The Mystical Qabalah - Dion Fortune 2000

Chokmah, The Second Sephirah

TITLE: Chokmah, Wisdom.

(Hebrew—Cheth , Kaph, Mem, He.)

MAGICAL IMAGE: A bearded male figure.

Situation On The Tree: At the head of the Pillar of Mercy in the Supernal Triangle.

YETZIRATIC TEXT: The Second Path is called the Illuminating Intelligence. It is the Crown of Creation, the Splendour of Unity, equalling it. It is exalted above every head, and is named by Qabalists the Second Glory.

Titles Given To Chokmah: Power of Yetzirah. Ah. Abba. The Supernal Father. Tetragrammaton. Yod of Tetragrammaton.

GOD-NAME: Jehovah.

Archangel: Ratziel.

ORDER Of Angels: Auphanim, wheels.

Mundane CHAKRA: Mazloth, the Zodiac.

Spiritual Experience: The Vision of God face to face.

VIRTUE: Devotion.

VICE:

Correspondence In Microcosm: The left side of the face.

SYMBOLS: The Lingam. The Phallus. The Y od of Tetragrammaton. The Inner Robe of Glory. The Standing-stone. The Tower. The Uplifted Rod of Power. The Straight Line.

TAROT CARDS: The four Twos.

TWO Of WANDS: Dominion.

Two Of CUPS: Love.

TWO Of SWORDS: Peace restored.

TWO Of PENTACLES: Harmonious change.

Colour In Atziluth: Pure soft blue.

BRIAH: Grey.

YETZIRAH: Pearl-grey, iridescent.

ASSIAH: White flecked with red, blue, and yellow.

1. Every phase of evolution commences by being in a state of unstable force and proceeds through organisation to equilibrium. Equilibrium having been achieved, no further development is possible without once more oversetting the stability and passing through a phase of contending forces. As we have already seen, Kether is the Point formulated in the Void. According to Euclid’s definition, a point has position but no dimensions. If, however, a point may be conceived of as extending through space, it becomes a line. The nature of the organisation and evolution of the Three Supernals is so remote from our experience that we can only conceive of them symbolically; but if we conceive of the Primordial Point which is Kether as being extended into the line which is Chokmah, we shall have as adequate a symbolic representation as we may hope to achieve at our present state of understanding.

2. This forth-flowing energy, represented by the straight line or the uplifted rod of power, is essentially dynamic. It is, in fact, the primary dynamism, for we cannot conceive the crystallisation of Kether in space as a dynamic process; it partakes rather of a staticism of the limiting of the formless and free in the bonds of form, tenuous as that form may be in our eyes.

3. The limits of the organisation of such a form having been reached, the ever-inflowing force of the Unmanifest transcends its limitations, demanding fresh modes of development, establishing fresh relationships and stresses. It is this out-driving of unorganised, uncompensated force which is Chokmah, and because Chokmah is a dynamic Sephirah, ever out-flowing in boundless energy, we do well to look upon it as a channel for the passage of force rather than a receptacle for the storage of force.

4. Chokmah is not an organising Sephirah, but it is the Great Stimulator of the Universe. It is from Chokmah that Binah, the Third Sephirah, receives its influx of emanation, and Binah is the first of the organising, stabilising Sephiroth. It is not possible to understand either of the paired Sephiroth without considering its mate; therefore in order to understand Chokmah we shall have to say something about Binah. Let it be noted, then, that Binah is assigned to the planet Saturn and is called the Superior Mother.

5. In Binah and Chokmah we have the archetypal Positive and Negative; the primordial Maleness and Femaleness, established while “countenance beheld not countenance” and manifestation was incipient. It is from these primary Pairs of Opposites that the Pillars of the Universe spring, between which is woven the web of Manifestation.

