cult, which belongs to Netzach, the sphere of
Venus-Aphrodite. This concerns certain very important esoteric
teaching on the subject of the vitalising or magnetic influences
which the sexes have on each other, quite apart from physical
intercourse, and will be dealt with when Netzach, the sphere of
Venus, comes to be considered.
18. The Rite of Chokmah, if such it can be called, is
concerned with the influx of cosmic energy. It is formless, being
the pure impulse of dynamic creation; and being formless, the
creation it gives rise to can assume any and every form; hence
the possibility of sublimating creative force from its purely
Priapic aspect.
19. So far as I know, there is no formal magical ceremony of
any of the Three Supernals. They can only be contacted through
participation in their essential nature. Kether, pure being, is
contacted when we win to realisation of the nature of existence
without parts, attributes or dimensions. This experience is aptly
called the Trance of Annihilation, and those who experience it
walk with God and are not, for God has taken them; therefore is
the spiritual experience assigned to Kether that of Divine Union,
of which it is said that those who experience it enter into the
Light and come not forth again.
20. In order to contact Chokmah we must experience the rush of
the dynamic cosmic energy in its pure form; an energy so
tremendous that mortal man is fused into disruption by it. It is
recorded that when Semele, mother of Dionysos, saw Zeus her
divine lover in his god-form as the Thunderer, she was blasted
and burnt, and gave birth to her divine son prematurely. The
spiritual experience assigned to Kether is the Vision of God face
to face; and God (Jehovah) said to Moses, "Thou canst not look
upon my face and live."
21. But although the sight of the Divine Father blasts mortals
as with fire, the Divine Son comes familiarly among them and can
be invoked by the appropriate rites—Bacchanalia in the case
of the Son of Zeus, and the Eucharist in the case of the Son of
Jehovah. Thus we see that there is a lower form of manifestation,
which "shows us the Father," but that this rite owes its validity
solely to the fact that it derives its Illuminating Intelligence,
its Inner Robe of Glory, from the Father, Chokmah.
22. The grade of initiation corresponding to Chokmah is said
to be that of Magus, and the magical weapons assigned to that
grade are the phallus and the Inner Robe of Glory. This teaches
us that these symbols have a microcosmic or psychological
significance as well as a macrocosmic or mystical one. The Inner
Robe of Glory must surely signify the Inner Light which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world—the spiritual vision
whereby the mystic discerns spiritual things, the subjective form
of the Illuminating Intelligence referred to in the Yetziratic
Text.
23. The phallus or lingam is given as one of the magical
weapons of the initiate operating the grade of Chokmah; this
tells us that a knowledge of the spiritual significance of sex
and the cosmic significance of polarity concern this grade.
Anyone who can see beneath the surface in things mystical and
magical cannot fail to be aware of the fact that in the
understanding of the tremendous and mysterious potency (which we
call sex in one of its manifestations) lies the key to a very
great deal. It is not for nothing that sexual imagery pervades
the visions of the seer, from the Song of Songs to The
Interior Castle.
24. It must not be thought from this that I advocate orgiastic
rites as the Way of Initiation; but I may as well say plainly
that without the right understanding of the esoteric aspect of
sex, the Path is a blind alley. Freud spoke the truth to this
generation when he pointed to sex as a key to psychopathology; he
erred, in my opinion, when he made it the only key to the
nine-chambered soul of man. As there can be no health of
subconsciousness without harmony of sex-life, so there can be no
positive or dynamic working upon the plane of superconsciousness
unless the laws of polarity are understood and observed. To many
mystics, seeking refuge from matter in spirit, this may be a hard
saying, but experience will prove it a true one; therefore it
must be said, though there may be few thanks for saying it.
25. The tremendous down-rush of the Chokmah-force invoked
through the Divine Four-lettered Name comes from the macrocosmic
Yod to the microcosmic Yod, and is then sublimated. Unless the
subconscious mind is free from dissociations and repressions, and
all the parts of the many-sided nature of man are coordinated and
synchronised, reactions and pathological symptoms are the result
of that down-rush. This does not mean that the invoker of Zeus is
necessarily a worshipper of Priapus, but it does mean that no man
can sublimate a dissociation. When the channel is free from
obstructions the down-rushing force can swing round the nadir and
become an up-rushing force which can be directed to any sphere or
turned into any channel that is desired; but, like it or not, it
will be a down-rushing force before it is an up-rushing one, and
unless our feet are firmly planted on elemental earth we shall be
like bursting wine-skins.
26. Every practical occultist knows that Freud has spoken the
truth, even though it is not the whole truth, but they are afraid
to say so for fear of being accused of phallic worship and
orgiastic practices. These things have their place, though it is
not in the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and to deny them their
place is a folly for which the Victorian age paid dearly in a
rich harvest of psychopathology.
27. Whenever we are working dynamically upon any plane we are
operating the Right-hand Pillar of the Tree and derive our
primary energy from the Yod-force of Chokmah. In this connection
we must refer to the fact that the microcosmic correspondence of
Chokmah is given as the left side of the face. The macrocosmic
and microcosmic correspondences play an important part in the
practical workings. The Macrocosm, or Great Man, is, of course,
the universe itself; and the microcosm is the individual man. It
is said that man is the only being that has a fourfold nature
exactly corresponding in its levels to the cosmos. The angels
lack the lower planes, and the animals lack the higher
planes.
28. The references to the microcosm should not, of course, be
taken crudely as representing the parts of the physical body; the
references are to the aura and the functions of the magnetic
currents in the aura, and it must always be borne in mind, as the
Swami Vivekananda points out, that what is on the right in the
male is on the left in the female. In addition to this it must be
remembered that what is positive on the physical plane is
negative on the astral plane; it is positive again on the mental
plane and negative on the spiritual plane, as is indicated in the
twining black and white serpents of the Caduceus of Mercury. If
this Caduceus be placed upon the Tree when the Tree is marked off
to represent the Four Worlds of the Qabalists, a glyph is formed
which reveals the workings of the Law of Polarity in relation to
the Planes. This is a very important glyph, and yields a great
deal to meditation.
29. From this we learn that when the soul is in a female
incarnation it will function negatively in Assiah and Briah, but
positively in Yetzirah and Atziluth. In other words, a woman is
physically and mentally negative, but psychically and spiritually
positive, and the reverse holds good for a man. In initiates,
however, there is a considerable degree of compensation, for each
learns the technique of both positive and negative psychic
methods. The Divine Spark, which is the nucleus of every living
soul, is, of course, bisexual, containing the roots of both
aspects, as does Kether, to which it corresponds. In the more
highly evolved souls the compensating aspect is developed in some
degree at least. The purely female woman and the purely male man
prove to be oversexed as judged by civilised standards, and can
only find an appropriate place in primitive societies, where
fertility is the primary demand that society makes upon its
women, and hunting and fighting are the constant occupation of
the men.
30. This does not mean, however, that the physical functions
of the sexes are perverted in the initiate, or that the
configuration of the body is modified. Esoteric science teaches
that the physical form and racial type which the soul assumes in
each incarnation are determined by destiny, or Karma, and that
the life has to be worked out and lived accordingly. It is
inadvisable for us to play tricks with our type, racial or
physical, and we should always accept it as the basis of our
operations, and choose our methods accordingly. There are certain
operations and certain offices in the lodge for which a male
vehicle is more suitable than a female, and when practical work
is on hand the officers in a ceremony are selected on type; but
when the routine training of an initiate is in progress it is the
custom to let everyone take turns at the different offices in
order that they may learn to handle the different types of force
and so become equilibrated.
31. Benjamin Kidd, in his very stimulating book, The
Science of Power, points out that the highest type of human
being approximates to the infantile. We observe the enormous
relative size of the head as compared with the body-weight in the
infant, and that the secondary sexual characteristics are not
present. We find the same tendency appearing in a modified form
in the civilised adult. The highest type of man is not a hirsute
gorilla, nor is the highest type of woman an exaggerated mammal.
The tendency of evolution in civilisation is to an approximation
of type between the sexes so far as the secondary sexual
characteristics are concerned. What percentage of city-dwelling
males could grow a really patriarchal beard? The primary sexual
character, however, must be maintained unimpaired or the race
speedily dies out, and we have no reason to believe that this is
the case even among our most epicene moderns, who fill the
divorce courts with abundant evidence of their overflowing
philoprogenitiveness.
32. These things we can understand in the light that is thrown
on them when they are "placed upon the Tree." The two Pillars,
the positive under Chokmah and the negative under Binah,
correspond respectively to the Ida and Pingala of the Yoga
systems. These two magnetic currents, running in the aura
parallel to the spine, are called the Sun and Moon currents. In a
male incarnation we work predominantly with the Sun current, the
fertiliser; in a female incarnation we work predominantly with
the moon-forces. If we desire to work with the Opposite type of
force to that with which we are naturally endowed, we have to do
so by using our natural mode as the basis of operations and, as
it were, "cannoning off the cushion." The male who wants to use
the moon-forces employs devices that enable him to get his
natural sun-force reflected, and the female who wants to use the
sun-forces employs a device whereby she is enabled to focus them
upon herself and reflect them. On the physical plane the sexes
mate, and the man begets a child upon the woman, thus availing
himself of her moon-powers. The woman, on the other hand,
desiring creation and unable to compass it single-handed, entices
the male through his desires till he bestows upon her his
sun-force and she is impregnated.
33. In magical workings the man or woman who desires to work
with the opposite type of force to that of their physical
vehicle, and it is part of the routine of occult training that
they should do so, shifts the level of consciousness on to a
plane on which they find themselves of the requisite polarity,
and works thereon. The priest of Osiris sometimes employs the
elemental spirits to supplement his polarity, and the priestess
of Isis invokes angelic influences.
34. Because manifestation takes place through the Pairs of
Opposites, the principle of polarity is implicit not only in the
macrocosm but also in the microcosm. By understanding it, and
knowing how to avail ourselves of the potentialities it affords,
we can raise our natural powers far above their normal; we can
use our environment as a thrust-block; we can look for the potent
Chokmah-force in books, in our racial tradition, in our religion,
in our friends and associates; from all these we can receive the
stimulus that fecundates us and makes us creative mentally,
emotionally, and dynamically. We make our environment play
Chokmah to our Binah. Equally, we can play Chokmah to its Binah.
Upon the subtle planes polarity is not fixed, but is relative;
that which is more forceful than ourselves is positive towards
us, and renders us negative towards itself; that which is less
forceful than we are in any given aspect is negative towards us,
and we can assume the positive role towards it. This fluidic,
ever-fluctuating subtle polarity is one of the most important
points in the practical workings; if we understand it and avail
ourselves of it, we can do some very remarkable things and put
our lives and our relations with our environment on an altogether
different basis.
35. We must learn to know when we can function as Chokmah and
beget deeds upon the world; and when we had best function as
Binah, and make our environment fertilise us so that we become
productive. We must never forget that self-fertilisation involves
sterility in a few generations, and that we must ever and again
be fertilised by the medium in which we are working. There must
be an interplay of polarity between us and whatever we have set
out to do, and we must always be on the alert to find polarising
influences, whether in tradition, or in books, or in
fellow-workers in the same field, or even in the very opposition
and antagonism of enemies; for there is just as much polarising
force in a hearty hatred as there is in love, if we know how to
use it. We must have stimulus if we are to create anything, even
a useful life well lived. Chokmah is the cosmic stimulus.
Whatever stimulates is assigned to Chokmah in the classification
of the Tree. Sedatives are assigned to Binah. We shall obtain
further insight into this principle of cosmic polarity as we
study Binah, the Third Sephirah, for it is hardly possible to
understand the implications of Chokmah without reference to its
polarising opposite, with which it always functions. We will,
therefore, carry no further our study of polarity at the present
time, but conclude our examination of Chokmah by reference to the
cards attributed to it in the Tarot pack, and resume our research
into this most significant subject when Binah has afforded us
further
data.
36. As was noted in the chapter upon Kether, the four suits of
the Tarot pack are assigned to the four elements, and we saw that
the four aces represented the roots of the powers of these
elements, The four twos are assigned to Chokmah, and represent
the polarized functioning of these elements in harmonised
balance; therefore a two is always a card of harmony.
37. The two of Wands, which is assigned to the element of
Fire, is called the Lord of Dominion. The wand is essentially a
male phallic symbol, and is attributed to Chokmah, so we may take
this card as meaning polarisation; the positive that has found
its mate in the negative, and is in equilibrium. There is no
antagonism or resistance to the Lord of Dominion, but a contented
land accepts his rule; Binah, fulfilled, accepts her mate.
38. The two of Cups (Water) is called the Lord of Love and
here again we have the concept of harmonious polarisation.
39. The two of Swords (Air) is called the Lord of Peace
Restored, indicating that the disruptive force of Swords is in
temporary equilibrium.
40. The two of Pentacles (Earth) is called the Lord of
Harmonious Change. Here, as in Swords, we see a modification of
the essential nature of the elemental force by its polarising
opposite, thus inducing equilibrium. The disruptive force of
Swords is restored to peace, and the inertia and resistance of
Earth becomes, when polarised by the influence of Chokmah, a
balanced rhythm.
41. These four cards indicate the Chokmah-force in polarity,
that is to say the essential balance of power as it manifests in
the Four Worlds of the Qabalists. When they appear in a
divination they indicate power in equilibrium. They do not
indicate a dynamic force, as might be expected where Chokmah is
concerned; because Chokmah, being one of the Supernals, its force
is positive upon the subtle planes, and consequently negative
upon the planes of form. The negative aspect of a dynamic force
is represented by equilibrium, polarity. The negative aspect of a
negative potency is represented by destruction, as is shown in
the glyph of Kali, the terrible wife of Siva, girdled with skulls
and dancing upon the body of her husband.
42. This concept gives us a key to another of the many
problems of the Tree—the relative polarity of the
Sephiroth. As has previously been explained, each Sephirah is
negative in its relation with those above it, from which it
receives the influx of the emanations, and positive in relation
to those beneath it, which proceed from it, and to which it
therefore acts as emanator. Certain of the paired Sephiroth are,
however, more definitely positive or more definitely negative in
their nature. For instance, Chokmah is a positive Positive, and
Binah is a positive Negative. Chesed is a negative positive, and
Geburah a negative Negative. Netzach (Venus) and Hod (Mercury)
are said to be hermaphroditic. Yesod (Luna) is a positive
Negative, and Malkuth (Earth) is a negative Negative. Neither
Kether nor Tiphareth are predominantly male or female. In Kether
the Pairs of Opposites are latent and have not yet declared
themselves; in Tiphareth they are in perfect equilibrium.
43. There are two ways in which transmutation can be effected
on the Tree; and these are indicated by two of the glyphs which
are superimposed upon the Sephiroth; one of these is the Glyph of
the Three Pillars, and the other is the Glyph of the Lightning
Flash. The Pillars have been already described; the Lightning
Flash simply indicates the order of emanation of the Sephiroth,
zigzagging from Chokmah to Binah and from Binah to Chesed,
backwards and forwards across the Tree. If transmutation takes
place according to the Lightning Flash, the force changes its
type; if according to the Pillars, it remains of the same type,
but on a higher or lower are as the case may be.
44. This sounds very complex and abstract, but examples will
soon serve to show it to be simple and practical when understood.
Take the problem of the sublimation of sex-force, which besets
the psychotherapists, concerning which they talk so glibly and
say so little. In Malkuth, which in the microcosm is the physical
body, sex-force is in terms of ovum and spermatozoon; in Yesod,
which is the etheric double, it is in terms of magnetic force,
concerning which nothing is known to orthodox psychology, but
concerning which we shall have a good deal to say under the
heading of the appropriate Sephirah. Hod and Netzach are on the
astral plane, and in Hod we find that the sex-force is expressed
in visual images, and in Netzach in another and altogether
subtler type of magnetism popularly referred to as "It." In
Tiphareth, the Christ-centre, the force becomes spiritual
inspiration, illumination, the influx from the higher
consciousness. If it is positive in type, it becomes the
Dionysiac inspiration, a divine inebriation; and if it is
negative, it becomes the impersonal, all-harmonising
Christ-love.
45. When the transmutation is worked upon the Pillars we are
impressed by the truth of the ironical French
phrase—Plus ça change, plus c'est la même
chose. Chokmah, pure dynamism, pure stimulus without formed
expression, in Chesed becomes the upbuilding, Organising aspect
of evolution; anabolism, as distinguished from the catabolism of
Geburah. In Chesed the Chokmah force becomes that peculiarly
subtle form of magnetism which gives power of leadership and is
the root of greatness. Equally, on the Left-hand Pillar, the
force restraining Binah becomes the form-destroying Geburah, and
again the maker of magical images, Mercury-Hermes-Thoth.
46. From time to time the symbols of occult science have
leaked out into popular knowledge, but the uninitiated have not
understood the method of arranging these symbols in their pattern
as the Tree, nor of applying to them the alchemical principles of
transmutation and distillation wherein lie the real secrets of
their use.
Title: Binah, Understanding. (Hebrew—Beth, Yod, Nun, He.) Virtue: Silence. Magical Image: A mature woman. A matron. Vice: Avarice. Situation on the Tree: At the head of the Pillar of Severity in the Supernal Triangle. Yetziratic Text: The Third Intelligence is called the Sanctifying Intelligence, the Foundation of Primordial Wisdom; it is also called the Creator of Faith, and its roots are in Amen. It is the parent of faith, whence faith emanates. Titles Given to Binah: Ama, the dark sterile Mother. Aima, the bright fertile Mother. Khorsia, the Throne. Marab, the Great Sea. God-Name: Jehovah Elohim. Archangel: Tzaphkiel. Order of Angels: Aralim, Thrones. Mundane Chakra: Shabbathai, Saturn. Spiritual Experience: Vision of Sorrow. Correspondence in Microcosm: The right side of the face. Symbols: The Yoni. The Kteis. The Vesica Pisces. The cup or chalice. The Outer Robe of Concealment. Tarot Cards: The four Threes.
- Three of Wands: Established Strength. - Three of Cups: Abundance. - Three Of Swords: Sorrow. - Three Of Pentacles: Material works. Colour In Atziluth: Crimson. Colour in Briah: Black. Colour in Yetzirah: Dark brown. Colour in Assiah: Grey flecked pink.
1. Binah is the third member of the Supernal Triangle, and the
task of its elucidation will be both extended and simplified
because we can study it in the light of Chokmah, which balances
it on the opposing Pillar of the Tree. It is never possible to
understand a Sephirah if we consider it apart from its position
on the Tree, because this position indicates its cosmic
relationships; we see it in perspective, as it were, and can
deduce whence it comes and whither it goes; what influences have
gone to its making, and what it contributes to the scheme of
things entire.
2. Binah represents the female potency of the universe,
even as Chokmah represents the male. As already noted, they
are Positive and Negative; Force and Form. Each heads its
Pillar, Chokmah at the head of the Pillar of Mercy, and Binah
at the head of the Pillar of Severity. It may be thought that
this is an unnatural distribution; that the Supernal Mother
should preside over the mercies, and the male force of the
universe over the severities. But we must not sentimentalise
these things. We are dealing with cosmic principles, not
personalities; and even the symbols under which they are
presented give us insight if we have eyes to see. Freud would
not have quarrelled with the attribution of Binah to the head of
the Pillar of Severity, for he has a great deal to say about the
image of the Terrible Mother.
3. Kether, Eheieh, I Am, is pure being, all-potential but
non-active; when a flowing-forth of activity takes place from it,
we call that activity Chokmah; it is this descending stream of
pure activity which is the dynamic force of the universe, and all
dynamic force belongs to this category.
4. It must be remembered that the Sephiroth are states, not
places. Wherever there is a state of pure, unconditioned being,
without parts or activities, it is referred to Kether. Thus into
these ten pigeon-holes of our metaphysical card-index system we
can sort our ideas of the whole of the manifested universe
without the necessity of removing any object from its place in
nature as it appears to our understanding. In other words,
wherever we see pure energy functioning, we know that the
underlying force is that of Chokmah; this enables us to see the
intrinsic identity in type of all manner of phenomena which at
first sight appear entirely unrelated; for we learn by the
Qabalistic method to refer them according to their type to the
different Sephiroth, thus enabling ourselves to link them up with
all manner of cognate ideas according to the system of
correspondences explained on a previous page. This is the method
of the subconscious mind, which it pursues automatically; the
occultist trains his conscious mind in the use of the same
method. Incidentally we may note that whenever individuals are
working directly off the subconscious, as occurs in artistic
genius, in lunacy, and in dream or trance, this method is
used.
5. It may seem strange to the reader that this digression
concerning Chokmah should be included under the heading of Binah,
but it is only in the light of its polarity with Chokmah that
Binah can be understood; and equally, we shall have a great deal
more to add to our explanation of Chokmah now that we have got
Binah to compare it with. Each of the Pairs of opposites throws
light on the other and is incomprehensible alone.
6. But to return to Binah, the Qabalists state that it is
emanated by Chokmah. Let us translate this statement into other
terms. It is an occult maxim, which is, I believe, confirmed by
the researches of Einstein, though I have not the knowledge
necessary to correlate his findings with the esoteric doctrines,
that force never moves in a straight line, but always curve vast
as the universe, and therefore eventually returns whence it
issued forth, but upon a higher arc, for the universe has
progressed since it started. It follows, then, that force
proceeding thus, dividing and redividing and moving at tangential
angles, will eventually arrive at a state of interlocking
stresses and some manner of stability; a stability which tends to
be overset in course of time as fresh forces are emanated from it
into manifestation and introduce new factors with which
adjustment has to be made.
7. It is this state of stability, which is arrived at by the
interacting forces when they act and react and come to a
standstill, which is the basis of form, as is exemplified in the
atom, which is nothing more nor less than a constellation of
electrons, each of which is a vortex, or whirlpool. The stability
thus achieved, which, be it noted, is a condition and not a thing
in itself, is what Qabalists call Binah, the Third Sephirah.
Wherever there is a state of interacting stresses which have
achieved stability, the Qabalists refer the condition to Binah.
For instance, the atom, being for all practical purposes the
stable unit of the physical plane, is a manifestation of the
Binah type of force. All social organisations on which the dead
hand of unprogressiveness weighs heavily, such as the Chinese
civilisation before the revolution, or our older universities,
are said to be under the influence of Binah. To Binah are
attributed the Greek God Chronos (who is none other than Father
Time) and the Roman God Saturn. It will be observed the
importance attached to time, in other words to age, in these
Binah institutions; only grey hairs are venerable; ability alone
carries little weight. That is to say, only those who are
congenial to Chronos can succeed in such an environment.
8. Binah, the Great Mother, sometimes also called Marah, the
Great Sea, is, of course, the Mother of All Living. She is the
archetypal womb through which life comes into manifestation.
Whatsoever provides a form to serve life as a vehicle is of Her.
It must be remembered, however, that life confined in a form,
although it is enabled thereby to organise and so evolve, is much
less free than it was when it was unlimited (though also
unorganised) on its own plane. Involvement in a form is therefore
the beginning of the death of life. It is a straitening and a
limiting; a binding and a constricting. Form checks life, thwarts
it, and yet enables it to organise. Seen from the point of view
of free-moving force, incarceration in a form is extinction. Form
disciplines force with a merciless severity.
9. The disembodied spirit is immortal; there is nothing of it
that can grow old or die. But the embodied spirit sees death on
the horizon as soon as its day dawns. We can see then how
terrible must the Great Mother appear as She binds free-moving
force into the discipline of form. She is death to the dynamic
activity of Chokmah; the Chokmah-force dies as it issues into
Binah. Form is the discipline of force; therefore is Binah the
head of the Pillar of Severity.
10. We may conceive that the first Cosmic Night set in, the
first Pralaya, or sinking of manifestation to rest, when the
Supernal Triangle found stability and equilibrium of force with
the emanation and organisation of Binah. All was dynamic before;
all was forth-rushing and expansion; but with the coming into
manifestation of the Binah aspect there was an interlocking and
stabilising, and the old dynamic free flow was no more.
11. That such an interlocking and consequent stabilisation was
inevitable in a universe whose lines of force ever move in curves
is a foregone conclusion. And we can see, if we observe how the
Binah-state was the inevitable outcome of the Chokmah-state in a
curvilinear universe, that time must move through epochs in which
either Binah or Chokmah predominate. Before the lines of force
had completed their circuit of the manifested universe and begun
to return upon themselves and interlace, all was Chokmah, and
dynamism was unrestricted. After Binah and Chokmah, as the first
Pairs of Opposites, had found equilibrium, all was Binah, and
stability was immovable. But Kether, the Great Emanator,
continues to make manifest the Great Unmanifest; force flows in
upon the universe, and the sum of force is increased. This
inflowing force oversets the equilibrium that is arrived at when
Chokmah and Binah have acted, reacted, and come to a stop. Action
and reaction commence again, and the Chokmah-phase, a phase in
which dynamic force predominates, supervenes upon the static
condition which is Binah, and the cycle proceeds once more;
equilibrium between the Pairs of Opposites being arrived at in a
more complex form—on a higher arc, as it is called from the
evolutionary point of view—only to be overset again as the
ever-emanating Kether weighs down the balance in favour of the
kinetic principle as opposed to the static principle.
12. It will thus be seen that if Kether, the source of all
being is conceived of as the highest good, as it inevitably must
be, and the nature of Kether is kinetic and its influence is for
ever inclined towards Chokmah, it inevitably follows that Binah,
the opposite of Chokmah, the perpetual opposer of the dynamic
impulses, will be regarded as the enemy of God, the evil one.
Saturn-Satan is an easy transition; and so is Time-Death-Devil.
Implicit in the ascetic religions such as Christianity and
Buddhism is the idea that woman is the root of all evil, because
she is the influence which holds men to a life of form by their
desires. Matter is regarded by them as the antinomy of spirit in
an eternal, unresolved duality. Christianity is ready enough to
recognise the heretical nature of this belief when it is
presented to it in the form of Antinomianism; but it does not
realise that its own teaching and practice are equally antinomian
when it regards matter as the enemy of spirit, and as such to be
abrogated and overcome. This unhappy belief has caused as much
human suffering in Christian countries as war and pestilence.
13. The Qabalah teaches a wiser doctrine. To it, all the
Sephiroth are holy, Malkuth equally with Kether, and Geburah the
destroyer with Chesed the preserver. It recognizes that rhythm is
the basis of life, not a steady forward progress. If we
understood this better, how much suffering we should save
ourselves, for we should watch the Chokmah and Binah phases
succeeding each other, both in our own lives and the lives of
nations, and would realise the deep significance of Shakespeare's
words when he says:
"There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune."
14. Binah is the primordial root of matter, but the full
development of matter is not found till we arrive at Malkuth, the
material universe. We shall see repeatedly in the course of our
studies that the Three Supernals have their specialized
expressions on a lower arc in one or another of the six Sephiroth
which form Microprosopos. It is repeatedly said of these that
they have their roots in or are reflections of the higher triad,
and these hints have a deep significance. Binah links with
Malkuth as the root with the fruit. This is indicated in the
Yetziratic text of Malkuth, in which it says: "She sitteth upon
the throne of Binah." It is for this reason that a hard and fast
attribution of the gods of other pantheons to the different
Sephiroth is impracticable. Aspects of Isis are to be found in
Binah, Netzach, Yesod, and Malkuth. Aspects of Osiris are to be
found in Chokmah, Chesed, and Tiphareth. This comes out clearly
in Greek mythology, wherein the different gods and goddesses are
given descriptive titles. For instance, Diana, the moon-goddess,
the virgin huntress, was worshipped at Ephesus as the
Many-breasted; Venus, the goddess of female beauty and of love,
had a temple where she was worshipped as the Bearded Venus. These
things teach us some important truths. They teach us to look for
the principle behind the multiform manifestation, and to realize
that it assumes different forms on different levels. Life is not
quite so simple as the uninformed would like to believe.
15. The meaning of the Hebrew names of the second and third
Sephiroth are Wisdom and Understanding, and these are curiously
balanced one against the other as if the distinction were of
primary importance. Wisdom suggests to our minds the idea of
accumulated knowledge, of the infinite series of images in the
memory; but Understanding conveys to us the idea of a penetration
into their significance, a power to perceive their essence and
interrelation, which is not necessarily implicit in wisdom, taken
as intellectual knowledge. Thus we get a concept of an extended
series, a chain of associated ideas, in relation to Chokmah,
which at once correlates with the Chokmah symbol of a straight
line. But in regard to Understanding we get the idea of
synthesis, of the perception of significances which comes when
ideas are related one to another, and superimposed,
metaphorically speaking, one upon another in evolutionary series
from the dense to the subtle. Thus does the idea of the
binding-together Binah-principle come once again to our minds.
16. These are subtle ways of mind-working, and may appear
foolishness to those unaccustomed to the initiate's method of
using his mind; but the psychoanalyst understands them and
appreciates them at their true significance; and so likewise does
the poet when he constructs his cloud-capped towers of
imagery.
17. The Yetziratic Text stresses the idea of faith, the faith
that rests on understanding, whose parent is Binah. This is the
only place where faith may rightly rest. A cynic defined faith as
the power of believing what you know isn't true; and this appears
to be a fairly accurate definition for the manifestations of
faith as they appear in many uninstructed minds, the fruit of the
discipline of sects unenlightened by mystical consciousness. But
in the light of that consciousness we may define faith as the
conscious result of superconscious experience which has not been
translated into terms of brain consciousness, and of which,
therefore, the normal personality is not directly aware, though
it nevertheless feels, possibly with great intensity, the
effects, and its emotional reactions are fundamentally and
permanently modified thereby.
18. In the light of this definition we can see how the roots
of faith may indeed rest in Binah, Understanding, the synthetic
principle of consciousness. For there is a form aspect to
consciousness as well as to substance, and that aspect we shall
consider in detail when we come to the study of Hod, the basal
Sephirah of Binah's Pillar of Severity. Thus we see yet again how
the Sephiroth link up among themselves, and the illumination that
comes from observing their interrelationships.
19. The statement that the roots of Binah are in Amen refers
to Kether, for one of the titles of Kether is Amen. This clearly
declares that although Chokmah emanates Binah, we must not pause
there when seeking origins, but move back to the fount of all as
it rises from the Unmanifest behind the Veils of Negative
Existence. This concept is brought out very clearly by the
Yetziratic Text of Chesed, wherein it says, speaking of spiritual
forces: "They emanate one from another by virtue of the
primordial emanation, the highest crown, Kether."
20. We must not be misled or confused in this respect by the
fact that the Yetziratic Text of Geburah declares that Binah,
understanding, emanates from the primordial depths of Chokmah,
Wisdom. Binah is in Kether as well as Chokmah, "but after another
manner." In pure being, formless and partless though it is, are
the possibilities of both force and form; for where there is a
positive pole, there is necessarily the correlative aspect of a
negative pole. Kether is forever in a state of becoming. In fact,
I have been told by a Jewish Qabalist that the real translation
of Eheieh, the God-name of Kether, is "I will be," not "I am."
This constant becoming cannot remain static, it must overflow
into activity; and that activity cannot forever remain
uncorrelated within itself; it must organise; some manner of
adjustment of interlocking stresses must be arrived at; thus we
have the potentiality of both Chokmah and Binah implicit in
Kether; for be it said yet again that the Holy Sephiroth are not
things, but states, and that all manifested things exist in one
or another of these states, and contain an admixture of these
factors in their make-up, so that the whole of the manifested
universe can be sorted out into its appropriate pigeon-holes in
our minds when the glyph of the Tree is established there.
Indeed, when once that glyph is clearly formulated and well
established, the mind uses it automatically, and the complex
phenomena of objective existence sort themselves out in our
understanding. It is for this reason that the student of
occultism who is working in an initiatory school is made to learn
the principal correspondences of the Ten Holy Sephiroth off by
heart, instead of being allowed to depend upon tables of
reference. It has often been objected that this is an intolerable
waste of time and energy, and that reference to the tables of
correspondences, such as Crowley's "777" is quite as good.
But experience proves that this is not the case, and that the
esotericist who sets himself to this discipline and rehearses
them daily, as the Catholic tells his rosary, is amply repaid by
the subsequent illumination he receives as his mind automatically
sorts out the innumerable changes and chances of mundane life on
to the Tree, thus revealing their spiritual significance. It must
always be borne in mind that the use of the Tree of Life is not
merely an intellectual exercise; it is a creative art in the
literal meaning of the words, and faculties have to be developed
in the mind even as manual skill is acquired by sculptor or
musician.
21. The Yetziratic Text specifically refers to Binah as the
Sanctifying Intelligence. Sanctification conveys the idea of that
which is holy and set apart. The Virgin Mary is held to be
intimately associated with Binah, the Great Mother; and from this
attribution the mind is led on to the idea of that which brings
forth the All but retains its virginity; in other words, whose
creativeness does not involve it in the life of its creation, but
which remains apart and behind as the basis of manifestation, the
root-substance whence matter arises. For although matter is held
to have its roots in Binah, yet matter as we know it is of a very
different order of being to the Supernal Sephirah in which its
essence lies. Binah, the primordial formative influence, the
parent of all form, is behind and beyond manifesting substance;
in other words, is ever-virgin. It is this formative influence
underlying all form-building, this tendency for curving lines of
force to correlate and achieve stability, which is Binah.
22. These two basal Sephiroth of the Supernal Triad are
especially referred to as the Father and Mother, Abba and Ama,
and their magical images are those of the bearded male and the
matron, thus representing, not the sex attraction of Netzach and
Yesod, who are represented as maiden and youth, but the mature
beings who have mated and reproduced. We must always distinguish
between magnetic sex attraction and reproduction; they are by no
means one and the same thing; Oft are they even different levels
or aspects of the same thing. Herein is an important occult truth
which we will consider in detail in due course.
23. Chokmah and Binah, then, represent essential maleness and
femaleness in their creative aspects. They are not phallic images
as such, but in them is the root of all life-force. We shall
never understand the deeper aspects of esotericism unless we
realise what phallicism really means. It most emphatically does
not mean the orgies in the temples of Aphrodite that disgraced
the decadence of the pagan faiths of the ancients and brought
about their downfall; it means that everything rests upon the
principle of the stimulation of the inert yet all-potential by
the dynamic principle which derives its energy direct from the
source of all energy. In this concept lie tremendous keys of
knowledge; it is one of the most important points in the
Mysteries. It is obvious that sex represents one aspect of this
factor; it is equally obvious that there are many other
applications of it which are not sexual. We must not allow any
preconceived concept of what constitutes sex, or a conventional
attitude towards this great and vital subject, to frighten us
away from the great principle of the stimulation or fecundation
of the inert all-potential by the active principle. Whosoever is
thus inhibited is unfit for the Mysteries, over whose portal was
written the words, "Know thyself."
24. Such knowledge does not lead to impurity, for impurity
implies a loss of control that permits forces to override the
bounds that Nature has set them. Whoso has not control of his own
instincts and passions is no more fitted for the Mysteries than
he who inhibits and dissociates them. Let it be clearly realised,
however, that the Mysteries do not teach asceticism or celibacy
as a requirement of achievement, because they do not regard
spirit and matter as an irreconcilable pair of antinomies, but
rather as different levels of the same thing. Purity does not
consist in emasculating, but in keeping the different forces to
their proper levels and in their proper places, and not allowing
one to invade another. It teaches that frigidity and impotence
are just as much imperfections, and therefore pathologies of sex,
as is uncontrolled lust that destroys its object and debases
itself.
25. Every relationship of manifested existence involves the
Binah and Chokmah principles, and because sex is such a perfect
representation of these it was used as such by the ancients, who
were not troubled by our timidities on the subject, and took
their metaphors from the subject of reproduction as freely as we
take ours from the Bible. For to them reproduction was a sacred
process, and they referred to it, not with ribaldry, but with
reverence. If we want to understand them, we must approach their
teaching on the subject of the life-source and life-force in the
same spirit in which they approached it, and no one whose eyes
are not blinded by prejudice, or who does not stand in the shadow
thrown by his own unsolved problems, can fail to realise that our
present-day attitude towards life would be both saner and sweeter
for a leavening of pagan common sense and discernment.
