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The Anatomy of the Body of God
by Frater Achad
Originally published circa 1922-1925
Transcriber's notes:
This electronic edition is taken from the Samuel Weiser
edition of 1973. The work is not copyrighted.
Due to the limitations of ASCII text, I have had to
take some liberties with the original formatting of the
book. Readers should be aware of this for the different
sort of emphasis the changes sometimes puts on Achad's
remarks.
Text shown in ALL CAPITALS here was shown with an
initial capital and the remainder of the letters in
small caps in the original. The remaining, somewhat
idiosyncratic capitalization is as in the original.
Text shown _surrounded by underline characters_ here
was in italics in the original. Where the original
italics were clearly used to create a visual separation
in the text rather than an emphasis, it is not
indicated here.
Footnotes have been renumbered consecutively from the
beginning to end of the work, and moved to the end of
the book.
Transcriber's notes in the body of the text -- mostly
notes on the insertion of diagrams -- are surrounded by
[square brackets].
The referenced diagrams, in Compuserve GIF format,
should be in a ZIP file named ANATFIGS.ZIP in the same
file area as this document. These files may be viewed
and printed with viewers available on Compuserve or
free on many Bulletin Board Systems.
I hope you will enjoy this remarkable work of
Cabalistic Geometry.
Benjamin Rowe
August, 1992
Preface
Although the title of this short essay may seem,
to some who have not read its contents, to be both
presumptuous and unwarrantable, it is hoped that these
will reserve their judgment until they have given due
attention and consideration to the study of such an
important subject.
We are living in strange times. Civilization seems
rapidly to be breaking up, while yet some inner urge is
at work towards a better and more balanced construction
in may departments of life.
One of the results of the Great War has been to
turn the minds of many people from some of the narrower
conceptions of life into wider channels. A spirit of
enquiry has become apparent on the part of those who
had previously been content to accept statements in
regard to life's deeper issues on mere belief or
hearsay. Many new Movements have arisen under the
guidance of people who have obtained at least a partial
glimpse of man's wider heritage, and there has been a
corresponding falling away from what may be termed the
orthodox or established order of things in the churches
and elsewhere. Many countries have been making
experiments of various kinds, most of which, however,
being the outcome of "reform movements" of the
narrowest sort, are quickly proving themselves to be
unsatisfactory and inadequate. At present, amid all
these indications, there seems to have been no complete
solution in sight, and, so it might appear, very little
comprehension, even on the part of those who are
honestly doing their best under the circumstances, of
the underlying principles involved. Those who should
really be in a position to help, are unable to do so
effectively for the same reason.
It may seem a far cry from the present world-
conditions of a social and political nature to the Holy
Qabalah, but help sometimes comes from quite unexpected
sources.
The Jews, and the Jewish problem, represent very
important aspects of the difficulty and its solution. A
great proportion of the wealth of the world is today in
the hands of the Jews, yet as a nation they have no
place. As the "chosen people" they were an important
nation, but the rejection of the Teacher in who they
expected to find their Messiah, is usually considered
to have been the cause of their becoming wanderers upon
the face of the Earth. Yet the word "Jew" is derived
from IU, the Ever-Coming Son, the Horus of the earliest
Egyptian traditions, whose influence is not confined to
the Christian Era but extends to all Ages, and of Whom
all truly typical God-Men, such as Jesus, have been,
and are, the representatives upon earth.
But the Jews have neglected the study of their own
"Chokmah Nestorah," or Secret Wisdom Tradition, as
transmitted in the Holy Qabalah, thus losing sight of
their True Will as a nation and their essential Purpose
in the Great Creative Plan. It has remained for the
Gentile to rediscover some of the deeper mysteries of
this Ancient Wisdom, and these are found to be the same
in essence as those of Catholicism, Freemasonry,
Pythagorean Philosophy, Hermeticism, and so forth; in
fact there has always been a Universal Tradition which
when known has led the Nations to the height of
civilization, and when lost has heralded their decline
and downfall.
The present world-crisis and breaking up of
civilization is due to the necessity of a general
"clean-up" preparatory to a wider and grander
conception being presented to humanity than has been
possible for many thousands of years. All thinking
people realize that things are in a critical condition,
and all should be prepared to grasp any reasonable
opportunity of obtaining a solution which will be of
permanent, rather than of temporary value.
Things cannot be put right without effort, and the
question arises: "In what direction is effort most
necessary?"
The solution lies with the individual; it is
useless to talk of reforming others until we have
reformed ourselves. It is equally useless to rely upon
someone else to do for use what we are quite capable of
doing and should do for ourselves. The soul of Man --
which is the plastic mediator between body and spirit -
- has become distorted; he must learn to rectify its
structure before he can obtain a clear outlook and a
proper point of view.
Man's teachers have been largely responsible for
distorting his mental vision, and they must cease from
restricting his natural actions and impeding his
natural growth, which would be normally proportioned if
the Holy Spirit within were allowed to expand in the
proper manner. Man's natural tendency is towards health
of body and soul under the action of Spirit. Most of
the present systems have led him to believe otherwise
from his earliest childhood, thus handicapping him from
the start.
The child is, in one sense, the best example of
the perfect man or woman, and if the child were allowed
to develop Intelligence unhampered by false notions
from outside, it would grow to be the true example of
the God-Man or Man-God in the majority of cases. We
have ruined our children before they have had a chance
to come to maturity; our well-meaning, though ignorant,
parents and childhood teachers have instilled into our
subconscious minds most of the "complexes" which in
after life we can only eradicate by bitter toil and
bloody sweat.
Yet I thank God for a good mother, whose simple
faith, transmitted to me, has given me the quiet
courage and perseverance to unravel some, at least, of
those ignorantly transmitted "knots" and kinks. But,
for all that, humanity has complexes which need to be
unraveled and straightened out before much real work
can be done.
First, then, let me make an appeal on behalf of
the children, even if in this New Aeon they do not so
much need my support since they are showing an
independence of spirit which is simply astonishing to
their parents and guardians who were born and brought
up under the Old Dispensation. I make my appeal to
these same parents, not to foolishly try to break the
Will of the child, for it is God's Will therein, and
the only indication of the right course of action. Once
this True Will is distorted, and the lower personal
will brought out of alignment with it, the city is, so
to speak, divided against itself and cannot stand. It
is the interior conflict between the "personal" and the
"True" Will in each of us, that is the cause of all
suffering and all wrong action. There is but one
remedy, discover the True Will and then DO IT, and our
course is one with Destiny and the Will of the Universe
in our regard.
The age of "mothering" children is past. The women
of today failing to do so in regard to their offspring,
or having no offspring to "mother" are doing all they
can to "mother" the nation, particularly in America.
Such "reforms" as Prohibition are largely due to this
mistaken zeal for the good of others. What the
"Mothers" need most is to learn to mind their own
business and to correct their own distorted vision.
Repression can never take the place of RIGHT USE on any
plane. The Righteous are those who use rightly what
they have, for their own good and that of Humanity from
which they can never really cut themselves off. Man
cannot live, or die, to himself alone. The same is true
of Nations.
All things come from One Substance, and are
actuated by One Spirit. Rightly used, any aspect of
that substance may be taken into the body and soul of
Man, and there transmuted into just the proper
condition and proportions for the building up of his
own particular being.
If, for instance, it were possible to eliminate
the effects of wine from all the American people for
two or three generations, they would go to the most
terrible extremes and act as savages do whose systems
have not been used to alcohol, as soon as the habit was
revived, as it inevitably would be in the long run. As
it is, insofar as their parents have been accustomed to
the use of wine, they are comparatively immune while
their normal appetites in this respect are not over-
stimulated by the attempt at repression. Many of the
most normal people drink more under "prohibition" than
they ever though of doing before. The best men and
women are those of such varied experience on all planes
that they are immune from every poison and every
disease because they have found the proper proportion
and balance of all that is called good and evil makes
up the Perfect Man who is like unto his Father in
Heaven, in Whom all things have their being.
Man must eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil before he comes to the Tree of Life in the
Midst of the Garden. Only when he eats too much of one
thing and not enough of another, does his body or soul
become distorted. Every "Christ" and every Genius has
been the friend of publicans and sinners, as well as of
the "selected and exclusive." Idealism and Materialism
must unite and go hand in hand if a new Civilization is
to be build up. The Soul of Humanity is the connecting
link. There is nothing to be ashamed of in our material
bodies, but they would not be of much use without the
Spirit and Will which give them Life and motion. On the
other hand we should not be so cowardly and selfish as
to desire to be re-absorbed into Spirit, as if the
whole Creative Plan were a waste of time, and had
better never have been started. No! Let us give thanks
in our souls for both body and spirit, using both
rightly and to the full extent of our power.
But how shall we learn the right proportions of
each?
We must eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Life, and
it will be found to nourish us perfectly and cause all
the elements of our system to come to their proper
proportion and fullness of stature. We must enter upon
the heritage of Freedom that has been prepared for us
in the Father's Kingdom upon Earth.
We have sacrificed the flower of Humanity, not
alone in the Great War but in many, many ways, to our
false gods. In the Name of the True and Living God, let
us cease from bloody sacrifice, and start to build a
"Living Temple, not made with hands, eternal in the
Heavens" -- upon Earth.
Introduction
On April the fourteenth, nineteen hundred and
twenty-three E.V., having just completed the ms. of my
treatise on "The Egyptian Revival" or The Ever-Coming
Son, in which my endeavor was to show that the
"Restored Order" of the Paths of the Qabalistic Tree of
Life was likely to be the correct one, since it
indicated the Universal Tradition as symbolized by the
Keys of Hermes, I was rewarded by the opening up of an
amazing further possibility in regard to the Design of
"The Tree of Life" itself.
It was between 8:30 and 9:30 P.M. on the above
date, that the "Tree" began to GROW, and proved itself,
to my mind, to be the veritable anatomy of Ra-Hoor-
Khuit, Ever-coming, between the two Infinites.
This fresh revelation left me strangely silent; it
seemed almost too wonderful to be true, but it has
since -- for I am writing this on April 17th -- shown
even greater possibilities, the most extraordinary of
which was only revealed to me this afternoon, after
discussing the matter with W.R.
I do not intend to write of the discovery itself
for the moment, but merely to prepare a brief essay on
the Qabalah by means of further Light I have so
recently received. This will serve as an introduction
to the more complete explanation of the whole matter
which, in order to be comprehensible to my readers,
will require a number of diagrams showing the different
stages of its development. To begin at the beginning.
As stated in "Q.B.L.," the Qabalists postulated the AIN
or NO-THING as the Zero from which, in a mysterious
manner, the Universe arose. Next, they say, the AIN
SUPH, or Limitless Space, became the Nature of the AIN,
and this conception was followed by that of the AIN
SUPH AUR or Limitless Light of Chaos.
It was not until this Limitless Light had
concentrated Itself to a Center that the First Positive
Idea arose, and this was called Kether and attributed
to the Number One.
From this One there arose in succession the other
Numerical Emanations or Sephiroth from Two to Ten, thus
completing the decimal scale of Numbers. The Number 10
is said to represent the return of the One to Zero,
thus completing the Cycle of Manifestation.
These ideas may be found more fully described in
"Q.B.L." and elsewhere, but I now desire to attempt a
slightly different presentation, which will be
developed in greater detail later on in this book.
The finite mind of man is unable to grasp the
Infinite, except in a certain Mystical and Spiritual
manner, but by the Light of the Spirit let us do our
best to comprehend this great mystery of the Beginning.
Let us accept the term AIN as representing That of
which Nothing is known, nor can be known, except
through the positive manifestations which arise form
It. When we attempt to imagine the AIN SUPH --
Limitless Space -- our minds tend to rush on and on,
only to fall back before the Profundity of the Great
Deep; yet we have to admit the possibility of Infinite
extension in space. In my opinion this is due to the
fact that we are only able to extend the
_fine_material_substance_ of the mind to a certain
limit, after reaching which there is NOTHING for Us
unless we succeed in developing fresh Power to drive
that limit further back and so to extend the actual
substance of our being accordingly.
If Life is the Substance of Light, the Life itself
is to be considered as the most subtle substance in our
make-up, while it would follow that the more this
substance is extended, the greater will be our
Illumination, the further our range of vision, and the
wider our Sphere of Consciousness.
With these thoughts in mind let us attempt to
obtain a more complete Understanding of the Primal
Process, which is still "going on" Here and Now.
When the AIN SUPH AUR became _concentrated_ upon a
Single Center, it _compressed_ the Light into the
Substance of Light, which is Life. Or, in other words,
the Concentrated Light became an inconceivably powerful
Force or Energy in the center of Kether. This Pure
Being, or Living Substance, owing to its reaction from
the Invisible Center, tends to expand towards Infinity.
This gives us the idea of the Substance of the Universe
_ever_expanding_, ever occupying more and more of the
Limitless Space of the AIN SUPH, while the Primal
Centralizing Urge still continues to contract upon the
Infinitely Small, or the AIN.
Kether is then the _junction_ of these Two
Infinites, but particularly represents the
_concentration_ of the Light to a Point on its way to
the Infinitely Small, while Malkuth, the Tenth Sephira
and Sphere of the Elements -- which the Qabalists say
is one with Kether -- is the Substance which is
_ever_expanding_ and, so to speak, gradually FILLING UP
THE NOTHINGNESS of the AIN SUPH. So we may consider
Kether as the Light and Malkuth as the Substance, while
the complete Sphere is composed of LIVING SUBSTANCE.
This represents the Macrocosmic Universe, but it is
every BECOMING GREATER AND GREATER in extent, and
driving back, so to speak, the Nothingness of Chaos.
Man, being made in the Image and Likeness of God
and of the Universe, has the same infinite
possibilities of growth in Consciousness, as the Force
of the Spirit extends the substance of his mind to
wider and wider fields of thought.
Yet the whole existing Universe is the result of
the One Thought of God, and it progresses according to
the Order of Pure Reason, as indicated in the Qabalah.
All the Sephiroth and Paths have their place
according to this Order, _within_ the Sphere of the One
Substance, and represent the manifold possibilities of
the action of the Life Force upon that Substance and
the different manifestations of that Substance under
the Influence of the Life Force.
In other words, WITHOUT [i.e. outside] the
manifested universe is the Infinite Body of Nuit; at
the CENTER of All is the Infinitely Small and
unextended Essence of Life, or Hadit. The Contraction
of Nuit upon Hadit and the Expansion of Hadit into Nuit
are constant forces. The Finite Universe, or Ra-Hoor-
Khuit, the Ever-Coming Son, is bounded by an EVER
WIDENING CIRCUMFERENCE which is always exactly BETWEEN
the Infinitely Great and the Infinitely Small.
Kether and Malkuth -- Spirit and Matter --
together represent this Universal Sphere, while
Tiphereth, the Central Sphere of the Tree of Life, must
always correspond to Ra-Hoor-Khuit within them; a
Sphere HALF-WAY between the Center and the
Circumference.
In Nature we may consider the finite
representatives of these two Infinites to be the
smallest known particle of matter as the Center, the
widest expanse of the Star Universe as the
circumference, and the Central Sun as their child.
In Man we find all these possibilities, both
infinite and finite. The true Center of his being is
Hadit whose representative is the tiny Spark of Pure
Spiritual Light; the substance of his Mental Body is
only limited by the Bounds of the Universe, and these
ever recede towards Infinity. His physical body is,
however, quite small, while his heart, which regulates
the life of that body, is in a mystical sense capable
of comprehending the "Light in Extension" of the Sun of
his being, which is the soul.
Thus Man is composed of body, soul, and spirit,
and the soul is the mediator between the spiritual and
material.
The Universe is composed of Malkuth and Kether,
with Tiphereth as the Mediator between them, while, in
a still greater sense we may consider Nuit and Hadit,
the Two Infinites, with the Whole Living manifested
Universe of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, as their Ever-Coming Son,
the Crowned Child and Lord of the Aeon.
Chapter I
In the Name of the One, by the Grace of God
Triune, and by the Favor and Appointing of the Ever-
Coming Son, I will now endeavor to expound that which
has been revealed unto me.
First, let me state my conviction that this
Universe is the Perfect Work of a Perfect Being, and
that any apparent imperfections are due to the
limitations of our finite consciousness, so that even
these contribute to the larger Perfection of the Whole.
Secondly, I believe there is a Supreme and Perfect
Order in all things, in spite of any apparent disorder
which, again, is but the result of restrictions in man
himself.
Thirdly, that the essence of Order consists in the
perfect adjustment of parts in subservience to the ends
of the Whole, so that that which is most complex is
most perfect, but that this very complexity is due to
the combination of a few Ultimate Ideas which go to
make up the One Thought of the Supreme Being.
I am inclined to believe that the perfection of
the existing Universe is Progressive, insofar as the
Whole may be said to expand and become more and more
complex and greater and greater in extent while still
in accord with the One Order which prevails from its
most minute atom to its inconceivably vast
circumference. I incline to believe that the finite
universe is not spherical, though tending ever to
become so as its substance materializes. In other words
that the Light precedes the Life which is its
Substance, and the Life precedes the material which is
its substance. Thus the rays of Light may spread out in
the form of a Star, while the Ever-becoming Life and
material substance tend to expand as a Sphere. The
projecting rays, so to speak, drive back the primal
chaos more easily than would a smooth sphere which
expanded equally all over its surface. That such a
conception implies at least a possibility, I shall
presently endeavor to show.
There is another important point which should be
mentioned. The Spiritual World of Ideas is in Perfect
Order; the Material World of Substance is in Perfect
Order; the Soul of the World, and of Man, which is the
result of these, is capable of comprehending that Order
perfectly.
But, again, the spirit of Man is perfect, his body
is made in the Image and Likeness of God and of the
Universe, but his soul, having within it the power of
personal choice, or will, which alone enables him to
progress in a free and intelligent manner, is at the
same time liable to distortion if the personal will is
ill-used or restricted. In that case the Eye of the
soul sees things out of proportion and order, and this
astigmatism must be corrected. Otherwise, man is under
an illusion, self-created, which, however, in no way
interferes with the Real Order of the Universe, but
merely tends to confine him and to prevent him from
enjoying his due heritage in all its fullness.
Thus the Great Work for Man consists in the
adjustment of the soul, or Intellectual Sphere, so that
it bears a perfect resemblance and correspondence to
the Material and Natural Order of the Universe and at
the same time exhibits its relation with the Supreme or
Archetypal Order. This possibility of distortion in the
soul has led him into the direst troubles, but unless
that soul were thus plastic it could not expand and
take on the complex Design of the Greater Universe.
Man's work consists in building up his soul by means of
his personal will and creative imagination, under the
guidance and direction of the Will of the Universe,
into the same Archetypal Pattern which is to be found
in the One Thought of God.
But how shall man discover this Design upon the
Trestleboard of the Grand Architect? He may at least
make an intelligent attempt to do so, as we shall
endeavor to show.
