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"The Hiereus." The station of the Hiereus is at the extreme West of the Temple at the lowest point of Malkuth, and in the black portion thereof, representing a terrible and avenging God at the confines of Matter at the borders of the Qliphoth. He is throned upon Matter and robed in Darkness; and about his feet are the thunder and the lightning, which two forces are symbolised by the impact of the paths of שׂ {HB:Shin} and ק {HB:Qof} (Fire, Pisces), terminating respectively in the russet and olive quarters of Malkuth. There, therefore, is he placed as a mighty and avenging guardian unto the Sacred Mysteries. His symbols and insignia are: The throne of the West at the limits of Malkuth; the robe of Darkness; the sword; the Banner of the West; the Lamen. "Avenger of the Gods," is the name of the Hiereus, and he is "Horus in the City of Blindness" and of ignorance unto the Higher.
The Lamen of the Hegemon The Hegemon. The place of the Hegemon is between the two pillars, whose bases are in Netzach and Hod at the intersection of the paths of HB:Peh and HB:Samekh in the symbolic gateway of Occult Science: as it were at the beam of the Balance at the equilibrium of the Scales of Justice, at the point of the intersection of the lowest reciprocal path with that of ס {HB:Samekh}, which latter forms a part of the Middle Column, being there placed as the guardian of the threshold of Entrance, and the preparer of the ways for the Enterer thereby. Therefore the Reconciler between the Light and the Darkness, and the Mediator between the stations of the Hierophant and the Hiereus. His symbols and insignia are: The robe of pure Whiteness; the Mitre-headed sceptre; the Lamen. "Before the face of the Gods in the place of the Threshold" is the name of the Hegemon; and she is the Goddess Thmais [32] Thmaist of dual form as Thmait.[33] The Kerux. — The Kerux is the principal form of Anubis. The sentinel being the subsidiary form. The Kerux is the Anubis of the East, whilst the Sentinel is the Anubis of the West. The Kerux is the herald, the guardian and watcher "within" the Temple; as the sentinel is the watcher without. And therefore is his charge the proper disposition of the furniture of the Temple. His peculiar insignia of office are the red lamp and the wand. [34] "Watcher of the Gods" is his name, and he is Anubis the herald before them. "The Stolistes." — The station of the Stolistes is in the midst of the Northern part of the Hall; without, and to the North-West of the Black Pillar. He has the care of robes and insignia of the Temple. His peculiar ensign is the Cup. "The Goddess at the Scale of the Balance at the Black Pillar" is the name of the Stolistes; and she is Auramooth, or the Light shining through the waters upon the Earth. The Cup of the Stolistes The Dadouchos. — The station of the Dadouchos is towards the midst of the Southern part of the Hall, and to the South-West of the White Pillar. He has the charge of the lights, the fire, and the incense of the Temple. His ensign is the Svastika. [35] "Goddess of the Scale of the Balance at the White Pillar" is the name of the Dadouchos, and she is Thoum-aesh-neith, or Perfection through Fire manifesting upon the Earth. THE GRADE OF NEOPHYTETHE OPENING The Officers and members being assembled the Kerux proceeds to the right of the Hierophant and facing West raises his wand, as a symbol of the ray of Divine Light from the white Triangle of the Three Supernals, and cries: "HEKAS, HEKAS, ESTE, BEBELOI!" [36] in order to warn the evil and uninitiated to retire so that the Triangle may be formulated upon the Altar. The Hierophant then calls upon all present to assist him in opening the Hall of the Neophytes, and bids the Kerux see that the Hall is properly guarded. The Fratres and Sorores of the Order then give the sign of the Neophyte, after which the Hiereus explains that the names of the three chief officers commence with "the letter of breath" H. But that in the name Osiris, the H is silent, and concealed, as it were shrouded in O. In the name Horus it is manifested and violently aspirated; while in the name Themis it is partly one and partly the other. The Hiereus having explained the meaning of the letter H, then recapitulates the stations and duties of the officers, thus occultly affirming the establishment of the temple so that the Divine Light may shine into the Darkness. In explaining his own station the Hierophant says: "My place is on the throne of the East, which symbolises the rise of the Sun of Life and Light. My duty is to rule and govern this hall in accordance with the laws of the Order. The red colour of my robe symbolises Light: my insignia are the sceptre and the Banner of the East, which signify Power and Light, Mercy and Wisdom: and my office is that of the Expounder of the Mysteries." Then follows the purification of the Hall and the members by water and by fire, after which the Hierophant orders the Mystic Circumambulation to take place in the Path of Light. The procession of officers and members is then formed in the North, in readiness for the mystic Circumambulation in the Path of Light. It is formed in the North beginning from the station of the Stolistes, the symbol of the waters of creation attracting the Divine Spirit, and therefore alluding to the creation of the world. Whilst the "Reverse Circumambulation" has its rise from the station of the Dadouchos, symbolic of the ending and judging of the world by fire. But also the Circumambulation commences with the Paths שׂ {HB:Shin} and ר {HB:Resh}, as though bringing into action the solar fire; whilst the reverse commences by those of ק {HB:Qof} and צ {HB:Tzaddi} as though bringing the watery reflux into action. This is the Order of the Circumambulation; first cometh Anubis, the watcher of the Gods; next Themis, the Goddess of the Hall of Truth; then Horus; then the remaining members in order of precedence; and lastly, the Goddesses of the Scales of the Balance, as though a vast wheel were revolving, as it is said: "One wheel upon the Earth beside the Kerub." And also note the Rashish ha-Gilgalim. [37] Of this wheel the ascending side commenceth from below the pillar of Nephthys, and the descending side from below the pillar of Isis, but in the "Reverse Circumambulation" this is contrary. And the nave or axis of the wheel will be about the invisible station of Harpocrates; as though that God stood there with the sign of Silence, and affirmed the concealment of that central atom of the wheel which alone revolveth not. The object of the Mystic Circumambulation is to attract and make connection between the Divine Light above and the Temple, and therefore the Hierophant quitteth his throne to take part therein, but remaineth there to attract by his sceptre the Light from beyond the Veils. Each member in passing the Throne of the East gives the sign of the enterer, projecting forwards the light which cometh from the sceptre of the Hierophant. "But Horus passes only once, for he is the son of Osiris, and inheriteth the Light, as it were by birthright from him; wherefore he goeth at once unto the station of the Hiereus to fix the light there. The Hegemon, the Goddess of Truth, passeth twice because her rule is of the Balance of the two Scales, and she retireth to her station there to complete the reflux of the Middle Pillar. But Anubis of the East and the others circumambulate thrice as affirming the completion of the reflexion of the perfecting of the white Triangle on the Altar." [38] The circumambulation being completed, the members and remaining officers remain standing whilst the Hierophant repeats the Adoration:
(At each of these sentences all bow and give the sign, the officers raising their banners, sceptres, sword and wand on high, and then sink them in salutation.) The Hierophant then orders the Kerux to declare the Hall of the Neophytes opened by him, which he does in the following words: "In the name of the Lord of the Universe, I declare that the Sun hath arisen, and that the Light shineth in Darkness." After which the three chief officers repeat the mystic words:
THE OPENING is then at an end, and the next ceremony is: THE ADMISSION. [39] The Candidate is in waiting without the Portal, under the care of the sentinel, the "Watcher Without," that is, under the care of the form of Anubis of the West. The Hierophant informs the members assembled that he holds a dispensation from the greatly honoured chiefs of the Second Order, for the purpose of commencing the process of the initiation which shall ultimately lead the Candidate to the knowledge of his Higher Self. But he is first admitted to the Grade of Neophyte which hath no number, concealing the commencement of All-Things under the simulacrum of No-Thing. The Hegemon, the representative of the Gods of Truth and Justice, is consequently sent to superintend the preparation, thus symbolizing that it is the Presider of Equilibrium who is to administrate the process of initiation by the commencement of the Equilibration of the forces in the Candidate himself, by the symbols of Rectitude and Self-control. But it is the sentinel who actually prepares the Candidate; whose body is now surrounded by a triple cord to show the restriction of the powers of Nature; and it is triple to show the white Triangle of the Three Supernals. His eyes are also bandaged, symbolising that the Light of the natural world is but as darkness compared with the radiance of the Light Divine. The Ritual then continues: Hegemon: "Child of Earth! arise, and enter into the Path of Darkness!" The Hierophant then gives his permission, ordering the Stolistes and Dadouchos to assist the Kerux in the reception; but the Kerux bars the way saying: "Child of Earth! unpurified and unconsecrated! Thou canst not enter our Sacred Hall." Whereupon the Stolistes purifies the Candidate by Water, and the Dadouchos consecrates him by Fire. Then the Hierophant speaks: he does so not as to an assembly of mortals, but as a God before the assembly of the Gods. "And let his voice be so directed that it shall roll through the Universe to the confines of Space, and let the Candidate represent unto him a world which he is beginning to lead unto the knowledge of its governing angel. As it is written: 'The lightning lighteneth out of the East and flameth even unto the West, even so shall be the coming of the Son of Man!'" The Candidate during the ceremony is addressed as "child of Earth" as representing the earthly and material nature of the natural man: he who cometh forward from the darkness of Malkuth to strive to regain knowledge of the Light. Therefore it is that the path of the initiate is called the Path of Darkness; for it is but darkness and foolishness to the natural man. The Hierophant giving his permission to the Kerux to admit the Candidate, seals the Candidate with a motto as a new name. This motto is not a name given to the outer man's body, but an occult signifier of the aspiration of his soul. "In affirmation of this motto, now doth Osiris send forward the Goddesses of the Scales of the Balance to baptize the aspirant with water and with fire. Even as it is written: 'Except a man be born of water and of the spirit: in no wise shall he enter unto the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kerux, however, at once bars the way, as the Candidate is still unpurified. Thereupon the Goddesses of the Scales purify and consecrate him. This is the first consecration. "But even as there be four pillars at the extremities of a sphere when the ten Sephiroth are projected therein; so also are there four separate consecrations of the Candidate." The reception and consecration takes place in the black portion of Malkuth; when it is finished the Candidate is conducted to the foot of the altar, the citrine portion of Malkuth, and the part receiving the impact of the Middle Pillar. The Hierophant then says to the Candidate: "Child of Earth! wherefore hast thou come to request admission to this Order?" The Hegemon answers for the Candidate: "My soul is wandering in the Darkness seeking for the light of Occult Knowledge, and I believe that in this Order the Knowledge of that Light may be obtained." Whereupon the "Hierophant" asks the Candidate whether he is willing "in the presence of this assembly to take a great and solemn obligation to keep inviolate the secrets and mysteries of our Order?" To which the Candidate himself replies: "I am." The Hierophant now advances between the Pillars as if thus asserting that the Judgment is concluded: "And he advanceth by the invisible station of Harpocrates unto that of the Evil Triad; so that as Arouerist [40] he standeth upon the Opposer." He thus cometh to the East of the Altar, interposing between the place of the Evil Triad and that of the Candidate. At the same time the Hiereus advanceth on the Candidate's left, and the Hegemon standeth at his right, as formulating about him the symbol of the Triad, before he be permitted to place his right hand in the centre of the White Triangle of the Three Supernals on the Altar. And he first kneeleth in adoration of that symbol, as if the natural man abnegated his will before that of the Divine consciousness. The "Hierophant" now orders the Candidate to kneel (in the midst of the triad Arouerist, Horus and Themis), to place his left hand in that of the initiator, and his right hand upon the white triangle as symbolising his active aspiration towards his Higher Soul. The Candidate then bows his head, and the Hierophant gives one knock with his sceptre; affirming that the symbol of submission into the Higher is now complete. Only at that moment doth the colossal image of Thoth [41] Metatron cease from the sign of the enterer: and giveth instead the sign of the silence: permitting the first real descent of the Genius of the Candidate, who descendeth into the invisible station of Harpocrates as witness unto the obligation. All then rise and the Candidate repeats the Obligation after the Hierophant. In it he pledges himself to keep secret the Order, its name, and the names of the members, as well as the proceedings which take place at its meetings. To maintain kindly and benevolent relation with all the Fratres and Sorores of the Order. To prosecute with zeal and study the occult sciences, &c. &c. He then swears to observe the above under the awful penalty of submitting "myself to a deadly and hostile current of will set in motion by the chiefs of the Order, by which I should fall slain or paralyzed without visible weapon, as if blasted by the lightning flash! [42] (Hiereus here suddenly applies sword.) So help me THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE and my own Higher Soul." As the Candidate affirmeth his own penalty should he prove a traitor to the Order, the evil triad riseth up in menace, and the avenger of the Gods, Horus, layeth the blade of his sword on the point of the Daäth junction (i.e., of the brain with the spine) thus affirming the power of Life and Death over the natural body: and the Form of the Higher Self advanceth and layeth its hand on the Candidate's head for the first time, at the words: "So help me the Lord of the Universe and my own Higher Soul." And this is the first assertion of the connecting-link between them. Then after this connection is established doth the Hierophant in the following words raise the Candidate to his feet: "Rise, newly obligated Neophyte in the 0°=0¤ Grade of the Order of the G∴D∴ in the Outer. Place the Candidate in the Northern part of the Hall, the place of the greatest symbolic Darkness." The Candidate is then placed in the North, the place of the greatest symbolic Darkness, the invisible station of Taaur the Bull of Earth. But therein dwelleth Ahapshi the rescuer of Matter, Osiris in the Sign of the Spring. That as the earth emergeth from the Darkness and the Barrenness of Winter, so the Candidate may thus affirm the commencement of his emancipation from the darkness of ignorance. The Hierophant and Hiereus return to their thrones, therefore it is not Arouerist but Osiris himself that addresseth the Candidate in the words: "The voice of my Higher Soul said unto me: let me enter the path of Darkness, peradventure thus shall I obtain the Light; I am the only Being in the abyss of Darkness: from the Darkness came I forth ere my birth, from the silence of a primal sleep! And the Voice of Ages answered unto my soul: I am he who formulates in Darkness, but the Darkness comprehendeth it not." And this is to confirm the link established between the Neschamah and the Genius by communicating the conception thereof unto the Ruach. Thus, therefore, Osiris speaketh in the Character of the Higher Soul, the symbolic form of which is now standing between the pillars before him. The Second Circumambulation then takes place in the Path of Darkness, the symbolic Light of Occult Science leading the way. This light of the Kerux is to show that the Higher soul is not the only Divine Light, but rather a spark from the Infinite Flame. After the Kerux comes the Hegemon, the translator of the Higher Self, leading the Candidate, then the Stolistes and Dadouchos. Once they pass round the temple in solemn procession: it is the foundation in Darkness of the Binah angle of the whole Triangle of the Ineffable Light. The Hierophant knocks once as then pass him, and the Hiereus does likewise, as the affirmations of Mercy and Vengeance respectively. A second time they pass the Hierophant affirming the commencement of the formulation of the angle of Chokmah. The Kerux then bars the Candidate's passage to the West, saying: "Child of Earth! unpurified and unconsecrated! Thou canst not enter the Path of the West!" Thus indicating that the natural man cannot even obtain the understanding of the "Son" of Osiris, except by purification and equilibrium. The Candidate is then purified with water and consecrated by fire; after which he is allowed to approach the Place of the Twilight of the Gods. And now only is the hoodwink slipped up for a moment to obtain a glimpse of the Beyond. The Hiereus then challenges as follows: "Thou canst not pass by me, saith the Guardian of the West, unless thou canst tell me my Name." In this challenge is signified the knowledge of the Formula; and that without the formula of Horus being formulated in the Candidate, that of Osiris cannot be grasped. To the Candidate this appears as the anger of God; for he cannot as yet comprehend that before Mildness can be exercised rightly the Forces both of Severity and Mercy must be known and wielded. Therefore the Hegemon answers for him: "Darkness is thy Name! Thou art the Great One of the Path of the Shades." The Hegemon then suddenly lifts the veil, and the Candidate sees before him standing on the steps of the throne the Hiereus with sword pointed to his Breast. Slowly sinking the blade the Hiereus says: "Child of Earth, fear is failure: be thou therefore without fear! for in the heart of the coward Virtue abideth not! Thou hast known me, so pass thou on!" The Candidate is then re-veiled. Then the Kerux again bars his way, saying: "Child of Earth! unpurified and unconsecrated! Thou canst not enter the Path of the East." This Barring of the Path is an extension of the meaning of the previous one, and the commencement of the formulation of the Angle of Kether. Once again is the Candidate purified with water and consecrated by fire; and the hoodwink is slipped up to give a glimpse of the Light as dimly seen through Darkness yet heralding a Glory which is in the Beyond. The Hierophant, then slowly lowering his sceptre, says: "Child of Earth! remember that Unbalanced Force is evil. Unbalanced Mercy is but weakness: Unbalanced Severity is but oppression. Thou hast known me; pass thou on unto the Cubical Altar of the Universe." Thus formulating the Force of the Hidden Central Pillar. The Hierophant then leaveth his throne and passeth between the pillars, halting at either the station of Harpocrates, the place of the Evil Triad, or at the East of the Altar. The Hiereus standeth on the left of the Candidate, and the Hegemon on his right. Thus again completing the formulation of the Triad of the Three Supernals. The Hierophant and Hiereus may hold their banners; anyhow it is done astrally; and the Higher Self of the Candidate will be formulated once more in the Invisible station of Harpocrates. The Hierophant than says: "Let the Candidate kneel, while I invoke the LORD OF THE UNIVERSE!" After the prayer has been solemnly repeated,the "Hierophant" says: "Let the Candidate rise," [43] and then: "Child of Earth! long hast thou dwelt in Darkness! Quit the Night, and seek the day." Then only at the words: "Let the Candidate rise" is the hoodwink definitely removed. The Hierophant, Hiereus, and Hegemon join their sceptres and sword above the Candidate's head, thus formulating the Supernal Triad, and assert that they receive him into the Order of the Golden Dawn, in the words: "Frater X Y Z, we receive thee into the Order of the Golden Dawn!" They then recite the mystic words, "KHABS AM PEKHT," as sealing the current of the Flaming Light. But the Higher Soul remaineth in the Invisible Station of Harpocrates, and to the Spirit Vision, at this point, there should be a gleaming white Triangle formulated above the forehead of the Candidate and touching it, the symbol of the white Triangle of the Three Supernals. The "Hierophant" now calleth forward the Kerux, and turning towards the Candidate says to him: "In all your wanderings through darkness, the lamp of the Kerux went before you though you saw it not! It is the symbol of the Hidden Light of Occult Science." It here representeth to him a vague formulation of his ideal, which he can neither grasp not analyse. Yet this Light is not the symbol of his own Higher Self, but rather a ray from the Gods to lead him there. The "Hierophant" then continues: "Let the Candidate be conducted to the East of the Altar. Honoured Hiereus, I delegate to you the duty of entrusting the Candidate with the secret signs, grip, grand word and present pass-word of the 0°=0¤ Grade of the Order of the Golden Dawn in the Outer, of placing him between the mystic pillars, and of superintending his fourth and final consecration." The East of the Altar is the place of the Evil Triad, and he is brought there as though affirming that he will trample upon and cast out his evil persona, which will then become a support unto him, but it must first be cast down unto its right place. The Hiereus now confers the secret signs, &c., and during this part of the ceremony the position of the three chief officers is as follows: The Hierophant on the throne of the East; the Hiereus at the East of the Black Pillar; and the Hegemon at the East of the White Pillar. The three again formulating the Triad and strengthening it. Thus the Higher Soul will be formulated between the Pillars in the place of Equilibrium; the Candidate at the place of the Evil Triad. The Hiereus now advanceth between the Pillars unto the invisible station of Harpocrates. The signs having been explained, the Hiereus draweth the Candidate forward between the pillars, and for the second time in the ceremony the Higher Soul standeth near and ready to touch him. Then the Hiereus returneth to the East of the Black Pillar so that the three chief officers may draw down upon him the forces of the Supernal Triad. The Candidate now therefore is standing between the pillars bound with the rope, like the mummied form of Osiris between Isis and Nephthys. And in this position doth the fourth and final consecration by the Goddesses of the Balances take place; the Aspirant for the first time standing between the pillars, at the point wherein are localized the equilibrated forces of the Balances, and meanwhile the Kerux goeth to the North in readiness for the Circumambulation, so as to link the latter with the final consecration of the Candidate. The Stolistes then says: "Frater X Y Z, I finally consecrate thee by water." And the Dadouchos: "Frater X Y Z, I finally consecrate thee by fire." And the effect of this is to seal finally into the Sphere of Sensation of the Candidate the Pillars in Balanced Formulation. For in the natural man the symbols are unbalanced in strength, some being weaker and some stronger, and the effect of the ceremony is to strengthen the weak and purify the strong, thus gradually commencing to equilibrate them, at the same time making a link between them and their corresponding forces in the Macrocosm. The Hierophant then says: "Honoured Hegemon, the final consecration of the Candidate having been performed, I command you to remove the rope from his wast, the last remaining symbol of Darkness; and to invest him with the distinguishing badge of the grade." The Hegemon, executing the Hierophant's order, says: "By command of the Very Honoured Hierophant, I invest you with the distinguishing badge of the grade. It symbolizes Light dawning in Darkness." The four pillars being thus established, now only is the Candidate invested with the badge of the White Triangle of the Three Supernals formulating in Darkness; and now only is the Higher soul able to formulate a link with him if the human will of the natural man be in reality consenting thereto. For the free will of the Candidate as a natural man is never obsessed, either by the Higher Soul, or by the ceremony. But the Will consenting, the whole of the ceremony is directed to the strengthening of its action. And as this badge is place upon him, it is as though the two Great Goddesses, Isis and Nephthys, in the places of the columns, stretched forth their wings over the form of Osiris to restore him again unto life. The Mystic Circumambulation then followeth in the Path of Light to represent the rising of the Light in the Candidate through the operation of self-sacrifice; as he passeth the Throne of the East, the red Cavalry Cross is astrally formulated above the astral White Triangle of the Three upon his forehead; so that so long as he belongeth unto the Order he may have that potent and sublime symbol as a link with his Higher Self, and as an aid in his search for the Forces of the Light Divine for ever, if he only "will it." But the Higher Soul or Genius returneth unto the Invisible Station of Harpocrates, into the Place of the hidden centre, yet retaining the link formulated with the Candidate. The address of the Hierophant then follows: "Frater X Y Z, I must congratulate you on your having passed with so much fortitude through your ceremony of the admission to the 0° = 0¤ Grade of the Order of the Golden Dawn in the Outer. I will now direct your attention to a brief explanation of the principal symbols of your grade." When these have been explained the Kerux, as the Watcher Anubis, announceth in the following words that the Candidate has been admitted as an initiate Neophyte: "In the name of the LORD OF THE UNIVERSE and by command of the V.H.Hierophant, hear you all that I proclaim that A: B: who hereafter will be known unto you by the motto X Y Z, has been admitted in due form to the 0°=0¤ Grade of Neophyte of the Order of the Golden Dawn in the Outer." The "Hiereus" then addresseth the Neophyte and congratulates him upon being admitted a member of the Order, "whose professed object and end is the practical study of Occult Science." After which the Hierophant stateth clearly the Principia which the Neophyte must now commence to study. This being at an end the Kerux conducteth the Neophyte to his table and giveth him a solution telling him to pour a few drops on the plate before him. As he does so the solution changes to a blood colour, and the Kerux says: "As this pure, colourless, and limpid fluid is changed into the semblance of blood, so mayest thou change and perish, if thou betrayest thine oath of secrecy of this Order, by word or deed!" The Hierophant then says: "Resume your seat in the N.W., and remember that your admission to this order give you no right to initiate any other person without dispensation from the greatly honoured chiefs of the Second Order." Thus ends the Admission, after which the Closing takes place. "THE CLOSING"The Closing Ceremony is opened by the cry: "HEKAS, HEKAS, ESTE, BEBELOI!" and the greater part of its symbolism is explained in the Opening. The reverse circumambulation is intended to formulate the withdrawal of the Light of the Supernal Triad from the Altar. The Adoration then takes place, after which followeth the mystical repast, or communion in the body of Osiris. Its mystic name is "The Formula of the Justified One."* [44] * The "Formula of Osiris" is given in Z. 1, and is as follows:
The Hierophant saying: "Nothing now remains but to partake in Silence the Mystic repast composed of the symbols of the Four elements, and to remember our pledge of secrecy." (The Kerux proceeds to the Altar and ignites the spirit placed at the southern angle of the Cross. The Hierophant, quitting his throne, goes to the West of the Altar, and facing East, salutes and continues:) "I invite you to inhale with me the perfume of this rose as a symbol of Air (smelling rose): To feel with me the warmth of this sacred Fire (spreading hands over it): To eat with me this Bread and Salt as types of earth (eats): and finally to drink with me this Wine, the consecrated emblem of elemental Water (drinks from cup). The Hierophant then goes to the East of the Altar and faces West. The Hiereus comes to the West of the Altar, and salutes the Hierophant, receiving the elements from him. All then partake in order of rank: Hegemon from Hiereus, Stolistes from Hegemon, Dadouchos from Stolistes, Senior Members from Dadouchos, and the Kerux from the Candidate. But the Kerux says: "It is finished," inverting the cup, to show that the symbols of Self-sacrifice and Regeneration are accomplished. And this proclamation is confirmed by the Hierophant, and the three chief officers give the three strokes emblematic of the Mystic Triad, and in the three different languages repeat the three mystic words:
The Hierophant then finally closes the ceremony by saying: "May what we have this day partaken of, sustain us in our search for the Quintessence; the Stone of the Philosophers; the True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness, and the Summum Bonum." All then disrobe and disperse. Undoubtedly the passing through the Ritual of the Neophyte had an important influence on P.'s mind, and on his Spiritual Progress; for shortly after its celebration, we find him experiencing some very extraordinary visions, which we shall enter upon in due course. Suffice it to say that by December he had passed the easy examination necessary before he could present himself as a candidate for the 1° =10¤ grade of Zelator. [ « back to TOC ] RITUAL OF THE 1°=10¤ GRADE OF ZELATOR [45]The opening in this ritual is very similar to that in the last; the chief exception being that this grade is more particularly attributed to the element of "earth". The Temple having been declared open, the "Hierophant" says: "Except Adonai build the House their labour is but lost that build it. Except Adonai Keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain! Frater Neophyte, by what aid do you seek admission to the 1°=10¤ Grade of Zelator of the G∴D∴?" Arrangement of the Temple in the 1°=10¤ Ritual (first part) [click image to enlarge] The "Hegemon," answering for him, says: "By the guidance of Adonai; by the possession of the requisite knowledge; by the dispensation you hold; by the secret signs and token of the 0°=0¤ Grade, and by this symbol of the Hermetic Cross." The Neophyte is then conducted to the West, and being placed between the mystic pillars, pledges himself to secrecy. The "Hierophant," congratulating him, finally says: "Let the Neophyte enter the path of Evil." Then the following takes place. "Hiereus:" Whence comest thou? "Kerux" (for Neophyte): I am come from between the pillars and seek the hidden knowledge in the Name of Adonai. "Hiereus:" And the Angel Samael (Angel of Evil) answered an said: I am the Prince of Darkness and of Night. The wicked and rebellious man gazeth upon the face of Nature and he findeth therein naught but terror and obscurity; unto him it is but the Darkness of the Darkness; and he is but as a drunken man groping in the dark. Return, for thou canst not pass by. "Hierophant:" Let the Neophyte enter the path of Good. "Hegemon:" Whence comest thou? "Kerux" (for Neophyte): I am come from between the pillars and seek for the hidden Light of Occult Knowledge. "Hegemon:" And the great Angel Metatron (Angel of Good) answered and said: I am the Angel of the Presence Divine. The Wise man gazeth upon the Material Universe and he beholdeth therein the luminous Image of the Creator. Not as yet canst thou bear the dazzling radiance of that Light! Return, for thou canst not pass by! "Hierophant:" Let the Neophyte now advance by the Straight and Narrow way which inclineth neither to the right hand nor to the left. "Hiereus and Hegemon:" Whence comest thou? "Kerux" (for Neophyte): I am come from between the pillars and seek for the hidden Light of Occult Science. "Hierophant:" But the great Angel Sandalphon answered and said: "I am the Reconciler for the Earth and the Soul of the Celestial therein. Equally is form invisible in total Darkness and in Blinding Light. ..." The Hiereus and Hegemon return to their seats, whilst the Hierophant and Neophyte remain, both facing the Altar. Here the "Hierophant" confers on the Neophyte the Secrets and Mysteries of the grade; and explains to him the Symbolism of the Temple as follows: "The three portals facing from the East are the gates of the paths which alone conduct to the Inner. ..." "The letters shin, tau, and qoph, make by metathesis תשׁק {HB:Taw HB:Shin HB:Qof} (Qesheth), which signifies a bow, the rainbow of promise stretched over our earth. This picture of the Flaming Sword of the Kerubim is a representation of the guardians of the gate of Eden; just as the Hiereus and the Hegemon symbolise the two paths of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." "You will observe that in this grade the red cross is placed within the white Triangle upon the altar, and this placed, it is identical with the Banner of the West." "The triangle refers to the three above-mentioned paths connecting Malkuth with the above Sephiroth, while the cross is the hidden wisdom of the Divine nature which can be obtained by their aid. The two construed mean: LIFE IN LIGHT." The Flaming Sword The Altar Symbol in the 1°=10¤ Ritual "This grade is especially referred to the Element Earth, and therefore, one of its principal emblems is the Great Watch-tower on the Terrestrial Tablet of the North. ..." "... You will observe that the Hermetic Cross, which is also called Fylfat, .. is formed of seventeen squares taken from a square of twenty- five lesser squares. These seventeen squares represent the Sun, the Four Elements, and the Twelve Signs. In this grade the lamps on the Pillars are unshaded, showing that you have quitted the darkness of the outer. ..." The Hermetic Cross The Neophyte then retires for a short time before commencing the second ritual of this grade, which consists chiefly of symbolic explanations: The "Hierophant" says: "While the 0°=0¤ grade represents the portal of the Temple, the 1°=10¤ grade of Zelator will admit you into the Holy Place. Without, the altar of Burnt Offering symbolises the Qliphoth — or evil demons. Between the Altar and the entrance to the Holy Place stood the Laver of Brass, as a symbol of the Waters of Creation." The Arrangement of the Temple in the 1°=10¤ Ritual (second part). The "Hegemon" then explains the symbolic drawing of the Zodiac, which is most complicated, but consists mainly of twelve circles and a lamp in the centre to represent the sun. "The whole figure represents the Rose of Creation, and is a synthesis of the Visible Universe. Furthermore the twelve circles represent the twelve foundations of the Holy City of the Apocalypse, while in the Christian symbolism the Sun and the twelve signs typify our Saviour and the twelve Apostles." [46] After which the Hiereus says: "At the Southern side of the Holy Place stood the seven-branched candlestick. The symbolic drawing before you represents its occult meaning. The seven circles which surround the heptagram represents its occult meaning. The seven circles which surround the heptagram represent the seven planets and the seven Qabalistic Palaces of Assiah, the material world which answer to the seven apocalyptic churches of Asia Minor, and these again represent, on a higher plane, the seven lamps before the throne." [47]
The Heptagram itself refers to the seven days of the week, and may also be made to show how their order is derived from the planets when placed at the angles of the Heptagram. "... The lamp within the centre represents the Astral Light of the Universe concentrated into a focus by the Planets. ..." The "Hierophant" then resumes: "Within the mystic veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies stood the Ark of the Covenant. Before the veil stood the altar of Incense, of which this altar is a symbol. It was in the form of a double Cube, thus representing material form as the reflection and the duplication of that which is spiritual. The sides of the altar, together with the top and underside, consist of ten squares, thus symbolising the Ten Sephiroth." ... "The altar of Incense was overlaid with gold, to represent essential purity, but the altar before you is black to typify the terrestrial earth. Learn then to separate the pure from the impure, the refined and spiritual gold of the Alchymist from the Black Dragon of Putrefaction in Evil." ... "I now congratulate you on having attained to the 1ř = 10ř grade of Zelator, and in recognition thereof I confer on you the mystic title of PERECLINOS DE FAUSTIS, which signifies that you are still far from the goal which has been reached by the complete Initiates." Shortly after this the Closing takes place, and the prayer of the spirits of the Earth is rehearsed, and the licence to depart pronounced, and in the name of ADONAI HA ARETZ, the "Hierophant" declares the Temple closed. By the end of January 1899, P. was sufficiently advanced to be admitted to the grade of Theoricus. It was about this time also that he met Mr. D., a certain brother of the G∴D∴ known as Fra. I.A. This meeting, as we shall eventually see, ranks only second in importance to his meeting with Fra. V.N. [ « back to TOC ] RITUAL OF THE 2°=9¤ GRADE OF THEORICUSThis grade is particularly attributed to the element of Air; it refers to the Moon, and is attached to the Thirty-second Path of Tau, which alludes to the Universe as composed of the four elements, to the Kerubim, the Qliphoth, the Astral Plane, and the reflection of the Sphere of Saturn. After this has been explained, the Advancement of the Zelator takes place, after which the Ritual of the Thirty-second Path is celebrated. Hierophant, to Zelator: "Facing you are the Portals of the thirty- second, thirty-first, and twenty-ninth Paths leading from the grade of Zelator to the three other grades which are beyond. The only path now open to you, however, is the thirty-second, which leads to the 2° = 9¤ grade of Theoricus, and which you must traverse before arriving at that degree. Take in your right hand the Cubical Cross, and in your left hand the Banner of Light, and follow your guide Anubis [48] the Guardian: who leads you from the Material to the Spiritual." Kerux: "Anubis the Guardian spake unto to Aspirant, saying: 'Let us enter into the Presence of the Lords of Truth.' Arise and follow me." Hiereus: "The Sphinx of Egypt spake and said: 'I am the synthesis of the Elemental Forces: I am also the symbol of man: I am Life: and I am Death: I am the Child of the night of Time.'" Hierophant: "The priest with the mask of Osiris spake and said: 'Thou canst not pass the gate of the Eastern Heaven: except thou canst tell me my name.'" Kerux, for Zelator: "Thou art Nu: The Goddess of the Firmament of Air. Thou art Harmakhis, Lord of the Eastern Sun." Hierophant: "In what sign and symbol dost thou come?" Kerux, for Zelator: "In the letter Aleph, with the Banner of Light, and the symbol of equated forces." Hierophant (falling back and making with fan the sign of Aquarius, Aquarius, before Zelator): "In the sign of the man, child of Air, art thou purified — pass thou on." Arrangement of the Temple for the 32nd Path in the 2°=9¤ Ritual Similarly the Zelator passes the Lion, the Eagle, and the Bull. The "Hierophant" then explains to the Zelator the symbolism of the cubical cross, as follows: "The cubical cross is a fitting emblem of the equilibrated and balanced forces of the Elements. It is composed of twenty-two squares externally, which refer to the twenty-two letters placed thereon. Twenty and two are the letters of the Eternal Voice in the vault of Heaven; in the depths of the Earth; in the abyss of the Waters, and in the all-presence of Fire: Heaven cannot speak their fulness, Earth cannot utter it. Yet hath the Creator bound them in all things. He hath mingled them through Water: He hath whirled them aloft in Fire: He hath sealed them in the Air of Heaven: He hath distributed them through the Planets: He hath assigned unto them the twelve constellations of the Zodiac." He then explains that to the Thirty-second Path of the Sepher Yetzirah is attributed the seven Abodes of Assiah; to the four Elements, the Kerubim, and the Qliphoth. [49] It represents the connecting-link between Assiah and Yetzirah. It is the rending of the Veil of the Tabernacle; and it is the passing of the Gate of Eden. After which he enters upon the symbolisms of the twenty-first Key of the Tarot, the naked female form of which represents the Bride of the Apocalypse, the Qabalistic Queen of the Canticles, the Egyptian Isis of Nature. Her two wands are the directing forces of the Positive and Negative currents. She is the synthesis of the Thirty-second Path uniting Malkuth and Yesod.
The "Hegemon" then explains his tablet, which contains the occult symbolism of the Garden of Eden and the Holy City of the Apocalypse; and the "Kerux" also his — the seven Infernal Mansions and the four Seas. [50] After which the Hierophant confers on the Zelator the title of the Thirty- second Path; the Zelator then quits the Temple for a short time before passing to the Grade of Theoricus. The Ceremony of Theoricus is opened by the Hierophant, who says to the Zelator: "Frater Pereclinos de Faustis: as in the grade of 1°=10¤ there were given the symbolical representations of the Tree of Knowledge of the Good and Evil of the gate of Eden and of the Holy Place: so in the 2°=9¤ of Theoricus the 'Sanctum Sanctorum' with the Ark and the Kerubim is shown: as well as the garden of Eden, with which it coincides, while in the thirty-second path leading thereunto, through which you have just passed, the Kerubic Guardians are represented; and the Palm-trees, or trees of Progression in the Garden of Eden. Honoured Hegemon, conduct the Zelator to the West, and place him there before the portal of the thirty-second path through which he has just entered." The Zelator then seeks entrance by the Caduceus of Hermes, the symbolism of which the "Hegemon" explains to him.
The "Hierophant" then says: "The symbols before you represent alike the Garden of Eden, [51] and the Holy of Holies: Before you stands the Tree of Life formed of the Sephiroth and their connecting paths. ... The connecting paths are twenty-two in number, and are distinguished by the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, making with the ten Sephiroth themselves the thirty-two paths of Wisdom of the Sepher Yetzirah." The letters, he then points out to him, form the symbol of the Serpent of Wisdom, and the Sephiroth the Flaming Sword. "The two pillars right and left of the Tree are the symbols of the active and passive, male and female — Adam and Eve. ... The pillars further represent the two Kerubim of the Ark; the right, male — Metatron; and the left, female — Sandalphon. Above them ever burn the lamps of their Spiritual Essence, the Higher Life, of which they are the partakers in the Eternal Uncreated One." The Zelator is then instructed in the sign, grip, grand word, &c.: After which the "Hegemon" rises and conducts the Zelator to the "Hiereus," who explains to him the tablet of "The Duplicate form of the Alchemical Sephiroth." [52] The Hegemon then explains to him "The Geometrical lineal figures attributed to the planets"; [53] and the Kerux "the sixteen figures of Geomancy." [54] The Hierophant congratulates the newly initiated Theoricus, and confers upon him the title of PORAIOS (or PORAIA) DE REJECTIS, which hath the signification: "brought from among the rejected ones," and gives unto him the symbol of Ruach, which is the Hebrew for Air. The Closing then takes place. "Let us adore the Lord and King of Air!" says the Hierophant. The prayer of the Sylphs follows; and in the Name of SHADDAI EL CHAI the Temple is closed in the 2°=9¤ Grade of Theoricus. The following month, February, P. passed through the next grade, that of 3°=8¤. [ « back to TOC ] RITUAL OF THE 3°=8¤ GRADE OF PRACTICUSThis Grade is particularly attributed to the element of Water, and especially refers to the planet Mercury and to the thirty-first and thirtieth paths of HB:Shin and HB:Resh . It opens with the Adoration to the King of the Waters, which is followed by the Advancement. The Theoricus first gives the necessary signs, and then, as before, solemnly pledges himself to secrecy, after which he is conducted to the East and placed between the Mystic Pillars. The "Hierophant" then says to him: "Before you are the portals of the thirty-first, thirty-second and twenty-ninth paths. Of these, as you already know, the central one leads from the 1°=10¤ of Zelator to the 2°=9¤ of Theoricus. That on the left hand, which is now open to you, is the thirty-first, which leads from the 1°=10¤ of Zelator to the 3°=8¤ of Practicus. Take in your right hand the Pyramid of Flame, and follow your guide Axiokersa [55] the Kabir, who leads you through the path of fire. In this ritual the Three Cabiri are made to represent the triangle of fire, thus: Axieros, the first Kabir, says: "I am the apex of the Triangle of Flame: I am the Solar Fire pouring forth its beams upon the lower world: Life-giving, Life-producing." Then Axiokersos, the second Kabir, says: "I am the left-hand basal angle of the Triangle of Flame: I am Fire, Volcanic and Terrestrial, flashing and flaming through the deep abysses of Earth: Fire rending, fire penetrating, tearing asunder the curtains of Matter; fire constrained; fire tormenting; raging and whirling in lurid storm!" And lastly, Axiokersa, the third Kabir, says: "I am the right-hand basal angle of the Triangle of Flame. I am Fire, Astral and Fluid, winding through the Firmament of Air. I am the life of Being, the vital heat of Existence. The Hierophant then takes the solid triangular pyramid and explains: "The solid triangular Pyramid is an appropriate hieroglyph of fire. It is formed of four triangles, three visible and one concealed: which latter is the synthesis of the rest. The three visible triangles represent Fire, Solar, Volcanic and Astral; while the fourth represents latent heat. The three words: אוד אובּ אור {HB:Dalet HB:Vau HB:Aleph - HB:Bet HB:Vau HB:Aleph - HB:Resh HB:Vau HB:Aleph} refer to three conditions of heat: Aud, Active; Aub, Passive; [56] Aur, the Equilibrated; while אשׁ {HB:Shin HB:Aleph} (Ash) is the name of Fire." "The Thirty-first Path of the Sepher Yetzirah, which answereth to the letter שׂ {HB:Shin}, is called the Perpetual Intelligence; and it is so called because it regulateth the motions of the Sun and Moon in their proper order; each in an orbit convenient for it. It is, therefore, the reflection of the sphere of Fire; and the path connecting the material universe, as depicted in Malkuth, with the Pillar of Severity and the side of Geburah through the Sephira Hod." Arrangement of the Temple for the 31st Path in the 3°=8¤ Ritual He then explains to the Theoricus the twentieth Key of the Tarot. It is a glyph of the powers of Fire. The angel crowned with the Sun is Michael, the ruler of Solar Fire. The serpents which leap in the rainbow are symbols of the fiery Seraphim. The trumpet represents the influence of the Spirit descending upon Binah; and the banner with the cross refers to the four rivers of Paradise. Michael is also Axieros; the left-hand figure Samael, the ruler of Volcanic Fire — he is also Axiokersos; the right-hand figure is Axiokersa. "These three principal figures form the Triangle of Fire; and they further represent Fire operating in the other three elements of Earth, Water and Air." The central lower figure is Erd, the ruler of latent heat, he is the candidate in the Samothracian mysteries, and rises from the Earth as if to receive and absorb the properties of the other three. The three lower figures form the Hebrew Letter schin, to which Fire is especially referred; the seven Hebrew Yodhs refer to the Sephiroth operating in each of the seven planets, and also to the Schemhamphorasch."
{WEH Note — This is the traditional depiction of the moment of the opening of the 50th Gate of Understanding, although there is little evidence that the matter was understood by the G∴D∴ as such. Description: The device is contained within a circle, concentrically doubled to present a narrow outside ring. Within are seven identical circles, six tangent to the outer ring and a central seventh tangent to the outer six. The six circles are arranged such that there is one circle at top, one at bottom and two to each side. The following Hebrew words are in the circles: Central — תפּארת {HB:Taw HB:Resh HB:Aleph HB:Peh HB:Taw}. The top circle — three tightly nested included circles with one to top and two to bottem: top — כתר {HB:Resh HB:Taw HB:Koph}, right below — חכמה {HB:Heh HB:Mem HB:Koph HB:Chet}, left below — בּינה {HB:Heh HB:Nun HB:Yod HB:Bet}. The remaining of the seven intermediate circles, proceeding from already described top in a clockwise direction: 2nd — חסד {HB:Dalet HB:Samekh HB:Chet}. 3rd — נצח {HB:Chet HB:Tzaddi HB:Nun}. 4th (bottom) — divided into two smaller circles, top one has יסוד {HB:Dalet HB:Vau HB:Samekh HB:Yod}, bottom one has מלכות {HB:Taw HB:Vau HB:Koph HB:Lamed HB:Mem}. 5th — הוד {HB:Dalet HB:Vau HB:Heh}. 6th — גבורה {HB:Heh HB:Resh HB:Vau HB:Bet HB:Gemel} The Solar Greek Cross The Hiereus then explains the two tablets: "The Ten Sephiroth in Seven Palaces," and "The attribution of the Ten Sephiroth to the four letters of the Holy Name." And the "Hegemon:" "The Seven Heavens of Assiah," [57] and "The Ten evil Sephiroth of the Qliphoth." [58] The Hierophant then confers on the Theoricus the title of the Thirty- first Path, which ends the first part of the Ceremony of 3°=8¤. The second part consists of the ritual of the Thirtieth Path. The "Hierophant" explains the Solar Greek Cross, and then says: "The Thirtieth Path of the Sepher Yetzirah, which answereth unto the letter 'Resch,' is called the collecting intelligence; and it is so called because from it astrologers deduce the judgment of the stars, and of the celestial signs, and the perfections of their science, according to the rules of their resolutions. It is therefore the reflection of the Sphere of the Sun; and the Path connecting Yesod with Hod, the Foundation with Splendour." The Arrangement of the Temple for the 30th Path in the 3°=8¤ Ritual And then enters upon the symbolism of the Nineteenth Key of the Tarot, which resumes these ideas: The Sun has twelve principal rays which represent the Zodiac; these are divided into thirty-six rays to represent the thirty-six Decantes; and then again into seventy-two Quinaries. Thus the Sun itself embraces the whole creation in its rays. The seven Hebrew Yodhs falling through the air refer to the Solar influence descending. "The two children, standing respectively on Water and Earth, represent the generating influences of both, brought into action by the rays of the Sun. They are the two inferior and passive elements, as the Sun and the Air above them are the superior and active elements of Fire and Air." Furthermore, these two children resemble the sign Gemini (which the Greeks and Romans referred to Castor and Pollux), which unites the Earthly sign of Taurus and the Watery sign of Cancer. The Hiereus then shows the Theoricus the tablet of "The astrological symbols of the Planets," [59] and explains to him the tablet of "The true and genuine attribution of the Tarot Trumps to the Hebrew Alphabet." [60] After which the Hegemon leads him to "The Tablet of the Olympic, or aerial planetary spirits," [61] and shows him "The Geomantic Figures" with the ruling intelligences and genii, also the Talismanic symbols allotted to each geomantic figure. [62] The Hierophant now confers upon the Theoricus the title of Lord of the Thirteenth Path, who quits the Temple for a short time. By means of the symbol of the Stolistes — the chalice of Lustral Water — the Theoricus seeks entrance to the Temple. The "Hierophant" rises, and facing the altar, addresses the Theoricus thus: "Before you is represented the symbolism of the Garden of Eden, at the summit is the Supernal Eden containing the three Supernal Sephiroth. ... And in the garden were the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which latter is from Malkuth ... and a river Nahar went forth out of Eden, namely, from the Supernal Triad, to water the garden — the rest of the Sephiroth. And from thence it was divided into four heads, in Daath. ... The first head is Pison, which flows into Geburah. ... The second head is Gihor ... flowing into Chesed. The third is Hiddekel ... flowing into Tiphereth. And the Fourth ... is Phrath, Euphrates, which floweth down upon Malkuth." These four rivers form the Cross of the Great Adam. In Malkuth is Eve, the completion of All, the Mother of All. The Hierophant then gives the Theoricus the sign of this grade, and explains the Altar symbol: "The Cross above the triangle represents the power of the spirit of life rising above the triangle of waters; and reflecting the triune therein, as further marked by the lamps at their angles: while the chalice of water placed at the junction of the cross and triangle represents the maternal letter Mem." After which, the tablet bearing the mystic seals and names drawn from the Kamea of Mercury [63] is shown the Theoricus, as well as the tablet of the seven planes of the Tree of Life, answering to the seven planets, and the tablet showing the meaning of the Alchemical Mercury on the Tree of Life; also the symbols of all the planets resumed in a Mercurial Figure. The Arrangement of the Temple for the Ceremony of Practicus in the 3°=8¤ Ritual. The Altar Symbol in the 3°=8¤ Ritual The "Hierophant" then congratulates the newly made Practicus, and confers upon him the mystic title of "MONOKEROS DE ASTRIS," [64] which means "The Unicorn from the Stars," and gives him the symbol of Maim — water. The closing of the Temple now takes place, and the prayer to the Undines is rehearsed, and in the name of ELOHIM TZABAOTH is the Dismissal pronounced. The Garden of Eden. {WEH Note — This figure represents a theory of Eden on the Tree of Life that is very much different from the symbolism of traditional Qabalah, as presented in the "Sepher Yetzirah" and other sources. The same is true of the particular method of division of this tree into the Trees of Life and the Knowledge of Good and Evil.} In May, 1899, three months after P. had passed through the ceremony of 3°=8¤, he was sufficiently prepared for the further advancement to the grade of 4°=7¤. [ « back to TOC ] RITUAL OF THE 4°=7¤ GRADE OF PHILOSOPHUS"The First Part" This Ritual is particularly attributed to the Element of Fire, and refers to the planet Venus, and the Twenty-ninth, Twenty-eighth, and Twenty-seventy paths of Qoph, Tzaddi and Pé. The Adoration commences by the Hierophant saying: "TETRAGRAMMATON TZEBAOTH! BLESSED BE THOU! THE LORD OF THE ARMIES IS THY NAME!" To this all answer "Amen." The Hierophant then orders all present to adore their Creator in the Name of Elohim, mighty and ruling, in the Name of Tetragrammaton Tzebaoth, and in the Name of the Spirits of Fire. Then in the Name of TETRAGRAMMATON TZEBAOTH he declares the Temple open. After the Adoration has taken place, the Advancement ritual of the Path of ק {HB:Qof} is celebrated. The "Hegemon" leads the Practicus through the pillars and then circumambulates the Temple. As they approach the Hierophant, he rises, holding aloft the red lamp, and says: "The Priest with the mask of Osiris spake and said: 'I am the water, stagnant, and silent, and still; reflecting all, concealing all. I am the Past! I am the inundation. He that ariseth from the great waters is my name. Hail unto ye! O dwellers in the land of Night. Hail unto ye! for the rending of the darkness is nigh!'" The Hiereus says: "The Priest with the mask of Horus spake and said: 'I am the Water, turbid, and troubled, and deep. I am the Banisher of Peace in the vast abode of Waters! None is so strong that can withstand the Strength of the great Waters: the Vastness of their Terror: the Magnitude of their Fear: the Roar of their thundering Voice. I am the Future, mist-clad and shrouded in gloom. I am the recession of the torrent, the Storm veiled in Terror is my Name. Hail unto the mighty Powers of Nature and the chiefs of the whirling Storm.'" Attribution of the Alchemical Mercury The Seven Planes of the Tree of Life. The Unificatio nof the Planets in Mercury. The Hegemon then says: "The priestess with the mask of Isis spake and said: 'The traveller through the gates of Anubis is my Name. I am the water perfect, and limpid, and pure, ever flowing out towards the silver sea. I am the everpassing Present, which stands in the place of the Past; I am the fertilized land. Hail unto the dwellers of the wings of the Morning!'" The Hierophant then delivers the following oration: "I arise in the Place of the Gathering of the Waters through the rolled- back clouds of Night. From the Father of Waters went forth the Spirit rending asunder the veils of the Darkness. And there was but a vastness of Silver and of Depth in the place of the Gathering of Waters. "Terrible was the silence of an uncreated world. Immeasurable the depth of that Abyss. And the Countenances of Darkness half-formed arose. "They abode not; they hasted away; and in the vastness of vacancy the Spirit moved; and the light-bearers were for a space. "I have said: Darkness of the Darkness; are not the Countenances of Darkness fallen with the kings that were? Do the Sons of the Night of Time endure for ever? Not yet are they passed away. "Before all things are the waters; and the Darkness and the Gates of the land of Night. "And the Chaos cried aloud for the unity of Form, and the Face of the Eternal arose. "And before the Glory of That Countenance the Night rolled back, and the Darkness hasted away. "In the Waters beneath was that Face reflected in the Formless Abyss of the Void. "Forth from those eyes darted rays of terrible splendour which crossed with the currents reflected. "That Brow and those Eyes formed the Triangle of the measureless Heavens, and their reflection formed the Triangle of the measureless waters. "And thus was formulated in Eternity the External Hexad; and this is the number of the Dawning Creation!" The Hegemon having illuminated the Temple, the "Hierophant" then explains to the Practicus the Calvary Cross of twelve squares: "The Calvary Cross of twelve squares fitly represents the Zodiac; which embraces the Waters of Nu, as the Ancient Egyptians termed the Heavens, the waters which be above the Firmament. It also alludes to the Eternal River of Eden, divided into four heads, which find their correlation in the four triplicities of the Zodiac." The Arrangement of the Temple for the 29th Path in the 4°=7¤ Ritual After which he explains to him the Eighteenth Key of the Tarot. It represents the Moon in its increase in the side of Gedulah; it has sixteen principal, and sixteen secondary rays. Four Hebrew Yodhs fall from it. There are also two Watch-towers, two dogs, and a cray-fish. "She is the Moon at the feet of the Woman of the Revelations, ruling equally over the cold and moist natures, and the passive elements of Water and Earth." The four Yodhs refer to the four letters of the Holy Name. The dogs are the jackals of Anubis guarding the gates of the East and the West symbolised by the two Towers. The cray-fish is the sign Cancer, the Scarabaeus or God Kephera. "The emblem of the Sun below the horizon, as he ever is when the Moon is increasing above." The Hierophant then leads the Practicus to the Serpent of Brass, and says: "This is the Serpent Nehushtan, which Moses made. 'And he set it upon a Pole' — that is, he twined it about the middle pillar of the Sephiroth, because that is the reconciler between the fires of Geburah (Seraphim, fiery serpents) or Severity, and the Waters of Chesed or Mercy. This serpent is also a type of Christ the Reconciler, also it is known as Nogah amongst the Shells, and the Celestial Serpent of Wisdom. 'But the Serpent of the Temptation was the Serpent of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and of Evil, and not the Serpent of the Tree of Life.'" The Calvary Cross of Twelve Squares The Serpent of Brass.
