4013 lines
172 KiB
Plaintext
4013 lines
172 KiB
Plaintext
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The Anatomy of the Body of God
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by Frater Achad
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Originally published circa 1922-1925
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Transcriber's notes:
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This electronic edition is taken from the Samuel Weiser
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edition of 1973. The work is not copyrighted.
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Due to the limitations of ASCII text, I have had to
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take some liberties with the original formatting of the
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book. Readers should be aware of this for the different
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sort of emphasis the changes sometimes puts on Achad's
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remarks.
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Text shown in ALL CAPITALS here was shown with an
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initial capital and the remainder of the letters in
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small caps in the original. The remaining, somewhat
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idiosyncratic capitalization is as in the original.
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Text shown _surrounded by underline characters_ here
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was in italics in the original. Where the original
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italics were clearly used to create a visual separation
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in the text rather than an emphasis, it is not
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indicated here.
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Footnotes have been renumbered consecutively from the
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beginning to end of the work, and moved to the end of
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the book.
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Transcriber's notes in the body of the text -- mostly
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notes on the insertion of diagrams -- are surrounded by
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[square brackets].
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The referenced diagrams, in Compuserve GIF format,
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should be in a ZIP file named ANATFIGS.ZIP in the same
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file area as this document. These files may be viewed
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and printed with viewers available on Compuserve or
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free on many Bulletin Board Systems.
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I hope you will enjoy this remarkable work of
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Cabalistic Geometry.
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Benjamin Rowe
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August, 1992
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Preface
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Although the title of this short essay may seem,
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to some who have not read its contents, to be both
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presumptuous and unwarrantable, it is hoped that these
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will reserve their judgment until they have given due
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attention and consideration to the study of such an
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important subject.
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We are living in strange times. Civilization seems
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rapidly to be breaking up, while yet some inner urge is
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at work towards a better and more balanced construction
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in may departments of life.
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One of the results of the Great War has been to
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turn the minds of many people from some of the narrower
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conceptions of life into wider channels. A spirit of
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enquiry has become apparent on the part of those who
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had previously been content to accept statements in
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regard to life's deeper issues on mere belief or
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hearsay. Many new Movements have arisen under the
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guidance of people who have obtained at least a partial
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glimpse of man's wider heritage, and there has been a
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corresponding falling away from what may be termed the
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orthodox or established order of things in the churches
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and elsewhere. Many countries have been making
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experiments of various kinds, most of which, however,
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being the outcome of "reform movements" of the
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narrowest sort, are quickly proving themselves to be
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unsatisfactory and inadequate. At present, amid all
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these indications, there seems to have been no complete
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solution in sight, and, so it might appear, very little
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comprehension, even on the part of those who are
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honestly doing their best under the circumstances, of
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the underlying principles involved. Those who should
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really be in a position to help, are unable to do so
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effectively for the same reason.
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It may seem a far cry from the present world-
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conditions of a social and political nature to the Holy
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Qabalah, but help sometimes comes from quite unexpected
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sources.
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The Jews, and the Jewish problem, represent very
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important aspects of the difficulty and its solution. A
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great proportion of the wealth of the world is today in
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the hands of the Jews, yet as a nation they have no
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place. As the "chosen people" they were an important
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nation, but the rejection of the Teacher in who they
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expected to find their Messiah, is usually considered
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to have been the cause of their becoming wanderers upon
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the face of the Earth. Yet the word "Jew" is derived
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from IU, the Ever-Coming Son, the Horus of the earliest
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Egyptian traditions, whose influence is not confined to
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the Christian Era but extends to all Ages, and of Whom
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all truly typical God-Men, such as Jesus, have been,
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and are, the representatives upon earth.
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But the Jews have neglected the study of their own
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"Chokmah Nestorah," or Secret Wisdom Tradition, as
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transmitted in the Holy Qabalah, thus losing sight of
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their True Will as a nation and their essential Purpose
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in the Great Creative Plan. It has remained for the
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Gentile to rediscover some of the deeper mysteries of
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this Ancient Wisdom, and these are found to be the same
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in essence as those of Catholicism, Freemasonry,
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Pythagorean Philosophy, Hermeticism, and so forth; in
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fact there has always been a Universal Tradition which
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when known has led the Nations to the height of
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civilization, and when lost has heralded their decline
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and downfall.
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The present world-crisis and breaking up of
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civilization is due to the necessity of a general
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"clean-up" preparatory to a wider and grander
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conception being presented to humanity than has been
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possible for many thousands of years. All thinking
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people realize that things are in a critical condition,
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and all should be prepared to grasp any reasonable
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opportunity of obtaining a solution which will be of
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permanent, rather than of temporary value.
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Things cannot be put right without effort, and the
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question arises: "In what direction is effort most
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necessary?"
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The solution lies with the individual; it is
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useless to talk of reforming others until we have
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reformed ourselves. It is equally useless to rely upon
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someone else to do for use what we are quite capable of
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doing and should do for ourselves. The soul of Man --
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which is the plastic mediator between body and spirit -
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- has become distorted; he must learn to rectify its
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structure before he can obtain a clear outlook and a
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proper point of view.
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Man's teachers have been largely responsible for
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distorting his mental vision, and they must cease from
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restricting his natural actions and impeding his
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natural growth, which would be normally proportioned if
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the Holy Spirit within were allowed to expand in the
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proper manner. Man's natural tendency is towards health
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of body and soul under the action of Spirit. Most of
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the present systems have led him to believe otherwise
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from his earliest childhood, thus handicapping him from
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the start.
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The child is, in one sense, the best example of
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the perfect man or woman, and if the child were allowed
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to develop Intelligence unhampered by false notions
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from outside, it would grow to be the true example of
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the God-Man or Man-God in the majority of cases. We
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have ruined our children before they have had a chance
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to come to maturity; our well-meaning, though ignorant,
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parents and childhood teachers have instilled into our
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subconscious minds most of the "complexes" which in
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after life we can only eradicate by bitter toil and
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bloody sweat.
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Yet I thank God for a good mother, whose simple
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faith, transmitted to me, has given me the quiet
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courage and perseverance to unravel some, at least, of
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those ignorantly transmitted "knots" and kinks. But,
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for all that, humanity has complexes which need to be
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unraveled and straightened out before much real work
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can be done.
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First, then, let me make an appeal on behalf of
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the children, even if in this New Aeon they do not so
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much need my support since they are showing an
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independence of spirit which is simply astonishing to
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their parents and guardians who were born and brought
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up under the Old Dispensation. I make my appeal to
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these same parents, not to foolishly try to break the
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Will of the child, for it is God's Will therein, and
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the only indication of the right course of action. Once
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this True Will is distorted, and the lower personal
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will brought out of alignment with it, the city is, so
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to speak, divided against itself and cannot stand. It
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is the interior conflict between the "personal" and the
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"True" Will in each of us, that is the cause of all
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suffering and all wrong action. There is but one
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remedy, discover the True Will and then DO IT, and our
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course is one with Destiny and the Will of the Universe
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in our regard.
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The age of "mothering" children is past. The women
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of today failing to do so in regard to their offspring,
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or having no offspring to "mother" are doing all they
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can to "mother" the nation, particularly in America.
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Such "reforms" as Prohibition are largely due to this
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mistaken zeal for the good of others. What the
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"Mothers" need most is to learn to mind their own
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business and to correct their own distorted vision.
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Repression can never take the place of RIGHT USE on any
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plane. The Righteous are those who use rightly what
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they have, for their own good and that of Humanity from
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which they can never really cut themselves off. Man
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cannot live, or die, to himself alone. The same is true
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of Nations.
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All things come from One Substance, and are
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actuated by One Spirit. Rightly used, any aspect of
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that substance may be taken into the body and soul of
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Man, and there transmuted into just the proper
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condition and proportions for the building up of his
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own particular being.
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If, for instance, it were possible to eliminate
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the effects of wine from all the American people for
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two or three generations, they would go to the most
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terrible extremes and act as savages do whose systems
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have not been used to alcohol, as soon as the habit was
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revived, as it inevitably would be in the long run. As
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it is, insofar as their parents have been accustomed to
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the use of wine, they are comparatively immune while
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their normal appetites in this respect are not over-
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stimulated by the attempt at repression. Many of the
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most normal people drink more under "prohibition" than
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they ever though of doing before. The best men and
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women are those of such varied experience on all planes
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that they are immune from every poison and every
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disease because they have found the proper proportion
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and balance of all that is called good and evil makes
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up the Perfect Man who is like unto his Father in
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Heaven, in Whom all things have their being.
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Man must eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
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and Evil before he comes to the Tree of Life in the
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Midst of the Garden. Only when he eats too much of one
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thing and not enough of another, does his body or soul
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become distorted. Every "Christ" and every Genius has
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been the friend of publicans and sinners, as well as of
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the "selected and exclusive." Idealism and Materialism
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must unite and go hand in hand if a new Civilization is
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to be build up. The Soul of Humanity is the connecting
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link. There is nothing to be ashamed of in our material
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bodies, but they would not be of much use without the
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Spirit and Will which give them Life and motion. On the
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other hand we should not be so cowardly and selfish as
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to desire to be re-absorbed into Spirit, as if the
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whole Creative Plan were a waste of time, and had
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better never have been started. No! Let us give thanks
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in our souls for both body and spirit, using both
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rightly and to the full extent of our power.
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But how shall we learn the right proportions of
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each?
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We must eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Life, and
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it will be found to nourish us perfectly and cause all
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the elements of our system to come to their proper
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proportion and fullness of stature. We must enter upon
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the heritage of Freedom that has been prepared for us
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in the Father's Kingdom upon Earth.
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We have sacrificed the flower of Humanity, not
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alone in the Great War but in many, many ways, to our
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false gods. In the Name of the True and Living God, let
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us cease from bloody sacrifice, and start to build a
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"Living Temple, not made with hands, eternal in the
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Heavens" -- upon Earth.
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Introduction
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On April the fourteenth, nineteen hundred and
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twenty-three E.V., having just completed the ms. of my
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treatise on "The Egyptian Revival" or The Ever-Coming
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Son, in which my endeavor was to show that the
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"Restored Order" of the Paths of the Qabalistic Tree of
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Life was likely to be the correct one, since it
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indicated the Universal Tradition as symbolized by the
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Keys of Hermes, I was rewarded by the opening up of an
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amazing further possibility in regard to the Design of
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"The Tree of Life" itself.
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It was between 8:30 and 9:30 P.M. on the above
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date, that the "Tree" began to GROW, and proved itself,
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to my mind, to be the veritable anatomy of Ra-Hoor-
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Khuit, Ever-coming, between the two Infinites.
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This fresh revelation left me strangely silent; it
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seemed almost too wonderful to be true, but it has
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since -- for I am writing this on April 17th -- shown
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even greater possibilities, the most extraordinary of
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which was only revealed to me this afternoon, after
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discussing the matter with W.R.
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I do not intend to write of the discovery itself
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for the moment, but merely to prepare a brief essay on
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the Qabalah by means of further Light I have so
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recently received. This will serve as an introduction
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to the more complete explanation of the whole matter
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which, in order to be comprehensible to my readers,
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will require a number of diagrams showing the different
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stages of its development. To begin at the beginning.
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As stated in "Q.B.L.," the Qabalists postulated the AIN
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or NO-THING as the Zero from which, in a mysterious
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manner, the Universe arose. Next, they say, the AIN
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SUPH, or Limitless Space, became the Nature of the AIN,
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and this conception was followed by that of the AIN
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SUPH AUR or Limitless Light of Chaos.
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It was not until this Limitless Light had
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concentrated Itself to a Center that the First Positive
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Idea arose, and this was called Kether and attributed
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to the Number One.
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From this One there arose in succession the other
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Numerical Emanations or Sephiroth from Two to Ten, thus
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completing the decimal scale of Numbers. The Number 10
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is said to represent the return of the One to Zero,
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thus completing the Cycle of Manifestation.
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These ideas may be found more fully described in
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"Q.B.L." and elsewhere, but I now desire to attempt a
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slightly different presentation, which will be
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developed in greater detail later on in this book.
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The finite mind of man is unable to grasp the
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Infinite, except in a certain Mystical and Spiritual
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manner, but by the Light of the Spirit let us do our
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best to comprehend this great mystery of the Beginning.
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Let us accept the term AIN as representing That of
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which Nothing is known, nor can be known, except
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through the positive manifestations which arise form
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It. When we attempt to imagine the AIN SUPH --
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Limitless Space -- our minds tend to rush on and on,
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only to fall back before the Profundity of the Great
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Deep; yet we have to admit the possibility of Infinite
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extension in space. In my opinion this is due to the
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fact that we are only able to extend the
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_fine_material_substance_ of the mind to a certain
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limit, after reaching which there is NOTHING for Us
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unless we succeed in developing fresh Power to drive
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that limit further back and so to extend the actual
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substance of our being accordingly.
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If Life is the Substance of Light, the Life itself
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is to be considered as the most subtle substance in our
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make-up, while it would follow that the more this
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substance is extended, the greater will be our
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Illumination, the further our range of vision, and the
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wider our Sphere of Consciousness.
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With these thoughts in mind let us attempt to
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obtain a more complete Understanding of the Primal
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Process, which is still "going on" Here and Now.
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When the AIN SUPH AUR became _concentrated_ upon a
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Single Center, it _compressed_ the Light into the
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Substance of Light, which is Life. Or, in other words,
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the Concentrated Light became an inconceivably powerful
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Force or Energy in the center of Kether. This Pure
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Being, or Living Substance, owing to its reaction from
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the Invisible Center, tends to expand towards Infinity.
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This gives us the idea of the Substance of the Universe
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_ever_expanding_, ever occupying more and more of the
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Limitless Space of the AIN SUPH, while the Primal
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Centralizing Urge still continues to contract upon the
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Infinitely Small, or the AIN.
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Kether is then the _junction_ of these Two
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Infinites, but particularly represents the
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_concentration_ of the Light to a Point on its way to
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the Infinitely Small, while Malkuth, the Tenth Sephira
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and Sphere of the Elements -- which the Qabalists say
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is one with Kether -- is the Substance which is
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_ever_expanding_ and, so to speak, gradually FILLING UP
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THE NOTHINGNESS of the AIN SUPH. So we may consider
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Kether as the Light and Malkuth as the Substance, while
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the complete Sphere is composed of LIVING SUBSTANCE.
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This represents the Macrocosmic Universe, but it is
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every BECOMING GREATER AND GREATER in extent, and
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driving back, so to speak, the Nothingness of Chaos.
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Man, being made in the Image and Likeness of God
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and of the Universe, has the same infinite
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possibilities of growth in Consciousness, as the Force
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of the Spirit extends the substance of his mind to
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wider and wider fields of thought.
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Yet the whole existing Universe is the result of
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the One Thought of God, and it progresses according to
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the Order of Pure Reason, as indicated in the Qabalah.
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All the Sephiroth and Paths have their place
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according to this Order, _within_ the Sphere of the One
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Substance, and represent the manifold possibilities of
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the action of the Life Force upon that Substance and
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the different manifestations of that Substance under
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the Influence of the Life Force.
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|
In other words, WITHOUT [i.e. outside] the
|
||
|
manifested universe is the Infinite Body of Nuit; at
|
||
|
the CENTER of All is the Infinitely Small and
|
||
|
unextended Essence of Life, or Hadit. The Contraction
|
||
|
of Nuit upon Hadit and the Expansion of Hadit into Nuit
|
||
|
are constant forces. The Finite Universe, or Ra-Hoor-
|
||
|
Khuit, the Ever-Coming Son, is bounded by an EVER
|
||
|
WIDENING CIRCUMFERENCE which is always exactly BETWEEN
|
||
|
the Infinitely Great and the Infinitely Small.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Kether and Malkuth -- Spirit and Matter --
|
||
|
together represent this Universal Sphere, while
|
||
|
Tiphereth, the Central Sphere of the Tree of Life, must
|
||
|
always correspond to Ra-Hoor-Khuit within them; a
|
||
|
Sphere HALF-WAY between the Center and the
|
||
|
Circumference.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In Nature we may consider the finite
|
||
|
representatives of these two Infinites to be the
|
||
|
smallest known particle of matter as the Center, the
|
||
|
widest expanse of the Star Universe as the
|
||
|
circumference, and the Central Sun as their child.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In Man we find all these possibilities, both
|
||
|
infinite and finite. The true Center of his being is
|
||
|
Hadit whose representative is the tiny Spark of Pure
|
||
|
Spiritual Light; the substance of his Mental Body is
|
||
|
only limited by the Bounds of the Universe, and these
|
||
|
ever recede towards Infinity. His physical body is,
|
||
|
however, quite small, while his heart, which regulates
|
||
|
the life of that body, is in a mystical sense capable
|
||
|
of comprehending the "Light in Extension" of the Sun of
|
||
|
his being, which is the soul.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus Man is composed of body, soul, and spirit,
|
||
|
and the soul is the mediator between the spiritual and
|
||
|
material.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Universe is composed of Malkuth and Kether,
|
||
|
with Tiphereth as the Mediator between them, while, in
|
||
|
a still greater sense we may consider Nuit and Hadit,
|
||
|
the Two Infinites, with the Whole Living manifested
|
||
|
Universe of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, as their Ever-Coming Son,
|
||
|
the Crowned Child and Lord of the Aeon.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter I
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the Name of the One, by the Grace of God
|
||
|
Triune, and by the Favor and Appointing of the Ever-
|
||
|
Coming Son, I will now endeavor to expound that which
|
||
|
has been revealed unto me.
|
||
|
|
||
|
First, let me state my conviction that this
|
||
|
Universe is the Perfect Work of a Perfect Being, and
|
||
|
that any apparent imperfections are due to the
|
||
|
limitations of our finite consciousness, so that even
|
||
|
these contribute to the larger Perfection of the Whole.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Secondly, I believe there is a Supreme and Perfect
|
||
|
Order in all things, in spite of any apparent disorder
|
||
|
which, again, is but the result of restrictions in man
|
||
|
himself.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thirdly, that the essence of Order consists in the
|
||
|
perfect adjustment of parts in subservience to the ends
|
||
|
of the Whole, so that that which is most complex is
|
||
|
most perfect, but that this very complexity is due to
|
||
|
the combination of a few Ultimate Ideas which go to
|
||
|
make up the One Thought of the Supreme Being.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I am inclined to believe that the perfection of
|
||
|
the existing Universe is Progressive, insofar as the
|
||
|
Whole may be said to expand and become more and more
|
||
|
complex and greater and greater in extent while still
|
||
|
in accord with the One Order which prevails from its
|
||
|
most minute atom to its inconceivably vast
|
||
|
circumference. I incline to believe that the finite
|
||
|
universe is not spherical, though tending ever to
|
||
|
become so as its substance materializes. In other words
|
||
|
that the Light precedes the Life which is its
|
||
|
Substance, and the Life precedes the material which is
|
||
|
its substance. Thus the rays of Light may spread out in
|
||
|
the form of a Star, while the Ever-becoming Life and
|
||
|
material substance tend to expand as a Sphere. The
|
||
|
projecting rays, so to speak, drive back the primal
|
||
|
chaos more easily than would a smooth sphere which
|
||
|
expanded equally all over its surface. That such a
|
||
|
conception implies at least a possibility, I shall
|
||
|
presently endeavor to show.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There is another important point which should be
|
||
|
mentioned. The Spiritual World of Ideas is in Perfect
|
||
|
Order; the Material World of Substance is in Perfect
|
||
|
Order; the Soul of the World, and of Man, which is the
|
||
|
result of these, is capable of comprehending that Order
|
||
|
perfectly.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But, again, the spirit of Man is perfect, his body
|
||
|
is made in the Image and Likeness of God and of the
|
||
|
Universe, but his soul, having within it the power of
|
||
|
personal choice, or will, which alone enables him to
|
||
|
progress in a free and intelligent manner, is at the
|
||
|
same time liable to distortion if the personal will is
|
||
|
ill-used or restricted. In that case the Eye of the
|
||
|
soul sees things out of proportion and order, and this
|
||
|
astigmatism must be corrected. Otherwise, man is under
|
||
|
an illusion, self-created, which, however, in no way
|
||
|
interferes with the Real Order of the Universe, but
|
||
|
merely tends to confine him and to prevent him from
|
||
|
enjoying his due heritage in all its fullness.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus the Great Work for Man consists in the
|
||
|
adjustment of the soul, or Intellectual Sphere, so that
|
||
|
it bears a perfect resemblance and correspondence to
|
||
|
the Material and Natural Order of the Universe and at
|
||
|
the same time exhibits its relation with the Supreme or
|
||
|
Archetypal Order. This possibility of distortion in the
|
||
|
soul has led him into the direst troubles, but unless
|
||
|
that soul were thus plastic it could not expand and
|
||
|
take on the complex Design of the Greater Universe.
|
||
|
Man's work consists in building up his soul by means of
|
||
|
his personal will and creative imagination, under the
|
||
|
guidance and direction of the Will of the Universe,
|
||
|
into the same Archetypal Pattern which is to be found
|
||
|
in the One Thought of God.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But how shall man discover this Design upon the
|
||
|
Trestleboard of the Grand Architect? He may at least
|
||
|
make an intelligent attempt to do so, as we shall
|
||
|
endeavor to show.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Since perfect Order consists in a right relation,
|
||
|
adjustment, and proportion of all the parts in
|
||
|
subservience to the Idea of the Whole, we must first
|
||
|
consider some of the necessary requirements of that
|
||
|
Order.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The "Tree of Life" of the Qabalists has been
|
||
|
called the "Minutum Mundum" or "Little Universe," and
|
||
|
students of the Qabalah will have become aware that
|
||
|
this system has great possibilities as a convenient
|
||
|
means of classification in regard to every thing in the
|
||
|
Universe, or idea in the mind of man. The Universe, for
|
||
|
each one of us, consists of what we are able to
|
||
|
comprehend of it. Some are content to feel themselves
|
||
|
at one with a very limited part; others realize that if
|
||
|
once they could obtain the true Design, all would
|
||
|
become possible of comprehension in a spiritual manner.
|
||
|
But this Design has been lost, or so it seemed.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In Book 4, Part III -- still in ms. -- we may
|
||
|
read: "An excellent man of great intelligence, a
|
||
|
learned Qabalist, once amazed FRATER PERDURABO by
|
||
|
stating that the Tree of Life was the framework of the
|
||
|
Universe. It was as if some one had serious maintained
|
||
|
that a cat was a creature constructed by placing the
|
||
|
letters C-A-T in that order. It is no wonder that
|
||
|
Magick has excited the ridicule of the unintelligent,
|
||
|
since even its educated students can be guilty of so
|
||
|
gross a violation of the first principles of common
|
||
|
sense."
|
||
|
|
||
|
I may state that I have not the slightest idea who
|
||
|
this excellent man was, and that I have a good deal of
|
||
|
respect for the opinions of Frater Perdurabo, but, at
|
||
|
the risk of falling under the same stigma as this
|
||
|
"unknown warrior" I shall break a lance with Frater
|
||
|
Perdurabo on this point, before this treatise is
|
||
|
completed.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Meanwhile, let me refer Students of the Holy
|
||
|
Qabalah to the various designs of the Tree of Life
|
||
|
which may be in their possession, or readily available.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us examine, for instance, those shown in
|
||
|
Westcott's "Introduction to the Study of the Kabalah,"
|
||
|
Mather's translation of the "Kabbalah Unveiled," Pike's
|
||
|
"Morals and Dogma," Inman's "Ancient Faiths," "The
|
||
|
Equinox," Volume One, Number 2, page 243, Waite's
|
||
|
"Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah," Ginsburg's
|
||
|
treatise on the subject, the Frontispiece to Book 777,
|
||
|
the oldest extant design in the British Museum, etc.,
|
||
|
and we shall notice one very striking thing: The all
|
||
|
vary greatly in their _proportions_. Some, it will be
|
||
|
seen, are long and thin, others short and squatty. 777
|
||
|
alone gives a well proportioned Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It would seem that this important aspect of
|
||
|
proportion has received little or no attention in the
|
||
|
past. But let me once again refer you to the ancient
|
||
|
"Sepher Yetzirah" (as I did in regard to the
|
||
|
arrangement of the Paths in "Q.B.L."); in it we are
|
||
|
told to "Fix the Design in its Purity," to "Replace the
|
||
|
Formative Power upon His Throne," or to "Restore the
|
||
|
Device or Workmanship to its Place."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Was the author of that old treatise using mere
|
||
|
idle words, or did he mean what he said? It is possible
|
||
|
he did not know how to do this himself, since the mss.
