by Marcus Katz
Sun (Yesod)
The Mind can reflect from Tiphareth experiences of a higher order, and such is often termed Gnosis by contemplatives. This illuminates the psyche, centred in Yesod, through the path of the Sun Atu. It is interesting to note that this functional Triad utilises the Devil Atu as Lucifer, the Light-Bringer.
Last Judgement (Malkuth)
The Last Judgement Atu shows the resultant flow of energies down the Pillar of which Hod is the base. From Understanding and Discrimination, and the processes of the Intellect, reflecting the arc of Will, comes the decision to act, the judgement from which flows the Will into the World of Action, Malkuth. If the Lower Sephiroth are harmonised, this will also flow from the emotions (Netzach) and unconscious desires (Yesod), otherwise conflicts will be set up on the path of the Blasted Tower, and the action will ultimately result in nothing. Imbalance in this Triad is often reflected on the other side of the Tree in the path governed by the Moon, denoting a negative side to the card's symbolism, where the cyclic repetitions of an action are caused by indecision on the other side of the Tree.
Adin Steinsaltz calls one attribute of Hod "perseverance".[77] This is echoed by Regardie’s injunction in the introduction to the collected works of the Golden Dawn, where he states that persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Crowley's phrase saying that work alone has ultimate value can also be allocated to the Sephirah of Hod. It is here that the Work is performed, to counter the inertia that the Ego (symbolised in this instance by the Moon on the other side of the Tree) can summon.
The Mercurial qualities of the Sephirah are as numerous as the symbols denoting that elusive element. It is as Sturzaker states, "the sphere of intrigue", and also of the diplomat, the thief, the scientist and the magician.[78] The sciences are rooted here, as they seek knowledge by division and mechanisms, and by strict definitions of qualities, events, and behaviours. These are all the processes of Hod. It might be noted here that the classical sciences are now being transcended by the new sciences of Quantum Physics, Turbulence Physics, and the mathematics of Dynamic Systems, all of which reflect more the qualities of Netzach, where the divisions of Hod have not yet taken place, and more wholeness exists. This progression has also occurred in medicine with the advent of holistic therapies. The Tree suggests that the future will bring even more integration of arts and sciences as we approach the Tiphareth of this development.
EXERCISES
1. Observe the composition of a thought by asking oneself, or another, "What do I think of ...?" How much of the thought complex is; an item of fact, an emotional charge, a value judgement, an image, a reference to another thought, a memory, and so on? How would this be modelled by Kabbalah?
2. Take any number of names of objects, and note what thought associations you have with them. Make a connection between this and the biblical story of Adam naming the Animals. Read The Greater Trumps by Charles Williams in this context.
3. Note a few examples of the power of a word in your own life. Expand this exercise to historical or present examples in the social sphere around you, and the political sphere. Note examples of the Magic of language to affect our awareness.
Yesod: The Hall of Mirrors
Yesod means "Foundation", and also "base, ground, principle or compilation". It is the base of the third and final triad of the Tree, and stands between Tiphareth and Malkuth on the Middle Pillar. It is also connected directly to Hod and Netzach.
The letters of Yesod, Yod-Samekh-Vau-Daleth, total to 80 by Gematria, which is the value of Peh, meaning ‘mouth’. The Sephirah is one of communication from above to below, and we should seek to align our words to our highest principles as part of our work equilibrating this Sephirah.
Eighty is also the value of KS, meaning ‘throne’, and MVLD, ‘birth, or new moon’. The Sephirah is the lower throne of all that precedes it, and the throne of our psyche and ego-process, which (like the Moon) reflects the light of awareness, the Sun, corresponding to Tiphareth.
As the Moon is the planet attributed to Yesod, it is interesting to note that Peh spelt in full is Peh-Aleph, which totals 81, and is as Crowley states "a mystic number of the moon", as it totals 8+1=9, the number of Yesod, and equates with KSA, meaning again, ‘throne’ and also ‘time of the full moon’. This number, 81, is also the value of ANKI, meaning ‘ego’, which again is attributed to Yesod. Thus both 80 and 81 represent these similar aspects of Yesod.
