The Aeon:

 The Aeon:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

The thirty-first path on the Tree of Life is Shin, its element is fire and corresponds to The Aeon card of the Tarot. The card is a stylized representation of the Stele of Revealing, with the god Ra-Hoor-Khuit seated on a throne behind a transparent image of Horus (the god of the Aeon) together these images symbolize Heru-Ra-Ha. Hadit is the winged globe beneath these figures and represents the individual. Beneath the winged globe is the letter Shin, the letter Shin looks like three twigs with Yods attached like leaves to the ends, in the picture we can see three fetuses within the Yods at different stages of embryonic development. These fetuses are finally birthed to self-awareness and this is symbolized by the image of Hadit as the winged globe. Again, this is a reference to the previous card and is reflective of completion. At the top of the card is Nuit enveloping the gods beneath her, here is the whole celestial cosmology of Thelema present and indicates that the Aeon of Horus has been realized and brought into effect.

In the light of initiation, the whole world has changed, with this I am not just talking about the initiation of the individual but the world at large and one may even say that the whole universe has been affected by the Thelemic current and just like any initiation is marked by ordeals that necessitate adjusting one’s perspective, so too is this change in universal consciousness marked by extreme conflicts meant to bring mankind’s awareness in line with the 93 current. However, if a candidate doesn’t learn from his ordeals and doesn’t adapt his consciousness to accommodate the changes that have been fostered through the initiatory experience, he fails in his initiation. In this card Hadit symbolizes this change of awareness springing forth and the aspirant, enlivened by the first initiation associated with the Neophyte grade and as the picture suggests, the next phase is integrating this new conscious awareness with the universal consciousness and the world around, so that life may be experienced harmoniously. Again, the Temple may take on a different form than the Soul of the aspirant and thus the card may be interpreted within different contexts depending on the question, however harmonizing oneself within established circumstances is the main theme of the card.

As per the Neophyte initiation into the A.'.A.'., once rebirth occurs, the aspirant is on the path of Shin, which could be likened to the symbolism of a Pheonix rising out of the ashes. This path symbolizes the birth of Osiris presented in the Formula of I.A.O., but initiation is not yet complete along this path. The new ego is here reasoning with the world to find its proper place, like a child learning how to walk. Once this part of the initiation is complete, he is reborn, self-aware into the mysteries as an initiate, and finds himself along the path of Tav.

The Aeon connects Hod to Malkuth on the Tree of Life or the Elemental sphere with the sphere of Mercury, this connection indicates a need for learning as Hermes is the god of learning, making Hod an intellectual sphere. The enquirer must therefore learn from his current circumstances and by doing so, greater success may be achieved. Take the example of a new business venture, once the company has been established, everyday challenges serve to fortify one with experience, this is the nature of The Aeon card, our experiences may now be intellectually analyzed, so that our plans may work in harmony with the lessons we have learned, since what has been worked for is now securely established, we can start getting rid of those things that don’t serve our venture.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

The Universe:

 The Universe:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

 

The thirty-second path on the Tree of Life is the Hebrew letter Tau and The Universe, this path is associated with the Ordeal of the first initiation as coming into being. On the card there is a young girl rejoicing and this represents the Shekinah as inspiring Spirit hidden in matter, around the central figure there are the Four Powers of the Sphynx as protectors guarding the Temple from unwelcomed influence. The card is associated with Saturn, who in Greek mythology was the father of the Olympian gods, he is said to have severed Uranus’ genitals, which he threw in the Ocean thus separating Heaven and Earth, conversely this card can be seen as another aspect of the Fool card. From the foam created by Uranus’ genitals, was born Aphrodite, the goddess of love and the first Sephirot in the Astral Triad, which is most closely connected to the higher worlds on the Tree of Life. The effect Netzach and Hod has on the psyche of the aspirant is what leads to the first initiation, as concentrating the influence of the Sun through Yesod and into Malkuth where awakening takes place. The first principle is laid bare in the light of the Sun, that which was dependent on action has become inertia, as a result the aspirant should guard against unbalancing force. The Universe connects Malkuth to Yesod, linking the unconscious with the consciousness of the individual.

There is success proceeding the ordeal, therefore the only need on part of the enquirer, is to safeguard the Temple and persist in doing the work, which has led to yielding a fruitful outcome. There is much to learn and to experience, so the enquirer should be open to new ideas and especially learn from his experiences in this regard, that may serve to fortify the constitution of the Temple. This card is symbolic of initiation having been achieved, however the vigilance spoken of in the above is the vigilance which comes from an initiate's new perception, he has changed and to change means to adapt. It is made clear to the initiate what needs be changed and unless this is observed and corrected, he won't be able to move forward. This is what is meant by safeguarding the Temple, he has been reborn into the mysteries and the relationship between subject and object has changed, work is thus needed to ensure further development and maintain balance, which is the integrity of the Temple. Hence the path of Tav represents the initiate, but he is still faced with the central ordeal of initiation, being that of the Nephesh, although now he has a definite course and closer to the aim. The path of Shin and Tav both indicate the ordeal of the Nephesh, but in the card here presented, the initiate realizes the law that change is stability, and this is freed from being overwhelmed by prejudice and goes forward into the world. The ordeal of the Nephesh is an ordeal between subject and object and is essentially experienced by a Neophyte of the A.'.A.'.

The image of the card is a young maiden dancing with a serpent, the maiden symbolizes the final letter of Tetragrammaton as spirit concealed in matter, the Serpent is Heru-Ra-Ha, as the Sun shining into the Astral Triad and setting the daughter who is associated with He final back upon the throne of the mother He and Binah and awakening the eld of the father Yod of Tetragrammaton and the purpose of initiation, thus the card’s association with Saturn. The Sun too is Tiphareth and Vau of the ineffable name, this brings our glyph of the universe into coherence by symbolizing the constant cycle of rebirth contained within the laws of the natural and magickal universe, thus change is stability. Around the central figure are the four Kerubs representing the Four Powers of the Sphynx and the four quarters of the magick circle, the figure in the middle is holding onto a string extended from an Eye from which there is a concentration of light flowing into the picture, again this is a representation of the Shekinah, and the connection between the maiden and the highest world. She is surrounded by a wheel which she is spinning with her left hand issuing from a green orb that is in the process of transformation, this green orb is symbolic of Malkuth, the sphere of the elements and the first step upon the Path of the Wise.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

The Four Worlds:

 The Four Worlds:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”

The three triads break the Tree of Life up into four worlds, these worlds are Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah and Assiah. In Thelema these worlds are associated with the three grades mentioned in the Book of the Law, The Hermit, The Lover and the Man of Earth. The first grade which is The Man of Earth, is upon the attainment of Yesod and covers the whole Astral Triad up to Netzach. The Lover grade covers the Ethical Triad and The Hermit is associated with the Supernal grades.

Another interesting congruency, are the Metaphysics of Plotinus, that could be seen as an early incarnation of the Qabalah, especially the Hermetic and Christian Qabalah’s, that during the Renaissance was to a very large extent inspired by Plato’s Dialogues and Neo-Platonic philosophy and metaphysics. Plotinus had four phases of realization which he termed The One/The Good, The Divine Mind/Nous, The All Soul, The Soul and Man/The Material World. As man attains union with the one plane, he moves on to attain union with the next until the final realization is attained. For example, Man unites with Matter, which is the lower aspect of the Soul, the lower(physical) and higher(celestial) aspects of the Soul unite and become cognizant of the All-Soul. Once this is achieved the Soul unites with the All-Soul et cetera, until Henosis is finally attained by Man uniting with the One.