6. As we have already noted, the Tree of Life is a diagrammatic representation of the Universe on which the positive and negative, male and female aspects are represented by the two flanking Pillars of Mercy and Severity. It may seem strange to uninstructed thought that the title of Mercy should be given to the male or positive Pillar, and that of Severity to the female Pillar; but when it is realised that the dynamic male type of force is the stimulator of up-building and evolution, and that the female type of force is the builder of forms, it will be seen that the nomenclature is apt; for form, although it is the builder and organiser, is also the limiter; each form that is built must in turn be outgrown, lose its usefulness, and so become a hindrance to evolving life, and therefore the bringer-in of dissolution and decay, which lead on to death. The Father is the Giver of life; but the Mother is the Giver of death, because her womb is the gate of ingress to matter, and through her life is ensouled in form, and no form can be either infinite or eternal. Death is implicit in birth.

7. It is between these two polarising aspects of manifestation—the Supernal Father and the Supernal Mother—that the web of Life is woven; souls going back and forth between them like a weaver’s shuttle. In our individual lives, in our physiological rhythms, and in the history of the rise and fall of nations, we observe the same rhythmic periodicity.

8. In these, the first paired Sephiroth, we have the key to sex—the pair of biological opposites, maleness and femaleness. But the pairing of opposites does not only occur in type, it also occurs in time, and we have alternating epochs in our lives, in our physiological processes, and in the history of nations, during which activity and passivity, construction and destruction alternately prevail; the knowledge of the periodicity of these cycles is part of the secret, guarded, ancient wisdom of the initiates, and is worked out astrologically and Qabalistically.

9. The Magical Image of Chokmah and the symbols assigned to it bear out this idea. The Magical Image is that of a bearded male, bearded to indicate maturity; the father who has proved his manhood, not the untried virgin male. The symbolic language speaks plainly, and the lingam of the Hindus and the phallus of the Greeks are the male generative organ in their respective tongues. The standing-stone, the tower, and the uplifted rod all signify the same virile member at its most potent.

10. It must not be thought, however, that Chokmah is a phallic or sexual symbol and nothing else. It is primarily a dynamic or positive symbol, for maleness is a form of dynamic force, just as femaleness is a form of static, latent, or potential force, inert till stimulus be given. The whole is greater than the part, and Chokmah and Binah are wholes of which sex is a part. In understanding the relationship which sex has to polarising force as a whole, we find the key to the right understanding of sex, and we can assess against a cosmic standard the teachings of psychology and morality relating thereto. We can also see how it comes about that the subconscious mind of man can represent the sexes by so many and such diverse symbols, as the Freudians aver; and why sublimation of the sexual instinct is possible, as the moralists aver. Manifestation, then, is sexual insomuch as it takes place always in terms of the pairs of opposites; and sex is cosmic and spiritual because it has its roots in the Three Supernals. We must learn not to dissociate the airy flower from the earthy root, for the flower that is cut off from its root fades, and its seeds are barren; whereas the root, secure in mother earth, can produce flower after flower and bring their fruit to maturity. Nature is greater and truer than conventional morality, which is often nothing but taboo and totemism. Happy the people whose morality embodies Nature’s laws, for they shall lead harmonious lives and increase and multiply and possess the earth. Unhappy the people whose morality is a savage system of taboos designed to propitiate an imaginary Moloch of a deity, for they shall be sterile and sinful. Equally unhappy the people whose morality outrages the sanctity of natural process and in plucking the flower has no regard for the fruit, for they shall be diseased of body and corrupt of estate.

11. In Chokmah, then, we must see both the creative Word which said “Let there be light,” and the lingam of Siva and the phallus adored by the Bacchantes. We must learn to recognise dynamic force, and revere it wherever we see it, for its God-name is Jehovah Tetragrammaton. We see it in the spread tail of the peacock and the iridescence of the neck of the dove; but we also hear it in the yowl of the tom-cat and smell it in the stench of the he-goat. Likewise we meet it in the colonising adventurers of the most virile epochs of our history, notably those of Elizabeth and Victoria— both women! We see it again in the man diligent in his toil, strenuous in his profession, in order that his home may be provided for. All these are types of Chokmah, whose additional titles are Abba-Father. In all these manifestations let us see the father, the giver of life to the unborn as well as the male lusting after its mate; thus we shall get a truer perspective in matters of sex. The Victorian attitude, in its reaction against Restoration grossness, practically arrived at the standard of the most primitive tribes, who, travellers tell us, do not associate the union of the sexes with the production of offspring.