The attribution of throne and ego to Yesod are of note in light of the description by the Golden Dawn of the tasks undertaken by an Adeptus Minor (attributed to Tiphareth), where the ego is seen as enthroned in human consciousness as an usurpation, and the task is to return the correct functioning to each of the aspects of the psyche from this 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 the Empress. These cards express some of the key features of this Sephirah:
Hermit: The individual nature of the personal ego, but the light of the True Self is but a spark in the Lamp. This state of wandering in the darkness is enacted in the Golden Dawn Initiation Rite of Neophyte, where the candidate is blindfolded and led about the Temple by the "symbolic light of occult science", which in turn refers to their own enlightened awareness (Tiphareth).
Temperance: The tarot key attributed to the path leading from Yesod to Tiphareth in the initiatory progression up the Tree. As Sallie Nichols describes, "The action of the Angel Temperance as she works with the waters of the hero's psyche is like that of the sun, Nature's alchemist, on our earth's waters...". [79] The Sun is here the awakened awareness of Tiphareth.
Lovers: The Lovers may relate to the carnal aspects of Yesod as being symbolic of the generative powers of this Sephirah, but on a higher level relate to the choice of progression from the ego-dominated world into the self-aware one. The angel of Temperance again presides over this choice, and in the older decks is shown by a man choosing between two women (or choosing whether to be associated with one woman or not, with the advice of another, depending on one’s interpretation of the glyph), and in the Waite-Smith deck by the biblical Garden of Eden, where this choice is made as the original sin of the Christian mythology.
Empress: The Empress embodies Nature, and thus relates to the generative aspect of Yesod as the foundation or ground of all growth. It is important that Yesod is maintained as a firm foundation, otherwise the state of the Blasted Tower is brought about continually, and ones interactions with the world of Assiah (Malkuth) become confused and ultimately destructive. Thus the ego is transcended, but not destroyed in the Initiate's progression. The ego is the process governing our interaction with the environment, and thus need only be calibrated, not wiped out. This is in one sense why no behaviour is ultimately necessary to the Initiate, and why the system can be expressed differently by different individuals, cultures, and times. Yesod, the ego, is the filter by which the system is expressed, and not the root of it.
Yesod is also the Sephirah of our beliefs, both conditioned or adopted, which form the foundations of our psyche and influence our behaviour. As the lower extreme of the Tree is approached, the Sephiroth tend to merge, as they do at the higher extreme, and so Yesod tends to blend into the functions of Netzach and Hod. For example, "you are what you think", or "you are what you feel" both relate to the Yesod of Hod and Netzach.
Beliefs are relative, and can be utilised as garments and masks as deemed necessary. As Crowley says in Liber Al vel Legis, "A king may choose his garments as he will, a beggar has no choice." Other types of
representational systems are also attributed to Yesod. These are Cosmologies, Maps, Models and Paradigms.
Cosmologies: A cosmology is an integrated set of concepts about the Universe, and has two aspects. A physical cosmology is a conceptual map of the formation and structure of the universe, whereas a metaphysical cosmology further relates to our place and role within the environment.
Maps: Maps are usually historical, in that they are descriptions of a place or places already experienced, and are drawn to guide others. Note that a map does not per se contain any indications of where one ought to go, or indeed the best way to get there. A map only serves to indicate possible routes. Usually the scale of the map needs attention, as an atlas and a street-map both serve different needs.
Models: Usually, a model is a three-dimensional or conceptual map, but as well as being descriptive, it is informative. A model tends to show not only what is, but how it works. By making a model of a system (Systems Analysis), one can then vary components of the process and view likely outcomes based on the model. This enables businesses, for example, to predict the likely outcome of stocks remaining at the end of a year if they bought new machinery, or increased staffing, and so forth. In the psyche, we all carry models of other people, introjected in our minds. Thus, we can work out the likely outcome of saying something to someone, or the reactions someone might have to a certain event. Our models of other people are often woefully inadequate, and indeed, our models of ourselves are often at variance to our actual behaviour. All this is the function (or dysfunction) of Yesod.