|
||
|
of the "Sepher Yetzirah" contains no diagrams of the
|
||
|
"Tree of Life"; but, in any event, we may at least
|
||
|
attempt to follow his lead and try, if possible, to
|
||
|
discover more Light from a study of the
|
||
|
_true_proportions_ of the Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The formation of the "Tree of Life" is entirely
|
||
|
geometrical, and as might be expected, we find the
|
||
|
simplest elements of geometry as its basis: The Point,
|
||
|
the Line, the Circle, the Triangle, and Right-angled
|
||
|
figures.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The proper method of finding the correct centers
|
||
|
of the Ten Sephiroth, and thus the points connected by
|
||
|
the Paths, is as follows: Upon a vertical straight line
|
||
|
of convenient length, describe with unchanged compasses
|
||
|
four circles, the center of each being on the line, the
|
||
|
point where the upper arc of the lowest circle cuts the
|
||
|
line forming the center of the circle above, and so
|
||
|
on. Thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert Figure I here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
The center of the top circle gives the central
|
||
|
Point of Kether, the intersections of the first and
|
||
|
second circles form the centers of Chokmah and Binah,
|
||
|
[the intersections of the second and third circles form
|
||
|
the centers of Chesed and Geburah,] the center of the
|
||
|
third circle is Tiphereth, the intersections of the
|
||
|
third and fourth circles indicate Netzach and Hod, the
|
||
|
center of the fourth circle is Yesod, and the lower
|
||
|
point of its intersection with the vertical line is
|
||
|
Malkuth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This method produces a perfectly proportioned
|
||
|
Figure of the Tree of Life, and the connecting Paths
|
||
|
can all be made by joining the various points, thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert Figure II here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
In Freemasonry, Geometry is referred to as the
|
||
|
"first and noblest of the Sciences" and as "the head of
|
||
|
all learning." One of the simplest figures is produced
|
||
|
by the intersection of two circles, thus forming what
|
||
|
is known as the _Vesica_Piscis_.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The curious and marvelous properties of the
|
||
|
_Vesica_Piscis_ and of the Rectangle formed on its
|
||
|
length and breadth, have been subjects of profound
|
||
|
speculation, and perhaps nowhere have they been better
|
||
|
described than in the "Magister-Mathesios" by our
|
||
|
learned Brother Sydney T. Klein. I am sure he will have
|
||
|
no objection if I quote a few passages from his work,
|
||
|
which has been one of the means of opening up before me
|
||
|
such marvelous vistas.
|
||
|
|
||
|
After discussing the properties of the Masonic
|
||
|
Square, obtained from the right angled triangle by
|
||
|
means of mundane measures of 3, 4, and 5 units to each
|
||
|
side, respectively, he points out that a wave of
|
||
|
wonderful enthusiasm must have swept across the
|
||
|
civilized world when they first discovered that the
|
||
|
Geometrical way of creating a right angle as given in
|
||
|
Euclid I, 11, was by means of an equilateral triangle,
|
||
|
by joining the vertex with the center of the base.
|
||
|
"This Equilateral Triangle" he writes, "was the
|
||
|
earliest symbol, in connection with the Vesica Piscis,
|
||
|
we know of the Divine Logos and, as the Bible declared
|
||
|
that the Universe was created by the Logos (the Word)
|
||
|
so the form of the Lodge which represents the Universe
|
||
|
was naturally created by means of the Equilateral
|
||
|
Triangle. A great mystery this must have appeared to
|
||
|
those who, like the Hellenic philosophers, postulated
|
||
|
that everything on earth has its counterpart in heaven,
|
||
|
and who, in their religious mysticism, were always
|
||
|
looking for signs of the transcendental in their
|
||
|
temporal surroundings.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"But in what awe and reverence must they have held
|
||
|
Geometry when they further found that the Equilateral
|
||
|
Triangle was itself generated, as in the _first_
|
||
|
problem of Euclid, upon which the whole Science of
|
||
|
Geometry was therefore based, by the intersection of
|
||
|
two circles.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"This figure was not only looked upon as a symbol
|
||
|
of the Three Divine _personae_, but that part of the
|
||
|
figure which is bounded by the arcs of the two circles
|
||
|
and which takes to itself one-third of each of the two
|
||
|
generating circles (making its perifera exactly equal
|
||
|
with that remaining to each of the two circles, all
|
||
|
three therefore being _co-equal_), and in which the
|
||
|
triangle is formed, was naturally held from earliest
|
||
|
times as the most sacred Christian emblem, namely that
|
||
|
of _regeneration_ or _new_birth_. To how the
|
||
|
extraordinary reverence and high value attached to this
|
||
|
symbol, it is only necessary to remember that from the
|
||
|
fourth century onwards all Seals of Colleges, Abbeys
|
||
|
and other religious communities have been made
|
||
|
invariably of this form and they continue to be made so
|
||
|
to this day. It was also in allusion to this most
|
||
|
ancient emblem that Tertullian and the other early
|
||
|
Fathers speak of Christians as "Pisciculi." It was
|
||
|
called the "Vesica Piscis" (Fish's bladder) and named
|
||
|
such no doubt for the same reason as led the learned
|
||
|
Rabbi Maimonides in the twelfth century, when dealing
|
||
|
with a similar religious subject, to command his
|
||
|
hearers: 'When you have discovered the meaning thereof,
|
||
|
do not divulge it, because the people cannot
|
||
|
philosophize or understand that to the infinite there
|
||
|
is no such thing as sex.'
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert Figure III here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
"The Vesica Piscis is intimately connected with
|
||
|
the discovery by Augustus Caesar, as narrated by
|
||
|
Baronius, of a prophecy in one of the Sybilline books
|
||
|
foretelling 'a great event coming to pass in the birth
|
||
|
of One who should prove to be the true "King of Kings,"
|
||
|
and that Augustus therefore dedicated an altar in his
|
||
|
palace to the "unknown God." ' "
|
||
|
|
||
|
Brother Klein then goes on to show how the Vesica
|
||
|
Piscis was the true foundation of Gothic Architecture,
|
||
|
and that its influence accounts for the sudden change
|
||
|
from the old Norman style, which was based on the
|
||
|
properties of the square rather than the triangle.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert Figure IV here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
He the discloses some of the great wonders of the
|
||
|
Vesica Piscis and points out: "The rectangle formed by
|
||
|
the length and breadth of this mysterious figure in its
|
||
|
simplest form has several extraordinary qualities; it
|
||
|
may be cut into three equal parts, by straight lines
|
||
|
parallel to its shorter sides:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert Figure V here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
and these parts will all be precisely and geometrically
|
||
|
similar to each other and to the whole figure,
|
||
|
strangely applicable to the Symbolism attached at that
|
||
|
time to the Trinity in Unity, and this sub-division may
|
||
|
be proceeded with indefinitely without making any
|
||
|
change in the form; however often the operation is
|
||
|
performed the parts remain identical with the original
|
||
|
figure, having all its extraordinary properties, and
|
||
|
_no_other_rectangle_ can have this curious property. It
|
||
|
may also be cut into four equal parts by straight lines
|
||
|
parallel to the two sides, and again each of these
|
||
|
parts will be exactly similar to each other and to the
|
||
|
whole, and the process may be continued indefinitely,
|
||
|
the equilateral triangle appearing everywhere:
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert Figure VI here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Once more, if two of the tri-sub-divisions be taken,
|
||
|
the form of these together is exactly similar
|
||
|
geometrically to half the original figure, and the
|
||
|
equilateral triangle again appears everywhere in both;
|
||
|
as in figure V.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert Figure VII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
In Figure VII I have carried the tri-sub-division to
|
||
|
the sixth degree, and to help the eye I have marked
|
||
|
with darker lines one of the tri-sub-divisions of each
|
||
|
degree; it is only owing to the above unique similarity
|
||
|
that the equilateral triangle is again formed on every
|
||
|
part of the base line. Again the diagonal is exactly
|
||
|
double the length of its shorter side, which
|
||
|
characteristic is also _unique_ and greatly increases
|
||
|
its use for plotting out designs, and this property, of
|
||
|
course, holds good for all the rectangles formed by
|
||
|
both species of sub-division, but perhaps its most
|
||
|
mysterious property (though not of any practical use)
|
||
|
to those who studied geometry, and to whom the figure
|
||
|
was a Symbol of the Divine Trinity in Unity, was the
|
||
|
fact that it actually put into their hands the means of
|
||
|
trisecting the right angle. Now the three great
|
||
|
problems of antiquity which engaged the attention of
|
||
|
geometricians throughout the Middle Ages were 'the
|
||
|
Duplication of a Cube', 'the squaring of the circle,'
|
||
|
and lastly, 'the trisection of an angle,' even Euclid
|
||
|
being unable to show how to do it, and yet it will be
|
||
|
seen that the diagonal A-B of Figure IV and the
|
||
|
diagonal A-E of the subsidiary figure, which is also
|
||
|
the plumbline, actually trisect the angle D-A-C. It is
|
||
|
true that it only shows how to trisect one kind of
|
||
|
angle, but it was that particular angle which
|
||
|
represented the Craft and was created by the
|
||
|
equilateral triangle. All these unique properties place
|
||
|
this figure far above that of a square for practical
|
||
|
work, because even when the diagonal of a square is
|
||
|
given it is impossible to find the exact length of any
|
||
|
of its sides, or vice versa."
|
||
|
|
||
|
I have quoted Brother Sydney Klein thus fully in
|
||
|
order to give him due credit for his detailed working
|
||
|
on this most important matter, and also to supply the
|
||
|
reader with a clear idea of the unique features of
|
||
|
these symbols, as well as of their deep religious
|
||
|
significance and the actual effect that their practical
|
||
|
application produced on all the religious Architecture
|
||
|
of the Gothic period. On this basis many of the most
|
||
|
important Cathedrals and Churches were erected, and
|
||
|
their Beauty is not to be denied. When we compare some
|
||
|
of these beautiful Gothic structures with the Pyramid,
|
||
|
for instance, we cannot but notice the difference; but
|
||
|
after all the Pyramid is a truly Symbolic structure in
|
||
|
every detail, while the Gothic Cathedrals only show
|
||
|
part of the truth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Imagine my overwhelming joy when I discovered that
|
||
|
the ancient Qabalistic Tree of Life, with all its
|
||
|
wonderful possibilities as a means of mental
|
||
|
classification of every idea in the Universe --
|
||
|
Natural, Human, and Divine --
|
||
|
_was_in_its_entirety_based_upon_the_same_fundamental_pr
|
||
|
inciple_of_the_ _Vesica_Piscis_, and was therefore
|
||
|
_not_a_fixed_design_ but capable of indefinite
|
||
|
_progression_towards_the_Infinitely_Small_or_the_Infini
|
||
|
tely_Great_. For it can be so drawn that it appears
|
||
|
with all its details and properties, repeating
|
||
|
themselves indefinitely in every direction of Space to
|
||
|
Infinity.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Imagine what it means to a Qabalist who has
|
||
|
arranged all the ideas in his mind, in duly Balanced
|
||
|
and Equilibrated formation, to discover a way of
|
||
|
perpetuating in thought all these Ideas, and to be able
|
||
|
to realize that the "Tree of Life" upon which they are
|
||
|
based is a LIVING TREE, with its Roots in the
|
||
|
Infinitely Small and its Branches and Fruits extending
|
||
|
to the furthest Limits of the Universe.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is the nature of the discovery, or
|
||
|
revelation, which came to me on April 14th, and it will
|
||
|
form the subject of our further studies and researches.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter II
|
||
|
|
||
|
Before discussing in detail the events which led
|
||
|
up to this discovery, and the further application of it
|
||
|
to the Tree of Life, it will be well if we spend a
|
||
|
little time in considering the Nature of the Trinity,
|
||
|
and its fundamental relation to all Systems of
|
||
|
Religious and Philosophic thought.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Hermes the Thrice Greatest, like Solomon, is
|
||
|
highly celebrated by antiquity for his wisdom and skill
|
||
|
in the secret operations of nature, and for his
|
||
|
_reputed_discovery_of_the_quintessential_perfectibility
|
||
|
_of_the_three_ _kingdoms_in_their_homogeneal_unity_;
|
||
|
whence he is called the Thrice Great Hermes, having the
|
||
|
_spiritual_intelligence_of_all_things_in_their_universa
|
||
|
l_law.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is to be regretted that no one of the many
|
||
|
books attributed to him, and which are named in detail
|
||
|
by Clemens Alexandrinus, escaped the destroying hand of
|
||
|
Diocletian.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But we have one truly authentic record in the
|
||
|
famous Emerald Tablet, which contains the one sole
|
||
|
dogma of Hermetic Philosophy: "That which is above is
|
||
|
as that which is below, and that which is below is as
|
||
|
that which is above, for performing the miracles of the
|
||
|
One Things."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Emerald Tablet, unique and authentic as it may
|
||
|
be regarded, is all that remains to us from Egypt of
|
||
|
her Sacred Art. A few riddles and fables, all more or
|
||
|
less imperfect, that were preserved by the Greeks, and
|
||
|
some inscrutable hieroglyphics, are still to be found
|
||
|
quoted in certain alchemical records; but the originals
|
||
|
are entirely lost.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There is little doubt that Ancient Egypt did at
|
||
|
one time hold the true Key of the Mysteries. For what
|
||
|
did Pythagoras, Thales, Democritus and Plato become
|
||
|
immured there for several solitary years, but to be
|
||
|
initiated in the wisdom and learning of those
|
||
|
Egyptians? Yet Hermes himself is reported to have
|
||
|
prophesied her fall, and the loss of her wisdom and
|
||
|
learning; and this certainly was fulfilled. But, as I
|
||
|
have endeavored to point out in my treatise, "The
|
||
|
Egyptian Revival," there seems every reason to suppose
|
||
|
that in this New Aeon, during this Aquarian Age, man
|
||
|
will once more come into his own, and be directly
|
||
|
informed by the true Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding
|
||
|
in a way that has not been possible for many Ages. At
|
||
|
least there seems every hope of the revival of the
|
||
|
Universal Tradition of the Golden Age, despite the
|
||
|
present world-crisis and the breaking up of the old
|
||
|
civilization. But it is necessary that things should be
|
||
|
destroyed in order that they may be renewed, as the
|
||
|
Justified Osiris said in regard to His Body. So it is,
|
||
|
perhaps, in regard to our pre-conceived ideas of the
|
||
|
Body of the Universe, or of the Tree of Life, or some
|
||
|
other pet theory; but so long as we receive something
|
||
|
better in exchange for that with which we must part,
|
||
|
what matter!
|
||
|
|
||
|
There is certainly no denying the importance of
|
||
|
the "Three in One," as far as Hermes is concerned, for
|
||
|
his very title of Thrice Greatest implies in what
|
||
|
veneration such conceptions must have been held in his
|
||
|
day.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In Alchemy we find three Principles -- Sulphur,
|
||
|
Mercury, and Salt; and Three great Stages of the Work -
|
||
|
- Discovery of the Formation of the Stone of the Wise,
|
||
|
its Multiplication, and its Projection. These later
|
||
|
stages have been very little understood.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the Qabalah (from the three-lettered root QBL,
|
||
|
meaning "to receive") we find mention of the Sacred
|
||
|
Three Lettered Name of God IHV, implying Father,
|
||
|
Mother, and Son. We find three Mother Letters in the
|
||
|
Hebrew Alphabet, Aleph, Mem, and Shin, and these are in
|
||
|
turn attributed to the Three Elements, Air, Water, and
|
||
|
Fire, which correspond to the Alchemical Principles,
|
||
|
and in admixture form Earth, or The Stone. We also find
|
||
|
in the Sepher Yetzirah, the oldest Qabalistic treatise,
|
||
|
that the "One created the Universe by means of the
|
||
|
Three Sepharim, Number, Writing, and Speech." These
|
||
|
correspond to the Three Mother Letters and to the Three
|
||
|
Paths of the Middle Pillar of the Tree, as I have shown
|
||
|
in "Q.B.L."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Hindus venerate the Three-lettered Word AUM as
|
||
|
the most sacred Name of God; their Deity has Three
|
||
|
Aspects as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; the Creator,
|
||
|
Preserver, and Destroyer. They postulate Three
|
||
|
principles, Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva, or Activity,
|
||
|
Inertia, and Peace.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Christians believe in Three Persons in One
|
||
|
God; The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; in Three that
|
||
|
bear witness in Heaven, and in Three that bear witness
|
||
|
on Earth. That man is three-fold; Body, Soul, and
|
||
|
Spirit.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In fact the Importance of the Number Three, and of
|
||
|
the Triangle, is a well nigh inexhaustible subject.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Many of these three-fold Ideas are summed up in a
|
||
|
Fourth, representing the Materialized or Manifested
|
||
|
aspect.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Sides of the Pyramid are Triangular, but its
|
||
|
Base is Square. The Word AUM is made continuous in
|
||
|
sound by the addition of the nasal N, forming AUMN. The
|
||
|
Hebrew IHV, becomes IHVH through the addition of the
|
||
|
final He, or the Daughter. The Archetypal, Creative,
|
||
|
and Formative Worlds become Manifest in Assiah, the
|
||
|
Material World of the Qabalah. The tripartite Word INR,
|
||
|
becomes INRI. The Trinity of Triads of the Tree of Life
|
||
|
are summed up in the single Sphere of Malkuth, the
|
||
|
Kingdom. Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt produce the Gold of
|
||
|
the Alchemist. Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva act on
|
||
|
Prakriti.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Three and Four together make Seven, another Sacred
|
||
|
Number, as everyone knows.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Seven and three are Ten, and this is said to be
|
||
|
the most Sacred and Complete of all, since it
|
||
|
represents a return from One to the Primal Nothing of
|
||
|
the Beginning. We find Ten Sephiroth on the Qabalistic
|
||
|
Tree. The Four letters of the Sacred Name IHVH, when
|
||
|
arranged in the form of a Triangle, make 10, thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure VIII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
and this became the basis of the Tetractys of
|
||
|
Pythagoras, a figure composed of Ten Unit forms or
|
||
|
Yods,
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure IX here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
But here we begin to approach the Central Mystery
|
||
|
once more, for this Triangle, with its ten Dots, gives
|
||
|
us the idea of the Division of the triangle into
|
||
|
others, thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure X here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
and so we begin to get back to our Equilateral Triangle
|
||
|
and Vesica as the Basis of the Tree of Life. But there
|
||
|
is another interesting fact, viz.: -- than an
|
||
|
Equilateral Triangle, so divided, having a base of,
|
||
|
say, three inches, will contain nine triangles, the
|
||
|
sides of which will each be one inch. Whereas a Square,
|
||
|
whose side is three inches, will also contain exactly
|
||
|
the same number of one inch squares, viz.: nine.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XI here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Again the numbers 1-9 may be so arranged in the nine
|
||
|
squares, that they will add to 15 vertically,
|
||
|
horizontally, and diagonally. This forms the basis for
|
||
|
the construction of the Magick Squares of the Planets,
|
||
|
etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But all these ideas are symbolized in the Tree of
|
||
|
Life itself, which we will next examine in further
|
||
|
detail.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter III
|
||
|
|
||
|
The "Sepher Yetzirah," or Book of Formation, which
|
||
|
is perhaps the oldest philosophical treatise as yet
|
||
|
extent in the Hebrew language, opens as follows:
|
||
|
|
||
|
"In the two and thirty most occult and wonderful
|
||
|
paths of wisdom, did IAH, the Lord of Hosts, engrave
|
||
|
his name . . . He created this universe by the three
|
||
|
Sepharim, Number Writing, and Speech.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Ten are the numbers, as are the Sephiroth, and
|
||
|
twenty-two the letters; these are the Foundation of all
|
||
|
things. Of these letters, three are mothers, seven are
|
||
|
double, and twelve are simple.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"The ten numbers formed from nothing, are the
|
||
|
Decad; these are seen in the fingers of the hands, five
|
||
|
on one, five on the other, and over them is the
|
||
|
Covenant by voice spiritual, and the rite of
|
||
|
Circumcision, corporeal (as of Abraham).
