Magical States of Consciousness: Pathworking on the Tree of Life - Melita Denning 1985

The Paths in Your Dreams

This chapter is for you as a person who is to experience Pathworking, so that you may not fail to realize and enjoy some special dimensions of adventure which Pathworking will bring you. If you are the leader of a group, the material in this chapter is important, not only for your own use and experience but also for you to pass on and maybe to discuss with your group. If you are going into Pathworking by yourself, this chapter also has particular value for you, because every dimension in which you can develop your experience of Pathworking will help reinforce for you the reality of what you do.

In the previous chapter we indicated how the dream activity of your psyche goes on and on, regardless of whether you are awake or asleep, conscious of it or otherwise. The happenings, words and actions which in any way impinge upon your waking life are fed into the computer/synthesizer of your deep mind. Some of them are accepted, others seem to be rejected or to have no effect. This selection, or at any rate grading, of materials, depends entirely upon the pre-programming of those hidden levels: and this pre-programming differs widely between one person and another.

Pathworking texts have for most people a high rate of immediate acceptance, partly because the eventful, colorful narratives are designed for swift assimilation, and partly because the hearers willingly place themselves in a passive and receptive state. The narrative, however, does not remain unadapted. Even while you are listening to it, as we have noted, it can undergo some modifictions: and certainly as the deeper levels of your psyche get to work on it, further adaptations will take place.

Not all of these adaptations will be changes. Many will consist in amplifying some of the components of a situation, or weaving a whole adventure around something which maybe was only briefly mentioned. These amplifications do not come into being as stories, or as abstract ideas. Your imagination dramatizes them, lives them. Then various episodes can be differently combined with one another, and the new forms, in several variations, can be tried out and experienced, even simultaneously, by groups of your “cell minds.” The original text, and the correspondences given therein, will make the essential nature of the specific Path sufficiently clear to keep its identity for you: the ability to recognize wordlessly the point and significance of a correspondence, and to devise action in complete harmony with it and yet in personal freedom, is one of the important arts of Pathworking which the dream-levels of your psyche will speedily develop with practice. The material of the Path thus becomes “personalized” to you: to your life, your desires, your fears, your protests, your aspirations: but it is still the material of the same Path, with its particular influences conditioning the direction in which it takes you and the adventures you meet with on the way to the sphere of destination.

In considering the Path as the way to the magical state of consciousness of a Sphere, and the Path as a different, adventurous, and highly magical state of consciousness in its own right, these two aspects of Pathworking should never seem to contradict one another, although for various reasons we have sometimes to emphasize the one, sometimes the other.

To enter a Sphere—a Sephirah—is to enter a state of consciousness which enables you to attain specific very wonderful powers. Upon the Path which carries the influence of that Sephirah you are likely to experience something of those same powers, but they are not made available to you as in the sphere itself. For example: if a magician wanted to perform a work of magick relating to Fire, that work might very well be carried out within the ambience of, and with the power of, either Netzach or Geburah according to its precise nature and purpose. The magician would certainly not choose to perform it upon the 31st Path, although that Path is filled with the influence of pure elemental Fire. The Sephiroth can open up to us treauries of archetypal power far beyond our personal resources.

Certainly for this very reason, even if for no other, it would be understandable that the psyche should keep going over the experience of the Paths, to be assured of the means of going quickly and securely from one sephirothic state of consciousness to another. When once a Path has been successfully traveled, it becomes as it were a permanent bridge from the Sphere of its origin to that of its destination, and the deep mind accordingly strengthens and reinforces it continually.

However, that is by no means the only reason why the Paths are repeated, or partially repeated, so often by the deeper levels of the psyche, and by the dream level notably. It is an interesting fact that when people are working upon the Paths and the Sephiroth, although the workings of the Planetary Spheres can be intense and wonderful experiences, yet those do not show up in the dreams and waking fantasies of the practitioners nearly as often as do the experiences of the Paths.

To some extent, this can be explained at once. The Paths belong to us in a way that the Sephiroth never quite do. The archetypal images of the Spheres are woven into the very stuff of our lives, it is true: but the great archetypes, which cast the shadows which are those images, stand ever beyond the limits of any individual psyche.

Some Qabalists have dealt in a general way with this distinction, by saying that the Sephiroth are “objective,” the Paths “subjective.” This statement can be confusing, because the Paths in their general pattern, their directions and their significations, are the same for every person and are in that sense “objective”: but the reality of the Paths is in the actual experience of them. As we have seen, even while you are listening to the narrative of a Pathworking your own “subjective” elements will begin to enter into it, and it is right that they should; while with the Spheres the intention is always to enter as nearly as possible into their pristine purity.

The contrast between these two types of experience is to be found everywhere in human life. In religions both ancient and modern, all over the world, shrines have been established, with their special rites of worship: and then pilgrimages have been established to reach those shrines, and the traversing of rough ways and whatever adventures might befall the pilgrims have come to be regarded as a kind of spontaneous “rite” in themselves, with something of the merits which would attach to a rite.

