Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
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18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

ubtless take' they say the cimbri had this custom, that their women marching with them were accompanied by priestess-proplietesses, gray-haired, wliite-robed, with a linen scarf buckled over the shoulder, wearing a brazen girdle, and bare-footed; these met the prisoners in the camp, sword in hand, and having crowned them, led them to a brass hasin as large as 30 amphorsb (180 gals; and they had a ladder, which the priestess mounted, and standing over the basin, cut the throat of each as he was handed up. with the blood that gushed into the basin, they made a prophecy^ the trolds too, a kind of elves, have a wpiper kettle in the norw. saga, faye 11; the christians long believed in a saturni dolium, and in a large cauldron in hell (chaudiere, meon 3, 284-5^ they also ate the strong broth and

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

of the ancient ones! and the gods grant thee death before the ancient ones rule the earth once more! kakammu! selah! of the zonei and their attributes the gods of the stars are seven. they have seven seals, each of which may be used in their turn. they are approached by seven gates, each of which may be opened in their turn. they have seven colours, seven essences, and each a separate step on the ladder of lights. the chaldeans were but imperfect in their knowledge, although they had understanding of the ladder, and certain of the formulae. they did not, however, possess the formulae for the passing of the gates, save one, of whom it is forbidden to speak. the passing of the gates gives the priest both power and wisdom to use it. he becomes able to control the affairs of his life more perf

her of the zonei, and the eldest of the wanderers. he is long of beard, and bears a wand of lapis lazuli in his palm, and possesses the secret of the tides of blood. his colour is silver. his essence is to be found in silver, and in camphor, and in those things bearing the sign of the moon. he is sometimes called sin. his gate is the first you will pass in the rituals that follow. his step on the ladder of lights is also silver. this is his seal, which you must engrave on his metal, on the thirteenth day of the moon in which you are working, having no other person about you who may watch you in its manufacture. being finished, it should be wrapped in a square of the finest silk and lain aside until such time as you desire its use, and then, it should be removed only after the sun has gone

eard, and is the guardian of the gods, as well as the keeper of the knowledge of science. he wears a crown of one hundred horns, and the long robe of the priest. his colour is blue. his essence is in that metal known as quicksilver, and is sometimes also found in sand, and in those things bearing the sign of mercury. his gate is the second you will pass in the rituals that follow. his step on the ladder of lights is blue. this is his seal, which you must write on perfect parchment, or no the broad leaf of a palm tree, having no other person about you who may watch you in its construction. being finished, it should be wrapped in a square of the finest silk and lain aside until such time as you desire its use, and then, it should be removed only when its light is in the sky. such is also the

n is in the metal copper, and also in the most beautiful flowers of a field, and in the saddest death of the battlefield, which is that field's fairest flower. her gate is the third you will pass in the rites that follow, and in which place you will be of a heart to stay; but turn you face to the road that leads beyond, for that is your genuine goal, unless the goddess choses you. her step on the ladder of lights, built of old in babylon and at ur, is white. this is her seal, which you must engrave on copper, venus being exalted in the heavens, with no one about watching its construction. being finished, it is to be wrapped in the purest silk and lain safely away, only to be removed when need arises, at any time. the number of inanna is fifteen, by which number she is frequently known in t

a throne of gold, wearing a crown of two horns, holding a sceptre aloft in his right hand and a flame disk in his life, sending rays in every direction. he is the god of light and of life. his colour is gold. his essence is to be found in gold, and in all golden objects and plants. he is sometimes called uduu. his gate is the fourth you will pass in the rituals that follow. his step on the great ladder of lights is gold. this is his seal, which you must engrave in gold, when the sun is exalted in the heavens, alone on a mountain top or some such place close to the rays, but alone. being finished, it should be wrapped in a square of the finest silk and lain aside until such time as it is needed. the number os shammash is twenty and this is his seal: the god of mars is the mighty nergal. he

d bears a sword and a flail. he is the god of war, and of the fortunes of war. he was sometimes though to be an agent of the ancient ones, for he dwelt in cutha for a time. his colour is dark red. his essence is to be found in iron, and in all weapons made to spill the blood of men and of animals. his gate is the fifth you will see as you pass the zones in the rituals that follow. his step on the ladder of light is red. this is his seal, which must be engraved on a plate of iron, or on paper in blood, when mars is in exaltation in the heavens. it is best done at night, far from the habitations of men and of animals, where you cannot be seen or heard. it must be wrapped first in heavy cloth, then in fine silk, and hid safe away until such times as it is needed. but to take not to use this s

the armies of evil and putting the queen of the ancient ones beneath his foot. that serpent is dead, but dreams. marduk was bestowed fifty names and powers by the council of the elder gods, which powers he retains to this day. his colour is purple. his essence is in the material tin, and in brass. his gate is the sixth that you will come upon as you follow the rituals that follow. his step on the ladder of lights in purple. this is his seal, which you must engrave on a plate of tin or of brass, when jupiter is strong in the heavens, while making special invocation to enki our master. this shall be wrought as the others, and wrapped in pure silk and lain away until the time for its use. know that marduk appears as a mighty warrior with a long beard and a flaming disk in his hands. he carrie

nd of strength. he appears with a crown of horns and a long sword, wearing a lion's skin. he is the final zonei before the terrible igigi. his colour is the darkest black. his essence is to be found in lead, in the burnt embers of the fire, and in things of death and of antiquity. the horns of a stag are his symbol. his gate is the last you will come upon in the rites that follow. his step on the ladder of lights is black. this is his seal, which you must engrave on a leaden plate or bowl, keeping it well hidden from the eyes of the profane. it should be wrapped and put away as all the others, until its use is desired. it should never be removed when the sun is in the sky, but only after the night has fallen and the earth grown black, for ninib knows the best the ways of the demons that pr

hrough those lands that border on the unzoned wastes beyond. know that, when walking thus through the sea of spheres, he should leave his watcher behind that it may guard his body and his property, lest he be slain unawares and must wander throughout eternity among the dark spaces between stars, or else be devoured by the wrathful igigi that dwell beyond. know that thou must walk the steps of the ladder of lights, each in its place and one at a time, and that thou must enter by the gates in the lawful manner, as is put down in the covenant; else thou art surely lost. know that thou must keep purified for the space of one moon for the entrance to the first step, one moon between the first and the second step, and again between the second and the third, and so on in like manner. thou must ab

anna which say how she conquered the realm of the underworld and vanquisheth kutulu. all idimmu will vanish thereby and thou wilt be thus free to depart the gate and extinguish the fire. thou mayest not call upon nanna till thou hast passed the gate of nanna. thou mayest not call nebo until his gate hast thou passed. similarly for the rest of the gates. when thou hast ascended to the limit of the ladder of lights, thou wilt have knowledge and power over the spheres, and wilt be able to summon them thereby in times of need. this will not give thee power over the absu, however, this power being obtained differently by the ritual of descent. this ritual thou wilt undertake in the fifteenth day after the thirteenth of the month when thou hast summoned the gate of marduk to open. for marduk sle

of the year measured thereof in the four directions measured thereof, for there the gates may be opened and care must needs be taken to ensure that the gates remain forever closed. they must be sealed with the elder sign accompanied by the rites and incantations proper. the fifty names here follow, with their signs and powers. they may be summoned after the priest has ascended to that step on the ladder of lights and gained entrance to that sacred city. the signs should be engraved on parchment or sealed in clay and placed upon the altar at the calling. and in the perfumes should be of cedar, and strong, sweet-smelling resins. and the calling be to the north. the first name is marduk the lord of lords, master of magicians. his name should not be called except when no other will do, and it

he gate of ganzir to the house of death when with him the wailing people come the weeping woman and the wailing man when dumuzi is slain and buried may the dead rise and smell the incense! v stoop not down, therefore, unto the darkly shining world where the absu lies in dark waters and cuthalu sleeps and dreams stoop not down, therefore, for an abyss lies beneath the world reached by a descending ladder that hath seven steps reached by a descending pathway that hath seven gates and therein is established the throne of an evil and fatal force. for from the cavities of the world leaps forth the evil demon the evil god the evil genius the evil ensnarer the evil phantom the evil devil the evil larvae showing no true signs unto mortal man. and the dead will rise and smell the incense! the urili

ALEISTER CROWLEY SEPHER SEPHIROTH

cue, deliver; to equip for war clx goodly strength; proof nysx god the eternal one wnyhl) hwhy 129 pleasure (gn. 18:12) hnd( delight, pleasure gnw( the standing prayer (from vb. to stand) hdym( palace of serenity (referred to hod) hnwg lkyh 130 ayin: an eye ny( deliverance hlch the angel of redemption l)gh k)lm decrees, prophetic sayings nylm the pillars (cf. 164) ydwm( destitute yn( a staircase, ladder mls chaff cm lest np swift lq 131 he was angry pn) nose myp) turn, roll np) a title of kether hswkm humility hwn( pluto (referred to daath) w+wlp 132 to make waste qlb to receive lbq 133 (the hebrew palatal letters; see i.z.q. 694 et seq& cf. 84) qkyg vine npg the salt sea xlmh my plague pgn 134 burning qld 135 a destitute female hyn( the congregation (see 161) lhq roast, parch; burn; to be

2) tyrb( revolutions [of souls *mylwglg 683 the world of atziluth: the archetypal world, or the world of nobility (referred to kether-chokmah) twlyc) mlw( a name of god implying kether, chokmah and binah (3, 4& 5 letters *myhl) hwhy hh) an attack upon others, a violation, injury *mgp 688 let us make man in our image (gn. 1:26) wnmlcb md) h#(n 690 the candlestick trnm palm trees myrmt a staircase, ladder *mls 691 nose *myp) 693 sulphur tyrpg the salt sea *xlmh my 695 the world of morgash: the moral world (referred to chesed- geburah-tiphareth #grwm mlw( 697 citadels; secured houses, fortified castles twnmr) 700 the mercy seat (ex. 25:17) trpk paroketh: the veil of the holy tkrp pillar; prince; buttocks; noise t# melakim, kings: the angelic choir of tiphareth *myklm softness *kr 701 woman, w

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

her with vehemence of spirit, swiftly as light itself, that the ecstasy be spontaneous. so therefore it is expedient that thou have travelled already in this path of antithesis, knowning perfectly the answer to every griph or problem, and thy mind ready therewith. for by the property of the grass all passeth with speed incalculable of wit, and an hesitation should confound thee, breaking down thy ladder, and throwing back thy mind to receive impression from environment, as at thy first beginning. verily, the nature of this method is solution, and the destruction of every complexity by explosion of ecstasy, as every element thereof is fulfilled by its correlative, and is annihilated (since it loseth separate existence) in the orgasm that is consummated within the bed of thy mind "sequitur d

hesis. here then is thy lever of antinomy broken in thine hand; yet, being in true balance, thou mayst soar, passionate and eager, from heaven to heaven, by the expansion of thine idea, and its exaltation, or concentration as thou understandest by thy studies in the book of the law, the word thereof concerning our lady nuith, and hadith that is the core of every star. and this last going upon thy ladder is easy, if thou be truly initiate, for the momentum of thy force in transcendental antithesis serveth to propel thee, and the emancipation from the fetters of thought that thou hast won in that praxis of art maketh the whirlpool and gravitation of truth of competence to draw thee unto itself" al i,60 "my number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. the five pointed star, with a circle

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

infinity. to think of men so i could not bear: a new colenso i bought them to assuage their plight, also a book by hall and knight on algebra. i hired wise men to teach them six, seven, eight, nine, ten. one of the hottentots succeeded. few schoolboys know as much as he did! the others sank beneath the strain: it broke, not fortified, the brain. the bard a brainy beggar. now (higher on the human ladder) lodge is called mad, and crowley madder (the shafts of science who may dodge? i ve not a word to say for lodge) yet may not crowley be the one who safely does what most should shun? alpine analogy. take oscar eckenstein he climbs alone, unroped, a thousand times. he scales his peak, he makes his pass; he does not fall in a crevasse! but if the alpine club should seek to follow him on pass

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

the illusion gone, behold the all similitudes- which is of my one that is. ib. 137 adaptation but not of my making "thou fastenest on (is this his apology to me? a.c) this soul of mine, that it is gone, when christ delivers up the king- gone from all life, and rapt away" ib. dom of each soul to his father "this i know, that i am gone and god is all in all. to the heart of god's great diamond "the ladder" 1909 "i climbed still inwards. at the moveless point. where all power, life, light, motion concentrate. i found god dwelling. he drank my breath, absorbed my life in his, dispersed me, gave me death "aceldama" 1898 "the first house("i.e" the father's house) is so brilliant that you can't think; and there, too, is my lover (the son) and i (the soul) when we are one "the wake-world" 1907_ th

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

nay, not by the malice of the four great princes of evil of the world, nor by chorozon, that mighty devil, nor by the wrath of god, nor by the affliction and feebleness of the soul. yet with this assurance be not thou content; for though thou hast the wings of the eagle, they are vain, except they be joined to the shoulders of the bull. now, therefore, i send forth a shaft of my light, even as a ladder let down from the heaven upon the earth, and by this black cross of themis that i hold before thine eyes, do i swear unto thee that the path shall be open henceforth for evermore. there is a clash of a myriad silver cymbals, and silence. and then three times a note is struck upon a bell, which sounds like my holy tibetan bell, that is made of electrum magicum. i am happily returned unto the

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2 2

. 324 this particular method of rising on the planes is an exceptionally interesting one to study, not only because it is most intimately connected with the eastern methods of yoga,42 but because we have many practical results to hand, many actual facts from which we can generalise and construct a theory. two of such examples we will give here, the first a poem by mr. aleister crowley called "the ladder" in which the projection is vertical, that is to say, directed along the central column of the tree of life; and in the second, which is called "the ascent unto da th" by v. h. frater i. a. in the first of these "risings" the goal of attainment is kether, and the various headings of the poem point out clearly enough the different stages the skryer has to pass through. from the darkness of m

poem point out clearly enough the different stages the skryer has to pass through. from the darkness of malkuth he passes the various symbolic colours, which will be discussed in a future chapter, as well as many of the symbols we have described, to arrive eventually at kether. in the second, fra. i. a. leads us as far as da th, the head of the old serpent, the knower of good and of evil. 325 the ladder "i will arise and go unto my father" malkuth dark, dark, all dark! i cower, i cringe. only above me is a citron tinge as if some echo of red, gold, and blue chimed on the night and let its shadow through. yet i who am thus prisoned and exiled am the right heir of glory, the crowned child. i match my might against my fate's. i gird myself to reach the ultimate shores, i arm myself the war to

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2

of piety, where virtue, wisdom, and equity are assembled "stoop not down unto the darkly splendid world; wherein continually lieth a faithless depth, and hades wrapped in clouds, delighting in unintelligible images, precipitous, winding, a black ever-rolling abyss; ever espousing a body unluminous, formless and void "stoop not down, for a precipice lieth beneath the earth, reached by a descending ladder which hath seven steps, and therein is established the throne of an evil and fatal force "stay not on the precipice with the dross of matter, for there is a place for thy image in a realm ever splendid "invoke not the visible image of the soul of nature "look not upon nature, for her name is fatal "it becometh you not to behold them before your body is initiated, since by always alluring th

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4 2

the white. she caught at her heart; for some strange pang tore it. up went her violin, and the bow crossed it. it might have been the swords of two skilled fencers, both blind with mortal hate. it might have been the bodies of two skilled lovers, blind with immortal love. she tore life and death asunder on her strings. up, up soared the phoenix of her song; step by step on music's golden scaling-ladder she stormed the citadel of her desire. the blood flushed and swelled her face beneath its sweat. her eyes were injected with blood. the song rose, culminated- overleapt the barriers, achieved its phrase. she stopped; but the music went on. a cloud gathered 278 upon the great square, menacing and hideous. there was a tearing shriek above the melody. before her, his hands upon her hips, stood

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

! i am: for men and beings passionate, for mine own self calm as the river-cleaving lotus-borne lord of silence: i create or discreate, both in my bosom heaving: my lightest look is mother of a fate: my fingers sapphire-ringed with sky are weaving ever new flowers and lawns of life, designed nobler and newer in mine older mind. i am: i am not, but all-changing move the worlds evolving in a golden ladder, spiral or helical, fresh gusts of love filling one sphere from the last sphere grown gladder; all gateways leading far to the above. even as the bright coils of the emerald adder climb one by one in glory of sunlight, climb my children to me up the steep of time. i am: before me all the years are dead, and all the fiery locks of sunrise woven into the gold and scarlet of my head: in me all

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6

e darkly. and seeing this, the dove came to me again bearing an olive-branch; and with this i was so mightily pleased that for awhile i forgot all else, and swam lustily in the stream for my pleasure. but now came a current of ice-cold water and enwrapped me; and when i looked, it bore spots of blood upon it. then i went hastily into the ark that was ever near by; and, climbing to the roof by the ladder that i had before made, looked through. and all the sky was a hurricane, a madness of storm. now in my eagerness i had approached closely to the roof, so that the storm whirled me away into itself. one might say that i was the storm. and when i came to myself i was floating upon the bosom of the river, borne by that very bark that once i had built myself in the lighthouse. and in the storm

ALICE A BAILEY01 THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ATOM

luminating, and in line with the thought that we are seeking to develop to-night. man is there defined as "the life and the lives" we have seen that the atom is a life, manifesting by means of the little sphere of which it is the centre. we have seen that all forms are an aggregate of lives, built up into the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. now we can pass to the next stage on this great ladder of evolution, and we will then find that the human being is the logical sequence that grows out of all these earlier developments. first, the primordial stuff, essentially intelligent energy; next, atomic matter, in all its varying activity forming the elemental combination; then the form, the aggregate of these atoms, up to the dweller within the form, who is not only active intelligence

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

hive xiii of the masters' records, that carry with them a message for the struggler on the way. they are somewhat on the line of an old catechism, and used to be recited by the participants in the lesser mysteries before they passed on into the- 122- initiation, human and solar copyright 1998 lucis trust greater. what seest thou, o pilgrim? lift up thine eyes and tell what thou beholdest. i see a ladder, mounting within the vault of blue, its feet lost sight of in the mists and fogs that circle round our planet. where standest thou, o pilgrim? on what are placed thy feet? i stand upon a portion of the ladder, the fourth division well nigh mounted; its latter part stretches before me into the darkness of a stormy night. beyond that sphere of utter gloom i see the ladder rise again, radiant

n what are placed thy feet? i stand upon a portion of the ladder, the fourth division well nigh mounted; its latter part stretches before me into the darkness of a stormy night. beyond that sphere of utter gloom i see the ladder rise again, radiant and glowing in its fifth division. what marks those portions which you thus describe as separated from another part? do not all form but one completed ladder of clearly marked proportions always a gap appeareth to the eye, which (when approached more closely) resolveth then itself into a cross, by which one mounteth to the next division. what causeth then the cross? how mount you by its aid? the cross is formed by aspirations, instilled by godlike urge, which cut athwart the lower world desires, implanted by the life developed from below. explai

e way alone they bridge the gap with loving deeds done in the pain of living; they lift one hand aloft to him who standeth just above; they lean one downward to the man who standeth next below. the hands, freed from the transverse arms, are freed but to be held. only the empty nail-marked hands can keep the chain complete- 123- initiation, human and solar copyright 1998 lucis trust where ends the ladder's length? what point of gloom is pierced by it and where projects its end? it cuts the crystallising sphere with all its myriad forms; it pierces through the watery plane, washed by the swirling tides; it passes through the nethermost hell, down into densest maya, and ends within the latent fire, the molten lake of fiercest burning, touching the denizens of fire, the agnichaitans of the sca

of gloom is pierced by it and where projects its end? it cuts the crystallising sphere with all its myriad forms; it pierces through the watery plane, washed by the swirling tides; it passes through the nethermost hell, down into densest maya, and ends within the latent fire, the molten lake of fiercest burning, touching the denizens of fire, the agnichaitans of the scarlet heat. where mounts the ladder's length? where is its consummation? it mounteth through the radiant spheres, through all their six divisions. it riseth to the mighty seat within the final fifth, and passeth from that mighty seat to yet another greater. who sits upon that mighty seat within the final fifth? he with the name we mention not, save in utter adoration; the youth of endless summers, the light of life itself, th

love, the great kumara with the flaming sword, the peace of all the earth. sits he alone, this wondrous one, upon his sapphire throne? he sits alone, yet close upon the rainbow steps there stand three other lords, garnering the product of their work and sacrificing all their gain to aid the lord of love. are they assisted in their work? do other ones of greater powers than ours stand too upon the ladder? these mighty four, action and love, in wise co-operation work with their brothers of a lesser grade, the three great lords we know. who aid these mighty lords who carry on their work, linking the lower with the higher? the brothers of logoic love in all their many grades. they stay within the final fifth till it absorbeth all the fourth. where mounts the ladder then? to the greatest lord o

e uttereth then a lesser word that vibrateth through the scheme. the greater lord of cosmic love, hearing the circling sound, addeth completion to the chord, and breatheth forth the whole. what will be seen, o pilgrim on the way, when sounds that final chord? the music of the endless spheres, the merging of the seven; the end of tears, of sin, of strife, the shattering of forms; the finish of the ladder, the blending in the all, completion of the circling spheres and their entry into peace. what part, o pilgrim on the way. play you within this scheme? how will you enter into peace? how stand before your lord? i play my part with stern resolve, with earnest aspiration; i look above, i help below; i dream not, nor i rest; i toil; i serve; i reap; i pray; i am the cross; i am the way; i tread

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

matter from the two lowest subplanes of the physical and of the astral planes are never built into the human body as now constituted; it is of too low a vibration, and too coarse a grade for even the lowest type of men on earth at this time. it must be pointed out also that in the average man, the matter of some subplane will preponderate according to the depth of his nature and his place on the ladder of evolution. the "builders" of the human body work under the direction of one of the lords of karma from the lowest group. these lords are to be found in three groups, and a lord out of the third group has the work of superintending the builders of the human being on the three planes. under him are to be found- 558- a treatise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust certain karmic agents

cognisant. 3. the purity of his motives. 4. his power to "hold a state of meditation" and while in that state begin to build the form for his idea, and thus materialise the plan of his ego. 5. the amount of energy he can pour later into his thought form and thus procure for it a period of existence, or its tiny "day of brahma" these subsidiary factors are again dependent upon: a. his place on the ladder of evolution. b. the condition of his bodies. c. his karmic condition. d. the tenuosity of the etheric web. e. the calibre of his physical body, and its relative refinement. it is necessary here to warn the student against the error of making any hard or fast rule anent the sequential order of the development of the physical head centres, and the vitalisation of the force centres. this proc

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

in the human form; identical in its nature though not in its scope of development, or its degree. this is equally true of the great lives or superhuman existences in which man himself "lives and moves and has his being (acts 17: 28) and to whose state of development he aspires. as the aspirant chooses with care the "objects" upon which he will meditate, he through these objects, builds himself a ladder by means of which he arrives eventually at the objectless. as his mind assumes increasingly the meditative attitude of the soul, the brain becomes also increasingly subjugated to the mind as the mind is to the soul. thus is the lower man gradually identified with the spiritual man who is omniscient and omnipresent. this meditative attitude is assumed through a fourfold process: 1. meditatio

dy and investigation, 3. experiment, 4. discovery, 5. identification, 6. realisation. the adept can identify himself with or enter into the consciousness of the infinitesimally small. he can identify himself with the atom of substance and he knows what is as yet unknown to modern scientists. he realizes also that as the human kingdom (composed of human atoms) is the midway point or station on the ladder of evolution, therefore the infinitely small is as far away from him relatively as the infinitely great. it is as far a road to travel to embrace the consciousness of the minutest of all god's manifestations as it is to embrace the greatest, a solar system. nevertheless, in all these ranges of consciousness, the method of mastery is the same perfectly concentrated meditation, leading to per

s in their orbits around the sun, and between these two divine manifestations the whole range of form is found. the occult student has to realise that forms are diverse and many, but that all souls are identical with the oversoul. the complete knowledge of the nature, quality, key and note of one soul (whether of a chemical atom, a rose, a pearl, a man or an angel) would reveal all souls upon the ladder of evolution. and the process is the same for all: recognition, the use of the sense organs, including the sixth sense, the mind, in appreciation of the form and its constituents; concentration, an act of the will whereby the form is negated by the senses and the knower passes behind it to that which vibrates in tune with his own soul. thus knowledge is arrived at, knowledge of that which t

ficance of group consciousness. h.p.b. has said that a sense of responsibility is the first indication of the awakening of the ego or the christ principle. 5. sorrow. the greater the refinement of the human vehicle, the greater the response of the- 98- the light of the soul copyright 1998 lucis trust nervous system to the pairs of opposites, pain and pleasure. as a man progresses and rises on the ladder of evolution in the human family it becomes apparent that his capacity to appreciate sorrow or joy is greatly increased. this becomes terribly true in the case of an aspirant and of a disciple. his sense of values becomes so acute and his physical vehicle so sensitized that he suffers more than the average man. this serves to drive him forward with increasing activity in his search. his res

eaches the stage which paul refers to when he says "i count all things but loss that i may win christ" the seven stages of illumination have been described by a hindu teacher as follows: 1. the stage wherein the chela realizes that he has run the whole gamut of life experience in the three worlds and can say "i have known all that was to be known. nothing further remains to know" his place on the ladder is revealed to him. he knows what he has to do. this relates to the first modification of the thinking principle, desire for knowledge. 2. the stage wherein he frees himself from every known limitation, and can say "i have freed myself from my fetters" this stage is long but results in the attainment of freedom and relates to the second of the modifications dealt with above- 99- the light o

the sutras following upon this one deal (for the remainder of book iii) with the results of meditation. the preceding sutras have considered the hindrances and difficulties that have to be overcome before true meditation becomes possible. the key to that overcoming and the difference between aspirants to the path is made apparent in this sutra. the ascertaining of one's approximate place upon the ladder of evolution, the summing up of- 147- the light of the soul copyright 1998 lucis trust one's assets and debits is one of the most useful activities the would-be aspirant can undertake. an understanding of the stage reached and of the next step to be taken is essential for all true progress. johnson translates this sutra in the words "difference in stage is the cause of difference in develop

sense understood here, or for the purpose of developing psychic powers. the masters and their disciples use words of power in order to deal with the non-human existences, to invoke the aid of the angels, and to manipulate the building forces of nature, and they employ herbs and incenses in order to purify conditions, eliminate undesirable entities and so make it possible for those higher upon the ladder of evolution to make their presence felt. this is, however, a very different thing to their use in order to become psychic- 208- the light of the soul copyright 1998 lucis trust it is interesting to note here that the first cause producing the unfoldment of soul powers, whether higher or lower, is the great wheel of rebirth. this must ever be taken into account. everyone is not yet at the s

holy, and your consciousness of these things will create out of the old a new vehicle or new man, an "instrument meet for use" this transfer, transmutation and eventual transformation is due to one of two methods: 1. a slow method, that of repeated lives, experiences and physical incarnation until eventually the driving force of the evolutionary process brings a man, stage by stage, up the great ladder of evolution. 2. a more rapid process, wherein through such a system as outlined by patanjali and as taught by all the custodians of the mysteries of religion, a man definitely takes himself in hand, and through conformity to the rules and the laws laid down, brings himself, by his own effort, to a state of spiritual unfoldment. it might be noted here that these three processes bring a man

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

comes permanent, the work of evolution in his case is consummated, the great at-one-ment is made, and the union between the self and its vehicle of expression is established. thus a divine son of god consciously incarnates. through the work of education in all its many branches, the co-ordination of the personality has been tremendously hastened. the mentality of the race is steadily mounting the ladder of achievement. humanity, through its vast groups of educated and mentally focussed people is ready for self-determination and soul-direction. now the intensive culture of the individual, as taught in the eastern system, can be undertaken. the education and reorientation of the advanced human being must find its place in our mass education. this is the plea of this book and the object of it

tor in daily life. we speak of ourselves as divine and as sons of god. we know of those who have demonstrated their divinity to the world, and who stand in the forefront of human achievement, testifying to faculties beyond our scope of accomplishment. we are conscious, within ourselves, of strivings which drive us on towards knowledge, and of interior promptings, which have forced humanity up the ladder of evolution to its present status of what we call educated human beings. a divine urge has driven us forward from the stage of the cave dweller to our modern civilized condition. above all, we are aware of those who possess, or claim to possess, a vision of heavenly things which we long to share, and who testify to a direct way into the centre of divine reality which they ask us also to fo

'mind' may be used in three senses; first, as mind or spirit in reference to some activity, for us god; secondly, as a quality emergent at a high level of evolutionary advance; and thirdly, as a psychical attribute that pervades all natural events in universal correlation."6(60) here we have the idea of the divine purpose, the universal mind, of that human mentality which distinguishes man on the ladder of evolution from the animals, and reference also to that universal psychical consciousness which pervades the animate and the so-called inanimate. it is with mind as a quality emerging at a high level of evolution that we as human beings deal. it is for us a mode or means of contact, receiving information from various sources, and by different means. through the five senses, information is

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

ment that, owing to- 16- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust the point in evolution of the average man, his reaction to truth and the reaction of the disciple-student or the initiate will differ. this is necessarily so; each will read into the words his own state of consciousness; each will fail to interpret in terms of the more advanced reaction of those on a higher stage of the ladder of evolution. the average reader, however, objects to being forced to recognise wider points of view than his own, and the phraseology which says "it is needless to enlarge on this for it would only be understood by the initiate, serves only to aggravate him, tends to make him believe that evasion is intended, and that the writer (having got out of his depth) is seeking to save his face by

for the soul of mankind is not only an entity linking spirit and matter, and mediating between monad and personality, but the soul of humanity has a unique function to perform in mediating between the higher three kingdoms in nature and the lower three. the higher three are: 1. the spiritual hierarchy of our planet, nature spirits or angels and human spirits, who stand at a peculiar point on the ladder of evolution. of these sanat kumara, embodying a principle of the planetary logos is the highest, and an initiate of the first degree is the lowest, with corresponding entities in what we call the angel or deva kingdom. 2. the hierarchy of rays certain groupings of the seven rays in relation to our planet. 3. a hierarchy of lives, gathered by an evolutionary process out of our planetary evo

es the shadows cast by the light, and becomes aware of much impedimenta which must be discarded before the light he sees in the distance can be approached, and then enter within him. then he can know himself as light itself, and walk in that light and transmit it likewise to others. it is perhaps well to remember that the stage of discipleship is in many ways the most difficult part of the entire ladder of evolution. the solar angel is unceasingly in deep meditation. the impulses of energy, emanating from him are increasing in vibratory rate and are becoming more and more powerful. the energy is affecting more and more the forms through which the soul is- 38- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust seeking expression, and endeavouring to control. this brings me to the consider

, which is the way he should go. for there is only one open door through which such a man can go. intuition is needed for its recognition. in the first case mistakes may be made, and the man thereby learns and is enriched; in the second case, mistakes are impossible and only right action can be taken. it is obvious, therefore, that all resolves itself into an understanding of one's place upon the ladder of evolution. only the highly advanced man can know the times and seasons and can adequately discern the subtle distinction between a psychic inclination and the intuition. in considering these two ways of ultimate decision let not the man who should use his common sense and take a line of action based upon the use of the concrete mind, practice the higher method of waiting for a door to op

, convey to him. apart from the constant circulation through his astral body of planetary and solar and cosmic energies, every human being has appropriated, out of the greater whole, enough of the astral energy wherewith to construct his own individual and separate astral body, responsive to his peculiar note, coloured by his peculiar quality, and limiting him or not according to his point on the ladder of evolution. this constitutes his astral ring-pass-not, defining the limits of his emotional response to life experience, embodying in its quality the range of his desire life, but being at the same time capable of tremendous expansion, development, adjustment and control under the impulse of the mental body and of the soul. it is subject also to vibratory activity as the result of the int

ms of nature. c. this will break down all barriers of race and all distinctions of color; the essential brotherhood of man will be established. we shall see each other and all forms of divine manifestation as light units of varying degrees of brightness and shall talk and think increasingly in terms of electricity, of voltage, of intensity and of power. the age and status of men, in regard to the ladder of evolution, will be noted and become objectively apparent, the relative capacities of old souls, and young souls will be recognized, thereby re-establishing on earth the rule of the enlightened. note here, that these developments will be the work of the scientists of the next two generations and the result of their efforts. their work with the atom of substance, and their investigations i

with them; the joy of having helped to solace a needy world, of having brought light to darkened souls, of having healed in some measure the open sore of the world's distress, will be yours, and in the consciousness of days well spent, and in the gratitude of salvaged souls, comes the deepest joy of all, the joy a master knows when he is instrumental in lifting a brother up a little higher on the ladder. this is the joy that is set before you all and not so very far ahead it lies. so work, not for joy but towards it; not for reward, but from the inner need to help; not for gratitude, but from the urge that comes from having seen the vision and realisation of the part you have to play in bringing that vision down to earth. it is helpful to differentiate between happiness, joy and bliss: fir

d it of value to note the following items of information: 1. the lowest types of devas or builders on the evolutionary path are violet devas; next come the green, and, last of all, the white devas. these are all dominated by a fourth and special group. these control the exoteric processes of physical plane existence. 2. it must not be forgotten, however, that, on a lower scale of the evolutionary ladder, are other groups of lives, wrongly entitled devas, which work in obedience to the law, and are controlled by the higher entities. there are, for instance, the denser forms of gaseous life, termed often salamanders, the elementals of the fire. these are directly under the control of the lord agni, lord of the mental plane, and, in this mental age, we have the element of fire entering into t

: a. as a field of opportunity b. as a sphere of service. c. as a place wherein sacrifice for the good of all becomes gloriously possible. this latter stage puts a man upon the path of discipleship, which includes, needless to say, that of- 230- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust the earlier phase, probation or testing. the problem consists in ascertaining upon which step of the ladder and in which phase one finds oneself at any particular time. behind each human being stretches a long series of lives and some are now headed towards the stage of dominant selfish personality expression and are making themselves individuals in full conscious awareness. this is, for them, as much a step forward as is discipleship for all of you. others are already personalities and are begin

s in the work of salvaging humanity. it does not matter if their terminologies differ, their interpretations of symbols and scriptures vary, or their words are few or many. they see their group members in all fields political, scientific, religious, and economic and give to them the sign of recognition and the hand of a brother. they recognise likewise those who have passed ahead of them upon the ladder of evolution and hail them teacher, and seek to learn from them that which they are so eager to impart. this group is a product of the past and upon that past i will touch; i will also indicate the present situation and forecast somewhat the general lines along which their association and future work will run. that such a group is forming is true and holds a good augury for the coming decad

midst of work, events and circumstances are so staged that they are forced into a temporary retirement wherein they assimilate the lessons learnt during the preceding period of work. two groups of human beings work with apparently no physical plane ebb and flow, but manifest steadily an urge to work. these are people who are so little evolved and so low down (if one might thus express it) on the ladder of evolution and so predominantly animal that there is no mental reaction to circumstances but simply a response to the call of physical needs, and the use of time for the satisfaction of desire. this never lets up and therefore there is little that can be called cyclic in their expression. they include the unthinking toiler and the uncivilised man. then there are those men and women who ar

mental reaction to circumstances but simply a response to the call of physical needs, and the use of time for the satisfaction of desire. this never lets up and therefore there is little that can be called cyclic in their expression. they include the unthinking toiler and the uncivilised man. then there are those men and women who are on the opposite scale, and have climbed relatively high on the ladder of progress. these are so emancipated from the purely physical and are so aware of the nature of desire that they have learnt to preserve a continuous activity based on discipline and service. they work consciously with cycles and understand somewhat their nature. they know the divine art of abstracting their consciousness into that of the soul in contemplation and can control and wisely gu

es now seek to turn their thoughts elsewhere and to eliminate as far as may be all thought of grades and spheres of activity. it is possible, in the swing of the pendulum, to swing too far in the opposite direction and to discount these stages of activity. do not misunderstand me however; i do not suggest that an attempt be made to place people and to decide where they stand upon the evolutionary ladder. this has been most foolishly done in the past, with much dishonour to the subject, so much so that, in the minds of the public, the whole matter has fallen into disrepute. if these stages are regarded sanely for what they are states of extended consciousness, and grades of responsibility then the danger of personality reaction to the terms "accepted disciple, initiate, adept, master" would

ALICE A BAILEY09 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME I ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY I

seen when considering the form. it is the world of causes with which we are primarily concerned, and even when we consider and study that which we include under the heading of "results, it is as they demonstrate as initiated causes that we best arrive at their significance. it is as we grasp the radiatory potency of the mineral kingdom that we can begin to investigate the base of the evolutionary ladder and grasp the first steps taken by the life of god, through the medium of manifested forms. if, at the close of this writing, the student can grasp somewhat the meaning of those symbolic words, radiation, magnetism, experiment, transmutation and realisation, and can understand that they embody the purpose and goal of each of the five kingdoms in nature with which we are basically concerned

ng the unthinking and the average, sex is a word which denotes the alluring satisfaction of the animal impulses at any cost and with no rhythmic regulation. sex is essentially an expression of duality, and of the separation of a unity into two aspects or halves. these we can call spirit and matter, male and female, positive and negative; and they are in the nature of a stage upon the evolutionary ladder towards a final unity or homo-sexuality which has no relation to that perversion which is, today and inaccurately, called "homosexuality. this latter manifestation is rampant at this time in a mental and modern conception of the phenomenon, but it is rare indeed to find a person who truly combines within himself the two sexes, and is, physiologically and mentally entirely "self-satisfying