26. The principles of maleness and femaleness as manifested
in Chokmah and Binah represent more than mere positivity and
negativity, activity and passivity. Chokmah, the All-begetter,
is a vehicle of primal force, the immediate manifestation of
Kether. It is, in fact, Kether in action; for the different
Sephiroth do not represent different things, but different
functions of the same thing, i.e. pure force welling up into
manifestation from the Great Unmanifest which is behind the
Negative Veils of Existence. Chokmah is pure force, even as the
expansion of petrol as it explodes in the combustion-chamber
of an engine is pure force. But just as this expansive force
would expand and be lost if there were no engine to transmit its
power, so the undirected energy of Chokmah would radiate into
space and be lost if there were nothing to receive its impulse
and utilise it. Chokmah explodes like petrol; Binah is the
combustion-chamber; Gedulah and Geburah are the back and forth
strokes of the piston.
27. Now the expansive force given off by petrol is pure
energy, but it will not drive a car. The constrictive
organisation of Binah is potentially capable of driving a car,
but it cannot do so unless set in motion by the expansion of the
stored-up energy of petrol vapour. Binah is all-potential, but
inert. Chokmah is pure energy, limitless and tireless, but
incapable of doing anything except radiate off into space if left
to its own devices. But when Chokmah acts upon Binah, its energy
is gathered up and set to work. When Binah receives the impulse
of Chokmah, all her latent capacities are energised. Briefly,
Chokmah supplies the energy, and Binah supplies the machine.
28. Consider now the maleness and femaleness of this Pair of
Supernal Opposites as reflected in the act of generation. The
spermatozoa of the male are incapable of more than the briefest
life; they are the simplest possible units of energy; once that
energy is expended, they dissolve. But the reproductive mechanism
of the female, the womb that bears and the breasts that feed, are
capable of bringing this handed-on life to independent life of
its own; and yet all this elaborate machinery must lie inert till
the stimulus of the Chokmah-force sets it in action. The female
reproductive unit is all-potential, but inert; the male
reproductive unit is all-potent, but incapable of bringing to
birth.
29. Most people think that because maleness and femaleness as
they know them on the physical plane are fixed principles
determined by structure, that the potent and the potential are
rigidly bound to their respective mechanisms. Now this is an
error. There is a continual alternation of polarity on every
plane except the physical. And indeed, among primitive types of
animal life there is even an alternation of polarity on the
physical plane. Among higher types, and especially the
vertebrates, polarity is fixed by the accident of birth, save in
hermaphroditic anomalies, which can't be regarded as other than
pathological, and in which only one sex is ever functionally
active, whatever the apparent development of the other aspect may
be. It is a knowledge of this continual interplay of polarity
which is one of the most important secrets of the Mysteries. It
is in no sense homosexuality, which is a perverted and
pathological expression of this fact that breaks out as a
disorder of sexual feeling when the law of alternating polarity
is not rightly understood.
30. Briefly, although his actual mode of reproduction on the
physical plane is determined for every individual by the
configuration of his body, his spiritual reactions are not so
fixed, for the soul is bisexual; in other words, in every
relation of life we are sometimes positive and sometimes
negative, according to whether circumstances are stronger than we
are, or we are stronger than circumstances. This is clearly
indicated in the proverb, that the grey mare is sometimes the
better horse. It also comes out clearly in the fact that Netzach
(Venus-Aphrodite) is the basal Sephirah of Chokmah's Pillar. We
thus get the female nature showing a different polarity on
different levels, for in Netzach she is as positive and dynamic
as she is static in Binah.
31. All this is not only bewildering intellectually, but also
confusing morally, and even at the risk of being accused of
fostering all manner of abnormalities, I must try to make the
matter clear, for its practical implications are so
far-reaching.
32. It has been said by the Rabbis that each Sephirah is
negative in relation to the one above it by which it is emanated,
and positive in relation to the one below it which it emanates.
This gives us the key; we are negative in our relationships with
that which is of a higher potential than we are; and we are
positive in our relationships with that which has a lower
potential. This is a relationship which is in a perpetual state
of flux, and which varies at every separate point at which we
make our innumerable contacts with our environment.
33. For the most part, the relationship between a man and a
woman is not entirely satisfactory to either party, and they have
either to put up with incomplete satisfaction in their
relationship under the compulsion of religious or economic
pressure, or supplement elsewhere their incompleteness, with as a
rule a recurrence of the previous conditions when once the
novelty has worn off. It is to be observed that under such
circumstances it is only in novelty that sexual satisfaction at
its highest is to be found; and novelty is a thing which requires
constantly to be renewed, with disastrous results to sexual
economics.
34. The trouble is, that while the male gives the physical
stimulus which leads to reproduction, he does not realise that on
the inner planes he is by virtue of the law of reversed polarity,
negative, and is dependent for his emotional completeness upon
the stimulation given by the female. He is dependent upon her for
emotional fertilisation, as is clearly shown in the case of any
highly creative mind, such as Wagner or Shelley.
35. Marriage is not a matter of two halves, but of four
quarters, uniting in balanced harmony of reciprocal fecundation.
Binah and Chokmah are balanced by Hod and Netzach. There are
goddesses as well as gods for man to worship. Boaz and Jakin are
both pillars of the Temple, and only when united do they produce
stability. A goddess-less religion is half-way to atheism. In the
word Elohim we find the true key. Elohim is translated "God" in
both Authorised and Revised Versions of the Holy Scriptures. It
really ought to be translated "God and Goddess," for it is a
feminine noun with a masculine plural termination affixed. This
is an incontrovertible fact, in its linguistic aspect at any
rate, and it is to be presumed that the various authors of the
books of the Bible knew what they meant, and did not use this
peculiar and unique form without good reason. "And the spirit of
the male and female conjoined principles moved upon the surface
of the formless, and manifestation took place." If we want
equilibrium instead of our present condition of unequal stresses,
we must worship the Elohim, not Jehovah.
36. The worship of Jehovah instead of the Elohim is a Potent
influence in preventing us from "rising on the planes," that is
to say from obtaining supernormal consciousness as Part of our
normal equipment; for we must be prepared to Shift our Polarity
as we shift level, for what is positive on the Physical Plane
becomes negative on the astral, and vice versa. Also, as
practical occult work always involves the use of more than one
plane, either simultaneously, as in invocation and evocation, or
in succession, as when we correlate the levels of consciousness
after psychic work, the negative factor must always have its
place in our work, both subjectively and objectively.
37. This again opens up new aspects of the subject, how many
people realise that their own souls are literally bisexual within
themselves, and that the different levels of consciousness act as
male and female towards each other?
38. Freud declared that the sex life determines the type of
the whole life. Probably, fundamentally, the life as a whole
determines the type of the sex life; but for practical purposes
his manner of putting it is true; for while it is not possible to
straighten out a tangled sexual life by operating upon life as a
whole—for instance, no amount of wealth or fame is any
adequate compensation if this fundamental instinct be
thwarted—it is quite possible to straighten out the whole
life-pattern by disentangling the sex life. This is a matter of
practical experience, and does not need to be reasoned from a
priori grounds. No doubt it is for this reason, learned by
practical experience of the workings of the human consciousness,
that the ancients made phallicism such an important part of their
rites. Actually, it is a very important factor in the ceremonial
aspect of the worship of moderns also, but recognition of the
significance of the symbols employed traditionally has been
repressed from consciousness.
39. Freudian psychology supplies the key to phallicism and
opens a door that leads into the Adytum of the Mysteries. There
is no getting away from this fact in practical occultism,
unpalatable as it may be to many; and it explains why so many
magical enterprises are sterile.
40. These matters are highly recondite secrets of the
Mysteries, of which we moderns have lost the keys; but the
experience of the new psychology, and its allied art of
psychiatry, has abundantly proved the soundness of the basis on
which the ancients built when they made adoration of the creative
principle and of fertility an important part of their religious
life. It is a matter of well-established experience that the
person who has dissociated his or her sexual feelings from
consciousness can never get to grips with life on any level. This
fact is the basis of modern psychotherapy. In occult work the
inhibited, repressed person tends to unbalanced forms of psychism
and mediumship, and is totally useless for magical work in which
power has to be directed and handled by the will. This does not
mean that either total repression or total expression is
necessary for magical working, but it does most emphatically mean
that the person who is cut off from his instincts, which are his
roots in Mother Earth, and in whose consciousness in consequence
there is a gap, cannot be an open channel through which power can
be brought down the planes into manifestation on the physical
level.
41. I shall no doubt be abused and misrepresented for my
frankness in these matters; but if no one will come forward and
bear the odium of speaking the truth, how is the wayfaring man to
find his way in the Mysteries? Are we to maintain a Victorian
attitude in the lodge which has everywhere been abandoned outside
it? Someone must break these false gods made in the image of Mrs.
Grundy. I am inclined to think, however, that any loss I may
sustain on this account will be small, for it would not be
possible to train or to co-operate with the kind of person who is
thrown into a panic by plain speaking? Do not let it be thought
that I am inviting anyone to participate with me in phallic
orgies, as it will probably be said that I am doing. I am merely
pointing out that the person who cannot see the significance of
phallic worship from the psychological point of view has not got
enough brains to be of very much use in the Mysteries.
42. Having given considerable space to the elucidation of the
Binah principle functioning in polarity with Chokmah, for not
otherwise can it be understood, for it is essentially a principle
of polarity, we can now consider the significance of the
symbolism assigned to the Third Sephirah. This falls into two
divisions—the Great Mother aspect and the Saturn aspect,
for both these attributions are given to Binah. She is the mighty
Mother of All Living, and she is also the death principle; for
the giver of life in form is also the giver of death, for form
must die when its use is outworn. Upon the Planes of form, death
and birth are the two sides of the same coin.
43. The mother aspect of Binah finds expression in the title
of Marah, the Sea, which is given her. It is a curious fact that
Venus-Aphrodite is represented as being born of the sea-foam, and
the Virgin Mary is called by Catholics Stella Maris, Star of the
Sea. The word Marah, which is the root of Mary, also means
bitter, and the spiritual experience attributed to Binah is the
Vision of Sorrow. A vision which calls to mind the picture of the
Virgin weeping at the foot of the Cross, her heart pierced by
seven swords. We also recall the teaching of the Buddha that life
is sorrow. The idea of subjection to sorrow and death is implicit
in the idea of the descent of life to the planes of form.
44. The Yetziratic Text of Malkuth, already referred to,
speaks of the Throne of Binah. One of the titles given to the
Third Sephirah is Khorsia, the Throne; and the angels assigned to
this Sephirah are called the Aralim, which also means thrones.
Now a throne essentially suggests the idea of a stable basis, a
firm foundation, upon which the wielder of power takes his seat
and cannot be moved. It is, in fact, a thrust-block which takes
the back-pressure of a force as the shoulder takes the kick of a
rifle. The great guns used for long-distance ranging have to be
bedded in a mass of concrete in order that they may resist this
back pressure of the charge that drives the shell forwards; for
it is obvious that the pressure on the breech of the gun must
equal the pressure on the base of the shell when the gun goes
off. This is a truth which our idealising religious tendencies
are inclined to ignore, with a consequent weakening and
invalidating of their teaching. Binah, Marah, matter, is the
thrust-block which gives dynamic life-force its secure basis.
45. Out of the resistance to spiritual force, as we have
already noted, comes the idea of implicit evil, which is so
unjust as Binah. This comes out very clearly when we consider the
ideas that rise up in association with Saturn-Chronos. There is
something sinister about Saturn. He is the Greater Malefic of the
astrologers, and anyone who finds a square to Saturn in their
horoscope regards it as a heavy affliction. Saturn is the
resister; but, being a resister, he is also a stabiliser and
tester who does not allow us to trust our weight to that which
will not bear it. It is an illuminating point that the
Thirty-second Path, which leads from Malkuth to Yesod and is the
first Path trodden by the soul striving upwards, is assigned to
Saturn. He is the god of the most ancient form of matter. The
Greek myth of Chronos, which is simply the Greek name for the
same principle, looks upon him as one of the Old Gods; that is to
say, the Gods that made the Gods. He was the father of
Jupiter-Zeus, who was saved from him by a cunning device of his
mother, for Saturn had an unpleasant habit of eating his
children. In this myth we get again the idea of the bringer into
life as the giver of death. As we have already noted, Saturn with
his reaping-hook readily becomes Death with his scythe. It is
very interesting to note the reentrant curves of these chains of
associated ideas in connection with each Sephirah, for we cannot
but see how the same images crop up again and again in every
train of ideas that we pursue, even when we start from ideas as
apparently divergent as the mother, the sea, and time.
46. To each planet is assigned a virtue and a vice; in other
words, each planet may be, in the words of the astrologers, well
or badly aspected, well or ill dignified. We cannot go through
life without noting that every type of character has the vices of
its virtues; that is to say, its virtues, carried to extremes,
becomes vices. So it is with the seven planetary Sephiroth; they
have their good and bad aspects according to the proportions in
which they are represented; when there is lack of equilibrium
owing to the unbalanced force of a particular Sephirah, we
experience the evil influences of that Sephirah; for instance,
Saturn ate his children! Death began to destroy life before it
had fulfilled its function. No Sephirah, therefore, is wholly and
solely evil, not even Geburah—which is destruction
personified. They are all equally indispensable to the scheme of
things as a whole, and their relative good or evil influence
depends on their being where they are wanted, in the right
proportions, neither too much nor too little. Too little of the
influence of a given Sephirah leads to unbalance on the part of
its opposite number. Too much becomes a positively evil influence
a poisonous overdose.
47. The virtue of Binah is said to be Silence, and its vice
Avarice. Here again we see the Saturn influence making itself
felt. Keats speaks of "grey-haired Saturn, silent as a stone,"
and in these few words the poet conjures up a magical image of
the primordial age and silence of the Saturnian influence. Saturn
is indeed one of the Old Gods and is concerned with the mineral
aspect of earth. He is throned upon the most ancient rocks where
no plant grows.
48. It is this silence which has ever been held to be an
especially desirable virtue in women. Be that as it may, and no
doubt her tongue is her most dangerous weapon, silence indicates
receptivity. If we are silent, we can listen, and so learn; but
if we are talking, the gates of entrance to the mind are closed.
It is the resistance and receptivity of Binah which are her chief
powers. And out of these virtues comes the vice which is
constituted by their overplus, the avarice which denies too much
and would withhold even that which is needful. When this
prevails, we need the generous Gedulah-Geburah, Jupiter-Mars
influence to slay the old god, the slayer of his children, and
reign in his stead.
49. The magical symbols of Binah are said to be the yoni and
the Outer Robe of Concealment, the latter is a gnostic term and
the former an Indian one, meaning the genitals of the female, the
negative correspondence of the phallus of the male. The less
well-known term Kteis is the European equivalent. In Hindu
religious symbols the yoni and lingam appear with the greatest
frequency, for the idea of life-force and fertility is a prime
mover in their faith.
50. The idea of fertility is the main motif in the aspects of
Binah that manifest in the world of Assiah, the material level.
Life not only enters into matter for discipline, but it also
issues thence triumphantly, increased and multiplied. The
fertility aspect, balancing the Time-Death-Limitation aspect, is
essential to our concept of Binah. Time-Death puts his sickle to
the wheat of Ceres, and both are Binah symbols.
51. The idea of the Outer Robe of Concealment clearly suggests
matter; and the shrouding herein of the Inner Robe of Glory of
the life-principle. How clearly do these two ideas, taken
together, convey to us the concept of the body ensouled by the
spirit; its Inner Robe of Spiritual Glory concealed from all eyes
by the outer covering of dense matter. Again and again, as we
meditate upon these mysteries, do we find illumination from the
apparently fortuitous collection of symbols assigned to each
Sephirah. We have seen already in our study that no symbol stands
alone, and that any penetration on the part of the intuition and
the imagination serves to reveal long lines of interlacing
connections between them.
52. The four Threes of the Tarot pack are the cards assigned
to Binah, and indeed the number three is intimately associated
with the idea of manifestation in matter. The two opposing forces
find expression in a third, the equilibrium between them, which
manifests on a lower plane than its parents. The triangle is one
of the symbols assigned to Saturn as the god of densest matter,
and the triangle of art, as it is called, is used in magical
ceremonies and it is the intention to evoke a spirit to visible
appearance on the plane of matter; for other modes of
manifestation the circle is used.
53. The Three of Wands is called the Lord of Established
Strength. Here again we have the idea of power in equilibrium,
which is so characteristic of Binah. Wands, be it remembered,
represent the dynamic Yod force. This force, when in the sphere
of Binah, ceases to be dynamic and becomes consolidated.
54. Cups are essentially the female force, for the cup or
chalice is one of the symbols of Binah and is intimately allied
with the yoni in esoteric symbolism. The three of Cups is,
therefore, at home in Binah, for the two sets of symbols
reinforce each other. The three of Cups, which is aptly named
Abundance, represents the fertility of Binah in her Ceres
aspect.
55. The Three of Swords, however, is called Sorrow, and its
symbol in the Tarot pack is a heart pierced by three swords. Our
readers will recall the reference to the sword-pierced heart of
the Virgin Mary in Catholic symbolism, and Mary equates with
Marah, bitter, the Sea. Ave, Maria, stella maris!
56. Swords are, of course, Geburah cards, and as such
represent the destructive aspect of Binah as Kali, the wife of
Siva, the Hindu goddess of destruction.
57. Pentacles are cards of Earth, and as such are congenial to
Binah, form. The three of Pentacles, therefore, is Lord of
Material Works, or activity on the plane of form.
58. It will be observed that, just as the planets have their
influence reinforced when they are in those signs of the Zodiac
which are called their own houses, so the Tarot cards, when the
significance of the Sephirah coincides with the spirit of the
Suit, represent the active aspect of the influence; and when the
Sephirah and the suit represent different influences, the card is
malefic. For instance, the fiery Sword card is a card of evil
omen when it finds itself in the sphere of influence of
Binah.
59. And finally to sum up. I have written of Binah at this
length because with her is completed the Supernal Triad and the
first of the Pairs of Opposites. She represents not only herself
but also the functioning partners, for it is impossible to
understand any unit on the Tree save by reference to those other
units with which it interacts and equilibrates. Chokmah without
Binah, and Binah without Chokmah, are incomprehensible, for the
pair are the functional unit, and not either of them
separately.
Title: Chesed, Mercy. (Hebrew—Cheth, Samech, Daleth.) Magical Image: A mighty crowned and throned king. Situation on the Tree: In the centre of the Pillar of Mercy. Yetziratic Text: The Fourth Path is called the Cohesive or Receptive Intelligence because it contains all the Holy Powers, and from it emanate all the spiritual virtues with the most exalted essences. They emanate one from another by virtue of the Primordial Emanation, the Highest Crown, Kether. Titles Given to Chesed: Gedulah. Love. Majesty. God-Name: El. Archangel: Tzadkiel. Order of Angels: Chasmalim, Brilliant Ones. Mundane Chakra: Tzedek, Jupiter. Spiritual Experience: Vision of Love. Virtue: Obedience Vice: Bigotry. Hypocrisy. Gluttony. Tyranny. Correspondence in Microcosm: The left arm. Symbols: The solid figure—Tetrahedron. Pyramid. Equal-armed Cross. Orb. Wand. Sceptre. Crook. Tarot Cards: The four Fours.
- Four of Wands: Perfected work. - Four Of Cups: Pleasure. - Four of Swords: Rest from strife. - Four Of Pentacles: Earthly power. Colour in Atziluth: Violet. Deep Colour in Briah: Blue. Colour in Yetzirah: Deep purple. Colour in Assiah: Deep azure, flecked yellow.
1. Between the Three Supernals and the next pair of balancing
Sephiroth upon the Tree there is a great gulf fixed which is
called by mystics the Abyss. The next six Sephiroth, Chesed,
Geburah, Tiphareth, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, constitute what
Qabalists call Microprosopos, the Lesser Countenance, Adam
Kadmon, the King. The Queen, the Bride of the King, is Malkuth,
the Physical Plane. We have, then, the Father (Kether), the King,
and the Bride, and in this configuration of the Tree there is
profound symbolism and great practical importance in both
philosophy and magic.
2. The Abyss, the gulf fixed between Macroprosopos and
Microprosopos, marks a demarcation in the nature of being, in the
type of existence prevailing upon the two levels. It is in the
Abyss that Daath, the Invisible Sephirah, has its station, and it
might aptly be named the Sephirah of Becoming. It is also
called Understanding, which might be further interpreted
as Perception, Apprehension, Consciousness.
3. These two types of existence, Macroprosopos and
Microprosopos, serve to indicate the potential and the actual.
Actual manifestation, as our finite minds can conceive it, begins
with Microprosopos; and the first aspect of Microprosopos to come
into being is Chesed, the Fourth Sephirah, situated immediately
below Chokmah, the Father, in the Pillar of Mercy, of which it is
the central Sephirah. It is balanced across the Tree by Geburah,
Severity; and this pair, Geburah and Gedulah, form "the Power and
the Glory" of the final invocation of the Lord's Prayer; the
"Kingdom" being, of course, Malkuth.
4. As we have already seen, we can learn much from the
position of a Sephirah in the pattern of the Tree; and from the
position of Chesed on the Pillar of Mercy we see that it is
Chokmah upon a lower arc. It is emanated by Binah, a passive
Sephirah, and emanates Geburah, a catabolic Sephirah, whose
Mundane Chakra is Mars with all his warlike symbolism, who is
Saturn upon a lower arc.
5. From these things we can learn a great deal about Chesed.
It is the loving father, the protector and preserver, just as
Chokmah is the All-begetter. It continues the work of Chokmah,
organising and preserving that which the All-Father has begotten.
It balances with mercy the severity of Geburah. It is anabolic,
or up-building, in contra-distinction to the catabolism, or
down-breaking of Geburah.
6. These two aspects are very well expressed in the Magical
Images assigned to these two Sephiroth. These Magical Images are
both kings; that of Chesed a king on his throne, and that of
Geburah a king in his chariot; in other words, the rulers of the
kingdom in peace and in war; the one a lawgiver and the other a
warrior.
7. The analogy of physiology gives us a clear understanding of
the significance of these two Sephiroth. Metabolism consists of
anabolism, or the ingesting and assimilating of food and its
building up into tissue, and catabolism, or the breaking down of
tissue in active work and the output of energy. The by-products
of catabolism are the fatigue poisons which have to be eliminated
from the blood by rest. The life-process is an everlasting
up-building and down-breaking, and Geburah and Gedulah (another
name for Chesed) represent these two processes in the
Macrocosm.
8. Chesed, being the first Sephirah of Microprosopos, or the
manifested universe, represents the formulation of the archetypal
idea, the concretion of the abstract. When the abstract principle
that forms the root of some new activity is formulating in our
minds, we are operating in the sphere of Chesed. Let an example
serve to make this clear. Supposing an explorer is looking out
from a mountain over a newly discovered country and sees that the
inland plains lying behind the coastal ranges are fertile, and
that a river flows through these plains and makes its way to the
sea through a gap in the mountain chain. He thinks of the
agricultural wealth of the plains, transport down the river, and
a harbour on the estuary, he knows that the scour of the river
will have made a tunnel by which ships can come in. In his mind's
eye he sees the wharfs and the warehouses, the stores and the
dwellings. He wonders whether the mountains contain minerals, and
pictures a railway line alongside the river and branch lines up
the valleys. He sees the colonists coming in, and the need for a
church, a hospital, a gaol, and the ubiquitous saloon. His
imagination maps out the main street of the township, and he
determines to stake corner lots that he may prosper with the
prosperity of the new settlement. All this he sees while virgin
forest covers the coastal belt and blocks the mountain passes.
But because he knows that the plains are fertile and that the
river has come through the mountains, he sees in terms of first
principles all the development that follows. While his mind is
working thus, he is functioning in the sphere of Chesed whether
he knows it or not; and all those who can also function in terms
of Chesed and think ahead as he does, seeing the thing that must
arise from given causes long before the first line is drawn on
the plan or the first brick laid in the trench, are able to
possess themselves of the valuable land where the wharfs must be
built and the main street must run.
9. All the creative work of the world is done thus, by minds
working in terms of Chesed the King seated upon his throne,
holding sceptre and orb, ruling and guiding his people.
10. By contrast with this we observe the people whose minds
cannot function above the level of Malkuth, the Bride of the
King. They are the folk who cannot see the wood for trees. They
think in terms of detail, lacking any synthetic principle. Their
logic is never able to reach back to origins but is always
materialistic. They are never able to discern subtle causes, and
are the victims of what they call the caprices of chance. They
are unable to discern subtle conditions, nor can they work out
the line that primary impulses will follow, or can be made to
follow, when these are coming down, or being brought down, into
manifestation.
11. The occultist who does not possess the initiation of
Chesed will be limited in his function to the sphere of Yesod,
the plane of Maya, illusion. For him the astral images reflected
in the magic mirror of subconsciousness will be actualities; he
will make no attempt to translate them into terms of a higher
plane and learn what they really represent. He will have made
himself a dwelling in the sphere of illusion, and he will be
deluded by the phantasms of his own unconscious projection. If he
were able to function in terms of Chesed, he would perceive the
underlying archetypal ideas of which these magical images are but
the shadows and symbolic representations. He then becomes a
master in the treasure-house of images instead of being
hallucinated by them. He can use the images as a mathematician
uses algebraic symbols. He works magic as an initiated adept and
not as a magician.
12. The mystic functioning in the Christ-centre of Tiphareth,
if he lacks the keys of Chesed, will also be hallucinated, but in
a different and more subtle way. Upon this level he will read the
magical images truly enough, referring them to that which they
represent and giving them no values save as tokens, as St.
Theresa has so clearly shown in her Interior Castle. He will fall
into the error, however, of thinking that the images he perceives
and the experiences he undergoes are the direct and personal
dealings of God with his soul, instead of realising that they are
stages on the Path. He will find a personal Saviour in the
God-man instead of in the regenerative influence of the
Christ-force. He will worship Jesus of Nazareth as God the
Father, thus confounding the Persons.
13. Chesed, then, is the sphere of the formulation of the
archetypal idea; the apprehension by consciousness of an abstract
concept which is subsequently brought down the planes and
concreted in the light of experience of the concretion of
analogous abstract ideas. Equally, in its macrocosmic aspect, it
represents a corresponding phase in the process of creation.
Materialistic science believes that the only abstract concepts
are those formulated by the mind of man. Esoteric science teaches
that the Divine Mind formulated archetypal ideas in order that
substance might take form, and that without such Archetypal ideas
substance was formless and void, primordial slime awaiting the
breath of life to organise into the crystal and cell. The latest
researches in physics have revealed that every substance, without
exception, has a crystalline structure, and the lines of tension
that the psychic perceives as etheric stresses have been revealed
by the X-rays.
14. A very important and very imperfectly understood part in
the Mysteries is played by those beings who are generally called
the Masters. Different schools define the term differently, and
some include living adepts of a high grade among the Masters; but
we consider that it is advisable to make a distinction between
the incarnate and disincarnate Elder Brethren because their
mission and mode of function are entirely different. The title of
Master should therefore be given only to those who are free from
the wheel of birth and death. In the terminology of the Western
Esoteric Tradition the grade of Adeptus Exemptus is assigned to
Chesed, the term Exemptus, or exempt, indicating that freedom
from karma which liberates from the Wheel. I am fully aware that
others may attach a different significance to the title, and that
there are persons in incarnation who hold this grade. To these I
reply that such persons, if the grade be a functioning one and
not a mere empty honour, are karma-free and will not reincarnate.
Such persons might justly be termed Masters, for their
consciousness is of the grade of a Master, but as it is so
necessary to make the distinction between incarnate and
disincarnate adepts, it is better to qualify the classification
by this minor distinction than to allow to humans a prestige
which human nature is not fitted to bear. As long as an adept is
incarnated he will be liable to human frailties in some degree,
and to the limitations imposed by old age and physical health. It
is not until he is free from the Wheel, and functions as pure
consciousness, that he will escape from human bondage to heredity
and environment; therefore the same reliance cannot be placed in
him that can be placed in the true, disincarnate Masters.
15. A very important part of the work of the Masters is the
concretion of the abstract ideas conceived by the Logoidal
consciousness. The Logos, Whose meditation gives birth to worlds
and Whose unfolding consciousness is evolution, conceives
archetypal ideas out of the substance of the Unmanifest—to
use a metaphor where definition is impossible. These ideas remain
within the Cosmic consciousness of the Logos like the seed within
the flower, because there is no soil therein for their
germination. The Logoidal consciousness, as pure being, cannot
upon Its own plane provide the formative aspect necessary for
manifestation. It is taught in the esoteric traditions that the
Masters, disincarnate consciousnesses disciplined by form but now
formless, in their meditations upon the Godhead are able to
perceive telepathically these archetypal ideas in the mind of
God, and by realising the practical application of them to the
planes of form and the line this development will follow, produce
concrete images in their own consciousness which serve to bring
the abstract archetypal ideas down to the first of the planes of
form, called by the Qabalists, Briah.
16. This, then, is the work that the Masters perform in their
special sphere, the sphere of the organising, up-building,
constructive Chesed on the Pillar of Mercy. The work of the Dark
Masters, who are quite different from the Black Adepts, is
performed in the corresponding sphere of Geburah, on the Pillar
of Severity, which will be considered in due course. The point of
contact between the Masters and their human disciples is in Hod,
the Sephirah of ceremonial magic, as is indicated by the
Yetziratic Text, which declares that from Gedulah, the Fourth
Sephirah emanates the essence of Hod. These hints given in the
Yetziratic Texts concerning the relations between the individual
Sephiroth are very important in practical occultism. Hod, then,
may be taken as representing Chokmah and Chesed upon a lower arc,
even as Netzach represents Binah and Geburah. This will be
explained in detail when these Sephiroth are dealt with, but it
must be referred to briefly now in order to make the function of
Chesed intelligible.
17. We have now reached a point in the scheme of the Tree
where the type of activity comes within the range of human
consciousness. In the study of the preceding Sephiroth we were
formulating metaphysical concepts. These concepts, although
remote from immediate application to the life of form, are
exceedingly important, for unless they are at the basis of our
understanding of esoteric science we shall fall into superstition
and use magic as magicians, not as adepts; in other words, we
shall be unable to transcend the bondage of the planes of form
and will be hallucinated and fall under the domination of the
phantoms evoked by the magical imagination, instead of using them
as the beads on the abacus of our calculations, which is as if
the engineer used the slide-rule as if it were a foot-rule.
18. Chesed, then, reflects into Hod through the Christ-centre
of Tiphareth, just as Geburah reflects into Netzach. This teaches
us a great deal, for it indicates that for consciousness to rise
from form to force, and for force to descend to form, it must
pass through the Centre of Equilibrium and Redemption, to which
are assigned the Mysteries of the Crucifixion.
19. It is to the Sphere of Chesed that the exalted
consciousness of the adept rises in his occult meditations; it is
here that he receives the inspirations which he works out on the
planes of form. It is here that he meets the Masters as spiritual
influences contacted telepathically, without any intermingling of
personality. This is the true, and the highest mode of contact
with the Masters, contact with them as mind to mind in their own
sphere of exalted consciousness. When the Masters are seen
clairvoyantly as robed beings, the colours of whose robes
indicate their ray, they are being perceived reflected into the
sphere of Yesod, which is the kingdom of phantasms and
hallucinations. We are treading on precarious ground when we have
to meet the Masters here. It is here that the anthropomorphic
form is given to the spiritual inspiration which so misleads
those psychics who cannot rise to Chesed. It is thus that the
announcement of a spiritual impulse flowing out upon the world
gets interpreted as the coming of a World Teacher.
20. As we come down the Tree into those spheres more within
the range of our comprehension than the Three Supernals, we find
the symbols associated with each Sephirah becoming more and more
eloquent as they speak to our experience instead of causing us to
reason by analogy.
21. The magical image representing Chesed is a mighty throned
and crowned king; throned because he is seated in stability in a
kingdom at peace, not going forth in his chariot to war, as is
suggested by the magical image of Geburah. The additional titles
of Chesed—Majesty, Love—bear out this concept of the
benignant king, the father of his people; and the situation of
Chesed in the centre of the Pillar of Mercy further bears out the
idea of stability and ordered and merciful law, governing for the
good of the governed. The title of the angelic host associated
with Chesed—the Chasmalim, or Brilliant Ones—enhances
the idea of the royal splendour of Gedulah, which is an
alternative title frequently used for Chesed. The Mundane Chakra
assigned to Chesed—Jupiter, the great benignity of
astrology—confirms the whole chain of associations.
22. Upon the microcosmic, or subjective, side we find that the
virtue assigned to this sphere of experience is that of
obedience. It is only through the virtue of obedience that the
subject can profit by the wise rule of Chesed. We have to
sacrifice much of our independence and egoism in order to share
in the amenities of organised social life. From this sacrifice
and restriction there is no escape. In this sphere no more than
in any other is impossible to eat one's cake and have it. There
is no such thing as liberty if liberty is to be interpreted as
unrestricted self-will. The force of gravity resists us, if
nothing else. Liberty might be defined as the right to choose
one's master, for a ruler one must have in all organised
corporate life, else there is chaos. It is effectual and
inspiring leadership that is the crying need of the world at the
present time, and country after country is seeking and finding
the ruler who approximates most closely to its national ideal,
and is falling in as one man behind him. It is the benign,
organised in the ordering Jupiter influence that is the only
medicine for the world's sickness; as this comes to bear, the
nations will recover their emotional poise and physical
health.
23. Conversely, the vices assigned to Chesed—bigotry,
hypocrisy, gluttony, and tyranny—are all social vices.
Bigotry refuses to move with the times or see another point of
View, both fatal vices in racial relationships. Hypocrisy implies
that we do not give ourselves whole-heartedly to the corporate
life, but, like Ananias, keep back a part of the price. Gluttony
exposes us to the temptation of taking more than our fair share
of the common store, and is but another name for selfishness. And
tyranny is that wrong use of authority which arises where there
are taints of cruelty and vanity in the nature.
24. The correspondence in the microcosm is given as the left
arm, which indicates a less dynamic mode of the functioning of
power than that of the right hand which grasps the sword in the
magical image of Geburah. The left hand holds the orb, which
signifies the earth itself, and shows that all is held secure in
the firm grasp of the ruler. Chesed, in fact, denotes firmness
rather than dynamic strength and energy.
25. The mystical number of Chesed is said to be four, and this
is often represented as a four-sided figure, or tetrahedron. A
talisman of Jupiter is always set up on such a figure. Another
symbol of Chesed is the solid figure as understood in geometry.
The reason for this is easily seen if one considers the
geometrical figures assigned to the Sephiroth which have already
been studied. The point is assigned to Kether; the line to
Chokmah; the two-dimensional plane to Binah; consequently the
three-dimensional solid naturally falls to Chesed.
26. But more is signified in this connection than a mere
random series of symbols. The solid essentially represents
manifestation as it is known to our three-dimensional
consciousness. We cannot conceive of one- or two-dimensional
existence save mathematically or symbolically. Chesed, as we have
already noted, is the first of the manifested Sephiroth;
therefore how naturally does the symbol of the solid figure come
into line with the rest of its symbolism. The solid figure used
for the purpose of symbolising Chesed is usually the pyramid,
which is a four-sided figure, consisting of three faces and a
base, thus expressing the numerological quality of Chesed.
27. There are many different aspects of the cross as a
significant Mystery symbol, besides the Calvary Cross of the
Christian Mystery, and each of these crosses represents different
modes of the functioning of spiritual power, just as do the
different forms of the Holy Names of God. The form of cross
associated with Chesed is the equal-armed cross, which is
symbolic of the four elements in equilibrium, and implies the
ruling of nature by a synthesising influence which brings all
things into balanced harmony.
28. The orb, wand, sceptre, and crook, all assigned to this
Sephirah, express so perfectly the different aspects of the
benign royal power of Chesed that they are in no need of
elucidation.
29. The four Tarot cards that are placed on Chesed when the
pack is set up for a divination carry out the ruling idea in the
correspondence. The Four of Wands symbolises Perfected Work, thus
representing admirably the achievement of the king in peace-time
in his well-governed kingdom. The Four of Cups is called the Lord
of Pleasure, and is in keeping with the title of Splendour
assigned to Chesed and with the brilliancy of its angelic host.
The Four of Swords indicates Rest from Strife, and agrees
perfectly with the significance of the seated ruler. The Four of
Pentacles is the Lord of Earthly Power, a symbolism so obvious
that it needs no elucidation.
30. The consideration of the Yetziratic Text has been left to
the last in this study, in order that the sequence of the
symbolism, unfolding in such ordered relationship, might not be
broken in upon. Moreover, this text contains so much significance
that it is best studied when we are as fully equipped as possible
with the cognate symbolism. Much that relates to the thing
contained in this text, however, has already been studied as it
came up for examination in relation to the preceding Sephiroth. I
will not repeat this at length, but content myself with referring
the student to those pages where the matters are dealt with in
detail, thus avoiding needless repetition which otherwise is
bound to occur in the study of such a subject as the Tree of
Life, where different symbols represent the same potency upon
different levels of manifestation or under different aspects.