Since perfect Order consists in a right relation,
adjustment, and proportion of all the parts in
subservience to the Idea of the Whole, we must first
consider some of the necessary requirements of that
Order.
The "Tree of Life" of the Qabalists has been
called the "Minutum Mundum" or "Little Universe," and
students of the Qabalah will have become aware that
this system has great possibilities as a convenient
means of classification in regard to every thing in the
Universe, or idea in the mind of man. The Universe, for
each one of us, consists of what we are able to
comprehend of it. Some are content to feel themselves
at one with a very limited part; others realize that if
once they could obtain the true Design, all would
become possible of comprehension in a spiritual manner.
But this Design has been lost, or so it seemed.
In Book 4, Part III -- still in ms. -- we may
read: "An excellent man of great intelligence, a
learned Qabalist, once amazed FRATER PERDURABO by
stating that the Tree of Life was the framework of the
Universe. It was as if some one had serious maintained
that a cat was a creature constructed by placing the
letters C-A-T in that order. It is no wonder that
Magick has excited the ridicule of the unintelligent,
since even its educated students can be guilty of so
gross a violation of the first principles of common
sense."
I may state that I have not the slightest idea who
this excellent man was, and that I have a good deal of
respect for the opinions of Frater Perdurabo, but, at
the risk of falling under the same stigma as this
"unknown warrior" I shall break a lance with Frater
Perdurabo on this point, before this treatise is
completed.
Meanwhile, let me refer Students of the Holy
Qabalah to the various designs of the Tree of Life
which may be in their possession, or readily available.
Let us examine, for instance, those shown in
Westcott's "Introduction to the Study of the Kabalah,"
Mather's translation of the "Kabbalah Unveiled," Pike's
"Morals and Dogma," Inman's "Ancient Faiths," "The
Equinox," Volume One, Number 2, page 243, Waite's
"Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah," Ginsburg's
treatise on the subject, the Frontispiece to Book 777,
the oldest extant design in the British Museum, etc.,
and we shall notice one very striking thing: The all
vary greatly in their _proportions_. Some, it will be
seen, are long and thin, others short and squatty. 777
alone gives a well proportioned Tree.
It would seem that this important aspect of
proportion has received little or no attention in the
past. But let me once again refer you to the ancient
"Sepher Yetzirah" (as I did in regard to the
arrangement of the Paths in "Q.B.L."); in it we are
told to "Fix the Design in its Purity," to "Replace the
Formative Power upon His Throne," or to "Restore the
Device or Workmanship to its Place."
Was the author of that old treatise using mere
idle words, or did he mean what he said? It is possible
he did not know how to do this himself, since the mss.
of the "Sepher Yetzirah" contains no diagrams of the
"Tree of Life"; but, in any event, we may at least
attempt to follow his lead and try, if possible, to
discover more Light from a study of the
_true_proportions_ of the Tree.
The formation of the "Tree of Life" is entirely
geometrical, and as might be expected, we find the
simplest elements of geometry as its basis: The Point,
the Line, the Circle, the Triangle, and Right-angled
figures.
The proper method of finding the correct centers
of the Ten Sephiroth, and thus the points connected by
the Paths, is as follows: Upon a vertical straight line
of convenient length, describe with unchanged compasses
four circles, the center of each being on the line, the
point where the upper arc of the lowest circle cuts the
line forming the center of the circle above, and so
on. Thus:
[insert Figure I here]
The center of the top circle gives the central
Point of Kether, the intersections of the first and
second circles form the centers of Chokmah and Binah,
[the intersections of the second and third circles form
the centers of Chesed and Geburah,] the center of the
third circle is Tiphereth, the intersections of the
third and fourth circles indicate Netzach and Hod, the
center of the fourth circle is Yesod, and the lower
point of its intersection with the vertical line is
Malkuth.
This method produces a perfectly proportioned
Figure of the Tree of Life, and the connecting Paths
can all be made by joining the various points, thus:
[insert Figure II here]
In Freemasonry, Geometry is referred to as the
"first and noblest of the Sciences" and as "the head of
all learning." One of the simplest figures is produced
by the intersection of two circles, thus forming what
is known as the _Vesica_Piscis_.
The curious and marvelous properties of the
_Vesica_Piscis_ and of the Rectangle formed on its
length and breadth, have been subjects of profound
speculation, and perhaps nowhere have they been better
described than in the "Magister-Mathesios" by our
learned Brother Sydney T. Klein. I am sure he will have
no objection if I quote a few passages from his work,
which has been one of the means of opening up before me
such marvelous vistas.
After discussing the properties of the Masonic
Square, obtained from the right angled triangle by
means of mundane measures of 3, 4, and 5 units to each
side, respectively, he points out that a wave of
wonderful enthusiasm must have swept across the
civilized world when they first discovered that the
Geometrical way of creating a right angle as given in
Euclid I, 11, was by means of an equilateral triangle,
by joining the vertex with the center of the base.
"This Equilateral Triangle" he writes, "was the
earliest symbol, in connection with the Vesica Piscis,
we know of the Divine Logos and, as the Bible declared
that the Universe was created by the Logos (the Word)
so the form of the Lodge which represents the Universe
was naturally created by means of the Equilateral
Triangle. A great mystery this must have appeared to
those who, like the Hellenic philosophers, postulated
that everything on earth has its counterpart in heaven,
and who, in their religious mysticism, were always
looking for signs of the transcendental in their
temporal surroundings.
"But in what awe and reverence must they have held
Geometry when they further found that the Equilateral
Triangle was itself generated, as in the _first_
problem of Euclid, upon which the whole Science of
Geometry was therefore based, by the intersection of
two circles.
"This figure was not only looked upon as a symbol
of the Three Divine _personae_, but that part of the
figure which is bounded by the arcs of the two circles
and which takes to itself one-third of each of the two
generating circles (making its perifera exactly equal
with that remaining to each of the two circles, all
three therefore being _co-equal_), and in which the
triangle is formed, was naturally held from earliest
times as the most sacred Christian emblem, namely that
of _regeneration_ or _new_birth_. To how the
extraordinary reverence and high value attached to this
symbol, it is only necessary to remember that from the
fourth century onwards all Seals of Colleges, Abbeys
and other religious communities have been made
invariably of this form and they continue to be made so
to this day. It was also in allusion to this most
ancient emblem that Tertullian and the other early
Fathers speak of Christians as "Pisciculi." It was
called the "Vesica Piscis" (Fish's bladder) and named
such no doubt for the same reason as led the learned
Rabbi Maimonides in the twelfth century, when dealing
with a similar religious subject, to command his
hearers: 'When you have discovered the meaning thereof,
do not divulge it, because the people cannot
philosophize or understand that to the infinite there
is no such thing as sex.'
[insert Figure III here]
"The Vesica Piscis is intimately connected with
the discovery by Augustus Caesar, as narrated by
Baronius, of a prophecy in one of the Sybilline books
foretelling 'a great event coming to pass in the birth
of One who should prove to be the true "King of Kings,"
and that Augustus therefore dedicated an altar in his
palace to the "unknown God." ' "
Brother Klein then goes on to show how the Vesica
Piscis was the true foundation of Gothic Architecture,
and that its influence accounts for the sudden change
from the old Norman style, which was based on the
properties of the square rather than the triangle.
[insert Figure IV here]
He the discloses some of the great wonders of the
Vesica Piscis and points out: "The rectangle formed by
the length and breadth of this mysterious figure in its
simplest form has several extraordinary qualities; it
may be cut into three equal parts, by straight lines
parallel to its shorter sides:
[insert Figure V here]
and these parts will all be precisely and geometrically
similar to each other and to the whole figure,
strangely applicable to the Symbolism attached at that
time to the Trinity in Unity, and this sub-division may
be proceeded with indefinitely without making any
change in the form; however often the operation is
performed the parts remain identical with the original
figure, having all its extraordinary properties, and
_no_other_rectangle_ can have this curious property. It
may also be cut into four equal parts by straight lines
parallel to the two sides, and again each of these
parts will be exactly similar to each other and to the
whole, and the process may be continued indefinitely,
the equilateral triangle appearing everywhere:
[insert Figure VI here]
Once more, if two of the tri-sub-divisions be taken,
the form of these together is exactly similar
geometrically to half the original figure, and the
equilateral triangle again appears everywhere in both;
as in figure V.
[insert Figure VII here]
In Figure VII I have carried the tri-sub-division to
the sixth degree, and to help the eye I have marked
with darker lines one of the tri-sub-divisions of each
degree; it is only owing to the above unique similarity
that the equilateral triangle is again formed on every
part of the base line. Again the diagonal is exactly
double the length of its shorter side, which
characteristic is also _unique_ and greatly increases
its use for plotting out designs, and this property, of
course, holds good for all the rectangles formed by
both species of sub-division, but perhaps its most
mysterious property (though not of any practical use)
to those who studied geometry, and to whom the figure
was a Symbol of the Divine Trinity in Unity, was the
fact that it actually put into their hands the means of
trisecting the right angle. Now the three great
problems of antiquity which engaged the attention of
geometricians throughout the Middle Ages were 'the
Duplication of a Cube', 'the squaring of the circle,'
and lastly, 'the trisection of an angle,' even Euclid
being unable to show how to do it, and yet it will be
seen that the diagonal A-B of Figure IV and the
diagonal A-E of the subsidiary figure, which is also
the plumbline, actually trisect the angle D-A-C. It is
true that it only shows how to trisect one kind of
angle, but it was that particular angle which
represented the Craft and was created by the
equilateral triangle. All these unique properties place
this figure far above that of a square for practical
work, because even when the diagonal of a square is
given it is impossible to find the exact length of any
of its sides, or vice versa."
I have quoted Brother Sydney Klein thus fully in
order to give him due credit for his detailed working
on this most important matter, and also to supply the
reader with a clear idea of the unique features of
these symbols, as well as of their deep religious
significance and the actual effect that their practical
application produced on all the religious Architecture
of the Gothic period. On this basis many of the most
important Cathedrals and Churches were erected, and
their Beauty is not to be denied. When we compare some
of these beautiful Gothic structures with the Pyramid,
for instance, we cannot but notice the difference; but
after all the Pyramid is a truly Symbolic structure in
every detail, while the Gothic Cathedrals only show
part of the truth.
Imagine my overwhelming joy when I discovered that
the ancient Qabalistic Tree of Life, with all its
wonderful possibilities as a means of mental
classification of every idea in the Universe --
Natural, Human, and Divine --
_was_in_its_entirety_based_upon_the_same_fundamental_pr
inciple_of_the_ _Vesica_Piscis_, and was therefore
_not_a_fixed_design_ but capable of indefinite
_progression_towards_the_Infinitely_Small_or_the_Infini
tely_Great_. For it can be so drawn that it appears
with all its details and properties, repeating
themselves indefinitely in every direction of Space to
Infinity.
Imagine what it means to a Qabalist who has
arranged all the ideas in his mind, in duly Balanced
and Equilibrated formation, to discover a way of
perpetuating in thought all these Ideas, and to be able
to realize that the "Tree of Life" upon which they are
based is a LIVING TREE, with its Roots in the
Infinitely Small and its Branches and Fruits extending
to the furthest Limits of the Universe.
This is the nature of the discovery, or
revelation, which came to me on April 14th, and it will
form the subject of our further studies and researches.
Chapter II
Before discussing in detail the events which led
up to this discovery, and the further application of it
to the Tree of Life, it will be well if we spend a
little time in considering the Nature of the Trinity,
and its fundamental relation to all Systems of
Religious and Philosophic thought.
Hermes the Thrice Greatest, like Solomon, is
highly celebrated by antiquity for his wisdom and skill
in the secret operations of nature, and for his
_reputed_discovery_of_the_quintessential_perfectibility
_of_the_three_ _kingdoms_in_their_homogeneal_unity_;
whence he is called the Thrice Great Hermes, having the
_spiritual_intelligence_of_all_things_in_their_universa
l_law.
It is to be regretted that no one of the many
books attributed to him, and which are named in detail
by Clemens Alexandrinus, escaped the destroying hand of
Diocletian.
But we have one truly authentic record in the
famous Emerald Tablet, which contains the one sole
dogma of Hermetic Philosophy: "That which is above is
as that which is below, and that which is below is as
that which is above, for performing the miracles of the
One Things."
The Emerald Tablet, unique and authentic as it may
be regarded, is all that remains to us from Egypt of
her Sacred Art. A few riddles and fables, all more or
less imperfect, that were preserved by the Greeks, and
some inscrutable hieroglyphics, are still to be found
quoted in certain alchemical records; but the originals
are entirely lost.
There is little doubt that Ancient Egypt did at
one time hold the true Key of the Mysteries. For what
did Pythagoras, Thales, Democritus and Plato become
immured there for several solitary years, but to be
initiated in the wisdom and learning of those
Egyptians? Yet Hermes himself is reported to have
prophesied her fall, and the loss of her wisdom and
learning; and this certainly was fulfilled. But, as I
have endeavored to point out in my treatise, "The
Egyptian Revival," there seems every reason to suppose
that in this New Aeon, during this Aquarian Age, man
will once more come into his own, and be directly
informed by the true Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding
in a way that has not been possible for many Ages. At
least there seems every hope of the revival of the
Universal Tradition of the Golden Age, despite the
present world-crisis and the breaking up of the old
civilization. But it is necessary that things should be
destroyed in order that they may be renewed, as the
Justified Osiris said in regard to His Body. So it is,
perhaps, in regard to our pre-conceived ideas of the
Body of the Universe, or of the Tree of Life, or some
other pet theory; but so long as we receive something
better in exchange for that with which we must part,
what matter!
There is certainly no denying the importance of
the "Three in One," as far as Hermes is concerned, for
his very title of Thrice Greatest implies in what
veneration such conceptions must have been held in his
day.
In Alchemy we find three Principles -- Sulphur,
Mercury, and Salt; and Three great Stages of the Work -
- Discovery of the Formation of the Stone of the Wise,
its Multiplication, and its Projection. These later
stages have been very little understood.
In the Qabalah (from the three-lettered root QBL,
meaning "to receive") we find mention of the Sacred
Three Lettered Name of God IHV, implying Father,
Mother, and Son. We find three Mother Letters in the
Hebrew Alphabet, Aleph, Mem, and Shin, and these are in
turn attributed to the Three Elements, Air, Water, and
Fire, which correspond to the Alchemical Principles,
and in admixture form Earth, or The Stone. We also find
in the Sepher Yetzirah, the oldest Qabalistic treatise,
that the "One created the Universe by means of the
Three Sepharim, Number, Writing, and Speech." These
correspond to the Three Mother Letters and to the Three
Paths of the Middle Pillar of the Tree, as I have shown
in "Q.B.L."
The Hindus venerate the Three-lettered Word AUM as
the most sacred Name of God; their Deity has Three
Aspects as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; the Creator,
Preserver, and Destroyer. They postulate Three
principles, Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva, or Activity,
Inertia, and Peace.
The Christians believe in Three Persons in One
God; The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; in Three that
bear witness in Heaven, and in Three that bear witness
on Earth. That man is three-fold; Body, Soul, and
Spirit.
In fact the Importance of the Number Three, and of
the Triangle, is a well nigh inexhaustible subject.
Many of these three-fold Ideas are summed up in a
Fourth, representing the Materialized or Manifested
aspect.
The Sides of the Pyramid are Triangular, but its
Base is Square. The Word AUM is made continuous in
sound by the addition of the nasal N, forming AUMN. The
Hebrew IHV, becomes IHVH through the addition of the
final He, or the Daughter. The Archetypal, Creative,
and Formative Worlds become Manifest in Assiah, the
Material World of the Qabalah. The tripartite Word INR,
becomes INRI. The Trinity of Triads of the Tree of Life
are summed up in the single Sphere of Malkuth, the
Kingdom. Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt produce the Gold of
the Alchemist. Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva act on
Prakriti.
Three and Four together make Seven, another Sacred
Number, as everyone knows.
Seven and three are Ten, and this is said to be
the most Sacred and Complete of all, since it
represents a return from One to the Primal Nothing of
the Beginning. We find Ten Sephiroth on the Qabalistic
Tree. The Four letters of the Sacred Name IHVH, when
arranged in the form of a Triangle, make 10, thus:
[insert figure VIII here]
and this became the basis of the Tetractys of
Pythagoras, a figure composed of Ten Unit forms or
Yods,
[insert figure IX here]
But here we begin to approach the Central Mystery
once more, for this Triangle, with its ten Dots, gives
us the idea of the Division of the triangle into
others, thus:
[insert figure X here]
and so we begin to get back to our Equilateral Triangle
and Vesica as the Basis of the Tree of Life. But there
is another interesting fact, viz.: -- than an
Equilateral Triangle, so divided, having a base of,
say, three inches, will contain nine triangles, the
sides of which will each be one inch. Whereas a Square,
whose side is three inches, will also contain exactly
the same number of one inch squares, viz.: nine.
[insert figure XI here]
Again the numbers 1-9 may be so arranged in the nine
squares, that they will add to 15 vertically,
horizontally, and diagonally. This forms the basis for
the construction of the Magick Squares of the Planets,
etc.
But all these ideas are symbolized in the Tree of
Life itself, which we will next examine in further
detail.
Chapter III
The "Sepher Yetzirah," or Book of Formation, which
is perhaps the oldest philosophical treatise as yet
extent in the Hebrew language, opens as follows:
"In the two and thirty most occult and wonderful
paths of wisdom, did IAH, the Lord of Hosts, engrave
his name . . . He created this universe by the three
Sepharim, Number Writing, and Speech.
"Ten are the numbers, as are the Sephiroth, and
twenty-two the letters; these are the Foundation of all
things. Of these letters, three are mothers, seven are
double, and twelve are simple.
"The ten numbers formed from nothing, are the
Decad; these are seen in the fingers of the hands, five
on one, five on the other, and over them is the
Covenant by voice spiritual, and the rite of
Circumcision, corporeal (as of Abraham).
"Ten are the numbers of the ineffable Sephiroth,
_ten_and_not_nine_, _ten_and_not_eleven_. Learn this
wisdom, and be wise in the understanding of it;
investigate these numbers, and draw _knowledge_ from
them; fix the design in its purity, and pass from it to
its Creator seated on his throne." (Dr. Westcott's
translation.)
It is well to notice that the ancient Qabalists
made a particular point of the fact that there are TEN
Sephiroth, neither more nor less. If we examine the
formation of the "Tree of Life" in the following Figure
(XII), we shall understand why they were so careful to
make this plain.
[insert figure XII here]
One might at first be inclined to suppose that
there should be another Sephira in the center of the
upper hexagon, and this is, as a matter of fact, the
location assigned to the Sphere of DAATH, or Knowledge,
as the child of Chokmah and Binah. But it is not to be
shown in the plan of the Tree for it represents a
Higher Dimensional Knowledge, which should be drawn
from the whole Tree, as it is written, "Draw knowledge
from the." Should such a sphere be shown in the design,
it would also necessitate extra "Paths" leading
thereto, but we are clearly told that the Paths of
Wisdom are thirty-two in all, that is to say, the Ten
Numerical Emanations and their connecting links formed
by the Twenty-two letters.
