The Mystic Path - Path 18
9:50 AM
We are currently engaged in an almost two-year initiatory Pathworking with The Qabalah Tree of Life. You can read what that's all about here. In the meantime, I have been documenting our work as we explore the Paths.
It is important to know these are brief notes. A true understanding of each Path begs a vital understanding of the Sephiroth connecting them. Further research on your own is highly recommended.
It is important to know these are brief notes. A true understanding of each Path begs a vital understanding of the Sephiroth connecting them. Further research on your own is highly recommended.
We have completed Path 19, now for Path 18 .....
I am not really sure how to talk about this path right now. Partially because I'm in a funk right now (thank you Path 19), another is because we are now interacting with the Sephiroth of the Supernal Triad, which means we are crossing the space between the Unmanifest and the Manifest: the Abyss. Because of this, language breaks down, and as the occultist Colonel C.R.F Seymour said, this condition is "utterly beyond our comprehension. It could be given a name, but no attributes." (The Forgotten Mage, p.32) So, instead of trying to tie together the information from my regular sources of information into a continuous thread, I am just going to point to the quotes from each source that I feel are relevant to the primary categories of information of Path 18.
GENERAL INFO
"The eighteenth path is one that enables us to regain balance and a feeling of stability after the storms and buffets we have endured on the previous paths until now. [It is] designed to give the spirit a feeling of protection and stability." (Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, The Shining Paths, p. 129)
"This Path acts as a channel of communication between the Spirit and the Individuality--from the aspect of the Spirit where the Spirit's destiny in Form is archetypally held, (Binah), to the intelligently active part of the Individuality, (Geburah). Thus the Path is called the House of Influence [in the Yetziratic text]. [...] Binah is the Parent of Faith from which all higher knowledge of destiny is gained by the Individuality. [...] Our aim in evolution is to link up this part of our being with the parts of us in manifestation, it is obvious that our first task is to get the channels clear--to bridge the Gulf and the Abyss. Only then is ti possible to get the knowledge of our destiny filtered down to the densest levels and worked out upon the physical plane in daily living." (Gareth Knight, A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Vol. II, p. 176-177)
THE HEBREW LETTER
"The Hebrew letter Cheth means 'fence' or 'enclosure,' which indicates the hidden nature of this path, as well as the idea of 'containment.' The containment referred to here is the diverse methods for organizing consciousness into forms that we can comprehend on a deep level. It represents a type of conscious understanding that cannot be communicated by words--it is therefore 'hidden' to all attempts by the conscious mind to define it in human language." (Chic and Sandra Cicero, A Garden of Pomegranates, p. 423)
THE TAROT TRUMP
"A chariot is a mobile throne . . ." (Knight, p. 174)
"Chariot hardly describes the actual vehicle but it again emphasizes the enclosing feeling this path induces. [...] The angelic order of Binah is named as the Aralim, meaning Thrones." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p.131)
"[The Charioteer] is throned in the chariot rather than conducting it, because the whole system of progression is perfectly balanced. His only function is to bear the Holy Grail." (Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth, p. 85)
"In this card the young king is coming to claim his kingdom from the Queen of Heaven herself; he will 'take' the throne. In this sense anyone who has reached this path under serious training is coming into the inner kingdom we all have within us, but whichin most is a waste land unknown and unnoticed." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p.131)
THE ASTROLOGICAL SIGN
"The sign of Cancer, the crab, gives another version [of the symbol of the fence], its hard outer shell makes a good defense against outer attack, and protecting its soft inner self. [...] Its tenacity is also a good symbol for this path [...] the will to carry on is vital part of mankind [...] the ability to take on a task and complete it, come hell or high water." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p. 129)
"Cancer also represents the path which leads fro the great Mother Binah to Geburah, and is this the influence of the Supernals descending through the Veil of Water (which is blood) upon the energy of man, and so inspires it." (Crowley, p.85)
CLOSING STATEMENT
"[This is] a path where the discipline, determination, and hard work of a student in getting to this path is rewarded. This does not mean one can lessen the effort, or that the hard work is over, it means that from now on you should be able to use your knowledge and self discipline in a productive manner.
"To rule the inner kingdom of the spirit is the destiny of those who tread the occult path. This is true of mystics and magicians, and all combinations of both. Many rulers win their lands by conquest, the last path was a conquest of the lower self, this path is a setting forth to claim that which was conquered." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p. 131)
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