31. "The Fourth Path is called the Cohesive Intelligence." How
clearly can we see the meaning of these words when we have learnt
to look upon Chesed through the symbol of the king seated upon
his throne, organising the resources and prosperity of his
kingdom, and causing all things to be drawn together into an
ordered whole for the common good.
32. It is also called the Receptive Intelligence in the
Yetziratic Text, and this is borne out in the symbol of the left
arm, which is assigned to this Sephirah in the microcosm.
33. Chesed "contains all the Holy Powers, and from it emanate
all the spiritual virtues with the most exalted Essences." The
teaching implicit in this statement has already been elucidated
in the previous exegesis under the concept of archetypal
ideas.
34. "They emanate one from another by virtue of the primordial
emanation, the Highest Crown, Kether." These concepts have
already been dealt with in relation to the Second Sephirah,
Chokmah, when the overflowing of force from Sphere to Sphere was
considered.
Title: Geburah, Strength, Severity. (Hebrew: Gimel, Beth, Vau, Resh, Heh.) Magical Image: A mighty warrior in his chariot. Situation on the Tree: In the centre of the Pillar of Severity. Yetziratic Text: The Fifth Path is called the Radical Intelligence because it resembles Unity, uniting itself to Binah, Understanding, which emanates from the primordial depths of Chokmah, Wisdom. Titles Given To Geburah: Din: Justice. Pachad: Fear. God-Name: Elohim Gibor. Archangel: Khamael. Host of Angels: Seraphim, Fiery Serpents. Mundane Chakra: Madim, Mars. Spiritual Experience: Vision of Power. Virtue: Energy. Courage. Vice: Cruelty. Destruction. Correspondence in Microcosm: The right arm. Symbols: The Pentagon. The Five-petalled Tudor Rose. The Sword. The Spur. The Scourge. The Chain. Tarot Cards: The four Fives.
- Five of Wands: Strife. - Five of Cups: Loss in pleasure. - Five of Swords: Defeat. - Five of Pentacles: Earthly trouble. Colour in Atziluth: Orange. Colour in Briah: Scarlet red. Colour in Yetzirah: Bright scarlet. Colour in Assiah: Red, flecked with black.
1. One of the least understood things in Christian philosophy
is the problem of evil; and one of the things least adequately
dealt with in the Christian ethic is the problem of force, or
severity, as contrasted with mercy and mildness. Consequently
Geburah, the Fifth Sephirah, which has for additional titles Din
(Justice) and Pachad (Fear), is one of the least understood of
all the Sephiroth, and is therefore one of the most important.
Were it not that the Qabalistic doctrine explicitly lays it down
that all the Ten Sephiroth are holy, there are many who would be
inclined to look upon Geburah as the evil aspect of the Tree of
Life. Indeed, the planet Mars, whose sphere is the Mundane Chakra
of Geburah, is called in astrology an infortune.
2. Those, however, who are instructed beyond the crude
pretty-pretty of a wish-fulfilling philosophy know that Geburah
is by no means the Enemy or Adversary described in Scripture,
but the king in his chariot going forth to war whose strong
right arm protects his people with the sword of righteousness
and ensures that justice shall be done. Chesed, the king on his
throne, the father of his people in times of peace, may win our
love; but it is Geburah, the king in his chariot going forth
to war, who commands our respect. Sufficient justice has not
been done to the part played by the sentiment of respect in the
emotion of love. We have a kind of love for the person who can
put the fear of God into us, should occasion arise, which is of
quite a different quality, is far more steadfast and permanent,
and, curiously enough, far more emotionally satisfying, than
the love with which no tinge of awe is mingled. It is Geburah
that supplies the element of awe, of the fear of the Lord which
is the beginning of wisdom, and of a general wholesome respect
which helps us to keep to the straight and narrow way and calls
forth our better nature, because we know our sins will find us
out.
3. This is a factor to which the Christian ethic, as popularly
understood, does not give sufficient weight; and because the
general tone of Christian society is biased against the holy
Fifth Sephirah, it will be necessary to consider its place in
relation to the Tree and the part it plays in both spiritual and
social life in considerable detail; for it is ill understood, and
this absence of understanding of the Geburah-factor is the cause
of many of our difficulties in modern life.
4. Geburah holds the central position on the Pillar of
Severity; it therefore represents the catabolic, or down-breaking
aspect of force. Catabolism, be it remembered, is that aspect of
metabolism, or the life-process, which is combined with the
release of force in activity. It has been said that good is that
which is constructive, which builds up, and evil is that which is
destructive, which breaks down. How false this philosophy is we
see when we try to classify, according to this principle, a
cancer and a disinfectant. In the deeper, more philosophical
teaching of the Mysteries we recognise that good and evil are not
things in themselves, but conditions. Evil is simply misplaced
force; misplaced in time, if it is out of date, or so far ahead
of its day as to be impracticable. Misplaced in space, if it
turns up in the wrong place, like the burning coal on the
hearth-rug or the bath water through the drawing-room ceiling.
Misplaced in proportion, if an excess of love makes us silly and
sentimental, or a lack of love makes us cruel and destructive. It
is in such things as these that evil lies, not in a personal
Devil who acts as Adversary.
5. Geburah the Destroyer, the Lord of Fear and Severity, is
therefore as necessary to the equilibrium of the Tree as Chesed,
the Lord of Love, and Netzach, the Lady of Beauty. Geburah is the
Celestial Surgeon; he is the knight in shining armour, the
dragon-slayer; beautiful as a bridegroom in his strength to the
maiden in distress, though, no doubt, the dragon might have
preferred a little more love.
6. The initiations of the infortunes, Saturn, Mars, and the
deceptive lunar Yesod, are just as necessary to the evolution and
balanced development of the soul as are the Mysteries of the
Crucifixion assigned to Tiphareth. It is the one-sidedness of
Christianity which is its bane, and is responsible for so much
that is unsound and pathological in both our national and our
private lives. But, equally, we must not forget that Christianity
as a corrective to a pagan world that was sick unto death with
its own toxins. We need what Christianity has to give but also,
unfortunately, we cannot do without that which it lacks. Let us
now consider the astringent, corrective influence of Geburah.
7. Dynamic energy is as necessary to the welfare of society as
meekness, charity, and patience. We must never forget that the
eliminatory diet, which will restore health in disease, will
produce disease in health. We must never exalt the qualities
which are necessary to compensate an overplus of force into ends
in themselves and the means of salvation. Too much charity is the
handiwork of a fool; too much patience is the hallmark of a
coward. What we need is a just and wise balance which makes for
health, happiness, and sanity all round, and the frank
realisation that sacrifices are necessary to obtain it. You
cannot eat your cake and have it in the spiritual sphere any
better than anywhere else.
8. Geburah is the sacrificial priest of the Mysteries. Now
sacrifice does not mean giving up something that is dear to you
because a jealous God will brook no rival interests in His
devotees and is flattered by your pain. It means the deliberate
and open-eyed choice of a greater good in preference to a lesser
good, and the athlete prefers the fatigue of exercise to the ease
of the sloth that puts him out of condition. Coal burned in a
furnace is sacrificed to the god of steam-power. Sacrifice is
really the transmutation of force; the latent energy in the coal
offered up on the sacrificial altar of the furnace is transmuted
into the dynamic energy of steam by means of the appropriate
machinery.
9. There is both psychological and cosmic machinery available
in connection with every act of sacrifice which converts it into
spiritual energy; and this spiritual energy can be applied to
other mechanisms and re-appear on the planes of form as an
entirely different type of force to that as which it started.
10. For instance, a man may sacrifice his emotions to his
career; or a woman may sacrifice her career to her emotions. If
the cut is clean, and there is no repining, an immense amount of
psychic energy is released for use in the chosen channel. But if
the lesser desire is merely inhibited and denied expression and
not really laid upon the altar of sacrifice as a deliberate
free-will offering, the unfortunate victim has made the worst of
both worlds. It is here that we need Geburah to come like the
priest that takes the sacrifice from our hands, even if it be our
first-born, and offers it up to God with the quick, clean,
merciful stroke. For Geburah in the microcosm, which is the soul
of man, is the courage and resolution that frees us from the
taint of self-pity.
11. How badly do we need the Spartan virtues of Geburah in
this age of sentimentality and the neuroses. How many break-downs
would be saved if this Celestial Surgeon were permitted to make
the clean cut that has a chance to heal, and so avoid the deadly
compromise and irresolution that is like an open wound and so
often goes septic.
12. And again, if there were no strong hand at the service of
good in the world, evil would multiply. Though it is not well to
quench smoking flax when the flax is making an effort, it is
equally evil to put up with the smouldering when what it really
wants is the use of the poker. There is a place where patience
becomes weakness and wastes the time of better men, and when
mercy becomes folly and exposes the innocent to danger. The
policy of non-resistance to evil can only be pursued
satisfactorily in a well-policed society; it has never been tried
with success under frontier conditions. For Nature, red in tooth
and claw, wears the colour of Geburah; whereas the compensatory
civilisation is of Chesed, Mercy, which modifies the unrestricted
force and mutual destructiveness of all that is in the Geburah
phase of its development. But, equally, we must remember that
civilisation rests upon Nature as a building rests upon its
foundations, wherein is concealed the sanitation so necessary to
health.
13. Whenever there is anything that has outlived its
usefulness, Geburah must wield the pruning-knife; wherever there
is selfishness, it must find itself impaled on the spear-point
of
Geburah; wherever there is violence against the weak, or the
merciless use of strength, it is the sword of Geburah, not the
orb of Chesed, that is the most effectual counteractant; wherever
there is sloth and dishonesty, Geburah's sacred scourge is
needed; and where there is a removal of the landmarks set for our
neighbour's protection, it is the chain of Geburah that must
restrain.
14. These things are as necessary to the health of society and
of the individual as brotherly love, and a good deal rarer, used
medicinally and not vengefully, in our sentimental age. Someone
has got to cry "Halt" to the aggressor, and "Move on" to those
who are blocking the way, and that someone is functioning as a
priest in the sphere of the holy Fifth Sephirah.
15. If we watch life we shall see that rhythm, not stability,
is its vital principle. Such stability as manifesting existence
achieves is the stability of a man on a bicycle, balanced between
two opposing pulls; he can fall over to the right, or he can fall
over to the left, and he keeps his balance by means of his
momentum.
16. In the life of individuals, in the development of any
transaction, in the tone of any disciplined or highly organised
group-mind, we see the constant alternation of the Geburah and
Gedulah influences in a rhythmic swing from one side to the
other. Anyone who is responsible for the disciplining of an
organised group knows the constant need for tightening and
slackening the reins; for stimulating and steadying. There is a
sense of the need to pay out line as the group surges forward
with an impulse of interest and keenness, followed by the need to
take up the slack as the impulse spends itself. If the slack is
not taken up with a firm hand, the group tangles itself in the
loops and waxes insubordinate. The wise handler of humans knows
when the reaction has spent itself, and the moment has come to
crack the whip of Geburah over the team and make it jump into the
collar again as the new dynamic impulse surges up; but he also
knows that he must not crack it too soon, while the team is
having a breather, or one of the less stable units will get a leg
over the traces.
17. Especially do we see the alternating rhythms of Geburah
and Gedulah in national life. I venture to prophesy that the
nation is passing out of a Gedulah phase and entering a Geburah
one. Everywhere we see a mercy that has been overstrained by the
imperfections of human nature, being abrogated in favour of a
severity which shall restore the balance of even-handed justice
and prevent evil from multiplying. Police work is being
reorganised; judges are giving stiffer sentences; penal reform
has had a set-back; the humanitarian no longer has the last word.
The group-soul of the race is entering upon a Geburah phase, and
has lost patience with its sub-standard units.
18. For the next cycle the tendency will be to push the unfit
into the discard and concentrate on bringing the fit to their
finest development. Geburah will be the senior partner, and any
mitigations of severity that Gedulah proposes will have to pass
the scrutiny of even-handed justice. This is a very necessary
reform, for towards the end of a phase extremes tend to develop,
and the humanitarianism of Gedulah has been abused and made
ridiculous, and its refinement has become finicking and lost
touch with actualities.
19. When a new phase comes in on a group-mind scale, it is
upon the least enlightened, the most crowd-minded that its
influence is strongest; the cultured always tend to stand aside
from extremes. We see this clearly indicated in the line taken by
the various types of journalism. Popular journalism is crying out
for the free use of the cat as a punishment for crime; for the
repudiation of debts and international agreements; for, in fact,
a general slashing around with the sword of Geburah. There is on
every hand a growing tendency to stand no non-sense from anybody;
a tendency which makes negotiations exceedingly difficult to
carry on, for Geburah is at his worst as a negotiator, his one
contribution to the discussion being that of the Greek soldier
who took his sword and cut the knot.
20. Now the initiate, knowing that phase succeeds phase in
rhythmic alternation, does not take any phase too seriously, nor
think that it is either the end of the world or the millennium.
He knows that it will run its course being at first a valuable
and necessary corrective, and in the end running to extremes; but
provided there is sufficient vision among the illuminati of a
race, the people will not perish, for the very fact of extremes
being arrived at indicates the end of the swing, and the pendulum
will normally reverse its motion and start coming back towards
the centre of stability. It is only when vision is completely
lost to a people that the pendulum is allowed to fly off its hook
into self-destruction. Rome did it; Carthage did it; more
recently Russia has done it. But even when social organisation
breaks down and the pendulum has gone off into space, the
principle of rhythm is inherent in all manifesting existence, and
re-establishes itself as soon as any sort of organisation begins
to arise out of the wreckage.
21. The great weakness of Christianity lies in the fact that
it ignores rhythm. It balances God with Devil instead of Vishnu
with Siva. Its dualisms are antagonistic instead of
equilibrating, and therefore can never issue in the functional
third in which power is in equilibrium. Its God is the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and does not evolve with an
evolving creation, but indulges in one special creative act and
rests on His laurels. The whole of human experience, the whole of
human knowledge, is against the likelihood of such a concept
being true.
22. The Christian concept being static, not dynamic, it does
not see that because a thing is good, its opposite is not
necessarily evil. It has no sense of proportion because it has no
realisation of the principle of equilibrium in space and rhythm
in time. Consequently, for the Christian ideal the part is all
too often greater than the whole. Meekness, mercy, purity and
love are made the ideal of Christian character, and as Nietzsche
truly points out, these are slave virtues. There should be room
in our ideal for the virtues of the ruler and
leader—courage, energy, justice and integrity. Christianity
has nothing to tell us about the dynamic virtues; consequently
those who get the world's work done cannot follow the Christian
ideal because of its limitations and inapplicability to their
problems. They can measure right and wrong against no standard
save their own self-respect. The result is the ridiculous
spectacle of a civilisation, committed to a one-sided ideal,
being forced to keep its ideals and its honour in separate
compartments.
23. We need Geburah's realism to balance Gedulah's idealism
quite as much as we need to temper justice with mercy. Experience
in the handling of children soon teaches us that the child that
is never checked is a spoilt child; that the youth who lacks the
spur of competition is apt to be a slack youth, for it is only
the few who will work for work's sake. And so it is with nations;
the monopoly, lacking the spur of competition, has always proved
itself to be ineffectual; the noncompetitive professions always
suffer from intellectual obesity.
24. Geburah is the dynamic element in life that drives through
and over obstacles. The character which is lacking in Martian
aspects never gets to grips with life. Those who have had to
depend on a non-Geburah bread-winner know that love is not a
complete solution of life's problems. We must learn to love and
trust the mailed warrior with the sword as well as Divine Love
which gives us the cup of cold water and says, "Come unto me all
ye that are weary and heavy laden."
25. When we have learnt to kiss the rod and realise the value
of astringent experiences we have taken the first of the Geburah
initiations; and when we have learnt to lose our lives in order
to find them, we have taken the second. There is a certain type
of courage which does not fear dissolution, for it knows that all
spiritual principles are indestructible, and so long as the
archetypes persist, anything can be rebuilt. Geburah is only
destructive to that which is temporal; it is the servant of that
which is eternal; for when by the acid activity of Geburah all
that is impermanent has been eaten away, the eternal and
incorporeal realities shine forth in all their glory, every line
revealed.
26. Geburah is the best friend we can have if we are honest.
Sincerity has no need to fear his activities; indeed, it is the
greatest we can have against the insincerity of others for there
is nothing to equal the Geburah-influence for debunking both
persons and viewpoints.
27. Geburah and Gedulah must work together; never the one
without the other. We must adore the God of Battles as well as
the God of Love in order that the combative element in the
universe may not break from its allegiance to the One God, I Am
That I Am. The sword must not be cursed as an instrument of the
Devil, but blessed and dedicated in order that it may never be
unsheathed in an unrighteous cause. It must not be cast aside in
an impracticable pacifism, but placed at God's service; so that
when the command goes forth that the evil thing shall not be
suffered any longer, the mighty Khamael, Archangel of Geburah,
may lead the Seraphim into battle, not in destructive rage, but
temperately and impersonally in God's service in order that evil
may be cleared up and good prevail.
28. So much has already been said concerning the nature of
Geburah that a great deal does not remain to say in the analysis
of the attribution.
29. The Yetziratic Text tells us that the Fifth Path is called
the Radical Intelligence because it resembles Unity. Now Unity is
one of the titles applied to Kether; therefore we may say that
Geburah is akin to Kether on a lower arc. There are several
Sephiroth which are thus referred to in the Sepher
Yetzirah, and these references are very important when
arriving at an understanding of their nature. Chokmah is spoken
of as the Splendour of Unity, equalling it. Of Binah it is said
that its roots are in Amen, which is also a title of Kether.
30. Geburah is a highly dynamic Sephirah, and its energy
overflowing into the world of form and energising it bears a
close analogy to the overflowing force of Kether, which is the
basis of all manifestation.
31. It is also said of Geburah in the Yetziratic Text that it
unites itself to Binah, Understanding. When we recall that in
astrology Saturn, the Mundane Chakra of Binah, and Mars, the
Mundane Chakra of Geburah, are called the Greater and Lesser
Infortunes, we see that there must be more than a superficial
connection between the two.
32. Binah is called the bringer-in of death because it is the
giver of form to primordial force, thus rendering it static;
Geburah is called the Destroyer because the fiery Mars force
breaks down forms and destroys them. Thus we see that Binah is
perpetually binding force into form, and Geburah perpetually
breaking up and destroying all forms with its disruptive
energy.
33. But equally we must see that it is only when the
protecting, preserving influence of Chesed is in abeyance that
the destructive influences of Geburah are able to work upon the
forms built up by Binah, for the path of the Emanations between
Binah and Geburah is via Chesed. Geburah is the essential
corrective of Binah, without which Binah would bind all creation
into rigidity. Binah, in its turn, as is pointed out in the
Yetziratic Text, emanates from the primordial depths of Chokmah,
Wisdom. Thus we see that there is a dynamic aspect even to Binah.
No Sephirah is wholly of one kind of force, for each emanates
from a Sephirah of the opposite type of polarity to itself, and
in its turn emanates a Sephirah of opposite polarity. What we
really have in the Lightning Flash is successive phases in the
development of a single force; and because these emanate, but do
not supersede each other, they remain as planes of manifestation
and types of organisation.
34. These successive phases and planes of manifestation might
be likened to the successive reaches of a river. It starts as a
mountain stream; in the next reach is a series of rapids and
waterfalls; then come water-meadows and placidity; and finally
the great waterway between docks bearing shipping. The different
reaches of the river remain constant; the type of water in each
is constant; clear and sparkling in the upper reaches, loaded
with alluvia among the water-meadows, and fouled with grime below
the docks. But at the same time the water itself is not constant,
for it does not stagnate on any reach, for they are all in
unbroken communication the one with the other; they "emanate"
each other, to use the language of the Qabalah. But the water
changes its nature as it progresses because something is added to
it by the experiences it undergoes in each reach; alluvial soil
from the water-meadows; city grime from the docks.
35. So the primordial emanation of Kether becomes modified in
each Sephirotic "reach" of the cosmic river; the "reaches," or
Sephirotic Spheres, remain constant; the emanations flow on,
undergoing modification in each Sphere.
36. The titles assigned to Geburah of Strength, Justice,
Severity, and Fear speak for themselves and indicate the dual
aspects of this Sephirah. Now that we are coming down the Tree
into the planes of form we see more and more clearly that every
Sephirah is two-sided, and that its overplus tends to unbalanced
force.
37. The Magical Image of a mighty warrior in his chariot,
crowned and armed, indicates the dynamic nature of the
Geburah-force. The Mundane Chakra of the fiery Mars expresses
even more fully the same idea.
38. The Spiritual Experience that is conveyed by initiation
into the Sphere of Geburah is the Vision of Power. It is only
when a man has received this that he becomes an Adeptus Major.
The right handling of power is one of the greatest tests that can
be imposed on any human being. Up to this point in his progress
up the grades an initiate learns the lessons of discipline,
control, and stability; he acquires, in fact, what Nietzsche
calls slave morality—a very necessary discipline for
unregenerate human nature, so proud in its own conceit. With the
grade of Adeptus Major, however, he must acquire the virtues of
the superman, and learn to wield power instead of to submit to
it. But even so, he is not a law unto himself, for he is the
servant of the power he wields and must carry out its purposes,
not serve his own. Though no longer responsible to his fellow-men
he is still responsible to the Creator of heaven and earth, and
will be required to give an account of his stewardship.
39. Great freedom is his; but also great strain. He can speak
the word of power that unlooses the wind, but he must be prepared
to ride the ensuing whirlwind. This is a thing that the amateur
magician does not always realise.
40. The energy and courage which are the virtues of Mars, and
the cruelty and destruction which are his vices when these
qualities run to excess, call for no comment, for they are
self-explanatory.
41. The symbols assigned to Mars-Geburah need some
elucidation, however, as their significance is not in all cases
apparent at first sight.
42. Figures with a varying number of sides are assigned to the
different planets, and in ceremonial or talismanic magic are used
as the outline of any form associated with a planetary force. To
Saturn, the oldest planet, the first to develop in evolutionary
time, is assigned the simplest two-dimensional figure—the
triangle. The balanced stability of Chesed gets the four-sided
figure, the square; and to the third planetary Sephirah, Mars, is
assigned the five-sided figure, and five is looked upon in the
Qabalistic system as the number of Mars. Consequently the
Pentagon, the five-sided figure, is the symbol of Mars, and any
altar to Mars should be pentagonal or five-sided, likewise any
talisman. The five-petalled Tudor rose, which is another symbol
of Mars, requires more explanation; but when we remember the
intimate association between Mars and Venus in mythology, and
that the rose is the flower of Venus, we get a clue to the
significance of the symbolism. The lines of force, crossing over
on the Tree, go from Geburah-Mars to Netzach-Venus through
Tiphareth, the Place of the Redeemer, the centre of equilibrium,
in the same way that Chesed and Hod connect up, as is clearly
indicated in the Yetziratic Text, which says of Hod that it has
its root in the hidden places of Gedulah, the Fourth
Sephirah.
43. Realising, then, the intimate relationship between the
diagonal pairs that form the four corners of the central square
of the Tree, we understand the linked relationship indicated by
the form of the rose with its five petals.
44. The sword, the spear, the scourge, and the chain are all
such characteristic weapons of Mars that no comment is called
for.
45. The four Fives of the Tarot pack are all evil cards, each
according to its type. In fact, the five suit of Swords, which is
under the presidency of Mars, represents contentiousness for its
best aspects are "Rest from strife" and "Success after struggle,"
and where a Sword card is associated with a Sephirah whose
Mundane Chakra is one of the astrological infortunes, the result
is disastrous, and we find the Lords of Defeat and Ruin in this
suit.
46. Our ability to take the Geburah initiation depends upon
our ability to handle the Martian forces, and this is determined
by the degree of self-discipline and stability we have attained
in our own natures.
47. Geburah is the most dynamic and forceful of all the
Sephiroth, but it is also the most highly disciplined. Indeed,
the military discipline, presided over by the god of War, is a
synonym for the sternest kind of control that can be imposed upon
human beings. The discipline of Geburah must exactly equate with
its energy; in other words, the brakes of a car must bear a
relationship to its horse-power if it is to be safe on the road.
It is this tremendous Geburah discipline which is one of the
testing-points of the Mysteries. We speak of an iron discipline,
and iron is the metal of Mars.
48. The initiate of Geburah is a very dynamic and forceful
person, but he is also a very controlled person. His
characteristic virtues are an even temper and patience under
provocation. It is well known on the sports field, which is the
playful aspect of the god of War, that a loss of temper gives the
game away. Every boxer knows that if he gets angry and starts
fighting instead of boxing, the odds are against him. The
initiate of Mars is essentially the Happy Warrior, the initiate
who has passed through the grade of Tiphareth and gained
equilibrium.
49. He fights without malice; he spares the weak and wounded;
he does not set out to destroy the law but to see to it that it
is properly fulfilled. He is the corrector of the balance, and as
such is always the defender of the weak and oppressed. He is
never a god that is found on the side of the large armies,
although he says, "With the froward I will show myself froward."
He takes that two-headed giant of the Qliphoth, Thaumiel, the
Dual Contending Forces, knocks his heads together and says, "A
plague on both your houses! Keep God's peace or it will be the
worse for you."
50. When a soul is at that stage of development when the only
way it can learn is by experience, Geburah sees that it shall not
be disappointed when it goes about looking for trouble. Geburah
is the Great Initiator of the swollen-headed.
Title: Tiphareth, Beauty. (Hebrew: Tau, Pe, Aleph, Resh, Tau.) Magical Image: A majestic king. A child. A sacrificed god. Situation on the Tree: In the centre of the Pillar of Equilibrium. Yetziratic Text: The Sixth Path is called the Mediating Intelligence, because in it are multiplied the influxes of the Emanations; for it causes that influence to flow into all the reservoirs of the blessings with which they themselves are united. Titles Given to Tiphareth: Zoar Anpin, the Lesser Countenance. Melekh, the King. Adam. The Son. The Man. God-Name: Tetragrammaton Aloah Va Daath. Archangel: Raphael. Order Of Angels: Malachim, Kings. Mundane Chakra: Shemesh, the Sun. Spiritual Experience: Vision of the harmony of things. Mysteries of the Crucifixion. Virtue: Devotion to the Great Work. Vice: Pride. Correspondence in Microcosm: The breast. Symbols: The Lamen. The Rosy Cross. The Calvary Cross. The truncated pyramid. The cube. Tarot Cards: The four Sixes.
- Six of Wands: Victory. - Six of Cups: Joy. - Six of Swords: Earned Success. - Six of Pentacles: Material Success. Colour in Atziluth: Clear rose-pink. Colour in Briah: Yellow. Colour in Yetzirah: Rich salmon-pink. Colour in Assiah: Golden amber.
1. There are three important keys to the nature of Tiphareth.
Firstly, it is the centre of equilibrium of the whole Tree, being
in the middle of the Central Pillar; secondly, it is Kether on a
lower arc and Yesod on a higher arc; thirdly, it is the point of
transmutation between the planes of force and the planes of form.
The titles that are bestowed on it in Qabalistic nomenclature
bear this out. From the point of view of Kether it is a child;
from the point of view of Malkuth it is a king; and from the
point of view of the transmutation of force it is a sacrificed
god.
2. Macrocosmically, that is to say from the Kether
standpoint, Tiphareth is the equilibrium of Chesed and Geburah;
microcosmically, that is to say from the point of view of
transcendental psychology, it is the point where the types of
consciousness characteristic of Kether and Yesod are brought
to a focus. Hod and Netzach equally find their synthesis in
Tiphareth.
3. The six Sephiroth, of which Tiphareth is the centre, are
sometimes called Adam Kadmon, the archetypal man; in fact,
Tiphareth cannot rightly be understood save as the central point
of these six, wherein it rules as a king in his kingdom. It is
these six which, for all practical purposes, constitute the
archetypal kingdom which lies behind the kingdom of form in
Malkuth and completely dominates and determines the passivities
of matter.
4. When we have to consider a Sephirah in relation to its
neighbours in order to interpret in the light of its position on
the Tree, it is not possible to proceed with an entirely
systematic and orderly exposition of the Qabalistic system, for
we must of necessity forestall with partial explanations if our
argument is to be comprehensible. We must therefore give some
explanation of the three lower Sephiroth grouped around
Tiphareth, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod.
5. Netzach is concerned with the Nature forces and elemental
contacts; Hod with ceremonial magic and occult knowledge; and
Yesod with psychism and the etheric double. Tiphareth itself,
supported by Geburah and Gedulah, represents seership, or the
higher psychism of the individuality. Each Sephirah, of course,
has its subjective and objective aspects—its factor in
psychology and its plane in the universe.
6. The four Sephiroth below Tiphareth represent the
personality or lower self; the four Sephiroth above Tiphareth are
the Individuality, or higher self, and Kether is the Divine
Spark, or nucleus of manifestation.
7. Tiphareth, therefore, must never be regarded as an isolated
factor, but as a link, a focussing-point, a centre of transition
or transmutation. The Central Pillar is always concerned with
consciousness. The two side Pillars with the different modes of
the operation of force on the different levels.
8. In Tiphareth we find the archetypal ideals brought to a
focus and transmuted into archetypal ideas. It is, in fact, the
Place of Incarnation. For this reason it is called the Child. And
because incarnation of the god-ideal also implies the sacrificial
disincarnation, to Tiphareth are assigned the Mysteries of the
Crucifixion, and all the Sacrificed Gods are placed here when the
Tree is applied to the pantheons. God the Father is assigned to
Kether; but God the Son is assigned to Tiphareth for the reasons
given above.
9. Exoteric religion goes no farther up the Tree than
Tiphareth. It has no understanding of the mysteries of creation
as represented by the symbolism of Kether, Chokmah, and Binah;
nor of the modes of operation of the Dark and Bright Archangels
as represented in the symbolism of Geburah and Gedulah; nor of
the mysteries of consciousness and the transmutation of force as
represented in the invisible Sephirah Daath, which has no
symbolism.
10. In Tiphareth God is made manifest in form and dwells among
us; i.e. comes within range of human consciousness. Tiphareth,
the Son, "shows us" Kether, the Father.
11. In order that form may be stabilised, the component forces
out of which it is built must be brought into equilibrium.
Therefore do we find the idea of the Mediator, or Redeemer,
inherent in this Sephirah. When the Godhead in its very Self
manifests in form, that form must be perfectly equilibrated. One
might with equal truth reverse the proposition and say that when
the forces building a form are perfectly equilibrated, the
Godhead its very Self is manifesting in that form according to
its type. God is made manifest among us when the conditions
permit of manifestation.
12. Having come through into manifestation on the planes of
form in the Child aspect of Tiphareth, the incarnated god grows
to manhood and becomes the Redeemer. In other words, having
obtained incarnation by means of matter in a virgin state, i.e.
Mary, Marah, the Sea, the Great Mother, Binah, a Supernal, as
distinguished from the Inferior Mother, Malkuth, the developing
God-manifestation, is for ever striving to bring the Kingdom of
the six central Sephiroth into a state of equilibrium.
13. When the glyph of the Fall is represented upon the Tree it
is interesting to note that the heads of the Great Serpent that
rises out of Chaos only come as far as Tiphareth and do not
overpass it.
14. The Redeemer, then, manifests in Tiphareth, and is for
ever striving to redeem His Kingdom by re-uniting it to the
Supernals across the gulf made by the Fall, which separated the
lower Sephiroth from the higher, and by bringing the diverse
forces of the six-fold kingdom into equilibrium.
15. To this end are the incarnated gods sacrificed, dying for
the people, in order that the tremendous emotional force set free
by this act may compensate the unbalanced force of the Kingdom
and thus redeem it or bring it into equilibrium.
16. It is this Sphere on the Tree that is called the
Christ-centre, and it is here that the Christian religion has its
focussing-point. The pantheistic faiths, such as the Greek and
Egyptian, centre in Yesod; and the metaphysical faiths, such as
the Buddhist and Confucian, aim at Kether. But as all religions
worthy of the name have both an esoteric, or mystical, and an
exoteric, or pantheistic, aspect, Christianity, although it is
essentially a Tiphareth faith, has its mystical aspect centering
in Kether, and its magical aspect, as seen in popular continental
Catholicism, centering in Yesod. Its evangelical aspect aims at a
concentration on Tiphareth as Child and Sacrificed God, and
ignores the aspect of the King in the centre of his Kingdom,
surrounded by the five Holy Sephiroth of manifestation.
17. Hitherto we have considered the Tree from the macrocosmic
point of view, seeing the different archetypes of manifesting
force come into action and build the universe, and have but
remotely approached them from the microcosmic point of view in
their psychological aspect as factors in consciousness. But with
Tiphareth our mode of approach changes, for from henceforward the
archetypal forces are locked up in forms, and can only be
approached from the point of view of their effect upon
consciousness; in other words, our mode of approach must now be
through the direct experience of the senses, though these senses
are not of the physical plane only, but function in both
Tiphareth and Yesod, each according to type. While we were on the
higher levels we had to rely on metaphysical analogy and
reasoning by deduction from first principles; now we are within
the legitimate field of inductive science, and must submit
ourselves to its discipline and express our findings in its
terms; but at the same time we must maintain our link with the
transcendentals through Tiphareth; this is achieved by expressing
the symbolism of Tiphareth in terms of mystical experience. All
mystical experiences of the type in which the vision ends in
blinding light are assigned to Tiphareth; for the fading out of
form in the overwhelming influx of force characterises the
transitional mode of consciousness of this Sphere on the Tree.
Visions which maintain clearly outlined form throughout are
characteristic of Yesod. Illuminations which have no form, such
as those described by Plotinus, are rising towards Kether.
18. In Tiphareth also are gathered up and interpreted the
operations of the nature magic of Netzach and the Hermetic magic
of Hod. Both these operations are in terms of form, though form
predominates in the operation of Hod to a greater degree than in
those of Netzach. All the astral visions of Yesod also must be
translated into terms of metaphysics via the mystical experiences
of Tiphareth. If this translation is not made, we become
hallucinated; for we think the reflections cast into the mirror
of the subconscious mind and translated there into terms of
brain-consciousness are the actual things of which they are
really only the symbolic representations.
19. Kether is metaphysical; Yesod is psychic; and Tiphareth is
essentially mystical; mystical being understood as a mode of
mentation in which consciousness ceases to work in symbolic
subconscious representations but apprehends by means of emotional
reactions.
20. The different additional titles and symbolism assigned to
the various Sephiroth, and especially the God-names thereof, give
us a very important key for the unlocking of the mysteries of the
Bible, which is essentially a Qabalistic book. According to the
manner in which Deity is referred to, we know to what Sphere on
the Tree the particular mode of manifestation should be assigned.
All references to the Son always refer to Tiphareth; all
references to the Father refer to Kether; all references to the
Holy Ghost refer to Yesod; and very deep mysteries are concealed
here, for the Holy Ghost is the aspect of the Godhead that is
worshipped in the occult lodges; the worship of pantheistic
nature-forces and elemental operations take place under the
presidency of God the Father; and the regenerative ethical aspect
of religion, which is the exoteric aspect for this epoch, is
under the presidency of God the Son in Tiphareth.
21. The initiate, however, transcends his epoch, and aims at
uniting all three modes of adoration in his worship of Deity as a
trinity in unity; the Son redeeming the pantheistic nature
worship from debasement and making the transcendental Father
comprehensible to human consciousness, for "whoso hath seen Me
hath seen the Father."
22. Tiphareth, however, is not only the centre of the
Sacrificed God, but also the centre of the Inebriating God, the
Giver of Illumination. Dionysos is assigned to this centre as
well as Osiris, for, as we have already seen, the Central Pillar
is concerned with the modes of consciousness; and human
consciousness, rising from Yesod by the Path of the Arrow,
receives illumination in Tiphareth; therefore all the givers of
illumination in the Pantheons are assigned to Tiphareth.
23. Illumination consists in the introduction of the mind to a
higher mode of consciousness than that which is built up out of
sensory experience. In illumination the mind changes gear, as it
were. Unless, however, the new mode of consciousness is connected
up with the old and translated into terms of finite thought, it
remains as a flash of light so brilliant that it blinds. We do
not see by means of the ray of light that shines upon us, but by
means of the amount of that ray which is reflected from objects
of our own dimension upon which it lights. Unless there are ideas
in our minds which are illuminated by this higher mode of
consciousness, our minds are merely overwhelmed, and the darkness
is more intense to our eyes after that blinding experience of a
high mode of consciousness than it was before. In fact, we do not
so much change gear as throw the engine of our mind out of gear
altogether. This, for the most part, is what so-called
illumination amounts to. There is enough of a flash to convince
us of the reality of super-physical existence, but not enough to
teach us anything of its nature.