12. The colour of Chokmah is said to be grey; in its higher aspects, pearl-grey, iridescent. In this we see the veiling of the pure white light of Kether descending in its path of emanation towards Binah, whose colour is black.

13. The Mundane Chakra, or direct physical manifestation of Chokmah, is said to be the Zodiac, called in Hebrew Mazloth. We thus see that the ancient rabbis rightly understood the process of the evolution of our solar system.

14. The Yetziratic Text assigned to Chokmah is, as usual, exceedingly obscure in its wording; nevertheless we can gather from it certain illuminating hints. The Second Path, as it denominates Chokmah, it calls the Illuminating Intelligence. We have already referred to the creative Word which said “Let there be light.” Among the symbols assigned to Chokmah in “777’ (Mathers-Crowley system) is that of the Inner Robe of Glory, a gnostic term. These two ideas, taken together, lead on the imagination to the idea of the ensouling life, the illuminating spirit. It is the male force that implants the fecundating spark in the passive ovum on all planes and transforms its inert latency into the active up-building of growth and evolution. It is the dynamic force of life, which is spirit, that ensouls the clay of physical form and constitutes the Inner Robe of Glory that is worn by all beings in whom is the breath of life. Force embodied in form, and form ensouled by force, is signified by the Illuminating Intelligence and the Inner Robe of Glory.

15. The Yetziratic Text also calls Chokmah the Crown of Creation, thus implying that, like Kether, it is overshadowing and external to, rather than imminent and absorbed in, the manifested Universe. Actually it is the virile force of Chokmah which gives the impulse to manifestation, and thus is prior to manifestation itself. The Voice of the Logos was crying “Let there be light” long ere the waters were separated from the waters and the firmament appeared. This idea is further borne out in the phrase of the Yetziratic Text which speaks of Chokmah as the Splendour of Unity, equalling it, thus clearly indicating its affinity to Kether, Unity, rather than to the planes of dualistic form. The word splendour, as used here, clearly indicates an emanation, or shining forth, and teaches us to think of Chokmah as the emanating influence of pure being rather than as a thing in itself. This again leads us on to a truer apprehension of sex. Let it be made quite clear, however, that the sphere of Chokmah has nothing to do with fertility cults as such, save that maleness, dynamic force, is the primary life-giver and caller into manifestation. Though the higher and lower manifestations of dynamic force are the same in essence, they are upon different levels; Priapus is not identical with Jehovah. Nevertheless, the root of Priapus is to be found in Jehovah, and the manifestation of God the Father is to be found in Priapus, as is indicated by the fact that the rabbis call Chokmah the Yod of Tetragrammaton, and Yod is identical with lingam in their phraseology.

16. It is curious that the Sepher Yetzirah says of two of the Sephiroth that they are exalted above every head—a contradictory statement; yet in the fact that it is made with regard to Chokmah and Malkuth there is illumination for us if we ponder its significance. Chokmah is the Supernal Father, Malkuth is the Inferior Mother, and the text which declares her exaltation above every head also says that she sitteth upon the throne of Binah, the Superior Mother, the negative counterpart of Chokmah. Now Chokmah is the most abstract form of force, and Malkuth is the densest form of matter; so in this statement we have a hint that each of this pair of extreme opposites is the supreme manifestation of its own type; and both are equally holy in their different ways.

17. We must distinguish between the fertility rite, the vitality rite, and the illumination or inspiration rite, which calls down the Pentecostal tongues of flame. The fertility cult aims at plain and simple reproduction, whether of flocks, fields, or wives; it belongs to Yesod, and has nothing whatever to do with the vitality cult, which belongs to Netzach, the sphere of Venus-Aphrodite. This concerns certain very important esoteric teaching on the subject of the vitalising or magnetic influences which the sexes have on each other, quite apart from physical intercourse, and will be dealt with when Netzach, the sphere of Venus, comes to be considered.