Each of the four Qabalistic worlds correspond with a letter of the ineffable name, this name is spelled Yod-He-Vau-He and is Hebrew for Jahova. The name is associated with the elements, and these elements are found throughout the entire Tree of Life. The elements are Fire, Water, Air and Earth, the fifth element is called Spirit and corresponds to the LVX, which is comparable to the Divine Mind of Neo-Platonism. The LVX is the light from Kether that pervades the Tree of Life and connects everything in the universe to everything else. As a result, Spirit is sometimes included in the spelling of the ineffable name, by putting the letter Shin in between the first He and Vau, thus it becomes Yod-He-Shin-Vau-He. Microcosmically speaking, Shin or Spirit is necessary for balancing out the elements of the Soul in order to unite man’s consciousness with the Spirit and on a Macrocosmic level, it unites heaven and earth. The above mentioned, in the Qabalah are called the Formulas of Tetragrammaton and Pentagrammaton. Tetragrammaton is the Formula of the Four Worlds, that we are dealing with at the moment and I will deal with Pentagrammaton in another essay.

The Four Worlds may be perceived as the light from Kether pouring into the lower worlds and finally crystalizing in the lowest world of matter, called Assiah. The highest concentration of LVX is thus found in The World of Atziluth and as it moves through the worlds, the consistency of the light becomes more diluted, until it is overcome by the corporeal world and buried in the heart of matter. The first task of any aspirant is to obtain knowledge of self, as it is through this knowledge that our true potentials are realized and an imperative for further attainment. Hadit is the Spirit in every man and woman, that has incarnated and guides us towards Truth, the Soul is created in the world of Yetzirah to accommodate Hadit’s awakening. So, that we may accomplish what is known as the Great Work. To view these worlds as outside of ourselves is a grave mistake and for that matter so is believing in a god with anger issues who created heaven and earth. To do so, takes the onus off of the aspirant, whereby the Holy Qabalah becomes nothing more than an elaborate dictionary full of esoteric sounding words with no intrinsic meaning or value. Each one of us is a magickal universe, with all the Sephirot, Paths and Worlds inherent in each of us and it is up to each one of us to follow the map that leads to realizing the nature of our beingness and for each to realize his or her own Genius, this is the premise of the Qabalah and the responsibility it places on all of us.

Atziluth:

The first world is Atziluth, it covers the Supernal Traid, the spheres of Atziluth are Kether, Chokmah and Binah and this world is called the World of Emanation. It is sometimes called the Archetypal World, however in this sense the Archetypes share no commonalities with those of Jungian psychology, another way to look at them is as the Forms(Nous). These Archetypes are inconceivable to our perception as the Supernal Triad is beyond duality or at least our understanding of duality. The light of this sphere is of such density that whatever manifests there is obscured. However, these forms serve as the conceptions of the creative world as the light is diluted into the Ethical Triad through Daath where they take on the nature of  a duality which is perceptible to all of us below the Abyss. Atziluth corresponds to the first letter of the ineffable name and the element of Fire.

Briah:

Next is Briah and corresponds to He of Tetragrammaton, its element is Water and is represented by the Ethical Triad. Briah is also called the World of Creation, the spheres of which are Chesed, Geburah and Tiphareth. The World of Creation is where opposites start to form and the Archetypes of Atziluth start taking on characteristics of their own. It is from Atziluth where inspiration is conceived, and Briah is the offspring of that inspired creation of the union between Chokmah and Binah, as symbolized by Daath. Each of the Triads can be seen as a mother and father Sephira that gives birth to a child, which reflects its influence to the Sephirot below. In this case the mother and father are Chesed and Geburah, who give birth to Tiphareth and Tipahreth reflects the influence of his parents into the lower spheres of the Tree of Life. As the light has moved through Daath, it has lost its original consistency and the Archetypes of Atziluth have become perceptible. Think of it as holding a flash light in a dark room, that blinds you, as it is held too close to your eyes. But as the flash light is carried further away, more and more of the room becomes visible, until everything becomes clear to the eye sight. This is the effect that the light has, as it passes through the Four Worlds, until it reaches its conclusion in the material world.

Yetzirah:

This is the Astral Triad and is occupied by Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, Yetzirah is also called the World of Formation. This is where the inspiration received from the higher worlds is directly perceived by the intuition. Now the ideal forms of Briah have become solid ideas reflecting not only our natures but also the nature of the world around us. It is in this world that visions and dreams take place, divination too is manifested in the World of Formation. Everything that exists in our world, had to be created in the Astral Plane first and Yetzirah is the world where this happens. The World of Formation corresponds to the third letter of the ineffable name Vau and its element is Air.

Assiah:

The last world is Assiah and it is the world of matter represented on the Tree of Life by Malkuth, the sphere of the elements. This is the world where all of the influences from the above worlds have manifested into physical form and are perceptible to our senses. Imagine again the analogy of the flashlight. As the light moves further away from the eyes more of the room becomes visible, but as this happens, less of the direct light of the flash light is visible, until finally our full attention is on the room with the light no longer playing the central role in our theme. This is what has happened in Malkuth, although the light is still just as present as it was in the beginning of the creation story, it has become unnoticeable, being hidden in matter. Another name for Assiah is known as the World of Manifestation and the element associated with this world is Earth.

I truly hope you enjoyed reading this essay. Thanks for reading.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

The Astral Triad:

 The Astral Triad:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Netzach:

Netzach is the sphere of Venus, another name for Netzach is Victory and it is the first Sephira in the Astral Triad (alternatively the Astral Triad is called Yetzirah or World of Formation). The Hebrew letter associated with this Triad is Vau and the element is Air, keep in mind that the elements associated to the Four Worlds are not the same as the elements of the Sephirot of the Tarot. Venus is the Goddess of love, her Greek counterpart is Aphrodite. In contrast to Hod which is an intellectual sphere, Netzach is home to the emotions, intuition and creativity but especially love. Aphrodite was the patron goddess of prostitution, although she embodies all forms of love, she is especially associated with sexual love. Her element is Fire and Hod’s element is Water. These Sephirot compliment one another and their corresponding influences on each other give rise to Yesod. Netzach is an unbalanced sphere, being so close to materialization and the first of what could be called the elemental spheres, it needs Hod as its compliment to retain the integrity of the tree.  Aphrodite was the daughter of Uranus, and not Cronos like the rest of the first Olympians and she basically did whatever she wanted. Uranus was a Titan and he is associated with the sky, Cronos is Saturn. Titans symbolize forces of nature such lightning or thunder or storms. One day Cronos decided to cut his dad Uranus' genitals off and throw them in the ocean, this killed Uranus and his submerged genitals created a rich, white, foamy substance wherefrom Aphrodite was born. The above myth gives an indication not only of the nature of Aphrodite but also the sphere of Netzach, as not having fully realized her place in the world as if  she has her head in the clouds. The Tarot attributions of this sphere are the Sevens and the Wands, Netzach is the seventh Sephirot on the Tree of Life, her color is Green and her element is Fire.   