After which the "Hiereus" shows the Practicus "The Qabalah of Nine Numbers," and the tablet of the "Forming the Tree of Life in the Tarot." And the "Hegemon:" The tablet representing the Formation of the Hexagram, and known as "The tablet of the Three Columns"; and also explains to him the mode of using the Talismanic Forms drawn from the Geomantic Figures. The "Hierophant" then confers upon the Practicus the title of "Lord of the Twenty ninth Path," and the first part of the Ritual is ended. The Arrangement of the Temple for the 28th Path in the 4°=7¤ Ritual — The Second Part —The Second Part, the passage of the Path of HB:Tzaddi begins by the Hierophant saying to the Practicus: "Frater Monokeros de Astris, the Path now open to you is the Twenty- eighth, leading from the 2°=9¤ of Theoricus to the 4°=7¤ of Philosophus. Take in your right hand the Solid pyramid of the Elements and follow your guide through the Path." Then, as before, the Hierophant raises his red lamp, and cries: "The Priestess with the Mask of Isis spake and said: 'I am the rain of Heaven descending upon the Earth, bearing with it the fructifying and germinating power. I am the plenteous yielder of Harvest; I am the cherisher of Life.'" . . . . . . "The Priestess with the Mask of Nephthys spake and said: 'I am the dew descending, viewless, and silent, gemming the Earth with countless Diamonds of Dew, bearing down the influence from above in the solemn darkness of Night.'" After which the Hegemon says: "The Priestess with the Mask of Athoor spake and said: 'I am the ruler of mist and of cloud, wrapping the Earth as it were with a garment, floating and hovering between Earth and Heaven. I am the giver of the mist-veil of Autumn: the Successor unto the dew-clad Night.'" The Pyramid of the Four Elements Shortly after this, the Hierophant explains to the Practicus the truncated Pyramid: This pyramid is attributed to the four elements; on its apex is the word את {HB:Taw HB:Aleph} (Ath) composed of the first and last letters of the Alphabet, it signifies Essence. The square base represents the material universe. And then the Seventeenth Key of the Tarot: This Key represents a Star with seven principal and fourteen secondary rays, altogether twenty-one, the number of the divine name Eheieh. In the Egyptian sense it is Sirius, the Dog-Star, the star of Isis-Sothis. Around it are the seven planets. The nude figure is the synthesis of Isis, Nephthys, and Hathoor. She is Aima, Binah, and Tebunah, the great Supernal Mother Aima Elohim pouring upon Earth the Waters of Creation. In This Key she is completely unveiled, whilst in the twenty-first she was only partially so. The two urns contain the influences of Chokhmah and Binah. On the right springs the Tree of Life, and on the left the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and of Evil, whereon the bird of Hermes alights; therefore this Key represents the restored World. "THE LINEAL FIGURES" This finished, the "Hierophant" shows him the method of writing the Holy Name in each of the four Worlds; [65] and also explains to him the method of writing Hebrew words by Yetziratic attribution of the Alphabet. The "Hiereus" unveils "The Lineal Figures attributed to the Planets," showing dekagrams, hendekagrams, and dodekagrams; and explains to him the number of possible modes of tracing the lineal figures. The "Hegemon" informs him that the Sepher Yetzirah divides the ten numbers into a tetrad and hexad; also he explains the Geomantic Figures arranged according to their planetary attribution on the Tree of Life. [66] This finishes the second part of this ritual, and the Hierophant confers upon the Practicus the title of: "Lord of the Twenty-eighth Path." — The Third Part —At the beginning of the Third Part the Hierophant says: "Frater Monokeros de Astris, the Path now open to you is the Twenty-seventh, which leads from the 3°=8¤ degree of Practicus to the 4°=7¤ degree of Philosophus. Take in your right hand the Calvary Cross of ten squares and follow your guide through the Path of Mars." Arrangement of the Temple for the 27th Path in the 4°=7¤ Ritual After which the "Hierophant" explains the Calvary Cross of ten squares: "The Calvary Cross of ten squares refers to the ten Sephiroth in balanced disposition; before which the formless and the void rolled back. It is also the opened-out form of the double cube, and of the Altar of Incense." And the Sixteenth Key of the Tarot: It represents a Tower struck by a lightning-flash proceeding from a rayed circle and terminating in a triangle. It is the Tower of Babel. The flash exactly forms the Astronomical symbol of Mars. It is the Power of the Triad rushing down and destroying the Column of Darkness. The men falling from the tower represent the fall of the kings of Edom. "On the right-hand side of the Tower is Light, and the representation of the Tree of Life by Ten Circles. On the left-hand side is Darkness, and Eleven Circles symbolically representing the Qliphoth."
The Alchemical Symbols of Sulphur and of Salt on the Tree of Life are then shown. After which the "Hiereus" explains the tablet of the Trinity operating through the Sephiroth; and the "Hegemon" that of the seven Yetziratic palaces [67] containing the ten Sephiroth; and the Qliphoth [68] with their twelve princes, who are the heads of the Evil of the twelve months of the year. The Hierophant then confers upon the Practicus the title of "Lord of the Twenty-seventy Path," and the third part of the Ritual comes to an end. The Trinity Operating through the Sephiroth — The Fourth Part —In the Advancement Ceremony the Practicus seeks admission by the sign of the Calvary Cross of six squares within a circle. The "Hierophant" tells him: "This cross embraces, as you will see, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod and Yesod, resting upon Malkuth. Also the Calvary Cross of six squares forms the Cube unfolded, and is thus referred to the six Sephiroth of Microprosopus, which are: Chesed, Geburah, Tiphereth, Hod, Netzach and Yesod." Arrangement of the Temple for the Ceremony of Philosophus in the 4°=7¤ Ritual. The Calvary Cross of Six Squares And then explains to him the symbolic representation of the fall: "The Great Goddess, who in the 3°=8¤ degree, was supporting the Columns of the Sephiroth in the form of the sign of Theoricus ("i.e.", of Atlas supporting the World) being tempted by the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, stooped down to the Qliphoth ... the Columns were unsupported, and the Sephirotic Scheme was shattered; and with it fell Adam the Microprosopus. Then arose the Great Dragon with seven heads and ten horns, cutting by his folds Malkuth from the Sephiroth, and linking it to the Kingdom of the Shells. The Seven lower Sephiroth were cut off from the Three Supernals in Daath, at the feet of Aima Elohim. And on the head of the Dragon are the names of the eight Edomite kings, and on the horns the names of the eleven dukes of Edom. And because in Daath was the utmost rise of the Great Serpent of Evil; therefore there is as it were another Sephira, making eight heads according to the number of the eight Kings; and for the Infernal and Averse Sephiroth eleven instead of ten, according to the number of the eleven dukes of Edom. The infernal waters of Daath rushed from the mouth of the Dragon — and this is the Leviathan. Tetragrammaton Elohim placed four letters of the Holy Name, and also the flaming sword, that the uppermost part of the Tree of Life might not be involved in the Fall of Adam." The Fall The Altar Symbol in the 4°=7¤ Ritual The Hierophant then explains the symbolism of the Temple, and says: "I now congratulate you on having passed through the ceremony of the 4°=7¤ of Philosophus and in the recognition thereof, I confer upon you the mystic title of 'PHAROS ILLUMINANS' which signifies — the Illuminating Tower of Light, and I give you the symbol of אשׂ {HB:Shin HB:Aleph} (Ash), which is the Hebrew name for fire. Having passed through this grade, the newly made Philosophus earns the title of Honoured Frater and is eligible for the post of Hiereus. The closing then takes place, the adoration of the King of Fire is made, and the Prayer of the Salamanders is rehearsed, and in the name of TETRAGRAMMATON TZEBAOTH the Temple is closed in the grade of 4°=7¤. In the space of seven months from a mere student in the Mysteries, P. had risen to the grade of Philosophus in the Order of the Golden Dawn. A light had indeed been winnowed from the husks of darkness, and now as an eye of silver it glided over the dark face of the waters. Chaos was taking form — red, vague and immense. He had passed through the Ritual of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, and now it was left to him to pass through the Ritual of the Portal, or the Ritual which completes the four elemental rituals by a fifth, the Ritual of the Spirit, before he could pass from the First Order to the Second. This ritual is an important one, as it is the connecting-link between the first two orders, and in an abridged form is as follows: — THE RITUAL OF THE 24TH, 25TH, AND 26TH PATHS —Leading from the First Order of the G∴D∴ in the Outer to the 5°=6¤) — OPENING —The Hierophant Inductor first asks the Fratres and Sorores present to assist him to open the Portal of the Vault of the Adepts. The Fratres and Sorores then give the signs of the various grades from 0°=0¤ to 4°=7¤. The Hierophant Inductor then says to the Associate Adept: - V. H. Associate Adept, what is the additional mystic title bestowed upon a Philosophus, as a link with the Second Order? Hierophant Inductor: - What is the answering sign? Hierophant Inductor: - What is the Word? In and by this word the Hierophant Inductor declares the Portal of the Vault of the Adepts duly opened. Arrangement of the Temple for the 24th, 25th, and 26th Paths in the Portal Ritual — THE CEREMONY —At the bidding the the Hierophant Inductor the Associate Adept places the Candidate in the West between the Banner and the Black Pillar, before the Elemental Tablets, but facing the West. After which he presents him to the Hierophant Inductor. The Hierophant Inductor then addresses the Philosophus and points out to him that if in the previous grades much information was imparted to him; it was done as a test of his trustworthiness. Continuing he says: "I therefore now ask you before proceeding further in the Order, to pledge yourself to the following, laying your hand upon the Central Tablet in the midst of the four Elemental Tablets." The Philosophus then promises never to reveal the Secrets of this Ritual; never to use his practical Occult Knowledge for Evil; to use his influence only for the honour of God, not to stir up strife; and to uphold the authority of the Chiefs of the Order. After which he confirms his obligation by saying, "I undertake to maintain the Veil between the First and Second Orders and may the powers of the elements bear witness to my pledge." The Associate Adept then explains to the Philosophus the admission badge, which is the peculiar emblem of the Hiereus of a Temple of the first Order. And the Hierophant Inductor explains the Hierophant's Lamen and the Banner of the East, thus completing his knowledge of the Emblems appropriate to the Officers of a Temple of the First Order. The Diagram of the Paths is then explained to the Candidate, after which the Hierophant Inductor says: "Before you in the East are represented the Five Portals of the 21st, 24th, 25th, 26th and 23rd Paths; thus shadowing forth by their number the Eternal Symbol of the Pentagram; for five will divide without remainder the number of the letter of each of these Paths, that is, its numerical value, as it will those of all the paths from י {HB:Yod}, the 20th, to ת {HB:Taw}, the 32nd, inclusive; and also the sum of their numbers." "Regarding these five Paths, I will now ask you to observe that the Tarot Keys attached to four of them, viz., The Wheel of Fortune, Death, the Devil, and the Hanged Man, are of more or less sinister and terrible import, and that only the symbol of Temperance appears to promise aid. Therefore by this straight and narrow Path of ס {HB:Samekh} let the Philosophus advance like the arrow from the centre of קשת {HB:Taw HB:Shin HB:Qof} (Qsheth) the Bow of Promise; for by this hieroglyphic of the arrow hath Sagittarius ever been represented. And as this sign of Sagittarius lieth between the signs Scorpio (Death) and Capricornus (the Devil) so hath Jesus to pass through the wilderness tempted by Satan. But Sagittarius the Archer is a Bi- corporate sign, the Centaur, the Man and the Horse combined. Recall what was said unto thee in the passage of the 31st Path of Fire leading into the 3°=8¤ of Practicus. 'Also there is the vision of the Fire-flashing Courser of Light, or also a child borne aloft on the shoulders of the Celestial Steed, fiery and clothed with Gold, or naked, and shooting from the Bow shafts of Light, and standing on the shoulders of the horse. But if thy meditation prolongeth itself thou shalt unite all these symbols into the form of the Lion.' [71] For thus wilt thou cleave upwards by the Path of ס {HB:Samekh}, through the sixth Sephira unto the Path of ט {HB:Tet} answering unto Leo, the Lion, the Reconciling Path between Mercy and Severity, Chesed and Geburah; beneath whose centre hangs the Glorious Sun of Tiphereth. "V.H. Associate Adept, will you explain to the Philosophus the 13th Key of the Tarot." Associate Adept: - The 13th Key of the Tarot represents the figure of a skeleton. The five extremities of the Body, delineated by head, hands and feet, allude to the powers of the Number five, the letter ה {HB:Heh}, the Pentagram comprehending the concealed Spirit of Life and the four Elements, the originators of all living forms. The sign Scorpio especially alludes to stagnant and fetid water; and to that property of the moist nature which initiates putrefaction and corruption. The eternal change from Life to Death, and through Death to Life, is symbolised in the grass which springs from and is nourished by putrefying and corrupting carcasses. The top of the scythe forms the T, Tau-Cross of Life, showing that what destroys also renews. The Scorpion, Serpent and Eagle delineated before the figure of Death in the more ancient form of the Key, refer to the mixed transforming (therefore deceptive) nature of this emblem. The Scorpion is the emblem of ruthless destruction, the Snake is the mixed and deceptive nature, serving alike for good and evil, and the Eagle is the Higher and Divine nature yet to be found herein, the alchemical Eagle of Distillation, the Renewer of Life. As it is said: "Thy youth shall be renewed like the Eagle's." Great indeed and many are the Mysteries of this Terrible Key! After explaining a symbol of Typhon the Associate Adept turns to the 15th Key of the Tarot. The 15th Key of the Tarot represents a goat-headed Satyr-like demon standing upon a cubical altar. In his left hand, which points downwards, he holds a lighted torch, and in his right hand, which is elevated, a horn of water. The cubical Altar represents the Universe. The whole figure shows the gross generating powers of nature on the material plane, and is analogous to the Pan of the Greeks and the Egyptian Goat of Mendes. As his hands bear the torch and the horn, the symbols of Fire and Water, so does his form unite the Earth in his hairy and bestial aspect, and the Air in his bat-like wings. The whole would be an evil symbol were it not for the Pentagram of Light above his head which regulates and guides his movements. The figure of Pan is then explained, after which the Hierophant Inductor shows the Philosophus the 14th Key of the Tarot. The more ancient form shows us a female figure crowned with a crown of five rays symbolising the five Principles of Nature, the Concealed Spirit and the four Elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. About her head is a halo of Light. On her breast is the Sun of Tiphereth. The five-rayed crown further alludes to the five Sephiroth of Kether, Chokmah, Binah, Chesed and Geburah. Chained to her waist are a lion and an eagle, between which is a large cauldron whence arise steam and smoke. The Lion represents the Fire of Netzach, the Blood of the Lion; and the Eagle represents the Water of Hod, the Gluten of the Eagle; whose reconcilement is made by the Air in Yesod uniting with the volatised Water rising from the cauldron though the influence of the Fire beneath it. The chains which link the Lion and the Eagle to her waist are symbolic of the paths of נ {HB:Nun} and ע {HB:Ayin}, Scorpio and Capricornus as shown by the Scorpion and the Goat in the background. In her right hand she bears the torch of solar fire, elevating and volatizing the Water in Hod by the fiery influence of Geburah; while with her left hand she pours from a vase the waters of Chesed to temperate and calm the fire of Netzach. The Symbolic Latin Names This explanation being ended, the Associate Adept places the red lamp, from the altar, in the right hand of the Philosophus and the cup of water in his left, and says: "Let this remind you once more that only in and by the reconciliation of opposing forces is the pathway made to true occult knowledge and practical power. Good alone is mighty, and Truth alone shall prevail; Evil is but weakness, and the power of evil; magic exists but in the contest of unbalanced forces, which in the end will destroy and ruin him who hath subjugated himself thereto. As it is said: "stoop not down, for a precipice lieth beneath the Earth; a descent of Seven steps; and therein is established the throne of an Evil and Fatal force. Stoop not down unto that dark and lurid world, defile not thy brilliant flame with the earthy dross of Matter. Stoop not down, for its splendour is but seeming, it is but the habitation of the sons of the unhappy." The lamp and cup are then replaced, after which the following symbols are explained to the Philosophus: The Image of Nebuchadnezzar's Vision; The Symbol of the Great Hermetic Arcanum; The Tablet of Union between the four Elements; The tablet of the Symbolic Latin Names; The Seven Palaces of the Briatic World; and the Kerubim in the Visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel and St. John. The Hierophant Inductor now congratulates the Philosophus on the progress he has made, and proclaims him Master of the 24th, 25th, and 26th Paths in the Portal of the Vault of the Adepts. After which the Closing of the Portal takes place, the Hierophant Inductor saying: "In and by that word Paroketh I declare the Portal of the Vault of the Adepts duly closed. Unto thee O Tetragrammaton be ascribed Malkuth, Geburah, and Gedulah unto the Ages. Amen." So finishes the Ritual of the Portal of the Vault of the Adepts, the connecting ritual between the grades of Philosophus and Adeptus Minor, between the First and the Second Order. But before we close this chapter, it will be necessary, briefly though it may be, to trace out the effect these six rituals and the mass of occult knowledge which appertains to them, had upon P., and further might be expected to have on the ordinary seeker in the mysteries of Truth. To even the most casual student it must be apparent, once he has finished reading these rituals, that though they contain much that is scholarly and erudite, besides much that is essential and true, they, however, are bloated and swollen with much that is silly and pedantic, affected and misplaced, so much so that wilful obscurity taking the place of a lucid simplicity, the pilgrim, ignorant as he must be in most cases, is spontaneously plunged into a surging mill-race of classical deities and heroes, many of whom thrust themselves boisterously upon him without rhyme or reason. Ushered as it were into a Judgment Hall in which the law expounded to him is not only entirely unknown but is written in a language which he cannot even read, he is cross-questioned in a foreign tongue and judged in words which at present convey not a symptom of sense to him. As the Rituals proceed it might be expected that these difficulties would gradually lessen, but this is far from being the case; for, as we have seen, the complexities already involved by the introduction of Ancient Egyptian deities, concerning whom it is probable the candidate has but little knowledge, are further heightened by a general intrusion on the part of Hebrew, Christian, Macedonian and Phrygian gods, angels and demons, and a profuse scattering of symbols; which, unitedly, are apt either so to bewilder the candidate that he leaves the temple with an impression that the whole ritual is a huge joke, a kind of buffoonish carnival of Gods which in the sane can only provoke laughter; or, on account of it being so utterly incomprehensible to him, his ignorance makes him feel that it is so vastly beyond him and above his own simple standard of knowledge, that all that he can do is to bow down before those who possess such an exalted language, concerning even the words and alphabet of which he can get no grasp or measure. The result of this obscurity naturally is that in both cases the Rituals fail to initiate — in the first case they, not being understood, are jeered at; in the second they, though equally incomprehensible, are however revered. Instead of teaching the Alphabet by means of simple characters they teach it by grotesque and all but impossible hieroglyphics, and in the place of giving the infant adept a simple magic rag doll to play with, intrust to his care, with dire prognostication and portent of disaster, a gargoyle torn from the very roof of that temple on the floor of which he, as a little child, is as yet but learning to crawl. The result being, as it proved in most cases, as disastrous as it was lamentable. There is a time and a place for everything, and there is a right use for the affectation of knowledge just as there is a wrong one. When a child has learnt the simple rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; it is legitimate to ask it to solve some simple little problem; but it is sheer waste of time to ask it: "If twenty-four sprats cost a shilling, and one sprat will make a meal for two children, how many children can you feed for twopence halfpenny?" before it knows that one plus one equals two. If a child is never taught to add one to one it is possible that even when grown up, the man to his dying day will look upon the setter of the twopenny-halfpenny sprat question as an advanced mathematician, perhaps even as an "advanced occultist." But when he has learnt the meaning of one plus one equals two, he will find this vast unthinkable problem to be after all but as simple as adding one to one or two to two. The affectation of knowledge and the piling on of symbols is only legitimate to the ignorant when the purpose is to bewilder by a flashing image and not to instruct. In the present case the seeker after Truth is called the Child of Earth and Darkness, and instead of being shown the beautiful garment of light he will one day be called upon to wear, is at once rolled in a heap of tinselled draperies, in mummy wrappings, outgrown togas and the discarded underwear of Olympus and Sinai, the result being that unless his understanding is as clear as these rituals are obscure, all he obtains is a theatrical impression of "make-up" and "make- believe," and a general detachment from the realities of Consciousness. The words obsess him; he cannot see that Typhon is as necessary in the Egyptian Scheme as Osiris; in the Christian, that Satan is but the twin of Christ. They fetter the freedom which they are supposed to unbind, producing not only a duality but a multiplicity of illusions; so that, in the end, the chances are, instead of conversing face to face with Adonai, he becomes a prig addressing a mass meeting in the Albert Hall, rationalising about irrational qualities. Fortunately in the case of P. the result was somewhat different; already master of a vast storehouse of knowledge and learning he was less likely to gasp "Oh my!" at the display of Egyptian pyrotechnics than many of the others; he was in fact enabled by their help to weld to his knowledge a catalogue of disruptive learning, and from it add many words to the great dictionary of magical language he was at this time eagerly attempting to construct. This construction of a language should be the object of all rituals; they should bring the seeker step by step nearer to his quest, that is to say, to perfect him in the tongue he one day hopes to speak. Each Ritual, be it a letter, a word, a sentence, or a volume, should contain a lesson clear and precise, it should leave behind it so bright and dazzling a picture that the very thought of it will at once conjure up the power dressed in its simple yet luminous symbols. In the 0°=0¤ Ritual this is much more clearly carried out than in the following four. The candidate, the would-be Neophyte, is led up to the Portal of the First Grade, the Grade of Neophyte, and is momentarily revealed a flashing vision of Adonai, as it were a tongue of blinding flame out of the depths of darkness, to show him that there is light even in this dreadful night through which he has to journey. He learns that though Adonai is in Kether, Kether also is in Malkuth; but the Rituals which follow the 0°=0¤, excepting the Portal, which consists more of symbols and their explanations than of rites and ceremonials, are more inclined to obsess than to illuminate. Of course it may be urged that as they constitute four great trials, it is after all a greater test to be placed under a false guide than an honest one. But indeed, if this be so, then most certainly should the Neophyte, Zelator, Theoricus or Practicus travel his own road unhelped by others; further, he should not be tempted by others, and when he is hopelessly entangled be relieved of his trials like the reader of a fairy-tale who invariably finds that after the most monstrous difficulties the hero and heroine always marry and live happily ever afterwards. It is a better trial of the powers of a swimmer to let him swim without a cork jacket, notwithstanding the fact that it is a greater trial by far if you order him to leap into the water with a millstone round his neck; but this is scarcely "cricket," even if at the last moment you pull him out of the water and restore life by artificial respiration. Further, it is not teaching him how to swim, or how to improve his powers of swimming. In the 1°=10¤ Ritual the Neophyte enters the first sphere of the Elements, the Element of Earth, and is at once liable to fall prey to the terrible worldly obsessions of the path of HB:Taw . This dark path he journeys up only to become child of the fickle element of Air whose sign is the ever-changing moon. The next step brings him under the unstable condition of Water and the seemingly unbalanced influences of Mercury. But if he has passed through the paths of שׂ {HB:Shin} and ר {HB:Resh} with cunning and earnestness he will understand why it is necessary to enter the grade of the Element of Water by the paths of the Sun and of Fire, as he will in his next step understand why it is that the paths of ק {HB:Qof} and צ {HB:Tzaddi}, that is, of Pisces and Aquarius, lead him to the fire of Netzach and not to the Water of Hod. The path which connects Hod with Netzach is the 27th path of the Sepher Yetzirah which answers to the letter פּ {HB:Peh}. It is the reflection of the Sphere of Mars and is the lowermost of the reciprocal paths. The Tarot Key attributed to this path is very rightly the 16th Key — the Tower; which we have seen in the 4°=7¤ Ritual represents a tower struck by a flash of lightning, symbolising the Tower of Babel struck by the wrath of Heaven, and also the Power of the Triad rushing down and destroying the columns of darkness, the light of Adonai glimmering through the veils and consuming the elementary Rituals of the 1°=10¤, 2°=9¤, 3°=8¤, and 4°=7¤ grades. In many cases the candidate, it is to be feared, can never have realised the necessity of this destruction of superficial knowledge, and the harnessing of the Bull, Eagle, Man and Lion under the dazzling lash of the Spirit. And we find that though these rituals enabled P. to master a language, they in many ways hindered his otherwise natural progress by helping largely to obsess his Nephesh by the Qliphoth — his passions and emotions being stirred up by a continuous pageant of naked Gods; his Ruach by the phantom of dead words — by the duality of the shell and of the fruit of things; and his Neschamah by Tetragrammaton, "i.e.", he aspired chiefly to magic powers, not so that they might light him like the flame of a lamp along his road, but that they might consume, like the fire on the altar, his propitiations and sacrifices to a personal God. Thus we find him, as it were, figuring before him a Pentagram and saying: "It is not complete without its top point." This is undoubtedly correct, but at this time he still failed to realise that when once the Supernal Triad has descended and is resting on the topmost point of the Pentagram, this being now the point of juncture becomes the most important of all points, and that the lower four are little better than supports, legs and arms to the body whose head now wears the Crown. When the pilgrim realises that the four characteristics of the Sphinx, the four elements, the four letters of the Name, are only answerable in the fifth; then may it be said that the Ritual has succeeded in its purpose and has initiated him, otherwise that it has failed. It is no good (even if you are the Hierophant himself) pretending to represent הוהי {HB:Heh HB:Vau HB:Heh HB:Yod} before you have realised what is meant by הושׂהי {HB:Heh HB:Vau HB:Shin HB:Heh HB:Yod}. The real knowledge acquired by P. at this time, as we shall find in a subsequent chapter, was gained by his workings with Fras. C.S., V.N. and I.A.; and so ardent was he in his search after knowledge that he even went so far as to invoke Mercury by obtaining access to and copying the 5°=6¤ Rituals and Knowledges belonging to Fra. F.L., saying to himself: "All for Knowledge, even life, even honour, All!" Footnotes: [25] י {HB:Yod} Stands for Chokmah, and ה {HB:Heh} for Binah, ו {HB:Vau} for the rest except Malkuth which is the final h. [26] Father and (Glorified) Mother. [27] The Theosophical term "Higher Self," is usually termed in the G∴D∴ "Genius." Abramelin calls it "Holy Guardian Angel," vide Preface. [28] The Sephirotic Scheme, it will be remembered, is divided into four worlds: Atziloth; Briah; Yetzirah and Assiah. Each world contains ten Sephiroth, and each of these Sephira again ten, making the total number four hundred. [29] "Paroketh" is the Veil which separates Hod and Netzach from Tiphereth; and as we shall see later on, in the Portal Ritual, the First Order from the Second Order. [30] A document which by some of the members of the G∴D∴ was considered to be forged. It purported to be signed by S.D.A. and others, and authorised the founding of the Temple. "Vide" chapter called "The Magician." {WEH NOTE EXTENSION: This document is reproduced as plate IV in Ellic Howe's book: "The Magicians of the Golden Dawn", Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1972. There is a left-right inversion of the Kerubim on the borders of the document, possibly due to a mistake by the original artist. This inversion was perpetuated throughout the Golden Dawn system, in the present ritual, in design of Tarot cards and generally.} [31]The Banner of the East [32] More fiery. S.R.M.D. says Thmais contains the letters of שׁתמא {HB:Shin HB:Taw HB:Mem HB:Aleph} and probably is the origin of the Greek θεμις {Theta epsilon mu iota sigma}, the Justice-Goddess. [33] More fluidic. [34] Or Caduceus. "See" Diagram 24. [35] Or Fylfat. See Diagram 14. [36] The same as "Eskato Bebeloi" used in the Eleusinian Mysteries. [37] The beginning of Whirling Motions, Primum Moble. [38] Z. 1. [39] The following explanatory remarks on the Admission and Ceremony of the Neophyte are taken from the MS. called Z. 3. [40] He is Osiris when throned; when he moves he assumes the form of Arouerist. [41] Thoth is one of the Invisible officers. [42] A later edition of the Ritual, issued subsequent to the Horos scandals, reads "an awful and avenging punitive current," &c. [43] Meaning also: "Let the Light arise in the Candidate." [44] The "Formula of Osiris" is given in Z. 1, and is as follows:
[45] The following five Rituals are considerably abridged; chiefly to economise space and so allow the rituals of the Neophyte and Adeptus Minor to be dealt with more fully. They are of little magical interest, value or importance. [46] "See 777", Col. cxl., p. 27, "Twelve Banners of the Name," and Revelations, xxi., 19, 20. [47] "See 777", Col. xxxvi., p. 11. [48] It will be noticed that from here this ritual becomes unnecessarily complicated with Egyptian deities — in fact, its mysteries become rather "forced." Still more so will this be seen in the next ritual, which becomes ridiculously complex with Samothracian nonentities. The symbols in themselves are not wrong; but it is the "mixed-biscuit" type of symbol which is so bad, especially where it is not necessary, but chosen so as to "show off" superficial knowledge. [49] "See 777", cols. civ., cviii., pp. 20 and 23; and Revelations, chap. i. [50] "See 777", cols. cvi., cvii., p. 23. [51] "See" Diagram of the Paths and Grades. [52] "See 777", cols. cxii., cxiii., p. 23. [53] "See 777", col. xlix., p. 15. [54] "See 777", col. xlix, p. 15 and note p. 41. [55] This introduction of the Samothracian mysteries is evidently a straining after effect. They were of a much lower order than the Eleusinian, and a great deal more obscure; in fact, even at the time, people could not define with anything like accuracy what the Kabiri really were. The student will find more concerning these semi-mythical beings in Strabo, Diodorus and Varro. D"llinger says: "This much is undoubted on the joint testimony of Strabo and Mnaseas; the gods whose initiation people received here (Samothrace) were Axieros, "i.e.", Demeter; Axiokersos, "i.e.", Hades; and Axiokersa, "i.e.", Persephone." — D"llinger, "The Gentile and the Jew," Eng. edition, 1906, vol. i., pp. 172-186. [56] Hence: "Odic" force; and "Obi" or "Obeah," witchcraft. [57] "See 777", cols. xciii., xciv., xcv., pp. 21, 20. [58] "See 777", col. viii., p.2 [59] "See 777", col. clxxvii., p. 35. [60] "See 777", col. xiv., p. 4. [61] "See 777", col. lxxx., p. 18 [62] See Handbook of Geomancy, THE EQUINOX, vol. i., No. II. [63] A Kamea is a Magic square. See "Mathematical Recreations" by W. W. Rouse Ball. [64] WEH NOTE: These titles generally derive from Baron Ecker und Eckhoffen's book "Der Rosenkreutzer in Seiner Blosse", a work from 1781 written as an attack against the Rosicrucianism of the time and published under the name "Magister Pianco". The titles appear with the grade designations and names, in a slightly different fashion from that used by the Order of the Golden Dawn, in Mackenzie's "Royal Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry" as a chart translated by Mackenzie from Pianco. It is interesting to note that these titles were to be changed frequently and that the Golden Dawn used passwords 200 years out of date! See "Codex Rosae" "Crucis", Manly Hall, Philosophers Press, Los Angeles, 1938, p. 13. [65] "See 777", cols. lxiii., lxiv., lxv., lxvi., pp. 16 and 17. [66] "See 777", col. xlix. and note, also "Handbook of Geomancy". [67] "See 777", col. xc., p. 18. [68] "See 777", col. viii., p.2. [69] For these signs see Liber O, No. II., vol. i., THE EQUINOX. [70] For these signs see Liber O, No. II., vol. i., THE EQUINOX. [71] See Preface. [ « back to TOC ] THE SEERIT is not to be wondered that the magic strain to which P. had been placed during the last seven months should have long since blossomed into flowers of weird and wonderful beauty. And so we find, as far back as the beginning of November 1899, the commencement of a series of extraordinary visions as wild and involved as many of those of Blake or St. Francis. But before entering upon these visions, it will be necessary to explain that by a vision we mean as definite a psychological state and as certain and actual a fact to the mental eye, as the view of a landscape is considered to be to the physical eye itself. And so when we have occasion to write "he saw an angel," it is to be taken that we mean by it as absolute a fact as if we had written "he saw a mountain," or "he saw a cow." It, however, is not to be accepted that by this we lay down that either angels or cows exist apart from ourselves, they may or they may not; but it is to be taken that angels, and mountains and cows are ideas of equal value in their own specific spheres: the astral and the material; and that they have their proper place in existence, whatever existence may be, and that every experience, normal, abnormal, subnormal or supernormal, whether treated as an illusion or a fact, is of equal value so long as it is conditioned in Time; and that a dream is of as real a nature as awakenment, but on a different plane in existence, the conditions of which can alone be judged and measured by experimental science. Science advances by means of accumulating facts and consolidating them, the grand generalisation of which merges into a theory when it has been accepted by universal inference. Thus, I infer that catching a ball is not a necessary sequitur to throwing a ball up in the air; however, if I had never thrown a ball up in my life, and suddenly commenced doing so, and invariably caught it, probably after the nine hundred and ninety-nine billionth time I might be excused if I considered that catching balls was a necessary law of nature. [72] Yet nevertheless if I did arrive at such a conclusion without being fully conscious that at any moment I might have to recast the whole of these laws, I should be but a bat-headed dogmatist instead of the hawk-eyed man of science who is ever ready to re-see and to reform." [73] Before the birth of Copernicus the sun was universally considered to be a body moving round the earth; it was a FACT, and probably whilst it lasted the most universal fact the mind of man has ever accepted; but since that illuminated sage arose, it has been shown to be a simple fable, a child- like error, a puny optical illusion — so much for pseudo-scientific dogmatics. To a child who has never seen a monkey, monkey is outside the circumference of its knowledge; but when once it has seen one it is mere foolishness for other children to say: "Oh no, you didn't really see a monkey; such things as monkeys do not exist, and what proves it beyond all doubt is that we have never seen one ourselves!" This, it will be seen, is the Freethinkers' [74] old, old conclusive argument: There is not a God because "we" have no experience of a God." [75] ... "There is not a South Pole because we have not trudged round it six times and cut our names on it with our pocket-knives!" Now what is knowledge? Something is! — Call it Existence. What exists? "I exist!" answers the Idealist, "I and I alone!" "Oh no, you do not!" cries the Materialist, "you certainly do exist; but not alone, for I am talking to you!" "Fool!" says the Idealist, "cannot you grasp the simple idea that you and your foolish argument are in fact part of me?" "But surely," replies the Materialist, "you do not doubt that the world exists, that the Evolution of Man exists, that Judas McCabbage exists and is an actual fact. "Granted they do exist," sighs the Idealist, "so do the reflections of an ape's face in a looking-glass, yes, they do exist, but not apart from my own mind." "Yet the world of a blind man," says the Mystic, "is a very different place to the world a deaf man lives in, and both these worlds vary considerably from the world normally constituted man inhabits. Likewise animals, whose sense-organs vary from ours, live in altogether a different world from us. To give an eyeless worm eyes is only comparable to endowing us with a sixth sense. The world to us therefore depends wholly upon the development of our senses; and as they grow and decay so does the world with them, how much more then does the world of those who have out stepped the prison-house of their senses differ from the world of those who have outstepped the prison-house of their senses differ from the world of those who still lie bound therein. It is possible to conceive of a child being born blind (in a race of blind people) obtaining the use of its eyes when an old man, and thereupon entering a new world; why, therefore, should it be impossible to conceive of a man with all his senses perfect obtaining another sense or entering into another dimension. [76] The blind man, if a few minutes after he had obtained possession of his sight were suddenly to return to a state of blindness, would have great difficulty in explaining to his blind brothers the sights he had seen, in fact none would believe him, and his difficulty in explaining in the language of blind-land the wonders of the land of sight would probably be so great that he would find more consolation in silence than in an attempted explanation: this has generally been the case with the true adepts; and those who have tried to explain themselves have been called mad by the "canaille." "The truth is," continues the Mystic, "both of you have been talking foolishness through your material and idealistic hats. For: "In the Material World Matter is Existence. "In the Sensible World Sense is Existence. "In the Spiritual World Spirit is Existence. "And though in the Sensible World a cow or an angel exists solely as an idea to us, this does not preclude the possibility of a cow existing as beef in the Material World, or an angel as a spirit in the Spiritual World." "The fact is," interrupts the Sceptic, "I doubt all three of you; for from the above you all three infer a chain of events — whether material, sensual, or spiritual, thus postulating the Existence of Causality as a common property of these three worlds. Let us strike out Matter, Sense and Spirit, and what is left? Surely not Time and Space, that twin inference conceived by that Matter, Sense and Spirit we have just put to bed." "Don't you think," says the Scientific Illuminist, "that instead of dreaming all your lives it would be a good thing to wake up and do a little work? There are four of you, and the Kerubim of Ezekiel might perhaps engage your individual attention." The truth is, it does not matter one rap by what name you christen the illusions of this life, call them substance, or ideas, or hallucinations, it makes not the slightest difference, for you are in them and they in you whatever you like to call them, and you must get out of them and they out of you, and the less you consider their names the better; for name-changing only creates unnecessary confusion and is a waste of time. Let us therefore call the world a series of existences and have done with it, for it does not matter a jot what we mean by it so long as we work; very well then; Science is a part of this series, and so is Magic, and so are cows and angels, and so are landscapes, and so are visions; and the difference between these existences is the difference which lies between a cheesemonger and a poet, between a blind man and one who can see. The clearer the view the more perfect the view; the clearer the vision the more perfect the vision. The eyes of a hawk are keener than those of an owl, and so are a poet's keener than those of a cheesemonger, for he can see beauty in a ripe Stilton whilst the latter can only see two-and- sixpence a pound. A true vision is to awakenment as awakenment is to a dream; and a perfectly clear co-ordinate vision is so nearly perfect a Reality that words cannot be found in which to translate it, yet it must not be forgotten that its truth ceases on the return of the seer to the Material plane. The Seer is therefore the only judge of his visions, for they belong to a world in which he is absolute King, and to describe them to one who lives in another world is like talking Dutch to a Spaniard. Our business then is, to construct if possible a universal language. This the rituals of the Golden Dawn and the study of the Qabalah did for P., and when we talk of quadrating the circle, of blinding darkness, of silent voices, &c. &c., those who have learned the alphabet of any magical language will understand; and those who have not, if they wish to read any further with profit, had better do so, as it will help them to master the new magical language and doctrines we here offer them. The vision of the adept is so much truer than ordinary vision that when once it has been attained to its effect is never relinquished, for it changes the whole life. Blake would have as soon doubted the existence of his wife, his mother or of himself, as that of Urizen, Los, or Luvah. Dreams are real, hallucinations are real, delirium is real, and so is madness; but for the most part these are Qliphothic realities, unstable, unbalanced, dangerous. Visions are real, inspirations are real, revelation is real, and so is genius; but these are from Kether, and the highest climber on the mystic mountain is he who will obtain the finest view, and from its summit all things will be shown unto him. A child learning to play on the violin will not at the outset be mistaken for Sarasate or Paganini; for there will be discord and confusion of sound. So now, as we start upon the first visions of P. we find chaos piled on chaos, much struggling and noise, a roaring of wild waters in the night, and then finally, melody, silence and the communication of the mystic books of V.V.V.V.V. Let us now trace his progress in search of the Stone of the Philosophers, which is hidden in the Mountain of Abiegnus. There are eighteen recorded visions [77] between the commencement of November and the end of December 1898, but as there is not sufficient space to include them all, only six of the most interesting will be given. Being all written in his private hieroglyphic cipher by Frater P., we have been obliged to re-write them completely, and elaborate them. (VISION) No. 5. [78] "After fervent prayer I was carried up above the circle [79] which I had drawn, through a heavy and foggy atmosphere. Soon, however, the air grew purer, and after a little I found myself in a beautifully clear sky. "On gazing up into the depths of the blue, I saw dawn immediately above me a great circle; then of a sudden, as I looked away from its centre, there swept out towards me at intolerable speed the form of a shepherd; trembling and not knowing what to say, with faltering voice I asked, 'Why speed ye?' Whereupon the answer came: 'There is haste!' Then a great gloom closed mine eyes, and a horror of defilement encompassed me, and all melted in twilight and became cloaked in the uttermost darkness. And out of the darkness there came a man clothed in blue, whose skin was of the colour of sapphire, and around him glowed a phosphor light, and in his hand he held a sword. "And on seeing him approach I fell down and besought him to guide me, which without further word he did. "On turning to the left I saw that near me was a rock door, and then for the first time I became aware that I was clothed in my robes of white. [80] Passing through the door, I found myself on the face of a high cliff that sank away into the abysms of space below me; and my foot slipping on the slippery stone, I stumbled forward, and would of a certainty have been dashed into that endless gulf, had not the shepherd caught me and held me back. "Then wings were given me, and diving off from that great rocky cliff like a sea-bird, I winged my course through the still air and was filled with a great joy. "Now, I had travelled thus but for a short time, when in the distance there appeared before me a silver-moss rugged hill. And on its summit was there built a circular temple, fashioned of burnished silver, domed and surmounted with a crescent. And for some reason unknown to me, the sight of the crescent made me tremble so that I durst not enter; and when my guide, who was still with me, saw that I was seized with a great fear, he comforted me, bidding me be of good courage, so with him I entered. Before us in the very centre of the temple there sat a woman whose countenance was bright as the essence of many moons; and as I beheld her, fear left me, so I stepped towards her and knelt reverently at her feet. "Then, as I knelt before her, she gave me a branch of olive and myrtle, which I folded to my heart; and as I did so, of a sudden a great pillar of smoke rose from the ground before me and carried her away through the dome of the temple. "Slowly the pillar loosened itself, and spiral puffs of smoke, creeping away from the mighty column, began to circle round me, at which I stepped back to where my guide was still standing. Then he advanced, and beckoning me to follow him, we entered the great pillar of smoke and were carried through the bright dome of the temple. "On, on we soared, through regions of cloud and air; on, on, past the stars and many myriads of burning specks of fire, till at length our journey led us to a vast blue sea, upon which was resting like a white swan a ship of silver. And without staying our flight, we made towards the ship, and descending upon it, rested awhile. "On awaking, we found that we had arrived at a fair island, upon which stood a vast temple built of blocks of silver, square in form, and surrounded by a mighty colonnade. Outside it was there set up an altar upon which a branch had been sacrificed. "On seeing the altar, I stepped towards it and climbed upon it, and there I sacrificed myself, and the blood that had been my life bubbled from my breast, and trickling over the rough stone, was sucked up by the parched lips of the white sand. ... And behold, as I rose from that altar, I was alone standing upon the flat top of the square temple, and those who had been with me, the shepherd and my guide, had vanished; — I was alone ... alone. "And as I stood there, the east became as an amethyst clasped in the arms of the sard, and a great thrill rushed through me; and as I watched, the sard became as a fawn; and as I watched again, the east quivered and the great lion of day crept over the horizon, and seizing the fawn betwixt his gleaming teeth, shook him till the fleecy clouds above were as a ram's skin flecked with blood. "Then thrill upon thrill rushed through me, and I fell down and knelt upon the flat roof of the temple. And presently as I knelt, I perceived other suns rising around me, one in the North, and one in the South, and one in the West. And the one in the North was as a great bull blowing blood and flame from its nostrils; and the one in the South was as an eagle plucking forth the entrails of a Nubian slave; and the one in the West was as a man swallowing the ocean. "And whilst I watched these suns rising around me, behold, though I knew it not, a fifth sun had arisen beneath where I was standing, and it was as a great wheel of revolving lightnings. And gazing at the Wonder that flamed at my feet, I partook of its glory and became brilliantly golden, and great wings of flame descended upon me, and as they enrolled me I grew thirty cubits in height — perhaps more. "Then the sun upon which I was standing rose above the four other suns, and as it did so I found myself standing before an ancient man with snow- white beard, whose countenance was a-fired with benevolence. And as I looked upon him, a great desire possessed me to stretch forth my hand and touch his beard; and as the desire grew strong, a voice said unto me, 'Touch, it is granted thee.' "So I stretched forth my hand and gently placed my fingers upon the venerable beard. And as I did so, the ancient man bent forward, and placing his lips to my forehead kissed me. And so sweet was that kiss that I would have lingered; but I was dismissed, for the other four suns had risen to a height equal to mine own. "And seeing this I stretched out my wings and flew, sinking through innumerable sheets of blinding silver. And presently I opened mine eyes, and all around me was as a dense fog; thus I returned into my body." The vision being at an end, a thanksgiving was offered. (VISION) No. 7. This vision was undertaken by P. for strength to aid his cousin, who was in distress. As in No. 5, it commenced with a prayer, a circle being drawn around the Skryer. "As I prayed, a feeling of drowsiness possessed me, and I found myself swinging backwards and forwards; then after a little while I grew steady, and speedily ascended. As I soared up through the air, I saw above me a great circle; this I passed through, only to behold another one greater still. As I approached it I perceived an angel coming towards me; therefore I entered the circle and knelt down. "The angel, seeing me kneeling before him, approached me, and taking me by the hand, raised me up, kissing me as he did so. And having thus greeted me, he bade me tell him what I sought; this I did. And when I had finished speaking, he took me by the right hand and flew obliquely upwards. And as I was carried through the air, I looked down, and felt reluctant at leaving the great circle, which had now become as a point below me. And as I thought of it, of a sudden I found myself standing upon a marble floor, from out of which rushed up into the heavens a great pillar of fire. And as I gazed wonderingly at it, though on account of its brightness I could see no one, I became conscious that many people were worshipping around me. Then slowly, as my eyes became accustomed to the light, I saw that the great pillar of fire was in truth the right leg of an immense figure. "On becoming aware of this, a great awe filled me, and then did bewilderment possess me, for I found that I was robed in red garments in place of the white in which I had dressed myself. And as I wondered, the angel said to me: 'They have been given thee'; therefore again I knelt, and was endued with a great power. "And as the great strength coursed through me I stood up and the angel gave me a white wand, placing it in my right hand; then fiery rain fell upon me, bursting into little flames as it touched me. "Taller and taller did I grow, striving up and upwards to reach the face of the great figure. And as I strove, I emerged from the centre of the crown of mine own head like a white bird; and so great had been my desire that I shot upwards past my skull like an arrow from a bended bow. And swerving down, I played around the head of the great image and kissed it on the lips. But through for many minutes did I fly about that immense head, the countenance thereof was ever cloudy as a mountain seen through a storm of snow; yet nevertheless could I distinguish that the head was like an Assyrian clean-shaven, like a bull, a hawk, an Egyptian and myself. "Intoxicated with rapture, I fluttered about the lips and then entered the great mouth. "Up! up! I rise. I am in a chamber with two square pillars and an eye ... I bathe in the light of this eye and the intense brilliancy of the whole room, which swallows me up. "Bigger and bigger do I grow ... I fill the room ... I emerge from the top of the mighty head, and kissing once again the lips, swerve downwards and unite with the red figure below me. "I grow great, and my white wand becomes a wand of living fire. Then I perceived that the angel had left me, and that once again fiery rain was falling around me. "After this I departed, and in the air was surrounded by dark forms, whom I commanded to lead me back to the circle. Then I sank amid a flock of eagles, and, descending, prayed and rejoined my body. "My body was intensely strengthened; I was filled with a feeling of power and glory. I gave thanks.' (VISION) No. 10. "Queen's Hall. During the "andante" of Beethoven's Symphony in C (No. 5) I assume white astral, and fill the entire hall. Then I looked up to God, and impulses of praise and prayer possessed me. Presently I shrink forcibly and re-enter my body." (VISION) No. 14. "I draw the circle and recite the 'Lesser Banishing Ritual'; [81] but performed it badly, omitting an important section. [82] "At first there appeared to me a brightness in the West, and a darkening of the East; and whilst perplexed by this matter, I find I have entered a dirty street, and see near me a young child sitting on the doorstep of a very squalid house. "I approached the house, and seeing me, the child scrambled to his feet and beckoned me to follow him. Pushing open the rickety door, he pointed out to me a rotten wooden staircase. This I mounted, and entered a room which apparently belonged to a student. "In the room I found a little old man, but could not see him distinctly, as the blinds were down. "He asked me my business. "And I answer I had come to seek of him certain formulae. "Thereupon he opened a book which was lying on the table before him, and showed me a sigil. After I had looked at it carefully, he explained to me how I should make it, and finished by telling me that it was used to summon 'things of earth.' Sigil in Book. "As I looked incredulously at him, he took hold of the sigil, and no sooner had he done so than from out of every crack and seam in the floor there wriggled forth a multitude of rats and other vermin. "After this, he led me upstairs to another floor, and into a room which in the dim light appeared to be an attic. Plan of the Adept's Room and the attic above. "At the west end of this room, lying upon her back, I saw a naked woman. Turning, I challenged the Adept, who at once gave me the 0°=0¤ and 1°=10¤ signs; but he would not give me 2°=9¤. [83] "The Adept then turned from me and said: 'She is in a trance; she is dead; she has been dead long.' And immediately her flesh becoming rotten, fell from her bones. "Hurriedly I asked for an explanation, but scarcely had my words left my lips than I saw that she was recovering, and that her bones were becoming once again clothed with flesh. Slowly she rose up, and then suddenly rolled round and fell heavily upon her face. For a moment she remained still, and then her glistening skin writhed about her bones as she wriggled over the filthy boards towards the Adept. Having reached him, she embraced his feet and then lewdly climbed and writhed up him. "'Get to your stye,' he said in a low, commanding voice. At which I felt intensely sorry for her. "The Adept, noticing my sympathy, turned to me and said: 'She is lust, fresh-fleshed and lovely, but rotten. She would clog the power of a man.' "I thereupon thanked the Adept. But he, taking no notice of my thanks, pointed out to me a distant star through a hole in the roof, and then said, 'Journey there.' "This I did, streaming up towards it like a comet, dressed in long white robes, with a flashing scimitar in my hand. "After much peril, on account of suns and things very hot and glowing, through which I sped, I arrived there safely, on the shore of a lake, upon which was floating a boat in which stood a man. "On seeing me, he cried out: 'Who art thou?' "And having explained to him, he brought his boat close enough to the shore to enable me to spring into it. This I did, whereupon he seized the oars and rowed speedily into the darkness beyond. "'Shall I soon see thy master?' I said to him. At which he glared round at me, so that his eyes looked like beads of glowing amber in the night; then he answered: "'I who stand in the boat am great; I have a star upon my forehead.' "I did not reply, not understanding