24. The importance of the Tiphareth stage in mystical
experience lies in the fact that the incarnation of the Child
takes place here; in other words, mystical experience gradually
builds up a body of images and ideas that are lit up and made
visible when illuminations take place.
25. This Child aspect of Tiphareth is also a very important
one to us in such practical work of the Mysteries as is concerned
with illumination. For we must accept the fact that the
Child-Christ does not spring like Minerva, full-armed from the
head of God the Father, but starts as a small thing, humbly laid
among the beasts and not even housed in the inn with the humans.
The first glimpses of mystical experience must perforce be very
limited because we have not had time to build up through
experience a body of images and ideas that shall serve to
represent them. These can only be got together with time, each
transcendental experience adding its quota and subsequent
rational meditation organising them.
26. Mystics are very apt to make the mistake of thinking that
they are following the Star to the place of the Sermon on the
Mount, not to the Manger at Bethlehem, the birth-place. It is
here that the method of the Tree is so valuable, enabling the
transcendent to be expressed in terms of symbolism, and symbolism
to be translated into terms of metaphysics; thus linking the
psychic with the spiritual via the intellect, and bringing all
three aspects of our trinitarian consciousness into focus.
27. It is in Tiphareth that this translation is made, for in
Tiphareth are received the mystical experiences of direct
consciousness which illuminate the psychic symbols.
28. The Central Pillar of the Tree is essentially the Pillar
of Consciousness, just as the two side Pillars are the Pillars of
the active and passive powers. When considered microcosmically,
that is to say from the point of view of psychology instead of
cosmology, Kether, the Divine Spark round which the
individualised being builds up, must be regarded as the nucleus
of consciousness rather than consciousness itself. Daath, the
invisible Sephirah, is also on the Central Pillar, though,
strictly speaking, it always belongs to another plane to that on
which the Tree is being considered. For instance, as we are
considering the Tree microcosmically at the moment, Daath would
be the point of contact with the macrocosm. It is not until we
come to Tiphareth that we get clear-cut, individualised
consciousness.
29. Tiphareth is the functional apex of the Second Triad on
the Tree, whose two basal angles consist of Geburah and Gedulah
(Chesed). This Second Triad, emanating from the First Triad of
the Three Supernals, forms the evolving individuality, or
spiritual soul. It is this which endures and builds up throughout
an evolution; it is from this that the successive personalities,
the units of incarnation, are emanated; it is into this that the
active essence of experience is absorbed at the end of each
incarnation when the incarnating unit dissolves into dust and
ether.
30. It is this Second Triad which forms the Oversoul, the
Higher Self, the Holy Guardian Angel, the First Initiator. It is
the voice of this higher self which is so often heard with the
inner ear, and not the voice of discarnate entities, or of God
Himself, as is thought by those who have had no training in
tradition.
31. Overshadowed and directed by the Second Triad, the Third
Triad builds up through the experience of incarnation, with
Malkuth as its physical vehicle. Brain consciousness is of
Malkuth, and as long as we are imprisoned in Malkuth, that is all
we have. But the doors of Malkuth are not closely shut nowadays,
and many there are who can peer through the crack at the
phantasmagoria of the astral plane and experience the psychic
consciousness of Yesod. When this has been achieved the way opens
for the higher psychism, the true seership, which is
characteristic of the consciousness of Tiphareth.
32. Our first experience of the higher psychism, therefore, is
usually in terms of the lower psychism to commence with; for we
have only just risen clear of Malkuth, and are looking up at the
Sun of Tiphareth from the Moon-sphere of Yesod. Therefore we hear
voices with the inner ear and see visions with the inner eye, but
they differ from ordinary psychic consciousness because they are
not the direct representations of astral forms, but symbolic
presentations of spiritual things in terms of astral
consciousness. This is a normal function of the subconscious
mind, and it is very important that it should be thoroughly
understood, for misconceptions on this point give rise to very
serious problems and may even lead to mental unbalance.
33. Those who are familiar with Qabalistic terminology know
that the first of the greater initiations is said to consist of
the power to enjoy the knowledge and conversation of our Holy
Guardian Angel; this Holy Guardian Angel, be it remembered, is
really our own higher self. It is the prime characteristic of
this higher mode of mentation that it consists neither in voices
nor visions, but is pure consciousness; it is an intensification
of awareness, and from this quickening of the mind comes a
peculiar power of insight and penetration which is of the nature
of hyperdeveloped intuition. The higher consciousness is never
psychic, but always intuitive, containing no sensory imagery. It
is this absence of sensory imagery which tells the experienced
initiate that he is on the level of the higher consciousness.
34. The ancients recognised this, and they differentiated
between the mantic methods which induced the chthonic, or
underworld contacts, and the divine inebriation of the Mysteries.
The Maenads rushing in the train of Dionysos were of an entirely
different order of initiation to the pythonesses; the pythonesses
were psychics and mediums, but the Maenads, the initiates of the
Dionysiac Mysteries, enjoyed exaltation of consciousness and a
quickening of life that enabled them to perform amazing prodigies
of strength.
35. All the dynamic religions have this Dionysiac aspect; even
in the Christian religion many saints have left record of the
Crucified Christ of their devotion coming to them at last as the
Divine Bridegroom; and when they speak of this divine inebriation
that comes to them, their language uses the metaphors of human
love as its appropriate expression—"How lovely art thou, my
sister, my spouse."—"Faint from the kisses of the lips of
God..." These things tell a great deal to those who have
understanding.
36. The Dionysiac aspect of religion represents an essential
factor in human psychology, and it is the misunderstanding of
this factor which upon the one hand prevents the manifestation of
the higher spiritual experiences in our modern civilisation, and
upon the other permits of the strange aberrations of religious
feeling that from time to time give rise to scandal and tragedy
in the high places of the more dynamic religious movements.
37. There is a certain emotional concentration and exaltation
which makes the higher phases of consciousness available, and
without which it is impossible to attain them. The images of the
astral plane pass over into an intensity of emotion that is like
a burning fire, and when all the dross of the nature has gone up
in flame the smoke clears, and we are left with the white heat of
pure consciousness. By the very nature of the human mind, with
the brain as its instrument, this white heat cannot endure for
long; but in the brief space of its lasting, changes occur in the
temperament, and the mind itself receives new concepts and
undergoes an expansion that never wholly retracts. The tremendous
exaltation of the experience dies away, but we are left with a
permanent expansion of personality, an enhanced capacity for life
in general, and a power of realisation of spiritual realities
which could never have been ours if we had not been swung
forcibly across the great gulf of consciousness by the momentum
of ecstasy.
38. Modern spiritual leaders have no knowledge of the
technique of the deliberate production of ecstasy and no idea how
to direct it when it occurs spontaneously. Revivalists succeed in
producing a mild form of it among unsophisticated people by means
of personal magnetism, and the worth of a revivalist is judged by
his power to inebriate his hearers. But the consequences of this
inebriation are apt to be like the consequences of any other
inebriation, and life seems exceedingly stale, flat, and
unprofitable when the revivalist moves on to other fields of
activity. Because the inebriation dies away, the convert thinks
he has lost God; no one seems to realise that ecstasy is a
magnesium flash in consciousness, and if it were prolonged, would
burn up the brain and nervous system. But although it cannot be,
and is not meant to be, prolonged, by means of it we swing over
the dead centre of consciousness and awake to a higher life.
39. The technique of the Tree gives accurate definition to
these spiritual experiences, and those who are trained in that
technique do not mistake the stirring of their own higher
consciousness for the voice of God. From the sensory
consciousness of Malkuth, through the astral psychism of Yesod,
to the formless intuitions and quickened consciousness of
Tiphareth they rise and descend smoothly and skilfully; never
confusing the planes or suffering them to leak one into another,
but bringing them all into focus in a centralized
consciousness.
40. Tiphareth is called by the Qabalists Shemesh, or the
Sphere of the Sun; and it is interesting to note that all
sun-gods are healing gods, and all healing gods are sun-gods, a
fact which affords us food for thought.
41. The sun is the central point of our existence. Without the
sun there would be no solar system. Sunlight plays a very
important part in the metabolism, the life-process, of living
creatures, and the whole of the nutrition of green plants depends
upon it. Its influence is closely allied to that of vitamins, as
is proved by the fact that certain vitamins can be used to
supplement its activities.
We see, therefore, that sunlight is a very important factor in
our well-being; we might go even further and say that it is
essential to our very existence and that our association with the
sun is far more intimate than we realise.
42. The symbol of the sun in the mineral kingdom is gold, pure
and precious, which all nations have agreed in calling the metal
of the sun and recognising as the most precious metal and the
basic unit of exchange. The part played by gold in the polity of
nations far exceeds its intrinsic utility as a metal. It is,
moreover, the one substance on earth which is incorruptible and
untarnishable. It may be dulled by the accumulation of dirt upon
its surface, but the metal itself, unlike silver or iron,
undergoes no chemical change or decomposition. Neither does water
corrode it.
43. The sun is to us truly the Giver of Life and source of all
being; it is the only adequate symbol of God the Father, who may
aptly be called the Sun behind the Sun; Tiphareth, in fact, being
the immediate reflection of Kether. It is through the mediation
of the sun that life comes to the earth, and it is by means of
the Tipharic consciousness that we contact the sources of
vitality and draw upon them, both consciously and
unconsciously.
44. The sun is, above all things, the symbol of manifesting
energy; it is sudden, unaccustomed gushes of solar-spiritual
energy that cause the divine inebriation of ecstasy; it is gold,
as the basis of money, which is the objective representative of
externalised life-force; for verily, money is life and life is
money, for without money we can have no fullness of life.
Life-force, manifesting on the physical plane as energy and on
the mental plane as intelligence and knowledge, can be transmuted
by the appropriate alchemy into money, which is a token of the
capacity or energy of someone. Money is the symbol of human
energy, by means of which we can store up our output of work hour
by hour, receiving it back as wages at the end of the week, and
spending it on necessities or saving it for future use as we
think fit. The gold which backs the notes is a symbol of human
energy, and is only earned by an expenditure of that energy;
though it may be the energy of a father or a husband, transmitted
through an heiress, yet nevertheless it is the symbol of some
human being's activity in some sphere, even if it be only the
sphere of company-promoting or burglary.
45. The secret, underground movements of gold act in the
polity of nations as hormones act in the human body, and there
are cosmic laws governing their tidal and epochal movements which
economists do not suspect.
46. Kether, Space, the source of all existence, reflects into
Tiphareth, which acts as a transformer and distributor of the
primal, spiritual energy. We receive this energy directly by
means of sunlight, and indirectly by means of the chlorophyll in
green plants, which enables them to utilise sunlight, and which
we eat at first hand in vegetable foods, and at second hand in
the tissues of herbivorous creatures.
47. But the Sun-god is more than the source of life. He is
also the healer when life goes wrong. For it is life, plus,
minus, or misdirected, which is the activity in disease
processes; disease has no energy save what it borrows from the
life of the organism. It is therefore by adjustments in the
life-force that healing must be brought about, and the sun gods
are the natural gods to invoke in this connection, for life and
the sun are so intimately connected.
48. It is by means of their knowledge of the manipulation of
the solar influence that the ancient initiate-priests performed
their healings, and sun-worship lay at the root of the
Aesculapian cult of ancient Greece.
49. We moderns have learnt the value of sunlight and vitamins
in our physiological economy, but we have not realised the very
important part played by the spiritual aspect of the solar
influences in our psychic economy, using that word in its
dictionary sense. There is a Tipharic factor in the soul of man
which, according to ancient tradition, has its physical
correspondence in the solar plexus, not in the head or the heart,
which is able to pick up the subtle aspect of the solar energy in
the same way that the chlorophyll in the leaf of a plant picks up
its more tangible aspect. If we are cut off from this energy and
prevented from assimilating it, we become as sickly and feeble in
mind and body as plants growing in a cellar cut off from its more
tangible aspect.
50. This cutting-off from the spiritual aspect of Nature is
due to mental attitudes. When we refuse to acknowledge our part
in Nature, and Nature's part in us, we inhibit this free flow of
life-giving magnetism between the part and the whole; and lacking
certain elements essential to spiritual function, psychic health
is impossible.
51. Psychoanalysts attach great importance to repression as a
cause of psychic disease; they learnt to recognise repression
because in its extreme form of sex-repression its ill effects are
conspicuous. They did not realise, however, that sex-repression,
unless it is caused by circumstances, in which case it does not
give rise to dissociation, is but the result of a cause which
lies far deeper than sex, and has its roots in a false
spirituality, a spurious refinement and idealism, which has led
to the cutting-off of the sympathies, of the recognition, of the
gratitude of a living creature from the Giver of Life, the higher
aspect of Nature. This is caused by a spiritual vanity which
considers the more primitive aspects of nature as beneath its
dignity.
52. It is because of our spurious ideals with their false
values that we have so much neurotic ill-health in our midst. It
is because Priapus and Cloacina are not given their due as
deities that we are cursed by the Sun-god and cut off from His
benign influence, for an insult to His subsidiary aspects is an
insult to Him.
53. When a creature is not in a fit state for reproduction,
sexual advances are repellent to it; this is the natural basis of
modesty and protects the organism from waste and exhaustion.
Because an accumulation of decomposing excreta gives rise to
disease, the odour of their excreta is repulsive to living
creatures of even the lowliest development, so that they avoid
its neighbourhood. Out of these two repulsions, so rational and
valuable under natural conditions, under our artificial
conditions of civilised life all manner of irrational taboos have
grown up. The repulsion is overdone, and no longer serves its
biological purpose.
54. Our attitude towards two important sections of natural
life implies that they are unnatural, debased, poisonous.
Consequently we cut ourselves off from the earth contacts; then
the circuit is broken and the heavenly contacts also fail us. The
cosmic current comes down from Kether, through Tiphareth and
Yesod, into Malkuth; if the circuit be broken anywhere, it cannot
function. True, it is impossible totally to break the circuit
during life, for the life-processes are so deeply rooted in
nature that we cannot altogether suppress them; but a mental
attitude can cause such a kinking of the tube, as it were, can so
insulate and inhibit, that only a scanty flow can be sucked
through against resistance by the desperate organism.
55. In Tiphareth, the Sun Centre, we have the spiritual
manifesting in the natural, and we should give reverence to the
Sun-god as representing the naturalisation of spiritual
processes; the spiritualisation of natural processes has had a
good deal to answer for in the history of human suffering.
56. The symbols assigned to the Sixth Sephirah become a very
illuminating study when we examine them in the light of what we
now know about the significance of Tiphareth, for we have here a
very clear example of the way in which the symbols assigned to a
given Sephirah lace in and out, in and out, in long chains of
interrelated associations.
57. The meaning of the Hebrew word Tiphareth is Beauty; and of
the many definitions of beauty that have been proposed, the most
satisfying is that which finds beauty to lie in a due and just
proportion, whatever the beautiful thing may be, whether moral or
material. It is interesting, therefore, to find the Sephirah of
Beauty as the central point of equilibrium of the whole Tree, and
that one of the two Spiritual Experiences assigned to Tiphareth
is the Vision of the Harmony of Things.
58. It is curious that two separate and, at first sight,
unrelated Spiritual Experiences should be assigned to Tiphareth;
it is, in fact, the only Sphere on the Tree where this occurs. It
is also unique in having several Magical Images assigned to it.
We must therefore ask ourselves why it is that the central
Sephirah has these multiple aspects. The answer is to be found in
the Yetziratic Text assigned to Tiphareth, which declares that
"The Sixth Path is called the Mediating Intelligence." A mediator
is essentially a connecting link, an intermediary; consequently
Tiphareth, in its central position, must be looked upon as a
two-way switch, and we must consider it both as receiving the
"influxes of the Emanations" and as "causing that influence to
flow into all the reservoirs of the blessings." We may therefore
look upon it as the out-ward manifestation of the five subtler
Sephiroth, and also as the spiritual principle behind the four
denser Sephiroth. If looked at from the side of form, it is
force; if looked at from the side of force, it is form. It is, in
fact, the archetypal Sephirah in which the great principles
represented by the five higher Sephiroth are formulated into
concepts; "In it are multiplied the influxes of the Emanations,"
as the Sepher Yetzirah declares.
59. The name Zoar Anpin, Lesser Countenance, as distinguished
from Arik Anpin, the Vast Countenance, one of the titles of
Kether, further bears out this idea. For the formless
formulations of Kether take shape in this, the sphere of the
higher mind. As previously noted, Kether is reflected into
Tiphareth. The Ancient of Days sees Himself reflected as in a
glass, and the reflected image of the Vast Countenance is called
the Lesser Countenance and the Son.
60. But although a lesser manifestation and a younger
generation as viewed from above, Tiphareth is also Adam Kadmon,
the Archetypal Man, when viewed from beneath—from the side,
that is to say, of Yesod and Malkuth. Tiphareth is Malek, the
King, the husband of Malkah, the Bride, which is one of the
titles of Malkuth.
61. It is in Tiphareth that we find the archetypal ideas which
form the invisible framework of the whole of manifested creation
formulating and expressing the primary principles emanating from
the subtler Sephiroth. It is, as it were, a Treasure-house of
Images on a higher arc; but whereas the astral plane is peopled
by images reflected from forms, the images of the Sphere of
Tiphareth are those formulating, and as it were crystallising
out, from the spiritual emanations of the higher potencies.
62. Tiphareth mediates between the microcosm and the
macrocosm; "As above, so below," is the keynote of the Sphere of
Shemesh, wherein the Sun that is behind the sun focuses into
manifestation.
63. In the anatomy of the Divine Man is the interpretation of
all organisation and evolution; in fact, the material universe is
literally the organs and members of this Divine Man; and it is
through an understanding of the soul of Adam Kadmon, which
consists of the "influxes of the Emanations," that we can
interpret His anatomy in terms of function, which is the only way
in which anatomy can be intelligently appreciated. It is because
science is content largely to be descriptive, and shrinks from
purposive explanations, that it is so barren of all philosophical
import.
64. In transcendental psychology, which is the anatomy of the
microcosm, the breast is the correspondence assigned to
Tiphareth. In the breast are the lungs and the heart, and
immediately below these organs, and intimately connected with
them and controlling them, is the greatest network of nerves in
the body, known as the solar plexus, aptly so named by the
ancient anatomists. The lungs maintain a singularly intimate
relationship between the microcosm and the macrocosm by
determining the ceaseless tidal motion of the atmosphere, in and
out, in and out, that never ceases day or night, until the golden
bowl is broken and the silver cord is loosed and we cease to
breathe. The heart determines the circulation of the blood, and
the blood, as Paracelsus truly said, is a "singular fluid."
Modern medicine knows well what sunlight means to the blood. It
has also discovered that chlorophyll, which is the green
substance in the leaves of plants which enables them to utilise
the sunlight as their source of energy, has a very potent
influence upon the blood-pressure.
65. The three Magical Images of Tiphareth are curious, for at
first sight they are so utterly unrelated that each one appears
to cancel out the others. But in the light of what we now know
concerning Tiphareth, their significance and relationship appears
clearly, speaking through the language of symbolism, especially
when studied in the light of the life of Jesus Christ the
Son.
66. Tiphareth, being the first coagulation of the Supernals,
is aptly represented as the new-born Child in the manger at
Bethlehem; as the Sacrificed God he becomes the Mediator between
God and man; and when He has risen from the dead He is as a king
come to his kingdom. Tiphareth is the child of Kether and the
king of Malkuth, and in His own sphere lie is sacrificed.
67. We shall not understand Tiphareth aright unless we have
some concept of the real meaning of sacrifice, which is very
different to the popular one, which conceives of it as the
voluntary loss of something dear. Sacrifice is the translation of
force from one form to another. There is no such thing as the
total destruction of force; however completely it disappears from
our ken, it maintains itself in some other form according to the
great natural law of the conservation of energy, which is the law
that maintains our universe in existence. Energy may be locked up
in form, and therefore static; or it may be free from its bondage
to form and in circulation. When we make a sacrifice of any sort,
we take a static form of energy, and by breaking up the form that
imprisons it, put it into free circulation in the cosmos. That
which we sacrifice in one form turns up again in due course in
another form. Apply this concept to the religious and ethical
ideas of sacrifice and some very valuable clues are obtained.
68. The God-name of this sphere is Aloah Va Daath, which
associates it intimately with the Invisible Sephirah that comes
between it and Kether. This Sephirah, as we have already seen,
may best be understood as apprehension, the dawning of
consciousness; and we may interpret the phrase "Tetragrammaton
Aloah Va Daath" as "God made manifest in the sphere of mind."
69. In the microcosm Tiphareth represents the higher psychism,
the mode of consciousness of the individuality, or higher self.
It is essentially the sphere of religious mysticism as
distinguished from the magic and psychism of Yesod; for be it
remembered, the Sephiroth of the Central Pillar of the Tree
represent levels of consciousness, and the Sephiroth on the side
pillars represent powers and modes of functioning. Tiphareth is
also said to be the Sphere of the Greater Masters; it is the
Temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens and the Great
White Lodge. It is here that the initiated adept functions when
in the higher consciousness; here that he hopes to meet the
Masters, and it is by means of the Name, and by an understanding
of the significance of the Name of Aloah Va Daath that he opens
up the higher consciousness.
70. For be it noted that it is only in proportion to the
significance a word has for us that it becomes a Word of Power.
The name of his victim is a word of power to a murderer; and such
is its recognised potency that in some countries an instrument to
register the changes of blood-pressure is attached to the arm of
a suspect while he is being questioned by the police, and the
name of the dead man, and other words connected with the crime,
are suddenly whispered in his ear, and if these are "words of
power" for him, the instrument registers it beyond all
question.
71. It is popularly believed that Names of Power exercise
direct influence over spirits, angels, demons and such-like, but
this is not so. The Name of Power exercises its influence upon
the magician, and by exalting and directing consciousness enables
him to get into touch with the chosen type of spiritual
influence; if he has had experience of that particular type of
influence, the Word of Power will stir potent subconscious
memories; if he has not, and approaches the matter in the
unimaginative and incredulous spirit of the scholar, the
"barbarous Names of Evocation" will be just hocus-pocus for him.
But be it noted that to the believing Catholic, "hocus-pocus,"
which is the Protestant's name for deception and superstition and
from which is derived the word hoax, means "Hoc est Corpus,"
which is an altogether different story. So much lies in the
viewpoint in these matters.
72. Therefore it is that a definite spiritual experience is
assigned to each Sephirah, and until a person has had that
experience he is not an initiate of that Sephirah, and cannot
make use of its Names of Power even if he knows them. As
tradition has it, it is not enough to know a Name of Power, one
must also know how to vibrate it. It is generally believed that
the vibration of a Name of Power is the right note on which to
chant it; but magical vibration is something much more than that.
When one is deeply moved, and at the same time devotionally
exalted, the voice drops several tones below its normal pitch and
becomes resonant and vibrant; it is this tremor of emotion
combined with the resonance of devotion which constitutes the
vibration of a Name, and this cannot be learnt or taught; it can
only be spontaneous. It is like the wind, it bloweth where it
listeth. When it comes, it shakes one from head to heel with a
wave of fiery heat, and all who hear it involuntarily come to
attention. It is an extraordinary experience to hear a Word of
Power vibrated. It is an even more extraordinary experience to
vibrate it.
73. The archangel of Tiphareth is Raphael, the "spirit that
standeth in the sun," who is also the angel of healing.
74. When the initiate is "working on the Tree," that is to say
is building up in his imagination a diagram of the Tree of Life
in his aura, he formulates Tiphareth in his solar plexus between
the abdomen and the breast; if he intends to work in the sphere
of the Sixth Sephirah, and concentrates the power in this centre,
he will find that he himself has suddenly become a spirit
standing in the sun, with the blazing photosphere all round him.
It is one thing to formulate a Sephirah in one's aura; but it is
quite another to find oneself right inside the Sephirah. Although
one can receive the influence of a Sephirah by means of the
former operation, and it is a good routine method for daily
meditation, it is not until one has everted—as it were,
turned clean inside out, so that the position is reversed, and
instead of the Sphere being inside one, one is inside the
Sphere—that one can work with the power of a Sephirah. It
is this experience which is the culmination of the initiation of
a Sephirah.
75. The Order of Angels of Tiphareth are the Malachim, or
Kings. These are the spiritual principles of natural
forces—and no one can control, or even safely make contact
with elemental principles unless he holds the initiation of
Tiphareth, which is that of a minor adept. For he must have been
accepted by the Elemental Kings, that is to say he must have
realised the ultimate spiritual nature of natural forces before
he can handle them in their elemental form. In their subjective
elemental form they appear in the microcosm as powerful instincts
of combat, of reproduction, of self-abasement, of
self-aggrandisement, and all those emotional factors known to the
psychologist. It is obvious, therefore, that if we stir and
stimulate these emotions in our natures it must be in order that
we may use them as servants of the higher self, directed by
reason and spiritual principle. It is necessary, therefore, that
when we operate the elemental forces we do so through the Kings,
under the presidency of the Archangel and by the invocation of
the Holy Name of God appropriate to the sphere. Microcosmically,
this means that the powerful elemental driving-forces of our
nature are correlated with the higher self, instead of being
dissociated into the Qliphothic underworld of the Freudian
unconscious.
76. Elemental operations are not, of course, performed in the
Sphere of Tiphareth, but it is essential that they should be
controlled from the Sphere of Tiphareth if they are to remain
White Magic. If there is no such higher control, they will soon
slide off into Black Magic. It is said that at the Fall the four
lower Sephiroth became detached from Tiphareth and assimilated to
the Qliphoth. When the elemental forces become detached from
their spiritual principles in our concepts so that they become
ends in themselves, even if no evil but merely experimentation is
intended, a Fall takes place and degeneration soon follows. But
when we clearly realise the spiritual principle behind all
natural things, they are then in a state of innocence, to use a
theological term with a definite connotation; they are unfallen,
and we can safely work with them and advantageously develop them
in our own natures; thus bringing about the unrepression and
equilibrium so necessary to mental health. This correlation of
the natural with the spiritual, thus maintaining it unfallen and
in a state of innocency, is a very important point in all
practical workings in any form of magic.
77. As has already been seen, two spiritual experiences go to
make up the initiation of Tiphareth, the Vision of the Harmony of
Things and the Vision of the Mysteries of the Crucifixion. We
have already seen in another connection that there are two
aspects to Tiphareth, and therefore must be two Spiritual
experiences in its initiation.
78. In the Vision of the Harmony of Things we see deep into
the spiritual side of Nature; in other words, we meet the Angelic
Kings, the Malachim. Through this experience we understand that
the natural is but the dense aspect of the spiritual, the "Outer
Robe of Concealment" covering the "Inner Robe of Glory." It is
this understanding of the spiritual significance of the natural
which is so lamentably lacking in our religious life to-day, and
which is responsible for so much neurotic ill-health and so much
married unhappiness.
79. It is through this Vision of the Harmony of Things that we
are made one with Nature, not by means of elemental contacts.
Human beings who are in any wise raised by culture above the
primitive cannot become one with Nature upon the elemental level,
for to do so is degeneration, and they become beastly in both
senses of the word. The nature contacts are made through the
Angelic Kings of the Elements in the Sphere of Tiphareth—in
other words, through the realisation of the spiritual principles
behind natural things—and the initiate then comes to the
elemental beings in the name of their presiding King. He descends
into the elemental kingdoms from above, as it were, bringing with
him his manhood; thus he is an initiator to the elementals; but
if he meets them on their own level, he abrogates his manhood and
returns to an earlier phase of evolution. Elemental force, not
limited and kept in check by the limitations of an animal brain,
is bound to be unbalanced force when it flows through the wide
channels of a human intellect, and the result is chaos, which is
one of the Kingdoms of the Qliphoth.
80. The Mysteries of the Crucifixion are both macrocosmic and
microcosmic. In their macrocosmic aspect we find them in the
myths of the Great Redeemers of mankind, who are always born of
God and a Virgin mother, thus again emphasising the dual nature
of Tiphareth, wherein form and force meet together. But let us
not forget their microcosmic aspect, as an experience of mystical
consciousness. It is by means of an understanding of the
Mysteries of the Crucifixion, which concern the magical power of
sacrifice, that we are able to transcend the limitations of brain
consciousness, limited to sensation and habituated to form, and
enter into the wider consciousness of the higher psychism. We
thus become able to transcend form and thereby release the latent
force, changing it from static to kinetic and rendering it
available for the Great Work, which is regeneration.
81. The characteristic virtue of the Sphere of Tiphareth is
Devotion to this Great Work. Devotion is a very important factor
in the Way of Initiation that leads to the higher consciousness,
and we must therefore examine it carefully and analyse it into
the factors of which it consists. Devotion might be defined as
love for something higher than ourselves; something that evokes
our idealism; which, while we despair of becoming equal to it,
yet makes us aspire to become like it; "Beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory
to glory." When a stronger emotional content is infused into
devotion and it becomes adoration, it carries us across the great
gulf fixed between the tangible and the intangible, and enables
us to apprehend things that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. It
is this Devotion, rising to Adoration, in the Great Work, which
initiates us into the Mysteries of the Crucifixion.
82. The Vice assigned to Tiphareth is Pride, and in this
attribution we have some very true psychology. Pride has its
roots in egoism, and as long as we are self-centred we cannot be
made one with all things. In the true selflessness of the Path
the soul overflows its boundaries and enters into all things
through limitless sympathy and perfect love; but in pride the
soul tries to extend its boundaries till it possesses all things,
and it is a very different matter to possess a thing to being
made one with it, wherein it equally possesses us in Perfect
reciprocity. It is this one-sided arrangement which is the vice
of the adept. He must give as well as receive, and he must give
himself unreservedly if he would participate in mystical union,
which is the fruit of the sacrifice of crucifixion. "Let him who
would be the greatest among you be the servant of all," said Our
Lord.
83. The symbols associated with Tiphareth are the lamen; the
Rosy Cross; the Calvary Cross; the truncated pyramid; and the
cube.
84. The lamen is the symbol upon the breast of the adept and
indicates the force he represents. An adept performing work in
the Sphere of Shemesh, for instance, would wear upon his breast
an image of the sun in splendour. A lamen is the magical weapon
of Tiphareth; and it therefore becomes necessary to say something
concerning the nature of magical weapons in general in order that
the function of a lamen can be understood.
85. A magical weapon is some object which is found to be
suitable as a vehicle for force of a particular type. For
instance, the magical weapon of the Element of Water is a cup or
chalice; the magical weapon of the Element of Fire is a lighted
lamp. These objects are chosen because their nature is congenial
to that of the force to be invoked; or in modern language,
because their form suggests the force to the imagination by
association of ideas.
86. Tiphareth is traditionally associated with the breast,
both by virtue of the network of nerves which is called the solar
plexus, and by its position when the Tree is built up in the
aura. Consequently the breast jewel of the adept is held to be
the focus of the Tipharic force, whatever operation may be
performed. The actual force, operating in its own sphere, is
represented by the magical weapon assigned to it. For instance,
an adept performing an operation of the Element of Water would
have as his magical weapon the Cup, and with the Cup would make
all signs, and upon the Cup would concentrate the force called
down by invocation. But upon his breast would be the sigil of the
Element of Water, and this would be recognised as representing
the spiritual factor in the operation, and as referring to the
archangel over that particular kingdom. Unless the adept
understands the significance of his lamen, as distinguished from
his magical weapon, he is no adept, but a wizard.
87. The Rosy Cross and the Calvary Cross are both given as
symbols of the Sphere of Tiphareth. In order to understand their
significance, it is necessary to say something concerning crosses
in general, and how they are used in systems of symbolism.
Although the cross with which we are most generally familiar is
the Calvary Cross, owing to its association with Christianity,
there are many other forms of cross, and each has its own
significance. The Equal-armed Cross, such as the Red Cross of the
army medical service, is called by initiates the Cross of Nature,
and represents power in equilibrium. It is to be found at the top
of some Keltic crosses, often enclosed in a circle, so that a
Keltic cross actually consists of a tapering shaft ending in a
nature cross, and has no relationship whatever to the Calvary
Cross, which is the Cross of Christianity. The tapering shaft of
the Keltic cross is, in actual fact, a truncated pyramid, and
examples of this type of Keltic cross exist which leave no doubt
upon this point whatsoever. Some archaic forms suggest the
imposition of the cross and circle upon the conical phallic stone
which is so universal an object in primitive worship.
88. The Swastika is also a nature cross, and is sometimes
called the Cross of Thor, or the Hammer of Thor, its form being
supposed to indicate the whirling action of his thunderbolts.
89. The Calvary Cross is the Cross of Sacrifice, and should
properly be coloured black. Its shaft should be three times the
length of its arms, and the length of each arm three times its
width. Meditation on this cross brings initiation through
suffering, sacrifice, and self-abnegation. The Crucifix is, of
course, an elaboration of the Calvary Cross.
90. The circle upon the cross is an initiatory symbol,
especially when the cross is raised upon three steps, as it
should be in this form. The circle indicates eternal life; also
wisdom; and we see a form of it in the emblem of the Theosophical
Society, which has for its badge the "serpent that holdeth his
tail in his mouth." A Calvary Cross with the circle superimposed
means initiation by the Way of the Cross, and the three steps are
the three degrees of illumination. It is this which is the
so-called Rosy Cross. The fanciful object with brambles growing
over it is not an initiatory symbol at all. The Rose associated
with the Cross in Western symbolism is the Rosa Mundi, and is a
key to the interpretation of the nature forces. On its petals are
marked the thirty-two signs of the natural forces; these
correspond to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and
the Ten Holy Sephiroth; these in their turn are assigned to the
Thirty-two Paths of the Tree of Life, and this is the key to the
understanding of the Rosa Mundi. The curious scribbles that are
called the sigils of the elementary spirits are made by drawing
lines from one to another of the letters of their names on the
Rose.
91. In the light of this explanation we are at no loss to
understand the value of the claims of those organisations which
sport a floral emblem as their symbol. They are on a par with
those of the gentleman who demanded of his haberdasher a Public
School tie with a bit of red in it.
92. The cube is usually said to be assigned to Tiphareth
because it is a six-sided figure, and six is the number of
Tiphareth. But there is more than this in the symbolism of the
cube. The cube is the simplest form of solid, and as such is the
appropriate symbol of Tiphareth, in whose sphere is found the
first foreshadowing of form. The symbol of Malkuth is the double
cube, which symbolises "As above, so below."
93. The pyramid symbolises the perfected man, broad-based on
earth and tapering to unity in the heavens; in other words, the
Ipsissimus. The truncated pyramid symbolizes the initiated adept,
or Adeptus Minor, who has passed within the Veil but has not yet
completed his grades. This pyramid, to whose six sides correspond
the six central Sephiroth which constitute Adam Kadmon, or the
Archetypal Man, is completed by the addition of the Three
Supernals which terminate in the unity of Kether.
94. The Sixes of the Tarot suits are also assigned to
Tiphareth, and in them the harmonious and balanced nature of this
Sephirah shows clearly. The Six of Wands is the Lord of Victory.
The Six of Cups, the Lord of Joy. Even the maleficent Suit of
Swords is tuned to harmony in this sphere, and the Six of Swords
is known as the Lord of Earned Success—that is to say,
success achieved after struggle. The Six of Pentacles is Material
Success; in other words, power in equilibrium.
1. The Ten Holy Sephiroth, when arranged upon the Tree of Life in their traditional pattern, fall into three main horizontal divisions, as well as the three vertical divisions of the Pillars. The highest of these horizontal divisions consists of the Three Supernals, which for all practical purposes are beyond the sphere of our comprehension. We posit them as fundamental principles which must exist if subsequent manifestations are to be explained. They represent Pure Being and the opposing principles of Activity and Passivity, and they are well described by calling them the Supernal Triangle.
2. The next functional triangle upon the Tree consists of
Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphareth. These represent the active
principles of Anabolism, Catabolism, and Equilibrium, and might
best be described by calling them the Abstract Triangle.
