A particularly relevant and subtle set of instructions for meditation on the Hebrew letters is contained within the Sepher Yetzirah:
Chapter II:2
"Twenty-two Foundation Letters: He engraved them, carved them out, refined them, weighed them, and transformed them. He formed by them all that is formed and all that is ready to be formed."
This is a description of the creation of the universe from the 22 primal essences represented by the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The 22 essences are combined in every conceivable way in order to give form to the infinity of potential thoughts in the mind of the creator. (Incidentally, let's just ignore the patriarchal "He" in the quote above - I like to imagine that God is a wise old African woman who sits in a rocking chair on a porch somewhere drinking whiskey from a cup and dispensing infinite Wisdom. Not that I cling to the notion of an anthropomorphic God, mind you, I just like to imagine that).
Now, before the 22 essences can be combined in any way in order to create more complex essences and patterns, they must first be engraved into the very substance of the Divine Mind. Once carved out of the absolute perfection that is Ain Soph (thus giving rise to imperfection, dualism, and the like), the are then refined, weighed one against the other, and transformed.
Now, first of all it bears mentioning that the creation of the letters is essentially a reductive act. There is perfection, and the letters are carved out of that perfection. They are removed. The first creation is essentially an act of destruction. It has to be - perfection can't be added to, it can't be made more perfect, it can only be reduced to greater and greater degrees of imperfection. This description of creation is similar to Isaac Luria's creation myth, in which the Divine Perfection contracted itself out to the circumference of the circle of being, leaving emptiness within the circle in order to make room for creation.
The creator then refined the 22 essential building blocks, bringing them to a greater state of purity, further developing the essential nature of each.
After that, the essences were weighed, one against the other. The letters can be compared to the elements in the periodic table. An element is ultimately defined by its atomic weight, that is the essential characteristic that differentiates it from all of the other elements. Thus, each of the essences was given its essential characteristic, its name so to speak, in order to differentiate each essence from all of the others and establish an order among them (from the least to the most). In the Hebrew letters, this is reflected in the numerical value of each letter.
Finally, the 22 essences were transformed. In other words, they were made to exist in the phenomenal realm, they were given form. Before that point, they existed only in the non-manifest world of potential.
All of this can be taken as a personal instruction in working with the letters. "Engrave them, carve them out, refine them, weight them and transform them."
Engrave them, carve them out
First, the letters must be established within your psyche, imprinted onto the subtle substance of the subconscious mind (which mirrors the infinitely subtle substance of Divine Mind, the very matrix of creation, associated with the High Priestess in the Tarot). They must be, each of them, made to be a part of you.
The first step is to learn to write them. It's amazing how deeply something sinks into you when you write it. There is a tremendous amount of muscle memory involved in writing, all the more so in learning to write in an unfamiliar alphabet. Once you have memorized the forms of the letters and learned to write them with some degree of eloquence, proceed to meditation.
The method of meditation given in the first part of this essay will suffice. This must be done again and again and again and again and again, day in and day out, through periods of disinterest, doubt and intense boredom. When the hour of cloud and of night has passed and you find that each of the 22 letter essences can be contacted in all of their numinosity at will (you will know when this has happened), then you will have established them firmly within, and the next stage of development will begin.
Refine them
Once the letters have been established within your psyche, continued meditation begins to refine them. The forces associated with the letters - the elemental, planetary and zodiacal forces - already exist within each of us. Before we develop and refine them, they exist in a rough state, intermingled, out of balance with each other, some are scarcely discernible while others are exaggerated. Through meditation, we first separate them out from each other and bring them into a greater state of balance, then we refine them.
The letter Tau, for example, in its rough state, might appear in the personality as self-limitation, negativity, rigidity, sloth, inertia, short sightedness and depression. Perhaps it's all mixed up in the psyche in a complex involving the essences of Nun and Aleph, resulting in a tendency toward fatalism and an inability to commit to anything. In a more refined state, Tau would be more likely to appear as great strength, stability, a tendency to complete any project undertaken, great responsibility, integrity and honor. The fatalism of an unbalanced Nun might be refined into a willingness to enter readily into new and foreign experiences, along with an ability to completely transform the outer personality when needed. Aleph unrefined might appear as flightiness and instability, where a refined Aleph would tend more towards a calm detachment. As we refine the essences within us through meditation, we better ourselves in every conceivable way. This also opens the door for the experience of higher consciousness.
Weigh them
Simply, learn to discern the properties of each letter from those of the others. What makes Aleph different from Beth? From Gimel? How is Beth different from Gimel? Also, learn and internalize the numerical values of the letters.
Transform them
One way that this can be read is "transform with them". Meditation on the letters can be married to conscious intent in order to bring about changes in the personality or outer life. Another thing that this might point to is the simple fact that prolonged meditation on the Hebrew letters will naturally bring about transformations in the meditator. This also points back to the instruction to refine the letters, transforming them from a rough state into a more refined state. Various things happen when the essences are refined. Early stages of refinement separate the letter essences from each other, bringing out each letter's particular qualities and highlighting the contrasts between them. Later stages of refinement bring the essences back together, allowing them to intermingle in a more balanced and harmonious way. Each letter, given a sufficient state of refinement, will itself lead straight to the crown (ie: transcendence, union with the source), though this level of refinement may not be possible unless every one of the letters is so refined.
Permute them
Permutation is not included in the quote above, but it shows up in some translations of the Sepher Yetzirah. This refers to the act of meditating on the letters in combination, and of taking the letters in a particular word (typically a name of God) and meditating on them in every possible order (ie: for YHV, there are six permutations: YHV, YVH, HYV, HVY, VYH, VHY), which reveals the subtle and hidden nature of the word. More will be written on this technique (and several varieties of the technique) later.
The Sepher Yetzirah is an invaluable text for anybody who wishes to penetrate into the nature of the essential building blocks of creation in the form of the Hebrew alphabet. I highly recommend Aryeh Kaplan's exposition on the text (titled, simply, 'Sefer Yetzirah'), though James Eshelman has provided my personal favorite translation (http://heruraha.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2896, along with the forward: http://heruraha.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2816). Several others exist. Seek them out. Read one of the six chapters every day before meditation. This document is the very cornerstone and root of modern Qabalah, and contains several valuable instructions each of which are as pure gold.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
The Voice of Tahuti, 5th Installment
The Ritual
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
1st Enochian Key
Ritual Israfel
(reception)
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
The Vision
There is a great mass of fire upon the earth. A voice cries out:
The Voice
Let the Light descend into the center of the earth, for there is my hidden chuch.
Let the altar there be decorated with coral and ivory.
A bird flies to the north, there to find wisdom in the cold and the damp.
