The Golden Dawn Page 15
Elementals
Undines
Fire:
Hebrew Name
Asch
Great Name
Yhvh Tzabaoth
Cardinal Point
South. Darom
Archangel
Michael
Angel
Aral
Ruler
Seraph
King
Djin
Elementals
Salamanders
Fifth Meditation
Let the Philosophus meditate upon the symbol of the fire triangle in all its aspects.
Let him contemplate the symbol of the planet Venus until he realizes the universal love which would express itself in perfect service to all mankind and which embraces nature both visible and invisible.
Let him identify himself with the powers of fire, consecrating himself wholly until the burnt sacrifice is consummated and the Christ is conceived by the spirit.
Let him meditate upon the triplicity of fire—its attributes and correspondences.
The Diagrams
As confusion is found to exist with regard to the right and left pillars of the Sephiroth on the Tree of Life in relation to the right and left sides of a man, and as to the phases of the moon—you must note:
That in every diagram and picture, the right hand side of the observer is next to the Pillar of Mercy—Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach—while the Pillar of Severity is on the observer’s left hand. Yet when you apply the Tree of Life to yourself, your right side, arm, and leg represent the side of strength and severity, Binah, Geburah, and Hod, and your left side refers to the Pillar of Mercy. So that when you look at a diagram, you are looking, as it were, at a man facing you, that your right side faces his left. His merciful side forms the right hand pillar in front of you, so that it is as if you looked at yourself in a mirror.
Just as the man looks at you, so does the moon look at you and so you say that the moon in her increase is on the side of mercy, the right hand pillar of the Sephiroth; and in her decrease, the crescent is on the left hand Pillar of Severity.
A diagram, then, is a picture of a man or the moon facing you. The temple pillars are similar:
Black Pillar
Severity
Left
North
White Pillar
Mercy
Right
South
Black Pillar
Boaz
Stolistes
White Pillar
Jachin
Dadouchos
That is, the white mercy or Jachin Pillar is on your right hand as you approach the altar from the west and from the Hiereus. (See 2 Chronicles 3:17.) “And call the name on the right hand (of him who enters) Jachin, and the name of that on the left, Boaz.”
Now Boaz = strength, severity, Binah, black pillar, and Jachin = white pillar of mercy.
So in making the Qabalistic cross on your breast it is correct to touch the forehead and say Ateh—Thou art; the Heart—Malkuth; Right Shoulder, ve-Geburah; left shoulder ve-Gedulah, and with the fingers clasped on the breast say, Le, olam, Amen!
The Garden of Eden After the Fall
This diagram is described in the Philosophus Ritual. It shows in a glyph the teaching proper to a Philosophus on entering the Sephirah Netzach which he has reached by the three Paths of Qoph, Tzaddi, and Peh from the Sephiroth Malkuth, Yesod, and Hod respectively.
The great goddess Eve, being tempted by the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge whose branches tend upwards to the seven lower Sephiroth, but also downward to the kingdom of shells, reached down to them and the two pillars were left unsupported.
Then the Sephirotic Tree was shattered. She fell and with her fell the great Adam. And the great red dragon arose with his seven heads and ten horns, and Eden was desolated—and the folds of the dragon enclosed Malkuth and linked it to the kingdom of the shells.
And the heads of the dragon rose into the seven lower Sephiroth, even up to Daath at the feet of Aima Elohim.
Thus were the four rivers of Eden desecrated and the dragon mouth gave forth the infernal waters in Daath—and this is Leviathan, the piercing and crooked serpent.
But Tetragrammaton Elohim placed the four letters YHVH of the name and the flaming sword of the ten Sephiroth between the devastated garden and the supernal Eden, that this should not be involved in the fall of Adam.
And it became necessary that a second Adam should arise to restore the system, and thus, as Adam had been spread on the cross of the four rivers, so the second Adam should be crucified on the infernal rivers of the four armed cross of death—yet to do this he must descend into the lowest, even Malkuth the earth, and be born of her. (Psalm 74: “Thou breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces.”)
And on the dragon heads were the names of the eight kings of Edom and on his horns the names of the eleven dukes of Edom, for Daath having developed in the dragon a new head, the seven-headed dragon with ten horns became eight headed and eleven horned. (Genesis, 36:31–43, Chronicles 1: 43–54.)
Note: The Edomites were the descendants of Esau who sold his birthright. Their kings came to symbolize unlawful and chaotic forces.