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

ter initiation is undergone, each one leading the initiate nearer to the goal of complete unity. those who in the past thus worked, agonised and attained, constitute a long chain, reaching out of the remotest past into the present, for the initiates are still with us and the door still stands wide open. through the agency of this hierarchy of achievement, men are lifted, step by step, up the long ladder reaching from earth to heaven, to stand eventually before the initiator and in that high- 15- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust moment to find that it is the christ himself who thus greets them the familiar friend who, having prepared them by example and precept, now receives them into the presence of god. such has ever been the experience, the uniform experience down the

n) critical moments have been reached, and crises have emerged and have been transcended, each definite initiation leaving the race with an expanded understanding. today mankind is being prepared for just such a transition, and for the refocussing of the human consciousness in a higher dimension and in a richer field of experience. humanity is ready to step on to a higher rung of the evolutionary ladder. faced with a situation so peculiar and an experience so unparalleled, our present chaotic bewilderment need cause no surprise. we are trembling on the verge of another step forward; we are ready for another initiation; we are on the point of widening our horizon, and passing through an open door into a larger room. all that is transpiring is no indication of failure, of senseless confusion

reached the point where thought is consecutively possible, to hold the clue to the problem of immortality. the entire story of christ goes to prove this. he had, throughout his life of consecrated service and devotion to his fellowmen, proved that he had reached the point in his evolution wherein he had somewhat to contribute to the good of the whole; he had attained altitude on the evolutionary ladder, and his humanity was lost to sight in the divinity which he expressed. he had that which was of worth to offer to god and man, and he offered it upon the cross. it cost him his life to make his contribution to the source of the whole body corporate, but he made it. because of the worth of what he had achieved, and the value of the livingness of his contribution, he could demonstrate immort

ALICE A BAILEY11 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME II ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY II

find today such dominant emphasis laid upon the understanding of the plan amongst esotericists; hence likewise the work of the psychologists as they seek to interpret man and hence also their differentiations as to the human apparatus, so that man is seen as it were dissected into his component parts. the recognition is emerging that it is man's quality which outwardly determines his place on the ladder of evolution, but modern psychology of the extreme materialistic school erroneously supposes that man's quality is determined by his mechanism, whereas the reverse condition is the determining factor- 5- a treatise on the seven rays- volume ii: esoteric psychology ii copyright 1998 lucis trust disciples have the problem of expressing the duality of love and will through the personality. thi

ual fathers" this law works through the soul in all forms. it does not literally affect matter, except in so far as form is affected when the soul "withdraws, or occultly "repudiates" it will be apparent, therefore, that our understanding of its activity will depend largely upon the measure of soul force of which we may individually be aware, and the extent of our soul contact. our point upon the ladder of evolution will govern our manipulation of this law (if such a term may be used, and determine our capacity to be sensitive to its impact. if we are unable to respond to its influence in any measure, that in itself is sufficient to indicate our development. unless the mind is active, and unless we are beginning intelligently to use the mind, there is no medium or channel through which thi

hese types of difficulty. the words which hold the secret are: 1. instruction. 2. focus of attention. 3. occupation. the nature of the human response apparatus in the three worlds should be carefully explained to the man who is in difficulty and the distinction between the lemurian, the atlantean and the caucasian consciousness should be made clear to him, if possible. his pride of place upon the ladder of evolution should be evoked at this point again if possible, and it will prove a constructive evocation. the effort to focus his attention should be progressively and sympathetically attempted. according to his type so will the effort be directed to focussing his attention and directing his interest upon the physical plane or the mental plane, thus directing it away from the intermediate

ALICE A BAILEY12 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME I

than he himself? do you not now realise that your mental ability to grasp his situation interested you more than his troubled soul? do you not also realise that your deep desire to find the master and to have with him a definite contact has its basis in an intellectual doubt? the satisfaction of your mental longing to verify the existence of the masters and to ascertain your own position upon the ladder of evolution was in those days stronger than your love of humanity and of service. this condition is now largely remedied and any- 80- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust thinking along the old lines is more in the nature of a relapse of thought than a step backward on the path of progress. all growth is cyclic and one progresses from step to step in spiral fash

attention to the fact that it is instinct which leads a disciple to respond to a master's call or note, to his vibration and to his group. instinct, in its early stages, is the name given to the response of the material mechanism to its- 538- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust environing material world the three worlds of human evolution. later, upon the evolutionary ladder, the mind appears as an interpreting agency and the nature of the mechanism and of the environment is slowly understood. the relationships become clarified. spiritual instinct is the capacity of the soul to register contact with the hierarchy of which the soul is inherently a part, just as in the body a man's mechanical, instinctual responses, reactions and reflexes are an integral part of

those to whom he must look for like aid. this is a hard first lesson. the neophyte is always more consciously conceited than is the experienced disciple. it was the need for the understanding of this fact of hierarchical progression which prompted me to choose the six stages of discipleship as our study theme. to be a disciple does not mean that all within the ashram are upon the same rung of the ladder of evolution. it is not so. an ashram is composed of all degrees, ranging from that of a disciple who is taking his first steps upon the arduous path of training, up to that of a disciple who is a master of the wisdom. this hierarchical progression is something warranting careful consideration. i would remind you of the law which states that "we grow through the medium of our recognitions"

y desirable where accepted disciples are concerned whose attitude should be positive and intelligent. the law of positive and negative relationships underlies all these stages. that which is higher is, at first, always negative to that which is lower; then interim changes take place which make the higher positive to the lower and lead, therefore, to the steady ascending of the way of life and the ladder of spiritual ascent- 575- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust part viii stage v. the chela within the aura. the definition, as given earlier by me, runs as follows "the stage wherein he is permitted to know the method whereby he may set up. a call which will entitle him to an interview with the master. at this stage, the disciple is called a chela within the aur

ALICE A BAILEY13 PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY

elfishness, and to the same amazing aptitude for heroic divine expression, to the same love and beauty, to the same innate pride, to the same sense of divinity and to the same fundamental efforts. under the great evolutionary process, men and races differ in mental development, in physical stamina, in creative possibilities, in understanding, in human perceptiveness and in their position upon the ladder of civilization; this, however, is temporary, for the same potentialities exist in all of us without exception, and will eventually display themselves. these distinctions, which have in the past set peoples and races so far apart, are rapidly dying out with the spread of education, with the uniting discoveries of science bringing us all so close together and with the power to think, to read

ALICE A BAILEY14 THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST

lly enlightenment. the problem of the hierarchy has been (and still is) how much exact truth humanity can comprehend, and to what extent absolute truth can be presented to their awakening minds; they have to decide which aspect of universal truth will enable man to emerge out of his difficulties and thus move forward on the path of return to god; they have to know, therefore, at what point on the ladder of evolution humanity stands at any given period. this in itself presents a field of research to them. the method hitherto followed has been to decide what is the major factor lacking in man's perception of reality (at any given time, and what recognised divine truth has in it the seeds of a living activity for a humanity in a particular condition, necessitating a certain type of help. they

ALICE A BAILEY15 THE DESTINY OF THE NATIONS

as we did- 73- the destiny of the nations copyright 1998 lucis trust i would have you bear in mind in connection with the five rays which we have seen are influencing or beginning to influence humanity at this time (the first, second, third, sixth and seventh rays) that their effect varies according to the ray type or ray quality of the individual concerned and according to his position upon the ladder of evolution. such points are often forgotten. if a man is, for instance, upon the second ray of love-wisdom, it may be expected that the influence of that ray and of the sixth (which is along the second ray line of power) will be easily effective and will necessarily constitute the line of least resistance. this situation may, therefore, produce undue sensitivity and an unbalanced unfoldme

ALICE A BAILEY16 GLAMOUR A WORLD PROBLEM

is necessary varies according to the stage of evolution which has been reached by an individual. for some people, for instance, the possession of that which is material may be as great a spiritual experience and as potent a teacher in life expression as the more elevated and less material requirements of the mystic or hermit. we are rated as regards action and point of view by our place upon the ladder of evolution. we are rated really by our point of view and not by our demand upon life. the spiritually minded man and the man who has set his feet upon the path of probation and who fails to attempt the expression of that which he believes, will be judged as caustically and pay as high a price as does the pure- 45- glamour: a world problem copyright 1998 lucis trust materialist the man who

of the breath. a. the relation of the will and the breath. b. inspiration. 3. the technique of indifference. a. through concentration. b. through detachment. we enter now the field of practical occultism. this is not the field of aspiration or the sphere of a planned moving forward towards that which is higher and desirable. it is, in some ways, a reverse activity. from the point reached upon the ladder of evolution, the disciple "stands in spiritual being (as far as in him lies, and consciously, deliberately works with the energies in the three worlds. he directs them into the etheric body from whatever level he chooses to work mental, emotional, or from the vital plane itself. he does this in conformity with some visioned idea, some cherished ideal, some sensed divine pattern, some spiri

rsonality. one of the problems which disciples have to solve is the source of the incentive, impulses, impressions or inspiration which via the etheric body sweep the physical vehicle into activity upon the physical plane, thus giving a demonstration of the quality, purpose and point of tension of the incarnating man, and manifesting the nature of the man as he is at any particular point upon the ladder of evolution. according to the tensions and impulses indicated, will be the activity of the centres. you can see, therefore, how much that i teach reverses the usual occult procedures. i teach no mode of awakening the centres because right impulse, steady reaction to higher impulsions and the practical recognition of the sources of inspiration will automatically and safely swing the centres

ALICE A BAILEY17 TELEPATHY AND THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

than is now realised. people today do not know whence various mental impressions come, and this greatly enhances the complexity of life at this- 12- telepathy and the etheric vehicle copyright 1998 lucis trust time and increases the mental problem of thousands. 3. telepathic work from heart to heart. this type of impression is the sublimation of the "feeling" response registered earlier upon the ladder of evolution in the solar plexus. it concerns only group impressions, and is the basis of the condition spoken of in the bible in connection with the greatest sensitive humanity has ever produced, the christ. there he is referred to as "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" but in this condition no personal sorrow or grief is involved. it is simply the consciousness of the sorrow of t

ray energies to attract and impress the constantly expanding revelation is the clue to all the work going forward today, and to this activity we give the name of the science of impression. it involves the constant opening up of a new environment an environment which reaches all the way from the lowest grade of daily living, undertaken by the least developed of human beings, to that point upon the ladder of evolution when the aspirant becomes consciously susceptible to what we call spiritual impression. at that point he becomes capable of being more sensitive to a higher range of impression and at the same time he himself begins to learn the art of impressing the minds of others, to master the understanding of the level from which he works as an impressing agent, and to know who are the son

ALICE A BAILEY18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME III ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

ly limited. it was repudiated (almost violently sometimes) by the emotional type of person who could see no further than the beauty of peace the goal of expression upon the astral plane. their vision of the greater whole and of the evocation of the will-to-good (which is not the will-to-peace) was exceedingly limited and this through no fault of their own. it simply indicated their place upon the ladder of evolution and marked a relatively useful point of service, but one which is in process of being transcended. the people in the world today are coming to realise (through suffering and its consequent reflection) that there is something greater than peace and that is the good of the whole, and not just individual, peaceful conditions or national peace. this re-orientation of the human cons

ALICE A BAILEY19 THE UNFINISHED AUTOBIOGRAPHY

interesting experiences which life had brought me? why should there have been people like that wretched little soldier from whom miss sandes had rescued me, who was born with no equipment, with obviously no background, with no money and with no capacity in this life for success of any kind? i knew now why i could leave him to god; that both he and i in our separate places would go on climbing the ladder of evolution, life after life, until some day for each of us it would be equally true "as he is, so are we in this world" it seemed reasonable to me that "as a man soweth so shall he also reap" and it was a joy to me to discover that i could call in st. paul and christ, himself, to substantiate these teachings. clear light was being thrown on the old theology. i was discovering that the onl

keep his nerves in order. there was not a streak of viciousness in him and we all adored him. the cat nobody adored because it adored only me. it was a huge and quite magnificent tom cat that we picked up as a stray when it was a wee kitten. it would speak to nobody but me. it would accept food from nobody but me. it refused to enter the house if i were not downstairs so at last foster built it a ladder from the garden to my bedroom window and cut a hole in the screen so that he could get into my room and from that moment it was entirely happy, never using any door, but always shooting up the ladder on to my bed. the work was growing apace during these years. my husband had started the magazine, the beacon, and it was meeting a real need as it does today. i usually put on 6 or 8 public lec

ach other i have noticed it more than most people do, and it was the sense of the oneness of humanity that i wanted the girls to get. i think they have a wider point of view than the average person they meet and this they owe to the way they have travelled and which i owe also to the way i have travelled not only horizontally out into the many countries but vertically also, up and down the social ladder. it is a great education to like people and i was born liking people. one of the best men i ever knew and regarded as a friend was the son of an emperor. the first and dearest friend i had thirty-five years ago when i came to the u.s. was a negro woman and they stand with equal importance to me in my consciousness and i think of them with equal affection- 124- the unfinished autobiography c

us to know what esoteric teaching is and aid us to work as esotericists, taking the needed training and learning to tread the way correctly. leaders and teachers in the present so-called esoteric schools must face the fact hard as they may be. if they are true and sincere, they will do so gladly and will adapt themselves to the need of the times; they will evaluate correctly their place upon the ladder of evolution and thus decide where their effort should be placed. nothing can arrest the hierarchical plans as outlined above. those who cannot face themselves and rate their work at its true value, will find their schools in the discard and this can be seen happening everywhere today. those who can realise the situation and can register the vision of the future will move forward to increas

monstrating to himself the necessity and the possibility of his dwelling in the world of meaning. he will then recognise the relation of all events, individual, human and planetary, and the why and the wherefore of all happenings. as he gains a knowledge of esoteric psychology and masters some of the techniques of the meditation process, he is enabled to place himself upon the correct rung of the ladder of evolution; he knows then what is, for him, the next immediate step and his next goal for unfoldment; he knows also what he has to give in the service of humanity and whom he is able to help. he begins to participate consciously in the great school of spiritual experience; in that school he eventually finds all his questions answered and his problems solved. he discovers that the major pr

ALICE A BAILEY20 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME IV ESOTERIC HEALING

or surgeon, as for him the physical body is but an automaton. he can therefore avail himself of physical means for its benefiting. much of the failure of the healing methods at present employed consists in the inability of the healer to: 1. gauge the extent of the trouble, where it may be located basically, and in what body it principally arises and lies. 2. know where the patient stands upon the ladder of evolution, and where, therefore, he must look first for the source of the difficulty. 3. differentiate between the diseases which are due to inner personal conditions, or to inherited tendencies, or to group distribution. 4. to know whether the disease should be handled, a. allopathically or homeopathically, for both can play their part at times, or through any of the other media of mode

closed mind; he overemphasises the divine possibilities to the exclusion of the material or physical probabilities. complete- 67- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: esoteric healing copyright 1998 lucis trust spiritual healing will be divinely possible ultimately; but this is not materially possible at certain given moments in time and space and with people at widely differing points on the ladder of evolution. right timing and a sound knowledge of the working of the law of karma, plus a large measure of intuitive perception, are essential to the high art of spiritual healing. to this must be added the knowledge that the form nature and the physical body are not essentially the major considerations or of the vast importance that some may think. various cultists and healers usually ta

dependent upon the ray (either of the personality or the soul) which is the source of the incoming energy, or upon the ray governing the astral body in the case of the little evolved: it is also dependent upon the point in evolution and upon the radiatory influence of other centres. c. the appearance in the etheric body of a developed or a developing centre indicates the place of the man upon the ladder of evolution, his racial affiliations, and his conscious goal; this latter can range all the way from an emphasis upon the sex life, and consequent activity of the sacral centre, to the goal of the initiate, which brings the head centre into activity. all this produces a consequent effect upon the surrounding tissue, substance and organic forms within the radius of influence of the centre

life; its focus for the distribution of energy for this life is the spleen. in the spleen, the negative life of matter and the living energy of the positive etheric body, are brought together, and then a "spark" as it is called, is made between the inner living bodies of man (through the medium of the etheric body) and the physical plane. it is a reflection on the lowest rung of the evolutionary ladder, as far as man is concerned, and corresponds to the relation of soul and body or on a higher turn of the spiral of spirit and matter. on the vagus nerve. there are two powerful centres connected with the vagus nerve: the heart centre and the centre at the base of the spine. these two, when brought under the control of the soul, functioning through the head centre (the brahmarandra, produce

not given, and h.p.b. in the secret doctrine gave none. an instance of this inaccurate and foolish attempt to throw light upon the theory of rebirth can be seen in the time limits imposed upon departed human souls between incarnations on the physical plane and the return to physical rebirth so many years of absence are proclaimed, dependent upon the age of the departed soul and its place upon the ladder of evolution. if, we are told, the soul is very advanced, absence from the physical plane is prolonged, whereas the reverse is the case. advanced souls and those whose intellectual capacity is rapidly developing come back with great rapidity, owing to their sensitive response to the pull of obligations, interests and responsibilities already established upon the physical plane. people are a

through the desire life and the determination of all men at every stage in evolution to possess, own and enjoy that which they regard as the beautiful. a definition of "the beautiful" and the range of man's desires are widely different and dependent upon the point in evolution; it is all dependent however, upon the outlook on life of the one who is desiring and the place where he stands upon the ladder of evolution. the inability of man to achieve at any time what he considers "the beautiful" determines his predisposition to disease, based upon the internal friction thus produced. at the present point in racial development, the majority of people are swept into diseased conditions as a result of the friction brought about by their striving after "the beautiful" a striving enforced as an e

l standpoint, there is no ascertained or attributable cause for it, though there are many speculations and conclusions among the orthodox. it affects primarily the bony structure and is in reality the result or the inability of the soul to produce an expression of "the true" within the man, the instrument of the soul in the three worlds. the man, in his turn, no matter how low his position on the ladder of evolution, is conscious ever of the unattainable; he is constantly aware of an urge to betterment. these urges are not related to the expression of the will-to-good or to "the beautiful (though he may be conscious of them also to a greater or less degree, but they are definitely related to the expression of something closer to the man's ideal as he sees it, and upon the physical plane. f

rtain exceedingly simple yet esoteric facts: 1. that healing is simply and essentially the manipulation of energies. 2. that he must carefully differentiate between energies and forces- 355- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: esoteric healing copyright 1998 lucis trust 3. that if he seeks real success, he must learn to place the patient as accurately as possible upon the correct rung of the ladder of evolution. 4. that knowledge of the centres is imperative. 5. that he himself must work as a soul through his personality. 6. that his relation to the patient (unless the latter is highly evolved) is a personality one. 7. that he must locate the centre controlling the area which involves the point of friction. 8. that, as with all else in the occult sciences, disease and healing are both

s arrived at by ruling out the pulls, the urges, impulses and attractions of the astral or emotional nature, and also by the practice of what i have earlier mentioned: divine indifference. a completed point of view. this necessarily and primarily refers to the universal outlook of the monad, and therefore to an initiate of the higher degrees. it can, however, be interpreted on a lower rung of the ladder of evolution and refers to the function of the soul as an observer in the three worlds and the completed all-round picture such an observer gradually attains. this is brought about by the development of the two qualities of detachment and discrimination. these two qualities, when expressed on the way to the higher evolution, become abstraction and the will-to-good. a completed point of view

ely due to their behaviour, conduct, and invocative powers. there is, however, another side to the picture; this involves the skill in action, the understanding hearts and the clear unimpeded will of both the hierarchy and shamballa. it will be apparent to you, therefore, how essential it is that all disciples and initiates should know exactly where they stand on the path, the final aspect of the ladder of evolution; otherwise, they will misinterpret the call and fail to recognise the source of the outgoing sound. how easily this can happen becomes apparent to every advanced teacher of occultism and esotericism when he perceives bow easily unimportant people and beginners interpret calls and messages they hear or receive as coming to them from some high and elevated source, whereas they ar

ALICE A BAILEY21 EDUCATION IN THE NEW AGE

make the mind nature the dominating factor, and the astral body then becomes that which is impressed by, and is sensitive to, environing conditions, but is under the control of the mind. if the mind is the centre of personality attention, then the soul activity must be brought into fuller expression; and so on and on the work proceeds, progress being made from point to point until the top of the ladder has been reached. it might be noted here that this entire exegesis of the mind and of the needed bridge building is but the practical demonstration of the truth of the occult aphorism that "before a man can tread the path he must become that path itself" the antahkarana is the path symbolically. this is one of the paradoxes of the esoteric science. step by step and stage by stage, we constr

apparatus will be carefully studied and developed. 4. vocationally, so as to place them later in life where their gifts and capacities may find fullest expression and enable them thus to fulfill their group obligations- 13- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust 5. spiritually. by this i mean that the apparent age of the soul under consideration will be studied, and the place on the ladder of evolution will be approximately noted; mystical and introspective tendencies will be considered and their apparent lack noted. coordination between: a. brain and the response apparatus in the outer world of phenomena, b. brain and desire impulses, plus emotional reactions, c. brain and mind and the world of thought, d. brain, mind and soul, will be carefully investigated so as to bring t

dom. they must not be expected to rationalise before that time, even if they show evidence of the power so to do. after fourteen years and during adolescence their mental response to truth should be drawn out and counted upon to deal with presented problems. even if it is not there, an effort should be made to evoke it. secondly, an attempt should be made to approximate the child's place upon the ladder of evolution by a study of his background, his physical equipment, the nature of his response apparatus with its varied reactions, and his major interests. this enquiry sets up a subjective rapport with the child which is far more potent in its results than would be months and months of strenuously used words in the effort to convey an idea. theory, methods and goals all that i have to say

tional field. the tracing and relating of basic trends to past racial unfoldments and to ancient racial episodes will prove of interest and of import, and though the recovery of past lives will be of no interest, the recognition of characteristics which have been inherited from the past will serve real purpose. young people will then be studied from the standpoint of their probable point upon the ladder of evolution, and will be grouped as: a. lemurians, with physical predispositions. b. atlanteans, with emotional dominance. c. aryans, with mental tendencies and inclinations. d. new race, with group qualities and consciousness and idealistic vision. the time factor (from the angle of present attainment and possible goal in the immediate life) will be carefully considered, and in this way t

y small section at that that we are engaged. our field of investigation is that of the fourth creative hierarchy, which is the hierarchy of human beings; it concerns the relations of the members of this hierarchy within its hierarchical periphery; it deals also with a possible range of existence in the subhuman realms on- 84- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust a lower rung of the ladder of hierarchical existence, and with that hierarchical structure which is found immediately above the human in the scale of beings that of the fifth or spiritual kingdom, the kingdom of god. with that great hierarchical unit which we call the animal kingdom, the third kingdom in nature, man is definitely related through the medium of his animal, etheric and astral bodies. he is also related

ALICE A BAILEY22 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME II

eas or symbolic sentences as your theme for reflection, during the next few years. they will suffice to meet your need and to evoke in you the necessary spiritual attitudes. i. the cross, erected high, reaches from the pinnacle upon which i stand into the place of light- 456- discipleship in the new age- volume ii copyright 1998 lucis trust where dwells my master. against that cross there rests a ladder. the golden cross and the ladder of pure light are one, and by their means i rise. upward i look and see an outstretched hand. downward i look and see the many hands demanding aid. with gladness and with hope, i recognise the purpose of the two hands i possess. i climb the ladder, hard as it may seem, with both my hands outstretched the one above my head to find it clasped with strength, th

points of revelation, some of which we recognise, and others pass by unnoted. the revelation of a certain type of spiritual loneliness is one through which all disciples have to pass; it is a test of that occult detachment which every disciple has to master. this solitariness has to be faced and understood, and it results in two realisations: first of all, a realisation of your exact point on the ladder of evolution, or on the path; and secondly, an intuitive perception of the point in evolution of those we contact along the way of life. for quite a long time every disciple refuses to do either of these two things. a false humility, which in reality borders on a lack of truthfulness, keeps him from clear-eyed recognition of status a recognition which necessarily involves more intelligence

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

, to aid those who are distributing the pamphlet, or to gather people together for discussion? can i not dedicate some time every day to- 16- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust this definite idea and service? responding to my appeal will involve sacrifice, but all who grasp the plan are today spending themselves in the effort to lift humanity up to another rung of the ladder and into greater light. their hands need strengthening, their work needs helping, and there is not one of you who cannot do more than you are doing, through the aid of meditation, money and thought, to salvage the world, to educate public opinion and so bring in the new day. a challenging opportunity april 1935 during the wesak festival this year, those who are seeking to lift humanity near

does not, however, concern us now, for we await the coming of a still greater avatar. 4. transmitting avatars. these manifestations of divinity appear at those great cyclic moments of revelation when humanity needs the expression of a new truth or the expansion of an old one in- 194- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust order to progress still higher on the evolutionary ladder. these avatars issue forth in response to demand and are not so much concerned with racial development as they are with the subjective unfoldment of consciousness and with the stimulation of humanity as a whole. of these avatars the buddha and the christ are outstanding examples. they were not only human-divine avatars, and hence able to link humanity with the hierarchy, but they were somet

s from the lower level does not in practice hold good. the occult law proclaims that the greater can always include the lesser, and just as that is true of the planetary logos (who is the sum total of all lesser forms within his manifested universe, so the same law applies also to all human beings. the disciple, therefore, can always include that which emanates from those who are below him on the ladder of evolution. the more a disciple is under the influence of the law of love, the more easily does he tune in and absorb the thoughts and register the desires of those around him, and particularly of those who are tied to him in the bonds of affection and of karmic relation. as disciples proceed from initiation to initiation, the will aspect fortifies the intellect and directs the expression

ALICE A BAILEY24 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME V THE RAYS AND THE INITIATIONS

s of the three great lords (the manu, the mahachohan and the christ) in that high and sacred valley in the himalayas where annually after due preparation the hierarchy makes contact with shamballa and a relationship is then set up between the "bright and living centre" and the "radiating and magnetic centre" in order that the "acquiescent waiting centre" may be stimulated to move forward upon the ladder of evolution. even the hierarchy itself needs the protection of its full membership in order rightly to absorb the incoming energies, and later wisely to distribute the forces of the divine will in the three worlds where lies their major responsibility. the focussed will of god, in its immediate implications and application, constitutes the point of tension from which shamballa works in ord

he personalities of its members. it should be borne in mind that a group is in itself an entity, having form, substance, soul and purpose or objective, and that none of these is better or greater, or more developed than the aggregate of group lives which compose it. though individuals of varying points in evolution form the group, none of them is below the level of disciples upon the evolutionary ladder. a master's ashram has in it disciples and initiates of all degrees, but no probationary disciples at all. no one below the rank of disciples accepted and dedicated is admitted. this is one of the first rules given to an accepted disciple when first admitted into the ashram, and it is from that angle that we should now consider it. the three rules we have earlier considered are general in n

is illumination and consequent organisation which is needed profoundly at this time. you will see, therefore, the significance of the teaching now being given out anent the building of the antahkarana. it is only through this bridge, this thread, that the disciple can mount on to- 85- a treatise on the seven rays- volume v: the rays and the initiations copyright 1998 lucis trust that stage of the ladder of evolution which will lead him out of the three worlds, which will bring the personality into rapport with the spiritual triad, and which will finally lead the members of the hierarchy (when their term of service is completed) on to the path of the higher evolution. the antahkarana is built by aspirants and disciples and initiates of the seven ray types, and is therefore a sevenfold woven

bring about the change. 2. the law demands that right direction should then guide the entering forces. the entering forces, working under this law, are directed first of all to the head centre, from thence to the ajna centre and then to that centre which has been the governing and most active centre during the incarnation of the life principle. this varies according to the point reached upon the ladder of evolution, and according to the personality ray, with later the soul ray bringing about a major conditioning and change. in the work of the initiate who is consciously wielding this law, the principle of abstraction (when entering the body) is held focussed in the head and is of such a magnetic potency that the energy of the remaining centres is rapidly gathered up and withdrawn. what is

y the rhythm of the seventh ray. incidentally, it is this aquarian influence which has given the adepts of the black lodge the power to bring universal death throughout the world. these evil beings have responded to the will energy of shamballa and to the life-giving vitality, but have used it in keeping with their own evil intentions and with the power conferred by their standing upon the cosmic ladder of evil. hence the war. i only mention this as a striking example of the oft misunderstood fact that the same energy or identical force will produce results within the consciousness of a christ or within the consciousness of anti-christ. it is the same energy, but the forms upon which it plays differ so vastly that in one case the will-to-good is intensified, and in the others the will-to-e

ou, if possible. when this stage of centralisation is achieved, then the group can begin to reveal the hidden mystery. all that i can tell you about that mystery is that it concerns the purpose and the reason for which our planetary logos took incarnation and became the informing life of our planet, the earth; it concerns the necessity, inherent in his own nature, to reach a point upon the cosmic ladder of evolution which would make him as a result the informing life of a sacred planet. forget not that our planet is not yet a sacred planet, though it is close to that great transformation. the cosmic secret of this transforming process is one that sanat kumara is now learning, and when that which overshadows him during this incarnation has wrought the needed changes through a process of tra

. this expresses itself through will and purpose and is therefore dynamic in character. the initiate is charged constantly with life, and consequently can work with the impelling law of evolution which (as worded in the rule we are considering) will "carry the group together towards the higher three" see you not how the different phases of the teaching lead from one to another and provide a great ladder of approach to reality? i would call to your attention that in the fourteen rules for applicants and in the fourteen rules for disciples and initiates you have the two great foundational courses of the coming schools of the mysteries, for which i have prepared the world in letters on occult meditation- 170- a treatise on the seven rays- volume v: the rays and the initiations copyright 1998

y logoi of three planets in which the mind principle reached its highest stage of development; they embody in themselves in a most peculiar manner the wisdom aspect of the second ray, as it expresses itself primarily through what has been called in the bhagavad gita "skill in action" hence their name, the buddhas of activity. sanat kumara has now moved one step ahead of them upon the great cosmic ladder of evolution, for an aspect of the law of sacrifice has conditioned them. however, within the planetary consciousness and among those who work out the divine purposes, there are none who approach the eternal youth and these three buddhas in point of evolution. they work out their plans these four great lives through the medium of the lords of the seven rays. under the law of analogy, they a

nship to other men and to his environment, so humanity as a whole has to learn its relationship to that which lies above and beyond mankind and with that which is below and left behind. this involves a sense of proportion which can be attained only by the mind principle in man and by those who are beginning to be mentally polarised. this sense of proportion will reveal to men their place upon the ladder of evolution and lead them to the recognition of the peculiar destiny and unique goals of other kingdoms in nature, including the fifth kingdom, the kingdom of god, the spiritual hierarchy of our planet. the hierarchy is itself also at a point of spiritual crisis. its initiates stand before the door which leads to the way of the higher evolution and the entire personnel of the hierarchy wai

ch is our theme at this time. it also throws light upon the ray effects upon humanity as a whole. this ray energy is indeed sadly concrete in its expression in our aryan race a race, however, which will see more people take initiation than ever before in human history, and which will, in a peculiar sense, see the descent of the kingdom of god to earth as a result of the ascent of so many upon the ladder of evolution. just as the disciple or the initiate is a soul-infused personality, so will humanity upon the physical plane be also soul-infused, thus precipitating the kingdom of god and giving birth to a new kingdom in nature. this great spiritual descent will be prefaced (if i may use such a word) by the appearance of the christ among the peoples of the world and by a stupendous inflow of

alk of ideas, concepts, philosophies and ideologies. when it demonstrates upon the astral plane, we are aware of the religious impulse, of mysticism and of the emotional and conditioning desires. all these aspects are present in the consciousness of men everywhere today. everything is crystallising in human consciousness, and this takes place in order to make man aware of where he stands upon the ladder of evolution, and of what is wrong and what is right. all this again is due to the influence of fifth ray energy. this will begin to transform human living and human desires and also human affairs and attitudes, and will lead eventually (in the middle of the sixth root race) to the great transfiguration initiation in which the reality that lies behind all human phenomena will stand revealed

at they are in truth. this is a part of the programme planned by the hierarchy, prior to the externalisation of the ashrams. the masters feel that these senior disciples and initiates (being on the spot) should soon begin to work with more authority. this does not mean that they will assert their spiritual identity and claim initiate status. this they could not do on account of their point on the ladder of spiritual evolution. but knowing who they are from the angle of the hierarchy and what is expected of them they will strengthen their work, bring in more energy, and point the way with greater clarity. their wisdom will be recognised as well as their compassion, but they themselves will recede into the background; they may even appear to be less active outwardly, and so be misjudged, but

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

to do that. i like the words aspirant" and "disciple. aspirant is a blanket word that covers us at every stage of our development. if you want a more technical word, use disciple; it is a hiding word, because an aspirant of the lowest degree is a disciple. the christ himself is also a disciple. it does away with grades and classes and degrees and varied stages of evolution. where we stand on the ladder of evolution is our own private affair. the world will know what we are, when we have done the work that is outlined for us in this labor of sagittarius. we have already dealt with the stupendous sign scorpio, in which hercules demonstrated to himself the fact that he could no longer be taken in by the serpent of illusion. he was free from fear and glamor, from all that could beguile him. t

is an astral sign and water is the symbol. in the life of the aspirant of today, i need not enlarge upon it, there has been a complete breaking down of everything. as one person said to me, there is nothing left to live for, there is nothing interesting enough to pull one through existence. why? because you are an aspirant, a disciple; it is the best indication you can have of your status on the ladder of evolution. everything has broken down and you know it. but the three aspects of divinity are still there in the fluid; and they will work and the pattern is there. the chrysalis stage is sagittarius. it is interesting to carry the sequence of thought or achievement from scorpio into the power and success developed in sagittarius, for it is a sign of power [164] the true sagittarian is a

of god who had triumphed, been transfigured, was going down into hell to work and the word came to purify himself. he thought he was so pure. how he underwent the process of purification we are not told, but i have the idea that he had to demonstrate freedom from irritability and selfishness in that uninteresting circle where he was living as a human being. it is a rule in occultism that, on the ladder of initiation, if you cannot live purely in your own home circle you are of no use in heaven or hell. what do i mean by "pure? we use the word largely in its physical sense but "pure" really is freedom from the limitations of matter. if i am in any way imprisoned even by my mind, which is a form of subtle matter, i am not pure. if i have any selfish emotions, i am not pure. hercules had to

AN INTRO TO STUDY OF THE KABALAH

r; it was formed of three times 72 letters: the words of three verses, 19, 20 and 21 of exodus xiv. were taken: the separated letters of verse 19 were written down, then the letters of verse 20 in reverse order, then those of verse 21 in direct order: this gave 72 names read from above down, each of 3 letters: to each was added either al or ih, and so were formed the names of the 72 angels of the ladder of jacob which led from earth to heaven: these names were often placed on the obverse and reverse of medals or rolls of parchment to form 36 talismans. according to some kabalists both king david and king solomon were able to work wonders with kabalistic magical arts: the pentagram was called the seal of solomon, and the hexagram was called the shield of david; to the points of the former w

ARADIA GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES

ell ween, thou art a witch, and if i, by becoming a wizard, may befreed from my trials and troubles, then i pray thee teach me how it may be done, so that i may winthe young lady, since i now see that she is of thy kind, and that i must be of it to be worthy of her.then gianni saw the old woman sweep like a flash of light from a lantern up from the ground, and,touching him, bore him away from the ladder, when lo! the light was a cat, who had been anon thewitch, and she said: thou wilt soon set forth on a long journey, and in thy way wilt find a wretched worn-out horse, whenthou must say: fata diana! fata diana! fata diana!io vi scongiurodi dare un po di bene,a quella povera bestia!e poi si troverauna grossa capra,ma un vero caprone,et tu dirai:bona sera, bel caprone,e questo ti risponderbu

ave the alarm with a terrible noise. and there was indeed something so unearthlyin its appearance, and something so awful in its great green eyes which shone like torches, that theboldest man might have been appalled by them.but one evening gianni reflected that it was foolish to be afraid of a mere cat, which need only scarea boy, and so he boldly ventured on an attack. so going forth, he took a ladder, which he carriedand placed against the ladys window. but while he stood at the foot, he found by him an oldwoman, who earnestly began to beg him not to persevere in his intention. for thou knowest well,gianni, she said, that the lady will have none of thee; thou art a terror to her. do but go home andlook in the glass, and it will seem to thee that thou art looking on a mortal sin in human

n his intention. for thou knowest well,gianni, she said, that the lady will have none of thee; thou art a terror to her. do but go home andlook in the glass, and it will seem to thee that thou art looking on a mortal sin in human form.then gianni in a roaring rage cried, i will have my way and my will, thou old wife of the devil, if imust kill thee and the girl too! saying which, he rushed up the ladder; but before he had opened orcould enter the window, and was at the top, he found himself as it were turned to wood or stone,unable to move. page 72 it befell that one evening melambo, thinking on this while playing with a nest of young serpentswhich his servant had found in a hollow oak, said: i would that i could talk with you;well i know that ye have language,as graceful as your movement