Let fires be lit upon the earth, let havoc and chaos reign until the lost and hidden Word is found. Let that Wisdom be revealed and brought into the light.
Let the darkness be made light thereby. Let it become as a beacon of light and heat. Let the Word be spoken, let it transform the face of the earth. The night of madness, chaos and darkness will then become the Night of Peace.
Let Wisdom rest in the silence of that Night like the seed within the womb. With the passage of seasons, a child will be born. The child is the reconciliation of the earth and heavens, the redeemer of the darkness and the chaos of night, the eternal within the temporal. The immortal Star shines upon his breast and his breath carries its radiance. He may appear as a fiery sword, or as a lion, or a lamb or a goat or a serpent. Behind all this is one, for the formless appears as a multitude in the world of forms. Thus is the Word delivered unto the earth in many guises.
Thus far the Voice of Wisdom.
After a short while. there's more:
A falling star, descending upon the earth from the empty abyss of space.
The darkness embraces and receives the light. Speech cannot be discerned without a background of silence. But there is light and there is Light, just as there is night and there is Night.
Understanding arises from the confusion of night, Wisdom from the Peace of Night. True Light appears as darkness, though it can be seen by the eyes of the pure soul.
Increase in Understanding, and enter into that Night. There can you behold the Light.
Follow the path of the eagle and the goat, but keep your eye on the star.
The Commentary:
Interpreting this kind of thing in any sort of literal way just leads to all kinds of trouble. Jung was a model prophet, in a way, in that he knew not to stumble into the error of confusing the planes.
There is a point on the spiritual path (not the first stage!) in which the light of higher consciousness must descend into the lower depths of the earth, the physical, the chthonic, in order to release and transform the raw materials therein which have been tied up in all kinds of (mostly unconscious) drama. This is the origin of the myth of Inanna, the descent of Orpheus, the Christian harrowing of hell (here's a very interesting comparison, from the book of Matthew, between Jonah being swallowed by the whale and Christ descending into hell: "For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.")
Let the Light descend into the center of the earth, for there is my hidden chuch.
The symbol of the hidden church in the center of the earth is appropriate. The voice speaking here represents the Yechidah (or the Chiah, which is the voice of the Yechidah). There is nothing in the individual which is not of the Yechidah, but the lower parts of the Nephesch are not only seemingly disconnected from the Yechidah, they're hidden even from the consciousness of the Ruach. Every part of the psyche arises from True Will, and can act in no way which is not a direct expression of that Will, though many parts of the psyche do so unknowingly and with no sense of coordination of purpose.
Let the altar there be decorated with coral and ivory.
Coral and ivory are both white, suggesting Kether. Coral, moreover, is associated with the sea. To me, this suggests the incorruptible in the midst of the sea of the formless, the immortal part of the soul (the part that doesn't dissolve in higher consciousness). The idea is that of erecting an altar to the highest in the place of the lowest, forming a connection between the two. See the article (way) below on the 3 stages of union. This is symbol of the 2nd stage, the Unio Corporalis.
A bird flies to the north, there to find wisdom in the cold and the damp.
The bird is the attention, the conscious mind. North is the direction (microcosmically) attributed to earth, though it is the element of water which is cold and damp (earth is cold and dry). The implication is the waters of the lower unconscious, associated with the physical, the body (in other words, the Nephesch). There is wisdom there, but it's obscured. The lower light is released through many encounters with the higher unconscious.
The night of madness, chaos and darkness will then become the Night of Peace.
The goods are released from their entanglement in the chaos of the lower unconscious (consisting mostly of associations made at a very early age, then re-enforced at various stages throughout life). The Night of Peace refers to the act of resting in the harmony of the higher and the lower (after a lifetime of conflict), and the calm that is found in that bright silence.
Let Wisdom rest in the silence of that Night like the seed within the womb.
Here again, we have Chokmah and Binah. There is an analog between the interaction of Chokmah and Binah, and the interaction of Kether and Malkuth.
With the passage of seasons, a child will be born.
The child is the result of a willful marriage of the eternal and the temporal. The perfect seeks expression in the imperfect, and a vehicle is needed in order to provide that expression. The vehicle itself partakes of both natures.
He may appear as a fiery sword, or as a lion, or a lamb or a goat or a serpent.
There's a lot going on here on a few different levels. The fiery sword, besides the simple and obvious symbol of aggression and destruction, represents the downward path of manifestation on the Sephirothic Tree. The serpent is the upward path, also the kundalini. These symbols can represent the temperament of the "child", or its mode of manifestation, or level of action.
Behind all this is one, for the formless appears as a multitude in the world of forms.
Again, the child partakes of both natures.
OK, so much for the first part. Onward to the second!
Understanding is Binah, and refers to the higher intuition (that which allows us to perceive spiritual truth in a way that far surpasses the rational). Wisdom is Chokmah, and refers to the True Will, or the Voice of the Yechidah (that oh so exalted being often signified with an epithet that bears the same initials as Happy Grail of Amrita).
Most of this section is self-explanatory, a general instruction made clearer by the following:
Follow the path of the eagle and the goat, but keep your eye on the star.
In short, go towards the unfamiliar, embrace what appears to be not-self, explore even the baser urges, but never for it's own sake! Do so with the specific intent of attaining to greater knowledge of the true Self, freeing the small self from the bondage of rigid definition. The goal is to serve, and true service can only be accomplished by one who is free.
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
1st Enochian Key
Ritual Israfel
(reception)
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
The Vision
There is a great mass of fire upon the earth. A voice cries out:
The Voice
Let the Light descend into the center of the earth, for there is my hidden chuch.
Let the altar there be decorated with coral and ivory.
A bird flies to the north, there to find wisdom in the cold and the damp.
Let fires be lit upon the earth, let havoc and chaos reign until the lost and hidden Word is found. Let that Wisdom be revealed and brought into the light.
Let the darkness be made light thereby. Let it become as a beacon of light and heat. Let the Word be spoken, let it transform the face of the earth. The night of madness, chaos and darkness will then become the Night of Peace.
Let Wisdom rest in the silence of that Night like the seed within the womb. With the passage of seasons, a child will be born. The child is the reconciliation of the earth and heavens, the redeemer of the darkness and the chaos of night, the eternal within the temporal. The immortal Star shines upon his breast and his breath carries its radiance. He may appear as a fiery sword, or as a lion, or a lamb or a goat or a serpent. Behind all this is one, for the formless appears as a multitude in the world of forms. Thus is the Word delivered unto the earth in many guises.
Thus far the Voice of Wisdom.
After a short while. there's more:
A falling star, descending upon the earth from the empty abyss of space.
The darkness embraces and receives the light. Speech cannot be discerned without a background of silence. But there is light and there is Light, just as there is night and there is Night.