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Ten are the numbers of the ineffable Sephiroth,
|
||
|
_ten_and_not_nine_, _ten_and_not_eleven_. Learn this
|
||
|
wisdom, and be wise in the understanding of it;
|
||
|
investigate these numbers, and draw _knowledge_ from
|
||
|
them; fix the design in its purity, and pass from it to
|
||
|
its Creator seated on his throne." (Dr. Westcott's
|
||
|
translation.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is well to notice that the ancient Qabalists
|
||
|
made a particular point of the fact that there are TEN
|
||
|
Sephiroth, neither more nor less. If we examine the
|
||
|
formation of the "Tree of Life" in the following Figure
|
||
|
(XII), we shall understand why they were so careful to
|
||
|
make this plain.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
One might at first be inclined to suppose that
|
||
|
there should be another Sephira in the center of the
|
||
|
upper hexagon, and this is, as a matter of fact, the
|
||
|
location assigned to the Sphere of DAATH, or Knowledge,
|
||
|
as the child of Chokmah and Binah. But it is not to be
|
||
|
shown in the plan of the Tree for it represents a
|
||
|
Higher Dimensional Knowledge, which should be drawn
|
||
|
from the whole Tree, as it is written, "Draw knowledge
|
||
|
from the." Should such a sphere be shown in the design,
|
||
|
it would also necessitate extra "Paths" leading
|
||
|
thereto, but we are clearly told that the Paths of
|
||
|
Wisdom are thirty-two in all, that is to say, the Ten
|
||
|
Numerical Emanations and their connecting links formed
|
||
|
by the Twenty-two letters.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Likewise we notice that there are no paths from 2
|
||
|
to 5 and from 3 to 4 or from 1 to 4 and 1 to 5. Had
|
||
|
there been, we should see the symbol of the upright
|
||
|
Pentagram, which is the Star of unconquered Will in the
|
||
|
Microcosm, united with the Sign of the Hexagram of the
|
||
|
Macrocosm. But this unification represents the Great
|
||
|
Work which must be accomplished by man, and it is part
|
||
|
of the Universal Plan that he should discover their
|
||
|
equivalence for himself in order that he may become a
|
||
|
conscious co-operator in the Divine Scheme of Creation.
|
||
|
Therefor we find an "Abyss," and no direct link between
|
||
|
Binah and Chesed.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XIII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Again, one might be tempted to suppose that there
|
||
|
should be three averse equilateral triangles, 2-6-3, 4-
|
||
|
9-5, and 7-10-8. But should 4-9 and 5-9 be connected by
|
||
|
paths, a figure of the evil and averse Pentagram with
|
||
|
its two points uppermost, would appear upon the tree;
|
||
|
thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XIV here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
We must do nothing, then which will in any way
|
||
|
interfere with the arrangement as it stands, for it is
|
||
|
a veritable Work of Wisdom.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us again examine the arrangement and
|
||
|
juxtaposition of the Paths as shown in figure XII. It
|
||
|
will be noticed that the Hexagon bounded by 1-2-4-6-5-
|
||
|
3, is perfect in form; all its sides are equal. That
|
||
|
the Triangles 2-3-6 and 7-8-10 are perfectly
|
||
|
equilateral. That the triangles 1-2-3, 2-4-6, 3-5-6, 4-
|
||
|
5-6, 7-6-8, 7-9-8, and 8-9-10 are all equal and have an
|
||
|
angle of 120 degrees or exactly one-third of a circle.
|
||
|
That the small triangles 4-6-7 and 5-6-8 are both
|
||
|
equilateral. That the paths connecting 6-7-9-8 produce
|
||
|
a diamond which is in the proportion of a perfect
|
||
|
Vesica.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It should further be noticed that the two
|
||
|
rectangles, 3-2-4-5 and 5-4-7-8 are each exactly based
|
||
|
on the proportion of the Vesica, so that they partake
|
||
|
of all the properties shown in figure V, as explained
|
||
|
in detail by Brother Klein.
|
||
|
|
||
|
If the breadth of the Tree be taken as the Length
|
||
|
of One Vesica, the height from the center of Malkuth to
|
||
|
the center of Kether is exactly the Width of Four such
|
||
|
Vesicae.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Path from Kether to Tiphereth is exactly equal
|
||
|
to the combined lengths of the two paths of the Middle
|
||
|
Pillar between Tiphereth and Malkuth. Further study on
|
||
|
the part of the Student will disclose many other
|
||
|
proportions.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The learned but anonymous author of "The Canon,"
|
||
|
published by Elkin Mathews in 1897, makes several
|
||
|
important statements in regard to the Vesica Piscis and
|
||
|
its relation to the Mysteries of the Qabalah,
|
||
|
Architecture, etc. He writes: "It is known, both to
|
||
|
freemasons and architects, that the mystical figure
|
||
|
called the Vesica Piscis, so popular in the Middle
|
||
|
Ages, and generally placed as the first proposition of
|
||
|
Euclid, was a symbol applied by the masons in planning
|
||
|
their temples. Albert Durer, Serlio, and other
|
||
|
architectural writers depict the Vesica in their works,
|
||
|
but presumably because of an unspeakable mystery
|
||
|
attached to it, these authors make no reference to it.
|
||
|
Thomas Kerrich, a freemason and principal librarian of
|
||
|
the University of Cambridge, read a paper upon this
|
||
|
mystical figure before the Society of Antiquaries on
|
||
|
January 20, 1820. He illustrated his remarks with many
|
||
|
diagrams illustrating its use by the ancient masons,
|
||
|
and piously concludes by saying: 'I would by no means
|
||
|
indulge in conjectures as to the reference these
|
||
|
figures might possibly have to the most sacred
|
||
|
mysteries of religion.' Dr. Oliver ("Discrep." p. 109),
|
||
|
speaking of the Vesica says: 'This mysterious figure
|
||
|
Vesica Piscis possessed an unbounded influence on the
|
||
|
details of sacred architecture; and
|
||
|
_it_constituted_the_ _great_
|
||
|
_and_enduring_secret_of_our_ancient_brethren. The plans
|
||
|
of religious buildings were determined by its use; and
|
||
|
the proportions of length and height were dependent on
|
||
|
it alone.' Mr. Clarkson (Introductory Essay to
|
||
|
Billings' "Temple Church") considered that the
|
||
|
elementary letters of the primitive language were
|
||
|
derived from the same mystical symbol. He says that it
|
||
|
was known to Plato and 'his masters in the Egyptian
|
||
|
colleges' and was to the old builders 'an archetype of
|
||
|
ideal beauty.' The Vesica was also regarded as a
|
||
|
baneful object under the name of 'Evil Eye,' and the
|
||
|
charm most generally employed to avert the dread
|
||
|
effects of its fascination was the Phallus ((J.
|
||
|
Millinger's "Archeologia," XIX). In Heraldry, the
|
||
|
Vesica was used as the feminine shield. It was
|
||
|
interchangeable with the Fusill, or Mascule, and was
|
||
|
also figured as a lozenge or rhombus. In the East the
|
||
|
Vesica was used as a symbol of the womb, and was joined
|
||
|
to the cross by the Egyptians forming the handle of the
|
||
|
Crux Ansata.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Geometrically, the Vesica is constructed from two
|
||
|
intersecting circles, so that it may be taken as having
|
||
|
a double significance. Edward Clarkson says it 'means
|
||
|
astronomically at the present day a starry conjunction;
|
||
|
and by a very intelligent transfer of typical ideas a
|
||
|
divine marriage,' or the two-fold essence of life,
|
||
|
which the ancients supposed to be male and female. To
|
||
|
every Christian the Vesica is familiar from its
|
||
|
constant use in early art, for not only was it an
|
||
|
attribute of the Virgin, and the feminine aspect of the
|
||
|
Savior as symbolized by the _wound_ in his side, but it
|
||
|
commonly surrounds the figure of Christ, as His Throne
|
||
|
when seated in Glory. As a hieroglyphic the combination
|
||
|
of Christ with the Vesica is analogous to the Crux
|
||
|
Ansata of the Egyptians."
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XV here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
A little further on in his book the author of "The
|
||
|
Canon" also makes the following remarks:
|
||
|
"Geometrically, the diagram containing the ten steps of
|
||
|
the Cabala is shown by Kircher and other authorities in
|
||
|
the form ascribed by Freemasons to what they call the
|
||
|
'Double Cube,' that is to say, an irregular hexagon,
|
||
|
which will exactly enclose a Vesica. Consequently its
|
||
|
length and breadth are of the proportion of 26 to 15.
|
||
|
It is said that the ten cabalistic steps, in their
|
||
|
entirety, symbolize the aspect of the Deity expressed
|
||
|
by the four mystic letters IHVH, whose numerical value
|
||
|
is 26. This number was said by the Jews to comprise the
|
||
|
most sacred mysteries of the Law. No explanation,
|
||
|
however, has ever been given showing how the number 26
|
||
|
afforded a key to all the science of the Israelites. It
|
||
|
is now suggested that the Vesica, whose proportion is
|
||
|
in the ration of 26 to 15, was the symbol of the hidden
|
||
|
rule or canon, by which the synthesis of nature was
|
||
|
reduced to a comprehensible figure, capable of
|
||
|
demonstrating to initiates the truth and knowledge
|
||
|
which constituted the sacred wisdom of antiquity."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The last sentence is of much interest in the light
|
||
|
of our present researches. I had not noticed this
|
||
|
reference when first writing this book, but it is not
|
||
|
alone a confirmation of our general ideas, but leads to
|
||
|
others of importance.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Brother Klein gives the true proportion of the
|
||
|
Vesica Piscis as that of 8 to 13.85, but probably the
|
||
|
nearest in whole numbers is that above given by the
|
||
|
author of The Canon, viz.: 15 to 26. (I think the exact
|
||
|
proportion is 15.01 to 26.) Now these numbers 26 and
|
||
|
15 are of great Qabalistic value. 26, as stated by the
|
||
|
author of the "Canon," is the numeration of IHVH, and
|
||
|
this, as shown in "Q.B.L." and elsewhere, is the
|
||
|
"Formula" upon which the whole System is based. 15 is
|
||
|
the numeration of IH or "Jah," the venerable Name of
|
||
|
God, attributed in the "Sepher Yetzirah" to the Creator
|
||
|
Who devised the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom which we are
|
||
|
discussing.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The author of the "Canon" makes a valuable
|
||
|
suggestion when he remarks that the length and breadth
|
||
|
of the Tree of Life are as 26 to 15, although his
|
||
|
statement is not actually correct. Qabalistically,
|
||
|
however, we may notice a very interesting thing. The
|
||
|
Total numeration of the Sephiroth of the Middle Pillar,
|
||
|
or the length of the Tree, is 1 + 6 + 9 + 10 = 26,
|
||
|
while the two Sephiroth forming the bases of the side
|
||
|
pillars, and indicating the breadth of the Tree are
|
||
|
Netzach = 7 and Hod = 8, thus 7 + 8 = 15.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now although the Vesica Piscis is the hidden rule
|
||
|
or canon upon which the figure is built, the true
|
||
|
proportion of the Tree is much more wonderful than if
|
||
|
its length and breadth were in the proportion of a
|
||
|
simple Vesica. As explained before, the true proportion
|
||
|
is that of the _width_ of four Vesicae in height to the
|
||
|
_length_ of one Vesica in width. This suggests the
|
||
|
"Four Worlds" of the Qabalah. But since the rectangle
|
||
|
bounding a Vesica may be divided into three equal parts
|
||
|
by lines parallel to the shorter sides, and the
|
||
|
divisions thus formed are found each to have the same
|
||
|
proportions as the original figure, we shall also find
|
||
|
that three out of the four parts of the height of the
|
||
|
Tree of Life will represent the exact length of a
|
||
|
Vesica the breadth of which is equal to the breadth of
|
||
|
the Tree from center to center of the Sephiroth forming
|
||
|
the side pillars. To make this plainer: if we take the
|
||
|
reciprocal path from Chesed to Geburah as equivalent to
|
||
|
26 (it being the length of one of the four vesicae and
|
||
|
at the same time the width of the Tree) and construct
|
||
|
thereon another Vesica we shall find that its highest
|
||
|
and lowest points will be in the centers of Kether and
|
||
|
Yesod. Thus the first Nine Sephiroth are in exact
|
||
|
proportion of the Vesica and Malkuth remains as a
|
||
|
pendant. The height of this Vesica will now be 45 and
|
||
|
its width 26. We have examined the number 26 as to its
|
||
|
mystical value, but 45 is found to be the mystic number
|
||
|
of Yesod, which represents the generative organs. In
|
||
|
addition to this we find that the sum of the numbers of
|
||
|
the Sephiroth 1-9 is 45, and this is the numeration of
|
||
|
ADM the Hebrew ADAM. Further if we notice the Vesica
|
||
|
thus formed, it will be found to have its apex in
|
||
|
Kether while the left hand curve cuts through the
|
||
|
center of Geburah and the right hand curve through that
|
||
|
of Chesed, both these terminating in Yesod. Therefore
|
||
|
these lines unite 1 + 4 + 5 + 9 = 19. Now 19 is the
|
||
|
numeration of ChVH, or Chavvah, which is the Hebrew
|
||
|
word for EVE. Thus we find ADAM and EVE united; with
|
||
|
IHVH in the midst of their union.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XVI here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
The fact that we find these first Nine Sephiroth
|
||
|
forming a perfect Vesica and producing such symbolism
|
||
|
is indeed significant, and this coupled with the fact
|
||
|
that we find the circle of Malkuth below this Vesica,
|
||
|
and that Malkuth has been referred to the World of
|
||
|
Shells or Excrement (Gross Matter) and has been called
|
||
|
The Un-Redeemed Daughter, is indeed a startling piece
|
||
|
of natural symbolism.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But so far we have a Vesica and a Sphere pendant,
|
||
|
and our Tree of Life is not fully represented in terms
|
||
|
of Vesicae.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XVII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
The real mystery lies in the fact that just as in the
|
||
|
first proposition of Euclid, the Vesica is formed by
|
||
|
the _intersection_of_two_circles_, so the true
|
||
|
proportion of this figure is found to be that of the
|
||
|
_intersection_of_two_Vesicae_. In which case the
|
||
|
Upright line of the Middle Pillar represents the
|
||
|
Father, the Horizontal line which runs through
|
||
|
Tiphereth represents the Son, the Upper Vesica the
|
||
|
Mother, and the lower one the Daughter. Thus we have
|
||
|
the complete representation of IHVH in graphic form,
|
||
|
and the exact proportions of the Tree of Life are
|
||
|
shown.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The foregoing properties, alone, make this Figure
|
||
|
of the Tree of Life quite unique, but when we add its
|
||
|
regular Qabalistic Correspondences as a symbolic
|
||
|
universal basis of all Ideas, and a proper means of
|
||
|
their classification in perfect Order, we are almost
|
||
|
overwhelmed at the sublimity of the conception. But we
|
||
|
have hardly begun to consider its possibilities in
|
||
|
other directions. We have not as yet discussed the
|
||
|
proper proportion of the Sephirotic Circles to the
|
||
|
length of the Paths, but this matter will be taken up
|
||
|
in detail later on. Meanwhile let us notice that the
|
||
|
connecting Paths are _lines_, and the Sephiroth
|
||
|
_Circles_ (or Spheres). The Line and the Circle make up
|
||
|
the Number 10, and also represent the letter IO
|
||
|
equivalent to the root of the God-name of Jove, who is
|
||
|
identical with the Hebrew Jehovah.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[Transcriber's note: The proportion of the
|
||
|
Sephirotic Spheres is not again dealt with until almost
|
||
|
the end of the book. But several of the discoveries in
|
||
|
the following chapters do not work correctly except
|
||
|
when the proper proportions are used. The correct
|
||
|
radius of a Sephirotic Sphere is one-fourth the radius
|
||
|
of the original generating circles. The correct width
|
||
|
of the Paths is one-half the radius of the Sephiroth,
|
||
|
or one-eighth the radius of the generating circles.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us consider some of the statements of the
|
||
|
Sepher Yetzirah in greater detail.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Firstly we find the words "In two and thirty most
|
||
|
occult and wonderful paths of wisdom, did IAH, the Lord
|
||
|
of Hosts, engrave his name." Let us consider the words
|
||
|
_two_ and _thirty_. Two is the numeration of the letter
|
||
|
Beth, which is attributed to Mercury or Wisdom, and to
|
||
|
the Magician or Occultists who controls the elemental
|
||
|
forces. Thirty is "Lamed" or "Ox-Goad" or sharp pointed
|
||
|
"engraver." It is also the letter of Libra or of
|
||
|
Justice and Balance, so here in one letter we get the
|
||
|
idea of the Scales with the tongue of the balance (or
|
||
|
ox-goad) between them. The letters BL in Hebrew form
|
||
|
the word meaning "Lord," while LB means "Mind" or
|
||
|
"Heart." The Mind is the receptacle of Wisdom and the
|
||
|
Heart of Live and Will. The number 32 is the numeration
|
||
|
of AHIH the Divine Name of Kether, and IHVH the
|
||
|
Ineffable Name ruling the other Nine Sephiroth,
|
||
|
coalesced, in the Great Name AHIHVH which embraces the
|
||
|
whole Ten in One. The Name IAH is in Hebrew Yod-He or
|
||
|
IH and this is called the Monogram of the Eternal. The
|
||
|
letters are the first two of IHVH and represent the
|
||
|
Father and Mother conjoined and concealing the Son (A,
|
||
|
the Microcosm or Star of Unconquered Will) within them.
|
||
|
Yod is the letter of Fire, He of Water, and the
|
||
|
concealed Aleph is Air. These are the natures of the
|
||
|
three Sepharim, Number, Writing, and Speech, by which
|
||
|
Jah is said to have created the Universe. Number is
|
||
|
Fire (the writing of the Starts), Writing flows like
|
||
|
Water, and Air is the basis of Speech.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But these are all mysteriously connected
|
||
|
symbolically with the Perfect Number 10, of which 0 is
|
||
|
the Naught of the Unmanifest, and 1 the First Positive
|
||
|
Idea. The Mouth from which issues the Fire of the
|
||
|
Spirit in the form of Breath, and also the Water, is
|
||
|
when closed, a horizontal line, When open it is a
|
||
|
Circle; thus, 10.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Pen whereby Ideas are transmitted in the form
|
||
|
of Writing, has been referred to in the Scriptures and
|
||
|
"The Pen of a Man" and this is dipped in a vessel which
|
||
|
represents both a line and a circle, for purposes of
|
||
|
reproduction and transmission of form and substance.
|
||
|
Thus we have the idea "IH" once more. Speech cometh
|
||
|
from the Opening and Closing of the Mouth, thus by the
|
||
|
combined ideas of 1 and 0 or 10. In the Tarot the
|
||
|
Letter Aleph (1) is that of Air, and also of The Fool,
|
||
|
which is marked Zero, or 0. Aleph is the Ox; Lamed, as
|
||
|
mentioned above, is the Ox-goad, together they are AL,
|
||
|
the most sacred Name of the One God, and LA which means
|
||
|
"Not" or Zero which is 0. AL is numerically 31,
|
||
|
suggesting the Three Sepharim in One and 3 + 1 = 4; and
|
||
|
the sum of the numbers from 1 - 4 = 10.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Ten are the numbers, as are the Sephiroth, and
|
||
|
twenty-two the letters, these are the Foundation of all
|
||
|
things." Twenty is the numeration of the basic simple
|
||
|
Hebrew Letter or IOD, spelt in full. Beth (2) is the
|
||
|
House or Womb. Yod is equivalent to the spermatozoon in
|
||
|
one sense. Twenty is also the numeration of the Hebrew
|
||
|
Letter Kaph which means the palm of the hand in the act
|
||
|
of grasping. Yod also means the Hand. So we have the
|
||
|
chief instrument of action, the hand, in the act of
|
||
|
opening and closing, representing expansion and
|
||
|
contraction. 22 is the numeration of the word IChD
|
||
|
which means Unity.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Of these letters, three are mothers, seven are
|
||
|
double, and twelve are simple." We have mentioned the
|
||
|
three Mother Letters under the form of the Three
|
||
|
Sepharim. These represent the Three Elements, which
|
||
|
combined, form Earth. The Seven Double letters are
|
||
|
assigned to the Seven Planetary Intelligences, the
|
||
|
Forces which govern Nature; and the Twelve Simple
|
||
|
letters are attributed to the Signs of the Zodiac, or
|
||
|
Circle of Life, which represents the great Star
|
||
|
Universe. Thus in the twenty-two letters we have the
|
||
|
basis of all Universal Ideas. The One Substance with
|
||
|
its three Elementary divisions combining in material
|
||
|
form; the Planets and Solar System, the Star Universe,
|
||
|
all permeated with the One Life which is the Subtle
|
||
|
Substance of Light Itself.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Three Mother Letters are equivalent to the
|
||
|
Three Primary Colors, which break up into the Seven
|
||
|
Colors of the Rainbow, and may be further divided into
|
||
|
Twelve. So the Paths of the Tree represent all the
|
||
|
Colors between Light and Darkness, and, of course, a
|
||
|
host of other ideas as may be found in "Q.B.L." and
|
||
|
Book 777.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Book of Hermes, or Thoth, called the Tarot,
|
||
|
contains Twenty-two symbolic Designs, which have been
|
||
|
attributed to these Paths, and thus we may read in them
|
||
|
the ancient Tradition by means of this Universal
|
||
|
Alphabet of Symbols, as shown in my treatise "The
|
||
|
Egyptian Revival."
|
||
|
|
||
|
"The ten numbers formed from nothing, are the
|
||
|
Decad; these are seen in the fingers of the hands, five
|
||
|
on one, five on the other, and over them is the
|
||
|
Covenant by voice spiritual, and the rite of
|
||
|
Circumcision, corporeal (as of Abraham)."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Ten Sephiroth were said to have come from the
|
||
|
AIN or Nothing; we have made some explanation of this
|
||
|
in the Introduction. Reference is again made to the
|
||
|
"hands" (which connect the idea of the Paths with that
|
||
|
of the Sephiroth, as shown above). The hands represent
|
||
|
the pairs of opposites, or balanced ideas, but these
|
||
|
must always be united to find the point of equilibrium.
|
||
|
They also represent two Pentagrams, or the Divine and
|
||
|
Human Wills. When united in the strong grip of the
|
||
|
Lion, these two five-fold stars meet in fellowship and
|
||
|
harmony, as 10.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The peculiar statements about the Covenant by
|
||
|
voice spiritual, and the rite of Circumcision,
|
||
|
corporeal, are worthy of study. The Ideas are those of
|
||
|
the great opposites, Spirit and Matter, which are ever
|
||
|
United in the Sun of the Soul. But again the "voice"
|
||
|
requires the opening of the "mouth" thus changing the
|
||
|
horizontal line into a circle. The rite of circumcision
|
||
|
has the effect of cutting away the "circle" of the
|
||
|
foreskin, and disclosing the "vertical line" upon the
|
||
|
head of the male organ. The organ itself represents a
|
||
|
line, either vertical or horizontal, and this "rite"
|
||
|
was for the purpose of making this organ safe from
|
||
|
possible impurity, when connected with the "Circle."
|
||
|
This act again is symbolic of the descent (or ascent)
|
||
|
of Spirit into Matter, or the Harmonious union of Fire
|
||
|
and Water, producing Air, which is in turn the
|
||
|
representative of the "Soul" or Mediator.
|
||
|
|
||
|
With all this truly wonderful symbolism attached
|
||
|
to the number 10, it is hardly surprising, if for no
|
||
|
other reason, that the next verse of the Sepher
|
||
|
Yetzirah makes it so clear that the Sephiroth are Ten,
|
||
|
and not nine or eleven.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But this verse also tells us that after
|
||
|
investigating these numbers, we must "fix the design in
|
||
|
its purity," so it is time we returned to our
|
||
|
discussion of that subject.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter IV
|
||
|
|
||
|
We should remember that just as the Soul is the
|
||
|
link between Body and Spirit, so is the Sun between
|
||
|
Earth and Heaven, and the Great Central Sun between the
|
||
|
Two Infinites. This Link between the Opposites is an
|
||
|
all-important one, but it may be equally a Devil or
|
||
|
Redeemer, according to the Influence it has upon us. I
|
||
|
have showed this more fully elsewhere, and shall refer
|
||
|
to it again.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now we found the "Paths" symbolized a set of
|
||
|
Universal Ideas, including all Colors. Likewise we
|
||
|
shall find that the Ten Sephiroth have a corresponding
|
||
|
symbolism.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Malkuth, the 10th Sephira, is the Sphere of the
|
||
|
Elements (corresponding to the Mother Letters); the
|
||
|
next Seven above Malkuth are attributed to the Solar
|
||
|
System (or Planets, the Double Letters); Chokmah, the
|
||
|
next higher, is the Sphere of the Zodiac or Fixed
|
||
|
Stars; and Kether is the Pure Light and the Source of
|
||
|
All as the Primum Mobile or First Motion. So we see
|
||
|
that in a certain sense the Ten Sephiroth are equal to
|
||
|
the Twenty-two Paths, and in order to Fix the Design in
|
||
|
its Purity, we must be able to arrange these Diverse
|
||
|
Sets of Ideas so that they blend together perfectly.
|
||
|
That at first may seem like an impossibility; in fact
|
||
|
for several hundred years the Qabalists have adopted an
|
||
|
arrangement which entirely failed to produce this
|
||
|
perfect Harmony and Order.
|
||
|
|
||
|
How I was led to discover such an arrangement, has
|
||
|
been fully shown in "Q.B.L." written last year, and its
|
||
|
further proof is given in "The Egyptian Revival" to
|
||
|
which I may refer those interested. The following
|
||
|
figure is the completed results of those
|
||
|
investigations:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert Figure XIX here -- Frater Achad's Tree of
|
||
|
Life.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
It will be seen that the Paths of the Middle
|
||
|
Pillar are made by the Three Mother Letters, which by
|
||
|
shape form the Caduceus of Mercury, and these
|
||
|
descending from Kether through the Sun and Moon
|
||
|
(Tiphereth and Yesod) produce the Sphere of the
|
||
|
Elements, or Malkuth. All the Planetary Letters except
|
||
|
Kaph, which is attributed to Jupiter, the Father of the
|
||
|
Gods, IO, will be seen to connect their Paths with the
|
||
|
corresponding Planetary Sephiroth. The Twelve Letters
|
||
|
attributed to the Signs of the Zodiac will each be
|
||
|
found united with the Sephira of its Ruling Planet,
|
||
|
even in cases such as Gemini and Virgo which are both
|
||
|
ruled by Mercury; Libra and Taurus both ruled by Venus;
|
||
|
etc. The one apparent exception (on account of the fact
|
||
|
that all four paths leading to Chesed are properly
|
||
|
occupied) is the case of Jupiter. But Jupiter, being
|
||
|
the direct representative of Kether, and also by Tarot
|
||
|
"The Wheel of Life," which exactly symbolizes the
|
||
|
Primum Mobile, could not possibly be better placed in
|
||
|
any case.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The fact that this Reformation of the Paths
|
||
|
produces a wealth of fresh Symbolism and actually
|
||
|
discloses the long lost Universal Tradition (as shown
|
||
|
in "The Egyptian Revival") is alone sufficient
|
||
|
justification for changing the arrangement, even though
|
||
|
it may upset the ideas of certain people who have based
|
||
|
the Rituals of their Secret Orders upon the old plan.