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

s the higher hierarchies are charged with a supposed crime. the word "supposed" is the true and correct term, for in both cases it is founded on misconception. both are considered in occultism as karmic effects, and both belong to the law of evolution: intellectual and spiritual on the one hand, physical and psychic on the other. the "fall" is a universal allegory. it sets forth at one end of the ladder of evolution the "rebellion" i.e, the action of differentiating intellection or consciousness on its various planes, seeking union with matter; and at the other, the lower end, the rebellion of matter against spirit, or of action against spiritual inertia. and here lies the germ of an error which has had such disastrous effects on the intelligence of civilized societies for over 1,800 years

istinction exists, it requires a lower order of creative angels to "create" inhabited globes- especially ours- or to deal with matter on this earthly plane. the philosophical gnostics were the first to think so, in the historical period, and to invent various systems upon this theory. therefore in their schemes of creation, one always finds their creators occupying a place at the very foot of the ladder of spiritual being. with them, those who created our earth and its mortals were placed on the very limit of mayavic matter, and their followers were taught to think- to the great disgust of the church fathers- that for the creation of those wretched races, in a spiritual and moral sense, which grace our globe, no high divinity could be made responsible, but only angels of a low hierarchy* t

of attributing functional activity to the infinite and absolute deity. esoteric philosophy maintains that during the sandhyas, the "central sun" emits creative light- passively so to say. causality is latent. it is only during the active periods of being that it gives rise to a stream of ceaseless energy, whose vibrating currents acquire more activity and potency with every rung of the hebdomadic ladder of being which they descend. hence it becomes comprehensible how the process of creating, or rather of fashioning, the organic universe, with all its units of the seven kingdoms, necessitated intelligent beings- who became collectively a being or creative god- differentiated already from the one absolute unity, unrelated as the latter is to conditioned creation* now the vatican mss. of the

ater range of variety than existed at any previous period; but there is no indication of any tendency to elevation towards a higher type("introduction to the study of the forminifera" p. xi) now, if there is no indication of change in the forminifera, a protozoon of the lowest type of life, mouthless and eyeless, except its greater variety now than before, man, who is on the uppermost rung of the ladder of being, indicates still less change, as we have seen; the skeleton of his palaeolithic ancestor being even found[[vol. 2, page] 258 the secret doctrine. superior in some respects to his present frame. where is, then, the claimed uniformity of law, the absolute rule for one species shading off into another, and, by insensible gradations, into higher types? we see sir william thomson admitt

otnote continued on next page[[vol. 2, page] 268 the secret doctrine. thought divine" st. paul, another initiate, called our world "the enigmatical mirror of pure truth" and st. gregory, of nazianzen, corroborated hermes by stating that "things visible are but the shadow and delineation of things that we cannot see" it is an eternal combination, and images are repeated from the higher rung of the ladder of being down to the lower. the "fall of the angels" and the "war in heaven" are repeated on every plane, the lower "mirror" disfiguring the image of the superior mirror, and each repeating it in its own way. thus the christian dogmas are but the reminiscences of the paradigms of plato, who spoke of these things cautiously, as every initiate would. but it is all as expressed in these few se

riod "the inner man of the first* only changes his body from time to time; he is ever the same, knowing neither rest nor nirvana, spurning devachan and remaining constantly on earth for the salvation of mankind "out of the seven virgin-men (kumara) four sacrificed themselves for the sins of the world and the instruction of[[footnote(s* remember the same statement in the book of enoch, as also the ladder seen by jacob in his dream. the "two worlds" mean of course the "two planes of consciousness and being" a seer can commune with beings of a higher plane than the earth, without quitting his arm-chair* vide supra the commentary on the four races- and on the "sons of will and yoga" the immaculate progeny of the androgynous third race[[vol. 2, page] 282 the secret doctrine. the ignorant, to re

south pole of the heaven "in that age" adds the author of that curious work, the "sphinxiad" and of "urania's key to the revelations "at noon, the ecliptic would be parallel with the meridian, and part of the zodiac would descend from the north pole to the north horizon; crossing the eight coils of the serpent (eight sidereal years, or over 200,000 solar years, which would seem like an imaginary ladder with eight staves reaching from the earth up to the pole, i.e, the throne of jove. up this ladder, then, the gods, i.e, the signs of the zodiac, ascended and descended (jacob's ladder and the angels. it is more than 400,000 years since the zodiac formed the sides of this ladder. this is an ingenious explanation, even if it is not altogether free from occult heresy. yet it is nearer the trut

, who hurls him down into the depths of kosmos. the aryans had brahma (in later theology) precipitated by siva into the abyss of darkness, etc, etc. but the fall of all these logoi and demiurgi from their primitive exalted position, had in all cases one and the same esoteric signification in it; the curse- in its philosophical meaning- of being incarnated on this earth; an unavoidable rung on the ladder of cosmic evolution, a highly philosophical and fitting karmic law, without which the presence of evil on earth would have to remain for ever a closed mystery to the understanding of true philosophy. to say, as the author of the esprits tombes des paiens (p. 347) does, that since "christianity is made to rest on two pillars, that of evil[[ponerou, and of good[[iagathou; on two forces, in sh

ons are silly "the brain of the apes most like man, does not amount to quite a third of the brain of the lowest races of men: it is not half the size of the brain of a new-born child("the age and origin of man) from the foregoing it is thus very easy to perceive that in order to prove the huxley-haeckelian theories of the descent of man, it is not one, but a great number of "missing links- a true ladder of progressive evolutionary steps- that would have to be first found and then presented by science to thinking and reasoning humanity, before it would abandon belief in gods and the immortal soul for the worship of quadrumanic ancestors. mere myths are now greeted as "axiomatic truths" even alfred russel wallace maintains with haeckel that primitive man was a speechless ape-creature. to thi

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

is pertinently called in esoteric buddhism "wave of evolution" and mineral, vegetable, animal- and man-"impulse" stops at the door of our globe, at its fourth cycle or round. it is at this point that the cosmic monad (buddhi) will be wedded to and become the vehicle of the atmic ray, i.e, it (buddhi) will awaken to an apperception of it (atman; and thus enter on the first step of a new septenary ladder of evolution, which will lead it eventually to the tenth (counting from the lowest upwards) of the sephirothal tree, the crown. everything in the universe follows analogy "as above, so below; man is the microcosm of the universe. that which takes place on the spiritual plane repeats itself on the cosmic plane. concretion follows the lines of abstraction; corresponding to the highest must be

e. creative spirits, and one of the lower sephiroth. he produces from himself seven other gods "stellar spirits (or the lunar ancestors, for they are all the same* they are all in his own image (the "spirits of the face, and the reflections one of the other, and have become darker and more material as they successively receded from their originator. they also inhabit seven regions disposed like a ladder, as its rungs slope up and down the scale of spirit and matter* with pagans and christians, with hindus and chaldeans, with the greek as with the roman catholics- with a slight variation of the texts in their interpretations- they all were the genii of the seven planets, as of the seven planetary spheres of our septenary chain, of which earth is the lowest (see isis, vol. ii. p. 186) this c

agan "anagamin" and "arhan- the four paths to nirvana, in this, our fourth round, bearing the same appellations. the arhan, though he can see the past, the present, and the future, is not yet the highest initiate; for the adept himself, the initiated candidate, becomes chela (pupil) to a higher initiate. three further higher grades have to be conquered by the arhan who would reach the apex of the ladder of arhatship. there are those who have reached it even in this fifth race of ours, but the faculties necessary for the attainment of these higher[[footnote(s[[footnote continued from previous page (beginning of motion, hence of differentiation (5) germinal, fiery (differentiated, but composed of the germs only of the elements, in their earliest states, they having seven states, when complet

hread between the silent watcher and his shadow (man) becomes stronger- with every re-incarnation- is another psychological mystery, that will find its explanation in book ii. for the present it will suffice to say that the "watcher" and his "shadows- the latter numbering as many as there are re-incarnations for the monad- are one. the watcher, or the divine prototype, is at the upper rung of the ladder of being; the shadow, at the lower. withal, the monad of every living being, unless his moral turpitude breaks the connection and runs loose and "astray into the lunar path- to use the occult expression- is an individual dhyan chohan, distinct from others, a kind of spiritual individuality of its own, during one special manvantara. its primary, the spirit (atman) is one, of course, with par

ablished in his name and honour. all such public worship was exoteric, and the great universal symbols were distorted universally, as those of krishna are now by the vallabacharyas of bombay, the followers of the infant god. but are these popular gods the true deity? are they the apex and synthesis of the sevenfold creation, man included? never! each and all are one of the rungs of that septenary ladder of divine consciousness, pagan as christian. for ain-soph also is said to manifest through the seven letters of jehovah's name who, having usurped the place of the unknown limitless, was given by his devotees his seven angels of the presence- his seven principles. yet they are mentioned in almost every school. in the pure sankhya philosophy mahat, ahamkara and the five tanmatras are called

y celsus, his opponent- books which were all destroyed by the prudent church fathers- evidently answers the objections of his contradictor and reveals his system at the same time. this was evidently septenary. but his theogony, the genesis of the stars or planets, that of sound and colour, all found as an answer satire, and no better. celsus, you see "desiring to exhibit his learning" speaks of a ladder of creation with seven gates, and on the top[[vol. 1, page] 446 the secret doctrine. of it the eighth- ever closed. the mysteries of the persian mithras are explained and "musical reasons, moreover, are added. and to these again he strives "to add a second explanation connected also with musical considerations- i.e, with the seven notes of the scale, the seven spirits of the stars &c &c. va

as also when there is too little of it. but this principle on the manifested (or our) plane is but the effect and the result of the intelligent action of the "host- collectively, principle- the manifesting life and light. it is itself subordinate to, and emanates from the ever-invisible, eternal and absolute one life in a descending and a re-ascending scale of hierarchic degrees- a true septenary ladder, with sound (or the logos) at the upper end and the vidyadharas (the inferior pitris) at the lower[[footnote(s* in a recent work on the symbolism in buddhism and christianity (in buddhism and roman catholicism, rather, many later rituals and dogmas in northern buddhism in its popular exoteric form, being identical with those of the latin church) some curious facts are to be found. the autho

osphere and its immediate surroundings, all, in fact, which falls within the range of our terrestrial consciousness. jupiter pluvius sent his symbol in drops of rain, of water composed, as is believed, of two "elements" which chemistry dissociates and recombines. the compound molecules are in its power, but their atoms still elude its grasp. occultism sees in all these forces and manifestations a ladder, the lower rungs of which belong to exoteric physics, and the higher are traced to a living, intelligent, invisible power, which is, as a rule, the unconcerned, and exceptionally, the conscious cause of the sense-born phenomenon designated as this or another natural law[[vol. 1, page] 555 divine, infernal, or terrestrial force? we say and maintain that sound, for one thing, is a tremendous

stic forms, which, under karmic law, become a presence, spirit and matter being one, as repeatedly stated. spirit is matter on the seventh plane; matter is spirit- on the lowest point of its cyclic activity; and both- are maya. atoms are called "vibrations" in occultism; also "sound- collectively. this does not interfere with mr. tyndall's scientific discovery. he traced, on the lower rung of the ladder of monadic being, the whole course of the atmospheric vibrations- and this constitutes the objective part of the process in nature. he has traced and recorded the rapidity of their motion and transmission; the force of their impact; their setting up vibrations in the tympanum and their transmission of these to the stolithes, etc, etc, till the vibration of the auditory nerve commences- and

BLUE EQUINOX

s the winds above the waves, whose step touches not the waters. this partly refers to certain iddhi, concerning understanding of devas (gods, etc; here the word .wind. may be interpreted as .spirit. it is comparatively easy to reach this state, and it has no great importance. the .walker of the sky. is much superior to the mere reader of the minds of ants. 39. before thou set.st thy foot upon the ladder.s upper rung, the ladder of the mystic sounds, thou hast to hear the voice of thy inner god in seven manners. the word .seven. is here, as so frequently, rather poetic than mathematic; for there are many more. the verse also reads as if it were necessary to hear all the seven, and this is not the case.some will get one and some another. some students may even miss all of them (this might ha

beyond which he, bathed in the sunlight of the spirit, glories untold, unseen by any save the eye of soul. these gates are described in the third treatise. the words .spirit. and .soul. are highly ambiguous, and had better be regarded as poetic figures, without a technical meaning being sought. 60. there is but one road to the path; at its very end alone the voice of the silence can be heard. the ladder by which the candidate ascends is formed of rungs of suffering and pain; these can be silenced only by the voice of virtue. woe, then, to thee, disciple, if there is one single vice thou hast not left behind. for then the ladder will give way and overthrow thee; its foot rests in the deep mire of thy sins and failings, and ere thou canst attempt to cross this wide abyss of matter thou hast

ly by the voice of virtue. woe, then, to thee, disciple, if there is one single vice thou hast not left behind. for then the ladder will give way and overthrow thee; its foot rests in the deep mire of thy sins and failings, and ere thou canst attempt to cross this wide abyss of matter thou hast to lave thy feet in waters of renunciation. beware lest thou should.st set a foot still soiled upon the ladder.s lowest rung. woe unto him who dares pollute one rung with miry feet. the foul and viscous mud will dry, become tenacious, then glue his feet unto the spot, and like a bird caught in the wily fowler.s lime, he will be stayed from further progress. his vices will take shape and drag him down. his sins will raise their voices like as the jackal.s laugh and sob after the sun goes down; his th

s, lanoo, make thy vices impotent, ere the first step is taken on the solemn journey. by .desires. and .vices. are meant those things which you yourself think to be inimical to the work; for each man they will be quite different, and any attempt to lay down a general rule leads to worse than confusion. 62. strangle thy sins, and make them dumb for ever, before thou dost lift one foot to mount the ladder. this is merely a repetition of verse 61 in different language. but remember .the word of sin is restriction .do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. 63. silence thy thoughts and fix thy whole attention on thy master whom yet thou dost not see, but whom thou feelest. the equinox 28 this again commands the stilling of thoughts. the previous verses referred rather to emotions, which

ing to its associations in english minds with the hymn usually known as .the sweet bye and bye. it is a metaphor for which there is little justification. nirvana is frequently spoken of as an island in buddhist writings, but i am not familiar with any passage in which the metaphor is that of a place at the other end of a journey. the metaphor moreover is mixed. in the hast verse he was climbing a ladder; now he is going across the waters, and neither on ladders nor in journeys by water does one usually pass through portals. 12. 1. dana, the key of charity and hove immortal. 2. shila, the key of harmony in word and act, the key that counterbalances the cause and the effect, and leaves no further room for karmic action. 3. kshanti, patience sweet, that nought can ruffle. 4. vairagya, indiffe

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

to prepare the sustenance. living room place of socializing. ice: coldness of character; frigidity; rigidity. illness: boredom, delay. individual self: the "real" you; the inner you; the all-wise, all-powerful spiritual self. jail: confinement; frustration; inability to act. journey: see transportation. judge or jury: your conscience. key: the answer to a problem. kiss: satisfaction; completion. ladder: ability to climb (note the length of the ladder. left (as in side or direction: the subconscious side; sometimes the wrong side or direction; the logical side; the scientific side. light: hope. lines: broken lines represent the feminine aspect. solid lines, the masculine aspect. lizard: transcendence. lock: frustration; security. man or male: animus, the masculine aspect. the age indicates

ncement. gun: trouble. argument. adultery. hammer: hard work, which will be rewarded. hand: friendship. help when needed. advice. harp: contentment. ease. heart: love or lover. confidant. horse: work horseshoes: good luck. start of a new, successful enterprise. house: security. authority. key: opportunity. kite: exercise caution. think before acting. knife: treachery. duplicity. misunderstanding. ladder: advancement. opportunities taken. man: stranger. visitor. help from unexpected source. mushroom: disturbance. complications in business. palm tree: a breathing-space. a rest period. temporary relief. pipe (smoker's: thought and concentration ahead. investigate all possibilities. scissors: quarrels, usually domestic. double-dealing. snake: an enemy. a personal hurt, or an affaire de coeur (

CHRONOLOGIA RORISPERGIUS

albertus magnus (thorndike, history of magic and experimental science, ii, 731) 1039-1123 milarepa 1040-1105 rashi (rabbi solomon ben isaac; jewish sage, talmudic exegist of troyes, france c.1050 michael psellus studying in constantinople, received an annotated copy of the hermetica from a scholar from harran. 1052-1127 ibn al-sid al batalyawsi kitab al- hada'iq or "the book of imaginary circles" ladder by which the soul ascends and descends(influenced by the "epistles of the brethren of purity) popular in medieval spain and provence -translations made by kabbalists moses ibn tibbon and samuel ibn motot 1054 rome splits from orthodox church, forms catholic church 1058-1111 ghazali (persian muslim scholar and mystic) 1060 r. solomon ibn gabirol said to have created a woman 1062-1110 petrus

the tetragrammaton christologically, discusses how name science and sefirotic science support the notion of the trinity, and calls the messiah by the hebrew letter yod. uses the word cabala by name and mentions his predecessor petras alphonsi. 1280? sefer ha-zohar written by moses de le n but attributed to simon ben yohai. 1280-1340 joseph ibn kaspi kabbalist "menorat kesef" equates the merkabah ladder with jacob's ladder and reintroduces the universal soul as propounded by batalyawsi. 1282-1288 arnald villanova studies hebrew and joachimist literature perhaps meets abraham abulafia. 1283 "ars demonstrativa" ramon llull. on the letters a+ t (prefigures later *azoth* formulations)circle, square, and triangle can represent everything in creation. ascends the ladder of being through the elem

de semine scripturarum. commentary delineates a historical timeframe based on the letters of the hebrew and latin alphabets. demonstrates letter shapes of the hebrew and latin tetragrammata are figures for the trinity. 1294- 1307 temur ljeytu khan d.1297 guido bonatti italian astrologer influenced dante among others. 1300-1362 moses narboni kabbalist epistle on the shi'ur qoma identifies jacob's ladder with the height of the body or totality of created beings. 1300 fra dolcino anticipates the angel of philadelphia's appearance as "holy pope. arnald of villanova writes a number of important treatises on alchemy quaestiones tam esseentiales quam accidentales, epistola supe alchemia ad regem neapolitanum, de secretis naturae, exempla de arte philosophorum; key of solomon. d.1300 'aziz al-din

CHYMICAL WEDDING OF CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ

rs, ropes, and large wings, which they laid down before us. then the old man began as follows: my dear sons, each of you must this day constantly bear one of these three things about with him. now you are free either to make a choice of one of them, or to cast lots about it. we replied, we would choose. no, he said, let it rather go by lot. hereupon he made three little schedules. on one he wrote ladder, on the second rope, on the third wings. these he put in a hat, and each man must draw, and whatever he got, that was to be his. those who got the ropes imagined themselves to have the best of it, but i chanced to get a ladder, which afflicted me greatly, for it was twelve feet long, and pretty weighty, and i was forced to carry it, whereas the others could handsomely coil their ropes about

risoned in this tower. but it was hardly a quarter of an hour before a round hole at the very top was uncovered, where we saw our virgin, who called to us, and bade us good morrow, desiring us to come up. those with the wings were instantly above and through the hole. only those with the ropes were in an evil n page 68 plight. for as soon as every one of us was up, he was commanded to draw up the ladder after him. at last each man s rope was hanged on an iron hook, so everyone had to climb up by his rope as well as he could, which indeed was not accomplished without blisters. now as soon as we were all up, the hole was covered again, and we were friendlily received by the virgin. this room was the whole breadth of the tower itself, having six very stately vestries raised a little above the

ther useful yet remained, i dare not say for certain. but this i know, that the water that was emptied into the globe was much heavier than six, or even more of us, were well able to bear, although going by its bulk it should have seemed not too heavy for one man. now this globe having been got out of doors with much ado, we again sat alone, but i perceiving a trampling overhead, had an eye to my ladder. here one might take notice of the strange opinions my companions had concerning this fountain, for they, imagining that the bodies lay in the garden of the castle, did not know what to make of this kind of working, but i thanked god that i had awakened at so opportune a time, and that i had seen that which helped me the better in all the virgin s business. after one quarter of an hour the

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

rom the public arena has been the system of initiations used by the ancient mystery schools and the now immense secret society network all over the world, which i call the brotherhood. each higher level of initiate is given more knowledge than those below. this sets up a pyramid structure, with the few who reach the top levels of initiation knowing far, far more than the majority further down the ladder (see figure 3. this makes it easy for those few to manipulate the rest. the content of this esoteric knowledge relates to an understanding of the laws and potential of creation which is far in advance of 26. and the truth shall set you free the 'science' we are allowed to see in the public arena, and of the knowledge of the human psyche, its nature, and how it can be programmed and controll

ica, not the least to stop the spanish getting control of it. more than that, however, he was working from the brotherhood agenda. people like sir walter raleigh were also in bacon's circle, along with other prominent names in elizabethan society. the birth of the brotherhood 31 i stress that not everyone within the brotherhood is of negative intent. most are persuaded by those even higher up the ladder that the great work is for the good of all people. most brotherhood members have no idea of the despotism contained in the real agenda which is known to only the tiny few. indeed, the real agenda is known only to the prison warders of the fourth dimension who have been the common link in the conspiracy over thousands of years. in his work, the new atlantis, bacon sets out his vision of a ne

sort of revolution it was intended to be. once egalite had served his purpose he was sent to the guillotine. many different people are misled by the uluminati manipulators to make sure they play their part in the overall plan, the true agenda of which is kept secret from them. once they have done their job, they are discarded. those reading this book who are on the lower levels of the brotherhood ladder might ponder deeply on this for their own sake, if not for that of others. another brotherhood frontman was the marquis de mirabeau. he is known to have been financed by the german, moses mendelssohn, a member of the uluminati.21 rabbi marvin s. antelman names mendelssohn as a key manipulator for an inner 'jewish' clique which he believes has been seeking to destroy judaism and all religion

s were disbanded and even the thule society and the german order (which had together founded nazism) were targeted. astrologers were attacked and killed and people like lanz von liebenfels were prevented from publishing their work. this purge had two main motives. to distance hitler and the nazis from the occult in the minds of the public and other countries, and, most importantly, to pull up the ladder and stop anyone else from using esoteric knowledge against them as they were using it against others. this is one reason, too, why this knowledge has been suppressed and ridiculed throughout the western world and hidden behind the smokescreens of this-world-is-all-there-is science, and one-life-and-then-heaven-orhell religion. the role of the esoteric in the rise of the nazis has been thoro

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

administer the letter of the "law: the law of the elite families. my father used to say that rules and regulations were for the guidance of the intelligent and the blind obedience of the idiot. but how many of those in the peaked caps administer the law in a sensible, every-case-on-its-merits, think-for-yourself manner? a mere fraction. and often they are far from popular with those higher up the ladder. soldiers don't ask for justification for blowing away men, women, and children they have never met and know nothing about. they don't question their superiors about why they have to commit genocide. they just do it because they are told to do it and those doing the telling are themselves carrying out orders from those above them. in the end, all roads of command lead ever upwards to the 13

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

ties were disbandedand even the thule society and the german order (which had together foundednazism) were targeted. astrologers were attacked and killed and people like lanz vonliebenfels were prevented from publishing their work. this purge had two mainmotives: to distance hitler and the nazis from the occult in the minds of the public and250other countries and, most importantly, to pull up the ladder and stop anyone else fromusing esoteric knowledge against them as they were using it against others. this is amirror of the tactics of the reptile-aryans throughout known history as they have usedthe knowledge to control and suppress while creating the religious dictatorships to takethe same knowledge out of public circulation. in truth, the nazis were created andcontrolled at every level b

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

e first five books of the old testament, commonly called the pentateuch. mystics believe that much of it is in kabalistic codes. trance: an altered state of consciousness (q.v, especially the more withdrawn degrees resembling sleep or sleepwalking. a "waking dream" transmigration (of souls: one doctrine of reincarnation. the idea that when souls reincarnate, they move up and down the evolutionary ladder or scale. i.e, people die and come back as a cat, dog, horse, or another person, depending upon their karma (q.v. see reincarnation. treasure map: a drawing or collage used to help the practitioner with magick involving "creative" visualization (q.v. tree of life: a glyph (q.v) which is a central symbol of the kabalah. it can help you memorize a vast amount of material by working as a sort

EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD PAPYRUS OF ANI MALESTROM

er succeeded in breaking away from their very ancient habit of confusing the things of the body with the things of the soul. they believed in an incorporeal and immortal part of man, the constituent elements of which flew to heaven after death and embalmment; yet the theologians of the vith dynasty had decided that there was some part of the deceased which could only mount to heaven by means of a ladder. in the pyramid of teta it is said "when teta hath purified himself on the borders of this earth where ra hath purified himself, he prayeth and setteth up the ladder, and those who dwell in the great place press teta forward with their hands"[3] in the pyramid of pepi i [1. e.g "this pepi goeth forth with his flesh" recueil de travaux, t. v, p. 185, l. 169. 2. the osiris consisted of all th

ure; but in the pyramid texts they are welded together, and the dead king pepi is addressed as "osiris pepi" the custom of calling the deceased osiris continued until the roman period. on the osiris of a man, see wiedemann, die osirianische unsterblichkeitslehre (in die religion der alten aegypter, p. 128. 3. maspero, recueil de travaux, t. v, p. 7, l. 36] p. lxxi the king is identified with this ladder "isis saith 'happy are they who see the 'father' and nephthys saith 'they who see the father have rest' speaking unto the father of this osiris pepi when he cometh forth unto heaven among the stars and among the luminaries which never set. with the ur us on his brow, and his book upon both his sides, and magic words at his feet, pepi goeth forward unto his mother nut, and he entereth therei

aith 'happy are they who see the 'father' and nephthys saith 'they who see the father have rest' speaking unto the father of this osiris pepi when he cometh forth unto heaven among the stars and among the luminaries which never set. with the ur us on his brow, and his book upon both his sides, and magic words at his feet, pepi goeth forward unto his mother nut, and he entereth therein in his name ladder"[1] the gods who preside over this ladder are at one time ra and horus, and at another horus and set. in the pyramid of unas it is said "ra setteth upright the doctrine of eternal life. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod05.htm (12 of 21 [8/10/2001 11:23:21 am] the ladder for osiris, and horus raiseth up the ladder for his father osiris, when osiris goeth to [find] his soul; one stande

ww.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod05.htm (12 of 21 [8/10/2001 11:23:21 am] the ladder for osiris, and horus raiseth up the ladder for his father osiris, when osiris goeth to [find] his soul; one standeth on the one side, and the other standeth on the other, and unas is betwixt them. unas standeth up and is horus, he sitteth down and is set"[2] and in the pyramid of pepi i. we read "hail to thee, o ladder of god, hail to thee, o ladder of set. stand up, o ladder of god, stand up, o ladder of set, stand up, o ladder of horus, whereon osiris went forth into heaven. this pepi is thy son, this pepi is horus, thou hast given birth unto this pepi even as thou hast given birth unto the god who is the lord of the ladder. thou hast given him the ladder of god, and thou hast given him the ladder of se

h into heaven. this pepi is thy son, this pepi is horus, thou hast given birth unto this pepi even as thou hast given birth unto the god who is the lord of the ladder. thou hast given him the ladder of god, and thou hast given him the ladder of set, whereon this pepi hath gone forth into heaven. every khu and every god stretcheth out his hand unto this pepi when he cometh forth into heaven by the ladder of god. that which he seeth and that which he heareth make him wise, and serve as food for him when he cometh forth into heaven by the ladder of god. pepi riseth up like the ur us which is on the brow of set, and every khu and every god stretcheth out his hand unto pepi on the ladder. pepi hath gathered together his bones, he hath collected his flesh, and pepi hath gone straightway into hea

him wise, and serve as food for him when he cometh forth into heaven by the ladder of god. pepi riseth up like the ur us which is on the brow of set, and every khu and every god stretcheth out his hand unto pepi on the ladder. pepi hath gathered together his bones, he hath collected his flesh, and pepi hath gone straightway into heaven by means of the two fingers of the god who is the lord of the ladder"[3] elsewhere we are told that khonsu and set "carry the ladder of pepi, and they set it up" when the osiris of a man has entered into heaven as a living soul,[4] he is regarded as one of those who "have eaten the eye of horus he walks among [1. recueil de travaux, t. v, p. 190, ll. 181, 182. 2. ibid, t. iv, p. 70, l. 579 ff 3. tudes de mythologie et d'arch ologie, t. i, p. 344, note 1. 4

night; according to one view he traversed this region in splendour, and according to another he died and became subject to osiris the king, god and judge of the kingdom of the departed. the fields of aaru and hetep. the abode of the blessed. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod08.htm (2 of 4 [8/10/2001 11:23:43 am] the souls of the dead made their way to their abode in the "other world" by a ladder, according to a very ancient view, or through a gap in the mountains of abydos called peka according to another; but, by whichever way they passed from earth, their destination was a region in the tuat which is called in the pyramid and later texts sekhet-aaru,[7] which was situated in the [1. brugsch, op. cit, p. 211. 2. the legend reads "this is nut, she receiveth ra" 3. 4. w rterbuch, p

dren of horus proclaim his name to ra. having gone to the north of the aaru field he makes his way to the eastern portion of the tuat, where according to one legend he becomes like the morning star, near[6] his sister sothis.[7] here he lived in the form of the star sothis, and "the great and little companies of the gods purify him in the great bear" the egyptian theologians, who conceived that a ladder was necessary to enable the soul to ascend to the next world, provided it also with an address which it was to utter when it reached the top. as given in the pyramid of unas it reads as follows-"hail to thee, o daughter of amenta, mistress of peteru) of heaven, thou gift of thoth, thou mistress of the two sides of the ladder, open a way to unas, let unas pass. hail to thee, o nau, who art [

figure of the dead man (20. then shall they put incense upon the fire, and set ducks to p. 330 be roasted (21. this is a rite of ra when his boat cometh; and it shall cause the dead man to go with ra into every place whithersoever he saileth, and the foes of ra shall be (22) slaughtered in very truth. the chapter of the sektet boat shall be recited on the sixth day of the festival. vignette: the ladder by which the soul passes from the underworld to the body.[1] next: plate xxiii. and plate xxiv. plate xxii. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod29.htm (2 of 2 [8/10/2001 11:28:36 am] sacred texts egypt index previous next plate xxiii. and plate xxiv. the whole of plate xxiii. and part of plate xxiv contain a repetition of the xviiith chapter of the "book of the dead" which has also been

elf do know (8) how glorious do i make the white crown [when] i lift up the ur i (9) hail, guardian of the door, who givest peace unto the two lands, bring thou unto me those who make offerings! grant that [1. in the appendix to plates v. and v1 (see above, p. 265, is a reproduction from the papyrus of neb-set at paris, of a scene in which the soul of the deceased is represented as descending the ladder with food for the body in the tomb below] p. 331 i may (10) lift up the earth; that the shining ones may open their arms unto me; that the company of the gods may (11) speak with the words of the shining ones unto osiris ani; that the hearts of the gods may direct [him (12; and that they may make him powerful in heaven among the gods who have taken unto themselves visible forms (13) yea, le

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

ld bring success. once success appeared assured, the inquirer would be led deeper into the underground complex that was made to recreate the underworld as understood in greek/roman mythology. the next stage of inquiry would begin with a bath, a time of meditation, and a second bath. dressed in a white tunic, he/she would then be led into a recreation of the underworld, beginning with a descent by ladder into a round chamber and then into the long descending passageway to the heart of the temple structure. the inquirer would eventually arrive at an underground body of water (the river styx, and be rowed across by someone representing the ferryman charon. on the other side was cerberus, the three-headed hound of hell. the passageway then took the inquirer to the inner sanctuary where a branc

blue, green, and rose were the colors for amorous incantations; black for encompassing death, with belt of lead and wreath of cypress, amid loathsome incense of sulphur and assafoetida. precious stones and metals also influenced spells. geometrical figures, stars, pentagrams, columns, and triangles were used; also herbs, such as belladonna and assafoetida; flowers, honeysuckle, being the witches ladder, the arum, deadly nightshade, and black poppies; distillations and philters composed of the virus of loathsome diseases, venom of reptiles, secretions of animals, and poisonous sap, fungi, and fruits, such as the fatal manchineel, pulverized flint, impure ashes, and human blood. amulets and talismans were made of the skins of criminals wrought from the skulls of hanged men, ornaments rifled

. mckay, 1918. spirit and music. n.p, 1922. spiritualism for the enquirer. n.p, 1931. why we survive. n.p, 1928. hurkos, peter (1911.1988) prominent psychic born on may 21, 1911, as peter van der hurk in dordrecht, holland. he worked as a merchant seaman before becoming a member of the dutch underground movement in occupied holland during world war ii. he claimed that as a result of a fall from a ladder in 1941 he discovered a psychic faculty. hurkos was not able to make use of the new ability immediately, because he was arrested and imprisoned in buchenwald, germany, for the duration of world war ii. upon his return to holland he found his psychic abilities too distracting for him huns encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 756 to follow a normal occupation, and he began to ap

racelsus. wien: p. neff, 1951. die psychologie von c. g. jung. new haven, conn: yale university press, 1943. vom bilderreich der seele. zurich: rascher, 1940. the way of individuation. london: hodder& stoughton, 1967. jacobi, jolande s. ed. man and his symbols. garden city, n.y: doubleday, 1964. pleasants, helene, ed. biographical dictionary of parapsychology. new york: helix press, 1964. jacob s ladder according to the kabala, jacob s ladder, which was disclosed to jacob in a vision, was a metaphorical representation of the powers of alchemy operating through visible nature. the ladder was a rainbow, or prismatic staircase, between heaven and earth. jacob s dream symbolizes a theory of the hermetic creation. there were said to be only two original colors, red and blue, representing spirit

. orange is red mixing with the yellow light of the sun; yellow is the radiance of the sun itself; green is blue and yellow; indigo is blue tinctured with red; and violet is produced by the mingling of red and blue. the sun is alchemic gold, and the moon is alchemic silver. it was believed that all earthly creations were produced through the interaction of these two potent ruling spirits. jacob s ladder is also part of the symbolism of the high grades of freemasonry. jade a term covering minerals of varied color and chemical composition, credited with occult properties. jade may be jadeite, nephrite, or chloromelanite, with a range of colors.black, brown, red, lavender, blue, green, yellow, or white. the mineral is found mainly in new zealand, mexico, central america, and china. in prehist

: the art and science of modern hand analysis. new york: berkley books, 1992. the human aura: how i teach my students to see it. sappington, mo: aries productions, 1985. the magic power of healing: learn to heal yourself. sappington, mo: aries productions, 1979. the psychic paradigm. new york: berkley books, 1998. psychometry: the science of touch. sappington, mo: aries productions, 1985. jacob s ladder encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 820 jaffe, aniela (1903) jungian psychologist who wrote on parapsychology. jaffe was born on february 20, 1903, in berlin, germany. after world war ii she became the secretary at the c. g. jung institute, zurich (1947.55, and then personal secretary to c. g. jung (1955.61. she later recorded and edited the reminiscences of jung, published a

als were practiced. these were three in number: the kugadachi, in which priests, wrought to ecstatic frenzy by participation in a rhythmic dance, poured boiling water upon their bodies without receiving harm from the process; the hiwatari, a fire ordeal consisting of walking barefoot over a bed of live coals in which both priests and people alike participated; and tsurugiwatari, the climbing of a ladder of sword-blades. the tests were regarded as tests of purity of character-purity thought to confer an immunity from hurt in these ordeals. the attendant rites consisted of exorcism of evil spirits by the waving of wands and magical finger-knots, and invocation of the gods who were then believed to be actually present. possession by divinities in connection with some of the shinto sects, occu

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

r permitted to see it. next he was clad in a linen robe, tied with ribbons, and shod with sandals peculiar to the country. the entrance to the oracle was a very narrow aperture in a grove on the summit of a mountain, protected by a marble wall about two cubits in height with brass spikes above it. the upper part of the cave was artificial, like an oven. no steps were cut in the rock; to descend a ladder was brought to the spot on each occasion. on approaching the mouth of the temple, the adventurer lay flat, first inserting his feet into the aperture, then drawing up his knees and the remainder of his body, until caught by a hidden force and carried downward like a whirlpool. the responses were given sometimes by a vision, sometimes by words, and a forcible exit was then made through the o

friend at dalkeith, and that while there her brother received information of the event of the battle of worcester. no one saw the style of their equipage except themselves. on the scaffold this woman, determining, as she said, to die with the greatest shame possible was with difficulty prevented from throwing off her clothing before the people, and with scarce less trouble was she flung from the ladder by the executioner. her last words were in the tone of the sect to which her brother had so long affected to belong: many, she said, weep and lament for a poor old wretch like me; but alas, few are weeping for a broken covenant. alchemy while fearful of sorcery and witchcraft, james iv was attracted to the science of alchemy. the poet william dunbar described the patronage the king bestowed

exodus 14, 119.21. each of these verses, in hebrew, contains 72 letters. if one writes the 72 letters or verse 19 in correct order, and under them write the letters of verse 20 in a similar manner in reverse order, and then the letters in verse 21 in correct order below the first two, one creates 72 three-letter names. by adding either al or ih to these names the names of the 72 angels of jacob s ladder were created. this ancient jewish mystical concept is somewhat paralleled by the ancient hindu teachings of the creation of the world through the mystical trisyllable aum, said to contain the origin of the alphabet and all sounds. related to such concepts are the use of certain letters and sounds known as mantras for magical purposes (see also nada; yoga) sources: ponce, charles. kabblah: a

s: 1. the plane of matter. 2. hades or the intermediate state. 3. the plane of illusion. 4. the plane of color. 5. the plane of flame. 6. the plane of light. 7. out yonder, timelessness. between each plane or new chapter in experience, there is existence in hades or in an intermediate state when the soul reviews his past experiences and makes his choice, deciding whether he will go up or down the ladder of consciousness. although there is marked disagreement between different accounts of spirit worlds in the afterlife, it will be recalled that this is also characteristic of the eschatology (considerations of the afterlife) of the different eastern and western religions. it has been claimed that spirits who have not become purified and refined and remain tied to earthly desires have been ea

rson would receive a bath and was anointed with olive oil. the priests then took him to water springs where the water of forgetfulness (for the loss of memory of all that was past) and the water of memory (to recall all that would be seen) were consumed. it is believed that these waters contained doses of hallucinogenic drugs. the inquirer was taken to the entrance of the cave and supplied with a ladder by which he went down into a room. in the floor was a small opening through which the person entered into the actual oracle space. here the person had both visionary experiences and encounters with the deity (possibly one of the priests acting as a medium. upon his return, the person was seated on the throne of memory and questioned as to what had been seen or heard. the site of the trophon

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

er and, in time, slow to a trickle, though they would not entirely disappear. one particularly well-documented incident re p o rtedly occurred in the early morning hours of ja n u a ry 12, 1975, when seve n t y- t w o- year-old george o barski was driving home past new yo rk city s no rt h hudson pa rk. he observed a glowing pancake- shaped object hovering above the park g round. a door opened, a ladder emerged, and about ten small figures, dressed in onepiece suits and helmets, climbed down to collect soil and grass samples, which they scooped up with little shove l s (ho p k i n s, 1981. an extensive investigation by thre e new yo rk based ufologists uncove red a body of apparent confirming testimony from an a s s o rtment of witnesses. in the most remarkable ce3 of the 1990s, a large gr

FAUST

d and use. there ye see arches, archlets, pillars, pillarets, balconies, galleries for gazing out and in, and scutcheons. chorus what are scutcheons? phorkyas ajax used to bear a coiling serpent on his shield, as ye have seen. the seven against thebes, each one upon his shield, a pictured emblem bore, rich in significance. one saw there moon and stars in heaven s nocturnal field, a goddess, hero, ladder, swords, and torches too, and all that fiercely threats good towns with violence. such emblems are borne also by our hero-band, aglow with colour, heritage from primal sires. there ye see lions, eagles, also claw and beak, then horns of buffaloes, wings, roses, peacocks tails, bars also, gold and black and silver, blue and red. the like of these hangs there in halls, row after row, in long