Understanding arises from the confusion of night, Wisdom from the Peace of Night. True Light appears as darkness, though it can be seen by the eyes of the pure soul.
Increase in Understanding, and enter into that Night. There can you behold the Light.
Follow the path of the eagle and the goat, but keep your eye on the star.
The Commentary:
Interpreting this kind of thing in any sort of literal way just leads to all kinds of trouble. Jung was a model prophet, in a way, in that he knew not to stumble into the error of confusing the planes.
There is a point on the spiritual path (not the first stage!) in which the light of higher consciousness must descend into the lower depths of the earth, the physical, the chthonic, in order to release and transform the raw materials therein which have been tied up in all kinds of (mostly unconscious) drama. This is the origin of the myth of Inanna, the descent of Orpheus, the Christian harrowing of hell (here's a very interesting comparison, from the book of Matthew, between Jonah being swallowed by the whale and Christ descending into hell: "For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.")
Let the Light descend into the center of the earth, for there is my hidden chuch.
The symbol of the hidden church in the center of the earth is appropriate. The voice speaking here represents the Yechidah (or the Chiah, which is the voice of the Yechidah). There is nothing in the individual which is not of the Yechidah, but the lower parts of the Nephesch are not only seemingly disconnected from the Yechidah, they're hidden even from the consciousness of the Ruach. Every part of the psyche arises from True Will, and can act in no way which is not a direct expression of that Will, though many parts of the psyche do so unknowingly and with no sense of coordination of purpose.
Let the altar there be decorated with coral and ivory.
Coral and ivory are both white, suggesting Kether. Coral, moreover, is associated with the sea. To me, this suggests the incorruptible in the midst of the sea of the formless, the immortal part of the soul (the part that doesn't dissolve in higher consciousness). The idea is that of erecting an altar to the highest in the place of the lowest, forming a connection between the two. See the article (way) below on the 3 stages of union. This is symbol of the 2nd stage, the Unio Corporalis.
A bird flies to the north, there to find wisdom in the cold and the damp.
The bird is the attention, the conscious mind. North is the direction (microcosmically) attributed to earth, though it is the element of water which is cold and damp (earth is cold and dry). The implication is the waters of the lower unconscious, associated with the physical, the body (in other words, the Nephesch). There is wisdom there, but it's obscured. The lower light is released through many encounters with the higher unconscious.
The night of madness, chaos and darkness will then become the Night of Peace.
The goods are released from their entanglement in the chaos of the lower unconscious (consisting mostly of associations made at a very early age, then re-enforced at various stages throughout life). The Night of Peace refers to the act of resting in the harmony of the higher and the lower (after a lifetime of conflict), and the calm that is found in that bright silence.
Let Wisdom rest in the silence of that Night like the seed within the womb.
Here again, we have Chokmah and Binah. There is an analog between the interaction of Chokmah and Binah, and the interaction of Kether and Malkuth.
With the passage of seasons, a child will be born.
The child is the result of a willful marriage of the eternal and the temporal. The perfect seeks expression in the imperfect, and a vehicle is needed in order to provide that expression. The vehicle itself partakes of both natures.
He may appear as a fiery sword, or as a lion, or a lamb or a goat or a serpent.
There's a lot going on here on a few different levels. The fiery sword, besides the simple and obvious symbol of aggression and destruction, represents the downward path of manifestation on the Sephirothic Tree. The serpent is the upward path, also the kundalini. These symbols can represent the temperament of the "child", or its mode of manifestation, or level of action.
Behind all this is one, for the formless appears as a multitude in the world of forms.
Again, the child partakes of both natures.
OK, so much for the first part. Onward to the second!
Understanding is Binah, and refers to the higher intuition (that which allows us to perceive spiritual truth in a way that far surpasses the rational). Wisdom is Chokmah, and refers to the True Will, or the Voice of the Yechidah (that oh so exalted being often signified with an epithet that bears the same initials as Happy Grail of Amrita).
Most of this section is self-explanatory, a general instruction made clearer by the following:
Follow the path of the eagle and the goat, but keep your eye on the star.
In short, go towards the unfamiliar, embrace what appears to be not-self, explore even the baser urges, but never for it's own sake! Do so with the specific intent of attaining to greater knowledge of the true Self, freeing the small self from the bondage of rigid definition. The goal is to serve, and true service can only be accomplished by one who is free.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Meditation on the Hebrew Letters
Over the years I've developed several methods for meditating on the Hebrew letters that work very well for me. These methods are nothing other than extremely simple, though they're infinitely extensible. A rough outline, using the Golden Dawn attributions (which are almost identical with Crowley's attributions, or BOTA's for that matter), follows.
Choose your letter. Seek out the corresponding names, colors and incenses, as well as the corresponding Tarot trump.
Decorate your temple (or what have you) with the proper colors (always use the King scale for the letters), light the proper incense, anoint with the proper oil, etc.
Open up with the banishing ritual of the pentagram, add the banishing ritual of the hexagram if you want to kick things up a notch.
Spend a few minutes gazing at the Tarot trump. Let it saturate your psyche, sinking deeply into the fertile soil of the subconscious mind. Scan the card in rows (about 12 rows per card), from right to left, taking in every element of the image.
Sit down, close your eyes. Imagine that your aura is filled with light of the color of the Hebrew letter in the King scale. Let that light extend out to fill infinite space. Imagine that the Hebrew letter rests in the very center of your aura, in white light. Above that letter, visualize the corresponding elemental, planetary or zodiacal sign, also in white.
Once you've got the visualization going quite strong, start vibrating or intoning the names. First, the Atziluthic name, then the Archangel, then the letter itself. Come back to these vibrations several times during the meditation (which should last roughly between 15 minutes to a half hour).
Contemplate the placement of the path which corresponds to the letter on the Qabalistic Tree. Contemplate further the title of the Tarot trump according to the Golden Dawn. Reach out to the very essence of the letter and its associations. Try to make a connection.
Afterward, let the light and the symbols sink deep deep deep into the center of your being. Take a deep breath, tense up every muscle in your body, then relax.
Close by the same banishing rituals with which you opened.
Here's a meditation on the letter Tau as an example:
The temple is decorated in indigo (silk is good, cotton is fine), with maybe some black trim. Civet or Musk, or maybe some Nu Essence Saturn is burning on the charcoal.
Open with the banishing rituals of the pentagram and hexagram.
Anoint with some Saturnine oil.
If you're up to it, invoke Saturn by hexagram (check the planetary aspects first!)
Sit down and gaze upon the World card for a good 10 minutes or so.
Close your eyes. Let your aura be filled with indigo light. Let it expand to fill infinite space.
