Lecture: The Rose Cross

The Rose Cross is associated with a number of different schools of thought, including that of the Golden Dawn, Thelema, the OTO, and the Rosicrucians (also known as the Order of the Rose Cross). Each group offers somewhat different interpretations of the symbol. This should not be surprising as magical, occult and esoteric symbols are frequently used to communicate ideas more complex than is possible to express in speech.

The Cross

Cross-shaped objects are commonly used in occultism too represent the four physical elements. Here each arm is colored to represent one element: yellow, blue, black and red to represent air, water, earth and fire.

These colors are also repeated on the bottom portion of the cross. The white on the upper portion of bottom arm represents spirit, the fifth element.

The cross can also represent dualism, two forces going in conflicting directions yet uniting at a central point. The union of rose and cross is also a generative symbol, the union of male of female.

Finally, the cross’s proportions are made up of six squares: one for each arm, an extra one for the lower arm, and the center. A cross of six squares can be folded into a cube.

THE ROSE

The rose has three tiers of petals. The first tier, of three petals, represents the three basic alchemical elements: salt, mercury and sulfur. The tier of seven petals represents the seven Classical planets (The Sun and Moon are considered planets here, with the term “planets” indicating the seven bodies that appear to circle the earth independently of the star field, which moves as a single unit). The tier of twelve represent the astrological zodiac. Each of the twenty-two petals bears one of the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet and also represents the twenty-two paths on the Tree of Life.

The rose itself has a myriad assortment of additional meanings associated with it:

It is at once a symbol of purity and a symbol of passion, heavenly perfection and earthly passion; virginity and fertility; death and life. The rose is the flower of the goddess Venus but also the blood of Adonis and of Christ. It is a symbol of transmutation - that of taking food from the earth and transmuting it into the beautiful fragrant rose. The rose garden is a symbol of Paradise. It is the place of the mystic marriage. In ancient Rome, roses were grown in the funerary gardens to symbolize resurrection. The thorns have represented suffering and sacrifice as well as the sins of the Fall from Paradise. ("A Brief Study of The Rose Cross Symbol," no longer online)

Inside the large rose is a smaller cross bearing a another rose. This second rose is depicted with five petals. Five is the number of the physical senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, and it is also the number of man’s extremities: two arms, two legs, and the head. Thus, the rose represents humanity and physical existence.

THE THREE SYMBOLS AT THE END OF EACH ARM

The three symbols repeated at the end of all four arms stand for salt, mercury and sulfur, which are the three basic alchemical elements from which all other substances derive.

The three symbols are repeated on each of the four arms of the cross, numbering a total of twelve. Twelve is the number of the zodiac, comprised of twelve symbols that circle the heavens throughout the year.

THE HEXAGRAM

Hexagrams commonly represent the union of opposites. It is composed of two identical triangles, one pointing up and one pointing down. The point-up triangle can represent ascending toward the spiritual, while the point-down triangle can stand for the divine spirit descending to the physical realm.

THE SYMBOLS AROUND AND IN THE HEXAGRAM

The symbols in and around the hexagram represent the seven Classical planets. The symbol for the Sun is in the center. The sun is generally the most important planet in Western occultism. Without the Sun, our planet would be lifeless. It is also commonly connected with the light of divine wisdom and the purification properties of fire, and was sometimes considered the visual manifestation of God’s will in the universe.

On the outside of the hexagrams are the symbols for Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, Mercury, and Mars (clockwise from top). Western occult thought generally considers the planets in the farthest orbits from the Earth in an earth-centric model) to be the most spiritual, because they are the furthest from the physicality of the Earth.

Thus, the top three planets are Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, while the bottom three are Mercury, Venus and the Moon.

The cross-shaped sign, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, greatly predates the introduction of Christianity, in both East and West. It goes back to a very remote period of human civilization. It is supposed to have been used not just for its ornamental value, but also with religious significance. It may have represented the apparatus used in kindling fire, and thus as the symbol of sacred fire or as a symbol of the sun, denoting its daily rotation. It has also been interpreted as the mystic representation of lightning or of the god of the tempest, or the emblem of the Aryan pantheon and the primitive Aryan civilization.

Ankh

Another associated symbol is the ansated cross (ankh or crux ansata) used in ancient Egypt. It was often depicted in the hands of the goddess Sekhmet, and as a hieroglyphic sign of life or of the living. Egyptian Christians (Copts) adopted it as the emblem of the cross.In his book, 

The Worship of the Dead, Colonel J. Garnier wrote: "The cross in the form of the 'Crux Ansata' ... was carried in the hands of the Egyptian priests and Pontiff kings as the symbol of their authority as priests of the Sun god and was called 'the Sign of Life'."

   

Ndj & nfr

Another Egyptian symbol is the Ndj (Cross-ndj (hieroglyph)) - Uses for the hieroglyph: 1— "to protect, guard, avenge", and "protector, advocate, avenger" 2— "homage to thee", (a form of salutation to gods) 3— "discuss a matter with someone", "to converse", "to take counsel". Yet another Egyptian symbol is the nfr - meaning: beauty or perfect.

In the Bronze Age a representation of the cross as conceived in Christian art appeared, and the form was popularized. The more precise characterization coincided with a corresponding general change in customs and beliefs. The cross then came into use in various forms on many objects: fibulas, cinctures, earthenware fragments, and on the bottom of drinking vessels.

De Mortillet believed that such use of the sign was not merely ornamental, but rather a symbol of consecration, especially in the case of objects pertaining to burial. In the proto-Etruscan cemetery of Golasecca every tomb has a vase with a cross engraved on it. True crosses of more or less artistic design have been found in Tiryns, at Mycenæ, in Crete, and on a fibula from Vulci.

According to W. E. Vine, the cross was used by worshipers of Tammuz, an Ancient Near East deity of Babylonian origin who had the cross-shaped taw (tau) as his symbol.

The True Nature of R.R. et A.C. Grades of the Golden Dawn

by Frater Lux E Tenebris

Representative of the Secret Chiefs of the

Third Order of the Golden Dawn

(Translated and Introduced by David Griffin)

Readers will recall how last month the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega revealed that the Secret Chiefs of the Golden Dawn's Third Order have finally released the rest of the Second Order curriculum beyond that given to S. L. MacGregor Mathers for the (5=6) Adeptus Minor grade. I knew that this announcement would provoke another chorus of "no proof" from Neo-Golden Dawn reconstructionists and revisionists. This put the Alpha Omega in somewhat of a conundrum. In providing enough evidence to convince objective and reasonable individuals, not only does the A.O. face the problem of the sanctity of oath bound material, but also that every time we release even a crumb of information about the traditional, Rosicrucian G.D. curriculum, Neo-Golden Dawn reconstructionists quickly assemble an inaccurate, zombie-like copy of it.

For example, following the Alpha Omega's announcement in 2002 that we had reestablished contact with the Golden Dawn's Third Order and that the Secret Chiefs had transmitted to us the grade rituals and complete curriculum for the highest grades of the order (8=3, 9=2, and 10=1), Neo-G.D. reconstructionists harped for years that there was "no proof" of any of this.

Among the evidence the A.O. therefore actually did provide, we revealed the importance and prominence of Hermetic Internal Alchemy in the Golden Dawn's Third Order. We also revealed how Third Order alchemical processes, in symbolical and analogical ways, permeate the entire Golden Dawn grade rituals, knowledge lectures, and even the R.R. et A.C. magical system. We further revealed that the Third Order possesses the clear explanation of all of the advanced alchemical processes encoded in every aspect of the Golden Dawn.