Hod:

Hod is the sphere of Splendor, he corresponds to Mercury and is the eighth Sephirot on the Tree of Life. Mercury is the Roman Thoth or Hermes. It is said that Hermes Trismegistus was the incarnation of Thoth. Thoth taught writing and was a patron God of the afterlife, along with Maat and Anubis. The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus is also one of the central texts of our tradition. Hermes is the messenger of the Gods and teaches writing and all other types of knowledge concerned with those things that have inspired humanity towards progress. From the preceding analogy we may begin to see how this God is of central importance to our philosophical system, all other religions place their faith in salvation sought in the afterlife, or none at all. They’re illusions of immortality and salvation makes them weak and contemptible. The Buddhists maintain that life is suffering and existence is nothing more than an illusion, while we find redemption in the struggle of life, joyfully at war in honor of Truth. Our god is the Sun, the source of all life and it is through the illuminating rays of our Deity that new points of view are birthed, perpetually inspiring us to even more transcendent fields of creativity and awakening. Hereby is the influence of Hod realized in the Astral Triad as a messenger and a guide, he connects us to heaven through the inspiration that we receive from him. He is a most human god and in him do we see our divinity, as the most fundamental part of our beings. He is the son of Maia and Zeus, but in truth he is the son of heaven and earth and a brother of mankind. One day Hermes stole Apollo’s cattle, Apollo was infuriated by this, but Hermes maintained that the cattle in fact belonged to him. They soon went to their father to settle their dispute. Throughout the interrogation, Hermes stuck to his story and even accused Apollo of trying to steal his cattle by making up such an elaborate hoax. But instead of being angry, Zeus was amused; and enjoyed the company of Hermes so much that he made him the messenger of the Gods, so that all the Gods may be blessed to partake in such lofty company. He corresponds to the Eights and Wands of the Tarot, his color is Orange and he is associated with the letter Vau of the ineffable name, his element is Water. He is the light from the Ethical Triad as it begins to materialize, his influence is great and inspires our creativity as the growing seed of immeasurable potential planted in the very soul of mankind.

Yesod:

Yesod is the sphere of the Moon, her other name is the Foundation and she is the ninth sphere on the Tree of Life and the last Sephira to make up the Astral Triad. She is the unconscious and the Astral Plane, her element is Air. She is represented by the Greek goddess Artemis whose Roman counterpart was worshiped as the Goddess of light whose name is Diana. Artemis was the Goddess of the hunt and fertility, the mythological connection between light and this sphere stems from the fact that Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and therefore shared his characteristics, however her light is only the reflection of the Sun, as Yesod is the reflection of Tiphareth. So, it is by way of this reflection that she is the gate to the Astral as she is the final Sephirot reflecting the ideas of creation formed in the second triad into the world of matter, this means that these ideas become tangible as comprehensible through Yesod's influence. She is the unconscious and the Astral Plane, it is the place where the celestial beings take on characteristics and become recognizable to our intellects. It is said that the Astral Plane is the blueprint for material existence, everything in the material world is first formed in the Astral Plane before coming into existence, sort of like the imagination.  In Greek mythology Hermes and Aphrodite had a child called Hermaphrodite, Hermaphrodite was androgynous and was viewed as a God or Goddess associated with sex and love. An Hermaphrodite, being such an obscure creature is easily comparable to the unconscious, which is Yesod before all is crystalized in matter. As still being a part of the Ruach, this Sephirot is attributed to the letter Vau and the Tarot cards associated with this sphere are the Swords and Nines. 

Malkuth:

Malkuth is the tenth and final Sephira on the Tree of Life, it is the temporal world. Malkuth is called the world of the elements. This is where all of the things in the three triads finally crystalize into material form. Malkuth is not part of any triad and hangs from the bottom of the tree, as if to suggest our separation from the divine. This is the sphere where the elements are worked on and once a balanced congruency between the magician and the elements has been achieved he is ready for the astral plane in Yesod.  The Thelemic God associated with this sphere is Hadit (Hadit can be compared to Atman in Hinduism), Hadit is that self in all of us that seeks union with the divine. All aspirants are woken up by the need of their inner most selves to start their journeys upon the Path of the Wise, this innermost flame of life is called Hadit. It is usually said in the Qabalah that the Crown is in the Kingdom and the Kingdom is in the Crown, the Crown and Kingdom in this statement refers to Kether and Malkuth respectively and the Tree of Life is one means by which this point is illustrated. The world in which Malkuth lies is called Assiah and is the World of Manifestation, where everything that has been concealed in Kether finally manifests into material existence. In the Tarot Malkuth is associated with the Disks, Princesses and the Tens of each suit, He final of the ineffable name is the Hebrew letter that correspond to Malkuth, this sphere is Black, Green, Brown and Yellow.

Thank you for reading.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

The Ethical Triad:

 The Ethical Triad:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Chesed:

The Ethical Triad is the second triad on the Tree of Life and is composed of Chesed, Geburah and Tiphareth and is represented in Thelema by the God Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Chesed is the first Sephirot on the Pillar of Mercy and is also called Mercy, its planetary attribution is Jupiter. This Sephira is a reflection of Binah and is the first Sephira below the Abyss and also the last Sephira that we may form a real conception and understanding of. The Kings of the Gods such as Indra and Zeus are attributed to this Sephira. This is the world of the Devas, Indra is the Lord of the Devas, and what this means is that when the ascended masters incarnate, they incarnate into this world and not the world of Malkuth, like the rest of us. The Master Therion stated that after he completed the Path of Return, he was plunged into the sphere of Chesed, this is the home of the Boddhisatvas, who continue the work of their chosen incarnation. The masculine energy of Chokmah as the phallic force of creation sits right above Chesed and therefore the whole Pillar of Mercy carries the influence of this masculine energy, however, when we take a look at the tree, we notice that the only real balance is found upon the Middle Pillar as even Chesed is a direct reflection of Binah that brings balance to the Pillar of Mercy. This is the sphere that is closest to the Divine world of the Supernals and is where all the anagogic manifestations, such as prose, music, poetry and even certain works of art are received. All six Sephirot from Chesed all the way to Yesod in the Astral Triad correspond to the letter Vau of Tetragrammaton, but to the Ethical Triad is ascribed the letter He of the Ineffable Name and the element of Water, thus the Tarot attributions of this Sephira are the Fours and Wands. Wands correspond to all the Sephirot associated with the third letter of Tetragrammaton, which as stated are the first six Sephirot below the Abyss from Chesed which is the fourth Sephira and ending with Yesod the sphere of the Moon which is the ninth Sephira. The apparent contradiction regarding the elements, stems from the fact that the six Sephirot we are discussing make up the third suit in the Tarot and is not dealing with each individual Sephira but has grouped six together to form the Ruach or second part of the Soul, attributed to the Intellect. The Triads and the Tarot suits are two ways of looking at the Tree of Life, but do not share the same utility. I will focus more on the Parts of the Soul in a later essay but for our purpose the attributions given here should be sufficient. Chesed is the sphere where an Adept has realized his full potential and has accomplished the Great Work, the color associated with Chesed is Blue and its element is Water.

 

Geburah:

Geburah is called Severity or Strength, it is on the left-hand side of the Tree of Life, opposite Chesed. Its planetary attribution is Mars. Associated with this Sephira, is the Goddess Athena, Athena is the Greek goddess of War and politics, she was the patron Goddess of Athens and as such she's also a symbol of the Great Work. Note that Geburah is the sphere of Mars a planet whose energy is masculine, this is the result of it being a direct reflection of both Binah and Chokmah the first female and male principles. We find the same contradiction in Chesed which again is the first Sephirah on the Pillar of Mercy, but is imbued with a receptive, feminine quality. These ideas have not yet fully crystalized into matter, therefore these Sephirot share an androgynous character as to symbolize this world of Ideas, which has not yet been brought into material manifestation. The color of this Sephira is Red and some people attribute the God of War, Aries to this sphere, I feel this is however inaccurate and that the correspondence should be Athena. Athena being a goddess and Jupiter a God, restores perfect balance to our schematic, something which I feel Aries didn’t adequately accomplish in Geburah. Geburah and Chesed are elemental opposites but balance is brought back by the reflections mentioned from the Supernal Triad, Chesed is as mentioned associated with water and Geburah with fire. The sphere of Geburah represents the striving of an Adept who is doing his True Will, it is the battle fought to accomplish the Great Work and so two attributions of Geburah, are energy and courage, listed as virtues. These virtues entail the pioneering effort necessary to bring the Great Work to completion. The virtues are an indication of what may be the Ordeal for achieving success in this monumental task, and so would the vices associated with Geburah, these vices are cruelty and destruction. The Tarot cards associated with Geburah are again the Wands and all the number Fives of the suit cards. These also correspond to the letter Vau of Tetragrammaton and represents the intellect or Ruach, although the Ethical Triad is ascribed to water and is called Briah. These attributions will start making more sense in the next treatise on Tiphareth and when I deal with the Parts of the Soul.