|
||
|
But the Book of the Law, Liber Legis, clearly states:
|
||
|
"Abrogate are all Rituals, all words and Signs; Ra-
|
||
|
Hoor-Khuit hath taken His seat in the East at the
|
||
|
Equinox of the Gods." (1904 E.V.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
But this becomes even more essential when we
|
||
|
recognize the necessity of Harmonizing the Paths with
|
||
|
the Sephiroth as explained above, and "Success is thy
|
||
|
proof," since this change has led to such marvelous
|
||
|
fresh developments as will be seen before this book is
|
||
|
concluded. We may remark, to Qabalists, that this
|
||
|
represents the true reconciliation of the "Snake" and
|
||
|
the "Sword," thus removing both the "tempter" and the
|
||
|
"avenger" from the Gate of Eden; to which we should now
|
||
|
be able to return in safety, to our great joy and
|
||
|
comfort.
|
||
|
|
||
|
To return once more to the "discovery" of April
|
||
|
14th, and the events which led up to it. I had been
|
||
|
considering the Sun and all that It means to Humanity;
|
||
|
how it is indeed the Golden Key to the Soul of the
|
||
|
World, for this One Symbol contains in itself all
|
||
|
"Trinities" of Symbolism. To the Soul of Mankind it has
|
||
|
meant in the past all that is "good," all that is
|
||
|
"evil," and all that is Divine and above these,
|
||
|
according to the view taken by Man himself. The Sun is
|
||
|
the True Son but the False Father. He is the Father of
|
||
|
this Planet, but the Son of the Star Universe by its
|
||
|
invisible Father. Those who worship the Sun (or Son)
|
||
|
but fail to pass ON to the concealed father, fall into
|
||
|
"Sin" which is Restriction. Those who obtain "Solar
|
||
|
Dhyana" and go no further, become fanatics, however
|
||
|
wonderful their illumination may seem. Thus the Sun is
|
||
|
at once an Angel of Light, the Devil, and the Redeemer.
|
||
|
For the Son spake truly when He said "No man cometh
|
||
|
unto the Father but by me," but the worship and
|
||
|
Deification of the Son in place of the Father has
|
||
|
proved fatal enough to those who misunderstood.
|
||
|
|
||
|
With these, and many similar thoughts in mind, I
|
||
|
was contemplating the "Tree of Life" when I thought of
|
||
|
the idea of temporarily removing the supports and
|
||
|
reciprocal paths, and leaving the Sun connected with
|
||
|
the Sephiroth by means of direct rays, thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XX here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
I then noticed a very interesting fact; that if,
|
||
|
as it were, on the pivot of the Sun, the other
|
||
|
Sephiroth were revolved and united, the result would be
|
||
|
as follows: Kether would swing round and exactly cover
|
||
|
Malkuth. Chokmah and Binah (Wisdom and Understanding)
|
||
|
would unite and swing down so that their Circumference
|
||
|
exactly half covered Malkuth and Kether, forming a
|
||
|
Vesica as in the first problem of Euclid. Chesed,
|
||
|
Geburah, Netzach and Hod would all swing down and cover
|
||
|
Yesod, so that the whole figure would fold up thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXI here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
This suggested to my mind, the idea of One Cell;
|
||
|
first in the process of Division, and then Divided
|
||
|
except for a ray of Influence between the two. In other
|
||
|
Words the Supreme Light one with Matter, dividing
|
||
|
through Wisdom and Understanding, and becoming the Moon
|
||
|
(Yesod) and the Sun (Tiphereth). Or, The Sun and Moon
|
||
|
uniting and producing other symbolic ideas -- who can
|
||
|
say?
|
||
|
|
||
|
Then, seeing the Vesica thus formed, I was led to
|
||
|
consider its relation to the "Tree" in general, and
|
||
|
seeing all folded up between Tiphereth and Malkuth, I
|
||
|
especially noticed the Paths from Netzach to Yesod, and
|
||
|
from Hod to Yesod, and saw that if these were produced
|
||
|
to that they crossed each other as far as the lower
|
||
|
part of the Circumference of Yesod, they would become
|
||
|
the Generating Paths of another small "Tree" which
|
||
|
would exactly extend from the Center of Yesod (as its
|
||
|
Kether) to the lowest point of the Circumference of
|
||
|
Malkuth (as its Malkuth), thus bringing the Yesod of
|
||
|
the "Little Tree" exactly in the center of Malkuth in
|
||
|
the Larger one, and Tiphereth of the Small one exactly
|
||
|
on the upper line of the circumference of the larger
|
||
|
Malkuth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It must be remarked that Yesod is said to be the
|
||
|
representative of the Generative Organs, when the
|
||
|
"Tree" is considered in regard to its correspondence to
|
||
|
man, and that Netzach and Hod represent the twin
|
||
|
Spheres connected therewith. Thus the discovery that
|
||
|
these produced a "New Tree" was startling enough, till
|
||
|
I began to realize that this process would go on
|
||
|
indefinitely, the "Trees" giving birth to smaller and
|
||
|
smaller ones toward the Infinitely Small or,
|
||
|
conversely, expanding into greater and greater ones
|
||
|
without Limit towards the Infinitely Great. Thus the
|
||
|
Tree was the veritable Representative of Ra-Hoor-Khuit,
|
||
|
Lord of the Aeon, the Ever Coming Son of the Two
|
||
|
Infinites.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Therewith I gave Praise unto Ra-Hoor-Khuit, and
|
||
|
became Silent as Harpocrates, the twin of Horus which
|
||
|
is hidden within Him.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And I did well to be silent, for there was much
|
||
|
more to be discovered (though I could not conceive it
|
||
|
at the time). So I put aside the sketch of my first
|
||
|
rough working, having signed and dated it, and left the
|
||
|
matter alone for a while.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Herewith I include a drawing made from this first
|
||
|
sketch, as a record of the discovery.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter V
|
||
|
|
||
|
We may now begin to understand what was meant by
|
||
|
the next few words of the "Sepher Yetzirah" which
|
||
|
states: "These Ten Numbers, beyond the universal One,
|
||
|
have the boundless realms, boundless origin and end. .
|
||
|
. ."
|
||
|
|
||
|
But we may turn aside for a moment, at this point,
|
||
|
and consider the old system of the Qabalah, as
|
||
|
perpetuated and expounded by the best commentators of
|
||
|
the past.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Mention is made of the "Four Worlds" of the
|
||
|
Qabalah. These are called Atziluth, the Archetypal
|
||
|
World; Briah, the Creative World; Yetzirah, the
|
||
|
Formative World; and Assiah, the Material World. These
|
||
|
have been attributed to the Four Letters of the
|
||
|
Ineffable Name IHVH. Sometimes these worlds have been
|
||
|
allotted to the "Tree of Life" as follows: Atziluth and
|
||
|
Yod (the Father) to Chokmah; Briah and He (the Mother)
|
||
|
to Binah; Yetzirah and Vau (the Son) to Tiphereth as
|
||
|
the King ruling over Chesed, Geburah, Netzach, Hod, and
|
||
|
Yesod (thus embracing six Sephiroth); and finally
|
||
|
Assiah, as the Daughter or second He, to Malkuth. In
|
||
|
this plan "Kether" seems to have no place. Again,
|
||
|
sometimes the whole "Tree" is considered as if it were
|
||
|
represented on Four Planes, one above the other, or
|
||
|
interpenetrating each other. In this case we get 40
|
||
|
Sephiroth, Ten for each World; and for purposes of
|
||
|
classification each Sephira was considered to contain
|
||
|
another complete tree, so as to make in all 400, with a
|
||
|
correspondingly great number of paths. This plan seems
|
||
|
to have been little used for practical purposes; it is,
|
||
|
of course, very complicated and difficult to conceive
|
||
|
on Four Planes at the same time.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The only other attempt, that I am aware of, was to
|
||
|
place the Diagram of one Tree above the other, so that
|
||
|
the Kether of the Lowest touched the Malkuth of the
|
||
|
next, and so on with the other two higher Worlds. Such
|
||
|
an arrangement is shown in Mathers "Kaballah Unveiled,"
|
||
|
where the influences from the Archetypal World are
|
||
|
shown descending, by means of arrows running along the
|
||
|
Paths of the Flaming Sword (but, be it noted, there is
|
||
|
no connecting path from Binah to Chesed on the Tree),
|
||
|
and then through the Creative and Formative Worlds to
|
||
|
Assiah, where the current ended in Malkuth of the
|
||
|
Lowest Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But no one seems to have shown a LIVING TREE with
|
||
|
Its Roots in the Infinitely Small and its Branches
|
||
|
spreading out to the Infinitely Great. Yet it is called
|
||
|
the TREE OF LIFE. It would seem, in the past, it has
|
||
|
been little better than the Tree of Knowledge of Good
|
||
|
and Evil.
|
||
|
|
||
|
One can only account for Attainment by the Old
|
||
|
System, as by the Grace of God. The "Paths" wrongly
|
||
|
arranged (but the Sephiroth -- corresponding to Grades
|
||
|
-- fortunately in perfect Order) were confusing rather
|
||
|
than illuminating; the method of progress leading to
|
||
|
the Horrors of "The Abyss" between Chesed and Binah.
|
||
|
However, that makes little difference if my surmise is
|
||
|
correct (as explained in "The Egyptian Revival") that
|
||
|
during this Aeon, Wisdom and Understanding are directly
|
||
|
projected upon the Children of Earth, and the Abyss
|
||
|
definitely Bridged.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But to return to the further development of this
|
||
|
wonderful Plan. On Monday, April 16, I had occasion to
|
||
|
visit a friend and Brother, who is a cunning craftsman
|
||
|
and designer. He is a man of much intelligence, but not
|
||
|
a deep Student of the Qabalah, his interest in this
|
||
|
matter having dated from a cursory reading of "The
|
||
|
Essence of the Practical Qabalah" followed by some
|
||
|
study of "Q.B.L." a few weeks ago. I was impressed to
|
||
|
ask his opinion of the New Plan, and found that he
|
||
|
grasped its possibilities at once. We discussed it for
|
||
|
some time and made a temporary sketch similar to the
|
||
|
one I first drew (Fig. XXI). He offered to make me a
|
||
|
careful drawing showing several progressions.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The following day I called upon him again, when we
|
||
|
made some further experiments together, and discussed
|
||
|
the proper proportion of the Diameters of the Sephiroth
|
||
|
in their relation to the Paths. It was noticed that the
|
||
|
Paths from Chesed to Tiphereth, and from Geburah to
|
||
|
Tiphereth, would generate a similar "Tree" between
|
||
|
Tiphereth and Yesod in addition to the one between
|
||
|
Yesod and Malkuth. Then he was illuminated by the Idea
|
||
|
that an intermediate "Tree" extending from the Center
|
||
|
of Tiphereth to the Center of Malkuth should be formed,
|
||
|
and another one half the size, between the Center of
|
||
|
Yesod and the Center of Malkuth. This Idea produced
|
||
|
startling results. The Second Tree was exactly Half the
|
||
|
Height of the First, and the Third, Half that of the
|
||
|
Second (perfect octaves). The Size of the Sephiroth
|
||
|
should progress accordingly, and be based upon the
|
||
|
original generating Circles of the whole Tree. It was
|
||
|
then found that the Kether of the Second was in the
|
||
|
Center of the Tiphereth of the First, and its Tiphereth
|
||
|
in the Yesod of the First, while its Malkuth was in the
|
||
|
First Malkuth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Third "Tree" had its Kether in the Yesod of
|
||
|
the First, and the Tiphereth of the Second; while its
|
||
|
Malkuth was again in the Center of the Malkuth of Both.
|
||
|
In other words, the CENTER of MALKUTH represented the
|
||
|
INFINITELY SMALL, and the Triple Trees went on
|
||
|
Increasing in Size by octaves to Infinity, while
|
||
|
MALKUTH continued to EXPAND about its OWN CENTER.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The accompanying Plate will show this marvelous
|
||
|
Plan in great clearness of detail.
|
||
|
|
||
|
At this point we must clearly realize that since
|
||
|
the Plan of the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom is ever
|
||
|
increasing in orderly progression towards the
|
||
|
Infinitely Great, or Nuit, and at the same time
|
||
|
contracting in the same proportions towards the
|
||
|
Infinitely Small, or Hadit, the Concealed Father of
|
||
|
All, it is no longer proper for us to talk of the
|
||
|
Influence as ascending or descending. But, since the
|
||
|
extremely minute is more quickly lost to view, and on
|
||
|
account of the inconvenience and difficulty of making a
|
||
|
drawing of a very small size, we must start from a
|
||
|
Central Point in Malkuth, and discuss the subject as if
|
||
|
the "Tree" were increasing in size from that Point.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus, for convenience, we shall now call the
|
||
|
smallest visible Tree in our Design, the First, the
|
||
|
next larger, the Second, and so on for the necessary
|
||
|
number of progressions.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Central Dot in Malkuth of the First Tree
|
||
|
represents Hadit. This should be considered as an
|
||
|
unextended Point of Light or Pure Essence of Being, the
|
||
|
true complement of the Infinitely Great and unknown
|
||
|
Body of Nuit which is beyond our utmost conception of
|
||
|
the expansion of the Greatest Tree we can imagine.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The small Circle around this "Point" is Malkuth of
|
||
|
the First Tree, and the Tree itself may, for
|
||
|
convenience, be considered as _growing_up_out_of_
|
||
|
Malkuth_, just like any other tree in proper soil. The
|
||
|
True Kether is concealed within this as the Essence of
|
||
|
Life and Form is within the Seed. When we reach the
|
||
|
"Manifested Kether" of the First Tree it will be very
|
||
|
much like the _most_ perfect_fruit containing within it
|
||
|
the "seed" of further progression.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have been accustomed to consider the "Tree of
|
||
|
Life" as _descending_ from_Kether_, but now that we
|
||
|
realize that the "Tree" grows to Infinity, we cannot
|
||
|
conceive of a starting point at the Top, so as to work
|
||
|
downwards. We must start from the Center and work
|
||
|
outwards and upwards.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It will not be possible for me to give all the
|
||
|
details of this marvelous plan, but I may point out a
|
||
|
few interesting features, leaving the Student to add
|
||
|
the results of his own researches, as time goes on.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I am of course adopting the "Reformulated Plan of
|
||
|
the Paths" but some may prefer to arrange them
|
||
|
otherwise; it makes no difference to the general
|
||
|
geometrical design.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Correspondences of Attributions of the First
|
||
|
Tree will therefore remain exactly the same as
|
||
|
previously given. Each aspirant will have to fulfill
|
||
|
the necessary requirements of mastering the "Ideas"
|
||
|
connected therewith, as before. He will have to Attain,
|
||
|
as formerly, before the Fuller Consciousness comes to
|
||
|
him; but there are additional "clues" to his progress
|
||
|
which are most valuable.
|
||
|
|
||
|
For instance: If he commences his Journey by the
|
||
|
Path of Aleph, the Pure Fool, leading from Malkuth to
|
||
|
Yesod, when he has traveled _half-way_ up this Path, he
|
||
|
will obtain an additional influx of Power from the
|
||
|
corresponding Path on the _Second_Tree. He will have
|
||
|
reached the circumference of the _Second_ Malkuth_. On
|
||
|
arrival in Yesod, he will have contacted the
|
||
|
circumference of _Malkuth_of_the_Third_Tree_.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us consider his progress up the Central Pillar
|
||
|
first; supposing it to be possible for him thus to
|
||
|
travel in perfect equilibrium from the start.
|
||
|
|
||
|
On the Path of Mem or "The Hanged Man," which is
|
||
|
attributed to "Water," he will receive the additional
|
||
|
Power of the "Air" from the Path of Aleph in the
|
||
|
_Second_Tree_, till he reaches the First Tiphereth.
|
||
|
That is to say, for instance, he will find a greater
|
||
|
use for Pranayama; and so on. But before he enters
|
||
|
Tiphereth he will already be receiving the benefit of
|
||
|
the Influence of the Yesod of the _Second_Tree_, which
|
||
|
he will have contacted after crossing the Reciprocal
|
||
|
Path of "The Hierophant" or Taurus. All the way from
|
||
|
the First Yesod to "The Abyss" he will be receiving the
|
||
|
still higher power of Aleph of the _Third_Tree_.
|
||
|
|
||
|
As he beings his ascent from the First Tiphereth
|
||
|
he will do so by the Path of "Shin" or "The Great
|
||
|
Judgment." This is the Way of the Triple Spirit and of
|
||
|
Fire, but thereon he will also feel the influence of
|
||
|
"The Hanged Man" from the _Second_Tree_, as well as
|
||
|
from "The Fool" of the _Third_.
|
||
|
|
||
|
On crossing the "Path of Death" he will leave
|
||
|
behind him the influence of _Yesod_ of the
|
||
|
_Second_Tree_, but half-way across the Abyss he will
|
||
|
contact the Influence of the "Hierophant" of the
|
||
|
_Second_, and at the same moment enter the sphere of
|
||
|
_Yesod_of_the_Third_Tree_.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Next, he will cross the Path of the "Star" or
|
||
|
Aquarius, on the primary Tree, contacting immediately
|
||
|
the _Tiphereth_ of Tree Number Two, through the aura of
|
||
|
which he passes on to the _First_Kether_Attainment.
|
||
|
|
||
|
During this journey up the Central Pillar, his
|
||
|
original Malkuth will have doubled in diameter on the
|
||
|
Path of Aleph, doubled again when he reached Yesod,
|
||
|
again on reaching Tiphereth, and once more on his
|
||
|
attainment to Kether, which then Crowns his Work.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus the First Kether Attainment is representative
|
||
|
of the Fifth Visible Progression of the Sphere of
|
||
|
Malkuth, after which the Aspirant begins to contact the
|
||
|
Sixth progression of the Whole Tree, and from that
|
||
|
point in his Career, every further progression of
|
||
|
Malkuth will touch the center of a Higher Kether, to
|
||
|
Infinity. But as the Sixth visible Progression of
|
||
|
Malkuth contacts the Second visible Kether; the
|
||
|
Seventh, the Third; and so on, there will always seem
|
||
|
to be Four untraveled Trees between. It may be that
|
||
|
these represent the "Four Worlds" of the Qabalah, and
|
||
|
that he must in reality always progress in the Four
|
||
|
Worlds simultaneously.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It will be noticed that the Path of Beth, or
|
||
|
Wisdom, leading from the first Malkuth to Hod, the
|
||
|
Sphere of Mercury, contains, essentially, all the
|
||
|
Powers of Mercury or "The Magician" to Infinity in that
|
||
|
direction; since this Path leads to larger and larger
|
||
|
"Hods" in regular sequence.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Similarly, the Path of Daleth or Love, "The
|
||
|
Empress," or Venus, leading to Netzach, continues to
|
||
|
Infinity in that direction also. So we find all Love
|
||
|
and Wisdom concentrated in the center of Malkuth. Since
|
||
|
all the "Three Mothers," Aleph, Mem, and Shin,
|
||
|
interblend on the Middle Pillar, these Powers are also
|
||
|
fully concentrated in the Center of Malkuth, and
|
||
|
conversely, proceed from It.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In regard to the other Paths and Sephiroth of the
|
||
|
First Tree -- and this applies equally to All the Trees
|
||
|
-- we may point out that Netzach and Hod will always be
|
||
|
found in the exact Centers of the Paths of Venus and
|
||
|
Mercury on the next larger Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chesed and Geburah are always exactly in the
|
||
|
Centers of the Paths of Cancer, "The Chariot," and
|
||
|
Luna, "The High Priestess," of the next larger Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chokmah and Binah will always have their Centers
|
||
|
in Leo, the path of "Strength," and Gemini, or "The
|
||
|
Lovers," of the next progressed Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Kether always appears in the Center of the _next_
|
||
|
Tiphereth, and of the _following_ Yesod, to infinity.
|
||
|
In other words, the Light is always within the Life of
|
||
|
the Sun, and the Sun within the Body of the Moon.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Reciprocal Path of "The Hierophant" will
|
||
|
always have an influence horizontally across the Abyss
|
||
|
of the next Tree below. The path of the "Hanged Man"
|
||
|
will always leave Him suspended from the Reciprocal
|
||
|
path of "The Star" or Aquarius of the "next" tree,
|
||
|
while he is seen below Tiphereth on his own Tree. This
|
||
|
is exactly where he is mystically _supposed_to_be_
|
||
|
according to the old system of the paths, although he
|
||
|
was otherwise _assigned_.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is a matter of almost unending interest to
|
||
|
trace out these various combinations, but there are
|
||
|
even more important considerations ahead of us. We must
|
||
|
leave the Student to work things out in his own way,
|
||
|
and pass on to wider fields of study.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter VI
|
||
|
|
||
|
During the afternoon of April 17th, after
|
||
|
obtaining a glimpse of the foregoing possibilities
|
||
|
while discussing the details of this Plan, a still
|
||
|
wider conception dawned upon me.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Since the Center of Malkuth has become the Point
|
||
|
from which All proceeds, why should the Tree grow only
|
||
|
in one Direction?
|
||
|
|
||
|
What we have been calling the "lower" part of the
|
||
|
Tree is in the form of an Equilateral Triangle, and the
|
||
|
Progression of the Trees only increases the size of
|
||
|
this indefinitely. Surely there must be Six such Trees,
|
||
|
forming a Star, and so filling every direction of two-
|
||
|
dimensional space.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This seemed to throw light on some little
|
||
|
understood passages of the "Sepher Yetzirah," which I
|
||
|
shall now further quote. It will be remembered that the
|
||
|
last words we studied in that connection were: "These
|
||
|
Ten Numbers, beyond the universal One, have the
|
||
|
boundless realms, boundless origin and end," but the
|
||
|
verse goes on: "an abyss of good and one of evil,
|
||
|
boundless height and depth, East and West, North and
|
||
|
South, and the one only God and King, faithful for ever
|
||
|
seated on his throne, shall rule over all, for ever and
|
||
|
ever."
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is striking evidence that our Plan is that
|
||
|
which was intended to be conveyed by the Author of this
|
||
|
mysterious treatise. I may now quote the remaining
|
||
|
verses in the First Chapter, since these make the
|
||
|
matter still clearer.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"These ten Sephiroth which are ineffable, whose
|
||
|
appearance is like scintillating flames, have no end,
|
||
|
but are infinite. The word of God is in them as they
|
||
|
burst forth, and as the return; they obey the divine
|
||
|
command, rushing along as a whirlwind, and returning to
|
||
|
prostrate themselves at his throne."
|
||
|
|
||
|
This seems fairly understandable in the Light of
|
||
|
the Two Infinites with the manifested Universe, Ever-
|
||
|
becoming, between Them.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"These ten Sephiroth which are, moreover,
|
||
|
ineffable, have their end even as their beginning,
|
||
|
conjoined, even as is a flame to a burning coal: for
|
||
|
our God is superlative in his unity, and does not
|
||
|
permit any second one. And who canst thou place before
|
||
|
the only one?"
|
||
|
|
||
|
In other words, Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, are a
|
||
|
Perfect Three in One.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"And as to this Decad of the Sephiroth, restrain
|
||
|
thy lips from comment, and thy mind from thought of
|
||
|
them, and if thy heart fail thee, return to thy place;
|
||
|
therefore is it written 'The living creatures ran and
|
||
|
returned,' and on this wise was the covenant made with
|
||
|
us."
|
||
|
|
||
|
This means that since the "Tree" is everywhere the
|
||
|
same in every part of space, once its general
|
||
|
attributions are fixed in the mind, it is not well to
|
||
|
confuse ourselves by too much attempt at progressed
|
||
|
expansion of the idea. Rather we should return and
|
||
|
contemplate the Center from which All proceeds, thus
|
||
|
obtaining the Pure Essence Here and Now.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"These are the ten emanations of number. One is
|
||
|
the Spirit of the Living God, blessed and more than
|
||
|
blessed be the name of the Living God of the Ages. The
|
||
|
Holy Spirit is his Voice, his Spirit, and his Word."
