The Doctrine of Trans-Resonance
As we have already noted, one of the primary doctrines of Magick is that "that which is above is like unto that which is below", also stated variously as "the heaven is in the earth, but after an earthly manner; and that the earth is in the heaven, but after a heavenly manner," or Kabbalistically as "Malkuth is in Kether, and Kether is in Malkuth, but after another manner."
This doctrine of "trans-resonance", as given in Kabbalah as an intimate and ultimate identity between Malkuth and Kether, can be demonstrated by combining the Hebrew letters of both words. If the letters of Kether and Malkuth are merged together and matched in pairs, the resultant words can be interpreted as :
MR : Myrrh, the resin of suffering and sorrow, used for anointing (the head or feet, attributed to Kether and Malkuth) and embalming (the body, attributed as a whole to Malkuth). Also symbolic of the suffering endured in the separation of Malkuth and Kether from each other by the Fall.
RM : High, exalted, attributes of Kether, and also meaning to decay (worm-eaten), thus the process of Malkuth and the decay implicit in evolution symbolised by the Worm, Dragon or Serpent. It can be noted that a rearrangement of the letters of KThR gives KRTh, meaning "to cut off", and "divine punishment", hence referring that any deviation from the Crown brings about a Fall from the state of Grace represented by Kether.
KL, to comprehend, measure, all every, whole, any, referring to Kether as the All and the highest comprehension (the "Admirable Intelligence" as the Sepher Yetzirah entitles it, also "Invisible Intelligence" in that if something is everything, it cannot ever be perceived because there is nowhere outside it to perceive it from. Thus, "occult" and "unspeakable" experiences are so because they defy comprehension as they partake of this ultimate ground of reality).
LK, a word meaning "to you" and hence can be seen as the mystical return up the Tree of Life from Malkuth to Kether as the "you" is the Self, or God one is moving towards.
K, by itself is Kaph, the Hand of God in Kether ("who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out heaven with the span" - Isaiah 40, v.12) or the hand as the receptive Malkuth on the Tree. The symbolism of the Hand is varied, but in this context can be seen as representing the transmission of divine grace between Kether and Malkuth. Also see notes later referring to Kaph and the Wheel Tarot card as attributed to Kether.
ThV, is Tau, the cross and synthesis in Malkuth, but also symbolic in this diagram of spirit (the "crown", or Kether of the Pentagram) crucified in the four elements (comprising Malkuth).
Th, by itself is Tau, as described above. It also represents a boundary, which could be described as Malkuth being the ultimate boundary of Kether, or Mark, in that Malkuth is the visible aspect of Kether.
Numerically, Malkuth values 496, which totals to 19 (4+9+6), which totals to 10 (1+9), which can be broken down to 1 as well. Thus, Malkuth (10) and Kether (1) are within the value of Malkuth itself. Kether, on the other hand, values 620 (the Zohar speaks of the 620 pillars of light), which breaks down to 8 (6+2), the number of the Sephirah Hod (an interesting attribution in respect of the initiatory experiences associated with Hod in the Grade of Practicus of the Golden Dawn system). A full cross-referencing of the Sephiroth by their numerical reduction is given in Figure 2.
A final point of Gematria is that the value of the
word Swan, the symbolic bird of Kether and illumination, is BRBVR
= 410, which is also the value of Magic (MQA'aR) and the Confession
of God's Unity (the Shema, ShMA'a).
The Triune Crown
The Triple Crown worn by the Pope can be viewed as representing the Trinity of Kether extended in itself, Chockmah and Binah, for above the Abyss the Sephiroth merge with each other in the same way that the four lower Sephiroth below the Veil merge within Malkuth.
Figure 3 illustrates the attribution of the letters
to the Trinity, and a further breakdown is utilised by spelling
the letters again in full. The Tarot cards to which these letters
are assigned offer valuable descriptions of the nature of this
creative Trinity of Forces.
Kaph in Kether
Kaph, as previously described, is the hand of God transmitting the vital spark to Man, and the hand of Man receiving the divine influx (as painted on the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel by Michelangelo, for example). Its Tarot glyph is that of the Wheel, which is the prime symbol of Synchronicity, Kether being the pivot and Malkuth being the hub. Of course, the number of the card is 10, referring to the number of Malkuth, the number of Sephiroth contained within Kether, and reducing to 1, the unity of Kether itself.
Spelt in full, Kaph is Kaph-Peh, the Wheel and the
Blasted Tower, each of which can be seen as a process of evolution.
On the one hand, progressive and cyclic, on the other hand, sudden
and decisive. In terms of Kether we see in these cards the doctrine
of Unity in Diversity (the spindle and spokes of the wheel) implicit
in Kether, and the doctrine of the breaking of the shells in Lurianic
Kabbalah (the tower or "blasted house" being matter
struck by the lightning flash of creation).
Tau in Chockmah
Tau is attributed to the Universe card, and we can see that the Universal creation implicit in Kether as potential is first given expansion in the Sephirah Chockmah. As symbolic of Manifestation, the Universe card depicts Chockmah as the first manifestation of Unity, the first visibility of Kether in the "first swirlings" of the Primum Mobile, the Zodiac. Indeed the "Golden Dawn" Tarot card depicts the spheres of the zodiac arranged around the central figure of the Atu (see later chapter for further explanations of the creative process of Chockmah as depicted by the Zodiac).
Spelt in full, Tau is Tau-Vau, the Universe and the Hierophant. This affirms the Hierophant as symbolic of God's Wisdom (the translation of Chockmah being "wisdom") and as the Interface between God (Kether) and the rest of Creation (Binah to Malkuth). This idea is mirrored in that the attribution of YHVH to the Sephiroth links Kether to Chockmah as the upper and lower parts of the Yod, Binah as Heh, the central Sephiroth to Vau (centred on Tiphareth, the Son) and Malkuth being the final Heh (the "daughter" that must be redeemed to Binah, the "mother").
