The Mystic Path - Why Are We Doing This?
12:38 PM
A good question. Why indeed? What is the purpose of Pathworking on the Tree of Life of the Holy Qabalah? Why are we doing the Pathworking in this specific way (backwards from Path 32 through 1)?
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| "Recursion - As Above, So Below" by J.R. Slattum |
The Why
In my opinion, the late great mystic Col. C.R.F. Seymour has stated perfectly the "why" of any true spiritual endeavor:
" . . . there is a 'divine discontent' that urges one on to seek beyond the skyline where strange roads go down. As a rule it is only the restless soul, who, driven by this strange but divine feeling of discontent, seeks for the Ancient Mysteries of the Western Tradition. Thus, looked at from this point of view, Initiation into the Western Mystery Tradition may be said to be the goal of such a one." (The Forgotten Mage, p.19)
We are driven, and we don't know why. We are drawn to this Work and it is in doing it that we will find out why it called to us . . . maybe. Maybe it will always be a mystery, which is probably why it has been called "the Mysteries."
Pathworking in Qabalah (via the Western Mystery Tradition) is an Initiatory process. Initiation, according to the Colonel, "is a ritualistic and symbolic ceremony which begins a spiritual and mental process that aims at enabling the candidate to become a conscious and competent co-worker with those beings who, from higher states of consciousness than this physical state, guide and guard humanity." (The Forgotten Mage, p.21)
The What
So, the Colonel calls Initiation a "symbolic" ceremony. Speaking of symbols . . .
The Qabalah symbol of the Tree of Life is a composite symbol, a collection of symbols from various mystical traditions. It is itself "a system of relationships among mystical symbols which can be used [...] to open up access to the hidden reaches of the mind - beyond the frontiers of reason." (Gareth Knight, A Practical Guide to Qabalastic Symbolism, Vol. I, p. 7)
In essence, Qabalah is a series of symbols which we are trying to breach . . . as we breach them we gain access to those parts of consciousness they represent. The aim of a symbol is its own demise. We have to get past what the symbol seems to represent (its literal facade) and get to what lies behind it.
One of the greatest Qabalists who ever lived, Dion Fortune, states that an Initiate uses a symbol-system such as the Tree "as an algebra by means of which he will read the secrets of the unknown potencies; in other words, he uses the symbol as a means of guiding thought out into the Unseen and Incomprehensible." (The Mystical Qabalah, p. 15)
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| Artwork by Jeffrey Smith |
The How
This is the purpose of Pathworking and the meditations that accompany the process. It is to engage with these symbols in a conscious way that can reach into the subconscious recesses of the mind. Each symbol (whether it is a Hebrew letter, Tarot card, astrological glyph, mythological figure, angelic being, etc.) represents a key to unlock a certain dimension that exists within the subconscious. When we interact with that symbol through Pathworking, through the story provided by the meditations, we gain access to those dimensions that already exist within our Universe, but otherwise would remain hidden.
We may or may not be consciously aware of this "unlocking" right away. Often times, especially as a Pathworking moves further on "up" the Tree, it is much harder to consciously discern and put into words the experience.
Back in the day, the Mystery Schools had much more ritual engagement, intensive initiatory practices that took over a person's entire life. We don't have that luxury (or paradigm) here in the modern world. However, the meditations we use by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki (in the lineage of Dion Fortune) are designed to fit our modern context as best as possible. The more Initiates have worked the Paths over time (and found what works and what doesn't) we have more resources to pull from. Because of this, it may only take us 2 years to explore what took 20 years for the ancients.
The Paths
Strategically, we are working the Paths from 32 to 1, each Path and each Sephirah, to receive the fullest experience of the Tree possible. That is the only way to receive understanding of the Tree before truly working with it. After we have engaged in a full Pathworking of the Tree of Life, we will be able to do magic, to discern which specific paths we would like to work with for particular purposes, and so on. But, we have to explore the entire map of the whole before gaining any kind of mastery over its parts.
"The point is that as no aspect of life can be fully understood devoid of its relationship with a great complex of other aspects, so no Sephirah on the Tree can be described without reference to all the other Sephiroth. And the same thing applies to the Paths between them." (Gareth Knight, A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Vol. I, p.30)
Tactically, we start with Path 32 moving up through Path 11, then onto the Sephiroth (Paths 10 through 1) because that is the typical way it has been done in the Mystery Schools. I believe our fullest understanding as to why that is will come to us as we climb further "up" the Tree.
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| "The Ocean" by J.R. Slattum |
The Gist
To conclude, here is a final quote from Dion Fortune on the overall philosophy of what Initiation with the Tree of Life means:
"The universe is really a thought-form projected from the mind of God. The Qabalistic Tree might be likened to a dream arising from the subconsciousness of God and dramatising the subconscious content of Deity. In other words, if the universe is the conscious end-product of the mental activity of the Logos, the Tree is the symbolic representation of the raw material of the Divine consciousness and of the processes whereby the universe came into being.
"A man's soul is like a lagoon connected with the sea by a submerged channel; although to all outward seeming it is land-locked, nevertheless its water-level rises and falls with the tides of the sea because of the hidden connection. So it is with human consciousness, there is a subconscious connection between each individual soul and the World-soul deep hidden in the most primitive depths of subconsciousness, and in consequence we share in the rise and fall of the cosmic tides.
"Each symbol upon the Tree represents a cosmic force or factor. When the mind concentrates upon it, it comes into touch with that force; in other words, a surface channel, a channel in consciousness, has been made between the conscious mind of the individual and a particular factor in the world-soul, and through this channel the waters of the ocean pour into the lagoon. The aspirant who uses the Tree as his meditation symbol establishes point by point the union between his soul and the world-soul. This results in a tremendous access of energy to the individual soul; it is this which endows it with magical powers." (The Mystical Qabalah, p.16-27)
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| "The Tree of Life" by Daniel Moler |
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