Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Qabalistic Scheme I Use


Ananael Qaa asked about my particular view of the qabalistic universe in the following comment to a previous post:

Do you use a different set of attributions for the Qabalistic worlds than the standard Thoth arrangement? If so, is it something you would be willing to share? As I recall in the standard arrangement Binah and the threes are in Briah but I always have wondered about the whole of the Creative World being attributed to a single sphere while Yetzirah spans 6 of them.

I could see a possible alternative arrangement in which Atziluth is above the Abyss, Briah is between the Abyss and the Veil of Paroketh, and Yetzirah is from the Veil of Paroketh through Yesod, leaving Assiah in Malkuth. Is that the sort of arrangement you work with? If so I would be very interesting in hearing how well it works with the GD forms, since I've never gotten around to trying it out for myself.

I have never seen Binah stand for all of Briah. I would like to see you write a bit about your model. 

The arrangement I use shows three sephira in the first three worlds and one inf the fourth. The pips are placed on the tree in the sephiroth according to their numbers. The threes for instance, are in the third sephira of Binah.   

 Atziluth  is comprised of Keter, Chochmah and Binah, the three top most and are often called the supernals. Briah is formed by Chesed, Geburah and Tipereth. Yetzirah contains Netzach, Hod and Yesod. Malkuth is the only sephira in Assiah.

You will notice in this arrangement the abyss is never delineated. Though, Daath often is. It is placed between Yetzirah and Binah. I have wondered if Daath was acting as the Abyss. While Daath solves the curious problem of the placement of Saturn, it is somewhat unsatisfactory. Once you move it, what is left behind in Binah? Does Pluto suddenly appear? Neptune? I don’t know.

I realize that planets are not sephiro but a subset of those vast realms.

This has always been an intellectual problem for me but not a particularly bothersome one. For it hasn’t caused a hiccup in my workings. If I ever cross the abyss in some definable way or visit Daath, I will hopefully have a better, more informed, opinion.

The arrangement I use is pretty standard in Golden Dawn style texts, I haven’t read much of the standard Thoth arraignment, which I should.  Here is how things don’t work out when you’re a GD type person using a Thoth deck.

I have found myself on various paths during astral work. At times, I didn’t intend to go there but there I was. I knew where I was because the Rider-Waite or Wang images would be there telling me where I was. Why not Thoth? It is my only deck of choice.

My mentor has simply told me that Thoth takes you to slightly different places. I assume since I am in the GD egregore, it gives me the corresponding images. I plan at some point in the future to use the corresponding cards in the same ritual format and see how the different locations work. I just haven’t done that yet. It is a long standing itch that I haven’t scratched as other things seem more important.

As I recall in the standard arrangement Binah and the threes are in Briah but I always have wondered about the whole of the Creative World being attributed to a single sphere while Yetzirah spans 6 of them.

I am talking out of my ass here but that sounds like a bit of confusion with the parts of the soul. The Supernals make up the higher self or immortal soul. That is broken up into three parts, which isn't pertinent to this discussion. The Ruach or personality is made up of the sephiroth between Chesed and Yesod (and sometimes include Daath). Yesod does double duty as another part called the Nephesch, which gets us into all sorts of trouble. The G'uph or physical body is in Malkuth. Does that correspond to your system in some way?

I asked because Yetzirah is associated with air and Ruach means air in Hebrew.  

I am not sure what you mean by how it works with GD forms. If you clarify, I will be happy to answer.



7 comments:

Scott Stenwick said...

The "reference model" I'm working with is Crowley's Naples Arrangement as outlined in Liber 777. My understanding was that Binah = Briah is both Naples and Golden Dawn, since as I recall Binah = Briah is from The Kabbalah Unveiled that Mathers used as his main source for the GD model of the Tree of Life.

I like your model, though, because it fits better with how I conceptualize the "fields" of magical operations:

Physical Body - Malkuth.
Personal Field (Microcosm) - Yesod through Netzach.
Transpersonal Field (Macrocosm) - Tiphareth through Chesed.
Cosmic Field (Supernals) - Binah through Kether.

So your model lines right up with that for the four worlds. Nice.

As far as the GD forms go, I was kind of curious if using your model of the worlds affected planetary, zodiacal, and astrological magick in the GD system, though if that's the model your order is teaching now I suppose the question makes no sense. Do you find that it provides greater insights into readings using the Thoth deck, which I know was originally built on the Naples arrangement?

Rose Weaver said...

I may have misunderstood, but your post seemed to suggest you're placing Saturn in Da'ath. It is my understanding, as well as my personal experience, that Saturn is in Binah. Did I misunderstand, or could you explain your placement of Saturn? Thank you for your posts on this topic. I enjoy them.

Robert said...

To be clear, I cannot comment on what the Golden Dawn is teaching these days. The Golden Dawn is a registered trademark of various business entities. My work has been in the style of the original Golden Dawn order founded in 1888 and is not part of those current entities in any way. More comments later.

Robert said...

Rose,

I have seen binah moved to daath with its attributions, god names, arch angel names etc thrown in. See the Middle Pillar exercise for example. The god name used there for Daath is the same as Binah. I have also seen Daath moved to Binah with Saturn to explain the hexagrams in the Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram.

I will fully admit to not understanding Daath. I'm a bit low on the tree of that level of understanding.

Rose Weaver said...

Robert, thanks for your reply. To be honest, I don't use only GD attributes but have researched attributes of the Supernals from a number of sources. Though most times I'll begin with published correspondences, I won't always stick with them because as I'm sure you've already discovered, those correspondences/attributes may not "feel" right, or work well, for everyone. However, Saturn placed within Binah works extraordinarily well. Binah sits at the top of the Pillar of Severity; Saturn is a "malefic" planet. It's about structure, obstacles, limitations, rules, etc.

I've experienced Da'ath, and now that I think about it, Saturn is also incredibly appropriate within that Sphere because if I'm not mistaken, Saturn also governs time and therefore, all matters related to life, death, and rebirth.

In addition, you mention wondering if Da'ath acts as the Abyss. I'm of two minds on this and this is one of the things I'm still attempting to flesh out; on the one hand, it's possible it is the Abyss. However, on the other hand, I feel more inclined to believe Da'ath is more of a gateway to the Abyss. Once one has been able to overcome the idea of duality by realizing Binah and Chockmah are one (understanding and wisdom), they are able to access Knowledge which is an attribute of Da'ath, as well as Kether. (I'm one who also works with the Tree of Life as it corresponds to the body, so thinking of Binah and Chockmah as the two half's of the brain, then this may help make sense of where I'm going with my thoughts.)

For me, it's almost as if Da'ath acts as a line to Kether with a node through the Abyss... if that makes sense.

Robert said...

That makes excellent sense. Thank you for a very enlightening response.

Rose Weaver said...

Thank you for your posts, Robert! Your ideas have assisted me greatly, and a few puzzle pieces that didn't quite fit into my personal model have now fallen seamlessly into place.