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is very similar to the instruction in Liber
|
||
|
Legis: "Be thou Hadit my secret center, my heart and my
|
||
|
tongue," but CCXX is a new Covenant, and goes much
|
||
|
further than the old one recorded in the Sepher
|
||
|
Yetzirah.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Second, from the Spirit be made Air and formed
|
||
|
for speech, twenty-two letters, three of which are
|
||
|
mothers, A, M, Sh; seven are double, B, G, D, K, P, R,
|
||
|
Th; and twelve are single, E, V, Z, Ch, T, I, L, N, S,
|
||
|
O, Tz, Q; but the spirit is first among these. Third,
|
||
|
PRIMITIVE WATER HE ALSO FORMED AND DESIGNED FROM HIS
|
||
|
SPIRIT, and from the void and formless made earth even
|
||
|
as a rampart, or the standing wall, and VARIED ITS
|
||
|
SURFACE AS THE CROSSING OF BEAMS. Fourth, from the
|
||
|
Water, He designed Fire, and from it formed to himself
|
||
|
a throne of honor, with the Auphanim, Seraphim, Holy
|
||
|
Animals, and ministering Angels, and with these he
|
||
|
formed his dwelling, as it is written in the text 'Who
|
||
|
makest his angels spirits and his ministers a flaming
|
||
|
fire.' (Psalm 104, v. 4)"
|
||
|
|
||
|
Note the reference to the design made from
|
||
|
Primitive Water by the Spirit, and also about the
|
||
|
"crossed beams" or Paths of the Tree. His thrones of
|
||
|
Honor, are the Manifested Kethers. Holy animals refer
|
||
|
to the Zodiac, etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"He selected three letters from the simple ones,
|
||
|
and sealed them as forming his great Name IHV and he
|
||
|
sealed the universe in SIX DIRECTIONS.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Five. He looked above, and sealed the height,
|
||
|
with IHV.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Six. He looked below and sealed the deep with
|
||
|
IVH.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Seven. He looked forward, and sealed the East,
|
||
|
with HIV.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Eight. He looked backward, and sealed the West,
|
||
|
with VHI.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Nine. He looked to the right, and sealed the
|
||
|
South, with VIH.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Ten. He looked to the left, and sealed the North,
|
||
|
with HVI.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"These are the ten ineffable existences, the
|
||
|
Spirit of the Living God, Air, Water, Fire, Height and
|
||
|
Depth, East and West, North and South."
|
||
|
|
||
|
So ends the first Chapter of this mysterious
|
||
|
treatise, and there is little doubt that our Six-fold
|
||
|
Star is the solution of the problem which has puzzled
|
||
|
to Qabalists for so many Centuries. With its Center it
|
||
|
forms the Heptad.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us now examine the Design of this wonderful
|
||
|
new Star, as drawn in such minute detail. (See Plate
|
||
|
B.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
A glorious vista opens before us -- Infinite Space
|
||
|
in the Form of a _Pure_ Snow_Flake_. What could be a
|
||
|
better way of "Fixing the Design in its Purity"? What
|
||
|
more likely, since all things are said to have
|
||
|
proceeded from the Primal Water under the action of
|
||
|
Spirit, than that the Substance should Crystallize in
|
||
|
_exactly_the_same_way_ that any drop of water, or any
|
||
|
crystal, is found to take form under the direction of
|
||
|
the lines of polar force which always form six
|
||
|
radiating lines or axes in every rain drop which
|
||
|
becomes a snow-flake?
|
||
|
|
||
|
Surely this is a pure enough conception of the
|
||
|
beginning of all things and the infinite progression of
|
||
|
this manifested universe. Scientifically it can hardly
|
||
|
be denied.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus the Pure Essence of the Soul of Man may also
|
||
|
crystallize and become a Center of the Great Star. This
|
||
|
may take place at any point in space and at any moment
|
||
|
in time, for the Center of the Infinite is Everywhere
|
||
|
and the Circumference Nowhere.
|
||
|
|
||
|
What a vista of Attainment opens up before every
|
||
|
human being, for we have been told in Liber Legis:
|
||
|
"Every man and every woman is a star." Also "Every
|
||
|
number is infinite; there is no difference."
|
||
|
|
||
|
But let us consider a few more details of this
|
||
|
Divine Plan. What changes have really occurred owing to
|
||
|
our Multiplication of the Stone of the Wise?
|
||
|
|
||
|
Netzach and Hod and the Paths of Venus and Mercury
|
||
|
-- which before were seen to progress directly to
|
||
|
infinity -- have now _become_forever_united_. There is
|
||
|
no difference; _Love_is_ever_under_Will_.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Again, these Combined Paths are exactly equal to
|
||
|
the Paths of Aleph, Mem, and Shin which formed the
|
||
|
equilibrated Middle Pillar, for the Father and Mother
|
||
|
together equal the Child. _Every_Path_ radiating from
|
||
|
the Center is now Equilibrated or Balanced.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The combined Sphere of Netzach-Hod or Venus-
|
||
|
Mercury is always to be found exactly between the
|
||
|
Spheres of Binah and Chokmah of the Two Trees of the
|
||
|
Scale below. Also the combined Paths of Venus-Mercury
|
||
|
always lie exactly between the Spheres of Chesed and
|
||
|
Geburah, or Mercy and Severity of the "Tree" below, and
|
||
|
so on to Infinity.
|
||
|
|
||
|
All else remains the same, but there is no longer
|
||
|
any possibility of unbalanced progress.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But we must not forget the instructions in Liber
|
||
|
Legis, which is of the utmost importance. "The Khabs is
|
||
|
in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs. Worship then the
|
||
|
Khabs and behold my light shed over you!" We must
|
||
|
Worship the Central Point which is concealed in Malkuth
|
||
|
and in the Center of our Being; then only will the True
|
||
|
Light of Infinity be shed upon us. If we fail in this,
|
||
|
seeking in the outer, our minds fall back, failing to
|
||
|
grasp that which is beyond our finite vision. "The
|
||
|
Living Creatures run and return" and having returned,
|
||
|
the Illusions of Space and Time are exchanged for the
|
||
|
Everpresent Here and Now. The Introduction to this
|
||
|
treatise should now be more clearly understandable to
|
||
|
the average reader. We can see how the Light or Fruit
|
||
|
of Light, the Six Kethers, are always First in Advance
|
||
|
towards the Infinite without. Next follows the progress
|
||
|
of the Life or Soul of Nature and of Man, then follows
|
||
|
the regular progression of the Sphere of Malkuth in
|
||
|
ever-widening Circles as "Matter" eats up "Form" and
|
||
|
the "Form" comprehends the Efficient Cause, which is
|
||
|
itself the manifestation of the Invisible Final Cause.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But Malkuth is also Nuit, for "Matter" or
|
||
|
"Substance" is continuous, so it is equally true to say
|
||
|
that she contracts upon Hadit the Invisible Center, or
|
||
|
that He Expands towards Her Infinite Girth. Ra-Hoor-
|
||
|
Khuit, with His twin Hoor-Pa-Kraat hidden within Him,
|
||
|
may be called Heru-Ra-Ha as the Crowned Child, the
|
||
|
whole Manifest Universe in Time and Space, which is the
|
||
|
Star 418.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This, too, is the Great Hexagram of the Macrocosm,
|
||
|
but what of the Pentagram, the Microcosm, MAN?
|
||
|
|
||
|
Another great Mystery lies before us, needing only
|
||
|
to be Brought to Light, as will be shown in the next
|
||
|
Chapter.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter VII
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have seen in the last Chapter how our original
|
||
|
conception of "The Tree of Life" may be multiplied and
|
||
|
crystallized into a Macrocosmic Snow Flake, or Six-fold
|
||
|
Star. Let us now return to our first simple form of the
|
||
|
"Tree" and examine it more carefully with a view to
|
||
|
further discoveries.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have been accustomed to look upon this as
|
||
|
representing a flat two-dimensional surface, but we
|
||
|
were not necessarily correct in our supposition.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In reality we have been looking at the front
|
||
|
surface of a _Triangular_ _Crystal_Prism_, and what we
|
||
|
saw was not all in one plane. The "sides" of the Tree
|
||
|
are but two angles of an equilateral solid; the third
|
||
|
angle, at the back, is invisible, being completely
|
||
|
hidden by the Paths of the Central Pillar.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This Central Pillar is not level with the front
|
||
|
surface, but is the _Core_ of the prism. Kether is the
|
||
|
Apex of a pyramid whose base is equilateral. Malkuth is
|
||
|
at the lower point of a descending pyramid, all four
|
||
|
sides of which are equilateral, thus forming a
|
||
|
Tetrahedron.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Tiphereth and Yesod are both embedded in the
|
||
|
solid, and the Paths of the "Three Mothers" are
|
||
|
_interior_ channels.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Looking at the "Tree" in the ordinary manner, we
|
||
|
should have to realize that only the Three Reciprocal
|
||
|
Paths, and the Four Paths forming the Side Pillars, are
|
||
|
actually on the level surface before us. There are,
|
||
|
however, three Reciprocal Paths of each kind, viz.:
|
||
|
nine in all, for there are two others, in each case,
|
||
|
which retreat and meet at the third angle of the prism.
|
||
|
There is another pair of vertical Paths, similar to
|
||
|
those at the sides, but concealed at the back of the
|
||
|
solid.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Instead of there being only two Paths from Kether
|
||
|
to Chokmah and Binah, there are _three_, one sloping
|
||
|
away to the concealed angle at the back. The triangular
|
||
|
surface we see is not vertical, but _slopes_back_
|
||
|
towards Kether.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXIII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Paths from Chokmah and Binah to Tiphereth also
|
||
|
slope inward to the central core of the prism, and
|
||
|
there is a third Path from the angle at the back.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The four visible Paths from Chesed, Geburah,
|
||
|
Netzach, and Hod to Tiphereth are likewise sloping
|
||
|
within the solid and there are in addition two
|
||
|
invisible Paths at the back.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Paths from Netzach and Hod to Yesod also
|
||
|
incline inward, since Yesod is at the core of the Tree.
|
||
|
Again there is another similar Path concealed, which
|
||
|
slopes down from the angle at the back.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The surface of the Triangle formed by the Paths
|
||
|
connecting Netzach, Hod, and Malkuth, is not vertical,
|
||
|
but falls away towards the back, and there are two
|
||
|
similar surfaces connected with the concealed Sphere of
|
||
|
Netzach-Hod behind the solid figure.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This at first may seem confusing, but it can be
|
||
|
more clearly explained by means of diagrams and plates.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us imagine that we have ascended above the
|
||
|
Tree and are looking directly down upon Kether. From
|
||
|
this position we should perceive a triangular figure as
|
||
|
shown in the diagram:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXIV here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
The nearest point to us will be Kether and the
|
||
|
other three Spheres at a lower level. The three
|
||
|
triangular surfaces slope away from Kether to the
|
||
|
Spheres at the angles.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But what are these Three Spheres and Six Paths,
|
||
|
upon which we have been looking? Our conception of the
|
||
|
Tree must undergo a remarkable change. The three
|
||
|
bounding Paths are all equally that of Tzaddi,
|
||
|
Aquarius, or "The Star." The Three Spheres are each
|
||
|
equally both Chokmah and Binah. The Three Paths
|
||
|
connecting with Kether are each equally Jupiter and
|
||
|
Saturn, or Kaph and Tau, or "The Wheel" and "The
|
||
|
Universe." In other words, THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY
|
||
|
PAIRS OF OPPOSITES, and there never were in reality.
|
||
|
Each idea is only true insofar as it contains its own
|
||
|
opposite. So the Sphere we called Chokmah always
|
||
|
concealed it Binah, and Binah its Chokmah, and so on.
|
||
|
While we thought the Tree represented a flat surface we
|
||
|
could not realize how these apparently opposite Spheres
|
||
|
could in reality be one and the same, but now that we
|
||
|
have discovered the Third Angle of the Prism, they are
|
||
|
at once unified without difficulty.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Also the former Reciprocal Paths have now become
|
||
|
the Boundaries of the Solid Figure, and represent a
|
||
|
sectional plane through it. The natures of the opposite
|
||
|
Paths are also unified, and they convey the Single
|
||
|
Influence of Kether to the Dual Spheres they connect
|
||
|
therewith.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us now include Tiphereth in our conception,
|
||
|
and at the same time imagine that we are looking at the
|
||
|
solid from the front, but that it has been twisted
|
||
|
round slightly, so as to make the concealed angle
|
||
|
clearer.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We now see how the Paths of Resh and Ayin or "The
|
||
|
Sun" and "The Devil," are _triple_, yet _one_. These
|
||
|
conflicting ideas have disappeared in a harmonious
|
||
|
combination. The Path of Shin, the Holy Spirit, at the
|
||
|
core of the Figure uniting Kether and Tiphereth,
|
||
|
remains single.
|
||
|
|
||
|
What were the Pillars of Mercy and Severity, are
|
||
|
now no longer opposed to one another, for there are
|
||
|
Three Bounding Pillars, as well as the Central One.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There are Three Chesed-Geburahs, and Three
|
||
|
Netzach-Hods. The Paths of Samek and Pe, or
|
||
|
"Temperance" and "The Tower," are now united, as are
|
||
|
those of Lamed and Yod, or "Justice" and "The Hermit."
|
||
|
|
||
|
If we were next to take a section through the
|
||
|
"Tree" at the line formed by the Path of Nun, or
|
||
|
"Death," and remove the upper portion, while
|
||
|
_looking_down_ upon the remainder we should see:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure xxvi here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
The bounding lines, nearest to us, would be the
|
||
|
Three Paths of Nun with the Three Spheres of Chesed-
|
||
|
Geburah at the angles. Tiphereth would be somewhat
|
||
|
lower down, and the Three Paths of He-Qoph, or Aries-
|
||
|
Pisces, would slope towards it. The small triangle near
|
||
|
the center would be the lower part of the three paths
|
||
|
of the Resh-Ayin triad.
|
||
|
|
||
|
If we cut through the prism at the Path of Vau, or
|
||
|
"The Hierophant" while still _looking_down_ at the
|
||
|
remainder, we should see:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure xxvii here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Yesod in the Center, somewhat below the bounding lines
|
||
|
and Spheres of the triple paths of Vau and the three
|
||
|
Netzach-Hods. In this instance there would be no small
|
||
|
triad in the center, since there are not paths
|
||
|
equivalent to those mentioned in regard to the upper
|
||
|
section.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But if from this position we looked _up_ at the
|
||
|
section above, we should see:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure xxviii here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
The same Spheres and Paths bounding the figure, but
|
||
|
Tiphereth would appear in the center, connected by the
|
||
|
triple paths of Teth-Zayin, or "The Lion-Lovers,"
|
||
|
corresponding to Leo-Gemini.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Finally, should we look up at the whole Tree from
|
||
|
below Malkuth, we should perceive:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXIX here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Malkuth in the Center, nearest to us, with the Triple
|
||
|
Path, or Plane, of the "Hierophant" some distance
|
||
|
above. These would be connected by the triple Paths of
|
||
|
Beth-Daleth, Mercury-Venus, or "The Magician-Empress."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus, in every instance, would the "pairs of
|
||
|
opposites" be truly mated and resolved into a unified
|
||
|
triplicity, in three dimensions.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The accompanying Plate shows the whole "Prismatic
|
||
|
Tree" with its 13 Spheres and 36 Paths, quite clearly.
|
||
|
The whole number is 49, which again returns to Unity as
|
||
|
13. 49 also represents the square of seven, and the
|
||
|
Hebrew Word for "Solve'" (See plate "C" and study
|
||
|
carefully.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
We may now consider approximately what would be
|
||
|
the impression received by one who took an "Astral
|
||
|
Journey" up through the Central Core of this Triple
|
||
|
Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Starting from Malkuth by the Path of Aleph, or The
|
||
|
Fool, the astral form would travel vertically upwards,
|
||
|
with a consciousness of being surrounded by the
|
||
|
combined influences of Mercury-Venus perfectly blended,
|
||
|
while the surrounding "space" would take the form of an
|
||
|
ever-increasing triangle, till Yesod was reached. At
|
||
|
this juncture he would feel the concentrated essence of
|
||
|
the forces from the Paths of Cancer-Luna ("The Chariot-
|
||
|
High Priestess" or Pure Balanced Aspiration) while yet
|
||
|
his consciousness continued to expand till he reached
|
||
|
the full limits of the equilateral triangle bounded by
|
||
|
the paths of "The Hierophant." From Yesod onward to
|
||
|
this point he would partake of the Mystery of the
|
||
|
"Hanged Man" (Primitive Water) till the Influence of
|
||
|
the Hierophantic Plane began to initiate him into its
|
||
|
deeper Meanings. As he continued by this Path of Mem
|
||
|
his field of consciousness would remain extended to its
|
||
|
limits, held there by the Forces of Yod-Lamed or "The
|
||
|
Hermit and Justice," while, at the same time, there
|
||
|
would be a contraction due to the influence of the
|
||
|
Triple Paths of Zayin-Teth which would concentrate his
|
||
|
Soul in Tiphereth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Rising above Tiphereth his Soul would expand to
|
||
|
the limits of his field of consciousness by means of
|
||
|
the Paths of He-Qoph (or Aries-Pisces), while he would
|
||
|
also have contacted the Influence of the Holy Spirit in
|
||
|
the Central Path of Shin. This would expand within the
|
||
|
Soul, under the influence of the triple Paths of Ayin-
|
||
|
Resh (or Capricorn-Sol). Passing through the Plane of
|
||
|
"Death" or Scorpio, he would ascend till his Spiritual
|
||
|
Consciousness expanded to the limits of his Soul
|
||
|
Consciousness, which would have been affected,
|
||
|
meanwhile, by the Paths of Pe-Samek or Mars-Sagittarius
|
||
|
("The Tower - Temperance") and presently he would reach
|
||
|
the Plane of "The Star" (Tzaddi or Aquarius) where his
|
||
|
Soular and Spiritual Fields of Consciousness would be
|
||
|
equally extended, while the Spirit would steadily Flame
|
||
|
in the Core of his Being.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Then, after contacting the Triple Influence of
|
||
|
Chokmah-Binah, his whole Field of Consciousness, on all
|
||
|
Planes, would gradually contract along the Paths of
|
||
|
Kaph-Tau upon Kether, upon reaching which, he would
|
||
|
suddenly find Himself once more in Malkuth, which is
|
||
|
the Body of Nuit, concentrated upon the Inner Light of
|
||
|
the Khabs, the only veil of Hadit, the Flame in every
|
||
|
Heart of Man and in the Core of every Star.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He would then arise as a truly Enlightened Being,
|
||
|
clothed in a body of Flesh, ready to go forth and do
|
||
|
his pleasure among the living. As it is written in the
|
||
|
Ritual of Mercury: "I travel upon high, I tread upon
|
||
|
the Firmament of Nu, I raise a flashing-flame with the
|
||
|
Lightning of Mine Eye; ever rushing on in the Splendor
|
||
|
of the daily Glorified Ra; giving my life to the
|
||
|
dwellers of Earth."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Truly will he have learned the meaning of 49,
|
||
|
which is Solve'.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter VIII
|
||
|
|
||
|
Having briefly discussed the "Tree of Life" in its
|
||
|
Prismatic form, we should now pass on to a
|
||
|
consideration of its "Multiplication" and "Projection";
|
||
|
for we have indeed found it to be "The Stone of the
|
||
|
Wise."
|
||
|
|
||
|
This Crystal Stone is capable of indefinite
|
||
|
increase or decrease, very much in the same manner as
|
||
|
was found possible in regard to the flat two-
|
||
|
dimensional figure.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Center of Malkuth will once more be our
|
||
|
starting point, and now we shall find the smallest Tree
|
||
|
will be within the next larger one, and so on. (See
|
||
|
Plate D.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Central Core of this Prismatic Tree will
|
||
|
always consist of Malkuth, Yesod, Tiphereth, and
|
||
|
Kether, united by the Three Channels of Aleph, Mem, and
|
||
|
Shin. These will be found to combine and recombine as
|
||
|
the "Tree" progresses in size. The Kether of the
|
||
|
smallest Tree will always be embedded in the Tiphereth
|
||
|
of the next larger, and these two again in Yesod of the
|
||
|
next. The triplication of the Tree makes little
|
||
|
difference to these Sephiroth and Paths, but we shall
|
||
|
find it affects some of the others.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Three Netzach-Hods of the smallest Tree will
|
||
|
appear as spheres in the center of the Three Venus-
|
||
|
Mercury Paths of the next larger, and so on,
|
||
|
indefinitely.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Three Chesed-Geburahs of the smallest Tree
|
||
|
will form similar spheres in the centers of the Triple
|
||
|
Channels of Cancer-Luna of the next Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Three Chokmah-Binahs will likewise be found in
|
||
|
the centers of the Three Channels of Leo-Gemini, and so
|
||
|
on. These last named spheres will always be half way
|
||
|
embedded in the surface of the Sphere of Yesod of the
|
||
|
next larger Prismatic Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Student should trace out these correspondences
|
||
|
for himself, making a careful study of the accompanying
|
||
|
Plate D, while endeavoring to form a complete mental
|
||
|
picture of these Prismatic Trees.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We are now prepared to take another step in the
|
||
|
development of this marvelous Plan, but first let us
|
||
|
return for a moment to the contemplation of the design
|
||
|
of our "Crystalline Snow-Flake" as shown in Plate B.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In dealing with the two-dimensional aspect of the
|
||
|
Work, we found upon combining SIX of the flat "Trees"
|
||
|
we obtained a Hexagonal Figure of Sixfold-Star. This
|
||
|
symbolism is that of the Macrocosm. What will be the
|
||
|
result of our combining a number of the solid Prismatic
|
||
|
Trees?
|
||
|
|
||
|
Upon experiment we find in this instance that they
|
||
|
do not combine in six-fold arrangement as before, but
|
||
|
that FIVE such Prisms taken together form a perfect
|
||
|
Pentagon, the center of which is Malkuth and the
|
||
|
bounding lines all representing the Paths of Taurus or
|
||
|
"The Hierophant." The lines connecting the Spheres at
|
||
|
the five angles, which are all Netzach-Hods, will each
|
||
|
be Paths of Venus-Mercury.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Of course, looking at the solid figure from this
|
||
|
angle, Malkuth is nearer to us than the Netzach-Hod
|
||
|
Spheres, for the latter are connected by the retreating
|
||
|
Paths of Venus-Mercury. In addition to this Pentagon we
|
||
|
should also see something of the remainder of the five
|
||
|
solid Trees, in perspective, as they spread out behind
|
||
|
or away from us.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Great Work, as symbolized in the Word of the
|
||
|
Aeon, ABRAHADABRA, has always consisted in finding the
|
||
|
equivalence between the Microcosm and the Macrocosm, or
|
||
|
the formula 5 = 6. Here we find a higher aspect of the
|
||
|
Work, for this solid Figure is built up on purely
|
||
|
Microcosmic Lines of Five Solids to a section. But we
|
||
|
have now discovered a "Rose" capable of extension in
|
||
|
Five Directions to Infinity, and containing within
|
||
|
itself all the Correspondences, with powers of
|
||
|
indefinite multiplication.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Such a figure is not capable of filling the whole
|
||
|
of Space, but when we take FOUR such sections and
|
||
|
combine them, we are able to make the Complete Three
|
||
|
Dimensional Solid, which will extend in every direction
|
||
|
as the Trees Progress in Size, thus completely filling
|
||
|
all known space. Such a figure is composed of Twenty of
|
||
|
our original Prismatic Trees, and 20 is the numeration
|
||
|
of IVD, the basic letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, and
|
||
|
the First Letter of the Ineffable Name. It is also the
|
||
|
Numeration of the Letter Kaph, which corresponds to
|
||
|
"The Wheel of Life" and the Father IU-Pater.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When these are so combined, the central Point of
|
||
|
Malkuth is completely embedded in the Center of the
|
||
|
Figure (unless it be built of actual Crystals, in which
|
||
|
case we should be able to get a glimpse of it).
