The Golden Dawn

by Israel Regardie

21.

  Violet

  Blue

  Rich purple

  Bright blue rayed yellow

  22.

  Emerald-green

  Blue

  Deep blue green

  Pale green

  23.

  Deep blue

  Sea green

  Deep olive green

  White flecked purple like mother of pearl

  24.

  Green-blue

  Dull brown

  Very dark brown

  Livid Indigo brown black-beetle

  25.

  Blue

  Yellow

  Green

  Dark vivid-blue

  26.

  Indigo

  Black

  Blue black

  Cold-dark-grey near black

  27.

  Scarlet

  Red

  Venetian red

  Bright red rayed azure or emerald

  28.

  Violet

  Sky blue

  Bluish mauve

  White tinged purple

  29.

  Ultraviolet

  crimson

  Buff flecked silver-white

  Light translucent pinkish brown

  Stone colour

  30.

  Orange

  Gold yellow

  Rich amber

  Amber rayed red

  31.

  Glowing scarlet-orange

  Vermilion

  Scarlet flecked gold

  Vermilion flecked crimson and emerald

  32.

  Indigo

  Black

  Blue black

  Black rayed blue

  31.

  Citrine, olive, russet, black

  Amber

  Dark brown

  Black and yellow

  32.

  White, merging grey

  Deep purple (nearly black)

  7 prismatic colours, violet outside

  White, red, yellow, blue black (outside)

  Daath.

  Lavender

  Grey white

  Pure violet

  Grey flecked gold

  The Microcosm—Man

  Thou shalt know that the whole sphere of sensation which surroundeth the whole physical body of a man is called “the magical mirror of the universe.” For therein are represented all the occult forces of the universe projected as on a sphere, convex to the outer, but concave to man. This sphere surroundeth the physical body of a man as the celestial heavens do the body of a star or a planet, having their forces mirrored in its atmosphere. Therefore its allotment or organization is the copy of that greater world or macrocosm. In this “magical mirror of the universe,” therefore, are the ten Sephiroth projected in the form of the Tree of Life as in a solid sphere.27

  A man’s physical body is within the ten Sephiroth projected in a sphere. The divisions and parts of the body are formed from the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, thus.

  Kether is above the crown of the head and represents a crown which indeed is powerful, but it requires one worthy to wear it. In the crown of the head is placed the faculty of neschamah, which is the power of aspiration unto that which is beyond. This power of neschamah is especially attributed unto the supernal triad in Assiah, of which there are three manifestations which are included in the general concept, neschamah.

  From Chokmah and Binah are formed the sides of the brain and head. Therein exist the intellectual faculties of wisdom and understanding, shining into and illuminating their inferior, the ruach. They are the mansions of the practical administration of the intellect, whose physical shewing forth is by reflection in ruach. In the magical mirror of the universe, or the sphere of sensation, man is placed in the midst of four pillars of the Tree of Life as projected in a sphere. These keep their place and move not. But the man himself places in his sphere of sensation that point of the zodiac which ascended at the moment of his birth and conception (for the same degree of the zodiac ascendeth at both, otherwise the birth could not take place). That is to say that at those times the same degree of the zodiac is ascending in the east of the heavens of the star whereon he is incarnated. Thus doth he remain during that incarnation facing that particular point in his sphere of sensation. That is to say, this sphere doth not revolve about the physical body.

  From Chesed and Geburah are formed the arms. Therein exist the faculties of operative action, wherefore at their extremities are the symbols of the four elements and the spirit, thus:

  Thumb

  Spirit

  Third Finger

  Fire

  Index Finger

  Water

  Little Finger

  Air

  Second Finger

  Earth

  The arms are the manifestors of the executive power of the ruach, and therein are the faculties of touch strongly expressed.

  From Tiphareth is formed the trunk of the body, free from the members, and therein as in a receptacle of influences are situated the vital organs.

  The blood is spirit mingled with and governing the watery principle. The lungs are the receptacles of air which tempereth the blood as the wind doth the waves of the sea—the mephitic impurities of the blood in its traversal of the body requiring the dispersing force of the air, even as the sea, under a calm, doth putrefy and become mephitic.

  The heart is the great centre of the action of fire, lending its terrible energy as an impulse unto the others. Thence cometh from the fiery nature the red colour of the blood.

  The part above the heart is the chief abode of the ruach, as there receiving and concentrating the other expressions of its Sephiroth. This part is the central citadel of the body and is the particular abode of the lower and more physical will. The higher will is in the Kether of the body. For the higher will to manifest, it must be reflected into the lower will by neschamah. This lower will is immediately potent in the lower membranes and thus, in the region about the heart, is the lower will seated like the king of the body upon its throne.