Thus, on the progression up the Tree, Malkuth (the Universe) must be raised to Binah (Transcendent Understanding) which is the state of the Magister Templi in the Initiatory System (attributed to Binah), who tends his "garden" (the Sephiroth below the Abyss).
This then perhaps develops into a state where the
Understanding becomes a mirror of the divine will and the mystic
achieves Chockmah by becoming a pure interface of God. Finally,
the Way is completed (Yod as symbolic of the Way depicted on the
Hermit Tarot card) by recognising the Unity of all things, and
hence the same letter covers both Kether and Chockmah. Incidentally,
the Hermit Tarot card to which Yod is attributed is also associated
with the Neophyte ceremony of the Golden Dawn, and demonstrates
that even from the first step on the Path, the Goal is always
already there if we could but be aware of it.
Resh in Binah
Resh refers to consciousness and light through the Tarot card of "The Sun", and in the context of Binah affirms that the three supernal Sephiroth reside in the "white head" (Resh means "head") of Kether. The hemispheres of the brain may be divided into Chockmah and Binah, whilst the crown of the head is of course Kether. The Greater and Lesser Holy Assemblies of the Zohar elaborate on this symbolism at length.
Resh is also (via the Sun Card) allocated to the Sephirah Tiphareth, which is to say, "consciousness" and is the state of mind dealt with physically by the "front of the head" (a more accurate translation of Resh). It can be deduced from this current attribution that "Understanding" is a transcendent form of consciousness (the Sun of Tiphareth arising from the Sea of Binah as the Golden Dawn image depicts it) preceding the final synthesis in Chockmah of the Magician before God.
This is resumed under the symbolism of the "Bornless Ritual" as recorded by Aleister Crowley in "Liber Samekh". The original Greek text of the ritual ("Fragments of a Graeco-Egyptian work upon magic", trans. Goodwin 1852) uses the phrase "the headless one", or "the headless spirit", but the Hebrew would be AChD BAIN RASh or AChD BLA RASH, meaning "one without a head". This is likely to have been utilised by Crowley in his re-naming of the rite as that of the "bornless" one, i.e. one without a beginning, as Resh can mean "beginning" as well as "head", as in BRAShITh, "in the beginning", the first word of Genesis. Indeed, traditional Kabbalah attributes the "B" to Kether, and the "RAShITh" to Chockmah, but it could also be seen that the Beth refers to the Ain Soph Aur, and hence the Resh to Kether, the Yod to the Sephiroth from Binah to Yesod, and the final Tau to Malkuth.
The "Kabbalistic Diagrams of Rosenroth"
also refer to the "head which is not", or "the
head of not", in Aramaic RIShA DLA. Indeed, one part of this
text states quite clearly :
"The crown of the Holy King, which is called
the Head which is Not, and the Head of knowing and not being known
... and is called the Ancient Concealed One".
Thus, the "Bornless Ritual" is an ascent up the middle pillar of consciousness from the "bound lights" of Malkuth and ultimately, to the "boundless light" of the Ain Soph Aur.
Resh in full is Resh-Yod-Shin, and relates to the cards of the Sun, Hermit and Last Judgement. These could be transliterated into the phrase "The Awareness (Sun) of the True (Hermit) Will (Judgement)", which takes place in the initiation process at two key points, the first on crossing the Veil and attaining to the Sephirah Tiphareth, and the second on crossing the Abyss and attaining to the Sephirah Binah. The following extensions can be drawn :
Will in Malkuth : The Way of Nature, the "entelechy" of Aristotle in the unfolding of blossoms and the formation of galaxies. The "selfish gene" or "blind watchmaker" aspect of nature in the unfolding genesis about us.
Will in Yesod : The Way of the Personality, an understanding of the ego requirements, cultural conditioning and so forth. The development of purpose, aim, goal, valuation, motivation and intention through a discipline such as Psychosynthesis.
Will in Tiphareth : The Way of the Self. The Individual Will of the transcendent Self in recognition of the lower Sephiroth. Also the "way of the burning heart", and surrender to the "Inner Voice", "Higher Self", or Will of Christ.
Will in Kether : The Way of God. The Universal Will,
the Will of God, the state of Unity where it is "thus so".
The Taoist "action by non-action", and the Way of the
Siddhis.
The Tree of Crowns
In ritual, the Kether of each Sephiroth can be represented
by the headdress worn by the participant. I offer here a list
of those I have allocated, but it is by no means exhaustive, and
would obviously also be dependent on the symbology adopted by
the ritual participant :
Kether : A Circlet of Gold, or Ritual Crown. The
Parsley Crown of the Nemean Games, sacred to Zeus.
Chockmah : The Twin Feathers, or Crown of Thoth.
Binah : The Crimson cap of concealment.
Chesed : The Cardinals hat, or Emperors Crown. The
Pine Crown of the Isthmian games, sacred to Poseidon.
Geburah : The War Helm, or Martial Crown. The Judges
Wig.
Tiphareth : The Solar Crown, Cowl, or the Wimple.
The Crown of Thorns. The Roman Crown of Roses.
Netzach : The Laurel Wreath of Victory.
Hod : The Caduceus Crown or the Mortar Board.
Yesod : Crowns of disguise; wigs and masques. The
Lunar Crown.
Malkuth : The Skull Cap. The Crown of Wild Olives
of the Olympian games, sacred to Zeus. The Wreath. Crown of flowers,
or ears of corn or wheat. Shamanic headdress composed of earth
attributes.
Figure 4 shows the attributions of the Egyptian Crowns
to the Sephiroth and would be suitable for appropriate ritual
utilisation.
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