Daniel Moler: 2015

THE MYSTIC PATH - PATH 10: MALKUTH

7:27 PM

THe MYSTIC PATH - PATH 11

5:01 PM

Me, my beloved, and a collection of crazy souls are currently engaged in an initiatory Pathworking with the Qabalah Tree of Life. You can read what that is 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.

We have previously completed Path 12, now for Path 11 .....

This is the final Path in the Pathworking, as well as the first Path on the Tree of Life. It extends from Kether (the Crown of Creation) to Chokmah (the King) and perhaps has more scholarship dedicated to its meaning and symbols that any other Path in the Holy Qabalah. Crowley himself has almost an entire chapter dedicated to the Tarot Trump in The Book of Thoth. Gareth Knight states: “The Tarot Trump is called The Fool and is perhaps the profoundest symbol of the whole Tarot.” (A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Volume II, p.201) So, it is at once understood the profundity of this Path.

According to Chic and Sandra Cicero, the Path “best reflects the first outflow of pure divine energy from Kether, the ‘Cause of Causes.’” (A Garden of Pomegranates, p. 467) The Ciceros are referring to the Sepher Yeztirah’s description of this Path, which begs a full quotation from the text:

The Eleventh Path is the Scintillating Intelligence, because it is the essence of the curtain which is placed close to the order of the disposition, and this is a special dignity given to it that it may be able to stand before the Face of the Cause of Causes.

The “order of disposition” refers to Kether, which the curtain is veiling. The curtain itself is referring to Form. “Form is the curtain that hides (though at the same time reveals) the Life-essence, but it is almost pure Force at this point for the 11^th Path ‘is the essence of that curtain.’” (Gareth Knight, A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Volume II, p.200)

The Hebrew letter is Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, which means “ox.” This is an animal that is a prime symbol of the Earth in many traditions (the cow in Hindu mythology, the buffalo of the Native American, etc.) so being the first connection point to Kether—and the ox being a beast of the plough—we can see that Spirit’s aim is always rooted in the Earth, in the material world, in Form. In agriculture, the plough is the tiller of Earth, in which to plant seeds and bring forth fruit. “This is our immediate and paramount task, the civilization of Earth. And he who takes his hand from the plough of his immediate Earthly duty (which is a Cosmic and Spiritual duty also, however much familiarity may tend to breed contempt), will never by that act attain his heavenly home in the stars.” (Knight, p.204)

As stated before, the Tarot Trump is the Fool. Traditionally, the Fool is shown to be stepping one foot off of a cliff, ready to plunge into the unknown; this is representative of Spirit’s plunge from the Beyond and into the process of Creation. The Fool is a symbol of “pure potential not yet set into action. It is potential in search of first experience.” (Regardie, p. 468) Within this resides an innocence one must always tap into no matter what level of attainment in the Great Work . . . in essence, the open mind of a beginner.

The Fool in older times was always one to hold court with the King and to not only provide comic relief, but to be a source of paradoxical wisdom as well. “ . . . an object of some respect—he is a creature of paradox—being at the same time wise as well as a fool.” (Knight, p. 202) As such, often times the Fool was the only one allowed to mock the King: “Fools down the ages have been honored and revered, the gift of laughter is theirs, and the ability to reduce great men to their common denominator. The Fool is as much the Great Leveller as the figure of Death.” (Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, The Shining Paths, p.166) Call to mind the Heyokah or Coyote of Native American traditions, both acting as trickster to the people, yet at the same time are some of the more sacred symbols or roles in the community.

This is where the wisdom of the Fool becomes paradoxical. “For below the Abyss, contradiction is division; but above the Abyss, contradiction is Unity. And there could be nothing true except by virtue of the contradiction that is contained in itself.” (Aleister Crowley, The Vision and the Voice, p. 136) The original French title of this Trump was Le Mat, the madman, and Crowley points out that all Native peoples saw the madman, the wandering lunatic, as one to bear great power and thus salvation for the people. This is why, he says, the number of the card is zero: “It represents therefore the Negative above the Tree of Life, the source of all things. It is the Qabalistic Zero. It is the equation of the Universe, the initial and final balance of the opposites; Air, in this card, therefore quintessentially means a vacuum.” (The Book of Thoth, p. 53)

Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki points out that this vacuum is “an emptiness waiting to be filled.” (p. 167) But, what does this mean for us? Are we the vacuum, or are we that which is filling it? “Simplicity being a keynote of this path,” she says, “it is best left to those treading it to find the symbolism that speaks to them in the right language. At this level on the Tree, one must search for the meanings oneself or they have no meaning at all.” (p.168)

consciousness

THE MYSTIC PATH - PATH 12

6:01 PM

We have previously completed Path 13, now for Path 12 .....