  The concentration of the other faculties of the ruach in and under the presidency of the will, at the same time reflecting the administrative governance of Chokmah and Binah, is what is called the human consciousness. That is, a reflection of two creative Sephiroth under the presidency of the four elements, or the reflection of Aima and Abba as the parents of the human Jehovah. But the human neschamah exists only when the higher will is reflected by the agency of aspiration from Kether into the lower body, and when the flaming letter Shin is placed like a crown on the head of Microprosopus. Thus only doth the human will become the receptacle of the higher will and the action of neschamah is the link therewith. The lower will is the human Jehovah—an angry and jealous god, the Shaker of the Elements, the manifestor in the life of the body. But illuminated by the higher will, he becometh Yeheshuah, no longer angry and jealous, but the self-sacrificer and the Atoning and Reconciling One.

  This as regards the action of the more physical man.

  Unto this ruach also are presented the reflections of the macrocosmic universe in the sphere of sensation. They surround the ruach which, in the natural man, feeleth them but vaguely and comprehendeth them not. The faculties of the earth are shown forth in the organs which digest and putrefy, casting forth the impurities, even as the earth is placed above the Qlippoth.

  Thou wilt say, then, that the ruach cannot be the reasoning mind, seeing that it reflecteth its reason from Chokmah and Binah but it is the executive faculty which reasoneth, which worketh with and combineth the faculties reflected into it. The reasoning mind, therefore, is that which useth and combineth the principia of Chokmah and Binah so that the parts of Chokmah and Binah which touch the ruach are the initiators of the reasoning power. The reason itself is a process and but a simulacrum of the action of the higher wisdom and understanding. For the air is not the light—only the translator of the light. Yet without the air, the operations of the light could not so well be carried out
. The word ruach, spirit, also meaneth air. It is like a thing that goeth out thou knowest not whither, and cometh in thou knowest not whence.

  “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.” 28

  This air, the ruach, permeateth the whole physical body but its concentrated influence is about the heart. Yet, were it not for the boundary force of Chokmah and Binah above, of the sphere of sensation surrounding it, and of Malkuth below, the ruach could not concentrate under the presidency of the name, and the life of the body would cease.

  Thus far concerning the ruach as a whole, that is, the action of the will in Tiphareth.

  From Netzach and Hod are formed the thighs and legs, and they terminate in the symbols of five, as do the arms; but they are not so movable, owing to the effect of Malkuth. In them are placed the faculties of support and firmness and balance; and they show the more physical qualities of the ruach. In them is the sustaining force of the ruach. They are the affirmation of the pillars of the Sephiroth, as answering to the passive, the arms more answering to the two pillars which are active. They are the columns of the human temple.

  From Yesod are formed the generative and excretory organs, and therein is the seat of the lower desires, as bearing more on the double nature of, on the one hand, the rejection of the Qlippoth, and on the other hand the simulacrum of the vital forces in Tiphareth. It is the special seat of the automatic consciousness. That is, not the will, but the simulacrum of the will in Tiphareth. Yesod is the lowest of the Sephiroth of the ruach, and representeth “fundamental action.” It therefore governeth generation. In Yesod is therefore the automatic consciousness or simulacrum of the will. This automatic consciousness is to the nephesch what the Daath action is to the ruach. Thus, therefore, there being a simulacrum or reflection of the heart and vital organs in the parts governed by Yesod, if the consciousness of the Tiphareth be given unto this wholly, it shall pave the way for disease and death. For this will be a withdrawing of the vital forces of the name, which are in the citadel of Tiphareth, to locate them in Yesod, which is a more easily attacked position. For the automatic consciousness is the translator of the ruach unto the nephesch.

  From Malkuth is formed the whole physical body under the command and presidency of the nephesch. The nephesch is the subtle body of refined Astral Light upon which, as on an invisible pattern, the physical body is extended. The physical body is permeated throughout by the rays of the ruach, of which it is the material completion. The nephesch shineth through the material body and formeth the magical mirror or sphere of sensation. This magical mirror or sphere of sensation is an imitation or copy of the sphere of the universe. The space between the physical body and the boundary of the sphere of sensation is occupied by the ether of the astral world; that is to say, the container or recipient of the astral rays of the macrocosm.

  The nephesch is divided into its seven palaces, combining the Sephirotic influences in their most material forms. That is, the world of passions dominated by the ruach, or by the world which is beyond. That is, its Sephiroth are passionate, expressing a passionate dominion. Thus, its three supernal Sephiroth—Kether, Chokmah, and Binah—are united in a sense of feeling and comprehending impressions. Its Chesed is expressed by laxity of action. Its Geburah by violence of action. Its Tiphareth is expressed by more or less sensual contemplation of beauty, and love of vital sensation. Its Hod and Netzach, by physical well-being and health. Its Yesod, by physical desires and gratifications. Its Malkuth, by absolute increase and domination of matter in the material body.

  The nephesch is the real, the actual body, of which the material body is only the result through the action of ruach, which by the aid of the nephesch, formeth the material body by the rays of ruach, which do not ordinarily proceed beyond the limits of the physical body. That is to say, in the ordinary man the rays of ruach rarely penetrate into the sphere of sensation.