|
||
|
|
||
|
The accompanying plate showing the "Projection" of
|
||
|
the Stone, will make the matter clear to the Student,
|
||
|
and open up a wonderful vista to his mind.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have now a figure capable of progression in
|
||
|
twenty directions. The true Kether is concealed within
|
||
|
the Malkuth at the Center, and this expands spherically
|
||
|
as the size of the solid increases.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have 20 Projecting Kethers representing the
|
||
|
Forerunners of Light, followed by 60 Chokmah-Binahs and
|
||
|
60 Chesed-Geburahs. Then follow 20 Tiphereths concealed
|
||
|
in the cores of the Prisms and representing the
|
||
|
Substance of the Light which is the Soul or Life. We
|
||
|
are able to perceive only 12 Netzach-Hods, for these
|
||
|
have now united into groups of five dual spheres in
|
||
|
one. Within the cores of the prisms, next follow 20
|
||
|
Yesods, while a single Malkuth is at the Central Point
|
||
|
of All.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have, therefore, One Hundred and Ninety-Three
|
||
|
Spheres in all, connected with the un-progressed
|
||
|
figure, and this number reduces to Thirteen, which is
|
||
|
Unity. 193, it may be remarked, is also a prime number.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There are 60 Paths equivalent to Iu-Pater-Saturn;
|
||
|
60 which correspond to Aquarius; 60 to Sagittarius-
|
||
|
Mars; 60 to Scorpio; and 60 to Virgo-Libra.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But there are only 30 representing Taurus or "The
|
||
|
Hierophant" since these have now combined in pairs.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus we have 330 Visible Paths.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There are 20 Invisible Paths of Air.
|
||
|
|
||
|
20 Invisible Paths of Water.
|
||
|
|
||
|
20 Invisible Paths of Fire or Spirit.
|
||
|
|
||
|
60 Invisible Paths of Sol-Capricorn.
|
||
|
|
||
|
60 Invisible Paths of Leo-Gemini.
|
||
|
|
||
|
60 Invisible Paths of Cancer-Luna.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But only 12 Invisible Paths of Venus-Mercury.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus we have 252 Invisible Paths in all. The Paths
|
||
|
of the Tree were always attributed to The Serpent; it
|
||
|
is strange that these invisible Paths should be 252,
|
||
|
which is the numeration of the Hebrew word MAVRH,
|
||
|
meaning "The Serpent's Den."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Total number of Paths in the complete figure
|
||
|
is thus 330 plus 252 which is 582. 330, the number of
|
||
|
visible Paths is equivalent to the Hebrew word MTzR
|
||
|
meaning: Boundary, Terminus, or Crosspath. 582 reduces
|
||
|
to 15, the numeration of IH that Father and Mother of
|
||
|
the Ineffable Name, or if further reduced we get 6,
|
||
|
which is equivalent to V, the Son. IHV, it will be
|
||
|
remembered, represent the three simple letters which,
|
||
|
according to the Sepher Yetzirah, were chosen by God as
|
||
|
His Name in the Six Directions.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The total number of Sephiroth and Paths is 193
|
||
|
plus 582 = 775. This reduces to 10, and therefore to
|
||
|
Unity.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But the Points of the 20 Kethers are so arranged
|
||
|
as to form when connected, TWELVE perfectly regular
|
||
|
Pentagons. Thus the whole structure indicates a perfect
|
||
|
DODECAHEDRON and, when enclosed in the circumscribing
|
||
|
SPHERE, touches it a eighty points. The whole solid may
|
||
|
be considered as capable of expansion by means of the
|
||
|
progression of the unit "Trees" as explained before.
|
||
|
Likewise, it is possible to imagine the reduction or
|
||
|
contraction of the whole figure upon the Infinitely
|
||
|
Small. (See Plate E.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have therefore discovered in the "Tree of
|
||
|
Life," properly Multiplied and Projected according to
|
||
|
the Art of the Wise, what may well be looked upon as
|
||
|
the Anatomy of the Body of God, or the natural
|
||
|
structure of Matter under the Influence of the
|
||
|
Concealed Spirit. Thus the "Unknown Warrior" who made
|
||
|
some such assertion in the presence of Frater
|
||
|
Perdurabo, and earned such scant praise, may have been
|
||
|
inspired to a degree he, himself, little realized.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The following quotation from "The Two Creation
|
||
|
Stories" by James S. Forrester-Brown throws valuable
|
||
|
light upon the conception of the Tree of Life as the
|
||
|
Anatomy of the Body of God.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"When the Divine Will is born in the heart of a
|
||
|
human soul, true free-will begins, for will is only
|
||
|
free when in accord with the Great Will. Knowledge
|
||
|
follows, and life becomes full of meaning and
|
||
|
purposeful activity. The drama of the formal life (the
|
||
|
tree of knowledge) develops in terms of the Higher Will
|
||
|
(the tree of life), so that daily happenings appear to
|
||
|
lift the veil from universal truths, illuminating the
|
||
|
life. When the tree of knowledge and tree of life,
|
||
|
reason and intuition, the personal and the universal,
|
||
|
are harmoniously united in the individualized soul, the
|
||
|
daily life becomes the moving image and expression of
|
||
|
the living Soul of the universe.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"We may think of the tree of life as the arteries
|
||
|
of the Great Cosmic Body. Through these arteries, as
|
||
|
along channels, the cosmic Life pulses forth with every
|
||
|
heart beat of the Great Person. This is a very deep
|
||
|
mystery. Until this Life is caught up by each
|
||
|
individualized soul and returns through himself to the
|
||
|
Great Cosmic Person, flowing back along the veins of
|
||
|
the Great Body, there is no possibility of the power
|
||
|
within the separated soul affecting the Great Person.
|
||
|
Moreover, unless a counter-current is set up, the Life
|
||
|
flows past the soul, and this does not truly live. The
|
||
|
individualized soul requires to fashion capillaries
|
||
|
throughout his nature and keep them in use, to allow of
|
||
|
the return flow through them into the cosmic veins.
|
||
|
That this shall be established he must, greatly daring,
|
||
|
yet with awe and humility, seek to know the nature of
|
||
|
God and of man and the relation between them. When he
|
||
|
is able to see himself as he actually is, he realizes
|
||
|
with a sense of abasement the imperfections and
|
||
|
impurities of his complex personality, and the
|
||
|
immediate necessity to turn from death unto Life. This
|
||
|
does no imply a purely temporary repentance, but a
|
||
|
Great Act of turning back, which cleanses the entire
|
||
|
life of the soul and establishes organized relations
|
||
|
with the Cosmic Person, making it possible for the
|
||
|
"Christ" consciousness to be born "from Above" within
|
||
|
the soul.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"The tree of knowledge is then seen as the veins
|
||
|
of the Great Body along which flow back the counter-
|
||
|
currents carrying the fruitage of the time-order, and
|
||
|
thus the tree of life, with its arteries along which
|
||
|
cosmic life is "timelessly" propelled from the Great
|
||
|
Heart, is complemented. The two trees 'in the midst of
|
||
|
the garden' become united within the Cosmic Heart and
|
||
|
Body, the 'Eden' of the Great Person, and the 'Christ'
|
||
|
consciousness is complete.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"The tree of life may also be thought of as the
|
||
|
tree of universal life growing round and encompassing
|
||
|
the individual soul. When that tree is truly one with
|
||
|
the tree of phenomenal self, the tree of knowledge,
|
||
|
then the abstract and the concrete, the ideal and the
|
||
|
actual are one, and their fruits are the living powers.
|
||
|
From this universal-personal tree spring all the
|
||
|
virtues, and on it they blossom and ripen. They are the
|
||
|
fruits of temporal experience, containing the seeds of
|
||
|
eternal Life, and, as such, correspond to the disciples
|
||
|
of one's own 'Christ within' at the final Consummation.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"In the Apocryphal literature, Michael, Archangel
|
||
|
of the Sun, is set over the tree which, at the time of
|
||
|
the great judgment (note the position of "The Judgment"
|
||
|
as Shin on the Tree. Achad.), is given over to the
|
||
|
righteous, who obtain Life from its fruit. This is the
|
||
|
tree of universal life, now one with the personal tree
|
||
|
in the region of material existence."
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter IX
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us now make a brief resume of our work, so as
|
||
|
to keep in mind a clear conception of the various
|
||
|
stages through which it has passed; but in order to
|
||
|
show the progress that has been made in the solution of
|
||
|
the Mysteries of the Holy Qabalah, we may look back a
|
||
|
few years in order to see more clearly the results of
|
||
|
the influence of the New Aeon and the rapid strides
|
||
|
which have been made since its incoming in the year
|
||
|
1904 E.V.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the year 1886, which happens to be that of the
|
||
|
birth of the present writer, Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, Hon.
|
||
|
Magus of the Soc. Ros. in Ang., translated the ancient
|
||
|
treatise known as the "Sepher Yetzirah" into English,
|
||
|
and read the results of his pioneer work before the
|
||
|
Hermetic Society in London. In 1887 his work was
|
||
|
published in a limited edition of 100 copies by Robert
|
||
|
H. Fryar of Bath, England.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Commenting upon Verses 9-10-11 of Chapter I, which
|
||
|
have been quoted in full in Chapter VI of the present
|
||
|
treatise and which described how IHV looked above and
|
||
|
sealed its height, below and sealed its depth, etc.,
|
||
|
Dr. Westcott gives the following diagrams together with
|
||
|
the words, "Note the description of the Decad. First a
|
||
|
tetrad is formed, then a hexad." And that was all the
|
||
|
explanation which seemed necessary, or was forthcoming,
|
||
|
at the time. Not in any spirit of criticism, but, as
|
||
|
stated above, in order to show the real progress which
|
||
|
has been made, we should compare the simple diagram of
|
||
|
the "hexad" with Plate B of the present work, and we
|
||
|
can hardly fail to notice signs of genuine advance in
|
||
|
Qabalistic thought during the last 37 years.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXXIII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
But the ancient Sepher Yetzirah itself, although
|
||
|
giving a possible indication of this six-fold
|
||
|
development as being present in the mind of the writer,
|
||
|
or compiler, in the distant past, contains little that
|
||
|
could be construed as an indication of the further
|
||
|
development of the Idea in three-dimensional form as
|
||
|
suggested by the present author. There is a verse in
|
||
|
Chapter II which reads: "These twenty-two letters, the
|
||
|
foundations, He arranged as on a sphere, with two
|
||
|
hundred and thirty-one modes of entrance. If the sphere
|
||
|
be rotated forwards, good is implied, if in a
|
||
|
retrograde manner, evil is intended," but it is
|
||
|
doubtful if this can be thought to indicate the
|
||
|
formation of the Dodecahedron and its infinite
|
||
|
progression or expansion. Rather we are inclined to
|
||
|
think we have taken a step not previously written of,
|
||
|
or contemplated in any of the old treatises on the
|
||
|
subject.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In May of last year (1922 E.V.), as the result of
|
||
|
a series of Initiations of a very direct nature, dating
|
||
|
particularly from June 21st, 1916, and developing on
|
||
|
different Planes, December 21st, 1917, September to
|
||
|
October, 1918, April 1921, etc., the present writer
|
||
|
obtained a clue to a new intellectual conception of the
|
||
|
Qabalistic Plan. It seemed that although the 10
|
||
|
Sephiroth were in proper order and arrangement, the
|
||
|
"Paths" could be changed to great advantage, and this
|
||
|
resulted in the publication of "Q.B.L." or The Bride's
|
||
|
Reception, which was an attempt to show clearly the old
|
||
|
methods, and contained the new ideas in the form of an
|
||
|
Appendix.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Meanwhile, in April of this year, he was led to
|
||
|
discover a much more harmonious explanation of the Keys
|
||
|
of the Tarot when they were arranged on the Tree
|
||
|
according to the Revised Order of the Paths. The
|
||
|
results of this investigation have been recorded in
|
||
|
"The Egyptian Revival," to which I must refer the
|
||
|
reader. I may say that this book seems an indication of
|
||
|
the revival of the lost Universal Tradition of the
|
||
|
Golden Age and explains the nature of the present
|
||
|
Egyptian Revival in a reasonable manner.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This work led on to the discoveries recorded in
|
||
|
the present treatise, which may be briefly summed up as
|
||
|
follows:
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Tree of Life in its regular and simple form
|
||
|
has been taken as the basis of our work, but the
|
||
|
revised order of the Paths adopted, as the one which
|
||
|
seems most reasonable.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It became apparent that the due proportions of the
|
||
|
parts of the Tree had not previously been taken into
|
||
|
serious consideration as of vital importance to the
|
||
|
study of the matter. Examples of the designs of "Trees"
|
||
|
in well known works on the subject, show great
|
||
|
variation in this respect.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We discovered that the basis of the Tree was the
|
||
|
Equilateral Triangle, the Vesica Piscis and the
|
||
|
rectangle formed on its length and breadth. These were
|
||
|
shown to have marvelous properties which have been
|
||
|
sufficient to interest and impress some of the most
|
||
|
learned and wise men of past history, and upon which
|
||
|
the style of Gothic Architecture is wholly based. But
|
||
|
the fact that the Qabalistic "Tree of Life" in its
|
||
|
entirety partook of these same marvelous properties,
|
||
|
came to use as a new revelation.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We found that the "Tree" was not fixed, but
|
||
|
capable of indefinite expansion or contraction, so that
|
||
|
it truly lived, and that all our "Ideas" and
|
||
|
"Correspondences" based thereon, were similarly capable
|
||
|
of indefinite progress, thus enabling the mind of man
|
||
|
to expand or contract at will, without interfering with
|
||
|
its balanced and equilibrated arrangement once the Plan
|
||
|
of the Tree had become firmly rooted therein.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We then discovered that, as indicated in the
|
||
|
"Sepher Yetzirah," this plan could be multiplied when
|
||
|
arranged as an ever-increasing Hexagon, based upon the
|
||
|
progression of SIX TREES reflected in the Height,
|
||
|
Depth, North, South, East, and West. This we found to
|
||
|
be the design of the naturally crystallized snowflake,
|
||
|
and it gave us the means of filling all two-dimensional
|
||
|
Space.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We further discovered that the Original Tree might
|
||
|
be considered as a Prismatic Solid in Three Dimensions
|
||
|
and that FIVE such prisms formed a perfect pentagonal
|
||
|
figure when united. In other words the means of
|
||
|
changing the Hexagram into the Pentagram is through a
|
||
|
transition from 2 to 3 dimensions, as can be simply
|
||
|
shown if we take a piece of paper, cut into a perfect
|
||
|
Hexagon, or Hexagram, and then make another cut from
|
||
|
one point to the center, as in the following diagram.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure xxxiv here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
We shall find that this piece of paper will fold
|
||
|
into a perfect Pentagon or Pentagram if we slide one
|
||
|
half of the divided point "A" under the figure till it
|
||
|
coincides with "B," thus raising the center of the
|
||
|
figure into the third dimension.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Four of these blocks of Five Trees were found to
|
||
|
form a solid capable of progression in all directions
|
||
|
so as to fill every dimension of known space, and the
|
||
|
nature of the whole figure was found to be that of a
|
||
|
perfect Dodecahedron or Twelve-fold figure, each side
|
||
|
of which is a perfect Pentagon. Perhaps this represents
|
||
|
the Tree in the Midst of the Garden having Twelve
|
||
|
manner of Fruits. Each of the surfaces being
|
||
|
Pentagonal, represents a Microcosm or Type of Man and
|
||
|
may be attributed to one of the Twelve Signs of the
|
||
|
Zodiac, Twelve Tribes, Apostles, Knights of the Round
|
||
|
Table, etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
At the Center of All is Malkuth, so that this is
|
||
|
indeed the "Closed Palace of the Bride," the secrets of
|
||
|
which were promised as a reward to those who succeeded
|
||
|
in interpreting the Mysteries of the New Aeon.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This Prismatic and Crystalline conception of the
|
||
|
"Tree" is perhaps the reward mentioned in Liber Legis
|
||
|
of those who have passed the "Third Ordeal." Chapter
|
||
|
III states:
|
||
|
|
||
|
"63. The fool readeth this Book of the Law and its
|
||
|
comment: and he understandeth it not.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"64. Let him come through the first ordeal, and it
|
||
|
will be to him as silver.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"65. Through the second, gold.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"66. Through the third, stones of precious water.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"67. Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of the
|
||
|
infinite fire.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"68. Yet to all it shall seem beautiful. Its
|
||
|
enemies who say not so, are mere liars.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"69. There is success."
|
||
|
|
||
|
But what of the ultimate sparks of the intimate
|
||
|
fire? Who knows! There may be yet some further
|
||
|
revelation before all is accomplished. But to my mind
|
||
|
this refers to the Mystery of Hadit, the Concealed
|
||
|
Center, the Lost Father, Who is the Core of every Star,
|
||
|
and the Flame that burn in every heart of man. For,
|
||
|
since the Universe is the Child of the Two Infinites,
|
||
|
every point in space is equally the Center of the
|
||
|
Whole, and the Spirit of God is in each of us, as an
|
||
|
ultimate spark of the intimate fire.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But, in any case, we have progressed, and we have
|
||
|
discovered a strange new interpretation of the
|
||
|
prophetic words of "Liber A'Ash," which states:
|
||
|
|
||
|
"This chain reaches from Eternity to Eternity,
|
||
|
ever in triangles -- is not my symbol a triangle? --
|
||
|
ever in circles -- is not the symbol of the Beloved a
|
||
|
circle? Therein is all progress base illusion, for
|
||
|
every circle is alike and every triangle alike!
|
||
|
|
||
|
"But the progress is progress, and progress is
|
||
|
rapture, constant, dazzling showers of light, waves of
|
||
|
dew, flames of the hair of the Great Goddess, flowers
|
||
|
of the roses that are about her neck, Amen!"
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter X
|
||
|
|
||
|
After this brief resume we may once again turn our
|
||
|
thoughts to the main results of our researches as
|
||
|
summed up on the Dodecahedron within the perfect
|
||
|
Sphere.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It would almost seem that our original Qabalistic
|
||
|
conceptions have led us out of the realm of thought
|
||
|
usually linked with the Hebrew Qabalah into an
|
||
|
atmosphere of Intelligibles which is associated with
|
||
|
the philosophy of the Masters in ancient Greece. Or, we
|
||
|
may say, as our conceptions have expanded towards the
|
||
|
Universal, we have contacted another set of teachings,
|
||
|
thus uniting Hebrew and Greek thought.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Plato informs us in his _Republic_: "Geometry
|
||
|
rightly treated is the knowledge of the Eternal," and
|
||
|
he is reported by Plutarch to have said that "God is
|
||
|
always geometrizing." Nor was the conception of the
|
||
|
Universe in the form of the Dodecahedron unknown to
|
||
|
Plato, for in his _Timaeus_ this idea is clearly
|
||
|
indicated.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But just how this solid figure was built up so as
|
||
|
to symbolize the Universe in all its details, if known
|
||
|
to the ancients, was not revealed. Let us see, however,
|
||
|
what hints are to be found in the writings of other
|
||
|
authorities.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Proclus, in his Introduction to Books II and III
|
||
|
of Plato's _Republic_, says: "But the former (Vulcan)
|
||
|
artificially fabricated the whole sensible order, and
|
||
|
filling it with physical reasons and powers. He also
|
||
|
fashioned _twenty_tripods_ about the heavens, that he
|
||
|
may adorn them with the most perfect of the many sided
|
||
|
figures and fabricates various and many-formed
|
||
|
sublunary species." To which Thomas Taylor, the great
|
||
|
Cambridge Platonist, adds, "Viz.: the dodecahedron,
|
||
|
which is bounded by twelve equal and equilateral
|
||
|
pentagons, and consists of twenty solid angles, of
|
||
|
which the tripods of Vulcan are images; for every angle
|
||
|
of the dodecahedron is formed from the junction of
|
||
|
three lines."
|
||
|
|
||
|
There are several references to the dodecahedron
|
||
|
in Madam Blavatsky's _Secret_Doctrine_, among which the
|
||
|
following is of special interest. "The most distinct
|
||
|
and the one prevailing idea, found in all ancient
|
||
|
teaching, with reference to Cosmic Evolution and the
|
||
|
first 'creation' of our Globe with all its products,
|
||
|
organic and inorganic -- strange word for an Occultist
|
||
|
to use! -- is that the whole Kosmos has sprung from the
|
||
|
Divine Thought. This Thought impregnates Matter, which
|
||
|
is co-eternal with the One Reality; and all that lives
|
||
|
and breathes evolves from the Emanations of the One
|
||
|
Immutable Parabrahman-Mulaprakriti, the Eternal One-
|
||
|
Root. The former of these, in its aspect of the Central
|
||
|
Point turned inward, so to say, into regions quite
|
||
|
inaccessible to human intellect is Absolute
|
||
|
Abstraction; whereas, in its aspect as Mulaprakriti the
|
||
|
Eternal Root of All, it gives one at least some hazy
|
||
|
comprehension of the Mystery of Being.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Therefore, it was taught in the inner temples
|
||
|
that the visible Universe of Spirit and Matter is but
|
||
|
the Concrete Image of the Ideal Abstraction; it was
|
||
|
built on the Model of the First Divine Idea. Thus, our
|
||
|
Universe existed from eternity in a latent state. The
|
||
|
Soul animating this purely Spiritual Universe is the
|
||
|
Central Sun, the highest Deity Itself. It was not the
|
||
|
One who built the concrete form of the idea, but the
|
||
|
First Begotten; and, as it was constructed on the
|
||
|
geometrical figure of the dodecahedron the First
|
||
|
Begotten 'was pleased to employ 12,000 years in its
|
||
|
creation.' "
|
||
|
|
||
|
It would seem, from the above, that the "Model of
|
||
|
the First Divine Idea" may have been very much in
|
||
|
harmony with the ideal Formative Principle we have been
|
||
|
studying.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This conception of the Universe as a Dodecahedron
|
||
|
appears if not to have originated with Plato, to have
|
||
|
first been mentioned by him in his writings. All the
|
||
|
references I have so far discovered in connection with
|
||
|
the idea, can be traced back to this source. Mr. Harley
|
||
|
Burr Alexander, of the University of Nebraska, makes
|
||
|
some interesting remarks in this connection (Nature and
|
||
|
Human Nature, P. 378). " 'We must conceive,' says
|
||
|
Plato, 'of three natures: first, that which is in
|
||
|
process of generation, and this would be the world of
|
||
|
nature as we experience it; second, that in which the
|
||
|
generation takes place, and this is the recipient or
|
||
|
matrix of nature; and third, that of which the
|
||
|
generated world is an image, and this is the cosmic
|
||
|
reason or form. We may liken the receiving principle to
|
||
|
a mother, and the source or spring to a father, and the
|
||
|
intermediate nature to a child,' he says, and we think
|
||
|
immediately of the mythopoetic union of Earth and
|
||
|
Heaven and the Life of Nature which is its offspring.