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

ate deep archetypes in the mind. these archetypes expand in one s consciousness and trigger associations and flashes of perception- 0' the core teachings of any mystical tradition constitute the infrastructure of its worldview, and thereby form the basis and backdrop for its spiritual practices. all mystical worldviews are at once unique and yet identical. since they are open ended, and provide a ladder for the finite human intellect to connect with an infinite ground of pure being that is inherently unfathomable to that intellect, they are usually composed of allegories and allusions transmitted by messiahs, perfect masters, and great sages. like a ladder that is used to climb up to the roof of a house and then as the means to come back down, a mystical worldview is intended to act as a v

ah. in this book, all the various types of working trees and trees of perfection will be presented. 2 f #4 fallen and perfect trees on the human body the tree provides the finite intellect with a frame of reference for all possible experiences. each sefirah is itself a complete tree present in all planes of existence. the entire tree, as well as each individual sefirah, is therefore an open-ended ladder from the waking state all the way into the light of the endless (ayn sof or, 2" 2' 8: 5 rva [vc ]ya. a great secret of the gates is that they are stationed in the light of the endless. hence, by closing off both ends of any gate, consciousness automatically expands into the light of the endless. this is why the experience in the gates can be more unsettling than in the relatively stable and

in all mystical traditions is the repetition of a root mantra combined with an appropriate visualization. in hebrew, it is called zakhor; in arabic, it is called dikhr; and in sanskrit, it is called japa and namasmarana. root mantra are sacred utterances upon which entire religions are built and sustained. a good yogic mantra or string of power names gives the individual consciousness an encoded ladder that will systematically move it through successive levels of the tree. a well-structured root mantra usually combines a principal name of small face with an appropriate name of vast face. it also includes built-in mechanisms to ensure smooth and natural transitions between the planes of existence and stations of consciousness, and into the roots of the tree. in the mystical qabalah, most s

eness. the word ani (yna) is now a common word in colloquial spoken hebrew. it has come to mean i am, and is used when referring to oneself in the context of conventional speech. in the sefer hashmoth (book of the names) and in biblical hebrew, ani is a power name of vast face, and thereby refers to the divine self as pure existence. when ani yod heh vav heh is used as a mantra in meditation, the ladder of the four letters of the name hvhy will move the consciousness of the meditator up the tree and through the four worlds. then, the yod y of hvhy becomes the yod y of ani, and the consciousness of the meditator merges with the witness states of vast face in the negatively existent roots of the tree. in the roots of the tree, the nun n and yod y in ani yna exchange places: ani has now becom

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

in the unity which informs the all. may the gods be praised and may all living beings magnify the infinite, the most simple, the most one, the most high, the most absolute cause, beginning and one.2 the unity of the all in the one is, cries bruno in an earlier passage in the de la causa, a most solid foundation for the truths and secrets of nature. for you must know that it is by one and the same ladder that nature descends to the production of things and the intellect ascends to the knowledge of them; and that the one and the other proceeds from unity and returns to unity, passing through the multitude of things in the middle.3 this is the philosophy conducive to magic, that the all is one, and that the magus can depend on the ladders of occult sympathies 1 this phenomenon needs further s

FRATER ELIJAH ANGELS OF CHAOS

beautiful and blissful beyond all comprehension. this was the heart of the chaos star. this oblivion was a loop in on itself, like a klein bottle. it was all "in" the universe, there was something else, but that comes later. this thing which was all, was the culmination of being. the point towards the evolution of all things. there was a hierarchy, not in the stupid human sense, but stages up the ladder towards this oblivion. one could not escape it("in" this universe) because it is everywhere, but one can be closer to the center. the words fail here because it is like "where does a moebius strip start/ stop" it was like an involuted manifold, but the "hole" was part of it also. the gateways and birth canal. this thing was. the layers came as beings which i was a part: i am/ will be/ am no

FREEMASON BLUEBOOK

lodge. our institution is said to be supported by three great pillars, called wisdom, strength and beauty. it is necessary there should be wisdom to contrive, strength to support, and beauty to adorn all great and important undertakings. covering of a lodge. it is no less than the clouded canopy or starry decked heaven, where all good masons hope at last to arrive, by the aid of that theological ladder which jacob in his vision saw ascending from earth to heaven called jacob's ladder, the three principal rounds of which are called faith, hope and charity. the greatest of these is charity, because our faith may be lost in sight, hope ends in fruition, but charity extends beyond the grave through the boundless realms of eternity. furniture of a lodge. the holy bible, the square and the comp

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL

ura, as already stated, and while the color of each individual's aura differs from that of all other individuals there is nevertheless a basic or ground color showing its status in the scale of evolution. in the lower races this ground color is a dull red like the color of a slow burning fire, indicating their passionate, emotional nature. when we examine people upon a somewhat higher rung of the ladder of evolution, the basic color or vibration radiated by them is seen to be of an orange hue, the yellow of intellect mixed with the red of passion. by the spiritual alchemy unconsciously performed by them as they travel along the path of progress and learn to make their emotions subservient to mind a measure, through many experiences in the school of life, they are gradually freeing themselv

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

ion and dissolution surround us in which everything seems to be possessed of a dual nature and to be urged onwards or backwards by a clash of dual powers. thus far the duality which lies at the foundation of qabalistic philosophy appears rational enough. yet reason cannot tell us whether this duality is the ultimate end, or whether it emanates from unity or from nothingness. reason is a wonderful ladder which enables us to climb towards the ceiling of the intellectual world, but it does not enable us to penetrate it and to see beyond. this ceiling and all which is contained beneath it belong to the realm of science, which arranges and rearranges the furniture from time to time. beyond and above is another room- the super-scientific, the super-rational, perhaps a gspace h which is no concei

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

e recalledthat56a.e.waite-magicianofmanyparts_ he usedtocome fairly often to our library to borrow and consult the davis books. this was atourold rooms in st martin's lane.thedavis books were housed in a room on the top shelf close to the ceiling. he usually came late in the afternoon. the room was lighted by low255 hanging, shaded lamps. he would climb dangerously to the top of a none-too-robust ladder, and perched, high up in the dimness, would browse on the books; from time to time deep groans would amuse us, groans to remind us of how bored he was.is,andyet however boring spiritualismmight be, it had helped to restore his faithand-evenmoreimportant-ithad helped himtoopen'thatgate which opens on the path of love--7- doraandthecomingoflovemrritahad made a deep impression upon waite at th

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

nder into the area of discussion which rages around the sole origin of freemasonry from trade guilds, from templarism, from the jewish race, from the hermeticists, or from the rosicrucians. i am content to recognise that all these associations have been concerned in its growth, and am content that our present system points boldly to the cardinal truth, confessing that in its progression along the ladder of time it has been assisted by each and all of these, and has survived them, and has thus proved its right to exist. to say the least ofitthe mystery would only be increased by a dogma that the officials of freemasonry in the seventeenth century were so intensely learned that they con255 structedpropiomotu,such a system, in which the doctrines and essays of the most ancient aporreta shine

d justice. regard for a moment the varying titles; great architect, the122themagical masonfoundation, jesodthecentre of the lowest triad. grand geometrician, the beauty of design, tiphereth, centre of the median triad. most high, the awful kether, the crown, partly concealed, at sight of whose face a mortal, unprepared, must die. notice the grandeur and mystery increases as we pass up the masonic ladder or the sephirotic tree.theperambulation by the candidate under appropriate guidance is anaptimitation of the ceremony in the ancient mysteries. another remnant of the same form was until recently, and may be still, extant in scotland; the highland custom deasil was to walk three times round a person in the direction of the sun, for a favourable effect. to perambulate against the sun was cal

present time among actors it is deemed a lucky omen if a cat walk across the stage at the first performance of a new play. a more modern mode of deciding whether a thing wished for will be obtained is by the snapping of the merry thought bone of a fowl. other common present day superstitions are seen in the notion of an evil result from spilling salt, of seeing a single magpie, of walking under a ladder and of hearing a dog howl at night.thenwe hear of the misfortunes likely to occur from a work undertaken on a friday, and from being one of thirteen at any function.theevil omen of friday the day of venus, goddess of love, is difficult to explain: while the maliceofthirteen is associated for some mysterious reason with the twelve apostles of jesus.summaryas a result of this survey of the hi

ase in hishistoryofcornwallalso tells us that many persons there revered certain stones, approaching them at night with torches and prayers for material success. in the old testament of the hebrews we read that the patriarch jacob set up a pillar of stone and anointed it with drink and oil as a religious action at bethel, to commemorate the appearance of jehovah to him in a dream, when he saw the ladder reaching from earth to heaven and received a special blessing (genesis, xxviii. jacob also set up a pillar as a witness of the covenant between laban and himself (genesisxxxi,45; in chapter xxxv, 14, we read that jacob set up another pillar in memory of a second appearance of jehovah to him; and in verse 20 we read that jacob set up still another pillar in memory of the death of his wife ra

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

s throughout the great chain of being. in the gnostic system, there are many, many names for them. as they are in the dimensions below the upper world they are partial representations of aspects of the divine and each has its own unique essence, form and so forth. while these too, at heart are principles, there are more and more degrees of independence and uniqueness as we move down the emanation ladder. so, for example, by the time we reach the astral worlds, there are millions of spirits of varying characters and forms, each unique. none are absolutely good and evil but there are variations in their attitude towards man. while these spirits have their own unique essence and expression, the form they manifest in is due to us, not to them. they are clothed by the language and mythology of

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

nterpret what the language they were written in. jung s dream is a superb analogy of the nature of the human psyche. while we tend to think of the psyche as simply having conscious and unconscious (sometimes called sub-conscious) levels, there is actual far more than is first perceived. since society exists on a hierarchical level (and develops in a similar fashion, see our later study on jacob s ladder, then as we delve deeper into the mind we find hierarchies of memory (fig 14) while on the surface there exist individual memories. as we go deeper timelines merge and a collective gnostic theurgy page 61 unconscious results. in some sense the first floors of the house might be our own, but the courtyard and library belong to all. as we examine the hierarchy we find strata on strata of unco

presence. the chasm or abyss is of great significance to the gnostics. it is the division between the light world and the archons, it is described variously as a wall, palisade, turnstile and portal. it is seen as the great divide or barrier (horos, and is said to be bounded with an embankment of dazzling white fire flaming walls. between the higher and lower worlds is a narrow bridge, a rope, a ladder or a gateway through which only the transfigured can pass. the best known symbol of this abyss is the cross (stauros, it is pre-christian in origin and includes pre and post christian symbolism. it emphasises that only through death to the world of the archons and rebirth and resurrection to light, can we enter the treasury. in the hermetic tradition, saturn (binah) is seen as the guardian

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

n pyramid texts, p. v. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 355 broken images of a lost technology? take for example some of the peculiar equipment and accessories designated for the pharaoh s use as he journeyed to his eternal resting place among the stars: the gods who are in the sky are brought to you, the gods who are on earth assemble for you, they place their hands under you, they make a ladder for you that you may ascend on it into the sky, the doors of the sky are thrown open to you, the doors of the starry firmament are thrown open for you.5 the ascending pharaoh was identified with, and frequently referred to, as an osiris. osiris himself, as we have seen, was frequently linked to and associated with the constellation of orion. osiris-orion was said to have been the first to h

u may ascend on it into the sky, the doors of the sky are thrown open to you, the doors of the starry firmament are thrown open for you.5 the ascending pharaoh was identified with, and frequently referred to, as an osiris. osiris himself, as we have seen, was frequently linked to and associated with the constellation of orion. osiris-orion was said to have been the first to have climbed the great ladder the gods had made. and several utterances left no doubt that this ladder had not extended upwards from earth to heaven but downwards from heaven to earth. it was described as a rope-ladder6 and the belief was that it had hung from an iron plate suspended in the sky.7 were we dealing here, i wondered, simply with the bizarre imaginings of half-savage priests? or might there be some other exp

erance 669 it was asked, wherewith can the king be made to fly-up? the reply was given: there shall be brought to you the hnw-bark [italicized word untranslatable] and the [text missing] of the hn-bird [italicized word untranslatable. you shall fly up therewith. you shall fly 5 ibid, p. 227, utt. 572. 6 ibid, p. 297, utt. 688: atum has done what he said he would do for this king; he ties the rope-ladder for him. 7 the gods of the egyptians, volume ii, p. 241. 8 the ancient egyptian pyramid texts, p. 70, utt. 261. 9 ibid, p. 97. 10 ibid, p. 107. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 356 up and alight. 11 other passages also seemed to me worthy of more thorough investigation than they have received from scholars. here are a few examples: o my father, great king, the aperture of the sky-win

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

e floated light as a feathei, and flew to the woodland, while he sank to the bottom. in another story 1, 127 she is called dzama (russ. serv. chuma: while she prevails, the villages stand deserted, the cocks are hoarse and cannot crow, the dogs no longer bark, yet they scent the plague from afar (p. 666, and growl. a peasant saw her, in ivldte garb and waving hair, clear a high fence and run up a ladder, to escape the howling dogs: he hurries up to the ladder and pushes it over, so that the plague fell among the dogs; then she disappeared, still threatening vengeance. sometimes the dzmna rides through the wood in a waggon, attended by owls and uhus (great horned owl: this ghostly procession is named homen, woyc. 1 ,130 3. 159 163. but the plague could only last till new-year's day; then th

H SPENCER LEWIS ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL AMORC 1990

rk attributed to hermes is the divine pymander, or the shepherd of men. hierarchy.a group of persons or things arranged into a progressive order according to their authority or other determined qualities. mystically, this alludes to the celestial hierarchy or a group of spiritual or allegorical beings arranged into nine orders of three triads each. these nine orders constitute a kind of celestial ladder, the most spiritually advanced or highest triad being the one most approximate to the cosmic mind, and each of the others being of a lesser advanced stage. hypnotism.a subject it is well to approach carefully and in detail. there are two distinct methods of inducing a hypnotic condition. by the use of drugs or by means of mental processes. in either case a condition of sleep need not result

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

to achieve this, to do purify its nature as to finally gain that goal. it can do so only by passing individually and personally, i.e, spiritually and physically, through every experience and feeling that exists in the manifold or differentiated universe. it has, therefore, after having gained such experience in the lower kingdoms, and having ascended higher and still higher with every rung on the ladder of being, to pass through every experience on the human planes. in its very essence it is thought, and is, therefore, called in its plurality manasaputra "the sons of the (universal) mind" this individualized "thought" is what we theosophists call the real human ego, the thinking entity imprisoned in a case of flesh and bones. this is surely a spiritual entity, not matter, and such entities

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

ng lighter, and there were signs that the storm had worn itself away. when armitage inadvertently took a wrong direction, joe osborn warned him and walked ahead to show the right one. courage and confidence were mounting, though the twilight of the almost perpendicular wooded hill which lay towards the end of their short cut, and among whose fantastic ancient trees they had to scramble as if up a ladder, put these qualities to a severe test. at length they emerged on a muddy road to find the sun coming out. they were a little beyond the seth bishop place, but bent trees and hideously unmistakable tracks showed what had passed by. only a few moments were consumed in surveying the ruins just round the bend. it was the frye incident all over again, and nothing dead or living was found in eith

larly spherical object some four inches through. around the pillar in a rough circle were seven high-backed gothic chairs still largely intact, while behind them, ranging along the dark-panelled walls, were seven colossal images of crumbling, black-painted plaster, resembling more than anything else the cryptic carven megaliths of mysterious easter island. in one corner of the cobwebbed chamber a ladder was built into the wall, leading up to the closed trap door of the windowless steeple above. as blake grew accustomed to the feeble light he noticed odd bas-reliefs on the strange open box of yellowish metal. approaching, he tried to clear the dust away with his hands and handkerchief, and saw that the figurings were of a monstrous and utterly alien kind; depicting entities which, though se

transparent, with half-formed worlds of wonder within. into his mind floated pictures of alien orbs with great stone towers, and other orbs with titan mountains and no mark of life, and still remoter spaces where only a stirring in vague blacknesses told of the presence of consciousness and will. when he did look away, it was to notice a somewhat singular mound of dust in the far corner near the ladder to the steeple. just why it took his attention he could not tell, but something in its contours carried a message to his unconscious mind. ploughing toward it, and brushing aside the hanging cobwebs as he went, he began to discern something grim about it. hand and handkerchief soon revealed the truth, and blake gasped with a baffling mixture of emotions. it was a human skeleton, and it must

ried way by the stuffing of satin pew-linings and cushion-horsehair into the spaces between the slanting exterior louvre-boards. more satin fragments and bunches of horsehair lay scattered around the newly swept floor, as if someone had been interrupted in the act of restoring the tower to the absolute blackness of its tightly curtained days. yellowish stains and charred patches were found on the ladder to the windowless spire, but when a reporter climbed up, opened the horizontally-sliding trap-door and shot a feeble flashlight beam into the black and strangely foetid space, he saw nothing but darkness, and a heterogeneous litter of shapeless fragments near the aperture. the verdict, of course, was charlatanry. somebody had played a joke on the superstitious hill-dwellers, or else some fa

ll an overpowering foetor and hear a curious jumble of soft, furtive sounds above him. whenever he moved he stumbled over something, and at each noise there would come a sort of answering sound from above- a vague stirring, mixed with the cautious sliding of wood on wood. once his groping hands encountered a pillar of stone with a vacant top, whilst later he found himself clutching the rungs of a ladder built into the wall, and fumbling his uncertain way upwards towards some region of intenser stench where a hot, searing blast beat down against him. before his eyes a kaleidoscopic range of phantasmal images played, all of them dissolving at intervals into the picture of a vast, unplumbed abyss of night wherein whirled suns and worlds of an even profounder blackness. he thought of the ancie

s. then a sharp report from the outer world broke through his stupor and roused him to the unutterable horror of his position. what it was, he never knew- perhaps it was some belated peal from the fireworks heard all summer on federal hill as the dwellers hail their various patron saints, or the saints of their native villages in italy. in any event he shrieked aloud, dropped frantically from the ladder, and stumbled blindly across the obstructed floor of the almost lightless chamber that encompassed him. he knew instantly where he was, and plunged recklessly down the narrow spiral staircase, tripping and bruising himself at every turn. there was a nightmare flight through a vast cobwebbed nave whose ghostly arches readied up to realms of leering shadow, a sightless scramble through a litt

red in quest of shudders. the small-paned windows were largely broken, and a nameless air of desolation hung round the precarious panel ling, shaky interior shutters, peeling wallpaper. falling plaster, rickety staircases, and such fragments of battered furniture as still remained. the dust and cobwebs added their touch of the fearful; and brave indeed was the boy who would voluntarily ascend the ladder to the attic, a vast raftered length lighted only by small blinking windows in the gable ends, and filled with a massed wreckage of chests, chairs, and spinning-wheels which infinite years of deposit had shrouded and festooned into monstrous and hellish shapes. but after all, the attic was not the most terrible part of the house. it was the dank, humid cellar which somehow exerted the stron

sufferer home despite his weak-voiced protests; after which he produced an electric torch, covered his nostrils with a band of sterile gauze, and descended once more to peer into the new-found depths. the foul air had now slightly abated, and willett was able to send a beam of light down the stygian hold. for about ten feet, he saw, it was a sheer cylindrical drop with concrete walls and an iron ladder; after which the hole appeared to strike a flight of old stone steps which must originally have emerged to earth somewhat southwest of the present building. 2 willett freely admits that for a moment the memory of the old curwen legends kept him from climbing down alone into that malodorous gulf. he could not help thinking of what like fenner had reported on that last monstrous night. then d

for a moment the memory of the old curwen legends kept him from climbing down alone into that malodorous gulf. he could not help thinking of what like fenner had reported on that last monstrous night. then duty asserted itself and he made the plunge, carrying a great valise for the removal of whatever papers might prove of supreme importance. slowly, as befitted one of his years, he descended the ladder and reached the slimy steps below. this was ancient masonry, his torch told him; and upon the dripping walls he saw the unwholesome moss of centuries. down, down, ran the steps; not spirally, but in three abrupt turns; and with such narrowness that two men could have passed only with difficulty. he had counted about thirty when a sound reached him very faintly; and after that he did not fee

ression of being far below, even in this dark nether world of subterrene mystery. before trying any of the black archways for steps leading further down, the doctor cast his beam of light about the stone-flagged floor. it was very loosely paved, and at irregular intervals there would occur a slab curiously pierced by small holes in no definite arrangement, while at one point there lay a very long ladder carelessly flung down. to this ladder, singularly enough, appeared to cling a particularly large amount of the frightful odour which encompassed everything. as he walked slowly about it suddenly occurred to willett that both the noise and the odour seemed strongest above the oddly pierced slabs, as if they might be crude trap-doors leading down to some still deeper region of horror. kneelin

r's head reeled dizzily as he laid back the slab and turned his torch upon the exposed square yard of gaping blackness. if he had expected a flight of steps to some wide gulf of ultimate abomination, willett was destined to be disappointed; for amidst that foetor and cracked whining he discerned only the brick-faced top of a cylindrical well perhaps a yard and a half in diameter and devoid of any ladder or other means of descent. as the light shone down, the wailing changed suddenly to a series of horrible yelps; in conjunction with which there came again that sound of blind, futile scrambling and slippery thumping. the explorer trembled, unwilling even to imagine what noxious thing might be lurking in that abyss, but in a moment mustered up the courage to peer over the rough-hewn brink; l

erior. seeing a possible means of avoiding the dangerous jump, i yanked at the hangings and brought them down, pole and all; then quickly hooking two of the rings in the shutter catch and flinging the drapery outside. the heavy folds reached fully to the abutting roof, and i saw that the rings and catch would be likely to bear my weight. so, climbing out of the window and down the improvised rope ladder, i left behind me forever the morbid and horror-infested fabric of the gilman house. i landed safely on the loose slates of the steep roof, and succeeded in gaining the gaping black skylight without a slip. glancing up at the window i had left, i observed it was still dark, though far across the crumbling chimneys to the north i could see lights ominously blazing in the order of dagon hall

HP LOVECRAFT AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

camp the day before; but it was so real to danforth that he suffers from it still. he has on rare occasions whispered disjointed and irresponsible things about "the black pit "the carven rim "the protoshoggoths "the windowless solids with five dimensions "the nameless cylinder "the elder pharos "yog-sothoth "the primal white jelly "the color out of space "the wings "the eyes in darkness "the moon-ladder "the original, the eternal, the undying" and other bizarre conceptions; but when he is fully himself he repudiates all this and attributes it to his curious and macabre reading of earlier years. danforth, indeed, is known to be among the few who have ever dared go completely through that worm-riddled copy of the necronomicon kept under lock and key in the college library. the higher sky, as

HP LOVECRAFT THE NAMELESS CITY

hem steps or mere footholds in a precipitous descent. my mind was whirling with mad thoughts, and the words and warning of arab prophets seemed to float across the desert from the land that men know to the nameless city that men dare not know. yet i hesitated only for a moment before advancing through the portal and commencing to climb cautiously down the steep passage, feet first, as though on a ladder. it is only in the terrible phantasms of drugs or delirium that any other man can have such a descent as mine. the narrow passage led infinitely down like some hideous haunted well, and the torch i held above my head could not light the unknown depths toward which i was crawling. i lost track of the hours and forgot to consult my watch, though i was frightened when i thought of the distance

HP LOVECRAFT THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH

erior. seeing a possible means of avoiding the dangerous jump, i yanked at the hangings and brought them down, pole and all; then quickly hooking two of the rings in the shutter catch and flinging the drapery outside. the heavy folds reached fully to the abutting roof, and i saw that the rings and catch would be likely to bear my weight. so, climbing out of the window and down the improvised rope ladder, i left behind me for ever the morbid and horror-infested fabric of the gilman house. i landed safely on the loose slates of the steep roof, and succeeded in gaining the gaping black skylight without a slip. glancing up at the window i had left, i observed it was still dark, though far across the crumbling chimneys to the north i could see lights ominously blazing in the order of dagon hall

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

opher may himself be an impossibility, and therefore be a miracle, through his own philosophy, and the application of it. 124 the rosicrucians. hume is the man of ideas, and is therefore very correct, as a philosopher, if philosophy were possible; but we deny that it is possible in regard to any speculation out of this world. ideas that is, philosophical ideas may be described as the steps of the ladder by which we philosophically descend from god. emotions are also the steps by which alone we can ascend to him. human reason is a possibility, from the line drawn by which either ascent or descent may be made. the things necessity, or fate, and free will, passing into the mind of man (both may be identical in their nature, though opposite in their operation, dictate from the invisible, but p

nta: baptism and the supper of the lord. from the above cabalistic estimate of the virtues of colours, it happens that the colour blue (sky-blue) is chosen as the colour for the investiture of infants at baptism, and as the colour for children s coffins. blue or white (not white as meaning the s.s. in the sacred sense, but white as the synthesis of material elements, or of light, or of sinjacob s ladder. 161 lessness in irresponsibility) are children's colours at other times. there were two great ordeals by water, and by fire. the one is the occult trial baptism by water, in the sinister or left-handed sense, applied to those suspected of witchcraft. the other (more perfect and more perfecting) baptism is by symbolical fire. both rites were in use among the egyptians (refer to mystic heral

cient mysteries were by water, air, and fire. thus, also, the egyptian initiation: cave, cloud, fire. so, too, the masonic initiations. with these meanings, royal coffins and investitures are always red (mars, as meaning royalty active; or imperial purple (jupiter, or perhaps mercurius thoth, taut, tat, as royalty passive, or implying the lord of regions. according to the cabalistic view, jacob s ladder, which was disclosed to him in a vision, is a metaphorical representation of the powers of alchemy, operating through visible nature. the ladder was a rainbow, or prismatic staircase, set up between earth and heaven. jacob's dream implied a history of the whole hermetic creation. there are only two original colours, red and blue, representing spirit and matter; for orange is red mixing with

ataloth, as the cabalistic jews called the zodiac united. the whole is made up from abstruse sigmas, or the application of rosicrucianism on its hieroglyphic and representative side. 162 the rosicrucians. heraldic and figurative chart, according to the oldest heraldic systems (no. 1 (musical notes also) region elementary, whereon he saw angels ascending anddescending: and he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of god ascending and descendingon it (genesisxxviii. jacob s ladder 12 also thechromatic scale of sevenmusicalnotes, the celebrated seal of solomon (or sword of solomon, or gladius of saint michael the archangel (with the celebrated seal of solomon, he solomon thegenii) it is tehmost potentcabalistic, or talisma

ect light. saint john. mystic illumination. saint-esprit. blue. materialworld, or great deep, or ark, or world made manifest, or sea, or c, or patient, or isis, or venus, or reginacoeli, or heva or eve, orth )oth,&c.&c.&c. hdj f 1. blue ark arc (patient. 2. white produced (neuter) 3. red producer (agent) also triad of the diatonic scale. musical harmony. music of the spheres (jacob s metaphorical ladder) 164 the rosicrucians. heraldic and figurative chart, according to the oldest heraldic systems (no. 3) rationale of the tricolor, or the three united,national, successive colours of france. teraphim. seraphim. cherubim. 1. fire. gaulois. represented by vertical lines, as indicative of the aspiring rays of this noblest and most active element. salique, or salic, from thesalii, or priests ofm

er side of light; turned away. these profound metaphysical distinctions are the key of all the theologies. moses, when he describes the creation of the world, is the alchemist, relating in parable the generation of the solids, and the flowing-over into the border-country (out of the flesh) of the invisible-where everything ultimately is. the history of david, solomon (of the temple, jacob (of the ladder; or staircase from earth to heaven, and from heaven to earth &c, job; the accounts of the heroes of the stories of the apocrypha (the most concealed or* the flitting of the flickering flame (consciousness) out of the urn. 342 the rosicrucians. recondite of the things hidden thence its name &c, are cabalistic and alchemical, similarly to all the mythologies, which are, in their fanciful and

KARR DON NOTES ON THE STUDY OF EARLY KABBALAH JEWISH MYSTICISM IN ENGLISH

fer ha-ot. translated by efrat levy; integral edition in english, hebrew, and aramaic. belize city: providence university, 2006. for information, go to www.everburninglight.org. sheva netivot ha-torah: the seven paths of torah. integral edition in english and hebrew. 04/2006. belize city: providence university, 2006. for information, go to www.everburninglight.org. albotini, yehuda. sulam aliyah: ladder of ascent. translated by yodfat glazer and adam shohom. integral edition in english and hebrew. belize city: providence university, 2007. for information, go to www.everburninglight.org. gin particular, rabbi albotini followed a system advanced by abraham ben samuel abulafia that is generally referred to as eecstatic f or eprophetic f kabbalah, as outlined in abulafia fs sefer ha-ot (book o

. essays in life and thought presented in honor of s. w. baron, edited by j. l. blau (new york, columbia university press, 1959; 2. essential papers on messianic movements and personalities in jewish history, edited by marc saperstein (new york: new york university press, 1992. bokser, ben zion. the jewish mystical tradition (1981, 9: gabraham abulafia. h. hames, harvey j. like angels on jacob fs ladder: abraham abulafia, the franciscans, and joachimism. albany: state university of new york press, 2007. idel, moshe. ga unique manuscript of an untitled treatise of abraham abulafia in biblioteca laurentiana medicea, h in kabbalah: journal for the study of jewish mystical texts, volume 17, edited by daniel abrams and avraham elqayam (los angeles: cherub press, 2008. gabraham abulafia and mena

y kabbalah. abrams, daniel. gfrom germany to spain: numerology as a mystical technique, h in journal of jewish studies, vol. 47, no. 1 (1996. ghypostatic wisdom and imitatio dei: kabbalistic traditions of attaining wisdom, in kabbalah: journal for the study of jewish mystical texts, volume 17, edited by daniel abrams and avraham elqayam (los angeles: cherub press, 2008. altmann, alexander. g ethe ladder of ascension, f h in studies in religious philosophy and mysticism (ithaca: cornell university press, 1969. brody, seth. ghuman hands dwell in heavenly heights: contemplative ascent and theurgic power in thirteenth century kabbalah, h in mystics of the book: themes, topics, and typologies, edited by r. a. herrera (new york: peter lang publishing, inc, 1993. avraham ben alexander of cologne

LAITMAN M BASIC CONCEPTS IN KABBALAH

ed goal: the attainment of the creator by the created beings existing in this world. according to kabbalah, all of humanity and every individual must reach this ultimate point to fully attain the goal and program of creation. throughout the generations, individuals have attained a certain spiritual level through individual work. these people, called kabbalists, climbed to the top of the spiritual ladder. every material object and its action, from the smallest to the greatest, is operated by spiritual forces that fill our entire universe. it is as if our universe were resting on a net of forces. take, for example, the tiniest living organism whose role is merely to reproduce and sustain its species. think about how many forces and complex systems function within it, and how many of them rem

serving spiritual laws, a person prepares for the second, main stage when the one who observes and the one who obliges spiritually merge. those who observe spiritual rules go through five levels: nefesh, ruach, neshama, haya, and yechida. each level consists of five f r o m t h e a f t e rwo r d t o t h e z o h a r 47 sub-levels, which are then divided into five additional sub-levels. in all, the ladder of spiritual ascent, or closeness to the creator, consists of 125 steps. the five main steps of this ladder are called worlds. their sub-levels are called partzufim, which consist of sefirot. all that exists in a certain spiritual world perceives the objects in that world and below it. however, they cannot even imagine or feel anything from a higher world. therefore, one who reaches one of

this is clearly the general decline of faith, and particularly the decline of faith in the wisdom of the sages. the most obvious example of this decline is today s books on kabbalah, which are teeming with materialized descriptions. hence, a need arose for a complete commentary on the book of zohar, a work that would save us from misinterpreting kabbalah. this commentary is called the sulam (the ladder) because it helps students gradually climb its rungs and reach spiritual heights. everything depends on one s desire to attain the depths of the worlds creation and one s place within them. the purpose of kabbalah can be illustrated by the following parable: a subject in a distant kingdom broke the law, and by the king s order he was banished from the land. he parted from his friends, b a s

o attain the spiritual world. the ari passed away before the end of that period, meaning before all the light had entered the third group. hence, at that time only special souls could study kabbalah without revealing its essence to the world. today, as we are approaching the end of the third period, we are ready to receive the comprehensive. b a s i c c o n c e p t s i n k a b b a l a h 84 sulam (ladder) commentary on the zohar, and a systematic textbook on kabbalah entitled talmud eser sefirot (the study of the ten sefirot. although the souls who lived during the first and the second 2,000 years were highly exalted and corresponded to the upper sefirot (hochma, bina, and daat, netzah, gevura, and hod, they could not receive the appropriate light because it had not yet reached our world. n

ch subsequent world is an exact replica (branch) of its predecessor (root. the created beings populating a certain world can perceive only within its boundaries because sense organs perceive only the material of that particular world. only humans can simultaneously attain all the worlds. the levels of attainment are the consecutive degrees of perception of the creator. it is as though they form a ladder that climbs from our world to the spiritual worlds. the bottom rung of that ladder is called the machsom (barrier. it conceals all the spiritual forces from us so completely that we have no perception of them whatsoever. hence, we try to find the source and the purpose of life in our world. light in the spiritual worlds: information, feelings, and pleasures are passed by the expansion and r

LAITMAN M FROM CHAOS TO HARMONY

t thirty years. as a kabbalist, he has published more than thirty books and numerous academic essays on the subject, which have been translated into ten languages thus far. rav laitman was the disciple and personal assistant of rabbi baruch shalom halevi ashlag (the rabash, 12 from chaos to harmony the firstborn and successor of rabbi yehuda leib halevi ashlag, known as baal hasulam (owner of the ladder) for authoring the sulam (ladder) commentary on the book of zohar. for twelve years, rav laitman devotedly studied with the rabash, and absorbed from him the teachings of baal hasulam. baal hasulam is considered the successor of the holy ari, author of the tree of life. yehuda ashlag also paved the way for our generation to be admitted into kabbalah. thanks to his methodology, anyone can be

us, and its absence or, worse, the denunciation of society, causes us the greatest suffering. being shamed is the most terrible thing a person can experience. this is why we tend to abide by the values that society places before us. thus, if we succeed in changing the values of the environment we live in, bringing altruistic values such as caring for others, sharing, and bonding to the top of the ladder, we can then change our attitudes toward others. when society values a person solely by his or her devotion to society, we will all necessarily strive to think and to act in favor of society. if we eliminate the awards we give for individual excellence, and appreciate people only for their concern for society, if children judge their parents by these standards, if friends, relatives, and co

2006, http//www.ynet.co.il/ articles/0,7340,l-3267779,00.html. the full report is available at the u.n. web site, http//www.unodc.org/unodc/en/ world_drug_report.html. 6 data is taken from http//www.divorcemag.com/statistics/ statsworld.shtm 7 publish in a yedioth aharonot newspaper article may 14, 2006. 8 kabbalist rabbi yehuda ashlag (1884-1954) is known by the title baal hasulam (owner of the ladder) for a commentary on the book of zohar that he wrote, titled the sulam (ladder) commentary. baal hasulam is considered the successor of rabbi isaac luria (the holy ari. his method is unique in that it allows any person to internalize the origins of the authentic kabbalistic knowledge, which the formers kabbalists have left behind. 9 baal hasulam, preface to the wisdom of kabbalah, item 1. t