Likewise we notice that there are no paths from 2
to 5 and from 3 to 4 or from 1 to 4 and 1 to 5. Had
there been, we should see the symbol of the upright
Pentagram, which is the Star of unconquered Will in the
Microcosm, united with the Sign of the Hexagram of the
Macrocosm. But this unification represents the Great
Work which must be accomplished by man, and it is part
of the Universal Plan that he should discover their
equivalence for himself in order that he may become a
conscious co-operator in the Divine Scheme of Creation.
Therefor we find an "Abyss," and no direct link between
Binah and Chesed.
[insert figure XIII here]
Again, one might be tempted to suppose that there
should be three averse equilateral triangles, 2-6-3, 4-
9-5, and 7-10-8. But should 4-9 and 5-9 be connected by
paths, a figure of the evil and averse Pentagram with
its two points uppermost, would appear upon the tree;
thus:
[insert figure XIV here]
We must do nothing, then which will in any way
interfere with the arrangement as it stands, for it is
a veritable Work of Wisdom.
Let us again examine the arrangement and
juxtaposition of the Paths as shown in figure XII. It
will be noticed that the Hexagon bounded by 1-2-4-6-5-
3, is perfect in form; all its sides are equal. That
the Triangles 2-3-6 and 7-8-10 are perfectly
equilateral. That the triangles 1-2-3, 2-4-6, 3-5-6, 4-
5-6, 7-6-8, 7-9-8, and 8-9-10 are all equal and have an
angle of 120 degrees or exactly one-third of a circle.
That the small triangles 4-6-7 and 5-6-8 are both
equilateral. That the paths connecting 6-7-9-8 produce
a diamond which is in the proportion of a perfect
Vesica.
It should further be noticed that the two
rectangles, 3-2-4-5 and 5-4-7-8 are each exactly based
on the proportion of the Vesica, so that they partake
of all the properties shown in figure V, as explained
in detail by Brother Klein.
If the breadth of the Tree be taken as the Length
of One Vesica, the height from the center of Malkuth to
the center of Kether is exactly the Width of Four such
Vesicae.
The Path from Kether to Tiphereth is exactly equal
to the combined lengths of the two paths of the Middle
Pillar between Tiphereth and Malkuth. Further study on
the part of the Student will disclose many other
proportions.
The learned but anonymous author of "The Canon,"
published by Elkin Mathews in 1897, makes several
important statements in regard to the Vesica Piscis and
its relation to the Mysteries of the Qabalah,
Architecture, etc. He writes: "It is known, both to
freemasons and architects, that the mystical figure
called the Vesica Piscis, so popular in the Middle
Ages, and generally placed as the first proposition of
Euclid, was a symbol applied by the masons in planning
their temples. Albert Durer, Serlio, and other
architectural writers depict the Vesica in their works,
but presumably because of an unspeakable mystery
attached to it, these authors make no reference to it.
Thomas Kerrich, a freemason and principal librarian of
the University of Cambridge, read a paper upon this
mystical figure before the Society of Antiquaries on
January 20, 1820. He illustrated his remarks with many
diagrams illustrating its use by the ancient masons,
and piously concludes by saying: 'I would by no means
indulge in conjectures as to the reference these
figures might possibly have to the most sacred
mysteries of religion.' Dr. Oliver ("Discrep." p. 109),
speaking of the Vesica says: 'This mysterious figure
Vesica Piscis possessed an unbounded influence on the
details of sacred architecture; and
_it_constituted_the_ _great_
_and_enduring_secret_of_our_ancient_brethren. The plans
of religious buildings were determined by its use; and
the proportions of length and height were dependent on
it alone.' Mr. Clarkson (Introductory Essay to
Billings' "Temple Church") considered that the
elementary letters of the primitive language were
derived from the same mystical symbol. He says that it
was known to Plato and 'his masters in the Egyptian
colleges' and was to the old builders 'an archetype of
ideal beauty.' The Vesica was also regarded as a
baneful object under the name of 'Evil Eye,' and the
charm most generally employed to avert the dread
effects of its fascination was the Phallus ((J.
Millinger's "Archeologia," XIX). In Heraldry, the
Vesica was used as the feminine shield. It was
interchangeable with the Fusill, or Mascule, and was
also figured as a lozenge or rhombus. In the East the
Vesica was used as a symbol of the womb, and was joined
to the cross by the Egyptians forming the handle of the
Crux Ansata.
"Geometrically, the Vesica is constructed from two
intersecting circles, so that it may be taken as having
a double significance. Edward Clarkson says it 'means
astronomically at the present day a starry conjunction;
and by a very intelligent transfer of typical ideas a
divine marriage,' or the two-fold essence of life,
which the ancients supposed to be male and female. To
every Christian the Vesica is familiar from its
constant use in early art, for not only was it an
attribute of the Virgin, and the feminine aspect of the
Savior as symbolized by the _wound_ in his side, but it
commonly surrounds the figure of Christ, as His Throne
when seated in Glory. As a hieroglyphic the combination
of Christ with the Vesica is analogous to the Crux
Ansata of the Egyptians."
[insert figure XV here]
A little further on in his book the author of "The
Canon" also makes the following remarks:
"Geometrically, the diagram containing the ten steps of
the Cabala is shown by Kircher and other authorities in
the form ascribed by Freemasons to what they call the
'Double Cube,' that is to say, an irregular hexagon,
which will exactly enclose a Vesica. Consequently its
length and breadth are of the proportion of 26 to 15.
It is said that the ten cabalistic steps, in their
entirety, symbolize the aspect of the Deity expressed
by the four mystic letters IHVH, whose numerical value
is 26. This number was said by the Jews to comprise the
most sacred mysteries of the Law. No explanation,
however, has ever been given showing how the number 26
afforded a key to all the science of the Israelites. It
is now suggested that the Vesica, whose proportion is
in the ration of 26 to 15, was the symbol of the hidden
rule or canon, by which the synthesis of nature was
reduced to a comprehensible figure, capable of
demonstrating to initiates the truth and knowledge
which constituted the sacred wisdom of antiquity."
The last sentence is of much interest in the light
of our present researches. I had not noticed this
reference when first writing this book, but it is not
alone a confirmation of our general ideas, but leads to
others of importance.
Brother Klein gives the true proportion of the
Vesica Piscis as that of 8 to 13.85, but probably the
nearest in whole numbers is that above given by the
author of The Canon, viz.: 15 to 26. (I think the exact
proportion is 15.01 to 26.) Now these numbers 26 and
15 are of great Qabalistic value. 26, as stated by the
author of the "Canon," is the numeration of IHVH, and
this, as shown in "Q.B.L." and elsewhere, is the
"Formula" upon which the whole System is based. 15 is
the numeration of IH or "Jah," the venerable Name of
God, attributed in the "Sepher Yetzirah" to the Creator
Who devised the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom which we are
discussing.
The author of the "Canon" makes a valuable
suggestion when he remarks that the length and breadth
of the Tree of Life are as 26 to 15, although his
statement is not actually correct. Qabalistically,
however, we may notice a very interesting thing. The
Total numeration of the Sephiroth of the Middle Pillar,
or the length of the Tree, is 1 + 6 + 9 + 10 = 26,
while the two Sephiroth forming the bases of the side
pillars, and indicating the breadth of the Tree are
Netzach = 7 and Hod = 8, thus 7 + 8 = 15.
Now although the Vesica Piscis is the hidden rule
or canon upon which the figure is built, the true
proportion of the Tree is much more wonderful than if
its length and breadth were in the proportion of a
simple Vesica. As explained before, the true proportion
is that of the _width_ of four Vesicae in height to the
_length_ of one Vesica in width. This suggests the
"Four Worlds" of the Qabalah. But since the rectangle
bounding a Vesica may be divided into three equal parts
by lines parallel to the shorter sides, and the
divisions thus formed are found each to have the same
proportions as the original figure, we shall also find
that three out of the four parts of the height of the
Tree of Life will represent the exact length of a
Vesica the breadth of which is equal to the breadth of
the Tree from center to center of the Sephiroth forming
the side pillars. To make this plainer: if we take the
reciprocal path from Chesed to Geburah as equivalent to
26 (it being the length of one of the four vesicae and
at the same time the width of the Tree) and construct
thereon another Vesica we shall find that its highest
and lowest points will be in the centers of Kether and
Yesod. Thus the first Nine Sephiroth are in exact
proportion of the Vesica and Malkuth remains as a
pendant. The height of this Vesica will now be 45 and
its width 26. We have examined the number 26 as to its
mystical value, but 45 is found to be the mystic number
of Yesod, which represents the generative organs. In
addition to this we find that the sum of the numbers of
the Sephiroth 1-9 is 45, and this is the numeration of
ADM the Hebrew ADAM. Further if we notice the Vesica
thus formed, it will be found to have its apex in
Kether while the left hand curve cuts through the
center of Geburah and the right hand curve through that
of Chesed, both these terminating in Yesod. Therefore
these lines unite 1 + 4 + 5 + 9 = 19. Now 19 is the
numeration of ChVH, or Chavvah, which is the Hebrew
word for EVE. Thus we find ADAM and EVE united; with
IHVH in the midst of their union.
[insert figure XVI here]
The fact that we find these first Nine Sephiroth
forming a perfect Vesica and producing such symbolism
is indeed significant, and this coupled with the fact
that we find the circle of Malkuth below this Vesica,
and that Malkuth has been referred to the World of
Shells or Excrement (Gross Matter) and has been called
The Un-Redeemed Daughter, is indeed a startling piece
of natural symbolism.
But so far we have a Vesica and a Sphere pendant,
and our Tree of Life is not fully represented in terms
of Vesicae.
[insert figure XVII here]
The real mystery lies in the fact that just as in the
first proposition of Euclid, the Vesica is formed by
the _intersection_of_two_circles_, so the true
proportion of this figure is found to be that of the
_intersection_of_two_Vesicae_. In which case the
Upright line of the Middle Pillar represents the
Father, the Horizontal line which runs through
Tiphereth represents the Son, the Upper Vesica the
Mother, and the lower one the Daughter. Thus we have
the complete representation of IHVH in graphic form,
and the exact proportions of the Tree of Life are
shown.
The foregoing properties, alone, make this Figure
of the Tree of Life quite unique, but when we add its
regular Qabalistic Correspondences as a symbolic
universal basis of all Ideas, and a proper means of
their classification in perfect Order, we are almost
overwhelmed at the sublimity of the conception. But we
have hardly begun to consider its possibilities in
other directions. We have not as yet discussed the
proper proportion of the Sephirotic Circles to the
length of the Paths, but this matter will be taken up
in detail later on. Meanwhile let us notice that the
connecting Paths are _lines_, and the Sephiroth
_Circles_ (or Spheres). The Line and the Circle make up
the Number 10, and also represent the letter IO
equivalent to the root of the God-name of Jove, who is
identical with the Hebrew Jehovah.
[Transcriber's note: The proportion of the
Sephirotic Spheres is not again dealt with until almost
the end of the book. But several of the discoveries in
the following chapters do not work correctly except
when the proper proportions are used. The correct
radius of a Sephirotic Sphere is one-fourth the radius
of the original generating circles. The correct width
of the Paths is one-half the radius of the Sephiroth,
or one-eighth the radius of the generating circles.]
Let us consider some of the statements of the
Sepher Yetzirah in greater detail.
Firstly we find the words "In two and thirty most
occult and wonderful paths of wisdom, did IAH, the Lord
of Hosts, engrave his name." Let us consider the words
_two_ and _thirty_. Two is the numeration of the letter
Beth, which is attributed to Mercury or Wisdom, and to
the Magician or Occultists who controls the elemental
forces. Thirty is "Lamed" or "Ox-Goad" or sharp pointed
"engraver." It is also the letter of Libra or of
Justice and Balance, so here in one letter we get the
idea of the Scales with the tongue of the balance (or
ox-goad) between them. The letters BL in Hebrew form
the word meaning "Lord," while LB means "Mind" or
"Heart." The Mind is the receptacle of Wisdom and the
Heart of Live and Will. The number 32 is the numeration
of AHIH the Divine Name of Kether, and IHVH the
Ineffable Name ruling the other Nine Sephiroth,
coalesced, in the Great Name AHIHVH which embraces the
whole Ten in One. The Name IAH is in Hebrew Yod-He or
IH and this is called the Monogram of the Eternal. The
letters are the first two of IHVH and represent the
Father and Mother conjoined and concealing the Son (A,
the Microcosm or Star of Unconquered Will) within them.
Yod is the letter of Fire, He of Water, and the
concealed Aleph is Air. These are the natures of the
three Sepharim, Number, Writing, and Speech, by which
Jah is said to have created the Universe. Number is
Fire (the writing of the Starts), Writing flows like
Water, and Air is the basis of Speech.
But these are all mysteriously connected
symbolically with the Perfect Number 10, of which 0 is
the Naught of the Unmanifest, and 1 the First Positive
Idea. The Mouth from which issues the Fire of the
Spirit in the form of Breath, and also the Water, is
when closed, a horizontal line, When open it is a
Circle; thus, 10.
The Pen whereby Ideas are transmitted in the form
of Writing, has been referred to in the Scriptures and
"The Pen of a Man" and this is dipped in a vessel which
represents both a line and a circle, for purposes of
reproduction and transmission of form and substance.
Thus we have the idea "IH" once more. Speech cometh
from the Opening and Closing of the Mouth, thus by the
combined ideas of 1 and 0 or 10. In the Tarot the
Letter Aleph (1) is that of Air, and also of The Fool,
which is marked Zero, or 0. Aleph is the Ox; Lamed, as
mentioned above, is the Ox-goad, together they are AL,
the most sacred Name of the One God, and LA which means
"Not" or Zero which is 0. AL is numerically 31,
suggesting the Three Sepharim in One and 3 + 1 = 4; and
the sum of the numbers from 1 - 4 = 10.
"Ten are the numbers, as are the Sephiroth, and
twenty-two the letters, these are the Foundation of all
things." Twenty is the numeration of the basic simple
Hebrew Letter or IOD, spelt in full. Beth (2) is the
House or Womb. Yod is equivalent to the spermatozoon in
one sense. Twenty is also the numeration of the Hebrew
Letter Kaph which means the palm of the hand in the act
of grasping. Yod also means the Hand. So we have the
chief instrument of action, the hand, in the act of
opening and closing, representing expansion and
contraction. 22 is the numeration of the word IChD
which means Unity.
"Of these letters, three are mothers, seven are
double, and twelve are simple." We have mentioned the
three Mother Letters under the form of the Three
Sepharim. These represent the Three Elements, which
combined, form Earth. The Seven Double letters are
assigned to the Seven Planetary Intelligences, the
Forces which govern Nature; and the Twelve Simple
letters are attributed to the Signs of the Zodiac, or
Circle of Life, which represents the great Star
Universe. Thus in the twenty-two letters we have the
basis of all Universal Ideas. The One Substance with
its three Elementary divisions combining in material
form; the Planets and Solar System, the Star Universe,
all permeated with the One Life which is the Subtle
Substance of Light Itself.
The Three Mother Letters are equivalent to the
Three Primary Colors, which break up into the Seven
Colors of the Rainbow, and may be further divided into
Twelve. So the Paths of the Tree represent all the
Colors between Light and Darkness, and, of course, a
host of other ideas as may be found in "Q.B.L." and
Book 777.
The Book of Hermes, or Thoth, called the Tarot,
contains Twenty-two symbolic Designs, which have been
attributed to these Paths, and thus we may read in them
the ancient Tradition by means of this Universal
Alphabet of Symbols, as shown in my treatise "The
Egyptian Revival."
"The ten numbers formed from nothing, are the
Decad; these are seen in the fingers of the hands, five
on one, five on the other, and over them is the
Covenant by voice spiritual, and the rite of
Circumcision, corporeal (as of Abraham)."
The Ten Sephiroth were said to have come from the
AIN or Nothing; we have made some explanation of this
in the Introduction. Reference is again made to the
"hands" (which connect the idea of the Paths with that
of the Sephiroth, as shown above). The hands represent
the pairs of opposites, or balanced ideas, but these
must always be united to find the point of equilibrium.
They also represent two Pentagrams, or the Divine and
Human Wills. When united in the strong grip of the
Lion, these two five-fold stars meet in fellowship and
harmony, as 10.
The peculiar statements about the Covenant by
voice spiritual, and the rite of Circumcision,
corporeal, are worthy of study. The Ideas are those of
the great opposites, Spirit and Matter, which are ever
United in the Sun of the Soul. But again the "voice"
requires the opening of the "mouth" thus changing the
horizontal line into a circle. The rite of circumcision
has the effect of cutting away the "circle" of the
foreskin, and disclosing the "vertical line" upon the
head of the male organ. The organ itself represents a
line, either vertical or horizontal, and this "rite"
was for the purpose of making this organ safe from
possible impurity, when connected with the "Circle."
This act again is symbolic of the descent (or ascent)
of Spirit into Matter, or the Harmonious union of Fire
and Water, producing Air, which is in turn the
representative of the "Soul" or Mediator.
With all this truly wonderful symbolism attached
to the number 10, it is hardly surprising, if for no
other reason, that the next verse of the Sepher
Yetzirah makes it so clear that the Sephiroth are Ten,
and not nine or eleven.
But this verse also tells us that after
investigating these numbers, we must "fix the design in
its purity," so it is time we returned to our
discussion of that subject.
Chapter IV
We should remember that just as the Soul is the
link between Body and Spirit, so is the Sun between
Earth and Heaven, and the Great Central Sun between the
Two Infinites. This Link between the Opposites is an
all-important one, but it may be equally a Devil or
Redeemer, according to the Influence it has upon us. I
have showed this more fully elsewhere, and shall refer
to it again.
Now we found the "Paths" symbolized a set of
Universal Ideas, including all Colors. Likewise we
shall find that the Ten Sephiroth have a corresponding
symbolism.
Malkuth, the 10th Sephira, is the Sphere of the
Elements (corresponding to the Mother Letters); the
next Seven above Malkuth are attributed to the Solar
System (or Planets, the Double Letters); Chokmah, the
next higher, is the Sphere of the Zodiac or Fixed
Stars; and Kether is the Pure Light and the Source of
All as the Primum Mobile or First Motion. So we see
that in a certain sense the Ten Sephiroth are equal to
the Twenty-two Paths, and in order to Fix the Design in
its Purity, we must be able to arrange these Diverse
Sets of Ideas so that they blend together perfectly.
That at first may seem like an impossibility; in fact
for several hundred years the Qabalists have adopted an
arrangement which entirely failed to produce this
perfect Harmony and Order.