|
||
|
But for Plato this is a mere trope; he does not rest
|
||
|
without being scientifically explicit. 'There are three
|
||
|
kinds of being: that which is uncreated and
|
||
|
indestructible, changeless, eternal, imperceptible to
|
||
|
any sense, open only to the contemplation of the
|
||
|
intelligence, and this is the principle of the Father,
|
||
|
the ideal or formal essence of the world; again, that
|
||
|
which is sensible and created and always in motion, the
|
||
|
Child, the world of change and life; and finally, there
|
||
|
is a third nature, the Mother, which, like the Father,
|
||
|
is eternal and admits not of destruction, which
|
||
|
provides a home for all created things, and is
|
||
|
apprehended 'without the help of sense, by a kind of
|
||
|
spurious reason, and is indeed hardly real.' This
|
||
|
nature is space, and we beholding as in a dream, say of
|
||
|
all existence that it must of necessity be in some
|
||
|
place and occupy a space, but that what is neither in
|
||
|
heaven nor in earth has no existence.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"This mothering space which is hardly real, yet is
|
||
|
the cause of the determinism of nature, Plato
|
||
|
identifies as the material element of being. As pure
|
||
|
matter, it is purely indeterminate, but it is receptive
|
||
|
of all determinations. The four elements, earth, air,
|
||
|
fire and water, are formed from it, for 'the mother
|
||
|
substance becomes earth and air, insofar as she
|
||
|
receives the impressions of them.' Plato's conception
|
||
|
of the formation of these elements from the original
|
||
|
substance was as purely mathematical as are our modern
|
||
|
physical notions. 'God fashioned them by form and
|
||
|
number,' he says: and the forms which he assigned were
|
||
|
the forms of the regular solids. Thus the form of the
|
||
|
fiery element is the pyramid, of air, the octahedron;
|
||
|
of water, the icosahedron; of earth, the cube. The
|
||
|
fifth solid, the _Dodecahedron_, is the form of the
|
||
|
universe as a whole, or perhaps one might say the
|
||
|
_scaffold upon which the spherical universe is
|
||
|
constructed_. Further, these elements are themselves
|
||
|
compounded of simpler mathematical forms, the pyramid,
|
||
|
octahedron and icosahedron of equilateral, the cube of
|
||
|
isosceles triangles; so that if we regard the elements
|
||
|
as molecules, we may view the triangles as atoms of the
|
||
|
material substrate.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Doubtless it was this geometrical account of
|
||
|
matter which gave rise to the saying ascribed to Plato
|
||
|
that 'God always geometrizes' -- for God, says Plutarch
|
||
|
in his commentary on the saying, made the world in no
|
||
|
other way than by setting terms to infinite and chaotic
|
||
|
matter."
|
||
|
|
||
|
There seems to have been many attempts to find a
|
||
|
solution to this problem raised by Plato; and
|
||
|
apparently as many failures. For instance, the author
|
||
|
of "The Canon" remarks; "Nearly all the old
|
||
|
philosophers devised an harmonic theory with respect to
|
||
|
the universe, and the practice continued till the old
|
||
|
mode of philosophizing died out.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Kepler, in order to demonstrate the Platonic
|
||
|
doctrine, that the universe was formed of the five
|
||
|
regular solids, proposed the following rule. 'The earth
|
||
|
is a circle, the measurer of all. Round it describe a
|
||
|
dodecahedron; the circle inclosing this will be Mars.
|
||
|
Round Mars describe a tetrahedron; the sphere inclosing
|
||
|
this will be Jupiter. Describe a cube round Jupiter;
|
||
|
the sphere containing this will be Saturn. Now inscribe
|
||
|
in the earth an icosahedron; the circle inscribed in it
|
||
|
will be Venus. Inscribe an octahedron in Venus; the
|
||
|
circle inscribed in it will be Mercury.' ("Mysterium
|
||
|
Cosmographicum," 1596).
|
||
|
|
||
|
"This rule cannot be taken seriously as a real
|
||
|
statement of the proportions of the cosmos, for it
|
||
|
bears no resemblance to the ratios published by
|
||
|
Copernicus in the beginning of the sixteenth century.
|
||
|
Yet Kepler was very proud of his formula, and said he
|
||
|
valued it more than the Electorate of Saxony. It was
|
||
|
also approved by those two eminent authorities, Tycho
|
||
|
and Galileo, who evidently understood it. Kepler
|
||
|
himself never gives the least hint of how his precious
|
||
|
rule is to be interpreted."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The author of "The Canon" then submits a proposed
|
||
|
plan of finding universal measurements symbolically
|
||
|
concealed in the above rule, but in order to do this he
|
||
|
assumes that the figures need not be taken as solids
|
||
|
but as so many regular plane polygons. But this seems
|
||
|
to me quite a departure from the problem. Also Plato
|
||
|
connected these solids with the Elements rather than
|
||
|
with the Planets.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But I think our complex solid will be found to
|
||
|
contain those mentioned by Plato, although such a
|
||
|
thought did not enter my mind until quite lately.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It should be remembered that the Qabalists
|
||
|
attribute the four elements to Malkuth, which is often
|
||
|
called the Sphere of the Elements. Now Malkuth has
|
||
|
remained a perfect Sphere in our plan and in fact
|
||
|
represents the Material Substance of the Universe. But
|
||
|
the Qabalists have in particular attributed to Malkuth
|
||
|
the Element of Earth, while to the next three
|
||
|
Sephiroth, Yesod, Hod, and Netzach, have been assigned
|
||
|
Air, Water, and Fire.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Earth, as Matter, has always been symbolized by
|
||
|
the Cube, or the Cube within the Sphere, and we may
|
||
|
well consider this Cube to be concealed in the Sphere
|
||
|
of Malkuth. The lower section of the Prismatic Tree,
|
||
|
that representing the four lower Sephiroth of the
|
||
|
Elements, is in the form of a perfect tetrahedron, that
|
||
|
is to say, a solid bounded by four plane triangular
|
||
|
faces, each of which is equilateral. And again we find
|
||
|
this same solid with a central core of Fire -- the Path
|
||
|
of Shin -- comprising the combinations of Chokmah,
|
||
|
Binah, and Tiphereth. Plato particularly attributes
|
||
|
this form to Fire.
|
||
|
|
||
|
That portion of our Complete Complex Solid,
|
||
|
representing the Elemental Sephiroth; viz., up to the
|
||
|
Planes of "The Hierophant" which are penetrated by the
|
||
|
Central Paths of Mem, or Water, is composed of twenty
|
||
|
of the above solids so conjoined as to produce a
|
||
|
perfect icosahedron, viz.: -- a solid bounded by twenty
|
||
|
equilateral triangles. This is particularly attributed
|
||
|
to Water in the Platonic scheme.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When the progression is made to include Tiphereth,
|
||
|
the twenty equilateral planes become points, or tripods
|
||
|
which mark out the Dodecahedron, while the Second
|
||
|
Progression of the Tree exactly encloses this. The
|
||
|
points of the twenty Kethers indicate a similar but
|
||
|
larger solid.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus we have disposed of four of the five regular
|
||
|
solids.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The last, or octahedron, presents some difficulty.
|
||
|
This is a solid bounded by eight equal and equilateral
|
||
|
plane surfaces, and six summits or vertices. I have so
|
||
|
far been unable to discover that such a solid exists
|
||
|
within our complex solid while deriving its surfaces
|
||
|
and angles from regular sections of the Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But what a first sight appears a difficulty may
|
||
|
possibly become a clue when we consider that this form
|
||
|
is attributed to the Elements of Air. Fire, Water, and
|
||
|
Earth are all perceptible to our sense of sight -- not
|
||
|
so Air. I do not want this to appear as an evasion of
|
||
|
the issue, for in any case there are interesting
|
||
|
indications of this missing form in the Tree of Life as
|
||
|
originally outlined.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It will be found that four small equilateral
|
||
|
triangles are shown on the Tree uniting the Six
|
||
|
Sephiroth which are attributed to Vau in the Four-
|
||
|
lettered Name, and Vau is the letter of Air. These four
|
||
|
triangles are arranged thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure xxxvi here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
It will be found that if a plane surface be folded
|
||
|
on the lines where these triangles join, and if the
|
||
|
points represented by Chesed and Geburah be drawn
|
||
|
together, it forms exactly one-half of an Octahedron.
|
||
|
And it may further be noted that, leaving out from the
|
||
|
figure of the whole Tree that portion which represents
|
||
|
our tetrahedron, plus Kether, the remainder has the
|
||
|
following form:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXXVII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
This, it will be observed, represents the portion
|
||
|
just described which makes up the half-octahedron,
|
||
|
together with just enough additional surface material
|
||
|
to form four other equilateral triangles required for
|
||
|
the completion of the figure. But, without severing the
|
||
|
fragments, we cannot take a sheet of paper and fold it
|
||
|
into the desired shape, as was the case when making the
|
||
|
solid prismatic Tree itself.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But even in the latter case a very interesting
|
||
|
thing will be noticed -- the summit of the Supernal
|
||
|
Triad disappears. For, whether we take Three Trees
|
||
|
connected at the side thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXXVIII here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
or Three Trees radiating from Kether thus:
|
||
|
|
||
|
[insert figure XXXIX here]
|
||
|
|
||
|
we find, upon experiment in folding, that although
|
||
|
the lower triangle fits together perfectly, when we
|
||
|
bend the paper back along the lines of the Path of
|
||
|
Aquarius we get a flat top with Kether on a level with
|
||
|
Chokmah and Binah. Therefore, although for the sake of
|
||
|
retaining the appearance of the original two-
|
||
|
dimensional figure, we must build up a Summit to
|
||
|
represent Kether; we do so, as it were, with apologies
|
||
|
to the Supreme One which must ever remain unmanifest to
|
||
|
our lower senses. In other words the Summit of the
|
||
|
Supernals cannot be conceived as a "solid," or even as
|
||
|
partaking of "form" in the realm of ideas. This, rather
|
||
|
than detracting from our plan, leads us to a most
|
||
|
important truth, viz.: that in our researches we must
|
||
|
never for a moment forget the Superessential excellence
|
||
|
of the ONE and the GOOD. For, as Simplicius beautifully
|
||
|
observes, "It is requisite that he who ascends to the
|
||
|
principle of things, should investigate whether it is
|
||
|
possible there can be anything better than the supposed
|
||
|
principle; and if something more excellent is found,
|
||
|
the same inquiry should again be made respecting that,
|
||
|
till we arrive at the highest conception, than which we
|
||
|
have no longer any more venerable. Nor should we stop
|
||
|
in our ascent till we find this to be the case. For
|
||
|
there is no occasion to fear that our progression will
|
||
|
be through an unsubstantial void, by conceiving
|
||
|
something about the first principles which is greater
|
||
|
than and surpasses their nature. For it is not possible
|
||
|
for our conceptions to take such a mighty leap as to
|
||
|
equal, and much less to pass beyond the dignity of the
|
||
|
first principle of things." He adds: "This, therefore,
|
||
|
is one and the best extension (of the soul) to (the
|
||
|
highest) God, and is as much as possible
|
||
|
irreprehensible; viz., to know firmly, that by
|
||
|
ascribing to him the most venerable excellencies we can
|
||
|
conceive, and the most holy and primary names and
|
||
|
things, we ascribe nothing to him which is suitable to
|
||
|
his dignity. It is sufficient, however, to procure our
|
||
|
pardon (for the attempt) that we can attribute to him
|
||
|
nothing superior."
|
||
|
|
||
|
And in respect of our pardon we may devoutly hope
|
||
|
that Simplicius was right.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter 11
|
||
|
|
||
|
Plato said in regard to the Elements of the
|
||
|
Universe: "God fashioned them by form and number." We
|
||
|
have had something to say about Form but have touched
|
||
|
very little upon Number. It will be well for use to
|
||
|
make a few observations in the light of the Forms we
|
||
|
have reconstructed.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I shall have little to say in regard to the
|
||
|
Numbers attributed to the ordinary Qabalistic Plan of
|
||
|
the Sephiroth, these having been dealt with in "Q.B.L."
|
||
|
and elsewhere. It is merely necessary to recapitulate
|
||
|
as follows:
|
||
|
|
||
|
The simple two-dimensional figure consists of 10
|
||
|
Sephiroth; 10 being the sum of the numbers from 1 to 4.
|
||
|
This importance of this lies in the Fourfold Nature of
|
||
|
the Ineffable Name which is the Formula of the whole
|
||
|
System. There are 22 (2 + 2 = 4) connecting links or
|
||
|
Paths. These consist of 3 + 7 + 12, and correspond to
|
||
|
the Elements, Planets, and Signs of the Zodiac. In all
|
||
|
we have 32, called, in relation to this System, the 32
|
||
|
Paths of Wisdom, representing the whole figure. One of
|
||
|
the special virtues of this number is that it
|
||
|
represents the coalescence of Macroprosopus and
|
||
|
Microprosopus in the Divine Name AHIHVH, and thus shows
|
||
|
the connection between Kether -- The Highest Crown --
|
||
|
and the Nine lower Sephiroth, which emanated from it.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When we allow this simple figure to expand in one
|
||
|
direction, as previously explained, we find, since
|
||
|
Malkuth remains One and the same throughout, that the
|
||
|
Second Tree contains 19 Sephiroth, which is a prime
|
||
|
number, reduces by addition to 10. Likewise the Third
|
||
|
Tree consists of 28 Sephiroth, a Perfect Number which
|
||
|
again reduces to the original 10 and therefore to 1 or
|
||
|
Unity. The Fourth Tree contains 37 Sephiroth, another
|
||
|
prime number reducing to 10. The Fifth gives 46 which
|
||
|
reduces to 10, while the Sixth represents 55 which not
|
||
|
only does this but is the Sum of the Numbers from 1 to
|
||
|
10. And since the number of the Sephiroth will be
|
||
|
increased by 9 at every progression, their total, at
|
||
|
each step, will always reduce to 10 by addition.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The 22 Paths of the first figure will increase by
|
||
|
20's to 42, 62, and so on, since two of these -- Beth
|
||
|
and Daleth -- retain their own nature indefinitely.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus the progressions of the whole Tree will be
|
||
|
from the original 32 to 61 and so on; 29 being added
|
||
|
each time.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We may now consider the outstanding features of
|
||
|
the figure when shown expanding in Six directions as
|
||
|
the Snowflake. Since Netzach and Hod now combine we
|
||
|
have in all 49 Sephiroth in the unprogressed figure.
|
||
|
This, it may be remarked, is a distinctly Venusian
|
||
|
Number (that of the Intelligence of Venus) and the
|
||
|
Square of Seven. It reduces to 13, the number of Unity
|
||
|
and Love. The number of Paths in this figure is 126 (a
|
||
|
number attributed to two important Names of God) and
|
||
|
this, added to 49, gives 175 as the total number of
|
||
|
Sephiroth and Paths. This, it may be remarked, is the
|
||
|
Number of the Spirit of Venus. It represents the sum of
|
||
|
the numbers from 1 to 49 divided by 7, and it again
|
||
|
reduces to 13 by addition.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When we consider the progressions of this Sixfold
|
||
|
Figure we find the Sephiroth increase by 48 each time,
|
||
|
Malkuth remaining single. This is of interest because
|
||
|
48 is the numeration of KVKB, the Sphere of Mercury,
|
||
|
and we find the particular feature of this Sixfold plan
|
||
|
is that the Spheres of Venus and Mercury are forever
|
||
|
united. I have always considered this word Kokab to be
|
||
|
in some way connected with the words Khu and Khabs; Khu
|
||
|
being the Magickal entity of man, and Khabs meaning a
|
||
|
Star. Considering this arrangement is as a Sixfold Star
|
||
|
and the uniting of the Paths and Spheres of Venus and
|
||
|
Mercury as Love under Will, this will be interesting to
|
||
|
Students of the New Aeon.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The number of Sephiroth in the Second progression
|
||
|
is therefore 49 + 48 = 97. This is another prime number
|
||
|
and that of the Archangel of Netzach. It has many other
|
||
|
correspondences, one of which is "An architect." The
|
||
|
next progression gives us 145 which, according to the
|
||
|
old arrangement, corresponds to the 13 Paths of the
|
||
|
Beard of Microprosopus. But the Fourth progression
|
||
|
produces 193, another prime number of particular
|
||
|
importance since it is the Number of Sephiroth in the
|
||
|
unprogressed but complete three-dimensional solid which
|
||
|
forms the Dodecahedron. 193 also reduces to 13, which,
|
||
|
it may be remarked, is the number of Sephiroth in the
|
||
|
single prismatic solid.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The 126 Paths of the sixfold plan progress by
|
||
|
adding 120 each time (since the Paths of Venus and
|
||
|
Mercury are combined) and this is a very important
|
||
|
Number to the Rosicrucian, and on account of its
|
||
|
representing the God ON. Other interesting numbers can
|
||
|
be traced out by the Student who possesses a copy of
|
||
|
the Sepher Sephiroth. The whole figure progresses by
|
||
|
the addition of 168 (the additional 48 Sephiroth and
|
||
|
120 Paths) and this is a very important number, being
|
||
|
that of the Parentes Superni.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We may now engage in a brief consideration of the
|
||
|
Solid Figure. The first simple form contains 13
|
||
|
Sephiroth, which number gives it the Seal of Unity.
|
||
|
This solid also contains 13 parts which produces the
|
||
|
angles representing the Paths. Thus it represents 26,
|
||
|
the Number of the Ineffable Name.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When this solid is extended in 20 directions (20
|
||
|
is the full numeration of IVD, the first letter of the
|
||
|
Name spelled in full) 193 Sephiroth are produced. These
|
||
|
added to the 260 (13 X 20) parts give 453, a number
|
||
|
reducing to 12 which is the number of pentagonal faces
|
||
|
on the 20-pointed dodecahedron. But, which is perhaps
|
||
|
of greater interest, this number 453 is that of NPSh
|
||
|
ChIH, the Animal Soul in its fullness; i.e., including
|
||
|
the Creative Entity or Chiah. The importance of this
|
||
|
will be plain when we remember that the total number of
|
||
|
Sephiroth and Paths in the Whole Solid is -- as has
|
||
|
been shown in Chapter VII -- 775 and this, added to the
|
||
|
260 parts or sectional solids, gives 1035, which is the
|
||
|
sum of the numbers from 1 to 45. Now 45 being the
|
||
|
numeration of ADM (Adam) indicates that we have once
|
||
|
more shown the Qabalistic ADAM in all his Spiritual and
|
||
|
Animal fullness and that he once again contains the sum
|
||
|
of all his parts.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Also the 20 points and 12 faces of the
|
||
|
dodecahedron equal 32, the original number of the Paths
|
||
|
of Wisdom.
|
||
|
|
||
|
One other point seems worthy of notice in this
|
||
|
connection. The _Sepher_Yetzirah_ makes a very strong
|
||
|
feature of TEN Sephiroth (ten and not nine, ten and
|
||
|
not eleven), and it may be assumed that we have
|
||
|
departed entirely from this fundamental conception.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But it is also true that the ancient Qabalists
|
||
|
considered the Three Veils of the Negative -- AIN, AIN
|
||
|
SUPH, AIN SUPH AUR -- as depending back from Kether;
|
||
|
thus, although these are _unmanifest_, the whole scheme
|
||
|
was based on 13. It may be further remarked that there
|
||
|
are Seven Sephiroth below the Supernal Triad and the
|
||
|
Three unmanifest Ideas above, so that we have, as it
|
||
|
were, 7 + 3 = 10, 10 + 3 = 13; the 10 standing midway
|
||
|
between the 7 and the 13.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now it has been pointed out that the progressions
|
||
|
of the single Tree are made by the addition of nines,
|
||
|
so that each number produced reduces to 10 when we add
|
||
|
the digits. In this case, then, the essence of the
|
||
|
original basis remains. Nor is this basis lost when we
|
||
|
consider the Sixfold two-dimensional figure, the Single
|
||
|
Prismatic solid, and the Twenty-fold solid and their
|
||
|
progressions, although it is more deeply concealed in
|
||
|
these instances.
|
||
|
|
||
|
All these start from a basis of 13. The Single
|
||
|
solid has 13 Sephiroth and increases by the addition of
|
||
|
12 at each progression. Thus the series is 13, 25,
|
||
|
37, 49, 61, 73, 85, etc. If we reduce these by
|
||
|
addition (leaving the first as it stands) we obtain 13,
|
||
|
7, 10, 13, 7, 10, 13, etc. Now this is the series we
|
||
|
noticed above in regard to the original Tree -- the 10
|
||
|
Sephiroth with three Veils above the Supernal Triad and
|
||
|
7 Spheres below it. And this series recurs with every
|
||
|
three progressions, so that since 7 + 10 + 13 = 30, the
|
||
|
average is still, in essence, 10 throughout.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And when we consider the Sixfold Plan we start
|
||
|
with 49 which reduces to 13, and progress by adding 48.
|
||
|
Now 48 being 4 times 12 we find we are running in a
|
||
|
series which coincides at certain definite points with
|
||
|
the previous one, and the same peculiar rule is noticed
|
||
|
in regard to our reductions of digits. Thus, 49, 97,
|
||
|
145, 193, 241, 289, 337, etc., etc., reduce to 13, 7,
|
||
|
10, 13, 7, 10, 13, etc. as before.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The same is true of the complete solid. We begin
|
||
|
with 193 which reduces to 13, and progress by adding
|
||
|
192; which in this case is 4 times 48. Therefor we find
|
||
|
the same underlying law if we consider 193, 385, 577,
|
||
|
769, 961, 1153, 1345, etc., with the exception of the
|
||
|
one instance of 769, which reduces to 22 (the number of
|
||
|
paths) on its way to its final reduction to 4 without
|
||
|
first forming 13 as in all the other cases.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And we of course find that every fourth
|
||
|
progression of one series coincides with the number
|
||
|
produced by one of the others. Thus the fourth
|
||
|
progression of the Prism gives us 49 which is the basic
|
||
|
number of the Star. The fourth progression of the Star
|
||
|
gives us 193, the basic number of the complete solid,
|
||
|
and so on. In fact every progression of the Star will
|
||
|
give a number which is that of some progression of the
|
||
|
Simple Solid, and _every_ progression of the Complex
|
||
|
Solid a number equal to some progression of both the
|
||
|
Star and the Simple Solid, and the numbers common to
|
||
|
all will always reduce to 13 (or 4).
|
||
|
|
||
|
A word now in regard to the proportion of the
|
||
|
various parts of our figures. We found in constructing
|
||
|
the first simple plan of the Sephiroth and Paths that
|
||
|
the proportion of the Diameter of the Sephiroth to the
|
||
|
Width of the Paths was very important, especially in
|
||
|
regard to the Progressions.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I noticed recently that in his footnotes to the
|
||
|
new edition of Eliphas Levi's Transcendental Magic, Mr.
|
||
|
A. E. Waite makes the following remarks, evidently with
|
||
|
the intention of discrediting Levi: "In the Tree of
|
||
|
Life KETHER, the Supreme Crown, abides above CHOKMAH
|
||
|
and BINAH, forming with these the Supernal Triad, below
|
||
|
which are CHESED and GEBURAH. It must be said further
|
||
|
that the Tree comprises three triangles, beneath which
|
||
|
is MALKUTH. There is _no_circle_, as Levi suggests,
|
||
|
except in the accidental sense that the names and
|
||
|
titles of each Sephira are inscribed within this
|
||
|
figure."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Without some idea of a Circle or Sphere, if only
|
||
|
to represent the Absolute or the Universe, one can
|
||
|
hardly conceive of any Qabalistic Scheme at all; and
|
||
|
that all the Qabalists have merely used the Sephiroth
|
||
|
as convenient receptacles for names and inscriptions
|
||
|
while giving to the Paths any semblance of reality,
|
||
|
seems to me rather puerile.