what he meant, and soon we reached the shore and entered a cave, in the mouth of which stood a man-like figure covered with brazen scales, horned and horrible. His colour was of verdigris; but his face was of a blackish tint. In his hand he held a club. "'What is your name?' I cried, advancing towards him. "'Joakam,' he answered sullenly. "'Your sign?' (I here repeated the omitted part of the ritual). He winced, and I could see that he was a coward; nevertheless, though it displeased him, he gave me his sigil. Jokam's Sigil "His name is spelt: HB:Mem-final HB:Koph HB:Yod . Having no further question to ask him, I left him, bidding him sink. "At the further end of the cave a man whom I had not seen as yet came rushing into my arms; at once I saw that he was being pursued by Jokam. I thereupon interposed, ordering him to make the sign of the Qabalistic Cross, which, however, he could not do. "'What God do you worship?' I asked. "'Alas! I have no God.' he answered. Thereupon I allowed Jokam to seize him, and re-entering the cave they sank, uttering most heart-rending yells of agony. "As I once again approached the lake, a great albatross rose from the water, and as she did so, the star fell away from me, and a multitude of birds surrounded me and took me back to the garret which I first visited. "For this I was very grateful, and on seeing that I had returned, the Adept came forward and took my hand, saying: 'Go on,' at which words I felt that a great strength had been imparted to me. "I then asked him about 'Abramelin,' of whose Operation I at this time contemplated the performance; but all he answered was: 'Go on!' "'Shall I succeed?' I asked. "'No man can tell another that!' he answered with a smile. "'Is anything wanting in that book that is necessary to success?' I asked. "'No!' he answered. "Then I took my leave of him, and after witnessing a strange fight, returned." (VISION) No. 15. This vision was undertaken to obtain rest. It took place in the actual temple built by P., and, as was generally the case, it was commenced by the "Lesser Banishing Ritual." "Slowly the actual temple in which I was standing became wonderfully beautified, and a white shining film floated in feathers over the surface of the floor on which I was standing, and winding itself about me, formed a great column which carried me up through the roof to a great height. Then I found, as the cloud fell away from me, that I was standing in a fair green field, and by me in great solemnity stood a shining steel-grey-silver figure, unarmed. "'Welcome,' said the stranger with a cold dignity. "Then he led me to a blue pool of water, and bade me plunge into it, which I did, half diving and half swimming, sending a million sparkling sapphires of water dancing in the light. "The water was deliciously cool and refreshing, and as I struck out in it, I soon saw that I must have made a mistake, for the far shore was a great distance from me, and on it I could see shining a silvery palace. "As I neared it I leapt to the shore, and there I found, as I approached the wonderful building, many beautiful creatures playing about it. But my haste in leaving the blue waters had been ill-advised; for suddenly a great cloud of water enveloped me, and catching me up, carried me to a great height. Then I discovered that I had been changed into a lily, whose white petals were unfolded, and that I was growing in a garden, white with a multitude of the same wonderful flowers. "Not over long had I been there, when the form of man was again given to me, and I threw my arms above my head and then extended them, forming a cross. "I was standing in silver-grey garments, and before me was a great white marble temple. At once I prostrated myself, and then entered. Before me I saw that all was white and fine within, and that in the temple stood a cubical altar of silver. "I knelt before the altar; and as I did so a coldness and moisture seemed to descend upon me, which thrilled me with a delicious freshness like the falling dew. From it a cool stream arose, in the limpid waters of which I bathed my hands. Whilst in this position an angel descended with a green garment and gave it me. At first I was unwilling to wear it, but presently I did so, and after I had worn it a little while, I sacrificed it before me, when at once it became a crown of fire. "Then a voice said to me: 'Wilt thou be of the guard?' and before I could answer yea, or nay, most lovely maidens surrounded me and armed me in silver armour and a red tabard. "From where I had been standing I was led to the Northern entrance, where crowded a great concourse of people, and as I approached them they gave way before me. Then a voice whispered to me 'Smite'; thereupon, drawing my sword with fury I smote three times, upon which a great wailing arose. "Having smitten down many with those three blows, I descended among them, but left my sword behind me. Thinking I had forgotten it, in vain I tried to return, and in my strivings was of a sudden armed with many potent lightnings; then at my feet there fell away a great hollow column of rolling smoke. Seeing it, I approached it and gazing down it, beheld at its furthermost extremity the earth, dark and strong. As I watched it rolling below me, a great desire possessed me to expand my consciousness and include All. This took me a vast time to accomplish, and even then my success was but moderate. "From the column of smoke I returned to the outside of the temple and re-entered it by the Western door. Finding a gold crown upon my head, I held it up, and in the white vapour it glowed like a white light. Then an angel approached me and pressed it on to my brow, and as this was done, a feeling possessed me as if a cold shower of gold was falling through me. Then of a sudden was I carried upwards, and found myself in a second temple. Here I was conducted to the south, where stood a glittering shrine, and the light which flashed from it pierced me through and through. Blinded by the effulgence, I was led to the North to another shrine (Binah) where my eyes were anointed with cold molten silver, and immediately I saw vaguely before me a female form. "After this I returned to the central altar, where everything fell from me, and then I returned to earth, assuming my sword and red robe to dominate the astrals. Thus did I return." (VISION) No. 18. To see Sappho. "With bewildering speed I was carried upwards, and in the midst of my flight an angel approached me apparently to aid me, yet I tarried not, but still ascended. On, on I flew, until at length I became surprised at the great distance of my journey. "Eventually I arrived in a strange land, and after some perplexity assumed a divine figure, which I believe to be that of Diana. Then I called Sappho, and immediately she appeared before me, a small dark woman with a wonderful skin and a copper sheen on her dark hair. Her face was very lovely, but her expression was ablaze with intense desire, and through her wild floating hair could be seen her eyes, in which glittered madness. "On seeing me, she knelt down before me, and I, trying to comfort her, extended my hands to her, which she in turn kissed. Behind her stood the white astrals of weeping women — these were her many lovers. "After a while I brought her into the circle in which I was standing, and raising her up, caressed her upon the forehead. Then I changed to my usual shape, at which she was exceedingly amazed, and only comforted when I told her of my great love for her. Thereupon we rose together, embracing, to a place where angels greeted us. Here we were told to go between the pillars into the temple; which we did, and saw in front of us an immense kneeling figure of some Oriental Deity. "Before us glared a human face above a human body with arms and feet; but behind it, it was as the body of a lion. "Sappho then gave me the 0° = 0¤ sign, which I returned, whereupon the great figure rose and blessed us, and we embraced. Then I knelt before Sappho and said: "'You have given me of your strength and brought me into this place of blessing; I will now give you of mine.' "For answer she held my hands in hers, and wonderful tinglings of glory and passion flowed into me like live fire. I raised my head to her bosom, and kissed her passionately, and then I notice that I too was a woman! "An angel approached me and advised restraint, and so with a great calmness I passed within her body, and at once felt all her passion and longings. A mighty joy and glory encompassed me, and we became a great brown bird taking part in a mystic ceremony, the priest being the great man-lion; then again we rose and re-assumed human shape, but larger than before. "Now we saw standing before us a venerable, beautiful and kingly figure (Tiphereth), holding a flaming sword of dazzling whiteness. This he extended to us, whilst his attendants, who were angelic figures, sang a low, melodious tune. Then he placed it in our mouth, when at once there rushed from our lips an infinite and intolerable song, which presently ceased, when the sword was returned to the king. "Then I noticed that the sun was burning below us, so once again assuming the form of the brown bird, we flitted round the sun, bathing in its fiery flames and molten substance. "Presently I wished to return; but could not separate myself from her, for I was absorbed in Sappho. Becoming desperate, I called thrice unto Acheirah, who soon appeared; whereupon I explained to him my trouble. Seizing his sword, he smote at us, and we were again two human beings, just as when we met, I on the left of Sappho, whose hands were stretched out. We received the influx, and then I noticed our positions, and complained that they were wrong; for I would have been divided, so that Sappho in departing took of my left side. I left my love with her, but my strength belonged to God. "This I explained to Acheirah, but he told me my idea was wrong, and that we were so divided that I might receive the influx of strength, and she that of mercy. "So we returned into the temple, conversing, I saying to her: 'Enter with me the temple of the living God!' "This she did, following me, and then knelt down at the altar, and waving a censer adored the Lord of the Universe. "After this was at an end, we clasped our hands (1°=10¤ grip), kissed, and parted; she promising me that she would dwell in the temple sometimes, and hover about me, and watch me work, and aid me when I called her. "Then I knelt before the altar, in adoration of the Lord of the Universe; but watched her upward and eastward flight, whilst she looked amorously back at me over her right shoulder, waving her hand to me. Once only did I call her, and then, once again turning to the Lord of the Universe with the sign of the Qabalistic Cross, returned to the body." Such are some of the early visions of Frater P. They commence as we see in a series of rapidly changing and for the most part unconnected pictures, flying past the observer as the houses of a town seen through the windows of a quickly moving train. The streets which connect them are not noticed, neither always the entire buildings themselves, nor the ground on which then stand, nor the substance of which they are built; and to one who had not travelled in a train before, say a bushman who never wandered far from his native kraal, wonder and astonishment would be his as he watched the extraordinary disorder of the fast-flying view. At first he might be excused if he actually doubted his senses, so suddenly do the apparently moving buildings come, change and vanish — now a roof, some chimneys — then a gap — a tree — a spire — a glimpse down a long street — it is gone; now a high bank — a cutting — a tunnel and darkness; and then once again the light and the continual whirling past of countless houses. Yet the city clerk does not wonder; for he knows well enough — too well ever to notice it — that the houses he is speeding by are built of brick and mortar, constructed on geometric and architectural plans, connected by streets and roads, by gas and water pipes, and by drains; each a microcosm in itself, regulated, ruled and ordered by codes, customs and laws, an organized unit only wanting the breath of life for it to rise up complete, and like some colossal giant stride away from before our terror- stricken eyes. Similarly, the adept will see in these visions a great ordered kingdom, and behind all their apparent chaos rule and law; for he will understand that the sudden changing, the leaping from blue seas to silver temples, and the rushing past fiery pillars, people worshipping, red garments, hawks; and then square pillars, an eye, or a flock of eagles, is not due to disorder in the realm of the vision, but to the want of paraphrase in the mind of the beholder when he, on his return, attempts to interpret what he has seen in rational symbols and words. A chain of thought is simply a series of vibrations arising from the contact of a sense with a symbol or a series of symbols. "If controlled by the Reasoning Power, and licensed by the Will, such vibrations will be balanced and of equal length. But if uncontrolled by the Lower Will and the Reason they will be unbalanced and inharmonious — that is, of uneven length." This we find explained in a G∴D∴ manuscript entitled: "The Secret Wisdom of the Lesser World, or Microcosm which is Man." Further we learn form this manuscript that:
The fault as we see therefore lies in the preponderance of the Nephesch over the Ruach, in other words, the Emotion outbalancing the Reason. In the last vision, (Vision) No. 18., we find more exertion on the part of the Ruach than in any of the others, and this is undoubtedly accounted for by the fact that P., in this vision, set out with a definite object before him, namely, to see Sappho. The same might be said of Vision No. 7., but on consideration this will be found not to be the case, for, in No. 7, P. asks for strength to help his cousin, the very asking of which points to weakness; besides it is to be expected that a concrete idea will take a much more definite form than an abstract one. In the former case when Sappho has once appeared, except for a break here and there, the vision is rational enough — if we can use so bastard a term to express ourselves in; not so the latter, which is particularly vague. In considering these visions and future ones, it must be remembered that through we now insist on a continuous chain of ideas as proof of their validity, and equally so with such as we may deal with later on, we at present find, above all else, that simplicity is our most certain guide; for we are as yet solely dealing with the visions of a student, who, as such, like a school-boy, is expected to work out all his visions in full as if they were mathematical problems. The master may use algebraical and logarithmic short cuts, if he likes, in the solution of his intricate problems, and we shall also find many of these masterly rights of way are quite as baffling, I am afraid, as the curious mistaken byways of the beginner. Further, it must ever be borne in mind that the deeper we dive into the occult sciences, although the simpler our language often becomes, the less we find our ability to express ourselves in mere words and ordinary phrases; from complex terms we sink to simple paradoxes, and from philosophic and scientific symbols we rise into a land of purely linguistic heiroglyphics — and thence silence. The task of consciously classifying and interpreting the phenomena in the Spirit Vision (in contradistinction to optical vision) is one of the chief duties undertaken by the Adeptus Minor, that is to say, of an individual who has passed through the grade of 5°=6¤. P. had not as yet accomplished this. And in another part of the manuscript already referred to it is entitled "The Task undertaken by the Adeptus Minor," and is lucidly summarized as follows:
The Art of Skrying is further explained in a G∴D∴ manuscript entitled "Of Travelling in the Spirit Vision," in which this particular form of gaining contact, so to speak, with the Higher Will is explained as follows:
In fact if this projection of the Sphere to the desired place can be carried out successfully, the highest illumination may be obtained thereby, supposing the desired place to be God or Kether. To a beginner this particular method of Attainment will appear very vague and unbalanced, for his astral journeys will consist of a chain of alarms and surprises; and the reason for this is that in almost every case he sets out with no clear idea of the place he is struggling to journey to, or the route he has chosen to adopt. He is like an explorer who sets out on a journey of discovery; the further he travels from his own native land, the more strange and uncommon do the lands appear to him through which he is journeying. Little by little the language of his country changes, melting as it were into another not unlike it but yet different; this in time also changes, and so by degrees do all his surroundings, until he finds himself in a strange country, as different from the one from which he started as an equatorial forest is from the ice-incrusted lands of the Pole. Sometimes the change of scenery is slight, sometimes vast, according to the powers of attainment, but in all cases these journeys would be of little use unless method were brought into the extraordinary chaos which they at first reveal. And, as in Geography, little information could be obtained of the configuration of the Earth's surface unless explorers set out with a definite object in view, such as Columbus had when he set out on his great journey of discovery, and equipped with definite instruments; so in these Astral journeys, little or no spiritual information can be obtained unless the Skryer project, or at least set out with the intention of projecting, his Sphere to a certain and definite place. This, when applied to travelling to certain paths or places on the Tree of Life, is termed Rising on the Planes, and may lead, as above stated, should the place desired to arrive at be Kether, to the very highest Attainment. This Rising on the Planes is a definite mystical process, and two initiates setting out to attain the same goal would find the journey, in its essentials, as similar as two ordinary individuals would find a journey from London to Paris. Karma and environment have in these Risings on the Planes to be reckoned with, just as they would have to be taken into account in the case of the two men journeying to Paris. The one might be travelling third class, and the other first; the one might be travelling by a slow train, the other by an express; the one might see great beauty in the journey, the other little; yet both would know when they got to Dover, both would know when they were on the Channel, and both would in some way, different in detail through it might be, recognise Paris as Paris when they arrived at their destination. This particular method of Rising on the Planes is an exceptionally interesting one to study, not only because it is most intimately connected with the Eastern methods of Yoga, [86] but because we have many practical results to hand, many actual facts from which we can generalise and construct a theory. Two of such examples we will give here, the first a poem by Mr. Aleister Crowley called "The Ladder," in which the projection is vertical, that is to say, directed along the central column of the Tree of Life; and in the second, which is called "The Ascent unto Daath," by V. H. Frater I. A. In the first of these "Risings" the goal of attainment is Kether, and the various headings of the poem point out clearly enough the different stages the Skryer has to pass through. From the darkness of Malkuth he passes the various symbolic colours, which will be discussed in a future chapter, as well as many of the symbols we have described, to arrive eventually at Kether. In the second, Fra. I. A. leads us as far as Daath, the head of the Old Serpent, the Knower of Good and of Evil. Footnotes: [72] Why is it more probable that all men must die; that lead cannot of itself remain suspended in the air; that fire consumes wood and is extinguished by water; unless it be that these events are found agreeable to the laws of nature, and there is required a violation of these laws, or in other words a miracle, to prevent them?" — Hume, iv., p. 133. "It is a miracle that a dead man should come to life, because that has never been observed in any age or country." — Hume, iv., p. 134. [73] If a piece of lead were to remain suspended of itself in the air, the occurrence would be a 'miracle,' in the sense of a wonderful event, indeed; but no one trained in the methods of science would imagine that any law of nature was really violated thereby. He would simply set to work to investigate the conditions under which so highly unexpected an occurrence took place; and thereby enlarge his experience and modify his hitherto unduly narrow conception of the laws of nature." — Huxley, "Essay on Hume," p. 155. "A philosopher has declared that he would discredit universal testimony rather than believe in the resurrection of a dead person, but his speech was rash, for it is on the faith of universal testimony that he believed in the impossibility of the resurrection. Supposing such an occurrence was proved, what would follow? Must we deny evidence, or renounce reason? It would be absurd to say so. We should simply infer that we were wrong in supposing resurrection to be impossible." — E. Lévi, "The Doctrine of Transcendent Magic," pp. 121, 158, also p. 192. "Also see" Capt. J. F. C. Fuller, "The Star in the West," pp. 273- 284. [74] As opposed to "free thinker." [75] Not "There is not a God "for us," because we have no experience of a God," which, so long as they had no such experience, would be correct. [76] Whatever is intelligible and can be distinctly conceived implies no contradiction, and can never be proved false by any demonstration, argument, or abstract reasoning "a priori." — Hume, iv., p. 44. [77] Many of these visions were carried out with Frater C. S. [78] WEH Note: This was experienced on Monday, Nov. 15th, 1889 e.v. [79] A circle was first drawn, as in many invocations, in the centre of which the seer stood. [80] The robes of the Neophyte in the 0°=0¤ Ritual of the G∴D∴. [82] WEH Note: Crowley's original vision record identifies the omission as being the central part dealing with the Archangels, "Before ...". [83] These signs are given in Liber O. [84] Magical mirror of the Universe. [85] Or a cutting off of the Higher from the Lower Will. [86] The whole theory and practice of Raja Yoga is the awakening of a power named the Kundalini, which is coiled up in what is called the sacral plexus, and then forcing this awakened power up a canal called the Sushumna, which runs through the centre of the spinal column. "When the Kundalini is aroused, and enters the canal of the Sushumna, all the perceptions are in the mental space or Chittakasa. When it has reached that end of the canal which opens out into the brain, the objectless perception is in the knowledge space, or Chidakasa." As in the Ascent of the Central Column of the Tree of Life, there are certain centres, such as Malkuth, the Path of Tau, Yesod, the Path of Samech, Tiphereth, the Path of Gimel, Daath, and Kether; so in the Sushumna are there certain centres or Chakkras, viz., Muladhara, Svadistthana, Manipura, Anahaba, Visuddhi, Ajna, and Sahasara. For further attributions "See 777". [ « back to TOC ] THE LADDER"I will arise and go unto my Father." MALKUTHDark, dark, all dark! I cower, I cringe.
TAUI pass from the citrine; deep indigo YESODHail, thou full moon, O flame of amethyst! SAMECH (and the crossing of the path of Pe)Now swift, thou azure shaft of fading fire, TIPHERETHHail, hail, thou sun of harmony, GIMEL (with the crossing of the path of Teth)Hail, virgin Moon, bright Moon of Her
I am past. Hail, Hecate! Untrod DAÄTHI am insane. My reason tumbles; GIMEL (and the crossing of Daleth)Free from that curse, loosed from that prison;
Nay! I knew not what glory shone KETHERI am passed through the abyss of flame. THE RETURNBehold! I clothe mine awful light As Horus sped the flame, Harpocrates
THE ASCENT UNTO DAÄTHCome unto Me, ye, the Divine Lords of the Forces of Intelligence: Whose Abode is in the Place of the Gathering of the Waters. I stand upon the Northern Quarter of the Universe of Matter, and around me glows the Ruddy Flame of Earth.
I am come forth from the Gates of Matter:
Behind me is the Portal of the Primal Fire: In the Vast Name of AL the All Enduring
I am come forth from the Gates of the Glory; Vast before me is the Portal of Geburah:
I am come forth from the Path of the Waters: I advance over the Path of the Leader of the Lion, Like all other methods, these, Travelling in the Spirit Vision and Rising on the Planes, are only to be judged by their success. It is impossible to lay down a single task for each individual; one may suit one, and another another; nevertheless it must be pointed out here that though these two methods, or rather two phases of one method, are in most cases fruitful in result, it is generally but a slight step forward, and very seldom does supreme illumination follow. However, as appetisers they are excellent, the student attaining to just that hunger for the Beyond, that appetite for the Unobtainable, which will carry him over many a gloomy mood, many a whispering of the impossibility of his task. Yet that they can accomplish more than this is also certain: to a few they have unlocked the Portal, to the many the Postern; but in all cases it is best that the student should place himself under the guidance of one who has actually travelled, and not trust to his own intuitions in an unknown land, for, if he do so, he will almost of a certainty be led astray, and Obsession may take the place of Illumination, and failure that of success. Between the grades 4°=7¤ and 5°=6¤ seven months had to elapse, and during this time we find P. busily travelling the British Isles searching for a suitable house wherein to perform the Operation of Abramelin the Mage, which ever since the previous autumn had engaged his attention. In the month of May he had met D. D. C. F. 7°=4¤, official head of the Order of the Golden Dawn. But he was still bent on carrying out the Operation of Abramelin, and journeyed to and fro all over the country endeavouring to discover a suitable dwelling for the necessary Retirement. Thus it came about that in October of this year we find him settled in a remote and desolate district, a tumbled chaos of lake and mountain, in an ancient manor-house, making all necessary arrangements for this great operation in Ceremonial Magic. (The continuation of Book II. will appear in Nos. III. and IV. of THE EQUINOX.) [ « back to TOC ] THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING(Book II. continued) A ∴ A ∴ Publication in Class B. Issued by Order: (Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.III.) THE SORCERERBEFORE we can discuss the Operation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin, commenced by P. in the autumn of 1899, it is first necessary that we should briefly explain the meaning and value of Ceremonial Magic; and secondly, by somewhat retracing our footsteps, disclose to the reader the various methods and workings P. had undertaken before he set out to accomplish this supreme one. For over a year now he had been living "perdu" in the heart of London, strenuously applying himself to the various branches of secret knowledge that his initiations in the Order of the Golden Dawn had disclosed to him. Up to the present we have only dealt with these initiations, and his methods of Travelling in the Spirit Vision, and Rising on the Planes; but still there remain to be shown the Ceremonial methods he adopted; however, before we enter upon these, we must return to our first point, namely ___ the meaning and value of Ceremonial Magic. Ceremonial Magic, as a means to attainment, has in common with all other methods, Western or Eastern, one supreme object in view ___ identification with the Godhead; and it matters not if the Aspirant be Theist or Atheist, Pantheist or Autotheist, Christian or Jew, or whether he name the goal of his attainment God, Zeus, Christ, Matter, Nature, Spirit, Heaven, Reason, Nirvana, Asgard, No-Thing or No-God, so long as he "has" a goal in view, and a goal he is striving to attain. Without a goal, he is but a human ship without port or destination; and, without striving, work, WILL to attain, he is but a human derelict, rudderless and mastless, tossed hither and thither by the billows of lunacy, eventually to sink beneath the black waters of madness and death. Thus we find that outside the asylum, we, one and all of us, are strenuously or slothfully, willingly or unwillingly, consciously or unconsciously, progressing slowly or speedily towards "some" goal that we have set up as an ideal before us. Follow the road to that goal, subdue all difficulties, and, when the last has been vanquished, we shall find that that "some goal" is in truth THE GOAL, and that the road upon which we set out was but a little capillary leading by vein and artery to the very Heart of Unity itself. Then all roads lead to the same goal? ___ Certainly. Then, say you, "All roads are equally good?" Our answer is, "Certainly not!" For it does not follow that because all roads lead to Rome, all are of the same length, the same perfection, or equally safe. The traveller who would walk to Rome must use his own legs ___ his WILL to arrive there; but should he discard as useless the advice of such as know the way and have been there, and the maps of the countries he has to journey through, he is but a fool, only to be exceeded in his folly by such as try all roads in turn and arrive by none. As with the traveller, so also with the Aspirant; he must commence his journey with the cry, "I "will" attain! and leave nothing undone that may help him to accomplish this attainment. By contemplating the Great Work, and all means to its attainment, little by little from the Knowledge he has obtained will he learn to extract that subtle Understanding which will enable him to construct such symbols of strength, such appliances of power, such exercises of Will and Imagination, that by their balanced, chaste and sober use, he MUST succeed if he WILL to do so. So we see, it matters very little whether the Aspirant, truly the Seer, cry "Yea" or "Nay," so long as he do so with a "will," a "will" that will beget a Sorcery within the cry; for as Levi says: "The intelligence which denies, invariably affirms something, since it is asserting its liberty." Let us now inquire what this liberty is, but above all, whatever we write: "Be not satisfied with what we tell you; and act for yourself." And, if you act with daring and courage, you will indeed outstep the normal powers of life and become a strong man amongst strong men, so that "if we say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done." For the land into which you enter is a land which, to the common eye, appears as a fabulous land of wonder and miracle. Yet we say to you that there is no wonder imagined in the mind of man that man is not capable of performing, there is no miracle of the Imagination, which has been performed by man, the which may not yet again be performed by him. The sun has stood still upon Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, and the stars of heaven have fallen unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken by a mighty wind. What are suns, and moons, and stars, but the ideas of dreaming children cradled in the abyss of a drowsy understanding? To the blind worm, the sun is as the fluttering of warm wings in the outer darkness, and the stars are not; to the savage, as welcome ball of fire, and the glittering eyes of the beasts of night: to us, as spheres of earth's familiar elements and many hundred million miles away. And to the man of ten thousand years hence ___ who knows! And to him a hundred million years after that ___ who cares! Senses may come and go, and the five may become ten, and the ten twenty, so that the beings of that last far-off twilight may differ from us, as we differ from the earthworm, and the weeds in the depths of the sea. But enough ___ Become the Changless One, and ye shall leap past a million years, and an hundred hundred million in the twinkling of an eye. Nay! for Time will burst as a bubble between your lips; and, seeing and understanding, Space will melt as a bead of sweat upon your brow and vanish! Dare to will and will to know, and you will become as great as, and even greater than, Apollonius, Flamel or Lully; and then know to keep silence, lest like Lucifer you fall, and the brilliance of your knowledge blind the eyes of the owls that are men; and from a great light, spring a great darkness; and the image survive and the imagination vanish, and idols replace the gods, and churches of brick and stone the mysteries of the forests and the mountains, and the rapture which girds the hearts of men like a circle of pure emerald light. The great seeming miracles of life pass by unheeded. Birth and Generation are but the sorry jests of fools; yet not the wisest knows how a blade of grass sprouts from the black earth, or how it is that the black earth is changed into the green leaves and all the wonders of the woods. Yet the multitude trample the flowers of the fields under their feet, and snigger in their halls of pleasure at a dancer clothed in frilled nudity, because they are nearer seeing the mysteries of Creation than they are in the smugness of their own stuffy back parlours; and gape in wonder at some stage trickster, some thought-reading buffoon, and talk about the supernatural, the supernormal, the superterestrial, the superhuman, and all the other superficial superfluities of superannuated supernumeraries, as if this poor juggler were some kind of magician who could enter their thick skulls and steal their sorry thoughts, whilst all the time he is at the old game of picking their greasy pockets. Miracles are but the clouds that cloak the dreamy eyes of ignorant men. Therefore let us once and for all thunder forth: There are no miracles for those who wake; miracles are for the dreamers, and wonders are as bottled bull's-eyes in a bun-shop for penniless children. Beauty alone exists for the Adept. Everywhere there is loveliness ___ in the poppy and in the dunghill upon which it blows; in the palace of marble and in the huts of sunbaked mud which squat without its walls. For him the glades of the forests laugh with joy, and so do the gutters of our slums. All is beautiful, and flame-shod he speeds over earth and water, through fire and air; and builds, in the tangled web of the winds, that City wherein no one dreams, and where even awakenment ceases to be. But in order to work miracles we must be outside the ordinary conditions of humanity; we must either be abstracted by wisdom or exalted by madness, either superior to all passions or beyond them through ecstasy or frenzy. Such is the first and most indispensable preparation of the operator. Hence, by a providential or fatal law, the magician can only exercise omnipotence in inverse proportion to his material interest; the alchemist makes so much the more gold as he is the more resigned to privations, and the more esteems that poverty which protects the secrets of the "magnum opus." Only the adept whose heart is passionless will dispose of the love and hate of those whom he would make instruments of his science; the myth of Genesis is eternally true, and God permits the tree of science to be approached only by those men who are sufficiently strong and self-denying not to covet its fruits. Ye, therefore, who seek in science a means to satisfy your passions, pause in this fatal way; you will find nothing but madness or death. This is the meaning of the vulgar tradition that the devil ends sooner or later by strangling sorcerers. The magus must hence be impassible, sober and chaste, disinterested, impenetrable, and inaccessible to any kind of prejudice or terror. He must be without bodily defects, and proof against all contractions and all difficulties. The first and most important of magical operations is the attainment of this rare pre-eminence.[1] The "via mystica" leading to this pre-eminence may aptly be compared to a circle. Wherever the Aspirant strikes it, there he will find a path leading to the right and another leading to the left. To the right the goal is all things, to the left the goal is nothing. Yet the paths are not two paths, but one path; and the goals are not two goals, but one goal. The Aspirant upon entering the circle must travel by the one or the other, and must not look back; lest he be turned into a pillar of salt, and become the habitation of the spirits of Earth. "For thy vessel the Beasts of the Earth shall inhabit," as sayeth Zoroaster. The Magus travels by both simultaneously, if he travels at all; for he has learnt what is meant by the mystery: "A straight line is the circumference of a circle whose radius in infinity"; a line of infinite length in the mind of the Neophyte, but which in truth is also a line of infinite shortness in that of the Magus, if finite or infinite at all. The circle having been opened out, from the line can any curve be fashioned; and if the Magus "wills it", the line "will be" a triangle, or a square, or a circle; and at his word it will flash before him as a pentagram or a hexagram, or perchance as an eleven-pointed star. Thus shall the Aspirant learn to create suns and moon, and all the hosts of heaven out of unity. But first he must travel the circumference of the circle; and, when mystically he has discovered that the goal is the starting- point, and where he entered that circle there also will it break and open out, so that the adytum of its centre becomes as an arch in its outer wall, then indeed will he be worthy of the name of Magus. The keystone to this arch some have called God, some Brahma, some Zeus, some Allah, some even IAO the God of the sounding name; but in truth, O seeker, it is Thy-SELF ___ this higher dimension in which the inner becomes the outer, and in which the single Eye alone can see the throbbing heart, Master of the entangled skein of veins. Let us for example's sake call this attainment by the common name of God (SELF as opposed to self). And as we have seen the path of union with god or goal is twofold: I. The attainment of all things. And whichever way we travel to right or to left the method is also twofold, or the twofold in one: I. Exaltation by madness. In the first we awake from the dream of illusion by a blinding light being flashed across our eyes; in the second, gradually, by the breaking of the dawn. In the first the light of knowledge, though but comparable to the whole of Knowledge as a candle-flame to the sun, may be so sudden that blindness follows the first illumination. [2] In the second, though the light be as the sun of knowledge itself; first its gentle warmth, and then its tender rays awake us, and lead us through the morning to the noontide of day. Like children of joy we rise from our beds and dance through the dewy fields, and chase the awakening butterflies from the blushing flowers ___ ecstasy is ours. The first is as a sudden bounding beyond darkness into light, from the humdrum into the ecstatic; the second a steady march beyond the passionate West into the land of everlasting Dawn. Concerning the first we have little to say; for it is generally the illumination of the weak. The feeble often gain the little success they do gain in life, not through their attempts to struggle, but on account of their weakness ___ the enemy not considering they are worth power and shot. But the strong gain their lives in fight and victory; the sword is their warrant to live, and by their swords "will" they attain; and when they once have attained, by their swords will they rule, and from warriors become as helmèd kings whose crowns are of iron, and whose sceptres are sharp swords of glittering steel, and reign; whilst the weak still remain as slaves, and a prey to the wild dreams of the night. Of a truth, sometimes the weak charioteer wins the race; but on account of his weakness he is often carried past the winning-post by the steeds that have given him the victory, and, unable to hold them back, he is dashed against the walls of the arena, whilst the strong man passing the judges turns his chariot round and receives the crown of victory, or if not that, is ever ready to race again. To learn how to WILL is the key to the kingdom, the door of which as we have seen contains two locks, or rather two bolts in one lock, one turning to the right and the other to the left. Either pile up the imagination with image upon image until the very kingdom of God is taken by assault; or withdrawn one symbol after another until the walls are undermined and the "cloud-capped towers" come tumbling to the ground. In either case the end is the same ___ the city is taken. Or perchance if you are a great Captain, and your army is filled with warlike men, and you are in possession of all the engines suitable to this Promethean struggle ___ at one and the same time scale the bastions and undermine the ramparts, so that as those above leap down, those beneath leap up, and the city falls as an arrow from a bow that breaks in twain in the hand. Such warfare is only for the great ___ the greatest; yet we shall see that this is the warfare that P. eventually waged. And where the strong have trod the weak may "dare" to follow. This path must necessarily be a difficult one; illusions and delusions must be expected, temptations and defeats encountered with equanimity, and fears and terrors passed by without trembling. The labours of Hercules are a good example of the labours the Aspirant, who would be an Adept, must expect. However, there is not space here, nor is this the place, to enter into the twelve mystic works of this man who became a God. Yet let us at least note three points ___ that the tenth labour was to slay Geryon, the "three-"headed and "three-"bodied monster of Gades; that the eleventh was to obtain apples from the garden of the Hesperides, where lived the "three" daughters of Hesperus; and that the last was to bring upon earth the "three-"headed dog Cerberus, and so unguard the gates of Hades. Similar is the Adept's last labour, to destroy the terrors of hell and to bring upon earth the Supernal triad and formulate the שׁ {HB:Shin} [3] in יהשוה {HB:Heh HB:Vau HB:Shin HB:Heh HB:Yod}. One idea must possess us, and all our energies must be focused upon it. A man who would be rich must worship wealth and understand poverty; a man who would be strong must worship strength and understand weakness; and so also a man who would be God must worship deity and understand devilry: that is, he must become saturated with the reflections of Kether in Malkuth, until the earth be leavened and the two eyes become one. He must indeed build up his tower stone upon stone until the summit vanish amongst the stars, and he is lost in a land which lies beyond the flames of day and the shadows of night. To attain to this Ecstasy, exercises and operations of the most trivial nature must be observed, if they, even in the remotest manner, appertain to the "one" idea. You are a beggar, and you desire to make gold; set to work and never leave off. I promise you, in the name of science, all the treasures of Flamel and Raymond Lully. "What is the first thing to do?" Believe in your power, then act. "But how act?" Rise daily at the same hour, and that early; bathe at a spring before daybreak, and in all seasons; never wear dirty clothes, but rather wash them yourself if needful; accustom yourself to voluntary privations, that you may be better able to bear those which come without seeking; then silence every desire which is foreign to the fulfilment of the Great Work. What! By bathing daily in a spring, I shall make gold?" You will work in order to make it. "It is a mockery!" No, it is an arcanum. "How can I make use of an arcanum which I fail to understand?" Believe and act; you will understand later. [4] Levi here places belief as a crown upon the brow of work. He is, in a way, right; yet to the ordinary individual this belief is as a heavy load which he cannot even lift, let alone carry, act how he will. Undoubtedly, if a boy worried long enough over a text-book on trigonometry he would eventually appreciate the theory and practice of logarithms; but why should he waste his time? why not instead seek a master? Certainly, when he has learnt all the text-books can teach and all the master can tell him, he must strike out for himself, but up to this point he must place his faith in some one. To the ordinary Aspirant a "Guru" [5] is necessary; and the only danger to the uninitiate is that he may place his trust in a charlatan instead of in an adept. This indeed is a danger, but surely after a little while the most ignorant will be able to discriminate, as a blind man can between day and night. And, if the pupil be a true Seeker, it matters little in the end. For as the sacrament is efficacious, though administered by an unworthy priest, so will his love of Truth enable him to turn even the evil counsels of a knave to his advantage. To return, how can these multiform desires be silenced, and the one desire be realised so that it engulf the rest? To this question we must answer as we have answered elsewhere ___ "only by a one-pointedness of the senses" ___ until the five-sided polygon become pyramidal and vanish in a point. The base must be well established, regular, and of even surface; for as the base so the summit. In other words, the five senses must be strong and healthy and without disease. An unhealthy man is unfitted to perform a magical operation, and an hysterical man will probably end in the Qliphoth or Bedlam. A blind man will not be able to equilibrate the sense of sight, or a deaf man the sense of hearing, like a man who can both see and hear; however, the complete loss of one sense, if this is ever actually the case, if far better than a mental weakness in that sense. All senses and faculties must share in the work, such at least is the dictum of Western Ceremonial Magic. And so we find the magician placing stone upon stone in the construction of his Temple. That is to say, placing pantacle upon pantacle, and safeguarding his one idea by means of swords, daggers, wands, rings, perfumes, suffumigations, robes, talismans, crowns, magic squares and astrological charts, and a thousand other symbols of things, ideas, and states, all reflecting the one idea; so that he may build up a mighty mound, and from it eventually leap over the great wall which stands before him as a partition between two worlds. All faculties and all senses should share in the work; nothing in the priest of Hermes has the right to remain idle; intelligence must be formulated by signs and summed by characters or pantacles; will must be determined by words, and must fulfil words by deeds; the magical idea must be rendered into light for the eyes, harmony for the ears, perfumes for the sense of smell, savours for the palate, objects for the touch; the operator, in a word, must realise in his whole life what he wishes to realise in the world without him; he must become a "magnet" to attract the desired thing; and when he shall be sufficiently magnetic, he must be convinced that the thing will come of itself, and without thinking of it. [6] This seems clear enough, but more clearly still is this all-important point explained by Mr. Aleister Crowley in his preface to his edition of "The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King": I am not concerned [writes Mr. Crowley} to deny the objective reality of all "magical" phenomena; if they are illusions, they are at least as real as many unquestioned facts of daily life; and, if we follow Herbert Spencer, they are at least evidence of some cause. Now, this fact is our base. What is the cause of my illusion of seeing a spirit in the triangle of Art? Every smatterer, every expert in psychology, will answer, "that cause lies in your brain." * * * * * * This being true for the ordinary Universe, that all sense-impressions are dependent on changes in the brain, we must include illusions, which are after all sense-impressions as much as "realities" are, in the class of "phenomena dependent on brain-changes." Magical phenomena, however, come under a special sub-class, since they are willed, and their cause is the series of "real" phenomena called the operations of Ceremonial Magic. These consist of:
The combination of all these and reflection on their significance. These unusual impressions (1-5) produce unusual brain-changes; hence their summary (6) is of unusual kind. The projection back into the phenomenal world is therefore unusual. Herein then consists the reality of the operations and effects of ceremonial magic; and I conceive that the apology is ample, so far as the "effects" refer only to those phenomena which appear to the magician himself, the appearance of the spirit, his conversation, possible shocks from imprudence, and so on, even to ecstasy on the one hand, and death or madness on the other. [7] Thus we see that the Aspirant must become a "magnet," and attract all desires to himself until there is nothing outside of him left to attract; or repel all things, until there is nothing left to repel. In the East the five senses are treated in their unity, and the magical operation becomes purely a mental one, and in many respects a more rational and less emotional one. The will, so to speak, is concentrated on itself by the aid of a reflective point ___ the tip of the nose, the umbilicus, a lotus, or again, in a more abstract manner, on the inhalation and exhalation of the breath, upon an idea or a sensation. The Yogi abandons the constructive method, and so it is that we do not find him building up, but, instead, undermining his consciousness, his instrument being a purely introspective one, the power of turning his will as a mental eye upon himself, and finally seeing himself as HimSELF. However, in both the Western and Eastern systems, equilibrium is both the method and the result. The Western Magician wills to turn darkness into light, earth into gold, vice into virtue. He sets out to purify; therefore all around him must be pure, ever to hold before his memory the one essential idea. More crudely this is the whole principle of advertising. A good advertiser so places his advertisement that wherever you go, and whichever way you turn, you see the name of the article he is booming. If it happens, "e.g.", to be "Keating's Insect Powder," the very name becomes part of you, so that directly a flea is seen or mentioned "Keating's" spontaneously flashes across your thoughts. The will of a magician may be compared to a lamp burning in a dark and dirty room. First he sets to work to clean the room out, then he places a brightly polished mirror along one wall to reflect one sense, and then anther to reflect another, and so on, until, whichever way he look, up or down, to right or left, behind or before, there he sees his will shining; and ultimately so dazzling become the innumerable reflections, that he can see but one great flame which obscures everything else. The Yogi on the other hand dispenses with the mirrors, and contents himself in turning the wick lower and lower until the room is one perfect darkness and nothing else can be seen or even recognised beyond SELF. By those who have passed along both these mystic paths, it will be found that the energy expended is the same in both. Concentration is a terrific labour; the mere fact of sitting still and mediating on one idea and slaying all other ideas one after the other, and then constantly seeing them sprout up hundred-headed like the Hydra, needs so great a power of endurance that, though many undertake the task, few reach the goal. Again, the strain brought to bear on a Ceremonial Magician is equally colossal, and often costly; and in these bustling days the necessary seclusion is most difficult to obtain. And so it came about that a combination of both the above systems was ultimately adopted by P. However, it must be remembered that the dabbler in Ceremonial Magic or Yoga is but heaping up evil against himself, just as the dabbler on the Stock Exchange is. Magic, like gambling, has its chances; but in the former as in the latter, without "will to work" chances are always against him who puts his trust in them alone. There is, however, one practice none must neglect, except the weakest, who are unworthy to attempt it ___ the practice of Sceptical selection. Eliphas Levi gives us the following case: One day a person said to me: "I would that I could be a fervent Catholic, but I am a Voltairean. What would I not give to have faith!" I replied: "Say 'I would' no longer; say 'I will,' and I promise you that you will believe. You tell me you are a Voltairean, and of all the various presentations of faith that of the Jesuits is most repugnant to you, but at the same time seems the most powerful and desirable. Perform the exercises of St. Ignatius again and again, without allowing yourself to be discouraged, and you will gain the faith of a jesuit. The result is infallible, and should you then have the simplicity to ascribe it to a miracle, you deceive yourself now in thinking that you are a Voltairean." [8] Now all this may be good enough for Mrs. Eddy. To borrow a sword from one of Voltaire's antagonists, and to thrust it through his back when he is not looking, is certainly one way of getting rid of Voltaire. But the intellectual knight must not behave like a Christian footpad; he must trap Voltaire in his own arguments by absorbing the whole of Voltaire ___ eighty volumes and more ___ until there is no Voltaire left, and as he does so, apply to each link of Voltaire's armour the fangs of the Pyrrhonic Serpent; and where that serpent bites through the links, those links must be discarded; and where its teeth are turned aside, those links must be kept. Similarly must he apply the serpent to St. Ignatius, and out of the combination of the strongest links of both their armours fashion for himself so invulnerable a coat of mail that none can pierce it. Thus, instead of burying one's reason in the sands of faith, like an ostrich, one should rise like a phoenix of enlightenment out of the ashes of both Freethought and Dogma. This is the whole of Philosophic Scientific Illuminism. Now that we have finished our short disquisition upon the Methods of Western Magic, let us once again turn to Frater P. and seen how he applied them to his own labours. Shortly after becoming a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, P., as already mentioned, became acquainted with a certain Frater, I.A. by name, a magician of remarkable powers. At once a great friendship sprang up between these two, and for over a year and a half they worked secretly in London at various magical and scientific experiments. During this period P. learnt what may be termed the alphabet of Ceremonial Magic ___ namely, the workings of Practical Evocations, the Consecrations and uses of Talismans, Invisibility, Transformations, Spiritual Development, Divination, and Alchemical processes, the details of which are dealt with in a manuscript entitled "Z.2." Of the Order of the Golden Dawn, which is divided into five books, each under one of the letters of the name יהשוה {HB:Heh HB:Vau HB:Shin HB:Heh HB:Yod}. These five books show how the 0°=0¤ Ritual may be used as a magical formula. They are as follow: [ « back to TOC ] י
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ת {HB:Tau} | O Thou Mighty Spirit of Mercury, Taphthartharath! I bind, command and very potently do conjure Thee: |
פּ {HB:Pé} | By the Majesty of the terrible Name of צבאות אלהים {Elohim Tzebaoth} The Gods of the Armies of the אלהים בני {Beni Elohim} By and in the name of: מיכאל {Mikhâel} Great Archangel of God, that ruleth in the Sphere of Kokab, by and in the name of: רפּאל {Raphael} Great Angel of Mercury; by and in the Name of: טיריאל {Tiriel} The Mighty Intelligence of Kokab; By and in the Name of the Sephira Hod And in the name of that thy sphere KOKAB That Thou come forth here now, in this present day and hour, and appear in visible form before us; in the great magic triangle without this Circle of Art. |
ת {HB:Tau} | I bind and conjure Thee anew: By the magical figures which are traced upon the ground: By the Magic Seal of Mercury I bear upon my breast: By the Eight Magic Lamps that flame around me: By Thy seal and sigil which I bear upon my heart: that Thou come forth, here, now, in this present day and hour, and appear in visible and material form before us, in the great magic triangle without this Circle of Art. |
ר {HB:Resh} | I bind and conjure thee anew: By the Wisdom of Thoth the Mighty God: By the Light of the Magic Fire: By the Unutterable Glory of the Godhead within me: By all powerful names and rites: that Thou come forth, here, now, in this present day and hour, and appear in visible and material form before us, in the great magical triangle without this Circle of Art. |
ת {HB:Tau} | I bind and conjure Thee anew: By the powers of Word and of Will: By the Powers of Number and Name: By the Powers of Colour and Form: By the Powers of Sigil and Seal: That Thou come forth, here, now, in this present day and hour, and appear in visible and material form before us in the great magical triangle without this Circle of Art. |
ר {HB:Resh} | I bind and conjure thee anew: By all the Magic of Light: By the Ruby Rose on the Cross of Gold: By the Glory of the Sun and Moon: By the flashing radiance of the Magic Telesmata: By the Names of God that make Thee tremble every day! That Thou come forth, here, now, in this present day and hour, and appear in visible and material form before us in the great Magic triangle without this Circle of Art! |
ת {HB:Tau} | But if thou art disobedient and unwilling to come: Then will I curse Thee by the Mighty Names of God! And I will cast Thee down from Thy Power and Place! And I will torment Thee with new and terrible names! And I will blot out Thy place from the Universe; And Thou shalt never rise again! So come Thou forth quickly, Thou Mighty Spirit Taphthartharath, come Thou forth quickly from thy abodes and retreats! Come unto us, and appear before us in visible and material form within the great Magical triangle without this Circle of Art, courteously answering all our demands, and see Thou that Thou deceive us in no wise—lest— |
[Take up the veiled sigil and strike it thrice with the blade of the Magic sword, then hold it in the left aloft in the air, at the same time stamping thrice with the Right Foot. Assistant Magus now takes sigil and places it in the North: S.S.D.D. returns to her seat, takes lotus wand (or Ibis sceptre) and says:]
The voice of the Exorcist said unto me, let me shroud myself in Darkness, peradventure thus may I manifest in Light. I am an only Being in an abyss of Darkness, from the Darkness came I forth ere my birth, from the silence of a primal sleep. And the Voice of Ages answered unto my soul: “Creature of Mercury, who art called Taphthartharath! The Light shineth in Thy darkness, but thy darkness comprehendeth it not!” Let the Mystic Circumambulation take place in the Path of Darkness, with the Magic Light of Occult science to guide our way!