How I was led to discover such an arrangement, has
been fully shown in "Q.B.L." written last year, and its
further proof is given in "The Egyptian Revival" to
which I may refer those interested. The following
figure is the completed results of those
investigations:
[insert Figure XIX here -- Frater Achad's Tree of
Life.]
It will be seen that the Paths of the Middle
Pillar are made by the Three Mother Letters, which by
shape form the Caduceus of Mercury, and these
descending from Kether through the Sun and Moon
(Tiphereth and Yesod) produce the Sphere of the
Elements, or Malkuth. All the Planetary Letters except
Kaph, which is attributed to Jupiter, the Father of the
Gods, IO, will be seen to connect their Paths with the
corresponding Planetary Sephiroth. The Twelve Letters
attributed to the Signs of the Zodiac will each be
found united with the Sephira of its Ruling Planet,
even in cases such as Gemini and Virgo which are both
ruled by Mercury; Libra and Taurus both ruled by Venus;
etc. The one apparent exception (on account of the fact
that all four paths leading to Chesed are properly
occupied) is the case of Jupiter. But Jupiter, being
the direct representative of Kether, and also by Tarot
"The Wheel of Life," which exactly symbolizes the
Primum Mobile, could not possibly be better placed in
any case.
The fact that this Reformation of the Paths
produces a wealth of fresh Symbolism and actually
discloses the long lost Universal Tradition (as shown
in "The Egyptian Revival") is alone sufficient
justification for changing the arrangement, even though
it may upset the ideas of certain people who have based
the Rituals of their Secret Orders upon the old plan.
But the Book of the Law, Liber Legis, clearly states:
"Abrogate are all Rituals, all words and Signs; Ra-
Hoor-Khuit hath taken His seat in the East at the
Equinox of the Gods." (1904 E.V.)
But this becomes even more essential when we
recognize the necessity of Harmonizing the Paths with
the Sephiroth as explained above, and "Success is thy
proof," since this change has led to such marvelous
fresh developments as will be seen before this book is
concluded. We may remark, to Qabalists, that this
represents the true reconciliation of the "Snake" and
the "Sword," thus removing both the "tempter" and the
"avenger" from the Gate of Eden; to which we should now
be able to return in safety, to our great joy and
comfort.
To return once more to the "discovery" of April
14th, and the events which led up to it. I had been
considering the Sun and all that It means to Humanity;
how it is indeed the Golden Key to the Soul of the
World, for this One Symbol contains in itself all
"Trinities" of Symbolism. To the Soul of Mankind it has
meant in the past all that is "good," all that is
"evil," and all that is Divine and above these,
according to the view taken by Man himself. The Sun is
the True Son but the False Father. He is the Father of
this Planet, but the Son of the Star Universe by its
invisible Father. Those who worship the Sun (or Son)
but fail to pass ON to the concealed father, fall into
"Sin" which is Restriction. Those who obtain "Solar
Dhyana" and go no further, become fanatics, however
wonderful their illumination may seem. Thus the Sun is
at once an Angel of Light, the Devil, and the Redeemer.
For the Son spake truly when He said "No man cometh
unto the Father but by me," but the worship and
Deification of the Son in place of the Father has
proved fatal enough to those who misunderstood.
With these, and many similar thoughts in mind, I
was contemplating the "Tree of Life" when I thought of
the idea of temporarily removing the supports and
reciprocal paths, and leaving the Sun connected with
the Sephiroth by means of direct rays, thus:
[insert figure XX here]
I then noticed a very interesting fact; that if,
as it were, on the pivot of the Sun, the other
Sephiroth were revolved and united, the result would be
as follows: Kether would swing round and exactly cover
Malkuth. Chokmah and Binah (Wisdom and Understanding)
would unite and swing down so that their Circumference
exactly half covered Malkuth and Kether, forming a
Vesica as in the first problem of Euclid. Chesed,
Geburah, Netzach and Hod would all swing down and cover
Yesod, so that the whole figure would fold up thus:
[insert figure XXI here]
This suggested to my mind, the idea of One Cell;
first in the process of Division, and then Divided
except for a ray of Influence between the two. In other
Words the Supreme Light one with Matter, dividing
through Wisdom and Understanding, and becoming the Moon
(Yesod) and the Sun (Tiphereth). Or, The Sun and Moon
uniting and producing other symbolic ideas -- who can
say?
Then, seeing the Vesica thus formed, I was led to
consider its relation to the "Tree" in general, and
seeing all folded up between Tiphereth and Malkuth, I
especially noticed the Paths from Netzach to Yesod, and
from Hod to Yesod, and saw that if these were produced
to that they crossed each other as far as the lower
part of the Circumference of Yesod, they would become
the Generating Paths of another small "Tree" which
would exactly extend from the Center of Yesod (as its
Kether) to the lowest point of the Circumference of
Malkuth (as its Malkuth), thus bringing the Yesod of
the "Little Tree" exactly in the center of Malkuth in
the Larger one, and Tiphereth of the Small one exactly
on the upper line of the circumference of the larger
Malkuth.
It must be remarked that Yesod is said to be the
representative of the Generative Organs, when the
"Tree" is considered in regard to its correspondence to
man, and that Netzach and Hod represent the twin
Spheres connected therewith. Thus the discovery that
these produced a "New Tree" was startling enough, till
I began to realize that this process would go on
indefinitely, the "Trees" giving birth to smaller and
smaller ones toward the Infinitely Small or,
conversely, expanding into greater and greater ones
without Limit towards the Infinitely Great. Thus the
Tree was the veritable Representative of Ra-Hoor-Khuit,
Lord of the Aeon, the Ever Coming Son of the Two
Infinites.
Therewith I gave Praise unto Ra-Hoor-Khuit, and
became Silent as Harpocrates, the twin of Horus which
is hidden within Him.
And I did well to be silent, for there was much
more to be discovered (though I could not conceive it
at the time). So I put aside the sketch of my first
rough working, having signed and dated it, and left the
matter alone for a while.
Herewith I include a drawing made from this first
sketch, as a record of the discovery.
[insert figure XXII here]
Chapter V
We may now begin to understand what was meant by
the next few words of the "Sepher Yetzirah" which
states: "These Ten Numbers, beyond the universal One,
have the boundless realms, boundless origin and end. .
. ."
But we may turn aside for a moment, at this point,
and consider the old system of the Qabalah, as
perpetuated and expounded by the best commentators of
the past.
Mention is made of the "Four Worlds" of the
Qabalah. These are called Atziluth, the Archetypal
World; Briah, the Creative World; Yetzirah, the
Formative World; and Assiah, the Material World. These
have been attributed to the Four Letters of the
Ineffable Name IHVH. Sometimes these worlds have been
allotted to the "Tree of Life" as follows: Atziluth and
Yod (the Father) to Chokmah; Briah and He (the Mother)
to Binah; Yetzirah and Vau (the Son) to Tiphereth as
the King ruling over Chesed, Geburah, Netzach, Hod, and
Yesod (thus embracing six Sephiroth); and finally
Assiah, as the Daughter or second He, to Malkuth. In
this plan "Kether" seems to have no place. Again,
sometimes the whole "Tree" is considered as if it were
represented on Four Planes, one above the other, or
interpenetrating each other. In this case we get 40
Sephiroth, Ten for each World; and for purposes of
classification each Sephira was considered to contain
another complete tree, so as to make in all 400, with a
correspondingly great number of paths. This plan seems
to have been little used for practical purposes; it is,
of course, very complicated and difficult to conceive
on Four Planes at the same time.
The only other attempt, that I am aware of, was to
place the Diagram of one Tree above the other, so that
the Kether of the Lowest touched the Malkuth of the
next, and so on with the other two higher Worlds. Such
an arrangement is shown in Mathers "Kaballah Unveiled,"
where the influences from the Archetypal World are
shown descending, by means of arrows running along the
Paths of the Flaming Sword (but, be it noted, there is
no connecting path from Binah to Chesed on the Tree),
and then through the Creative and Formative Worlds to
Assiah, where the current ended in Malkuth of the
Lowest Tree.
But no one seems to have shown a LIVING TREE with
Its Roots in the Infinitely Small and its Branches
spreading out to the Infinitely Great. Yet it is called
the TREE OF LIFE. It would seem, in the past, it has
been little better than the Tree of Knowledge of Good
and Evil.
One can only account for Attainment by the Old
System, as by the Grace of God. The "Paths" wrongly
arranged (but the Sephiroth -- corresponding to Grades
-- fortunately in perfect Order) were confusing rather
than illuminating; the method of progress leading to
the Horrors of "The Abyss" between Chesed and Binah.
However, that makes little difference if my surmise is
correct (as explained in "The Egyptian Revival") that
during this Aeon, Wisdom and Understanding are directly
projected upon the Children of Earth, and the Abyss
definitely Bridged.
But to return to the further development of this
wonderful Plan. On Monday, April 16, I had occasion to
visit a friend and Brother, who is a cunning craftsman
and designer. He is a man of much intelligence, but not
a deep Student of the Qabalah, his interest in this
matter having dated from a cursory reading of "The
Essence of the Practical Qabalah" followed by some
study of "Q.B.L." a few weeks ago. I was impressed to
ask his opinion of the New Plan, and found that he
grasped its possibilities at once. We discussed it for
some time and made a temporary sketch similar to the
one I first drew (Fig. XXI). He offered to make me a
careful drawing showing several progressions.
The following day I called upon him again, when we
made some further experiments together, and discussed
the proper proportion of the Diameters of the Sephiroth
in their relation to the Paths. It was noticed that the
Paths from Chesed to Tiphereth, and from Geburah to
Tiphereth, would generate a similar "Tree" between
Tiphereth and Yesod in addition to the one between
Yesod and Malkuth. Then he was illuminated by the Idea
that an intermediate "Tree" extending from the Center
of Tiphereth to the Center of Malkuth should be formed,
and another one half the size, between the Center of
Yesod and the Center of Malkuth. This Idea produced
startling results. The Second Tree was exactly Half the
Height of the First, and the Third, Half that of the
Second (perfect octaves). The Size of the Sephiroth
should progress accordingly, and be based upon the
original generating Circles of the whole Tree. It was
then found that the Kether of the Second was in the
Center of the Tiphereth of the First, and its Tiphereth
in the Yesod of the First, while its Malkuth was in the
First Malkuth.
The Third "Tree" had its Kether in the Yesod of
the First, and the Tiphereth of the Second; while its
Malkuth was again in the Center of the Malkuth of Both.
In other words, the CENTER of MALKUTH represented the
INFINITELY SMALL, and the Triple Trees went on
Increasing in Size by octaves to Infinity, while
MALKUTH continued to EXPAND about its OWN CENTER.
The accompanying Plate will show this marvelous
Plan in great clearness of detail.
At this point we must clearly realize that since
the Plan of the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom is ever
increasing in orderly progression towards the
Infinitely Great, or Nuit, and at the same time
contracting in the same proportions towards the
Infinitely Small, or Hadit, the Concealed Father of
All, it is no longer proper for us to talk of the
Influence as ascending or descending. But, since the
extremely minute is more quickly lost to view, and on
account of the inconvenience and difficulty of making a
drawing of a very small size, we must start from a
Central Point in Malkuth, and discuss the subject as if
the "Tree" were increasing in size from that Point.
Thus, for convenience, we shall now call the
smallest visible Tree in our Design, the First, the
next larger, the Second, and so on for the necessary
number of progressions.
The Central Dot in Malkuth of the First Tree
represents Hadit. This should be considered as an
unextended Point of Light or Pure Essence of Being, the
true complement of the Infinitely Great and unknown
Body of Nuit which is beyond our utmost conception of
the expansion of the Greatest Tree we can imagine.
The small Circle around this "Point" is Malkuth of
the First Tree, and the Tree itself may, for
convenience, be considered as _growing_up_out_of_
Malkuth_, just like any other tree in proper soil. The
True Kether is concealed within this as the Essence of
Life and Form is within the Seed. When we reach the
"Manifested Kether" of the First Tree it will be very
much like the _most_ perfect_fruit containing within it
the "seed" of further progression.
We have been accustomed to consider the "Tree of
Life" as _descending_ from_Kether_, but now that we
realize that the "Tree" grows to Infinity, we cannot
conceive of a starting point at the Top, so as to work
downwards. We must start from the Center and work
outwards and upwards.
It will not be possible for me to give all the
details of this marvelous plan, but I may point out a
few interesting features, leaving the Student to add
the results of his own researches, as time goes on.
I am of course adopting the "Reformulated Plan of
the Paths" but some may prefer to arrange them
otherwise; it makes no difference to the general
geometrical design.
The Correspondences of Attributions of the First
Tree will therefore remain exactly the same as
previously given. Each aspirant will have to fulfill
the necessary requirements of mastering the "Ideas"
connected therewith, as before. He will have to Attain,
as formerly, before the Fuller Consciousness comes to
him; but there are additional "clues" to his progress
which are most valuable.
For instance: If he commences his Journey by the
Path of Aleph, the Pure Fool, leading from Malkuth to
Yesod, when he has traveled _half-way_ up this Path, he
will obtain an additional influx of Power from the
corresponding Path on the _Second_Tree. He will have
reached the circumference of the _Second_ Malkuth_. On
arrival in Yesod, he will have contacted the
circumference of _Malkuth_of_the_Third_Tree_.
Let us consider his progress up the Central Pillar
first; supposing it to be possible for him thus to
travel in perfect equilibrium from the start.
On the Path of Mem or "The Hanged Man," which is
attributed to "Water," he will receive the additional
Power of the "Air" from the Path of Aleph in the
_Second_Tree_, till he reaches the First Tiphereth.
That is to say, for instance, he will find a greater
use for Pranayama; and so on. But before he enters
Tiphereth he will already be receiving the benefit of
the Influence of the Yesod of the _Second_Tree_, which
he will have contacted after crossing the Reciprocal
Path of "The Hierophant" or Taurus. All the way from
the First Yesod to "The Abyss" he will be receiving the
still higher power of Aleph of the _Third_Tree_.
As he beings his ascent from the First Tiphereth
he will do so by the Path of "Shin" or "The Great
Judgment." This is the Way of the Triple Spirit and of
Fire, but thereon he will also feel the influence of
"The Hanged Man" from the _Second_Tree_, as well as
from "The Fool" of the _Third_.
On crossing the "Path of Death" he will leave
behind him the influence of _Yesod_ of the
_Second_Tree_, but half-way across the Abyss he will
contact the Influence of the "Hierophant" of the
_Second_, and at the same moment enter the sphere of
_Yesod_of_the_Third_Tree_.
Next, he will cross the Path of the "Star" or
Aquarius, on the primary Tree, contacting immediately
the _Tiphereth_ of Tree Number Two, through the aura of
which he passes on to the _First_Kether_Attainment.
During this journey up the Central Pillar, his
original Malkuth will have doubled in diameter on the
Path of Aleph, doubled again when he reached Yesod,
again on reaching Tiphereth, and once more on his
attainment to Kether, which then Crowns his Work.
Thus the First Kether Attainment is representative
of the Fifth Visible Progression of the Sphere of
Malkuth, after which the Aspirant begins to contact the
Sixth progression of the Whole Tree, and from that
point in his Career, every further progression of
Malkuth will touch the center of a Higher Kether, to
Infinity. But as the Sixth visible Progression of
Malkuth contacts the Second visible Kether; the
Seventh, the Third; and so on, there will always seem
to be Four untraveled Trees between. It may be that
these represent the "Four Worlds" of the Qabalah, and
that he must in reality always progress in the Four
Worlds simultaneously.
It will be noticed that the Path of Beth, or
Wisdom, leading from the first Malkuth to Hod, the
Sphere of Mercury, contains, essentially, all the
Powers of Mercury or "The Magician" to Infinity in that
direction; since this Path leads to larger and larger
"Hods" in regular sequence.
Similarly, the Path of Daleth or Love, "The
Empress," or Venus, leading to Netzach, continues to
Infinity in that direction also. So we find all Love
and Wisdom concentrated in the center of Malkuth. Since
all the "Three Mothers," Aleph, Mem, and Shin,
interblend on the Middle Pillar, these Powers are also
fully concentrated in the Center of Malkuth, and
conversely, proceed from It.
In regard to the other Paths and Sephiroth of the
First Tree -- and this applies equally to All the Trees
-- we may point out that Netzach and Hod will always be
found in the exact Centers of the Paths of Venus and
Mercury on the next larger Tree.
Chesed and Geburah are always exactly in the
Centers of the Paths of Cancer, "The Chariot," and
Luna, "The High Priestess," of the next larger Tree.
Chokmah and Binah will always have their Centers
in Leo, the path of "Strength," and Gemini, or "The
Lovers," of the next progressed Tree.
Kether always appears in the Center of the _next_
Tiphereth, and of the _following_ Yesod, to infinity.
In other words, the Light is always within the Life of
the Sun, and the Sun within the Body of the Moon.
The Reciprocal Path of "The Hierophant" will
always have an influence horizontally across the Abyss
of the next Tree below. The path of the "Hanged Man"
will always leave Him suspended from the Reciprocal
path of "The Star" or Aquarius of the "next" tree,
while he is seen below Tiphereth on his own Tree. This
is exactly where he is mystically _supposed_to_be_
according to the old system of the paths, although he
was otherwise _assigned_.
It is a matter of almost unending interest to
trace out these various combinations, but there are
even more important considerations ahead of us. We must
leave the Student to work things out in his own way,
and pass on to wider fields of study.
Chapter VI
During the afternoon of April 17th, after
obtaining a glimpse of the foregoing possibilities
while discussing the details of this Plan, a still
wider conception dawned upon me.
Since the Center of Malkuth has become the Point
from which All proceeds, why should the Tree grow only
in one Direction?
What we have been calling the "lower" part of the
Tree is in the form of an Equilateral Triangle, and the
Progression of the Trees only increases the size of
this indefinitely. Surely there must be Six such Trees,
forming a Star, and so filling every direction of two-
dimensional space.
This seemed to throw light on some little
understood passages of the "Sepher Yetzirah," which I
shall now further quote. It will be remembered that the
last words we studied in that connection were: "These
Ten Numbers, beyond the universal One, have the
boundless realms, boundless origin and end," but the
verse goes on: "an abyss of good and one of evil,
boundless height and depth, East and West, North and
South, and the one only God and King, faithful for ever
seated on his throne, shall rule over all, for ever and
ever."
This is striking evidence that our Plan is that
which was intended to be conveyed by the Author of this
mysterious treatise. I may now quote the remaining
verses in the First Chapter, since these make the
matter still clearer.
"These ten Sephiroth which are ineffable, whose
appearance is like scintillating flames, have no end,
but are infinite. The word of God is in them as they
burst forth, and as the return; they obey the divine
command, rushing along as a whirlwind, and returning to
prostrate themselves at his throne."