18. The Rite of Chokmah, if such it can be called, is concerned with the influx of cosmic energy. It is formless, being the pure impulse of dynamic creation; and being formless, the creation it gives rise to can assume any and every form; hence the possibility of sublimating creative force from its purely Priapic aspect.

19. So far as I know, there is no formal magical ceremony of any of the Three Supernals. They can only be contacted through participation in their essential nature. Kether, pure being, is contacted when we win to realisation of the nature of existence without parts, attributes or dimensions. This experience is aptly called the Trance of Annihilation, and those who experience it walk with God and are not, for God has taken them; therefore is the spiritual experience assigned to Kether that of Divine Union, of which it is said that those who experience it enter into the Light and come not forth again.

20. In order to contact Chokmah we must experience the rush of the dynamic cosmic energy in its pure form; an energy so tremendous that mortal man is fused into disruption by it. It is recorded that when Semele, mother of Dionysos, saw Zeus her divine lover in his god-form as the Thunderer, she was blasted and burnt, and gave birth to her divine son prematurely. The spiritual experience assigned to Kether is the Vision of God face to face; and God (Jehovah) said to Moses, “Thou canst not look upon my face and live.”

21. But although the sight of the Divine Father blasts mortals as with fire, the Divine Son comes familiarly among them and can be invoked by the appropriate rites—Bacchanalia in the case of the Son of Zeus, and the Eucharist in the case of the Son of Jehovah. Thus we see that there is a lower form of manifestation, which “shows us the Father,” but that this rite owes its validity solely to the fact that it derives its Illuminating Intelligence, its Inner Robe of Glory, from the Father, Chokmah.

22. The grade of initiation corresponding to Chokmah is said to be that of Magus, and the magical weapons assigned to that grade are the phallus and the Inner Robe of Glory. This teaches us that these symbols have a microcosmic or psychological significance as well as a macrocosmic or mystical one. The Inner Robe of Glory must surely signify the Inner Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world—the spiritual vision whereby the mystic discerns spiritual things, the subjective form of the Illuminating Intelligence referred to in the Yetziratic Text.

23. The phallus or lingam is given as one of the magical weapons of the initiate operating the grade of Chokmah; this tells us that a knowledge of the spiritual significance of sex and the cosmic significance of polarity concern this grade. Anyone who can see beneath the surface in things mystical and magical cannot fail to be aware of the fact that in the understanding of the tremendous and mysterious potency (which we call sex in one of its manifestations) lies the key to a very great deal. It is not for nothing that sexual imagery pervades the visions of the seer, from the Song of Songs to The Interior Castle.

24. It must not be thought from this that I advocate orgiastic rites as the Way of Initiation; but I may as well say plainly that without the right understanding of the esoteric aspect of sex, the Path is a blind alley. Freud spoke the truth to this generation when he pointed to sex as a key to psychopathology; he erred, in my opinion, when he made it the only key to the nine-chambered soul of man. As there can be no health of subconsciousness without harmony of sex-life, so there can be no positive or dynamic working upon the plane of superconsciousness unless the laws of polarity are understood and observed. To many mystics, seeking refuge from matter in spirit, this may be a hard saying, but experience will prove it a true one; therefore it must be said, though there may be few thanks for saying it.

25. The tremendous down-rush of the Chokmah-force invoked through the Divine Four-lettered Name comes from the macrocosmic Yod to the microcosmic Yod, and is then sublimated. Unless the subconscious mind is free from dissociations and repressions, and all the parts of the many-sided nature of man are coordinated and synchronised, reactions and pathological symptoms are the result of that down-rush. This does not mean that the invoker of Zeus is necessarily a worshipper of Priapus, but it does mean that no man can sublimate a dissociation. When the channel is free from obstructions the down-rushing force can swing round the nadir and become an up-rushing force which can be directed to any sphere or turned into any channel that is desired; but, like it or not, it will be a down-rushing force before it is an up-rushing one, and unless our feet are firmly planted on elemental earth we shall be like bursting wine-skins.