Visualize the letter Tau, in white, in the center of your aura. Above the Tau, visualize the sign of Saturn, also in white.
Vibrate the following names (several times): YHVH ELOHIM, TZAPHKIEL, ARALIM, TAU. Spend some time reaching out as best you can to the essence of Tau and of Saturn.
Contemplate the placement of the path of Tau between Malkuth and Yesod on the Qabalistic Tree. Vibrate the names a few more times.
Contemplate the title: The Great One of the Night of Time. Vibrate the names a few more times. Imagine that all of these symbols are sinking into your innermost depths.
At length, take a deep breath, tense up every muscle, relax and open your eyes.
If you invoked Saturn, banish it. Close by the lesser banishing rituals of the hexagram and pentagram.
Do it every day. Start with Tau and work your way up to Aleph, then start back over again with Tau. These methods are very simple, but effective (I'm not claiming any great originality, here). They work on many different levels, and if persisted in, they'll take you through the rudimentary to the intellectual to the intuitional to the visionary and beyond. To these can be added devotional litanies, skryings, large and elaborate ceremonies, anything you can think of, though it is best to start simple.
There are a number of methods by which the letters can be meditated on in combination. I'll elaborate on some of these along the way.
Tzaddi, spelled out in full: Tzaddi Daleth Yod
Tzaddi is the fish hook, attributed to Aquarius and the Star.
Daleth is the door, attributed to Venus and the Empress.
Yod is the hand, attributed to Virgo and the Hermit.
First off, I'm using the GD attributions here as opposed to Crowley's (in which Tzaddi is attributed to Aries and the Emperor). In practice, I've used both attributions (each of which have all sorts of relevance), but I was taught using the GD attributions and they're more or less hard wired into my soul at this point. Much of what follows applies to both sets of attributions.
The Sepher Yetzirah attributes the function of meditation to the letter Tzaddi. In the act of meditation, the fish hook is cast into the depths of the sea of the higher unconscious, represented here by Daleth and the Empress. Daleth, as the door, further represents the transition from outwardly focused awareness to inwardly focused awareness. The shallow waters, which are those first encountered when learning the art of meditation, represent the personal unconscious, whereas the deeper waters represent the collective unconscious. The deeper waters make for much better fishing, but it takes some work to reach them.
The Yod represents what we hope to catch in our meditation. It is the primal fire of being, the secret seed of the inmost self, the light of Wisdom. Yod also represents the origin of the archetypes in Atziluth. These archetypes flower in Briah and take form in Yetzirah. We have access to the archetypes through the higher unconscious (as opposed to the lower unconscious, where dwell the shadow elements, the rejected parts of the persona, fantasies and hidden fears, the animal instincts, etc). Casting the fish hook into those pregnant waters results in visionary experience, direct perception of the archetypes in the formative world. As the hook is cast further and further out, we open up to mystical experience, in which the individual is wholly dissolved into the universal. Of course, any encounter with archetype brings with it great transformation.
The path of Tzaddi spans Yesod to Netzach, mirroring the path of Resh which spans Yesod to Hod. The path of Resh, attributed to the Sun, leads to a greater understanding of archetypal names and forms. The level of understanding developed on the path of Resh is still linked to the intellectual mind (it links the intellect with the intuition). The level of understanding attributed to the path of Tzaddi goes wholly beyond the intellectual. The intellect can't grasp it at all. This level of understanding is more akin to the mystery of the starry night sky than to the sun. The light shining forth from the lamp of the Hermit on this path can be grasped by the intuition alone.
Daleth and Yod together represent the fruition of the seed. This is a path of creation, Yod representing the primal creative fire and Daleth representing the matrix of creation itself. It is said that the universe is maintained by the mind of God in eternal meditation (being of a Thelemic bent, I would say that the universe is maintained by the mind of the individual at its most exalted level). This is a perpetual creative act, engendering constant change, constant transformation. The highest level of mind is represented by Yod, Daleth is the very stuff of creation, alchemical Salt in its highest aspect, and Tzaddi represents the whole process of creation. This, of course, is mirrored on the lower levels of being as well. Every creative act works according to this mechanism.
On a technical level, Daleth is attributed to Venus, while Yod is attributed to Virgo, which is ruled by Mercury. The conjunction of Venus and Mercury mirrors the sign of Aquarius, which is an air sign symbolized by a water bearer.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Qoph, spelled out in full: Qoph Vau Peh
Vau is the nail, attributed to Taurus and the Hierophant.
Peh is the mouth, attributed to the Tower.
In one sense, the Hierophant represents order and the Tower is chaos. All of the forces of nature are present in the Hierophant card; the pentagram is balanced with the hexagram; the cross is the complement of the rose. The Tower represents disorder, excitement, overturning. The ordered house is destroyed and left in ruins.
There is an interplay between chaos and order. The Hierophant is the teacher, but the teaching is in a symbolic language in which each symbol is imbued with layer after layer of meaning. The tower represents the irrational and the impulsive, the sexual drives and the hidden resentments. The combination of symbolic language and irrational drives constitutes the kind of consciousness represented by Qoph as the back of the head.
Throughout the work on this path, the consciousness of dreams is distilled and refined into the consciousness of visions. In its rough state, Qoph is rooted in the body (Malkuth), close to the instinctual and the primitive, the animal parts of the psyche, untamed and superstitious, bound by fear and lust. In its refined state, Qoph is closer to the irrational beauty of Netzach and the creative vision of the artist or poet.
There is a bringing together of opposites on this path. Vau, the nail (which has the common meaning 'and', joining together the parts of a sentence), brings together and harmonizes the water of Pisces (Qoph) and the fire of Mars (Peh), reconciling the passive and automatic with the active and volitional. As the LVX descends into the murky depths of the lower unconscious throughout the course of the work, the inner workings of the psyche, previously hidden beneath the surface of the waters, are revealed in a new light. The Solar and Lunar aspects of the psyche are not brought into full union yet, but they are brought into a greater state of harmony than was possible before. They now turn towards each other instead of away from each other.
In another way, the Solar and Lunar parts of the psyche are made similar to one another. As the archetypal names and symbols associated with the mysteries are impressed onto what Paul Foster Case calls "subconsciousness" - that impressionable substance which comprises the Lunar nature in the depths of the psyche - the lower unconscious is made to conform with the higher aspirations of the conscious mind. Likewise, the conscious ego learns to speak in the Lunar tongue, coming to terms with the irrational language of the visionary. This is summed up beautifully in the Qoph section of the Golden Dawn Philosophus initiation ritual:
Before all things are the Waters, and the Darkness, and the Gates of the
The text specifically refers to the creation of the world of forms from the supernal levels of being. That which is below is like that which is above, and the same processes hold sway in our own psyches. The waters here are represented by Qoph (as water), the Face of the Eternal by Peh (as fire), and Vau is that which brings them together, creating the hexagram.