This seems fairly understandable in the Light of
the Two Infinites with the manifested Universe, Ever-
becoming, between Them.
"These ten Sephiroth which are, moreover,
ineffable, have their end even as their beginning,
conjoined, even as is a flame to a burning coal: for
our God is superlative in his unity, and does not
permit any second one. And who canst thou place before
the only one?"
In other words, Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, are a
Perfect Three in One.
"And as to this Decad of the Sephiroth, restrain
thy lips from comment, and thy mind from thought of
them, and if thy heart fail thee, return to thy place;
therefore is it written 'The living creatures ran and
returned,' and on this wise was the covenant made with
us."
This means that since the "Tree" is everywhere the
same in every part of space, once its general
attributions are fixed in the mind, it is not well to
confuse ourselves by too much attempt at progressed
expansion of the idea. Rather we should return and
contemplate the Center from which All proceeds, thus
obtaining the Pure Essence Here and Now.
"These are the ten emanations of number. One is
the Spirit of the Living God, blessed and more than
blessed be the name of the Living God of the Ages. The
Holy Spirit is his Voice, his Spirit, and his Word."
This is very similar to the instruction in Liber
Legis: "Be thou Hadit my secret center, my heart and my
tongue," but CCXX is a new Covenant, and goes much
further than the old one recorded in the Sepher
Yetzirah.
"Second, from the Spirit be made Air and formed
for speech, twenty-two letters, three of which are
mothers, A, M, Sh; seven are double, B, G, D, K, P, R,
Th; and twelve are single, E, V, Z, Ch, T, I, L, N, S,
O, Tz, Q; but the spirit is first among these. Third,
PRIMITIVE WATER HE ALSO FORMED AND DESIGNED FROM HIS
SPIRIT, and from the void and formless made earth even
as a rampart, or the standing wall, and VARIED ITS
SURFACE AS THE CROSSING OF BEAMS. Fourth, from the
Water, He designed Fire, and from it formed to himself
a throne of honor, with the Auphanim, Seraphim, Holy
Animals, and ministering Angels, and with these he
formed his dwelling, as it is written in the text 'Who
makest his angels spirits and his ministers a flaming
fire.' (Psalm 104, v. 4)"
Note the reference to the design made from
Primitive Water by the Spirit, and also about the
"crossed beams" or Paths of the Tree. His thrones of
Honor, are the Manifested Kethers. Holy animals refer
to the Zodiac, etc.
"He selected three letters from the simple ones,
and sealed them as forming his great Name IHV and he
sealed the universe in SIX DIRECTIONS.
"Five. He looked above, and sealed the height,
with IHV.
"Six. He looked below and sealed the deep with
IVH.
"Seven. He looked forward, and sealed the East,
with HIV.
"Eight. He looked backward, and sealed the West,
with VHI.
"Nine. He looked to the right, and sealed the
South, with VIH.
"Ten. He looked to the left, and sealed the North,
with HVI.
"These are the ten ineffable existences, the
Spirit of the Living God, Air, Water, Fire, Height and
Depth, East and West, North and South."
So ends the first Chapter of this mysterious
treatise, and there is little doubt that our Six-fold
Star is the solution of the problem which has puzzled
to Qabalists for so many Centuries. With its Center it
forms the Heptad.
Let us now examine the Design of this wonderful
new Star, as drawn in such minute detail. (See Plate
B.)
A glorious vista opens before us -- Infinite Space
in the Form of a _Pure_ Snow_Flake_. What could be a
better way of "Fixing the Design in its Purity"? What
more likely, since all things are said to have
proceeded from the Primal Water under the action of
Spirit, than that the Substance should Crystallize in
_exactly_the_same_way_ that any drop of water, or any
crystal, is found to take form under the direction of
the lines of polar force which always form six
radiating lines or axes in every rain drop which
becomes a snow-flake?
Surely this is a pure enough conception of the
beginning of all things and the infinite progression of
this manifested universe. Scientifically it can hardly
be denied.
Thus the Pure Essence of the Soul of Man may also
crystallize and become a Center of the Great Star. This
may take place at any point in space and at any moment
in time, for the Center of the Infinite is Everywhere
and the Circumference Nowhere.
What a vista of Attainment opens up before every
human being, for we have been told in Liber Legis:
"Every man and every woman is a star." Also "Every
number is infinite; there is no difference."
But let us consider a few more details of this
Divine Plan. What changes have really occurred owing to
our Multiplication of the Stone of the Wise?
Netzach and Hod and the Paths of Venus and Mercury
-- which before were seen to progress directly to
infinity -- have now _become_forever_united_. There is
no difference; _Love_is_ever_under_Will_.
Again, these Combined Paths are exactly equal to
the Paths of Aleph, Mem, and Shin which formed the
equilibrated Middle Pillar, for the Father and Mother
together equal the Child. _Every_Path_ radiating from
the Center is now Equilibrated or Balanced.
The combined Sphere of Netzach-Hod or Venus-
Mercury is always to be found exactly between the
Spheres of Binah and Chokmah of the Two Trees of the
Scale below. Also the combined Paths of Venus-Mercury
always lie exactly between the Spheres of Chesed and
Geburah, or Mercy and Severity of the "Tree" below, and
so on to Infinity.
All else remains the same, but there is no longer
any possibility of unbalanced progress.
But we must not forget the instructions in Liber
Legis, which is of the utmost importance. "The Khabs is
in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs. Worship then the
Khabs and behold my light shed over you!" We must
Worship the Central Point which is concealed in Malkuth
and in the Center of our Being; then only will the True
Light of Infinity be shed upon us. If we fail in this,
seeking in the outer, our minds fall back, failing to
grasp that which is beyond our finite vision. "The
Living Creatures run and return" and having returned,
the Illusions of Space and Time are exchanged for the
Everpresent Here and Now. The Introduction to this
treatise should now be more clearly understandable to
the average reader. We can see how the Light or Fruit
of Light, the Six Kethers, are always First in Advance
towards the Infinite without. Next follows the progress
of the Life or Soul of Nature and of Man, then follows
the regular progression of the Sphere of Malkuth in
ever-widening Circles as "Matter" eats up "Form" and
the "Form" comprehends the Efficient Cause, which is
itself the manifestation of the Invisible Final Cause.
But Malkuth is also Nuit, for "Matter" or
"Substance" is continuous, so it is equally true to say
that she contracts upon Hadit the Invisible Center, or
that He Expands towards Her Infinite Girth. Ra-Hoor-
Khuit, with His twin Hoor-Pa-Kraat hidden within Him,
may be called Heru-Ra-Ha as the Crowned Child, the
whole Manifest Universe in Time and Space, which is the
Star 418.
This, too, is the Great Hexagram of the Macrocosm,
but what of the Pentagram, the Microcosm, MAN?
Another great Mystery lies before us, needing only
to be Brought to Light, as will be shown in the next
Chapter.
Chapter VII
We have seen in the last Chapter how our original
conception of "The Tree of Life" may be multiplied and
crystallized into a Macrocosmic Snow Flake, or Six-fold
Star. Let us now return to our first simple form of the
"Tree" and examine it more carefully with a view to
further discoveries.
We have been accustomed to look upon this as
representing a flat two-dimensional surface, but we
were not necessarily correct in our supposition.
In reality we have been looking at the front
surface of a _Triangular_ _Crystal_Prism_, and what we
saw was not all in one plane. The "sides" of the Tree
are but two angles of an equilateral solid; the third
angle, at the back, is invisible, being completely
hidden by the Paths of the Central Pillar.
This Central Pillar is not level with the front
surface, but is the _Core_ of the prism. Kether is the
Apex of a pyramid whose base is equilateral. Malkuth is
at the lower point of a descending pyramid, all four
sides of which are equilateral, thus forming a
Tetrahedron.
Tiphereth and Yesod are both embedded in the
solid, and the Paths of the "Three Mothers" are
_interior_ channels.
Looking at the "Tree" in the ordinary manner, we
should have to realize that only the Three Reciprocal
Paths, and the Four Paths forming the Side Pillars, are
actually on the level surface before us. There are,
however, three Reciprocal Paths of each kind, viz.:
nine in all, for there are two others, in each case,
which retreat and meet at the third angle of the prism.
There is another pair of vertical Paths, similar to
those at the sides, but concealed at the back of the
solid.
Instead of there being only two Paths from Kether
to Chokmah and Binah, there are _three_, one sloping
away to the concealed angle at the back. The triangular
surface we see is not vertical, but _slopes_back_
towards Kether.
[insert figure XXIII here]
The Paths from Chokmah and Binah to Tiphereth also
slope inward to the central core of the prism, and
there is a third Path from the angle at the back.
The four visible Paths from Chesed, Geburah,
Netzach, and Hod to Tiphereth are likewise sloping
within the solid and there are in addition two
invisible Paths at the back.
The Paths from Netzach and Hod to Yesod also
incline inward, since Yesod is at the core of the Tree.
Again there is another similar Path concealed, which
slopes down from the angle at the back.
The surface of the Triangle formed by the Paths
connecting Netzach, Hod, and Malkuth, is not vertical,
but falls away towards the back, and there are two
similar surfaces connected with the concealed Sphere of
Netzach-Hod behind the solid figure.
This at first may seem confusing, but it can be
more clearly explained by means of diagrams and plates.
Let us imagine that we have ascended above the
Tree and are looking directly down upon Kether. From
this position we should perceive a triangular figure as
shown in the diagram:
[insert figure XXIV here]
The nearest point to us will be Kether and the
other three Spheres at a lower level. The three
triangular surfaces slope away from Kether to the
Spheres at the angles.
But what are these Three Spheres and Six Paths,
upon which we have been looking? Our conception of the
Tree must undergo a remarkable change. The three
bounding Paths are all equally that of Tzaddi,
Aquarius, or "The Star." The Three Spheres are each
equally both Chokmah and Binah. The Three Paths
connecting with Kether are each equally Jupiter and
Saturn, or Kaph and Tau, or "The Wheel" and "The
Universe." In other words, THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY
PAIRS OF OPPOSITES, and there never were in reality.
Each idea is only true insofar as it contains its own
opposite. So the Sphere we called Chokmah always
concealed it Binah, and Binah its Chokmah, and so on.
While we thought the Tree represented a flat surface we
could not realize how these apparently opposite Spheres
could in reality be one and the same, but now that we
have discovered the Third Angle of the Prism, they are
at once unified without difficulty.
Also the former Reciprocal Paths have now become
the Boundaries of the Solid Figure, and represent a
sectional plane through it. The natures of the opposite
Paths are also unified, and they convey the Single
Influence of Kether to the Dual Spheres they connect
therewith.
Let us now include Tiphereth in our conception,
and at the same time imagine that we are looking at the
solid from the front, but that it has been twisted
round slightly, so as to make the concealed angle
clearer.
We now see how the Paths of Resh and Ayin or "The
Sun" and "The Devil," are _triple_, yet _one_. These
conflicting ideas have disappeared in a harmonious
combination. The Path of Shin, the Holy Spirit, at the
core of the Figure uniting Kether and Tiphereth,
remains single.
What were the Pillars of Mercy and Severity, are
now no longer opposed to one another, for there are
Three Bounding Pillars, as well as the Central One.
There are Three Chesed-Geburahs, and Three
Netzach-Hods. The Paths of Samek and Pe, or
"Temperance" and "The Tower," are now united, as are
those of Lamed and Yod, or "Justice" and "The Hermit."
If we were next to take a section through the
"Tree" at the line formed by the Path of Nun, or
"Death," and remove the upper portion, while
_looking_down_ upon the remainder we should see:
[insert figure xxvi here]
The bounding lines, nearest to us, would be the
Three Paths of Nun with the Three Spheres of Chesed-
Geburah at the angles. Tiphereth would be somewhat
lower down, and the Three Paths of He-Qoph, or Aries-
Pisces, would slope towards it. The small triangle near
the center would be the lower part of the three paths
of the Resh-Ayin triad.
If we cut through the prism at the Path of Vau, or
"The Hierophant" while still _looking_down_ at the
remainder, we should see:
[insert figure xxvii here]
Yesod in the Center, somewhat below the bounding lines
and Spheres of the triple paths of Vau and the three
Netzach-Hods. In this instance there would be no small
triad in the center, since there are not paths
equivalent to those mentioned in regard to the upper
section.
But if from this position we looked _up_ at the
section above, we should see:
[insert figure xxviii here]
The same Spheres and Paths bounding the figure, but
Tiphereth would appear in the center, connected by the
triple paths of Teth-Zayin, or "The Lion-Lovers,"
corresponding to Leo-Gemini.
Finally, should we look up at the whole Tree from
below Malkuth, we should perceive:
[insert figure XXIX here]
Malkuth in the Center, nearest to us, with the Triple
Path, or Plane, of the "Hierophant" some distance
above. These would be connected by the triple Paths of
Beth-Daleth, Mercury-Venus, or "The Magician-Empress."
Thus, in every instance, would the "pairs of
opposites" be truly mated and resolved into a unified
triplicity, in three dimensions.
The accompanying Plate shows the whole "Prismatic
Tree" with its 13 Spheres and 36 Paths, quite clearly.
The whole number is 49, which again returns to Unity as
13. 49 also represents the square of seven, and the
Hebrew Word for "Solve'" (See plate "C" and study
carefully.)
We may now consider approximately what would be
the impression received by one who took an "Astral
Journey" up through the Central Core of this Triple
Tree.
Starting from Malkuth by the Path of Aleph, or The
Fool, the astral form would travel vertically upwards,
with a consciousness of being surrounded by the
combined influences of Mercury-Venus perfectly blended,
while the surrounding "space" would take the form of an
ever-increasing triangle, till Yesod was reached. At
this juncture he would feel the concentrated essence of
the forces from the Paths of Cancer-Luna ("The Chariot-
High Priestess" or Pure Balanced Aspiration) while yet
his consciousness continued to expand till he reached
the full limits of the equilateral triangle bounded by
the paths of "The Hierophant." From Yesod onward to
this point he would partake of the Mystery of the
"Hanged Man" (Primitive Water) till the Influence of
the Hierophantic Plane began to initiate him into its
deeper Meanings. As he continued by this Path of Mem
his field of consciousness would remain extended to its
limits, held there by the Forces of Yod-Lamed or "The
Hermit and Justice," while, at the same time, there
would be a contraction due to the influence of the
Triple Paths of Zayin-Teth which would concentrate his
Soul in Tiphereth.
Rising above Tiphereth his Soul would expand to
the limits of his field of consciousness by means of
the Paths of He-Qoph (or Aries-Pisces), while he would
also have contacted the Influence of the Holy Spirit in
the Central Path of Shin. This would expand within the
Soul, under the influence of the triple Paths of Ayin-
Resh (or Capricorn-Sol). Passing through the Plane of
"Death" or Scorpio, he would ascend till his Spiritual
Consciousness expanded to the limits of his Soul
Consciousness, which would have been affected,
meanwhile, by the Paths of Pe-Samek or Mars-Sagittarius
("The Tower - Temperance") and presently he would reach
the Plane of "The Star" (Tzaddi or Aquarius) where his
Soular and Spiritual Fields of Consciousness would be
equally extended, while the Spirit would steadily Flame
in the Core of his Being.
Then, after contacting the Triple Influence of
Chokmah-Binah, his whole Field of Consciousness, on all
Planes, would gradually contract along the Paths of
Kaph-Tau upon Kether, upon reaching which, he would
suddenly find Himself once more in Malkuth, which is
the Body of Nuit, concentrated upon the Inner Light of
the Khabs, the only veil of Hadit, the Flame in every
Heart of Man and in the Core of every Star.
He would then arise as a truly Enlightened Being,
clothed in a body of Flesh, ready to go forth and do
his pleasure among the living. As it is written in the
Ritual of Mercury: "I travel upon high, I tread upon
the Firmament of Nu, I raise a flashing-flame with the
Lightning of Mine Eye; ever rushing on in the Splendor
of the daily Glorified Ra; giving my life to the
dwellers of Earth."
Truly will he have learned the meaning of 49,
which is Solve'.
Chapter VIII
Having briefly discussed the "Tree of Life" in its
Prismatic form, we should now pass on to a
consideration of its "Multiplication" and "Projection";
for we have indeed found it to be "The Stone of the
Wise."
This Crystal Stone is capable of indefinite
increase or decrease, very much in the same manner as
was found possible in regard to the flat two-
dimensional figure.
The Center of Malkuth will once more be our
starting point, and now we shall find the smallest Tree
will be within the next larger one, and so on. (See
Plate D.)
The Central Core of this Prismatic Tree will
always consist of Malkuth, Yesod, Tiphereth, and
Kether, united by the Three Channels of Aleph, Mem, and
Shin. These will be found to combine and recombine as
the "Tree" progresses in size. The Kether of the
smallest Tree will always be embedded in the Tiphereth
of the next larger, and these two again in Yesod of the
next. The triplication of the Tree makes little
difference to these Sephiroth and Paths, but we shall
find it affects some of the others.
The Three Netzach-Hods of the smallest Tree will
appear as spheres in the center of the Three Venus-
Mercury Paths of the next larger, and so on,
indefinitely.
The Three Chesed-Geburahs of the smallest Tree
will form similar spheres in the centers of the Triple
Channels of Cancer-Luna of the next Tree.
The Three Chokmah-Binahs will likewise be found in
the centers of the Three Channels of Leo-Gemini, and so
on. These last named spheres will always be half way
embedded in the surface of the Sphere of Yesod of the
next larger Prismatic Tree.
The Student should trace out these correspondences
for himself, making a careful study of the accompanying
Plate D, while endeavoring to form a complete mental
picture of these Prismatic Trees.
We are now prepared to take another step in the
development of this marvelous Plan, but first let us
return for a moment to the contemplation of the design
of our "Crystalline Snow-Flake" as shown in Plate B.
In dealing with the two-dimensional aspect of the
Work, we found upon combining SIX of the flat "Trees"
we obtained a Hexagonal Figure of Sixfold-Star. This
symbolism is that of the Macrocosm. What will be the
result of our combining a number of the solid Prismatic
Trees?
Upon experiment we find in this instance that they
do not combine in six-fold arrangement as before, but
that FIVE such Prisms taken together form a perfect
Pentagon, the center of which is Malkuth and the
bounding lines all representing the Paths of Taurus or
"The Hierophant." The lines connecting the Spheres at
the five angles, which are all Netzach-Hods, will each
be Paths of Venus-Mercury.
Of course, looking at the solid figure from this
angle, Malkuth is nearer to us than the Netzach-Hod
Spheres, for the latter are connected by the retreating
Paths of Venus-Mercury. In addition to this Pentagon we
should also see something of the remainder of the five
solid Trees, in perspective, as they spread out behind
or away from us.