26. Every practical occultist knows that Freud has spoken the truth, even though it is not the whole truth, but they are afraid to say so for fear of being accused of phallic worship and orgiastic practices. These things have their place, though it is not in the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and to deny them their place is a folly for which the Victorian age paid dearly in a rich harvest of psychopathology.

27. Whenever we are working dynamically upon any plane we are operating the Right-hand Pillar of the Tree and derive our primary energy from the Yod-force of Chokmah. In this connection we must refer to the fact that the microcosmic correspondence of Chokmah is given as the left side of the face. The macrocosmic and microcosmic correspondences play an important part in the practical workings. The Macrocosm, or Great Man, is, of course, the universe itself; and the microcosm is the individual man. It is said that man is the only being that has a fourfold nature exactly corresponding in its levels to the cosmos. The angels lack the lower planes, and the animals lack the higher planes.

28. The references to the microcosm should not, of course, be taken crudely as representing the parts of the physical body; the references are to the aura and the functions of the magnetic currents in the aura, and it must always be borne in mind, as the Swami Vivekananda points out, that what is on the right in the male is on the left in the female. In addition to this it must be remembered that what is positive on the physical plane is negative on the astral plane; it is positive again on the mental plane and negative on the spiritual plane, as is indicated in the twining black and white serpents of the Caduceus of Mercury. If this Caduceus be placed upon the Tree when the Tree is marked off to represent the Four Worlds of the Qabalists, a glyph is formed which reveals the workings of the Law of Polarity in relation to the Planes. This is a very important glyph, and yields a great deal to meditation.

29. From this we learn that when the soul is in a female incarnation it will function negatively in Assiah and Briah, but positively in Yetzirah and Atziluth. In other words, a woman is physically and mentally negative, but psychically and spiritually positive, and the reverse holds good for a man. In initiates, however, there is a considerable degree of compensation, for each learns the technique of both positive and negative psychic methods. The Divine Spark, which is the nucleus of every living soul, is, of course, bisexual, containing the roots of both aspects, as does Kether, to which it corresponds. In the more highly evolved souls the compensating aspect is developed in some degree at least. The purely female woman and the purely male man prove to be oversexed as judged by civilised standards, and can only find an appropriate place in primitive societies, where fertility is the primary demand that society makes upon its women, and hunting and fighting are the constant occupation of the men.

30. This does not mean, however, that the physical functions of the sexes are perverted in the initiate, or that the configuration of the body is modified. Esoteric science teaches that the physical form and racial type which the soul assumes in each incarnation are determined by destiny, or Karma, and that the life has to be worked out and lived accordingly. It is inadvisable for us to play tricks with our type, racial or physical, and we should always accept it as the basis of our operations, and choose our methods accordingly. There are certain operations and certain offices in the lodge for which a male vehicle is more suitable than a female, and when practical work is on hand the officers in a ceremony are selected on type; but when the routine training of an initiate is in progress it is the custom to let everyone take turns at the different offices in order that they may learn to handle the different types of force and so become equilibrated.

31. Benjamin Kidd, in his very stimulating book, The Science of Power, points out that the highest type of human being approximates to the infantile. We observe the enormous relative size of the head as compared with the body-weight in the infant, and that the secondary sexual characteristics are not present. We find the same tendency appearing in a modified form in the civilised adult. The highest type of man is not a hirsute gorilla, nor is the highest type of woman an exaggerated mammal. The tendency of evolution in civilisation is to an approximation of type between the sexes so far as the secondary sexual characteristics are concerned. What percentage of city-dwelling males could grow a really patriarchal beard? The primary sexual character, however, must be maintained unimpaired or the race speedily dies out, and we have no reason to believe that this is the case even among our most epicene moderns, who fill the divorce courts with abundant evidence of their overflowing philoprogenitiveness.