[I.A. takes up sigil in left and candle in right. Starting at North they circumambulate once. S.S.D.D. rises, and passes round the Temple before them, halting at the Gate of the West. Sigil bared by I.A., purified and consecrated: S.S.D.D., as Hiereus, assuming the mask of the Spirit, strikes the sigil (now partly bared) once with the Magic Sword, and says:]
Thou canst not pass from concealment unto manifestation save by the virtue of the name Elohim! Before all things are the Chaos and the Darkness, and the Gates of the Land of Night. I am he whose name is Darkness; I am the Great One of the Paths of the Shades! I am the Exorcist in the midst of the exorcism: appear thou therefore without fear before me, for I am He in whom Fear is not! Thou hast known me, so pass thou on!
[Magus of Art passes round to the Throne of the East, Assistant Magus re-veils the sigil and carries it round once more. They halt, bare, purify and consecrate sigil as before: they approach the Gate of the East. Sigil unveiled: S.S.D.D. smiting sigil once with lotus wand.]
Thou canst not pass from concealment unto manifestation save by virtue of the name of I.H.V.H. After the formless and the void and the Darkness cometh the knowledge of the Light. I am that Light which riseth in the Darkness: I am the Exorcist in the midst of the exorcism: appear Thou therefore in Visible Form before me, for I am the wielder of the forces of the Balance. Thou hast known me now, so pass Thou on unto the Cubical Altar of the Universe!
[Sigil re-veiled, and conducted to altar, placed on West of triangle; S.S.D.D. passes to Altar holding sigil and sword as before. On her right hand is Æ.A. with the Magic Candle: on her left is D.P.A.L. with the ritual. Behind her to the East of the Magical Cauldron is I.A. casting into the milk at each appropriate moment the right ingredient. Afterwards, as S.S.D.D. names each Magical Name, I.A. draws in the perfected Hellbroth the sigils, &c., appropriate thereunto: at which time S.S.D.D. recites the:]
STRONGER AND MORE POTENT CONJURATION.
Come forth! Come forth! Come forth unto us, Spirit of Kokab Taphthartharath, I conjure Thee! Come! Accept of us these magical sacrifices, prepared to give Thee body and form.
Herein are blended the magical elements of Thy body, the symbols of Thy mighty being.
For the sweet scent of the mace is that which shall purify Thee finally from the Bondage of Evil.
And the heat of the magical fire is my will which volatilises the gross matter of Thy Chaos, enabling thee to manifest Thyself in pleasing form before us.
And the flesh of the serpent is the symbol of Thy body, which we destroy by water and fire, that it may be renewed before us.
And the Blood of the Serpent is the Symbol of the Magic of the Word Messiah, whereby we triumph over Nahash.
And the all-binding Milk is the magical water of Thy purification.
And the Fire which flames over all [assistant lights Hell-broth] is the utter power of our sacred rites! Come forth! Come forth! Come forth unto us, Spirit of Mercury, O Taphthartharath. I bind and conjure Thee by Him that sitteth for ever on the Throne of Thy Planet, the Knower, the Master, the All-Dominating by Wisdom, Thoth the Great King, Lord of the Upper and the Lower Crowns! I bind and conjure Thee by the Great Name
IAHDONHI
Whose power is set flaming above Thy Palaces, and ruleth over Thee in the midst of Thy gloomy Habitations.
And by the powers of the mighty letter Beth: which is the house of our God, and the Crown of our Understanding and Knowledge. And by the great Magic Word
StiBeTTChePhMeFShiSS
which calleth Thee from Thy place as Thou fleest before the presence of the Spirit of Light and the Crown! And by the name
ZBaTh,
which symbolises Thy passage from Mercury in Gemini unto us in Malkuth:
Come forth, come forth, come forth!
Taphthartharath!
In the name of IAHDONHI:
I invoke Thee: appear! appear!
Taphthartharath!
In the name of Elohim Tzebaoth!
I invoke Thee: appear! appear!
Taphthartharath!
In the Name of Mikhâel:
I invoke Thee: appear! appear!
Taphthartharath!
In the Name of Raphael:
I invoke Thee: appear! appear! Taphthartharath!
In the Name of Tiriel:
I invoke Thee: appear! appear! Taphthartharath!
In the Name of Asboga:
I invoke Thee: appear! appear!
Taphthartharath!
In the Name of Din and Doni:
I invoke Thee: appear! appear!
Taphthartharath!
In the Name of Taphthartharath:
I invoke Thee: appear! appear!
O Thou Mighty Angel who art Lord of the 17th Degree of Gemini, wherein now Mercury takes refuge, send thou unto me that powerful but blind force in the form of Taphthartharath. I conjure thee by the Names of Mahiel and Onuel, they who rejoice.
Come forth unto us therefore, O Taphthartharath, Taphthartharath, and appear thou in visible and material form before us in the great Magical triangle without this Circle of Art! And if any other Magus of Art, or any other school than ours, is now invoking Thee by potent spells; or if Thou art bound by Thy vow, or Thy duties, or the terrible bonds of the Magic of Hell; then I let shine upon Thee the glory of the symbol of the Rose and the Cross; and I tell Thee by that symbol that Thou art free of all vows, of all bonds, for what time Thou comest hither to obey my will!
Or if any other Master or Masters of the Magic of Light of the Order of the Rose of Ruby and the Cross of Gold is now binding and invoking Thee by the supreme, absolute and fearful power of this our Art: then I command and conjure Thee by every name and rite already rehearsed that Thou send unto us an ambassador to declare unto us the reason of Thy disobedience.
But if Thou art yet disobedient and unwilling to come, then will I curse Thee by the Mighty Names of God, and I will cast Thee forth from Thy Power and Place. And I will torment Thee by horrible and terrible rites. And I will blot out Thy place from the Universe and Thou shalt NEVER rise again!
So come Thou forth, Thou Spirit of Mercury, Taphthartharath, come Thou forth quickly, I advise and command Thee.
Come Thou forth from Thy abodes and retreats. Come Thou forth unto us, and appear before us in this Magical triangle without this Circle of Art: in fair and human form, courteously answering in an audible voice all of our demands. As is written:
“Kiss the Son lest He be angry!
If His anger be kindled, yea, but a little —
Blessed are they that put their trust in Him!”
[The Mighty Magus of Art lifts up the sigil towards Heaven, tears off from it the Black Veil, and cries:]
Creature of Kokab, long hast Thou dwelt in Darkness! Quit the Night and seek the Day!
[Sigil is replaced to West of the triangle; Magus holds the Sword erect (point upwards) over its centre, and lays her left hand upon it, saying:]
By all the names, powers and rites already rehearsed, I conjure Thee thus unto visible apparition:
KHABS AM PEKHT.
KONX OM PAX.
LIGHT IN EXTENSION.
[Saith the Magus of Art:]
As the Light hidden in Darkness can manifest therefrom,
SO SHALT THOU
become manifest from concealment unto manifestation!
[The Magus of Art takes up the sigil, stands at East of Altar facing West, and says:]
THE CONJURATION OF THE INTELLIGENCE TIRIEL.
Tiriel, Angel of God, in the name of
IAHDONHI
I conjure thee send thou unto us this spirit
TAPHTHARTHARATH.
Do thou force him to manifest before us without this Circle of Art.
Tiriel, in the name of Elohim Tzebaoth, send to us in form material this spirit Taphthartharath.
Tiriel, in the name of Beni Elohim, send to us in form material this spirit Taphthartharath.
Tiriel, in the name of Michael, send to us in form material this spirit Taphthartharath.
Tiriel, in the name of Raphael, send to us in visible form this spirit Taphthartharath.
Tiriel, in the name of Hod, send to us in visible form this spirit Taphthartharath.
O Tiriel, Tiriel: in all the mighty signs, and seals, and symbols here gathered together, I conjure thee in the Name of the Highest to force this Spirit Taphthartharath unto visible manifestation before us, in the great triangle without this Circle of Art.
[The Magus now places the sigil between the mystic pillars, and attacks it as Enterer, directing upon it her whole will: following this projection by the sign of silence. If he does not yet appear, then repeat the invocation to Tiriel from the throne of the East. This process may be repeated thrice. But if not even then the Spirit come, then an error hath been committed, in which case replace Sigil on altar, holding sword as usual, and say:]
THE PRAYER UNTO THE GREAT GOD OF HEAVEN.
O ye great Lords of the Hall of the Twofold Manifestation of Truth, who preside over the weighing of the Souls in the Place of Judgment before
AESHOORI,
Give me your hands, for I am made as ye! Give me your hands, give me your magic powers, that I may have given unto me the force and the Power and the Might irresistible, which shall compel this disobedient and malignant spirit, Taphthartharath, to appear before me, that I may accomplish this evocation of arts according to all my works and all my desires. In myself I am nothing: in ye I am all self, and exist in the selfhood of the Mighty to Eternity! O Thoth, who makest victorious the word of AESHOORI against his adversaries, make thou my word, who am Osiris, triumphant and victorious over this spirit:
Taphthartharath
Amen.
[Return to place of the Hierophant, and repeat, charging. He now will certainly appear. But so soon as he appears, again let the sigil be purified and censed by the Magus of Art. Then removing from the middle of the sigil the Cord of Bondage, and holding that sigil in her left hand, she will smite with the flat blade of her magic sword, saying:]
By and in the Names of IAHDONHI, Elohim Tzebaoth, Michael, Raphael and Tiriel: I invoke upon thee the power of perfect manifestation unto visible appearance!
[I.A. now takes up the sigil in his right hand and circumambulates thrice. He places sigil on the ground at the place of the spirit. S.S.D.D., from the place of the Hierophant, now recites (I.A. with sword guarding the place of the spirit, D.P.A.L. holding the Book; and AE.A. holding the magical candle for her to read by)]
AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL CONJURATION.
Behold! Thou Great Powerful Prince and Spirit, Taphthartharath, we have conjured Thee hither in this day and hour to demand of Thee certain matters relative to the secret magical knowledge which may be conveyed to us from Thy great master Thoth through Thee. But, before we can proceed further, it is necessary that Thou do assume a shape and form more distinctly material and visible. Therefore, in order that Thou mayest appear more fully visible, and in order that Thou mayest know that we are possessed of the means, rites, powers and privileges of binding and compelling Thee unto obedience, do we rehearse before Thee yet again the mighty words; the Names, the Sigils, and the Powers of the conjurations of fearful efficacy: and learn that if Thou wert under any bond or spell, or in distant lands or elsehow employed, yet nothing should enable Thee to resist the power of our terrible conjuration; for if Thou art disobedient and unwilling to come, we shall curse and imprecate Thee most horribly by the Fearful Names of God the Vast One; and we shall tear from Thee Thy rank and Thy power, and we shall cast Thee down unto the fearful abode of the chained ones and shells, and Thou shalt never rise again!
Wherefore make haste, O Thou mighty spirit Taphthartharath, and appear very visibly before us, in the magical triangle without this Circle of Art. I bind and conjure Thee unto very visible appearance in the Divine and Terrible Name
IAHDONHI,
By the Name IAHDONHI,
And in the Name IAHDONHI,
I command Thee to assume before us a very visible and material Form.
By and in the Mighty Name of God the Vast One.
ELOHIM TZEBAOTH,
And in the Name ELOHIM TZEBAOTH,
And by the Name ELOHIM TZEBAOTH,
I bind and conjure Thee to come forth very visibly before us. I bind and conjure Thee unto more manifest appearance, O thou Spirit, Taphthartharath.
By the Name of MICHAEL,
And in the Name of MICHAEL,
By and in that Name of MICHAEL,
I bind and conjure Thee that Thou stand forth very visibly, endowed with an audible voice, speaking Truth in the Language wherein I have called Thee forth.
Let IAHDONHI, ELOHIM TZEBAOTH, MICHAEL, RAPHAEL, BENI ELOHIM, TIRIEL, ASBOGA, DIN, DONI, HOD, KOKAB and every name and spell and scourge of God the Vast One bind Thee to obey my words and will.
Behold the standards, symbols and seals and ensigns of our God: obey and fear them, O Thou mighty and potent Spirit, Taphthartharath!
Behold our robes, ornaments, insignia and weapons: and say, are not these the things Thou fearest?
Behold the magic fire, the mystic lamps, the blinding radiance of the Flashing Tablets!
Behold the Magical Liquids of the Material Basis; it is these that have given Thee Form!
Hear thou the Magical Spells and Names and chants which bind Thee!
Taphthartharath!
Taphthartharath!
Taphthartharath!
Taphthartharath!
Taphthartharath!
Taphthartharath!
Taphthartharath!
Arise! Move! Appear!
Zodâcar Èca od Zodamerahnu odo kikalè
Imayah piapè piamoel od VAOAN!
[If at this time that spirit be duly and rightly materialized, then pass on to the request of the Mighty Magus of Art; but if not, then doth the Magus of Art assume the God form of Thoth, and say:]
Thou comest not! Then will I work and work again. I will destroy Thee and uproot Thee out of Heaven and Earth and Hell.
Thy place shall be come empty; and the horror of horrors shall abide in Thy heart, and I will overwhelm Thee with fear and trembling, for “SOUL mastering Terror” is my Name.
[If at this point he manifest, then pass on to the final Request of the Mighty Magus of Art; if not, continue holding the arms in the sign of Apophis.]
Brother Assistant Magus! Thou wilt write me the name of this evil serpent, this spirit Taphthartharath, on a piece of pure vellum, and thou shalt place thereon also His seal and character; that I may curse, condemn and utterly destroy Him for His disobedience and mockery of the Divine and Terrible Names of God the Vast One.
[Assistant Magus does this.]
Hear ye my curse, O Lords of the Twofold Manifestation of Thmaist.
I have evoked the Spirit Taphthartharath in due form by the formulae of Thoth.
But He obeys not, He makes no strong manifestation.
Wherefore bear ye witness and give ye power unto my utter condemnation of the Mocker of your Mysteries.
I curse and blast Thee, O thou Spirit Taphthartharath. I curse Thy life and blast Thy being. I consign Thee unto the lowest Hell of Abaddon.
By the whole power of the Order of the Rose of Ruby and the Cross of Gold — for that Thou hast failed at their behest, and hast mocked by Thy disobedience at their God-born knowledge — by that Order which riseth even unto the white throne of God Himself do I curse Thy life and blast Thy being; and consign Thee unto the lowermost Hell of Abaddon!
In the Names of IAHDONHI, Elohim Tzebaoth, Michael, Raphael, Beni Elohim and Tiriel:
I curse Thy Life
And Blast Thy Being!
Down! Sink down to the depths of horror.
By every name, symbol, sign and rite that has this day been practised in this Magic Circle: by every power of my soul, of the Gods, of the Mighty Order to which we all belong!
I curse Thy Life
And Blast Thy Being!
Fall, fall down to torment unspeakable!
If Thou dost not appear then will I complete the fearful sentence of this curse.
God will not help Thee. Thou, Thou hast mocked His Name.
[Taking the slip of vellum and thrusting it into the magical Fire.]
I bid Thee, O sacred Fire of Art, by the Names and Powers which gave birth unto the Spirit of the Primal Fire: I bind and conjure Thee by every name of God, the Vast One, that hath rule, authority and dominion over Thee; that Thou do spiritually burn, blast, destroy and condemn this spirit Taphthartharath, whose name and seal are written herein, causing Him to be removed and destroyed out of His powers, places and privileges: and making Him endure the most horrible tortures as of an eternal and consuming Fire, so long as He shall come not at my behest!
The Earth shall suffocate Him, for mine are its powers, and the Fire shall torment Him, for mine is its magic. And Air shall not fan Him, nor Water shall cool Him. But Torment unspeakable, Horror undying, Terror unaltering, Pain unendurable; the words of my curse shall be on Him for ever; God shall not hear Him, nor holpen Him never, and the curse shall be on Him for ever and ever!
[So soon as he shall appear, extinguish that fire with consecrated water, and cry:]
O, Thou Mighty Spirit Taphthartharath, forasmuch as Thou art come, albeit tardily, do I revoke my magic curse, and free Thee from all its bonds save only from those that bind Thee here!
[He having appeared, the Assistant Magus of Art holds aloft his sword, saying:]
Hear ye, Great Lord of the Hall of Dual Truth; Hear ye, Immortal Powers of the Magic of Light, that this Spirit Taphthartharath hath been duly and properly invoked in accordance with the sacred rites of Power Ineffable.
[The Mighty Magus of Art now says:]
O ye Great Lords of the Glory and Light of the radiant Orb of Kokab; ye in whom are vested the knowledge of the Mighty powers, the knowledge of all the hidden Arts and Sciences of Magic and of Mystery! Ye! Ye! I invoke and conjure! Cause ye this mighty Serpent Taphthartharath to perform all our demands: manifest ye through him the Majesty of your presences, the divinity of your knowledge, that we may all be led yet one step nearer unto the consummation of the Mighty Work, one step nearer unto the great white throne of the Godhead; and that, in so doing, His being may become more glorified and enlightened, more capable of receiving the Influx of that Divine Spirit which dwells in the heart of Man and God!
[S.S.D.D. now formulates the desires as follows:]
O thou Great Potent Spirit Taphthartharath, I do command and very potently conjure thee by the Majesty of Thoth, the Great God, Lord of AmenTa, King and Lord Eternal of the Magic of Light:
That Thou teach unto us continually the Mysteries of the Art of Magic, declaring unto us now in what best manner may each of us progress towards the accomplishment of the Great Work. Teach us the Mysteries of all the Hidden Arts and Sciences which are under the Dominion of Mercury, and finally swear Thou by the Great Magic Sigil that I hold in my hand, that thou wilt in future always speedily appear before us; coming whensoever Thy sigil is unveiled from its yellow silken covering: and manifesting whensoever we enable Thee by the offerings and sacrifices of Thy nature! To the end that Thou mayest be a perpetual link of communication between the Great God Thoth under his three forms and ourselves.
THE FINAL ADMONITION.
O Thou mighty and potent prince of Spirits Taphthartharath: forasmuch as Thou hast obeyed us in all our demands, I now finally bind and conjure Thee:
That Thou hereafter harm me not, or these my companions, or this place, or aught pertaining unto all of us: that Thou faithfully do perform all those things even as Thou hast sworn by the great and all-powerful Names of God the Vast One; and that Thou dost deceive us in nothing, and forasmuch as Thou has been obedient unto our call, and hast sworn to obey our commands:
Therefore do Thou feel and receive these grateful odours of the fine perfumes of our Art, which are agreeable unto Thee.
[Magus of Fires burns much incense.]
And now I say unto Thee, in the name of IHSVH, depart in peace unto Thy habitations and abodes in the invisible. I give unto Thee the blessing of God in the Name of IAHDONHI: may the influx of the Divine Light inspire Thee and lead Thee unto the ways of peace!
Let there be peace betwixt us and Thee; and come Thou hastily when we invoke and call Thee:
Shalom! Shalom! Shalom!
[Reverse circumambulations and closing rituals of Mercury, &c. &c.]
[ « back to TOC ]
In the Order of the Golden Dawn many consecrations were made use of upon the lines laid down in Book ה, such as the Consecration of the Lotus Wand, the Rose Cross and the Magical Sword; these, however, we will omit, substituting in their place one carried out by P. himself, and called:
The Hall is first purified by the banishing rituals of Pentagram and Hexagram.
Next by Fire and Water.
The General Exordium follows; then,
THE EXORDIUM.
I.P., with the help of Q.F.D.R. and T.T.E.G, am come hither to consecrate a talisman of the Eagle Kerub of Jupiter that it may be powerful to heal the sick, to alleviate pain, to give health and strength. And I swear, in the presence of the Eternal Gods, that, as liveth the Lord of the Universe and my own Higher Soul, I will so create a dweller for this talisman that it shall be irresistible to heal the sick, to alleviate pain, to give health and strength: to the welfare of mankind and the glory of God.
[I invoke the Higher by the first prayer in 5°=6°, and make the sign of the Cross on the talisman.
Purify talisman, Fire and Water.
The Invoking ritual of the Hexagram of Jupiter is performed.]
THE GREAT INVOCATION OF AMOUN.[19]
Hail unto Thee, Lord of Mercy! Hail, I say, unto Thee, the Father of the Gods!
O Thou, whose golden plumes stream up the sky in floods of light divine!
Thou, whose head is as a sapphire, or the vault of the unchanging sky!
Thou, whose heart is pitiful; where the Rose Dawn shines out amid the gold!
Thou, unchanging and unchangeable;
Whom the Eagle follows; whom the Serpent doth embrace; O Thou that standest on the Scorpion!
Thee, Thee, Thee, Thee, I invoke!
O Thou! from whom the Universe did spring!
Thou, the All-Father,
Thou whose plumes of power rise up to touch the Throne of the Concealed!
Mighty! Merciful! Magnificent!
Thee, Thee, Thee, Thee, I invoke!
Behold! Thou hast lifted up Thy Voice and the hills were shaken! Yea, Thou didst cry aloud and the everlasting hills did bow! They fled away; they were not! And Thine Awful Sea rolled in upon the Abyss!
For Thou didst look upon my face and say: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee!
Yea, O my Father, Thou hast spoken unto me and said: "Sit thou on my right hand!”
But I have covered my face. I have hidden myself. I have knelt before Thee in the Glory of Thy face!
Arise, Lord God, arise and shine! I am To-Day and I am Yesterday! I am the Brother of the Golden Dawn!
In the Chariot of Life is my seat, and my horses course upon the firmament of Nu! Come unto me, O my Father, for I know Thy Name!
AMOUN!
[Vibrate by formulae of the Middle Pillar and of the Mystic Circumambulation.]
I invoke Thee, the Terrible and Invisible God!
I call Thee from the azure Throne!
I raise my voice in the Abyss of Water!
I raise my soul to contemplate Thy Face!
AMOUN!
Come unto me! Hear me! Appear in splendour unto these who worship at Thy Feet! For who am I before Thy Face? What is man, that Thou art mindful of him; or the Son of Man that Thou visitest him! Thou hast made him a little lower than the Elohim — Thou hast Crowned him with Glory and Honour!
AMOUN!
Hear me! Come unto me!
In myself I am nothing — in Thee I am All Self! Dwell Thou in me, and bring me to that Self which is in Thee!
AMOUN!
O my Father! my Father! the Chariots of Ishrael, and the horsemen thereof!
[All bow in adoration. Standing in the Sign of Osiris slain, say:]
I am the Abi-agnus, the Slain Lamb in thy Mountain, O Lord Most High!
I am the Strength of the Race of Men, and from me is the Shower of the Life of Earth!
I am Amoun, the Conceal‚d One: the Opener of the Day am I!
I am Osiris Onnophris, the Justified One.
I am the Lord of Life triumphant over death! There is no part of me that is not of the Gods.
I am the Preparer of the Pathway: the Rescuer unto the Light!
Out of the Darkness let the Light arise!
[Raise hands to heaven.]
Thou hast been blind and dead, O creature of talismans!
Now I say unto Thee, Receive thy Life! Receive thy Sight! I am the Reconciler with the Ineffable! I am the Dweller of the Invisible!
LET THE WHITE BRILLIANCE OF THE
DIVINE SPIRIT
DESCEND!
[Lower hands. Touching talisman with white end of Wand.]
Be thou a living creature! Whose mind is open unto the Higher!
Be thou a living creature! Whose heart is a centre of Light.
Be thou a living creature! Whose body is the Temple of the Rosy Cross.
In the number 21, in the name hyha, in the name hwchy, in the Pass-Word INRI, I declare that I have created thee, a living Spirit of this Sphere of Tzedeq, to do my will, and work thine own salvation!
Let us analyse the Key-Word.
Chief: I.
2nd: N.
3rd: R.
All: I.
Chief: Yod. י.
2nd: Nun. נ.
3rd: Resh. ר.
All: Yod. י.
Chief: Virgo, Isis, Mighty Mother.
2nd: Scorpio, Apophis, Destroyer.
3rd: Sol, Osiris, Slain and Risen.
All: Isis, Apophis, Osiris.
IAΩ
[All give the sign of the Cross.]
Chief, 2nd and 3rd Adepts: The Sign of Osiris Slain.
(Chief: L. The Sign of the mourning of Isis.)
(2nd Adept: V. The Sign of Typhon Destroyer.)
(3rd Adept: X. The Sign of Osiris Risen.)
All: LVX., Lux, The Light of the Cross.
Purify talisman with Water and Fire.
The Invocation of Water is made as in 3°=8° and by the Enochian Keys 10, 4, 11, 12 in E., W., N., S. respectively Invocation ♏ {Scorpio} (slhi).[21]
THE GREAT INVOCATION OF TOUM.
Maal O Thou! Majesty of Godhead!
Toum Maal! Thee, Thee I invoke!
Lord of Amenta! Lord of Enemehitt!
O Thou! Whose head is golden as the sun, and thy nemyss as the night sky- blue!
Thou who art as rugged as the wind!
Who formulatest wonders in the world!
Thou unchangeable as Ta-Ur!
Thou, mutable as water!
Changing ever, and ever the same!
Thou, girt about with the Waters of the West as with a garment!
Thou, who art, in the Beneath as in the Above, like to Thyself!
Reflector! Transmuter!
Creator!
Thee, Thee, I invoke!
Behold, I have set my feet in the West, as Râ that hath ended his work!
Toum goeth down into thy Waters, and the daylight passeth, and the shadows come!
But I, I pass not, nor go down!
The light of my Godhead gleams ever in Thy glowing skies;
Horus is my Name, and the City of Darkness is my House:
Thoth is on the prow of my Bark and I am Khephera that giveth Light!
Come unto me! Come unto me, I say, for I am He that standeth in Thy place!
Behold! ye gathering eagles in the Sky!
I am come into the West! I am lifted up upon your wings! Ye that follow the bier to the place of Rest. Ye that mourn Osiris in the dusk of things!
Behold He is in Me and I in Him!
I am He that ruleth in Amenta!
In Sleei (slhi) is my rule, and in Death is my dominion!
Mine are the eagles that watch in the Eye of Horus!
Mine is the Bark of Darkness, and my power is in the Setting Sun!
I am the Lord of Amenta!
Toum Maal is My Name!
Hail unto Thee!
Hail unto Thee!
O mine eagle of the glowing West!
Toumathph!
[Vibrate by the formulae of the Middle Pillar and of the Mystic Circumambulation.]
O crowned with darkness!
Mother-bird of the Holy Ones!
O golden-headed Soul of sleep!
O firm, enduring shoulders!
O body of blue and golden feathers!
O darkening feet, as of the skies of night!
O mighty Power of claws and beak, invincible, divine!
O great and glistening Wings!
Ride hither on the Storm!
Toumathph!
[Vibrate by the formulae of the Middle Pillar and of the mystic Circumambulation.]
Across the gloomy waters
From the land of the Setting Sun
Thou art come, Thou art come, for the Words of my Mouth are mighty words. Come, for the guests are ready, and the feast is spread before Thee!
Come, for the destined spouse awaits Thy kiss!
With roses and with wine, with light and life and love! The soul of Tzedeq waits! Come then, O come to me!
For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
I have fought upon earth for good.
I am purified.
I have finished my course, I have entered into the invisible!
I am Osiris Onnophris the Justified One.
I am the Lord of Life Triumphant over Death!
There is no part of me that is not of the Gods.
I am the Preparer of the Pathway: the Rescuer unto the Light! Out of the Darkness let the light arise!
[Raise hands to heaven.]
Thou hast been blind and dead, O creature of talismans!
Now I say unto thee: Receive thy life! Receive thy Sight!
I am the Reconciler with the Ineffable!
I am the Dweller of the Invisible!
LET THE WHITE BRILLIANCE OF THE
DIVINE SPIRIT
DESCEND!
THE CHYMICAL AND HERMETIC MARRIAGE OF
THE EAGLE OF THE WATERS WITH THE SOUL OF JUPITER
[Purify the talisman with Water and Fire.]
Q.F.D.R.: I am the Eagle of the Waters, and my Power is in the West!
T.T.E.G.: I am the Soul of Jupiter: in the sphere of Tzedeq is my name confessed!
P.: I am the Reconciler between you!
Q.F.D.R.: My Power is to give peace and sleep!
T.T.E.G.: My Power is to give strength and health!
P.: I am the Reconciler between you!
Q.F.D.R.: Toum Maal hath made me to this end!
T.T.E.G.: Amoun hath made me to this end!
P.: I am the Reconciler between you!
Q.F.D.R.: Pain could not dwell before us if we wed.
T.T.E.G.: Death could not come where we are if we wed.
P.: I am the Reconciler between you!
Q.F.D.R.: My robes were blue: where is their azure gone?
T.T.E.G.: My robes were violet: is their purple past? P.: I am the Reconciler between you! "
Q.F.D.R.: I am the eagle: and my form remains.
T.T.E.G.: I am the square: and still the square abides.
P.: I am the Reconciler between you!
[Q.F.D.R. and T.T.E.G. together in grip of 5°=6° over the Talisman]: We were two: are we not made one?
P.: I am the Reconciler between you!
O Maker and Creator and Preserver! Hear us who call Thee!
Mighty Lord of Life, who hast given us life and love, who is like unto Thee?
O God! hear us when we call!
Pray Thou for us, that we may be made one!
Unto God the Vast One let Thy prayer ascend!
[The Magician shall kneel down and say]: Unto Thee, sole wise, sole mighty, sole merciful One, be the praise and the glory for ever and ever! Who hast permitted me to glean in Thy field! To gather a spark of Thine unutterable light! To form two mighty beings from the spheres of Thy dominion! To make them one by the operation of Thy Divine Wisdom!
Grant that this Eagle Kerub in the Sphere of Jupiter may be indeed mighty on the Earth! To heal the sick, to strengthen the infirm, to quiet the pain of mortal men!
Grant that this work be unto it for a salvation, and a very invocation of Thy Light Divine, and a very link with the Immortal Soul of Man!
Let it be pure and strong, that at last it may attain even unto the eternal Godhead in the veritable
KHABS AM PEKHT!
KONX OM PAX!
LIGHT IN EXTENSION!
AMEN.
And for ourselves we pray, that this work of mercy that we have wrought to-night be for us a link with thy Divine Mercy, that we may be merciful, even as Thou art merciful, O our Father which art in Heaven!
That the Benignant Eye of the Most Holy and Concealed, the Ancient One of Days, may open upon us, unto the glory of Thine Ineffable Name.
AMEN.
Let us finally invoke the Divine Light upon this gentle spirit we have created, that its paths may be light, and its way unto the White Glory sure!
By Sacrifice of Self shalt thou attain!
By mercy and by peace shall be thy path!
For I know that My Redeemer liveth and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
Be thy Mind open unto the Higher! Be thy Heart the Centre of Light!
Be thy Body the Temple of the Rosy Cross!
And now I finally invoke upon thee power and might irresistible: to heal the sick, to alleviate pain, to strengthen and to restore to health!
21. AHIH. IHSHVH. INRI.
V.H. Soror Q.F.D.R., I now deliver into thy charge this pure and powerful talisman!
See thou well how thou dost acquit thyself herein!
Keep it with reverence and love as a thing holy!
Keep it in purity and strength! Let the dew of heaven descend upon it in the night season!
Let this sacred perfume be burnt before it in the heat of day!
At frequent times do this; and especially after thou has employed it in a work of love.
And if thou dose treat it ill, if thou dost use it unworthily, if thou dost expose it to the gaze of the profane, then let its spirit return unto the God that give it, and let its power be assumed by its evil and averse antithesis to become a dreadful vampire, ever to prey upon thee, that the Vengeance of the Gods may drink its fill.
But, and if thou does well and faithfully, ye shall be unto each other as a support and a blessing, and the Blessing of God the Vast One shall be ever upon you in his name
יהשוה׃ {Yahshuah}
And now in and by this very name I license all spirits to depart, save that One whose Dual Nature I have bound herein. But let them depart in peace to their Divine Orders in the name of Jeovah Jeovaschah! and let them be ever ready to come when they are called!
שלם׃ אתה
שלם׃
Fra: P. constructed many other talismans besides this, a Flashing Tablet of the Eagle Kerub of Jupiter for the purpose of curing a certain Lady I——, mother of Soror Q.F.D.F., of a serious illness. Extraordinary were its results. For having carefully celebrated the ritual he instructed Soror Q.F.D.R. to feed the talisman with incense, and water it with dew. This she neglected to do, the result being that when she placed the talisman on her sick mother, this venerable old lady was seized with a violent series of fits, and nearly died. Q.F.D.R., however, reconsecrated the talisman, the result being that the Lady I____ speedily recovered the whole of her former strength, and survived to the ripe old age of ninety-two.
With a similar talisman, too hurriedly prepared, he cured the pain in the leg of a certain friend of his; but forgetting to close the circle he found himself afflicted, exactly twenty-four hours later, by a similar pain, but in the opposite leg to the one in which his friend had suffered.
On very much the same lines as the foregoing, P. invoked into manifest appearance in the early autumn of 1899 the mighty but fallen spirit Buer, to compel his obedience unto the restoring of the health of Frater I.A.; and many other workings were also accomplished about this period. More important than any such dealings with the Paths is his progress in the Middle Pillar. In this connection we shall include Frater I.A.'s ritual for “The Magical Invocation of the Higher Genius.”
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(According to the Formulæ of the Book of the Voice of Thoth.)
[The ceremony Enterer is the Sphere of Sensation. The Hierophant is the Augœides. The officers are the Divine Sephiroth invoked. The Enterer is the natural man.]
[First let the symbols in the Shpere of Sensation be equilibrated. This is the Opening of the Hall of Truth.]
THE FIRST INVOCATION.
Come forth unto me, Thou that art my true Self: my Light: my Soul! come forth unto me: Thou that art crowned with Glory: That art the Changeless: The Un-nameable: the Immortal Godhead, whose Place is in the Unknown: and whose Dwelling is the Abode of the Undying Gods. Heart of my Soul; self- shining Flame, Glory of Light, Thee I invoke. Come forth unto me, my Lord: to me, who am Thy vain reflection in the mighty sea of Matter! Hear Thou, Angel and Lord! Hear Thou in the habitations of Eternity; come forth; and purify to Thy Glory My mind and Will! Without Thee am I nothing; in Thee am I All-self existing in Thy Selfhood to eternity!
[Close now the channels to the Ruach of the Material senses: endeavouring at the same time to awaken the Inner sight and hearing. Thus seated, strive to grasp the same ray of the Divine Glory of the selfhood: meditating upon the littleness and worthlessness of the natural man: the vanity of his desires, the feebleness of his boasted Intellect. Remember that without That Light, naught can avail thee to true progression: and that alone by purity of Mind and Will canst thou ever hope to enter into that Glory. Pray then for that purification, saying in thy heart:]
First purification and consecration of the candidate by Fire and Water.
Water: Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Fire: O send forth Thy light and Thy Truth, let them lead me, let them guide me unto Thy Holy Hill, to Thy Dwelling-place! I stand before the Beautiful Gate: before the mighty Portal of the Universe: at my Right Hand a Pillar of Fire; and at my left a Pillar of Cloud. At their bases are the dark-rolling clouds of the Material Universe: and they pierce the Vault of the Heavens above. And ever upon their summits flame the Lamps of their Spiritual Essence!
Thou that livest in the Glory beyond that Gate: Heart of my Soul; Thee I Invoke! Come Thou forth unto me, who art my very Selfhood; mine Essence, my Light: and do Thou guard me and guide me through the Manifold Paths of Life: that I may at length become one with Thine Immortal and Imperishable Essence!
Unto Thee, Sole Wise, Sole Mighty, and Sole Eternal one, be Praise and Glory for Ever; Who hast permitted me to enter so far in the Sanctuary of Thy Mysteries. Not unto me, but unto Thy name be the Glory!
Let the influence of Thy Divine Ones descend upon my head, and teach me the value of Self-Sacrifice: so that I shrink not in the hour of trial; but that my Name may be written upon High, and that my Genius may stand in the Presence of the Holy One: in that hour when the Son of Man is evoked before the Lord of Spirits; and His Name in the presence of the Ancient of Days. O Lord of the Universe! grant Thou that upon me may shine forth the Light of my Higher Soul. Let me be guided by the help of my Genius unto Thy Throne of Glory, Ineffable in the centre of the World of Life and Light.
[Now go up to the Altar: formulating before thee a glittering Light: imagine that it demands wherefore thou hast come, &c., and say:]
Adoration unto Thee that Dawnest in the Golden!
O Thou that sailest over the Heavens in Thy Bark of Morning!
Dark before Thee is the Golden Brightness;
In whom are all the hues of the Rainbow.
May I walk as Thou walkest, O Holiness, Who hast no master, Thou the great Space-Wanderer to whom millions and hundreds of thousands of years are but as one Moment! Let me enter with Thee into Thy Bark! Let me pass with Thee as Thou enterest the Gate of the West! As Thou gleamest in the Gloaming when Thy Mother Nuit enfoldeth Thee!
[Now kneel at the Altar with thy right hand on the White Triangle, and thy left in the left hand of thine Astral double, he standing in the place of the Hierophant, and holding the Astral presentment of a Lotus Wand by the white band in his right hand, then say, as if with the projected Astral consciousness:]
Adoration unto ye, ye Lords of Truth in the Hall of Thmaist, cycle of the great Gods which are behind Osiris: O ye that are gone before, let me grasp your hands, for I am made as ye!
O ye of the Hosts of the Hotepischim! Purge ye away the wrong that is in me!
Even as ye purged the Seven Glorious Ones who follow after the coffin of the Enshrined One, and whose places Anubist hath fixèd against the day of “Be-withus.”
O Thoth! Who makest Truth the Word of Aeshoori, make my word truth before the circle of the Great Gods!
Adoration unto Thee, Anubi, who guardest the threshold of the Universe!
Adoration unto Thee, Auramooth, purify me with the Living Waters!
Adoration unto Thee, Thaumæshneith, make me Holy with the Hidden Flame!
Adoration be unto Thee, O Dark-Bright One! Hoor! the Prince of the City of Blindness!
Adoration unto Thee, O Thmaist, Truth-Queen, who presidest at the Balance of Truth!
Adoration unto Thee, Asi; adoration unto Thee, Nephthyst!
O AESHOORI, Lord of Amennti!
Thou art the Lord of Life Triumphant over Death: there is naught in Thee but Godhead!
TOUM! Toum who art in the great Dwelling!
Sovereign Lord of all the Gods, save me, and deliver!
Deliver me from that God that feedeth upon the damnèd, Dog-faced but humanheaded; That dwelleth by the Pool of fire in the Judgment Hall,
Devourer of Shades, eater of Hearts, the Invisible foe!
Devourer of Immortality is his Name!
Unto Thee, Sole Wise, Sole Mighty, and Sole Eternal one, be Praise and Glory for Ever: who hast permitted me to enter so far in the Sanctuary of the Mysteries.
Not unto me, but unto Thy Name be the Glory!
[Again finish by laying sword on nape of neck, saying: So help me the Lord of the Universe and my own Higher Soul!]
[Rise now, and raise above thine head thy hands (the left open and the right still holding the magic sword), and lifting unto heaven thine eyes, strive to aspire with all thy will unto the highest Divinity, saying:]
From Thy Hands, O Lord, cometh all good! from Thy Hands flow down all grace and blessing!
The Characters of Heaven with Thy Finger hast thou traced: but none can read them save he that hath been taught in Thy school!
Therefore, even as servants look unto the hands of their masters, and handmaids unto the hands of their mistresses, even so our eyes look up unto Thee!
For Thou alone art our help, O Lord our God! Who should not extol Thee, O Lord of the Universe! Who should not praise Thee! All belongeth unto Thee! Either Thy love or Thine anger all must again re-enter! Nothing canst Thou lose, for all things tend unto Thine Honour and Majesty! Thou art Lord alone, and there is none beside Thee! Thou dost what Thou wilt with Thy Mighty Arm: and none can escape from Thee! Thou alone helpest in their necessity the humble, the meek-hearted and the poor, who submit themselves unto Thee! And whosoever humbleth himself in dust and ashes before Thee; to such an one art Thou propitious!
Who should not praise Thee then, Lord of the Universe, who should not extol Thee!
Unto whom there is none like; whose dwelling is in Heaven and in the virtuous and God-fearing Heart!
O God the Vast One!
Thou art in all things! O Nature! Thou Self from Nothing — for what else can I call Thee!
I, in myself, I am nothing!
I, in Thee, I am all Self: and exist in Thy Selfhood from nothing!
Live Thou in me: and bring me unto that Self which is in Thee!
For my victory is in the Cross and the Rose!
[Now pass to the North and face the East: projecting unto the place of the throne of the East the Astral double, and say from thence:]
The Voice of My Higher Soul said unto me: let me enter the path of Darkness: peradventure thus may I obtain the Light!
I am the only being in an Abyss of Darkness: from the Darkness came I forth ere my birth, from the Silence of a primal Sleep.
And the voice of ages answered unto my soul: child of Earth! The Light shineth in the Darkness; but the Darkness comprehendeth it not!
[Now formulate before thee a great Angel Torch-bearer saying:]
Arise! shine! for Thy Light is come!
[Pass round the Temple to the South, face West and halt: formulate the Ideal of Divine Mercy: and then that of Divine Justice: aspiring with all Thy heart unto each, and say:]
Come unto me!
O Lord of Love and Pity, come unto me, and let me live in Thy Love!
Let me be merciful even as my Father in Heaven is merciful, for Thou hast said: Blessed are the Merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy.
Grant unto me that I may attain unto thy Peace, wherein is life for evermore.
Come unto me, O Lord of Perfect Justice!
Mighty is Thine Arm, strong is Thy Hand: Justice and Judgment are the habitation of Thy Throne!
Strengthen Thou, O Lord of Strength, my will and heart, that I may be able, with Thine aid, to cast out and destroy the Evil Powers that ever fight against those who seek Thee!
[Formulate now before thee the Two Pillars of Cloud and of Fire,[22] saying:]
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean!
Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow!
O send forth Thy Light and Thy Truth, let them lead me, let them guide me unto Thy Holy Hill; even to Thy Tabernacles.
I stand before the Gate of the West; and the Pillars of the Universe arise in Majesty before me.
At my right hand is the Pillar of Fire: and on my left the Pillar of Cloud: below they are lost in Clouds of Darkness: and above in Heaven in unnameable Glory. Let me enter, O Gate of the West!
[Pass to South-West and project Astral. Then saith the Guardian of the Gate of the West:]
Thou canst not pass by Me, saith the Guardian of the West: except Thou canst tell me My Name!
[Saith the Aspirant:]
Darkness is Thy Name: Thou art the Great One of the Paths of the Shades!
[Saith the Great One of the Night of Time:]
Child of Earth! remember that Fear is failure: be thou therefore without fear: for in the heart of the Coward, Virtue abideth not!
Thou has known Me now, so pass thou on!
[Pass to the North, and exalt again thy mind unto the contemplation of the Mercy and Justice of our God, repeating the foregoing prayers; then say:]
Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow!
O send forth Thy Light and Thy Truth, let them lead me, let them guide me unto Thy Holy Hill, to Thy Dwelling-place!
Dim before me looms the mighty Gate of the East! on the right the Pillar of Fire, on the left the Pillar of Cloud: stretching from the dark clouds of the World of Darkness to the Bright Glory of the Heavenly Light: Ever affirming to Eternity the Equilibration of the Powers of God the Vast One!
Let me pass the Gate of the East Land! Let me pass the Gate of the Tuat, issuing forth with Râ in the Glory of Red Dawn!
[Pass to the North-East, project Double to the place of the throne of the East, saying:]
Thou canst not pass by Me, saith the Guardian of the East, except thou canst tell me My Name!
[Saith the Aspirant:] “Light dawning in the Darkness” is Thy Name: the Light of a Golden Day!
[Saith the Osiris:] Child of Earth! remember that Unbalanced Force is Evil: Unbalanced Mercy is but Weakness, Unbalanced Severity is but Cruelty and Oppression.
Thou hast known Me now: so pass thou on unto the Cubical Altar of the Universe!
[Pass to the West of the Altar, project Astral to between the Pillars, kneel at Altar and repeat in Astral:]
THE PRAYER OF OSIRIS.
Lord of the Universe, the Vast and the Mighty One!
Ruler of Light and of Darkness: we adore Thee and we invoke Thee! Look with favour upon this Neophyte who now kneeleth before Thee; and grant Thine aid unto the higher aspirations of His Soul, so that he may prove a true and faithful servant of the Mighty Ones, to the Glory of Thine Ineffable Name, Amen!
[Now rise: lift up both hands and eyes towards heaven; and concentrate upon the Glory and Splendour of Him that sitteth upon the Holy Throne for ever and ever, and say:]
KHABS AM PEKHT!
KONX OM PAX!
LIGHT IN EXTENSION!
In all my wanderings in Darkness the Light of Anubist went before me, yet I saw it not. It is a symbol of the Hidden Light of Occult Science.
[Pass to between the Pillars, and standing thus concentrate upon the Highest Divinity; and there standing in the sign of the Enterer, say:]
O Glory of the Godhead Unspeakable! Eternal Master! Ancient of Days! Thee, Thee, I invoke in my need! Dark is all the world; without, within; there is light alone in Thee! Rend asunder, Lord of the Universe, tear aside the Veil of the Sanctuary: let mine eyes behold my God, my King! As it is written: The Lightning lighteneth in the East and flameth even unto the West: even so shall be the Coming of the Son of Man!
[And now shalt thou see a light slow formulating into the shape of a mighty Angel, and thou shalt withdraw thyself from this sight and again say:]
I saw Water coming from the Left Side of the Temple: and all unto whom that Water came were made whole, and cried:
Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord, Allelulia!
O Lamb of God: who takest away the Sins of the World! Grant us Thy peace!
I am come forth from the Gates of Darkness: I have passed by the Gate of Amennti: and the Gate of the Taot! Behold! I am come to the Gate of the Shining Ones in Heaven. I stand between the mighty Pillars of that Gate: at my right hand the Pillar of Fire, and at my left the Pillar of Cloud: Open unto me O gate of the God with the Motionless Heart: I am come forth by the T'eser Gate: I advance over the Paths that I know, I know: and my Face is set towards the land of the Maat!
[Again formulating the Augœides.]
Come forth, come forth, my God, my King: come unto me, Thou that art crowned with starlight: Thou that shinest amongst the Lords of Truth: whose place is in the abode of the Spirits of Heaven!
[When Thou shalt again see the Glorious One thou shalt salute with Enterer; pass between the pillars and circumambulate thrice: reverently saluting the East betimes. Now halt by the Light, facing it, and exalt thy mind unto Its glory, imagine it as encompassing thee and entering into Thy inmost Being, and say:]
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live again: and whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die! I am the First and the Last, I am He that liveth but was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, and hold the keys of Hell and of Death! For I know that my Redeemer liveth; and that He shall stand at the latter Day upon the Earth.
I am the Way: the Truth and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. I am purified: I have passed through the Gates of Darkness unto Light! I have fought upon Earth for good: I have finished my Work: I have entered into the Invisible! I am the Sun in His rising: I have passed through the Hour of Cloud and of Night! I am Amoun, the Concealed One: The Opener of Day am I! I am Osiris Onnophris, the Justified One. I am the Lord of Life Triumphant over Death: There is no part of me that is not of the Gods: I am the preparer of the Pathway, the Rescuer unto the Light! I am the Reconciler with the Ineffable! I am the Dweller of the Invisible! Let the White Brilliance of the divine Spirit descend.
[A long pause.]
Thus at length have I been permitted to comprehend the Form of my Higher Self!
Adoration be unto Thee, Lord of my Life, for Thou hast permitted me to enter thus far into the Sanctuary of Thine Ineffable Mystery: and hast vouchsafed to manifest unto me some little fragment of the Glory of Thy Being. Hear me, Angel of God the Vast One: hear me, and grant my prayer! Grant that I may ever uphold the the Symbol of Self-sacrifice: and grant unto me the comprehension of aught that may bring me nearer unto Thee! Teach me, starry Spirit, more and more of Thy Mystery and Thy Mastery: let each day and hour bring me nearer, nearer unto Thee! Let me aid Thee in Thy suffering that I may one day become partaker of Thy Glory: in that day when the Son of Man is invoked before the Lord of Spirits, and His Name in the presence of the Ancient of Days!
And for this day, teach me this one thing: how I may learn from Thee the Mysteries of the Higher Magic of Light. How I may gain from the Dwellers in the bright Elements their knowledge and Power: and how best I may use that knowledge to help my fellow-men.
And, finally, I pray Thee to let there be a link of Bondage between us: that I may ever seek, and seeking, obtain help and counsel from Thee Who Art my very selfhood. And before Thee I do promise and swear; that by the aid of Him that sitteth upon the Holy Throne, I will so purify my heart and mind that I may one day become truly united unto Thee, who art in Truth my Higher Genius, my Master, my Guide, my Lord and King!
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The result of these magical experiments was twofold. First, by degrees P. was accumulating against himself a power of evil which was only awaiting a favourable moment to turn and destroy him.[23] This is the natural effect of all that class of magic which consists in making a circle, and thus setting the within against the without, and formulating duality, the eternal curse. Any idea in the mind is of little importance while it stays there, but to select it, to consecrate it, to evoke it to visible appearance, that is indeed dangerous.
For as he advanced from grade to grade, penetrating further and further into the mysteries of occult knowledge, he saw ever more clearly that most of the members of the Order of the Golden Dawn were scarcely worthy of his contempt; yet in spite of the folly of the disciples he remained loyal to their master D.D.C.F. He could not yet know that the chief is as his disciples, though raised to a higher power. For like attracts like. Secondly, these practical workings taught him, more certainly than years of study and reading, that there was but one goal to the infinite number of paths seen by the beginner, and that the ultimate result of the ש of ש Operation, the highest of the ceremonial operations of the Golden Dawn, was similar to that of “Rising on the Planes.” Having made this important discovery he abandoned his intended experiments in ceremonial Divination and Alchemy, and towards the close of 1899 retired to the lonely house that he had bought for the purpose of carrying out the Sacred Operation of Abramelin the Mage.
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Footnotes:
[1] E. Levi, "Doctrine and Ritual of Magic," p. 192.
[2] The greater our ignorance the more intense appears the illumination.
[3] N.B. --- the Shin is composed of three Yodhs, and its value is 300.
