Theos-Talk Archives (April 1995 Message tl00026)

> Some brief comments on Kabbalah part 2

> <Any method, however, that is based on the Tree of Life will
> show a progression in reverse order of the "lightning
> flash,">
>
> This seems to be in agreement with the GD.

Quite a lot is, but some is not.  The GD was a product of its
time, and _either_ not all its info was accurate, _or_ they
deliberately distorted it to make us find it!

> <They go, in fact, as far as the "Daath" of Yetzirah, which
> then becomes the "Yesod" or Foundation of the world of Briah,
> Creation, or Paradise.>
>
> This seems to agree with my own statements about Daath
> representing a Ring-Pass-Not, the highest realm (state)
> possible for the human mind.

Yes - but Daath in Briah.

> <Dion Fortune ... The Mystical Qabalah >
>
> An old, but excellent text on Tree symbolisms.

In print again, I believe, and my own first introduction.

> < We shall see in Part Three that whenever a "Daath" position
> is reached, it becomes, to developing awareness, the "Yesod"
> or Foundation of the level above, and there is another Tree
> to climb!>
>
> I really like this idea.

My experience is that it is more than an idea!  Given that you
know the subject already, construct a "lightning flash" diagram
using a circle basis for accuracy, but instead of stopping at 10,
go on to 32.  Do not ignore Daath positions, but number them in
series.  Paths 1 - 3 are the 3 veils, Path 4 the Kether of
Atziluth, Path 7 the Daath of Atziluth.

Path 10 is the Kether of Briah, as the worlds "overlap" in the
emanative process in the same way as the Sephiroth. ie, each
world begins its emanation from the heart of the one above.

So - Paths 1 - 7 form a hexagram with Path 4 at the centre,
showing the 7-fold attribute-principle which will tie Kabalah in
with all other seven-fold systems, and so on down the Tree, which
will be a "Jacobs Ladder" containing ten and not nine, ten and
not eleven Sephiroth.

Hope you can follow that - if not, holler!

> < any ideas we might get that we are in any way some sort of
> "magicians" with "special powers" belong to the comic books
> and science fiction or fantasy movies, not real life.>
>
> I agree that "special powers" are not granted to us out of
> hand but the process or act of visiting these realms (or
> deliberately shifting consciousness to the alterted states
> associated with the Sephiroth) is itself magical.  It can be
> done in imagination (our so-called magical imagination via
> scrying using various objects such as Tarot cards, for
> example) or in fact via astral travel.
>
> When we travel (or however we want to describe the process)
> through the Tree, we often encounter things as well as what
> seem to be living entities.  If nothing else, we generally
> learn new things.  By the time we arrive at Daath, which is
> Knowledge, we must surely have learned a thing or two about
> this universe of ours.  Can this knowledge not be used to do
> things of a magical nature?  Is it not possible that in these
> realms or states, we can learn how to become more sensitive
> to others (i.e., see or feel auras) and get glimpses of the
> illusive nature of time and space (see past and future
> events, maybe even our own past lives, and so on)?  In short,
> while we may not become Adepts from pathworking, we sometimes
> can gain those foundation materials from which Adepts are
> made, and further our own spiritual development in some small
> measure through that.

> Just a thought.
>
> Jerry S.

All of the above is true of a single Tree in Yetzirah, and so,
yes, such things and experiences have a limited usefulness.
However, the work of the aspirant may result, as HPB might have
said, in the acquirement of siddhis, but they are of no lasting
value at the level of "adepthood" [horrid word in my vocabulary].

Yetzirah is also the world of Purgatory or purification, and
insofar as the kind of experience you mention helps us to purify
our natures, then all well and good - but they are not ends in
themselves, and many are extremely variable at the level of
interpretation.

I have met people whi get hooked on "pathworking" to the extent
that they have no hope of further progress until they get
unhooked.  Unfortunately, it can be extremely enjoyable to go on
playing "astral games."  :-)

Alan.