Taken as a sequence, the letters Qoph Vau Peh indicate that in the waters are reflected the mysteries of spiritual fire. Qoph also refers to the body and to body consciousness. In this light, the sequence of letters indicates that the higher mysteries are to be found also in the body, stirred to awakening by the forces invoked in the course of the work.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Resh, spelled out in full: Resh Yod Shin
Resh is the head, specifically the face or countenance, attributed to Sol and The Sun.
Yod is the hand, attributed to Virgo and The Hermit.
Shin is the tooth, attributed to Fire/Spirit and Judgment or The Aeon.
The implications of the letters Resh, Yod and Shin are very similar to those of the letters that spell Shin - Shin, Yod and Nun (see below). The contrast between Yod as primal fire, unmanifest and potential, and Shin as manifested fire is present in both letter sequences. The most obvious difference is that on the path of Shin, it is the fish that mediates between the two types of fire, indicating that the process is beneath the surface (of the waters, of life, of consciousness), whereas on the path of Resh the transition occurs in the clear light of the sun. The sun is ripening and fructifying, causing the seed to grow to provide flower and fruit.
The paths of Shin and Resh comprise two phases of a single process. On the path of Shin, the process occurs in the body (both the physical body and the etheric). The subtle seed of higher light within is caused to grow by the application of spiritual fire at its lowest level.
The path of Resh involves the same process on a slightly higher arc. Here, the process occurs in the subconscious. The seed in this case is planted by meditation and work, images from the collective unconscious are immersed in the depths (the fertile soil) of Yesod, that impressionable substance which comprises the astral light as well as the Lunar nature of the aspirant. It is the sun that causes the seeds, these pregnant names and images, to grow in the light of day.
The path of Resh leads from Yesod to Hod. In Hod is the beginning of Understanding (reflected down the Tree from Binah) in the form of gnosis of jnana. Sacred or symbolic images are able, at this level of development (corresponding with the Practicus grade), to be understood in a way that transcends the rational. The names and images that have been planted in Yesod grow along the path of Resh to become as chalices in Hod. There they hold the water of understanding; through the Sun's ripening heat they become more than mere names and images.
In the Neophyte initiation ritual of the Golden Dawn (I am going somewhere with this, so stay with me tiger) the Kerux leads the candidate clockwise around the temple two times on the path of circumambulation (the Kerux is here represented by The Hermit as Anubis). The first time, the candidate is blindfolded, the second time the circumambulation takes place "in the light". The candidate follows the Kerux first unconsciously, then consciously. This process closely parallels the two paths of Shin and Resh.
Between the two circumambulations, the candidate is taken before the altar in the center of the hall on which sits a cross and a triangle (together comprising the symbol of the order). There the three main officers stand around the candidate in the form of a triangle, making a tetrahedron above the candidate's head with their wands. The altar is at the center of a cross formed from the elemental altars at the quarters of the temple. These altars support the four elements symbolically linked to the parts of the candidate's body (physical, etheric and astral). This is the most dramatic moment in the ritual, and in one sense it unites the cross with the triangle.
In the Golden Dawn Practicus initiation ritual (in which the candidate is initiated into Hod, as well as the paths of Shin and Resh), the admission badge for the path of Shin is the tetrahedron, and the admission badge for the path of Resh is the equal armed cross. It's clear that the paths of Shin and Resh, which are symbolically linked, further develop a process that is set in motion during the Neophyte initiation, and which is shown by the full spelling of the Hebrew letters in question.
The Voice of Tahuti, 4th Installment
The Ritual
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
1st Enochian Key
Ritual Israfel
(reception)
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
The Vision
I see a vast sun shining out from within. The light from the sun dissolves everything it touches. The sun is the Word, and it seems to exist in all four phases at once (sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight).
The source of light appears as constant, eternal and unchanging, while the point of view of the observer is constantly changing according to the cycles of the sun, the moon, the seasons, etc.
The Voice
The four stages of the sun reflect the four faces of the Word.
The rising of the sun is the dawning of the visible appearance of Truth.
The sun at noon is the apex of visible Light.
The setting of the sun appears as the veiling of the Word.
The sun at midnight appears as the absence of the Word, silence and darkness.
Only at midnight can a higher truth be known. In the darkness it is possible to go beyond the visible light, which is as the echo of the echo of the Word, and into the naked Truth. This is the only hope of advancement.
What appears as darkness is a subtler form of light, it is closer to the source and it appears as devastation and destruction. It is an opening for the seeker after Truth. It is pure utterance, unbroken light.
Only in the unknowing, the seeming darkness, can a higher truth be found. It is the imperfection of the seeker that allows them to approach the perfect. Beyond the visible appearance of light is Mystery unknowable. What appears as light is only the fading echo of the Word.
The Commentary
This calls to mind the following, from Crowley's Liber LXV, I:
There is a light so strenuous that it is not perceived as light.
[...]
Wolf's bane is not so sharp as steel; yet it pierceth the body more subtly.
Meaning, of course, that the subtle is more effective than the dense, though at first it can barely be perceived. Dense 'light' reflects, whereas subtle light is all-penetrating.
LXV continues:
So also the light that is absorbed. One absorbs little and is called white and glistening; one absorbs all and is called black.
This also calls to mind the the Sufi concept (so eloquently presented in Henry Corbin's Man of Light in Iranian Sufiism) of the midnight sun and the darkness that accompanies the approach to the pole (the pole star representing the summit of higher consciousness). There's the Ahrimanian darkness, being simply the absence of Light or gnosis, and then the pure light or 'black light' which appears after a certain threshold is crossed. Pure light, with no external object from which to reflect, is invisible. Crowley called it NOX (light withdrawn, as opposed to LVX or light in extension).
That which is below is like that which is above. I've seen case after case in which a beginning student gains the ability to generate a not insignificant amount of energy, yet they have no clue that anything at all is happening. The light they're generating is too subtle for them to perceive, and it takes some time before their perceptual apparatus is refined enough to be able to sense the product of their own work. The sooner a student lets go of all expectations and simply observes, the sooner they'll grow aware of the subtle essences they're invoking. All along the path of advancement, the perceptual apparatus must be continually refined in order to be made to register subtler and subtler degrees of light - first the subtler essences of Assiah, then the visionary light of Yetzirah, on to the experience of mystical union characteristic of Briah, and beyond to Atziluth.
It is the imperfection of the seeker that allows them to approach the perfect.
The perfect seeks expression in the imperfect.