[4] "Doctrine and Ritual of Magic," pp. 194, 195.
[5] Instructor.
[6] "Doctrine and Ritual of Magic," p. 196.
[7] "Goetia," pp. 1-3.
[8] "Doctrine and Ritual of Magic," p. 195.
[9] See "Liber O", THE EQUINOX, vol. i., No. 2.
[10] See [Liber LXXXIV] Spirit Tablet, and the Elemental Calls of Dr. Dee, as preserved in the Sloane MSS. [3191] in the British Museum: also Diagram 67, which is imperfect.
[11] See [Liber LXXXIV] Tablet of Water, and the Elemental Calls of Dr. Dee.
[12] See [Liber LXXXIV] The Spirit Tablet.
[13] See [Liber LXXXIV] Tablet of Spirit.
[14] See [Liber LXXXIV] Tablet of Fire.
[15] See [Liber LXXXIV] Tablet of Spirit.
[16] See [Liber LXXXIV] Tablet of Air.
[17] See [Liber LXXXIV] Tablet of Earth.
[18] See [Liber LXXXIV] The Four Elemental Tablet.
[19] During the great invocation of Amoun and Toum Maal T.T.E.G. and Q.F.D.R. respectively charge the talisman with Enterer sign. In Part I, T.T.E.G. will imagine herself throughout as clothed with a violet light and between two mighty pillars, of smoke and flame. A white light must pervade the violet from above. Her station is the place of Jupiter.
[20] In Part II. Q. F. D. R. will imagine herself as a blue eagle between two mighty pillars. White light pervades the blue from above. Her station is in the West.
[21] See 777. Egyptian name of Scorpio.
[22] These are the two pillars of the Tree of Life; the first containing the Sephirah Chesed, and the second the Sephira Geburah.
[23] Whilst deep in these magical practices his house in London became charged with such an aura of evil that it was scarcely safe to visit it. This was not solely due to P.'s own experiments; we have to consider the evil work of others in the Order, such as E.F.E.J., who, envious of his progress and favour with the Chiefs, were attempting to destroy him. (See “At the Fork of the Roads,” THE EQUINOX, vol. i. No. 1, p. 101.) Weird and terrible figures were often seen moving about his rooms, and in several cases workmen and visitors were struck senseless by a kind of paralysis and by fainting fits.
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(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.III.)
DURING the whole of the autumn of 1899 we find P. busily engaged in making all necessary preparations for the great operation. Outside these preparations little else was accomplished; and, except for a fragment of a MS. on the “Powers of Number,” no other record of the progress of P. during these three months is forthcoming.
This MS., though interesting enough in itself, is scarely of sufficient value to quote here; however it may be remarked that it shows how strong an influence the Order of the Golden Dawn had had upon him, as well as the astonishing rapidity of his Magical progress.
In January 1900, P. returned to Paris in order that before commencing the Sacred Operation of Abramelin the Magic he might pass through the grade of 5°=6°, and become an Adeptus Minor in the Second Order of the Golden Dawn.
The ritual of the 5°=6° is of considerable length, and of such profundity and beauty that it is difficult to conceive of any man not being a better and a more illumined man for having passed through it. We should like to give it in its entirety, but space forbids, and though abridgement deducts considerably from its value, we will do our best to give its essence, and trust to make up for our shortcomings by attaching to this ritual P.’s lucid and learned interpretation.
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— UNDER CONSTRUCTION —
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— UNDER CONSTRUCTION —
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By thus passing through the ritual of the 5°=6¤ Grade of Adeptus Minor, P., in part at least, unveiled that knowledge which he had set out in the 0°=0¤ ritual to discover. For as the first grade of the First Order endows the Neophyte with an unforgettable glimpse of that Higher Self, the Augœides, Genius, Holy Guardian Angel or Adonai; so does the first grade of the Second Order engender within him that divine spark, by drawing down upon the Aspirant the Genius in Pentecostal Flames; until it no longer enshrines him like the distant walls of the starry abyss, but burns within him, pouring through the channels of his senses an unending torrent of glory, of that greater glory which alone can be comprehended by one who is an Adept: yet again, but the shadow of that supreme glory which is neither the shrine nor the flame, but the life of the Master.
From the commencement of this history we have ever found Frater P. valiantly battling with the Elemental Forces. As a hoodwinked Neophyte he was led into the colossal darkness of Malkuth to become a Zelator in the hidden mysteries of Earth. Here he found a Kingdom seemingly so balanced in its Scintillating Intelligence that he little suspected that its overwhelming glory was but the reflection of the Supernal Flame on the dark face of the Waters in which slept the invisible coils of the drowsing serpent of human will. Here, on account of its intense darkness, all became to him clear as crystal, in which he could read his own thoughts mirrored in the wavelets of the ever-dancing waters of life. Here again Existence, as the World Mystery, became to him the supreme riddle of the human Sphinx; and in his strivings to read it, in his doubts, which Minerva like sprang from his former certainties, he informed within himself the first letter of the Name of God, the Virgin impregnated by the one idea — the Vision of Adonai incarnated in her Son.
Illumined by this one supreme longing which had burnt up his coarser desires, he passed through the next ritual to the illusive Foundation of Yesod, which in its apparent Equilibrium contains a falsified reflection of the Supreme path of the Fool. For, though its element is Air, it is not the Æthyr of Zero, the breath of Equilibrium, any more than Air as a mixture of Oxygen and Nitrogen is the Ether of Space. From Yesod he could look back upon Malkuth and be filled with an intense pity for all who still cling to its illusive Splendour; so also could he look up towards Kether (Kether in Yesod, though he knew it not), and burn with a joy not unmingled with sorrow at the apparent hopelessness of ever being able to climb so distant a peak.
Thus would the heavens and hells seduce him from the path, the path of the Sun and the Angel, which through their greater glory blinded his understanding from the true way, and appeared to him not as light but as darkness.
His present position seemed so clear to him that its very clearness would also have blinded him as it has so many others, had he not slain the incubus of the Supreme, and sought a greater independence by refusing to look at the clouded summit of the mountain whilst the lower slopes were unclimbed. Instead he said to himself, the next step is God to me, ay! God, and very God of very God: there is no other God than He.* Thus through the strength of the eagle, whose eyes scorn the fire of the sun, did he learn to conquer Hod, the Splendour of the mighty waters, the ever-flowing and fluctuating desires of life, which contains all the colours of the opal, each brother light dissolving into its sister counterpart, according as the position of the Aspirant changes.
Here he learnt of the deceptions of desire; how they change, and only exist by perpetually changing. Yet also here he learnt how to slay them by wedding them to their opposites; but in the very act he only begat another mystery more terrible than the last, the mystery of Netzach.
As fire may be victorious over water, or water over fire, so may victory itself leave the Victor doubly enslaved by his very Success. Until the present, Frater P. had always found some new cause for which to draw his sword; but now, though the blade was as bright and keen as ever, like a knight surrounded by crafty footpads in the night, he knew not which way to thrust, thought the danger which surrounded him he felt was greater than any that he had ever experienced before. This danger was, indeed, the seduction of things Supremely Material. For at this point on his journey, having mastered the three elements, he came nigh falling slave to the fourth; just as a warrior who has slain the King, and the Captain of the Guard, and even the Chief Eunuch who sleeps across the threshold of the Queen's bed-chamber, may lose the Kingdom he has all but won amongst the soft seducing cushions of a fair woman's couch, and only awake from his foolish sleep as the mallet drives the nail through his unguarded head.
More valiant men have fallen in Netzach than ever fell in Malkuth, Yesod, and Hod combined, and more will fall in Tiphereth than ever fell in Netzach, and for the same reason, and that is, that all Success is illusionary, the greatest illusion being to consider oneself Successful.
It is here that man leaves, if he strive, the bow of worldly desires, and cleaves the firmament of thought like an arrow, which, eventually speeding out of the world's attraction, becomes as an universe to itself. This cleaving of the Veil of the Vault of the Adepts is in truth the precipitation of the Jechidah from the elemental flux that goes to make man. The Virgin Mother of Malkuth, the Earth fecundated by Air, Water and Fire, is delivered of her Son the Spirit, who is the Adept reborn in the Vault as Christian Rosencreutz; not yet Adonai the Christ, the Son of God, but Adonai, Jehesuah, the Son of Man, Jesus the Carpenter who one day will fashion the Tree of Life into the image of the Supernal Christ. No longer is the Vision of Adonai a mere glimpse as of a flickering light without, lost in the distance of a great forest, but a light which burns as a lamp within a lantern, and which sheds its beams equally in all directions.
It is here, when the Aspirant becomes a sun unto himself, entranced by the beauty of his children, his seemingly balanced thoughts,** the wandering planets and comets that obey his will, that he is liable to forget that though a sun to himself, he is nevertheless but an atom of the Glory Supernal, but a mote of dust dancing in the beam of the Eye Divine. This it arrives that he is as likely to be obsessed by the ordered harmony of things in Tiphereth, as the joys of the discord of things obsessed him but a stage or tow below. As the sun vivifies so can it corrupt. Therefore by his own forces must he destroy his contentment by a self- explosion of discontent so terrific that the ordered universe governed by Spirit is not blown into Chaos, the Qliphoth, but out of Chaos, out of Cosmos itself, into a new world, a higher Equilibrium, a universe of colossal strength and power. If he tremble, he is lost; he must strain every nerve, every muscle, until his whole frame vibrates and flashes forth the magical Strength of the Sephira Geburah.
Thus is the Magician begotten by devotion to the Great Work, and Work as Work alone can only gain for the Aspirant this exalted grade. He must strive beyond the hope of success; success is failure; he must strive beyond the hope of victory; victory is defeat; he must strive beyond the hope of reward; reward is punishment; he must indeed strive beyond all things; he must break up the equipoise of things; he must swing the pendulum off its hook, and wrench the lingam of Shiva from between the loins of Sakti. Justice or Mercy are nothing to him; he, as Horus the child, must quench the one with the other, as his father Osiris quenched the Waters of Hod with the fires of Netzach. Good and Evil are his implements, for his work is still in the Kingdom of the Ruach. And so long as his strivings beget, conceive, and bear the fruits of a greater and nobler Work, there is no cup of bitterness that may be refused, and no cross of suffering whose nails shall not pierce him. As Osiris he learnt to vanquish himself; rerisen as Horus he shall vanquish the world — ay! and who shall say me nay? the ultimate filaments of the hair of Nu.
Footnotes:
* A person arriving at Kether of Malkuth is liable to mistake it for Kether of Kether, and so on with an ever-increasing likelihood until Kether of Kether is actually attained, when the one swallows the other as the Serpent swallows its tail and eventually itself. In Kether of Kether there is no thinking or thought, therefore no certainty or uncertainty. From Malkuth of Yesod three obsessing forces come into play, viz., Kether of Malkuth, which tempts the Aspirant to look back; the local temptations of all the Sephiroth of Yesod save Yesod of Yesod, which is the next; and Malkuth of Hod, which tempts him to run in Hod before he can walk in Yesod.
** The Pillar of Mildness in the Tree of Life passes through the Sephiroth Kether, Tiphereth, Yesod and Malkuth which appear to be all equally balanced. This, however, is incorrect, for all save Kether, which is the point from which motion originates, are as marks set upon the pendulum of a clock, the nearer to Malkuth (the weight) the greater will be the space they move through, conversely, the farther away the less.
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(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.III.)
— UNDER CONSTRUCTION —
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(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.III.)
— UNDER CONSTRUCTION —
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These rituals being completed, P. left Mexico D.F., and in the first days of the new year of 1901 he journeyed to Ixtaccihuatl. Some time before this he had been joined by his friend D.A., and with him he travelled to Colima and thence to Toluca and Popocatepetl. Now that we have arrived at the end of this chapter, it will be pertinent to inquire into the progress P. made since he passed through the 5°=6¤ Ritual and became an Adeptus Minor in the Order of the R.R. et A.C. Strictly speaking, some time before he was officially promoted to the grade of 5°=6¤, he was already a 6°=5¤. In London and Paris his works of Magical Art had caused him to be admired by his friends and dreaded by his enemies. He had succeeded in proving that the ש of ש Operation was in fact none other than that of “The Rising on the Planes,” though in practice and theory very different. By their study and the equilibrating forces of the 5°=6¤ Ritual he was able to apply the eye of a skilled craftsman to the dreaded* Operation of Abramelin, and though he was never destined to accomplish this Sacred Work in the prescribed fashion, it so far iluminated him (for he worked astrally at it for months whilst in Mexico) as to show him the futility of even successful Magic. He was disgusted with his results. He had attained a rank which few arrive at, namely, that of Adeptus Major; and now, even though he had attained to the powers of Hecate, for which he had so long striven, he saw that the Great Attainment lay far, far beyond. And so it happened that by renouncing all his magical strength to gain a greater Power, a Nobler Art, he set forth upon the Path of the Lion that bridges the great gulf between the two highest Grades of the Second Order, as it is written: “A similar Fire flashingly extending through the rushings of Air, or a Fire formless whence cometh the Image of a Voice, or even a flashing Light abounding, revolving, whirling forth, crying aloud. Also there is the vision of the fire flashing Courser of Light, or also a Child, borne aloft on the shoulders of the Celestial Steed, fiery, or clothed with gold, or naked, or shooting with the bow shafts of Light, and standing on the shoulders of the horse; then if thy meditation prolongeth itself, thou shalt unite all these Symbols into the Form of a Lion.”
(To be continued)
Footnotes:
* On this occasion the Abramelin demons appeared as misty forms filling the whole house with a pernicious aura, which was still noticeable three years after they had been attracted. Whether these demons are to be considered as material or mental beings depends upon the philosophic outlook of the reader. Nevertheless, let it be understood that Abraelin is not a work to be taken lightly. The obsession of these demons was probably one of the chief causes of D.D.C.F.’s troubles. Frater P., in spite of his equilibrating practices of Yoga which followed immediately upon this Operation, suffered terribly on their account. Frater Æ.A. fled secretly from his house in terror; his gardener, a teetotaller for twenty years, went raving drunk, as did nearly every one who lived on the estate — we could continue examples for pages. His clairvoyants became drunkards and prostitutes, while later a butcher upon one of whose bills the names of two demons had been casually jotted down, viz., Elerion and Mabakiel, which respectively mean “A laugher” and “Lamentation” (conjoint, “unlooked-for sorrow suddenly descending upon happiness”) whilst cutting up a joint for a customer accidentally severed the femoral artery and died in a few minutes. These mishaps are most likely mere coincidences, but a coincidence when it happens is quite as awkward as the real thing, and in the case of Abramelin the coincidences can be counted by scores.
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(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.IV.)
— UNDER CONSTRUCTION —
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(Continued)
A∴A∴ Publication in Class B.
Imprimatur: N. Fra. A∴A∴
(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.V.)
[ This Chapter is also listed as LIBER LVIII ]
VI. | V. | IV. | III. | II. | I. |
Mystic Numbers of the Sephiroth |
ENGLISH OF COLUMN IV. | THE HEAVENS OF ASSIAH | ENGLISH OF COLUMN II. | HEBREW NAMES OF NUMBERS & LETTERS |
KEY SCALE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0. | Nothing No Limit Limitless L.V.X. |
אין אין סוף אין סוף אור |
0. | ||
1. | Sphere of the Primum Mobile | ראשית הגלגלים | Crown | כתר | 1. |
3. | Sphere of the Zodiac Fixed Stars |
מסלות | Wisdom. | חכמה | 2. |
6. | Sphere of Saturn | שבתאי | Understanding. | בינה | 3. |
10. | Sphere of Jupiter | צדק | Mercy. | חסד | 4. |
15. | Sphere of Mars | מאדים | Strength. | גבורה | 5. |
21. | Sphere of Sol | שמש | Beauty | תפארת | 6. |
28. | Sphere of Venus | נוגה | Victory | נצח | 7. |
36. | Sphere of Mercury | כוכב | Splendour | הוד | 8. |
45. | Sphere of Luna | לבנה | Foundation | יסוד | 9. |
55. | Sphere of the Elements | חלם | Kingdom | מלכות יסודות | 10. |
66. | Air | רוח | Ox | אלף | 11. |
78. | Mercury | (Planets following Sephiroth corresponding) | House | בית | 12. |
91. | Luna | Camel | גמל | 13. | |
105. | Venus | Door | דלת | 14. | |
120. | Aries ![]() |
טלה | Window | הה | 15. |
136. | Taurus ![]() |
שור | Nail | וו | 16. |
153. | Gemini ![]() |
תאומים | Sword | זין | 17. |
171. | Cancer ![]() |
סרטן | Fence | חית | 18. |
190. | Leo ![]() |
אריה | Serpent | טית | 19. |
210. | Virgo ![]() |
בתולה | Hand | יוד | 20. |
231. | Jupiter | Palm | כף | 21. | |
253. | Libra ![]() |
מאזנים | Ox Goad | למד | 22. |
276. | Water | מים | Water | מים | 23. |
300. | Scorpio ![]() |
עקרב | Fish | נון | 24. |
325. | Sagittarius ![]() |
קשת | Prop | סמך | 25. |
351. | Capricornus ![]() |
גדי | Eye | עין | 26. |
378. | Mars | Mouth | פה | 27. | |
406. | Aquarius ![]() |
דלי | Fishhook | צדי | 28. |
435. | Pisces ![]() |
דגים | Back of Head | קוף | 29. |
465. | Sol | Head | ריש | 30. | |
496. | Fire | אש | Tooth | שין | 31. |
528. | Saturn | Tau (as Egyptian) | תו | 32. | |
— | Earth | ארץ | — | תו | 32 bis |
— | Spirit | את | — | שין | 31 bis |
IX. | VIII. | VII. | VII. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
NUMBERS PRINTED ON TAROT TRUMPS | NUMERICAL VALUES OF COL. VII. | ENGLISH VALUES OF HEBREW LETTERS | HEBREW LETTERS | KEY SCALE |
0 | 1 | A Aleph | א | 11 |
1 | 2 | B Beth | ב | 12 |
2 | 3 | G Gimel | ג | 13 |
3 | 4 | D Daleth | ד | 14 |
4 | 5 | H He | ה | 15 |
5 | 6 | V or W Vau | ו | 16 |
6 | 7 | Z Zain | ז | 17 |
7 | 8 | Ch Cheth | ח | 18 |
11 | 9 | T Teth | ט | 19 |
9 | 10 | Y Yod | י | 20 |
10 | 20, 500 | Kaph | כ, ך | 21 |
8 | 30 | L Lamed | ל | 22 |
12 | 40, 600 | M Mem | מ, ם | 23 |
13 | 50, 700 | N Nun | נ, ן | 24 |
14 | 60 | S Samekh | ס | 25 |
15 | 70 | O Ayin | ע | 26 |
16 | 80, 800 | P Pe | פ, ף | 27 |
17 | 90, 900 | Tz Tzaddi | צ, ץ | 28 |
18 | 100 | (K soft) Qoph | ק | 29 |
19 | 200 | R Resh | ר | 30 |
20 | 300 | Sh Shin | ש | 31 |
21 | 400 | (T soft) Tau | ת | 32 |
— | . . . . . | ת | 32 bis | |
— | 300 | . . . . . | ש | 31 bis |
XV. | XIV. | XIII. | XII. | XI. | X. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SECRET NAMES OF THE FOUR WORLDS | THE FOUR WORLDS | THE PART OF THE SOUL | SECRET NUMBERS CORRESPONDING | THE ELEMENTS AND SENSES | THE LETTERS OF THE NAME | KEY SCALE |
מה Mah |
Yetzirah, Formative World | רוח Ruach |
45. | ![]() |
ו | 11 |
סג Seg |
Briah, Creative World |
נשמה Neshamah |
63. | ![]() |
ה | 23 |
עב Ob |
Atziluth, Archetypal World | חיה Chiah |
72. | ![]() |
י | 31 |
בן Ben |
Assiah, Material World |
נפש Nephesh |
52. | ![]() |
ה | 32 bis |
. . . . . | . . . . . | יחידה Iechidah |
— | ![]() |
ש | 31 bis |
|
|
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— THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING —
(Continued)
Great as were Frater P.’s accomplishments in the ancient sciences of the East, swiftly and securely as he had passed in a bare year the arduous road which so many fail to traverse in lifetime, satisfied as himself was — in a sense — with his own progress, it was not yet by these paths that he was destined to reach the Sublime Threshold of the Mystic Temple. For though it is written, “To the persevering mortal the blessed immortals are swift,” yet, were it otherwise, no mortal however persevering could attain the immortal shore. As it is written in the Fifteenth Chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, “And when he was yet afar off, his Father saw him and ran.” Had it not been so, the weary Prodigal, exhausted by his early debauches (astral visions and magic) and his later mental toil (yoga) would never have had the strength to reach the House of his Father.
One little point St. Luke unaccountable omitted. When a man is as hungry and weary as was the Prodigal, he is apt to see phantoms. He is apt to clasp shadows to him, and cry: “Father!” And, the devil being subtle, capable of disguising himself as an angel of light, it behoves the Prodigal to have some test of truth.
Some great mystics have laid down the law, “Accept no messenger of God,” banish all, until at last the Father himself comes forth. A counsel of perfection. The Father himself does send messengers, as we learn in St. Mark xii.; and if we stone them, we may perhaps in our blindness stone the Son himself when he is sent.
So that is no vain counsel of “St. John” (1 John iv. 1), “Try the spirits, whether they be of God,” no mistake when “St. Paul” claims the discernment of Spirits to be a principal point of the armour of salvation (1 Cor. xii. 10).
Now how should Frater P. or another test the truth of any message purporting to come from the Most High? On the astral plane, its phantoms are easily governed by the Pentagram, the Elemental Weapons, the Robes, the Godforms, and such childish toys. We set phantoms to chase phantoms. We make our Scin-Laeca[1] pure and hard and glittering, all glorious within, like the veritable daughter of the King; yet she is but the King’s daughter, the Nephesch adorned: she is not the King himself, the Holy Ruach or mind of man. As as we have seen in our chapter on Yoga[2], this mind is a very aspen; and as we may see in the last chapter of Captain Fuller’s “Star in the West,” this mind is a very cockpit of contradiction.
What then is the standard of truth? What tests shall we apply to revelation, when our tests of experience are found wanting? If I must doubt my eyes that have served me (well, on the whole) for so many years, must I not much more doubt my spiritual vision, my vision just open like a babe’s, my vision untested by comparison and uncriticized by reason?
Fortunately, there is one science that can aid us, a science that, properly understood by the initiated mind, is as absolute as mathematics, more self-supporting than philosophy, a science of the spirit itself, whose teacher is God, whose method is simple as the divine Light, and subtle as the divine Fire, whose results are limpid as the divine Water, all-embracing as the divine Air, and solid as the divine Earth. Truth is the source, and Economy the course, of that marvellous stream that pours its living waters into the Ocean of apodeictic certainty, the Truth that is infinite in its infinity as the primal Truth which which it is identical is infinite in its Unity.
Need we say that we speak of the holy Qabalah? O science secret, subtle, and sublime, who shall name thee without veneration, without prostration of soul, spirit, and body before thy divine Author, without exaltation of soul, spirit, and body as by His favour they bathe in His lustral and illimitable Light?
It must first here be spoken of the Exoteric Qabalah to be found in books, a shell of that perfect fruit of the Tree of Life. Next we will deal with the esoteric teachings of it, as Frater P. was able to understand them. And of these we shall give examples, showing the falsity and absurdity of the uninitiated path, the pure truth and reasonableness of the hidden Way.
For the student unacquainted with the rudiments of the Qabalah we recommend the study of S. L. Mathers’ “Introduction” to his translation of the three principal books of the Zohar[3], and Westcott’s “Introduction to the Study of the Qabalah.” We venture to append a few quotations from the former document, which will show the elementary principles of calculation. Dr. Westcott’s little book is principally valuable for its able defence of the Qabalah as against exotericism and literalism.
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The literal Qabalah is . . . is divided into three parts: גמטריא, Gematria; נוטריקון, Notariqon; and תמורה, Temurah.
Gematria is a metathesis of the Greek word grammateia. It is based on the relative numerical values of words, as I have before remarked. Words of similar numerical values are considerered to be explanatory of each other, and this theory is also extended to phrases. Thus the letter Shin, ש, is 300, and is equivalent to the number obtained by adding up the numerical values of the letters of the words אלהים רוח, Ruach Elohim, the Spirit of the Elohim; and it is therefore a symbol of the spirit of the Elohim. For ר = 200, ו = 6, ח = 8, א = 1, ל = 30, ה = 5, י = 10, מ = 40; total = 300. Similarly the words אחד, Achad, Unity, One and אהבה, Ahebah, love, each = 13; or א = 1, ח = 8, ד = 4, total = 13; and א = 1, ה = 5, ב = 2, ה = 5, total = 13. Again, the name of the angel מפפרון, Metatron, and the name of the Deity, שדי, Shaddai, each make 314; so the one is taken as symbolical of the other. The angel Metatron is said to have been the conductor of the children of Israel through the wilderness, of whom God says, “My Name is in him.” With regard to Gematria of phrases (Gen. xlix, 10), שילה יבא, Yeba Shiloh = 358, which is the numeration of the word משיה, Messiah.[4] Thus also the passage, Gen. xviii. 2 שלשה והנה, Vehenna Shalisha, “And lo, three men,” equals in numerical value ורפאל גבריאל מיכאל אלו, Elo Mikhael Gabriel ve-Raphael, “These are Michael, Gabriel and Raphael;” for each phrase = 701. I think these instances will suffice to make clear the nature of Gematria, especially as many other will be found in the course of the ensuing work.
Notariqon is derived from the Latin word notarius, a shorthand writer. Of Notariqon there are two forms. In the first every letter of a word is taken for the initial or abbreviation of another word, so that from the letters of a word a sentence may be formed. Thus every letter of the word בראשית, Berashith, the first word in Genesis, is made the initial of a word, and we obtain תורה ישראל שיקבלו אלהים ראה בראשית, Be-Rashith Rahi Elohim Sheyequebelo Israel Torah, “In the beginning the Elohim saw that Israel would accept the Law.”
In this connection I may give six very interesting specimens of Notariqon formed from this same word בראשית by Solom Meir ben Moses, a Jewish Qabalist, who embraced the Christian faith in 1665, and took the name of Prosper Rugere. These all have a Christian tendency, and by their means Prosper converted another Jew, who had previously been bitterly opposed to Christianity.
The Qabalistical importance of these sentences as bearing upon the doctrines of Christianity can hardly be overrated.
The second form of Notariqon is the exact reverse of the first. By this the initial or finals or both, or the medials, of a sentence, are taken to form a word or words. Thus the Qabalah is called נסתרח הבמה, Chokham Nesethrah, “the secret wisdom”; and if we take the initials of these two words ה and נ we form by the second kind of Notariqon the word הן, Chen, “grace.”[5] Similarly, from the initials and finals of the words השמימה לנו יעלה מי, Mi Iaulah Leno ha-Shamayimah, “Who shall go up to heaven?” (Deuteronomy xxx, 12) are forms מילה, Milah, “Circumcision,” and יהוה, the Tetragrammaton, implying that God hath ordained circumcision as the way to heaven.
Temurah is permutation. According to certain rules, one letter is substituted for another letter preceding or following it in the alphabet, and thus from one word another word of totally different orthography may be formed. Thus the alphabet is bent exactly in half, in the middle, and one half is put over the other; and then by changing alternately the first letter or the first two letters at the beginning of the second line, twenty-two commutations are produced. These are called the “Table of the Combinations of Tziruph (צירוף)”. For example’s sake, I will give the method called אלבת, Albath, thus:
11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
כ | י | ט | ח | ז | ו | ה | ד | ג | ב | א |
מ | נ | ס | ע | פ | צ | ק | ר | ש | ת | ל |
Each method takes its name from the first two pairs comprising it, the system of pairs of letters being the groundwork of the whole, as either letter in a pair is substituted for the other letter. Thus, by Albath, from רוח, Ruach, is formed דצע, Detzau. The names of the other twenty-one methods are: אבגת, אגדת, אדבג, אהבד, אובה, אהבז, אטבה, איבט, אבבי, אלבב, אמבל, אנבמ, אסבנ, אעבס, אפבע, אצבפ, אקבצ, אשבר and אתבש. To these must be added the modes אבגד and אלבם. Then comes the “Rational Table of Tziruph,” another set of twenty-two combinations.[6] There are also three “Tables of the Commutations,” known respectively as the Right, the Averse, and the Irregular. To make any of these, a square, containing 484 squares, should be made, and the letters written in. For the “Right Table” write the alphabet across from right to left: in the second from of squares do the same but begin with ב and end with א; in the third begin with ג and end with ב; and so no. For the “Averse Table” write the alphabet from right to left backwards, beginning with ת and ending with א; in the second row begin with ש and end with ת, &c. The “Irregular Table” would take too long to describe.[7] Besides all these, there is the method called תשרק, Thashraq, which is simply writing a word backwards.
There is one more very important form, called the “Qabalah of the Nine Chambers” or בכר איק, Aiq Bekar. It is thus formed:
300 | 30 | 3 | 200 | 20 | 2 | 100 | 10 | 1 |
ש | ל | נ | ר | כ | ב | ק | י | א |
600 | 60 | 6 | 500 | 50 | 5 | 400 | 40 | 4 |
ם | ס | ו | ד | נ | ה | ת | מ | ד |
900 | 90 | 9 | 800 | 80 | 8 | 700 | 70 | 7 |
ץ | צ | ט | ף |
פ | ח | ף | ע | ז |
I have put the numeration of each letter above to show the affinity between the letters in each chamber. Sometimes this is used as a cipher, by taking the portions of the figure to show the letter they contain, putting one point for the first letter, two for the second, &c.[8] Thus the right angle, containing איק, will answer for the letter ק if it have three dots or points within it. Again, a square will answer for ה, נ or ד, according to whether it has one, two, or three points respectively placed within it. So also with regard to the other letters. But there are many other ways of employing the Qabalah of the Nine Chambers, which I have not space to describe. I will merely mention, as an example, that by the mode of Temura called אתבש, Athbash, it is found that in Jeremiah xxv, 26, the word ששכ, Sheshakh, symbolizes בבל, Babel.
Besides all these rules, there are certain meanings hidden in the shape of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; in the form of a particular letter at the end of a word being different from that which it generally bears when it is a final letter, or in a letter being written in the middle of a word in a character generally used only at the end; in any letter or letters being written in a size smaller or larger than the rest of the manuscript, or in a letter being written upside down; in the variations found in the spelling of certain words, which have a letter more in some places than they have in others; in peculiarities observed in the position of any of the points or accents, and in certain expressions supposed to be elliptic or redundant.
For example, the shape of the Hebrew letter Aleph, א, is said to symbolise a Vau, ו, between a Yod, י, and a Daleth, ד; and thus the letter itself represents the word יוד, Yod. Similarly the shape of the letter He, ה, represents a Daleth, ד, with a Yod, י, written at the lower left-hand corner, &c.
In Isaiah ix, 6, 7, the word לםרבה, Lemarbah, for multiplying, is written with the character ם (M final) in the middle of the word, instead of the ordinary initial and medial מ. The consequence of this is that the total numerical value of the word, insted of being 30 + 40 + 200 + 2 + 5 = 277, is 30 + 600 + 200 + 2 + 5 = 837 = (by Gematria) זל תת, Tat Zal, the Profuse Giver. Thus, by writing the Mem as a final instead of the ordinary character, the word is made to bear a different qabalistical meaning.
. . .
It is to be further noted with regard to the first word in the Bible, בראשית, Berashith, that the first three letters, arb, are the initial letters of the names of the three persons of the Trinity: בן, Ben, the Son; רוח, Ruach, the Spirit; and אב, Ab, the Father. Furthermore the first letter of the Bible is ב, which is the initial letter of ברבה, Berakhah, blessing; and not a, which is that of ארר, Arar, cursing. Again, the letters of Berashith, taking their numerical powers, express the number of years between the Creation and the Birth of Christ, thus: ב = 2000, ר = 200, א = 1000, ש = 300, י = 10, and ת = 400: total = 3910 years, being the time in round numbers.[9] Pico della Mirandola[10] gives the following working out of בראשית: By joining the third letter, א, to the first, ב, אב, Ab, Father is obtained. If to the first letter, ב, doubled, the second letter, ר, be added, it makes בבר, be-Bar, in or through the Son. If all the letters be read except the first, it makes ראשית, Rashith, the beginning. If with the fourth letter, ש, the first ב and the last t be counted, it makes שבת, Sehebeth, the end or rest. If the first three letters be taken, they make ברא, Bera, created. If, omitting the first, the three following be taken, they make ראש, Rash, head. If, omitting the two first, the next two be taken, they give אש, Ash, fire. If the fourth and last be joined, they give שת, Sheth, foundation. Again, if the second letter be put before the first, it makes רב, Rab, great. If after the third be placed the fifth and fourth, it gives איש, Aish, man. If to the two first be joined the two last, they give ברית, Berith, covenant. And if the first be added to the last, it gives תב, Theb, which is sometimes used for תוב, Thob, good.
. . .
There are three qabalistic veils of the negative existence, and in themselves they formulate the hidden ideas of the Sephiroth not yet called into being, and they are concentrated in Kether, which in this sense is the Malkuth of the hidden ideas of the Sephiroth. I will explain this. The first veil of the negative existence is the אין, Ain, Negativity. This word consists of three letters, which thus shadow forth the first three Sephiroth or numbers. The second veil is the סוף אין, Ain-Soph, the Limitless. This title consists of six letters and shadows forth the idea of the first six Sephiroth or numbers. The third veil is the אור סוף אין, Ain Soph Aur, the Limitless Light.
This again consists of nine letters, and symbolizes the first nine Sephiroth, but of course in their hidden idea only. But when we reach the number nine we cannot progress farther without returning to the unity, or the number one, for the number ten is but a repetition of unity freshly derived from the negative, as is evident from a glance at its ordinary representation in Arabic numerals, where the circle 0 represents the Negative, and the 1 the Unity. Thus, then, 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 Sephira; which therefore may be said to be the Malkuth or number ten of the hidden Sephiroth. Thus “Kether is in Malkuth, and Malkuth is in Kether.” Or, as an alchemical writer of great repute (Thomas Vaughan, better known as Eugenius Philalethes) say (in Euphrates, or The Waters of the East), apparently quoting from Proclus: “That the heaven is in the earth, but after an earthly manner; and that the earth is in the heaven, but after a heavenly manner.” But in as much as negative existence is a subject incapable of definition, as I have before shown,[11] it is rather consideed by the Qabalists as depending back from the number of unity than as a separate consideration therefrom; wherefore they frequently apply the same terms and epithets indiscriminately to either. Such epithets are “The Concealed of the Concealed,” “The Ancient of the Ancient Ones,” the “Most Holy Ancient One,” &c.
I must now explain the real meaning of the terms Sephira and Sephiroth. The first is singular, the second is plural. The best rendering of the word is “numerical emanation.” There are ten Sephiroth, which are the most abstract forms of the ten numbers of the decimal scale — i.e. the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Therefore, as in the higher mathematics we reason of numbers in their abstract sense, so in the Qabalah we reason of the Deity by the abstract forms of the numbers; in other words, by the ספירות, Sephiroth. It was from this ancient Oriental theory that Pythagoras derived his numerical symbolic ideas.[12]
Among these Sephiroth, jointly and severally, we find the development of the persons and attributes of God. Of these some are male and some are female. Now, for some reason or other best known to themselves, the translators of the Bible have crowded out of existence and smothered up every reference to the fact that the Deity is both masculine and feminine. They have translated a feminine plural by a masculine singular in the case of the word Elohim. They have, however, left an inadvertent admission of their knowledge that it was plural in Genesis i, 26: “And the Elohim said: Let us make man.” Again (v. 27), how could Adam be made in the image of the Elohim, male and female, unless the Elohim were male and female also? The world Elohim is a plural formed from the feminine singular אלה, Eloh, by adding ים to the word. But in as much as ים is usually the termination of the masculine plural, and is here added to a feminine noun, it gives to the word Elohim the sense of a female potency added to a masculine idea, and thereby capable of producing an offspring. Now, we hear much of the Father and the Son, but we hear nothing of the Mother in the ordinary religions of the day. But in the Qabalah we find that the Ancient of Days conforms Himself simultaneously into the Father and the Mother, and thus begets the Son. Now, this Mother is Elohim. Again, we are usually told that the Holy Spirit is Masculine. But the word רוח, Ruach, Spirit, is feminine, as appears from the following passage of the Sepher Yetzirah: חיים אלהים רור אהת, Achath (feminine, not Achad, masculine) Ruach Elohim Chayyim: “One is is She the Spirit of the Elohim of Life.”
Now, we find that before the Deity conformed Himself thus — i.e., as male and female — that the worlds of the universe could not subsist, or, in the words of Genesis (i, 2) “The earth was formless and void.” These prior worlds are considered to be symbolized by the “kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned a king over the children of Israel”,[13] and they are therefore spoken of in the Qabalah as the “Edomite kings.” This will be found fully explained in various parts of this work.
We now come to the consideration of the first Sephira, or the Number One, the Monad of Pythagoras. In this number are the other nine hidden. It is indivisible, it is also incapable of multiplication; divide 1 by itself and it still remains 1, multiply 1 by itself and it is still 1 and unchanged. Thus is it a fitting representative of the great unchangeable Father of all. Now this number of unity has a twofold nature, and thus forms, as it were, the link between the negative and the positive. In its unchangeable one-ness it is scarcely a number; but in its property of capability of addition it may be called the first number of a numerical series. Now, the zero, 0, is incapable even of addition, just as also is negative existence. How, then, if 1 can neither be multiplied nor divided, is another 1 to be obtained to add to it; in other words, how is the number 2 to be found? By reflection of itself. For though 0 be incapable of definition,[14] 1 is definable. And the effect of a definition is to form an Eidolon, duplicate, or image of the thing defined. Thus, then, we obtain a duad composed of 1 and its reflection. Now also we have the commencement of a vibration established, for the number 1 vibrates alternately from changelessness to definition, and back to changelessness again. Thus, then, is it the father of all numbers, and a fitting type of the Father of all things.
The name of the first Sephira is כתר, Kether, the Crown. The Divine Name attributed to it is the Name of the Father given in Exodus iii, 14: אהיה, Eheieh, I AM. It signifies Existence.
This first Sephira contained the other nine, and produced them in succession, thus: —
The number 2, or the Duad. The name of the second Sephira is הבמה, Chokmah, Wisdom, a masculine active potency reflected from Kether, as I have before explained. This Sephira is the active and evident Father, to whom the Mother is united, who is the number 3. This second Sephira is represented by the Divine Names, יה, Yah, and יהוה, IHVH; and among the angelic hosts by אופנים, Auphamim, the Wheels. It is also called אב, Ab, the Father.
The third Sephira, or Triad, is a feminine passive potency, called בינה, Binah, the Understanding, who is co-equal with Chokmah. For Chokmah, the number 2, is like two straight lines which can never enclose a space, and therefore is powerless till the number 3 forms the triangle. Thus this Sephira completes and makes evident the supernal Trinity. It is also called אמא, Ama, Mother, and אימא, Aima, the great productive Mother,[15] who is eternally conjoined with אב, the Father, for the maintenance of the Universe in order. Therefore she is the most evident form in which can know the Father, and therefore is she worthy of all honour. She is the supernal Mother, co-equal with Chokmah, and the great feminine form of God, the Elohim,[16] in whose image man and woman are created, according to the teaching of the Qabalah, equal before God. Woman is equal with man, and certainly not inferior to him, as it has been the persistent endeavour of so-called Christians to make her. Aima is the woman described in the Apocalypse (ch xii).[17] This third Sephirah is also sometimes called the Great Sea. To her are attributed the Divine Names אלהים, Elohim, and אלהים יהוה; and the Angelic Order אראלים, Aralim, the Thrones. She is the supernal Mother, as distinguished from Malkuth, the inferior Mother, Bride and Queen.
The number 4. This union of the second and third Sephiroth produced הסד, Chesed, Mercy or Love, also called גדולה, Gedulah, Greatness or Magnificence; a masculine potency represented by the Divine Name אל, El, the Mighty One, and the angelic name השמלים, Chashmalim, Scintillating Flames (Ezekiel iv, 4).
The number 5. From this emanated the feminine passive potency גבורה, Geburah, Strength or Fortitude; or רין, Deen, Justice; represented by the Divine Names גבור אלהים, Elohim Gibor, and אהל, Elah, and the angelic name שרפים, Seraphim (Isaiah vi, 6). This Sephira is also called פּהד, Pachad, Fear.
The number 6. And from these two issued the uniting Sephirah, תפארת, Tiphereth, Beauty or Mildness,[18] represented by the Divine Name ודעת אלוה, Eloah va-Daath, and the angelic names שנאנים, Shinanim (Psalm lxviii, 18) or מלכים, Melekim, Kings. Thus by the union of justice and mercy we obtain beauty and clemency, and the second trinity of the Sephiroth is complete. This Sephira, or “Path” or “Numeration” — for by these latter appellations the emanations are sometimes called — together with the fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth Sephiroth, is spoken of as אנפּין זעיר, Zauir Anpin, the Lesser Contenance, or Microprosopus, by way of antithesis to Macroprosopus, or the Vast Countance, which is one of the names of Kether, the first Sephira. The six Sephiroth of which Zauir Anpin is composed, are then called His six members. He is also called מלך, Melekh, the King.
The number 7. The seventh Sephira is נצה, Netzach, or Firmness and Victory, corresponding to the Divine Name צבאות יהוה, IHVH Tzabaoth, the Lord of Armies, and the angelic names אלהים, Elohim, Gods, and תרשישים, Tarshishim, the brilliant ones (Daniel x, 6).
The number 8. Thence proceeded the feminine passive potency dwh, Hod, Splendour, answering to the Divine Name צבאות אלהים, Elohim Tzabaoth, the Gods of Armies, and among the angels to אלהים בני, Beni Elohim, the sons of the Gods (Genesis vi, 4).
The number 9. These two produced יסוד, Yesod, the Foundation or Basis, represented by חי אל, the Mighty Living One, and שדי, Shaddai: and among the angels by אשים, Aishim, the Flames (Psalms civ, 4), yielding the third Trinity of the Sephiroth.
The number 10. From this ninth Sephira came the tenth and last, thus completing the decad of the numbers. It is called מלכות, Malkuth, the Kingdom, and also the Queen, Matrona, the inferior Mother, the Bride of Microprosopus; and שכינה, Shekinah,[19] represented by the Divine Name אדני, Adonai,[20] and among the angelic hosts by the Kerubim, כרובים.
Now, each of these Sephiroth will be in a certain degree androgynous, for it will be feminine or receptive with regard to the Sephira which immediately precedes it in the sephirothic scale, and masculine or transmissive with regard to the Sephira which immediately follows it. But there is no Sephira anterior to Kether, nor is there a Sephira which succeeds Malkuth. By these remarks it will be understood how Chokmah is a feminine noun, though marking a masculine Sephira. The connecting link of the Sephiroth is the Ruach, spirit, from Mezla, the hidden influence.
I will now add a few more remarks on the qabalistical meaning of the term מתקלא, Metheqela, balance. In each of the three trinities or triads of the Sephiroth is a duad of opposite sexes, and a uniting intelligence which is the result. In this, the masculine and feminine potencies are regarded as the two scales of the balance, and the uniting Sephira as the beam which joins them. Thus, then, the term balance may be said to symbolize the Triune, Trinity in Unity, and the Unity represented by the central point of the beam. But, again, in the Sephiroth there is a triple Trinity, the upper, lower and middle. Now, these three are represented thus: the supernal, or highest, but the Crown, Kether; the middle by the King, and the inferior by the Queen; which will be the greatest trinity. And the earthly correlatives of these will be the primum mobile, the sun and the moon. Here we at once find alchemical symbolism.
. . .
The Sephiroth are further divided into three pillars – the right-hand Pillar of Mercy, consisting of the second, fourth, and seventh emanations; the left-hand Pillar of Judgement, consisting of the third, fifth, and eighth; and the Middle Pillar of Mildness, consisting of the first, sixths, ninth, and tenth emanations.
In their totality and unity the ten Sephiroth represent the archetypal man, קדמון אדם, Adam Qadmon, the Protogonos. In looking at the Sephiroth constituting the first triad, it is evident that they represent the intellect; and hence this triad is called the intellectual world, מושכל עולם, Olahm Mevshekal. The second triad corresponds to the moral world מורגש עולם, Olahm Morgash. The third represents power and stability, and is therefore called the material world, המוטבע עולם, Olahm ha-Mevetbau. These three aspects are called the faces, אנפּין, Anpin. Thus is the tree of life, ההיים עץ, Otz Chaiim[21] formed; the first triad being placed above, the second and third below, in such a manner that the three masculine Sephiroth are on the right, three feminine on the left, whilst the four uniting Sephiroth occupy the centre. This is the qabalistical “tree of life,” on which all things depend. There is considerable analogy between this and the tree Yggdrasil of the Scandinavians.
I have already remarked that there is one trinity which comprises all the Sephiroth, and that it consists of the crown, the king, and the queen. (In some senses this is the Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which in their highest divine nature are symbolized by the first three Sephiroth, Kether, Chokmah, and Binah.) It is the Trinity which created the world, or, in qabalistic language, the universe was born from the union of the crowned king and queen. But according to the Qabalah, before the complete form of the heavenly man (the ten Sephiroth) was produced, there were certain primordial worlds created, but these could not subsist, as the equilibrium of balance was not yet perfect, and they were convulsed by the unbalanced force, and destroyed.[22] These primordial worlds are called the “kings of ancient time” and the “kings of Edom who reigned before the monarchs of Israel.” In this sense, Edom is the world of unbalanced force, and Israel is the balanced Sephiroth (Genesis xxxvi, 31). This important fact, that worlds were created and destroyed prior to the present creation, is again and again reiterated in the Zohar.
Now the Sephiroth are also called the World of Emanations, or the Atziluthic World, or archetypal world, אצילות עולם, Olahm Atziluth; and this world gave birth to three other worlds, each containing a repetition of the Sephiroth, but in a descending scale of brightness.
The second world is the Britic world, הבריאה עולם, Olahm ha-Briah, the world of creation, also called כורסיא, Korsia, the throne. It is an immediate emnation from the world of Atziluth, whose ten Sephiroth are reflected herein, and are consequently more limited, though they are still of the purest nature, and without any admixture of matter.
The third is the Yetziratic world, היצירה עולם, Olahm ha-Yetzirah, or world of formation and of Angels, which proceeds from Briah, and though less refined in substance, is still without matter. It is in this angelic world where those intelligent and incorporeal beings reside who are wrapped in a luminous garment, and who assume a form when they appear to man.
The fourth is the Assiatic world, העשיה עולם, Olahm ha-Assiah, the world of action, called also the world of shells, הקליפּות עולם, Olahm ha-Qliphoth, which is this world of matter, made up of the grosser elements of the other three. In it is also the abode of the evil spirits which are called “the shells” by the Qabalah, קליפּות, Qliphoth, material shells. The devils are divided into ten classes, and have suitable habitations (See Tables in 777).[23]
The Demons are the grossest and most deficient of all forms. Their ten degrees aswer to decad of the Sephiroth, but in inverse ratio, as darkness and impurity increase with the descent of each degree. The two first are nothing but absence of visible form and organization. The third is the abode of darkness. Next follow seven Hells occupied by thoe demons which represent incarnate human vices, and torture those who have given themselves up to those vices in earth-life. Their prince is סמאל, Samael, the angel of poison and of death.[24] His wife is the harlot, or woman of whoredom, זנונים אשת, Isheth Zanunim;[25] and united they are called the Beast, היוא, Chioa. Thus the infernal trinity is completed, which is, so to speak, the averse and caricature of the supernal Creative One. Samael is considered to be identical with Satan.
The name of the Deity, which we call Jehovah, is in Hebrew a name of four letters, יהוה; and the true pronunciation of it is known to very few. I myself know some score of different mystical pronunciations of it. The true pronunciation is a most secret arcanum, and is a secret of secrets. “He who can rightly pronounce it, causeth heaven and earth to tremble, for it is the name which rusheth through the universe.” Therefore when a devout Jew comes upon it in reading from the Scriptures, he either does not attempt to pronounce it, but instead makes a short pause, or else he substitutes for it the name אדני, Adonai, Lord. The radical meaning of the word is “to be,” and it is thus, like אהיה, Eheieh, a glyph of existence. It is capable of twelve transpositions, which all convey the meaning of “to be”; it is the only word that will bear so many transpositions without its meaning being altered. They are called the “twelve banners of the mighty Name” and are said by some to rule the twelve signs of the Zodiac. These are the twelve banners: – יהוה, יההו, יוהה, הוהי, הויה, ההיו, וההי, ויהה, והיח, היהו, היוה, ההוי. There are three other tetragrammatic names, which are אהיה, Eheieh, existence; אדני, Adonai, Lord; and אגלא, Agla. This last is not, properly speaking, a word, but is a notariqon of the sentence אדני עולםl גבור אתה, Ateh Gibor le-Olahm Adonai, “Thou art mighty for ever, O Lord!” A brief explanation of Agla is this: A, the one first; A, the one last; G, the Trinity in Unity; L, the completion of the Great Work.
. . .
But יהוה, the Tetragrammaton, as we shall presently see, contains all the Sephiroth with the exception of Kether, and specially signifies the Lesser Countenance, Microprosopus, the King of the qabalistic Sephirothic greatest Trinity, and the Son in His human incarnation in the Christian acceptation of the Trinity. Therefore, as the Son reveals the Father, so does יהוה reveal אהיה.
And אדני is the Queen “by whom alone Tetragrammaton can be grasped,” whose exaltation into Binah is found in the Christian Assumption of the Virgin.
The Tetragrammaton יהוה is referred to the Sephiroth thus: the uppermost point of the letter Yod, י, is said to refer to Kether; the letter י itself to Chokmah, the father of Microprosopus; the letter ה, or “the supernal He” to Binah, the supernal Mother; the letter ו to the next six Sephiroth, which are called the six members of Microprosopus (and six is the numerical value of ו); lastly, the letter ה, the “inferior He” to Malkuth, the tenth Sephira, the Bride of Microprosopus.
Advanced students should then go to the fountain head, Knorr von Rosenroth’s “Kabbala denudata,” and study for themselves.[26] It should not prove easy; Frater P., after years of study, confessed: “I cannot get much out of von Rosenroth”; and we may add that only the best minds are likely to obtain more than an academic knowledge of a system which we suspect von Rosenroth himself never understood in any deeper sense. As a book of reference to the hierarchical correspondences of the Qabalah, of course 777 stands alone and unrivalled.