From these few crumbs of information, Pat Zalewksi quickly threw together a few basic alchemical notions to reconstruct an inaccurate, zombie-like copy of the above. Of course, Mr. Zalewksi has no real knowledge of of the underlying Third Order, Hermetic Internal Alchemical processes that are actually encoded in the alchemical symbols that permeate the Golden Dawn and the R.R. et A.C. But with his new book, "Alchemy and Golden Dawn Grades," Zalewksi gives these symbols a completely fabricated meaning, referring them to simple and well known phases and processes of basic alchemy. In doing so, Mr. Zalewski is counting on general public ignorance regarding the true nature and function of Hermetic alchemy, together with the enigmatic nature of alchemical symbolism, in order to pass off his inaccurate, zombie-like copy as the real deal.

Nonetheless, despite the confusion that this creates for the public and for Golden Dawn initiates regarding the true meaning of the alchemical symbolism and allegory in Golden Dawn rituals, etc., Pat Zalewksi's personal interpretation of "Alchemy and Golden Dawn Rituals" indeed has virtue, in that it adds something new to the overall lore and diversity of the aggregate Golden Dawn tradition.

This does serve to illustrate yet once again, however, just how careful the Alpha Omega has to be about what we reveal to the public. This is why, when the A.O. last month announced that the Secret Chiefs have transmitted the Adeptus Major (6=5) and Adeptus Exemptus (7=4) curriculum to our order, I deliberately chose an example from the advanced teachings that would, on the one hand, serve as proof enough for reasonable individuals, yet would not give Golden Dawn pirates any new material with which to knock off fanciful and inaccurate copies.

Since a host of books had already recently appeared about magic squares, drawing attention to this aspect of the advanced R.R. et A.C. magical curriculum carried almost no risk of with it of further piracy. Nonetheless, Agrippa's magic squares provided a great example, since they show how the 6=5 and 7=4 grades further develop material contained in the 5=6. In this case, the advanced Rosicrucian grades teach Adepts how to unlock and use the original magical system of the magic squares that was actually used by Agrippa and Trithemius. These squares were only included in encrypted form in the 5=6 grade.

Nonetheless, quite predictably, barely a month had passed before Nick Farrell yesterday published an article claiming that both the Secret Chiefs and I are barking up the wrong tree about not only Agrippa's magical squares, but even about the entire meaning and purpose of the Golden Dawn's Second Order grade initiations.

And since the evidence we had presented used Agrippa's Saturn square as an example, Farrell went after this with all of the subtlety of a pro wrestler. Instead of proving his point, however, what Mr. Farrell actually accomplished was to provide us with an opportunity to clarify the fundamental difference between the Neo-Golden Dawn reconstructionist approach to the R.R. et A.C., and the approach used by the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order, as traditional guardians of the pre-Golden Dawn Rosicrucian mysteries.

In regard to Agrippa's Saturn square, Mr. Farrell in his article published a version of the square embellished with some interesting, yet extraneous Golden Dawn symbolism. This intellectual approach does indeed have value, as is also the case with Mr. Zalekwsi's work above, in that it adds something new to the aggregate lore of the Golden Dawn. What Mr. Farrell's approach does not accomplish, however, is to tell us anything about the original magical system practiced Agrippa and Trithemius. The Secret Chiefs, on the other hand, have now made the entire original magical system used by Agrippa and Trithemius available to Adepts from across the entire Golden Dawn community!

It is noteworthy that this is not merely some reconstructed copy or personal interpretation of some aspect or other of the Golden Dawn. Herein lies the crux of the matter - and most clearly illustrates the two divergent approaches. And this is but one small piece of an entire corpus of traditional Rosicrucian magical systems that the Third Order has just made available for the first time in history.

Yet even this Nick Farrell dismisses out of hand, claiming that all magical systems belong only in the 5=6, Adeptus Minor, grade. According to Farrell, the Adeptus Major (6=5) grade is only "about the surrender of the personality completely to archive the will of the One Thing." And the Adeptus Exemptus (7=4) grade, according to Farrell, is "even more mystical. Instead of working magic, 7=4 [is] the magic, or at least working to become it."

Farrell continues:

"Both these grades depend on the knowledge of the 5=6, but they are not looking for more information. Instead they are looking to apply information gained effectively. So an order teaching new information at the 6=5 and 7=4 grades is barking up the wrong tree. Any new information automatically categorises itself at the 5=6. If it is a system, new or not, it is by its very nature 5=6."

Finally, Pat Zalewski this week wrote on his Yahoo forum:

"Now I am not the sort that meets a secret chief who farts once and the rarefied air produces the explanations. If the secret chief farts three times I presume it will be a positively orgasmic experience. Now the intellect tells us that if the secret chiefs gives us documents in another language then Huston we have a problem. The Secret Chiefs have given you guys hard data and ignored the self knowledge."

As I mentioned in my previous article, what certain people in the Golden Dawn community still do not yet properly consider, is that they are silently being observed. All this time, although they have remained silent until now, the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order have nonetheless been observing the various goings on in the Golden Dawn community.

In light of recent events in this community, the Secret Chiefs have today, for the first time in history, decided to issue a public statement, emailed to me yesterday by their spokesperson, Frater Lux E Tenebris:

The Traditional Initiatic Meaning of the Three Grades of the R.R. et A.C.

(5=6, 6=5, 7=4)

by Frater Lux E Tenebris 

I have been asked by the Magi of the august Order to which it is my great honor to belong, to write about the traditional meaning and true initiatic function of the three degrees of the Second Order of the Golden Dawn (R.R. et A.C.).

The three Adept grades incorporated in the Rosicrucain Tradition are actually re-elaborations of extremely ancient mysteries that have always accompanied humankind since the beginning of its appearance on this earth.

Human beings are born and live with the passing of their lives and the approach of death ever present before our eyes. The birth, life, death and resurrection of the plant world did not escape the careful eye of the ancients. They wondered why it is that what happened in the plant world did not also happen in the world of animals and human beings. The ancients observed that, from the seed of grain was grain reborn, as were human beings from human seed, even if diverse.

In this perfecting the knowledge of nature, the ancients noticed also that the Sun was likewise born, died and was reborn - as was the moon, and as the heavens presented the stars and the planets. In fact, everything in life spoke of this cycle of birth, death and resurrection. It did not take long for the ancients to realize that every law they observed was the same for every thing that could ever be discovered or comprehended.

The Universe is order from chaos and therefore is subject to precise laws that are inviolable and eternal. The universe has two properties: eternity and infinity. The Universe is infinite, as it contains everything that exists. The Universe is eternal, as visible material expression of Beingness.
The Universe, within itself, is mutable and cyclical. The elements contained within the Universe therefore transform into infinite gradations of matter and energy, and this movement, evolution or devolution leads to the creation of Time.

Humankind is a creation of the Universe - and human beings within themselves contain all three of the preceding kingdoms; mineral, vegetable, and animal. Moreover, in human beings Soul, Mind, and Consciousness manifest, being that which makes us human.

As human beings, we notice that our bodies are born, live, and die. By analogical observation, which is the cornerstone upon which all of Magic rests, we discover that our bodies are subject to the same laws like all other things. By noting how the Sun returns, the Moon returns, the seasons return, and plants are reborn - we discover how we are subject to the same fate: Birth-Life-Death-Rebirth.
The point of this is that, as the ancients said, there are only two possibilities for a human being; to be reborn as human or to be reborn as a Soul. With the term Soul, I intend to describe the subtle and invisible complex within human beings, and not just one part of it, which for the purposes of this discussion would be useless.

In Egypt the dead were embalmed and then awakened or caused to be reborn, with particular and energetic practices which coagulated the subtle remains of the deceased, in such a manner that his consciousness could rest upon it and thus live a sort of life beyond the grave.

