Me and some others 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 done Path 27, now for Path 26 .....
We have taken a sufficient break for the summer and ready to enter the next phase of Pathworking which, according to Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki: "The next three paths are all a version of that spiritual experience known as 'The Dark Night of the Soul.'" (The Shining Paths, p.74) We begin our test for moving from the lower Sephiroth (the Personality) to the higher Sephiroth centered around Tiphareth (the Individuality). Thus, begins our process of the alchemical marriage between the conscious and subconscious mind. Various aspects of the human soul are tested throughout these three paths, "the 24th Path tests the driving emotions, the 25th Path the devotional aspirations, and the 26th Path the intellect . . ." (Gareth Knight, Practical Guide to Qabalastic Symbolism, Volume II, p. 78).
Moving further into this Pathworking, our notions of what God is are likely to change, turn completely upside down. "To the mind, spiritual reality seems topsy-turvy--and the closer the mind gets to truth, the more it is led into paradox [...] the rationale of a religion is to be irrational." (Knight, p.79-80) This takes an intuitive leap past the logical framework of Hod, in order to reach new frontiers of understanding that will often seem downright scary because of their illogical nature. We must be constantly aware of everything around us as illusion. "The Hebrew letter ayin, the eye, fits in with the theme of illusion very well, for the eye is easily confused, optical illusion is another trick of the stage magician." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p.74) The eye is a reminder of the paradox between the outer physical eye and the inner third eye. "On this path, one must be careful not to confuse the outer corporeal form for the inward reality. Reproduction of physical form is attributed here, so it is on this path that the student can be deluded by the illusion of the material." (Israel Regardie, A Garden of Pomegranates, p. 320)
As the Yetziractic text calls this Path the "Renewing Intelligence" we are being provided here an opportunity to face these aspects of our selves and renew them, let them go; which the two people in the Tarot Trump could do if they allowed themselves. We rarely allow ourselves that opportunity, so here is our chance. In order to experience the higher levels of the Tree, our current notions of "God," of a spiritual life, must be challenged. We can meet this challenge on a material level, as this Path calls us to "the complete appreciation of all existing things." (Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth, p.106) With that, here are two more quotes to close as guidance for this Path:
"This path, then, is a way of darkness, but not in the sense that is usually meant in occult work. Here it means that you have to set out on an unknown path, with only faith as a star." (Ashcroft-Nowicki, p. 75)
"We form ideas, if one observes oneself, when there is inattention. When you are completely active, which demands total attention--which is action--in that there is no idea; you are acting." (Krishnamurti, p.34)
In terms of the Qabalah, Adam Kadmon is the Heavenly Man, the essence of the ten Sephiroth as an undivided unity. The goal of Qabalah is the realization and experience of this state of being. In simple terms, Adam Kadmon is the mind and body in perfect union . . . in Eastern terms, called yoga. In the Western and Judaic mysteries, however, it is designated by the god-name formula Tetragrammaton, comprised of the Hebrew letters Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh (YHVH):
This formula can be laid out upon the Tree of Life to gain insight on how the Adam Kadmon union is achieved via the marriage of the conscious and subconscious self as described in alchemy.
The final Heh (known as Nephesch, the Unredeemed Virgin or Daughter) is the subconsciousness of an individual. This is usually in dire conflict with the conscious mind (designated by Vav, the Son). Confusion and disruption of one's total consciousness is the result of this conflict. The first task of the Great Work is reconciliation of the conscious ego (Vav) with the subconscious mind (final Heh), thus establishing an equilibrium. This marriage results in the impregnation of the Mother (first Heh), which is an achievement of Understanding (via Binah). Only through Understanding can Wisdom (via Chokmah) of the Father (Yod) can arise within the human.
Understanding + Wisdom = Purpose of Life can be Divined
This is the truest fusion of Kether, and thus all Sephiroth. Further, it is the diagrammatic and philosophic process which takes place during Abramelin's Operation of the Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel (HGA).
Another fine formula for an Adam Kadmon designation is the Pentagrammaton. According to Gematria, the Hebrew letter Shin (from Path 31 - Judgment) is equal to the number 300, which is also equal to the Hebrew phrase Ruach Elohim ("Spirit of the Gods"). Therefore, Shin can be ascribed to the essence of the Holy Spirit (in Hebrew is Shechinah). When invoking the Knowledge and Conversation with the HGA, it is the descent of Shin into the midst of the Tetragrammaton, though on an elemental level. It should be noted there is an elemental designation to YHVH: Yod = Fire, first Heh = Water, Vav = Air, and final Heh = Earth.