The Graphic Qabalah has already been fully illustrated in this treatise. See Illustrations 2, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 82.[27]
By far the best and most concise account of the method of the Qabalah is that by an unknown author,[28] which Mr Aleister Crowley has printed at the end of the first volume of his Collected Works, and which we here reprint in full.
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The Evolution of Things is thus described by the Qabalists.
First is Nothing, or the Absence of Things, אין, which does not mean and cannot mean Negatively Existing (if such an Idea can be said to mean anything), as S. Liddell MacGregor Mathers, who misread the Text and stultified the Commentary by the Light of his own Ignorance of Hebrew and Philosophy, pretends in his Translation of v. Rosenroth. Second is Without Limit סוף אין, i.e., Infinite Space.
This is the primal Dualism of Infinity; the infinitely small and the infinitely great. The Clash of these produces a finite positive Idea which happens (see בראשית[29] for a more careful study, though I must not be understood to indorse every Word in our Poet-Philosopher’s Thesis) to be Light, אור. This word אור is most important. It symbolises the Universe immediately after Chaos, the Confusion or Clash of the Infinite Opposites. א {HB:Aleph} is the Egg of Matter; ו {HB:Yod} is ♉, the Bull, or Energy-Motion; and ר {HB:Resh} is the Sun, or organised and moving System of Orbs. The three Letters of אור thus repeat the three Ideas. The Nature of אור is this analysed, under the figure of the ten Numbers and the 22 Letters which together compose what the Rosicrucians have diagrammatised under the name of Minutum Mundum. It will be noticed that every Number and Letter has its “Correspondence” in Ideas of every Sort; so that any given Object can be analysed in Terms of the 32. If I see a blue Star, I should regard it as a Manifestation of Chesed, Water, the Moon, Salt the Alchemical Principle, Sagittarius or What not, in respect of its Blueness — one would have to decide which from other Data — and refer it to the XVIIth Key of the Taro in Respect of its Starriness.
The Use of these Attributions is lengthy and various: I cannot dwell upon it: but I will give one Example.
If I wish to visit the Sphere of Geburah, I use the Colours and Forces appropriate: I go there: if the Objects which then appear to my spiritual Vision are harmonious therewith, it is a Test of their Truth.
So also, to construct a Talisman, or to invoke a Spirit.
The methods of discovering Dogma from sacred Words are also numerous and important: I may mention: —
(a) The Doctrine of Sympathies: drawn from the total Numeration of a Word, when identical with, or a Multiple or Submultiple of, or a Metathesis of, that of another Word.
(b) The Method of finding the Least Number of a Word, by adding (and re-adding) the Digits of its total Number, and taking the corresponding Key of the Taro as a Key to the Meaning of the Word.
(c) The Method of Analogies drawn from the Shape of the Letters.
(d) The Method of Deductions drawn from the Meanings and Correspondence of the Letters.
(e) The Method of Acrostics drawn from the Letters. This Mode is only valid for Adepts of the highest Grades, and then under quite exceptional and rare Conditions.
(f) The Method of Transpositions and Transmutations of the Letters, which suggest Analogies, even when they fail to explain in direct Fashion.
All these and their Varieties and Combinations, with some other more abstruse or less important Methods, may be used to unlock the Secret of a Word.
Of course with Powers so wide it is easy for the Partisan to find his favourite Meaning in any Word. Even the formal Proof 0 = 1 = 2 = 3 = 4 = 5 = . . . . . . . = n is possible.
But the Adept who worked out this Theorem, with the very Intent to discredit the Qabalistc Mode of Research, was suddenly dumbfounded by the Fact that he had actually stumbled upon the Qabalistic Proof of Pantheism or Monism.
What really happens is that the Adept sits down and performs many useless Tricks with the Figures, without Result.
Suddenly the Lux dawns, and the Problem is solved.
The Rationalist explains this by Inspiration, the superstitious Man by Mathematics.
I give an Example of the Way in which one works. Let us take IAO, one of the “Barbarous Names of Evocation,” of which those who have wished to conceal their own Glory by adopting the Authority of Zarathustra have said that in the holy Ceremonies it has an ineffable Power.
But what Kind of Power? By the Qabalah we can find out the Force of the Name IAO.
We can spell it in Hebrew יאו or יאע. The Qabalah will even tell us which is the true Way. Let us however suppose that it is spelt יאו. This adds up to 17.
But first of all it strikes us that I, A, and O are the three Letters associated with the three Letters ה in the great Name of Six Letters, אהיהזה, which combines אהיה and יהוה, Macroprosopus and Microprosopus. Now these feminine Letters ה conceal the “Three Mothers” of the Alphabet א, מ, and ש. Replace these, and we get אשימוא, which adds up to 358, the Number alike of נחש, the Serpent of Genesis, and the Messiah. We thus look for redeeming Power in IAO, and for the Masculine Aspect of that Power.
Now we will see how that Power works. We have a curious Dictionary, which was made by a very learned Man, in which the Numbers from 1 to 10,000 fill the left hand Column, in Order, and opposite them are written all the sacred or important Words which add up to each Number.[30]
We take this Book, and look at 17. We find that 17 is the number of Squares in the Swastika, which is the Whirling Disc or Thunderbolt. Also there is חוג, a 'circle' or 'orbit'; זוד, to 'seethe' or 'boil'; and some other Words, which we will neglect in this Example, though we should not dare to do so if we were really trying to find out a Thing we none of us knew. To help our Deduction about Redemption, too, we find חדה, to 'brighten' or 'make glad'.
We also work in another Way. I is the Straight Line or Central Pillar of the Temple of Life; also it stands for Unity, and for the Generative Force. A is the Pentagram, which means the Will of Man working Redemption. O is the Circle from which everything came, also Nothingness, and the Female, who absorbs the Male. The Progress of the Name shows then the Way from Life to Nirvana by means of the Will: and is a Hieroglyph of the Great Work.
Look at all our Meanings! Every one of them shows that the Name, if it has any Power at all, and that we must try, has the Power to redeem us from the Love of Life which is the Cause of Life, by its masculine Whirlings, and to gladden us and to bring us to the Bosom of the Great Mother, Death.
Before what is known as the Equinox of the Gods, a little While ago, there was an initiated Formula which expressed these Ideas to the Wise. As these Formulas are done with, it is of no Consequence if I reveal them. Truth is not eternal, any more than God; and it would be but a poor God that could and did not alter his Ways at his Pleasure.
This Formula was used to open the Vault of the Mystic Mountain of Abiegnus, within which lay (so the Ceremony of Initiation supposed) the Body of our Father Christian Rosen Creutz, to be discovered by the Brethren with the Postulant as said in the Book called Fama Fraternitatis.
There are three Officers, and they repeat the Analysis of the Word as follows:
Chief. Let us analyse the Key Word — I.
2nd. N.
3rd. R.
All. I.
Chief. Yod. י
2nd. Nun. נ
3rd. Resh. ר
All. Yod. י
Chief. Virgo (♍ ) Isis, Mighty Mother.
2nd. Scorpio (♏) Apophis, Destroyer.
3rd. Sol (☉) Osiris, slain and rise.
All. Isis, Apophis, Osiris, IAO.All spread Arms as if on a Cross, and say: —
The Sign of Osiris slain!
Chief bows his Head to the Left, raises his Right Arm, and lowers his Left, keeping the Elbow and right Angles, thus forming the letter (also the Swastika).
The Sign of the Mourning of Isis.
2nd. With erect Head, raises his Arms to form a V (but really to form the triple Tongue of Flame, the Spirit), and says: —
The Sign of Apophis and Typhon.
3rd. Bows his Head and crosses his Arms on his Breast (to form the Pentagram).
The Sign of Osiris risen.
All give the Sign of the Cross, and say: —
L. V. X.
Then the Sign of Osiris risen, and say: —
Lux, the Light of the Cross.
This Formula, on which one may meditate for Years without exhausting its wonderful Harmonics, gives an excellent Idea of the Way in which Qabalistic Analysis is conduct.
First, the Letters have been written in Hebrew Characters.
Then the Attributions of them to the Zodiac and to Planets are substituted, and the Names of Egyptian Gods belonging to these are invoked.
The Christian Idea of I.N.R.I. is confirmed by these, while their Initials form the sacred Word of the Gnostics. That is, IAO. From the Character of the Deities and their Functions are deduced their Signs, and these are found to signal (as it were) the word Lux (אור), which itself is contained in the Cross.
A careful Study of these Ideas, and of the Table of Correspondences, which one of our English Brethren is making,[31] will enable him to discover a very great Deal of Matter for Thought in these Poems which an untutored Person would pass by.
. . .
To return to the general Dogma of the Qabalists.
The Figure of Minutum Mundum will show how they suppose one Quality to proceed from the last, first in the pure God-World Atziluth, then in the Angel-World Briah, and so on down to the Demon-Worlds, which are however not thus organised. They are rather Material that was shed off in the Course of Evolution, like the Sloughs of a Serpent, from which comes their Name of Shells, or Husks.
Apart from silly Questions as to whether the Order of the Emanations is confirmed by Palæontology, a Question it is quite impertinent to discuss, there is no doubt the Sephiroth are types of Evolution as opposed to Catastrophe and Creation.
The great Charge against this Philosophy is founded on its alleged Affinities with Scholastic Realism. But the Charge is not very true. No Doubt but they did suppose vast Storehouses of “Things of One Kind” from which, pure or minggled, all other Things did proceed.
Since ג, a Camel, refers to the Moon, they did say that a Camel and the Moon were sympathetic, and came, that Part of them, from a common Principle: and that a Camel being yellow brown, it partook of the Earth Nature, to which that Colour is given.
They thence said that by taking all the Nature involved, and by blending them in the just Proportions, one might have a Camel.
But this is no more than is said by the Upholders of the Atomic Theory.
They have their Storehouses of Carbon, Oxyen, and such (not in one Place, but no more is Geburah in one Place), and what is Organic Chemistry but the Production of useful Compounds whose Nature is deduced absolutely from theoretical Considerations long before it is ever produced in the Laboratory?
The difference, you will say, is that the Qabalists maintain a Mind of each Kind behind each Class of Things of one Kind; but so did Berkeley, and his Argument in that Respect is, as the great Huxley showed, irrefragable. For by the Universe I mean the Sensible; any other is Not to be Known: and the Sensible is dependent upon Mind. Nay, though the Sensible is said to be an Argument of a Universe Insensible, the latter becomes sensible in Mind as soon as the Argument is accepted, and disappears with its Rejection.
Nor is the Qabalah dependent upon its Realism, and its Application to the Works magical — but I am defending a Philosophy which I was asked to describe, and this is not lawful.
A great Deal may be learned from the Translation of the Zohar by S. Liddell Macgregor Mathers, and his Introduction thereto, though for those who have Latin and some acquaintence with Hebrew it is better to study the Kabbala Denudata of Knorr von Rosenroth, in Despite of the heavy Price; for the Translator has distorted the Text and its Comment to suit his belief in a supreme Personal God, and in that degraded Form of the Doctrine of Feminism which is so popular with the Emasculate.
The Sephiroth are grouped in various Ways. There is a Superior Triad or Trinity; a Hexad; and Malkuth: the Crown, the Father, and the Mother; the Son or King; and the Bride.
Also, a Division into seven Palaces, seven Planes, three Pillars or Columns: and the like.
The Flashing Sword follows the Course of the Numbers and the Serpent Nechushtan or of Wisdom crawls up the Paths which join them upon the Tree of Life, namely the Letters.
It is important to explain the Position of Daath or Knowledge upon the Tree. It is called the Child of Chokmah and Binah, but it hath no Place. But it is really the Apex of a Pyramid of which the three first Numbers form the Base.
Now the Tree, or Minutum Mundum, is a Figure in a Plane of a solid Universe. Daath, being above the Plane, is therefore a Figure of a Force in four Dimensions, and thus it is the Object of the Magnum Opus. The three Paths which connect it with the First Trinity are the three lost Letters or Fathers of the Hebrew Alphabet.
In Daath is said to be the Head of the great Serpent Nechesh or Leviathan, called Evil to conceal its Holiness (נהש = 358 = משיה, the Messiah or Redeemer, and לויתן = 496 = מלכות, the Bride.) It is identical with the Kundalini of the Hindu Philosophy, the Kwan-se-on of the Mongolian Peoples, and means the magical Force in Man, which is the sexual Force applied to the Brain, Heart, and other Organs, and redeemeth him. The gradual Disclosure of these magical Secrets to the Poet may be traced in these Volumes,[32] which it has been my Privilege to be asked to explain. It has been impossible to do more than place in the Hands of any intelligent Person the Keys which will permit him to unlock the many Beautiful Chambers of Holiness in these Palaces and Gardens of Beauty and Pleasure.
Of the results of the method we possess one flawless gem, already printed in the EQUINOX (Vol. II. pp. 163-185), “A Note on Genesis” by V.H. Fra. I.A.
From this pleasant, orthodox, and-so-they-all-lived-happy-ever-after view let us turn for a moment to the critical aspect. Let us demolish in turn the qabalistic methods of exegesis; and then, if we can, discover a true basis upon which to erect an abiding Temple of Truth.
1. Gematria.
The number 777 affords a good example of the legitimate and illegitimate deductions to be drawn. It represents the sentence חיים אלהים רוח אחת, “One is the Spirit of the Living God,” and also הקלפּות עלאהם, “The world of the Shells (excrements — the demon-world).”
Now it is wrong to say that this idea of the unity of the divine spirit is identical with this idea of the muddle of chaos — unless in that exalted grade in which “The One is the Many.” But the compiler of Liber 777 was a great Qabalist when he thus entitled his book; for he meant to imply, “One is the Spirit of the Living God,” i.e. I have in this book unified all the diverse symbols of the world; also also, “the world of shells,” i.e. this book is full of mere dead symbols; do not mistake them for the living Truth. Further, he had an academic reason for his choice of a number; for the tabulation of the book is from Kether to Malkuth, the course of the Flaming Sword; and if this sword be drawn upon the Tree of Life, the numeration of the Paths over which it passes (taking ג, 3, as the non-existent path from Binah to Chesed, since it connects Macroprosopus and Microprosopus) is 777. [See Diagrams 2 and 12[33]]
To take another example, it is no mere coincidence that 463, the Staff of Moses, is ת, ס, ג, the paths of the Middle Pillar; no mere coincides that 26, יהוה, is 1 + 6 + 9 + 10, the Sephiroth of the Middle Pillar. But ought we not to have some supreme Name for 489, their sum, the Middle Pillar perfect? Yet the Sepher Sephiroth is silent. (We find only 489 = גמול משלם, the avenger. Ed.)
Again, 111 is Aleph, the Unity, but also אפּל, thick Darkness, and אסן, Sudden Death. This can only be interpreted as meaning the annihilation of the individual in the Unity, and the Darkness which is the Threshold of the Unity; in other words, one must be an expert in Samadhi before this simple Gematria has any proper meaning. How, then, can it serve the student in his research? The uninitiated would expect Life and Light in the One; only by experience can he know that to man the Godhead must be expressed by those things which most he fears.
We here purposely avoid dwelling on the mere silliness of many Gematria correspondences, e.g., the equality of the Qliphoth of one sign with the Intelligence of another. Such misses are more frequent than such hits as אחד, Unity, 13 = אהבה, Love, 13.
The argument is an argument in a circle. “Only an adept can understand the Qabalah,” just as (in Buddhism) Sakyamuni said, “Only an Arahat can understand the Dhamma.”
In this light, indeed, the Qabalah seems little more than a convenient language for recording experience.
We may mention in passing that Frater P. never acquiesced in the obvious “cook” of arguing x = y + 1 ∴ x = y, by assuming that x should add one to itself “for the concealed unity.” Why shouldn’t y have a little concealed unity of its own?[34]
That the method should ever have been accepted by any Qabalist argues a bankruptcy of ingenuity beyond belief. In all conscience, it is easy enough to fake identities by less obviously card-sharping methods!
2. Notariqon.
The absurdity of this method needs little indication. The most unsophisticated can draw pity and amusement from Mr Mathers’ Jew, converted by the Notariqons of “Berashith.” True, F.I.A.T. is Flatus, Ignis, Aqua, Terra; showing the Creator as Tetragrammaton, the synthesis of the four elements; showing the Eternal Fiat as the equilibrated powers of Nature. But what forbits Fecit Ignavus Animam Terrae,[35] or any other convenient blasphemy, such as Buddha would applaud?
Why not take our converted Jew and restore him to the Ghetto with Ben, Ruach, Ab, Sheol! — IHVH, Thora?[36] Why not take the sacred 'Icquj of the Christian who thought it meant Ihsouj Cristoj Qeou 'Uioj Swthr[37] and make him a pagan with “'Isidox Xarix Qhsauroj 'Uiwn Sofiax”?[38]
Why not argue that Christ in cursing the fig, F.I.G., wished to attack Kant’s dogmas of Freewill, Immortality, God?
3. Temurah.
Here again the multiplicity of our methods makes our method too pliable to be reliable. Should we argue that בבל = ששכ (620) by the method of Athbash, and that therefore בבל symbolises Kether (620)? Why, בבל is confusion, the very opposite of Kether.
Why Athbash? Why not Abshath? or Agrath? or any other of the possible combinations?
About the only useful Temurah is Aiq Bkr, given above. In this do we find a suggestive reasoning. For example, we find it in the attribution of אלהים to the pentagram which gives p. [See “A Note on Genesis”, EQUINOX, No. II. p. 184.] Here we write Elohim, the creative deities, round a pentagram, and read it reverse beginning with ל, ♎, the letter of equilibrium, and obtain an approximation to p 3.1415 (good enough for the benighted Hebrew), as if thereby the finite square of creation was assimilated to the infinite circle of the Creator.
Yes: but why should not Berashith 2, 2, 1, 3, 1, 4, give, say, e?[39] The only answer is, that if you screw it round long enough, it perhaps will!
The Rational Table of Tziruph should, we agree with Fra. P., be left to the Rationalist Press Association, and we may present the Irregular Table of Commutations to Irregular Masons.
4. To the less important methods we may apply the same criticism.
We may glance in passing at the Yetziratic, Tarot, and signifactory methods of investigating any word. But though Frater P. was expert enough in these methods they are hardly pertinent to the pure numerical Qabalah, and we therefore deal gently with them. The attributions are given in 777. Thus א in the Yetziratic world is “Air,” by Tarot “the Fool,” and by signification “an ox.” Thus we have the famous I.N.R.I. = י. נ. ר. י. = ♍ , ♏, ☉, ♍ ; the Virgin, the Evil Serpent, the Sun, suggesting the story of Genesis ii. and of the Gospel. The initials of the Egyptian names Isis, Apophis, Osiris, which correspond, give in their turn the Ineffable Name IAO; thus we say that the Ineffable is concealed in and revealed by the Birth, Death and Resurrection of Christ; and further the Signs of the Mourning of the Mother, Triumph of the Destroyer, and Rising of the Son, give by shape the letters L.V.X., Lux, which letters are (again) concealed in and revealed by the Cross LVX the Light of the Cross*. Further examples will be found in “A Note on Genesis”. One of the most famous is the Mene, Tekel, Upharsin of Daniel, the imaginary prophet who lived under Belshazzar the imaginary king.
*
מנא. The Hanged Man, Death, the Fool = “Sacrificed to Death by thy Folly.”
תכל. The Universe, the Wheel of Fortune, Justice = “Thy kingdom’s fortune is in the Balance.”
פּרש. The Blasted Tower, the Sun, the Last Judgement = “Ruined is thy glory, and finished.”
But we cannot help thinking that this exegesis must have been very hard work.
We could more easily read
מנא. To sacrifice to death is folly.
תכל. Thy kingdom shall be fortunate, for it is just.
פּרש. The Tower of thy glory shall endure until the Last Days.
There! that didn’t take two minutes; and Belshazzar would have exalted us above Daniel.
Similarly AL, God, may be interpreted “His folly is justice,” as it is written: “The wisdom of this word is foolishness with God.”
Or, by Yetzirah, “The air is His balance,” as it is written: “God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.”
Or by meaning: “The ox and the goad,” i.e. “He is both matter and motion.”
We here append a sketch MS by Frater P., giving his explanation by Tarot, etc., of the letters of the alphabet spelt in full.
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— (See TAROT CARDS, AND MEDITATE) —
1. | ף | אלף | {Aleph} | Folly’s Doom is Ruin |
2. | ת | בית | {Beth} | The Juggler with the Secret of the Universe. |
3. | ל | גמל | {Gimel} | The Holy Guardian Angel is attained by Self-Sacrifice and Equilibrium. |
4. | ת | דלת | {Daleth} | The Gate of the Equilibrium of the Universe. (Note D, the highest reciprocal path.) |
5. | ה | הה | {Hé} | The Mother is the Daughter; and the Daughter is the Mother. |
6. | ו | וו | {Vav} | The Son is (but) the Son. (These two letters show the true doctrine of Initiation as given in Liber 418; opposed to Protestant Exotericism. |
7. | ן | זין | {Zayin} | The answer of the Oracles is always Death. |
8. | ת | חית | {Chet} | The Chariot of the Secret of the Universe. |
9. | ט | טית | {Tet} | She who rules the Secret Force of the Universe. |
10. | י | יוד. | {Yod} | The Secret of the Gate of Initiation. |
11. | כ | כף | {Kaf} | In the Whirlings is War. |
12. | ד | למד | {Lamed} | By Equilibrium and Self-Sacrifice, the Gate! |
13. | מ | מים | {Mem} | The Secret is hidden between the Waters that are above and the Waters that are beneath. (Symbol, the Ark containing the secret of Life borne upon the Bosom of the Deluge beneath the Clouds.) |
14. | נ | נון | {Nun} | Initiation is guarded on both sides by death. |
15. | ס | סמך | {Samech} | Self-control and Self-sacrifice govern the Wheel. |
16. | ע | עין | {Ayin} | The Secret of Generation is Death. |
17. | פּ | פּה | {Peh} | The Fortress of the Most High. (Note P, the lowest reciprocal path). |
18. | צ | צדי | {Tsadeh} | In the Star is the Gate of the Sanctuary. |
19. | ק | קוף | {Qof} | Illusionary is the Initiation of Disorder. |
20. | ר | ריש | {Resh} | In the Sun (Osiris) is the Secret of the Spirit. |
21. | ש | שין | {Shin} | Resurrection is hidden in Death. |
22. | ת | תו | {Tav} | The Universe is the Hexagram. |
(Other meanings suit other planes and other grades.)
Truly there is no end to this wondrous science; and when the sceptic sneers, “With all these methods one ought to be able to make everything out of nothing,” the Qabalist smiles back the sublime retort, “With these methods One did make everything out of nothing.”
Besides these, there is still one more method — a method of some little importance to students of the Siphra Dzenioutha, namely the analogies drawn from the shapes of letters; these are often interesting enough. א, for example, is a ו between י and י, making 26. Thus יהוה 26 = א, 1. Therefore Jehovah is One. But it would be as pertinent to continue 26 = 2 × 13, and 13 = Achad = 1, and therefore Jehovah is Two.
This then is an absurdity. Yes; but it is also an arcanum!
How wonderful is the Qabalah! How great its security from the profane; how splendid its secrets to the initiate!
Verily and amen! yet here we are at the old dilemma, that one must know Truth before one can rely upon the Qabalah to show Truth.
Like the immortal burglar:
“Bill wouldn’t hurt a baby — he’s a pal as you can trust.
He’s all right when yer know ’im; but yer’ve got to know ’im fust.”
So those who have committed themselves to academic study of its mysteries have found but a dry stick: those who have understood (favoured of God!) have found therein Aaron’s rod that budded, the Staff of Life itself, yea, the venerable Lingam of Mahasiva!
It is for us to trace the researches of Frater P. in the Qabalah, to show how from this storehouse of child’s puzzles, of contradictions and incongruities, of paradoxes and trivialities, he discovered the very canon of Truth, the authentic Key of the Temple, the Word of that mighty Combination which unlocks the Treasure-Chamber of the King.
And this following is the Manuscript which he has left for our instruction.
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(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.V.)
(May the Holy One mitigate His severities toward His servant in respect of the haste wherewith this essay hath been composed!
When I travelled with the venerable Iehi Aour in search of Truth, we encountered a certain wise and holy man, Shri Parananda. Children! said he, for two years must ye study with me before ye fully comprehend our Law.
“Venerable Sir!” answered Frater I.A., “The first verse of Our Law contains but seven words. For seven years did I study that verse by day and by night; and at the end of that time did I presume — may the Dweller of Eternity pardon me! — to write a monograph upon the first word of those seven words.”
“Venerable Sir!” quoth I: “that First Word of our law contains but six letters. For six years did I study that word by day and by night; and at the end of that time did I not dare to utter the first letter of those six letters.”
Thus humbling myself did I abash both the holy Yogi and my venerable Frater I.A. But alas! Tetragrammaton! Alas! Adonai! the hour of my silence is past. May the hour of my silence return! Amen.)
THE UNIVERSE AS IT IS
SECTION I
0. The Negative — the Infinite — the Circle, or the Point.
1. The Unity — the Positive — the Finite — the Line, derived from 0 by extension. The divine Being.
2. The Dyad — the Superficies, derived from 1 by reflection 1/1, or by revolution of the line about its end. The Demiurge. The divine Will.
3. The Triad, the Solid, derived from 1 and 2 by addition. Matter. The divine Intelligence.
4. The Quarternary, the solid existing in Time, matter as we know it. Derived from 2 by multiplication. The divine Repose.
5. The Quinary, Force or Motion. The interplay of the divine Will with matter. Derived from 2 and 3 by addition.
6. The Senary, Mind. Derived from 2 and 3 by multiplication.
7. The Septenary, Desire. Derived from 3 and 4 by addition. (There is however a secondary attribution of 7, making it the holiest and most perfect of the numbers.)
8. The Ogdoad, Intellect (also Change in Stability). Derived from 2 and 3 by multiplication, 8 = 23.
9. The Ennead, Stability in Change. Derived from 2 and 3 by multiplication, 9 = 32. 10. The Decad, the divine End. Represents the 1 returning to the 0. Derived from 1 + 2 + 3 + 4. 11. The Hendecad, the accursed shells, that only exist without the divine Tree. 1 + 1 = 2, in its evil sense of not being 1.
SECTION II
0. The Cosmic Egg.
1. The Self of Deity, beyond Fatherhood and Motherhood.
2. The Father.
3. The Mother.
4. The Father made flesh — authoritative and paternal.
5. The Mother made flesh — fierce and active.
6. The Son — partaking of all these natures.
7. The Mother degraded to mere animal emotion.
8. The Father degraded to mere animal reason.
9. The Son degraded to mere animal life. 10. The Daughter, fallen and touching with her hands the shells.
It will be noticed that this order represents creation as progressive degeneration — which we are compelled to think of as evil. In the human organism the same arrangement will be noticed.
SECTION III
0. The Pleroma of which our individuality is the monad: the “All-Self.”
1. The Self — the divine Ego of which man is rarely conscious.
2. The Ego; that which thinks “I” — a falsehood, because to think “I” is to deny “not-I” and thus to create the Dyad.
3. The Soul; since 3 reconciles 2 and 1, here are placed the aspirations to divinity. It is also the receptive as 2 is the assertive self.
4-9. The Intellectual Self, with its branches:
4. Memory.
5. Will.
6. Imagination.
7. Desire.
8. Reason.
9. Animal being.
6. The Conscious Self of the Normal Man: thinking itself free, and really the toy of its surroundings.
9. The Unconscious Self of the Normal Man. Reflex actions, circulation, breathing, digestion, etc., all pertain here.
10. The illusory physical envelope; the scaffolding of the building.
SECTION IV
Having compared these attributions with those to be found in 777, studied them, assimilated them so thoroughly that it is natural and needs no effort to think “Binah, Mother, Great Sea, Throne, Saturn, Black, Myrrh, Sorrow, Intelligence, etc. etc. etc.,” in a flash whenever the number 3 is mentioned, we may profitably proceed to go through to the most important of the higher numbers. For this purpose I have removed myself from books of reference; only those things which have become fixed in my mind (from their importace) deserve place in the simplicity of this essay.
12. הוא, “He,” a title of Kether, identifying Kether with the Zodiac, the “home of 12 stars” and their correspondences. See 777.
13. אחד, Unity, and אהבה, Love. A scale of unity; thus 13 × 1 = 1; 26 = 13 × 2 = 2; 91 = 13 × 7 = 7; so that we may find in 26 and 91 elaborations of the Dyad the the Septenary respectively.
14. An “elaboration” of 5 (1 + 4 = 5), Force; a “concentration” of 86 (8 + 6 = 14), Elohim, the 5 elements.
15. יה, Jah, one of the ineffable names; the Father and Mother united. Mystic number of Geburah: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5.
17. The number of squares in the Swastika, which by shape is Aleph, א. Hence 17 recalls 1. Also יאו, IAO, the true Father. See 32 and 358.
18. הי, Life. An “elaboration” of 9.
20. יוד, Yod, the letter of the Father.
21. אהיה, existence, a title of Kether. Note 3 × 7 = 21. Also why, the first three (active) letters of יהוה. Mystic number of Tiphareth.
22. The number of letters in the Hebrew Alphabet; and of the paths on the Tree. Hence suggests completion of imperfection, Finality, and fatal finality. Note 2 × 11 = 22, the accursed Dyad at play with the Shells.
24. Number of the Elders;[40] and = 72 ÷ 3. 72 is the “divided Name.”
26. יהוה. Jehovah as the Dyad expanded, the jealous and terrible God, the lesser Countenance. The God of Nature, fecund, cruel, beautiful, relentless.
28. Mystic number of Netzach, כה, “Power.”
31. לא, “not”; and אל, “God.” In this Part I. (“Nature as it is”) the number is rather forbidding. For AL is the God-name of Chesed, mercy; and so the number seems to deny that Name.
32. Number of Sephiroth and Paths, 10 + 22. Hence is completion of perfection. Finality; things as they are in their totality. אהיהזה, the combined אהיה and יהוה, Macroprosopus and Microprosopus, is here. If we supposed the 3 female letters h to conceal the 3 mothers א, מ, ש, we obtain the number 358, Messiach, q.v. Note 32 = 25, the divine Will extended through motion. 64 = 26, will be the perfect number of matter, for it is 8, the first cube, squared. So we find it a Mercurial number, as if the solidity of matter was in truth eternal change.
35. אגלא, a name of God = Ateh Gibor Le-Olahm Adonai. “To Thee be the Power unto the Ages, O my Lord!” 35 = 5 × 7. 7 = Divinity, 5 = Power.
36. A Solar Number. אלה. Otherwise unimportant, but it is the mystic number of Mercury.
37. יחידח. The highest principle of the Soul, attributed to Kether. Note 37 = 111 ÷ 3.
38. Note 38 × 11 = 418 q.v. in Part II.
39. אחד יהוה, Jehovah is one. 39 = 13 × 3. This is then the affirmation of the aspiring soul.
40. A “dead” number of fixed law, 4 × 10, Tetragrammaton, the lesser countenance immutable in the heaviness of Malkuth.
41. אם, the Mother, unfertilised as unenlightened.
42. אמא, the Mother, still dark. Here are the 42 judges of the dead in Amennti, and here is the 42-fold name of the Creative God. See Liber 418.
44. דם, blood. See Part II. Here 4 × 11 = the corruption of the created world.
45. מה, a secret title of Yetzirah, the Formative World. אדם, Adam, man, the species (not “the first man.”). a is air, the divine breath which stirs דם, blood, into being.
49. A number useful in the calculations of Dr Dee, and a mystic number of Venus.
50. The number of the Gates of Binah, whose name is Death (50 = נ = by Tarot, “Death”).
51. אן, pain. נא, failure. אדום, the country of the demon kings. There is much in the Qabalah about these kings and their dukes; it never meant much to me. But 51 is 1 short of 52.
52. אימא, the fertilised Mother, the Phallus (י) thrust into אמא. Also בן, the Son. Note 52 = 13 × 4, being Mercy and the influence of the Father.
60. Samekh, which in full spells 60 × 2 = 120 (q.v.), just as Yod, 10, in full spells 10 × 2 = 20. In general, the tens are “solidifications” of the ideas of the units which they multiply. Thus 50 is Death, the Force of Change in its final and most earthy aspect. Samekh is “Temperance” in the Tarot: the 6 has little evil possible to it; the worst name one can call 60 is “restriction.”
61. אין, the Negative. אני, the Ego. A number rather like 31, q.v.
64. רין and דני, intelligences (the twins) of Mercury. See also 32.
65. אדני. In Roman characters LXV = LVX, the redeeming light. See the 5°=6¤ ritual and “Konx Om Pax”. Note 65 = 13 × 5, the most spiritual form of force, just as 10 × 5 was its most material form. Note הס, “Keep silence!” and היכל, the palace; as if it were said “Silence is the House of Adonai.”
67. בינה {HB:Binah} the Great Mother. Note 6 + 7 = 13, uniting the ideas of Binah and Kether. A number of the aspiration.[41]
70. The Sanhedrim and the precepts of the Law. The Divine 7 in its most material aspect.
72. הסד {HB:Chesed}, Mercy. The number of the Shemhamphorasch, as if affirming God as merciful. For details of Shemhamphorasch, see 777 and other classical books of reference. Note especially י + יה + why + יהוה = 72.[42]
73. הבמה, Wisdom. Also גמל, Gimel, the path uniting Kether and Tiphereth. But Gimel, “the Priestess of the Silver Star,” is the Female Hierophant, the Moon; and Chokmah is the Logos, or male initiator. See Liber 418 for more information on these points, though rather from the standpoint of Part II.
78. מזלא, the influence from Kether. The number of the cards of the Tarot, and of the 13 paths of the Beard of Macroprosopus.[43] Also איואס, the messenger.[44] See Part II.
80. The number of פּ, the “lightning-struck Tower” of the Tarot. 8 = Intellect, Mercury; its most material form is Ruin, as Intellect in the end is divided against itself.
81. A mystic number of the Moon.
84. A number chiefly important in Buddhism. 84 = 7 × 12.
85. פּה, the letter Pé. 85 = 5 × 17: even the highest unity, if it move or energise, means War.
86. אלהים. See “A Note on Genesis”, EQUINOX, No. II.
90. Number of Tzaddi, a fishhook = Tanha, the clinging of man to life (9), the trap in which man is caught as a fish is caught by a hook. The most material aspect of animal life; its final doom decreed by its own lust. Also מים, Water.
91. 91 = 7 x 13, the most spiritual form of the Septenary. אמן, Amen, the holiest title of God; the Amoun of the Egyptians. It equals אדני יהוה (יאהדונהי, interlaced), the eight-lettered name, thus linking the 7 to the 8. Not that אמן (recknoning ן as final, 700) = 741 = אמתש, the letters of the elements; and is thus a form of Tetragrammaton, a form unveiled.
100. The number of ק, the perfect illusion, 10 × 10. Also כף, Kaph, the Wheel of Fortune. The identity is that of matter, fatality, change, illusion. It seems the Buddhist view of the Samsara-Cakkram.
106. נון, Nun, a fish. The number of death. Death in the Tarot bears a cross-handled scythe; hence the Fish as the symbol of the Redeemer. ICQUS = Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.
108. Chiefly interesting because 108 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 = the square of 2 playing with the cube of 3. Hence the Buddhists hailed it with acclamation, and make their rosaries of this number of beads.
111. אלהים הוא אחד, “He is One God.”
אלף, Aleph, an ox, a thousand. The redeeming Bull. By shape the Swastika, and so the Lightning. “As the lightning ligheneth out of the East even unto the West, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.”[45]
אסן, ruin, destruction, sudden death. Scil., of the personality in Samadhi.
אפּל, thick darkness. Cf. St. John of the Cross, who describes these phenomena in great detail.
אעם, the Hindu Aum or Om.[46]
מהזלל, mad — the destruction of Reason by Illumination.
עולה, a holocaust. Cf. אסן.
פּלא, the Hidden Wonder, a title of Kether.
114. דמע, a tear. The age of Christian Rosenkreutz.
120. סמך, Samech, a prop. Also מוסדי, basis, foundation. 120 = 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5, and is thus a synthesis of the powers of the pentagram. [Also 1 + 2 + . . . + 15 = 120.] Hence its importance in the 5°=6¤ ritual, q.v. supra EQUINOX, No. III.[47] I however disagree in part; it seems to me to symbolise a lesser redemption than that associated with Tiphereth. Compare at least the numbers 0.12[48] and 210 in Liber Legis and Liber 418, and extol their superiority. For while the first is the sublime formula of the infinite surging into finity, and the latter the supreme rolling-up of finity into infinity, the 120 can symbolise at the best a sort of intermediate condition of stability.[49] For how can one proceed from the 2 to the 0? 120 is also ען, a very important name of God.[50]
124. עדן, Eden.
131. סמאל, Satan so-called, but really only Samael, the accuser of the brethren, unpopular with the Rabbis because their consciences were not clear. Samael fulfils a most useful function; he is scepticism, which accuses intellectually; conscience, which accuses morally; and even that spiritual accuser upon the Threhold, without whom the Sanctuary might be profaned. We must defeat him, it is true; but how should we abuse and blame him, without abuse and blame of Him that set him there?
136. A mystic number of Jupiter; the sum of the first 16 natural numbers.
144. A square and therefore a materialisation of the number 12. Hence the numbers in the Apocalypse. 144,000 only means 12 (the perfect number in the Zodiac or houses of heaven and tribes of Israel) × 12, i.e. settled × 1000, i.e. on the grand scale.
148. מאזנים, Scales of Justice.
156. BABALON. (באבאלען) See Liber 418. This number is chiefly important for Part II. It is of no account in the orthodox dogmatic Qabalah. Yet it is 12 × 13, the most spiritual form, 13 of the most perfect number, 12, הוא. [It is ציון, Zion, the City of the Pyramids. — Ed.][51]
175. A mystic number of Venus.
203. ABR, initials of אב, בן, רוח, the Trinity.[52]
206. דבר, Speech, “the Word of Power.”
207. אור, Light. Contrast with אוב, 9, the astral light, and אוד, 11, the Magical Light. Aub is an illusory thing of witchcraft (cf. Obi, Obeah); Aud is almost = the Kundalini force (“Odic” force). This illustrates well the difference between the sluggish, viscous 9, and the keen, ecstatic 11.[53]
210. Pertains to Part II. See Liber 418.
214. רוח, the air, the mind.
220. Pertains to Part II. The number of verses in Liber Legis.
231. The sum of the first 22 numbers, 0 to 21; the sum of the Key-Numbers of the Tarot cards; hence an extension of the idea of 22, q.v.
270. I.N.R.I. See 5°=6¤ ritual.
280. The sum of the “five letters of severity,” those which have a final form — Kaph, Mem, Nun, Pe, Tzaddi. Also the number of the squares on the sides of the Vault 7 × 40; see 5°=6¤ ritual. Also רף = terror.
300. The letter ש, meaning “tooth,” and suggesting by its shape a triple flame. Refers Yetziratically to fire, and is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, אלהים רוח = 300. Descending into the midst of יהוה, the four inferior elements, we get יהשזה Jeheshua, the Saviour, symbolised by the Pentagram.
301. אש, Fire.
314. שדי {HB:Shaddai}, the Almighty, a name of God attributed to Yesod.
325. A mystic number of Mars. ברצבאל, the spirit of Mars, and גראפּיאל, the intelligence of Mars.
326. יהשזה {HB:Jeheshua}, Jesus — see 300.
333. הורונזון, see Liber 418, 10th Æthyr. It is surprising that this large scale 3 should be so terrible a symbol of dispersion. There is doubtless a venerable arcanum here connoted, possible the evil of Matter summó. 333 = 37 × 9 the accurséd.
340. שם — the Name.
341. The sum of the “3 mothers,” Aleph, Mem, and Shin.
345. משה, Moses. Note that by transposition we have 543, אהיה אשר אהיה, “Existence is Existence,” “I am that I am,” a sublime title of Kether. Moses is therefore regarded as the representative of this particular manifestation of deity, who declared himself under this special name.
358. See 32. משיה, Messiah, and נהש, the Serpent of Genesis. The dogma is that the head of the serpent (נ) is “bruised,” being replaced by the letter of Sacrifice, and Yod, the letter alike of virginity (י = ♍ ) and of original deity (י = the foundation or type of all the letters). Thus the word may be read: “The Sacrifice of the Virgin-born Divine One triumphant (ע, the Chariot) through the Spirit,” while נהש reads “Death entering the (realm of the) Spirit.” But the conception of the Serpent as the Redeemer is truer. See my explanation of the 5°=6¤ ritual (EQUINOX, No. III).
361. הארץ אדני, the Lord of the Earth. Note 361 denotes the 3 Supernals, the 6 members of Ruach, and Malkuth. This name of God therefore embraces all the 10 Sephiroth.
365. An important number, though not in the pure Qabalah. See “The Canon.” MEIQRAS and ABRAXAS in Greek.
370. Really more important for Part II. עש, Creation. The Sabbatic Goat in his highest aspect. This shows the whole of Creation as matter and spirit. The material 3, the spiritual 7, and all cancelling to Zero. Also שלם = peace.
400. The letter ת, “The Universe.” It is the square of 20, “The Wheel of Fortune,” and shows the Universe as the Sphere of Fortune — the Samsara-Cakkram, where Karma, which fools call chance, rules. 400 is the total number of the Sephiroth, each of the 10 containing 10 in itself and being repeated in the 4 worlds of Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah, and Assiah. These four worlds are themselves attributed to יהוה, which is therefore not the name of a tribal fetish, but the formula of a system.
401. את, “the” emphatic, meaning “essence of,” for א and ת are first and last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, as A and W are of the Greek, and A and Z of the Latin. Hence the Word Azoth, not to be confused with Azote (lifeless, azotos), the old name for nitrogen. Azoth means the sum and essence of all, conceived as One.
406. ות, the letter Tau (see 400), also אתה, “Thou.” Note that אהא (7), the divine name of Venus (7) gives the initials of Ani, Hua, Ateh — I, He, Thou; three different aspects of a deity worshipped in three persons and in three ways: viz. (1) with averted face; (2) with prostration; (3) with identification.
418. Pertains principally to Part II., q.v.
419. טית, the letter Teth.
434. דלת, the letter Daleth.
440. תלי, the great dragon.[54]
441. אמת, Truth. Note 441 = 21 × 21. 21 is אהיה, the God of Kether, whose Will is Truth.
450. תן, the great dragon.
463. dqch hfm, Moses’ Wand, a rod of Almond. 3 + 60 + 400, the paths of the middle pillar.
474. tud, Knowledge, the Sephira that is not a Sephira. In one aspect the child of Chokmah and Binah; in another the Eighth Heads of the Stooping Dragon, raised up when the Tree of Life was shattered, and Macroprosopus set cherubim against Microprosopus. See 4°=7¤ ritual supra.[55] Also, and very specifically, Liber 418. It is the demon that purely intellectual or rational religions take as their God. The special danger of Hinayana Buddhism.
480. לילית {HB:Lilith}, the demon-queen of Malkuth.
666. Last of the mystic numbers of the Sun. שרות, the spirit of Sol. Also שתן עממו, Ommo Satan, the Satanic Trinity of Typhon, Apophis and Besz;[56] also יהשזה שם, the Name of Jesus. The names of Nero, Napoleon, W. E. Gladstone, and any person that you may happen to dislike, add up to this number. In reality it is the final extension of the number 6, both because 6 × 111 (אלף = 111 = 1) = 6, and because the Sun, whose greatest number it is, is 6.
(I here interpolate a note on the “mystic numbers” of the planets. The first is that of the planet itself, e.g. Saturn, 3. The second is that of the number of squares in the square of the planet, e.g. Saturn, 9. The third is that of the figures in each line of the “magic square” of the planet, e.g. Saturn 15. A “magic square” is one in which each file, rank, and diagonal add to the same number, e.g. Saturn is 8 1 6, 3 5 7, 4 9 2, each square being filled in with the numbers from 1 upwared. The last of the Magic numbers is the sum of the whole of the figures in the square, e.g. Saturn 45.[57]
The complete list is thus:
Saturn 3, 9, 15, 45.
Jupiter 4, 16, 34, 136.
Mars 5, 25, 65, 325.
Sol 6, 36, 111, 666.
Venus 7, 49, 175, 1225.
Mercury 8, 64, 260, 2080.
Luna 9, 81, 369, 3321.Generally speaking, the first number gives a divine name, the second an archangelic or angelic name, the third a name pertaining to the Formative world, the fourth a name of a “spirit” or “blind force.” For example, Mercury has אז and דד (love) for 8, רין and דני for 64, טיריאל {HB: Tiriel} for 260, and תפתרתרת {HB: Taphthartharath} for 2080. But in the earlier numbers this is not so well carried out. 136 is both יופּיל {HB: Johphiel}, the Intelligence of Jupiter, and הסמאל, the Spirit.
The “mystic numbers” of the Sephiroth are simply the sums of the numbers from 1 to their own numbers.
Thus:
(1) Kether = 1.
(2) Chokmah = 1 + 2 = 3.
(3) Binah = 1 + 2 + 3 = 6.
(4) Chesed = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10.
(5) Geburah = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15.
(6) Tiphareth = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 21.
(7) Netzach = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 = 28.
(8) Hod = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 36.
(9) Yesod = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 45.
(10) Malkuth = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 = 55.The most important attributions of 666, however, pertain to the second part, q.v.
671. תערא the Law, תרעא the Gate, rota the Lady of the Path of Daleth, רעתא the Wheel. Also אלף, דלת, נון, יוד, Adonai (see 65) spelt in full.
This important number marks the identity of the Augoeides with the Way itself (“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”) and shows the Taro as a key; and that the Law itself it nothing else than this. For this reason the outer College of the A∴A∴ is crowned by this “knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.”
This number too is that of the Ritual of Neophyte. See Liber XIII.
741. אמתש, the four letters of the elements. אמן, counting the ן as 700, the supreme Name of the Concealed One. The dogma is that the Highest is but the Four Elements; that there is nothing beyond these, beyond Tetragrammaton. This dogma is most admirably portrayed by Lord Dunsanay in a tale called “The Wanderings of Shaun.”[58]
777. Vide supra.
800. קשת, the Rainbow. The promise of Redemption (8) — 8 as Mercury, Intellect, the Ruach, Microprosopus, the Redeeming Son — in its most material form.
811. IAW (Greek numeration).
888. Jesus (Greek numeration).
913. בראשית, the Beginning. See “A Note on Genesis”.
This list* will enable the student to follow through most of the arguments of the dogmatic Qabalah. It is useful for him to go through the arguments b which one can prove that any given number is the supreme. It is the case, the many being but veils of the One; and the course of argument leads one to knowledge and worship of each number in turn. For example.
* The complete dictionary, begun by Frater I. A., continued by Fra. P. and revised by Fra. A. e. G. and others, will shortly be published by authority of the A∴A∴ – A.C. [It was published in Equinox I (8)]
Thesis. The Number Nine is the highest and worthiest of the numbers.
Scholion a. “The number nine is sacred, and attains the summits of philosophy,” Zoroaster.[59]
Scholion b. Nine is the best symbol of the Unchangeable One, since by whatever number it is multiplied, the sum of the figures is always 9, e.g. 9 × 487 = 4383. 4 + 3 + 8 + 3 = 18. 1 + 8 = 9.
Scholion g. 9 = ט, a serpent. And the Serpent is the Holy Uræus, upon the crown of the Gods.
Scholion d. 9 = IX = the Hermit of the Tarot, the Ancient One with Lamp (Giver of Light) and Staff (the Middle Pillar of the Sephiroth). This, two, is the same Ancient as in 0, Aleph, “The Fool”, and Aleph = 1.
Scholion e.
9 = יסוד = Yesod = 80 = פּ = Mars = 5 = ח = | |
= ג = גמל = 73 = הבמה = | |
the Mother = Binah = 3 | = אב = The Father = |
= (1 + 2) = Mystic Number of Chokmah = | |
= Chokmah = 2 = ב = The Magus = I = 1. |
Scholion é. 9 = the Foundation of all things = the Foundation of the alphabet = Yod = 10 = Malkuth = Kether = 1.
Scholion z. 9 = IX = The Hermit = Yod = 10 = X = The Wheel of Fortune = כ = 20 = XX = The Last Judgement = ש = 300 = 30 = ל = Justice = VIII = 8 = ה = The Chariot = VII = 7 = ז = The Lovers = VI = 6 = ו = The Pope = V = 5 = ה = The Emperor[60] = IV = 4 = ד = The Empress = III = 3 = ג = The High Priestess = II = 2 = ב = The Magus = I = 1 = א = The Fool = 0.
Scholion h. 9 = Luna = ג = 3, etc., as before.
Scholion q. 9 = Indigo / Lead = Saturn = 3, etc., as before.
There are many other lines of argument. This form of reasoning reminds one of the riddle. “Why is a story like a ghost?” Answer. “A story’s a tale; a tail’s a brush; a brush is a broom; a brougham’s a carriage; a carriage is a gig; a gig’s a trap; a trap’s a snare; a snare’s a gin; gin’s a spirit; and a spirit’s a ghost.”
But our identities are not thus false; meditation reveals their truth. Further, as I shall explain fully later, 9 is not equal to 1 for the neophyte. These equivalences are dogmatic, and only true by favour of Him in whom All is Truth. In practice each equivalence is a magical operation to be carried out by the aspirant.
[ « back to TOC ]
THE UNIVERSE AS WE SEEK TO MAKE IT
In the first part we have seen all numbers as Veils of the One, emanations of and therefore corruptions of the One. It is the Universe as we know it, the static Universe.
Now the Aspirant to Magic is displeased with this state of things. He finds himself but a creature, the farthest removed from the Creator, a number so complex and involved that he can scarcely imagine, much less dare to hope for, its reduction to the One.
The numbers useful to him, therefore, will be those which are subversive of this state of sorrow. So the number 2 represents to him the Magus (the great Magician Mayan who has created the illusion of Maya) as seen in the 2nd Aethyr. And considering himself as the Ego who posits the Non-Ego (Fichte) he hates this Magus. It is only the beginner who regards this Magus as the Wonder-worker — as the thing he wants to be. For the adept such little consolation as he may win is rather to be found be regarding the Magus as B = Mercury = 8 = Ch = 418 = ABRAHADABRA, the great Word, the “Word of Double Power in the Voice of the Master” which unites the 5 and the 6, the Rose and the Cross, the Circle and the Square. And also B is the path from Binah to Kether; but that is only important for him who is already in Binah, the “Master of the Temple.”