And the Limbo, the Elysian fields, or Underworld, the Duat, etc. - This inner dimension of man is known by many names - but in any case it means always the one and the same thing.

The initiatic schools, have therefore long understood that the only key, be it to understand nature and therefore the entire universe, or be it to transform a human being, is precisely the perennial law of analogy.

Departing from here, we can observe an entire proliferation of rites and practices analogous to the cycles of time of the earth, the sun, the moon, or stars. This is to ensure that humankind enters into the great cosmic harmony that turns eternally, and thus evolves according a universal law, namely: In the universe things transform from for worse to better as well as from better to worse. In modern times, this is known as the Law of Thermodynamics. For our purposes, however, it is enough to know that this is Eternal Universal Law.

Mystery Schools and initiatic rites can not escape this general universal rule, and thus we find them again and again all across the world, coupled with the eternal laws of the birth of life, of death and of rebirth. Here in the West, we can observe this also in Christianity, the dominant religion of the day, but each initiatic order also has its own corpus of special initiatic doctrines and practices, which cause their disciples to advance along these lines. To this, there are no exceptions.

Thus we arrive at the Second Order of the Golden Dawn, the R.R. et A.C., which as already stated for the other orders, can not escape this rule as an expression of the eternal laws governing everything. In fact, upon initiation in the Neophyte grade of the Outer Order of the Golden Dawn, a new life begins for the candidate.

This entire new life unfolds for the initiate in the grades leading up to Philosophus. Next, the candidate encounters the mysteries of the Divine for the first time in the Portal of the Vault of the Adepts. This transitional grade essential for the incubation of the new Soul in preparation for the second initiatic ordeal - Death following the birth that constituted the first such ordeal as a Neophyte.
In the Adeptus Minor (5=6) ritual, in documents and practices furnished to me not by the R.R. et A.C., but rather by the R+C Order from which the R.R. et A.C. arises, the following is said, which is precise and incontrovertible:

"The Mystery School into which you have been initiated is not a school of mysticism, but rather a school of active Magic. In this order we study the Principles of Sacred Science from a scientific point of view, instead of from the mystical or emotional point of view of religions.
In this Mystery School which transmits the teachings of ancient Mystery Schools of Sumeria, Chaldea, Assyria and Egypt, you will find neither superstition nor obscurantism. We will reveal to you the true inner structure of human beings and their true relationship with the Universe: For this reason, disciple, be ready to follow the course in every phase and fear not the death you shall face..." 

This is the grade corresponding to the Adeptus Minor (5=6) of the R.R. et A.C. in the Order, which shall remain unnamed, yet is the foundation and root of all Rosicrucian mysteries ever transmitted in the West

Next, in the ritual which is the source of the 6=5 in the R.R. et A.C., it is written:
"I have died - and now I voyage in unknown realms with my boat (an image of the Subtle Body). Although dead, I am and live in this endless sea, joyous in the knowledge that the body is not everything!

Now I know! Now I can meet my brothers and sisters and receive from them the power of contact with the things above and the things below ..."

For now I shall not dwell upon explaining these words, but shall return to them, once we have first examined the following from the ritual which was the source document for the Adeptus Exemptus (7=4) of the R.R. et A.C.:

"I know you Death - And yet I live! I am dead and I have been reborn. I have conquered death - and I rise like the sun on the horizon. My journey in the world beyond the tomb is accomplished - and now I return with the earth in blossom." 

In this journey we may observe and note precisely what happens throughout the universe - and thus also the human beings on their journey towards regeneration.

In these three grades transmitted to the R.R. et A.C. by the mysterious Order from which the Rosicrucian impulse first arose, it is explained in the instructions to the Adept that this is not a path of mysticism and certainly not a path for many - that when we speak of death, you truly die - and that when we speak of journeying beyond the tomb - you truly travel - and when we speak of rebirth - you are truly reborn and not merely symbolically or metaphorically.

Inside of the human being who undergoes these initiations and performs these techniques, changes that occur are not merely mental, but also energetic, biological, and cellular.

Using techniques of Superior Magic of the Adeptus Major (6=5) grade, it becomes possible to have the same experiences as when you die, as all attest who have gone this way before. Once you are "dead" you find yourself in a place that is neither heaven nor earth. In this place, called "beyond the tomb," "dubat," etc., for the first time, you encounter your own complexes of the mind and of the Soul. No longer trapped in the physical body of the Adept, these now take on tangible, visible appearance. It is these which torture or delight the Soul.

If the mysteries of death are those of the Adeptus Minor, who sacrifices him or her-self scientifically, in order to transform into a different substance (as can be observed in any cabinet of chemistry or physics laboratory where matter is studied), then in the grade of Adeptus Major (6=5), consciousness is gained in the LITERAL sense."

The Major Adept encounters these Spirits, Angels, or Demons, meets these energies, gains consciousness of them, gets to know them there, and returns from "beyond the tomb" changed forever, as True Magic and its functions are revealed in subtle detail.

During the 6=5 initiation of an Adeptus Major, a special magical technique is employed, which LITERALLY detaches the soul of the candidate, separating it from the physical body, so that the Adept may have the literal experience of what actually happens when you die.

I understand there have been, and still remain, leaders of orders who have never had contact with the true R+C source. Based merely on their fantasy of the function of these rites, these individuals would nonetheless like to convince you that these sacred rituals and techniques are merely symbolical or mystical. I swear to you, however, that this is not so.

The three Adept rituals of the R.R. et A.C. are but one valid albeit late manifestation of earlier Rosicrucian rites that contain the knowledge of death, the knowledge of the universe beyond, and of rebirth and regeneration. These rites, which TOGETHER contain the requisite knowledge to become a TRUE Adept, are in reality but three degrees in one.

There have been orders that have already deviated these rites and there are others too today who would lead you even further astray. Some today write even that there is no magic beyond the Adeptus Minor (5=6) grade, and that the Major initiation of Rosicrucian Adepts, the Adeptus Major (6=5) is but a mystical appendage of the 5=6 - that there is no place in the 6=5 for advanced Rosicrucian magic, and that the 7=4 is but yet more mysticism.

Our august Order breaks its silence therefore today, so that the original essence of these essential Rosicrucian rites might not be lost merely to a thirst for innovation, led by a chorus of experts who, perhaps even meaning well, would nonetheless otherwise lead you astray.

In the tomb, in which the Major Adept is enclosed, there is all of his/her consciousness, and in the "world beyond the tomb," the consciousness of the Adept encounters the consciousness of Nature, once the consciousness of the Adept has been detached from its physical vehicle by 6=5 rites of Magic.

Once the Adept's consciousness has been magically detached from his or her physical body, he or she then confronts what the Adept knew or thought to be - with what is in reality, and thus can make a complete correction in the eyes of God. It is in the 6=5 grade of Adeptus Major, therefore, that contact can truly be stabilized with one's higher Self, Divine essence, or "Angel" (and not in the 5=6, as has been popularly misunderstood for over a century). It through the the contact that comes from the sojourn in the Underworld in the 6=5 grade, that, in addition to one's earthly guides, one who knows death gains also the guidance from one's Divine source.

The Major Adept knows death, yet the victory is not yet fully won. As the Hermetic adage states, you must not only separate the volatile from the fixed. It must not only ascend to heaven, but it must also descend to Earth again empowered with the knowledge of superior and inferior things. Then the volatile must once again be reunited with the fixed.

Only then will the Earth be reborn and regenerated, and the physical and magical powers of the Adept blossom like the flowers in Spring.