  Shining through infinite worlds, and darting its rays through the confines of space, in this sphere of sensation is a faculty placed even as a light is placed within a lantern. This is a certain sense placed in an aperture of the upper part of the ruach wherein act the rays from Chokmah and Binah which govern the reason—Daath. This faculty can be thrown downwards into the ruach, and thence can radiate into the nephesch. It consists of seven manifestations answering to the hexagram, and is like the soul of Microprosopus or the Elohim of the human Tetragrammaton. Therefore in the head, which is its natural and chief seat, are formed the seven apertures of the head. This is the spiritual consciousness as distinct from the human consciousness. It is manifested in seven as just said or in eight if Daath be included. The father is the sun (Chokmah). The mother is the moon (Binah). The wind beareth it in his bosom (ruach). Its nurse is the earth (nephesch). The power is manifested when it can be vibrated through the earth.29

  The following is the true attribution of the seven apertures of the head:

  Right ear:

  Saturn

  Left ear:

  Jupiter

  Right eye:

  Sol

  Left eye:

  Luna

  Mouth: Mercury (who is the messenger of the Gods)

  Right nostril:

  Mars

  Left nostril:

  Venus

  These latter30 represent here the sonoriferous sense. The right and left eye, the luminous sense, as the sun and moon are the luminaries of the macrocosm. The right and left nostrils through which the breath passes, giving strength to the physical body, are under Mars and Venus. The mouth is under Mercury, the messenger and the speaker.

  This spiritual consciousness is a focus of the action of neschamah. The lower willpower should control the descent of this spiritual consciousness into the ruach, and thence into the nephesch, for the consciousness must descend into the nephesch before the images of the sphere of sensation can be perceived. For it is only the rays of this consciousness permeating the ruach that can take cognizance thereof. This faculty of the spiritual consciousness is the seat of thought. Thought is a light proceeding from the radiation of this spiritual consciousness, traversing the ruach as light traverseth air, and encountering thereafter the symbols reflected in the sphere of sensation, or magical mirror of the universe. These symbols are by its radiation (i.e., that of the thought) reflected again into the spiritual consciousness where they are subjected unto the action of the reasoning mind and of the lower will. That is, in the ordinary natural man when awake, the thought acteth through the ruach, subject when there to the action of the lower will, and submitted to the reasoning power derived as aforesaid from Chokmah and Binah. But in the ordinary man when sleeping, and in the madman, the idiot, and the drunkard, the process is not quite the same.

  In the sleeping man, the concentration of the ruach in his heart during the waking time hath produced a weakening of the action of the ruach in its subsidiary Sephiroth in the physical body. To preserve the salutary conjunction of the ruach with the nephesch in the physical body (whose limits are fixed by the Sephiroth of the ruach) it is necessary to weaken the concentration in Tiphareth to repair the strain which is produced by the concentration of the ruach therein during the waking state. This reflux of the ruach into its subsidiary Sephiroth produceth naturally a weakening of the lower will; and the ruach, therefore, doth not reflect so clearly the reasoning faculty. Wherefore, the thought of the spiritual consciousness reflecteth the image in a confused series, which are only partially realized by the lower will. (This is as regards the ordinary natural man in sleep.)

  In the madman, as considered apart from obsession (thought-obsession is frequently the accompaniment of mania, and still more frequently its cause) the thought and lower will are very strongly exercised to the detriment of the reasoning faculty. That is, that there is an alliance between the two former which overpowereth the action of Chokmah and Binah in the latter.

  Mono
mania is shown in the consideration of only one certain symbol which is too attractive to the will. A chain of thought is therefore simply a graduated vibration arising from the contact of a ray of thought with a symbol. If controlled by the reasoning power and licensed by the will, such vibrations will be balanced and of equal length. But if uncontrolled by the lower will and the reason, they will be unbalanced and inharmonious. (That is, of uneven length.)

  In the case of the drunkard, the equilibrium of the sphere of sensation and consequently of the nephesch, is disturbed. In consequence the thought rays are shaken at each vibration, so that the sphere of sensation of the nephesch is caused to rock and waver at the extremities of the physical body where the ruach’s action is bounded. The thought therefore is dazzled by the symbols of the sphere of sensation, in the same way as the eyes can be dazzled in front of a mirror if the latter be shaken or waved. The sensation therefore then conveyed by the thoughts is that of the sphere of sensation oscillating and almost revolving about the physical body, bringing giddiness, sickness, vertigo, and the loss of idea of place and position. Nearly the same may be said of seasickness and the action of certain drugs.

  Restoration of the equilibrium of the sphere of sensation after this naturally produceth a slackening of the concentration of the ruach in Tiphareth, whence sleep is an absolute necessity to the drunkard. This is so imperative that he cannot fight against the need. If he does so, or if this condition be constantly repeated, the thought rays are launched through the sphere of sensation so irregularly and so violently that they pass its boundary without either the lower will or the reasoning power or even the thought itself consenting thereto; and the latter is therefore without the protection of the will. Thence arise the conditions of delirium tremens, and an opening is made in the sphere of sensation which is unguarded, and through which hostile influences may enter. But this latter cometh under the head of obsession.