|
||
|
|
||
|
However, since the very Points representing the
|
||
|
Centers of the Sephiroth in any properly proportioned
|
||
|
"Tree" are produced by the original generating circles,
|
||
|
we may leave aside Mr. Waite's remarks and consider the
|
||
|
matter as if the Sephiroth were _Circles_ and the Paths
|
||
|
_Lines_.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the construction of the Tree we commence with 4
|
||
|
generating circles. These may be of any desired size,
|
||
|
but by their means we obtain the Centers of the Ten
|
||
|
Sephiroth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The logical diameter of each Sephiroth will be
|
||
|
found to be one-fourth of that of the generating
|
||
|
circles. This makes the length of the short Paths --
|
||
|
such as Aleph -- exactly equal to the diameter of each
|
||
|
Sephiroth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Next, in order to discover the logical width of
|
||
|
the Paths we should examine the structure of the Tree
|
||
|
where the five Paths from above unite in Tiphereth and
|
||
|
the three proceed from below that sphere. It will be
|
||
|
noticed that the natural division of the circle will be
|
||
|
into 12, as this will make all the Paths the same width
|
||
|
and leave a space equal to the width of one path
|
||
|
between the lower ones. Thus the width of each Path
|
||
|
should be one-half the radius of the Sephira. (The
|
||
|
greatest possible width without the Paths conflicting
|
||
|
with one another above Tiphereth.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
When it comes to the progression of the Trees we
|
||
|
shall then find that the third will produce Sephiroth
|
||
|
equal in diameter to the original generating circles,
|
||
|
while the width of the Paths of the third progression
|
||
|
will be exactly that of the diameter of the Sephiroth
|
||
|
of the first Tree.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A glance at the Colored Plate will show how
|
||
|
exactly all the details fit in if this plan is adopted;
|
||
|
even in the case of the four-fold division of Malkuth
|
||
|
the progressed Paths exactly coincide with the
|
||
|
diagonals. (See Plate A.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
It should be remembered, however, that all our
|
||
|
measurements are made from _center_ to _center_ of the
|
||
|
Sephiroth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
As a further check on the correctness of the size
|
||
|
of the Sephiroth we find that a Vesica constructed upon
|
||
|
the Path from the center of Chesed to that of Geburah,
|
||
|
having a length from Kether to Yesod, will exactly
|
||
|
touch the _circumferences_ of Chokmah, Binah, Netzach,
|
||
|
and Hod.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Our final summary will deal with the proportions
|
||
|
of the whole figure as based on those of the Vesica
|
||
|
Piscis. We have shown the importance of 15 to 26 (the
|
||
|
proportions of the Vesica) in relation to the sacred
|
||
|
Names IH and IHVH. The Student may consider for himself
|
||
|
such further proportions in this series as 30 to 52, 60
|
||
|
to 104, 120 to 208, 240 to 416. The last of these is of
|
||
|
peculiar interest for 240 is NTzNIM, Prima Germina, and
|
||
|
416 is HRHVR, meaning Thought or Meditation. Again the
|
||
|
next proportion, 480 to 932, is important. 480 is
|
||
|
LILITh and 932 is OTz HDOTh TVB VRO, The Tree of
|
||
|
Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is surely a valuable
|
||
|
correspondence worthy of study.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But there is another set of proportions in
|
||
|
connection with the Vesica, viz.: 30 to 52. 30 is the
|
||
|
Letter of Libra -- Balance; 52 is the numeration of ABA
|
||
|
VAMA (Father and Mother), AIMA (The Supernal Mother --
|
||
|
fertilized), and of BN (The Son: Assiah's "Secret
|
||
|
Nature"). The correspondence between these and Balance
|
||
|
is an interesting one.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Further we may use 52 to 90, for 90 is SVD HVVG,
|
||
|
The Mystery of Sex. This, as applied to ABA VAMA, AIMA,
|
||
|
or BN leads to ideas suitable for the highest
|
||
|
"meditation" about which we should be "very silent."
|
||
|
(Strangely enough, as I wrote this I noticed another
|
||
|
correspondence, for ZMH, Meditation, adds to 52, and
|
||
|
DOMM, Very Silent, adds to 90. I shall therefore take
|
||
|
this as a hint and pass on.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
The next proportion 90 to 156 is of even deeper
|
||
|
significance for here we find the relation between "The
|
||
|
Mystery of Sex" (90) and BABALON (156) The Victorious
|
||
|
Queen. (See XXX Aethyrs: Liber CDXVIII).
|
||
|
|
||
|
And the very next progression 156 to 260 gives us
|
||
|
a relation between BABALON (156) and I.N.R.I. (270).
|
||
|
Enough has been said to indicate to the Adept that a
|
||
|
study of these proportions is well worth while.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But, so far we have been dealing with the actual
|
||
|
proportions of the Vesica, and we have not mentioned
|
||
|
those of the complete Tree of Life itself. Those of the
|
||
|
Vesica being as 26 to 45 we see the proportions of the
|
||
|
Tree must be 26 to 60, or, since we can divide by 2, we
|
||
|
may put them at 13 to 30. Here we enter upon the
|
||
|
consideration of our basic number 13 (Unity and Love)
|
||
|
in right relation with "Balance." For "Equilibrium is
|
||
|
the Basis of the Work."
|
||
|
|
||
|
We again obtain an interesting series of
|
||
|
proportions, 13 to 30, 26 to 60, 52 to 120, 104 to 240,
|
||
|
208 to 480, 416 to 960, etc., but these will again be
|
||
|
left to the consideration of the Student for we have
|
||
|
yet to deal with a greater Mystery.
|
||
|
|
||
|
If 13 to 30 is the exact width and height of the
|
||
|
two-dimensional figure of the Tree of Life, what will
|
||
|
be the proportions that will give us the correct angle
|
||
|
of the Supernal Triad in order to change this to a
|
||
|
Solid? The present angle is 120 degrees, the interior
|
||
|
angle of the Hexagon; what proportion will give us the
|
||
|
interior angle of the Solid Pentagon by which Kether,
|
||
|
Chokmah, and Binah take their places each touching the
|
||
|
circumscribing SPHERE?
|
||
|
|
||
|
This final revelation, only made to us on May
|
||
|
30th, 1925, yet necessary to the completion of our
|
||
|
treatise, has come as the Seal of the Supreme upon our
|
||
|
Work. It is not possible to enter into the proper
|
||
|
consideration of the importance of this discovery in
|
||
|
relation to the Magical lifework of the Author and to
|
||
|
the Mysteries of the New Aeon. For the present,
|
||
|
therefore, we simply state this proportion to be as
|
||
|
THIRTEEN is to THIRTY-ONE.
|
||
|
|
||
|
13 to 31 gives the exact angle of 108 degrees
|
||
|
necessary to the building up of our solid, the
|
||
|
additional part being used to raise the Point of Kether
|
||
|
to the Pinnacle of the Solid.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But let us examine the progressions of this
|
||
|
proportion as before. We obtain: 13 to 31, 26 to 62, 52
|
||
|
to 124, 104 to 248 and 208 to 496. This last, be it
|
||
|
noted, is the _Fifth_ progression.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now let us remember that the _Fifth_ Progression
|
||
|
of Malkuth as an expanding Sphere is the one which
|
||
|
First embraces the Kether of the First Tree (and the
|
||
|
Dodecahedron formed by the Tiphereths of the Second
|
||
|
Tree). How many Sephiroth shall we find in the Complete
|
||
|
Solid at the Fifth Progression? 193 + 192 + 192 + 192 +
|
||
|
192 = 961. Therefore when the Sephiroth have increased
|
||
|
to 961 in the Solid, _Malkuth_ will have expanded to
|
||
|
the First Kether. 961 _happens_ to be 31 X 31, or the
|
||
|
Square of 31, and it reduces to 13.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But what of our _Proportion_ of 208 to 496, the
|
||
|
_Fifth_ progression of the proportions of 13 to 31? Not
|
||
|
only is 208, the _width_ of our Tree, equal to the
|
||
|
_length_ of a Pure Vesica whose breadth is 120 (our
|
||
|
original Kether angle), but our other proportion 496 is
|
||
|
a _Perfect_ Number, the _Sum of the Numbers from One to
|
||
|
Thirty-One_, and the _Numeration_ of MLKVTh -- Malkuth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
AL, it must be remembered, is the Highest Kether
|
||
|
Name of God -- 31 -- which being read in reverse is LA,
|
||
|
Not, and thus forms the true formula of the transition
|
||
|
from the unmanifest to the manifest.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let us never forget that the True Kether -- Hadit
|
||
|
-- is forever concealed in the Center of Malkuth, and
|
||
|
that of this it has been written in Liber AL vel Legis:
|
||
|
I am NOT (La = 31) extended (1 + 2 + 3 . . . 31 = 496)
|
||
|
and Khabs (a Star) is the Name of my House.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In concluding this section we may remark that the
|
||
|
76th progression of the Single Solid, and the 19th
|
||
|
progression of the Star, show 913 Sephiroth, 913 is
|
||
|
BRAShITh, Berashith, "In the Beginning" -- the First
|
||
|
Word of Genesis. The 80th progression of the Single
|
||
|
Solid, the 20th of the Star, and the 5th of the
|
||
|
Complete Solid, all give 961 (13 x 31), and in case you
|
||
|
should forget this, all you have to do is to stand in
|
||
|
The Kingdom, Malkuth (496), and LOOK UP. You will then
|
||
|
see Yesod (9) and above that Tiphereth (6) and -- by
|
||
|
the Grace of God -- Kether (1). So mote it be.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Chapter XII
|
||
|
|
||
|
Our intention was not that this should be a long
|
||
|
treatise, but rather to give the gist of our
|
||
|
discoveries to the world, thus allowing the
|
||
|
inexhaustible treasures of this System to be minded and
|
||
|
used by any who desire to grasp the opportunity.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But this work would not be complete unless we had
|
||
|
a few words to say upon the possibilities of using this
|
||
|
Plan as a basis upon which to build a new and more
|
||
|
glorious Temple than has been conceived in the past, by
|
||
|
the mind of Man.
|
||
|
|
||
|
My first appeal is therefore made to all
|
||
|
Architects, and it is made in the Name of the Great
|
||
|
Architect of the Universe, the Designs of Whose
|
||
|
Trestle-Board, we cannot but feel, have been
|
||
|
transmitted to us in such a marvelous manner.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The author feels that this represents the
|
||
|
revelation of the "Formative Plane" of the Holy
|
||
|
Qabalah, which contains the Influence of the
|
||
|
"Archetypal" and "Creative" Worlds, and through which
|
||
|
the Material Universe came into manifestation.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The discoveries in regard to the marvelous
|
||
|
properties of the "Vesica Piscis" and the "Trinity in
|
||
|
Unity" so much influenced the minds of Men in the
|
||
|
Middle Ages, that a vast number of beautiful Gothic
|
||
|
Cathedrals were planned and built with every detail
|
||
|
lovingly worked out so as to symbolize the highest
|
||
|
religious truths then open to the minds of men, in a
|
||
|
material form. These Gothic structures are certainly
|
||
|
admitted to be the most beautiful in design, but to
|
||
|
some extent the secret of their proportions has been
|
||
|
lost. The Spirit behind such buildings has been
|
||
|
overlooked, and modern Architects have not had the same
|
||
|
urge and impulse towards planning such perfect work.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But even in Gothic Churches, the symbolism of the
|
||
|
Ground Plans was comparatively narrow in conception,
|
||
|
and pricipally based on the Christian ideas of the
|
||
|
Cross, although of course the Cross has a wonderful
|
||
|
Natural symbolism which is far older than what we term
|
||
|
Christianity.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But never before, perhaps, in the History of
|
||
|
Mankind, has it been so necessary that a Universal
|
||
|
Temple be built; never before, perhaps, have the plans
|
||
|
been available.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When we realize that the "Tree of Life" not only
|
||
|
partakes of all the properties of the "Vesica Piscis"
|
||
|
but in addition to symbolizing the Mysteries of the
|
||
|
Trinity, is capable of forming a Symbolic Basis for
|
||
|
every Idea in the Universe, Natural, Human, and Divine
|
||
|
(as a slight study of the Qabalistic System will prove
|
||
|
to any intelligent person); what a wonderful Ground
|
||
|
Plan does it make for a Universal Temple, when we
|
||
|
consider the possibilities of its indefinite
|
||
|
Multiplication as a Sixfold Star, its Prismatic
|
||
|
Proportions, etc. This should be sufficient to fire the
|
||
|
minds of the World's Greatest Architects with
|
||
|
enthusiasm to work out Designs for the First Great
|
||
|
Temple built directly upon the Nature Formative Plans
|
||
|
of the Grand Architect of the Universe. In such a
|
||
|
Temple all Nations and Peoples might well meet to give
|
||
|
praise to the One Whose Absolute Wisdom and Supreme
|
||
|
Intelligence has built this Universe, and made it
|
||
|
possible for created Man to comprehend its hidden
|
||
|
Designs and to become a conscious co-operator in the
|
||
|
Divine Plan.
|
||
|
|
||
|
My next appeal is to those in temporal charge of
|
||
|
the Spiritual welfare of Mankind; the Heads of the
|
||
|
various Religions of the World, those who claim to hold
|
||
|
the Divine Authority for the instruction of Humanity
|
||
|
and have charge of the welfare of the souls.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A Universal Teaching is needed, based upon simple
|
||
|
and intelligible lines. A teaching that at once
|
||
|
conforms with true Science and with the Universal
|
||
|
experience of Humanity. Hitherto, the Great Teachers
|
||
|
and founders of Religions have come to certain nations,
|
||
|
or countries, and have taught a suitable doctrine for
|
||
|
the particular climate and people to which their
|
||
|
Mission led them. No public universal teaching has
|
||
|
hitherto been possible on account of the lack of proper
|
||
|
means of communication. Today we have the means of
|
||
|
flashing the truth to every part of the globe in a few
|
||
|
minutes. There is no longer any reason why a Universal
|
||
|
Teaching should not be obtained and given to all
|
||
|
humanity. Such an ideal condition cannot be brought
|
||
|
about while there is contention and schism and
|
||
|
conflicting basic ideas within the Churches themselves.
|
||
|
I do not say that all humanity should be taught exactly
|
||
|
alike, but I do say that there is but One Truth, and
|
||
|
that One Truth is back of every exterior organization,
|
||
|
however differently it may be interpreted.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Symbolically, at least, our present plan proves
|
||
|
itself to be the basis of the Catholic Mysteries; it is
|
||
|
undoubtedly the basis of the lost Jewish Tradition,
|
||
|
which itself came from Egypt. It is the basis of
|
||
|
Pythagorean Philosophy, of Geometry; it is the basis
|
||
|
of the Rosicrucian Mysteries, as well as of Masonry,
|
||
|
and will prove itself to be the Key to the Mysteries of
|
||
|
the Secret Schools.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There is no reason why a Temple build on such
|
||
|
perfect symbolism should not be equally sacred to
|
||
|
Jewish, Catholic, Masonic, and other Religious and
|
||
|
Philosophical divisions of Humanity, wherein each could
|
||
|
behold the Mysteries of their Tradition and realize
|
||
|
that they are of the same Divine Origin.
|
||
|
Scientifically, since every drop of water naturally
|
||
|
crystallizes in this way, and Crystals are build up on
|
||
|
similar lines, even the Materialist must recognize the
|
||
|
Work of the Creator, as symbolized in such a structure.
|
||
|
|
||
|
My next appeal is to those in whose charge is the
|
||
|
Civil destiny of the Nations. How can any peace of a
|
||
|
lasting nature be brought about unless some Universal
|
||
|
Plan is adopted in which every Nation will be seen to
|
||
|
have its definite function, and have a well defined
|
||
|
destiny? An understanding of the fundamental working
|
||
|
principles of the Universe, and of the Working Plans of
|
||
|
the Great Architect, is essential to a clear vision of
|
||
|
what is needed to overcome the present difficulties
|
||
|
with which mankind is confronted on every side. Things
|
||
|
must be looked at from the point of view of the Whole,
|
||
|
rather than that of the Part, if a proper Order and
|
||
|
Arrangement is to be brought about. Man has been given
|
||
|
free-will, which includes the possibility of making
|
||
|
mistakes. Man is responsible for the welfare of this
|
||
|
Planet, and those in authority have the responsibility
|
||
|
on their shoulders of making this Earth a Heaven or
|
||
|
Hell for their brothers and sisters. Those in such
|
||
|
positions cannot shirk this responsibility, and they
|
||
|
cannot expect to be long in power if they wilfully
|
||
|
neglect to train themselves to hold their office
|
||
|
rightly and for the good of those in their charge.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Let them remember that the essence of Order
|
||
|
consists in the perfect adjustment of all the parts in
|
||
|
subservience to the Whole; and that, conversely, it is
|
||
|
fatal folly to try to make the Whole conform to the
|
||
|
design of some distorted part.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Civilization has been a failure, with all its
|
||
|
apparent improvements and facilities, through failure
|
||
|
to understand this general principle. It is absolutely
|
||
|
essential that each part should discover its true
|
||
|
function in relation to every other part, and to the
|
||
|
Whole, and then fulfillits destiny without making any
|
||
|
attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the
|
||
|
other parts of the Great Machine.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Equilibrium is the basis of the work. Every
|
||
|
apparent pair of opposites can be reconciled in a third
|
||
|
idea from which they both spring, and which contains
|
||
|
the essence of both.
|
||
|
|
||
|
My next appeal is to all Thinking people. Many of
|
||
|
you are slaves to your own thought. You are limited by
|
||
|
your own narrow conceptions, which must always be
|
||
|
narrow compared to the Infinite. Most of you know a lot
|
||
|
of things that are not so in reality. To you I make
|
||
|
this appeal. Clean out your minds, learn to control
|
||
|
thought. Arrange you ideas in proper balanced order,
|
||
|
and make your viewpoint one of equilibrium. Base your
|
||
|
mental structure on the "Tree of Life" and since every
|
||
|
idea placed thereon is capable of infinite progress,
|
||
|
your minds will expand to the comprehension of all that
|
||
|
is within Time and Space, for the Spirit of God in Man
|
||
|
is capable of extending the Substance of every Mind
|
||
|
which does not exert all its efforts to narrow the
|
||
|
limits of consciousness to conform to a few personal
|
||
|
prejudices and petty ideas. Why accept less than is
|
||
|
your due; restriction is the only sin.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Lastly, I greet the Crowned Children of the New
|
||
|
Aeon, those who, having sworn to overcome all things,
|
||
|
shall obtain the reward promised to everyone that
|
||
|
overcometh. And I say unto you, as One did of old: "In
|
||
|
my Father's House are many Mansions, and if it were not
|
||
|
so I would have told you." But also I add: There is a
|
||
|
place prepared for every one of you, Here and Now.
|
||
|
There is a place for everything, when all things shall
|
||
|
be put in place. Take up your places in the Kingdom of
|
||
|
the Ever-Coming Son, fulfill yourselves, in the
|
||
|
fulfillment of the Will of God within you, and show
|
||
|
those who are still in darkness without, that there is
|
||
|
room for all who are prepared to keep their place, and
|
||
|
cease from trying to usurp that of others. For:
|
||
|
|
||
|
Love is the law, love under will,
|
||
|
|
||
|
and through Love alone may ye come to the
|
||
|
knowledge of the One Substance, capable of Infinite
|
||
|
Multiplication and Projection, whereby ye become actual
|
||
|
communicants in the Body of God.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the Name of the One, by the Grace of God
|
||
|
Triune, and by the Favor of the Ever-Coming Son,
|
||
|
|
||
|
AUMN
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
This method was pointed out to me some years ago by Frater Nubem Eripiam, who
|
||
|
claimed to have just discovered it. The method of construction as given in Liber 777, although
|
||
|
producing a correctly proportioned Tree, does not show the generating circles, and is not nearly
|
||
|
so simple in use.
|
||
|
The neatest formula indicating the exact proportions of the Vesica is as One is to the
|
||
|
Square Root of Three. This also is very symbolic for it shows the Unity in its relation to a certain
|
||
|
aspect of the Trinity, while since the numbers represented are 1 and 3, it is strongly suggestive
|
||
|
of 13 = AChD = Unity.
|
||
|
The above is actually more accurate mathematically than 15:26, for the proportion 1 to
|
||
|
the square root of 3 = 1.732, while 15:26 = 1.733. But there is always likely to be some slight
|
||
|
difference between mathematical accuracy and a general Magical formula, as witness the word
|
||
|
ALHIM which suggests Pi as 3.1415 whereas 3.1416 is more correct. I hardly know of a
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magickal formula in fractions unless it be 6/50 = 0.12, for which see Liber Legis and Comment.
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"Architecture is frozen music" is the saying of Frederich Schlegel. And if this saying is
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anywhere significant surely it is so in relation to the polyphonic music and Gothic architecture.
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In each there is the progressive playing of part against part, the building up of member against
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member, each structure completed only to point to a still incomplete superstructure, joining in
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the endless aspirational upward sweep of the whole. Arch rests upon arch, flying butress upon
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butress, pinnacle rises above pinnacle, -- everywhere there is a balance not quite attained, a
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symmetry not quite perfected, -- and by and by we realize that no Gothic church can ever be
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completed; its beauty is its eternal promise, its endless upward flight. Is not this the very image
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of a contrapuntal music, and of its supreme expression in the fugue?" -- Hartley Burr Alexander,
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Nature and Human Nature.
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Since writing the above, a new literal translation of the Sepher Yetzirah, by Mr. Knut
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Stenring, has appeared. I quote a part of his rendering of the above verse, since it includes a
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reference of great importance to the theory in hand: "Three -- Water from Air: He wrote and
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formed therein twenty-two letters, from the formless and void -- mire and clay; He designed
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them as a platband, He hewed them as a wall, He covered them as a building, He poured snow
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over them and it became earth, even as it is written: 'He saith to the snow: Be thou the earth'
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(Job xxxvii, 6)."
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This reference to snow is quite startling in light of what follows in the present treatise.
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Chaos or Matter is potentially a prism which refracts the great Light-Source, splitting
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up the Supernal Light into stars, or the Supreme Consciousness into Ideas. As matter or
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substance becomes organized and develops mind, its power as a prism grows. As we clarify our
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minds they become as living, organic prisms which act with increasing precision and detail. The
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more definite and authentic our ideas, the more accurate and mathematical, the more will they
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focus Light from the Supreme, till 'sleeping stars' slip on their livery of light. The more exact the
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form, the closer the correspondence between the Son (or Form, Prism, Expression, Becoming)
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and the Father (or Light, Life, Live, Understanding). -- J.S. Forrester-Brown, "The Two Creation
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Stories."
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Here, of course, the "Mystic Rose" is referred to, but since writing the above an
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interesting passage from Dr. Oken's work "Abriss der Naturphilosophye" Gottingen 1805, has
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been brought to my attention. He writes, page 65, " -- on the whole all plants are only
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metamorphoses of the Syngenesis. Here is united, what in others is only blossoming
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disconnectedly. The importance of the number five, so unchangeably sacred to plants, will yet
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have to find its solution in the Mathesis; without any doubt it lies hidden under the
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Dodecahedron consisting of Pentagrams, as the crystallized sphere." This startling confirmation
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of what followed upon my own researches. Achad.
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See the preceding footnote.
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Another confirmation comes from Dr. Karl von Eckharshausen, Aufschlusse zur Magie,
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Munich 1791, Vol. 4., Page 333. "As God contains All in the Spiritual, so does the Materia
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Prima, as typus, contain all in the Corporeal. The little parts of the Material are pyramidical,
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triangular, tetera, dodecahedra -- always the image of the intellectual."
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Another reference from The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II. Page 39, may be of interest here.
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After mentioning the form of the Tree of Life, given in the Sacred Mysteries of the Mayas and
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Quiches, Madame Blavatsky continues: "This represents the same idea as the Sphirothal Tree,
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ten in all, yet when separated from the upper triad, leaving seven. These are the celestial fruit,
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the ten or one, ten born of two invisible male and female seeds, making up 12, or the
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Dodecahedron of the Universe." This indicates that Madame Blavatsky has an idea that the
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Dodecahedron had some connection with the Qabalah, but evidently no comprehension of the
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solid prismatic sections, necessary for the building of this most perfect many-sided figure. She
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also remarks, Vol. II, Page 485, "The Dodecahedron lies concealed in the perfect cube," say the
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Kabalists. I wish she had said which Kabalists; but the cube was always taken as the true symbol
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of Matter and this obscure reference seems to indicate that if one understood matter, he would
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discover its structure to be that of the Dodecahedron. Achad.
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Our multiplied and progressed "Tree" may well be considered as the "Garden of Eden,"
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but perfected in man's conception since all the "trees" are reflections of the One Tree of Life, the
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IDEA of which is concealed in the midst of the Garden.
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These matters will be dealt with in "The Alpha and Omega of Initiation" to be
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published later.
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