Paradigms: A paradigm is the set of assumptions underlying a cosmology. For example, the Newtonian Physics were based in a paradigm where the observer and environment were absolutely separate, and scientific truth could be arrived at by increasing reductionism. The new Physics are being generated from a new paradigm, where it is recognised that the actual act of observation can influence that which is observed. The event responds to our instruments of measurement, and thus, the actual event in itself remains unknown, and will always do so. This is, if you like, scientific proof of the Kabbalistic model, where Tiphareth can never directly be aware of Malkuth, except through Yesod, our "measuring". The new sciences are also based in a more holistic model, where systems theory replaces reductionism, and events are seen in the light of their relationships to the rest of the system, and not as isolated functions.
The deities corresponding to Yesod relate to varying characteristics of the Sephirah as follows:
Air: The Middle Pillar having attributed to it the element of Air, Yesod is the realm of sky-gods such as the Greek Zeus.
Foundation: By its meaning and placement on the Tree, Yesod as Foundation has such Gods as Ganesha and Shu, like Atlas, supporting the world, or heavens. The Grade-sign of the Golden Dawn for this Sephirah is that of Shu supporting the firmament.
Moon: As its primary symbol is that of the Moon, Yesod has attributed to it such Lunar deities as Diana. Also, in its generative aspect (merging to Netzach), Diana-Artemis of Epheseus, the Many-Breasted.
Threshold: As the connective element between the Nephesch (animal instinct) and Ruach (reasoning principle), such Gods as Hermanubis (Hermes the Guide and Anubis the Guardian) and Ganesha (as breaker-down of obstacles, the Juggernaut) can be placed here, as well as the Guardian of the Threshold. This latter entity is encountered as the first "fear" on the new Initiate's path, and usually manifests as the Shadow in terms of Jungian Psychotherapy. The appearance of the Guardian is the sure sign that the work of the Zelator is building up towards initiation, and not merely being used as a form of escapism.
In terms of the Creative Process down the Tree, both Yesod as meaning ‘compilation’, and the process of arrangement (from Crowley in 777), can be placed here. The synthesis embodied in the Universe Atu leading from Yesod to Malkuth has not taken place, merely the elements of that synthesis collected. Thus is Yesod a "treasure-house of images", in that the actual information of these images will depend on one’s own arrangement of them through the Universe Atu, or one’s own Cosmology.
EXERCISES
1. Make a list of some of the beliefs that you hold, from the mundane to the exotic. You might like to list them in sets of themes, such as "Beliefs about life", "Beliefs about myself", "Beliefs about money", and so forth. The beliefs can range from the obvious, "I believe that things fall down when I drop them", to the obtuse; "I believe that cats go to heaven but dogs don't".
2. Can you arrange your beliefs together in a tree diagram, such as shown below, where each belief depends on the beliefs above it as this example:
1. I believe that the Universe is a place where we should live well if we can.
2. I believe that I and my family have the right to live well.
3. I believe that I should look after the material needs of my family and myself.
4. I believe that I should stay healthy.
5. I believe that I should go to work and earn money.
Thus, one set of beliefs hangs from another more central belief.
3. Read the whole of Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson and try some of the exercises in that book, particularly that of finding pennies, for a full examination of the nature of our inner artist.
Malkuth: The Kingdom of the Shells
The tenth path is called the Resplendent Intelligence because it is exalted above every head and sits upon the throne of Binah. It illuminates the splendours of all the lights, and causes an influence to emanate from the Prince of Countenances, the Angel of Kether.