The Great Work, as symbolized in the Word of the
Aeon, ABRAHADABRA, has always consisted in finding the
equivalence between the Microcosm and the Macrocosm, or
the formula 5 = 6. Here we find a higher aspect of the
Work, for this solid Figure is built up on purely
Microcosmic Lines of Five Solids to a section. But we
have now discovered a "Rose" capable of extension in
Five Directions to Infinity, and containing within
itself all the Correspondences, with powers of
indefinite multiplication.
Such a figure is not capable of filling the whole
of Space, but when we take FOUR such sections and
combine them, we are able to make the Complete Three
Dimensional Solid, which will extend in every direction
as the Trees Progress in Size, thus completely filling
all known space. Such a figure is composed of Twenty of
our original Prismatic Trees, and 20 is the numeration
of IVD, the basic letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, and
the First Letter of the Ineffable Name. It is also the
Numeration of the Letter Kaph, which corresponds to
"The Wheel of Life" and the Father IU-Pater.
When these are so combined, the central Point of
Malkuth is completely embedded in the Center of the
Figure (unless it be built of actual Crystals, in which
case we should be able to get a glimpse of it).
The accompanying plate showing the "Projection" of
the Stone, will make the matter clear to the Student,
and open up a wonderful vista to his mind.
We have now a figure capable of progression in
twenty directions. The true Kether is concealed within
the Malkuth at the Center, and this expands spherically
as the size of the solid increases.
We have 20 Projecting Kethers representing the
Forerunners of Light, followed by 60 Chokmah-Binahs and
60 Chesed-Geburahs. Then follow 20 Tiphereths concealed
in the cores of the Prisms and representing the
Substance of the Light which is the Soul or Life. We
are able to perceive only 12 Netzach-Hods, for these
have now united into groups of five dual spheres in
one. Within the cores of the prisms, next follow 20
Yesods, while a single Malkuth is at the Central Point
of All.
We have, therefore, One Hundred and Ninety-Three
Spheres in all, connected with the un-progressed
figure, and this number reduces to Thirteen, which is
Unity. 193, it may be remarked, is also a prime number.
There are 60 Paths equivalent to Iu-Pater-Saturn;
60 which correspond to Aquarius; 60 to Sagittarius-
Mars; 60 to Scorpio; and 60 to Virgo-Libra.
But there are only 30 representing Taurus or "The
Hierophant" since these have now combined in pairs.
Thus we have 330 Visible Paths.
There are 20 Invisible Paths of Air.
20 Invisible Paths of Water.
20 Invisible Paths of Fire or Spirit.
60 Invisible Paths of Sol-Capricorn.
60 Invisible Paths of Leo-Gemini.
60 Invisible Paths of Cancer-Luna.
But only 12 Invisible Paths of Venus-Mercury.
Thus we have 252 Invisible Paths in all. The Paths
of the Tree were always attributed to The Serpent; it
is strange that these invisible Paths should be 252,
which is the numeration of the Hebrew word MAVRH,
meaning "The Serpent's Den."
The Total number of Paths in the complete figure
is thus 330 plus 252 which is 582. 330, the number of
visible Paths is equivalent to the Hebrew word MTzR
meaning: Boundary, Terminus, or Crosspath. 582 reduces
to 15, the numeration of IH that Father and Mother of
the Ineffable Name, or if further reduced we get 6,
which is equivalent to V, the Son. IHV, it will be
remembered, represent the three simple letters which,
according to the Sepher Yetzirah, were chosen by God as
His Name in the Six Directions.
The total number of Sephiroth and Paths is 193
plus 582 = 775. This reduces to 10, and therefore to
Unity.
But the Points of the 20 Kethers are so arranged
as to form when connected, TWELVE perfectly regular
Pentagons. Thus the whole structure indicates a perfect
DODECAHEDRON and, when enclosed in the circumscribing
SPHERE, touches it a eighty points. The whole solid may
be considered as capable of expansion by means of the
progression of the unit "Trees" as explained before.
Likewise, it is possible to imagine the reduction or
contraction of the whole figure upon the Infinitely
Small. (See Plate E.)
We have therefore discovered in the "Tree of
Life," properly Multiplied and Projected according to
the Art of the Wise, what may well be looked upon as
the Anatomy of the Body of God, or the natural
structure of Matter under the Influence of the
Concealed Spirit. Thus the "Unknown Warrior" who made
some such assertion in the presence of Frater
Perdurabo, and earned such scant praise, may have been
inspired to a degree he, himself, little realized.
The following quotation from "The Two Creation
Stories" by James S. Forrester-Brown throws valuable
light upon the conception of the Tree of Life as the
Anatomy of the Body of God.
"When the Divine Will is born in the heart of a
human soul, true free-will begins, for will is only
free when in accord with the Great Will. Knowledge
follows, and life becomes full of meaning and
purposeful activity. The drama of the formal life (the
tree of knowledge) develops in terms of the Higher Will
(the tree of life), so that daily happenings appear to
lift the veil from universal truths, illuminating the
life. When the tree of knowledge and tree of life,
reason and intuition, the personal and the universal,
are harmoniously united in the individualized soul, the
daily life becomes the moving image and expression of
the living Soul of the universe.
"We may think of the tree of life as the arteries
of the Great Cosmic Body. Through these arteries, as
along channels, the cosmic Life pulses forth with every
heart beat of the Great Person. This is a very deep
mystery. Until this Life is caught up by each
individualized soul and returns through himself to the
Great Cosmic Person, flowing back along the veins of
the Great Body, there is no possibility of the power
within the separated soul affecting the Great Person.
Moreover, unless a counter-current is set up, the Life
flows past the soul, and this does not truly live. The
individualized soul requires to fashion capillaries
throughout his nature and keep them in use, to allow of
the return flow through them into the cosmic veins.
That this shall be established he must, greatly daring,
yet with awe and humility, seek to know the nature of
God and of man and the relation between them. When he
is able to see himself as he actually is, he realizes
with a sense of abasement the imperfections and
impurities of his complex personality, and the
immediate necessity to turn from death unto Life. This
does no imply a purely temporary repentance, but a
Great Act of turning back, which cleanses the entire
life of the soul and establishes organized relations
with the Cosmic Person, making it possible for the
"Christ" consciousness to be born "from Above" within
the soul.
"The tree of knowledge is then seen as the veins
of the Great Body along which flow back the counter-
currents carrying the fruitage of the time-order, and
thus the tree of life, with its arteries along which
cosmic life is "timelessly" propelled from the Great
Heart, is complemented. The two trees 'in the midst of
the garden' become united within the Cosmic Heart and
Body, the 'Eden' of the Great Person, and the 'Christ'
consciousness is complete.
"The tree of life may also be thought of as the
tree of universal life growing round and encompassing
the individual soul. When that tree is truly one with
the tree of phenomenal self, the tree of knowledge,
then the abstract and the concrete, the ideal and the
actual are one, and their fruits are the living powers.
From this universal-personal tree spring all the
virtues, and on it they blossom and ripen. They are the
fruits of temporal experience, containing the seeds of
eternal Life, and, as such, correspond to the disciples
of one's own 'Christ within' at the final Consummation.
"In the Apocryphal literature, Michael, Archangel
of the Sun, is set over the tree which, at the time of
the great judgment (note the position of "The Judgment"
as Shin on the Tree. Achad.), is given over to the
righteous, who obtain Life from its fruit. This is the
tree of universal life, now one with the personal tree
in the region of material existence."
Chapter IX
Let us now make a brief resume of our work, so as
to keep in mind a clear conception of the various
stages through which it has passed; but in order to
show the progress that has been made in the solution of
the Mysteries of the Holy Qabalah, we may look back a
few years in order to see more clearly the results of
the influence of the New Aeon and the rapid strides
which have been made since its incoming in the year
1904 E.V.
In the year 1886, which happens to be that of the
birth of the present writer, Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, Hon.
Magus of the Soc. Ros. in Ang., translated the ancient
treatise known as the "Sepher Yetzirah" into English,
and read the results of his pioneer work before the
Hermetic Society in London. In 1887 his work was
published in a limited edition of 100 copies by Robert
H. Fryar of Bath, England.
Commenting upon Verses 9-10-11 of Chapter I, which
have been quoted in full in Chapter VI of the present
treatise and which described how IHV looked above and
sealed its height, below and sealed its depth, etc.,
Dr. Westcott gives the following diagrams together with
the words, "Note the description of the Decad. First a
tetrad is formed, then a hexad." And that was all the
explanation which seemed necessary, or was forthcoming,
at the time. Not in any spirit of criticism, but, as
stated above, in order to show the real progress which
has been made, we should compare the simple diagram of
the "hexad" with Plate B of the present work, and we
can hardly fail to notice signs of genuine advance in
Qabalistic thought during the last 37 years.
[insert figure XXXIII here]
But the ancient Sepher Yetzirah itself, although
giving a possible indication of this six-fold
development as being present in the mind of the writer,
or compiler, in the distant past, contains little that
could be construed as an indication of the further
development of the Idea in three-dimensional form as
suggested by the present author. There is a verse in
Chapter II which reads: "These twenty-two letters, the
foundations, He arranged as on a sphere, with two
hundred and thirty-one modes of entrance. If the sphere
be rotated forwards, good is implied, if in a
retrograde manner, evil is intended," but it is
doubtful if this can be thought to indicate the
formation of the Dodecahedron and its infinite
progression or expansion. Rather we are inclined to
think we have taken a step not previously written of,
or contemplated in any of the old treatises on the
subject.
In May of last year (1922 E.V.), as the result of
a series of Initiations of a very direct nature, dating
particularly from June 21st, 1916, and developing on
different Planes, December 21st, 1917, September to
October, 1918, April 1921, etc., the present writer
obtained a clue to a new intellectual conception of the
Qabalistic Plan. It seemed that although the 10
Sephiroth were in proper order and arrangement, the
"Paths" could be changed to great advantage, and this
resulted in the publication of "Q.B.L." or The Bride's
Reception, which was an attempt to show clearly the old
methods, and contained the new ideas in the form of an
Appendix.
Meanwhile, in April of this year, he was led to
discover a much more harmonious explanation of the Keys
of the Tarot when they were arranged on the Tree
according to the Revised Order of the Paths. The
results of this investigation have been recorded in
"The Egyptian Revival," to which I must refer the
reader. I may say that this book seems an indication of
the revival of the lost Universal Tradition of the
Golden Age and explains the nature of the present
Egyptian Revival in a reasonable manner.
This work led on to the discoveries recorded in
the present treatise, which may be briefly summed up as
follows:
The Tree of Life in its regular and simple form
has been taken as the basis of our work, but the
revised order of the Paths adopted, as the one which
seems most reasonable.
It became apparent that the due proportions of the
parts of the Tree had not previously been taken into
serious consideration as of vital importance to the
study of the matter. Examples of the designs of "Trees"
in well known works on the subject, show great
variation in this respect.
We discovered that the basis of the Tree was the
Equilateral Triangle, the Vesica Piscis and the
rectangle formed on its length and breadth. These were
shown to have marvelous properties which have been
sufficient to interest and impress some of the most
learned and wise men of past history, and upon which
the style of Gothic Architecture is wholly based. But
the fact that the Qabalistic "Tree of Life" in its
entirety partook of these same marvelous properties,
came to use as a new revelation.
We found that the "Tree" was not fixed, but
capable of indefinite expansion or contraction, so that
it truly lived, and that all our "Ideas" and
"Correspondences" based thereon, were similarly capable
of indefinite progress, thus enabling the mind of man
to expand or contract at will, without interfering with
its balanced and equilibrated arrangement once the Plan
of the Tree had become firmly rooted therein.
We then discovered that, as indicated in the
"Sepher Yetzirah," this plan could be multiplied when
arranged as an ever-increasing Hexagon, based upon the
progression of SIX TREES reflected in the Height,
Depth, North, South, East, and West. This we found to
be the design of the naturally crystallized snowflake,
and it gave us the means of filling all two-dimensional
Space.
We further discovered that the Original Tree might
be considered as a Prismatic Solid in Three Dimensions
and that FIVE such prisms formed a perfect pentagonal
figure when united. In other words the means of
changing the Hexagram into the Pentagram is through a
transition from 2 to 3 dimensions, as can be simply
shown if we take a piece of paper, cut into a perfect
Hexagon, or Hexagram, and then make another cut from
one point to the center, as in the following diagram.
[insert figure xxxiv here]
We shall find that this piece of paper will fold
into a perfect Pentagon or Pentagram if we slide one
half of the divided point "A" under the figure till it
coincides with "B," thus raising the center of the
figure into the third dimension.
Four of these blocks of Five Trees were found to
form a solid capable of progression in all directions
so as to fill every dimension of known space, and the
nature of the whole figure was found to be that of a
perfect Dodecahedron or Twelve-fold figure, each side
of which is a perfect Pentagon. Perhaps this represents
the Tree in the Midst of the Garden having Twelve
manner of Fruits. Each of the surfaces being
Pentagonal, represents a Microcosm or Type of Man and
may be attributed to one of the Twelve Signs of the
Zodiac, Twelve Tribes, Apostles, Knights of the Round
Table, etc.
At the Center of All is Malkuth, so that this is
indeed the "Closed Palace of the Bride," the secrets of
which were promised as a reward to those who succeeded
in interpreting the Mysteries of the New Aeon.
This Prismatic and Crystalline conception of the
"Tree" is perhaps the reward mentioned in Liber Legis
of those who have passed the "Third Ordeal." Chapter
III states:
"63. The fool readeth this Book of the Law and its
comment: and he understandeth it not.
"64. Let him come through the first ordeal, and it
will be to him as silver.
"65. Through the second, gold.
"66. Through the third, stones of precious water.
"67. Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of the
infinite fire.
"68. Yet to all it shall seem beautiful. Its
enemies who say not so, are mere liars.
"69. There is success."
But what of the ultimate sparks of the intimate
fire? Who knows! There may be yet some further
revelation before all is accomplished. But to my mind
this refers to the Mystery of Hadit, the Concealed
Center, the Lost Father, Who is the Core of every Star,
and the Flame that burn in every heart of man. For,
since the Universe is the Child of the Two Infinites,
every point in space is equally the Center of the
Whole, and the Spirit of God is in each of us, as an
ultimate spark of the intimate fire.
But, in any case, we have progressed, and we have
discovered a strange new interpretation of the
prophetic words of "Liber A'Ash," which states:
"This chain reaches from Eternity to Eternity,
ever in triangles -- is not my symbol a triangle? --
ever in circles -- is not the symbol of the Beloved a
circle? Therein is all progress base illusion, for
every circle is alike and every triangle alike!
"But the progress is progress, and progress is
rapture, constant, dazzling showers of light, waves of
dew, flames of the hair of the Great Goddess, flowers
of the roses that are about her neck, Amen!"
Chapter X
After this brief resume we may once again turn our
thoughts to the main results of our researches as
summed up on the Dodecahedron within the perfect
Sphere.
It would almost seem that our original Qabalistic
conceptions have led us out of the realm of thought
usually linked with the Hebrew Qabalah into an
atmosphere of Intelligibles which is associated with
the philosophy of the Masters in ancient Greece. Or, we
may say, as our conceptions have expanded towards the
Universal, we have contacted another set of teachings,
thus uniting Hebrew and Greek thought.
Plato informs us in his _Republic_: "Geometry
rightly treated is the knowledge of the Eternal," and
he is reported by Plutarch to have said that "God is
always geometrizing." Nor was the conception of the
Universe in the form of the Dodecahedron unknown to
Plato, for in his _Timaeus_ this idea is clearly
indicated.
But just how this solid figure was built up so as
to symbolize the Universe in all its details, if known
to the ancients, was not revealed. Let us see, however,
what hints are to be found in the writings of other
authorities.
Proclus, in his Introduction to Books II and III
of Plato's _Republic_, says: "But the former (Vulcan)
artificially fabricated the whole sensible order, and
filling it with physical reasons and powers. He also
fashioned _twenty_tripods_ about the heavens, that he
may adorn them with the most perfect of the many sided
figures and fabricates various and many-formed
sublunary species." To which Thomas Taylor, the great
Cambridge Platonist, adds, "Viz.: the dodecahedron,
which is bounded by twelve equal and equilateral
pentagons, and consists of twenty solid angles, of
which the tripods of Vulcan are images; for every angle
of the dodecahedron is formed from the junction of
three lines."
There are several references to the dodecahedron
in Madam Blavatsky's _Secret_Doctrine_, among which the
following is of special interest. "The most distinct
and the one prevailing idea, found in all ancient
teaching, with reference to Cosmic Evolution and the
first 'creation' of our Globe with all its products,
organic and inorganic -- strange word for an Occultist
to use! -- is that the whole Kosmos has sprung from the
Divine Thought. This Thought impregnates Matter, which
is co-eternal with the One Reality; and all that lives
and breathes evolves from the Emanations of the One
Immutable Parabrahman-Mulaprakriti, the Eternal One-
Root. The former of these, in its aspect of the Central
Point turned inward, so to say, into regions quite
inaccessible to human intellect is Absolute
Abstraction; whereas, in its aspect as Mulaprakriti the
Eternal Root of All, it gives one at least some hazy
comprehension of the Mystery of Being.
"Therefore, it was taught in the inner temples
that the visible Universe of Spirit and Matter is but
the Concrete Image of the Ideal Abstraction; it was
built on the Model of the First Divine Idea. Thus, our
Universe existed from eternity in a latent state. The
Soul animating this purely Spiritual Universe is the
Central Sun, the highest Deity Itself. It was not the
One who built the concrete form of the idea, but the
First Begotten; and, as it was constructed on the
geometrical figure of the dodecahedron the First
Begotten 'was pleased to employ 12,000 years in its
creation.' "
It would seem, from the above, that the "Model of
the First Divine Idea" may have been very much in
harmony with the ideal Formative Principle we have been
studying.
This conception of the Universe as a Dodecahedron
appears if not to have originated with Plato, to have
first been mentioned by him in his writings. All the
references I have so far discovered in connection with
the idea, can be traced back to this source. Mr. Harley
Burr Alexander, of the University of Nebraska, makes
some interesting remarks in this connection (Nature and
Human Nature, P. 378). " 'We must conceive,' says
Plato, 'of three natures: first, that which is in
process of generation, and this would be the world of
nature as we experience it; second, that in which the
generation takes place, and this is the recipient or
matrix of nature; and third, that of which the
generated world is an image, and this is the cosmic
reason or form. We may liken the receiving principle to
a mother, and the source or spring to a father, and the
intermediate nature to a child,' he says, and we think
immediately of the mythopoetic union of Earth and
Heaven and the Life of Nature which is its offspring.
But for Plato this is a mere trope; he does not rest
without being scientifically explicit. 'There are three
kinds of being: that which is uncreated and
indestructible, changeless, eternal, imperceptible to
any sense, open only to the contemplation of the
intelligence, and this is the principle of the Father,
the ideal or formal essence of the world; again, that
which is sensible and created and always in motion, the
Child, the world of change and life; and finally, there
is a third nature, the Mother, which, like the Father,
is eternal and admits not of destruction, which
provides a home for all created things, and is
apprehended 'without the help of sense, by a kind of
spurious reason, and is indeed hardly real.' This
nature is space, and we beholding as in a dream, say of
all existence that it must of necessity be in some
place and occupy a space, but that what is neither in
heaven nor in earth has no existence.