Far removed from all metaphor and mysticism, the LITERAL bath of the Adept in the Upper Astral realm, where resides that which does not live on Earth, reawakens the powers slumbering within the Adept. Thus, it is upon entering the 7=4 that the keys are bestowed of how to use these awakened powers for the common good, as well as to lead the Order. This is why the power to reconstitute the Order, if necessary, has at all times in history resided with Exempt Adepts, together with the Hermetic and Rosicrucian lineages of our Order, as is also the case with the Golden Dawn.

Magical and alchemical techniques are given in this grade that carry the Adept to triumph in his or her Opus Magnum (Great Work). Far from all metaphor and mysticism, these techniques are physical, observable, and have nothing to do with mysticism, obfuscation, or the sort of smoky theological arguments about these grades that have appeared in books and on the Internet of late.

The rest, or everything else that occurs later, can not be comprehended by those who have not yet reached such an advanced state of spiritual development, since the manner in which the human machine functions - and the Soul that inhabits it - are so different to that which we are accustomed to think and see, that it would appear to be but a fairy tale.

In this state, the Adept comes to understand the language of Nature, even to perceive and to comprehend the Universal movements of the Spheres. The Adept understands even life and death, living on the extreme peak of both. The Soul of the Adept is quiet and balanced - and nothing can shake this Soul - becoming what Agrippa called a Static Soul - a Soul tranquil, equilibrated, and no longer fluctuating.

Thus we witness the miracle of the trinity of grades of the true Rosicrucian Adept, the nature and purpose of which is totally different than what people had come to think and write of them today. Although to the outside, these initiations appear to be three grades, they are in reality but one deeply profound initiatic process, which fully develops the Soul of the Adept.

The Magi of the Order from which the Rosicrucian tradition first arose, including the R.R. et A.C., asked me to write this article, so that all may better understand the R.R. et A.C. and benefit from the true Rosicrucian manner in which the Second Order of the Golden Dawn has been intended all along.
Trusting fully in my disciple, Frater Lux ex Septentrionis, I accept that today, there is a need for diversity in the Golden Dawn orders. Nonetheless, there is a limit to what can or should be changed, and certain essential things should be touched at all.

If the original R+C tradition is not to be lost completely in America and the English speaking world, it is even more important that at least some Golden Dawn orders remain not only faithful to the original Rosicrucian tradition, as does the Alpha et Omega - but faithful even to the dark and hidden roots from which the R+C rose first grew, and continues to nourish itself even until today.
Thus, in this strange, modern world of the Internet in which we live today - where one writer claims that "the higher R.R. et A.C. grades not magical, but rather mystical in nature" and another writes that "tradition must be sacrificed to intellect in order to achieve Gnosis..."

I am reminded of the words of Jesus the Christ who, according to the Johannite tradition, is reputed to have said:

"They are like the blind leading the blind!"

The Golden Dawn Tradition on the Tarot the Planets and their corospondances

The Ancient Elements

• Fire – Intuition; Spirit; action of the will; inspiration, creativity, energy, initiative, goal directed activity;
• Earth – Sensation; materiality; strength, endurance, growth; reliability; practicality; accumulation;
• Air – Thinking; thought; spoken and written communication; strife and conflict; expressions of the mind
• Water – Feeling; the action of the emotions; love and affection, dreams, desires, fantasies; pleasure, friendship, social activity, romance, receptivity

The Seven Sacred Planets of the Ancients

• Sun = self consciousness; the will
• Moon = emotional self; imagination; instinct
• Mercury = individual mind; intellect and reason
• Venus = desire nature; love; relatedness; pleasure; material prosperity
• Mars = vital energy; sexuality; ambition
• Jupiter = expansive growth energy; good fortune
• Saturn = materiality; restriction; limitation; self unknowing

The Signs of the Zodiac

• Aries = dynamic manifestation; energetic growth; birth of new potential
• Taurus = stability; security; self substantiation; expression; permanence
• Gemini = mental expansion; self- development; connectivity; union; duality;
• Cancer = internalization; emotional bonding; birth; giving form to that within;
• Leo = outward expression of self; courage; creativity; strength; determination
• Virgo = harvesting; integration; self realization; analysis; self improvement
• Libra = balance; karmic law; weigh and measure; practicality
• Scorpio = desire; passion; regeneration; renewal; decay
• Sagittarius = expansion; transformation; spiritual awareness
• Capricorn = materialization; order; structure; sacrifice; achievement;
• Aquarius = higher mind; relatedness; selflessness; unity; consensus
• Pisces = spiritual waters; the psychic realm; dreams; faith; sacrifice

Golden Dawn Astrological Correspondences in The Major Arcana

 

The Elements

• Elemental Fire – Judgement
• Elemental Earth – World
• Elemental Air – Fool
• Elemental Water – Hanged Man

The Planets

• Mercury – Magician
• Moon – High Priestess
• Venus – Empress
• Jupiter – Wheel of Fortune
• Mars – Tower
• Sun – Sun
• Saturn – World

The Star Signs

• Aries – Emperor
• Taurus – Hierophant
• Gemini – Lovers
• Cancer – Chariot
• Leo – Strength
• Virgo – Hermit
• Libra – Justice
• Scorpio – Death
• Sagittarius – Temperance
• Capricorn – Devil
• Aquarius – Star
• Pisces – Moon

Golden Dawn Astrological Correspondences in The Minor Arcana

 

The Suit of Cups

• Ace of Cups – “The Root of the Powers of Water”; Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces; The Water Signs of the Zodiac
• Two of Cups – “The Lord of Love”; Venus in Cancer
• Three of Cups – “The Lord of Joy”; Mercury in Cancer
• Four of Cups – “The Lord of Blended Pleasure”; Moon in Cancer
• Five of Cups – “The Lord of Pleasure Lost”; Mars in Scorpio
• Six of Cups – “The Lord of Friendship”; Sun in Scorpio
• Seven of Cups – “The Lord of Illusionary Success”; Venus in Scorpio
• Eight of Cups – “The Lord of Abandoned Success”; Saturn in Pisces
• Nine of Cups – “The Lord of Happiness”; Jupiter in Pisces
• Ten of Cups – “The Lord of Perfected Success”; Mars in Pisces
• Page of Cups – “The Prince of the Waters”; Earth of Water
• Knight of Cups – “The Prince of the Chariot of the Waves”; Air of Water
• Queen of Cups – “The Queen of the Throne of Waters”; Water of Water
• King of Cups – “The Lord of the Waves and Waters”; Fire of Water

The Suit of Pentacles

• Ace of Pentacles – “The Root of the Powers of the Earth”; Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
• Two of Pentacles – “The Lord of Balance”; Jupiter in Capricorn
• Three of Pentacles – “The Lord of Material Works”; Mars in Capricorn
• Four of Pentacles – “The Lord of Material Power”; Sun in Capricorn
• Five of Pentacles – “The Lord of Material Trouble”; Mercury in Taurus
• Six of Pentacles – “The Lord of Material Success”; Moon in Taurus
• Seven of Pentacles – “The Lord of Unfulfilled Success”; Saturn in Taurus
• Eight of Pentacles – “The Lord of Material Prudence”; Sun in Virgo
• Nine of Pentacles – “The Lord of Material Gain”; Venus in Virgo
• Ten of Pentacles – “The Lord of Wealth”; Mercury in Virgo
• Page of Pentacles – “The Rose of the Palace of Earth”; Earth of Earth
• Knight of Pentacles – “The Prince of the Chariot of Earth”; Air of Earth
• Queen of Pentacles – “The Queen of the Throne of Earth”; Water of Earth
• King of Pentacles – “The King of the Spirits of Earth”; Fire of Earth