He finds no satisfaction in contemplating the Tree of Life, and the orderly arrangement of the numbers; rather does he enjoy the Qabalah as a means of juggling with those numbers. He can leave nothing undisturbed; he is the Anarchist of Philosophy. He refuses to acquisesce in merely formal proofs of the Excellence of things, “He doeth all things well,” “Were the world understood Ye would see it was good,” “Whatever is, is right,” and so on. To him, on the contrary, whatever is, is wrong. It is part of the painful duty of a Master of the Temple to understand everything. Only he can excuse the apparent cruelty and fatuity of things. He is of the supernals; he sees things from above; yet, having come from below, he can sympathise with all. And he does not expect the Neophyte to share his views. Indeed, they are not true to a Neophyte. The silliness of the New-Thought zanies in passionately affirming “I am healthy! I am opulent! I am well-dressed! I am happy!” when in truth they are “poor and miserable and blind and naked,” is not a philosophical but a practical silliness. Nothing exists, says the Magister Templi, but perfection. True; yet their consciousness is imperfect. Ergo, it does not exist. For the M.T. this is so: he has “cancelled out” the complexities of the mathematical expression called existence, and the answer is zero. But for the beginner his pain and another’s joy do not balance: his pain hurts him, and his brother may go hang. The Magister Templi, too, understands why Zero must plunge through all finite numbers to express itself; why it must write itself as “n – n” instead of 0; what gain there is in such writing. And this understanding will be found expressed in Liber 418 (Episode of Chaos and His Daughter) and Liber Legis (i. 28-30).
But it must never be forgotten that everyone must begin at the beginning. And in the beginning the Aspirant is a rebel, even though he feel himself to be that most dangerous type of rebel, a King Dethroned.*
* And of course, if his revolt succeeds, he will acquisece in order. The first condition of gaining a grade is to be dissatisfied with the one that you have. And so when you reach the end you find order as at first; but also that the law is that you must rebel to conquer — A.C.
Hence he will worship any number which seems to him to promise to overturn the Tree of Life. He will even deny and blaspheme the One — whom, after all, it is his ambition to be — because of its simplicity and aloofness. He is tempted to “curse God and die.”
Atheists are of three kinds.
1. The mere stupid man. (Often he is very clever, as Bolingbroke, Bradlaugh and Foote were clever). He has found out one of the minor arcana, and hugs it and despises those who see more than himself, or who regard things from a different standpoint. Hence he is usually a bigot, intolerant even of tolerance.
2. The despairing wretch, who, having sought God everywhere, and failed to find Him, thinks everyone else is as blind as he is, and that if he has failed — he, the seeker after truth! — it is because there is no goal. In his cry there is pain, as with the stupid kind of atheist there is smugness and self-satisfaction. Both are diseased Egos.
3. The philosophical adept, who, knowing God, says “There is No God,” meaning, “God is Zero,” as qabalistically He is. He holds atheism as a philosophical speculation as good as any other, and perhaps less likely to mislead mankind and do other practical damage as any other. Him you may know by his equanimity, enthusiasm, and devotion. I again refer to Liber 418[61] for an explanation of this mystery. The nine religions are crowned by the ring of adepts whose password is “There is No God,” so inflected that even the Magister when received among them had not wisdom to interpret it.
1. Mr Daw, K.C.: M’lud, I respectfully submit that there is no such creature as a peacock.
2. Oedipus at Colonus: Alas! there is no sun! I, even I, have looked and found it not.
3. Dixit Stultus in corde suo: “Ain Elohim.”[62]
There is a fourth kind of atheister, not really an atheist at all. He is but a traveller in the Land of No God, and knows that it is but a stage on his journey — and a stage, moreover, not far from the goal. Daath is not on the Tree of Life; and in Daath there is no God as there is in the Sephiroth, for Daath cannot understand unity at all. If he thinks of it, it is only to hate it, as the one thing which he is most certainly not (see Liber 418, 10th Æthyr. I may remark in passing that this book is the best known to me on Advanced Qabalah, and of course it is only intelligibile to Advanced Students).
This atheist, not in-being but in-passing, is a very apt subject for initiation. He has done with the illusions of dogma. From a Knight of the Royal Mystery[63] he has risen to understand with the members of the Sovereign Sanctuary[64] that all is symbolic; all, if you will, the Jugglery of the Magician. He is tired of theories and systems of theology and all such toys; and being weary and anhungered and athirst seeks a seat at the Table of Adepts, and a portion of the Bread of Spiritual Experience, and a draught of the wine of Ecstasy.
It is then thoroughly understood that the Aspirant is seeking to solve the great Problem. And he may conceive, as various Schools of Adepts in the ages have conceived, this problem in three main forms.
1. I am not God. I wish to become God.
This is the Hindus conception.
I am Malkuth. I wish to become Kether.
This is the qabalistic equivalent.
2. I am a fallen creature. I wish to be redeemed.
This is the Christian conception.
I am Malkuth the fallen daughter. I wish to be set upon the throne of Binah my supernal mother.
This is the qabalistic equivalent.
3. I am the finite square; I wish to be one with the infinite circle.
This is the Unsectarian conception.
I am the Cross of Extension; I wish to be one with the infinite Rose.
This is the qabalistic equivalent.
The answer of the Adept to the first form of the problem is for the Hindu “Thou art That” (see previous chapter, “The Yogi”); for the Qabalist “Malkuth is in Kether, and Kether is in Malkuth,” or “That which is below is like that which is above” or simply “Yod.” (The foundation of all letters having the number 10, symbolising Malkuth).
The answer of the Adept to the second form of the problem is for the Christian all the familiar teaching of the Song of Songs and the Apocalypse concerning the Bride of Christ.*
* This Christian teaching (not its qabalistic equivalent) is incomplete. The Bride (the soul) is united, though only by marriage, with the Son, who then presents her to the Father and Mother or Holy Spirit. These four then complete Tetragrammaton. But the Bride is never united to the Father. In this scheme the soul can never do more than touch Tiphareth and so receive the ray from Chokmah. Whereas even St. John makes his Son say “I and my Father are one.” And we all agree that in philosophy there can never be (in Truth) more than one; this Christian dogma says “never less than four.” Hence its bondage to law and its most imperfect comprehension of any true mystic teaching, and hence the difficulty of using its symbols – A.C.
For the Qabalist it is a long complex dogma which may be studied in the Zohar and elsewhere. Otherwise, he may simply answer “Hé” (the letter alike of mother and daughter in יהוה). See Liber 418 for lengthy disquisitions on this symbolic basis.
The answer of the Adept to the third form of the problem is given by π {pi}, implying that an infinite factor must be employed.
For the Qabalist it is usually symbolised by the Rosy Cross, or by such formulæ as 5°=6¤. That they concealed a Word answering this problem is also true. My discovery of this word is the main subject of this article. All the foregoing exposition has been intended to show why I sought a word to fulfil the conditions, and by what standards of truth I could measure things.
But before proceeding to this Word, it is first necessary to explain further in what way one expects a number to assist one in the search for truth, or the redemption of the soul, or the formulation of the Rosy Cross. (I am supposing that the reader is sufficiently acquainted with the method of reading a name by its attributions to understand how, once a message is received, and accredited, it may be interpreted.) Thus if I ask “What is knowledge?” and receive the answer “דעת” I read it ד the door, ע matter, ת darkness, by various columns of 777 (To choose the column is a matter of spiritual intuition. Solvitur ambulando). But here I am only dealing with the “trying of the spirits, to know whether they be of God.”
Suppose now that a vision purporting to rpceed from God is granted to me. The Angel declares his name. I add it up. It comes to 65. An excellent number! a blessed angel! Not necessarily. Suppose he is of a Mercurial appearance? 65 is a number of Mars.
Then I conclude that, however beautiful and eloquent he may be, he is a false spirit. The Devil does not understand the Qabalah well enough to clothe his symbols in harmony.
But suppose an angel, even lonely in aspect, not only knows the Qabalah — your own researches in the Qabalah — as well as you do, but is able to show you truths, qabalistic truths which you had sought for long and vainly! Then you receive him with honour and his message with obedience.
It is as if a beggar sought audience of a general, and showed beneath his rags the signet of the King. When an Indian servant shows me “chits” signed by Colonel This and Captain That written in ill-spelt Babu English, one knows what to do. On the contrary the Man Who Was Lost rose and broke the stem of his wineglass at the regimental toast, and all knew him for one of their own.
In spiritual dealings, the Qabalah, with those secrets discovered by yourself that are known only to yourself and God, forms the grip, sign, token and password that assure you that the Lodge is properly titled.
It is consequently of the very last importance that these final secrets should never be disclosed. And it must be remembered that an obsession, even momentary, might place a lying spirit in possession of the secrets of your grade. Possibly it was in this manner that Dee and Kelly were so often deceived.
A reference to this little dictionary of numbers will show that 1, 3, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 21, 22, 26, 32, 37, 45, 52, 65, 67, 73, 78, 91, 111, 120, 207, 231, 270, 300, 326, 358, 361, 370, 401, 306, 434, 474, 666, 671, 741, 913, were for me numbers of peculiar importance and sanctity. Most of them are venerable, referring to or harmonious with the One. Only a few — e.g. 120 — refer to the means. There are many others — any others — just as good; but not for me. God in dealing with me would show me the signs which I should have intelligence enough to understand. It is a condition of all intellectual intercourse.
Now I preferred to formulate the practical problem in this shape: “How shall I unite the 5 and the 6, the Microcosm and Macrocosm?”
And these are the numbers which seemed to me to bear upon the problem.
1. Is the goal not the means. Too simple to serve a magician’s purpose.
2. Vide supra.
3. Still too simple to work with, especially as 3 = 1 so easily. But, and therefore, a great number to venerate and desire.
4. The terrible weapon of Tetragrammaton, the great enemy. The number of the weapons of the Evil Magician. The Dyad made Law.
5. The Pentagram, symbol of the squaring of the circle by virtue of אלהים = 3.1415, symbol of man’s will, of the evil 4 dominated by man’s spirit. Also Pentagrammaton, Jeheshua, the Saviour. Hence the Beginning of the Great Work.
6. The Hexagram, symbol of the Macrocosm and Microcosm interlaced, and of the End of the Great Work. (Pentagram on breast, Hexagram on back, of Probationer’s Robe.) Yes it also symbolises the Ruach, 214, q.v., and so is as evil in viâ as it is good in termino.
7. A most evil number, whose perfection is impossible to attack.
8. The great number of redemption, because ח = חית = 418, q.v. This only develops in importance as my analysis proceeds. A priori it was of no great importance.
9. Most Evil, because of its stability. אוב, witchcraft, the false moon of the sorceress.
10. Evil, memorial of our sorrow. Yet holy, as hiding in itself the return to the negative.
11. The great magical number, as uniting the antitheses of 5 and 6 etc. אוד the magic force itself.
12. Useless. Mere symbol of the Goal.
13. Helpful, since if we can reduce our formula to 13, it becomes 1 without further trouble.
17. Useful, because though it symbolises 1, it does so under the form of a thunderbolt. “Here is a magic disk for me to hurl, and win heaven by violence,” says the Aspirant.
21. As bad, nearly, as 7.
26. Accursed. As bad as 4. Only useful when it is a weapon in your hand; then — “if Satan be divided against Satan,” etc.
28. Attainable; and so, useful. “My victory,” “My power,” says the Philosophus.
30. The Balance — Truth. Most useful.
31. לא the reply to אל, who is the God of Chesed, 4. The passionate denial of God, useful when other methods fail.
32. Admirable, in spite of its perfection, because it is the perfection which all from 1 to 10 and Aleph to Tau, share. Also connects with 6, through אהיהזה.
37. Man’s crown.
44. Useful to me chiefly because I had never examined it and so had acquiesced in it as accursed. When it was brought by a messenger whose words proved true, I then understood it as an attack on the 4 by the 11. “Without shedding of blood (דם = 44) there is no remission.” Also since the messenger could teach this, and prophecy, it added credit to the Adept who sent the message.
45. Useful as the number of man, אדם {HB:Adam}, identified with hm, Yetzirah, the World of Formation to which man aspires as next above Assiah. Thus 45 baffles the accuser, but only by affirmation of progress. It cannot help that progress.
52. אימא {HB:Aima} and בן. But orthodoxy conceives these as external saviours; therefore they serve no useful purpose.
60. Like 30, but weaker. “Temperance” is only an inferior balance. 120, its extension, gives a better force.
65. Fully dealt with in “Konx Om Pax”, q.v.[65]
72. Almost as bad as 4 and 26; yet being bigger and therefore further from 1 it is more assailable. Also it does spell הסד, Mercy, and this is sometimes useful.
73. The two ways to Kether, Gimel and Chokmah. Hence venerable, but not much good to the beginner.
74. למד, Lamed, an expansion of 30. Reads “By equilibrium and self-sacrifice, the Gate!”
Thus useful. Also 74 = 37 × 2.
So we see
37 × 1 = 37, Man’s crown, Jechidah, the highest Soul — “in termino.”
37 × 2 = 74, The Balance, 2 being the symbol “in viâ.”
37 × 3 = 111, Aleph, etc., 3 being the Mother, the nurse of the soul.
37 × 4 = 148, “The Balances,” and so on.I have not yet worked out all the numbers of this important scale.
77. עז, the Goat, scil. of the Sabbath of the Adepts. The Baphomet of the Templars, the idol set up to defy and overthrow the false god — though it is understood that he himself is false, not an end, but a means. Note the 77 = 7 × 11, magical power in perfection.
78. Most venerable because מזלא is shown as the influence descending from On High, whose key is the Tarot: and we possess the Tarot. The proper number of the name of the Messenger of the Most Exalted One.[66] [The account of AIVAS follows in its proper place. — Ed.][67]
85. Good, since 85 = 5 × 17.
86. Elohim, the original mischief. But good, since it is a key of the Pentagram, 5 = 1 + 4 = 14 = 8 + 6 = 86.
91. Merely venerable.
111. Priceless, because of its 37 × 3 symbolism, its explanation of Aleph, which we seek, and its comment that the Unity may be found in “Thick darkness” and in “Sudden Death.” This is the most clear and definite help we have yet had, showing Samadhi and the Destruction of the Ego as gates of our final victory.
120. See Part I. and references.
124. עדן, Eden. The narrow gate or path between Death and the Devil.[68]
156. באבאלען. (Babalon) This most holy and precious name is fully dealt with in Liber 418. Notice 156 = 12 × 13. This was a name given and ratified by Qabalah; 156 is not one of the à priori helpful numbers. It is rather a case of the Qabalah illuminating St. John’s intentional obscurity.
165. 11 × XV should be a number Capricorni Pneumatici. Not yet fulfilled.
201. אר, Light (Chaldee). Note 201 = 3 × 67, Binah, as if it were said, “Light is concealed as a child in the womb of its mother.” The occult retoret of the Chaldean Magi to the Hebrew sorcerers who affirmed אור, Light, 207, a multiple of 9. But this is little more than a sectarian squabble. 207 is holy enough.
206. דבר, the Word of Power. A useful acquisition = “The Gateway of the Word of Light.”
210. Upon this hoiest number it is not fitting to dilate. We may refer Zelatores to Liber VII. Cap I., Liber Legis Cap. I., and Liber 418.[69] But this was only revealed later. At first I had only אבראהא {abraha}, the Lord of the Adepts. Cf. Abraha-Melin.[70]
214. רוח is one of the most seductive numbers to the beginner. Yet its crown is Daath, and later one learns to regard it as the great obstacle. Look at its promise 21, ending in the fearful curse of 4! Calamity!
216. I once hoped much from this number, as it is the cube of 6. But I fear it only expresses the fixity of mind. Anyhow it all came to no good. But we have רביד, connected with דבר, adding the Secret Phallic Power.
220. This is the number of verses of Liber Legis. It represents 10 × 22, i.e. the whole of the Law welded into one. Hence we may be sure that the Law shall stand as it is without a syllable of addition. Note 1022, the modulus of the universe of atoms, men, stars. See “Two new worlds.”
222. The grand scale of 2; may one day be of value.
256. The eighth power of 2; should be useful.
280. A grand number; the dyad passing to zero by virtue of the 8, the Charioteer who bears the Cup of Babalon. See Liber 418, 12th Æthyr. See also 280 in Part I.
300. Venerable, but only useful as explaining the power of the Trident, and the Flame on the Altar. Too stable to serve a revolutionary, except in so far is it is fire.
333. See Part I.
340. Connects with 6 through שם, the fire and the water conjoined to make the Name. Thus useful as a hint in ceremonial.
361. See Part I. Connects with the Caduceus; as 3 is the supernal fire, 6 the Ruach, 1 Malkuth. See illustration of Caduceus in EQUINOX No. II.[71]
370. Most venerable (see Part I.). It delivers the secret of creation into the hand of the Magician. See Liber Capricorni Pneumatici.
400. Useful only as a finality or material basis. Being 20 × 20 it shows the fixed universe as a system of rolling wheels (20 = כ, the Wheel of Fortune).
401 See Part I. But Azoth is the Elixir prepared and perfect; the Neophyte has not got it yet.
406. See Part I.
414. הגות, Meditation, the 1 dividing the accursed 4. Also אור סוף אין, {Ain Soph Aur} the Limitless Light.[72]
418. חית, Cheth. ארבאהאדאברא {arbadahabra}, the great Magic Word, the Word of the Æon. Note the 11 letters, 5 a identical, and 6 diverse. Thus it interlocks Pentagram and Hexagram. הא בית, the House of Hé the Pentagram; see Idra Zuta Qadisha, 694. “For ה formeth כ, but ח formeth יוד.”[73] Both equal 20.
Note 4 + 1 + 8 = 13, the 4 reduced to 1 through 8, the redeeming force; and 418 = ח = 8.
By Aiq Bkr, ABRAHADABRA = 1 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 22. Also 418 = 22 × 19, Manifestation. Hence the word manifests the 22 Keys of Rota.
It means by translation Abraha Deber, the Voice of the Chief Seer.
It resolves into Pentagram and Hexagram as follows: —
[This is by taking the 5 middle letters.]
The pentagram is 12, אוה, Macroprosopus.
The hexagram is 406, אתה, Microprosopus.
Thus it connotes the Great Work.
Note אבר, initials of the Supernals, Ab, Ben, Ruach.
[This is by separating the One (Aleph) from the Many (diverse letters).]
הרב = 207, Aur, Light }
רבר = 206, Deber, Voice }
“The Vision and the Voice,” a phrase which meant much to me at the moment of discovering this Word.
[By taking each alternate letter.]
205 = גבר, mighty }
213 = אביר, mighty }
This shows Abrahadabra as the Word of Double Power, another phrase that meant much to me at the time. אאב at the top of the Hexagram gives אב, אימא, בן, Father, Mother, Child.
הרד by Yetzirah gives Horus, Isis, Osiris, again Father, Mother, Child. This Hexagram is again the human Triad.
Dividing into 3 and 8 we get the Triangle of Horus dominating the Stooping Dragon of 8 Heads, the Supernals bursting the Head of Daath.
Also
The Supernals are supported upon two squares:
אבאד = דד, Love, 8.
אהדא = איד, Light, 207.
Now 8 × 207 = 1656 = 18 = הי, Living, and 207 = 9 × 23, היה, Life. At this time “Licht, Liebe, Leben” was the mystic name of the Mother-Temple of the G∴D∴.
The five letters used in the word are א, the Crown; ב, the Wand, ד, the Cup; ה, the Sword; ר, the Rosy Cross; and refer further to Amoun the Father, Thoth His messenger, and Isis, Horus, Osiris, the divine-human triad.
Also 418 = יאו את, the Essence of IAO, q.v.
This short analysis might be indefinitely expanded; but always the symbol will remain the Expression of the Goal and the Exposition of the Path.
419. Teth, the number of the “laughing lion” on whom BABALON rideth. See Liber 418. Note 419 + 156 = 575 = 23 × 25, occultly signifying 24, which again signifies to them that understand the interplay of the 8 and the 3. Blessed be His holy Name, the Interpreter of his own Mystery!
434. Daleth, the holy letter of the Mother, in her glory as Queen. She saves the 4 by the 7 (ד = 4 = Venus = 7), thus connects with 28, Mystic number of Netzach (Venus), Victory. Note the 3 sundering the two fours. This is the feminine victory; she is in one sense the Delilah to the divine Samson. Hence we adore her from full hearts. It ought to be remembered, by the way, that the 4 is not so evil when it has ceased to oppress us. The square identified with the circle is as good as the circle.
441. Truth, the square of 21. Hence it is the nearest that our dualistic consciousness can conceive of 21, אהיה, the God of Kether, 1. Thus Truth is our chiefest weapon as a rule. Woe to whosoever is false to himself (or to another, since in 441 that other is himself), and seven times woe to him that swerves from his magical obligation in thought, word, or deed! By my side as I write wallows in exhaustion following an age of torment one who did not understand that it is a thousand times better to die than to break the least tittle of a magical oath.
463. Shows what the Wand ought to represent. Not 364;[74] so we should hold it by the lower end. The Wand is also Will, straight and inflexible, pertaining to Chokmah (2) as a Wand has two ends. 474. See Part I. To the beginner, though, Daath seems very helpful. He is glad that the Stooping Dragon attacks the Sanctuary. He is doing it himself. Hence Buddhists make Ignorance the greatest fetter of all the ten fetters. But in truth Knowledge implies a Knower and a Thing Known, the accursed Dyad which is the prime cause of all misery.[75]
480. Lilith. See Liber 418. So the orthodox place the legal 4 before the holy 8 and the sublime zero. “And therefore their breaths stink.”
543. Good, but only carries us back to the Mother.
666. Chosen by myself as my symbol, partly for the reasons given in Part I., partly for the reasons given in the Apocalypse. I took the Beast to be the Lion (Leo my rising sign[76]) and Sol, 6, 666, the Lord of Leo on which Babalon should ride. And there were other more intimate considerations, unnecessary to enter upon in this place. Note however that the Tarot card of Leo, Strength, bears the number XI, the great number of the Magnum Opus, and its interchange with Justice, VIII.; and the key of 8 is 418.[77]
This all seemed to me so important that no qabalistic truths were so firmly implanted in my mind at the time when I was ordered to abandon the study of magic and the Qabalah as these: 8, 11, 418, 666; combined with the profoundest veneration for 1, 3, 5, 7, 13, 37, 78, 91, 111. I must insist on this at the risk of tautology and over-emphasis; for it is the key to my standard of Truth, the test-numbers which I applied to the discernment of the Messenger from the Sanctuary.
That such truths may seem trivial I am well aware; let it be remembered that the discovery of such an identity may represent a year’s toil. But this is the final test; repeat my researches, obtain your own holy numbers; then, and not before, will you fully understand their Validity, and the infinite wisdom of the Grand Arithmetician of the Universe.
671. Useful, as shown in Part I.
741. Useful chiefly as a denial of the Unity; sometimes employed in the hope of tempting it from its lair.
777. Useful in a similar way, as affirming that the Unity is the Qliphoth. But a dangerous tool, especially as it represents the flaming sword that drove Man out of Eden. A burnt child dreads the fire. “The devils also believe, and tremble.” Worse than useless unless you have it by the hilt. Also 777 is the grand scale of 7, and this is useless to anyone who has not yet awakened the Kundalin, the female magical soul. Note 7 as the meeting-place of 3, the mother, and 10, the Daughter; whence Netzach is the Woman, married but no more.
800. Useful only in 5°=6¤ symbolism, q.v.
888. The grand scale of 8. In Greek numeration therefore IHSOUS the Redeemer, connecting with 6 because of its 6 letters. This links Greek and Hebrew symbolism; but remember that the mystic Iesous and Yeheshua have no more to do with the legendary Jesus of the Synoptics and Methodists than the mystic IHVH has to do with the false God who commanded the murder of innocent children. The 13 of the Sun and the Zodiac was perhaps responsible for Buddha and his 12 disciples, Christ and his 12 disciples, Charlemagne and his 12 peers, &c., &c., but to disbelieve in Christ or Charlemagne is not to alter the number of signs in the Zodiac. Veneration for 666 does not commit me to admiration for Napoleon and Gladstone.
. . .
I may close this paper by expressing a hope that I may have the indulgence of students. The subject is incomparably difficult; it is almost an unworked vein of thought; and my expression must be limited and thin. It is important that every identity should be most thoroughly understood. No mere perusal will serve. This paper must be studied line by line, and even to a great extent committed to memory. And that memory should already be furnished with a thorough knowledge of the chief correspondences of 777. It is hard to “suffer gladly” the particular type of fool who expects with a twenty-third-rate idle brain to assimilate in an hour the knowledge that it has cost me twelve years to acquire. I may add that nobody will ever understand this method of knowledge without himself undertaking research. Once he has experienced the joy of connecting (say) 131 and 480 through 15, he will understand. Further, it is the work itself, not merely the results, that is of service. We teach Greek and Latin, though nobody speaks either language.
And thus I close: Benedictus sit Dominus Deus Noster qui nobis dedit Scientiam Summam.[78]
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We may now return to Frater P.’s experiences. It will be remembered that he found Yoga practices of any kind very difficult in the cold climate of his home; for he was now sufficiently advanced to need long spells of continuous concentration — very difficult from the early days of practice when twenty minutes in the morning and again in the evening sufficed for the day.
Further, he had entered on the third stage of life, and from a Brahmachari become a householder. It was in the course of the journey undertaken by him shortly after his marriage that occurred the events which we shall proceed to relate.
And to that end we must ask the reader to accompany us in imagination to the sovereign nursery of wisdom and initiation, to the holy land of the Uraeus serpent, to the land of Isis and Osris, of the Pyramids and the Nile, even to Khem, more magnificent in ruin than all other lands are in plenitude of their glory.
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Footnotes:
[1] An archaic Norweigian term, loosely “shining ghost.” Crowley borrowed it from a Bulwer-Lytton novel (Zanoni or A Strange Story, I cannot remember which ) and used it to denote the “Astral Body” – T.S.
[2] The previous installment of Temple of Solomon the King, in Equinox I (4) – T.S.
[3] i.e. The Kaballah Unveiled. As Scholem (Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism) and others have pointed out, the three tracts translated by Mathers are actually fairly minor in the scheme of the Zohar (a reasonably complete English translation of which occupies five quarto volumes) – T.S.
[4] The quote from Genesis, in Jacob’s blessing to Judah, is generally taken as the earliest reference to the Messiah. Other meanings of 358 are discussed later in this article – T.S.
[5] By Gematria, חן = 58; hence the number of the present work – T.S.
[6] Athbash and Abgath appear in both tables. Abgad appears in the Rational table, Albam in neither – T.S.
[7] All these tables appear in Agrippa’s Occult Philosophy (immediately after lib. III cap. XXV). All this belongs primarily to the realm of cryptography; indeed the Viginaire cipher, held unbreakable until the development of the Babbage Engine, uses a Latin version of the ‘Right Table’ – T.S.
[8] Alternatively, no points for the first, one for the second, two for the third; this is the version given by Agrippa. The Masonic “Royal Arch” cipher is based on a similar principle – T.S.
[9] However this involves counting the third letter (but not the second) as writ large for which there is absolutely no warrant. Counting only the initial Beth as writ large we get בראשית {HB: Rashith = "beginning"} = 2911 – T.S.
[10] In his Heptaplus.
[11] In passages mercifully omitted by Crowley from the present article – T.S.
[12] Given the timescales involved it is prima faciæ far more likely that the early Qabalists (such as the author of the Sepher Yetzirah) were influenced by Pythagorean number mysticism – T.S.
[13] Genesis xxxvi, 31; I Chronicles, i, 43.
[14] In fact, zero can be and has been defined. But at the time Mathers was writing the philosophy of mathematics was in its infancy – T.S.
[15] Because of the insertion of the Yod, representing the Generative Powers – T.S.
[16] This is misleading; the Elohim are androgynous as has been repeatedly explained – T.S.
[17] Add, in another sense, ch xvii. This is important. – T.S.
[18] Or Harmony.
[19] Some Qabalists allude to the idea of a lower and higher Shekinah, the higher referred to Binah – T.S.
[20] Lit. “Lord”; also מלך אדני, Adonai Melekh, My Lord the King, and הארץ אדני, Adonai ha-Aretz, Lord of Earth.
[21] Sometimes ההיים עץ, Otz ha-Chayim, thus making possible the fudging of a different set of Gematria identities – T.S.
[22] According to some, the Qlippoth or Shells are the remnants of these primal worlds – T.S.
[23] In the Equinox publication this replaced a reference to one of the tables accompanying Mathers’ introduction – T.S.
[24] Samael is various glossed as “poison of God” or “blind God.” In some of the Gnostic texts found at Nag Hammadi Samael is identified with the demiurge – T.S.
[25] By Gematria, 864, וירח שמש, Shemesh va-Yerich, sun and moon, and \ycdq cwdq, Qadesh Qadeshim, Holy of Holies. Draw your own conclusions (possibly along the lines of “you can prove anything with Gematria if you try hard enough”) – T.S.
[26] Reprinted Heidelberg: Georg Olms, 1974; it may be found in academic libraries – T.S.
[27] Figures mostly taken from Golden Dawn teachings or rituals which accompanied the instalments of The Temple of Solomon the King in Equinox I (2-3). Most can be found in Regardie, Golden Dawn – T.S.
[28] Almost certainly Crowley – T.S.
[29] I.e., Crowley’s essay Berashith – T.S.
[30] Published as Sepher Sephiroth in Equinox I (8).
[32] I.e., the three volumes of Crowley’s Collected Works – T.S.
[33] Diagram 2 was a Tree of Life diagram showing the paths with letters, Tarot trumps, and Yetziratic attributions, and the Sephiroth with associated grades; Diagram 12 the figure of the Flaming Sword – T.S.
[34] Concealed yods on the other hand are another matter entirely – T.S.
[35] [Lat., “a coward created the soul of the earth.”]
[36] [Heb., possibly intended for: “The Son, the Spirit, the Father, the grave: IHVH [is] the Law.”]
[37] [Grk., “Jesus Christ, son of God, saviour.”]
[38] [Grk., approx. “The favour of Isis [is] the treasure of the sons of wisdom.”]
[39] e is the base of “natural logarithms”; it is defined as the sum from 0 to infinity of 1 over n factorial; approximately 2.718281828 – T.S.
[40] In the Apocalpyse of John – T.S.
[41] 67 = זין, Zayin in full, the first of the Paths connecting Tiphareth with the Supernals – T.S.
[42] i.e., writing out the Tetragrammaton as a Tetrakys, or in “wing” form, gives 72 – T.S.
[43] i.e. the 13 paths above Tiphareth. 78 is S (1 – 12) so to get this number you need to add up the numbers on the Tarot trumps of those paths rather than the letters, which will give you 105 – T.S.
[44] Crowley later decided this was an error and that the actual Hebrew spelling of Aiwaz was עיוז = 93, after having the latter spelling communicated to him by one Samuel A. Jacobs who knew the correct orthography for the simple reason that it was his middle name (patronymic, to be precise) – T.S.
[45] Matthew XXIV.27; cf. Luke XVII, 24.
[46] Elsewhere Crowley renders AUM in Hebrew as אום = 47, e.g. in the formula of AUMGN discussed in MTP, which thus enumerates to 100, or מואום = 93 (not counting the concealed yod) in Liber DCLXXI.
[47] The installment of “The Temple of Solomon the King” in Equinox I (3) contained an account of the G.D. Adeptus Minor ritual. See also Regardie (ed.), The Golden Dawn – T.S.
[48] AL I. 24-25; 6 ÷ 50 = 0.12.
[49] Cf. Gen VI. 3 – T.S.
[50] Also if we use the same fudge that Crowley used to get Logos to 93, 120 = לץ, Lux (there are at least two other ways by which LVX can be equated with 120 but they are both hideous fudges) – T.S.
[51] Also יחזקאל, Ezekiel, and יזסף, Joseph. Elsewhere Crowley connects the “City of Pyramids” reference with the 12 by 13 squares on each of John Dee’s “Tablets of the Watchtowers” and the pyramids drawn on each square in the Golden Dawn’s “Book of the Concourse of the Forces” – T.S.
[52] Also ברא {HB:arb}, “he created”, second word of Genesis – T.S.
[53] See the remarks on Ob, Od and Aour in the introduction to Levi’s Rituel de Haute Magie – T.S.
[54] See the Sepher Yetzirah – T.S.
[55] In Equinox I (2), or Regardie (ed.) The Golden Dawn – T.S.
[56] See the Golden Dawn Z1 document – T.S.
[57] When the first number is n, the second is n2, the third n×(n2+1)/2 and the fourth n2×(n2+1)/2 – T.S.
[58] Crowley probably means to the story published as “The Sorrow of Search” in Time and the Gods – T.S.
[59] i.e., the Chaldæan Oracles, whose ascription to Zoroaster is late (medieval / Renaissance); fragment 186 in the Westcott edition. Cf. the Hermetic discourse “The Eighth Reveals the Ninth” (NHC VI 52.1 – 63.32); in some versions of Hermeticism and Graeco-Egpytian magick the “9th sphere” (counting upwards) lies beyond the sphere of the planets and “fixed stars” and is the realm of the Divine – T.S.
[60] If we accept the reversal of the Tarot attributions of ה and צ this latter part should perhaps read “… = 5 = ה = The Star = XVII = 17 = the Swastika = א = The Fool = 0.” – T.S.
[61] The reference appears to be to a passage in the 5th Æthyr.
[62] PS. XIV, 1. Note that by Gematria אין אלהים = 147 = יהוה (IHVH) + אדני (ADONAI) + אהיה (EHIEH) + אגלא (AGLA), the four Divine Names of the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram – T.S.
[63] The title of a high degree in certain Masonic rites, immediately proceeding Grand Inspector General. Sometimes called Prince of the Royal Secret – T.S.
[64] Another Masonic term, generally denoting the highest degree or ruling council of a particular rite – T.S.
[65] Particularly “The Wake World” (Liber XCV) – T.S.
[66] But see note to this number in Part I. – T.S.
[67] See The Equinox of the Gods – T.S.
[68] Because ע and נ are referred to the Devil and Death in the Tarot. In the Golden Dawn portal ritual this description refers to the path of Samekh, but putting a gate on the end of said path also gives us 124 – T.S.
[69] The reference is to NOX spelt in Hebrew נעץ – T.S.
[70] Also נפלים, Nephilim, = 210.
[71] The reference is to one of the Golden Dawn admission badges – T.S.
[72] אזות, a Hebrew spelling of Azoth, also adds to this number. Vide Liber CDXIV – T.S.
[73] Comparing this with the Mathers translation, this appears to be a loose paraphrase of von Rosenroth’s glosses rather than a direct quote; the relevant paragraphs are 696 and 697 – T.S.
[74] 364 = inter alia, בופלא אער, the Hidden Light, a title of Kether, and השטן, the Adversary – T.S.
[75] vide AL I. 22 – T.S.
[76] This may have been wishful thinking on Crowley’s part. The time and place of birth accompanying AC’s birthchart as printed in Equinox I (7) and The Equinox of the Gods actually give Cancer, not Leo, rising, suggesting the figure had been fudged. The editor of the “Blue Brick” edition of Magick obligingly ‘corrected’ the time of birth to make Leo the ascendent again. Rupert Gleadow (an astrologer friend of Symonds to whom AC had claimed there was “less than one per cent truth in astrology”) prepared a hostile horoscope which was printed in The Great Beast as a piece of posthumous revenge – T.S.
[77] Because Cheth, 8, spelt ‘in full’ = הית, 418 – T.S.
[78] [Lat. “May the Lord our God, who gave us the Supreme Science, be blessed.”]
[Editor’s note: This article on the Qabalah was originally published in Equinox I (5) as part V of the Temple of Solomon the King serial. Essentially it was a filler, written after J.F.C. Fuller who had been doing the legwork of working up the series from Crowley’s diaries and notebooks broke with the Beast. In Equinox I (10) it was declared to be Liber LVIII in Class B (since 58 = “הן Grace, a secret title of the Qabalah.”)
It was reprinted by Israel Regardie in The Qabalah of Aleister Crowley (a.k.a. 777 and other Qabalistic Writings) under the misleading title “Gematria”, omitting the opening and closing sections (which were intended to link it in to the serial) and the tables of correspondences (redundant as in that publication it was bound up with 777). It has also been printed as a pamphlet under the title “Essay on Number.”
Hebrew words have generally been rendered in Hebrew letters; in the Equinox publication they were generally, but not consistently, given in letter-for-letter transliteration, e.g. BRAShITh for בראשית.
Footnotes indicated by *, †, etc. appeared in the Equinox publication and are presumably by Crowley (hence I have initialled them “A.C.”); footnotes indicated by numbers are by myself. Key entry from the printed edition in the Equinox; could probably use further proof-reading – T.S.]
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(Continued)
A∴A∴ Publication in Class B.
Imprimatur: N. Fra. A∴A∴
(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.VII.)
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The reproduction of Liber Legis has been done thus minutely in order to prevent the casual reader from wasting his valuable time over it.
The full title of the book is LIBER L vel LEGIS svb figvrâ CCXX as delivered by LXXVIII to DCLXVI and it is the First and Greatest of those Class A publications of A∴A∴ of which is not to be altered so much as the style of a letter.
[ SEE ALSO: Liber XXXI - {The Holograph Manuscript of Liber AL vel Legis} ]
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- THE COMMENT -
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We defer consideration of the sequel to this revelation, and our account of Fra. P's further progress, until the next chapter. This appointment to the Priesthood constituted him — even had he no other claim — a member of the grade of Exempt Adept; it was a long and terrible journey of death thence to rebirth as a Babe of the Abyss, and to the final chapter of our work, which must describe his attainment of the Grade of Master of the Temple.
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(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.VIII.)
It was about a fortnight after the writing of “Liber Legis” that Fra. P. left Egypt for the grey skies of the Scottish Highlands, where, with the Seer, he began to put into practice the experiments suggested in the Book of the Law.
The astounding success of these experiments would have convinced any other man of the reality of his experiences, and induced him to devote his life absolutely to the work enjoined; but Fra. P. was not made of common clay. He issued a careless manifesto, calling upon the Universe to adore, and nothing particular coming of this, he lost interest. It is what he calls “The way of the Tao” to do everything by doing nothing. Take no trouble or care about a matter; it will come to pass. It seems to us a sort of happy fatalism; to him it is the highest of magical formulae.
The upshot of all was that on the birth of a child he had completely put everything aside. He played at Yoga for about a week during the summer, and he took some little trouble to disperse the wreckage of the “Rosicrucians,” which constituted a danger to navigation, the wretch Mathers having by now abandoned all pretence at magic, and mingled stupid sorceries with his bouts of intoxication, ever more frequent and prolonged. This service to humanity he successfully performed; the “Rump” of the London Temple was dispersed, and its chief, his occupation gone, left to the more diverting pastime of trying to dodge the Criminal Law Amendment Act.
With autumn we find Fra. P. still less occupied with magic; he spent the winter skating at St. Moritz, where his only occult exploit seems to have been parson-baiting, and though he returned to Scotland in the spring, it was only for a few days. For on April 27, 1905, one of the old comrades of his journeys in Central Asia sought him out, and proposed a new Expedition. Fra. P. gleefully accepted, and on May 6, having got together his kit, left his home, and sailed for India on the 12th.
His diary is henceforth barren of all interest to us. We learn only that the success of his plans was spoilt by a mutiny, which resulted in the death of four innocent people, and a good deal of damage to the mutineers, and that in consequence he went off to visit his old friend the Maharaja of Moharbhanj, and shoot big game. After spending a few days with this amiable despot, he went off alone into the jungle, and his thoughts immediately reverted to magic, to the performance of the Great Work, though not as yet to the Egyptian revelations. His antipathy to these, with their irrational instructions, grew and grew. It was only with the shattering of his reason that he could possibly accept them, and act on them.
Yet even in this month's wandering in the jungle we find little in the diary but the record of exercise of strange magic powers. we read three or four times that a certain adept joined him by night in the magical body. And on one night —
“Had long colloquy with Golden Hawk; invited —- (the Adept) and learnt that the Great Work was to create a new Universe. Whence severe self-criticism.”
This at the end of his journey. Yet during this journey we find that he had written down the secrets of the Mystic Path in a mysterious MS., which few indeed have been privileged to see.
in Calcutta he was very busy. He had been attacked by armed robbers, and, slaying two of them[1], was, in the then political condition of Bengal, likely to be offered up as a scapegoat. Further, his wife and child joined him, and it seemed most desirable that he should pursue his travels, which he did. But of this week one illuminating sentence is preserved. Fra. P. was driving through Calcutta with Mr. E—- T—-, and complaining to him that the analysis of impressions showed no connection between them. There was no coherence in the non-Ego, and so no sanity in the Universe.
His companion pointed out that the same criticism applied with equal force to the Ego.
This fell on Fra. P. with the force of a thunderbolt. He had always known this in an intellectual way; now it stabbed him to the heart. Through the rest of the drive he sat silent, and in the bustle of the succeeding days of “Bandobast” for his newly projected walk through China, this awakening stood behind his mind, alert and operative.
From Calcutta he proceeded to Rangoon (Nov. 3-6), where he found his old comrade, I. A., now a member of the Buddhist Sangha, under the name of Bhikku Ananda Metteya.
It was from him that he received the instructions which were to help him to reach the great and terrible pinnacle of the mind whence the Adept must plunge into the Abyss, to emerge naked, a babe — the Babe of the Abyss.
“Explore the River of the Soul,” said Ananda Metteya, “whence and in what order you have come.”
For three days — the longest period allowed by the Buddhist law — he remained in the Choung, meditating on this matter; but nothing seems to have come of it. He set his teeth and settled down doggedly to this consideration of the eternal why. Here is a being in Rangoon. Why? Because he wanted to see Bhikku A. M. Why? Because … and so on to the half-forgotten past, dark seas that phosphoresced as the clean keel of his thought divided them.
But, as appears, he was even more absorbed in the question of the consecution of impressions. Is there any connection between any two things?
We hear that he left Rangoon for Bhamo by the Irrawaddy steamer “Java” on the 15th. We can almost see him — lean, brown, stern and immobile, watching the wavelets of the great river, and the flying-fish, and the one thought: Why?
He shut off his reflective faculties, for he saw that there was nothing to reason about. Phenomena were consecutive, but not causally connected.[2]
On the 18th he writes: “About now I may count my Speculative Criticism of the Reason as not only proved and understood, but realized”; and on the 19th: “The misery of this is simply sickening — I can write no more.”
There is, however, an entry of this date in his little MS. book of vellum: “I realize in myself the perfect impossibility of reason; suffering great misery. I am as one who should have plumed himself for years upon the speed and strength of a favourite horse, only to find not only that its speed and strength were illusory, but that it was not a real horse at all, but a clothes-horse. There being no way — no conceivable way — out of this awful trouble gives that hideous despair which is only tolerable because in the past it has ever been the Darkness of the Threshold. But this is far worse than ever before; for it is not a despair of the Substance, but of the Form. I wish to go from A to B; and I am not only a cripple, but there is no such thing as space. I have to keep an appointment at midnight; and not only is my watch stopped, but there is no such thing as time. I wish to make a cannon; and not only have I no cue, but there is no such thing as causality.
“This I explain to my wife” (!!! — Ed.), “and she, apparently inspired, says, 'Shoot it!' (I suppose she means the reason, but, of course, she did not understand a word of what I had been saying. I only told her for the sake of formulating my thought clearly in words.) I reply, 'If I only had a gun.' This makes me think of Siegfried and the Forging of the Sword. Can I heat my broken Meditation-Sword in the furnace of this despair? Is Discipline the Hammer? At present I am more like Mime than Siegfried; a gibbering ape-like creature, though without his cunning and his purpose.
“Only, no water's left to feed its play.”
“Up with it on the tripod! It's extinct.” But surely I am not a dead man at thirty!”
The entry is followed by an undated entry earlier than the 25th, suggesting a method of “discipline.” But nothing else.
Indeed, there is absolute silence on all mystic matters until December 20, over a month later. On that day, jumping on to his Burmese pony, a few yards after fording the stream which marks the Chinese frontier, the animal backed before he was in the saddle, and fell with him over a cliff of some forty feet in height. “Neither hurt,” he remarks. “Later, kicked on the thigh by a mule.”
It is of no purpose here to deal with Fra. P.'s private affairs; but one must mention that all this time of interior insanity he was “playing the man” very vigorously. His moral force no doubt saved the Europeans of Tengyueh from a panic which might easily have resulted in massacre. After the death, perhaps by poison, of the Consul, the admirable and undervalued Litton, he was the only person who kept his head, and knew how to assert the authority of the white man.
So that we must understand that this “black insanity” of which Fra. P. speaks was a private little insanity of his own; it in no way interfered with the normal working of his magnificent and heroic brain.
Not to be turned aside from any purpose, however trivial, once he had formulated it, we find him leaving Tengyueh-Ting for the wildest mountains and deserts of Western China.
But before this, the Light had begun to break into the ruins of his mind. On February 9 he writes: “About this full moon consciousness began to break through Ruach into Neschamah”; and two days later: “Pu Peng to Ying Wa Kuan. I 'shoot the Reason' by going back, though on a higher plane, to Augoeides (“i.e.” the Holy Guardian Angel). Resolve to accomplish a Great Retirement on lines closely resembling Abra-melin. The 'note-book and stop-watch method' is too much like criticism. Doubt whether I should actually do Op. or confine myself to Augoeides. Latter easy to prepare, of course.” And so on, making a plan.
Now, how did this come about? Not from the meditation on the Reason, which ended once for all in the Destruction of that Reason, but by the “Sammasati” meditation on his Kamma. Baffled again and again, the fall with his horse supplied the one factor missing in his calculations. He had repeatedly escaped from death in manners almost miraculous. “Then I am some use after all!” was his conclusion. “I am indeed SENT to do something.” For whom? For the Universe; no partial good could possibly satisfy his equation. “I am, then, the 'chosen Priest and Apostle of Infinite Space.' Very good: and what is the message? What shall I teach men?” And like the lightning from heaven fell upon him these words: “THE KNOWLEDGE AND CONVERSATION OF THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL.”
Just that. No metaphysical stuff about the “higher self”; a thing that the very villagers of Pu Peng could understand. Avoid refinements; leave dialectic to the slaves of reason.
His work must, then, be to preach that one method and result. And first must he achieve that for himself; for if the blind lead the blind ——
So again we read (in the Diary, this time) on February 11. “Made many resolutions of G. R. (Great Retirement). In dream flew to me an Angel, bearing an Ankh, to comfort me.”
We may now transcribe the Diary. We find the great mind, the complex man, purged through and through of thought, stripped of all things human and divine, centred upon one single Aspiration, as simple as the love of a child for its father.
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But Fra. P. made also a sketch of the vision, which we here copy and reproduce.[5]
{Illustration facing page 32 described:
This is a drawing, printed in half-tone and captioned beneath “THE CRUCIFIXION OF FRA. P.” The basic outline is a rectangle, narrow horizontally and long vertically. The image is complex, with two main features. There is a figure to the right with the Crown of Amon, standing in a cloud that extends slightly beyond and to the left behind and greatly to the fore, mainly to the right and then low to the left, rising again a bit at the extreme left. This figure is frontal, eyes staring and with a full beard and long mustache. The beard is pointed, mustache strongly curved downward and outward like cattle horns. The face is fearsome of aspect. This figure has a loose robe, hanging over a tight band at the waist. A dagger passes beneath the band with hilt over navel and blade to the right of the picture, ending about hip height. The left arm is straight down, holding a large dark Ankh. The Right hand is extended to the left of the picture, upper arm nearly horizontal but a little below, Forearm is sharply upward and to the front, with hand grasping a phoenix wand near top of shaft, back of hand to the left of picture and fingers curled horizontally over shaft. The Phoenix wand itself faces to the left of the picture, its C-fork base just touching the cloud pattern rising behind the figure. The feet are not visible, owing to the clouds.
The other principal figure is a column of light over a hill. This column is narrower at the top and widens to encompass just over half the width of the picture (top width is about one fourth of picture). This column terminates in the hill and in the cloud already described to left and right. On the left side of the picture, outside the column of light and vertical are these characters marked, top to bottom: A shape like a Hebrew letter Bet or Mem with the left riser removed. A shape like “U”. A Shape like a capitol “L”, but reversed left to right”. Lastly, another “U” shape, with a slight line coming from near the top of the right upright and undulating almost to touch the left upright. To the right of the column of light there is a similar array of four letter shapes, apparently the same as those on the left, but with the column and letters simply inverted, top to bottom. These may be from the grid of the “Qabalah of Nine Chambers,” in which case they would be LBGK; but the symmetry suggests YHVH.
The Column of Light itself contains several features: There is a white circle at the top, truncated by the upper limit of the picture. In it are arrayed the Greek letters Iota, Alpha, Omega. The “I” and “O” are smaller and just below center to left and right. The “A” has its point about center and extends much larger than the others nearly to the lower arc of the circle. This “A” also has dots standing out from its apex and its two leg ends, three in all. This white circle is surrounded by a diffuse ring and rays of light extend from it. There is a strong ray vertically downward, two to either side of it intercepting the column of light at about mid-height, two more short ones above those, then two very short ones above those in turn, and there seem to be from two to three others passing the median of the circle but indistinct. There are letters on either side of the vertical ray, about mid height of the picture: “Or (ray) dO” and below that: “A∴ (ray) A∴ ”. This central ray illuminates and encompasses the upright of a crucifiction in the lower third of the picture, rising from the top of the hill. There is a generalized human form as corpus, facing forward on Latin cross. The figure is suggestive of Crowley, but only with a considerable weight loss. In curved wedges of shadow to the left and right of the hill top, within the widening of the column of light, are two canted elongate Latin Crosses with crescent moons horns to top about the intersection of arm and upright. That to the left cants to left and has a black crescent, between and below the horns, on the arm “FUR”. That to the right cants to right, white crescent, “FUR” written again as before. The slope of the hill on the left has these words arching just above and along it “Milites Judaei”; to the right “Mater. Johannes. There are off vertical striations in the column to right and left of the vertical ray, beneath A∴A∴ and above the crucifixion. The hill below the crucifixions has five Hebrew letters in black, forming a the word “Golgotha”, GLGThA.}
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It is time to break off for a moment from the Diary to ask the reader to remark how extraordinarily full is this passage of P.'s life. The scene opens on the slopes of Kangchenjanga with the death of five men. It continues with a jungle inhabited by savages, naked, armed with bows and arrows, ignorant even of any language containing so many as three hundred words, and by wild beasts. The next scene is of attempted robbery and murder, and P.'s successful defence. Then comes one of the wildest journeys possible to take on this planet, packed with every kind of adventure and privation. After this, practically continuous ill- health, only interrupted by the most shocking domestic tragedies.