LAITMAN M KABBALAH REVEALED

w institute of philosophy at the russian academy of sciences. in 1976, he began studying kabbalah, and has been researching it ever since. in 1979, seeking new avenues in kabbalah, he came across kabbalist rabbi baruch shalom halevi ashlag (1906-1991, the firstborn son, and successor of kabbalist rabbi yehuda leib halevi ashlag (1884-1954, known as baal hasulam for his 10 kabbalah revealed sulam (ladder) commentary on the book of zohar. michael laitman was so impressed with baal hasulam s son, that he became baruch ashlag s closest disciple and personal assistant, spending the bulk of his time in the company of his revered mentor, and absorbing as much as he could of his teachings. today, he is regarded as the foremost authority on kabbalah, having authored thirty books on the subject, tra

and reflects adam s desire to be like the creator. these days, at the start of the 21st century, evolution is completing its development of the fourth phase xthe desire to be like the creator. this is why today more and more people are looking for spiritual answers to their questions. u p t h e l a d d e r when kabbalists talk about spiritually evolving, they talk about climbing up the spiritual ladder. this is why kabbalist yehuda ashlag named his commentary on the book of zohar, perush hasulam (the ladder commentary, for which he was named baal hasulam (owner of the ladder. but if we flip back a few pages, we ll find that up the ladder actually means back to the roots. this is because we ve already been up there, but now we have to figure out how to get back there by ourselves. 80 kabba

g, and spiritual. just as we don t forget our childhood, but rely on those past events in our present experiences, each completed step in the evolutionary process is not lost, but is registered in our unconscious spiritual memory. in other words, within us lies the entire history of our spiritual evolution, from the time we were one with the thought of creation to this day. going up the spiritual ladder simply means remembering the states we ve already experienced once more, and uncovering those memories. those memories are aptly named reshimot (records, and each reshimo (singular for reshimot) stands for a specific spiritual state. because our spiritual evolution unfolded in a specific order, now the reshimot surface within us in just that order. in other words, our future states are alre

piritual evolution unfolded in a specific order, now the reshimot surface within us in just that order. in other words, our future states are already determined because we re not creating anything new, just remembering events that already happened to us, of which we re unaware. the one thing we can determine, and we will discuss it at length in the following chapters, is how fast we can climb the ladder. the harder we work at climbing it, the faster these states will change and the faster our spiritual progress will be. each reshimo is completed when we have fully experienced it, and like a chain, when one reshimo ends, the next reshimo emerges. this next reshimo originally created the present reshimo, but since now we re going back up the ladder, the present reshimo is awakening its origi

the next level, the next reshimo comes along and a new desire emerges in us. we don t know why our desires change, because they re always parts of reshimot from a higher degree than our current level, even when they don t seem like it. so just like the last reshimo surfaced, bringing us to our present state, a new desire now approaches from a new reshimo. this is how we continue our climb up the ladder. it is a spiral of reshimot and ascents that end at the purpose of creation xthe root of our souls, when we re equal and united with the creator. 84 kabbalah revealed t h e d e s i r e fo r s p i r i t ua l i t y as we ve explained in the previous section, the lower part of phase four is the substance of the soul of adam ha rishon. just as the worlds are built according to the growing desir

old consciously and willingly. without an explicit desire for spiritual growth, no spiritual evolution can occur. after all, the spiritual evolution from above downward had already happened. we have been brought down the four phases of light to the five worlds adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya, and were finally placed here in this world. if we are now to climb back up the spiritual ladder, we must choose to do so. if we forget that the purpose of creation is for us to become like the creator, we will not understand why nature doesn t help us xand sometimes even places obstacles on our way. but if, on the other hand, we keep only nature s goal in mind, we will feel that our lives are a fascinating voyage of discovery, a spiritual treasure hunt. moreover, our universe 89 the m

r reshimot, an example of another intention will appear by itself. now let s see what reshimot are, and how they help us out of the trap. reshimot xback to the future reshimot xroughly speaking xare records, recollections of past states. each reshimo (singular for reshimot) that a soul experiences along its spiritual path is collected in a special data bank. when we want to climb up the spiritual ladder, these reshimot comprise our trail. they resurface one by one, and we relive them. the faster we re-experience each reshimo, the faster we exhaust it and move on to the next in line, which is always higher up the ladder. we cannot change the order of the reshimot. that has already been determined on our way down. but we can and should determine what we will do with each reshimo. if we are p

on and knowledge as that of the creator. this is why only with the sixth sense (intention to bestow) is it possible to really know how to conduct ourselves in this world. when a new desire comes along, it actually isn t new. it is a desire that has already been in us, whose memory has been recorded in the data bank of our souls xthe reshimot. the chain of reshimot leads straight to the top of the ladder xthe thought of creation xand the faster we climb it, the more quickly and pleasantly we will reach our destiny. 118 kabbalah revealed the reshimot appear one by one, at a rate we determine through our desire to ascend in spirituality, which is where they originate. when we try to learn from and understand each reshimo, it is exhausted more quickly and the state of understanding it (which a

tell me that being like the creator is great? moreover, if no such desire exists in society, how did it suddenly appear in me? did it pop up out of the blue? no, not out of the blue; out of the reshimot. it s a memory of the future. let me explain. way back, in chapter four, we said that reshimot are records, memories that have been registered within us when we were higher up on the spirituality ladder. these reshimot lie in our subconscious and emerge one by one, each evoking new or stronger desires from past states. moreover, because all of us were at one point higher up on the spiritual ladder, we will all feel the awakening of the desire to go back to those spiritual states when it is our time to experience them xthe spiritual level of desires. this is why reshimot are memories of our

k at the basics of creation. the only thing that the creator created is our will to receive, our egoism. this is our essence. if we learn how to deactivate our egoism, we will restore our connection with the creator, because without selfishness, we will regain equivalence of form with him, as it exists in the spiritual worlds. deactivating our egoism is the beginning of our climb up the spiritual ladder, the beginning of the correction process. it is nature s ironic humor that people who indulge in selfish pleasures cannot be happy. there are two reasons for that: 1) as we explained in chapter one, egoism is a catch-22: if you have what you want, you no longer want it. and 2) a selfish desire enjoys not only the satisfaction of its own whims, but the dissatisfaction of others. 144 kabbalah

LAITMAN M KABBALAH ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND

ur essence remains until the end of correction, when only the form is changed. if our desires are corrected and become altruistic, then even our negative inborn qualities will enable us to comprehend the creator. the existence of a spiritual place is not related to any actual space. all those who reach this state after correcting their spiritual qualities can see and perceive the same things. the ladder of the creator has 125 levels. these levels are divided evenly between five spiritual worlds. these worlds are: the world of adam kadmon the world of atzilut the world of beria the world of yetzira the world of assiya. each level provides a different perception of the creator, depending on each level s particular properties. therefore, those who have acquired the properties of a specific le

r awareness of things is only an ancillary mechanism that helps us properly understand what we feel. whenever we picture our lives, we should think of a gigantic classroom with the omniscient creator acting as a teacher and lavishing on us the knowledge we are prepared to receive. this progressively awakens in our newborn spiritual sensory organs the feeling of the creator. the creator has made a ladder for our ascension. it is a moving ladder. this ladder appeared in jacob s dream and was described by baal hasulam rabbi yehuda ashlag and his son, baruch ashlag. often, we turn our backs on the source of knowledge symbolized by this ladder, and only through great effort will we manage to turn around and start moving towards the creator. this is why he sends us teachers, books, and study com

olutely merge with his qualities, experiencing everything that exists in the light and fills it. there are no words to describe this state. for this reason, it is said that the sum total of all pleasures in this world is but a spark from the infinite fire of the joy that the soul experiences during its unification with the creator. inner motion and development- 105- we can ascend on the spiritual ladder only in accordance with the law of the middle line (kav emtzai. this principle can be briefly described as "one who is happy with what one has is considered rich" we should be content with as much as we understand of what we study in kabbalah. most important, we must realize that, by learning kabbalah, we begin doing good deeds before the creator. when we carry out his will, we will feel as

ntentions. we are incapable of imagining the desires and the realms of our desires effects beyond space. therefore, we can only imagine the creator as a spiritual force that fills a space. the kabbalists say that the creator originally designed human beings with the ability to engage only in simple acts; however, we have since complicated the original design. the higher we ascend on the spiritual ladder, the simpler the laws of creation become, as the basic, fundamental categories are simple, not complex. but because we fail to perceive the source of creation, and instead see only its remote consequences, we view the laws of inner motion and development- 113- creation in our world as being comprised of conditions and limitations, and thus complicated. since authentic kabbalistic books cont

y of which (assuming that one truly wants to come out of the present state and perceive the creator) brings forth a hidden, surrounding, spiritual light (ohr makif. the process of our connecting with the creator, starting from the eradicating egoism- 125- lowest level (where we live) and extending to the highest level (where the creator dwells) can be compared to climbing the steps of a spiritual ladder. all the steps of this ladder exist in the spiritual worlds. the creator resides on the highest step, whereas the lowest step comes down to our world. human beings are situated below the lowest spiritual step, since our initial egoistic level is not connected with the first spiritual state, which is completely altruistic. we can perceive an upper spiritual level when our qualities and those

ceeding by faith above reason (the middle line, is added onto those spiritual qualities that we possessed before, in the state of katnut. the newly acquired spiritual level is known as gadlut, meaning big and complete- 130- attaining the worlds beyond after the first complete spiritual level has been attained, we will become equal in qualities to the very first (the lowest) state of the spiritual ladder. as was mentioned earlier, all the states, or steps of the ladder, overlap with each other. having reached the first level, we may discover the presence of a higher level within us. using the same principle as when advancing to the first level, we can proceed step by step to the goal of creation complete unification with the creator on the highest level. an essential part of our spiritual a

oughts about the creator. the latter will, in turn, bring about such pleasant feelings of serenity that one will not want to think about anything else. only after we have passed through all the stages of initial spiritual development the way of kabbalah do we begin to perceive the upper light the light of kabbalah which shines more and more strongly upon us as we ascend the steps of the spiritual ladder that lead to our ultimate merging with the creator. thus, our entire path is comprised of two parts: the way of kabbalah and the light of kabbalah. the way of kabbalah is a period of preparing for new thoughts and desires, during which we experience feelings of- 139- suffering. but once we move over this bridge that leads to the dwelling of the creator, we enter the world of spirituality, t

ines the elevation of our spiritual level. the spiritual state itself is considered to be that of the "greater one" the following progression leads up to the final and highest level, our merging with the creator in our qualities and desires. this occurs by the gradual, alternating increase of the right and then the left lines. the balancing of both lines takes place at each level of the spiritual ladder. in the state of the right line, we must be happy without any reason, but only from the thought that the creator exists in our world. we do not require any other conditions for happiness. such a state is known as "being happy with what one has" if nothing can bring us out of this condition it is considered to be absolute. but if we begin to test our spiritual state, we will see that we do n

gates, the wall is high, the guards vigilantly repel, nothing can pass. what will happen? how can they be together, feel good together because it is sad to be alone? every time the man weakens and despairs, he suddenly feels a wave of the wand and he rushes to the walls again to try to circumvent the guards, no matter what! he wants to break into the gates, reach the tower, climb the rungs of the ladder and reach the magician. and every time he surges forward and moves nearer the tower and the magician, the guards become more vigilant, stronger and arduous, mercilessly flaying him. but with each round the man becomes braver, stronger and wiser. he learns to accomplish all sorts of tricks himself, to invent things only a magician can. every time he is pushed back, he wants the magician more

sarah (the goal of creation) as his sister, thus not making her forbidden to other men (the qualities of a person. consequently, until one s correction is complete, one can only employ kabbalah to one s own advantage. the difference between all the spiritual realms and our world is that everything belonging to the spiritual realms is a part of the creator, and has assumed the shape of a spiritual ladder to make the spiritual ascent of human beings easier. our egoistical world, on the other hand, was never part of the creator, but was generated from nonexistence and will disappear after the ascent of the last soul from our world- 328- into the spiritual realm. for this reason, all types of human activity passed on from generation to generation, as well as all that is produced from the mater

while the soul is still [clothed] within a human body. the gradual process of conforming to the creator in qualities; the systematic approaching of the qualities of the soul to those of the creator is known as "the spiritual ascent" the spiritual ascent occurs along the levels or steps known as sefirot. in total, from the very first to the very last step of merging with the creator, the spiritual ladder consists of 125 steps or sefirot. every 25 sefirot constitutes a finished stage, known as a the process of conforming to the creator- 335 "world" or a "realm" thus, aside from our own state, which is known as "our world" there are 5 worlds. the goal of the egoistic part is to reach the qualities of the creator while still existing in us, in this world, so that in spite of our egoism we can

enly understand our true spiritual state, and realize the power of our egoism and the evil inside us. our feelings of bitterness when we realize our true spiritual state give rise to the desire to correct ourselves. when this desire reaches the required degree of intensity, then the creator sends his light of correction into the kli (vessel, and thus we begin to ascend the levels of the spiritual ladder. people in general are raised in agreement with their egoistic natures, including observing the commandments of the bible, and they continue to automatically uphold the notions they acquired from their upbringing. this makes it unlikely that they will ever depart from this particular level of connection with the creator. thus, when our bodies (desire to receive) ask why we are observing the

tor in accordance with the magnitude of our faith in him, we also grasp the significance of kabbalah and its inner meaning. in this manner, it can be said that each consecutive time we reach a higher spiritual level, we receive a new kabbalah (light, as if from a new creator. the above process refers only to those who receive a new revelation of the creator s light as they ascend on the spiritual ladder. for this reason, it is said that "the righteous person lives by his faith" the magnitude of one s faith determines the amount of the perceived light. it is written in the books of kabbalah "every day is he awarding of the new light" for a kabbalist, every "day (the time when the light of the creator radiates) is a new light- 410- attaining the worlds beyond we may be brought up to observe

LAITMAN M KABBALAH SCIENCE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

the kabbalist rabbi yitzhak luria ashkenazi, the ari (1534-1572. he presented his method in his books, and today the wisdom of kabbalah is founded on the lurianic kabbalah (the kabbalah of the ari. lurianic kabbalah relates to kabbalah as a science there is no meditation, chanting, charms, amulets or magical drawings of letters. rabbi yehuda ashlag (1884-1954, known as baal hasulam (owner of the ladder) for his sulam (ladder) commentary on the zohar, paved the way for our generation. his writings enable all of us to connect to the ancient, authentic sources that the past giants left behind. the kabbalah that we study today contains the same knowledge that was passed on from abraham through all the generations. i was privileged to spend twelve years beside baal hasulam s eldest son and suc

position our tools of perception so we can perceive the upper light. kabbalists say that the upper light is abstract. however, that does not mean that any form that human beings might create will enable them to perceive anything of the upper light. perception of the upper light is possible only when one adjusts one s kli to one of the 125 forms intended for just that purpose. thus, the spiritual ladder consists of 125 degrees. each degree designates a more advanced form of receiving light in one s kli. kabbalists describe how we can locate these forms, study them, and apply them to our matter. they also teach us how to design our will to receive in such a way that we can present ourselves before the upper light in forms that are suitable for the light. there is a similar phenomenon that m

hose who rise to the level of these forces see how real they are, while the picture they create is imaginary. these forces cont h e r e s h i m o 161 stantly create different pictures, although the forces themselves remain the same. all in all, there are 125 degrees of attainment. the higher we rise in them, the truer and more correctly will we perceive how these forces connect. at the end of the ladder, one perceives the total merging of these forces, called ein sof. the principle that arises from this is that it is only when we attain and perceive something that we can define it. for this reason, all kabbalists adhere to an unshakeable law stated by baal hasulam: what we do not attain, we do not define by name or word. m a s s m e d i t at i o n many people tend to believe that humanity

r impressions from life s events. if we realized that we are only marionettes, and that at the same time we can change our future, we would then be at a point of choice. in other words, we could then choose an environment that would influence us positively and assist in our spiritual development. such an environment would help us realize that reshimo in the same direction and the same preexisting ladder, but we would do it willingly, instead of under pressure. in any given state, the reshimo in the awakened will to receive, and the environment are all predetermined. even if one had an urge to realize the reshimo, this urge would stem from within; and even if one used the environment to accelerate the unfolding of the reshimo, it would only shorten the predetermined unfolding period. howeve

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

r task has been to ensure that the truths of kabbalah would be given to those ready to receive them. during all that time, kabbalah was concealed from the public (which was not yet ready to receive it, until the current generation; it was this generation for which this method was specifically developed. that is why the zohar, the ari and baal hasulam (rav yehuda ashlag, the author of hasulam (the ladder, a commentary on the zohar) reveal that from this time forward, the kabbalah will become a simple and genuine way of life, open to all, with no restrictions. this approach originated in 1995, and we are currently in the midst of this process to expand the reach of kabbalah. why our generation? because the souls that descend to this world and dress in our bodies evolve from generation to gen

e r i e n c e 34 then, we can be filled with the upper light and feel ourselves whole and eternal. but the correction under the influence of the surrounding light is done gradually, and in portions. to the extent that we absorb the attributes of the light, we correct ourselves, our left line, and become able to receive the light. those portions of correction are called the degrees or rungs of the ladder, the spiritual ladder, which raise a person from the sensation of our world, the sensation of ourselves, to the sensation of the next, the sensation of the creator. the middle line is the best possible combination between man s receiving nature and the forces of the upper light. it coordinates between them in such a way that a person will self-correct to resemble the light as much as possib

ther sources to see if they suit you as well. by no means do i devalue other sources. many of the kabbalists were at an even higher degree than rabbi shimon bar-yochai or the ari. however, they were not permitted to write, or if they were permitted, it was with minor implications that were meant for those who were already in the upper worlds. q: the articles that we study rely a great deal on the ladder commentary. what is the ladder commentary? a: rav yehuda ashlag (baal hasulam) named his commentaries on the zohar hasulam (the ladder, because reading it helps one in our world climb the ladder toward the creator, spanning every degree in between. that is the purpose of creation. note that the zohar commentaries can be understood only after studying all the introductions, the most importan

cent of the food from you, then it would be correct to say that in that twenty percent i have equalized with you. s p i r i t ua l wo r k 145 in the spiritual world, equalizing with something means sensing it to the fullest- its spiritual state, its thoughts, and its sensitivities. in other words, man receives the delicacies at the king's table as much as he is equal to the king, the creator. the ladder of the spiritual world is built according to that very principle: man receives more and more for the pleasure of the creator, thus rising on the ladder until he can receive the entire one hundred percent. at that point, he can give to the creator one hundred percent, just as the creator gives him one hundred percent. both are interdependent, taking and giving one another pleasure. that is c

nning with the first desire for spirituality and ending in the completion of correction. in case the cycle is not completed, wouldn t it better to just kill the time? after all, this life was given for the sole purpose of correction! a: in his introduction to the study of the ten sefirot, baal ha- sulam says that within three to five years a person can reach the upper world and begin to climb the ladder. but that is only ideally. in real life it takes twice or even three times as long to succeed. s p i r i t ua l wo r k 191 what i am saying now refers to souls of the 1990 s, but things should take less time in the 21st century because the souls that descend today are a lot closer to spirituality to begin with. m y s o n s d e f e at e d m e q: why is the last phase of the four phases of de

e collective soul of adam? a: the soul never actually left the collective soul; it simply stopped feeling it, since it corrupted its spiritual feelings by acquiring an egotistical desire. but in the process of desiring correction, the soul corrects its feeling and becomes able to feel its true state in the collective soul. retrieving this feeling is called the ascent up the steps of the spiritual ladder from our world into the world of atzilut. q: how is the individual soul separated from the collective soul? a: as the soul acquires additional uncorrected egotistical desires, it loses its feeling of the spiritual world, interpreted by the soul as a separation from the collective soul. as a result, the soul starts to feel a more crude desire in itself, called a body. this is felt by the sou

primary adam. q: does one have a soul prior to crossing the barrier, or just a fraction of a soul? a: before crossing the barrier, man has only a point of longing for the creator (the point in the heart, among all other longings (heart) for the pleasures of this world, which are felt through our five senses. upon crossing the barrier, the point starts to grow, ascending 125 steps of the spiritual ladder of the five worlds. as it reaches its root, it finds its original place, except now it is 620 bigger than before. q: can knowledge directly received from the creator be argued? a: if it is indeed received as a result of divine revelation, it is true for the person concerned and can t be argued. but this is subject to change during one s spiritual ascent. nothing is absolute! a r e n e w e d

re is a division, a separation into a feminine part and masculine part. the lower the degree of creation, the coarser and simpler it becomes, and the more overlap there is between the masculine and feminine parts. s o u l, b o d y a n d r e i n c a r n a t i o n 251 for example, in plants there is almost no division by sex. but the more the creatures develop, meaning the higher up they are on the ladder of evolution, the more distinct they become. in the spiritual world, this oppositeness is very obvious. one does not cancel the other, but complements it. without the feminine part, the system of creation is inconceivable. the masculine part depends on the feminine part and waits for it. q: are the souls of men different from those of women? a: yes, it is true that men and women have differ

those of women. they are simply different kinds of souls, and hence their corrections are different. q: what is the difference between feminine and masculine souls? a: regardless of the physical body in our world, masculine and feminine souls are two types of parts of souls that comprise the spiritual partzuf, also called the right and the left of the partzuf. a kabbalist who climbs the spiritual ladder alternates between the masculine part of the vessel and the feminine part. consequently, at one time the kabbalist has a masculine soul and at another time, a feminine soul. an example of that is the soul of the first man. it broke into 600,000 parts and then into a great many more. however, the content of the original partzuf is retained in every one of them, turning each part to a minute

q: is it true that there are souls that are connected to the wisdom of the hidden and souls that are connected to the revealed wisdom? does each soul have its own spiritual root, by which it can fulfill itself? a: you are quoting from the words of rabbi shimon bar-yochai, who speaks of a corrected aim of man s desires, for the creator, meaning those who are already in the process of climbing the ladder from our world to the infinite. to such people there are two types of soul: one that is named the revealed torah, which stems from the term, ohr pashut (lit. simple light, and the wisdom of the hidden, which is revealed on certain conditions. there is indeed a meaning to the words of rashbi (rabbi shimon bar-yochai) that relates to our world as well: one who is drawn to the revealed torah s

ke that, the messiah is seen as the force that will deliver us from our present state and help us transcend to the best possible situation. we can all picture that state according to our own level of attainment. for each person, the next world and the messiah are different things, and they vary from one degree to the next. but they become fully understood only at the final degree of the spiritual ladder. the method of the kabbalah speeds up the pace of the surfacing of the situations concealed in us and significantly shortens the whole process. it is much like what happens in a chemical reaction. it is possible to contract the process by a million times. you can save millions of life cycles in just one lifetime and profit millions of times more than everybody else. this is not only an impr

LAITMAN M THE PATH OF KABBALAH

alah get together with the help of superior forces, forces of the creator. they obtain a collective goal for their lives that becomes clearer and clearer every day. the only question that remains then is how to speed the attainment of that goal. there is a very clear hierarchy between the creator and us: we are at the bottom and the creator is at the highest point. we must climb the rungs of that ladder from our current location to that of the creator s. t h e pa t h o f k a b b a l a h 46 there are different ways to ascend. one of them is called an awakening from below, where, through influence from above, we begin to want spiritual attainment and ascent. we begin to read books, join a group, and so on. there is also another way: an awakening from above. that happens when the creator hims

itude of small fragments. each fragment is called a soul. as souls ascend to higher levels, they gradually change their attributes, pa r t o n e: t h e b e g i n n i n g 47 using a special system that constantly moves the souls from one place to another so that they will help one another correct. the torah, the kabbalah, and all the holy scriptures were written by people who climbed the spiritual ladder and wrote their instructions from there. many kabbalists climbed these steps, but there are conditions that limit the number of people permitted to write. there are only three kabbalists who attained the final degree and were permitted to describe the system. they are rabbi shimon bar-yochay, author of the zohar, the ari, author of the tree of life, and rabbi yehuda ashlag, author of the su

es not change, only the aim. for that reason, the method for changing the aim is called the wisdom of kabbalah, and because the aim is concealed from the eye, the wisdom of kabbalah is also called the wisdom of the hidden. it teaches how to receive by changing the aim. consequently, the important thing is the aim behind every act, the purpose for which one does what one does. the 125 rungs of the ladder are degrees of gradual correction of the aim of the soul from receiving for me to receiving for the creator. pa r t t wo: p h a s e s o f s p i r i t ua l e v o l u t i o n 71 the five degrees of the will to receive, beginning with the weakest (keter) and ending with the strongest (malchut, are organized in descending order from the creator to the creature, and constitute the five worlds. w

evil in ourselves, which drives us to ask for help of the creator, the source of that illumination. if our request is genuine, the creator will change our natures. but the will to receive doesn t change, only the aim changes from for me to for the creator. that change is called giving. thus, one gradually changes one s properties to the properties of the creator in each of the 125 degrees on the ladder. each degree consists of several processes: the recognition of evil. it is the realization of how much worse i am than the creator in my left line. examining what kind of help i actually need to receive from the creator from the right line. placing one line against the other, testing how much of the left line i can actually receive. this is considered coming to the middle line. the result o

t varying levels of correction and should fulfill masculine and feminine parts interchangeably, meaning they should sometimes follow pa r t t wo: p h a s e s o f s p i r i t ua l e v o l u t i o n 99 the right line (bestowal, masculine part) and at other times they should follow the left line (reception, feminine part. all the names in the torah are names of spiritual attainments on the spiritual ladder. but in order to attain a certain name, you must play both the masculine and the feminine parts, meaning the right and left lines. for example, in the degrees of pharaoh, moses, israel, and a gentile, there is both a feminine and a masculine part. but each name can only be attained once and in a certain degree. man and woman are a union of zeir anpin and malchut of the world of atzilut. its

) begins to purify itself from the will to receive that is initially imprinted in it, and gradually acquires a will to bestow. that gives it a possibility to receive the light of the creator, the soul that extends from the root of the design of creation. the soul passes through the system of pure worlds and clothes a body. this period is called the time of correction. in that state, one faces the ladder of the spiritual degrees, which expands according to the thought of creation from the world of ein sof. this helps continue in the acquisition of the aim to give to the creator, until one s every act to bestow (even the reception) will only be in order to give to the creator, and take nothing for self. reception in order to bestow is considered complete bestowal. thus, by attaining that, on

f the creator in this world, approaching him in actions and thoughts. the revelation of the creator to the creature is a moment when the creature equalizes its own properties with the light that extends from the creator. that is to say, the creator appears in the specific property that has been equalized with him. we must complete the equivalence of our attributes with him on the entire spiritual ladder while we are in this world and within one lifetime. all our past lives are but preparation to climb the rungs of the ladder until we reach the world s maker. c h a p t e r 2 .11 l i n k i n g t h e wo r l d s reality consists of a creator, or the will to bestow and give pleasure, and a creature, or the will to receive pleasure. there is nothing else in our reality except these two component

b of that specific degree. afterwards, we reenter the left line and must again correct it with the right, thus building the middle line, and again we receive a certain portion of the light of the creator, which in turn makes us just a little more like him. the process repeats itself when that degree is also completed. it might seem dull from the outside, but that is the way to climb the spiritual ladder. it is a perpetual process of intermittently acquiring desires and fulfilling them. this is life, and it is a magical feeling indeed! it is like a very intense hunger and satiation experienced simultaneously. the maximum intensity of using the right aim over our desires in each degree is also the bridge through which we pass on to the next. our time in history is a transition period toward

ion rise to the upper world as knowledge and determine whether we feel our tomorrows as positive or negative. therefore, the creator, who is at the highest spiritual degree, formed this creation from an egoistic attribute, which is the complete opposite of him, and filled it to the brim with light. he then emptied it and lowered it to the degree of our world. a creature that ascends the spiritual ladder receives a much more intense pleasure than prior to its decline to this world. q: if there is an upper force that governs us and every little insect in our world, then how are we different from robots? a: if we use kabbalah to change our inner properties, we also change the external influence that operates on us. because this entire world is built to guide us to perfection, our process of i

st of the superior. then, the infant continues to grow (at the expense of the superior partzuf, but in a separated form) until the age of thirteen, and from that age begins the state of gadlut (adulthood. this is how every person s soul develops. everything the kabbalah books describe, everything that happens in our world and everything the torah speaks of are processes of ascent on the spiritual ladder. there is nothing but a human being and the creator, and our entire way is meant to bring us closer to him. q: how can one know one has attained a connection with the spiritual world? a: everything we can imagine comes as a consequence of our experiences in the physical body. therefore, all the flying experiences and other such spiritual events are completely disconnected from the actual sp

ee of life "in order to reveal the perfection of his deeds" however, the creation of the worlds and the descent of the creatures reveal instead the imperfection of the works of the creator! but the answer is: this was done in order that the creatures would perfect themselves, that they would reach the degree of the creator on their own, which is the only perfection. hence, the creator created the ladder of the worlds. through this ladder souls descend unto the lowest rung, in which they are clothed in bodies (in desire to receive) of this world. by means of learning kabbalah, the souls begin to ascend on that ladder until they all return to the creator. the soul consists of light and vessel. the light of the soul comes from the creator, from his essence. the vessel of the soul; i.e, the de

ersonal reward, but to bestow contentment upon the creator. there are five degrees in the equivalence of form with the creator: nefesh, ruach, neshama, haya, yechida (nrnhy. these five degrees are attained from the five worlds adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya. each degree has its own five inner degrees as well. thus, there are in total 125 degrees from this world to the top of the ladder. by practicing torah and mitzvot in order to bring contentment to the creator, a person slowly merits and attains (degree by degree) the vessels of the will to bestow. this way a person climbs these degrees one by one until reaching complete equivalence of form. thus, the thought t h e pa t h o f k a b b a l a h 156 of creation is carried out in man, who will receive all the enjoyment and p

3 the books that are intended to guide our generation into spirituality are the books of rabbi yehuda ashlag (baal hasulam, and rabbi baruch ashlag (rabash. besides these books, the other prerequisite that must be met for correct learning is studying in a group whose purpose is to attain the purpose of creation, headed by a kabbalist teacher. the evolution of reality from above downward created a ladder that man can climb upward. a person who reaches a certain degree discovers in it reshimot from an even higher degree, which enables a continued ascent up the ladder. reshimot from higher degrees also exist in us. they are reshimot of our own adjacent degree. by working on those reshimot we can exit our world and enter the spiritual world. c h a p t e r 3. 9 t h e b i r t h o f t h e pa r t

he stony heart, but only the upper nine, the rapach behinot. one sorts and raises them after the breaking for the purpose of unification with the creator. all the zivugim performed after the first restrictions are performed on those desires. these zivugim produce the partzufim, the worlds and everything in them, and expand downward. the five worlds with the five partzufim in each world become the ladder from the creator (the giver) to the creature (the receiver. the degrees are measurements of equivalence of desires between the creature and the creator. the emanation of the partzufim and the worlds from above downward builds the degrees, which are like covers over the light of ein sof. each partzuf covers the light and hides it from its lower partzufim to the extent that it receives in ord

lds from above downward builds the degrees, which are like covers over the light of ein sof. each partzuf covers the light and hides it from its lower partzufim to the extent that it receives in order to bestow. we can compare the partzufim and the worlds to the layers of an onion: round, contained in one another, and the deeper the layer, the more the light is covered. thus, at the bottom of the ladder, in the middle point in the onion, there is the point of darkness. pa r t t h r e e: t h e s t ru c t u r e o f t h e u p p e r wo r l d s 209 for the creature to have free will and want to equalize with the creator, clinging to him of free choice, and to rise from its original state to that of the creator, the creature must be born in the point of darkness. the possibility of correcting on

LEADBEATER C W THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY 2E

idea of its meaning was that it conveyed to us and symbolized in action the way in which the great architect had constructed the universe- that in the movements made and in the plan of the lodge were enshrined some of the great principles on which that universe had been built. the vortical movement in the censing, the raising and lowering of the columns, the cross, the anchor and the cup upon the ladder of evolution- all these things and many more we interpreted in that way. the different degrees penetrated further and further into the knowledge of his methods and of the principles upon which he works. for we not only held that he worked in the past, but that he is working now, that his universe is an active expression of him. in those days, books filled a far less prominent place in our l

and when all these parts of his nature are perfectly developed as far as that is possible in a human state of existence, he becomes the perfect man, the adept, master of himself and the five worlds or planes in which he has his being. such a man has fulfilled the instruction: gbe ye perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect. h 223. on the t c b c there is the seven-pointed star above the ladder reaching up into the heavens. it is a symbol of the seven great lines along which all life is moving slowly upwards to completer union with the divine, of the seven ways in which man may realize perfection, and the seven rays or emanations of god through which he has filled the whole universe with the light of his life. this star also typifies the christian thought of the seven great archan

ght before it materialized. in the lodges of two centuries ago, the t c b c was drawn afresh on the floor with chalk for each meeting, instead of being printed; and it was considered part of a good r.w.m. fs knowledge that he should be able to draw it quickly and quite perfectly without having to look at a copy. 275. in the diagram of the t c b c we see the altar, and on it the v.s.l. from that a ladder goes up to the seven-pointed star, which represents the monad in man, in whom the seven types of life or consciousness are all to be perfect to the limits of human possibility. that star represents also the logos, the supreme consciousness of our solar system, god fs consciousness, which is already perfected in a degree altogether beyond human comprehension. 276. the ladder has many steps

he writes: 277. it is a symbol of the universe, and of its succession of step-like planes reaching from the heights to the depths. it is written elsewhere that the father fs house has many mansions; many levels and resting-places for his creatures in their different conditions and degrees of progress. it is these levels, these planes and sub-planes, that are denoted by the rungs and staves of the ladder. and of these there are, for us in our present state of evolutionary unfoldment, three principal ones; the physical plane, the plane of desire and emotion, and the mental plane, or that of the abstract intelligence which links up to the still higher planes of the spirit. these three levels of the world are reproduced in man. the first corresponds with his material physique, his sense-body;

material physique, his sense-body; the second with his desire and emotional nature, which is a mixed element resulting from the interaction of his physical senses and his ultra-physical mind; the third with his mentality, which is still further removed from his physical nature, and forms the link between the latter and his spiritual being. c 278. thus the universe and man himself are constructed ladder-wise, in an orderly organized sequence of steps; the one universal substance composing the differentiated parts of the universe gdescends h from a state of the utmost ethereality by successive steps of increasing densification, until gross materialization is reached; and thence gascends h through a similarly ordered gradation of planes to its original place, but enriched by the experience g

lack and white opposites of good and evil, light and dark-ness, prosperity and adversity; and he can watch the upward return of those who conquer in the strife and, attaining their regeneration and casting off or transmuting the gworldly possessions h acquired during their descent, ascend to their source, pure and unpolluted from the stains of this imperfect world(*op. cit. pp. 64-66) 280. on the ladder appear three emblems, a cross, an anchor, and a cup with a hand stretched out to reach it. the explanation of the t c b c in the ritual speaks of these as the three principal virtues, faith, hope and charity. strictly speaking, the standard symbol for charity is a heart, and this does actually appear on some t c b c s instead of the cup; but the cup is the more ancient symbol, and really me

h it. the explanation of the t c b c in the ritual speaks of these as the three principal virtues, faith, hope and charity. strictly speaking, the standard symbol for charity is a heart, and this does actually appear on some t c b c s instead of the cup; but the cup is the more ancient symbol, and really means much more to us. 281. another and a very beautiful interpretation of the cross upon the ladder is given to us by bro. wilmshurst, who takes it to represent all the aspirants who are engaged in mounting that ladder. he says: 282. each carries his cross, his own cruciform body, as he ascends; the material vesture whose tendencies are ever at cross purposes with the desire of the spirit, and militate against the ascent. thus weighted, each must climb, and climb alone; yet reaching out

esture whose tendencies are ever at cross purposes with the desire of the spirit, and militate against the ascent. thus weighted, each must climb, and climb alone; yet reaching out- as the secret tradition teaches, and the arms of the tilted cross signify- one hand to invisible helpers above, and the other to assist the ascent of feebler brethren below. for, as the sides and separate rungs of the ladder constitute a unity, so all life and all lives are fundamentally one, and none lives to himself alone(*op. cit. p. 69) 283. these three symbols also refer once more to the three outpourings of the divine life, which have their correspondence in the development of the self in man. first he has to realize the world of material things, then that of consciousness or life, and finally he must ris

nother form of it, with the arms widening or spreading out, conveying the idea that the force that is pouring out is constantly increasing. again, we find it with flames shooting out from the ends of the cross; and when it is in active revolution, with the flames trailing at right angles to the arms of the cross, we have the well-known form called the swastika. 287. in these days the cross on the ladder is usually drawn in the latin form, which makes it a sign of the second outpouring, from the second person of the trinity, and it is usually considered as the cross of christ, though crosses of many forms were used as symbols thousands of years before christ incarnated in palestine. the first outpouring, typified by the greek cross, prepares the world for the reception of life; it brings in

m, a music, an impressiveness, and a sincerity absent in other men; for he is gtrue of voice h; he possesses the gtongue of good report h(*op. cit, p. 31. 490. every man pronounces his own true name. just as he has his own odour materially, by which a bloodhound can track him, so has he his sound spiritually; and those who can hear that sound of his in the inner worlds know where he stands on the ladder of evolution, and what he can and cannot do. the distinctive sound which every man has is often spoken of as his chord. each of his vehicles contains vibrations of all sorts of different rates, and these blend together so as to make for each vehicle a certain complex sound- the average sound of the whole vehicle, somewhat analogous to the composite photographs which we sometimes see, in whi

hat star be ever before your eyes, and let its light illumine your heart; follow it, as did the wise men of old, until it leads you to the gateway of initiation, where it shines above the portal of that glorious temple, eternal in the heavens, of which even king solomon fs was but a symbol(*the masters and the path, p. 157) 714. the raising of humanity 715. humanity is but one stage of the mighty ladder of evolution. the divine life which is now manifesting through us has in long past ages animated in succession the elemental, mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. now that particular life-wave has reached the human kingdom. it entered that kingdom by the gate of individualization ages upon ages ago; it will leave that human kingdom by the gateway of initiation- that fifth initiation whi

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

was conducted at midnight to the mouth of a low gallery along which he had to crawl on his hands and knees. presently he came to the opening of a well which the guide directed him to descend. if he showed the slightest hesitation he was reconducted to the outer world, never again to become a candidate for initiation; if however he attempted to descend, the conductor pointed out to him a concealed ladder which enabled him to climb down safely. they then entered a narrow and winding gallery at the entrance of which was this inscription: the mortal who shall travel over this road without hesitating or looking behind shall be purified by fire, by water, and by air, and if he can surmount the fear of death he shall emerge from the bosom of the earth; he shall revisit the light and claim the rig

e hidden light, but also of that secret wisdom of the mysteries which has long been forgotten in the outer lodges and chapters of the brotherhood. 794. such surely is the destiny that awaits our beloved order in the future; such the splendour that will transfigure the craft in the years that are to come, until within its temple walls once more is raised- not only in symbol but in actual fact- the ladder which stretches between earth and heaven, between men and the grand lodge above, to lead them from the darkness of the world to the fullness of light in god, to the rose which ever blossoms at the heart of the cross, to the blazing star whose shining brings peace and strength and blessing to all the worlds. transmutemini, transmutemini de lapidibus mortuis in lapides vivos philosophicos s

LIBER ALEPH

ther with vehemence of spirit, swiftly as light itself, that the ecstasy be spontaneous. so therefore it is expedient that thou have ravelled already in this path of antithesis, knowing perfectly the answer to every griph or problem, and thy mind ready therewith. for by the property of this grass all passeth with speed incalculable of wit, and an hesitation should confound thee, breaking down thy ladder, and throwing back thy mind to receive impression from environment, as at hy first beginning. verily; the nature of this method is solution, and the destruction of every complexity by explosion of ecstasy, as every element thereof is fulfilled by its correlative, and is annihilated (since it loseth separate existence) in the orgasm that is consummated within the bed of thy mind. i the book

thesis. here then is thy lever of antinomy broken in thine hand; yet, being in true balance, thou mayst soar, passionate and eager, from heaven to heaven, by the expansion of thine idea, and its exaltation, of concentration as thou understandest by thy studies in the book of the law, the word thereof concerning our lady nuith and hadith that is the core of every star. and this last going upon thy ladder is easy, if thou be truly initiate, for the momentum of thy force in transcendental antithesis serveth to propel thee, and the emancipation from the fetters of thought hat thou hast won in that praxis of art maketh the whirlpool and gravitation of truth of competence to draw theeunto itself. l the book of wisdom or folly 183 za de via sola solis (of the one way of the sun) his is the profit

LIBER DCCCXI ENERGIZED ENTHUSIASM

intenser with every satisfaction. it seems as if in the noblest en this secretion constantly increases.which certainly suggests an external reservoir.so that age loses all its bitter-ness. we find gbrother lawrence, h nicholas herman of lorraine, at the age of eighty in continuous enjoyment of union with god. buddha at an equal age would run up and down the eight high trances like an acrobat on a ladder; stories not too dissimilar are told of bishop berkeley. many persons have not attained union at all until middle age, and then have rarely lost it. it is true that genius in the ordinary sense of the word has nearly always showed itself in the young. perhaps we should regard such cases as nicholas herman as cases of acquired genius. now i am certainly of opinion that genius can be acquired