"This mothering space which is hardly real, yet is
the cause of the determinism of nature, Plato
identifies as the material element of being. As pure
matter, it is purely indeterminate, but it is receptive
of all determinations. The four elements, earth, air,
fire and water, are formed from it, for 'the mother
substance becomes earth and air, insofar as she
receives the impressions of them.' Plato's conception
of the formation of these elements from the original
substance was as purely mathematical as are our modern
physical notions. 'God fashioned them by form and
number,' he says: and the forms which he assigned were
the forms of the regular solids. Thus the form of the
fiery element is the pyramid, of air, the octahedron;
of water, the icosahedron; of earth, the cube. The
fifth solid, the _Dodecahedron_, is the form of the
universe as a whole, or perhaps one might say the
_scaffold upon which the spherical universe is
constructed_. Further, these elements are themselves
compounded of simpler mathematical forms, the pyramid,
octahedron and icosahedron of equilateral, the cube of
isosceles triangles; so that if we regard the elements
as molecules, we may view the triangles as atoms of the
material substrate.
"Doubtless it was this geometrical account of
matter which gave rise to the saying ascribed to Plato
that 'God always geometrizes' -- for God, says Plutarch
in his commentary on the saying, made the world in no
other way than by setting terms to infinite and chaotic
matter."
There seems to have been many attempts to find a
solution to this problem raised by Plato; and
apparently as many failures. For instance, the author
of "The Canon" remarks; "Nearly all the old
philosophers devised an harmonic theory with respect to
the universe, and the practice continued till the old
mode of philosophizing died out.
"Kepler, in order to demonstrate the Platonic
doctrine, that the universe was formed of the five
regular solids, proposed the following rule. 'The earth
is a circle, the measurer of all. Round it describe a
dodecahedron; the circle inclosing this will be Mars.
Round Mars describe a tetrahedron; the sphere inclosing
this will be Jupiter. Describe a cube round Jupiter;
the sphere containing this will be Saturn. Now inscribe
in the earth an icosahedron; the circle inscribed in it
will be Venus. Inscribe an octahedron in Venus; the
circle inscribed in it will be Mercury.' ("Mysterium
Cosmographicum," 1596).
"This rule cannot be taken seriously as a real
statement of the proportions of the cosmos, for it
bears no resemblance to the ratios published by
Copernicus in the beginning of the sixteenth century.
Yet Kepler was very proud of his formula, and said he
valued it more than the Electorate of Saxony. It was
also approved by those two eminent authorities, Tycho
and Galileo, who evidently understood it. Kepler
himself never gives the least hint of how his precious
rule is to be interpreted."
The author of "The Canon" then submits a proposed
plan of finding universal measurements symbolically
concealed in the above rule, but in order to do this he
assumes that the figures need not be taken as solids
but as so many regular plane polygons. But this seems
to me quite a departure from the problem. Also Plato
connected these solids with the Elements rather than
with the Planets.
But I think our complex solid will be found to
contain those mentioned by Plato, although such a
thought did not enter my mind until quite lately.
It should be remembered that the Qabalists
attribute the four elements to Malkuth, which is often
called the Sphere of the Elements. Now Malkuth has
remained a perfect Sphere in our plan and in fact
represents the Material Substance of the Universe. But
the Qabalists have in particular attributed to Malkuth
the Element of Earth, while to the next three
Sephiroth, Yesod, Hod, and Netzach, have been assigned
Air, Water, and Fire.
Earth, as Matter, has always been symbolized by
the Cube, or the Cube within the Sphere, and we may
well consider this Cube to be concealed in the Sphere
of Malkuth. The lower section of the Prismatic Tree,
that representing the four lower Sephiroth of the
Elements, is in the form of a perfect tetrahedron, that
is to say, a solid bounded by four plane triangular
faces, each of which is equilateral. And again we find
this same solid with a central core of Fire -- the Path
of Shin -- comprising the combinations of Chokmah,
Binah, and Tiphereth. Plato particularly attributes
this form to Fire.
That portion of our Complete Complex Solid,
representing the Elemental Sephiroth; viz., up to the
Planes of "The Hierophant" which are penetrated by the
Central Paths of Mem, or Water, is composed of twenty
of the above solids so conjoined as to produce a
perfect icosahedron, viz.: -- a solid bounded by twenty
equilateral triangles. This is particularly attributed
to Water in the Platonic scheme.
When the progression is made to include Tiphereth,
the twenty equilateral planes become points, or tripods
which mark out the Dodecahedron, while the Second
Progression of the Tree exactly encloses this. The
points of the twenty Kethers indicate a similar but
larger solid.
Thus we have disposed of four of the five regular
solids.
The last, or octahedron, presents some difficulty.
This is a solid bounded by eight equal and equilateral
plane surfaces, and six summits or vertices. I have so
far been unable to discover that such a solid exists
within our complex solid while deriving its surfaces
and angles from regular sections of the Tree.
But what a first sight appears a difficulty may
possibly become a clue when we consider that this form
is attributed to the Elements of Air. Fire, Water, and
Earth are all perceptible to our sense of sight -- not
so Air. I do not want this to appear as an evasion of
the issue, for in any case there are interesting
indications of this missing form in the Tree of Life as
originally outlined.
It will be found that four small equilateral
triangles are shown on the Tree uniting the Six
Sephiroth which are attributed to Vau in the Four-
lettered Name, and Vau is the letter of Air. These four
triangles are arranged thus:
[insert figure xxxvi here]
It will be found that if a plane surface be folded
on the lines where these triangles join, and if the
points represented by Chesed and Geburah be drawn
together, it forms exactly one-half of an Octahedron.
And it may further be noted that, leaving out from the
figure of the whole Tree that portion which represents
our tetrahedron, plus Kether, the remainder has the
following form:
[insert figure XXXVII here]
This, it will be observed, represents the portion
just described which makes up the half-octahedron,
together with just enough additional surface material
to form four other equilateral triangles required for
the completion of the figure. But, without severing the
fragments, we cannot take a sheet of paper and fold it
into the desired shape, as was the case when making the
solid prismatic Tree itself.
But even in the latter case a very interesting
thing will be noticed -- the summit of the Supernal
Triad disappears. For, whether we take Three Trees
connected at the side thus:
[insert figure XXXVIII here]
or Three Trees radiating from Kether thus:
[insert figure XXXIX here]
we find, upon experiment in folding, that although
the lower triangle fits together perfectly, when we
bend the paper back along the lines of the Path of
Aquarius we get a flat top with Kether on a level with
Chokmah and Binah. Therefore, although for the sake of
retaining the appearance of the original two-
dimensional figure, we must build up a Summit to
represent Kether; we do so, as it were, with apologies
to the Supreme One which must ever remain unmanifest to
our lower senses. In other words the Summit of the
Supernals cannot be conceived as a "solid," or even as
partaking of "form" in the realm of ideas. This, rather
than detracting from our plan, leads us to a most
important truth, viz.: that in our researches we must
never for a moment forget the Superessential excellence
of the ONE and the GOOD. For, as Simplicius beautifully
observes, "It is requisite that he who ascends to the
principle of things, should investigate whether it is
possible there can be anything better than the supposed
principle; and if something more excellent is found,
the same inquiry should again be made respecting that,
till we arrive at the highest conception, than which we
have no longer any more venerable. Nor should we stop
in our ascent till we find this to be the case. For
there is no occasion to fear that our progression will
be through an unsubstantial void, by conceiving
something about the first principles which is greater
than and surpasses their nature. For it is not possible
for our conceptions to take such a mighty leap as to
equal, and much less to pass beyond the dignity of the
first principle of things." He adds: "This, therefore,
is one and the best extension (of the soul) to (the
highest) God, and is as much as possible
irreprehensible; viz., to know firmly, that by
ascribing to him the most venerable excellencies we can
conceive, and the most holy and primary names and
things, we ascribe nothing to him which is suitable to
his dignity. It is sufficient, however, to procure our
pardon (for the attempt) that we can attribute to him
nothing superior."
And in respect of our pardon we may devoutly hope
that Simplicius was right.
Chapter 11
Plato said in regard to the Elements of the
Universe: "God fashioned them by form and number." We
have had something to say about Form but have touched
very little upon Number. It will be well for use to
make a few observations in the light of the Forms we
have reconstructed.
I shall have little to say in regard to the
Numbers attributed to the ordinary Qabalistic Plan of
the Sephiroth, these having been dealt with in "Q.B.L."
and elsewhere. It is merely necessary to recapitulate
as follows:
The simple two-dimensional figure consists of 10
Sephiroth; 10 being the sum of the numbers from 1 to 4.
This importance of this lies in the Fourfold Nature of
the Ineffable Name which is the Formula of the whole
System. There are 22 (2 + 2 = 4) connecting links or
Paths. These consist of 3 + 7 + 12, and correspond to
the Elements, Planets, and Signs of the Zodiac. In all
we have 32, called, in relation to this System, the 32
Paths of Wisdom, representing the whole figure. One of
the special virtues of this number is that it
represents the coalescence of Macroprosopus and
Microprosopus in the Divine Name AHIHVH, and thus shows
the connection between Kether -- The Highest Crown --
and the Nine lower Sephiroth, which emanated from it.
When we allow this simple figure to expand in one
direction, as previously explained, we find, since
Malkuth remains One and the same throughout, that the
Second Tree contains 19 Sephiroth, which is a prime
number, reduces by addition to 10. Likewise the Third
Tree consists of 28 Sephiroth, a Perfect Number which
again reduces to the original 10 and therefore to 1 or
Unity. The Fourth Tree contains 37 Sephiroth, another
prime number reducing to 10. The Fifth gives 46 which
reduces to 10, while the Sixth represents 55 which not
only does this but is the Sum of the Numbers from 1 to
10. And since the number of the Sephiroth will be
increased by 9 at every progression, their total, at
each step, will always reduce to 10 by addition.
The 22 Paths of the first figure will increase by
20's to 42, 62, and so on, since two of these -- Beth
and Daleth -- retain their own nature indefinitely.
Thus the progressions of the whole Tree will be
from the original 32 to 61 and so on; 29 being added
each time.
We may now consider the outstanding features of
the figure when shown expanding in Six directions as
the Snowflake. Since Netzach and Hod now combine we
have in all 49 Sephiroth in the unprogressed figure.
This, it may be remarked, is a distinctly Venusian
Number (that of the Intelligence of Venus) and the
Square of Seven. It reduces to 13, the number of Unity
and Love. The number of Paths in this figure is 126 (a
number attributed to two important Names of God) and
this, added to 49, gives 175 as the total number of
Sephiroth and Paths. This, it may be remarked, is the
Number of the Spirit of Venus. It represents the sum of
the numbers from 1 to 49 divided by 7, and it again
reduces to 13 by addition.
When we consider the progressions of this Sixfold
Figure we find the Sephiroth increase by 48 each time,
Malkuth remaining single. This is of interest because
48 is the numeration of KVKB, the Sphere of Mercury,
and we find the particular feature of this Sixfold plan
is that the Spheres of Venus and Mercury are forever
united. I have always considered this word Kokab to be
in some way connected with the words Khu and Khabs; Khu
being the Magickal entity of man, and Khabs meaning a
Star. Considering this arrangement is as a Sixfold Star
and the uniting of the Paths and Spheres of Venus and
Mercury as Love under Will, this will be interesting to
Students of the New Aeon.
The number of Sephiroth in the Second progression
is therefore 49 + 48 = 97. This is another prime number
and that of the Archangel of Netzach. It has many other
correspondences, one of which is "An architect." The
next progression gives us 145 which, according to the
old arrangement, corresponds to the 13 Paths of the
Beard of Microprosopus. But the Fourth progression
produces 193, another prime number of particular
importance since it is the Number of Sephiroth in the
unprogressed but complete three-dimensional solid which
forms the Dodecahedron. 193 also reduces to 13, which,
it may be remarked, is the number of Sephiroth in the
single prismatic solid.
The 126 Paths of the sixfold plan progress by
adding 120 each time (since the Paths of Venus and
Mercury are combined) and this is a very important
Number to the Rosicrucian, and on account of its
representing the God ON. Other interesting numbers can
be traced out by the Student who possesses a copy of
the Sepher Sephiroth. The whole figure progresses by
the addition of 168 (the additional 48 Sephiroth and
120 Paths) and this is a very important number, being
that of the Parentes Superni.
We may now engage in a brief consideration of the
Solid Figure. The first simple form contains 13
Sephiroth, which number gives it the Seal of Unity.
This solid also contains 13 parts which produces the
angles representing the Paths. Thus it represents 26,
the Number of the Ineffable Name.
When this solid is extended in 20 directions (20
is the full numeration of IVD, the first letter of the
Name spelled in full) 193 Sephiroth are produced. These
added to the 260 (13 X 20) parts give 453, a number
reducing to 12 which is the number of pentagonal faces
on the 20-pointed dodecahedron. But, which is perhaps
of greater interest, this number 453 is that of NPSh
ChIH, the Animal Soul in its fullness; i.e., including
the Creative Entity or Chiah. The importance of this
will be plain when we remember that the total number of
Sephiroth and Paths in the Whole Solid is -- as has
been shown in Chapter VII -- 775 and this, added to the
260 parts or sectional solids, gives 1035, which is the
sum of the numbers from 1 to 45. Now 45 being the
numeration of ADM (Adam) indicates that we have once
more shown the Qabalistic ADAM in all his Spiritual and
Animal fullness and that he once again contains the sum
of all his parts.
Also the 20 points and 12 faces of the
dodecahedron equal 32, the original number of the Paths
of Wisdom.
One other point seems worthy of notice in this
connection. The _Sepher_Yetzirah_ makes a very strong
feature of TEN Sephiroth (ten and not nine, ten and
not eleven), and it may be assumed that we have
departed entirely from this fundamental conception.
But it is also true that the ancient Qabalists
considered the Three Veils of the Negative -- AIN, AIN
SUPH, AIN SUPH AUR -- as depending back from Kether;
thus, although these are _unmanifest_, the whole scheme
was based on 13. It may be further remarked that there
are Seven Sephiroth below the Supernal Triad and the
Three unmanifest Ideas above, so that we have, as it
were, 7 + 3 = 10, 10 + 3 = 13; the 10 standing midway
between the 7 and the 13.
Now it has been pointed out that the progressions
of the single Tree are made by the addition of nines,
so that each number produced reduces to 10 when we add
the digits. In this case, then, the essence of the
original basis remains. Nor is this basis lost when we
consider the Sixfold two-dimensional figure, the Single
Prismatic solid, and the Twenty-fold solid and their
progressions, although it is more deeply concealed in
these instances.
All these start from a basis of 13. The Single
solid has 13 Sephiroth and increases by the addition of
12 at each progression. Thus the series is 13, 25,
37, 49, 61, 73, 85, etc. If we reduce these by
addition (leaving the first as it stands) we obtain 13,
7, 10, 13, 7, 10, 13, etc. Now this is the series we
noticed above in regard to the original Tree -- the 10
Sephiroth with three Veils above the Supernal Triad and
7 Spheres below it. And this series recurs with every
three progressions, so that since 7 + 10 + 13 = 30, the
average is still, in essence, 10 throughout.
And when we consider the Sixfold Plan we start
with 49 which reduces to 13, and progress by adding 48.
Now 48 being 4 times 12 we find we are running in a
series which coincides at certain definite points with
the previous one, and the same peculiar rule is noticed
in regard to our reductions of digits. Thus, 49, 97,
145, 193, 241, 289, 337, etc., etc., reduce to 13, 7,
10, 13, 7, 10, 13, etc. as before.
The same is true of the complete solid. We begin
with 193 which reduces to 13, and progress by adding
192; which in this case is 4 times 48. Therefor we find
the same underlying law if we consider 193, 385, 577,
769, 961, 1153, 1345, etc., with the exception of the
one instance of 769, which reduces to 22 (the number of
paths) on its way to its final reduction to 4 without
first forming 13 as in all the other cases.
And we of course find that every fourth
progression of one series coincides with the number
produced by one of the others. Thus the fourth
progression of the Prism gives us 49 which is the basic
number of the Star. The fourth progression of the Star
gives us 193, the basic number of the complete solid,
and so on. In fact every progression of the Star will
give a number which is that of some progression of the
Simple Solid, and _every_ progression of the Complex
Solid a number equal to some progression of both the
Star and the Simple Solid, and the numbers common to
all will always reduce to 13 (or 4).
A word now in regard to the proportion of the
various parts of our figures. We found in constructing
the first simple plan of the Sephiroth and Paths that
the proportion of the Diameter of the Sephiroth to the
Width of the Paths was very important, especially in
regard to the Progressions.
I noticed recently that in his footnotes to the
new edition of Eliphas Levi's Transcendental Magic, Mr.
A. E. Waite makes the following remarks, evidently with
the intention of discrediting Levi: "In the Tree of
Life KETHER, the Supreme Crown, abides above CHOKMAH
and BINAH, forming with these the Supernal Triad, below
which are CHESED and GEBURAH. It must be said further
that the Tree comprises three triangles, beneath which
is MALKUTH. There is _no_circle_, as Levi suggests,
except in the accidental sense that the names and
titles of each Sephira are inscribed within this
figure."
Without some idea of a Circle or Sphere, if only
to represent the Absolute or the Universe, one can
hardly conceive of any Qabalistic Scheme at all; and
that all the Qabalists have merely used the Sephiroth
as convenient receptacles for names and inscriptions
while giving to the Paths any semblance of reality,
seems to me rather puerile.
However, since the very Points representing the
Centers of the Sephiroth in any properly proportioned
"Tree" are produced by the original generating circles,
we may leave aside Mr. Waite's remarks and consider the
matter as if the Sephiroth were _Circles_ and the Paths
_Lines_.
In the construction of the Tree we commence with 4
generating circles. These may be of any desired size,
but by their means we obtain the Centers of the Ten
Sephiroth.
The logical diameter of each Sephiroth will be
found to be one-fourth of that of the generating
circles. This makes the length of the short Paths --
such as Aleph -- exactly equal to the diameter of each
Sephiroth.
Next, in order to discover the logical width of
the Paths we should examine the structure of the Tree
where the five Paths from above unite in Tiphereth and
the three proceed from below that sphere. It will be
noticed that the natural division of the circle will be
into 12, as this will make all the Paths the same width
and leave a space equal to the width of one path
between the lower ones. Thus the width of each Path
should be one-half the radius of the Sephira. (The
greatest possible width without the Paths conflicting
with one another above Tiphereth.)