Yod Heh Vav Heh becomes Yod Heh Shin Vav Heh, the Pentammaton; in Hebrew, Yeheshua (from root Yeshua, Jesucristo).
This is the symbol of a newly created being, the adept, or Tzaddik: a righteous one, a saint, or one in whom the birth of Spirit has established equilibrium with the base and unredeemed elements of matter. This depicts the whole of the constitution of man.
So, here it is. The latest picture of Henry Caville as Superman for Warner Brother's latest DC Comics film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I don't normally write and critique anything in regards to pop culture, unless it really rubs me raw, such as the writing of Frank Miller. So, before we move forward with my rant, here is the pic:
First off, I expected this. For me, Man of Steel was a disappointment. It was too dark and somber for me to care about the story and then nothing but destruction porn at the end. Plus, I was one of those many viewers who brought their kids, hoping and expecting to give them the same inspirational experience I received when watching Christopher Reeves in the theaters with my dad.
Let's get down to it. It's not that Superman killed. It's that my children watched Superman snap Zod's neck. It's that every aspect of the story was weeping, moping, and the gritty nature of this dejected alien calling itself Clark Kent. When I got home with my dad back in the day, I tied the bed sheets around my neck and jumped off the couch saving people from harm. When my kids got home, they told me they didn't want to be like Superman. There was absolutely no appeal to be like the character they just got drilled into their heads for three hours.
The inspiration of heroes is gone.
I haven't shared my disappointment regarding this new WB/DC reboot of trying to kick-start their own Marvel-esque franchise (despite their denial otherwise). But, some of the comments that have come out this morning with the new image has stirred something within me . . . not the critiques of the pic and movie, but the critiques of the critiques.
Such as:
What I have to say is this (my apologies for my FB friends for seeing a repeat of information):
Why does Superman "need" to evolve? Who established somewhere in stone that this character needs to be anything other than what he is, that he needs to be a darkened bore in order for a modern audience to relate to him? Are we really that dull? Do we really need to take that stance because some studio exec or marketing rep told us that we need a "new" Superman for a "new" world?
I don't buy it.
Superman is a mythological symbol, and symbols don't need to change, they are timeless. They are timeless not because someone says so, but because the original concept inspired someone so much that that symbol was carried on through the generations. Athena hasn't turned into some foolhardy, reckless teenager in order for her significance to be relevant. She is about wisdom and precision, and always will be. She is the symbol for that, which will always stand true. Superman is a symbol of light, of inspiration, of hope, of doing what it takes to help others. There was none of that in Man of Steel, and as we can see we won't be getting any of that in the foreseeable future.
Anytime I hear someone say Superman "needs" to change I just get the feeling they are trying to justify watching a guy with super strength beat shit up and destroy things. They want explosions while eating popcorn.
And don't give me that creative license crap. If someone needs to turn a character completely away from its original idea (so that if you changed the costume you wouldn't even recognize them) then they aren't being creative . . . they're going for shock value alone, because they know it sells.
Things can change, they can be "new", but you don't always have to dismantle the old in order to make it happen. You can maintain the integrity of idea and still move it forward into new and uncharted territory. Warner Brothers and Zack Snyder do not know how to do this, apparently. The only thing that NEEDS to change is the notion that something has to be grim and gritty in this society in order for it to be taken seriously. There is a way to make something of quality for both children and adults, that doesn't have to be overloaded with gratuitous violence and sexuality.
And thus the crotchety parent inside of me surfaces.
Interestingly enough, this same day DC Comics decided to release a new "selfie" image of Superman from their comics line, perfectly embodying the iconic lightness of Superman contrasted by the darkness of Batman. Gratefully there are still those out there who appreciate having fun over blowing shit up.
It wouldn't be a throwback-to-90's-style-comics type of project without a guest appearance from another hit character....even in the first issue! Back in the day, at ol' New Vision Comics, there were a few heavy-hitters: Assailants, Psi-Storm, Runic, The Reactance, and . . . . SOJOURN!!!!
Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki's The Shining Paths relates a very clear message after Path 27, the path of The Tower. She says:
"In terms of training, we come now to an interim period. The paths between the four lower sephiroth constitute an entire level of training, and in a Mystery School would have already taken up some two or three years of a student's life. [...] it is a point where a reader would be well advised to take time off from the programme of pathworking to revise the work done so far. This is a worth while procedure, for it sifts, files, and cross indexes the information and knowledge received up to this time. This is a point of self-discipline, obviously some will do it and some will go straight on, that is the difference between a genuine student and an armchair dabbler. The end results will be very obvious to the trained eye.