The Suit of Swords

• Ace of Swords – “The Root of the Powers of Air”; Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
• Two of Swords – “The Lord of Inner Balance”; Moon in Libra
• Three of Swords – “The Lord of Sorrow”; Saturn in Libra
• Four of Swords – “The Lord of Rest”; Jupiter in Libra
• Five of Swords – “The Lord of Defeat”; Venus in Aquarius
• Six of Swords – “The Lord of Earned Success”; Mercury in Aquarius
• Seven of Swords – “The Lord of Shortened Force”; Moon in Aquarius
• Eight of Swords – “The Lord of Bondage”; Jupiter in Gemini
• Nine of Swords – “The Lord of Despair and Cruelty”; Mars in Gemini
• Ten of Swords – “The Lord of Ruin”; Sun in Gemini
• Page of Swords – “The Prince of the Rushing Winds”; Earth of Air
• Knight of Swords – “Lord of the Winds and the Breezes”; Air of Air
• Queen of Swords – “Queen of the Thrones of Air”; Water of Air
• King of Swords – “King of the Spirits of Air”; Fire of Air

The Suit of Wands

• Ace of Wands – “The Root of the Powers of Fire”; Aries, Leo and Sagittarius; The Fire Signs of the Zodiac
• Two of Wands – “The Lord of Dominion”; Mars in Aries
• Three of Wands – “The Lord of Established Strength”; Sun in Aries
• Four of Wands – “The Lord of Abundance”; Venus in Aries
• Five of Wands – “The Lord of Strife”; Saturn in Leo
• Six of Wands – “The Lord of Victory”; Jupiter in Leo
• Seven of Wands – “The Lord of Courage”; Mars in Leo
• Eight of Wands – “The Lord of Swiftness”; Mercury in Sagittarius
• Nine of Wands – “The Lord of Strength”; Moon in Sagittarius
• Ten of Wands – “The Lord of Oppression”; Saturn in Sagittarius
• Page of Wands – “The Rose of the Palace of Fire”; Earth of Fire
• Knight of Wands – “The Prince of the Chariot of Fire”; Air of Fire
• Queen of Wands – “The Queen of the Thrones of Flame”; Water of Fire
• King of Wands – “King of the Spirits of Fire”; Fire of Fire

The supreme invoking ritual of the pentagram

While The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram only keeps out unwelcome intruders, the Supreme Invoking Ritual takes a more active approach. To perform the Supreme Invoking ritual you need to know more about Pentagrams than it takes to perform the Lesser Banishing one.

In general the Pentagram symbolises freedom of creation in conformity with the will of God. The very top point of the pentagram represents Spirit ruling the four elements represented by the four remaining points below: Fire is bottom right, Water is top right, Air is top left, and Earth is bottom left. Learn these directions by heart before you continue.

Pentagrams invoke specific forces depending on from which corner and in which direction you begin to draw them, which symbols you trace in their centers, and which names of power you vibrate during the operation. For example, you draw element invoking pentagrams beginning with a line towards the corner of the specific element you wish to invoke. When you need to banish the element again, draw a pentagram beginning with a line from the specific element in the opposite direction.

Apart from the godnames, the Supreme Invoking Ritual includes a number of powers related to the elements: The four kerubim, the man, the lion, the eagle and the bull, who are Kings of the elements residing at the level of Tiphareth; the Tablet of Union names (in the Enochian 'angelic language' described by John Dee in the 15th century) related to specific dimensions of Spirit; the Angelic Tablet names invoking angelic powers related to the specific element; and the signs of the Elemental Grades from the magical community The Golden Dawn.

This ritual works with all four elements at once, at the four quarters. The invocation (or banishing) of each element begins with a Spirit Pentagram that equilibrates specific elements and harmonizes their influence. It is followed by an Element Pentagram that invokes (or banishes) the element.

Here you go:

• Perform the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, thereby creating a safe and controlled space of operation.
• Perform The Qabalistic Cross facing East.
• Invoke The Four Elements, one by one. Use either the extended forefinger of your right hand or a dagger. Keeping the arm straight, inscribe by the use of your imagination the prescribed pentagrams with the point up in the air in front of you. Visualize the lines composing each pentagram in flaming blue light. *

1 East/Air. 

Still facing East, make the Equlibrated Active Invoking Pentagram of Spirit:

Balance the two active elements Fire and Air by starting the Spirit Pentagram with the line between them from the bottom up, that is, bottom right (fire) to top left (air). (In closing (banishing) you reverse the current.). Vibrate the Tablet of Union name "Exarp" while making the Spirit pentagram (for Element of Air). *

Make a wheel in the centre of the pentagram (symbolizing Spirit) while vibrating the godname "Eheieh" (for Air as an active element). Visualize that the pentagram is now loaded with the divine energy of the godname. *

Make the Invoking Pentagram of Air:

The Air element is invoked by the pentagram that starts with the line from Water to Air (and banished when starting in the opposite direction with Air back to Water). While drawing the pentagram the name "Oro Ibah Aozpi" is vibrated. *

Trace the sigil of Aquarius in its centre, referring to the kerubic sign of Air, while vibrating the godname "YHVH" (for Element of Air). Feel that the pentagram is charged with energy. *

Finish with the sign of the Elemental grade of Theoricus (2=9): Bend both arms at the elbow, keep the hands at the level of the head, palms upwards as if supporting a great weight. *

2 South/Fire. 

Trace the blue flame with your finger or dagger from the east pentagram to the South. Facing South, make the Equlibrated Active Invoking Pentagram of Spirit:

Balance the two active elements Fire and Air by starting the Spirit pentagram with the line between them from the bottom up, that is, bottom right (fire) to top left (air). (In closing (banishing) you reverse the current.) While making the pentagram vibrate the Tablet of Union name "Bitom" (for Element of Fire). *

Make the wheel in the centre while vibrating the godname "Eheieh" (for Fire as an active element). The Pentagram glows with energy. *

Make the Invoking Pentagram of Fire:

The Fire element is invoked by the pentagram that starts with the line from Spirit to Fire (and banished when starting in the opposite direction with Fire back to Spirit.). While drawing the pentagram vibrate the Angelic Tablet name "Oip Teaa Pedoce". *

Trace the sigil of Leo in its centre, referring to the kerubic sign, and vibrate the godname "Elohim" (for the Element of Fire). Feel the pentagram glowing. *

Finish with the sign of the Elemental grade of Philosophus (4=7): form a triangle apex upwards on the forehead (at Daath) with the thumbs and index fingers of both hands. Keep the elbows level with the shoulders. *

3 West/Water. 

Turn west, bringing the blue flame of the pentagrams with you. Make the Equlibrated Passive Invoking Pentagram of Spirit:

Balance the two passive elements Earth and Water by starting the Spirit pentagram with the line between them from the bottom up, that is, bottom left (earth) to top right (water). (In closing (banishing) you reverse this current.) While making the pentagram vibrate the Tablet of Union name "Hcoma" (for Element of Water). *

Make the wheel in the centre while vibrating the godname "Agla" (for Water as a passive element). The pentagram glows. *

Make the Invoking Pentagram of Water:

The Water element is invoked by the pentagram that starts with the line from Air to Water, and banished when starting in the opposite direction with Water back to Air. Vibrate the Angelic Tablet name "Empeh Arsel Gaiol" in making the pentagram. *

Trace the sigil of the Eagle in its centre (referring to the kerubic sign of Scorpio for the element of Water), and vibrate the godname "El". The pentagram glows with divine energy. *

Finish with the sign of the Elemental grade of Practicus (3=8): form a triangle apex downward on your stomach (at Yesod) with the thumbs and index fingers of both hands. *