3. All these six higher Sephiroth we have considered in
detail, and we have seen how the three Supernal principles form
the basis of manifestation, and the three Abstract principles
give expression to manifestation. The three higher are latent,
and the three lower are potent. If we understand these things, we
find we have a system for explaining the infinite diversity of
manifestation of the planes of form by reducing them to their
primary principles, which renders the relations between them and
the mode of their interaction and development clearly
comprehensible; which it never has been, and never can be, when
the attempt is made to reduce all things to terms of form,
instead of resolving them into terms of force.
4. The lowest functional unit on the Tree of Life consists,
not of a triangle, but of a quaternary, and this quaternary is
said by the Qabalists to have been affected by the Fall, the head
of Leviathan rising out of the Abyss to a point between Yesod and
Tiphareth. Beyond this it was not permitted to go, and the six
higher Sephiroth retained their innocency. In other words, the
four lower Sephiroth belong to the planes of form, wherein force
is no longer free-moving, but "cabined, cribbed, confined"; only
to be freed by works of destruction.
5. Tiphareth, as has already been seen, is the centre of
equilibrium of the Tree. Equilibrium gives rise to stability, and
stability to cohesion. From now onwards in the descent of life
upon the Path of Involution we find the principle of cohesion
playing an increasingly predominant part, until in Malkuth it
reaches its apogee.
6. We may well conceive that the active principles of the
Abstract Triangle underwent subdivision and specialisation in the
course of the descent of life through Netzach, and in Yesod
attained to a considerable degree of stereotyping by means of
which the forms of Malkuth were determined. Once Malkuth, which
is the plane of pure form, attained development, the evolutionary
stream began to turn back towards spirit, freeing itself from the
bondage of form while retaining the capacities acquired by
experience of the discipline of form.
7. We may conceive, then, of numerous abstract principles of
life-function becoming clothed upon with form owing to the
influence of the experience of their outward manifestations in
the Kingdom of Form. Or, in the language of the Qabalists, the
influence of the Fall is felt by them, and they have lost their
innocency.
8. These considerations give us an insight into the nature of
the Quaternary of the Planes of Form, and enable us to tread the
Middle Way between credulity and scepticism in this Sphere of
Illusion, as it has somewhat unkindly been called.
9. The great tide of evolving life, which issued as an
emanation from Tiphareth, is broken up in the Sephirah Netzach as
by a prism into many-rayed manifestation; whence comes the
Yetziratic description of this Sephirah as "the refulgent
splendour." In Hod these multifarious forces are clothed upon
with form; and in Yesod they act as etheric moulds for the final
emanations in Malkuth.
10. Manifestation in Malkuth completes the outgoing arc of
involution, and life turns back upon itself to pursue a parallel
course on the returning arc of evolution. Human intelligence
develops, and begins to meditate upon causation and discerns the
gods. Be it noted that primitive man has never achieved
monotheism in a single stride; he has always conceived of
causation as multiform and it has required many generations of
culture to reduce the many to the One.
11. This brings us to the great question, which might almost
be called the Dweller on the Threshold of occult science, the
horror which confronts every adventurer into the Unseen which
unites in itself the functions of the Sphinx, and asks a question
of the soul upon the answer to which hangs his fate. Shall he be
condemned to wander in the realms of illusion? Shall he be turned
back on to the planes of form, or shall he be permitted to pass
on into the Light? This question is, Do you believe in the gods?
If he answers Yes, he will be a wanderer in the planes of
illusion, for the gods are not real persons as we understand
personality. If he answers No, he will be turned back at the
gate, for the gods are not illusions. What then shall he
answer?
12. The intuition of a poet has given us the answer.
"For no thought of man made Gods to love and honour
Ere the song within the silent soul began,
Nor might earth in dream or deed take heaven upon her
Till the word was clothed with speech by lips of man."
13. Therein we have the clue to the riddle. The gods are the
creations of the created. They are made by the adoration of their
worshippers. It is not the gods that do the work of creation.
This is done by the great natural forces working each according
to its nature; the gods come in their procession after the Swan
of the Empyrean has laid the egg of manifestation in the darkness
of the cosmic night.
14. The gods are emanations of the group-minds of races; they
are not emanations of Eheieh, the One and Eternal. Nevertheless,
they are immensely powerful, because by means of their influence
over the imaginations of their worshippers they link the
microcosm with the macrocosm; for by meditation on the ideal
beauty of Apollo the soul of man is opened to beauty in
general.
15. As man has analysed life and discerned factor by factor
its prime motives, he has apotheosised them. Because man in all
parts of the globe has found that the same needs and motives
actuate him, he has evolved comparable pantheons. Because
temperaments differ, he has evolved as different pantheons as the
blood-thirsty fiends of Mexico and the radiant beings of
Hellas.
16. We may ask ourselves, then, whether the gods are wholly
subjective; whether they live solely in the imaginations of their
worshippers, or whether they have an independent life of their
own? The answer to this question is to be found in a fact of
occult experience which cannot be explained by what we know of
natural science, but which has to be taken for granted by every
practical occultist before he can obtain results. In fact, one
might say that the results he obtains are in proportion to his
faith, for it becomes true for him as soon as he believes in it.
This fact is, that only a very small proportion of the existing
mind-stuff of the universe whatever that may be, is organised
into the brains and nervous systems of sentient creatures. The
vast mass of what, for want of a better name, we call mind-stuff,
because that is its nearest analogy among known things, is free
moving upon what occultists call the astral plane, organised into
forms within itself, but not necessarily attached to matter.
Different occultists refer to this free mind-stuff by different
names. Mme. Blavatsky calls it Akasha; Eliphas Levi calls it the
reflecting ether. Netzach represents the force aspect, and Hod
the form aspect of this Akasha.
17. Out of this mind-stuff are formed the moulds of all forms;
and within these moulds are built up the framework of etheric
stresses that function in the sphere of Yesod, and within which
are held the molecules of matter which form the body of
manifestation on the physical plane.
18. Normally these forms are built by the cosmic consciousness
expressed as natural forces, functioning each according to its
nature; but as consciousness began to develop in the creatures of
the Creator, it exercised its function in varying degrees upon
the astral mind-stuff which, by its nature, was amenable to the
influences of consciousness; consequently, "the thought of man
made gods to love and honour." These forms, once built, became
channels of the specialised forces they were designed to
represent, concentrating them upon their worshippers. In this
enlightened sense initiates not only believe in, but adore the
gods.
Title: Netzach, Victory. (Hebrew: Nun, Tzaddi, Cheth) Magical Image: A beautiful naked woman. Situation on the Tree: At the foot of the Pillar of Mercy. Yetziratic Text: The Seventh Path is called the Occult Intelligence because it is the refulgent splendour of the intellectual virtues which are perceived by the eyes of the intellect and the contemplations of faith. Title Given to Netzach: Firmness. God-Name: Jehovah Tzabaoth, The Lord of Hosts. Archangel: Haniel. Order of Angels: Elohim, Gods. Mundane Chakra: Nogah, Venus. Spiritual Experience: Vision of beauty triumphant. Virtue: Unselfishness. Vice: Unchastity. Lust. Correspondence in Microcosm: Loins, hips and legs. Symbols: Lamp and girdle. The rose. Tarot Cards: The four Sevens.
- Seven of Wands: Valour. - Seven of Cups: Illusory success. - Seven of Swords: Unstable effort. - Seven of Pentacles: Success unfulfilled. Colour in Atziluth: Amber. Colour in Briah: Emerald. Colour in Yetzirah: Bright yellowish green. Colour in Assiah: Olive, flecked with gold.
1. Netzach, the Sphere of Venus, is best understood by
contrasting it with Hod, the Sphere of Mercury, these two
representing force and form on a lower arc, as has already been
seen. Netzach represents the instincts and the emotions they give
rise to, and Hod represents the concrete mind. In the macrocosm
they represent two levels of the process of the concretion of
force into form. In Netzach force is still relatively
free-moving, being bound only into exceedingly fluidic and
ever-shifting shapes, and in Hod taking on for the first time
definite and permanent form, though of an exceedingly tenuous
nature. In Netzach a particular form of force represents itself
as a type of beings, flowing backwards and forwards over the
boundaries of manifestation in an exceedingly elusive manner.
Such beings have no individualised personalities, but are like
the armies with banners that can be seen in the sunset clouds. In
Hod, however, individualisation into units has taken place, and
there is continuity of existence. All mind is group-mind in
Netzach, but in Hod the human mind has its beginnings.
2. Let us now consider Netzach itself, both in its microcosmic
and macrocosmic aspects, bearing constantly in mind that we are
now in the sphere of illusion, and that what is about to be
described in terms of form are appearances as represented by
the intellect to itself and projected back into the astral light
as thought-forms. This is a very important point, and should be
thoroughly understood in order to avoid falling into
superstition. Everything that is perceived by the "eyes of the
intellect and the contemplations of faith," as the Yetziratic
Text so graphically puts it, has its metaphysical basis in
Chokmah, the Supernal Sephirah at the head of the Pillar of
Mercy. But with Netzach a great change comes over our mode of
apprehending the different types of existence assigned to each
sphere. Hitherto we have perceived by means of intuition; our
apprehensions have been formless, or at least represented by
highly abstract symbols; there are no more of these after
Tiphareth, but we come to such concrete symbols as the rose,
assigned to Venus, for Netzach, and the caduceus, assigned to
Mercury, for Hod.
3. As has been seen, we conceive of the higher Sephiroth under
the aspect of factors of manifestation and functions. We saw in
our study of Tiphareth how the Mediating Intelligence, as the
Sepher Yetzirah calls it, broke up the White Light of the
One Life as in a prism so that it becomes the Refulgent Splendour
of many-rayed hues in Netzach. Here we have not force, but
forces; not life, but lives. Appropriately, therefore, the Order
of Angels assigned to Netzach are the Elohim, or gods. The One
has been reduced to the Many for the purposes of manifestation in
form.
4. These rays are not represented as the pure white light by
which we see everything in its true colours, but as many-hued,
each one of which brings out and intensifies some specialised
aspect of manifestation, just as a ray of blue light will only
show up those colours that are sympathetic to it, and will make
its complementary colours look black. Every life or form of force
manifesting in Netzach is a partial but specialized
manifestation; therefore no being that has for its sphere of
evolution the sphere of Netzach can ever have an all-round
development, but must always be a creature of one idea, one
single, simple, stereotyped function.
5. It is the Netzach factor in ourselves that is the basis of
our instincts, each of which, in their unintellectualised
essence, gives rises to appropriate reflexes, just as an infant's
lips will suck anything that is inserted between them.
6. The beings of Netzach, the Elohim, are not so much
intelligences as the embodiments of ideas.
7. These Elohim, to give them their Hebrew name, are the
formative influences whereby the creative force expresses itself
in Nature. Their true character is to be discerned in Chesed,
where they are described by the Sepher Yetzirah as the
"Holy Powers." In Netzach, however, which represents the upper
stratum of the reflecting ether, they undergo a change, the
image-making mind of man has begun to work upon them, moulding
the astral light into forms that shall represent them to his
consciousness.
8. It is very important that we should realise that these
lower Sephiroth of the Plane of Illusion are densely populated by
thought-forms; that everything which the human imagination has
been able to conceive, however dimly, has a form built about it
out of the astral light, and that the more the human imagination
has dwelt upon it to idealise it, the more definite that form
becomes. Consequently, subsequent generations of seers, when they
seek to discern the spiritual nature and innermost essence of any
form of life, are met by these images, the "creations of the
created," and will be deceived thereby, mistaking them for the
abstract essence itself, which is not to be found upon any plane
that yields images to psychic vision, but only upon those that
are discerned by pure intuition.
9. When his mentality was still primitive man worshipped these
images, by means of which he represented to himself the great
natural forces so all-important to his material well-being, thus
establishing a link with them, by means of which a channel was
developed whereby the forces they represented were poured into
his soul, thus stimulating the corresponding factor in his own
nature and thereby developing it. The operations of this worship,
especially when it became highly organised and intellectualised,
as in Greece and Egypt, built up exceedingly definite and potent
images, and it is these that are generally understood as the
gods. Generations of worship and adoration build a very strong
image in the astral light, and when sacrifice is added to
worship, the image is brought a step farther down the planes into
manifestation and acquires a form in the dense ethers of Yesod,
and is a very potent magical object, capable of independent
action when ensouled by the concrete ideas generated in Hod.
10. We see, then, that every celestial being conceived by the
mind of man has as its basis a natural force, but that upon the
basis of this natural force is built up a symbolic image
representative thereof, which is ensouled and rendered active by
the force it represents. The image, then, is but a mode of
representation indulged in by the human mind for its own
convenience, but the force that the image represents, and which
ensouls it, is a very real thing indeed, and under certain
circumstances can be exceedingly powerful. In other words,
although the form under which the god is represented is pure
imagination, the force associated with it is both real and
active.
11. This fact is the key, not only to talismanic magic in its
broadest sense, which includes all consecrated objects used in
ceremonial and for meditation, but to many things in life that we
cannot fail to observe but for which we have no explanation. It
explains a great many things in organised religion that are very
real to the believer but very baffling to the unbeliever, who can
neither explain them nor explain them away.
12. In Netzach, however, we have the most tenuous form of
these things, and they are perceived far more by the
"contemplations of faith" than by the "eyes of the intellect." In
the Sphere of Hod are performed all manner of magical operations
in which the intellect itself is brought to bear upon these
tenuous and fleeting images to give them form and permanency; but
in the Sphere of Netzach such operations do not take place to any
great degree; all god-forms in Netzach are worshipped by means of
the arts, not conceived by means of philosophies. Nevertheless,
for all practical purposes it is impossible to separate the
activities of Hod and Netzach, which are a functional pair, just
as Geburah and Chesed make up the two aspects of metabolism, the
catabolic and the anabolic. The functions of Netzach are implicit
in Hod because Netzach emanates Hod, and the powers developed by
evolution in the Sphere of Netzach are the basis of the
capacities of Hod. Consequently all magical operations of the
Sphere of Hod work upon a basis of the tenuous life-forms of
Netzach; and because the human intellect works up from Sphere to
Sphere, a good deal of the powers of Hod have been carried over
into Netzach by initiated souls going on ahead of evolution. The
two Spheres, therefore, are not clear-cut in their division and
classification, but in each one a certain type of function very
definitely predominates.
13. The contacts of Netzach are not made by means of
conceiving its life philosophically, nor by means of ordinary
image-making psychism, but by "feeling with," as Algernon
Blackwood has so graphically expressed it in his novels, into
which so much of the Sphere of Netzach enters. It is by means of
dance and sound and colour that the Netzach angels are contacted
and evoked. The worshipper of a god in the Sphere of Netzach
enters into communion with the object of his adoration by means
of the arts; and in proportion as he is an artist in some medium
or other, and can therein represent his deity symbolically, will
he be able to make the contact and draw the life into himself.
All rites which have rhythm and movement and colour in them are a
working in the Sphere of Netzach. And as Hod, the Sphere of
magical workings, draws its force from Netzach, it follows that
any magical operation of the Sphere of Hod must have a Netzach
element in it if it is to be ensouled effectually; and in order
to provide a basis of manifestation, etheric substance has to be
provided by some form of sacrifice, even if it he only the
burning of incense. This question will be dealt with fully in
studying the Sphere of Yesod, to which it belongs. It is
necessary to refer to it here, because the significance of the
rites of Netzach cannot be understood without a realisation of
the means whereby manifestation is effected, and the god brought
near to his worshippers.
14. Let us now consider Netzach from the point of view of the
microcosmic Tree of Life that is to say, the subjective Tree
within the soul, wherein the Sephiroth are factors in
consciousness.
15. The Three Supernals, and the first pair of manifesting
Sephiroth, Chesed and Geburah, represent the Higher Self, with
Tiphareth as the point of contact with the Lower Self. The four
lower Sephiroth, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malkuth, represent the
Lower Self, or personality, the unit of incarnation, with
Tiphareth as the point of contact with the Higher Self, which is
sometimes called the Holy Guardian Angel.
16. From the point of view of the personality, Tiphareth
represents the higher consciousness, aware of spiritual things;
Netzach represents the instincts, and Hod the intellect. Yesod
represents the fifth element, Kether, and Malkuth the four
elements which are the subtle aspect of matter. All that the
average human intellect can realise is the nature of dense
matter, Malkuth, and of the intellect, Hod, both concrete aspects
of existence. It has no appreciation of the forces which build
the forms, as represented by Netzach, the Sphere of the
instincts, and Yesod, the etheric double or subtle body.
Consequently we must make a careful study of Netzach because its
nature and importance are so little understood.
17. We shall comprehend the nature of Netzach in the microcosm
best if we remember that it is the Sphere of Venus, with all that
that implies. Translated from the symbolic language of the
Qabalah into plain English, it means that we are concerned here
with the function of polarity, which is a very great deal more
than mere sex as popularly conceived.
18. It is important to note in this respect that Venus, or in
her Greek form, Aphrodite, is not a fertility goddess at all,
such as are Ceres and Persephone; she is the goddess of love. Now
in the Greek concept of life, Love embraced much more than the
relationship between the sexes, it included the comradeship of
fighting men and the relationship of teacher and pupil. The Greek
hetaira, or woman whose profession is love, was something very
different to our modern prostitute. The Greek kept the simple
physical relation of the sexes for his lawful wife, who was
secluded in the gynaeceum, or harem, and was kept simply for
breeding purposes in order that he might have lawful heirs; and
she was a woman without education though of good blood, and was
not encouraged to render herself attractive or ply the arts of
love. Still less was she encouraged to worship the goddess
Aphrodite, who presides over the higher aspects of love; the
deities of her adoration were expected to be the gods of hearth
and home; Ceres the earth-mother was the ruler of the Mysteries
of the Greek women.
19. The Aphrodite cult was something very much more than the
simple performance of an animal function. It was concerned with
the subtle interaction of the life-force between two factors; the
curious flow and return, the stimulus and the reaction, which
plays so important a part in the relations of the sexes, but
extends far beyond the sphere of sex.
20. The Greek hetaira was expected to be a woman of culture;
there were, of course, all grades among them, from the lower, who
approximated to the Japanese geisha, to the higher, who held
salons after the manner of the famous French blue-stockings, and
were women of clean physical virtue to whom no man would dare to
make sensual advances; but because of the reverence in which the
function of sex was held among the Greeks, it is probable that at
no grade of society did the hetaira approximate to the
degradation of the modern professional prostitute.
21. The function of the hetaira was to minister to the
intellect of her clients as well as their appetites; she was a
hostess as well as a mistress, and to her resorted the
philosophers and poets to receive inspiration and sharpen their
wits; for it was well realised that there is no greater
inspiration to an intellectual man than the society of a vital
and cultured woman.
22. In the temples of Aphrodite the art of love was sedulously
cultivated, and the priestesses were trained from childhood in
its skill. But this art was not simply that of provoking passion,
but of adequately satisfying it on all levels of consciousness;
not simply by the gratification of the physical sensations of the
body, but by the subtle etheric exchange of magnetism and
intellectual and spiritual polarisation. This lifted the cult of
Aphrodite out of the sphere of simple sensuality, and explains
why the priestesses of the cult commanded respect and were by no
means looked upon as common prostitutes, although they received
all comers. They were engaged in ministering to certain of the
subtler needs of the human soul by means of their skilled arts.
We have brought to a higher pitch of development than was ever
known to the Greeks the art of stimulating desire with film and
revue and syncopation, but we have no knowledge of the far more
important art of meeting the needs of the human soul for etheric
and mental interchange of magnetism, and it is for this reason
that our sex life, both physiologically and socially, is so
unstable and unsatisfactory.
23. We cannot understand sex aright unless we realise that it
is one aspect of what the esotericist calls polarity, and that
this is a principle that runs through the whole of creation, and
is, in fact, the basis of manifestation. It is represented on the
Tree by the two Pillars of Severity and Mercy. The whole of the
activity of force is comprised in the principle of polarity, just
as the whole of the function of form is comprised in the
principle of metabolism.
24. Polarity really means the flowing of force from a sphere
of high pressure to a sphere of low pressure; high and low being
always relative terms. Every sphere of energy needs to receive
the stimulus of an influx of energy at higher pressure, and to
have an output into a sphere of lower pressure. The source of all
energy is in the Great Unmanifest, and it makes its way down the
levels, changing its form from one to the other, till it is
finally "earthed" in Malkuth. In every individual life, in every
form of activity, in every organised social group for whatever
purpose, whether army, church, or limited company, we see the
exemplification of this flowing of energy in circuit. The great
point we need to realise is that in the microcosmic Tree there is
a flow down and up the positive and negative aspects of our own
subjective levels of consciousness, whereby the spirit inspires
mind, and mind directs the emotions, and the emotions form the
etheric double, and the etheric double moulds the physical
vehicle, which is the "earth" of the circuit. This is a fact that
is generally realised, and its implications are easily seen as
soon as attention is drawn to them.
25. But a point we do not so readily realise is that there is
a flow and return between each "body" or level of consciousness
and its corresponding aspect in the macrocosm. Just as there is
an intake and output on the level of Malkuth whereby food and
water are received into the body as nutriment and rejected as
excreta, which is the food of the vegetable kingdom under the
polite name of manure—so is there an intake and output
between the etheric double and the astral light, and between the
astral body and the mind side of nature, and so on up the planes,
with the subtler factors represented by the six higher Sephiroth.
The essence of the Magical Qabalah, which is the practical
application of the Tree of Life, is to develop these magnetic
circuits of the different levels and so strengthen and reinforce
the soul. Just as the physical body is nourished by eating and
drinking, and kept healthy by adequate excretion, which might be
called the operations of the Sphere of Malkuth, so is the soul of
man energised by the operations of the Sphere of Tiphareth, which
is also called the Sphere of the Redeemer, who brings health to
the soul. We know how initiation develops the powers of the
higher psychism and enables the human understanding to apprehend
spiritual truths; what we do not realise is that for the full
gamut of human development we need also to develop our power to
contact natural energy in its essential form as represented by
the Sphere of Netzach. We are accustomed to take the line that
the spiritual and the natural are mutually antagonistic and that
we must rob Peter to pay Paul, and to conclude that if the
spiritual is the highest good, the natural must necessarily be
the lowest evil; we do not realise that matter is crystallised
spirit, and spirit is volatilized matter, and that there is no
difference of substance between them, any more than there is
between water and ice, but both are different states of the One
Thing, as the alchemists call it; this is the great secret of
alchemy which forms the philosophic basis of the secret doctrine
of transmutation.
26. But the transmutation of metals is of little save academic
importance compared to the transmutation of energy within the
soul. It is this that the initiates deal with by means of the
technique of the Tree of Life; and as consciousness transmutes up
and down the Central Pillar of Mildness, or Equilibrium, so does
energy transmute up and down the Pillar of Mercy, of which
Netzach is the base, and form transmute up and down the Pillar of
Severity, of which Hod, the intellect, is the base.
27. In Chokmah, then, we get the tremendous drive of life,
which is the great male potency of the universe; in Chesed we get
the organisation of forces into interacting wholes; and in
Netzach we get a sphere wherein evolution, ascending from Malkuth
as organised force ensouling vivified form, is able to contact
essential force once more. Netzach, the Sphere of Nogah, which is
the Hebrew name for Venus-Aphrodite, is therefore an exceedingly
important Sphere from the point of view of the practical work of
occultism. It is because most people who go in for occultism work
up the Central Pillar only, which is the Pillar of Consciousness,
and pay no attention to the side pillars, which are the Pillars
of Function, that such negligible results are obtained from
initiation. The blind are leading the blind, and the average
would-be initiator in modern occult fraternities, who is usually
more of a mystic than an occultist, does not realise that he has
got to initiate subconsciousness as well as consciousness, and
illuminate the instincts as well as the reason.
28. We have considered Netzach from the objective and the
subjective points of view; it now remains to study the symbolism
assigned to this Sephirah in the light of the knowledge we have
already obtained.
29. We shall observe at once that the symbolism contains two
distinct ideas—the idea of power and the idea of beauty;
and we are reminded of the love that existed between Venus and
Mars according to the old myth. Now these myths are not fabulous,
save in the historical sense, but represent truths of the spirit;
and when we find the same idea recurring in different pantheons,
when we find Hebrew Qabalist and Greek poet, whose mentalities
were as far removed from each other as the poles, presenting the
same concept in different forms, we must conclude that it is not
accidental, but will repay careful scrutiny.
30. Let us depart from our usual method of analysing the
symbols in the given order, and classify them according to the
two types into which they fall.
31. The Hebrew title of the Seventh Sephirah is Netzach,
meaning Victory. Its additional title is Firmness, which carries
out the same idea of masterful and victorious energy. The
God-name is Jehovah Tzabaoth, meaning the Lord of Hosts, or God
of Armies. The Order of Angels assigned to Netzach are the
Elohim, or gods, the rulers of Nature.
32. The four Tarot cards assigned to this Sephirah all contain
the idea of battle, even if in a negative form. It is curious to
note, however, that it is only the Seven of Wands which has a
good, or positive, significance, the other three Sevens are all
cards of ill fortune. The reason for this becomes clear, however,
when we understand the symbolism as a whole, so we will put it
aside for the moment, and reconsider it later.
33. Let us now turn to the consideration of the other set of
symbolic images. The Mundane Chakra of Netzach is the planet
Venus, and the magical image is, appropriately enough, "a
beautiful naked woman." The spiritual experience assigned to this
sphere is the Vision of Beauty Triumphant. The virtue is
Unselfishness—that is to say, the capacity to polarise from
the negative pole. The vices are the obvious ones of love abused
unchastity and lust.
34. The correspondence in the microcosm is with the loins,
hips, and legs. These, it will be noted, form the setting of the
generative organs, but not the generative organs themselves, and
bear out the idea previously shadowed forth, that the goddess of
Love and the fertility goddess are not one and the same
thing.
35. The symbols assigned to Netzach are the Lamp, the Girdle,
and the Rose. The Girdle and Rose are self-explanatory, for they
are traditionally associated with Venus. The Lamp, however,
requires more explanation, for the classical associations afford
us no clue on this point. We must turn to alchemy.
36. The four Elements are associated with the four lower
Sephiroth, and of these the Element of Fire is associated with
Netzach. The Lamp is the magical weapon used in operations of
the Element of Fire. Hence the association with Netzach. The
Element of Fire is associated with the fiery energy at the heart
of Nature, and connects up with the Mars aspect of the Venus
Sephirah.
37. We see, then, from a study of the foregoing symbolism,
that the Mars, or Victory, symbolism is associated with the
Macrocosm, and the Venus, or Love, symbolism with the Microcosmic
or subjective aspect. This gives us the key to a very important
psychological truth, well understood by the ancients, but which
had to await the work of Freud for its interpretation in modern
language. This may best be expressed by saying that elemental
energy, or the fundamental dynamism of an individual, is very
closely connected with the sex life of that individual.
38. This is a very important fact in our psychic life, well
understood by psychologists though but little appreciated by
mystics and psychics, who generally incline to an idealism which
seeks to escape from matter and its problems. But to escape like
this is to leave unconquered fortresses in our rear; and the
wiser way, the only way that can produce wholeness of life and a
balanced temperament, is to give due place to Netzach, which
balances the intellectuality of Hod and the materiality of
Malkuth, remembering always that the Tree consists of the two
Pillars of Polarity and the Path of Equilibrium between them.
39. The true secret of natural goodness lies in the
recognition of the contending rights of the Pairs of Opposites;
there is no such antinomy as between Good and Evil, but only the
balance between two extremes, each of which is evil when carried
to excess, both of which give rise to evil if insufficient for
equipoise. Unbridled licence leads to degradation; but unbalanced
idealism leads to psychopathology.
40. There are three types of persons who pass within the
Veil—the mystic, the psychic, and the occultist. The mystic
aspires to union with God, and achieves his end by putting aside
all that is not of God in his life. The psychic is a receiver of
subtle vibrations, but not a transmitter. The occultist must
needs be to some extent at least a receiver, but his primary aim
is to be able to control and direct in the invisible kingdoms in
the same way that the man of science has learnt to control and
direct in the kingdom of Nature.
41. To order to achieve this end he must work in harmony with
the invisible forces in the same way that the scientist masters
Nature by understanding her. Of these invisible forces some are
spiritual, descending from Kether, and some are elemental,
working up from Malkuth. The Kether forces of the Macrocosm are
picked up by the Tiphareth-centre in the Microcosm, to use the
Qabalistic terminology; the elemental forces are picked up by the
Yesod-centre, but—and this is the important
point—they are directed and controlled by the manner in
which the equilibrium is maintained between Netzach and Hod.
42. Netzach, in the Microcosm, represents the instinctive,
emotional side of our nature, and Hod represents the intellect;
Netzach is the artist in us, and Hod is the scientist. According
as our moods shift between restraint and dynamism will he the
polarity of Hod and Netzach in the Microcosm which is the soul.
If there is no Netzach influence to introduce a dynamic element,
the over-preponderance of Hod will lead to all theory and no
practice in occult matters. No one can handle magic in whom the
Sphere of Netzach is not in function, for the scepticism of Hod
will kill all magical images before their birth. Like all things
in nature, Hod, unfertilised by its opposing polarity, is
sterile. There must be something of the artist in every occultist
who wants to do practical work. The intellect alone, however
powerful, does not confer powers. It is through the Netzach in
our own nature that the elemental forces obtain access to
consciousness; without Netzach, they remain in the subconscious
Sphere of Yesod, working blindly. It is taught in the Mysteries
that each level of manifestation has its own ethic, or standard
of right and wrong, and that we must not confuse the planes by
expecting from one the standard of another, which is not
applicable thereon. In the realm of mind, the ethic is Truth; on
the astral plane, which is the sphere of the emotions and
instincts, the ethic is Beauty. We must learn to understand the
righteousness of Beauty, as well as the beauty of righteousness,
if we want to bring all the provinces of the inner kingdom into
obedience to the central power of unified consciousness.
43. In entering upon the region of the four lower Sephiroth we
are coming into the sphere of the human mind. Subjectively
considered, they constitute the personality and its powers. It is
the aim of occult initiation to develop these powers and, if
taken from the higher standpoint, as it always should be if it is
not to degenerate into black magic, to unite them with Tiphareth,
which is the focussing-point of the higher self, or
Individuality. In discussing Netzach, therefore, we have
definitely passed within the portal of the Mysteries, and are
treading upon the sacred ground reserved for initiates.
44. I am no advocate of a secrecy which is simply priestcraft,
but there are certain practical secrets of the Mysteries
which it is inadvisable to cry aloud lest they be abused. There
is also the inveterate tendency of human nature to apply its own
definitions to familiar terms, and to refuse to recognise them
apart from their familiar associations. If I lift a corner of the
Veil of the Temple and reveal the fact that sex is simply a
special instance of the universal principle of polarity, the
immediate assumption is that polarity and sex are synonymous
terms. If I say that although sex is a part of polarity, there is
a great deal of polarity that has nothing to do with sex, my
explanation is ignored. Perhaps I shall be understood better if I
substitute the terminology of physics for that of the more
appropriate psychology, and say that life will only flow in
circuit; insulate it, and it becomes inert. Let us take the human
personality as an electrical machine; it must be connected up
with the power-house, which is God, the Source of all Life, or
there will be no motive power; but equally it must be "earthed,"
or the power will not flow. Every human being must be "earthed"
to the earth, both literally and metaphorically. The idealist
tries to induce a complete insulation of all earth-contacts in
order that the inflowing power may not be wasted; he fails to
realise that the earth is one great magnet.
45. Tradition declares from of old that the key to the
Mysteries was written upon the Emerald Tablet of Hermes, whereon
were inscribed the words, "As above, so below." Apply the
principles of physics to psychology, and the riddle will be read.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
46. Finally we come to the consideration of the significance
of the Tarot cards associated with Netzach. These are the four
Sevens of the Tarot pack.
47. As we are now coming within the sphere of influence of the
earth-plane, it may be as well to explain what these lesser cards
of the Tarot pack represent in divination. They symbolise the
different modes of function of the different Sephirothic forces
in the four worlds of the Qabalists. The suit of Wands
corresponds to the spiritual level; Cups to the mental level;
Swords to the astral plane; and Pentacles to the physical plane.
Consequently, if the Seven of Pentacles turns up in a divination,
it means that the influence of Netzach is playing a part on the
physical level. There is an old proverb, "Lucky in love, unlucky
at cards," which is but another way of saying that the person who
is attractive to the opposite sex is usually in perpetual hot
water. Venus is a disturbing influence in worldly affairs. She
distracts from the serious business of life. As soon as her
influence comes through to Malkuth, she must hand over the
sceptre to Ceres and leave well alone. It is children, not love,
that keep the home together. The Qabalistic name of the Seven of
Pentacles is "Success Unfulfilled," and we have only to look at
the lives of Cleopatra, Guinevere, Iseult, Heloise to realise
that Venus upon the physical plane has for her motto, "All for
love, and the world well lost."
48. The suit of Swords is assigned to the astral plane. The
secret title of the Seven of Swords is "Unstable Effort." How
well does this express the action of Venus in the sphere of the
emotions, with its short-lived intensity.
49. The secret title of the Seven of Cups is "Illusory
Success." This card represents the working of Venus in the sphere
of mind, where her influence is by no means conducive to
clear-sightedness. We believe what we want to believe when we are
under the influence of Venus. Upon this plane her motto might
well be "Love is blind."
50. Only in the sphere of the spirit does Venus come into her
own. Here her card, the Seven of Wands, is called "Valour," which
well describes the dynamic and vitalizing influence she exerts
when her spiritual significance is understood and employed.
51. Very interestingly do the four Tarot cards assigned to
Netzach reveal the nature of the Venusian influence as it comes
down the planes. They teach us a very important lesson, for they
show how essentially unstable this force is unless it is rooted
in spiritual principle. The lower forms of love are of the
emotions and essentially unreliable; but the higher love is
dynamic and energising.
Title: Hod, Glory. (Hebrew: He, Vau, Daleth.) Magical Image: An hermaphrodite. Situation on the Tree: At the foot of the Pillar of Severity. Yetziratic Text: The Eighth Path is called the Absolute or Perfect Intelligence because it is the mean of the Primordial, which has no root by which it can cleave or rest, save in the hidden places of Gedulah, from which emanates its proper essence. God-Name: Elohim Tzabaoth, the God of Hosts. Archangel: Michael. Order of Angels: Beni Elohim, Sons of God. Mundane Chakra: Kokab, Mercury. Spiritual Experience: Vision of Splendour. Virtue: Truthfulness. Vice: Falsehood. Dishonesty. Correspondence in Microcosm: Loins and legs. Symbols: Names and Versicles and Apron. Tarot Cards: The four Eights.
- Eight of Wands: Swiftness. - Eight of Cups: Abandoned success. - Eight of Swords: Shortened force. - Eight Of Pentacles: Prudence. Colour in Atziluth: Violet-purple. Colour in Briah: Orange. Colour in Yetzirah: Russet-red. Colour in Assiah: Yellowish black, flecked with white.
1. The two root-powers of the universe are represented on the
Tree of Life by Chokmah and Binah, Positive and Negative Force.
It is held by the Qabalists that although each Sephirah emanates
its next in numerical order, that these two Supernals of the Tree
being once established, are reflected down it diagonally in a
particular way. This is clearly indicated in the Yetziratic Text
of this Sephirah, wherein it says that Hod "has no root by which
it can cleave or rest, save in the hidden places of Gedulah, from
whence emanates its proper essence." Gedulah, be it remembered, is
another name for Chesed.
2. Binah is the Giver of Form. Chesed is cosmic anabolism, the
organisation of the units formulated by Binah into complex,
interacting structures; Hod, the reflection of Chesed, is in its
turn a Sephirah of Form, and represents this coagulating
principle in another sphere.
3. Chokmah, on the other hand, is the dynamic principle; it
reflects into Geburah, which is the Cosmic Catabolist,
representing the breaking-down of the complex into the simple,
thus releasing latent energy; and this reflects again into
Netzach, the life-force of Nature.
4. It is important for the understanding of the five lower
Sephiroth to note that the present stage of evolution has brought
some degree of development of human consciousness in their
Spheres. Tiphareth represents the higher consciousness wherein
the individuality unites with the personality: Netzach and Hod
represent the force and form aspects of astral consciousness
respectively. Because human consciousness has made a degree of
development in these spheres, their purely cosmic nature is
considerably overlaid by its influences; and as human
consciousness, being developed in Malkuth, is a consciousness of
forms derived from the experience of physical sensations, the
conditions of Malkuth are reflected back, though in a rarefied
form, into Hod and Netzach, and in a lesser degree into
Tiphareth; Yesod is even more markedly conditioned by the rising
influence of Malkuth.