"Assuming you have taken the advice and 'rested' for at least two weeks, a lunar month is even better, you should be ready to start on the next phase. By the time you have worked your way through the eight paths that form the next phase you will understand the need for that month off. Ahead of us lie some of the hardest journeys on the Tree of Life." (p.73)
So, we are taking some time off of the pathworking for a while. Ashcroft-Nowicki is not the only adept that recommends this after Path 27, the completion of the Astral Triad. We will be pretty much taking the rest of the summer off for reflection and deeper meditation upon the paths we have tread so far.
Below are some thoughts from my journal the other night, with a graphic:
Based upon a statement by Israel Regardie in A Garden of Pomegranates: "The Supernals are separated by a great gulf, the Abyss, from that which lies below them. The Supernals are ideal; the other Sephiroth are actual; the Abyss is the metaphysical gap between. In one sense they have no connection or relation with the Inferiors, the lower seven Sephiroth, reflected by them--just as space itself is independent of, and unaffected by, whether there is or is not anything manifested within its emptiness." (p.44)
In essence, Da'ath, the Abyss (Knowledge), is the eternal separator between God and Matter. The levels of separation, in terms of Creation and Death, are prevalent in the Triads. Matter, the Material World, True/Pure Form, is based solely on the Astral Realm, the Astral Triad, which is nothing but an imitation on a denser level of the Ethical Triad . . . which itself is nothing but, through the separation of the Abyss, an inverted reflection of the Godhead, the True Reality. Basically, we are nothing but the output of an imitation of an inverted reflection of the only thing that truly exists; of which, we can never have a true conception of because of the Great Divide created by the Abyss.
Malkuth is truly the ultimate manifestation of Kether; it is Kether in its densest form; it is the Truest Form . . . Pure Form. Thus, being the ultimate manifestation, a culmination of output of all Sephiroth together--just as Kether contains all of the receding Sephiroth after it--Malkuth is the only place in which all that is can be experienced. "Kether is the Malkuth of the Umanifest," as the Qabalistic axiom goes. Taking this phrase in its inversion suggests Malkuth is the Ultimate Reality, there is no other place to be to experience it All. This is it. All potential for anything that CAN be, is tapped through Malkuth--as well as through Kether--one and the same, the eternal loop, the ouroboros of existence.
So, we are taking some time off of the pathworking for a while. Ashcroft-Nowicki is not the only adept that recommends this after Path 27, the completion of the Astral Triad. We will be pretty much taking the rest of the summer off for reflection and deeper meditation upon the paths we have tread so far.
Below are some thoughts from my journal the other night, with a graphic:
Based upon a statement by Israel Regardie in A Garden of Pomegranates: "The Supernals are separated by a great gulf, the Abyss, from that which lies below them. The Supernals are ideal; the other Sephiroth are actual; the Abyss is the metaphysical gap between. In one sense they have no connection or relation with the Inferiors, the lower seven Sephiroth, reflected by them--just as space itself is independent of, and unaffected by, whether there is or is not anything manifested within its emptiness." (p.44)
In essence, Da'ath, the Abyss (Knowledge), is the eternal separator between God and Matter. The levels of separation, in terms of Creation and Death, are prevalent in the Triads. Matter, the Material World, True/Pure Form, is based solely on the Astral Realm, the Astral Triad, which is nothing but an imitation on a denser level of the Ethical Triad . . . which itself is nothing but, through the separation of the Abyss, an inverted reflection of the Godhead, the True Reality. Basically, we are nothing but the output of an imitation of an inverted reflection of the only thing that truly exists; of which, we can never have a true conception of because of the Great Divide created by the Abyss.
Malkuth is truly the ultimate manifestation of Kether; it is Kether in its densest form; it is the Truest Form . . . Pure Form. Thus, being the ultimate manifestation, a culmination of output of all Sephiroth together--just as Kether contains all of the receding Sephiroth after it--Malkuth is the only place in which all that is can be experienced. "Kether is the Malkuth of the Umanifest," as the Qabalistic axiom goes. Taking this phrase in its inversion suggests Malkuth is the Ultimate Reality, there is no other place to be to experience it All. This is it. All potential for anything that CAN be, is tapped through Malkuth--as well as through Kether--one and the same, the eternal loop, the ouroboros of existence.