4 North/Earth. 

Turn to the North, tracing the blue flame from West to North. Make the Equlibrated Passive Invoking Pentagram of Spirit:

Balance the two passive elements Earth and Water by starting the Spirit pentagram with the line between them from the bottom up, that is, bottom left (earth) to top right (water). (In closing (banishing) you reverse this current). While making the pentagram vibrate the Tablet of Union name "Nanta" (for Element of Earth). *

Make the wheel in the centre while vibrating "Agla" (for Earth as a passive element). *

Make the Invoking Pentagram of Earth:

The Earth element is invoked by the pentagram that starts with the line from Spirit to Earth, and banished when starting in the opposite direction with Earth back to Spirit. Vibrate the Angelic Tablet name "Emor Dial Hectega" in making the pentagram. *

Trace the sigil of Taurus in its centre, referring to the kerubic sign, while vibrating the godname "Adonai" (for Element of Earth). Feel the energy being loaded into the pentagram. *

Finish with the sign of the Elemental grade of Zelator (1=10): Raise the right arm straight up in a fortyfive degree angle from the body, hand helt flat with fingers pointing towards the ceiling. *

C Close the circle. Then, with the hand still outstretched, return to the East, tracing the blue flame from North to East. Stab you fingers or dagger into the center of the first pentagram. Visualize that you are surrounded by the four flaming pentagrams connected by a line of blue fire. *

D Invoke the Archangels like in the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram) *

1. Facing East, extend your arms in the form of a cross. Now visualise yourself standing within a powerful pentagram, and proclaim: *
2. 'Before me, RAPHAEL (pronounced 'Rah-fah-yell', translated as 'Healing of God') - visualize Raphael, the Archangel of Air, to the East towering above you robed in yellow which, as it rustles in the refreshing breeeze blowing from the rear of the figure, flashes with purple overtones). *
3. 'Behind me, GABRIEL ('Gah-bree-ell', 'Might of God') - visualize Gabriel, the Archangel of Water, to the West, standing in a giant column of water and holding aloft a Cup from which flows water. His robe is of shimmering blue with overtones of orange). *
4. 'On my right hand, MICHAEL ('Mee-khah-ell', 'Likeness of God') - visualize Michael, the Archangel of Fire, to the South, clothed in robes of red, flashing with a greenish fire, holding aloft a flaming sword). *
5. 'On my left hand, AURIEL ('aw-ree-ell', 'Light of God') - visualize Auriel, Archangel of Earth, to the North, standing in front of a vast column of mixed browns and greens, on a pentacle, clad in the colours of the seasons, citrine, olive, russet and black. *
6. 'For about me flames the Pentagrams, and in the column stands the six-rayed star' (imagine a shining hexagram - a Star of David - above your head and crowning the circle of the Pentagrams, feel energy radiating down from the Star through the column of your whole body). *

D Repeat The Qabalistic Cross. *

E Now enough energy is invoked for you to ask for any kind of magical assistance, help, healing or the like. *


F Close the ritual by performing the Supreme ritual in its Banishing version, that is, draw each Spirit and Element pentagram in the opposite direction, beginning with the same path that were used for the invocation, thereby reversing the currents. *

variations

If you want to work with only one element, use only the proper Equilibrating element of Spirit and the Element's own invoking Pentagram. In general it is the safer to work with all four elements as they balance each other. *

If you want to invoke forces of the Zodiac, use the pentagram of the Element to which the Sign refers. Trace the sigil of the specific Sign in the centre of the pentagram (Note: not neccesarily the kerubic sign of the element). Turn towards the actual spatial position of the Sign at the particular time of the ritual. *

THE TREE OF LIFE IN THE TEMPLES OF THE OUTER ORDER

The representation of the Tree of Life in the Outer Order temples reflects the harmony and balance of that simple and infinite diagram.

The philosophy of the Qabalah is expressed in the temple's changing patterns throughout the grade rituals and in the rhythm of activity within the rituals individually.

Regardless of nationality, religion, language, etc. of the god-forms and forces represented, they are consistently balanced and in alignment with the different levels of manifestation in the temple and on the Tree, in their attributes, functions and with the magical purpose of the ceremonies.

Systematically working through the grades can provide unexpected insights, new perspectives and a broader understanding of the synthesis of magical, religious, and scientific aspects of the Great Work as it relates to the growth and procession of the aspiring student.

The four Sephiroth of the 0=0 are the only ones shown in the Outer Order temples.

The stations and officers as appropriate, follow the Tree through the Elemental Grades from 0=0 to 4=7

Malkuth is the Sephirah of the Neophyte and Zelator grades,

Theoricus is in Yesod,
Practicus in Hod,
Philosophus in Netzach.

In a sense all Outer Order ceremonies take place in Malkuth as they never leave the world of Assiah represented macrocosmically by Malkuth.

Lecture on the Neophyte grade

To be studied in the Grade of Neophyte (0=0). Aspirants will be tested on their knowledge of the following material, which must be committed to memory.

Elements

The Four Elements of the Ancients are duplicated conditions of:

Zodiac

These twelve signs are distributed among the for Triplicities, or sets of three signs, each being attributed to one of the four Elements, and they represent the operation of the elements in the Zodiac.

The Planets

To the Ancients, six Planets were known, besides the Sun, which they classed with the planets. They also assigned certain planetary values to the North and south Nodes of the Moon that is, the points where her orbit touches that of the Ecliptic.

These they named:

The Old Planets are:

THE ACOLYTE

BEFORE we enter upon the events of the Great Journey of Frater P., during which for six years he voyaged over the face of the globe in quest of the mystic knowledge of all nations, it will be necessary here to recount, briefly though it may be, the circumstances which let up to his entering into communication with the Order of A ∴ A ∴

Born of an ancient family, but a few days after the fifty-sixth Equinox before the Equinox of the Gods, he was reared and educated in the faith of Christ as taught by one of the strictest sects of the many factions of the Christian Church, and scarcely had he learnt to lisp the simplest syllables of childhood than his martyrdom began.

From infancy he struggled through the chill darkness of his surroundings into boyhood, and as he grew and throve, so did the iniquity of that unnatural treatment which with lavish and cruel hand was squandered on him. Then youth came, and with it God's name had grown to be a curse, and the form of Jesus stood forth in the gloom of Golgotha, a chill and hideous horror which vampire-like had sucked dry the joy of his boyhood; when suddenly one summer night he broke away from the ghouls that had tormented him, casting aside the sordid conventions of life, defying the laws of his {231} land, doubting the decaying religion of his childhood, he snapped, like rotten twigs, the worm-eaten conventionalities of the effete and hypocritical civilisation in which he had been nurtured, and sought refuge for a space in the wild and beautiful country which lies tangled like a head of tumbled hair to the north and north-west of England. Here he learnt from the whispering winds and the dreamy stars that life was not altogether a curse, and that every night dies in the arms of dawn.

His freedom, however, was of but short duration; yet, though he was dragged back to the prison from which he had escaped, he had learnt his own strength, a new life had flowed like a great sea dancing with foam upon him, and had intoxicated him with the red wine of Freedom and Revolt --- his gauntlet of youth had been cast down, henceforth he would battle for his manhood, ay! and for the manhood of the World!

Then the trumpet-blast resounded; the battle had indeed begun! Struggling to his feet, he tore from him the shroud of a corrupted faith as if it had been the rotten cerement of a mummy. With quivering lip, and voice choked with indignation at the injustice of the world, he cursed the name of Christ and strode on to seek the gate of Hell and let loose the fiends of the pit, so that mankind might yet learn that compassion was not dead.