The fact that I find these so easy to comment upon makes me wonder just how far outside of my own subconscious I'm getting with these visions. Some visions baffle, only revealing their light after prolonged study yields connections that could not possibly have been known beforehand. All visions are filtered, some more than others. Ah well, hopefully they're of some use anyway.
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
1st Enochian Key
Ritual Israfel
(reception)
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
The Vision
I see a vast sun shining out from within. The light from the sun dissolves everything it touches. The sun is the Word, and it seems to exist in all four phases at once (sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight).
The source of light appears as constant, eternal and unchanging, while the point of view of the observer is constantly changing according to the cycles of the sun, the moon, the seasons, etc.
The Voice
The four stages of the sun reflect the four faces of the Word.
The rising of the sun is the dawning of the visible appearance of Truth.
The sun at noon is the apex of visible Light.
The setting of the sun appears as the veiling of the Word.
The sun at midnight appears as the absence of the Word, silence and darkness.
Only at midnight can a higher truth be known. In the darkness it is possible to go beyond the visible light, which is as the echo of the echo of the Word, and into the naked Truth. This is the only hope of advancement.
What appears as darkness is a subtler form of light, it is closer to the source and it appears as devastation and destruction. It is an opening for the seeker after Truth. It is pure utterance, unbroken light.
Only in the unknowing, the seeming darkness, can a higher truth be found. It is the imperfection of the seeker that allows them to approach the perfect. Beyond the visible appearance of light is Mystery unknowable. What appears as light is only the fading echo of the Word.
The Commentary
This calls to mind the following, from Crowley's Liber LXV, I:
There is a light so strenuous that it is not perceived as light.
[...]
Wolf's bane is not so sharp as steel; yet it pierceth the body more subtly.
Meaning, of course, that the subtle is more effective than the dense, though at first it can barely be perceived. Dense 'light' reflects, whereas subtle light is all-penetrating.
LXV continues:
So also the light that is absorbed. One absorbs little and is called white and glistening; one absorbs all and is called black.
This also calls to mind the the Sufi concept (so eloquently presented in Henry Corbin's Man of Light in Iranian Sufiism) of the midnight sun and the darkness that accompanies the approach to the pole (the pole star representing the summit of higher consciousness). There's the Ahrimanian darkness, being simply the absence of Light or gnosis, and then the pure light or 'black light' which appears after a certain threshold is crossed. Pure light, with no external object from which to reflect, is invisible. Crowley called it NOX (light withdrawn, as opposed to LVX or light in extension).
That which is below is like that which is above. I've seen case after case in which a beginning student gains the ability to generate a not insignificant amount of energy, yet they have no clue that anything at all is happening. The light they're generating is too subtle for them to perceive, and it takes some time before their perceptual apparatus is refined enough to be able to sense the product of their own work. The sooner a student lets go of all expectations and simply observes, the sooner they'll grow aware of the subtle essences they're invoking. All along the path of advancement, the perceptual apparatus must be continually refined in order to be made to register subtler and subtler degrees of light - first the subtler essences of Assiah, then the visionary light of Yetzirah, on to the experience of mystical union characteristic of Briah, and beyond to Atziluth.
It is the imperfection of the seeker that allows them to approach the perfect.
The perfect seeks expression in the imperfect.
The fact that I find these so easy to comment upon makes me wonder just how far outside of my own subconscious I'm getting with these visions. Some visions baffle, only revealing their light after prolonged study yields connections that could not possibly have been known beforehand. All visions are filtered, some more than others. Ah well, hopefully they're of some use anyway.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Shin, spelled out in full: Shin Yod Nun
Shin is the tooth, attributed to Fire/Spirit and Judgment or The Aeon.
Yod is the hand, attributed to Virgo and The Hermit.Nun is the fish, attributed to Scorpio and Death.
The path of Shin leads from Malkuth (represented by Virgo, an Earth sign) to Hod (represented by Scorpio, a Water sign).
Yod is primal fire (as Y of YHVH), the seed, potential and unmanifest, invisible and eternal, outside of time and space, it is the uppermost point of the tetrahedron.
Shin is fire manifested, the unfolding of the seed in three-fold form (active, passive and equilibrated), it represents the sides of the tetrahedron (in which the base is implied).
Nun represents the transformation from one state of fire to the other. The spiritual seed dies to eternity and is reborn into the temporal world (the path of involution). The life manifested in time and space is transcended in higher consciousness, reborn in spirit.
Nun is also the fish, which is the part of the Self that is not dissolved in the Sea of Binah when the outer self is transcended (or no longer identified with). It is the Neschamah or eternal consciousness, the immortal part of the soul. (The waters of Binah are reflected down into the watery Sephira Hod).
One of the motifs of the path of Shin is resurrection. This is supported by the Hermit as Anubis, the guide through the underworld, and by Death in its 3 stages symbolized by the scorpion, the snake and the eagle.
Yod, Nun and Shin (in that order) equate to IAO as the formula of Isis Apophis and Osiris.
Yod is the Isis phase, in which the seed is planted. This corresponds to the initial effort in any task, the beginning of the learning process in which is present the seed of mastery.
Nun is the Apophis phase, in which the seed gestates in the darkness, dying to its previous form so that a new form can arise. In the learning process, this corresponds to the phase in which the initial interest and inspiration dims, in time fading to nothing. The task of learning becomes dull and repetitive, whatever fruits may lie ahead cannot be seen.
Shin is the Osiris phase, in which the new plant sprouts and flowers. Mastery is attained and a new cycle of learning is begun.
Resurrection of life is also found in the seed after the death of the fruit.
The letters Shin Yod Nun, with their attributions of fire, Virgo and Scorpio, also bring to mind the Latin phrase 'Igne Natura Renovatur Integra' (I.N.R.I.), meaning 'nature is constantly renewed by fire' (or 'matter is restored by spirit'). As an alchemical formula, this phrase corresponds exactly with the processes undergone on the path of Shin, in which the subtle fire brings about a transformation to the dross, or outer nature, during which it is redeemed in spirit.
The fire of Shin prepares the vehicle for the reception of higher consciousness, the beginning of the awareness of the Neschamah in the form of higher intuition. Hod (the destination of the path of Shin) is a watery Sephira, symbolized by the cup and having the nature of revelation. Part of the Practicus grade is the illumination of the outer forms of the archetypes, the beginning of true spiritual perception (Understanding, or knowledge of the soul). These forms are illuminated by the lamp of occult knowledge shown in the Hermit card (ultimately derived from the primal fire of Yod).