Tiphareth:

Tiphareth is the sixth Sephiroth on the Tree of Life and the sphere of the Sun, which is called Beauty. This sphere is associated with the attainment of Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel. The god associated with Tiphareth is Dionysus, this is on account of his nature being a fertility god as well as the son of Semele and Zeus. His wine is symbolic of Tiphareth as it intoxicates either with madness or ecstasy, his characteristics place him right in the center between the celestial and the temporal realms. It is the last sphere on the Ethical Triad and reflects the light of the Supernals into the Astral Triad. The Cross is a symbol of Tiphareth and this is indicative of the attainment of the grade as another symbol associated with Tiphareth is the Rosy Cross. It is upon the attainment that the Rose starts to bud and the Adam Kadmon is conceived, under the formula of “Love under Will”. The Rosy Cross is a rose with 22 petals wherein is written the Hebrew alphabet as corresponding to the Tarot growing in the center of the Cross of the Elements, which is a remarkably appropriate symbol for the Great Work. This is the point in the aspirant’s journey where the Six Pointed Star is forged and united with the Pentagram, thereby uniting Heaven and Earth, or the Microcosm and the Macrocosm. The Adept then becomes a conduit for inspiring the lower as he is now directed by his Angel and has established a direct link with the Divine as illustrated by the paths that lead down from the Supernals towards Tiphareth. This makes it the only Sephira on the tree, that is connected to all the planetary spheres, whereby its office is fulfilled, thus drawing influence from above, reflecting the light to those Sephirot beneath it. In Plotinus’ metaphysics this is when the mystic experiences the Vision of Beauty and it is in this vision that Plotinus says one gets the first glimpse of the Unity, this indicates the nature of the attainment so far mentioned, as becoming cognitive of the aim by linking one’s consciousness to the direct inspiration from the Divine Light of the Supernal Triad. Being the sixth Sephira on the tree in the middle of ten Sephirot, means that the Supernal and Ethical Triads together are made up of six Sephirot and the Astral Triad is constituted by five, thus giving us the number 65 and the symbols of the Hexagram and the Pentagram. The Hexagram has six points and the Pentagram has five, it is the fusion of these symbols that awakens the aspirant to adepthood. The Pentagram is the Soul of an aspirant that is created in the grades leading up to Tiphareth, and the Hexagram represents the macrocosm in the same way, once union between the Lower and the Higher has been achieved, one becomes an Adept and realizes his True Will, then the next stage of the journey begins and he starts doing his True Will. The Tarot cards connected to Tiphareth are the Princes of Swords and the Sixes, these correspond to the letter Vau, Air and its color is Yellow. In summation, the Ethical Triad is where the Great Work is brought to completion and it is what all magicians aspire to. 

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

The Supernal Triad:

 The Supernal Triad:

 

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

 Kether:

Kether is the first Sephirot and is called the Crown on the Tree of Life and may be seen as a whirling force of positive and negative energy, in no way dissimilar to the Yin-Yang symbol of Daoism. Before Kether there are the three types of negative-existence, Ain, Ain Soph and Ain Soph Aur or nothing, limitless and limitless light. It is the limitless light that we perceive as nothing for Ain truly is nothing and we as human beings cannot conceive of nothing. But as nothing is something, everything is then brought into existence in the first Sephirot from which the rest of the Tree of Life is formed. Kether is the white Sephirot on the top of the tree and in Thelema, Nuit and Hadit are in union within the sphere of Kether. Kether can also be compared to Paratman and is pure consciousness or Anata in Buddhist jargon. The only way for there to be realization of any kind, is that there is someone to observe the phenomenon, therefore in this sphere is where we find Hadit as experiencing the absolute, through dissolation of self as a perpetual orgasm into Ain Soph, the latter is necessarily associated with Nuit as the Goddess of infinite space, whose other name is Naught and means nothing. Another way of looking at Kether as the source of creation, is to think about it as the singularity that exploded and is known today as the Big Bang, like an electric spark that explodes into consciousness. Once Kether manifests, it gives rise to the two primordial opposites known as Chokmah and Binah. All the Aces of the Tarot are in Kether and symbolize the purest forms of the elements.

Chokmah and Binah:

This whirling energy of Kether eventually explodes into existence and forms the first opposites, these are represented by Chokmah and Binah. Chokmah is also known as Wisdom and Binah is known as Understanding, they can be seen as the Great Father and the Great Mother, Matter and Motion or Shiva and Shakti. In Thelema Chokmah is associated with the Beast (Therion) or Chaos and Binah is the Great Mother, Babalon. The three Sephirot that make up the Supernal Triad are associated with the first letter of the ineffable name and the Archetypal World of Atziluth, these Archetypes share a close parallel to the Platonic Forms and in Plotinus’ Metaphysics we call this world the Nous, also, these three Sephirot together are known to qabalists as the Supernal Triad. The ineffable name may also be presented by placing the first letter Yod in Chokmah and He in Binah, thus symbolizing the Father and the Mother. In the Tarot, their attributions are the Wands and Cups and the Knights and Queens, these suits are associated with Fire and Water along with the first two letters of the ineffable name. Along with these cards the Twos of each suit are placed in Chokmah and the Threes in Binah. All the Aces are in Kether and symbolize the purest forms of the elements. A common symbol of Chokmah is a Phallus, in contrast to Binah’s feminine symbolism which includes a cup, or chalice as suggestive of a womb. These two Sephirot represent the Lingam and the Yoni, the creative masculine and feminine forces that drive creation. The chalice of Binah is also associated with the Holy Grail into which an Adept must drain every drop of his blood to complete the path of return. Chokmah is pure masculine energy and Binah is purely feminine, as a result Chokmah corresponds to the pillar of Mercy as its influence is strong and dynamic, whereas the opposite is true for Binah and she is at the top of the Pillar of Severity. The colors of these two Sephirot are Grey and Black respectively, Chokmah is the second sephirot on the right side of the Tree of Life and Binah is the third sephirot and on the left. The planetary attributions of these two Sephirot is Saturn for Binah, Chokmah doesn't have an attributed planet, some people would say it's Pluto, but Pluto is useless in this regard. Saturn is the ruler of Karma and is associated with death. Planetary correspondences may serve as guides when one is putting together a ritual for invocation or evocation and for anyone interested in invocation, I recommend Aleister Crowley’s Book 777, which has a list of all the correspondences.

The Supernal Triad which is also called Atziluth can be thought of as a world of Ideals or Archetypes, as Archetypes they are not ideas and can only be perceived by intuition as the nature of these Forms are hidden from even the Forms themselves, which are blinded by the light and obscured to the view and understanding of all those below the Abyss. There is no floor or ceiling in such an environment and even in Binah, being in such close proximity to Kether, it is a realm where opposites aren’t experienced as being opposite. It is often stated that, we can not understand what is experienced above the Abyss, although we may contemplate it and even intellectually understand level headed explanations of what Anata means, but these are only concepts of Paratman and Anata, and Liberation. The fact that a person has to give up everything even his ego in order to get there, means that it is not and cannot practically be a permanent residence and as soon as he’s made the trip, it is time to come back down again; so much for being liberated then. Some people say that it’s upon his return into the Formative World, or rather the Ruach, that the Ordeal of his passage is truly experienced. Reintegrating into life after he's had to give up his ego and attained what Yogis and Buddhists call the final liberation, will certainly prove daunting. Buddhism and Hinduism suggests that one withdraws from society and the stress of life and that only under such conditions is this union attainable and we can certainly see their point. This is how the Supernal Triad corresponds to one’s journey along the Path of Return and it is only after crossing into this world, that the aspirant truly completes the Path of Return and unites with his beloved in the eternal ecstasy of pure consciousness .