Nevertheless, the madness passes, like a dark cloud before the breath of awakening dawn; conscious of his own rightness, of the manhood which was his, of his own strength, and the righteousness of his purpose, and filled with the overflowing ambitions of youth, we find him unconsciously sheathe {232} his blood-red sword, and blow flame and smoke from the tripod of life, casting before the veiled and awful image of the Unknown the arrows of his reason, and diligently seeking both omen and sign in the dusty volumes of the past, and in the ancient wisdom of long-forgotten days.

Deeply read in poetry, philosophy and science, gifted beyond the common lot, and already a poet of brilliant promise; he suddenly hurries from out the darkness like a wild prophetic star, and overturning the desks and the stools of the schoolmen, and casting their pedagogic papilla from his lips, escapes from the stuffy cloisters of mildewed learning, and the colleges of dialectic dogmatics, and seeks, what as yet he cannot find in the freedom which in his youthful ardour appears to him to live but a furlong or two beyond the spires and gables of that city of hidebound pedants which had been his school, his home, and his prison.

Then came the great awakening. Curious to say, it was towards the hour of midnight on the last day of the year when the old slinks away from the new, that he happened to be riding alone, wrapped in the dark cloak of unutterable thoughts. A distant bell chimed the last quarter of the dying year, and the snow which lay fine and crisp on the roadway was being caught up here and there by the puffs of sharp frosty wind that came snake-like through the hedges and the trees, whirling it on spectre-like in the chill and silver moonlight. But dark were his thoughts, for the world had failed him. Freedom had he sought, but not the freedom that he had gained. Blood seemed to ooze from his eyelids and trickle down, drop by drop, upon the white snow, writing on its pure surface the name of Christ. Great bats flitted by {233} him, and vultures whose bald heads were clotted with rotten blood. "Ah! the world, the world ... the failure of the world." And then an amber light surged round him, the fearful tapestry of torturing thought was rent asunder, the voices of many angels sang to him. "Master! Master!" he cried, "I have found Thee ... O silver Christ. ..."

Then all was Nothingness ... nothing ... nothing ... nothing; and madly his horse carried him into the night.

Thus he set out on his mystic quest towards that goal which he had seen, and which seemed so near; and yet, as we shall learn, proved to be so far away.

In the first volume of the diaries, we find him deep in the study of the Alchemistic philosophers. Poring over Paracelsus, Benedictus Figulus, Eugenius and Eirenaeus Philalethes, he sought the Alchemical Azoth, the Catholicon, the Sperm of the World, that Universal Medicine in which is contained all other medicines and the first principle of all substances. In agony and joy he sought to fix the volatile, and transmute the formless human race into the dual child of the mystic Cross of Light, that is to say, to solve the problem of the Perfect Man. Fludd, Bonaventura, Lully, Valentinus, Flamel, Geber, Plotinus, Ammonius, Iamblichus and Dionysius were all devoured with the avidity and greed which youth alone possesses; there was no halting here ---

"'Now, master, take a little rest!' --- not he!
(Caution redoubled,

Step two abreast, the way winds narrowly!)
Not a wit troubled

Back to his studies, fresher than at first,
Fierce as a dragon

He (soul-hydroptic with a sacred thirst)
Sucked at the flagon."

{234} Plunging into the tenebrae of transcendental physics, he sought the great fulfilment, and unknowingly in the exuberance of his enthusiasm left the broad road of the valley and struck out on the mountain-track towards that ultimate summit which gleams with the stone of the Wise, and whose secret lies in the opening of the "Closed Eye" --- the consuming of the Darkness.

He who dismisses Paracelsus with a twopenny clyster, or Raymond Lully with a sixpenny reprint, is not a fool, no, no, nothing so exalted; but merely a rabbit-brained louse, who, flattering himself that he is crawling in the grey beard of Haeckel and the scanty locks of Spencer, sucks pseudoscientific blood from the advertisement leaflets of our monthly magazines, and declares all outside the rational muckheap of a "Pediculus" to be both ridiculous and impossible.

The Alchemist well knew the difference between the kitchen stove and the Heraclitean furnace; and between the water in his hip-bath and "the water which wetteth not the hands." True, much "twaddle" was written concerning balsams, and elixirs, and bloods, which, however, to the merest tyro in alchemy can be sorted from the earnest works as easily as a "Bart's" student can sort hair-restoring pamphlets and blackhead eradicators from lectures and essays by Lister and Müller.

Thus frenziedly, at the age of twenty-two, P. set out on the Quest of the Philosopher's Stone.

Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultam Lapidem Veram Medicinam; this is indeed the true medicine of souls; and so P. sought the universal solvent VITRIOLUM, and equated the seven letters in VITRIOL, SULPHUR, {235} and MERCURY with the alchemical powers of the seven planets; precipitating the SALT from the four elements --- Subtilis, Aqua, Lux, Terra; and mingling Flatus, Ignis, Aqua, and Terra, smote them with the cross of Hidden Mystery, and cried: "Fiat Lux!"

Youth strides on with hasty step, and by summer of this year --- 1898 --- we find P. deep in consultation with the mystics, and drinking from the white chalice of mystery with St. John, Boehme, Tauler, Eckart, Molinos, Levi, and Blake:

"Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air,
Hungry clouds swag on the deep."

Insatiable, he still pressed on, hungering for the knowledge of things outside; and in his struggle for the million he misses the unit, and heaps up chaos in the outer darkness of Illusion. From the cloudless skies of Mysticism he rushes down into the infernal darkness on winged thoughts: "The fiery limbs, the flaming hair, shot like the sinking sun into the western sea," and we find him now in the Goetic kingdoms of sorcery, witchcraft, and infernal necromancy. The bats flit by us as we listen to his frenzied cries for light and knowledge: "The Spiritual Guide," and "The Cherubic Wanderer" are set aside for "The Arbatel" and "The Seven Mysterious Orisons." A hurried turning of many pages, the burning of many candles, and then --- the Key of Solomon for a time is put away, with the Grimoires and the rituals, the talismans, and the Virgin parchments; the ancient books of the Qabalah lie open before him; a flash of brilliant fire, like a silver fish leaping from out the black waters of the sea into {236} the starlight, bewilders him and is gone; for he has opened "The Book of Concealed Mystery" and has read:

"Before there was equilibrium countenance beheld not countenance."

The words: "Yehi Aour" trembled on his lips; the very chaos of his being seemed of a sudden to shake itself into form --- vast and terrible; but the time had not been fulfilled, and the breath of the creation of a new world caught them up from his half-opened mouth and carried them back into the darkness whence they had all but been vibrated.*

* At this time P. was leading a hermit's life on a Swiss glacier with one whom, though he knew it not at the time, was destined ever and anon to bring him wisdom from the Great White Brotherhood. This one we shall meet again under the initials D.A.

From midsummer until the commencement of the autumn the diaries are silent except for one entry, "met a certain Mr. B --- an alchemist of note" which though of no particular importance in itself, was destined to lead to another meeting which changed the whole course of P.'s progress, and accelerated his step towards that Temple, the black earth from the foundations of which he had been, until the present, casting up in chaotic heaps around him.

Knorr von Rosenroth's immense storehouse of Qabalistic learning seems to have kept P. fully employed until the autumnal equinox, when B ---, the alchemist of note, introduced him to a Mr. C --- (afterwards, as we shall see, Frater V.'. N.'. of the Order of the Golden Dawn). This meeting proved all-important, as will be set forth in the following chapter. Through C ---, P. had for the time being laid aside von Rosenroth, and was now deep in "The Book of the {237} Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage." A time of transition was at hand, a spiritual renaissance was about to take place, so little wonder is it that we find P. much like St. Augustine lamenting his outward search, and crying with him: "I, Lord, went wandering like a strayed sheep, seeking Thee with anxious Reasoning without, whilst Thou wast within me. I wearied myself much in looking for Thee without, and yet Thou hast Thy habitation within me, if only I desire Thee and pant after Thee. I went round the Streets and Squares of the City of this World seeking Thee; and I found Thee not, because in vain I sought without for Him who was within myself."