5. This is due to the fact that the mind of any being of a
sufficient degree of development to have achieved an independent
will works objectively on its environment, thereby modifying it.
Let us make this clear by an illustration. Creatures of a lowly
development, such as the simple forms of life that have no motile
power, like sea-anemones, can exercise very little influence over
their environment; but a higher and more intelligent type of
creature can exercise a great deal, forcing its environment, by
its energy and intelligence, to conform to its will, as when a
beaver builds a dam. Human beings, the highest of all the
creatures of matter, have learnt to exercise a profound influence
on their environment, so that the material globe is gradually
being brought into subjection to man, whole spheres, in fact,
being thus harnessed.
6. The conditions with regard to each level of consciousness
are precisely analogous. The mind builds up out of mind-stuff and
the spiritual nature out of the spiritual forces of the Cosmos in
exactly the same way that the sea-anemone builds up its substance
out of the nutriment brought to it by the water. The higher types
of personality, however, are analogous to the higher types of
animals in that they can in an increasing degree, according to
their energy and capacity, influence their subtle environment;
the mind, built up out of mind-stuff, making its influence felt
in the plane of mind.
7. We observe in dealing with the astral plane, which is
essentially the level of function of the denser aspects of the
human mind, that the forces and factors of this plane present to
consciousness as ethereal forms of a distinctly human type; and
if we approach the subject philosophically, and not credulously,
we are at a loss to explain how this can be. The initiate,
however, has his explanation. He declares that it is the human
mind itself which has created these forms by representing these
intelligent natural forces to itself as having forms of a human
type; reasoning by analogy that, because they are individualised,
their individuality must have the same kind of vehicle for its
manifestation as his own individuality.
8. This, of course, does not necessarily follow. In fact,
these forms of life, left to their own devices, achieve
incarnation in natural phenomena, their vehicles being
coordinations of natural forces such as a river, a range of
mountains, or a storm. Wherever man comes in touch with the
astral, whether as psychic or magician, he always
anthropomorphises and creates forms in his own likeness to
represent to himself the elusive subtle forces that he is
endeavouring to contact, understand, and harness to his will. He
is a true child of the Great Mother, Binah, and carries his
natural propensities for organism and form-making to whatever
plane he is able to exalt consciousness.
9. The forms perceived on the astral plane by those who can
see there, are the forms that have been made by the imagination
of men to represent these subtle natural forces of other forms of
evolution than the human. The intelligences of other forms of
evolution than ours, if they come into touch with human life, can
sometimes be persuaded to make use of these forms, just as a man
puts on a diving-dress and descends into another element. A
certain, and fundamental, type of magic deals with the making of
these forms and the inducing of entities to ensoul them.
10. Let us consider what is done when such a process is afoot.
Primitive man, who is much more psychic than civilised man, his
mind not being so elaborately organised by education, is
intuitively aware that there is a subtle something behind any
highly organised unit of natural force that differentiates it
from every other unit. Humans are subconsciously aware of this to
a greater degree than they will admit; it is not for nothing that
a ship is "she," and that we speak of "Father Thames." A savage,
then, feeling this life behind phenomena, tries to get into touch
with it in order that he may come to terms with it. As he
obviously cannot hope to conquer it, he must make terms with it,
just as he would with other alien lives ensouled in the bodies of
another tribe. In order to come to terms there must be a parley.
One cannot make terms with persons who will not parley. The
savage thinks, reasoning by his own primitive method of analogy,
that the beings behind the phenomena dwell in a kingdom similar
to that in which his own dream-life goes on; as daydreams are
close akin to the dreams of sleep, and have the advantage of
being inducible at will, he tries to approach these beings of
another sphere by entering their kingdom; that is to say, he
fabricates in day-dream or phantasy the closest approach he can
to the visions of the night, and if he can achieve a high degree
of concentration, he is able to close down his waking
consciousness and enter voluntarily into the dream state in a
dream of his own determining.
11. In order to achieve this end, he builds up in his
imagination a mental picture intended to represent the being that
is the presiding genius of the natural phenomenon he wishes to
come to terms with; he builds it up repeatedly; he adores it; he
prays to it; he invokes it. If his invocation be sufficiently
fervent, the being he is seeking will hear him telepathically and
may become interested in what he is doing; if his adoration and
sacrifices are agreeable to it, its co-operation may be obtained.
Gradually it may become tamed and domesticated; and finally, it
may be persuaded to ensoul from time to time the form that has
been built up out of mind-stuff for its vehicle. Success in this
operation depends, of course, on the degree to which the
worshipper can appreciate through sympathy the nature of the
being he is bent upon invoking, and he can only do this in
proportion as his own temperament partakes of its nature.
12. If this process is successful, then we have the
domestication of a portion of the life of Nature, and its
incarnation in a form built for it by its worshippers. As long as
the astral form is kept alive by the appropriate kind of worship,
carried out by worshippers who have the necessary capacity to
enter into sympathetic communion with that kind of life, there is
an incarnated god, available for contacting, brought down within
the range of human perception. Should the worship cease, the god
withdraws to his own place in the bosom of Nature. Should other
worshippers come along, however, who possess the knowledge
necessary to build a form in accordance with the nature of the
life that is to be invoked, and the imaginative sympathy
necessary to invoke it, it is a comparatively simple matter to
attract into the form once more the life that was accustomed to
ensoul it; no more difficult, at least, than to catch with a
basket of oats a horse that has run wild on the ranges.
13. Now, it may be said, all this is the wildest speculation
and sheer dogmatism. How do I know that that is the way in which
primitive man went to work? Because that is the way of going to
work that has come down in the secret Mystery Tradition from very
ancient times, and because when it is used by anyone who has
acquired the necessary degree of skill in concentration and knows
the symbols that are used for building the different forms, the
method works, and back come the Old Gods to the altar fires
re-kindled. Definite results are obtained in the consciousness of
the worshippers; and if they borrow the technique of the
spiritualist, and a materialising medium is available, phenomena
of a very definite kind are produced.
14. It is the method that is used in working the Mass by those
priests who have knowledge. There are two types of priest in the
Roman Church: the beneficed parish clergy and the men who belong
to monastic Orders and undertake parish, and especially home
mission, work as part of their service. These monks frequently
bring to the working of the Mass a very high degree of magical
power, as any psychic can testify. It is the ensouling of an
astral form with spiritual force which is the real act of
Transubstantiation. It is in the knowledge of these things, and
in the possession of organised bodies of men and women trained in
their use in the encloistered Orders, that the strength of the
One Catholic and Apostolic Church lies; it is the lack of any
such inner knowledge which is the weakness of the schismatic
communions, a lack that makes the Anglican rituals, even when
worked with full ceremonial, as water unto wine when compared
with the Roman rituals; for the men who work them have no
knowledge of the secret workings which are traditional in the
Roman communion, and are not trained in the technique of
visualising. I am not a Catholic, and never shall be, because I
would not submit to their discipline, nor do I believe that there
is only One Name under heaven whereby men may be saved, much as I
revere that Name, but I know power when I see it, and I respect
it.
15. But the power of the Roman Church does not lie in charter,
but in function. It is powerful, not because Peter received the
Keys (which he probably didn't), but because it knows its job.
There is no reason why priests of the Anglican communion should
not work with power if they apply the principles I have explained
in these pages. In the Guild of the Master Jesus, which is part
of my own Organisation, the Fraternity of the Inner Light, we
work the Mass with Power because we apply these principles. When
we first started we were offered Apostolic Succession for our
ministrants, but declined it because we felt that it was better
to use our knowledge to make the contacts anew on our own account
than to receive Apostolic Succession from a source that was not
above suspicion, and experience has justified our choice.
16. For the full understanding of the philosophy of magic we
must remember that single Sephiroth are never functional; for
function one must have the Pair of Opposites in balanced
equilibrium, resulting in an equilibrated Third which is
functional. The Pair of Opposites, by themselves, are not
functional because they are mutually neutralising; it is only
when they unite in balanced force to flow forth as a Third, after
the symbolism of Father, Mother, and Child, that they achieve
dynamic activity, as distinguished from the latent force which is
for ever locked up in them, awaiting to be called forth.
17. The functioning triangle of the Lower Triad consists of
Hod, Netzach, and Yesod. Hod and Netzach, as we have noted
before, are respectively Form and Force on the astral plane.
Yesod is the basis of etheric substance, Akasha, or the Astral
Light, as it is variously called. Hod is especially the Sphere of
Magic, because it is the sphere of the formulation of forms, and
is therefore the sphere in which the magician actually works, for
it is his mind that formulates the forms, and his will that makes
the link with the natural forces of the Sphere of Netzach that
ensoul them. Be it noted, however, that without the contacts of
Netzach, the force aspect of the astral, there could be no
ensouling; and with Netzach, being the Sphere of emotions, the
contacts are made through sympathy and "feeling with." The power
of the will projects the magician out of Hod, but only the power
of sympathy can take him into Netzach. A cold-blooded person of
dominating will can no more be an adept working with power than
can a fluidically sympathetic person of pure emotion. The power
of the concentrated will is necessary to enable the magician to
gather himself together for his work, but the power of
imaginative sympathy is essential to enable him to make his
contacts. For it is only through our power to enter imaginatively
into the life of types of existence different to our own that we
can pick up our contacts with the forces of Nature. To attempt to
dominate them by pure will, cursing them by the Mighty Names of
God if they resist, is sheer sorcery.
18. As we have already noted, it is through the corresponding
factors in our own temperaments that we come into touch with the
forces of Nature. It is the Venus within that puts us in touch
with the influences symbolised by Netzach. It is the magical
capacity of our own mind that puts us in touch with the forces of
the Sphere of Hod-Mercury-Thoth. If there is no Venus in our own
nature, no capacity to respond to the call of love, the gates of
the Sphere of Netzach will never open to us and we shall never
receive its initiation. Equally, if we have no magical capacity,
which is the work of the intellectual imagination, the Sphere of
Hod will be a closed book to us. We can only operate in a Sphere
after we have received the initiation of that Sphere, which, in
the language of the Mysteries, confers its powers. In the
technical working of the Mysteries these initiations are
conferred on the physical plane by means of ceremonial, which may
be effectual, or may not. The gist of the matter lies in the fact
that one cannot waken into activity what is not already latent.
Life is the real initiator; the experiences of life stimulate
into function the capacities of our temperaments in such degree
as we possess them. The ceremony of initiation, and the teachings
that should be given in the various grades, are simply designed
to make conscious what was previously subconscious, and to bring
under the control of the will, directed by the higher
intelligence, those developed reaction-capacities which have
hitherto only responded blindly to their appropriate stimuli.
19. Be it well noted that it is only in proportion as our
capacities for reaction are lifted out of the sphere of emotional
reflexes and brought under rational control that we can make of
them magical powers. It is only when the aspirant, having the
capacity to respond on all planes to the call of Venus, can
easily and without effort refrain at will from responding, that
he can be made an initiate of the Sphere of Netzach. This is why
it is said of the adept that he has the use of all things, but is
dependent upon nothing.
20. These concepts are shadowed forth for those who have eyes
to see in the symbolism of Hod. The Yetziratic Text declares that
Hod is the Perfect Intelligence because it is the mean of the
Primordial. In other words, it is power in equilibrium, for the
word "mean" implies a position half-way between two extremes.
21. The concept of inhibited reaction and satisfaction
foregone is expressed in the title of the Eight of Cups of the
Tarot pack, whose secret name is "Abandoned Success." The suit of
Cups, in the Tarot symbolism, is under the influence of Venus and
represents the different aspects and influences of love.
"Abandoned Success," the inhibition of the instinctive reaction
which would give satisfaction—in other words,
sublimation—is the key to the powers of Hod. But remember
that sublimation is not the same thing as either repression or
eradication, and it applies to the instinct of self-preservation
as well as to the instinct of reproduction, with which it is
exclusively associated in the popular mind.
22. The same concept reappears in the secret title of the
Eight of Swords, which is "The Lord of Shortened Force." We get a
clear image in these words of the checking, or braking of dynamic
power in order that it may be brought under control.
23. In the Eight of Pentacles, which represents the nature of
Hod manifesting on the material plane, we have the Lord of
Prudence—again a checking and inhibiting influence. But all
these three negative, inhibiting cards are summed up under the
presidency of the Eight of Wands, which represents the action of
the Sphere of Hod on the spiritual plane, and this card is called
the Lord of Swiftness.
24. We see, then, that it is through inhibitions and
refrainings on the lower planes that the dynamic energy of the
highest plane is rendered available. It is in the Sphere of Hod
that the rational mind imposes these inhibitions on the dynamic
animal nature of the soul; condensing them; formulating them;
directing them by limiting them and preventing diffusion. This is
the operation of the magic that works with symbols. By its means
the free-moving natural forces are constrained and directed to
ends that are willed and designed. This power of direction and
control is only obtained by the sacrifice of fluidity, and Hod is
therefore aptly said to be the reflection of Binah through
Chesed.
25. Having considered the general principles of the Sphere of
Hod, we are now in a position to consider its symbolism in
detail.
26. The meaning of the Hebrew word Hod is Glory, and this
suggests at once to the mind that in this, the first Sphere in
which forms are definitely organised, the radiance of the
Primordial is shown forth to human consciousness. Physicists tell
us that light is only rendered visible as blue sky owing to its
reflection from the particles of dust in the atmosphere.
Absolutely dustless atmosphere is absolutely dark atmosphere. And
so it is in the metaphysics of the Tree. The glory of God can
only shine forth in manifestation when there are forms to
manifest it.
27. The Magical Image of Hod affords a very interesting
subject for meditation. Those who have grasped the significance
of the preceding pages will see how well the form and force
nature of magical working is summed up in this symbol of the
being in whom are combined the male and female elements.
28. Hod is essentially the sphere of forms ensouled by the
forces of Nature; and conversely, it is the sphere in which the
forces of Nature take on sensible form.
29. The Yetziratic Text has already been discussed at length,
and to that discussion the reader can refer for its
elucidation.
30. The God-name of Hod, Elohim Tzabaoth, God of Hosts,
contains the hermaphroditic symbol in a very interesting way, for
the word Elohim is a feminine noun with a masculine plural, thus
indicating in the manner of the Qabalists that it represents a
dual type of activity, or force functioning through an
organisation. All three Sephiroth in the Negative Pillar of the
Tree have the word Elohim as part of the God name. Tetragrammaton
Elohim in Binah; Elohim Gebor in Geburah; and Elohim Tzabaoth in
Hod.
31. The word Tzabaoth means a host or army, and so we get the
idea of the Divine Life manifesting in Hod by means of a host of
forms ensouled with force, in contradistinction to the fluidic
activity of Netzach.
32. The assignation of the mighty Archangel Michael to Hod
again gives us food for thought. He is always represented as
trampling upon a serpent and piercing it with a sword, and
frequently holds in his hand a pair of balances, symbolic of
equilibrium and expressive of the same idea as the Yetziratic
words, "Mean of the Primordial."
33. The serpent upon which the great Archangel treads is
primitive force, the phallic serpent of the Freudians; and this
glyph teaches us that it is the restrictive "prudence" of Hod
which "shortens" primitive force and prevents it from overflowing
its boundaries. The Fall, be it remembered, is represented on the
Tree by the Great Serpent with seven heads which overpasses the
bounds set for it and raises its crowned heads even unto Daath.
It is very interesting to observe the manner in which the symbols
weave in and out of each other, and reinforce and interpret each
other's significance and yield their fruits to Qabalistic
contemplation.
34. The Order of Angels functioning in Hod are the Beni
Elohim, the Sons of the Gods. Again we have the concept of the
"God of Hosts" or armies. One of the most important concepts of
arcane science concerns the working of the Creator through
intermediaries. The uninitiated and profane conceive of God as
working as the labourer works, who adds brick to brick with his
hands, fashioning the edifice; but the initiated conceive of God
as working as the Great Architect of the Universe, designing His
plans on the plane of archetypes; to Whom come the overseers, the
archangels, for their instructions, these last directing the
armies of humble toilers who add stone to stone according to the
archetypal plan of the Most High. Whenever did the architect
designing the edifice work upon it with his two unaided hands?
Never, not even when the universe was a building.
35. The Mundane Chakra, as we have already noted, is Mercury,
and its symbolism as Hermes-Thoth we have already considered.
36. The Spiritual Experience assigned to this Sephirah is the
Vision of Splendour, which is the realisation of the glory of God
manifesting in the created world. The initiate of Hod sees behind
the appearance of created things and discerns their Creator, and
in the realisation of the splendour of Nature as the garment of
the Ineffable he receives his illumination and becomes a
co-worker with the Great Artificer. It is this realisation of the
spiritual forces manipulating all manifestations and appearances
which is the key to the powers of Hod as wielded in the Magic of
Light. It is by making himself a channel for these forces that
the Master of White Magic brings order into the disorder of the
Spheres of Unbalanced Force, not by deflecting the invisible
powers to his personal will. He is the equilibrator of the
unbalanced, not the arbitrary manipulator of Nature.
37. In this Sphere, which is the Sphere of Mercury-Hermes, god
of science and books, how clearly can we see that the supreme
virtue is truthfulness, and that the obverse aspect of this
Sephirah is that which reveals Mercury in his aspect as the god
of thieves and cunning rogues. In esoteric ethics it is realised
that each plane has its own standard of right and wrong. The
standard of the physical plane is strength; the standard of the
astral plane is beauty; the standard of the mental plane is
truth; and the standard of the spiritual plane is that of right
and wrong as we understand the terms; therefore there is no ethic
except in terms of spiritual value; all else is at best
expediency. In the Sphere which is essentially the Sphere of the
concrete mind how right it is that the Qabalah should give the
supreme virtue as truthfulness.
38. The Correspondence in the Microcosm is given as the loins
and legs, in accordance with the astrological ruling of the
planet Mercury.
39. The symbols associated with Hod are given as the names and
versicles and the apron. The names are the Words of Power wherein
the magus sums up and evokes into consciousness the multiform
potencies of the Beni Elohim. These names are by no manner of
means arbitrary and barbaric vocables, without etymology or
meaning. They are philosophical formulae. In some cases their
interpretation is etymological, as in the case of the Egyptian
deities, whose names are built up out of the names of potencies
and symbols when used to indicate composite forces. In all
systems of magic, however, which have their root in the Qabalah,
the magical names are built up out of the numerical value of the
consonants of whatever sacred alphabet is used; there is a Greek,
an Arabic, and a Coptic Qabalah, as well as the better-known
Hebrew one. These consonants, when replaced by the appropriate
numerals, yield a number, which can be dealt with mathematically
in many ways. Some of these ways are according to the methods of
pure mathematics, the results being then translated back into
letters again, and showing very interesting correspondences with
the names of similar or related potencies. This is a very curious
aspect of Qabalistic lore, and in the hands of competent
exponents yields interesting results; it is, however, full of
pitfalls for the unwary, for there is no limit to what it can be
made to yield, and only a sound knowledge of first principles can
tell us when the analogies are legitimate or otherwise, and
prevent us from falling into credulity and superstition.
40. The versicles are mantric phrases, a mantra being a
sonorous phrase which, when repeated over and over after the
manner of a rosary, works upon the mind as a special form of
autosuggestion, the psychology of which is too complex to be
entered upon now.
41. The apron has immediate associations for the initiates of
Solomon the Wise; it is the characteristic garment of the
initiate in the Lesser Mysteries, who is always deemed
figuratively to be a craftsman, that is a maker of forms, and as
the Sephirah Hod is the Sphere of the operations of the makers of
magical forms, it will be seen that this symbolism is again
apposite. The apron covers and conceals the Moon-centre, Yesod,
concerning which we shall speak in its appropriate place. As has
already been noted, Yesod is the functional aspect of the Pair of
Opposites of the astral plane.
42. Concerning the four Eights of the Tarot pack, assigned to
this Sephirah, we have already spoken on a previous page.
43. To sum up, then, in Hod we have the Sphere of formal magic
as distinguished from simple mind power. The forms that are
formulated thereon by the magician initiating the forces of
nature are the Beni Elohim, or Sons of the Gods.
Title: Yesod, the Foundation. (Hebrew: Yod, Samech, Vau, Daleth.) Magical Image: A beautiful naked man, very strong. Situation on the Tree: Towards the base of the Pillar of Equilibrium. Yetziratic Text: The Ninth Path is called the Pure Intelligence because it purifies the Emanations. It proves and corrects the designing of their representations, and disposes the unity with which they are designed without diminution or division. God-Name: Shaddai el Chai, the Almighty Living God. Archangel: Gabriel. Order of Angels: Kerubim, the Strong. Mundane Chakra: Levanah, the Moon. Spiritual Experience: Vision of the Machinery of the Universe. Virtue: Independence. Vice: Idleness. Correspondence in Microcosm: Reproductive organs. Symbols: The Perfumes and sandals. Tarot Cards: The four Nines.
- Nine of Wands: Great strength. - Nine of Cups: Material happiness. - Nine of Swords: Despair and cruelty - Nine of Pentacles: Material gain. Colour in Atziluth: Indigo. Colour in Briah: Violet. Colour in Yetzirah: Very dark purple. Colour in Assiah: Citrine, flecked with azure.
1. The study of the symbolism of Yesod reveals two apparently
incongruous sets of symbols. Upon the one hand we have the
conception of Yesod as the foundation of the universe,
established in strength; this is indicated by the recurrence of
the idea of strength, as in the Magical Image of a beautiful
naked man, very strong, the God-name of Shaddai, Almighty, the
Kerubim, the strong angels, and the Nine of Wands, whose secret
name is the Lord of Great Strength. But upon the other hand we
have the Moon symbolism, which is very fluidic, in a continual
state of flux and reflux, under the presidency of Gabriel, the
archangel of the element of Water.
2. How are we to reconcile these conflicting concepts? The
answer is to be found in the words of the Yetziratic Text, which
says of the Ninth Path that it "purifies the Emanations. It
proves and corrects the designing of their representations, and
disposes of the unity with which they are designed without
diminution or division." This concept is further illuminated by
the nature of the Spiritual Experience assigned to Yesod, which
is described as "the Vision of the Machinery of the
Universe."
3. We get the concept, then, of the fluidic waters of chaos
being finally gathered up and organised by means of the
"representations" that were "designed" in Hod; this final
"proving, correcting, and disposing of the unity" of these
"representations" or formative images resulting in the
organisation of the "Machinery of the Universe," the vision of
which constitutes the spiritual experience of this Sephirah. In
fact, Yesod might aptly be described as the Sphere of the
Machinery of the Universe. If we liken the kingdom of earth to a
great ship, then Yesod would be the engine-room.
4. Yesod is the sphere of that peculiar substance, partaking
of the nature of both mind and matter, which is called the Ether
of the Wise, the Akasha, or the Astral Light, according to the
terminology that is being used. It is not the same as the ether
of the physicists, which is the fire element of the Sphere of
Malkuth; but is to that ether what that ether is to dense matter;
it is, in fact, the basis of the phenomena which the physicist
attributes to his empirical ether. The Ether of the Wise might,
in fact, be called the root of the ether of physics.
5. The material universe is an insoluble riddle to the
materialist because he insists on trying to explain it in terms
of its own plane. This is a thing that can never be done in any
sphere of thought. Nothing can ever be explained in terms of
itself, but only by being resumed in a greater whole. The four
elements of the ancients find their explanation in a fifth, the
Ether, as initiates have always maintained. For it is a doctrine
of esoteric philosophy that any four visible states always have
their root in a fifth, an invisible state. For instance, the Four
Worlds of the Qabalists have their root behind the Veils of the
Unmanifest. It is only by positing this unmanifest fifth, and
assigning to it certain attributes deduced from the manifest four
as being essential in the prime cause, that we are able to arrive
at any understanding of the nature of the four. So do we find in
Yesod the unmanifest fifth of the four elements of Malkuth, the
fire of the ancients answering to the ether of the moderns, and
earth, water, and air to the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of
matter.
6. Yesod, then, must be conceived of as the receptacle of the
emanations of all the other Sephiroth, as is taught by the
Qabalists, and as the immediate and only transmitter of these
emanations to Malkuth, the physical plane. As the Yetziratic Text
says, it is the function of Yesod to purify the emanations, and
to prove and correct them; consequently it is in the Sphere of
Yesod that all operations are carried out which are designed for
the correcting of the Sphere of dense matter, or in any way to
dispose of its unity of design. Yesod, then, is the all-important
Sphere for any magic which is designed to take effect in the
physical world.
7. Now be it well noted that all Spheres operate according to
their nature, and that that nature cannot in any way be altered
by any magical or miraculous influence, however powerful; we can
only "correct" the "designing" of the representations. The things
represented remain constant. The conditions of the material world
cannot therefore be arbitrarily disposed of, even by the highest
spiritual force, as is believed by those who pray to God to
intervene on their behalf, healing their diseases or giving rain
upon earth; neither can they any more be influenced by the most
powerful wizard with his spells. The only approach to Malkuth is
through Yesod, and the approach to Yesod is through Hod, where
the "representations" are "designed." Let us once and for all
disabuse our minds of the idea that spirit can work directly upon
matter; it never does so. Spirit works through mind, and mind
works through the Ether; and the Ether, which is the framework of
matter and the vehicle of the life-forces, can be manipulated
within the limits of its nature, which are by no means
inconsiderable. All miraculous and supernatural happenings,
therefore, are brought about by the manipulation of the natural
qualities of the Ether, and if we understood the nature of the
Ether, we should understand the rationale of their production. We
should no longer attribute them to the direct intervention of
God, or to the activities of the spirits of the departed, than we
attribute nowadays the phenomena of combustion to the activities
of phlogiston, which a previous generation believed to be the
active principle of fire, whose presence or absence determined
whether a given substance would burn or not. There are men living
to-day who learnt about phlogiston in their school-days, and have
seen the change of thought come about; equally, the day will come
when men will look upon psychic phenomena and "spiritual" healing
as we look upon phlogiston.
8. At the present state of our knowledge it is not possible to
give a very full account of the nature of the Yesodic Ether. We
can, however, state certain things about it that have been learnt
by experience. Much has been learnt by experiments with
ectoplasm, which is very close akin to it in nature; in fact, one
might describe it as organic Ether, in contradistinction to the
ether of physics, which is inorganic Ether. We know that
ectoplasm takes on forms, and holds them and relinquishes them
with equal readiness, showing that it is not the form which
confines the life, but the life that determines the form. We
likewise know that ectoplasm can be emanated and absorbed, though
we do not know the conditions that govern this phenomenon.
Ectoplasm is, in fact, a kind of ethereal protoplasm; and we
might conceive of the Ether or Astral Light as bearing the same
relationship to ectoplasm as ectoplasm bears to protoplasm.
9. But although we no more know the ultimate nature of the
astral Ether than we understand the ultimate nature of
electricity, nevertheless we know by observation that it
possesses certain properties. We do not merely deduce these
properties; we know they exist by experience, because they enable
us to manipulate this subtle substance in certain definite ways,
within, as has already been explained, the limits of its own
nature. Two of these properties are all-important to the work of
the practical occultist, forming, in fact, the basis of his whole
system.
10. The first of these properties is the capacity of the
astral Ether to be moulded into forms by the mind; the second is
the capacity of the astral Ether to hold the molecules of dense
matter in its mesh-like lines of tension as in a rack of
pigeon-holes. It may be asked how do we know that the other
possesses these qualities, so vital to our magical hypothesis? We
answer that the existence of these properties is the only
explanation of the properties of living matter and conscious
mind. We cannot explain either mind or matter in terms of
themselves alone; we cannot explain mind without employing terms
of sensation, and we cannot explain living matter without
employing terms of consciousness. Sensation must always be an
affair of both mind and matter inexplicable in isolation. To
explain neural sensation we must posit a substance that is
intermediate between mind and matter; to understand purposive
movement we equally require the existence of such a
substance—that is, which possesses the power to receive and
hold the impress of thought and to influence the position in
space of the atomic units of matter. These are the properties we
assign to our hypothetical astral Ether, advancing the same
arguments in justification of this proceeding as have been
accepted on behalf of a similar proceeding in the case of the
ether of physics. We plead precedent for our hypothesis; and if
the arguments in favour of the ether of physics are acceptable,
it is difficult to see why an Ether should not be permitted to
psychology. It is an old maxim that hypotheses should not be
unnecessarily multiplied, but when a hypothesis such as that of
ether has proved so fruitful, we are surely amply justified in
experimenting with a similar one in the sister science of
psychology. One thing is quite certain, psychology never made any
real progress while it limited itself to the materialistic
viewpoint and regarded consciousness as an epiphenomenon, that is
to say as an irrelevant and purposeless by-product of
physiological activity if anything in Nature can be called
irrelevant and purposeless. Let us learn a lesson from coal-tar,
the irrelevant and purposeless by-product of the production of
gas—to be practically given away to anyone who wanted to
tar a fence, subsequently found to be the source of most valuable
chemicals, dye-stuffs, and drugs.
11. From the point of view of magic, Yesod is the
all-important Sephirah, just as Tiphareth is the functional
sphere of mysticism, with its transcendent contacts with the
Supernal. If the Tree of Life be considered as a whole, it will
be seen clearly that it works in triads. The Three Supernals
having their correlatives on a lower arc in Chesed, Geburah, and
Tiphareth. Anyone who has had experience of practical Qabalism
knows that for all practical purposes Tiphareth is Kether for us
while we tabernacle in this house of flesh, for no man may look
upon the face of God and live. We can only see the Father
reflected in the Son, and Tiphareth "shows us the Father."
12. Netzach, Hod, and Yesod form the Lower Triad, overshadowed
by Tiphareth as the Lower Self is overshadowed by the Higher
Self. One might, in fact, say that the four lower Sephiroth form
the Personality, or unit of Incarnation, of the Tree; the Higher
Triad of Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphareth form the Individuality,
or Higher Self, and the Three Supernals correspond to the Divine
Spark.
13. It will be observed that although each Sephirah is
considered to emanate its successor, the Triads are always
represented, when once emanated and in equilibrium, as a Pair of
Opposites manifesting in a Functional Third. In this, the Lower
Triad, then, we find Netzach and Hod equilibriated in Yesod,
which is conceived as receiving their emanations. But it also
received the emanations of Tiphareth, and through Tiphareth, of
Kether, because there is always a line of force working down a
Pillar; consequently, as it received also from Netzach and Hod
the influences that they in their turn have received from their
respective Pillars, it may aptly be called, in the words of
Qabalists, the "receptacle of the emanations"; and it is from
Yesod that Malkuth receives the influx of the Divine forces.
14. Yesod also is of supreme importance to the practical
occultist, because it is the first Sphere with which he makes
acquaintance when he commences to "rise on the planes," and lifts
consciousness above Malkuth. Having trodden the terrible
Thirty-second Path of the Tau or Cross of Suffering, and of
Saturn, he enters Yesod, the Treasure House of Images, the sphere
of Maya, Illusion. Yesod, considered by itself, is unquestionably
the Sphere of Illusion, because the Treasure House of Images is
none other than the Reflecting Ether of the Earth-sphere, and
corresponds in the microcosm to the Unconscious of the
psychologists, filled with ancient and forgotten things,
repressed since the childhood of the race. The Keys that unlock
the doors of the Treasure House of Images and enable us to
command its denizens are to be found in Hod, the Sphere of Magic.
It is truly said in the Mysteries that no degree becomes
functional until one has taken the next. Anyone who tries to
function as a magician in Yesod soon learns his error, for
although he can perceive the Images in the Treasure House, he has
no word of power with which to command them. Therefore in
initiation upon the Western Path, at any rate, I cannot answer
for the Eastern, not knowing it, the grades of the Lesser
Mysteries go straight up the Central Pillar to Tiphareth, and do
not follow the line of the Lightning Flash. In Tiphareth the
initiate takes the first grade of adepthood, and from there
returns, if he so desires, to learn the technique of the magician
relative to the Personality of the Tree, that is to say the
macrocosmic unit of incarnation. If he does not desire this, but
wishes to become free from the wheel of Birth and Death, he
proceeds up the Central Pillar, which is also called by the
Qabalists the Path of the Arrow, and passes over the Abyss into
Kether. He who enters this Light cometh not forth again.
15. Yesod is also the Sphere of the Moon; therefore to
understand its significance we must know something about the way
in which the Moon is regarded in occultism. It is held by
initiates that the Moon separated from the Earth at the period
when evolution was on the cusp between the etheric phase of its
development and the phase of dense matter. Those who are familiar
with the terminology of astrology will know that the cusp is that
phase between two signs wherein the influence of both is
intermingled. The Moon, then, has something of the material in
its composition, hence the luminous globe we see in the sky; but
the really important part of its composition is etheric, because
it was during the phase of evolution when life was developing the
etheric form that the Moon had its heyday, and for this reason
the phase is called by some occultists the Luna Phase of
evolution. Those who want to know more of this subject will find
it dealt with in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-conception, by Max
Heindel, and The Secret Doctrine, by Mme. Blavatsky. As
the Qabalists use a different system of classification to the
Vedantists, we cannot open up the vast subject of the "Rays and
the Rounds" in these pages. It must suffice to give dogmatically
certain facts known to occultists and indicate where the reader
can find further information if he desires it.
16. The Moon and the Earth, according to the occult theory,
share one etheric double, though their two physical bodies are
separate, and the Moon is the senior partner; that is to say, in
etheric matters the Moon is the Positive Pole of the battery, and
the Earth the negative one. Yesod, as we have already seen,
reflects the Sun of Tiphareth, which in its turn is Kether on a
lower arc. Astronomers have long told us that the Moon shines by
borrowed light, reflected from the Sun, and they are now
beginning to hint that the Sun may receive its fiery energy from
outer space. Translated into Qabalistic terminology, outer space
would be the Great Unmanifest, and the Qabalists have taught this
doctrine since the days when Enoch walked with God and was not,
for God had taken him—in other words, he had received the
initiation of Kether.
17. It will be seen from the above that Yesod-Luna is ever in
a state of flux and reflux, because the amount of sunlight
received and reflected waxes and wanes in a twenty-eight day
cycle. Malkuth-Earth is also in a state of flux and reflux in a
twenty-four hour cycle, and for the same reason. Likewise
Malkuth-Earth has a three hundred and sixty-five day cycle, of
which the phases are marked by the Equinoxes and the Solstices.
It is the interacting set of these tides which is all-important
to the practical occultist, because so much of his work depends
upon them. The charts of these tides have always been kept
secret, and some of them are exceedingly complex. As these
concern the secret workings, the genuine and legitimate occult
secrets, which are only given after initiation, they cannot be
dealt with in these pages. Enough has been said, however, to
indicate that certain tides in the lunar Ether exist and are
important, and that students of the occult are probably wasting
their time if they try to operate without the necessary
charts.
18. These lunar tides play a very important part in the
physiological processes of both plants and animals, and
especially in the germination and growth of plants and the
reproduction of animals, as witness the twenty-eight day lunar
sexual cycle of the human female. The male has a sexual cycle
based on the solar year, but in the artificially lit and heated
houses of civilisation this cycle is not so marked, though the
poet drew our attention to the fact that "In the spring a young
man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love," and the reference
has been found so apt that it is almost too hackneyed for
quotation.
19. It is the light of the Moon which is the stimulative
factor in these etheric activities, and as Earth and Moon share
one etheric double, all etheric activities are at their most
active when the Moon is at its full. Likewise, during the dark of
the Moon, etheric energy is at its lowest, and unorganised forces
have a tendency to rise up and give trouble. The Dragon of the
Qliphoth raises his multiple heads. In consequence, practical
occult work is best let alone during the dark by all but
experienced workers. The life-giving forces are relatively weak
and the unbalanced forces relatively strong; the result, in
inexperienced hands, is chaos.
20. All psychics and sensitives are conscious of the set of
these cosmic tides, and even those who are not avowedly sensitive
are affected by them far more than is generally realised,
especially in illness when the physical energies are low.
21. Not a great deal can be said concerning Yesod, because in
her are hidden the keys of the magical workings. We must
therefore content ourselves with elucidating the symbolism in a
somewhat cryptic form, though he that hath ears to hear is at
liberty to use them.
22. We have already noted the curious two-sided nature of
Netzach and Hod, the magical image of Hod being a hermaphrodite,
and Venus-Aphrodite sometimes being represented among the
ancients as bearded. In Yesod again we meet with this dual
symbolism, and yet again, as we shall see presently, in Malkuth.