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

infinity. to think of men so i could not bear: a new colenso i bought them to assuage their plight, also a book by hall and knight on algebra. i hired wise men to teach them six, seven, eight, nine, ten. one of the hottentots succeeded. few schoolboys know as much as he did! the others sank beneath the strain: it broke, not fortified, the brain. the bard a brainy beggar. now (higher on the human ladder) lodge is called mad, and crowley madder (the shafts of science who may dodge? i.ve not a word to say for lodge) yet may not crowley be the one who safely does what most should shun? alpine analogy. take oscar eckenstein.he climbs alone, unroped, a thousand times. he scales his peak, he makes his pass; he does not fall in a crevasse! but if the alpine club should seek to follow him on pass

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

to do with darwin other than being a misapplication of the concept of survival of the fittest. this concept is just one particular aspect of evolutionary theory, but it was latched upon by early social scientists who also misunderstood the science of genetics to justify the brash treatment of the lower social classes. for these intellectuals, belonging (and remaining) at the bottom of the social ladder meant absence of fitness to compete in the world, and not only that, but this absence of fitness was hereditary, as well. social darwinism was a doctrine, not a scientific theory, and it is best dismissed. another unfortunate offshoot of the misapplication of darwinism and genetics was the eugenics movement. started in the late 1860s in england, this movement advocated the selective breedin

els kings/popes archbishops dukes bishops 32 evolution and religious creation myths barons knights ladies-in-waiting priests pages merchants landowning farmers soldiers servants shepherds beggars actors thieves gypsies animals worms plants rocks this structure immediately suggests that the value of a plant is less than that of a priest, for example. in other words, going up from the bottom of the ladder, the value of things living or not progresses from, to use other examples, that of a gypsy to that of a baron and, even more so, to that of an archbishop. of course, many people today, especially soldiers, might not agree that their value ranks lower than that of ladies-in-waiting, as per aquinas s construction. this whole line of reasoning is in fact a very slippery slope. indeed, this typ

discovery of the dna double helix in 1953 and the molecular understanding of genes (starting in the late 1950s and continuing to date) that researchers have had a good grip on the nature of mutations. dna is a very long, double-stranded molecule containing in its center a succession of pairs of units called bases (adenine, a; thymine, t; cytosine, c; and guanine, g) that form the rungs of the dna ladder. in dna, an a in one strand always faces a t in the other strand, and a g always faces a c. human dna contains about 3.1 billion such base pairs, the sequence of which is known. it is the sequence of the base pairs in dna that constitutes the blueprint of life, our genes. through a succession of complicated mechanisms, the genetic instructions present in the dna base-pair sequence are conve

MACNULTY W KIRK KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY

preston's work. there is a good deal of masonic pictorial material available in the last decade of the 18th century. figure 4, the frontispiece from a work called masonic miscellanies is typical; and it is of interest. like many masonic diagrams of the period, this seems to be a heterogeneous collection of symbols, but two seem to me to be essentially kabbalistic. once again we see the staircase (ladder) of seven steps between two opposite verticals, and these are clearly opposite they figure 4. frontispiece, masonic miscellanies, 1797. are of different orders of architecture and they are surmounted by terrestrial and celestial spheres. the same pattern is repeated at the top of the drawing by the symbol of the circle, the parallel lines and the ladder (jacob's ladder) which has three prin

rld of the spirit, and i have shown them in the upper face of this tree, the part of the tree that is contiguous with beriah. the square represents yezirah; and i have placed it at tiferet, the central sefirah and the essence of that world. these six symbols will be shown on all the tree diagrams that we will use and will form the background for the more detailed consideration of the degrees. the ladder refer again to the first degree tracing board (figure 8. thus far we have not spoken of its central feature, the ladder.47 remember that one of the ideas which was fundamental to renaissance thought was the concept of a macrocosm, considered to be the universe as a whole and a corresponding microcosm, considered to be the human individual. the idea is that the universe and human beings are

the principle of "oneness" we have seen that in the hermetica "as above, so below" sums up this idea; and it was treated in figure 10. the tree of life with masonic symbols. great detail in england in the early 17th century by robert fludd in his history of the two worlds.48 now, in the macrocosm the ionic, corinthian, and doric columns represent the "rule of three" what about the microcosm? the ladder extends from the scripture open on the pedestal to the glory which represents the deity; and in the masonic symbolism it is said to be jacob's ladder. we will consider the ladder together with another symbol, the point-within-a-circle-bounded-by-two-parallel-lines which is shown on the face of the pedestal. we have seen this combination before, on frontispiece to masonic miscellanies and in

ich represents the deity; and in the masonic symbolism it is said to be jacob's ladder. we will consider the ladder together with another symbol, the point-within-a-circle-bounded-by-two-parallel-lines which is shown on the face of the pedestal. we have seen this combination before, on frontispiece to masonic miscellanies and in the illustration from the french exposure. it is our old friend, the ladder between two opposite verticals, two of which (the lines) relate to active and passive functions while the third, the ladder, reaches to the heavens and provides the means. by which we hope to arrive there."49taken together the ladder and the point-within-a-circle-bounded-by-two-parallel- lines are an abbreviated version of the tree of life, and they represent the human individual, made. in

ssive functions while the third, the ladder, reaches to the heavens and provides the means. by which we hope to arrive there."49taken together the ladder and the point-within-a-circle-bounded-by-two-parallel- lines are an abbreviated version of the tree of life, and they represent the human individual, made. in the image of god" according to the same principles on which the universe is based. the ladder, which i think is a representation of individual consciousness, has "three principal rounds" or levels, represented by faith, hope and charity, which correspond to the three lower levels of the four-level universe we observed earlier. both the macrocosmic "landscape" and the microcosmic "man" share the fourth level of divinity, represented by the blazing star, or glory. east-west direction

the border of this tracing board; they define the east west direction as it is to be understood in terms of masonic symbolism, and in doing so they make some comment about the nature of the journey which the new mason apprentices himself to undertake. that journey from west to east is represented, symbolically, by the progress through the masonic degrees; and it is, in fact, the ascent up jacob's ladder one of the "principal rounds" for each degree. this should be no surprise. as we have seen, the notion of a "mystical ascent" was part and parcel of the hermetic/kabbalistic tradition. we should note that this journey is an ascent in consciousness; from ordinary consciousness of the physical world, through the soul and the spirit, to a consciousness of the divine presence. reuchlin describe

er his labors take place on the ground floor of the temple. in kabbalistic terms, we may think that the ground floor corresponds to the lower face of the tree, the part of the psyche in intimate contact with the physical world. in figure 11 we see the prominent symbols of the apprentice degree "on the tree" note first, faith, hope and charity, to the left. i have placed them to indicate that the "ladder" corresponds to the central column of the tree, and the three "principal rounds" correspond to the major steps up the central column. faith, the first principal round is the appropriate attitude for the apprentice. he has no experience of his own on which to base his expectations; he must place his faith in the deity and in the integrity of the more experienced brethren who will teach him

it is not a physical structure that is represented here. masonically, it is a representation of solomon's temple; and the interior sun is a representation of the divine presence. here, again, we remember that. ye are the temple" this is a representation of the individual human being. probably you have already recognized the pattern to which i have been alluding throughout this writing: this is a ladder (it has become a staircase) between two opposite verticals. i believe this to be a symbolic reference to the tree of life. just to finish off this general correspondence, note that there are four levels in the picture: the ground floor, in contact with the physical world; the first floor to which the staircase leads, representing the psyche, the world of the soul; a gallery at the top of th

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

ar-reaching, for at one time nearly all europe was converted to its doctrines. rome, in her intercourse with other nations, inoculated them with her religious principles; and many later institutions have exhibited mithraic culture. the reference to the "lion" and the "grip of the lion's paw" in the master mason's degree have a strong mithraic tinge and may easily have originated from this cult. a ladder of seven rungs appears in the mithraic initiation. faber is of the opinion that this ladder was originally a pyramid of seven steps. it is possible that the masonic ladder with seven rungs had its origin in this mithraic symbol. women were never permitted to enter the mithraic order, but children of the male sex were initiates long before they reached maturity. the refusal to permit women t

rs. here, freed of all illusion, it dwells in the light and sings praises to the father in a voice which only the pure of spirit may understand. behold, o hermes, there is a great mystery in the eighth sphere, for the milky way is the seed-ground of souls, and from it they drop into the rings, and to the milky way they return again from the wheels of saturn. but some cannot climb the seven-runged ladder of the rings. so they wander in darkness below and are swept into eternity with the illusion of sense and earthiness "the path to immortality is hard, and only a few find it. the rest await the great day when the wheels of the universe shall be stopped and the immortal sparks shall escape from the sheaths of substance. woe unto those who wait, for they must return again, unconscious and unk

od of astrological symbolism in vogue among them, thus "in zoroaster's cave of initiation, the sun and planets were represented, overhead, in gems and gold, as was also the zodiac. the sun appeared, emerging from the back of taurus" in the constellation of the bull are also to be found the "seven sisters--the sacred pleiades--famous to freemasonry as the seven stars at the upper end of the sacred ladder. in ancient egypt it was during this period--when the vernal equinox was in the sign of taurus--that the bull, apis, was sacred to the sun god, who was worshiped through the animal equivalent of the celestial sign which he had impregnated with his presence at the time of its crossing into the northern hemisphere. this is the meaning of an ancient saying that the celestial bull "broke the eg

irit. in man the light shines toward the north but never from it, because the body has no light of its own but shines with the reflected glory of the divine life-particles concealed within physical substance. for this reason the moon is accepted as the symbol of man's physical nature. chiram is the mysterious fiery, airy water which must be raised through the three grand centers symbolized by the ladder with three rungs and the sunburst flowers mentioned in the description of the hindu painting. it must also pass upward by means of the ladder of seven rungs-the seven plexuses proximate to the spine. the nine segments of the sacrum and coccyx are pierced by ten foramina, through which pass the roots of the tree of life. nine is the sacred number of man, and in the symbolism of the sacrum an

ywhere, while that which is nowhere is the center. it is however to a balance and not to a circle that it compares the universal equilibrium of things. it affirms that equilibrium is everywhere and so also is the central point where the balance hangs in suspension. we find that the zohar is thus more forcible and more profound than pascal* the zohar is a genesis of light; the sepher yetzirah is a ladder of truth. therein are expounded the two-andthirty absolute symbols of speech--being numbers and letters. each letter produces a number, an idea and a form, so that mathematics are applicable to forms and ideas, even as to numbers, in virtue of an exact proportion, and a perfect correspondence. by the science of the sepher yetzirah, the human mind is rooted in truth and in reason; it account

scythe, and the light of the sun, the moon, and the fixed stars" over the scythe is written "subject to the sun, the moon and azoth, complete the work" the four words in the curve of the scythe blade say "man's head, head of raven" the three lines to the right are interpreted thus "this figure is called laton, for it looks black in a vessel, and is the beginning of corruption" the text below the ladder states "this is the ladder of primitive matter which when placed in a vessel turns black, the gradually changes to white by the scale [ladder] of digestion, according to the degree of heat" here a ladder is used to signify the natural steps up which matter must ascend before it can attain to a truly spiritual state. click to enlarge leaf 17. the verse at the top of the page reads "not only

the aged warden of the tower, after examining the work performed by the wedding guests in the laboratory and finding it satisfactory, caused ladders, ropes, and large wings to be brought forth, and addressed the assembled "artists" thus "my dear sons, one of these three things must each of you this day constantly bear about with him" lots were cast and to c.r.c, much to his chagrin, fell a heavy ladder. those who secured wings had them fastened to their backs so cunningly that it was impossible to detect that they were artificial. the aged warden then locked the "artists" in the lower room of the tower, but in a short time a round hole was uncovered in the ceiling and virgo lucifera invited all to ascend. those with wings flew at once through the opening, those with ropes had many difficu

gs had them fastened to their backs so cunningly that it was impossible to detect that they were artificial. the aged warden then locked the "artists" in the lower room of the tower, but in a short time a round hole was uncovered in the ceiling and virgo lucifera invited all to ascend. those with wings flew at once through the opening, those with ropes had many difficulties, while c.r.c. with his ladder made reasonable speed. on the second floor the wedding guests, musicians, and virgo lucifera gathered about a fountain-like contrivance containing the bodies of the six royal persons. virgo lucifera then placed the if moor's head in a kettle-like receptacle in the upper part of the fountain and poured upon it the substances prepared on the previous day in the laboratory. the virgins placed

which was lived by the candidate for a prescribed number of years before he was eligible to the inner degrees of the society. the various floors of the tower of olympus represent the orbits of the planets. the ascent of the philosophers from one floor to another also parallels certain rituals of the eleusinian mysteries and the rites of mithras wherein the candidate ascended the seven rungs of a ladder or climbed the seven steps of a pyramid in order to signify release from the influences of the planetary governors. man becomes master of the seven spheres only when he transmutes the impulses received from them. he who masters the seven worlds and is reunited with the divine source of his own nature consummates the hermetic marriage. next: bacon, shakspere, and the rosicrucians sacred text

iritual darkness, into perfect wisdom, this archimagus is made to say "i am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, i am alive forever more, amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" in the second and third chapters st. john delivers to the "seven churches which are in asia" the injunctions received by him from the alpha and omega. the churches are here analogous to the rungs of a mithraic ladder, and john, being "in the spirit" ascended through the orbits of the seven sacred planets until he reached the inner surface of the empyrean "after the soul of the prophet" writes the anonymous author of mankind: their origin and destiny "in his ecstatic state has passed in its rapid flight through the seven spheres, from the sphere of the moon to that of saturn, or from the planet which cor

aith and science. a strange creature, called alborak, or the lightning bolt, was brought for the conveyance of the prophet. alborak is described as white animal of the shape and size of a mule, with the head of a woman and the tail of a peacock. according to some versions, mohammed merely rode alborak to jerusalem, where, dismounting upon mount moriah, he caught hold of the lower rung of a golden ladder lowered from heaven and, accompanied by gabriel, ascended through the seven spheres separating he earth from the inner surface of the empyrean. at the gate of each sphere stood me of the patriarchs, whom mohammed saluted as he entered the various planes. at the gate of the first heaven stood adam; at the gate of the second, john and jesus (sisters' sons; at the third, joseph; at the fourth

al knowledge and investigation of the temporal and illusionary parts of nature. its so-called practical discoveries bind man but more tightly with the bonds of physical limitation, religion, too, has become materialistic: the beauty and dignity of faith is measured by huge piles of masonry, by tracts of real estate, or by the balance sheet. philosophy which connects heaven and earth like a mighty ladder, up the rungs of which the illumined of all ages have climbed into the living presence of reality--even philosophy has become a prosaic and heterogeneous mass of conflicting notions. its beauty, its dignity, its transcendency are no more. like other branches of human thought, it has been made materialistic-"practical--and its activities so directionalized that they may also contribute their

MATHERS MACGREGOR THE GREATER KEY OF SOLOMON VOL 1

formity before us, come ye without monstrous appearance, in a gracious form or figure. come ye, for we exorcise ye with the utmost vehemence by the name of iao and on, which adam spake and heard; by the name el, which noah heard, and saved himself with all his family from the deluge; by the name iod, which noah heard, and knew god the almighty one; by the name agla, which jacob heard, and saw the ladder which touched heaven, and the angels who ascended and descended upon it, whence he called that place the house of god and the gate of heaven; and by the name elohim, and in the name elohim, which moses named, invoked, and heard in horeb the mount of god, and he was found worthy to hear him speak from the burning bush; and by the name ain soph, which aaron heard, and was at once made eloquen

MATHERS MACGREGOR THE GREATER KEY OF SOLOMON VOL 2

ie occulte" serie ii, page 136. i will now give unto thee the key of the kingdom of the spirits. this key is the same as that of the mysterious numbers of yetzirah. 84 the spirits are governed by the natural and universal hierarchy of things. thrice command three through the medium of three. there are the spirits of above, those of below, and those of the center; then if thou investest the sacred ladder, if thou descendest instead of ascending, thou wilt discover the counter-hierarchy of the shells, or of the dead spirits. know thou only that the principalities of heaven, the virtues, and the powers, are not persons, but dignities. they are the degrees of the sacred ladder upon which the spirits ascend and descend. michael, gabriel, raphael, and the others, are not names but titles. the fi

MATHERS MACGREGOR THE GREATER KEY OF SOLOMON PENTACLES

below it are the names of the angels adoniel and bariel, the letters of the latter being arranged about a square of four compartments. around is the versicle from psalm cxii. 3 "wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endureth for ever" figure 22. the fifth pentacle of jupiter. this hath great power. it serveth for assured visions. jacob being armed with this pentacle beheld the ladder which reached unto heaven. editor s note. the hebrew letters within the pentacle are taken from the five last words of the versicle which surrounds it, each of which contains five letters. these are, then, recombined so as to form certain mystical names. the versicle is taken from ezekiel i. 1 "as i was among the captives by the river of chebar, the heavens were opened, and i saw visions of

MEANING OF MASONRY

should build the altar of his own spiritual life, an altar deeper which he should suffer no" iron tool" no debasing habit of thought or conduct, to defile. by them, of too, he will perceive how wisdom, strength and beauty have been employed by the creator, like three grand supporting pillars, in the structure of his own organism. and by these finally he will discern how that there is a mystical" ladder of many rounds or staves" i.e, that there are innumerable paths or methods by means of which men are led upwards to the spiritual light encircling us all, and in which we live and move and have our being, but that of the three principal methods, the greatest of these, the one that comprehends them all and brings us nearest heaven, is love, in the full exercise of which god-like virtue a mas

ce into the lodge between the pillars is a symbol. now all great symbols are shadowed forth in the person of man himself. the human organism is the true lodge that must be opened and wherein the great mysteries are to be found, and our lodge rooms are so built and furnished as to typify the human organism. the lower and physical part of us is animal and earthy, and rests, like the base of jacob's ladder, upon the earth; whilst our higher portion is spiritual and reaches to the heavens. these two portions of ourselves are in perpetual conflict, the spiritual and the carnal ever warring against one another; and he alone is the wise man who has learned to effect a perfect balance between them and to establish himself in strength so that his own inward house stands firm against all weakness an

s sprung from the earth and developed through the lower kingdoms of nature to his present rational state, has yet to complete his evolution by becoming a god-like being and unifying his consciousness with the omniscient--to promote which is and always has been the sole aim and purpose of all initiation. to scale this" height" to attain this expansion of consciousness, is achieved" by the use of a ladder of many rounds or staves, but of three principal ones, faith, hope and charity" of which the greatest and most effectual is the last. that is to say, there are innumerable ways of developing one's consciousness to higher degrees, and in fact every common-place incident of daily experience may contribute to that end if it be rightly interpreted and its purpose in the general pattern of our l

, and thinking no evil, gradually identifies the mind and nature of the aspirant with that ultimate good upon which his thought, desire and gaze should be persistently directed. it is important to note here that this enlargement of consciousness is in no way represented as being dependent upon intellectual attainments, learning or book-knowledge. these may be, and indeed are, lesser staves of the ladder of attainment; but they are not numbered among the principal ones. compare st. paul's words" though i have all knowledge and have not love, i am nothing" and those of a medieval mystic" by love he may be gotten and holden, but by wit and understanding never" the lodge is" supported by three grand pillars, wisdom, strength and beauty" again the references are not to the external meeting-plac

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

planet arrous, the creature w alks among us, w ar of the worlds, thetripods, six million dollar man, freejack, tron, planet of the apes, the eiger sanction,the time machine, things to come, cabinet of dr. caligari, the golem, android, five mil-lion y ears to earth, star wars, he-man: masters of the universe, what planet are youfrom, fifth element, fallen, independence day, moonraker, and jacob s ladder) in earlier chapters, we reviewed theories of how alien beings arrived and colonized theplanet earth, influencing her entire history. we also looked into the probable mannerin which evil came into the world and into the personality of man. we hinted that itmay not be at all natural, meaning that it may not arise due to the inviolate forces ofnature, but only from perpetual and unnecessary t

and gold, made very artistic in design. thepottery work includes enameled ware and glazed vessels. another passageway leads to granaries suchas are found in the oriental temples. they contain seeds of various kinds. one very large storehouse hasnot yet been entered, as it is twelve feet high and can be reached only from above. two copper hooksextend on the edge, which indicates that some sort of ladder was attached. these grannies are rounded,as the materials of which they are constructed, i think is a very hard cement. a gray metal is also foundin this cavern, which puzzles the scientists, for its identity has not been established. it resembles plati-num.strewn promiscuously over the floor everywhere are what people call 'cats eyes' a yellow stone of nogreat value. each one is engraved w

MORALS AND DOGMA

tood erect. it probably meant _active_ and _vivifying energy_ and _force; and _boas, stability, permanence, in the _passive_ sense. the dimensions of the lodge, our brethren of the york rite say "are unlimited, and its covering no less than the canopy of heaven "to this object" they say "the mason's mind is continually directed, and thither he hopes at last to arrive by the aid of the theological ladder which jacob in his vision saw ascending from earth to heaven; the three principal rounds of which are denominated faith, hope, and charity; and which admonish us to have faith in god, hope in immortality, and charity to all mankind" accordingly a ladder, sometimes with nine rounds, is seen on the chart, resting at the bottom on the earth, its top in the clouds, the stars shining above it; a

ing from earth to heaven; the three principal rounds of which are denominated faith, hope, and charity; and which admonish us to have faith in god, hope in immortality, and charity to all mankind" accordingly a ladder, sometimes with nine rounds, is seen on the chart, resting at the bottom on the earth, its top in the clouds, the stars shining above it; and this is deemed to represent that mystic ladder, which jacob saw in his dream, set up on the earth, and the top of it reaching to heaven, with the angels of god ascending and descending on it. the addition of the three principal rounds to the symbolism, is wholly modern and incongruous. the ancients counted seven planets, thus arranged: the moon, mercury, venus, the sun, mars, jupiter, and saturn. there were seven heavens and seven spher

nts of mithras are seven altars or pyres, consecrated to the seven planets, as were the seven lamps of the golden candelabrum in the temple. that these represented the planets, we are assured by clemens of alexandria, in his stromata, and by philo judaeus. to return to its source in the infinite, the human soul, the ancients held, had to ascend, as it had descended, through the seven spheres. the ladder by which it reascends, has, according to marsilius ficinus, in his commentary on the ennead of plotinus, seven degrees or steps; and in the mysteries of mithras, carried to rome under the emperors, the ladder, with its seven rounds, was a symbol referring to this ascent through the spheres of the seven planets. jacob saw the spirits of god ascending and descending on it; and above it the de

anetary spheres were represented, which souls needs must traverse in descending from the heaven of the fixed stars to the elements that envelop the earth; and seven gates were marked, one for each planet, through which they pass, in descending or returning. we learn this from celsus, in origen, who says that the symbolic image of this passage among the stars, used in the mithraic mysteries, was a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, divided into seven steps or stages, to each of which was a gate, and at the summit an eighth one, that of the fixed stars. the symbol was the same as that of the seven stages of borsippa, the pyramid of vitrified brick, near babylon, built of seven stages, and each of a different color. in the mithraic ceremonies, the candidate went through seven stages of ini

tages, to each of which was a gate, and at the summit an eighth one, that of the fixed stars. the symbol was the same as that of the seven stages of borsippa, the pyramid of vitrified brick, near babylon, built of seven stages, and each of a different color. in the mithraic ceremonies, the candidate went through seven stages of initiation, passing through many fearful trials and of these the high ladder with seven rounds or steps was the symbol. you see the lodge, its details and ornaments, by its lights. you have already heard what these lights, the greater and lesser, are said to be, and how they are spoken of by our brethren of the york rite. the holy bible, square, and compasses, are not only styled the great lights in masonry, but they are also technically called the furniture of the

he prestons and the webbs, not to mention the later incarnations of dullness and commonplace, undertaking to "explain" the old symbols of masonry, and adding to and "improving" them, or inventing new ones. to the circle inclosing the central point, and itself traced between two parallel lines, a figure purely kabalistic, these persons have added the superimposed bible, and even reared on that the ladder with three or nine rounds, and then given a vapid interpretation of the whole, so profoundly absurd as actually to excite admiration [illustration] iv. secret master. masonry is a succession of allegories, the mere vehicles of great lessons in morality and philosophy. you will more fully appreciate its spirit, its object, its purposes, as you advance in the different degrees, which you will

ted the seven planetary spheres which they needs must traverse, in descending from the heaven of the fixed stars to the elements that envelop the earth; and seven gates were marked, one for each planet, through which they pass, in descending or returning. we learn this from celsus, in origen; who says that the symbolical image of this passage among the stars, used in the mithriac mysteries, was a ladder, reaching from earth to heaven, divided into seven steps or stages, to each of which was a gate, and at the summit an eighth, that of the fixed stars. the first gate says celsus, was that of saturn, and of lead, by the heavy nature whereof his dull slow progress was symbolized. the second, of tin, was that of venus, symbolizing her soft splendor and easy flexibility. the third, of brass, wa

was his scholar. after his novitiate, the candidate entered the cavern of initiation, and was received on the point of a sword presented to his naked left breast, by which he was slightly wounded. being crowned with olive, anointed with balsam of benzoin, and otherwise prepared, he was purified with fire and water, and went through seven stages of initiation. the symbol of these stages was a high ladder with seven rounds or steps. in them, he went through many fearful trials, in which darkness displayed a principal part. he saw a representation of the wicked in hades; and finally emerged from darkness into light. received in a place representing elysium, in the brilliant assembly of the initiated, where the archimagus presided, robed in blue, he assumed the obligations of secrecy, and was

ber and ceres, hung the b otian hills with vineyards, and gave the golden sheaf to eleusis. the children of men were, in a sense, allied or married, to those sons of god who sang the jubilee of creation; and the encircling vault with its countless stars, which to the excited imagination of the solitary chaldean wanderer appeared as animated intelligences, might naturally be compared to a gigantic ladder, on which, in their rising and setting, the angel luminaries appeared to be ascending and descending between earth and heaven. the original revelation died out of men's memories; they worshipped the creature instead of the creator; and holding all earthly things as connected by eternal links of harmony and sympathy with the heavenly bodies, they united in one view astronomy, astrology, and

ough the supernatural worlds is accomplished like the initiation into the mysteries of eleusis and thebes. he escapes from that gulf of hell over the gate of which the sentence of despair was written _by reversing the positions of his head and feet, that is to say _by accepting the direct opposite of the catholic dogma_ and then he reascends to the light, by using the devil himself as a monstrous ladder. faust ascends to heaven, by stepping on the head of the vanquished mephistopheles. hell is impassable for those only who know not how to turn back from it. we free ourselves from its bondage by audacity. his hell is but a negative purgatory. his heaven is composed of a series of kabalistic circles, divided by a cross, like the pantacle of ezekiel. in the centre of this cross blooms a rose

is the hermetic symbol of the creative deity, and the square of the productive earth or universe. from the heavens come the spiritual and immortal portion of man; from the earth his material and mortal portion. the hebrew genesis says that yehouah formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. through the seven planetary spheres, represented by the mystic ladder of the mithriac initiations, and it by that which jacob saw in his dream (not with _three, but with _seven_ steps, the souls, emanating from the deity, descended, to be united to their human bodies; and through those seven spheres they must re-ascend, to return to their origin and home in the bosom of the deity. the compass, therefore, as the symbol of the _heavens, represents the spiritual

aspirations, its struggles, though they may have ended in defeat, with the impediments and enthralments of the senses and the passions, that when it shall have been rescued from the material environments that now prove too strong for it, and be freed from the deforming and disfiguring accretions that here adhere to it, it will again be seen in its true nature, and by degrees ascend by the mystic ladder of the spheres, to its first home and place of origin. the royal secret, of which you are prince, if you are a true adept, if knowledge seems to you advisable, and philosophy is, for you, radiant with a divine beauty, is that which the sohar terms _the mystery of the_ balance. it is the secret of the universal equilibrium--of that equilibrium in the deity, between the infinite divine wisdom

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

the form of a question-and-answer catechism: q. how high is your lodge? a. inches and spans inumberable. q. how inumberable? a. the material heavens 8c stary firmament. q. how many pillars is your lodge? a. three. q. what are these? a. ye square, the compass& ye bible. this is the affirmation of the cosmic and sacred meaning of the lodge. following is the christian meaning of the temple: q. what ladder had they. building of ye? a. jacobs. between ye heaven] ye earth* words are missing from this part of the manuscript. speculative freemasonry 229 q. how many steps was in jacobs ladder? a. 3. q. what was ye 3? a. father, son& holy spirit. q. what meant ye golden dore of ye temple, qr (where) the went in to sanctum sanctorum? a. it was another type of christ who is ye door ye way and the tru

PIKE CUMMINGS THE SPURIOUS RITES OF MEMPHIS AND MISRAIM

ided to the care of the father of marconis, who was appointed (by whom it is not stated) grand hierophant of the order. the falsity of these assertions is easily demonstrated. jacques etienne marconis was initiated into the rite of mizraim, at paris, c bst of april, b i d d, being then twenty-seven years of age. on the same day he received the first thirteen degrees of the rite, for this egyptian ladder was not very difficult to ascend.on the c hth of june of the same year, certain charges were preferred against him by several of the brethren, in consequence of which he was excluded from the rite. shortly afterwards left paris and went to lyons,where,under the name of negre, he founded a lodge of the rite of mizraim,with the title of la bienveillance, of which he assumed the mastership.as

re new charges were preferred against him, by the brethren of lyons, and on the c hth day of may, b i d i, he was once more expelled from the order.after these two expulsions,marconis, satisfied that he could no longer play a part in the rite of mizraim but feeling that he was born for great things, did what many others had done before him xhe created a masonic power! appropriating the mizraimite ladder, manufactured by lechangeur, and adding a few rounds, he soon constructed his rite of memphis, arid the work being finished, he constituted himself its head and front. to furnish an origin and a history to this work was no very difficult task; and in accomplishing it we must acknowledge that he showed much more respect for the common sense of the masons than did michel bedarride who, in his

RABBI MOSHE WISNEFSKY APPLES FROM THE ORCHARD THE ARIZAL ON THE PARASHAH

a manifestation of atzilut in the lower three worlds [he may attain] a nefesh from malchut [of atzilut, a ruach from tiferet [of atzilut, a neshamah from binah [of atzilut, or a chayah from chochmah [of atzilut [we see that chayah is related to chochmah, for] about it it is written, gand wisdom enlivens those who possess it. h5 this was the level of the soul of moses. the process of ascending the ladder of divine consciousness and service leads through the four worlds of asiyah (behaviorism, action, yetzirah (emotional involvement, beriah (intellectual involvement, and atzilut (subsumission of the self into the reality of g-d. once in the world of atzilut, the soul is no longer termed a gservant h of g-d but has so merged with divinity that it is termed a gson h of g-d.6 this is the level

g of its own, h i.e, whatever content it possesses it receives from the other sefirot. in this sense, it may be considered to be gsilent h or ginanimate. h the emotions (chesed to yesod) are the context in which a person fs maturity develops. although there is also a difference between a mature intellect and an immature one, the most visible indication of a person fs growth and development on the ladder of humanity is his emotional behavior. the emotions are thus the gvegetative h aspect of the personality, that which exhibits growth and development. the intellect, the chief sefirah of which is binah, is the source of vitality and animation in a person. only when a person understands the importance and significance of something does he get animated about it and pursue it. thus, the sefirah

r sins they may have done, for there is no one that has not committed some sin. thus, for the righteous, reincarnation is the lighter purification process, after which they enter paradise directly. for the wicked, however, reincarnation entails more suffering, and only after finishing the reincarnation process can he proceed to gehinom. when a righteous person dies, he is thus ready to ascend the ladder of sublime levels of paradise, but this does not happen all at once. rather, immediately after his death he is subjected to suffering in order to cleanse him of his more serious sins. only after this is he brought into his first level of paradise. when his turn comes to ascend to a higher, more sublime level, he is again subjected to suffering in order to cleanse him of his more subtle sins

or full damages it causes instead of just half.5 1 numbers 22:3. 2 see rashi on exodus 32:7; likutei sichot, vol. 16, pp. 408 ff. 3 numbers 22:4. 4 berachot 33a. the arizal on parashat balak 628 in discussing under what dangerous circumstances a person may interrupt his prayers in order to flee for safety, the sages said that gif an ox fs head is in a [fodder] basket, go up to a roof and kick the ladder away from underneath you, h i.e, get as far away as possible, for the ox will not take kindly to anyone it perceives as interrupting it from its meal. gsamuel said: ethis applies only to a black ox in the month of nisan, because then the satan is dancing between his horns. f h rashi says on this: gbecause the days of autumn have passed, when the land is dry, and the ox now sees it full of g

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

itself- that light "which no wind can extinguish, which burns without wick or fuel" being "brought to the light" then is a very apposite description of the <38> function of initiation. it is the great work. there is no ambiguity in the conception of the rituals, for it appears throughout the entire work from neophyte to adeptus minor and perhaps beyond. for the path is a journeying upwards on the ladder of existence to the crown of the tree of life, a journey where every effort made and every step taken brings one a little nearer to the true glory of the clear light. as we know, the experience of the rising of the light in both vision and waking state is common to mystics of every age and of every people. it must be an experience of the greatest significance in the treading of the path bec

wledge pertaining to that element and grade, and excerpts from fragmentary remains of the ancient mysteries and from certain of the books of the qabalah do much towards producing an impressive atmosphere. the element offered for the work of transmutation in the grade of zelator is the introduction 29 earthy part of the candidate. the ritual symbolically admits him to the first rung of that mighty ladder whose heights are obscured in the light above. this first rung is the lowest sphere of the conventional tree of life, malkuth, the sanctum regnum. to it are ascribed the first grade of zelator, and the element of earth. herein, after the earth elementals are invoked, the candidate is ceremonially brought to three stations, the first two being those of evil and the presence divine. at each o

ted. two paths- malkuth, and the path of the theme apparently is biblical in nature, phraseology consonant therewith, they the elements of a profound psychology. wait of three months, referred to the regimen silent incubation, during which time the may make copies for his own private the fourth grade of philosophus sephirah involved is netsach, victory, to venus and the element of fire, while the ladder are principally of a watery nature. identical nature with those of the preceding reversed. previously the water was predominant. lurid storm, with water only as the complementary and in order that due equilibrium may elohim moved upon the face of the waters" elements which, intelligently controlled <55> eventually to the restoration of paradise may be re-created from it had fallen. for the

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART I

e majority fails before this ordeal, which seems to them a second death more appalling than the first, and so they remain in hell, which is rightly and actually eternal; but souls are never precipitated nor even retained despite themselves therein. 16 the doctrine of transcendental magic the three worlds correspond together by means of the thirty-two paths of light, which are as steps of a sacred ladder. every true thought corresponds to a divine grace in heaven and a good work on earth; every grace of god manifests a truth, and produces one or many acts; reciprocally, every act affects a truth or falsehood in the heavens, a grace or a punishment. when a man pronounces the tetragram say the kabalists the nine celestial realms sustain a shock, and then all spirits cry out one upon another:

RUBY TABLET OF SET

iven airplanes and supersonic jets. it cannot be otherwise if the level of knowledge and understanding continues to accelerate with constant coming into being. would there be a need of a gandhi today? such great ones arise at times of equally great need as a result of initiation into the mechanics of the compleat life. the magister/magistra moves from one stage of priesthood and initiation up the ladder to the highest possible initiatory attainment, that of master of the temple [the fifth and sixth degrees are more properly specialized areas than "higher rungs] the (8=[3] which mohandas gandhi attained to may be now and again less expressive than our iv of today, but he was one of the prominent magistri of his day as is evidenced in his works and writings. his journey through life began on

re can be no right or wrong way of xepering, since it is up to the individual what he will remanifest as he indulges or indulges in the pursuit of xeper. in the cases which have made more or less forced exits due to the nature of their beings, the reasons are most generally those of destructively disruptive behaviors which are out of line with what is considered to be transformation upward on the ladder. there is absolutely nothing wrong with misusing the facilities of the mind, but it must be done outside the gates of the temple of set. no word is without significance for the initiate who aspires to greater heights of understanding. the seven prominent ones- agape, restriction, thelema, indulgence, xeper, xem, and remanifestation- continue to have visible impact regardless of the time spa

church of satan, that splendid and wild walpurgis which lasted until 1975. dr. aquino's book, the church of satan, chronicles the rise and fall of that institution in a detail which brings it to life. it is a work i would recommend to all second degree plus initiates. the word of the age of satan was indulgence. when understood in the highest of meanings the word took thelema several rungs up the ladder in that it gave direction to the word of harwer. the thelemite was told that he had a separate and distinct individual will capable of making its own decisions on a scale far greater than it had previously comprehended. the satanist enjoyed an access to the lesser and greater black magical world on a scale previously unknown in organizational history. once he learned to stop kidding himself

greater influences on reality. that answers "what" insofar as our minds can look forward in time. it is the "how" that this state can/will come about which also occupies our minds, and is never far away from the practicing magician. to the mind of the magus this question has its answer in a six syllable word: remanifestation. each day, each trial and error, each step is another rung upward on the ladder and results in revealing new facets of the being. no single thing in its present form is immortal, and each must change in some manner. as long as consciousness is present the choice is up to the organism- it may choose to live or die, to become something higher or sink to a lower and comfortable level. the latter is non-stressful, but short lived and those who opt for it may find themselve

mus lewis] perspective does indeed assist remanifestation. if you can't look at what is before you, you do not know how to use the forces there at hand [adept osborne] on a personal level, i apply it as a form of transforming myself from one level into another state of being through initiation progressing upwards [ipsissimus lewis] this is true. you must have the muscles involved to climb up that ladder. you can't really put one foot on the bottom rung and assume you are going to reach the top. this is another interesting aspect, that we grow in our magical and initiatory powers by flexing magical muscles. the more we do, the more we are able to do. the more we put into a given amount of research, the more we get back from it [adept parivarto] imagine being at the beach at the ocean. the w

ation is that there is an upward path available if one so chooses. the old temple of set stele also incorporates this same message and it is as valid in xii aes as it was in i aeh. in connection with this upward movement of the being and the push which gives it momentum, priest roger whitaker's article on "occult power" should be read. and there is man, on his way up the physical and intellectual ladder to a new state of being unlike any he has experienced before, full of knowledge and understanding and a willingness to explore the dark corners of the unknown as he heads for a new beginning. as high as his head is in the clouds, i have said before that his feet must be firmly planted on the ground at the same time and the reason for that little piece of advice is the theme of trump x. we s

he honored being buried elsewhere trump xiii death trump xiii is not a sign of death as that state is generally understood. it is a depiction of change and magic and few other trumps are more appropriate to the conclave edition of the trail of the serpent than xiii. the integral indegrient in thelema, indulgence, xeper, poor old xem, and remanifest is that change with forms rungs on the ascending ladder of evolution from the human running on automatic to the divine god who creates as he wills. i cannot help seeing trump xiii as a card with sign after sign of the remanifestation process. although the book of thoth refers to the actions of putrefaction as an element of change, but interestingly enough the card shows no green. that color, you may recall from other ts texts, was associated wit

crowley's thoth deck and is the complement of atu 0. there are marked similarities in the cycling essences generated by the two which are rightfully there considering the messages of the two trumps. atu xxi is one of the espressions of a specialized self-created cosmos. it is aglow with precious stones and intricacy and has taken the most favorable and workable elements of each prior step up the ladder in order to construct an environment in which the individual self can function under its own laws. there are a great number of figures in this particular card. some, like the ones in each corner, the eye and the serpent, can be found in other cards of the thoth deck. each is there for a reason seen by ipsissimus crowley as having pertinence to the essence of the card. the figure of the youn

e seat of the great crystallization of energy. but it takes place very far down the tree. each of these cards gives the full impact of the elemental force, but in its most material sense. in spite of the querant's own satisfaction with his job and career, he is being pressured to do "better. in middle-class white america, in the 1980's, there is a lot of societal pressure to move up the corporate ladder, the chain of command, to take on more and more responsibility, more and more risk, in return for more and more reward. your friend feels this societal pressure, and is distraught because it does not match his own personal desires (as we shall see in the next section. the strength, the brute force of this pressure, is indicated by the central card of this section, lust. this card can be mos