When it comes to the progression of the Trees we
shall then find that the third will produce Sephiroth
equal in diameter to the original generating circles,
while the width of the Paths of the third progression
will be exactly that of the diameter of the Sephiroth
of the first Tree.
A glance at the Colored Plate will show how
exactly all the details fit in if this plan is adopted;
even in the case of the four-fold division of Malkuth
the progressed Paths exactly coincide with the
diagonals. (See Plate A.)
It should be remembered, however, that all our
measurements are made from _center_ to _center_ of the
Sephiroth.
As a further check on the correctness of the size
of the Sephiroth we find that a Vesica constructed upon
the Path from the center of Chesed to that of Geburah,
having a length from Kether to Yesod, will exactly
touch the _circumferences_ of Chokmah, Binah, Netzach,
and Hod.
Our final summary will deal with the proportions
of the whole figure as based on those of the Vesica
Piscis. We have shown the importance of 15 to 26 (the
proportions of the Vesica) in relation to the sacred
Names IH and IHVH. The Student may consider for himself
such further proportions in this series as 30 to 52, 60
to 104, 120 to 208, 240 to 416. The last of these is of
peculiar interest for 240 is NTzNIM, Prima Germina, and
416 is HRHVR, meaning Thought or Meditation. Again the
next proportion, 480 to 932, is important. 480 is
LILITh and 932 is OTz HDOTh TVB VRO, The Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is surely a valuable
correspondence worthy of study.
But there is another set of proportions in
connection with the Vesica, viz.: 30 to 52. 30 is the
Letter of Libra -- Balance; 52 is the numeration of ABA
VAMA (Father and Mother), AIMA (The Supernal Mother --
fertilized), and of BN (The Son: Assiah's "Secret
Nature"). The correspondence between these and Balance
is an interesting one.
Further we may use 52 to 90, for 90 is SVD HVVG,
The Mystery of Sex. This, as applied to ABA VAMA, AIMA,
or BN leads to ideas suitable for the highest
"meditation" about which we should be "very silent."
(Strangely enough, as I wrote this I noticed another
correspondence, for ZMH, Meditation, adds to 52, and
DOMM, Very Silent, adds to 90. I shall therefore take
this as a hint and pass on.)
The next proportion 90 to 156 is of even deeper
significance for here we find the relation between "The
Mystery of Sex" (90) and BABALON (156) The Victorious
Queen. (See XXX Aethyrs: Liber CDXVIII).
And the very next progression 156 to 260 gives us
a relation between BABALON (156) and I.N.R.I. (270).
Enough has been said to indicate to the Adept that a
study of these proportions is well worth while.
But, so far we have been dealing with the actual
proportions of the Vesica, and we have not mentioned
those of the complete Tree of Life itself. Those of the
Vesica being as 26 to 45 we see the proportions of the
Tree must be 26 to 60, or, since we can divide by 2, we
may put them at 13 to 30. Here we enter upon the
consideration of our basic number 13 (Unity and Love)
in right relation with "Balance." For "Equilibrium is
the Basis of the Work."
We again obtain an interesting series of
proportions, 13 to 30, 26 to 60, 52 to 120, 104 to 240,
208 to 480, 416 to 960, etc., but these will again be
left to the consideration of the Student for we have
yet to deal with a greater Mystery.
If 13 to 30 is the exact width and height of the
two-dimensional figure of the Tree of Life, what will
be the proportions that will give us the correct angle
of the Supernal Triad in order to change this to a
Solid? The present angle is 120 degrees, the interior
angle of the Hexagon; what proportion will give us the
interior angle of the Solid Pentagon by which Kether,
Chokmah, and Binah take their places each touching the
circumscribing SPHERE?
This final revelation, only made to us on May
30th, 1925, yet necessary to the completion of our
treatise, has come as the Seal of the Supreme upon our
Work. It is not possible to enter into the proper
consideration of the importance of this discovery in
relation to the Magical lifework of the Author and to
the Mysteries of the New Aeon. For the present,
therefore, we simply state this proportion to be as
THIRTEEN is to THIRTY-ONE.
13 to 31 gives the exact angle of 108 degrees
necessary to the building up of our solid, the
additional part being used to raise the Point of Kether
to the Pinnacle of the Solid.
But let us examine the progressions of this
proportion as before. We obtain: 13 to 31, 26 to 62, 52
to 124, 104 to 248 and 208 to 496. This last, be it
noted, is the _Fifth_ progression.
Now let us remember that the _Fifth_ Progression
of Malkuth as an expanding Sphere is the one which
First embraces the Kether of the First Tree (and the
Dodecahedron formed by the Tiphereths of the Second
Tree). How many Sephiroth shall we find in the Complete
Solid at the Fifth Progression? 193 + 192 + 192 + 192 +
192 = 961. Therefore when the Sephiroth have increased
to 961 in the Solid, _Malkuth_ will have expanded to
the First Kether. 961 _happens_ to be 31 X 31, or the
Square of 31, and it reduces to 13.
But what of our _Proportion_ of 208 to 496, the
_Fifth_ progression of the proportions of 13 to 31? Not
only is 208, the _width_ of our Tree, equal to the
_length_ of a Pure Vesica whose breadth is 120 (our
original Kether angle), but our other proportion 496 is
a _Perfect_ Number, the _Sum of the Numbers from One to
Thirty-One_, and the _Numeration_ of MLKVTh -- Malkuth.
AL, it must be remembered, is the Highest Kether
Name of God -- 31 -- which being read in reverse is LA,
Not, and thus forms the true formula of the transition
from the unmanifest to the manifest.
Let us never forget that the True Kether -- Hadit
-- is forever concealed in the Center of Malkuth, and
that of this it has been written in Liber AL vel Legis:
I am NOT (La = 31) extended (1 + 2 + 3 . . . 31 = 496)
and Khabs (a Star) is the Name of my House.
In concluding this section we may remark that the
76th progression of the Single Solid, and the 19th
progression of the Star, show 913 Sephiroth, 913 is
BRAShITh, Berashith, "In the Beginning" -- the First
Word of Genesis. The 80th progression of the Single
Solid, the 20th of the Star, and the 5th of the
Complete Solid, all give 961 (13 x 31), and in case you
should forget this, all you have to do is to stand in
The Kingdom, Malkuth (496), and LOOK UP. You will then
see Yesod (9) and above that Tiphereth (6) and -- by
the Grace of God -- Kether (1). So mote it be.
Chapter XII
Our intention was not that this should be a long
treatise, but rather to give the gist of our
discoveries to the world, thus allowing the
inexhaustible treasures of this System to be minded and
used by any who desire to grasp the opportunity.
But this work would not be complete unless we had
a few words to say upon the possibilities of using this
Plan as a basis upon which to build a new and more
glorious Temple than has been conceived in the past, by
the mind of Man.
My first appeal is therefore made to all
Architects, and it is made in the Name of the Great
Architect of the Universe, the Designs of Whose
Trestle-Board, we cannot but feel, have been
transmitted to us in such a marvelous manner.
The author feels that this represents the
revelation of the "Formative Plane" of the Holy
Qabalah, which contains the Influence of the
"Archetypal" and "Creative" Worlds, and through which
the Material Universe came into manifestation.
The discoveries in regard to the marvelous
properties of the "Vesica Piscis" and the "Trinity in
Unity" so much influenced the minds of Men in the
Middle Ages, that a vast number of beautiful Gothic
Cathedrals were planned and built with every detail
lovingly worked out so as to symbolize the highest
religious truths then open to the minds of men, in a
material form. These Gothic structures are certainly
admitted to be the most beautiful in design, but to
some extent the secret of their proportions has been
lost. The Spirit behind such buildings has been
overlooked, and modern Architects have not had the same
urge and impulse towards planning such perfect work.
But even in Gothic Churches, the symbolism of the
Ground Plans was comparatively narrow in conception,
and pricipally based on the Christian ideas of the
Cross, although of course the Cross has a wonderful
Natural symbolism which is far older than what we term
Christianity.
But never before, perhaps, in the History of
Mankind, has it been so necessary that a Universal
Temple be built; never before, perhaps, have the plans
been available.
When we realize that the "Tree of Life" not only
partakes of all the properties of the "Vesica Piscis"
but in addition to symbolizing the Mysteries of the
Trinity, is capable of forming a Symbolic Basis for
every Idea in the Universe, Natural, Human, and Divine
(as a slight study of the Qabalistic System will prove
to any intelligent person); what a wonderful Ground
Plan does it make for a Universal Temple, when we
consider the possibilities of its indefinite
Multiplication as a Sixfold Star, its Prismatic
Proportions, etc. This should be sufficient to fire the
minds of the World's Greatest Architects with
enthusiasm to work out Designs for the First Great
Temple built directly upon the Nature Formative Plans
of the Grand Architect of the Universe. In such a
Temple all Nations and Peoples might well meet to give
praise to the One Whose Absolute Wisdom and Supreme
Intelligence has built this Universe, and made it
possible for created Man to comprehend its hidden
Designs and to become a conscious co-operator in the
Divine Plan.
My next appeal is to those in temporal charge of
the Spiritual welfare of Mankind; the Heads of the
various Religions of the World, those who claim to hold
the Divine Authority for the instruction of Humanity
and have charge of the welfare of the souls.
A Universal Teaching is needed, based upon simple
and intelligible lines. A teaching that at once
conforms with true Science and with the Universal
experience of Humanity. Hitherto, the Great Teachers
and founders of Religions have come to certain nations,
or countries, and have taught a suitable doctrine for
the particular climate and people to which their
Mission led them. No public universal teaching has
hitherto been possible on account of the lack of proper
means of communication. Today we have the means of
flashing the truth to every part of the globe in a few
minutes. There is no longer any reason why a Universal
Teaching should not be obtained and given to all
humanity. Such an ideal condition cannot be brought
about while there is contention and schism and
conflicting basic ideas within the Churches themselves.
I do not say that all humanity should be taught exactly
alike, but I do say that there is but One Truth, and
that One Truth is back of every exterior organization,
however differently it may be interpreted.
Symbolically, at least, our present plan proves
itself to be the basis of the Catholic Mysteries; it is
undoubtedly the basis of the lost Jewish Tradition,
which itself came from Egypt. It is the basis of
Pythagorean Philosophy, of Geometry; it is the basis
of the Rosicrucian Mysteries, as well as of Masonry,
and will prove itself to be the Key to the Mysteries of
the Secret Schools.
There is no reason why a Temple build on such
perfect symbolism should not be equally sacred to
Jewish, Catholic, Masonic, and other Religious and
Philosophical divisions of Humanity, wherein each could
behold the Mysteries of their Tradition and realize
that they are of the same Divine Origin.
Scientifically, since every drop of water naturally
crystallizes in this way, and Crystals are build up on
similar lines, even the Materialist must recognize the
Work of the Creator, as symbolized in such a structure.
My next appeal is to those in whose charge is the
Civil destiny of the Nations. How can any peace of a
lasting nature be brought about unless some Universal
Plan is adopted in which every Nation will be seen to
have its definite function, and have a well defined
destiny? An understanding of the fundamental working
principles of the Universe, and of the Working Plans of
the Great Architect, is essential to a clear vision of
what is needed to overcome the present difficulties
with which mankind is confronted on every side. Things
must be looked at from the point of view of the Whole,
rather than that of the Part, if a proper Order and
Arrangement is to be brought about. Man has been given
free-will, which includes the possibility of making
mistakes. Man is responsible for the welfare of this
Planet, and those in authority have the responsibility
on their shoulders of making this Earth a Heaven or
Hell for their brothers and sisters. Those in such
positions cannot shirk this responsibility, and they
cannot expect to be long in power if they wilfully
neglect to train themselves to hold their office
rightly and for the good of those in their charge.
Let them remember that the essence of Order
consists in the perfect adjustment of all the parts in
subservience to the Whole; and that, conversely, it is
fatal folly to try to make the Whole conform to the
design of some distorted part.
Civilization has been a failure, with all its
apparent improvements and facilities, through failure
to understand this general principle. It is absolutely
essential that each part should discover its true
function in relation to every other part, and to the
Whole, and then fulfillits destiny without making any
attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the
other parts of the Great Machine.
Equilibrium is the basis of the work. Every
apparent pair of opposites can be reconciled in a third
idea from which they both spring, and which contains
the essence of both.
My next appeal is to all Thinking people. Many of
you are slaves to your own thought. You are limited by
your own narrow conceptions, which must always be
narrow compared to the Infinite. Most of you know a lot
of things that are not so in reality. To you I make
this appeal. Clean out your minds, learn to control
thought. Arrange you ideas in proper balanced order,
and make your viewpoint one of equilibrium. Base your
mental structure on the "Tree of Life" and since every
idea placed thereon is capable of infinite progress,
your minds will expand to the comprehension of all that
is within Time and Space, for the Spirit of God in Man
is capable of extending the Substance of every Mind
which does not exert all its efforts to narrow the
limits of consciousness to conform to a few personal
prejudices and petty ideas. Why accept less than is
your due; restriction is the only sin.
Lastly, I greet the Crowned Children of the New
Aeon, those who, having sworn to overcome all things,
shall obtain the reward promised to everyone that
overcometh. And I say unto you, as One did of old: "In
my Father's House are many Mansions, and if it were not
so I would have told you." But also I add: There is a
place prepared for every one of you, Here and Now.
There is a place for everything, when all things shall
be put in place. Take up your places in the Kingdom of
the Ever-Coming Son, fulfill yourselves, in the
fulfillment of the Will of God within you, and show
those who are still in darkness without, that there is
room for all who are prepared to keep their place, and
cease from trying to usurp that of others. For:
Love is the law, love under will,
and through Love alone may ye come to the
knowledge of the One Substance, capable of Infinite
Multiplication and Projection, whereby ye become actual
communicants in the Body of God.
In the Name of the One, by the Grace of God
Triune, and by the Favor of the Ever-Coming Son,
AUMN
This method was pointed out to me some years ago by Frater Nubem Eripiam, who
claimed to have just discovered it. The method of construction as given in Liber 777, although
producing a correctly proportioned Tree, does not show the generating circles, and is not nearly
so simple in use.
The neatest formula indicating the exact proportions of the Vesica is as One is to the
Square Root of Three. This also is very symbolic for it shows the Unity in its relation to a certain
aspect of the Trinity, while since the numbers represented are 1 and 3, it is strongly suggestive
of 13 = AChD = Unity.
The above is actually more accurate mathematically than 15:26, for the proportion 1 to
the square root of 3 = 1.732, while 15:26 = 1.733. But there is always likely to be some slight
difference between mathematical accuracy and a general Magical formula, as witness the word
ALHIM which suggests Pi as 3.1415 whereas 3.1416 is more correct. I hardly know of a
magickal formula in fractions unless it be 6/50 = 0.12, for which see Liber Legis and Comment.
"Architecture is frozen music" is the saying of Frederich Schlegel. And if this saying is
anywhere significant surely it is so in relation to the polyphonic music and Gothic architecture.
In each there is the progressive playing of part against part, the building up of member against
member, each structure completed only to point to a still incomplete superstructure, joining in
the endless aspirational upward sweep of the whole. Arch rests upon arch, flying butress upon
butress, pinnacle rises above pinnacle, -- everywhere there is a balance not quite attained, a
symmetry not quite perfected, -- and by and by we realize that no Gothic church can ever be
completed; its beauty is its eternal promise, its endless upward flight. Is not this the very image
of a contrapuntal music, and of its supreme expression in the fugue?" -- Hartley Burr Alexander,
Nature and Human Nature.
Since writing the above, a new literal translation of the Sepher Yetzirah, by Mr. Knut
Stenring, has appeared. I quote a part of his rendering of the above verse, since it includes a
reference of great importance to the theory in hand: "Three -- Water from Air: He wrote and
formed therein twenty-two letters, from the formless and void -- mire and clay; He designed
them as a platband, He hewed them as a wall, He covered them as a building, He poured snow
over them and it became earth, even as it is written: 'He saith to the snow: Be thou the earth'
(Job xxxvii, 6)."
This reference to snow is quite startling in light of what follows in the present treatise.
Chaos or Matter is potentially a prism which refracts the great Light-Source, splitting
up the Supernal Light into stars, or the Supreme Consciousness into Ideas. As matter or
substance becomes organized and develops mind, its power as a prism grows. As we clarify our
minds they become as living, organic prisms which act with increasing precision and detail. The
more definite and authentic our ideas, the more accurate and mathematical, the more will they
focus Light from the Supreme, till 'sleeping stars' slip on their livery of light. The more exact the
form, the closer the correspondence between the Son (or Form, Prism, Expression, Becoming)
and the Father (or Light, Life, Live, Understanding). -- J.S. Forrester-Brown, "The Two Creation
Stories."
Here, of course, the "Mystic Rose" is referred to, but since writing the above an
interesting passage from Dr. Oken's work "Abriss der Naturphilosophye" Gottingen 1805, has
been brought to my attention. He writes, page 65, " -- on the whole all plants are only
metamorphoses of the Syngenesis. Here is united, what in others is only blossoming
disconnectedly. The importance of the number five, so unchangeably sacred to plants, will yet
have to find its solution in the Mathesis; without any doubt it lies hidden under the
Dodecahedron consisting of Pentagrams, as the crystallized sphere." This startling confirmation
of what followed upon my own researches. Achad.
See the preceding footnote.
Another confirmation comes from Dr. Karl von Eckharshausen, Aufschlusse zur Magie,
Munich 1791, Vol. 4., Page 333. "As God contains All in the Spiritual, so does the Materia
Prima, as typus, contain all in the Corporeal. The little parts of the Material are pyramidical,
triangular, tetera, dodecahedra -- always the image of the intellectual."
Another reference from The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II. Page 39, may be of interest here.
After mentioning the form of the Tree of Life, given in the Sacred Mysteries of the Mayas and
Quiches, Madame Blavatsky continues: "This represents the same idea as the Sphirothal Tree,
ten in all, yet when separated from the upper triad, leaving seven. These are the celestial fruit,
the ten or one, ten born of two invisible male and female seeds, making up 12, or the
Dodecahedron of the Universe." This indicates that Madame Blavatsky has an idea that the
Dodecahedron had some connection with the Qabalah, but evidently no comprehension of the
solid prismatic sections, necessary for the building of this most perfect many-sided figure. She
also remarks, Vol. II, Page 485, "The Dodecahedron lies concealed in the perfect cube," say the
Kabalists. I wish she had said which Kabalists; but the cube was always taken as the true symbol
of Matter and this obscure reference seems to indicate that if one understood matter, he would
discover its structure to be that of the Dodecahedron. Achad.
Our multiplied and progressed "Tree" may well be considered as the "Garden of Eden,"
but perfected in man's conception since all the "trees" are reflections of the One Tree of Life, the
IDEA of which is concealed in the midst of the Garden.
These matters will be dealt with in "The Alpha and Omega of Initiation" to be
published later.