32. These things we can understand in the light that is thrown on them when they are “placed upon the Tree.” The two Pillars, the positive under Chokmah and the negative under Binah, correspond respectively to the Ida and Pingala of the Yoga systems. These two magnetic currents, running in the aura parallel to the spine, are called the Sun and Moon currents. In a male incarnation we work predominantly with the Sun current, the fertiliser; in a female incarnation we work predominantly with the moon-forces. If we desire to work with the Opposite type of force to that with which we are naturally endowed, we have to do so by using our natural mode as the basis of operations and, as it were, “cannoning off the cushion.” The male who wants to use the moon-forces employs devices that enable him to get his natural sun-force reflected, and the female who wants to use the sun-forces employs a device whereby she is enabled to focus them upon herself and reflect them. On the physical plane the sexes mate, and the man begets a child upon the woman, thus availing himself of her moon-powers. The woman, on the other hand, desiring creation and unable to compass it single-handed, entices the male through his desires till he bestows upon her his sun-force and she is impregnated.

33. In magical workings the man or woman who desires to work with the opposite type of force to that of their physical vehicle, and it is part of the routine of occult training that they should do so, shifts the level of consciousness on to a plane on which they find themselves of the requisite polarity, and works thereon. The priest of Osiris sometimes employs the elemental spirits to supplement his polarity, and the priestess of Isis invokes angelic influences.

34. Because manifestation takes place through the Pairs of Opposites, the principle of polarity is implicit not only in the macrocosm but also in the microcosm. By understanding it, and knowing how to avail ourselves of the potentialities it affords, we can raise our natural powers far above their normal; we can use our environment as a thrust-block; we can look for the potent Chokmah-force in books, in our racial tradition, in our religion, in our friends and associates; from all these we can receive the stimulus that fecundates us and makes us creative mentally, emotionally, and dynamically. We make our environment play Chokmah to our Binah. Equally, we can play Chokmah to its Binah. Upon the subtle planes polarity is not fixed, but is relative; that which is more forceful than ourselves is positive towards us, and renders us negative towards itself; that which is less forceful than we are in any given aspect is negative towards us, and we can assume the positive role towards it. This fluidic, ever-fluctuating subtle polarity is one of the most important points in the practical workings; if we understand it and avail ourselves of it, we can do some very remarkable things and put our lives and our relations with our environment on an altogether different basis.

35. We must learn to know when we can function as Chokmah and beget deeds upon the world; and when we had best function as Binah, and make our environment fertilise us so that we become productive. We must never forget that self-fertilisation involves sterility in a few generations, and that we must ever and again be fertilised by the medium in which we are working. There must be an interplay of polarity between us and whatever we have set out to do, and we must always be on the alert to find polarising influences, whether in tradition, or in books, or in fellow-workers in the same field, or even in the very opposition and antagonism of enemies; for there is just as much polarising force in a hearty hatred as there is in love, if we know how to use it. We must have stimulus if we are to create anything, even a useful life well lived. Chokmah is the cosmic stimulus. Whatever stimulates is assigned to Chokmah in the classification of the Tree. Sedatives are assigned to Binah. We shall obtain further insight into this principle of cosmic polarity as we study Binah, the Third Sephirah, for it is hardly possible to understand the implications of Chokmah without reference to its polarising opposite, with which it always functions. We will, therefore, carry no further our study of polarity at the present time, but conclude our examination of Chokmah by reference to the cards attributed to it in the Tarot pack, and resume our research into this most significant subject when Binah has afforded us further data.

36. As was noted in the chapter upon Kether, the four suits of the Tarot pack are assigned to the four elements, and we saw that the four aces represented the roots of the powers of these elements, The four twos are assigned to Chokmah, and represent the polarized functioning of these elements in harmonised balance; therefore a two is always a card of harmony.

37. The two of Wands, which is assigned to the element of Fire, is called the Lord of Dominion. The wand is essentially a male phallic symbol, and is attributed to Chokmah, so we may take this card as meaning polarisation; the positive that has found its mate in the negative, and is in equilibrium. There is no antagonism or resistance to the Lord of Dominion, but a contented land accepts his rule; Binah, fulfilled, accepts her mate.

38. The two of Cups (Water) is called the Lord of Love and here again we have the concept of harmonious polarisation.

39. The two of Swords (Air) is called the Lord of Peace Restored, indicating that the disruptive force of Swords is in temporary equilibrium.