This indicates clearly that in these Sephiroth belonging to the
lower levels of the Tree we must very definitely recognise a form
and force side in each one. This comes out very clearly in both
Yesod and Malkuth, to which both gods and goddesses have to be
assigned.
23. Yesod is essentially the Sphere of the Moon, and as such
comes under the presidency of Diana, the moon-goddess of the
Greeks. Now Diana was primarily a chaste goddess, ever-virgin,
and when the over-presumptive Actaeon annoyed her he was torn to
pieces by his own hunting-hounds. Diana, however, was represented
at Ephesus as the many-breasted, and regarded as a fertility
goddess. Moreover, Isis is also a lunar goddess, as indicated by
the lunar crescent upon her brow, which in Hathor becomes the
cow-horns, the cow being among all peoples the especial symbol of
maternity. In the Qabalistic symbolism, the generative organs are
assigned to Yesod.
24. All this is very puzzling at first sight, for the symbols
appear to be mutually exclusive. Carried a step further, however,
we begin to find connecting links between the ideas.
25. The Moon has three goddesses assigned to her, Diana,
Selene or Luna, and Hecate, the latter being the goddess of
witchcraft and enchantments, and also presiding over childbirth.
26. There is also a very important moon-god, none other than
Thoth himself, Lord of Magic. So then, when we find Hecate in
Greece and Thoth in Egypt both assigned to the Moon, we cannot
fail to recognise the importance of the Moon in matters magical.
What then is the key to the magical Moon, who is sometimes a
virgin goddess and sometimes a fertility goddess?
27. The answer is not very far to seek. It is to be found in
the rhythmical nature of the Moon, and, in fact, in the
rhythmical nature of sex-life in the female. There are times when
Diana is many-breasted; there are times when her hounds tear the
intruder to pieces.
28. In dealing with the rhythms of Luna we are dealing with
etheric, not physical, conditions. The magnetism of living
creatures waxes and wanes with a definite tide. It is a thing
that is not difficult to observe when one knows what to look for.
It shows itself most clearly in relations between persons in whom
magnetism is fairly evenly balanced. Sometimes one will be in the
ascendant, and sometimes the other.
29. Now, it may be asked, if the Sphere of Yesod is etheric,
why are the generative organs assigned to this sphere, for surely
their function is physical, if anything is? The answer to that
question is to be found in the knowledge of the subtler aspects
of sex which appears to be entirely lost to the Western world. It
cannot be entered upon in detail in these pages, and it must
suffice to point out that all the more important aspects of sex
are etheric and magnetic. We might liken it to an iceberg,
five-sixths of whose bulk is below the surface. The actual
physical reactions of sex form a very small proportion, and by no
means the most vital portion of its functioning. It is owing to
our ignorance of this that so many marriages fail to fulfil the
purpose of the welding of two halves into a perfect whole.
30. We take no account of the magical side of marriage,
despite the fact that the Church classes it as a sacrament. Now a
sacrament is defined as an outward and visible sign of an inward
and spiritual grace, and it is that inward and spiritual grace
which is so seldom found in the marriage act of the Anglo-Saxon
races, with their relatively frigid temperament and contempt for
the body. That inward and spiritual grace which makes of marriage
a true sacrament after its kind is not the grace of sublimation,
or renunciation, or a purity of denial and abstention; it is the
grace of the blessing of Pan in the joy in natural things so
beautifully expressed by Walt Whitman in his poem-series,
Children of Adam.
31. The assignation to Yesod of the perfumes and sandals is
very significant. These two things play a very important part in
magical operations. The sandals, or soft heelless slippers that
give free play to the foot, are always used in ceremonial work to
tread the magical circle. They are as important a part of the
equipment of the practical occultist as his rod of power. God
said unto Moses, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the
place whereon thou standest is holy ground." The adept makes holy
ground for himself by placing upon his feet the consecrated
sandals. The floor-cloth, of the appropriate colour and marked
with the appropriate symbols, is also an important piece of lodge
furniture. It is designed to concentrate the earth magnetism used
in the Operation in the same way that the altar is the focus of
the spiritual forces. Through our feet we pick up the earth
magnetism; and when that magnetism is of a special kind, we use
special slippers that shall not inhibit it.
32. The perfumes, too, are very important in ceremonial
operations, for they represent the etheric side of the affair.
Their psychological influence is well known, but the fine art of
using them psychologically has been but little studied outside
occult lodges. The use of perfumes is the most effectual way of
playing on the emotions, and consequently of changing the focus
of consciousness. How quickly do our thoughts turn away from
earthly things when the drifting smoke of incense comes to us
from the high altar; how quickly do they return to them again
when we get a whiff of patchouli from the next pew!
33. And in the four Tarot cards assigned to this Sephirah how
clearly do we see the workings of the etheric magnetism
appearing. There is Great Strength when we are on the
earth-contacts and blessed of Pan; there is also Material
Happiness; in fact, without the blessing of Pan there can be no
material happiness because there is no peace of the nerves. On
its negative side, however, are to be found the depths of Despair
and Cruelty; but with the earth-contacts firm under our feet
there comes Material Gain because we are adequate to deal with
the material plane.
Title: Malkuth, the Kingdom. (Hebrew: Mem, Lamed, Kaph, Vau, Tau.) Magical Image: A young woman, crowned and throned. Situation on the Tree: At the base of the Pillar of Equilibrium. Yetziratic Text: The Tenth Path is called the Resplendent Intelligence because it is exalted above every head and sits upon the Throne of Binah. It illuminates the splendours of all the Lights, and causes an influence to emanate from the Prince of Countenances, the Angel of Kether. Titles Given to Malkuth: The Gate. The Gate Of Death. The Gate Of The Shadow Of Death. The Gate Of Tears. The Gate Of Justice. The Gate Of Prayer. The Gate Of The Daughter Of The Mighty Ones. The Gate Of The Garden Of Eden. The Inferior Mother. Malkah, The Queen. Kallah, The Bride. The Virgin. God-Name: Adonai Malekh or Adonai ha Aretz. Archangel: Sandalphon. Choir of Angels: Ashim, Souls of Fire. Mundane Chakra: Cholem ha Yesodoth, Sphere of the Elements. Spiritual Experience: Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel. Virtue: Discrimination. Vice: Avarice. Inertia. Correspondence in Microcosm: The feet. The anus. Symbols: Altar of the double cube. The Equal-armed cross. The magic circle. The triangle of art. Tarot Cards: The four Tens.
- Ten of Wands: Oppression. - Ten of Cups: Perfected Success. - Ten of Swords: Ruin. - Ten of Pentacles: Wealth. Colour in Atziluth: Yellow. Colour in Briah: Citrine, olive, russet, and black. Colour in Yetzirah: Citrine, olive, russet, and black, flecked with gold. Colour in Assiah: Black, rayed with yellow.
1. It will be observed that the conformation of the Tree falls
naturally into three functional triangles, but that Malkuth
participates in no such triangle, but stands apart, and it is
said by the Qabalists that it receives the influences or
emanations of all the other Sephiroth. But although Malkuth is
the only Sephirah that does not participate in a triangle, it is
also the only Sephirah that is represented as parti-coloured
instead of a unit, for it is divided into four quarters, which
are assigned to the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
And although it is not functional in any triangle, it represents
the end results of all the activities of the Tree. It is the
nadir of evolution, the outermost point on the outgoing arc,
through which all life must pass before returning whence it came.
2. Malkuth is said to be the Sphere of Earth; but we must not
make the mistake of thinking that the Qabalists meant by Malkuth
only the terrestrial sphere. They meant also the
Earth-soul—that is to say, the subtle, psychic aspect of
matter; the underlying noumenon of the physical plane which gives
rise to all physical phenomena. Likewise with the four elements.
These are not earth, air, fire, and water as known to the
physicists, but are the four conditions in which energy can
exist. The esotericist distinguishes these from their mundane
counterparts by referring to them as the Air of the Wise, or the
Earth of the Wise, as the case may be. That is to say, the
Element of Air or of Earth as it is known to the initiate.
3. The physicist recognises the existence of matter in three
states. Firstly, as solid, wherein the particles of which it is
composed adhere firmly to each other; secondly, liquid, in which
the particles move freely over each other; thirdly—gaseous,
in which the particles all try to get as far away from each other
as possible, or in other words to diffuse. These three modes of
matter correspond to the three elements of Earth, Water, and Air,
and electrical phenomena corresponds to the element of Fire.
Esoteric Science classifies all phenomena manifesting upon the
physical plane under these four headings, as giving the best clue
to the real understanding of their nature; and it recognises that
any given force can pass from one stage to another under certain
conditions, just as water can exist in a state of ice and steam
as well as its normal fluidity.
4. The esotericist sees in Malkuth the end-result of all
operations; not until the Pairs of Opposites have achieved the
settled equilibrium which gives the state of Earth, or coherence,
can they be said to have completed any given cycle of experience.
When this is achieved, they build a permanent vehicle of
manifestation and stereotype its reactions; the machinery of
expression thus evolved becomes self-regulating, and will
continue to function with the minimum of attention, just as the
human heart opens and shuts its valves with perfect regularity in
response to a stereotyped cycle of nervous impulses and the
pressure of the blood.
5. The great point to remember in connection with Malkuth is
that herein is achieved stability. It is in the inertia of
Malkuth that its virtue lies. All the other Sephiroth are in
varying degrees mobile; even the Central Pillar only achieving
equilibrium in function, just as a tight-rope walker achieves
it.
6. Like all the other Sephiroth, Malkuth can only be
understood when considered in relation to its neighbours. But in
this case there is only one neighbour—Yesod. No
understanding of Malkuth can be arrived at save through an
understanding of Yesod.
7. For while Malkuth is essentially the sphere of form, all
coherence of parts, save simple mechanical stresses and
electromagnetic attractions and repulsions, depend upon the
functions of Yesod. And Yesod, though it is essentially a
form-giving Sephirah, depends for the manifestation of its
activities upon the substance provided by Malkuth. The forms of
Yesod are such stuff as dreams are made of till they have picked
up the material particles of Malkuth to body forth their forms.
They are systems of stresses into whose framework the physical
particles are built.
8. And equally with Malkuth, it is inanimate matter until the
powers of Yesod ensoul it.
9. We should conceive of the material plane as the outward and
visible sign of invisible etheric activity. Malkuth, in its prime
essence, is only known to the instruments of the physicist. It
goes without saying that where there is life, there is Yesod,
because Yesod is the vehicle of life; but it should also be
realised that where there is any kind of electrical activity or
conductivity, whether of crystals, metals, or chemicals, there is
Yesodic force in function. It is this fact which makes certain
substances suitable for use as talismans, because they will take
a charge of astral force.
10. It is not possible in these pages to go into a detailed
study of esoteric physics; enough must be said, however, to give
the student an understanding of the principles underlying this
concept of the material world, which sees it as visible drapery
upon an invisible framework.
11. The exact nature of the relationship between Yesod and
Malkuth must be clearly understood, because it is all-important
for practical occult work. Yesod is, of course, the form-giving
principle, and whatever form is built up in its Sphere will be
bodied forth in the Sphere of Malkuth unless it contains
incompatibles, for it will tend to draw to itself the conditions
of material expression. Material particles, however, are
extremely resistant and unresponsive in their nature, and it is
only by working upon the most tenuous aspect of matter, to which
initiates give the name of the Element of Fire, that Yesodic
forces can produce any effects. Once a response can be obtained
from this Elemental Fire, the other Elements can in their turn be
influenced.
12. Elemental Fire, however, is a kind of over-state of matter
with which only the most advanced physics has any acquaintance.
It might best be called a state of relationship rather than a
thing in itself. Elemental Air might be described as a capacity
to achieve these relationships, and as such, is the vital
principle of physical life; for it is only in so far as matter
has a capacity for organisation that organic substance is
possible. Elemental Water, the Water of the Wise, is just plain
protoplasm; and Elemental Earth is inorganic matter.
13. Now each of these types of organised force and
reaction-capacity has its own very definite nature, from which it
will depart no hair's-breadth for any force in the manifested
cosmos. But as there are definite interrelations of influence and
expression between these four elemental states, it is possible,
by using their influence one over the other, to achieve results
which for want of understanding are called magical. It is, of
course, the method of magic to manipulate these tenuous elemental
forms; but it is also the method of life to do the same thing,
and if magic is to be anything more than auto-suggestion, it must
use the methods of life—that is to say, it must work
through the intermediation of protoplasm, for protoplasm, in its
curious web-like structure, carries the subtle magnetic force of
the Fire of the Wise, transmitted through elemental air. In other
words, the operator has to use his own body as a self-starter;
for it is the magnetism of his own protoplasm that supplies the
basis of manifestation of any force that is being brought through
into the Sphere of Malkuth. Carried to its logical conclusion,
this is the principle of generation, whether of protozoa or
spermatozoa.
14. The modern concept of matter approximates very closely to
that which has been held by esoteric science from time
immemorial. What our senses perceive are the phenomena
attributable to activities of different types of force, usually
in organisation and combination. Only through an understanding of
the nature of these forces is the nature of matter to be
understood. Exoteric science is dealing with the problem by
refining its concept of matter till there is no substance left in
it. What the physicist now knows as matter is very far removed
from the obvious.
15. The esotericist, approaching the problem from the opposite
direction, points out that matter and mind are two sides of the
same coin, but that there comes a point in one's investigation
when it is profitable to change over terminology, and talk of
forces and forms in terms of psychology, as if they were
conscious and purposive. This, he says, enables us to deal with
the phenomena we encounter much better than we can do if we limit
ourselves to terms only applicable to inanimate matter and blind,
undirected force. We must always, by the nature of our intellect,
use analogy as a help to understanding; if the analogies we use
on this level of the investigation are the analogies of inanimate
matter, we shall find them so inadequate as to be very limiting
and misleading, and darkeners of counsel in general.
16. If, however, we use the terminologies of life and
intelligence and purposive will, duly diluted to the requirements
of the very rudimentary state of development of that with which
we have to deal, we shall find we have an analogy which is
illuminating instead of limiting, and which will lead on to
advancement in understanding.
17. It is for this reason that the esotericist personifies the
subtler forces and calls them Intelligences. He then proceeds to
deal with them as if they were intelligent, and he finds that
there is a subtle side of his own nature and consciousness which
responds to them, and to which, he fondly believes, they respond.
At any rate, whether the response is mutual or not, his powers of
dealing with them are, by this means, greatly extended beyond
those which he possesses when he regards them as "a fortuitous
concourse of uncorrelated incidents."
18. Malkuth is the nadir of evolution, but it should be looked
upon, not as the ultimate depth of unspirituality, but as the
marking-buoy in a yacht race. Any yacht that puts about on to the
homeward course before it has rounded the marking-buoy is
disqualified. And so it is with the soul. If we try to escape
from the discipline of matter before we have mastered the lessons
of matter, we are not advancing heavenwards, but suffering from
arrested development. It is these spiritual defectives who flock
from one to another of the innumerable wildcat uplift
organisations that come to us from the Far East and the Far West.
They find in cheap idealism an escape from the rigorous demands
of life. But this is not a way of advancement, but a way of
retreat. Sooner or later they have to face the fence and clear
it. Life brings them up to it again and again, and presently
begins to use the whip and spur of psychological sickness; for
those who will not face life, dissociate; and dissociation is the
prime cause of most of the ills that mind is heir to.
19. If we study the lessons of history we shall get much light
on moral and spiritual problems from an unexpected angle. We see
that all civilisation and inspiration arose in the East; a point
to which those who are of Eastern race or follow an Eastern
tradition point proudly, saying that the West must sit at the
feet of the East if it is to learn the secrets of life.
20. Now it cannot be denied that there are many things,
especially the more recondite aspects of psychology, concerning
which the East knows a great deal more than the West, and which
we should be wise to learn; but it also cannot be denied that,
having originated in the East, the growing-point of evolution is
now to be found in the West, and that for every advance in the
art of living on this terrestrial planet, the East must look to
the West unless it is content to go back to the spinning-wheel
standard of life. But let it not be forgotten that with the
primitive standard of life goes also the primitive standard of
death. A primitive culture can only support a sparse population.
A great many people have got to die, mostly the old and the
young. When we return to Nature, she deals with us after her own
manner with her red tooth and claw. The unsoftened impact of
Nature is not a pleasant thing. When human beings get too thick
on the ground, she wipes them out with disease and starvation.
With the white man's civilisation goes the white man's
sanitation. By refraining from all action one may achieve release
from the bondage of the body more quickly and effectually than
one bargains for, if among the actions refrained from are those
connected with communal cleanliness in a densely populated
land.
21. The Greeks understood the principle of Malkuth better than
did anybody else, and they were the founders of the European
culture. They taught us to see beauty in perfect proportion and
function, and nowhere else. The frieze of figures upon the
Grecian urn turned the mind of Keats to the contemplation of
ideal Truth and Beauty. There can be no higher ideal than this
for the finite mind to contemplate, for in it the Law and the
prophets are lifted far above the grim forbiddings of the Mosaic
code into the inspiration of an ideal to be pursued.
22. It is in the Sphere of Malkuth that civilisation has
wrought for the last thousand years. It does not need any
astrologer to tell us that the Great War marked the end of an
epoch, and that we are now in the dawn of a new phase. According
to Qabalistic doctrine, the Lightning Flash, having come down the
Tree till it ends in Malkuth, is now replaced by the symbolism of
the Serpent of Wisdom, whose coils loop upwards on the Paths till
its head rests beside Kether. The Lightning Flash represents the
unconscious descent of force, building the planes of
manifestation, passing from active to passive and back again in
order that equilibrium may be maintained. The Serpent coiling
upon the Paths represents the dawn of objective consciousness and
is the symbol of initiation; by the Path whereon the initiates
have gone, ahead of their time, evolution is beginning to go,
taking with it the race as a whole. It is now becoming normal for
the average man to do what only the initiates used to do.
23. We see the growing-point of evolution, then, beginning to
rise out of Malkuth and reach out towards Yesod. This means that
science, both pure and applied, is passing beyond the study of
inanimate matter and is beginning to take account of the etheric
and psychic side of things. This changing phase is visible all
around us for those who can read the signs of the times. We see
it in medicine, in international relationships in industrial
organisation. Last, and most reluctantly, we see it making itself
felt in the sciences of physiology and psychology, which cling
tenaciously to a materialistic explanation of all things, and
especially the life-processes, even after physics, which avowedly
deals with inanimate matter, has abandoned the materialistic
position and talks in terms of mathematics.
24. The occult division of Malkuth into the Four Elements
gives us a very valuable key. We should regard matter as we know
it as Earth of Malkuth. The different types of physical activity,
whether in molecules or masses, can be classified under the two
headings of anabolism and catabolism, that is to say the
building-up and the breaking-down processes; these can he
classified in esoteric terminology as the Water or Air of
Malkuth, and whatever is said by esoteric philosophy or pagan
mythology in relation to these elements will be applicable to
these two metabolic processes and functions. The Fire of Malkuth
is that subtle electro-magnetic aspect of matter which is the
link with the processes of consciousness and life, and to it all
life-myths apply.
25. When this principle of classification is understood, the
terminology of the alchemists becomes less recondite and absurd,
for it is seen that the classification into Four Elements really
refers to four modes of manifestation on the physical plane. This
method of classification is of very great value, because it
enables the relationship and correspondence between the physical
plane and the life-processes behind it to be readily seen. It is
especially important in the study of physiology and pathology,
and in its practical application it is a most important key to
therapeutics. The more advanced physicians are beginning to feel
their way towards this position, and the classifications of
Paracelsus are being quoted to-day by more than one leader of
medical thought. The concept of diathesis or constitutional
predisposition is receiving attention. Psychotherapy, again, is
beginning to see that the old classification into the four
temperaments affords a useful guide to treatment, and that it
does not do to handle everyone in the same way; nor yet that
similar results always spring from similar causes in the realms
of mind, because temperament intervenes and falsifies the
results. For instance, apathy in the phlegmatic type may simply
mean boredom; whereas the same degree of apathy in the sanguine
type may mean a complete breakdown of the whole personality. The
analogies between material and mental things can be very
misleading; whereas the analogies between mental and material
things can be very enlightening.
26. The four elements correspond to the four temperaments as
described by Hippocrates, the four Tarot suits, the twelve signs
of the Zodiac, and the seven planets. If the implications of
these statements are worked out, it will he seen that herein are
contained some very important keys.
27. The Element of Earth corresponds to the Phlegmatic
Temperament; the suit of Pentacles; the signs of Taurus, Virgo,
and Capricorn; and the planets Venus and Luna.
Associations: Page=Earth/Earth; Knight=Earth/Fire; Queen=Earth/Water; King=Earth/Air.
28. The Element of Water corresponds to the Bilious
Temperament; the Suit of Cups; the signs of Cancer, Scorpio, and
Pisces; and the planet Mars.
Associations: Page=Water/Earth; Knight=Water/Fire; Queen=Water/Water; King=Water/Air.
29. The Element of Air corresponds to the Choleric
Temperament; the suit of Swords; the signs of Libra, Gemini, and
Aquarius; and the planets Saturn and Mercury.
Associations: Page=Air/Earth; Knight=Air/Fire; Queen=Air/Water; King=Air/Air.
30. The Element of Fire corresponds to the Sanguine
Temperament; the suit of Wands; the signs of Aries, Sagittarius
and Leo; and the planets Sol and Jupiter.
Associations: Page=Fire/Earth; Knight=Fire/Fire; Queen=Fire/Water; King=Fire/Air.
31. It will be seen, then, that if we classify mundane affairs
and phenomena in terms of the Four Elements, we shall immediately
see their relationship to astrology and the Tarot. Now
classification is the stage that immediately follows observation
in scientific method. A very great deal of scientific work simply
consists in these two processes; in fact, for the rank and file
of science these represent the total range of their activities.
If science is limited to these two activities, as it would be if
we listened to our more pedestrian scientists, it would be no
more than a compiling of lists of natural phenomena, as if the
brokers were in on the universe. But the imaginative scientist,
who alone is worthy of the name of research worker, uses
classification not so much as a means of putting things away
tidily, but to enable him to recognise relationships.
32. From the imaginative scientist who perceives to the
philosophic scientist who interprets is but a step; and from the
philosophical scientist who interprets in terms of causation to
the esoteric scientist who interprets in terms of purpose, and so
links science to ethics, is but another step. It is the tragedy
of Esoteric Science that its exponents have nearly always been
inadequately equipped upon the plane of Malkuth, and consequently
unable to co-ordinate their results with those obtained by
workers in other fields. As long as we rest content with this
state of affairs we shall continue to have muddle-headed thinking
and credulous assumptions as our inalienable lot. Esoteric
Science needs to observe the rule of the yacht race, and make
each magical operation round the marking buoy of Malkuth before
it is reckoned to have achieved completion.
33. Let us now interpret this simile from the point of view of
technical occultism. Every magical operation is designed to bring
power down the planes into the reach of the operator, who then
applies it to whatever ends he may design. Many operators are
content if they can obtain purely subjective results—that
is to say, a sense of exaltation; others aim at the production of
psychic phenomena. It should be recognised, however, that no
operation is completed until the process has been expressed in
terms of Malkuth, or, in other words, has issued forth in action
on the physical plane. If this is not done, the force that has
been generated is not properly "earthed," and it is this loose
force left lying around that causes the trouble in magical
experiments. It may not cause trouble in a single experiment, as
few operators generate enough power to cause anything, let alone
trouble; but in a series of experiments the effect may be
cumulative, and result in the general psychic upheaval and run of
bad luck and queer happenings so often reported by experimenters.
It is these sort of things that give experimental magic a bad
name, and lead to its being regarded as dangerous and compared to
drug addiction. The true analogy, however, would be with the
dangers of X-ray research in its early days. It is faulty
technique that gives rise to trouble, as it always must when
active potencies are being handled. Perfect your technique and
you get rid of your troubles and have a very potent force
available for use.
34. The only means of transition from Yesod to Malkuth is
through the mediumship of living substances. Now there are
various degrees of livingness. The esotericist recognizes life
wherever there is organised form, for he says that life alone is
the organiser of form, though in what are popularly called
inorganic substances the proportion of life is very small, and in
some cases infinitesimal. In some forms of inorganic matter,
however, there is a by no means negligible proportion of life,
just as in plants there is a by no means negligible proportion of
intelligence. It is only recent advances in experimental work,
notably those of Sir Jagindranath Bhose, that have demonstrated
this fact, but it has long been known empirically to the
practical occultist. He has always made use of crystalline and
metallic substances as storage batteries of subtle forces. He has
always regarded silk as an insulator. He has, in fact, availed
himself of the properties of the same substances that the
electrician employs to-day. The best talismans are considered to
be disks of pure metal engraven with suitable devices and kept
wrapped in silk of a colour appropriate to the force with which
the talisman is charged. A precious stone, which is of course a
coloured crystal, is a very important part of certain operations,
because it is held to act as a focus for the force. It is also a
very important part of certain types of wireless receivers. The
influence of colours on mental states is now well recognised. No
worker is allowed to work for a lengthy period in the red light
rooms of the manufacturers of photographic supplies, because it
is recognised that such workers are liable to emotional
disturbance and even temporary mental unbalance. All these things
we are rediscovering by means of modern scientific method and its
instruments, but they were well known to the ancients, and their
practical applications were worked out to an extent that is not
dreamed of today, save among the few who are popularly known as
"cranky."
35. Plants also we find credited with a varying degree of
"psychic activity." This is especially attributed to aromatic
plants. The ancients had an elaborate system of attribution of
plants to the different forms of subtle force. Some of these, of
course, are fantastic, but there are certain broad principles
which give guidance. Wherever we find a plant traditionally
associated with any deity we may be fairly certain that that
plant has been proven to have affinities with the type of force
that that deity represents. It may be that the association
appears to our modern eyes to be superficial and irrational, such
associations as Freud has shown us that the dreaming mind
employs; but the worshippers of the deity, if the association is
hallowed by tradition, will have built up the psychic connection
between the plant and the force, and as in all such traditional
associations, once established, the link is easily recoverable by
those who know how to make use of the constructive imagination.
Whether there is any intrinsic relationship between the nature of
the plant and the nature of the force to which it is assigned, as
in the case of the rose to Venus and the lily to the Virgin Mary,
such a relationship is speedily established by the worshippers of
a cult and equally speedily recoverable by those who follow in
their footsteps, even after a lapse of centuries. Therefore for
all practical purposes there is such a relationship, not only in
relation to the plants assigned to a particular deity, but in
relation to animals as well.
36. An attribution which has especial practical importance is
that of perfumes and colours. The colour attributions have
already been given in the tables at the head of each chapter.
Concerning the perfumes, it is less easy to lay down hard and
fast rules, as the available perfumes are almost countless, and
the forces in practical working often tend to run one into the
other. For instance, it is difficult, and in fact undesirable, to
keep the forces of Netzach separated from those of Tiphareth, or
those of Hod from Yesod, or Yesod from Malkuth; and anyone who
tries working Geburah without Gedulah would burn his fingers.
37. Perfumes are used not only to enable the deity to
manifest, but to tune the imagination of the operator. To this
latter end they are most efficacious, as anyone will discover for
themselves if they try to work a ceremony without the appropriate
perfume. With inexperienced operators it is advisable to dispense
with the use of perfumes in case the psychic effect is too
drastic for comfort or convenience.
38. Broadly speaking, we can divide perfumes into those which
exalt consciousness and those which stir the subconscious to
activity. Of those which exalt consciousness the aromatic gums
stand by themselves, and these are employed exclusively in the
manufacture of ecclesiastical incense. In addition to these,
certain essential oils possess similar properties, especially
those which are aromatic and astringent rather than sweet and
spicy. These substances are of value in all operations in which
the aim is increased intellectual clarity or exaltation of the
mystical type.
39. The perfumes that awaken the subconscious mind are of two
types, the Dionysiac and the Venusian. The Dionysiac odours are
of the aromatic, spicy type, such as smouldering cedar or
sandal-wood or pine-cones. The Venusian odours are of a sweet,
cloying nature, such as vanilla. In actual practice these two
types of odours shade one into the other, and characteristic
flower odours are to be found in both divisions. In the practical
work of compounding the perfumes a blend of ingredients is almost
always employed, as they enhance each other. Many perfumes which
by themselves are crude and acrid, or cloying and sickly, become
admirable when blended.
40. It has been said that synthetic perfumes are useless for
magical work. In my experience this is not the case, provided the
essence is of good quality. Good synthetic essences are
indistinguishable from the natural products save by chemical
tests. As the value of perfumes is psychological, their action
being upon the operator, not upon the power invoked, the chemical
nature of the substance is immaterial provided one gets the
appropriate effect.
41. The same applies to precious stones, rank heresy though it
be to say so. All one needs is a crystal of the appropriate
colour, and whether it is a Burmese ruby or a Burma one makes no
difference to anything except one's bank balance. That the
ancients knew this is witnessed by the fact that in the lists of
precious stones sacred to various deities alternative gems are
always given. For instance, Crowley, in "777" gives
pearls, moonstones, crystal, and quartz as all being sacred to
the moon-forces, and the ruby or any red stone as sacred to
Mars.
42. It is believed by the occultist that the mental
concentration of a current of will, backed by the imagination,
has an effect upon certain crystals, metals, and oils. He makes a
use of this property in order to conserve in them forces of a
particular type so that these forces can be readily re-awakened
at will, or even exercise their influence all the time by means
of a steady emanation. Most ceremonial depends in some degree at
least upon the principle of the consecrated magical weapons. It
is noteworthy that all the more important equipment of a church
is always consecrated before it is taken into use. Whether this
consecration is effective is not a matter of opinion. Any good
psychic will readily distinguish between consecrated and
unconsecrated objects, provided, of course, that the consecration
has been effectual. It is a matter of experience with any
practical occultist that a very definite change takes place in
him when he takes his accustomed magical instruments in hand or
purse on his accustomed robes. He can do with these what he
cannot do without them. He also knows that it takes rime to
"break in" a new magical instrument. It is interesting to note in
this respect that I am quite unable to write anything about the
"Mystical Qabalah" without my ancient and battered "Tree of Life"
beside me. It is also interesting to note that when this Tree of
Life, which was originally prepared for me by someone else,
became so dingy as to be almost undecipherable, I repainted it
myself, and found thereafter that it immediately took on a marked
increase in magnetism: thus bearing out the old tradition that
one should always prepare one's magical weapons as far as
possible with one's own hands.
43. The great problem in the practical working is to bring
things through to the Sphere of Malkuth. Many methods are
described by the ancients—with how much truth one has no
means of knowing. How far were actual materialisations obtained
by the method of blood-sacrifice described by Virgil, and how far
did the exalted imagination of the participants in these
awe-inspiring rites supply the basis of manifestation?
44. But whatever may be the facts, the holocausts of the
ancients are not a practicable method for the modern experimenter
to follow. The basis of the idea, however, lies in the fact that
freshly shed blood gives off ectoplasm. There are, of course,
materializing mediums who also give off ectoplasm without the
shedding of blood. But those who give off an appreciable quantity
are few and far between. When a number of psychically developed
people are gathered together in a circle for the purpose of
evocation they may, between them, give off sufficient ectoplasm
to form the necessary basis for physical phenomena. Such a method
is not without its difficulties, not to say risks, and the
esotericist, who is a philosopher rather than an experimenter,
seldom makes use of it.
It is sufficient for him if he gets manifestations in the
Sphere of Yesod and perceives them with the inner vision.
45. The only satisfactory channel of evocation is the operator
himself. In the Egyptian method of evocation, known as the
assumption of the god-forms, the operator identifies himself with
the god and offers himself as the channel of manifestation. It is
his own magnetism that bridges the gulf between Malkuth and
Yesod. There is no other method so satisfactory, for the amount
of magnetism in a living being is far greater than in any metal
or crystal, however precious.
46. This ancient method is also known to us under another
name; it is called by moderns, mediumship. When the spirit speaks
through the entranced medium, precisely the same thing is
happening as happened in ancient Egypt when the priest with the
mask of Horus spake with the voice of Horus.
47. When we consider the microcosmic Tree, the physical body
is Malkuth; the etheric double is Yesod; the astra-mental body is
Hod and Netzach; and the higher mind is Tiphareth. Whatever the
higher mind can conceive can readily be brought through into
manifestation in the subjective Malkuth. We do better to rely
upon this method of evocation rather than the extraneous devices
of extruded ectoplasm or the outpouring of vital fluids, even if
this latter device were practicable in our modern
civilisation.
48. The best magical weapon is the magus himself, and all
other contrivances are but a means to an end, the end being that
exaltation and concentration of consciousness which makes a magus
of an ordinary man. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of the
living God?" said a Great One. If we know how to use the symbolic
furniture of this living temple, we have the keys of heaven in
our hands.
49. The key to this use is given in the microcosmic
attributions of the Tree. Interpreting these in terms of
function, and function in terms of spiritual principles, we can
unlock the door of the Storehouse of Force. The best and most
complete manifestation of the power of God is through the
energised enthusiasm of the trained and dedicated man. We would
be wiser if we looked for the end-result of a magical operation
to come about through natural channels rather than to expect an
interference with the course of Nature—an expectation that
in the very nature of things is doomed to disappointment.
50. Let us make this clear by illustration. Supposing we
desire to heal sickness, we should, working by the method of the
Tree, employ a rite or meditation of Tiphareth. But are we, for
this reason, to limit our operations to the Sphere of Tiphareth
and require the healing to be a purely Spiritual healing, as do
the Christian Scientists? Or shall we modify our method
sufficiently to allow of the laying on of hands and the anointing
with oil, which are operations of the Sphere of Yesod, designed
to conduct magnetic force? Or shall we, which appears to me the
wiser method, make use of an operation of Malkuth also, thus
bringing the power steadily down the planes into manifestation
without break or gap in the transmutation and conduction?
51. And what is an operation of the Sphere of Malkuth? It is
simply action on the physical plane. In an invocation of healing,
therefore, I think we do better to invoke the Great Physician to
manifest His power to us through the human physician, for that is
the natural channel, than to rely upon a spiritual force for
which the only channel of evocation is the spiritual nature of
the patient, who may or may not be able to rise to the
occasion.
52. That great spiritual forces can be brought to bear
effectually upon the healing of our diseases is beyond question,
but they must have a channel of manifestation; and why be at
great pains to build a psychic one when there is a natural one
ready to hand? God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to
perform when natural law is a sealed book to us; but when we
understand the ways of Nature's working, we see that God moves in
a perfectly natural way, through the regularly established
channels; the difference between the supernatural and the natural
does not lie in the channels of manifestation that are used, but
in the amount of power that comes through them. Not in quality
but in quantity does the flow of power alter when spiritual
forces are successfully invoked.
53. The whole problem of Malkuth is a problem of channels and
connecting links. The rest of the work is done by the mind on the
subtler planes; the real difficulty lies in the transition from
the subtle to the dense, for the subtle is so ill-equipped to
work on the dense. This transition is effected by means of the
magnetism of living things, whether organic or inorganic. Ce
n'est que le dernier pas qui compte in magical
operations.
54. Three ideas issue from a contemplation of the Yetziratic
Text related to Malkuth—the concept of the Resplendent
Intelligence which illuminates the splendour of all the Lights;
the relationship between Malkuth and Binah; and the function of
Malkuth in causing an influence to emanate from the Angel of
Kether.
55. It may seem a curious idea that Malkuth, which is the
material world, should be the illuminator of the Lights; we can
understand this, however, if we refer to the analogy of physics,
which tells us that the sky only appears blue and luminous owing
to the reflection of light from the innumerable dust particles
floating in the atmosphere; absolutely dustless air is
unilluminated, and our sky would have the darkness of
interstellar space if it were not for these dust particles. We
also learn from the study of physics that we see objects solely
by means of the rays of light they reflect from their surfaces.
When there is little or no reflection, as with black cloth, it is
almost invisible in a dim light, a property made much use of by
conjurers and illusionists.
56. It is the formative, concreting function of Malkuth which
finally renders tangible and definite what was, upon the higher
planes, intangible and indefinite, and this is its great service
to manifestation and its characteristic power. All the Lights,
that is to say the emanations of all the other Sephiroth, become
illuminated, visible, when reflected from the concrete aspects of
Malkuth.
57. Every magical operation must come through to Malkuth
before it can be reckoned to have attained completion, for only
in Malkuth is the force finally locked home into form. Therefore
all magical work is better carried out in the form of a ritual
performed on the physical plane, even if the operator is working
alone, than simply as a form of meditation operating upon the
astral plane only. There must be something upon the physical
plane, even if it be no more than lines drawn on a talisman, or
the writing of signs upon the air, which brings the action
through to the plane of Malkuth. Experience proves that an
operation so terminated is a very different matter to an
operation which begins and ends on the astral.