SABBATIC KABALA OF THE CROOKED PATH

rewards. it is interesting to take notice by the use of the void or jagrata in relation to the atu 0 and atu 11 of the tarot-deck, the fool and adjustment. both aspiring to air. the void is of the element air and is ruled by venus and justice. the house of balancing powers or equal dynamic. a hidden formulae to this is revelaed on the pages 110- 114. an interesting point is the use of the witches ladder, a vakra (crooked) ladder in the void. your instrument of empowerment in this cell is this ladder. without the ladder you will be stuck in the same point of the void. the spell using the witches ladder is a prominent gateway to accomplish the magical task the sorcerer will happen. jacobs vision of the ladder that went into heaven in genesis 28 is worthy of some consideration and also the im

f empowerment in this cell is this ladder. without the ladder you will be stuck in the same point of the void. the spell using the witches ladder is a prominent gateway to accomplish the magical task the sorcerer will happen. jacobs vision of the ladder that went into heaven in genesis 28 is worthy of some consideration and also the importance of ladders in the kabbalistic universe. entering this ladder will lead the seeker on a journey of realization of the essence of the conjuration of the letters and its many possibilities. remember also that this journey is undertaken with the help of the horned one, the ox and his tool the goad. this should in itself compromise a warning of not embarking on this journey towards the airy houses of ultimate self-hood unless the desired balance already h

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

all right, on his goddamn _belly, pushing his staff aside _i'll attend to the gentleman myself, bowing and scraping, walking backwards, would you believe- anyway, the stranger had this _fat money-belt_ under his shirt and started hauling out numbers of high-denomination notes; he pointed at a trumpet on a high shelf _that's the one, just like that, hardly looked at it, and mr. maslama was up the ladder _pronto, i"ll--get--it--i--said--i"ll--get--it, and now the truly amazing part, he tried to refuse payment, maslama, it was no no _sir_ no charge _sir, but the stranger paid anyway, stuffing the notes into maslama's upper jacket-pocket as if he were some sort of _bellhop, you had to be there, and last of all the customer turns to the whole store and yells at the top of his voice _i am the r

SCHEM HA MEPHORESH

lation says: when the living creatures (the four kerubim the letters of the name) give glory to him, etc. the four and twenty elders fall down before him and cast their crowns before the throne, etc (that is the crowns, which each bear 3 1 of the 72 names, and these 72 names are written on the leaves of the tree of life which were for the healing of the nations) these are also the 72 names of the ladder of jacob on which the angels of god ascended and descended. it will presently be shown how the 72 angelic names are formed from the 72 names of the deity, and also how their signification is to be found. the 72 names of the deity are thus obtained. the 19th, 20th, and 21st verses of the xiv chapter of the book of exodus each consist of 72 letters (the english translation is) 19th verse: and

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

: those between father and son, between husband and wife, between elder and younger brother, between friends, and between ruler and subject. all these relationships were ruled by the idea of respect that a son must give to a parent, or what is called filial piety (xiao, and the loyalty (zhong) that a subject gives to his or her ruler. women consistently ranked below men in the model hierarchy, or ladder of authority: a wife owed respect to her husband, sons (and daughters) to their mothers as well as their fathers, and so on down to the wives of the sons, who owed respect to everyone. the ideal ruler, for confucius, should be the model gentleman, who rules by de, or political power achieved through virtue and honesty. the ideas for confucianism grew out of a troubled time in china. the cen

SEPHER YETZIRAH WESTCOTT

rise from the rule of a supreme unity" according to isaac myer, in his quabbalah (p. 159, the "sepher yetzirah" was referred to in the writings of ibn gebirol of cordova, commonly called avicebron, who died in a.d. 1070. eliphas levi, the famous french occultist, thus wrote of the "sepher yetzirah" in his histoire de la magie, p. 54 "the zohar is a genesis of illumination, the sepher jezirah is a ladder formed of truths. therein are explained the thirty-two absolute signs of sounds, numbers and letters: each letter reproduces a number, an idea and a form; so that mathematics are capable of application to ideas and to forms not less rigorously than to numbers, by exact proportion and perfect correspondence. by the science of the sepher jezirah the human spirit is fixed to truth, and in reas

SIFRA DETZNIYUTHA

in atiqa (aqyoi, hidden one, vast face--the thirteen formations of the beard in the seven formations of the skull. 151 seven formations of the skull of small face. 152 nine formations of the beard of small face. 153 five formations of the nose of small face. 154 four hidden formations of the beard of atiqa. 155 four of small face from four of vast face. 156 tree of life, see torah b reshith 3:22; ladder of jacob; kav (bk, line of light (luria. 157 the birds are the sefiroth, see 3rd mundaka 1:1, atharva veda: two birds, united always and known by the same name, closely clinging to the same tree, one of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks without eating. seated on the same tree, the jiva moans, bewildered by his impotence, but when he beholds the other, the lord worshipped by all and

SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON ZANONI A ROSICRUCIAN TALE

cherub's voice. she fell upon her knees and prayed. the despoilers of all that beautifies and hallows life had desecrated the altar, and denied the god! they had removed from the last hour of their victims the priest, the scripture, and the cross! but faith builds in the dungeon and the lazar-house its sublimest shrines; and up, through roofs of stone, that shut out the eye of heaven, ascends the ladder where the angels glide to and fro, prayer. and there, in the very cell beside her own, the atheist nicot sits stolid amidst the darkness, and hugs the thought of danton, that death is nothingness("ma demeure sera bientot le neant (my abode will soon be nothingness, said danton before his judges) his, no spectacle of an appalled and perturbed conscience! remorse is the echo of a lost virtue

SIR WALLIS BUDGE EGYPTIAN MAGIC

follow unto the place where it was yesterday, and enjoy twofold peace in amentet. may it look upon its natural body, may it rest upon its spiritual body, and may its body neither perish nor suffer corruption for ever" thus the amulet of the soul was intended to enable the soul both to unite with the mummified body, and to be with its spirit (khu) and spiritual body at will. 10. the amulet of the ladder in tombs of the ancient and middle empires small objects of wood and other substances in the form of ladders have often been found, but the signification of them is not always apparent. from the texts inscribed upon the walls of the corridors and chambers of the pyramids of unas, teta, pepi, and other early kings, it is clear that the primitive egyptians believed that the floor of heaven, w

red spots the edge of p. 52 the plate was so near the tops of the mountains that the deceased might easily clamber on to it and so obtain admission into heaven, but at others the distance between it and the earth was so great that he needed help to reach it. there existed a belief that osiris himself experienced some difficulty of getting up to the iron plate, and that it was only by means of the ladder which his father ra provided that he at length ascended into heaven. on one side of the ladder stood ra, and on the other stood horus, 1 the son of isis, and each god assisted osiris to mount it. originally the two guardians of the ladder were horus the elder and set, and there are several references in the early texts to the help which they rendered to the deceased, who was, of course, ide

son of isis, and each god assisted osiris to mount it. originally the two guardians of the ladder were horus the elder and set, and there are several references in the early texts to the help which they rendered to the deceased, who was, of course, identified with the god osiris. but, with a view either of reminding these gods of their supposed duty, or of compelling them to do it, the model of a ladder was often placed on or near the dead body in the tomb, and a special composition was prepared which had the effect of making the ladder become the means of the ascent of the deceased into heaven. thus in the text written for pepi 2 the deceased is made to address the ladder in these words "homage to thee, o divine ladder! homage to thee, o ladder of set! stand thou upright, o divine ladder!

on or near the dead body in the tomb, and a special composition was prepared which had the effect of making the ladder become the means of the ascent of the deceased into heaven. thus in the text written for pepi 2 the deceased is made to address the ladder in these words "homage to thee, o divine ladder! homage to thee, o ladder of set! stand thou upright, o divine ladder! stand thou upright, o ladder of set! stand thou upright, o ladder of horus, whereby osiris p. 53 came forth into heaven when he made use of his magical power upon ra. for pepi is thy son, and pepi is horus, and thou hast given birth unto pepi even as thou hast given birth unto the god who is the lord of the ladder (i.e, horus; and thou shalt give unto pepi the ladder of the god (i.e, horus, thou shalt give unto him the

adder of set! stand thou upright, o ladder of horus, whereby osiris p. 53 came forth into heaven when he made use of his magical power upon ra. for pepi is thy son, and pepi is horus, and thou hast given birth unto pepi even as thou hast given birth unto the god who is the lord of the ladder (i.e, horus; and thou shalt give unto pepi the ladder of the god (i.e, horus, thou shalt give unto him the ladder of the god set whereby this pepi shall come forth into heaven when he shall have made use of his magical power upon ra. o 'thou god of those whose doubles (kau) pass onwards (when the eye of horus soareth upon the wing of 'thoth on the east side of the divine ladder (or ladder of god, o men whose bodies [would go] into heaven, pepi is the eye of horus, and when the 'eye turneth itself to an

de by side with the eye of horus, and o ye who are the brethren of the gods, rejoice ye that pepi journeyeth among you. and the brethren of pepi who axe the gods shall be glad when they meet pepi, even as horus is glad when he meeteth his eye. he hath placed his eye before his father seb, and every god and every spirit stretcheth out his hand towards pepi when he cometh forth into heaven from the ladder. pepi hath need neither to 'plough the earth' nor to 'collect the offering; and he hath (need neither to go to the hall which is in annu (heliopolis, nor to the hall of the morning which is in annu; for that which he seeth and that which he p. 54 heareth shall feed him and nourish him when he appeareth in heaven from the ladder. pepi riseth like the uraeus on the forehead of set, and every

'collect the offering; and he hath (need neither to go to the hall which is in annu (heliopolis, nor to the hall of the morning which is in annu; for that which he seeth and that which he p. 54 heareth shall feed him and nourish him when he appeareth in heaven from the ladder. pepi riseth like the uraeus on the forehead of set, and every god and every spirit stretcheth out his hand to pepi on the ladder. pepi hath gathered together his bones, be hath collected his flesh, and he hath gone quickly into heaven by means of the two fingers 1 of the god of the ladder (i.e, horus. elsewhere 2 the gods khonsu, sept, etc, are invoked to bring the ladder to pepi, and the ladder itself is adjured to come with its name, and in another place 3 we read, homage to thee, o thou ladder that supportest the

golden vase of the spirits of pe and the spirits of nekhen, stretch out thy hand to this pepi, and let him take his seat between the two great gods who (care in the place of this pepi; take him by the hand and lead him towards sekhet-hetep (i.e, the elysian fields, and let him take his seat among the stars which are in the sky" in the theban recension of the book of the dead the importance of the ladder is also seen, for in chapter cxlix. 4 the deceased says "i set up a ladder among the gods, and i am a divine being among them; and in chapter cliii. he says "the p. 55 [paragraph continues] osiris nu shall come forth upon your ladder which ra hath made for him, and horus and set shall grasp him firmly by the hand" finally, when the custom of placing a model of the ladder in the tomb fell in

adder among the gods, and i am a divine being among them; and in chapter cliii. he says "the p. 55 [paragraph continues] osiris nu shall come forth upon your ladder which ra hath made for him, and horus and set shall grasp him firmly by the hand" finally, when the custom of placing a model of the ladder in the tomb fell into disuse, the priests provided for the necessity of the dead by painting a ladder on the papyri that were inscribed with the texts from the book of the dead and were buried with them. 1 11. the amulet of the two fingers, this amulet is intended to represent the two fingers, index and medius, which the god horus employed in helping his father osiris up the ladder 2 into heaven, as has been described above; it is found in the interior of mummies and is usually made of obsi

SYMBOLISM OF THE BANNERS

the calvary cross. the new testament makes it quite certain that christ was not crucified on a single stake (crux simplex, but on a patibulum or bigot formed of two bars of wood with one fastened across the other. some have held the view that he was nailed to the cross whilst it lay on the ground, and that the cross was then lifted up and set upright. another view is that he was made to ascend a ladder of nine steps, and was then nailed to the cross. this ladder is represented in some medieval pictures of the crucifixion. from the 12th century onward, the ladder appears on wood carvings and in stained glass with the other passion symbols: vix, the dice, the seamless robe, the cock, the spear, the sword, the thirty pieces of silver, the pincers, the three nails, the hammer, the pillar of s

SZYMANSKI GREG SEARCHING FOR THE ILLUMINATI DEEP WITHIN THE BOWELS OF THE VATICAN

hen finally to san diego "i was born into it and long before the induction ceremony when i was 12, intensive training began to instill into me that i was special and the new world order was good for the world" said svali "when you grow up with wealthy parents like this, always being told you are special, it takes a long time to figure out the truth and a way out. i worked my way up the illuminati ladder to the rank of head trainer, overseeing 60 other trainers. people have a hard time believing or understanding just how organized the illuminati really are here in america, comprising about 1-2 percent of the total population "yes, bush, rumsfeld, cheney, kerry, the clintons and the others in power are all a part of it and they are in the governmental division of the illuminati. however, i d

TECHNICIANS GUIDE TO THE LEFT HAND PATH

ronous and unison as the exertion becomes aligned with other activities that are being advanced by others. the totality will be a wave of various ideas and personal reflections whose elements are the very energies that comprise the aeonic motion. consciousness of this motion, and consciousness of the individual in relation to this motion, are the tools that each left hand path adept forges into a ladder of actions reflecting that motion. advanced proportional elements, intentional suffering and white noise proxemics, angularism, and polaric methodologies such as resonance, all combine to form the basic ingredients of a functional left hand path ritual strategy. in practical terms, we can describe the purpose of ritualization- as related to the specific purposes outlined within this book- a

antinomian-based perusal of the concept of isolate intelligence as understood through the laws of resonance. it is our belief that the left hand path experience is a three-fold life long process. this process consists of repeating periods of extension, retraction and synchronization of ideas, principles and personal synthesis. from the results and interactions of these three points of activity, a ladder of ideas forms within the adept initiate. these ideas extend themself directly into the process of initiation as a guide to understanding the process itself. this is what we term stepping into resonance. it is this ladder of ideas that i have set forth in this this book which sets forth in clear detail the resonant paradigm that forms the basis of oit philosophy and magical practice. it is

TEXE MARRS CODEX MAGICA SECRET SIGNS MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS AND HIDDEN CODES OF THE ILLUMINATI

("the blue degrees. after acknowledging that the lower-level brethren are "intentionally misled" he goes on to say that it is not intended that the initiate understand the symbols and deepest secrets of the order, but worse, the masonic lodge's rituals and lectures are designed so that the lower-level masons shall imagine he does understand them! it is only at a later time, as he has moved up the ladder of degrees, that the purposely dumbeddown mason discovers he's been had, that he's been played for a fool. in other words, he's been hoodwinked! so, in effect, masons are lied to, tricked, made fun of, and intentionally led astray, with only a little knowledge added to their brain reservoirs as they advance up the chain. meanwhile, the poor, pitiful souls imagine they are really in on all t

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as formed his own school at crotona in southern italy. an unyielding taskmaster, he accepted only those students whom he assessed as already having established personal regimens of self-discipline. to further stress the seriousness of his study program, pythagoras lectured while standing behind a curtain, thereby denying all personal contact with his students until they had achieved progress on a ladder of initiatory degrees that allowed them to reach the higher grades. while separated from them by the curtain, pythagoras lectured his students on the basic principles of music, mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. pythagoras called his disciples mathematicians, for he believed that the higher teachings began with the study of numbers. from his perspective, he had fashioned a rational the

s defenders, reflected more upon besterman s inexperience as a psychical researcher than the medium s ability to produce genuine phenomena. in 1992, guy lyon playfair published an illustrated article about the incident in the journal of the american society for psychical research in which he points out that the famous levitation photograph reveals signs of careful retouching which eliminated the ladder under mirabelli s feet. proponents of mirabelli s mediumship argue that if the photograph was deliberately faked by mirabelli, it would be the first evidence of trickery on his part ever discovered by any investigator. m delving deeper mello, da silva a. mysteries and realities of this world and the next. trans. by m. b. fierz. london: weidenfeld& nicolson, 1950. eusapia palladino (1854 191

8. jach pursel jach pursel grew up in lansing, michigan. and after marrying his high school sweetheart, peny, he graduated from university of michigan with degrees in international business and political science. in 1974, that was to change forever. pursel, then a young corporate business executive with state farm insurance, was on the fast track in an accelerated program to move up the corporate ladder. but, while out of town and halfway through a five-day conference and training session, jach would encounter a teacher from another realm who was about to take him on a long journey unlike any other, and one that would change the direction of his entire life forever. late one evening, after the day s events, pursel sat on his bed, alone in the hotel room, closed his eyes, and began to relax

and proclaimed that she, too, had been chosen to be a messenger for mother mary. soon the divine mother began conveying messages to rosa lopez to be shared with the thousands of faithful who gather outside her modest home. roman catholic scholarship holds that there are two kinds of visions: one is the imaginative vision, in which the object seen is but a mental concept or symbol, such as jacob s ladder leading up to heaven. st. teresa of avila (1515 1582) had numerous visions, including images of christ, which church authorities have judged were of this symbolic kind of vision. the other is the corporeal vision, in which the figure seen is externally present or in which a supernatural power has so modified the retina of the eye so as to produce the effect of three-dimensional solidarity

edium of the active intellect, first to the visionary s rational faculty, then to his or her imaginative faculty. in this way the distribution of prophetic illumination occurs in conformity with a natural law of emanation. roman catholic scholarship holds that there are two kinds of visions. one is the imaginative vision, in which the object seen is but a mental concept of symbol, such as jacob s ladder leading up to heaven. st. teresa of avila (151 1582) had numerous visions, including images of christ, which church authorities have judged were of this symbolic kind of vision. the other is the corporeal vision, in which the figure seen is externally present or in which a supernatural power has so modified the retina of the eye as to produce the effect of three-dimensional solidarity. in 1

awl into the tunnel and continue on his way. with only a small lamp to drive back the shadows of the cramped corridor, the novice crawled on his hands and knees, hearing over and over a deep sepulchral voice warning that fools who coveted knowledge were certain to perish in the tunnel. as the initiate proceeded forward, he eventually found himself in a wider area where he began to descend an iron ladder. but as he reached the lowest rung, he saw below him only a gaping abyss. there seemed no choice left to him. he could not go back, and he could surely die if he stepped off the ladder into what might be a drop of thousands of feet into the blackness below him. it was at this point that the fortunate initiate, if the oil in his small lamp had held out, t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a

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glodons. in mackal s theory, the creatures migrate from oceans to lakes, following such prey as spawning salmon. lake champlain is linked to the atlantic ocean by the richelieu and st. lawrence rivers of quebec. loch ness is connected to the sea, and so is lake okanagan in british columbia, where ogopogo is frequently sighted. smaller than the basilosaurus, a later development on the evolutionary ladder, zeuglodons bear little resemblance to modern whales. mackal said that the fossil remnants of the creature at the smithsonian institute looks like a big anaconda [a large semiaquatic boa constrictor] with a ridge down its back. m delving deeper coleman, loren. mysterious america. new york: paraview, 2002. top cryptozoological stories of the year 2001. the anomalist, january 4, 2001 [online]

l were two israelites who attained high regard for their skill as dream interpreters. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d mysteries of the mind 117 dreams, or night visions, might be auditory and present a direct message (as in job 33:15 17, genesis 20:3,6) or at other times be symbolic, requiring skilled interpretation. jacob had a dream of a ladder set up on earth, the top of it reaching to heaven. he beheld in this dream angels of god ascending and descending on the ladder with the lord standing above it, confirming the covenant of abraham to jacob (genesis 28:12. king solomon received both wisdom and warning in dreams (i kings 3:5, 9:2. the new testament accounts surrounding the birth of jesus (c. 6 b.c.e. c. 30 c.e) record a number

d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 196 superstitions, strange customs, taboos, and urban legends thelast letter in the greek alphabet, omega, is shaped like a horseshoe. ladders ladders are among humankind s earliest tools and constitute one of its most universal symbols. but where did the superstition originate that bad luck would dog one s path if he or she walked under a ladder? it would seem to make great sense not to walk under a ladder while a carpenter is standing on it pounding in nails with a heavy-headed hammer. is this superstition just plain common sense? going back to ancient egypt, when the priests placed ladders in the tombs for the dead so they might ascend upward if they chose to do so, it was believed that spirits collected in the space that formed

make great sense not to walk under a ladder while a carpenter is standing on it pounding in nails with a heavy-headed hammer. is this superstition just plain common sense? going back to ancient egypt, when the priests placed ladders in the tombs for the dead so they might ascend upward if they chose to do so, it was believed that spirits collected in the space that formed in the area between the ladder and the wall that it leaned against. when a ladder leans against a wall, it forms a natural triangle, and that particular geometric shape has been regarded as sacred since the most ancient of times. and since it is a region to be venerated, it is also a space to be avoided. evil, as well as benign, spirits may be resting there. those people who have somehow walked under a ladder can placate

o be venerated, it is also a space to be avoided. evil, as well as benign, spirits may be resting there. those people who have somehow walked under a ladder can placate the disturbed spirits by immediately placing their thumb between their index and middle finger. this is an ageold method of warding off bad luck. in christian europe in the middle ages, individuals who inadvertently walked under a ladder would cross their fingers on both hands, calling upon the sign of the cross to protect them from any evil entities lurking in the shadows existing between wall and ladder. others would employ the always-reliable method of spitting to banish the negative beings, for best results, three times one for the blessed virgin, one for the son, and one for the holy ghost. more optimistic folks altere

any evil entities lurking in the shadows existing between wall and ladder. others would employ the always-reliable method of spitting to banish the negative beings, for best results, three times one for the blessed virgin, one for the son, and one for the holy ghost. more optimistic folks altered the superstition to state that if a person was, through unusual circumstances, forced to walk under a ladder against his or her will, he or she might receive anything wished for. this is much preferable to the superstition that to tread under a ladder is to foreshadow one s being hanged. on the symbolical level, the ladder often represents an individual s spiritual quest as it moves from a lower to a higher level. seen in dreams, the ladder may symbolize that the percipient is about to achieve a t

nything wished for. this is much preferable to the superstition that to tread under a ladder is to foreshadow one s being hanged. on the symbolical level, the ladder often represents an individual s spiritual quest as it moves from a lower to a higher level. seen in dreams, the ladder may symbolize that the percipient is about to achieve a transition to a higher state of awareness. the archetypal ladder vision or dream for christians and jews is the one received by jacob at bethel when he perceived angels descending and ascending a ladder and giving assurance to him that he would be the chosen vessel to extend the jewish people into a great nation (genesis 28:11 19. since that seminal experience, dreams or visions of ladders have been associated with communication with a higher source or w

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as formed his own school at crotona in southern italy. an unyielding taskmaster, he accepted only those students whom he assessed as already having established personal regimens of self-discipline. to further stress the seriousness of his study program, pythagoras lectured while standing behind a curtain, thereby denying all personal contact with his students until they had achieved progress on a ladder of initiatory degrees that allowed them to reach the higher grades. while separated from them by the curtain, pythagoras lectured his students on the basic principles of music, mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. pythagoras called his disciples mathematicians, for he believed that the higher teachings began with the study of numbers. from his perspective, he had fashioned a rational the

THE MAGICIAN S KABBALAH

he transcendent experiences of mysticism demand a means of expression not found in language fixed in the apparent world about us. kabbalah, by providing a system both abstract and structural, can be used to provide a common ground of meaning in conceptual realms where even meaning is relative. an example might be found in the way kabbalah depicts the interaction of different worlds in the jacob's ladder diagram. this basic image can be applied to many phenomena, from the way chemical changes take place by atoms changing their energy states, to the way certain beliefs follow different levels of mystical experience (b) a terminology by means of which it is possible to equate the mental processes of people apparently diverse. one of the key functions of the tree, and one at which it excels, i

adeptus minor (attributed to tiphareth, where the ego is seen as enthroned in human consciousness as a "usurpation, and the task is to return the correct functioning to each of the aspects of the psyche from this original "fallen" state, where "the light shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not" the connection of peh, the "mouth, to yesod is interesting in that upon jacob's ladder, yesod of one tree overlaps the da'ath of the next, and thus the yesod of yetzirah, the "ego, overlaps the da'ath of assiah, the "throat, from which we communicate our persona through our words. hence our mouth is the gate to our ego in the way that our eyes are said to be the gates to our soul. the letters of yesod (ysvd) relate to the tarot cards of the hermit, temperance, the lovers and

iagram for this system as firstly it is difficult to transliterate (what is the difference between a soul-spirit and a spirit) and secondly the definition of "above" and "outside" or "inside" experience is ultimately illusionary. diagram two gives various schemes of allocating the parts of the whole to the sephiroth of the tree of life, but i feel that a more suitable system might involve jacob's ladder and the four worlds, rather than a single tree scheme. other models for the psyche include gurdjieff's "octaves" scheme, and two other eight-fold systems, being the psychosynthesis construct of roberto assagioli, m.d. and the "circuit grid" model developed by dr timothy leary and expounded by robert anton wilson. the psychosynthesis model has been parralled to its kabbalistic counterpart in

THE MARTINIST OPERATIVE GENERAL RITUAL

y read adonai (the lord) and which is composed of aleph-daleth-nun-iod. during the time of the grace, the name of god becomes the effable pentagram iod-he-shin-vau-he which, by a mystery which is no less great, is invoked also under the name of three letters iod-shin-vau" let us note that the name of five letters is ieshouah, while that of three letters is ishouh. in his recapitulating table 'the ladder of the quinary, this famous occultist shows us that ieshouah is a synonym of elohim (aleph-lamed-he-iod- 1 martinisme& franc-maconnerie, paris, 1899, page 98. 2 cologne edition, 1533, book 2, chapter vii. 4 mem, and also of elion (ayin-lamed-iod-vau-nun, and that these two divine names deal with the archetypal world. shortly after agrippa, heinrich khunrath in his famous work "amphitheatre

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

lied himself with great sincerity and application to the simpler practices delineated above. the pentagram ritual, the qabalistic cross and the middle pillar comprise the simple steps to spiritual development. it is only when these steps have been taken, and skill in their performance achieved, that he may feel it right and proper to approach that great edifice of ceremonial magic which is like a ladder, the bottom rung of mhch is rooted upon the earth so that all may climb quite easily. its heights, however, are lost in the clouds of spiritual attainment where none may go until he has accomplished all that is possible here and now, and until he has integrated himself through and through. as has so often been stated here, i consider that analytical psychology must be regarded as the first

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

hills surrounding point pleasant we heard many stories about footsteps on the roof, strange metallic clangings (the most common being the sound of a car door slamming outside the house when there were no cars in sight. one family showed us how the flap covering the entrance to their attic had been mysteriously moved. it was a hole in the ceiling of a bedroom and could only be reached with a high ladder. others complained of "gypsies" marching across their property late at night; men in bright reflective clothing and women in ankle-length dresses, all with long hair and dark oriental faces (this was well before the hippie explosion of the late 1960s) north of gallipolis, ohio, i impulsively stopped at an isolated farmhouse one afternoon and when i knocked at the door a grim-faced man answe

mained fixed on his face throughout the episode "do not be afraid of me" he said several times in an audible voice. his name, he said, was vadig. he spoke with tom, the witness, for several minutes, asking ordinary questions about where he was from, where he was going, what he did, etc. finally he said pointedly "i'll see you in time" and walked back to the object. a small door opened and a metal ladder folded down. a hand reached out and helped vadig aboard, then the thing rose silently into the air and disappeared. tom told his three roommates about the encounter, but they didn't take him seriously so he didn't mention it to anyone else. tom was working his way through school by serving as a waiter part-time in a chain of restaurants in the d.c. area he had not mentioned this to vadig. b

THE NECRONOMICON SIMON VERSION

of the ancient ones! and the gods grant thee death before the ancient ones rule the earth once more! kakammu! selah! of the zonei and their attributes the gods of the stars are seven. they have seven seals, each of which may be used in their turn. they are approached by seven gates, each of which may be opened in their turn. they have seven colours, seven essences, and each a separate step on the ladder of lights. the chaldeans were but imperfect in their knowledge, although they had understanding of the ladder, and certain of the formulae. they did not, however, possess the formulae for the passing of the gates, save one, of whom it is forbidden to speak. the passing of the gates gives the priest both power and wisdom to use it. he becomes able to control the affairs of his life more perf

her of the zonei, and the eldest of the wanderers. he is long of beard, and bears a wand of lapis lazuli in his palm, and possesses the secret of the tides of blood. his colour is silver. his essence is to be found in silver, and in camphor, and in those things bearing the sign of the moon. he is sometimes called sin. his gate is the first you will pass in the rituals that follow. his step on the ladder of lights is also silver. this is his seal, which you must engrave on his metal, on the thirteenth day of the moon in which you are working, having no other person about you who may watch you in its manufacture. being finished, it should be wrapped in a square of the finest silk and lain aside until such time as you desire its use, and then, it should be removed only after the sun has gone

eard, and is the guardian of the gods, as well as the keeper of the knowledge of science. he wears a crown of one hundred horns, and the long robe of the priest. his colour is blue. his essence is in that metal known as quicksilver, and is sometimes also found in sand, and in those things bearing the sign of mercury. his gate is the second you will pass in the rituals that follow. his step on the ladder of lights is blue. this is his seal, which you must write on perfect parchment, or no the broad leaf of a palm tree, having no other person about you who may watch you in its construction. being finished, it should be wrapped in a square of the finest silk and lain aside until such time as you desire its use, and then, it should be removed only when its light is in the sky. such is also the

n is in the metal copper, and also in the most beautiful flowers of a field, and in the saddest death of the battlefield, which is that field's fairest flower. her gate is the third you will pass in the rites that follow, and in which place you will be of a heart to stay; but turn you face to the road that leads beyond, for that is your genuine goal, unless the goddess choses you. her step on the ladder of lights, built of old in babylon and at ur, is white. this is her seal, which you must engrave on copper, venus being exalted in the heavens, with no one about watching its construction. being finished, it is to be wrapped in the purest silk and lain safely away, only to be removed when need arises, at any time. the number of inanna is fifteen, by which number she is frequently known in t

a throne of gold, wearing a crown of two horns, holding a sceptre aloft in his right hand and a flame disk in his life, sending rays in every direction. he is the god of light and of life. his colour is gold. his essence is to be found in gold, and in all golden objects and plants. he is sometimes called uduu. his gate is the fourth you will pass in the rituals that follow. his step on the great ladder of lights is gold. this is his seal, which you must engrave in gold, when the sun is exalted in the heavens, alone on a mountain top or some such place close to the rays, but alone. being finished, it should be wrapped in a square of the finest silk and lain aside until such time as it is needed. the number os shammash is twenty and this is his seal: the god of mars is the mighty nergal. he

d bears a sword and a flail. he is the god of war, and of the fortunes of war. he was sometimes though to be an agent of the ancient ones, for he dwelt in cutha for a time. his colour is dark red. his essence is to be found in iron, and in all weapons made to spill the blood of men and of animals. his gate is the fifth you will see as you pass the zones in the rituals that follow. his step on the ladder of light is red. this is his seal, which must be engraved on a plate of iron, or on paper in blood, when mars is in exaltation in the heavens. it is best done at night, far from the habitations of men and of animals, where you cannot be seen or heard. it must be wrapped first in heavy cloth, then in fine silk, and hid safe away until such times as it is needed. but to take not to use this s

the armies of evil and putting the queen of the ancient ones beneath his foot. that serpent is dead, but dreams. marduk was bestowed fifty names and powers by the council of the elder gods, which powers he retains to this day. his colour is purple. his essence is in the material tin, and in brass. his gate is the sixth that you will come upon as you follow the rituals that follow. his step on the ladder of lights in purple. this is his seal, which you must engrave on a plate of tin or of brass, when jupiter is strong in the heavens, while making special invocation to enki our master. this shall be wrought as the others, and wrapped in pure silk and lain away until the time for its use. know that marduk appears as a mighty warrior with a long beard and a flaming disk in his hands. he carrie

nd of strength. he appears with a crown of horns and a long sword, wearing a lion's skin. he is the final zonei before the terrible igigi. his colour is the darkest black. his essence is to be found in lead, in the burnt embers of the fire, and in things of death and of antiquity. the horns of a stag are his symbol. his gate is the last you will come upon in the rites that follow. his step on the ladder of lights is black. this is his seal, which you must engrave on a leaden plate or bowl, keeping it well hidden from the eyes of the profane. it should be wrapped and put away as all the others, until its use is desired. it should never be removed when the sun is in the sky, but only after the night has fallen and the earth grown black, for ninib knows the best the ways of the demons that pr

hrough those lands that border on the unzoned wastes beyond. know that, when walking thus through the sea of spheres, he should leave his watcher behind that it may guard his body and his property, lest he be slain unawares and must wander throughout eternity among the dark spaces between stars, or else be devoured by the wrathful igigi that dwell beyond. know that thou must walk the steps of the ladder of lights, each in its place and one at a time, and that thou must enter by the gates in the lawful manner, as is put down in the covenant; else thou art surely lost. know that thou must keep purified for the space of one moon for the entrance to the first step, one moon between the first and the second step, and again between the second and the third, and so on in like manner. thou must ab

anna which say how she conquered the realm of the underworld and vanquisheth kutulu. all idimmu will vanish thereby and thou wilt be thus free to depart the gate and extinguish the fire. thou mayest not call upon nanna till thou hast passed the gate of nanna. thou mayest not call nebo until his gate hast thou passed. similarly for the rest of the gates. when thou hast ascended to the limit of the ladder of lights, thou wilt have knowledge and power over the spheres, and wilt be able to summon them thereby in times of need. this will not give thee power over the absu, however, this power being obtained differently by the ritual of descent. this ritual thou wilt undertake in the fifteenth day after the thirteenth of the month when thou hast summoned the gate of marduk to open. for marduk sle

of the year measured thereof in the four directions measured thereof, for there the gates may be opened and care must needs be taken to ensure that the gates remain forever closed. they must be sealed with the elder sign accompanied by the rites and incantations proper. the fifty names here follow, with their signs and powers. they may be summoned after the priest has ascended to that step on the ladder of lights and gained entrance to that sacred city. the signs should be engraved on parchment or sealed in clay and placed upon the altar at the calling. and in the perfumes should be of cedar, and strong, sweetsmelling resins. and the calling be to the north. the first name is marduk the lord of lords, master of magicians. his name should not be called except when no other will do, and it i

he gate of ganzir to the house of death when with him the wailing people come the weeping woman and the wailing man when dumuzi is slain and buried may the dead rise and smell the incense! v stoop not down, therefore, unto the darkly shining world where the absu lies in dark waters and cuthalu sleeps and dreams stoop not down, therefore, for an abyss lies beneath the world reached by a descending ladder that hath seven steps reached by a descending pathway that hath seven gates and therein is established the throne of an evil and fatal force. for from the cavities of the world leaps forth the evil demon the evil god the evil genius the evil ensnarer the evil phantom the evil devil the evil larvae showing no true signs unto mortal man. and the dead will rise and smell the incense! the urili