40. The two of Pentacles (Earth) is called the Lord of Harmonious Change. Here, as in Swords, we see a modification of the essential nature of the elemental force by its polarising opposite, thus inducing equilibrium. The disruptive force of Swords is restored to peace, and the inertia and resistance of Earth becomes, when polarised by the influence of Chokmah, a balanced rhythm.

41. These four cards indicate the Chokmah-force in polarity, that is to say the essential balance of power as it manifests in the Four Worlds of the Qabalists. When they appear in a divination they indicate power in equilibrium. They do not indicate a dynamic force, as might be expected where Chokmah is concerned; because Chokmah, being one of the Supernals, its force is positive upon the subtle planes, and consequently negative upon the planes of form. The negative aspect of a dynamic force is represented by equilibrium, polarity. The negative aspect of a negative potency is represented by destruction, as is shown in the glyph of Kali, the terrible wife of Siva, girdled with skulls and dancing upon the body of her husband.

42. This concept gives us a key to another of the many problems of the Tree—the relative polarity of the Sephiroth. As has previously been explained, each Sephirah is negative in its relation with those above it, from which it receives the influx of the emanations, and positive in relation to those beneath it, which proceed from it, and to which it therefore acts as emanator. Certain of the paired Sephiroth are, however, more definitely positive or more definitely negative in their nature. For instance, Chokmah is a positive Positive, and Binah is a positive Negative. Chesed is a negative positive, and Geburah a negative Negative. Netzach (Venus) and Hod (Mercury) are said to be hermaphroditic. Yesod (Luna) is a positive Negative, and Malkuth (Earth) is a negative Negative. Neither Kether nor Tiphareth are predominantly male or female. In Kether the Pairs of Opposites are latent and have not yet declared themselves; in Tiphareth they are in perfect equilibrium.

43. There are two ways in which transmutation can be effected on the Tree; and these are indicated by two of the glyphs which are superimposed upon the Sephiroth; one of these is the Glyph of the Three Pillars, and the other is the Glyph of the Lightning Flash. The Pillars have been already described; the Lightning Flash simply indicates the order of emanation of the Sephiroth, zigzagging from Chokmah to Binah and from Binah to Chesed, backwards and forwards across the Tree. If transmutation takes place according to the Lightning Flash, the force changes its type; if according to the Pillars, it remains of the same type, but on a higher or lower are as the case may be.

44. This sounds very complex and abstract, but examples will soon serve to show it to be simple and practical when understood. Take the problem of the sublimation of sex-force, which besets the psychotherapists, concerning which they talk so glibly and say so little. In Malkuth, which in the microcosm is the physical body, sex-force is in terms of ovum and spermatozoon; in Yesod, which is the etheric double, it is in terms of magnetic force, concerning which nothing is known to orthodox psychology, but concerning which we shall have a good deal to say under the heading of the appropriate Sephirah. Hod and Netzach are on the astral plane, and in Hod we find that the sex-force is expressed in visual images, and in Netzach in another and altogether subtler type of magnetism popularly referred to as “It.” In Tiphareth, the Christ-centre, the force becomes spiritual inspiration, illumination, the influx from the higher consciousness. If it is positive in type, it becomes the Dionysiac inspiration, a divine inebriation; and if it is negative, it becomes the impersonal, all-harmonising Christ-love.

45. When the transmutation is worked upon the Pillars we are impressed by the truth of the ironical French phrase—Plus ca change, plus c’estla meme chose. Chokmah, pure dynamism, pure stimulus without formed expression, in Chesed becomes the upbuilding, Organising aspect of evolution; anabolism, as distinguished from the catabolism of Geburah. In Chesed the Chokmah force becomes that peculiarly subtle form of magnetism which gives power of leadership and is the root of greatness. Equally, on the Left-hand Pillar, the force restraining Binah becomes the form-destroying Geburah, and again the maker of magical images, Mercury-Hermes-Thoth.

46. From time to time the symbols of occult science have leaked out into popular knowledge, but the uninitiated have not understood the method of arranging these symbols in their pattern as the Tree, nor of applying to them the alchemical principles of transmutation and distillation wherein lie the real secrets of their use.