Leaving aside any religious aspects of the matter, whether we look at the roads, the rivers, canals, oceans, or at any form of air travel, among the “serious travelers” whose only concern is to transfer themselves from Point A to Point B there are always a number of other people who, whatever the ostensible purpose of their journey, plainly are happy just to be on the move and going some place. Even the grimmest journeys have often been undertaken without real necessity. One of the most remarkable events of American history was the great Westward drive of the covered wagons. Who went? Not only seekers for a better life, for fortune: not only people who had nothing to lose and maybe much to gain by the desperate venture. Not only people who were deceived as to what lay ahead of them. There were men and women who left fortunes, estates, good careers and pleasant lives to go with the wagons, to be in the action, on the move, to see new things, to dare new perils. Human beings do such things.

Deeper than any single impulse in these matters is a curious fact of human nature, which many religions and philosophies in all ages have recognized, and have sought to interpret in their own terms. Man is a wanderer, whether it is said that he seeks a “heavenly home” or has arrived from another galaxy. Whether we conceive of it materially or metaphysically, we have each of us a Quest, and there is always something special to see and experience “over the next hill.” Even those of us who care most for security, treasure it with an inner realization of its true fragility.

From the viewpoint of the Qabalah, none of these phenomena is astonishing. We know our Source, we know our Destiny: in this context the adjective “ultimate” would not be appropriate. We know the vast steeps of time and space which encompass our Way of Return: but we know, too, that the impulse of that journeying is recorded at every level of our psycho-physical composition and can be activated at any of those levels.

We are all “Travelers upon the Paths” by our very nature. But that does not destroy the adventure of the journeying, nor the wonder and delight which each one of us can find in it. In these chapters we have said much about our deep mind as if it were a machine. In a sense it is a machine, but it is also a living one. In its non-mechanical aspects we should do better to see it as a child. It responds to the idea of “play” rather than to that of “work,” but it takes its “play” very seriously indeed. Like the child, the deep mind has an insatiable impulse to learn, to assimilate that which concerns it. A child learns and assimilates by repetition: often a listening adult will scream out in sheer torment of soul, “Sing something else!” before a child has half finished assimilating a popular hit. (Usually, but not always, the similar activities of our own deep mind are happily “soundproofed off” from consciousness. When they are not, we find the tune “running in our head.”) A child also learns by selecting a given bit of experience, dramatizing it and acting it over and over: frequently with such additions or changes as may make the experience more complete, attractive or comprehensible. All this is very relevant to the developments of Pathworking which emerge in the dream state.

As complete persons, we are neither entitled, nor well advised to try to live without paying heed to what goes on in the nursery/computer room. For the right development of both conscious and unconscious, communication between the levels must be maintained: and one of the most effective mediums for this communication is through our dreaming. While this is true in any circumstances, it is not only true but of considerable importance when we consider how the greatest benefit can be derived from participation in Pathworking.

To be aware of what place Pathworking takes in our dreams, and to reflect upon it, is a sure way to gain much insight and understanding of the nature and reality of the Paths. It is also, as is any observation of dream experiences, a means of great and valuable extension of our self-knowledge. It is also a great deal of fun and interest, and an excellent relief from the stress and hassle of other occupations which propose themselves to us as “important.”

Sharing the interests of younger members of the family helps us in this way. The company of animals helps us in this way. The company and the interests of our own deep mind are very good indeed for relaxation and refreshment. Besides, the deep mind always appreciates reassurance that its serious games are taken seriously, and that the rational mind enjoys its company and will even join in the fun.

There’s another point, too. Besides being a computer/synthesizer and also a child, your deep mind is also the guardian of many marvelous things to which you should have access, and sometimes your deep mind may have something to tell you about those things.

When you are working with the Paths therefore, you can make for yourself a delightful and valuable supplement to this book by keeping a journal of your dreams. Don’t make a chore of it, but keep it regularly: like most hobbies, it’s more fun if you keep it up to date and well organized. Put in every dream or fragment of dream you can remember. Not all of them will relate to Pathworking, but in some cases the clues which link a dream to a Path may not be evident to you at first. Besides, if you carefully record them all, your deep mind will soon know you are interested in dreams and in Pathworking dreams particularly, and after a little while will begin to cooperate and will turn up some magnificent ones for you.

To keep your dream journal properly, the best thing for your permanent record is a loose-leaf book. This will enable you to illustrate a particularly vivid scene now and then, either with your own work in ink or paint or with clippings from magazines and so on which capture the feeling of a particular scene. You also need writing materials, or better still a tape recorder, near your bed to capture your immediate, waking recollections.

