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.
Path 14 is the final lateral path on the Tree of Life. Here we are now working strictly with the Supernals, the highest regions of archetypal consciousness that can be conceived. This Path represents the primordial connection between the Great Mother (Binah) and the Great Father (Chokmah). It is important to note the vast amount of symbolism of this Path and to not get lost it in. Crowley calls this path, through his Trump, "the Gate of Heaven. But, because of the beauty of the symbol, because of its omniform presentation, the student who is dazzled by any given manifestation may be led astray. In no other [path] is it so necessary to disregard the parts, to concentrate upon the whole." (The Book of Thoth, p.77) Be that as it may, an examination of its parts is still necessary for our Work.
Crowley is correct in dubbing this the Gate of Heaven while ascending the Tree. In order to understand this we must also reflect on the Path descending. The Source of all being, all existence, is above in Kether. However, Creation requires polarity in order stabilize itself in manifestation. It is here on this Path, through Binah and Chokmah, that the prime Principles of Polarity are brought into effect. "The Path is thus itself an archetype of all subsequent manifestation. It is a first forming in actuality of the principles inherent in the incoming flow of spiritual power from the Unmanifest. It is thus the Gate to manifestation, or, to coin the symbolism of the Hebrew letter, the Door to it." (Gareth Knight, A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Vol. II, p. 185)
The Hebrew letter, Daleth, means door. It is the portal through which the life-force is born into existence. "The Path of Daleth organizes the energy from Chokmah and passes it along to Binah, the form-builder. It is our birth canal into this universe, the luminous and fruitful divine mother. Thus, it is a path of fertility . . ." (Chic & Sandra Cicero, A Garden of Pomegranates, p. 449.)
This fertility is highly representative in the Tarot Trump of The Empress, normally depicted in a natural setting with abundant floral and vegetal growth. She is called Daughter of the Mighty Ones (Binah and Chokmah) and is "considered to be another aspect of the great Feminine-Side of God. [...] The Feminine-Side is in one aspect the Form-side of Manifestation, commonly referred to esoterically as Isis of Nature." (Knight, p. 186) It should also be understood that The Empress is "the compliment of The Emperor, but her attributions are much more universal." (Crowley, p. 75)
To touch on the fertility notion, The Empress has also been called "the pregnant Queen of Life, who is also Ever Virgin. Paradox again, but it is through the paradox that you will understand the Tree. Foster the ability to believe the impossible and you will find it opens 'doors' [Daleth], you have never even seen before. With this card as the doorway you will find yourself opening new eyes on the world . . ." (Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, The Shining Paths, p. 152).
Venus is the astrological sign, which of course has connections to all symbolic attributions to the Goddess, but also, according to Crowley, is "the only one of the planetary symbols which comprises all the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life." (p. 75) See below for the image attribution. Ashcroft-Nowicki also states that "Venus brings us back to the fact that love in all its forms is the most important thing in the universe." (p.152)
In summary, Gareth Knight provides the ultimate goal of this Path in conjunction with the goal of the Great Work. It would be recommended to meditate upon these words like a mantra or koan, instead of trying to understand them with the analytical mind: "When the Tree of Life, the whole manifested Universe, is withdrawn into the Unmanifest, then the life locked up within that vast form, which kept it in being in a state of manifest coherence, will be freed. This life which holds Form in being will no longer be the sleeping Venus or Isis of Nature but the living waters of the Ain Soph, the Great Sea of the Unmanifest into which all spiritual beings who have attained their full evolution in Form will withdraw as individual units--as Kings. And the great Form principle will be their Mother." (p. 189-190)