Through all this, Fra. P. remains in perfect literal simplicity with his devotion to the Augoeides and his “invoking often.”
He never flags, never falters, never faints, never fails. Impassive and inexorable as that Nature whom he had defied, he went steadily on with his work. Wealth and health had been torn from him; he was like Job, but even worse tormented; greater than Job, he resisted all without a murmur, and conquered all without a glimmer of self-satisfaction.[6]
When the Books are opened and the deeds of men are known, who dare say that there shall be found aught to surpass these marvellous months which Fra. P. set to the Operation of the Sacred Magic, to obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the holy Guardian Angel? We return to the Diary —
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Such is the fragmentary account of what was then the greatest event in Fra. P.'s career. Yet this is an account of the highest of the trances — of Shivadarshana itself, as we know from other sources. The “vision,” to use still the name become totally inadequate, appears to have had three main points in its Atmadarshana stage —
1. The Universal Peacock.
2. The Universe as Ego. “I who am all and made it all abide its separate Lord,” “i.e.” the Universe becomes a single and simple being, without quantity, quality, or conditions. In this the “I” is immanent, yet the “I” made it, and the “I” is entirely apart from it. (This is the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, or something very like it.)
3. This Trinity is transcended by an impersonal Unity.
This is then annihilated by the Opening of the Eye of Shiva. It is absolutely futile to discuss this: it has been tried and failed again and again. Even those with experience of the earlier part of the “vision” in its fullness must find it totally impossible to imagine anything so subversive of the whole base, not only of the Ego, but of the Absolute behind the Ego.
There are, however, many suggestive poetical descriptions which we advise our readers to study. Notable are “Aha!” (passage quoted below) and many portions of Liber LXV, Liber VII, and Liber CCXX. It must be clearly understood that the Bhagavad-Gita, Anna Kingsford, St. John, and all other writers with the possible exception of Lao Tze, describe nothing higher than Atmadarshana. For the first time in the known history of the world there had arisen the combination of the utmost attainment with the intelligence and literary ability to make it comparatively articulate. It is no wonder, then, that we hail Fra. P. as the greatest of all Teachers.
This entire experience from the Passing of the Abyss to the Shivadarshana has been so wonder fully described in “Aha!” by Mr. Aleister Crowley, who was privileged to get his material first-hand from Fra. P. himself, that we make no apology for quoting the passage in full.
MARSYAS. | Ay! Hear the Ordeal of the Veil, The Second Veil! ... O spare me this Magical memory! I pale To show the Veil of the Abyss. Nay, let confession be complete! |
OLYMPAS. | Master, I bend me at thy feet — Why do they sweat with blood and dew? |
MARSYAS. | Blind horror catches at my breath. The path of the abyss runs through Things darker, dismaller than death! Courage and will! What boots their force? The mind rears like a frightened horse. There is no memory possible Of that unfathomable hell. Even the shadows that arise Are things to dreadful to recount! There's no such doom in Destiny's Harvest of horror. The white fount Of speech is stifled at its source. Know, the sane spirit keeps its course By this, that everything it thinks Hath causal or contingent links. Destroy them, and destroy the mind! O bestial, bottomless, and blind Black pit of all insanity! The adept must make his way to thee! This is the end of all our pain, The dissolution of the brain! For lo! in this no mortar sticks; Down comes the house — a hail of bricks! The sense of all I hear is drowned; Tap, tap, isolated sound, Patters, clatters, batters, chatters, Tap, tap, tap, and nothing matters! Senseless hallucinations roll Across the curtain of the soul. Each ripple on the river seems The madness of a manic's dreams! So in the self no memory-chain Or causal wisp to bind the straws! The Self disrupted! Blank, insane, Both of existence and of laws, The Ego and the Universe Fall to one black chaotic curse. |
OLYMPAS. | So ends philosophy's inquiry: "Summa scientia nihil scire." |
MARSYAS. | Ay, but that reasoned thesis lacks The impact of reality. This vision is a battle axe Splitting the skull. O pardon me! But my soul faints, my stomach sinks. Let me pass on! |
OLYMPAS. | My being drinks The nectar-poison of the Sphinx. This is a bitter medicine! |
MARSYAS. | Black snare that I was taken in! How one may pass I hardly know. Maybe time never blots the track. Black, black, intolerably black! Go, spectre of the ages, go! Suffice it that I passed beyond. I found the secret of the bond Of thought to thought through countless years Through many lives, in many spheres, Brought to a point the dark design Of this existence that is mine. I knew my secret. "All I was" I brought into the burning-glass, And all its focussed light and heat Charred "all I am." The rune's complete When "all I shall be" flashes by Like a shadow on the sky. Then I dropped my reasoning. Vacant and accursed thing! By my Will I swept away The web of metaphysic, smiled At the blind labyrinth, where the grey Old snake of madness wove his wild Curse! As I trod the trackless way Through sunless gorges of Cathay, I became a little child. By nameless rivers, swirling through Chasms, a fantastic blue, Month by month, on barren hills, In burning heat, in bitter chills, Tropic forest, Tartar snow, Smaragdine archipelago, See me — led by some wise hand That I did not understand. Morn and noon and eve and night I, the forlorn eremite, Called on Him with mild devotion, As the dew-drop woos the ocean. In my wanderings I came To an ancient park aflame With fairies' feet. Still wrapped in love, I was caught up, beyond, above The tides of being. The great sight Of the intolerable light Of the whole universe that wove The labyrinth of life and love, Blazed in me. Then some giant will, Mine or another's thrust a thrill Through the great vision. All the light Went out in an immortal night, The world annihilated by The opening of the Master's Eye. How can I tell it? |
OLYMPAS. | Master, master! A sense of some divine disaster Abases me. |
MARSYAS. | Indeed, the shrine Is desolate of the divine! But all the illusion gone, behold The one that is! |
OLYMPAS. | Royally rolled, I hear strange music in the air! |
MARSYAS. | It is the angelic choir, aware Of the great Ordeal dared and done By one more Brother of the Sun! |
OLYMPAS. | Master, the shriek of a great bird Blends with the torrent of the thunder. |
MARSYAS. | It is the echo of the word That tore the universe asunder. |
OLYMPAS. | Master, thy stature spans the sky. |
MARSYAS. | Verily; but it is not I. The adept dissolves — pale phantom form Blown from the black mouth of the storm. It is another that arises! |
The result of this upon Fra. P. seems to have been tremendous.
On the very next day the last sacrifice was made.
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In spite of his illness he managed to do some most formidable work during this December. There is, however, nothing further in the diary of interest to our present purpose.
But it is most important to remark that although acclaimed as a Master of the Temple, as one who has passed utterly through the Abyss, as a Brother of the A ∴ A ∴ itself, he steadfastly refused to accept the hard-won grade for three years more.
(To be continued)
Footnotes:
[1] In his CONFESSIONS, Crowley states that these muggers confessed their attack on him in hospital.
[2] this should be studied with chapter VII of “The Star in the West,” and Hume's “Essay on the Human Understanding,” which he again read on the 17th.
[3] sic. a.m.?
[4] sic, s.b. “A∴” —?
[5] It should be noted that in all this Crowley was probably influenced by a simple tonsillectomy, emotionally distraught by the death of his child and morally strained by failure to adequately comfort his bereaved wife.
[6] This is a bit thick.
[7] Crowley's wife Rose turned firmly to the bottle. It may be conjectured that she lacked the support to carry her through her own tragedy, and she attempted abortion around this time.
[8] But see the changes Crowley wrought in the “Bornless Ritual” when he composed Liber Samekh!
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(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.IX.)
WE left Frater P. at the end of 1906, acknowledged and admitted a Master of the Temple, and even more than this, as it were in perspective, and yet refusing to admit even to himself that he had obtained that Crown for which he had striven so earnestly since the beginning. Into these eight years had been concentrated the work of not one lifetime, but of many, but he felt that this work was in no sense complete. He might be entitled to the Grade without as yet being inititated into it, and we shall find that these eight years grew to eleven before this occurred.
We must now record how these three years were occupied. We learn that in September 1906, with Frater D.D.S., he had prepared a Ritual of the Augoeides, which might serve to initiate those who had not yet made any attainment on the path. We may again quote from the "History Lection": —
19. Returning to England, he laid his achievements humbly at the feet of a certain adept D.D.S., who welcomed him brotherly and admitted his title to that grade which he had so hardly won.
20. Thereupon these two adepts conferred together, saying: May it not be written that the tribulations shall be shortened? Therefore they resolved to establish a new Order which would be free from the errors and deceits of the former one.
21. Without Authority they could not do this, exalted as their rank was among adepts. They resolved to prepare all things, great and small, against that day when such Authority should be received by them, since they knew not where to seek for higher adepts than themselves, but knew that the true way to attract the notice of such was to equilibrate the symbols. The temple must be builded before the God can indwell it.
22. Therefore by order of D.D.S. did P. prepare all things by his arcane science and wisdom, choosing only those symbols which were common to all systems, and rigorously rejecting all names and words which might be supposed to imply any religious or metaphysical theory. To do this utterly was found impossible, since all language has a history, and the use (for example) of the word “spirit” implies the Scholastic Philosophy and the Hindu and Taoist theories concerning the breath of man. So was it difficult to avoid implication of some undesirable bias by using the words “order,” “circle,” “chapter,” “society,” “brotherhood,” or any other to designate the body of initiates.
23. Deliberately, therefore, did he take refuge in Vagueness. Not to veil the truth to the Neophyte, but to warn him against valuing non-essentials. Should therefore the candidate hear the name of any God, let him not rashly assume that it refers to any known God, save only the God known to himself. Or should the ritual speak in terms (however vague) which seem to imply Egyptian, Taoist, Buddhist, Indian, Persian, Greek, Judaic, Christian, or Moslem philosophy, let him reflect that this is a defect of language; the literary limitation and not the spiritual prejudice of the man P.
24. Especially let him guard against the finding of definite sectarian symbols in the teaching of his master, and the reasoning from the known to the unknown which assuredly will tempt him. We labour earnestly, dear brother, that you may never be led away to perish upon this point; for thereon have many holy and just men been wrecked. By this have all the visible systems lost the essence of wisdom. We have sought to reveal the Arcanum; we have only profaned it.
25. Now when P. had thus with bitter toil prepared all things under the guidance of D.D.S. (even as the hand writes, while the conscious brain, though ignorant of the detailed movements, applauds or disapproves the finished work) there was a certain time of repose, as the earth lieth fallow.
26. Meanwhile these adepts busied themselves intently with the Great Work.
27. In the fullness of time, even as a blossoming tree that beareth fruit in its season, all these pains were ended, and these adepts and their companions obtained the reward which they had sought — they were to be admitted to the Eternal and Invisible Order that hath no name among men.
28. They therefore who had with smiling faces abandoned their homes, their possessions, their wives, their children, in order to perform the Great Work, could with steady calm and firm correctness abandon the Great Work itself; for this is the last and greatest projection of the alchemist.
In the spring of 1907 we consequently find Frater P. living quietly his ordinary life a a man and engaged in no particular practices. His diary for this year 1907 has been lost,[1] and we shall not be able to fill in the events of the year in any detail. We have, however, been able to inquire of those who had conversation with him during this period, and we hear of him as occupied mainly in reviewing the whole of his magical career — though why should we use an adjective, since every second of that career had been understood as part of the operation of the Magic of Light? It seems to him that this career was in some ways imperfect — as if he had jumped over some of the puddles in the path. He wished to explain to himself how this could be so, and, in particular, why. He found, for example, with regard to magical powers, that he was not able to exercise these in the way which he had originally conceived. He found, in short, that they were like all other powers, and could only be exercised as circumstance permitted. Even Herr Salchow could not cut his famous star unless there happened to be ice, and he was able to get to that ice with skates. Although he had performed so many wonders he perceived that his ability depended entirely upon some antecedent necessity. He was not a free agent. He was part of a universal scheme. Now the principal mark of the Master of the Temple was, in his opinion, that he could exercise these powers at will; that he could enter Samadhi at will. He now saw that these words “At will” really meant at the will of the Universe, and he could only obtain this freedom through the coincidence of his will with the Universal Will. The active and the passive must be perfectly harmonious before free-will became intelligible. Only Destiny could exercise free-will. In order to exercise free-will he must, therefore, become Destiny. He was then to know sooner or later the meaning of the Thirteenth Æther, to which subject we shall return in the proper place.
We are now to consider a further passage from the "History Lection": —
29. Also one V.V.V.V.V. arose, an exalted adept of the rank of Master of the Temple (or this much He disclosed to the Exempt Adepts), and His utterance is enshrined in the Sacred Writings.
30. Such are Liber Legis, Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente, Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli and such others whose existence may one day be divulged unto you. Beware lest you interpret them either in the Light or in the darkness, for only in L.V.X. may they be understood.
Of V.V.V.V.V. we have no information. We do not know, and it is of no importance that we should know, whether he is an actual person or a magical projection of Frater P., or identical with Aiwass, or anything else, for the reasons previously given when discussing the utterance of Liber Legis, Equinox VII, pp. 384 and 385. It is sufficient to say that all the Class A publications of the A∴A∴ should be regarded as not only verbally and literally inspired by Him, but that this accuracy should be taken to extend even to the style of the letter. If a word is unexpectedly spelt with a capital letter, it must not be thought that this is a mistake; there is some serious reason why it should be so. During this year 1907, therefore, we find a number of such books dictated by him to Frater P. Of the sublimity of these books no words can give expression. It will be noticed that they are totally different in style from Liber Legis, just as both of them are different from any of the writings of Frater P. We may turn for a moment to consider the actual conditions under which he received them. We find the hint of the nature of the communication in Liber LXV and Liber VII. On one or two occasions the scribe introduced his thought upon the note, in particular Liber VII, Chapter I, Verse 30, where Verse 29 suggested Verse 30 to Frater P., who wrote it consciously and was corrected in Verse 31. Frater P. is, however, less communicative about this writing than about Liber Legis. It appears that during the whole period of writing he was actually in Samadhi, although, strangely enough, he did not know it himself. It is a question of the transference of the Ego from the personal to the impersonal. He, the conscious human man, could not say “I am in Samadhi”; he was merely conscious that “that which was he” was in Samadhi. This came to him as a sort of consolation for the disappointment which he was experiencing, for it was in his attempt to get into Samadhi that the writing of these books occurred. Yet the consolation itself was in a sense a disappointment. The transference of the human conscience to the divine, the partial to the universal, was no longer an explosion, a spasm, an orgasm. It was a passing into peace unaccompanied by any of the dazzling and overwhelming phenomena with which he was familiar. He did not realize that this was an immense advance. He did not see that it meant that he had become so attuned to Samadhi that its occurrence became hardly noticeable. He was still farther from understanding that that Samadhi is permanent, eternal, entirely beyond accident of time or place; that it was only necessary, as it were, to lean back into it to be there. He knew that by pronouncing the Ineffable Name, the Universe dissolved in flame and earthquake. He was far from the point at which by the utterance of a single sigh the universe slipped into dissolution. Like Elijah in the mountain, he expected to see the Lord in the tempest and the lightnings. He did not understand the still small voice. We shall find an increasing difficulty in writing of Frater P., because from this time he is increasing that nameless and eternal Nothing of which nothing true can be said, and it sometimes seems as if the conscious man was ever diminishing, ever less important, ever much nearer to the normal human being. In reality it is that he is much less confused. He does not allow the Planes to interfere with each other. He perceives that each Plane must work out its own salvation; that it is fatally wrong to appeal to the higher. He has identified himself with the will of the higher, and that will must extend downwards, radiating upon the lower. The lower may aspire to the higher, but not in order to get help from its troubles. It may wish as a whole to unite itself with the higher, to lose itself in the higher, but it should be very wary about asking the higher to rearrange its parts.
Apart from these writings, the years 1907 and nearly the whole of 1908 are quite uneventful. We do, however, find that he went into several Magical retirements, for in the spring of 1907 we hear of him at Tangier; in the winter in the English Lakes; but a great deal of his time must have been taken up by the personal matter referred to on page 44 of No. VIII of the Equinox. That cup of bitterness, at least, he drank to the dregs. In May 1908 he was at Venice while we find that he spent August and September on a long walk through Spain. We do not learn that he did anything particular during this period, but on the first of October, he began a serious Retirement of a really strenuous character of about a fortnight in duration, which has been recorded for us minute by minute in a book called John St. John, published in Equinox I. The ostensible object of this Retirement was to discover for certain whether by the use of the plain straightforward methods accessible to the normal man he could definitely attain Samadhi within a reasonable time. In other words, whether the methods themselves were valuable. This was a most important experiment, for a great many people had argued that he owed his Attainment to his personal genius; that any methods would have done for him; that his methods might be useless for another. He was sufficiently satisfied with the efficacy of the methods to determine upon a course for which he had hitherto found no excuse — that of undertaking the gigantic task of the publication of all these methods on the basis of pure scepticism. There is, further, no doubt that by this retirement he acquired a stock of magical energy which enabled him to carry out this work, to all intents and purposes without assistance, except of the most temporary and casual kind, from any other person. The mere quantity of this work in itself constitutes a miracle. The quality of this work is such that the word miracle is quite inadequate. It must be remembered that it was not only a question of writing down the details of this extraordinary knowledge, though that is surprising enough. For example, Book 777 from cover to cover was written down by him from memory in a single week, at a time when he was seriously ill and in constant pain. But in addition to this, he was compelled to waste his time in overseeing the mechanical details of printing and publishing. It is better to fight with beasts at Ephesus like St. Paul than with printers in London as he did. He had, moreover, to furnish practically the whole of the funds required for the publication. He gave not only the remains of his great fortune, but all his hope of future fortune, and he issued his publications at cost price, often very much below it. In addition to this he was continually harassed and distressed by every form of domestic affliction. The ability to endure these five years following seems cheaply purchased at the cost of a fortnight's hard work.
From this moment, however, our own task becomes extremely simple. Hitherto Frater P. has been a private character, of whose life no one was competent to speak. Without his diaries it would not have been possible to write a single page of this book. But henceforward he is a public character, occupied in public work, and little, indeed, will be the content of his private life; and yet there remains the most important event to be recorded: the dissolution of that life, the losing of his name.
(To be continued)
Footnotes:
[1] A fragment of this diary is extant.
[ « back to TOC ]
(Published in The Equinox Vol.I. No.X.)
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The Nativity of Frater P. | The First Initiation of Frater P. |
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The Equinox of the Gods | The Annihilation of Frater P. |
IN the year 1909 we find the drawing together of the Paths by which Frater P. had been traveling.
First (March 21), the conscious personal work of his life was crystallized in the thorough establishment of his system of Scientific Illuminism or Sceptical Theurgy through the publication of Number I of the “Equinox;”
Second (October 17), he accomplished his purely human duty without which he had no right to become Sannyasin;
Third (April), another purely human side of his life reached a proper climax;
Fourth (December), he was relieved of his last human responsibility;
Fifth (June), he was brought back completely, in full freedom, into the work laid down in “Liber Legis.”
All these things were doubtless necessary as a winding-up of his business with Earth. The result is the final Initiation of December 3.
There is a very curious entry in his diary for January 1 —
“Having left the Juggler (Standard Music-hall), ate 12 oysters = 1 crab = Abrahadabra, a small bottle of No. 111 (cost 231 pence), invoked and banished Mercury in P. Circus, opened message from Adonai. Folly = Aleph.”
This was the way in which he would divine the forthcoming year. He did various things of a quite ordinary nature with an intense magical intention. He had asked a disciple to write him a message to be opened at midnight. The disciple, being a fool, wrote a foolish message, but none the less inspired.
The diary continues thus —
“Sought accidental symbols while looking for a black woman to represent Binah” (to which he was aspiring).
“Entered by chance, firstly, Queen's Hotel [can this refer to Binah?] and Leicester.” (Leicester was the town whose hospitality had temporarily relieved him of his thorn in the flesh. Permanent relief followed in the course of the year.) He did not see any black woman, but a woman came to him and asked for alms, telling her sad story — which was that she had been a servant who was now a fertilized free-woman with a young male child. He took this as a symbol of Binah in her form of Aima, the Rejoicing Mother. Further, she was dressed in grey, the colour of Chokmah, which he took to imply that she was the right kind of Mother, being covered by the Father.
There is no record of any importance in the diary until the Vernal Equinox, when the “Word of the Equinox,” which is given out by the Masters to govern the events of the six months, was “Perdurabo;” and we find, in fact, that during this six months were some of the most important events of our history, whose which finished Perdurabo.
On June 15, he was at his Sacred House, and there conferred the Initiation of Neophyte upon his first probationer.
The event of June 28 is so important that a little preliminary explanation is required. It has been explained with what reluctance he moved to the obtaining of “Liber Legis.” We have seen how he tried to avoid carrying out the instructions; how he tried to give up Magick altogether; how he tried to take up Buddhism; how he tried any and every Path to escape the task laid upon him. He even attempted to publish “Liber Legis” and the 30th and 29th AEthyrs which he had obtained in Mexico, with sceptical commentary. We find him driven inch by inch into the Path appointed by the Masters. We have seen him stripped of all that he had and of all that he was. We know, too, that he made the obtaining of Samadhi a condition of his taking up the work, on the ground that no one without that experience could possibly carry it out, and we have seen this demand granted. We have seen him hailed by the Adepts of the Great White Brotherhood in England, as not only one of themselves, but as their Master, nay, as the Logos of the AEon. We have seen him refuse to admit it. Ultimately, when every obstacle had been cleared away, when the Adepts themselves urged him to take up the work, his will refused assent, and that with finality. “For,” said he, “it is impossible. In my copy of the Book of the Law I find it written 'This book shall be translated into all tongues, but always with the original in the writing of the Beast, for in the chance shape of the letters and their positions to one another, in these are mysteries that no Beast shall divine,' and this original has been lost. I have not seen it for five years.”
With this he dismissed the matter from his mind. He would continue with scientific illuminism. He would publish various scholarly studies of such works as Dr. Dee's. What he would not do was — what he was told! It was impossible, and there was an end of the matter.
However, he was obliged to go to his house in Scotland on business, and he arrived there on June 15. Two days later he was joined by two disciples. One of these was interested in mountaineering, and had asked him for a pair of his ski. Several pairs were discovered in the loft. Some days later he determined to look for four large canvases, on which, nine years earlier, he had painted in their proper colours the Four Watch Towers of the universe given by Dr. Dee. The house was ransacked by the three men and by the servants; no trace was discovered, and the search was abandoned.
On June 28, we find this entry —
“Glory be to Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit in the Highest! A little before midday I was impelled mysteriously (though exhausted by playing fives, billiards, etc. till nearly six this morning), to make a final search for Elemental Tablets. And lo! when I had at last abandoned the search, I cast mine eyes upon a hole in the loft, where were ski, etc., and there, O Holy, Holy, Holy! were not only all that I sought, but the manuscript of “Liber Legis!”
It was the last straw. For the next two days he remained in meditation, as in his previous Samma Sati meditation in Burma and China, where his marvellous escape from death supplied the last factor in the equation, and brought him to the understanding of who he was and what his work. So this strange finding robbed him of his last excuse for not taking up the work. Here was the reason for the years spent by him in climbing mountains. Because he had climbed mountains he desired ski; because he had climbed mountains he had gone to Cumberland in the winter previous, and there found the disciple K. M. W., whose request for the ski had brought him to the loft. Here, too, was the reason of his life-tragedy, for without that he would not have gone to Cumberland at that time or gone to his house in Scotland that summer. There was no further escape. He must take up the terrible Karma, which he had evaded, in spite of the tremendous pressure brought to bear upon him by the Masters, for five years. It is Their silent dealings with him which fill Volume 0 of the “Equinox.”
Broken at last, he went to the topmost point of the hill which crowns his estate, at midnight, and there, as we read in the diary, “I once more solemnly renounced all that I have or am. On departing, instantly shone the moon, two days before her fullness, over the hill among the clouds.” A pencil note in the diary, written much later, underlines the words “two days before her fullness,” and notes: “And I attained two quarters of year later approximately.”
The traces of this decision are now apparent when, from August 22 to 25, we find him at Maidenhead writing “Aha!” In this poem he gives a complete account of all that had occurred to him. Beginning with some hint of the aspiration to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, it continues with an account of the method of meditation, culminating in that same Knowledge and Conversation. The agony of the Passing of the Abyss is then described, and the tearing away of all that he has or is, ending in Shivadarshana. This passage is quoted fully in the section “The Babe”, “supra.” Further instruction is then given in meditation.
MARSYAS. | There are seven keys to the great gate, |
Yet, immediately following this, comes the Method of Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and an account of the attainment of that knowledge.
MARSYAS. | I teach the royal road of light. |
OLYMPAS. | O now I burn with holy haste. |
MARSYAS. | Son, there's a bee for every flower. |
OLYMPAS. | All hail! all hail! |
Yet no sooner is this attained than he utters the new doctrine declared in “Liber Legis.”
MARSYAS. | I bear a message. Heaven hath sent |
OLYMPAS. | Master, while yet the glory clings Declare this mystery magical! |
MARSYAS. | I am yet borne on those blue wings Into the Essence of the All. Now, now I stand on earth again, Though, blazing through each nerve and vein, The light yet holds its choral course, Filling my frame with fiery force Like God's. Now hear the Apocalypse New-fledged on these reluctant lips! |
OLYMPAS. | I tremble like an aspen, quiver Like light upon a rainy river! |
MARSYAS. | Do what thou wilt! is the sole word Of law that my attainment heard. Arise, and lay thine hand on God! Arise, and set a period Unto Restriction! That is sin: To hold thine holy spirit in! O thou that chafest at thy bars, Invoke Nuit beneath her stars With a pure heart (Her incense burned Of gums and woods, in gold inurned), And let the serpent flame therein A little, and thy soul shall win To lie within her bosom. Lo! Thou wouldst give all — and she cries: No! Take all, and take me! Gather spice And virgins and great pearls of price! Worship me in a single robe, Crowned richly! Girdle of the globe, I love thee. I am drunkness Of the inmost sense; my soul's caress Is toward thee! Let my priestess stand Bare and rejoicing, softly fanned By smooth-lipped acolytes, upon Mine iridescent altar-stone, And in her love-chaunt swooningly Say evermore: To me! To me! I am the azure-lidded daughter Of sunset; the all-girdling water; The naked brilliance of the sky In the voluptuous night am I! With song, with jewel, with perfume, Wake all my rose's blush and bloom! Drink to me! Love me! I love thee, My love, my lord — to me! to me! |
OLYMPAS. | There is no harshness in the breath Of this — is life surpassed, and death? |
MARSYAS. | There is the Snake that gives delight And Knowledge, stirs the heart aright With drunkenness. Strange drugs are thine, Hadit, and draughts of wizard wine! These do no hurt. Thine hermits dwell Not in the cold secretive cell, But under purple canopies With mighty-breasted mistresses Magnificent as lionesses — Tender and terrible caresses! Fire lives, and light, in eager eyes; And massed huge hair about them lies. They lead their hosts to victory: In every joy they are kings; then see That secret serpent coiled to spring And win the world! O priest and king, Let there be feasting, foining, fighting, A revel of lusting, singing, smiting! Work; be the bed of work! Hold! Hold! The stars' kiss is as molten gold. Harden! Hold thyself up! now die — Ah! Ah! Exceed! Exceed! |
OLYMPAS. | And I? |
MARSYAS. | My stature shall surpass the stars: He hath said it! Men shall worship me In hidden woods, on barren scaurs, Henceforth to all eternity. |
OLYMPAS. | Hail! I adore thee! Let us feast. |
MARSYAS. | I am the consecrated Beast. I build the Abominable House. The Scarlet Woman is my Spouse — |
OLYMPAS. | What is this word? |
MARSYAS. | Thou canst not know Till thou hast passed the Fourth Ordeal. |
OLYMPAS. | I worship thee. The moon-rays flow Masterfully rich and real From thy red mouth, and burst, young suns Chanting before the Holy Ones Thine Eight Mysterious Orisons! |
MARSYAS. | The last spell! The availing word! The two completed by the third! The Lord of War, of Vengeance That slayeth with a single glance! This light is in me of my Lord. His Name is this far-whirling sword. I push His order. Keen and swift My Hawk's eye flames; these arms uplift The Banner of Silence and of Strength — Hail! Hail! thou art here, my Lord, at length! Lo, the Hawk-Headed Lord am I: My nemyss shrouds the night-blue sky. Hail! ye twin warriors that guard The pillars of the world! Your time Is nigh at hand. The snake that marred Heaven with his inexhaustible slime Is slain; I bear the Wand of Power, The Wand that waxes and that wanes; I crush the Universe this hour In my left hand; and naught remains! Ho! for the splendour in my name Hidden and glorious, a flame Secretly shooting from the sun. Aum! Ha! — my destiny is done. The Word is spoken and concealed. |
OLYMPAS. | I am stunned. What wonder was revealed? |
MARSYAS. | The rite is secret. |
OLYMPAS. | Profits it? |
MARSYAS. | Only to wisdom and to wit. |
OLYMPAS. | The other did no less. |
MARSYAS. | Then prove Both by the master-key of Love. The lock turns stiffly? Shalt thou shirk To use the sacred oil of work? Not from the valley shalt thou test The eggs that line the eagle's nest! Climb, with thy life at stake, the ice, The sheer wall of the precipice! Master the cornice, gain the breach, And learn what next the ridge can teach! Yet — not the ridge itself may speak The secret of the final peak. |
OLYMPAS. | All ridges join at least. |
MARSYAS. | Admitted, O thou astute and subtle-witted! Yet one — loose, jagged, clad in mist! Another — firm, smooth, loved and kissed By the soft sun! Our order hath This secret of the solar path, Even as our Lord the Beast hath won The mystic Number of the Sun. |
OLYMPAS. | These secrets are too high for me. |
MARSYAS. | Nay, little brother! Come and see! Neither by faith nor fear nor awe Approach the doctrine of the Law! Truth, Courage, Love, shall win the bout, And those three others be cast out. |
OLYMPAS. | Lead me, Master, by the hand Gently to this gracious land! Let me drink the doctrine in, An all-healing medicine! Let me rise, correct and firm, Steady striding to the term, Master of my fate, to rise To imperial destinies; With the sun's ensanguine dart Spear-bright in my blazing heart, And my being's basil-plant Bright and hard as adamant! |
MARSYAS. | Yonder, faintly luminous, The yellow desert waits for us. Lithe and eager, hand in hand, We travel to the lonely land. There, beneath the stars, the smoke Of our incense shall invoke The Queen of Space; and subtly She Shall bend from Her infinity Like a lambent flame of blue, Touching us, and piercing through All the sense-webs that we are As the aethyr penetrates a star! Her hands caressing the black earth, Her sweet lithe body arched for love, Her feet a Zephyr to the flowers, She calls my name — she gives the sign That she is mine, supremely mine, And clinging to the infinite girth My soul gets perfect joy thereof Beyond the abysses and the hours; So that — I kiss her lovely brows; She bathes my body in perfume Of sweat .... O thou my secret spouse, Continuous One of Heaven! illume My soul with this arcane delight, Volumptuous Daughter of the Night! Eat me up wholly with the glance Of thy luxurious brilliance! |
OLYMPAS. | The desert calls. |
MARSYAS. | Then let us go! Or seek the sacramental snow, Where like a high-priest I may stand With acolytes on every hand, The lesser peaks — my will withdrawn To invoke the dayspring from the dawn, Changing that rosy smoke of light To a pure crystalline white; Though the mist of mind, as draws A dancer round her limbs the gauze, Clothe Light, and show the virgin Sun A lemon-pale medallion! Thence leap we leashless to the goal, Stainless star-rapture of the soul. So the altar-fires fade As the Godhead is displayed. Nay, we stir not. Everywhere Is our temple right appointed. All the earth is faery fair For us. Am I not anointed? The Sigil burns upon the brow At the adjuration — here and now. |
OLYMPAS. | The air is laden with perfumes. |
MARSYAS. | Behold! It beams — it burns — it blooms. |
OLYMPAS. | Master, how subtly hast thou drawn The daylight from the Golden Dawn, Bidden the Cavernous Mount unfold Its Ruby Rose, its Cross of Gold; Until I saw, flashed from afar, The Hawk's eye in the Silver Star! |
MARSYAS. | Peace to all beings. Peace to thee, Co-heir of mine eternity! Peace to the greatest and the least, To nebula and nenuphar! Light in abundance be increased On them that dream that shadows are! |
OLYMPAS. | Blessing and worship to The Beast, The prophet of the lovely Star! |
It will be seen that these various methods of attainment are all harmonious. The Method of Meditation and that of Abramelin are not superseded by the new AEon, but made subsidiary to it, and easier to employ in virtue of it.
It is indeed abundantly clear that these three paths are one.
The best and greatest of the antinomies, that between Magick and Mysticism, is transcended in the Method of the New AEon.
But to return to the effect upon Fra. P. of the Finding of the Lost Book. There is no longer any hesitation or dissipation; as an Arrow from the Bow he flies to the mark of his high calling.
We now find him, therefore, attempting to carry out the work, and finding it as difficult to do so as he had previously found it to avoid doing so; yet doing so successfully, since he was working in accordance with the Will of the Masters, and this “Temple of Solomon the King” was now intended to lead up to the point which it has at last attained.
However, this account in “The Temple of Solomon the King” is too clumsy, too overloaded with matter irrelevant to the main purpose, to serve as the book referred to in “Liber Legis III. 39.” It will form a book of reference for students, but not a popular treatise. Frater Perdurabo was conscious of this difficulty. A further revelation through another messenger was necessary before the matter could be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. It is unnecessary in this place to detail how this came about, as it is quite recent and of too great importance in itself to deal with in any casual manner. It must suffice that this instruction is now being fully obeyed, as will be evident upon the publication of Part IV of Book 4.[1]
We now return to the diary. On September 24 we find a new password for the forthcoming Equinox — “Audio.” Its sublime meaning was not yet suspected by Frater Perdurabo. On November 9 we find the entry “Here endeth this diary, for I write now in a Holy Book of my Holy Pilgrimage to the Sun.” In fact, he left London for Paris on November 10, attended only by a single Chela. He arrived at Algiers on the 17th, and on the next day took the tram to Arba, from which point they started to walk to Bou-Saada.
At Aumale he took up again the work of obtaining the Cries of the 30 AEthyrs, to which he had not paid attention since August 1900. It is evident that he was stopped from going beyond that point at that time.
A study of these Cries will explain to students of intelligence the details of this Initiation, and it will be seen from the remarks at the end of the 13th AEthyr that it is not possible to proceed beyond the 16th for any one who is not a Master of the Temple. In the 19th AEthyr is the beginning of this Initiation, and it will be noticed that even in the 22nd AEthyr the Samahdi of Atmadarshana occurs, while in the 21st AEthyr is the vision of Kether, and in the 20th Shivadarshana, although not perfect.
In the 19th, then, the Angel of Initiation appears, and in the 18th Shivadarshana, in its new and higher form — “Shiva” being replaced by “Horus” — takes place. In the 17th the Initiation continues.
The Angel took him into the Pylon of the threshold in the 19th. In the 17th he is balanced. In the 16th is the first dim dawn of the Great Ones of “Liber Legis” as Lords of the Initiation, and something of the nature of the ceremony is foreshadowed. In the 15th the Adept is examined, and permission is given to pass him fully to the grade of Magister Templi, but admission to any further grade refused.
It will be noticed, further, that this all takes place in a Temple of the Rosy Cross.
In the 14th AEthyr we get the initiation itself. Fra. P. and his Chela, who was acting as his scribe, were upon Da'leh Addin, a mountain in the desert a few miles from Bou-Saada. It was found impossible to reach that AEthyr, and the Angel said, “Depart, for thou must invoke me only in the darkness, for the mystery cannot be spoken in sight of the sun.” Frater Perdurabo therefore withdrew from the Vision.
It was then that a strange thing happened. Impelled by some instinct or inspiration, it came to them that they must then and there build a Temple to the Most Holy Exalted One, and in this Temple invoke Him. The top of the Mountain was covered with large loose stones entirely suitable for this purpose. In the course of an hour or so it was built, and the invocation made, after which an inscription recording the result was built.
This invocation was of a very remarkable character. There had been a bar to the progress of Frater Perdurabo, a dualism in his conception of the Cosmos. He had not fully understood that the Universe was One, that one might in very truth eat and drink to the glory of God. He knew that by eating and drinking one did not necessarily detract from the glory of God, but had not fully understood the sacramentalism of the simplest actions. Now he knew that the huddling together of unhewn stones might build a better Temple than that of Luxor or of Karnak. He had still the old illusion that to succeed on one plane you must fail on another; still thought the mind more than the body, the soul more than the mind; did not see that these three must be one in exactly the same sense as the Christian Trinity (as understood by the truest Christians) is One. It was in the course of this illumination that the Truth was ceremonially conveyed to him on the Magical plane, although it was not for three years later that it fully illuminated his mind.
This illusion, of which it is here spoken, is a most necessary step for the beginner, because to the beginner his ordinary life is not a sacrament. To him things are really common and unclean. He must, therefore, cut them out of his life, and hence to him the name of the Path is Renunciation. But to him who would be a Master of the Temple, the reverse applies. He wishes to remain perpetually in Samadhi, and it is therefore his renunciation to descend further and further into matter. He has volatilized the fixed: now he must fix the volatile. He has ascended from his particular body to the Universal Soul. That Universal Soul must now incarnate itself ever more completely in that body, and in the bodies and minds of all men. He has made his darkness light; that light must illuminate the darkness of all.
Having then received this last Initiation, this destruction of the opposition, between One and the Many, he descended from the mountain, and awaited nightfall.
The nature of the Initiation itself — its climax and completion — can only be given in the sublime words of the Angel of the AEthyr itself. We therefore quote it in full —
“The Angel reappears.”
The blackness gathers about, so thick, so clinging, so penetrating, so oppressive, that all the other darkness that I have ever conceived would be like bright light beside it.
His voice comes in a whisper: O thou that art master of the fifty gates of Understanding, is not my mother a black woman? O thou that art master of the Pentagram, is not the egg of spirit a black egg? Here abideth terror, and the blind ache of the Soul, and lo! even I, who am the sole light, a spark shut up, stand in the sign of Apophis and Typhon.
I am the snake that devoureth the spirit of man with the lust of light. I am the sightless storm in the night that wrappeth the world about with desolation. Chaos is my name, and thick darkness. Know thou that the darkness of the earth is ruddy, and the darkness of the air is grey, but the darkness of the soul is utter blackness.
The egg of the spirit is a basilisk egg, and the gates of the understanding are fifty, that is the sign of the Scorpion. The pillars about the neophyte are crowned with flame, and the vault of the Adepts is lighted by the Rose. And in the abyss is the Eye of the Hawk. But upon the great sea shall the Master of the Temple find neither star nor moon.
And I was about to answer him: “The light is within me.” But before I could frame the words, he answered me with the great word that is the Key of the Abyss. And he said: Thou hast entered the night; dost thou yet lust for day? Sorrow is my name, and affliction. I am girt about with tribulation. Here still hangs the Crucified One, and here the Mother weeps over the children that she hath not borne. Sterility is my name, and desolation. Intolerable is thine ache, and incurable thy wound. I said, Let the darkness cover me; and behold, I am compassed about with the blackness that hath no name. O thou, who hast cast down the light into the earth, so must thou do for ever. And the light of the sun shall not shine upon thee, and the moon shall not lend thee of her lustre, and the stars shall be hidden, because thou art passed beyond these things, beyond the need of these things, beyond the desire of these things.
What I thought were shapes of rocks, rather felt than seen, now appear to be veiled Masters, sitting absolutely still and silent. Nor can any one be distinguished from the others.
And the Angel sayeth: Behold where thine Angel hath led thee! Thou didst ask fame, power and pleasure, health and wealth and love, and strength, and length of days. Thou didst hold life with eight tentacles, like an octopus. Thou didst seek the four powers and the seven delights and the twelve emancipations and the two and twenty Privileges and the nine and forty Manifestations, and lo! thou art become as one of These. Bowed are their backs, whereon resteth the universe. Veiled are their faces, that have beheld the glory Ineffable.
These adepts seem like Pyramids — their hoods and robes are like Pyramids.
And the Angel sayeth: Verily is the Pyramid a Temple of Initiation. Verily also is it a tomb. Thinkest thou that there is life within the Masters of the Temple, that sit hooded, encamped upon the Sea? Verily, there is no life in them.
Their sandals were the pure light, and they have taken them from their feet and cast them down through the abyss, for this AEthyr is holy ground.
Herein no forms appear, and the vision of God face to face, that is transmuted in the Athanor called dissolution, or hammered into one in the forge of meditation, is in this place but a blasphemy and a mockery.
And the Beatific Vision is no more, and the glory of the Most High is no more. There is no more knowledge. There is no more bliss. There is no more power. There is no more beauty. For this is the Palace of Understanding: for thou art one with the Primeval things.
Drink in the myrrh of my speech, that is bruised with the gall of the roc, and dissolved in the ink of the cuttle-fish, and perfumed with the deadly nightshade.
This is thy wine, who wast drunk upon the wine of Iacchus. And for bread shalt thou eat salt, O thou on the corn of Ceres that didst wax fat! For as pure being is pure nothing, so is pure wisdom pure …[2], and so is pure understanding silence, and stillness, and darkness. The eye is called seventy, and the triple Aleph whereby thou perceivest it, divideth into the number of the terrible word that is the Key of the Abyss.
I am Hermes, that am sent from the Father to expound all things discreetly in these the last words that thou shalt hear before thou take thy seat among these whose eyes are sealed up, and whose ears are stopped, and whose mouths are clenched, who are folded in upon themselves, the liquor of whose bodies is dried up, so that nothing remains but a little pyramid of dust.
And that bright light of comfort, and that piercing sword of truth, and all that power and beauty that they have made of themselves, is cast from them, as it is written, “I saw Satan like lightning fall from Heaven.” And as a flaming sword is it dropt through the abyss, where the four beasts keep watch and ward. And it appeareth in the heaven of Jupiter as a morning star, or as an evening star. And the light thereof shineth even unto the earth, and bringeth hope and help to them that dwell in the darkness of thought, and drink of the poison of life. Fifty are the gates of understanding, and one hundred and six are the seasons thereof. And the name of every season is Death.
During all this speech, the figure of the Angel has dwindled and flickered, and now it is gone out.
And I come back in the body, rushing like a flame in a great wind. And the shew-stone has become warm, and in it is its own light.
“Bou-saada, December” 3, 1909. 9.50-11.15 “p.m.”
Comment on this cry can but profane it, yet it is necessary to emphasize the very peculiar nature of the attainment of this grade. In all previous grades the nature of the Initiation has been light through darkness. In this it is darkness through light. The word of the Adept was L V X, Light. The word of the Master of the Temple is N O X, Night. This is the Night of Pan. The direction of the Path is definitely changed. The Master of the Temple cannot go to the Magus unless bringing the Neophyte himself in his hand, and in this task there is no consolation, as there has always been before. The visions are no more. Silence and stillness and darkness rule the grade. The Adept has throughout his progress been unifying himself. As it is written in “Liber CCCXXXIII”, Chapter III, the Brothers of A∴A∴ are women; the Aspirants to A∴A∴ are men. The Master of the Temple has given birth to a child, which child appears as an Adept among men. But that which was the Adept is but a little pile of dust. Samadhi has been attained once and for all. The process is complete and permanent. The Great Work is accomplished. The new Great Work is proclaimed. He has finished with Solve. He must begin Coagula.
In the 13th AEthyr the Initiation continues. The Initiate obtains his reward, and that reward is to understand all, yet to labour in the darkness without hope of reward. Now, however, we come to the 12th AEthyr, wherein is the second mystery of the Reward, of which the key is the word N O X.
BABALON, the Lady of the City of the Pyramids, is revealed.
In “Liber VII” is the first utterance of the Master of the Temple, and this book should be studied by those who seek a further understanding.
Such is the first part of the Ritual of Initiation.
In the second part the Master is made to understand what is that Abyss which he has passed.
In the 11th AEthyr he comes to the fortress upon the frontier of the Abyss, and is there prepared for the crossing of the Abyss. Every drop of his blood is taken for the cup of BABALON. The Candidate asks, “Is there not the Holy Guardian Angel?” And the answer is given, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me??” It is the last word of the Aethyr. And of all the horror of the Abyss, that is the one word that yet chills his blood as he remembers it.
Now then, in the 10th AEthyr, is given the Abyss. The Candidate is identified with the horror of that Abyss. Had not the Master already passed the Abyss, as it were, unofficially, he could not have endured this crystallization of it into name and form.
In the 9th AEthyr comes a further reward, a further understanding of the task. And the first indication that he has really passed the Abyss on all planes is that there is no longer any curse. All is blessing. There is a secret meaning, a blessing in everything. And this is his reward — the Daughter of BABALON the beautiful. She is the pure soul, glorified by virtue of his attainment.
In the 8th AEthyr this is continued. The Master becomes a Holy Guardian Angel unto another, the Bridegroom of his Bride. This marriage is now accomplished in the 7th AEthyr.
There is Samadhi, but now no longer from below, but from above.
The reward of Understanding is further granted in the remaining AEthyrs.
In the 6th there is a shadowing forth of the Grade of Magus. And with this closes this part of the Initiation.
Now then, in the 5th AEthyr, comes the final reception. And after this reception among the Brothers of the Silver Star comes the Vision of the Arrow.
In the 4th AEthyr, the nature of the Great Work which the Master of the Temple must accomplish is shown more fully. The Holy Guardian Angel presents his Bride to the Mother, who presents her to the Father. One may remark that it is necessary to be a Master of the Temple before anything like a full understanding of these mysteries can be attained.
In the 3rd AEthyr the Guards to the further Grades are exhibited.
Now it may be asked, “What has become of the blood of the Adept which was put into the cup of BABALON, for that blood is his life?” In this supreme Initiation narrated in the 2nd AEthyr the answer to this question is given. The word “Samadhi” is now deep down, “an old unhappy far-off thing.” By so much does this exceed that. In this supreme marriage of Infinite with Infinite comes the key to the Grade of Ipsissimus, which Grade is shadowed forth — but oh, how dimly! — in the 1st AEthyr.
It will be noticed by those who understand this AEthyr that when all is done there is a complete identification (on the very last page) of that highest thing with that lowest. The Master of the Temple is not only the dust in the Pyramid, and the Blood in the Cup, but he is also that which was cast down through the Abyss into the Heaven of Jupiter. The brain reels before such a conception. And the human brain of the Master of the Temple is but little more fitted to understand this in his life as a man than if he had never entered on the Path at all. For the Ego has been totally destroyed, and he has nothing wherewith to bind together these things. He is not any of these things, for there is no He. Those things are. And of the results of this, and of how it may bear upon the question of his advancement to the Grade of Magus, who can say? It is not the Master of the Temple even who could answer such a question. For, in relation to his advancement, he is but that little pile of dust which is to burn up, and from which shall be prepared a white ash by Hermes the Invisible. And in relation to his true life, it is mixed with the blood of all his fellows in the Cup of BABALON. And in relation to his body and mind he is but a vehicle of the forces that are beyond the Abyss. He will therefore speak, but as a man among men, of that which he has seen and heard. But he will not claim authority. He will not proclaim dogma. For all that in him from which such things proceed is no more. He will remain in the darkness of the City of the Pyramids under the Night of Pan, sitting silent through 106 seasons, the name of every one of which is Death, ever seeking to make his understanding perfect, until the time comes for him to seek that yet more fearful ordeal which must evidently[3] be involved in the attainment of the Grade of Magus. That such a time should arrive in this present life would probably seem to him unthinkable. One would imagine that the Magus must be born, not made. It would seem that no human body unglorified by an absolutely perfect harmony with the whole of the being of which it is such a small part could confront even the Guardian of the Threshold of that Ordeal. One would imagine that in order to be suitable for such Initiation, the body and mind must be completely representative of the whole of the Cosmos, a perfect microcosm. The Mind of such an one must perfectly comprehend every phase of the Universe without exception. It must, in the most real intellectual sense, be equally “The buffet and the Ear.” As it is written, “A man of like passions as we are.”
It is not possible here or elsewhere, nor is it particularly desirable, to enlarge upon such a subject. Such discussions are as unprofitable as those sterile controversies about the nature of Nirvana, that have done more harm to Oriental though than all the rest of it has done good.
For that which is requisite for every man is “the next step,” and Frater P. has concentrated his message into this one phrase,
"ATTAIN TO THE KNOWLEDGE AND CONVERSATION OF THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL."
All beyond that is useless till that has been done. Here, then, the task of the writers of this book. The Temple of Solomon the King, may end.
The progress of a man has been described in detail with the documents reproduced verbatim. It is of no concern to any man, least of all to him, whether that account of his attainment is accepted. What is urgent for each man is that the message should be accepted. And this message, whether it be interpreted in Taphareth, the attainment of the Heart, or in Daath, the attainment of the Mind, or in Kether, the attainment of that which includes and transcends all, the message itself is simple. It involves no reference to facts. Frater Perdurabo may be a myth. The methods are experimental. Faith, in the conventional sense, is a condition of failure, not of success.
The Word has been proclaimed. It is of no avail without the Work.
Footnotes:
[1] This is the “Equinox of the Gods”, “Equinox” Vol. III, No. 3, published in 1936 e.v. and including much of this section of “The Temple of Solomon the King” in addition to other matter.
[2] I suppose that only a Magus could have heard this word.
[3] it was always 'evidently.' And he was always wrong in his anticipations!
[ « back to TOC ]
— SECRET —
The third and fourth Books of this essay consist of purely symbolic pictures.
For the Key of the Portal the neophyte must discover for himself;
and until he finds the Key the Temple of Solomon the King must remain closed to him.
[ « back to TOC ]
— SECRET —
The third and fourth Books of this essay consist of purely symbolic pictures.
For the Key of the Portal the neophyte must discover for himself;
and until he finds the Key the Temple of Solomon the King must remain closed to him.
[ « back to TOC ]
Proof read and edited by Frater D.M.T.
Contributed to Bahlasti Ompehda O.T.O. (Hungary, Anno Viii)
2014-2019 © O.T.O. Hungary