My beloved and I have been on a 15 month long 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 done Path 28, now for Path 27 .....
The Tower. I had a lot of trepidation working up toward this Path. Was this anxiety well-deserved or over-kill? Maybe a little of both. There is something to be said for this Path being the first lateral Path directly connecting the two Pillars of Manifestation. It is the first of only three Paths that do this, so the energies are extremely powerful, potent, and can be jarring for the unprepared. "These lateral paths can be more difficult to deal with in terms of effects on the physical, this is because the side spheres are polarized pairs of reciprocal energy, and you are liable to be bounced between them if you are not careful." (Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, The Shining Paths, p. 65)
This Path completes our Pathworking within the Astral Triad before moving onto the Ethical Triad of the Tree of Life. Again, it is important to understand the distinctions between these two Triads in terms of the Self and Universe: the Ethical Triad being the place where the Individuality resides and the Astral Triad home to the Personality. As I quoted before from the posting on the last Path, from our lineage High Priestess Dion Fortune: "The four Sephiroth below Tiphareth represent the personality or lower self; the four Sephiroth above Tiphareth are the Individuality , or higher self; and Kether is the Divine Spark, or nucleus of manifestation." (The Mystical Qabalah, p. 176) That being said, this Path "brings to life circumstances that offer the chance to survey our entire personality." (Ted Andrews, Pathworking, p. 153)
Thus The Tower card is the gateway for Path 27. It is easy to associate this Trump with the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel. However, Gareth Knight has much written on this subject...it is not the traditional fundamental notions that causes man's Tower (Personality) to collapse and shatter from the lightening (the Lightening Flash/Flaming Sword/Initiation), which is that man seeks to become god-like. To become the gods we are is our birthright; that is Creator's design. In truth it is man's Personality retaining its separation, building the Tower prematurely, or wrongly, that causes its collapse (its rise denoting our rise from the Astral Triad to the Ethical, and then Supernal). "The story of Babel in connection with this Path and Tarot Trump then is a reminder to build one's foundations true--(on the rock of Faith, to quote another parable)--and true Faith at that, certainly not the prideful Faith of the Pharisee which sets one up supposedly as better than other men." (Gareth Knight, Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Vol II, p. 62)
What is experienced throughout the Astral Triad, if the Pathworking is authentic and true, is an alchemical change which transmutes the Personality in preparation for the Individuality (Higher Self) to become the driving force in one's life. "The aim is," again clarified by Gareth Knight, "a higher synthesis, so the Personality is sacrificed , that is, its interests are no longer paramount and its forces are turned in upon itself in a kind of 'distillation' representing the early initiatory process which results in an egg, the germ of contact with the Individuality. This egg is hatched out, that is, the Individuality takes over, at first crudely and in an unbalanced way, but eventually in harmonious control of its lower vehicles." (p.65) This is alchemy in its purest form. Prime examples to more deeply understand this 'distillation' process can be read in the 15th Century text The Chymical Wedding of Chistian Rosenkreutz or Alejandro Jodorwsky's surrealist film The Holy Mountain.
Here we can then begin to understand the Hebrew letter for this Path, Peh, the Mouth. For the mouth both gives and receives, a perfect gateway between the Astral and Ethical Triads. The mouth takes in nourishment and utters speech. In terms of the Personality, and its rightful utilization in the Great Work, the Mouth teaches that "the purpose of incarnation is the seeking of the food of experience in Form for the benefit of the Individuality and the Spirit [as well as denoting the Creative Word of God that] has reverberated down to the astro-mental levels of being and formed a vehicle for itself--the Personality. It is through this Personality that the Word is uttered in the densest level of existence, Malkuth, the physical world." (Knight, p.60-61)
Ted Andrews relays that this Path will "stimulate a stronger desire to succeed." (p.154) Our desire to receive the Lightening Flash of Initiation will surely knock us on our asses, but will our Individuality (Higher Self) reign supreme and continue onward?
"The lightening is not meant to kill or maim, but to scour out the non workable parts of ourselves, a cleansing process that can be painful if we resist it. This is what makes the path a tricky, but vitally important one on the Tree. To resist is painful, but if we accept the lesson of the lightening flash we may end up bruised, but better off in many ways. Two clues to help you further in your study: any building needs a strong foundation, and the title Daughter of the Reconcilers for the tarot card has a lot to do with a balanced Personality. (Ashrcoft-Nowicki, p. 66-67)