I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

Qabalah: (A brief overview)

 Qabalah: (A brief overview)

 

“Do what thou wilt is the whole of the Law.”

The QBL can be traced back to about the first or second centuries in written form, although we believe that it existed as an oral tradition for a long time before that. The first book written on the subject is called the Sepher Yetzirah and was written in the first or second century as stated above. Authorship of this text was first accredited to Moses in the Bible, but was more than likely to hide the identity of the true author. Qabalah means Oral Tradition or Received Tradition and this term comes from the fact that the information was passed down in this way from teacher to student. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages during the 13 Century when the Sepher Zohar was written by a Rabbi Moses de Leon. Although the dates of authorship for these two books have been disputed, as well as the identity of the authors themselves, this to my knowledge is the best timeline wherein to put these texts.

Two of the major influences of this tradition are Neo-Platonism of the Greeks and the Markabah tradition of the Jews. Both of these traditions seek to attain enlightenment through attaining oneness with God. Plotinus is the founder of Neo-Platonism and it is within his theology that we find a remarkably similar schematic of the Four Worlds of the Qabalah. He posited that there are four levels or worlds that one needs to attain union with until finally attaining Henosis or mystical oneness, these four worlds are The One/The Nous, The Divine Mind/The All Soul and The Soul/Matter. Plotinus taught developing what he termed the Luminous Body, which in modern terms is called the astral body. In Plotinus’s method, emphasis is placed on ethics and meditation techniques, not dissimilar to Yoga, this included contemplating for example, the nature of Love and Beauty. The Markabah tradition’s method is that of creating a chariot that descends to the Seven Heavens until coming face to face with God. This chariot that is said to be constructed of and protected by Angels with the mystic seated inside, is the Jewish equivalent of the Luminous Body, as taught by the Neo-Platonists. The Markabah tradition focused on vibrating divine names associated with the construction of the chariot, and this method is still used in QBL practice today, however we no longer liken the astral body to a chariot.

In the Qabalah, Plotinus’ terminology for the Four Worlds have been changed, but the correspondences remain similar. Qabalistically the worlds are called in descending order, Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah and Asiah, these Four Worlds also correspond to the ineffable name which in QBL is called the Tetragrammaton. It is with the idea of these worlds that we may begin to understand the schematic known as the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life serves as a representation of the symbolism found in the QBL, whereby we can compartmentalize these ideas. The four worlds therefore correspond to what is called the Triads and the Sephirot. On the tree there are ten Spheres, these are called Sephirot. Along with the Sephirot we have the twenty-two paths that connect the spheres and together the ten Sephirot and the twenty-two paths are called the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom. These thirty-two paths serve to explain man’s relationship to the magickal universe as outlining the hierarchical structure of the celestial realm. The twenty-two paths are also correspondent to the Hebrew alphabet while the Sephirot are associated with the Four worlds and the ineffable name, along with countless other correspondences these make up the Tree of Life and serves as the foundation of the Hermetic Tradition as it’s practiced today.

As mentioned before, the four worlds represent the three triads on the tree, these are called the Supernal Triad, the Ethical Triad and the Astral Triad, the last letter of the ineffable name is He final and corresponds to Malkuth. Malkuth is the tenth sephirah on the tree and represents the world of matter. Next is the Astral Triad and is composed of Yesod, Hod, Netzach, the Moon, Mercury and Venus respectively and correspond to the Hebrew letter Vau. The Ethical Triad is made up of Tiphareth, Geburah and Chesed, these are the spheres of the Sun, Mars and Jupiter and the letter associated is He. Lastly, we have the Supernal Triad and the Spheres that make up this Triad is Binah, Chokmah and Kether and the first letter of the Ineffable Name Yod. This is the basic structure of the Tree of Life and by the aid of this schematic we may study its different correspondences and gain a greater understanding of our place in the universe.

Next there are the ways in which the information found on the Tree of Life may be put into practice, there is the Practical Qabalah and the Literal Qabalah. The Literal Qabalah is made up of Temura, Notariqon and Gematria. These techniques are designed to connect different ideas with each other, especially when studying Holy Books, as these are said to be Divinely inspired and through these techniques their anagogic validity may be tested. The Practical Qabalah are all the ways that we put this information into practice, this may be as simple as a Pentagram ritual or it might involve summoning angels or constructing Talismans. Vibrating divine names, a method to build up the astral body, forms a big part of this practice, and things like the Pentagram rituals are practiced every day.

Besides all this we have the veils of Negative Existence, these do not usually enter our contemplations when dealing with the Qabalah as these veils are very hard to understand and represent three forms of Nothingness. The Universe is said to have originated from these three forms of Nothing and they are called Ain (Nothing), Ain Soph (Limitless) and Ain Soph Aur (Limitless Light). They are represented above Kether as three veils drawn as lines with their names. Very little has been written on these veils of non-existence, so the above description should suffice for the utility of this essay.   

I hope this essay has helped in some way and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

The Soul of Man:

 

The Soul of Man:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

“Hadit has never defiled His purity with the Illusion of Sorrow, etc. Even love and pity for the fallen is an identification with it (sympathy from sigma-upsilon-nu Pi-alpha-theta-epsilon-iota-nu), and therefore a contamination.”

Old Comment Liber AL II,48.

Hadit is not the soul and as such cannot fall. Inherently it is Pure Consciousness and should be likened to Atman, Hadit therefore is eternal and cannot fall. Every ignorance perceived by one who is experiencing reality outside of the full realization of being is a contamination of his true nature. The Thelemic praxis is a means to establish union with Hadit while still fostering our individual conceptions of reality. The soul therefore is the medium through which we become aware of our True Wills. This however is not foreign to the Western Mystery Tradition, but needs elucidation, I suppose.

Within our tradition is what’s called the Triune Man, and added to this we have the formulas of Tetragrammaton and Pentagrammaton, the Microcosm and the Macrocosm. These concepts have been admirably explained throughout the centuries as being inherent in every human and compared to the constitution of man and the magickal universe. This constitution is made up of Spirit-Soul and Body or intellect (ego). A superficial look at the Tree of Life and some occult work, would indeed bring a person to realizing the validity of this and how it is inseparable from our idea of the nature of the Soul and the nature of the Great Work.

My goodness; there truly are numerous sources, that one may consult to find exactly what I am talking about but considering the current climate and peoples need to figure things out without the proper metaphysical basis to find direction, I expect it to fall on def ears.

Crowley clearly believed that his movie star groupies were more educated than they were, as he took for granted, that they didn’t actually read. Now it pains folks like myself to educate people who clearly should have stuck to tennis. Where do I start? Perhaps citing Crowley’s Commentaries to Liber AL, in case folks decide that I am trying to change the fundamental structure of something they claim to have dedicated their lives to. This is basic and should serve as the foundation to further spiritual inquiry, in fact the concept of a soul was in a sense stolen from the Western Tradition and corrupted by the Christians. What is the point if we don’t understand the foundation of our philosophical system and more, what is the motivation to do the work for such an Ape of Thoth?