Miscellany Omitted from the Lectures 19
Two Further Alchemical Attributions to the Tree of Life
1. Kether
Mercury
The Metallic Root
2. Chokmah
Salt
Lead
3. Binah
Sulphur
Tin
4. Chesed
Silver
Silver
5. Geburah
Gold
Gold
6. Tiphareth
Iron
Iron
7. Netzach
Copper
Hermaphroditical Brass
8. Hod
Tin
Brass
9. Yesod
Lead
Mercury
10. Malkuth
Mercury Philosophorum
Medicina Metallorum
The Qlippoth on the Tree of Life
1. Kether
Thaumiel—the two contending Forces
2. Chokmah
Ghogiel—the Hinderers
3. Binah
Satariel—the Concealers
4. Chesed
Agshekeloh—the Breakers in Pieces
5. Geburah
Golohab—the Burners
6. Tiphareth
Tagiriron—the Disputers
7. Netzach
Gharab Tzerek—the Ravens of Death
8. Hod
Samael—the Liar or Poison of God
9. Yesod
Gamaliel—the Obscene Ones
10. Malkuth
Lilith—Queen of the Night and of Demons
The Seven Palaces Attributed to the Ten Sephiroth
The Astrological Symbols of the Planets
These are derived from the three primary forms of the cross, the crescent, and the circle, either singly or in combination.
The circle denotes sun and gold; the crescent the moon and silver, respectively analogous to the red and white alchemical natures.
The cross is the symbol of corrosion. The corrosion of metals is usually of the complementary colour to that to which they naturally approximate. Thus copper, which is reddish, becomes green in its corrosion of verdigris, etc.
Mercury is the only planet which unites these three primary forms in one symbol. Saturn is composed of the cross and the crescent showing that lead is corrosive internally and Luna externally. Jupiter is the reverse. Mars is solar internally but corrosive externally.
Venus is opposite. Copper is externally of the nature of gold, but internally corrosive. Hence the name of the sphere of Venus is Nogah—denoting external splendour but internal corruption.
The Serpent Nehushtan, which Moses made when the children of Israel were bitten by serpents of fire in the wilderness, is the serpent of the Paths of t
he Tree. And he set it on a pole—that is, twined it round the middle pillar of the Sephiroth. And the word used in the passage in Numbers 21 for fiery serpents is the same as the name of the angels of Geburah, the same spelling, the same pointing, Seraphim. Round the Middle Pillar of the Sephiroth, because that is the reconciler between the fires of Geburah or Severity, and the waters of Chesed or y—and hence it is said in the New Testament that it is a type of Christ, the Reconciler. And the serpent is of brass, the metal of Venus, whose sphere is called Nogah, or external splendour, as shewn further by the alchemical symbol of Venus, wherein the circle of the sun is exalted above the cross of corrosion. And therefore it is said in the Zohar that “alone of the shells is the serpent Nogah found in holiness” and he is called the balance of justice. Why, then, is he called the external or false splendour? Because he indeed uniteth the Paths, but comprehendeth not the Sephiroth. Nevertheless, he is also the celestial serpent of wisdom. But the serpent of the temptation is the serpent of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and of Evil, and not that of the Tree of Life.
Here is a method of writing Hebrew words by the Yetziratic attribution of the alphabet, whence results some curious hieroglyphic symbolism. Thus Tetragrammaton will be written by Virgo, Aries, Taurus, Aries. Eheieh, by air, Aries, Virgo, Aries. From Yeheshua, the Qabalistic mode of spelling Jesus, which is simply the Tetragrammaton with the letter Shin placed therein, we obtain a very peculiar combination—Virgo, Aries, fire, Taurus, Aries. Virgo born of a virgin, Aries the sacrificial lamb, fire the fire of the Holy Spirit, Taurus the ox of the earth in whose manger He was laid, and lastly Aries the flocks of sheep whose herdsmen came to worship Him. Elohim yields air, Libra, Aries, Virgo, water—the firmament, the balanced forces, the fire of the spirit (for Aries is a fiery sign), operating in the zodiac, the fire goddess, and the waters of Creation.
The terms Raven or Crow, Lion, and Eagle have various alchemical significations. Generally:
Raven—Initiation through blackness
Lion—Heat and sulphurous action
Eagle—Sublimation
One great difference between chemical and alchemical processes is that alchemy only employs a gradual heat continually but carefully increased, and does not commence with violent heat.
The cucurbite is a glass boiler attached to the lower part of the alembic. It consists of a tube, a head, and a receiver added thereto for purposes of distillation.