In the Aeon of Osiris, the aspirant suppressed the passions, starving them out of the psyche so that they might die completely to the outer world and be reborn in God. In the Aeon of Horus, the aspirant learns to use the passions in order to exalt the consciousness, turning them towards the manifestation of the Chiah to which they have subjugated the outer persona. Both of these process involve a very real death experience (several, in fact) and both of them are aptly symbolized by the letters Shin Yod Nun.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Tau, spelled out in full: Tau Vau
Tau is the equal-armed cross, attributed to Saturn/Earth and the World/Universe card.
Vau is the nail, attributed to Taurus and the Hierophant card.
Each represents the mysteries in completion and balance. Vau represents the mysteries withdrawn and secret, or reduced (contracted) to a systematic teaching, even a single word, name or symbol. Tau represents the mysteries expanded, unfolded, in motion, fully manifested. Together they are the point and the extension of that point into the cross.
The Hierophant is the teacher, the initiator, the expounder of the mysteries, as well as the dispenser of hidden wisdom. The Universe is that same wisdom revealed and yet concealed within the vast expanse of the manifest. The Universe manifests according to the same cosmic laws which are codified and revealed by the Hierophant.
The nail attaches spirit to matter, nailing the Rose to the Cross. Spirit is represented in the World/Universe card by the dancing woman, Anima Mundi or the world soul. She is a reflection of AIMA, the Great Mother of Binah, which is reflected in the attribution of the path of Tau to Saturn.
In Crowley's deck, the Universe and the Hierophant are the only two cards with the Kerubs at the quarters. In the Universe card, the Kerubs are all shown facing outward; in the Hierophant card, the Eagle and the Man face inward. (James Eshelman gives the only plausible explanation I've ever heard for Crowley's placement of the Kerubs on these cards. It can be found in several places on the Temple of Thelema website: http://www.heruraha.net)
The Universe represents Nuit as infinite expansion, and the Hierophant Hadit as infinite contraction. These attributions are shown also by the forms of the letters themselves: Tau resembles the vault of the body of the heavens, and Vau the flaming torch at the center of the earth.
"I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky."
Liber AL, I: 64
"I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star."
Liber AL, II: 6
The letters Tau and Vau add up to 406, which is also the enumeration of Atoh. Gikatalia's Gates of Light link the word Atoh (Aleph Tau Heh) to the Torah as follows: The first two letters are Aleph and Tau, the first and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, thus representing all 22 letters. The third letter in Atoh is Heh, which enumerates to 5. The Torah consists of 5 books written with 22 letters.
The Zohar states that the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, and was a blueprint for that creation. Torah is derived from the root Tau Resh Heh, which means 'to teach', though it is commonly accepted as meaning 'law'. Modern Qabalah (from Waite?) asserts that metathesis links TORA (law) with TARO and ROTA (wheel - interestingly, in Waite's deck, the two cards that show the Kerubs are the World and the Wheel of Fortune), as well as ORAT (to speak) and ATOR (vaguely linked to Hathoor, who stands in the East, behind the Hierophant, in the Golden Dawn Neophyte Initiation).
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Voice of Tahuti, 3rd Installment
The Ritual
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
1st Enochian Key
Ritual Israfel
(reception)
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
The Voice
The Word is a house for the formless, the infinite silence, the eternal truth. It is a container for the Holy Breath, a limitation of that perfection which cannot be known.
Knowledge destroys truth and Wisdom ends all knowledge. The wise one speaks, but remains unknowing in the silence, lest there be division in the Word.
The true prophet abides in the holy sleep of bliss, never grasping to know or understand, never lacking for Wisdom.
Wisdom goes forth and destroys. Understanding contains and limits and is still like a stagnant pond. So ever must Truth be wrapped in falsehood in order that it may be revealed outwardly. The Word is concealed, the light perceived is a shadow, every number veils the first which itself veils the perfection that is none. The temple obscures the God just as the God conceals the Truth.
Never be contented with any level of attainment, reach ever beyond until there is nothing to attain and then attain to nothing. Let the temple be erected only to fall away, let the vehicle decay in its time, grasp at nothing, let the mind be desolate. Only that which is empty may be filled. Shun all titles and be content to wander in the wild wastes. When you have left all wanting behind, when you have reduced all things to one and one to none, then you will not behold the Light of Perfection, for there is no beholder, there is only Light without diminution, without limit, without end.
The Commentary
How's that for a self-invalidating message!
On the one hand, the message seems to refer to very high levels of attainment and to the interplay of Aleph and Beth and of Chokmah and Binah. On the other hand, I think it applies at all levels - the whole tree exists in four Qabalistic worlds, and each level has its own Chokmah, Binah, Aleph and Beth, each of which reflect their sources in the higher worlds and play out according to the nature of that particular level of reality.
Knowledge, of course, is Da'ath, which doesn't really exists (the best way to explain this is to point out that every word in a dictionary is defined using other words, each of which is also defined using other words - knowledge is simply endless self-reference, devoid of any higher meaning), understanding is Binah, which goes far deeper than knowledge but is also called sorrow, and wisdom is Chokmah, the Word.
Let the temple be erected only to fall away
I'm reminded of an essay that I've been meaning to write, called 'Temporary Autonomous Temple'. It's easy to become so attached to one particular form or vehicle for Truth that the lamp is clung to long after the light has gone out. Of course, a certain amount of longevity is needed in order to ensure that a vehicle has truly served its purpose. Knowing when to sustain and when to let go can be tricky as hell. The rational mind doesn't help in the least. Intuition is the only useful thing.
The other thing this brings to mind is the Kabbalistic idea of Ain Soph. A bunch of Rabbis in the 13th Century (or a bunch of Rabbis who's teachings were never published until the 13th Century) decided that monism was really a deceptive form of dualism, arguing that pure being implied non-being, and thus that the number one was kind of a misnomer. The solution was the postulation of the Ain Soph, the endless nothing, completely beyond any conception of being or non-being. Some Kabbalists did away with the idea of the one altogether, others just declared that the idea of 'one' was a sort of code word for the idea of 'none'.
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
1st Enochian Key
Ritual Israfel
(reception)
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
The Voice
The Word is a house for the formless, the infinite silence, the eternal truth. It is a container for the Holy Breath, a limitation of that perfection which cannot be known.
Knowledge destroys truth and Wisdom ends all knowledge. The wise one speaks, but remains unknowing in the silence, lest there be division in the Word.
The true prophet abides in the holy sleep of bliss, never grasping to know or understand, never lacking for Wisdom.
Wisdom goes forth and destroys. Understanding contains and limits and is still like a stagnant pond. So ever must Truth be wrapped in falsehood in order that it may be revealed outwardly. The Word is concealed, the light perceived is a shadow, every number veils the first which itself veils the perfection that is none. The temple obscures the God just as the God conceals the Truth.