No matter how vivid a dream may have been, don’t take for granted that you will be able to recall it all “later.” A short delay can lose some details or even a whole episode for you. In that rough draft, try to down the main happenings with any details which strike you as special. Don’t try to rationalize, or to make fragments fit together which may not belong; keep them just as you recall them. Make a note of any spoken words in the dream, any scenery or buildings of importance, and—this is one of the most important things—how you felt in the dream. If you had no emotions about the dream, make a note of that too. Make this rough draft as clear as possible.

Later, before putting together your final version, you may be able to review the dreams, perhaps to remember fragments which escaped you at first, perhaps to recognize where some of the imagery or the happenings in the dream came from. In your final version, give the dreams first, including all the details you have, and your feelings about them. Then, in a separate paragraph, give the “associations”: that is, any source from which you can readily see that your deep mind has drawn the images or incidents to make up your dream.

Don’t make too much of the “associations.” They are not meant to explain the dreams away. A house, a tree, even a monster must have some kind of shape, and it is much easier for your deep mind to pull one out of the memory-bank than to create a new one. A person will quite likely wear the likeness of someone you know who is, in one way or another, the right sort of person. But if the association happens to be a reference to a Pathworking text, or one of the correspondences of a Path, make a particular note of that!

Part of the fun, and interest, in keeping a dream journal in connection with Pathworking, is deciding afterwards, if you can, which Path you were on. When you decide, make a note of it in the “associations.” It can be a major factor in seeing the significance of some of your dream adventures.

For instance: a dreamer who was going through some strenuous experiences on a particularly austere and rocky 32nd Path found himself accompanied by a helpful fellow traveler who was clearly his “other self.” These “friendly shadows” as they are called in the language of dream interpretation, are not infrequent characters in dream. Sometimes, when a person dreams often of such helpers taking the whole burden of a difficult situation off the dreamer’s shoulders, the implication is that the dreamer underestimates his or her own abilities and looks to others to do what he or she could competently do alone. However, an outstanding characteristic of the 32nd Path is the psychic barrage of opposition, delay, and discouragement which it offers to the inexperienced traveler. To seek help from those of one’s faculties which lie beyond the conscious range is therefore appropriate: and this view of the matter is confirmed, as we shall see from the ensuing development in the dream.

At one point in this harsh journey, the helpful friend reached a long arm down into a rift—an arm which grew very long indeed as it descended in the rocky depths—to bring out from the darkness a beautiful, flashing, Excalibur-type sword which he handed to the dreamer.

Here, we perceive, the dreamer is learning by his dream experience upon this Path to bring resources from the unconscious into consciousness, and to equip his conscious personality with them. The personal confidence is, in fact, being reinforced in this adventure by the realization that the unconscious is a source of help. Thus the 32nd Path gains a valuable new aspect for him.

Incidently this dream, of which we do not give the whole, manifests another feature which is quite frequently found in Pathworking dreams. In the course of it, the dreamer does not travel all the way from Malkuth to Yesod. He begins from a scene which is distinctly of Malkuth, and, his adventures done, is returned neatly to that same Sphere. The purpose of the dream is just what it appears to be: adventure, intensified experience of the Path and a deeper understanding of it. Certainly, instances occur of dreams in which a person travels a recognizable Path, with some of the symbols thereof, and gains the experience of the Sphere at the conclusion. Such dreams are exceptional and potent, and can change the dreamer’s life: interestingly, they sometimes befall people who have never taken part in a Pathworking, who seem never to have heard of the Tree of Life. In such cases it becomes evident that the deep mind of the dreamer can no longer tolerate the conscious mind’s oblivion to all that concerns it, and takes charge of the situation in order to remedy the matter. For the student of practical Qabalah who is beginning to know the Paths, and who moreover is establishing a good relationship with his or her deep mind, there is absolutely no need for this type of “initiatory dream” which compels acceptance through trauma.

One question remains to be answered in this chapter: If you begin your journal of dreams when you begin Pathworking, or thereabouts, when do you close it? In fact you need never close it, as Pathworking when once you have begun it will never be closed for you. When once the computer/synthesizer of your deep mind has assimilated the patterns of the Paths, no power can de-program it. New life-material, ideas and experiences will take their place in your deep mind, and will be illuminated by your understanding of the Paths as well as enriching their imagery for you. If you in your turn keep up your journal of dreams, your deep mind will be all the more encouraged in its play. And you may well do so, for in your dreams you have a never-failing source of interest, delight and surprise, with new vistas of understanding continually opening before you. You will know the heights and depths of the Paths: but both height and depth are endless vistas. Above all, never at any time—whether the most uneventful time or the most chaotic—will you be tempted to find the succession of your days, as some people say, “meaningless.” For you will be recording the “inner history” of your life upon the Paths, the thrilling episodes of an epic. Your deep mind will be continually exploring, adventuring, questing upon the Paths, encountering strange and marvelous beings, learning the secrets of the inner worlds: and you—your conscious self—through your practiced and heightened dream awareness, will share those explorations and those secrets.