58. The relationship between Malkuth and Binah is very clearly
indicated in the titles assigned to both these Sephiroth. Binah
is the Superior Mother and Malkuth the Inferior Mother. As we
have already seen, Binah is the primordial Giver of Form. Malkuth
being the Sphere of Form, the relationship is obvious. That which
had its inception in Binah has its culmination in Malkuth. This
point gives us an important clue by means of which to guide our
researches among the ramifications of the polytheistic pantheons.
The Qabalistic system is explicit concerning the doctrine of
Emanations, whereby the One unfolds into the Many, and the Many
are reabsorbed into the One. No other system is specific upon
this point, though in all of them it is hinted under the guise of
genealogies. The begettings and matings of the gods and
goddesses, by no means always in holy wedlock, give definite
indication of the implicit doctrines of emanation and polarity,
and are not merely ribald phantasies of primitive man, creating
the gods in his own image and likeness.
59. A careful comparison of the information that has come down
to us concerning the rites by which the ancients worshipped their
many gods soon reveals that the clear-cut myths so delightfully
retold for children have little bearing on the actual religion of
the folk who used them as the means of expression for spiritual
teachings. The gods and goddesses melt one into the other in the
most perplexing fashion, so that we get the Bearded Venus, and
Hercules, of all persons, arrayed in female clothes.
60. It is clear from a study of ancient art that the persons
and characteristics of the various gods and goddesses were used
as a form of picture-writing to indicate definite abstract ideas,
of which the convention was well understood by the priesthood.
Having to deal with an illiterate population for the most part,
for learning was limited to a very few in those days, they wisely
said, Look on this symbol and think about this story; you may not
know what it means, if you are looking in the right direction,
the direction whence light arises; and in proportion as you are
able to receive it, light will flow into your soul if you
contemplate these ideas. It is probable to the point of certainty
that the illumination given in the Mysteries included the
elucidation of the metaphysics of these myths.
61. Persephone, Diana, Aphrodite, Hera, all exchange their
symbols, functions, characteristics, and even subordinate titles
in a bewildering manner in Greek myths and art. Likewise do
Priapus, Pan, Apollo, and Zeus. The best we can say of them is
that all the goddesses are Great Mothers and all the gods are
Givers of Life; the difference between them lying not in function
but in the level upon which they function. A distinction is drawn
between the Celestial Venus and the goddess of earthly love of
the same name; the discerning can see an equal distinction, and
an equal underlying identity, between Zeus the All-Father, and
Priapus, equally addicted to fatherhood, but after another
manner, the one being earthly where the other is celestial.
Nevertheless, they are not two gods, but one god: just as Binah
and Malkuth are not two distinct types of force, but the same
force functioning on different levels. This is the key to the
understanding of the significance of phallic worship, which plays
so important a part in all ancient and primitive faiths, a part
so little understood by their scholastic interpreters. Its real
meaning is the bringing down of the godhead into manhood in the
hope of taking manhood up into godhead. A process which is also
the basis of the Freudian therapy.
62. The statement that Malkuth causes an influence to emanate
from the Angel of Kether further bears out this idea. We see that
the Great Mother, which is Malkuth, polarizes with the
All-Father, which is Kether.
63. This classification, however, is too simple to serve us
adequately, whether we are reducing a pagan pantheon to its
simplest terms or dealing with the chances and changes of
personal life. But in the four quarters, or elements, into which
Malkuth is divided we find the key that we need.
64. These four elements are said to be the Earth, Air, Fire,
and Water of the Wise—that is to say, four types of
activity. They are represented in the notation of esoteric
science by four different types of triangle. Fire is represented
by a triangle point upwards; Air by a similar triangle with a bar
across it, thus indicating that Air may be esteemed as akin in
nature to Fire, but denser. In fact, we should not go far wrong
if we called Air, Negative Fire, or Fire, Positive Air. Water is
represented by a triangle point downwards, and Earth by the same
triangle with a bar across it; and to these two symbols the same
principles apply as to their predecessors.
65. Supposing, then, we consider the Fire triangle as
representing unconditioned force and the Air triangle as
representing conditioned force, the Earth triangle as
representing totally inert form and the Water triangle as
representing an active type of form, we have another mode of
classification available. In the most ancient myths, the air, or
space-god, is the parent of the sun, celestial fire, and water is
the matrix of earth. This comes out clearly on the Central Pillar
of the Tree of Life, where Kether, space, overshadows Tiphareth,
the sun-centre, and the watery Yesod, the moon-centre,
overshadows the earthy Malkuth.
66. Or supposing we arrange the symbols composing the glyph
after another manner, which it is the glory of the Tree that it
enables us to do, and place them as the four Elements, citrine,
olive, russet, and black, in the sphere of Malkuth, and consider
the life-force descending from Kether as operating after the
manner of an alternating current of electricity, which the
doctrine of alternating polarity teaches us to do, we find that
force will sometimes be flowing from Malkuth to Kether, and
sometimes from Kether to Malkuth.
67. Now this is an all-important point when applied to the
microcosm, for it teaches us that we need to be in circuit with
the Earth-soul just as much as with the God of Heaven; there is
an inspiration that rises up from the unconscious quite as much
as there is an inspiration that flows down from the
superconscious.
68. This comes out clearly in the Greek myths, wherein we find
such positive earth forces as Pan, who, by virtue of his
goat-symbolism, cannot be assigned otherwise than to the Sphere
of Earth, for Capricorn is the most earthy of the earthy
triplicity. Pan represents the positive magnetism of the earth
up-rushing in its return to the All-Father. Ceres, on the other
hand, or many-breasted Diana, who are both very earthly Venuses
and far from virgin, represent the final earthing of the heavenly
force in dense matter. Hera, who has been called the Celestial
Venus or heavenly Aphrodite, represents the return of the
up-rushing earth-force to heaven, and is earth-positive on a
celestial level.
69. These are things difficult to elucidate to those who have
not seen the sun at midnight. They yield much to meditation, but
little to disputation.
70. In the Sphere of Malkuth are worked all divinations. Now
the object of any method of divination is to find a set of things
on the physical plane which correspond accurately and
comprehensively to the invisible forces in the same way that the
movements of the hands of a clock correspond to the passage of
time.
71. For revealing general trends and conditions it is agreed
by universal experience of those who have studied such matters
that astrology is the best system of correspondences. But for
obtaining an answer to a single question it is not sufficiently
specific, for too many factors may come in to modify the result.
The initiated diviner, therefore, makes use of the more specific
systems, such as divination by the Tarot or geomancy, when he
wants to obtain an answer to a specific question.
72. But it is of little use to go into a shop and buy a pack
of Tarot cards unless there is the knowledge necessary to build
up the astral correspondences to each card. This takes time, as
there are seventy-two cards to work with. Once it is done,
however, the operator can take the cards into his hands with a
considerable degree of confidence that his subconscious mind,
whatever that may be, will all unwittingly deal the cards that
refer to the matter in question. Exactly how the shuffle and deal
is affected we do not know, but one thing is certain, when the
Great Angel of the Tarot has been contacted, the cards are
remarkably revealing.
73. Having considered the general principles of the Sphere of
Malkuth, we are now in a position to study its special symbolism
with profit.
74. It is called the Kingdom—in other words, the sphere
ruled by the King—and the King is the title of
Microprosopos, who consists of the six central Sephiroth,
excluding the Three Supernals. We may regard Malkuth, or the
material Sphere, as the sphere of manifestation of these six
central Sephiroth, which themselves are emanated by the Three
Supernals. Everything then, ends in Malkuth, even as everything
begins in Kether.
75. The Magical Image of Malkuth is a young woman, crowned and
veiled; this is the Isis of Nature, her face veiled to show that
the spiritual forces are hidden within the outer form. This idea
is also present in the symbolism of Binah, which is summed up in
the concept of "the outer robe of concealment." Malkuth, as is
clearly set forth in the Yetziratic Text, is Binah upon a lower
arc.
76. Now Binah is called the Dark Sterile Mother, and Malkuth
is called the Bride of Microprosopos, or the Bright Fertile
Mother, and these correspond to the dual aspects of the Egyptian
moon-goddess as Isis and Hathor, Isis being the positive aspect
of the goddess, and Hathor the negative aspect. In Greek
symbolism these would correspond to Aphrodite and Ceres. Now
Aphrodite is the positive aspect of the female potency, for be it
remembered that under the law of alternating polarity that which
is negative on the outer planes is positive on the inner, and
vice versa. Aphrodite, the Celestial Venus, is the giver of
magnetic stimulus to the spiritually negative male; it is because
her function is not understood in modern life that so much is
wrong with modern life. Binah, the higher aspect of Isis, is,
however, barren, because the positive pole is always the giver of
the stimulus, but never the producer of the result. The Malkuth
aspect of Isis is the Bright Fertile Mother, the goddess of
fecundity, thus indicating the end-result of the operation of
Isis on the physical plane.
77. The situation of Malkuth at the foot of the Pillar of
Equilibrium places it in the direct line of the descent of power
from Kether, transmuted in Daath, the Invisible Sephirah, and
passing on to the planes of form via Tiphareth. This is the Path
of Consciousness, whereas the two Side Pillars are Paths of
Function; but the two Side Pillars also converge on Malkuth via
the Thirty-first and Twenty-ninth Paths. Consequently everything
ends in Malkuth.
78. We who are incarnated in physical bodies are standing in
Malkuth, and when we set out upon the Way of Initiation our route
lies up the Thirty-second Path to Yesod. This Path, straight up
the Central Pillar, is called the Path of the Arrow, which is
shot from Qesheth, the Bow of Promise; it is by this route that
the mystic rises upon the planes; the initiate, however, adds to
his experience the powers of the Side Pillars as well as the
realisations of the Middle Pillar.
79. This aspect of the Central Pillar is expressed in the
Yetziratic Text wherein it states that Malkuth causes an
influence to emanate from the Prince of Countenances, the Angel
of Kether.
80. The additional titles assigned to Malkuth bring out its
attributes clearly. It is regarded as the Gate and the Mate.
These two ideas are in essence one idea, for the womb of the
Mother is the Gate of Life. It is also the Gate of Death, for
birth into the plane of form is death to higher things.
81. Malkuth is also said to be Kallah, the Bride of
Microprosopos, and Malkah, the Queen of Melekh, the King. This
clearly indicates the function in polarity that prevails between
the planes of form and the planes of force; the planes of form
being the female aspect, polarised and made fertile by the
influences of the planes of force.
82. The God-name in Malkuth is Adonai Melekh, or Adonai ha
Aretz, which titles mean, the Lord who is King, and the Lord of
Earth. Herein we clearly see the assertion of the supremacy of
the One God in the Kingdoms of Earth, and every magical
operation, wherein the operator takes power into his own hands,
should commence with the invocation of Adonai to indwell his
temple of earth and rule therein, that no force may break from
its allegiance to the One.
83. These who call upon the Name of Adonai call upon God made
manifest in Nature, which is the aspect of God adored by
initiates of the Nature Mysteries, whether Dionysian or
Isiac—which concern the different ways of opening
superconsciousness via subconsciousness.
84. The archangel is the great angel Sandalphon, who is
sometimes called by Qabalists the Dark Angel; whereas Metatron,
the Angel of the Countenance, is the Bright Angel. These two
angels are held to stand behind the right and left shoulders of
the soul in its hours of crisis. They might be taken to represent
good and bad karma. It is in reference to the function of
Sandalphon as the Dark Angel presiding over the Karmic Debt that
Malkuth is called the Gate of Justice and the Gate of Tears. It
has been said by a wit, with more truth than he knew, that this
planet was actually some other planet's hell. It is in very fact
the sphere in which karma is normally worked out. Where there is
sufficient knowledge, however, karma can be worked out
deliberately on the subtler planes, and this method is one of the
forms of spiritual healing.
85. The Order of Angels assigned to Malkuth are the Ashim, the
Souls of Fire, or Fiery Particles, of which Mme. Blavatsky says
some very interesting things. A Soul of Fire is in actual fact
the consciousness of an atom; the Ashim therefore represent the
natural consciousness of dense matter; it is these which bestow
on it its characteristics. It is these Fiery Lives, these
infinitesimal electrical charges, which are for ever weaving
backwards and forwards with tremendous activity in the background
of matter and form its basis. Everything that we know as matter
builds up on this groundwork. It is with the help of these Fiery
Lives that certain types of magic are worked. There are but few
who can work such magic, for the denser the plane to be
manipulated, the greater must be the power of the Magus who
commands it.
86. The Mundane Chakra of Malkuth is the Sphere of the
Elements. These we have already considered in such detail as is
possible in these pages.
87. The Spiritual Experience of Malkuth is the Vision of the
Holy Guardian Angel. Now this angel, which according to the
Qabalists is assigned to each soul at birth and companions him
till death, when it takes him into its keeping and presents him
before the face of God for judgment, is in actuality the Higher
Self of each one of us, which builds up around the Divine Spark
that is the nucleus of the soul and endures for an evolution,
sending down a process into matter at each incarnation to form
the basis of the new personality.
88. When the Higher Self and the Lower Self become united
through the complete absorption of the lower by the higher, true
adepthood is gained; this is the Great Initiation, the Lesser
Divine Union. It is the supreme experience of the incarnate soul,
and when this takes place, it is freed from any compulsion to
rebirth into the prison-house of flesh. Thenceforth it is free to
go on up the planes and enter into its rest, or, if it so elects,
to remain within the earth-sphere and function as a Master.
89. This, then, is the spiritual experience which is assigned
to Malkuth—the bringing down of the Godhead into manhood,
just as the spiritual experience of Tiphareth is the taking up of
manhood into the Godhead.
90. The especial virtue of Malkuth is said to be
Discrimination. This idea is further carried out in the curious
symbolism of the ancients which declared the correspondence in
the microcosm to be with the anus. Whatever in life is effete has
to be excreted, and the macrocosmic excretion is into the
Qliphothic spheres which depend below Malkuth, whence the cosmic
excreta cannot return to the planes of organised form until they
find balance in equilibrium. There is, therefore, in the
Qliphothic world, a sphere which is not Hell, but Purgatory; it
is a reservoir of disorganised force emanated from broken-up
forms, cast out from evolution; it is Chaos upon a lower arc. It
is from this reservoir of force that is accustomed to form, and
therefore organises readily, that the Shells, or imperfect
entities, build up their vehicles. It is also said to be drawn
upon for the lower types of magic of an evil kind. The tendency
of such forces as are available in the Qliphothic sphere must
always be to assume once more such forms as they were accustomed
to before they were disintegrated and reduced to their primal
state; as these forms were at least out of date, if not actively
evil, it naturally follows that this matter of chaos is not a
desirable substance to work in; and had best be left there till
its purification is complete and it has filtered back through the
Sphere of Earth by the natural channels, and been drawn once
again into the stream of evolution. It is for this reason that
all the underworld cults and the evocation of the departed are
undesirable, for the forms the manifesting entities assume must
be built in part at least of this substance of Chaos.
91. It is the especial virtue of Malkuth, then, to act as a
kind of cosmic filter, casting out the effete and preserving that
which still retains its usefulness.
92. The characteristic vices of the functioning of Malkuth are
said to be avarice and inertia. It is easy to see how the
stability of Malkuth can be overdone, and so give rise to
sluggishness and inertia. The concept of avarice, though not so
obvious upon the surface, soon yields its significance to
investigation; for the over-retentiveness of avarice is a kind of
spiritual costiveness, the exact opposite of the discrimination
which rejects the excreta of life through the cosmic anus into
the cosmic cesspool of the Qliphoth. It is interesting to note
that Freud declares that the miser is invariably constipated, and
associates the dream of money with faeces.
93. One of the most important things we have to do before we
can rise out of the limitations of life in Malkuth and breathe a
wider air, is to learn how to let go; how to sacrifice the lesser
to the greater and so buy the pearl of great price. It is
discrimination which enables us to know which is the lesser value
that has to be given up in order to obtain the greater, for there
is no gain without sacrifice. What we do not realise is that
every sacrifice should yield a substantial profit in treasure
laid up in heaven where neither moth nor rust do corrupt;
otherwise it is mere useless waste.
94. We have already noted one of the correspondences assigned
to Malkuth in the microcosm. It is also said, however, that
Malkuth corresponds to the feet of the Divine Man. Here again we
have an important concept; for unless the feet are firmly planted
on Mother Earth, no stability is possible. There are altogether
too many top-heavy mystics who like to think that the Divine Man
ends at the neck like a cherub, and give no place to the
generative organs of Yesod, or the anus of Malkuth. They need to
learn the lesson that the heavenly dream taught to St. Peter,
that nothing which God made is unclean unless we allow it to
become so. We should recognise the Divine Life in all its
functions, and so bring the manhood up into Godhead and sanctify
it. Cleanliness is next to godliness, especially internal
cleanliness. If we evade and avoid a thing, how are we to keep it
clean and wholesome? The taboos of a primitive people have been
altogether overdone in our civilised life, with disastrous
consequences to the health and wholesomeness of humanity.
95. The symbols of Malkuth are the altar of the double cube
and the equal-armed cross, or cross of the elements.
96. The altar of the double cube is symbolic of the Hermetic
maxim, "As above, so below," and teaches that what is visible is
the reflection of what is invisible, and corresponds with it
exactly. This cubical altar is the altar of the Mysteries, in
contradistinction to the table-altar, which is the altar of the
Church. For the table-altar stands in the east, but the cubical
altar stands in the centre. It is said to be in proper proportion
when it is the height of the navel of a six-foot man, and its
breadth and depth are half its height.
97. The equal-armed cross, or cross of the elements,
represents the four elements in balanced equilibrium, which is
the perfection of Malkuth. It is represented on the Tree by the
division of Malkuth into four quarters, coloured citrine, olive,
russet, and black, with the citrine towards Yesod and the black
towards the Qliphoth; the olive towards Netzach and the russet
towards Hod. These are the reflections of the Three Pillars and
the Qliphothic sphere, dulled and tempered by the veil of
earth.
98. Thus are all things summed up in Malkuth, though seen in a
glass darkly, by reflection, and not face to face.
99. The four Tarot cards yield curious results when subjected
to meditation in the light of what we know about Malkuth. The Ten
of Wands is called the Lord of Oppression; the Ten of Cups, the
Lord of Perfected Success; the Ten of Swords, the Lord of Ruin;
and the Ten of Pentacles, the Lord of Wealth.
100. As we have already seen, it is in Malkuth that spiritual
forces come to their fulfilment on the plane of form, and by
taking these completed forms, and "sacrificing" them, we can
translate them back into spiritual potencies.
101. These four Tarot cards, it will be observed, are
alternately good and bad in their significance; in fact, the Ten
of Swords is said to be the worst card in the pack to divination.
There is a curious alchemical doctrine which has a bearing on
this point. It is taught that the signs of the planets are
compounded out of three symbols—the solar disk, the lunar
crescent, and the cross of corrosion or sacrifice; and these
symbols, rightly interpreted, give the key to the alchemical
nature of the planet and its practical use in the Great Work of
transmutation. For instance, Mars, in whose symbol the cross
surmounts the circle, is said to be outwardly corrosive, but
inwardly solar; Venus, in which the circle surmounts the cross,
is said to be outwardly solar, but inwardly corrosive, or in the
words of Scripture, sweet in the mouth, but in the belly
bitter.
102. In these four Tarot tens the same principle is seen to
prevail. Each card represents the working of a certain type of
spiritual force on the plane of dense matter. The most spiritual
of these cards, the ten of the suit whose ace is said to be the
Root of the Powers of Fire, is called the Lord of Oppression.
This reaches us that the higher spiritual forces are apt to be
outwardly corrosive when operating upon the plane of matter. The
powers of Fire, at their highest potency in the ten of Wands, are
a refining fire. "As gold is tried in the furnace, so the heart
must be tried by pain."
103. On the other hand, all the symbolism of the suit of Cups,
or Chalices, shows the Venusian influence very clearly; it is in
this suit we find the Lords of Pleasure, Material Happiness, and
Abundance. But we also find the Lords of Illusory Success,
Abandoned Success, and Loss in Pleasure, which shows clearly that
this suit, though outwardly solar, is inwardly corrosive.
104. Swords, again, are under the Martian influence, and the
Lord of Ruin shows the total sacrifice of all material
things.
105. But in Pentacles, earth of earth, the position is again
reversed, and we find that the ten of Pentacles is the Lord of
Wealth.
106. It will be seen, therefore, that those cards which are of
suits primarily spiritual in nature are outwardly corrosive on
the physical plane; and those cards of suits that are primarily
material in nature are outwardly solar, or beneficient on the
material plane. This teaches a very useful lesson, and gives a
very important key when used in those systems of divination which
are designed to give discernment of the spiritual influences
operating in a case.
107. All mundane affairs rise and fall like the waves of the
sea, crest following trough, and trough following crest in
rhythmical progression; therefore, when any mundane condition is
at either its zenith or nadir we know that a change of tide is to
be expected in the near future. This knowledge is embodied in
many popular sayings, such as "It's a long lane that has no
turning," and "The darkest hour is before the dawn." Harriman,
the great American millionaire, said that he made his fortune by
always buying on a falling market and selling on a rising
one—which is the exact opposite to what everyone else tries
to do. Nevertheless, it is a farsighted proceeding, for a boom
always topples over into a depression, and a depression issues
forth into a boom. This has happened so often even within living
memory that one would have thought speculators would have learnt
the lessons of history, but they never do. It was a knowledge of
this fact that enabled the Fraternity of the Inner Light to be
piloted steadily amidst the post-war difficulties, and come
through without having to curtail any of its activities. There
are times when it is necessary to be modest in order to be
solvent; but there are times when one can launch out boldly,
despite all outward seeming, because one knows that the tide is
rising under one.
108. These four cards, then, give a very true insight into the
nature of the operation of forces in Malkuth, and when they turn
up in a divination, one always prepares for the outward gold to
turn to corrosion, and the outward corrosion to turn to gold
sooner or later, and one takes in or spreads one's sails
accordingly.
109. This is the true use of divination—to enable one to
discern the spiritual forces concerned in any happening, and act
accordingly. Of what use, then, is the divination performed by
one who has not spiritual discernment? And can one expect to find
spiritual discernment in the hack occultist who gives so much for
half-a-crown, and so much more for ten shillings? Spiritual
things are not done in this way. Among the ancients, divination
was a religious rite, and so it should be among us, if it is not
to bring a trail of bad luck in its wake.
1. In a previous chapter we have referred to the Qliphoth, the
evil and averse Sephiroth; the time has now come to study them in
detail, even though "these are awful forms, dangerous even to
think upon."
2. It may be asked why, since these forms are reputed to be so
dangerous even to think about, it is necessary to study them.
Were it not better to turn the mind away from them and prevent
the images of such evil forces from formulating in consciousness?
In answer to this question we may cite the precepts of Abramelin
the Mage, whose system of magic is the most potent and complete
that we possess. According to his system, the operator, after a
prolonged period of purification and preparation, evokes not only
the angelic forces, but also the demoniac ones.
3. A good many people have burnt their fingers with the system
of Abramelin, and the reason is not far to seek; for if we
examine their records we find that they have never followed the
system in its entirety, but picked out a ceremony here and an
invocation there for performance as the mood took them.
Consequently Abramelin's system has got a bad name as being a
singularly dangerous formula; whereas, performed in its entirety,
it is a singularly safe one, because it deals with all the
reactions of the invoked forces under what might be termed
laboratory conditions and neutralises them.
4. Whoever attempts to work with the positive aspect of a
Sephirah must remember that it also has a negative aspect, and
unless he can maintain the necessary equilibrium of forces, that
negative aspect is liable to come uppermost and swamp the
operation. There is a point in every magical operation when the
negative aspect of the force comes up to be dealt with, and
unless dealt with will lure the experimenter into the pit which
he has digged. It is a sound magical maxim not to invoke any
force unless you are equipped to deal with its averse aspect.
5. Dare you invoke the fiery energy of Mars (Geburah) into
your nature unless you have sufficiently purified and disciplined
yourself to be sure that you can prevent the Martian force from
going to extremes and leading to cruelty and destructiveness? If
you have any insight into human nature at all, you must be aware
that everyone has the faults of his qualities—that is to
say, if he is vigorous and energetic he is liable to fall into
cruelty and oppression; if he is calm and magnanimous he is
liable to the temptations of laissez-faire and
inertia.
6. The Qliphoth are aptly termed the evil and averse
Sephiroth, for they are not independent principles or factors in
the cosmic scheme, but the unbalanced and destructive aspect of
the Holy Stations themselves. There are, in fact, not two Trees,
but one Tree, a Qliphah being the reverse of a coin of which the
obverse is a Sephirah. Whoever uses the Tree as a magical system
must perforce know the Spheres of the Qliphoth, because he has no
option but to deal with them.
7. It is only upon the plane of Atziluth that there is but one
Name of Power associated with a Sephirah, and that is the Deity
Name. To the archangel corresponds the devil, and to the choir of
angels the cohort of demons, and the Sephirothic Spheres have
their correspondence in the Infernal Habitations.
8. The student must carefully distinguish between what the
occultist calls positive and negative evil. This is a very
important point in esoteric philosophy, and a failure to realize
its significance leads into far-reaching practical errors and
cripples the whole life and work of the initiate, or, for the
matter of that, of any human being who is endeavouring to develop
a modicum of free-will and self-governance. It is a point which
is but little understood, but it is a singularly important point
in practice, because it influences so immediately cur outlook,
judgment, and conduct.
9. Positive evil is a force which is moving against the
current of evolution; negative evil is simply the opposition of
an inertia which has not yet been overcome, or of a momentum
which has not yet been neutralised. Let us make these definitions
clear by an example. The natural conservatism of a mature mind is
regarded as evil by the would-be reformer; the natural iconoclasm
of youth is regarded as evil by the administrator who has
established his system. Nevertheless, we cannot dispense with
either of these opposing factors if society is to be maintained
in a healthy state; between them we achieve a steady progress
that neither disorganises society nor permits it to sink into
inertia and decay. Both these factors are indispensable to social
welfare, yet either of them, unchecked, would lead to harm.
10. We cannot consider either of them, then, as a social evil
unless it is overdone. We should therefore, in the terminology of
esoteric philosophy, classify conservatism as negative evil when
considered from the standpoint of the reformer, and iconoclasm as
negative evil when considered from the standpoint of the
conservative.
11. Positive evil is a different matter. It may be of the
nature of an iconoclasm carried too far that descends into sheer
anarchy; or of conservation carried too far, and becoming class
privilege and vested interest militating against the general
welfare. Or it may take the form of actual political corruption,
which destroys the efficiency of the administrative machine; or
of social corruption, such as organised prostitution or
child-labour, which undermines the health of the body politic.
12. The conservative impulse and the radical impulse will both
draw to themselves those who are in sympathy with their
viewpoints, and their supporters will soon organize themselves
into political parties; these parties are not evil save in the
prejudiced eyes of their political opponents; the main body of
the nation opposes and supports them impartially and turn about,
recognising that they represent compensating factors. Equally,
the corrupt and criminal elements in society will tend to
organise a Tammany Hall of their own. Now the Conservative and
Radical parties might be likened to Chesed and Geburah
respectively; Tammany Hall might be compared to the Qliphah
corresponding to Geburah, the Burning and Contending Forces; and
the organized Diehards to the Qliphah of Chesed, the Permitters
of Destruction.
13. Negative evil is the practical corollary of the principle
of Equilibrium. Equilibrium is the result of the balance of
contending forces; consequently they must pull one against the
other. We must not make the mistake of classing one of a pair of
contending forces as good and the other as evil; to do so is to
fall into the fundamental heresy of dualism.
14. The instructed and enlightened expositors of all religions
regard dualism as a heresy; it is only ignorant adherents of a
faith who believe in the conflict between light and darkness,
spirit and matter, which shall eventually result in the triumph
of the god and the total abolition and elimination of all
opposing influences. Protestant Christianity forgets that Lucifer
is the Light-bearer, Satan a fallen angel, and that Our Lord did
not limit His ministrations to humanity, but descended into Hell
and preached to the spirits in prison. We cannot deal with evil
by cutting it off and destroying it, but only by absorbing and
harmonising it.
15. In all our calculations and conceptions we must carefully
distinguish between the resistance of the compensating Sephirah
and the influence of the corresponding Qliphah. The two Trees,
Divine and Infernal, Sephirothic and Qliphothic, are usually
represented as they would appear if the obverse Tree were a
reflection of the Celestial Tree in a mirror at its base,
reaching downwards in proportion as the other reaches upwards. We
should get a better concept if we conceived of the two glyphs as
inscribed upon either side of a sphere, so that if a pendulum
swinging between Geburah and Gedulah (Mars and Jupiter)
overreached itself in either direction it would commence to
circle round to the reverse side of the globe and come into the
sphere of influence of the corresponding averse Sephirah. If it
swung too far towards Geburah (Severity) it would come into the
Sphere of the Burning and Destroying Forces and of Hatred; if it
swung too far in the direction of Mercy it would come into the
Sphere of the Permitters of Destruction, and there is much
significance in that name.
16. The mystic tells us that it is his aim to work in the
sphere of pure spirit without any alloy of earth, and therefore
he calls upon the Name of God alone; but the occultist replies,
As long as you are in a body of earth you are a child of earth,
and spirit for you cannot be without alloy. When you call upon
the love of God it cannot come to you save through a Redeemer.
The Sphere of the Redeemer is Tiphareth and its archangel is
Raphael, the healer, for do we not recognise the influence of the
Redeemer through its healing influence upon body and soul? But
the reverse of the Redeemer who harmonises are the Zourmiel, the
Disputers, "the great black giants ever working against each
other." Do we not see their influence in the harsher doctrines of
Christianity, in the idea of everlasting punishment under the
dominion of the Devil as contrasted with everlasting reward under
the dominion of the vengeful and venal Jehovah? If these are not
Dual Contending Forces, what are they? Modern religious thought
makes a great error in not realising that one can have too much
of a good thing.
17. The only time when there is perfect equilibrium of force
is during a Pralaya, a Night of the Gods. Force in equilibrium is
static, potential, never dynamic, because force in equilibrium
implies two opposing forces which have perfectly neutralised each
other and thus rendered each other inert, inoperative. Upset the
equilibrium, and the forces are freed for action, change can take
place; growth, evolution, organisation can occur. There is no
possibility of progress in perfect equilibrium; it is a state of
rest. At the end of a Cosmic Night it is said that equilibrium is
overset, and in consequence an outflowing of power takes place
once more and evolution begins again.
18. The equilibrium of the universe may best be likened to the
swing of a pendulum rather than the grip of a clamp. It is not
held immobile, and there is all the difference in the world
between those two concepts. For in poise there is always a slight
vibration, a push-pull between the opposing forces that holds it
steady; it is a stability, not of inertia, but of strain.
19. This is represented on the Tree by the two Pillars of
Mercy and Severity which pull against each other. Geburah
(Severity) pulls against Gedulah (Mercy). Binah (Form) pulls
against Chokmah (Force). If this counter-pull ceased, the
universe would collapse, as a man who is pulling on a rope
collapses if the rope breaks. We must clearly realize that this
tension, this resistance against which we have to strain in
whatever we may be doing, is not evil; it is the necessary
counterpoise of whatever force we are employing.
20. As was pointed out in a previous chapter, each Qliphah
arose primarily as an emanation of unbalanced force in the course
of the evolution of the corresponding Sephirah. There was a
period when the forces of Kether were overflowing to form
Chokmah, and the Second Path was in process of becoming, but not
yet fully established; therefore Kether must have been out of
equilibrium—overflowing but not yet compensated. We see
this phenomenon of the pathological transition stage clearly
exhibited in the case of the adolescent who has ceased to be a
child under control, and has not yet become an adult and
self-controlled.
21. It was this inevitable period of unbalanced force, the
pathology of transition, that gave rise to each Qliphah in turn.
It follows then that the solution of the problem of evil and its
eradication from the world is not to be achieved through its
suppression, cutting off, or destruction, but through its
compensation and consequent absorption back into the Sphere
whence it came. The unbalanced force of Kether, which gave rise
to the Dual Contending Forces, must be neutralised by a
corresponding increase in the activity of Chokmah, Wisdom.
22. The unbalanced force of each Sephirah then, which arose
unchecked during the temporary phases of disequilibrium that
occur periodically in the course of evolution, forms the nucleus
around which were organised all the thought-forms of evil arising
in the consciousness of sentient beings or through the operation
of blind forces that happen to be out of equilibrium, each kind
of inharmony seeking its own place. It will follow, then, that
what was at first a mere overplus of a force, both pure and good
in its intrinsic nature, may, if not compensated, become in the
course of ages a highly organised and developed centre of
positive and dynamic evil.
23. An example will once again help us to make this clear. An
overplus of the necessary energy of Mars (Geburah), the energy
that budges inertia and clears away that which is effete and
outworn, would be certain to occur during the period prior to the
emanation of Tiphareth, the Redeemer. As soon as emanated, the
Redeemer would compensate the severities of Geburah, even as Our
Lord said: "A new law give I unto you. Ye shall no longer say, an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth..." Now this uncompensated
severity of Geburah gave us the jealous God of the Old Testament
and all the religious persecutions that have ever been done in
His unbalanced Name. It forms the Qliphah of Geburah, and every
cruel and oppressive nature is in sympathy with it. To its Sphere
goes all the overplus of the force they emanate that is not
absorbed by the opposing force in the universe—all the
unslaked revenge, all the unsatisfied lust of cruelty; and these
forces, whenever they find a channel of expression opening up,
rise through it. Consequently the man who gives way to cruelty
soon finds that he is not merely expressing the impulses of his
own undeveloped or misshapen nature, but that a great force like
a stream in spate is urging him on, driving him from one outrage
to another till finally he loses his self-control and discretion,
and is swept away to self-destruction by some incautious
expression of his impulses.
24. Whenever we make ourselves the channel of any pure force,
that is to say any force which is single and undiluted by
ulterior motives and secondary considerations, we find that there
is a river in spate behind us—the stream of the
corresponding Sephirothic or Qliphothic forces that is finding a
channel through us. It is this that gives the single minded
zealot his abnormal power.
1. Having ended my study of that portion of the Holy Qabalah which is concerned with the Ten Sephiroth upon the Tree of Life, I can find no other words to say than: "The little done, the undone vast."
2. This book will, I hope, be followed by other books. The
Twenty-two Paths form a system of mystical psychology, being
concerned with the relationship between the soul of man and the
universe. As the Ten Sephiroth, being concerned with the
Macrocosm, are the key to illumination, so are the Twenty-two
Paths, being concerned with the relationship between Macrocosm
and Microcosm, the key to divination; and divination, taken in
its true sense, is spiritual diagnosis, a very different matter
to fortune-telling.
3. The Spheres of the gods upon the Tree is also a matter of
profound interest and immediate practical application, for they
give the key to the rites that were performed as a means, and a
very effectual means, of contacting and equilibrating those
different forces that are personalised under the names of the
gods.
4. All these things, however, require detailed knowledge, and
that can only be got together gradually. It is more than one pen
can do unaided, and I should welcome the correspondence of those
who are interested in these subjects, not as research into
antiquity, but as living forces that come home to men's business
and bosoms.
5. All that remains to us of ceremonial in the West is in the
hands of the Church, the Masons, and the producers of cabaret.
All three are effectual after their kind: the Church evoking love
of God; Masonry evoking love of man; and cabaret evoking love of
women.
6. Viewed as a means of invoking the spirit of God, ceremonial
is pure superstition; but viewed as a means of evoking the spirit
of man, it is pure psychology, and that is how I view it. It is a
lost art in the West, but an art that is well worth reviving.
7. In these pages I have given the philosophical basis on
which this art rests. Its practical application depends not only
upon technical knowledge; but upon the development of certain
powers in the mind by careful and prolonged training, of which
the first is the power of concentration, and the second the power
of visual imagination. It is concerning the power of the visual
imagination that we are so lamentably ignorant in the West. Coue
just missed the turning when he sought in prolonged attention a
substitute for spontaneous emotion.
1. The Three Pillars and the Descent of Power.
2. The Three Triangles.
3. The Tree of Life and the Thirty-two Paths.
4. A Composite View of The Tree of Life.
Roy Glashan's Library
Non sibi sed omnibus
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