Sepher Yetzirah
Malkuth, in Hebrew MLKVTh (Mem, Lamed, Kaph, Vau, Tau), translates as ‘Kingdom’ and is the name of the tenth Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. An examination of the letters that compose this word may shed light upon the nature of the kingdom itself. This can be done in three ways; numerically; by analysis of the translation of the letters; and by an examination of the tarot cards to which those letters are attributed in the Golden Dawn system.
The numerical analysis provides us with MLKVTh = 40 + 30 + 20 + 6 + 400 = 496.
One common method of numerology totals the integers repeatedly until a single digit is acquired. In the case of Malkuth, this results in 4 + 3 + 2 + 6 + 4 = 19 = 1 + 9 = 10, the number of Malkuth on the Tree. Also, this further reduces to 1 + 0 = 1, the number of Kether, thus reminding us that Malkuth is in Kether, and Kether is in Malkuth, but after a different manner. This is the Kabbalistic equivalent to the Hermetic principle of “As above, so below”. So Malkuth is both itself and Kether, by numerology, signifying the ground of reality is one and the same as the divine world.
Another method of numerology we can apply in gematria is to take the first and last letters of a word and use their summation. The first and last letters of Malkuth are Mem (40) and Tau (400), both of which are extensions of 4, the value of Daleth. As Aleister Crowley points out in his Essay Upon Number, 4 relates to "the solid existing in Time, matter as we know it."[80] So we read this as indicating that Malkuth is the development of the letter Daleth; that reality is constructed of time and space, and the four elements. As Plato states in Timaeus, time is the moving likeness of eternity.
When we apply this to our tarot, we can also see that the card numbered four in the Major Arcana is the Empress, the illustration of nature herself. In this she corresponds to Malkuth, and as the Shekinah, the presence of the divine in the world, seen as feminine.
In further and more complex gematria we can also analyse the full value of 496 as 4 x 124; that is to say, the number of manifestation (4) acting upon the number of Eden (A'aDN=124), the archetypal garden of creation. In Malkuth then, the perfect Garden of Eden manifests itself, although we see it in Yesod, through a glass, darkly. As we build up and explore these resonances between numbers, symbols and our experience of the world, and through myths and illustrations, we are creating in ourselves a structured and ordered system. This system comprehends experience in an increasingly unified way, promoting wider and accelerated lea
rning, and above all driving us to an inner sense of unity as these concepts continue to collapse towards a singular realisation.
It may be that suddenly, one morning, we awake, and find ourselves after all, in that perfect garden – a garden that was there all the time.
Those first and last letters of Malkuth also spell MTh ‘To die, corpse, man’ and in reverse, ThM, ‘Complete, perfect, whole’. This suggests the nature of the Sephirah of Malkuth microcosmically as the world of man and death, and macrocosmically as the completion of the universal process as a whole system. As we revolve around these letter-plays, we often find increasingly profound processes which provoke our awareness to universal patterns.
As extensions of the number 4 (Daleth), Mem and Tau reveal another aspect of Malkuth which is important to the practical Kabbalist. That is, Daleth signifies ‘a gate, portal, means of passing through’, and Malkuth has amongst its titles ‘The Gate, the Gate of Tears and the Gate of Death’. This suggests, as does the recurrent reduction of Malkuth down to Kether, that the perceived world about us is the presentation of Kether to us, and the means by which Kether is communicated to our senses in much the same way a poem or piece of music is the portal to a wealth of abstract meanings and experience.
As we follow our exploration of the number 400 (Tau) which is also the letter on the lowest path of the Tree, connecting Yesod to Malkuth itself, we see that it is taken to show the powers of YHVH on the material plane. So the powers of 4, 40 and 400 are the four elements represented at varying levels of functionality from their most divine source to their lowest manifestation. In practical magical work, we would use these numbers as structure in any working for manifestation, perhaps by having an invocation which was composed of three parts, with four hundred words recited at the opening of the ritual, then a later prayer of forty words and then just four words at the climax of the ceremony.