When we are born, we are accompanied by a conglomeration of ethereal particles that are sympathetic to each other, but not a Soul, as a Soul is individualized. At the point that we are born our ethereal bodies do not serve any purpose, especially not the type that is sought for in our Tradition, however for the sake of evolution the make up of this body must be in harmony. Once an individual develops an ego this ethereal body starts to develop in the direction that is willed by the individual. Obviously, we tend to develop our talents first as we grow and so the talents that a person is born with are an indication of the nature of the ethereal form which has incarnated with the body. This development is obviously guided by the intuition but is certainly affected by both the spiritual and the physical parts, we thus start individualizing the soul as soon as we realize our own individuality. Now individualizing is not necessarily the same as perfecting, each soul is unique and individual but most souls are worthless, and haven’t been sufficiently built up to become vehicles for the light that inspires. These are the fallen, the worthless souls who fall as their natures are an insult to their divine heritage.

 “ …This Khu is the first veil, far subtler than mind or body, and truer; for its symbolic shape depends on the nature of its Star. Why are we told that the Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs? Did we then suppose the converse? I think that we are warned against the idea of a Pleroma, a flame of which we are Sparks, and to which we return when we 'attain'. That would indeed be to make the whole curse of separate existence ridiculous, a senseless and inexcusable folly. It would throw us back on the dilemma of Manichaeism. The idea of incarnations "perfecting" a thing originally perfect by definition is imbecile. The only sane solution is as given previously, to suppose that the Perfect enjoys experience of (apparent) Imperfection.”

If we conclude from the above quote that the Khu is the soul of man and not the same as the divine spark, but the body through which Hadit experiences Imperfection as if by will. Then we may liken the Khu to the soul. Hadit is perfect as Aleister Crowley says in the above citation, but we are still practicing ceremonial magick. What on earth could be the reason for this? Perhaps careful reading should elucidate, I am, through these elaborate occult practices trying to gain a greater understanding of the mind of God, something that Hadit is in perfect harmony and the only way to truly bring fresh fever from the skies.

“… She is one extreme without limit, He is the other. He hath no nature of his own, for He is that to which all events occur. His house, that is, the sphere of his action, is called Khabs, a Star. This is the Light which he conceals about him through His deeds of Love for Her, so that there may appear in glory the Record of those Works which pertain to any Point in Space.”

I suppose the Great Work is then a testament of this divine inheritance of every man and woman, and a Proof to the world. Hadit has no individuality and relies on expression through the faculties of whoever he has incarnated. This is the idea, Khabs is what is to be worshiped and the congealing of our threefold constitutions is what may eventually guide us to uniting heaven and earth and realize our True Wills. Only a coward would rely on salvation after death, something that Thelema is dead set against.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

Thelemic Attributions of the Sephirot:

 Thelemic Attributions of the Sephirot:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

I have, for my own convenience decided to ascribe the Thelemic deities to their corresponding Sephirot on the Tree of Life. I feel that for myself, the Thoth Tarot by Crowley is ample for the Paths and it is entirely logical to assume that he himself attributed Greek deities to the paths and the Egyptian Gods to the Sephirot, one example is Liber Resh vel Helios, as Helios in this adoration is clearly the God attributed to the path of Resh (The Sun) whose office is to drag the sun across the horizon. So, if I am in a later essay going to ascribe the Gods to the paths, I will make them Greek, for convenience-sake. The bastardization of these pantheons is by no means new to Magick or a result of my own laziness, as Thelema is not the first Grecian-Egyptian system. When these correspondences have been completed, I hope that it may serve as an appropriate elucidation of the cosmology of Thelema and the means by which it serves the Path of Return as a way of attainment, for those who are just beginning to contemplate the many Gods found within the Thelemic praxis. The following essay is then my own valiant attempt to keep Jesus out of Thelema and place the Goddess back on her pedestal where she belongs, for a new generation of seekers and perhaps even finders.

The Foundation of the Tree of Life:

In Thelema we have Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit as our most important Deities and these are associated with the Three Grades mentioned in the Book of the Law, the Hermit (Nuit), The Lover (Ra-hoor-Khuit) and the Man of Earth (Hadit). These grades are then attributed not to the Sephiroth but to the three triads on the Tree of Life. The Supernal Triad, the Ethical Triad and the Astral Triad. Hadit is the flame in every heart of man and in the center of every star, he is first enlivened after the first initiation, when the aspirant has successfully equilibrated the elements and is associated to Malkuth, however qabalistically speaking, he must then also be in Kether as having attained to the unity. This is the reason for the term Man of Earth, this grade is entered into in Yesod as equilibrating the elements is the work done in Malkuth and the requisite for attaining the grade, following that it is reached upon entering the next sephirah.

The next grade is The Lover and this is associated with Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Tiphareth, this is the Grade of someone who has attained knowledge and conversation. The requisite, obviously for this grade, is the conscious union between an Adept and his Angel, hence he is called The Lover. I am not the lover of every object of my affection and may only become that if she feels the same and we are united in love. Therefore, The Great work is the nurturing of the relationship and the eventual fruit produced from the relationship, between an Adept and his Angel.

Finally, there is the Hermit and this Grade is linked to the supernal Triad, something about which most of us could only speculate, but as Hadit is life and the giver of life, knowledge of him is also the knowledge of death and so, for me this means that full realization leads to complete annihilation of self and expanding into pure consciousness (the Body of Nuit). Frater Achad stated that he experienced the Supernal Grades almost simultaneously, so it would seem that once one reaches the Supernal Triad, he is experiencing this triplicity as a single grade, until finally he is plunged back down the tree and reconstituted in one of the lower worlds. Crowley said that after his attainment he was plunged into Jupiter and Achad into Malkuth. The Hermit as an archetype in a sense represents one who has attained wholeness and has no need for validation from the outside world, he has found what we are all searching for and is complete, this may be the reason that the grade is called the Hermit. As Nietzsche says, “To live alone one must be a beast or a God”, God then sums up the symbolism of this grade. It is within this grade that complete union with Nuit is achieved, Nuit’s proper place is Ain-Soph but she manifests in Kether as being united with Hadit, it is their union that symbolizes the pure potential of creation. Traditionally Kether is not a planetary sphere but is seen as a whirling spiral of creative energy wherein there are no opposites, from the above analogy the symbolism of Hadit and Nuit’s union is appropriate to convey the same idea in Thelemic terms.

The Astral Triad:

Starting at the bottom of the tree, Hadit is in Malkuth. The fact that Hadit is attributed to Malkuth is observed from the work that is done in this sphere. It is in this sphere that the aspirant acknowledges his place at the center of the universe by equilibrating the elements and emphasizing his own sovereignty four times a day with the adoration of the sun and the lesser pentagram ritual.

In Yesod we find Ahathoor, she is the consort of Ra (Horus) and in the Greek system, the Goddess attributed to this sphere is Artemis, who is the twin sister of Apollo, we can easily see the validity of this assertion when we consider that Yesod is reflected by Tiphareth and the opposite of the sun.

In Hod I have chosen to put Thoth, we can go with Anubis as he was worshipped as Hermes by the ancient Greeks, but that confuses things when Netzach needs a Goddess and who better than Thoth’s wife Maat, she was the Goddess of justice. Thoth is then attributed to the sphere of Mercury and Maat to the sphere of Venus. These correspondences intuitively give one the sense of grace, as being necessary for any further attainment. We may indeed ascribe Anubis to this sphere and whether it is Anubia or Thoth is up to the discretion of the magician. Both of these gods are mercurial and share a close connection with Maat and death. 