THE PATH OF KABBALAH

her with the help of superior forces, forces of the creator. they obtain a collective goal to their lives and that goal becomes clearer and clearer every day. the only question that remains then is how to accelerate the attainment of that goal. there is a very clear hierarchy between the creator and us: we are at the bottom, and the creator is at the highest point. we must climb the rungs of that ladder from our current location to that of the creator s. there are different ways to ascend. one of them is called an awakening from below, where, through influence that comes from above, a person begins to want spiritual attainment and ascent by himself. he begins to read books, joins a group and so on. there is also another way: an awakening from above. that happens when the creator himself ta

omes to our world, where it is shattered into a multitude of little fragments. each fragment is called a soul. as the souls ascend, they gradually change their attributes, using a special system that constantly moves the souls from one place to another, so that they will help one another correct. the torah and kabbalah, and all the holy scriptures, were written by people who climbed the spiritual ladder and wrote their instructions from there. many kabbalists climbed these steps, but there are conditions that limit the amount of people permitted to write. there are only three kabbalists who attained the very last degree and were permitted to describe the system. they are rabbi shimon bar-yochay, author of the zohar, the ari, author of the tree of life, and rabbi yehuda ashlag, author of th

ot change, only the aim. for that reason, the method for changing the aim is called the wisdom of kabbalah, and because the aim is concealed from the eye, the wisdom of kabbalah is also called the wisdom of the hidden. it teaches how to receive by changing the aim. consequently, the important thing is only the aim behind every act, the purpose for which one does what he does. the 125 rungs of the ladder are degrees of gradual correction of the aim of the soul from receiving for me to receiving for the creator. the five degrees of the will to receive, beginning with the weakest (keter) and ending with the strongest (malchut, are organized in descending order from the creator to the creature, and constitute the five worlds. when the light of the creator passes through the worlds, it weakens

in him and that drives him to ask for help of the creator, the source of that illumination. if one s request is genuine, the creator will change his nature. but the will to receive itself doesn t change, only the aim changes from for me to for the creator. that change is called giving. thus, one gradually changes one s properties to the properties of the creator in each of the 125 degrees in the ladder. each degree consists of several processes: the recognition of evil. it is the realization of how much i am worse than the creator in my left line. examining what kind of help do i actually need to receive from the creator, from the right line. placing one line against the other, testing how much of the right line i can actually receive, which is considered coming to the middle line. the re

he soul of adam harishon to 600,000 spiritual souls. these parts are at varying levels of correction and should fulfill masculine and feminine parts interchangeably, meaning they should sometimes follow the right line (bestowal, masculine part) and other times they should follow the left line (reception, feminine part. all the names in the torah are names of spiritual attainments in the spiritual ladder. but in order to attain a certain name, you must play both the masculine and the feminine parts, meaning the right and left lines. for example: in the degrees of pharaoh, moses, israel, and a gentile, there is both a feminine and a masculine part. but each name can only be attained once and in a certain degree. man and woman are a union of between zeir anpin and malchut of the world of atzi

urify itself from the will to receive that is initially imprinted in it, and gradually acquires a will to bestow. that gives it a possibility to receive the light of the creator, the soul that extends from the root of the design of creation. the soul passes through the system of the pure worlds and clothes a body. this period is called the time of correction. 71 of 273 in that state one faces the ladder of the spiritual degrees, which spreads according to the thought of creation from the world of ein sof in order to help continue in the acquisition of the aim to give to the creator, until one s every act is in order to bestow (even the reception will be only in order to give to the creator, and take nothing for myself. reception in order to bestow is considered complete bestowal. thus, by

ancillary significance that aids us to perceive our sensations correctly. if we relate to our lives as one big classroom, where the creator is our teacher, that he has all the knowledge and that he gives it to us only as much as we are able to perceive at any given moment, then slowly but surely, the sensation of the creator will come to our every newborn spiritual sense. the creator created this ladder so that we climb it and reach him. this ladder (the same ladder that jacob saw) was depicted by rabbi yehuda ashlag, who was named baal hasulam (the owner of the ladder) for it, and also by my teacher, rabbi baruch ashlag. however, for the time being we keep turning our backs to the source. we will be able to face it and approach him, only if we make a conscious effort. that is why the crea

elation of the creator to the creature is a moment when the creature equalizes his own properties with the light that extends from the creator. that is to say, the creator appears in that specific property that has been equalized with him. a person, who is on a certain degree, constitutes it and is named after it. we must complete the equivalence of our attributes with his in the entire spiritual ladder, while being in this world, and within one lifetime. all our past lives are but preparatory phases for climbing the rungs of the ladder until we reach the maker of the world. 82 of 273 chapter 2.11 linking the worlds a banquet for the beginning of the month of tishrei reality consists of a creator, being the will to bestow, to give pleasure, and from a creature, which is a will to receive p

specific degree. afterwards one reenters the left line and must again correct it with the right, thus building the middle line, and again receiving a certain portion of the light of the creator, which in turn, makes me just a little more like him. the process repeats itself when that degree is also completed. it might seem dull looking from the outside, but that is the way to climb the spiritual ladder. it is a perpetual process of acquiring desires and fulfilling them intermittently. this is life, and it is a magical feeling indeed! it is like a very intense hunger and satiation experienced simultaneously. the maximum intensity of the utilization of the right aim over our desire in each degree is also the bridge through which we pass on to the next. our time is a transition period toward

upper world in a form of knowledge and determine whether we feel our tomorrow as positive or negative. therefore, the creator, who is at the highest spiritual degree, created this creation from an egoistic attribute, which is the complete opposite of him, and filled it to the rim with light. he then emptied it and lowered it to the degree of our world. a creature who ascends back up the spiritual ladder receives a much more intense pleasure than prior to the decline to this world. q: if there is an upper force that governs us and every little insect in our world, then how are we different to robots? a: if a person uses kabbalah to change his inner properties, he also changes the external influence that operates on him. because this entire world is built to guide us to perfection, our proce

to at the expense of the superior partzuf, but in a separated form. the child continues to grow until he reaches the age of the thirteen, and from that age he begins his state of gadlut (adulthood. this is how every person s soul develops. every thing the kabbalah books write about, every thing that happens in our world and every thing the torah speaks of are processes of ascent in the spiritual ladder. there is nothing but a human being and the creator, and our entire way is meant to bring us closer to him. q: how can one know he has attained a connection with the spiritual world? a: every thing we can imagine comes as a consequence of our experiences in this world, ones that we experience in the physical body. therefore, all the flying experiences and other such spiritual events, are in

in order to reveal the perfection of his deeds" however, in the creation of the worlds, and in the descent of the creatures, is revealed instead the imperfection of the works of the creator! but the answer is: this was done in order that the creatures would perfect themselves, that they would reach the degree of the creator on their own, which is the only perfection. hence the creator created the ladder of the worlds. through this ladder the souls descend unto the lowest rung, in which they are clothed in bodies (in desire to receive) of this world. by means of learning kabbalah the souls begin to ascend on that ladder until they all return to the creator. the soul consists of light and vessel. the light of the soul comes from the creator, from his essence. the vessel of the soul, i.e. the

but only in order to bestow contentment upon the creator. there are five degrees in the equivalence of form with the creator: nefesh, ruach, neshama, haya, yechida (nrnhy. he attains those five degrees from the five worlds adam kadmon, atzilut, beria, yetzira, and assiya. each degree has its own five inner degrees as well. thus, there are in totality 125 degrees from this world to the top of the ladder. by practicing "torah and mitzvot" in order to bring contentment to the creator, a person slowly merits and attains (degree by degree) the vessels of the will to bestow. this way a person climbs these degrees one by one, until he reaches complete equivalence of form. thus the thought of creation is carried out in man, which is to receive all the enjoyment and perfection that the creator pre

intended to guide our generation into spirituality are the books of rabbi yehuda ashlag (baal hasulam, and rabbi baruch ashlag (rabash. besides these books, there are two more prerequisites that must be met for correct learning: 131 of 273 the study in a group, whose purpose is to attain the purpose of creation, headed by a kabbalist teacher. the evolution of reality from above downward created a ladder that man can climb on his way up. a person who reaches a certain degree discovers in it reshimot from an even higher degree, which enable him to continue the ascent. reshimot from higher degrees exist in us too. they are reshimot of our own adjacent degree. by working on those reshimot we can exit our world and enter the spiritual world. 132 of 273 chapter 3.9- the birth of the partzufim be

the stony heart, but only the upper nine, the rapach behinot that he sorts and raises after the breaking for the purpose of unification with the creator. all the zivugim performed after the first restrictions are performed on those desires. these zivugim produce the partzufim, the worlds and everything in them, and expand downward. the five worlds with the five partzufim in each world become the ladder from the creator- the giver, to the creature- the receiver. the degrees are measurements of equivalence of desires between the creature and the creator. 152 of 273 the emanation of the partzufim and the worlds from above downward builds the degrees, which are like covers over the light of ein sof. each partzuf covers the light and hides it from its lower partzufim to the extent that it rece

THE SIGIL OF ADVERSARY

shadow of set-heh, that which devours and causes destruction. the purpose of the setanic magician is to master apep within the self and master this demon by the will through the seba, the lesser devils of set. used for controlling the shadow familiars of seba into a form of organization. the first sigil of set-an, being of kolchoi tontonon, a name considered secret of set. by the first shall the ladder of darkness led up towards the light. this sigil represents the continuation of life in a cycle of rebirth and manifestation, the mind strengthened and free. invocation of set-an the adversary (at noon or midnight) before working with the sigils- i conjure thee, bringer of storms and chaos! i summon thee, isolator and winter bringer! lord of deserts and barren places of devils mighty typhon

THE SECRET RITUALS OF THE OTO

5 and h.p.56 one in west for g.m.57 file//c /documents%20and%20settings/michael..0secret%20rituals%20of%20the%20o.t.o/p2c7.html (1 of 14 [12/28/2001 2:04:51 pm] the secret rituals of the o.t.o. stalls for other princes. banners. the banner of the rite above m.w.s. the banner of love above the most reverend and perfect prelate. personal banners of the other princes above their stalls. floor-cloth. ladder. brass letters for same. the brand. the hangings should be rosy red. black room tau. crucifix. pillars. three, surmounted by lamps with 11 holes and letters t.s.l. bible. bones, skulls, skeletons, hell-broth for 2nd point. the hangings should be black. anteroom v.s.l. and writing materials* the opening of a sovereign chapter of rose croix file//c /documents%20and%20settings/michael..0secret

u err silence will sustain you in every trial file//c /documents%20and%20settings/michael..0secret%20rituals%20of%20the%20o.t.o/p2c7.html (6 of 14 [12/28/2001 2:04:51 pm] the secret rituals of the o.t.o. love will comfort you upon your path (musick: tristan and isolde (the door of the red room is opened by g.m. who removes the black apron and collar. the postulant finds himself at the foot of the ladder. g.m. closes door behind him. all present are in the sign of heredom) h.p: holy father, i present to you this worthy knight, who has passed through the depths of darkness and the valley of death in search of the lost word, having been fortified with truth, silence, and love. m.w.s: let the postulant ascend the ladder which leads to glory and perfection (h.p. tells p. to take one step (i) an

THE HOLY BIBLE KING JAMES VERSION

had mahalath the daughter of ishmael abraham s son, the sister of nebajoth, to be his wife. 28:10 and jacob went out from beer-sheba, and went toward haran. 28:11 and he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and [put] them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 28:12 and he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of god ascending and descending on it. 28:13 and, behold, the lord stood above it, and said, i [am] the lord god of abraham thy father, and the god of isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will i give it, and to thy seed; 28:14 and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

the terrible words "here perish all fools who covet knowledge and power!"28 the candidate faces an agonizing quandary. should he wait for release, or go on into the threatening darkness? he has been given an oil lamp by his guides, but the oil will not last forever. gathering his courage, he crawls down the sloping passage and eventually comes upon a great abyss. on the side of the pit is an iron ladder that leads down into the impenetrable darkness. with the lamp in his teeth, the candidate descends the ladder. abruptly, his foot swings on empty space. the ladder has ended on nothing- ness, and the bottomless darkness of the pit still beckons below. hopelessness grips the candidate. he inwardly curses the foolishness and pride that led him to such a circumstance. there is no going forward

way of the lightning. in practice neither of these operations is pure; both are related and interde- pendent. before the instruments can be used to invoke the light they must first be obtained. and in order to facilitate the descent of the light, instruments and ritual methods must be used. magic is therefore an upward spiral of increasing knowl- edge. each new insight becomes another rung in the ladder that leads to the great work. there is a flux and reflux of spirit between magus and god. the traditional instruments are few and simple. they are based on the magi- cal principles presented in the first half of this work. the four main objects that are the foundation of the outer temple are the ele- mental weaponjrod, cup, sword, and shield (or pentacle. they are to be found as the emblems

TYSON DONALD SOUL FLIGHT

is same content that would play out after he fell asleep. the action in the dream was imitative-the rising up of the body within the dream simulated the rising of the astral body out of the physical body. one visualization he had good success with involved imagining himself lying on the floor of an elevator as it ascended in a tall building. another successful visualization involved climbing up a ladder. 76 soul flight muldoon also observed that unrelieved stress or tension, when carried into sleep, sometimes had the effect of causing the astral body to separate from the physical body in an attempt to perform the action that would relieve the stress. he gave the example of going to sleep very thirsty one night, and finding himself in his astral body, standing at the kitchen tap trying to t

those attempting to project their astral bodies should imagine that they were climbing or ascending. aieister crowley advised that those seeking adepthood would do well to practice the golden dawn technique of rising on the planes once a day. rituals involving acts of ascent are helpful in the initial stages of soul flight. the ascent may be physically represented by climbing a slope, stairs, or ladder in order to reach an elevated chamber or platform from which the actual projection occurs, but it should always be accompanied by the visualization of an ascent. a repeated ritual builds habitual responses in the mind that spill over to the body so that, when done regularly, the ritual is capable of causing physiological changes, such as variations in heart rate, blood pressure, body temper

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

few words about the doctrine of emanations. kabbalists hold that creation, all forms of creation of being from nothingness, occurred and continues to occur through the mediation of ten spheres of living sacred fire called sephiroth. these spheres are connected by pathways that allow a progression from one to another either downward from deity to matter or upward from matter to deity. they form a ladder of lights connecting earth to heaven that can never be broken without the utter annihilation of the universe. each sephirah is in its most basic nature a name for one of the attributes of god. the kabbalah calls these "the ten names which must not be erased" in addition to these divine names, the sephiroth have descriptive names of their own, resident archangels, angelic choirs, and heavenl

the mental pattern of the creating mind of the universe exhibited in the structure of the genetic coding of life. 22 tetragrammaton on this three-dimensional staff of hermes, no point on either helix is closer to the ideal axis, which the path of each helix defines, than any of the limitless number of other points, and at no point do the two balanced helixes touch. like the side rails of the dna-ladder, they remain always at the same separation. any single point on either helix is identical, considered by itself, to any other point. differentiation occurs through the relationship of one point to another, considered from a specific (and arbitrary) external point of view, shift the point of view and these essential qualities change. an i can become an h, and an h can become a v. for example

er tight control, rational, exacting, very ambitious, highly disciplined, responsible. his serious and rational approach to things makes him seem dull and pedantic. a subdued voice, harsh when raised in anger. function: matters of personal ambition regarding business or professional career, government job, rank, professional standing or awards, credentials, degrees, titles. climbing the corporate ladder, overcoming obstacles to ambitions, gaining responsibility and trust of superiors. 142 tetragrammaton xx angel: vabashiah (vbsh+ih) pronounced: va-bash'-i-ah hebrew ;7'1u31 enochian: c3$xc3$\r'$a banner: hiw polarity: moon qpe: severity side: left invoking sex: female element: earth quality: cardinal sign: capricorn house: tenth direction: north-northwest banishing stone: chrysolite (yellow

say that the female principle made possible the knowledge between good and evil (daath, but it made all other knowledge possible at the same moment. once binah exists, so does distinction between right and left, black and white, this and that etc. once the monad becomes the dyad, the triad are automatically in existence, which combine in the tetrad, and so the mighty name (ihwh) is "uttered (the ladder of lights [i9681 york beach, me: samuel weiserl, p. 174) the symbolic sonic or alphabetical glyph yhwh is supposed to be so powerful a name that if it were ever pronounced appendix b: commentaries on tetragrammaton properly the world would be destroyed. this is literally and strictly true, because it represents the explosive force of the primary "bang" which accompanied the commencement of

WEOR SAMAEL AUN ESOTERIC COURSE OF KABBLAH

physical world; malkuth is a supreme filter; from this region we depart to the ain soph or to the abyss, such is the law. the sephiroth are atomic; these ten sephiroth can be reduced to three tables: first: the quantum table of the radiant energy that comes from the sun. second: the atomic weight table of the elements of nature. third: the molecular weight table of the compounds. this is jacob's ladder, which goes from earth to heaven. all of the worlds of cosmic consciousness are reduced to these three tablets. all of the ten know sephiroth come from sephirah, the divine mother; she dwells in the heart temple. de ella se desprenden los diez sephirotes as: primero kether, el anciano de los d as. segundo chokmah, la regi n de la sabidur a. tercero binah, la inteligencia. cuarto chesed, el

e woman have seven principles and that the most important and the fastest center of the human being is the sexual center [seven bodies appear within the hearth; this represents that the bodies are within both alchemists (man and woman, the sun and the moon) because these are engendered when we combine the red elixir (the sun) and the white elixir (the moon) in the ninth sphere (represented by the ladder of jacob, the sexual center] arcano xiv muy amad simos disc pulos: vamos ahora a estudiar el arcano catorce el tarot. conviene saber que la profunda sabidur a de ste arcano se divide cl sicamente en tres partes: 1- transmutaci n, 2- transformaci n, y 3- transubstanciaci n. vamos a estudiar cada una de estas tres partes por separado. transmutaci n en la carta catorce aparece un ngel que tien

WHO ARE THE DRACONIANS

lding i was on. i felt that i was in the middle of this, and didn't really know what side i was on. i felt it better to stay hidden until i could sort things out. i was looking for a safer place when i remember that they had kept a delivery log for the rail cars coming in with materials, in the control room right below me. so i decided to go down and see if i could find a date. i climbed down the ladder on the side of the bin, and stepped through the door to the control room. there was no one in there and i found the log. the last shipment that was recorded was dated monday, oct. 6, 97. but the calendar on the wall was turned to nov. 97, so i had no idea what day it actually was. from where i was, i could see the whole production floor, but i could see no-one moving anywhere. i decided i w

the control room. there was no one in there and i found the log. the last shipment that was recorded was dated monday, oct. 6, 97. but the calendar on the wall was turned to nov. 97, so i had no idea what day it actually was. from where i was, i could see the whole production floor, but i could see no-one moving anywhere. i decided i was safer on the roof where i was, so i climbed back up the bin ladder and hid behind a wall where i could see better. the roof was covered with a layer of ash, i first thought it was a covering of light snow (it was cold enough) i assumed the ash was from burning buildings. as i was looking at the ash i could see my foot prints where i had walked. and then i felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up, as i realized there were other foot prints also (over m

him off of me. then i kept hitting him just to be sure. they are reptiles, they do have yellow pupils in their snake eyes, and yes they do die. when i looked up to see what was going on out in the road, the second bunch of soldiers, were still fighting the first ones i saw (these were two groups of us soldiers) i decided it was about time for me to get the hell out of dodge, so i climbed down my ladder and was going to try to get away, and find out what was going on. when i got to the bottom i felt this dizziness again. i turned and my truck, and lee were there. and everything was as it was before. i asked him if he had seen anything, and he said no. and asked me what was going on, and what had happened. i said how long was i gone. and he told me i had just went up the ladder, and then ca

d lee were there. and everything was as it was before. i asked him if he had seen anything, and he said no. and asked me what was going on, and what had happened. i said how long was i gone. and he told me i had just went up the ladder, and then came right back down. then he asked what happen to my hands (they were bleeding bad from the cuts) i told him i did not know, i must have cut them on the ladder. he looked at me kind of disbelieving and asked what the white stuff was, that i had all over me. i said i did not know (but it was the ash from the roof) when i finished the job, three days later, i took my eastwing hammer, and hung it on the exhaust fan cover on the roof. and that's where it will stay, i don't know how it got there when i needed it, but i was taking no chances (if it were

e, and the list. but since, i have had dreams, and obe's, that make me feel this is real (and also some cuts on my hands] and i believe others on this list were in these dreams. i have been waiting to see if anyone else would post something about this. one question for, was i in danger, could this draco have killed me? what would have happened, would i have just disappeared, or fallen off of that ladder dead? just one of many questions. the only thing that i know for sure is, don't hit a dracos without gloves on, because it hurts. who are the draconians file//d /my documents/avidya/reptilian agenda/who are the draconians.htm (42 of 68 [8/25/2000 17:20:00] jim note: steven gibb and a woman named 'tianca' also claim to have encountered this reality, gibb astrally and tianca physically, via m

WICCA WITCHCRAFT TODAY

tion; all the outer circles were cattle stalls. it is thought to have been still occupied in christian times. the house was lit only by the central smoke-hole, which at best could give a sort of twilight. it is certain that at times they would have a watchman on the roof of this house, which would look exactly like a conical hill, and as it is almost as certain that this watchman would go up by a ladder and out by this smoke-hole instead of going all the way to the door and climbing all the way up the hill again, others would also be likely to go out this way. visitors of the larger races might note this, to them, curious habit of going in and out by the smokehole, and it is possible that a confused memory of this led to the story that witches had a habit of leaving and returning by the ch

WILLIAM WESCOTT NUMBERS THEIR OCCULT POWER AND MYSTIC VIRTUES

. 75. clean beasts were admitted into the ark by sevens, whilst the unclean only in pairs. the goths had 7 deities from whom come our names of weekdays; sun, moon, tuisco, wotan, thor, friga, seatur, corresponding, of course, to the seven planets. apollo, the sun god, had a greek title ebdomaios, sevenfold. the persian mithras, a sun god, had the number 7 sacred to him. note the mysterious kadosh ladder of 7 steps ascent and 7 steps descent, the one side oheb eloah, love of god; the other oheb kerobo, love of the neighbor. numbers--th eir occu lt power an d mys tic vir tu es by w. wyn n wes tcott plato, in his timaeus, teaches that from the number seven, was generated the soul of the world, anima mundana (adam kadmon. the seven wise men of greece were: 1. bias who said, most men are bad, b

the body. it has been said there are seven apertures of the skull to correspond with the seven planets. there are seven degrees in the oriental order of sikha and the sat bhai (7 brothers; but i have doubts of the brahmanic authenticity of the present order of the name, which was introduced by j. h. lawrence archer. from the relative strength of their courses the ancients constructed a planetary ladder, with vowel symbols, thus--moon (a, mercury (e, venus (ee, sun (i, mars (o, jupiter (u) and saturn (oo. these symbols were used in mystical knowledge, as an inscription at the temple of apollo at delphi shows, numbers--th eir occu lt power an d mys tic vir tu es by w. wyn n wes tcott where e i meant the sun and its nearest planet, i.e, sun and mercury; and mercury was often represented as a

WOLFSON ELLIOT ALEF MEM TAU KABBALISTIC MUSINGS ON TIME TRUTH AND DEATH

ve elevation of the will to the source of the will (maqor ha-rason, the dimension of infinity that is manifest in keter. the telos of worship is captured in the words from psalm 19:15, yihyu le-rason imrei fi, may the words of my mouth be acceptable to you, which are part of the meditation recited after the amidah, the traditional standing-prayer. when the worshipper has climbed to the top of the ladder of prayer, the scala contemplativa, and he is bound to and absorbed in the source of the will, all his petitions are fulfilled, since this source is the world of mercy (olam rahamim)225 that has no opposing force of judgment, the coincidentia oppositorum wherein all demerits are rendered meritorious, all guilt transmuted into innocence.226 in this place of conjunction a place tellingly desi

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS

much more exalted type of mind, and the same destructive criticism which one applied to the original consciousness applies equally to this higher consciousness, and one gets to one higher still which is again destroyed. in the equinox, vol. i there is an essay called "the soldier and the hunchback! and" in liber aleph too there are several chapters about attainment by what is called the method of ladders. all these operations are equally valid and equally invalid, and the result of this is that the whole subject of yoga leads to constantly increasing confusion. the fineness of the analytical instrument seems to defeat its own purpose and it is perhaps because of that confession that i have always felt in my deepest consciousness that the method of magick is on the whole less dangerous than

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

m, and whelmed it, so that i was fain to withdraw myself from the burden of that brilliance. yet, o my son, the sum of all this ammounteth not to the worth of one dawn-glimmer of our true vision of holiness "de quodam modo meditationis "now for the chief of that which was granted unto me, it was the apprehension of those willed changes or transmutations of the mind which lead into truth, being as ladders unto heaven, or so i called them at that time, seeking for a phrase to admonish the scribe that attended on my words, to grave a balustre upon the stele of my working. but i make effort in vein, o my son, to record this matter in detail; for it is the quality of the grass to quicken the operation of thought it may be a thousandfold, and moreover to figure each step in images complex and ov

king. but i make effort in vein, o my son, to record this matter in detail; for it is the quality of the grass to quicken the operation of thought it may be a thousandfold, and moreover to figure each step in images complex and overpowering in beauty, so that one hath not time wherein to conceive, much less to utter, any word for a name of any one of them. also, such was the multiplicity of these ladders, and their equivalence, that the memory holdeth no more any one of them, but only a certain comprehension of the method, wordless by reason of its subtility. now therefore must i make by my will a concentration mighty and terrible of my thought that i may bring forth this mystery in expression. for this method is of virtue and profit; by it mayst thou come easily and with delight to the pe

BLUE EQUINOX

was agony or bliss, stretched an infinite abyss. all that behind me! but my soul, with no star left to point the pole, witless and banned of grace or goal, beggared of all its wealth, bereft of all its images, unweft its magic web, its tools all broken, its name forgot, its word unspoken, the equinox 190 widowed of its undying lord, its bowl of silver broke, its cord of gold unloosed, its shining ladders thrown down, its ears more deaf than adders, its window blind, its music stopped, from its place in heaven dropped, from its starry throne was hurled beyond the pillars of the world. borne from the byss of light to the dark night! the moon had sunk behind the tower when, for a moment, by the power of nature, as even the eagle s eye turns wearied from the sun, did i fall from the conning-cr

CHYMICAL WEDDING OF CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ

ow having talked together a pretty long while, in came the old man, and first saluting us, looked about him to see if all things were ready, and the processes sufficiently completed. we had so conducted ourselves as regards this that he had no fault to find with our diligence, so he placed all the glasses together, and put them into a case. presently in came certain youths bringing with them some ladders, ropes, and large wings, which they laid down before us. then the old man began as follows: my dear sons, each of you must this day constantly bear one of these three things about with him. now you are free either to make a choice of one of them, or to cast lots about it. we replied, we would choose. no, he said, let it rather go by lot. hereupon he made three little schedules. on one he w

r they, imagining that the bodies lay in the garden of the castle, did not know what to make of this kind of working, but i thanked god that i had awakened at so opportune a time, and that i had seen that which helped me the better in all the virgin s business. after one quarter of an hour the cover above was again lifted off, and we were commanded to come up, which was done as before with wings, ladders and ropes. and it vexed me not a little that whereas the virgins could go up another way, we had to take so much toil; yet i could well judge that there must be some special reason for it, and we must leave something for page 70 the old man to do too. for even those with wings had no advantage by them other than when they had to climb through the hole. now we having got up there, and the h

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

mysteries includes a very clear "flying saucer" which, the legend says, the extraterrestrials flew from their giant "mothership" to land on the earth. they say the mothership continued to orbit and it was to there that the leaders sheltered during the upheavals. in france, cave paintings dated to between 10,000 and 30,000 years ago include oval and disc-shaped objects standing on tripod legs with ladders coming down from them. a drawing carved in a cliff at fergania in central asia had a man who appeared to be wearing an "airtight helmet" with some mechanical device on his back. it was dated to 7000bc. whatever the origin and nature of "flying saucers" and other such craft, they have been seen and recorded for thousands of years. the genetic obsession the anunnaki leader called enki, the "

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

e east window and narrow south window, both devoid of panes or shutters. opposite the large window was an enormous dutch fireplace with scriptural tiles representing the prodigal son, and opposite the narrow window was a spacious bed built into the wall. as the tree-muffled thunder grew louder, i arranged my plan's details. first i fastened side by side to the ledge of the large window three rope ladders which i had brought with me. i knew they reached a suitable spot on the grass outside, for i had tested them. then the three of us dragged from another room a wide four-poster bedstead, crowding it laterally against the window. having strewn it with fir boughs, all now rested on it with drawn automatics, two relaxing while the third watched. from whatever direction the demon might come, ou

outside, for i had tested them. then the three of us dragged from another room a wide four-poster bedstead, crowding it laterally against the window. having strewn it with fir boughs, all now rested on it with drawn automatics, two relaxing while the third watched. from whatever direction the demon might come, our potential escape was provided. if it came from within the house, we had the window ladders; if from outside the door and the stairs. we did not think, judging from precedent, that it would pursue us far even at worst. i watched from midnight to one o'clock, when in spite of the sinister house, the unprotected window, and the approaching thunder and lightning, i felt singularly drowsy. i was between my two companions, george bennett being toward the window and william tobey towar

HP LOVECRAFT THE LURKING FEAR

east window and narrow south window, both devoid of panes or shutters. opposite the large window was 'an enormous dutch fireplace with scriptural tiles representing the prodigal son, and opposite the narrow window was a spacious bed built into the wall. as the tree-muffled thunder grew louder, i arranged my plan's details. first i fastened side by side to the ledge of the large window three rope ladders which i had' brought with me. i knew they reached a suitable spot on the grass outside, for i had tested them. then the three of us dragged from another room a wide four-poster bedstead, crowding it laterally against the window. having strewn it with fir boughs, all now rested on it with drawn automatics, two relaxing while the third watched. from whatever direction the demon might come, o

outside, for i had tested them. then the three of us dragged from another room a wide four-poster bedstead, crowding it laterally against the window. having strewn it with fir boughs, all now rested on it with drawn automatics, two relaxing while the third watched. from whatever direction the demon might come, our potential escape was provided. if it came from within the house, we had the window ladders; if from outside the door and the stairs. we did not think, judging from precedent, that it would pursue us far even at worst. i watched from midnight to one o'clock, when in spite of the sinister house, the unprotected window, and the approaching thunder and lightning, i felt singularly drowsy. i was between my two companions, george bennett being toward the window and william tobey towar

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

e apparent direction of the pleading voice. but for almost five minutes the voice continued to call. sometimes it was loud, then soft, now close at hand, now feeble and far away but always from the sky, never on the ground level. neighbors were called and a frantic search was begun which covered the entire yard, the farm buildings, the roof and chimney of the house, and even the basement. men got ladders and climbed in trees, poked in the snow, and even lowered the lantern down the well. oliver could not be found. at 10:00, the horror of the ghastly situation became all the more apparent when eight or nine people in the yard heard the voice calling to them from above their heads. once more it uttered a soultingling plea for help. after that, the voice was never heard again. the search was

KARR DON NOTES ON THE STUDY OF EARLY KABBALAH JEWISH MYSTICISM IN ENGLISH

tic sources. eylon, dina ripsman. reincarnation in jewish mysticism and gnosticism [jewish studies, volume 25. lewiston-queenston-lampeter: the edwin mellen press, 2003. green, arthur. keter: the crown of god in early jewish mysticism. princeton: princeton university press, 1997: chapter thirteen. gsefer ha-bahir. h 20081 4. idel, moshe. ascensions on high in jewish mysticism: pillars, lines, and ladders. budapest/new york: central european university press, 2005: chapter 2, 3, gthe pillar in the book bahir h. krzok, paul. ga look at the bahir, h in the hermetic journal, number 22, edited by adam mclean (edinburgh: winter 1983. neubauer, a. gthe bahir and the zohar, h in jewish quarterly review, original series, vol. 4 (1892. schafer, peter. mirror of his beauty: feminine images of god fro

gthe significance of the story of creation in the interpretations of the early cabbalists, h in tarbiz, vol. 37, no. 3 (march 1968. green, arthur. keter: the crown of god in early jewish mysticism (1997: chapter twelve. gthe way to kabbalah h; chapter thirteen. gsefer ha-bahir h; and chapter fourteen. gthe early kabbalah. h. idel, moshe. ascensions on high in jewish mysticism: pillars, lines, and ladders. budapest. new york: central european university press, 2005: chapter 2, gon cosmic pillars in jewish sources. h. enchanted chains: techniques and rituals in jewish mysticism [sources and studies in the literature of jewish mysticism 16, with a forward by harold bloom. los angeles: cherub press, 2005. 20081 13. gjewish mysticism among the jews of arab/moslem lands, h in the journal for the

LIBER ALEPH

den of that brilliance. yet, o my son, the sum of all this amounteth not to the worth of one dawn-glimmer of our true vision of holiness. y the book of wisdom or folly 179 #f de quodam modo meditationis (of a certain means of meditation) ow for the chief of that which was granted unto me, it was the apprehension of those willed changes or transmutations of the mind which lead into truth, being as ladders unto heaven, or so i called them at that time, seeking for a phrase to admonish the scribe that attended on my words, to grave a balustre upon the stele of of my working. but i make effort in vain, o my son, to record this matter in detail; for it is the quality of the grass to quicken the operation of thought it may be thousandfold, and moreover to figure each step in images complex and o

my working. but i make effort in vain, o my son, to record this matter in detail; for it is the quality of the grass to quicken the operation of thought it may be thousandfold, and moreover to figure each step in images complex and overpowering in beauty, so that one hath no time wherein to conceive, much less to utter, any word for a name or any of them. also, such was the multiplicity of these ladders, and their equivalence, that the memory holdeth no more any one of them, but only a certain comprehension of the method, wordless by reason of its subtilty. now therefore must i make by my will a concentration mighty and terrible of my thought, that i may bring forth this mystery in expression. for this method is of virtue and profit, by it mayst thou come easily and with delight to the pe

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

there emerged an ugly, ill-tempered bird, which was fed with the blood of the beheaded royal persons diluted with prepared water. at each feeding its feathers changed color; from black they turned to white and at last they became varicolored, the disposition of the bird improving the while. dinner was then served, after which virgo lucifera departed with the bird. the guests ascended with ropes, ladders, and wings to the fifth floor, where a bath colored with fine white powder had been prepared for the bird, which enjoyed bathing in it until the lamps placed beneath the bath caused the water to become uncomfortably warm. when the heat had removed all the bird's feathers it was taken out, but the fire continued until nothing remained in the bath save a sediment in the form of a blue stone

RABBI MOSHE WISNEFSKY APPLES FROM THE ORCHARD THE ARIZAL ON THE PARASHAH

fs headband, had been captured by nebuchadnezzar with the fall of jerusalem and taken to babylonia. thus, the statue spoke and said, gi am g-d, your g-d. h it was actually speaking the truth, for the divine name [on the headband] was speaking, but the people were tricked into thinking that the statue was saying this. the arizal on parashat noach (2) 37 daniel climbed up to the statue fs head with ladders they brought him, because he said he wanted to kiss the statue. when he kissed it, he removed [the headband] from its mouth, and it immediately toppled. it could not stand naturally for it was sixty cubits tall and only six cubits wide; it was only because of the divine power of the name havayah [engraved on the headband] that it was able to stand. about this it is written, gi will punish

SABBATIC KABALA OF THE CROOKED PATH

iliar becomes one. this is performed through procedures of congress where the joining in secret and sacred matrimony are performed. this will include the absolute readiness of the senses. the totality of the body must be brought to a state of reception for the forces to descend upon the mage. he ritual of the opposer will be performed in such occasion and the mage who strives to reach the highest ladders will gladly forsake all for the sake of naught! the joining of the adversary within the mage constitutes the hierophant, the high priest of the ages. the mouth peh is connected to mars and the power of the tower in the arcane of the tarot. this is significant due to the disruptive nature of the joining of the external within the internal in these kinds of operations. mysteries connected to

SECRET TEACHINGS OF THE ROSICRUCIANS IN THE 16 17C

ttling, when he could return to the unity of simplicity, if he only would come in peace. life's light stands in the middle to point out to men the way to this first rest, and the father in the heaven lets his sun rise over good and evil: but everything grows after its own fashion, and man is only too apt to look upon the stars of the manyfoldness, and in his own discretion, to choose them for his ladders, though they make him stray many times from the true light, and detain him in the whirlpool of uncertainty. this whirlpool of uncertainty leads more and more out of the innermost face of the sun into the outer (world) and can find neither end nor place of rest, unless it leads from the outer (world) back again and seeks the beginning, from which all the smaller star- lights originated. the

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 3

ar of heights, may have developed in an individual because of a child- t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d mysteries of the mind 137 aphobia is a persistent irrational fear that causes a person to feel extreme anxiety. hood fear of falling. some individuals are unable to ascend to the upper floors of buildings or are even unable to climb up on ladders to hang pictures in their home because of such a dread of falling. the name of this phobia is derived from the greek word acro to denote a great height. arachnophobia, a fear of spiders, is an extremely common fear that undoubtedly has its basis in the reality that some spiders are poisonous or inflict painful bites. the name for this phobia comes from the greek word for spider, arachne. t

ersonal rituals of survival. superstitions and religions evolved into accepted rules for appropriate human behavior (customs) and forbidden behavior (taboos. many of these societal customs, and religious and cultural taboos, are perpetuated in the urban legends of today. 187 chapter exploration superstitions cats days of the week dogs the evil eye four-leaf clover gems horseshoes knocking on wood ladders numbers rabbit s foot sneezing spitting strange customs and taboos courtship and marriage hospitality and etiquette burials and funerals urban legends and beliefs deadly reptiles in the imported carpets the fabulous cookie recipe green m&ms the hook on the car door if your college roommate commits suicide. jesus on the freeway the phantom hitchhiker proctor& gamble is a satanist company th

heir master jesus (c. 6 b.c.e. c. 30 c.e) who partook of the last supper, judas iscariot being represented as the 13th guest. according to christian tradition, judas betrayed his master after they had observed the passover meal. judas later hanged t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d superstitions, strange customs, taboos, and urban legends 197 ladders are among humankind s earliest tools. himself because of his guilt, and he was said to be damned for all time as his punishment. it has long been a matter of etiquette in france to avoid having exactly 13 guests at a dinner or party. napoleon (1769 1821) wouldn t allow a dinner to begin if there were 13 guests at the table. there is a custom of the quartrozieme, a professional guest who ca

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

the building with me. the others clustered outside. the three of us went into the ruin. connie was joking and in good spirits. keith was sober and quiet. the interior of the building was filled with debris and silence except for the soft sound of dripping water. large rusting boilers stood on the ground floor. i peered into them with my flashlight. mothman wasn't hiding there. i climbed the steel ladders and strolled the catwalks. even the pigeons seemed to have deserted the place. satisfied that the building was empty, we started for the exit. i preceded the other two with my flashlight. as she stepped through the door which led into the smaller chamber where the main exit was located, connie glanced over her shoulder and let out a horrified gasp "those eyes" she screamed "he's there" she

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