The Mystical Qabalah - Dion Fortune 2000

The Subjective Sephiroth

1. As above, so below, man is a miniature macrocosm. All the factors that go to the make-up of the manifested universe are present in his nature. Hence, in his perfection, he is said to be higher than the angels. At the present time, however, the angels are fully evolved beings and man is not. Thus he is as much lower than the angels as a three-year old child is less developed than a three-year-old dog.

2. Hitherto we have considered the Tree of Life as an epitome of the Macrocosm, the universe, and the use of its symbols to put us in touch with the different spheres of objective Nature. We will now consider it in relation to the subjective sphere of the nature of the individual.

3. The accepted correspondences, as given by Crowley (who, unfortunately, never gives his authorities, so we do not know when he is using MacGregor Mathers’ system and when he is relying upon his independent researches), are based partly on the astrological attribution of the planets assigned to the different Sephiroth, and partly upon a crude anatomical scheme of the human form standing with its back to the Tree. This is too crude for our purposes, and probably represents the work of later generations of scribes; during the Middle Ages the Qabalah was rediscovered by European philosophers, and they grafted astrological and alchemical symbolism upon its system. Moreover, the Rabbis themselves used an extremely detailed set of anatomical metaphors, discussing in detail the significance of every hair on the head of God, and even the more intimate parts of His anatomy. Such references cannot be taken literally and applied to the human form.

4. The Sephiroth, individually and in their pattern of relationships, represent in relation to the Macrocosm the successive phases of evolution, and in relation to the Microcosm the different levels of consciousness and factors of character. That these levels of consciousness have some relation to the psychic centres of the physical body is a reasonable assumption, but we must not be crude and mediaeval in the conclusions we draw. Occult anatomy and physiology have been worked out in detail in the Yoga science of the Hindus, and we can learn much from their teachings. The latest advances in physiology are pointing to the conclusion that the link between mind and matter is to be sought primarily in the endocrine system of ductless glands and only secondarily in the brain and central nervous system. We can learn much from this source of knowledge also, and piecing together all the information we can collect from every source, we may finally arrive by inductive reasoning at what the ancients learnt by means of the intuitive and deductive methods which they brought to such a high degree of perfection in their Mystery schools.

5. It is generally agreed that the chakras, or psychic centres described in Yoga literature, are not situated inside the organs with which they are associated, but in the auric envelope at spots roughly approximating thereto. We shall do well, therefore, not to associate the different Sephiroth with the limbs and other parts of our anatomy, but to regard the use of such analogies as metaphorical and look for the psychic principles which they may be held to represent.

6. Before proceeding to a detailed study of each Sephirah from this standpoint, it is very helpful to have a general survey of the Tree as a whole, because so much of the elucidation of the symbolism depends upon the relationship of one symbol to another in the pattern of the Tree. This chapter must needs be discursive and inconclusive, but it will enable the detailed study of the individual Sephiroth to be much more effectually carried out.

7. The first and most obvious division of the Tree is into the three Pillars, and this immediately reminds us of the three channels of Prana described by the yogis, Ida, Pingala, and Shushumna; and the two principles, the Yin and the Yang of Chinese philosophy, and the Tao, or Way, which is the equilibrium between them. By the agreement of witnesses truth is established, and when we find three of the great metaphysical systems of the world in complete agreement, we may conclude that we are dealing with established principles and should accept them as such.

8. The Central Pillar should, in my opinion, be taken to represent consciousness, and the two side pillars as the positive and negative factors of manifestation. It is noteworthy that in the Yoga system consciousness is extended when Kundalini rises through the central channel of the Shushumna, and that the Western magical operation of Rising on the Planes takes place up the Central Pillar of the Tree; that is to say, the symbolism employed to induce this extension of consciousness does not take the Sephiroth in their numerical order, commencing with Malkuth, but goes from Malkuth to Yesod, and Yesod to Tiphareth, by what is called the Path of the Arrow.

9. Malkuth, the Sphere of Earth, is taken by occultists as signifying brain-consciousness, as is proved by the fact that after any astral projection the ceremonial return is made to Malkuth and normal consciousness reestablished therein.

10. Yesod, the Sphere of Levanah, the Moon, is taken as psychic consciousness, and also as the reproductive centre. Tiphareth is taken as the higher psychism, the true illuminated vision, and is associated with the highest grade of the initiation of the personality, as is evidenced by the fact that to it is assigned, in the system taken by Crowley from Mathers, the first of the grades of adepthood.

11. Daath, the mysterious, invisible Sephirah, which is never marked upon the Tree, is associated in the Western system with the nape of the neck, the point where the spine meets the skull, the spot at which the development of the brain from the notochord took place in our primeval ancestors. Daath is usually held to represent the consciousness of another dimension, or the consciousness of another level or plane; it essentially represents the idea of change of key.

12. Kether is called the Crown. Now a crown is above the head, and Kether is generally held to represent a form of consciousness which is not achieved during incarnation. It is essentially outside the scheme of things so far as the planes of form are concerned. The spiritual experience associated with Kether is Union with God, and whoso achieves that experience is said to enter into the Light and come not forth again.

13. These Sephiroth unquestionably have their correlations in the chakras of the Hindu system, but the correspondences are given differently by different authorities. As the method of classification is different, the West using a fourfold system and the East a sevenfold system, correlation is not easy to obtain, and in my opinion it is better to look for first principles rather than obtain a tidy pattern of arrangement which does violence to the correspondences.