Never be contented with any level of attainment, reach ever beyond until there is nothing to attain and then attain to nothing. Let the temple be erected only to fall away, let the vehicle decay in its time, grasp at nothing, let the mind be desolate. Only that which is empty may be filled. Shun all titles and be content to wander in the wild wastes. When you have left all wanting behind, when you have reduced all things to one and one to none, then you will not behold the Light of Perfection, for there is no beholder, there is only Light without diminution, without limit, without end.
The Commentary
How's that for a self-invalidating message!
On the one hand, the message seems to refer to very high levels of attainment and to the interplay of Aleph and Beth and of Chokmah and Binah. On the other hand, I think it applies at all levels - the whole tree exists in four Qabalistic worlds, and each level has its own Chokmah, Binah, Aleph and Beth, each of which reflect their sources in the higher worlds and play out according to the nature of that particular level of reality.
Knowledge, of course, is Da'ath, which doesn't really exists (the best way to explain this is to point out that every word in a dictionary is defined using other words, each of which is also defined using other words - knowledge is simply endless self-reference, devoid of any higher meaning), understanding is Binah, which goes far deeper than knowledge but is also called sorrow, and wisdom is Chokmah, the Word.
Let the temple be erected only to fall away
I'm reminded of an essay that I've been meaning to write, called 'Temporary Autonomous Temple'. It's easy to become so attached to one particular form or vehicle for Truth that the lamp is clung to long after the light has gone out. Of course, a certain amount of longevity is needed in order to ensure that a vehicle has truly served its purpose. Knowing when to sustain and when to let go can be tricky as hell. The rational mind doesn't help in the least. Intuition is the only useful thing.
The other thing this brings to mind is the Kabbalistic idea of Ain Soph. A bunch of Rabbis in the 13th Century (or a bunch of Rabbis who's teachings were never published until the 13th Century) decided that monism was really a deceptive form of dualism, arguing that pure being implied non-being, and thus that the number one was kind of a misnomer. The solution was the postulation of the Ain Soph, the endless nothing, completely beyond any conception of being or non-being. Some Kabbalists did away with the idea of the one altogether, others just declared that the idea of 'one' was a sort of code word for the idea of 'none'.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Voice of Tahuti, 2nd Installment
The Ritual
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
1st Enochian Key
Ritual Israfel
<reception>
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
The Vision
An image of a tremendous city of light, a solar city with 4 gates. The entire city is made of light, but a brighter light shines like the sun from the center.
The Voice
There is a city of eternal splendor in which lives the spirit of humanity. There are four gates to the city.
Churches, cathedrals, cities and nations in the outer world are all attempts to recreate this city on earth. This is the great engine of civilization, the prototype of higher order.
Fragments of the eternal city are scattered throughout time and space, some bearing a greater likeness to the heavenly city, others less so. These are as mutterings and partial fragments of speech to the Word.
The recreation of the heavenly city on earth is the apotheosis of human culture. When humanity has further cultivated itself it will collectively comprise the earthly city in every moment, each soul in its proper place. Only then can the next stage of development begin.
The gates to the heavenly city can be found in every soul. There is a flame within the city that draws the soul towards it, it will never be extinguished. The soul separates naturally so as to enter through all four of the city gates. Once the soul is firmly established in the city, the parts of the soul recombine harmoniously. The soul is then exalted to the heights of the heavens, and there receives its Word. The soul must then descend with that Word and build with it an earthly temple in the image of the heavenly city. Thus is Wisdom made manifest, and heaven and earth are reconciled.
Part of the soul remains forever in that celestial city, and the light from that city shines through to the outer world and spreads like contagion. It is seen by all souls everywhere, but it is invisible to the mind. It is the outer temple that makes the light of the heavenly city visible to the mind, but only in part. This is the unique service provided by every soul that attains.
The Commentary
Again, prophecy which reveals something of the very nature of prophecy. (I'm using prophecy here in a very loose way - I'm not predicting the end times or anything, and am not doing anything that any other experienced magician couldn't do - officially the intent of Liber Israfel is prophecy).
Of course, I don't imagine that I have to mention that the 'outer temple' is the work of the aspirant.
These ideas are contained in many myths and structures - the Garden of Eden, the City of Adocentyn, the Temple of Jerusalem (and the Tabernacle), the list goes on and on. Atlantis, Shangri-La, El Dorado - they're all there! Some people just look for them on the wrong plane ;)
The vision above ties these ideas quite nicely into the first two of Jung's (from Gerhard Dorn) states of conjunction (outlined below).
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
1st Enochian Key
Ritual Israfel
<reception>
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
The Vision
An image of a tremendous city of light, a solar city with 4 gates. The entire city is made of light, but a brighter light shines like the sun from the center.
The Voice
There is a city of eternal splendor in which lives the spirit of humanity. There are four gates to the city.
Churches, cathedrals, cities and nations in the outer world are all attempts to recreate this city on earth. This is the great engine of civilization, the prototype of higher order.
Fragments of the eternal city are scattered throughout time and space, some bearing a greater likeness to the heavenly city, others less so. These are as mutterings and partial fragments of speech to the Word.
The recreation of the heavenly city on earth is the apotheosis of human culture. When humanity has further cultivated itself it will collectively comprise the earthly city in every moment, each soul in its proper place. Only then can the next stage of development begin.
The gates to the heavenly city can be found in every soul. There is a flame within the city that draws the soul towards it, it will never be extinguished. The soul separates naturally so as to enter through all four of the city gates. Once the soul is firmly established in the city, the parts of the soul recombine harmoniously. The soul is then exalted to the heights of the heavens, and there receives its Word. The soul must then descend with that Word and build with it an earthly temple in the image of the heavenly city. Thus is Wisdom made manifest, and heaven and earth are reconciled.
Part of the soul remains forever in that celestial city, and the light from that city shines through to the outer world and spreads like contagion. It is seen by all souls everywhere, but it is invisible to the mind. It is the outer temple that makes the light of the heavenly city visible to the mind, but only in part. This is the unique service provided by every soul that attains.
The Commentary
Again, prophecy which reveals something of the very nature of prophecy. (I'm using prophecy here in a very loose way - I'm not predicting the end times or anything, and am not doing anything that any other experienced magician couldn't do - officially the intent of Liber Israfel is prophecy).
Of course, I don't imagine that I have to mention that the 'outer temple' is the work of the aspirant.
These ideas are contained in many myths and structures - the Garden of Eden, the City of Adocentyn, the Temple of Jerusalem (and the Tabernacle), the list goes on and on. Atlantis, Shangri-La, El Dorado - they're all there! Some people just look for them on the wrong plane ;)
The vision above ties these ideas quite nicely into the first two of Jung's (from Gerhard Dorn) states of conjunction (outlined below).
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