Our journey on Path 13 was perhaps the longest time on any given path so far. It was an arduous journey, as Path 13 is known most for its medicine of the Dark Night of the Soul (as recorded most accurately by St. John) and it was a Dark Night indeed. For myself, I think it was the best transformation yet received on the Pathworking, the Temple of the High Priestess. Now, in Path 12, we are two more paths away from completing the paths proper, and will then move onto the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life.

In the Yetziratic Text Path 12 is referred to as "the Intelligence of Transparency," which means this path brings about it a clarity of vision that goes beyond lower psychic powers, it "implies the ability to see things as they really are. The form no longer conceals the luminous image of the Creator but reveals it." (Gareth Knight, A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Vol. II, p. 194) This is a higher spiritual vision, and that vision can sometimes reveal a reality most people do not, or are not able to see. Bottom line, it is the Truth, with a capital "T."

"The student exploring this path should remember that the 'seership' alluded to on this path is spiritual knowledge in its highest form. Although there is nothing wrong with exploring visionary gifts (cclairvoyance, etc.), it is important not to become an 'astral junky'--one who wanders aimlessly and carelessly on the astral planes. The key is to develop focused concentration, which allows the divine energy to be clearly seen." (Chic & Sandra Cicero, A Garden of Pomegranates, p. 461)

Interestingly, Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki calls this "the penultimate path of the tree," which, she says, "connects the Supernal Mother [Binah] to the Crown of the Tree [Kether], it is the path of the realization of one's abilities. Not, please note, a confirmation that those abilities are fully trained, just the knowledge that they are there, and can be honed to perfection with hard work and discipline." (The Shining Paths, p. 161)

The Tarot card is of course The Magician, or Magus. "A magician or magus is one who brings down higher forces to a lower level," says Gareth Knight, onto a "Table of Manifestation." (p.197) The Table of Manifestation holds upon it the objects of magical working: a pentacle, a chalice, a sword, and in his hand a wand. These, of course, correspond to the elements of existence: respectively earth, water, air, and fire. Anyone who works with magical altars (most especially mesa carriers) understand the significance of these elements represented as the channels of manifestation into material form. The magician is master over the elements, though the Source of his power is indicated by his wand pointing upward, to Creator.

"It looks glamourous, this idea of being a magician," Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki states, " in point of fact it is a tough, sometimes heart breaking discipline that lasts for the rest of your life. [...] The hardest thing for the aspiring magician to accept is the fact that the Path of the Hearth Fire is as important as the more glamourous studies. The earth side of yourself must be very stable and well realized before it is safe to go off on to other paths. The best magicians are those that give the Hearth Fire its just dues." (p.163)

What is Dolores referring to by the "Path of the Hearth Fire"? This is not so much a reference to Path 31, but a walk of life as outlined by the great mystic and Master Teacher of this Pathworking lineage, Dion Fortune. Dion describes the Path of the Hearth Fire as a way of life in which "karma has to be worked out before that soul is ready for the Path [of Initiation], and the bonds of obligations are laid upon it order that they may be its discipline." (The Training and Work of an Initiate, p.44) Basically, the duties of real-life come first, and are often the very lessons one has to live through in order to achieve any amount of evolution.

The Hebrew letter for this Path is Beth, and literally means "house." Chic and Sandra Cicero elude, "This indicates that the Twelfth Path is one of containment, sanctuary, or a place of 'being within.' It is the dwelling place of the divine." (p. 461) This is represented of our bodies being the house, or the temple in which spirit can form itself. So, honoring our house, our bodies, is essential to becoming the Magician as depicted on Path 12. " . . .the aim of initiation or evolution, for their aims are the same, is the building of a House fit for the Spirit to dwell in, and when this is achieved in physical reality in Earth, then do we have, with all the Houses of all the Spirits built foursquare on sure foundations and finely furbished, the city of New Jerusalem descended from Heaven to Earth" (Knight, p. 198)

"By wisdom is an house builded: and by understanding it is established." (Holy Bible, Proverbs 24:3)

THE MYSTIC PATH - PATH 10: MALKUTH

THe MYSTIC PATH - PATH 11

THE MYSTIC PATH - PATH 12

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