The Ethical Triad:

Tiphareth is tricky and has two faces, but Thelema solves this problem with Heru-Ra-Ha, who is the active and passive aspects of the sun God Horus. Ra-Hoor-Khuit is active and Hoor-Paar-Kraat is passive, in the Thelemic grade system Tiphareth involves two sides to one realization and these are summed up in the grades Adept Without and Within. The Adept Without is tasked with attaining knowledge and conversation by successfully performing the Abramelin ritual and once he has completed this task, he becomes an Adept Within and attains full realization of his new, elevated perspective. So, just from looking at the grade attributed to the Tiphareth, I would have to conclude that Heru-Ra-Ha is the appropriate deity for this sephirah. This is convenient as Ra-Hoor-Khuit is a martial deity and the next sephirah is of course Geburah, and is associated with Mars.

Heru-Ra-Ha’s dual nature is symbolic of the light that is reflected from the Supernal Triad into the Astral Triad via the Ethical Triad, this is not to say that the properties of this reflection are supernatural, although the jargon may seem to entail such an absurdity. It only means that the inspired work done by every adept inspires the world by presenting it with new Gnosis. And this is the reason that Ra-Hoor-Khuit’s position on the Tree of Life is Geburah, his struggle is to accomplish the Great Work and it is this work which brings forth fresh fever from the skies. The Adept’s work is inspired through union with the divine, in other words, communication with the Supernal realm, which could be called the Preternatural realm and this relationship is what inspires the lower, meaning that, the magician is in a certain sense, rewriting his communications with the divine into his own words.  

The Sphere of Chesed corresponds to Hoor, another name for Horus. Chesed is associated with Jupiter and the first sphere on the tree below the Abyss and the last sphere that we can formulate an understanding of. I have put Horus here for convenience. However, it must also be kept in mind that Horus is indeed the King of the Gods, just as Zeus, who also corresponds to the sphere of Jupiter, all these other names that I have associated with the Ethical Triad are but aspects of Horus, therefore it is logical that this name holds in it the full potential of all these parts, the Great Work thus having been accomplished. 

Next there is Babalon below the Abyss, she is the light that rains down from the Supernal Triad and is the Great Whore. Within this context, it does not mean that she is the itch in the crotch of the aspirant, although it does make for a useful metaphor. As the Shekinah she connects all opposites within the formative world and through her whorish nature awakens our higher aspirations. She becomes an especially attractive whore when K&C is attained and through her attraction, starts drawing the magician towards the Abyss, as if by momentum alone. She is thus the Divine Mind, her first manifestation is that of the Great Mother, where she corresponds to Binah and is the second after the unity, as Plotinus puts it. She is the Great Mother of creation and in her whoredom, she inspires us to traverse the path and realize our divinity.

Within Daath, we find Pan, the All-Devourer and the All-Begetter. For one who is approaching the Abyss he is the All-Devourer, one must give up everything to successfully Cross the Abyss, as one is completely annihilated and if successful will find himself in the City of the Pyramids, as nothing more than a pile of dust, where he is nursed back to life by his mother Babalon, during the night of Pan, hence he is the All-Devourer. However, from another point of view, he is the potential for creation, as the universe that is still a conglomeration of ideas, before it is formed and in this, he is the All-Begetter, almost like the creative spark of a new creation, holding within it all the potential of Kether.

Binah as stated is home to Babalon as the Great Mother and Consort of the Beast, the Beast is either known as Therion or Chaos and in Chokmah. They are the first opposites on the Tree of Life, created from the overflowing of Kether. Imagine Kether as a whirling mass of negative and positive energy, that eventually explodes into the primordial opposites known as male and female, or Shiva and Shakti, or light and dark and of course for Thelemites, Therion and Babalon? These opposites again unite and their reunion give birth to the Formative World, by conceiving a child known as Pan. Kether is where Hadit and Nuit are united, it is the source of all opposites and the entire universe as we understand it.

Thanks for reading, I hope it was accurate enough and that you enjoyed it.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

      

 

    

 

Qabalah before Qabalah.

 Qabalah before Qabalah.

 

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Plotinus’ theology has three components, The One, The Divine Mind and The Soul. The One can be seen by those familiar with the qabalah as the supernal triad on the Tree of Life, however if we were to place it in a sephirah it would be ascribed to Kether. He also makes a distinction between The Good and The One, this can be understood Thelemically as looking at it as either Hadit who looks at it as separate but from Nuit’s perspective there are no opposites. “Then it is without self-perception, without self-consciousness, ignorant of itself. We must remember that we have considered it only in its opposites.” The Good is the source of creation as it holds all and its overflowing creates everything. “If we assume that It possesses within Itself the distinction of knowing and known, we make It a manifold.” The very reason that the One can’t be understood by the intellect is that it is too far removed from our perspective, however it is the fact that we seek to comprehend through experience the nature of The One that proves its existence.

The Divine Mind is the LUX and it is this that inspires any aspirant to take up arms and embark upon the path to understanding. It is the Shekinah in qabalah, Thelemites refer to what we call the Magick Lamp, the Lamp is the Soul of an Adept that illuminates eternally after being inspired by the light of the Divine Mind, of one who is doing the Great Work. Hadit is eternal he is as much a part of The Divine Mind as he is The Divine Mind, but not the Soul. The Soul is transient like the body but Hadit is pure Spirit, therefore it is necessary to construct the Soul and purge it of all impurities so that it may serve by this fortification as an adequate vehicle for the light, once the light has become fully aware of its potential. In my opinion therefore saying that Hadit becomes self-aware is misleading, as it is the magician’s awareness of Hadit that illuminates the Soul and turns one into an agent for good. “We shape ourselves into the Divine Mind; we make over our soul in trust to the Divine Mind and set it firmly in That. Thus, what That sees the soul will awaken to see. It is through the Divine Mind that we have the vision of The Unity.” We are therefore already part of the celestial hierarchy and need only to realize our place in the cosmos, a point that is reiterated throughout the writings of the Neoplatonic philosophers and not at all foreign to Thelemic thought. “The integral omnipresence of unity is universally recognized; for all men instinctively affirm the God in each of us to be one, the same in all.” “…In virtue of that unity the Good may be regarded as truly inherent. Hence the Good is not to be sought outside; it could not have fallen outside of what is. It cannot possibly be found in non-Being; within Being the Good must lie, since it is never a no-Being.” This again speaks of the incomprehensible or more accurately the indescribable nature of such an attainment, it is the fact that non-Being has been experienced that it cannot remain as non-Being, for it is interpreted by Being. This then goes against the idea that one needs to disregard the ego, without an ego there truly is no understanding and no Great Work, only experience as perceived through a broken lens. The attainment spoken of above is that of Tiphareth, and we should realize that K&C is therefore not a once of merit badge; but is the junction along the path where the work truly begins. If this wasn’t the case Thelemites would be ass holes and Thelemites are certainly not ass holes.

“The greatest, later than The Unity, must be the Divine Mind, and it must be the second of all existence, for it is that which sees The One on which alone it leans while the First has no need whatever of it. The offspring of the prior to Divine Mind can be no other than that Mind itself and thus is the loftiest being in the universe, all else following upon it—the Soul, for example, being an utterance and act of the Divine Mind as that is an utterance and act of The One. But in Soul the utterance is obscured, for Soul is an image and must look to its own original.”