INSTRUCTIONS ON THE MIDDLE PILLAR EXERCISE

Issued by the

Thelemic Order

of the Golden Dawn

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

The Golden Dawn Middle Pillar Exercise is, to all intents and purposes, a Magical Ritual of Self-Initiation. That is, it is a magical method of commencing the subtle and inevitable process of uniting human consciousness with the divine consciousness, which is symbolized universally by the Light. In other words, it is a dynamic method of the Great Work, and it is worthy of vast attention from those who are truly serious about engaging themselves in the Great Work.

The Middle Pillar Exercise is a proper magical method of commencing the process of making contact with the Light and bringing it into conscious manifestation. But this Light of which we speak has naught to do with the mushy metaphysical mumbo-jumbo prattled and preached by the credulous critters of the so-called Metaphysical or New Age movements. Rather is it a metaphorical symbol for the Holy Guardian Angel or one's Central Self so often symbolized by the Lord of the Solar System, the Sun. It is LVX, the Light of the Cross. It is Khabs, the Light of a Star. The Middle Pillar Exercise is an inner recognition of that Light in the five Spheres of the Middle Pillar of Consciousness. It is a technique for concentrating and crystallizing into being the Light and bringing that Light down into conscious manifestation.

The Middle Pillar Exercise serves as an excellent prelude to any type of spiritual working, for it aligns the human personality with the Divine Self of Kether. All true spiritual work is done under the guidance of Kether. By performing the Middle Pillar Exercise you literally manifest the Light of your own Divine Self, concentrating it into being from your own limitless nature, as a sign thereof, and you gradually bring that Light into the sphere of your own human consciousness which is then transformed into a higher form of potential consciousness of your own True Nature.

The Neophyte should perform the Middle Pillar Exercise slowly and with great care and attention. It is a most effective magical method for awakening the higher currents within, and must be used with great patience and earnest aspiration. This cathartic exercise purifies and nourishes the Aura or Sphere of Sensation with the Divine Light from above. Thus it is a highly potent and serious method of the Great Work. Let the Neophyte begin visualizing each Sphere five minutes separately, vibrating each Name as many times as he/she feels inclined, however five times per Sphere seems an appropriate limit. The Ritual should take no more than 30 minutes to perform. To become identified with the Divine Energy of each of the five Spheres, periodically visualize yourself as a little person existing and moving inside each Sphere. Try to maintain this visualization within each Sphere for a period of five minutes. It is also a good practice in this respect to periodically visualize in the Spheres the letters that make up the God Names of each Sphere. In this way you enhance the meaning and power of each Sphere in your archetypal model of the Middle Pillar.

The White Sphere above the Head is the place of Kether on the Tree of Life. The Indigo Sphere at the Throat is the place of Daath on the Tree of Life. The Yellow Sphere at the Heart is the place of Tiphareth on the Tree of Life. The Violet Sphere at the Genital is the place of Yesod on the Tree of Life. The Green Sphere at the feet is the place of Malkuth on the Tree of Life. These five Spheres naturally correspond with the four Aristotelian Elements (Fire, Water, Air and Earth) and the Quintessence or Spirit (the so-called fifth Element). Thus they also correspond with the five Tattvas or Elements of Eastern Philosophy. Kether is Spirit/Akasha, Daath is Air/Vayu, Tiphareth is Fire/Tejas, Yesod is Water/Apas, and Malkuth is Earth/Prithivi. The Neophyte may find it a valuable practice to visualize in the five Spheres of the Middle Pillar their corresponding Elemental Tattvic symbols. These Tattvic symbols are an Indigo Ovoid for Spirit/Akasha, a Blue Circle for Air/Vayu, an upright Red Triangle for Fire/Tejas, a Silver Crescent for Water/Apas, and a Yellow Square for Earth/Prithivi.

The Middle Pillar Exercise may be performed while standing, sitting, or even lying down. There is no strict rule concerning this matter; it must be left to the experience of the Magician to determine what position shall suit him/her best in this practice. However, it is the more common method among members of the Order to stand erect while performing the Middle Pillar Exercise. In this way we maintain an active conscious role in the practice, less inclined to enter into a passive state of trance or sleep. The Middle Pillar Exercise is capable of inducing a certain species of trance if it is performed for a long period of time in a relaxed or passive state. There is nothing wrong in this, but the object of the Middle Pillar Exercise is to actively manifest the Light in the consciousness of the Magician, to dynamically expand his/her awareness of that Light. It is therefore suitable to stand.

Concerning the formulation of the Talismatic Atom. The Atom is one of the most significant of all symbols for the modern Magician to understand and apply. The symbol of the Atom, like the Atom itself, is a source of vast potential energy and its value in the world of modern Magick is simply inestimable. The symbol of the Atom does not only represent one of the minute indivisible particles of which, according to ancient materialism, the Universe is composed, but is a symbol of the Whole Universe itself. Its formulation in the Aura of the Magician helps to circulate the Light invoked through the Middle Pillar and awaken his/her consciousness to a more universal mode of awareness or a higher circuit of cosmic potential. This practice of the formulation of the Talismatic Atom also helps to fortify the Magician's power to concentrate. In this simple practice is contained much wisdom for those who have eyes to see.

Concerning the formulation of the Qabalistic or Thelemic Cross. This helps to equilibrate the Light in the Aura or Sphere of Sensation. The Cross in itself is an invocation of the Divine Light of Kether and an equilibration of that Light in the four elemental quarters. By ending the Middle Pillar Exercise with the Cross you are sealing the ritual with the Light of Kether. You also formulate in your Aura the Cross of Light and seal your Aura with that Light. It is a suitable idea at this final point of the exercise to increase the size of the Cross, so that its vertical and horizontal bars extend into infinity. It is this which is the fulfillment of the Golden Dawn proclamation, "Khabs Am Pekht. Konx Om Pax. Light in Extension." After the formulation of the Talismatic Image of the Cross in the Aura, the Magician may find it a suitable practice to compose him/her self in the Sign of Silence, assuming the God-form of Harpocrates in the Egg of Blue.

The Middle Pillar is the Great Key to the Royal Path of Initiation. Thus the Middle Pillar Exercise can be used as an actual method for initiating oneself into the Mysteries of the Light. Initiation is a conscious realization of the Light. It is the beginning of the process of the gradual development of self-awareness and of self-actualization. The initiate is one who has come to a conscious realization of the Light of his/her own True Self, whose consciousness is one with his Inmost Self, with the Star of his/her own celestial nature.

The Light is a metaphor for pure Consciousness, or the unstained awareness of one's True Nature, which is the Eternal Matrix of one's being. It is Awareness of one's Universal Self, that great part of us all which is one with every other thing in the Infinite Universe, that majestic part of our own beings which we so often term the Holy Guardian Angel. It is what the foolish folk call God, and we call the Ideal Identity of our inmost nature. It is the Quinta Essentia or QUINTESSENCE of our being. It is the Light of the Star that we are in truth, and the Burning Radiance of our Eternal Self coursing through the great Heavens of Nuit. It is the Great Mystery of all Prophets and Sages, and the Goal of all Philosophers. It is That to which all men and women attain at their appointed time of death.

Love is the law, love under will.