The athanor or philosophical furnace is to produce a graduated heat.
The balneum mariae is the modern water bath—a vessel of hot water in which was placed the vessel to be heated.
The balneum arenae or sand bath is a vessel of sand in which is placed the vessel to receive a dry heat.
The philosophic egg is an oval glass vessel in which is placed the water or liquid to be acted upon, and which may be hermetically sealed.
Sulphur on the Tree of Life
This represents the alchemical symbol of sulphur on the Tree of Life. It does not touch the four lower Sephiroth. The cross terminates in Tiphareth, whereby, as it were, the supernal triangle is to be grasped, and Tiphareth is the purified man.
The hexagram of Tiphareth is formed from the pillars on each side. In Chesed is the water triangle, in Geburah the fire triangle, and Tiphareth unites and reconciles them so as to form a reconciliation between them in the form of the hexagram.
Salt on the Tree of Life
The symbol of salt on the Tree of Life embraces all the Sephiroth but Malkuth, and is, as it were, the reconciler between the sulphur and Mercury. The horizontal dividing line implies the precept of Hermes, “as above so below.”
The Trinity on the Tree of Life
The drawing represents the Trinity operating through the Sephiroth and reflected downwards in the four triangles of the elements. Air is reflected from Kether through Tiphareth to Yesod. Water is reflected from Binah through Chesed to Hod; fire is reflected from Chokmah through Geburah to Netzach; while earth is Malkuth, the receptacle of the other three.
The Angels of the Shemhamphoresch 20
Please see the following pages.
Sign
Name in Hebrew
Divine Name
Archangel
Angel
Angel ruling the House corresponding
Decan
Angel ruling Decan
Angel ruling Quinance
Mars
Aries
Sun
Venus
Mercury
Taurus
Moon
Saturn
Jupiter
Gemini
Mars
Sun
Venus
Sign
Name in Hebrew
Divine Name
Archangel
Angel
Angel ruling the House corresponding
Decan
Angel ruling Decan
Angel ruling Quinance
Cancer
Mercury
Moon
Saturn
Leo
Jupiter
Mars
Sun
Virgo
Venus
Mercury
Moon
Sign
Name in Hebrew
Divine Name
Archangel
Angel
Angel ruling the House corresponding
Decan
Angel ruling Decan
Angel ruling Quinance
Libra
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Scorpio
Sun
Venus
Mercury
Sagittarius
Moon
Saturn
Jupiter
Sign
Name in Hebrew
Divine Name
Archangel
Angel
Angel ruling the House corresponding
Decan
Angel ruling Decan
Angel ruling Quinance
Capricorn
Mars
Sun
Venus
Aquarius
Mercury
Moon
Saturn
Pisces
Jupiter
Mars
[contents]
19. Note by Regardie: The following items and attributions are those which were formerly eliminated from the so-called knowledge lectures and rituals. They have been assembled here and added as an appendix since this was assumed to be more isfactory than inserting them once again into the knowledge lectures.
20. Note by Regardie: The following angelic names have been assembled and tabulated systematically from a Philosophus manuscript entitled “The Lecture on the Shemhamphoresch.” This document deals principally with the traditional modes of forming angelic names. It describes how various verses are taken from the book of Exodus, and by methods of permutation, are formed into seventy-two names of three letters each. To each of these names is added the suffix Yah or El, thus yielding angelic names and formulae. These seventy-two angels are allotted to each quinary, or division of 5°, in the celestial heavens, so that with the other names a very complete hierarchy is given. Thus every sign of the zodiac has an archangel, angel, angel of its corresponding house, and a vast sub-hierarchy.
Too much space would have been consumed to detail the methods by which these names are given. So I have contented myself to list, simply, all the archangelic and angelic names of the twelve zodiacal signs, and state that they are very important names, and their arrangement should be carefully studied. The documents on tarot attribute two of these angels to each of the thirty-six small cards, and the Anglicized transliteration of their names will there be found. But I have thought it advisable here to give the Hebrew letters and spelling so that the student may have them at his hand when dealing with the matters of sigils and telesmatic images, which are, as elsewhere explained, formed from the Hebrew spellings.
PORTAL
GRADE PAPERS
On the Work to Be Undertaken between Portal and 5° = 6
The work comes under six headings as follows:
1. A thesis on the rituals.
2. A meditation on the crosses which have been used as admission badges in the grades. This is a preparation for the meditation which precedes the 5° = 6 grade and should be applied for when you have been a Portal member for seven months.