14. The only two writers known to me who have attempted this correlation are Crowley and General J. F. C. Fuller. General Fuller assigns the Muladhara Lotus to Malkuth, pointing out that its four petals correspond with the four elements. It is interesting to note that in the Queen scale of colour, as given by Crowley, the Sphere of Malkuth is represented as divided into four quarters, coloured respectively citrine, olive, russet, and black, to represent the four elements, and bearing the closest resemblance to the usual representations of the Four-petalled Lotus.

15. This Lotus is represented as situated in the perineum and is associated with the anus and the function of excretion. In column XXI of the table of correspondences given by Crowley in the attributes the buttocks and anus of the Perfected Man to Malkuth. I consider that from every point of view the attribution of Fuller, who refers the Muladhara Lotus to Malkuth, is to be preferred to that of Crowley, who in column CXVIII refers it to Yesod, thus contradicting himself. In the infantile mind, according to Freud, the functions of reproduction and excretion are confused, but I don’t consider that this attribution is one that can be generally accepted or ought to be perpetuated.

16. Malkuth, viewed as the Muladhara Lotus, represents, we may take it, the end-result of the life processes, their final concretion in form, and their submission to the disintegrating influences of death in order that their substance may be utilised again. The form into which they have been organised by the slow processes of evolution has served its purpose, and the force must be set free; this is the spiritual significance of the processes of excretion, putrefaction, and decomposition,

17. The Svadisthana Chakra, the Six-petalled Lotus, at the base of the generative organs, is assigned by General Fuller to Yesod. This agrees with the Western tradition, which assigns Yesod to the reproductive organs of the Divine Man; its astrological correspondence with the Moon, Diana-Hecate, also agrees with this attribution. Crowley, though assigning Yesod to the phallus in column XXI of “777,,” assigns the Svadisthana Lotus to Hod, Mercury. It is difficult to understand this attribution, and as he does not give his authority, I consider it better to adhere to the principle of referring the levels of consciousness to the Central Pillar.

18. Tiphareth, by universal consent, represents the solar plexus and breast; it therefore seems reasonable to attribute to it the Manipura and Anahata Chakras, as Crowley does. Fuller attributes these chakras to Geburah and Chesed, but as these two Sephiroth find their equilibrium in Tiphareth, this attribution presents no difficulty and causes no discrepancy.

19. In the same way the Visuddha Chakra, which in the Hindu system correlates with the larynx and is referred to Binah by Crowley, and the Ajna Chakra at the root of the nose, which correlates with the pineal gland and is referred to Chokmah by the same authority, may be taken as uniting for function in Daath, situated at the base of the skull.

20. The Sahasrara Chakra, the Thousand-petalled Lotus, situated above the head, is referred by Crowley to Kether, and there can be little reason to quarrel with this attribution, for it is foreshadowed in the very name of the First Path, Kether, the Crown, which rests upon and above the head.

21. The two flanking pillars of Severity and Mercy can be seen as representing the positive and negative principles—and their respective Sephiroth as representing the modes of functioning of these forces upon the different levels.

22. The Pillar of Severity contains Binah, Geburah, and Hod, or Saturn, Mars, and Mercury. The Pillar of Mercy contains Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach, or the Zodiac, Jupiter, and Venus. Chokmah and Binah, in the symbolism of the Qabalah, are represented by male and female figures and are the supernal Father and Mother, or in more philosophical language, the positive and negative principles of the universe, the Yin and the Yang, of which maleness and femaleness are but specialised aspects.

23. Chesed (Jupiter) and Geburah (Mars) are both represented in Qabalistic symbolism as crowned figures, the former a lawgiver upon his throne, and the latter a warrior king in his chariot. These are the constructive and destructive principles respectively. It is interesting to note that Binah, the supernal Mother, is also Saturn, the solidifier, who connects through his sickle with Death with his scythe, and Time with his hour-glass. In Binah we find the root of Form. It is said of Malkuth in the Sepher Yetzirah that it sitteth upon the throne of Binah—matter has its root in Binah-Saturn-Death; form is the destroyer of force. With this passive destroyer goes also the active destroyer, and we find Mars-Geburah immediately below it on the Pillar of Severity; thus is the force locked up in form set free by the destructive influence of Mars, the Siva aspect of the Godhead. Chokmah, the Zodiac, represents kinetic force; and Chesed, Jupiter, the benign king, represents organised force; and the two are synthesised in Tiphareth, the Christ-centre, the Redeemer and Equilibrator.

24. The next trinity, of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, represents the magical and astral side of things. Netzach (Venus) represents the higher aspects of the elemental forces, the Green Ray; and Hod (Mercury) represents the mind side of magic. The one is the mystic and the other the occult, and they synthesise in the elemental Yesod. This pair of Sephiroth should never be considered apart, any more than the upper pair of Geburah and Gedulah, which is another name for Chesed. This is indicated by the fact that the Qabalah attributes them respectively to the right and left arms and the left and right legs.

25. It will thus be seen that the three form-Sephiroth are in the Pillar of Severity, and the three force-Sephiroth in the Pillar of Mercy, and between them, in the Pillar of Equilibrium, are set the different levels of consciousness. The Pillar of Severity, with Binah at its head, is the female principle, the Pingala of the Hindus and the Yang of the Chinese; the Pillar of Mercy, with Chokmah at its head, is the Ida of the Hindus and the Yin of the Chinese; and the Pillar of Equilibrium is Shushumna and Tao.