The conversation taking place between an Adept and his Angel can be seen as an interpretation of the All-Soul and his unique rendering of this interpretation to the world is his Great Work. The Soul does this by uniting with the All-Soul, as in the same way that Hadit is one with Nuit, our Souls are also one and the same with the All-Soul. Knowledge fostered through union with the All-Soul is what leads to the Great Work. So, although he has already been immortalized by his attainment, it wouldn’t be a very civilized thing to do, if he just basks in the glory of his own greatness, ignoring his responsibility to the world at large. In Rosicrucian terminology the All-Soul is called the Astral Light, and by achieving union with the Astral Light one is able to see into the past or even foretell future events. In more modern phraseology we call it the collective unconscious. A lot of phenomena take place when one is somehow unified with this field of consciousness, although usually the effects are not fully realized or long lasting, as these insights were but flashes from this sphere of consciousness and didn’t represent the actual attainment. However, after one has united with the Divine Mind, a magician attains the ability to draw from this source at will. This is from my understanding the conversation that takes place between an Adept and his Angel and it is from this that the Great Work is formed and realized. Each individual’s True Will is unique and it is upon this attainment that the True Will is recognized and then followed, this is possible for the simple reason that every aspect of ones being constitutes the soul, although it is worked on in the astral, it must and does carry influences from man’s entire make up, reflecting his characteristics, physically, intellectually and ethereally and asar-un-nefer is thus achieved for the congealing of these different parts of being that take place when the light pours down and enlivens the Adept.

I hope you enjoyed reading and in the words of Liber AL vel Legis: II,71“But exceed! exceed! II,72 Strive ever to more! And if thou art truly mine – and doubt it not, and if thou art ever joyous! – death is the crown of all.”

“Love is the law, love under will.”

And meanwhile, at the Sabbath…

And meanwhile, at the Sabbath…

 

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

 “There are four gates to one palace; the floor of that palace is of silver and gold; lapis lazuli & jasper are there; and all rare scents; jasmine & rose, and the emblems of death. Let him enter in turn or at once the four gates; let him stand on the floor of the palace. Will he not sink? Amn. Ho! warrior, if thy servant sink? But there are means and means. Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines that foam! Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me.”

Liber AL vel Legis

Sunthemata is usually translated as sacrifices. Sunthemata are the things incorporated into a magick ritual that connect the participants of the ritual to the divine. These include sacred objects, sacred poetry or hymns and songs and music specifically meant to enliven the soul of each participant and when properly employed, sunthemata may lead them to divine union or ecstasy.

Within this context we have suthemata for each of the worlds being affected, we have material sunthemata that are associated to the elements and are supposed to guide the participants to attain complete union with the lowest world. The way these are employed in the ritual is really up to the person devising the ceremony and the nature of the ritual should be considered. It is during this initial stage of the ceremony that everyone formally declares the nature and aim of the operation.

Next there is the prayer, with this the aim is reaffirmed by the participants. This is not to be just a formal declaration of will, it should be an adoration of the God and should be in the form of an invocation. At this time cakes of light may be eaten as to symbolically connect the spirit with the physical body and some type of mind-altering substance in liquid form is consumed at this juncture of the ceremony, perhaps a stimulant as well as a mild hallucinogenic. After this stage has been completed, the participants should be raised to closer proximity with the Gods.

During the next stage, a new adoration is introduced, along with music. This is designed to cause a type of spiritual frenzy, as a result of the atmosphere thus far created along with the effects of the drugs that have taken hold on the participants and should, if correctly performed, result in a bacchic orgy.

The final part of the ritual, after the congregation has taken their “fill of love” they will each bow down in front of the priest and show due reverence, while he affirms the success of the ritual. Then they may all partake in a communal feast.

Now I will attempt to devise a ritual in accordance with the rules given above. Obviously, the nature of the ritual shall be Thelemic. First, I will choose the Holy Books and these will be, Liber AL vel Legis, Liber VII and Liber LXV. The music will have to be written and played in a way that is designed to enliven the participants. For material sunthemata, I suggest a lamb (perhaps even sacrificed as part of the ritual) for the feast, animals are associated with fire, a stone altar will be constructed representing earth, next to the altar will be placed water, a knife is placed on the altar for air, or perhaps a woman girt with a sword, the Hierophant will be holding a wand.

Upon the altar must be placed that sunthemata which is in closer proximity to the gods. Things such as incense and oil may be burned, a statue of the god invoked is fitting as well as three talismans corresponding to the three worlds. In our ritual the spheres these talismans are dedicated to Yesod, Tiphareth and the third talisman should be a pictorial representation of man’s constitution as it corresponds to the magickal universe. The elixir and cakes of light are also kept on the altar. The idea of the ritual is to attain ecstatic union with the divine, meaning the world beyond Tiphareth, the symbolism of the talismans should therefore reflect this idea.

The god we are trying to invoke is Dionysus who is in Tiphareth on the Tree of Life, however he is more than just a regular god, being the son of Zeus and therefore half human and half god, as well as the nature of his wine, makes him a perfect god for the purpose of our ritual, as he reflects the higher and inspires the lower. Talismans are traditionally associated with the celestial realm and the material or elemental sunthemata are of the temporal realm, the anagogic nature of inspired music and prose puts them as the highest sunthemata and associates them with the supernal realm. Through this, it is clear that the ritual is designed to systematically open us up to these higher worlds, each in turn, after complete union with the previous world has been achieve.

First the focus must be on the furnishings of the temple, note: this ritual is performed outside and not inside a temple. The altar shall be built at the front of the circle, directly opposite the altar on the opposite end of the space we will have the sacrificed lamb cooking on a fire, the water shall be placed in an aesthetically pleasing way, and the wand or staff is held by the priest who is leading the ritual, who at the end becomes the god. Fire should be lit around the circle to illuminate the ritual space, raised torches would be best. This then covers the layout of the ritual space and what is on the altar.

The ritual will start with an affirmation by the congregation that is led by the Hierophant, the affirmation at the beginning of the Gnostic Mass is fine, or a new one may be written. Next let the Hierophant do the greater ritual of the Pentagram and include the prayers of the elementals written by Eliphas Levi. Following the pentagram ritual let the water be presented by our Priestess girt with a sword to the participants in turn, wherewith they shall wash their hands (the hands are symbolic of the creative potential of the divine and the participants are thus formally cleansed and consecrated).

During the next stage, elements shall again be invoked but as they correspond to Tetragrammaton. This may be done by reading their corresponding chapters in Liber LXV in turn or by means of Liber Samekh, the latter or something similar being more practical, at the end, before reading the chapter associated with spirit in LXV, the participants consume the cakes of light and the elixir. The chapters in LXV take about fifteen minutes to read, so by the end of the reading the elixir will start taking effect. The second part of the ceremony will be invoking the associated God, this should be done by formal invocation.

After the invocation, the music will start at the same time as the Hierophant will start reading Liber VII (Liber VII may be read in its entirety) and the participants who should be feeling the elixir by now will get undressed, the Hierophant will read the whole book starting with Yesod and ending with Chesed and remain clothed throughout the ritual. The sexual nature of the ritual may be offensive to some, however in the context of magick, sex is a sacrament and not something ugly but something that is used as sunthemata, whereby we are brought into closer proximity with the gods. The aim of this is to concentrate the sexual energy and connect the space with the power being invoked by the Hierophant, indeed enlivening the egregore of the ritual, which is Dionysus. The participants then start dancing and as they become more absorbed in the prose and the music the aim is for them to get lost in the experience and to start ritually fornicating. We must remember that the elixir has by this time taken full effect of the participants, who as a result should have lost their inhibitions, dancing naked has also rid them of their shame, as well as the fact that the music’s tempo keeps getting more energetic as the ritual progresses and is designed to work the participants into a frenzied state and lead them to the outlined result.

The last part of the ritual will be the participants showing reverence to the Hierophant who has successfully invoked Dionysus and is now standing in front of them as the living embodiment of the god, how this is done is up to the person who has constructed the ritual but I suppose kneeling and kissing are things that may be included, the ceremony will end with an Adoration of Nuit and a banishing ritual, followed by the feast, when the lamb is consumed.

As always I hope you enjoyed reading and if you try this, I hope you will also find the right people, so that it works.

 “Love is the law, love under will.”