T H E T R E E OF L I F E

THE PERFECT OUTCOME (3)

Lesson T h irty -fo u r

As p resen ted in alchem ical books, the G reat Work is said to be the Operation of the Sun and Moon, perform ed by the aid of M ercury . The Sun, o r Sol, is the a lchem i­cal name fo r the hot, e lec tric cu rren t of the G reat M agical Agent. The Moon, o r Luna, is the a lchem ists ' designation fo r the cool, m agnetic c u rre n t. The two a re opposites, and appear to be contending fo rc e s . M ercury is the reco n c ile r between them .

One T aro t symbol fo r th is is the p icture of the M agician, who stands as m ediator between the e lec tr ic c u rren t descending from above, and the magnetic cu rren t r is in g from the garden at h is fee t. This garden is one of many T aro t sym bols rep resen ting the autom atic consciousness of the V ital Soul, N ephesh.

In the next section of th is cou rse you w ill lea rn that in Qabalah the autom atic con­sciousness is connected with the Sphere of the Moon. The Moon itse lf is rep resen ted by the le tte r G im el, and by Key 2 of T a ro t.

The human self-conscious level of life is the m ediator between the superconscious and the subconscious le v e ls . This is what enables us to find re lease from ignorance, and thus from pain. Thus THE ZOHAR says that apart from the human fo rm , the p e r ­fect development of the L ife-pow er's plan for se lf-ex p ress io n would be im possib le. E lsew here it is w ritten that God employs the human form in o rd e r to com m unicate h im ­self to c rea tio n .

The Hebrew name fo r the eighth Path of Wisdom is saykelshalom , the Perfect In telligence. Shalom m eans "whole, uninjured, full, com plete. The meaning "full” r e fe rs to com pleteness in num ber, m easu re and w eight. Thus the name of the eighth path indicates a kind of consciousness which brings fo rm s to com pletion through applying the p rincip les of m athem atics to accura te m easurem ent. What p e r­form s these functions is the human in te llect, personified by Thoth in Egypt, by Nebo in Chaldea, by H erm es among the G reeks, and by M ercury in the Roman pantheon.

Because man can m easure , he is the form of existence which m akes possib le the com pletion of the L ife-pow er's o ther modes of ex p ression . Because man can arrange the elem ents of h is environm ent in various kinds of o rd e r not spontaneously provided by natu re , man is charged with finishing the G reat W ork. Because man is able to rea rran g e the fo rm s composing h is m ental, em otional and physical ex istence, he may cultivate his personality as he cu ltiva tes plants and m odifies an im als. By such self-cu ltivation he may advance beyond the lim its of the n a tu ra l man, genus homo sapiens, so that he becom es a m em ber of a new species, genus homo sp ir i tu a lis .

This he cannot do until h is in tellect has enabled him to see that the na tu ra l man is no m ore than the seed of what Man is destined to becom e. O rdinary genus homo is a person who re a c ts autom atically in response to environm ental s tim u li. He is working out the consequences of heredity and K arm a. He is Man in the making.

Yet even the natural man may take h is own m easu re . By the use of in te llect, he

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jnay find out how he is put together, and how he has reached h is p resen t s ta te of evolu­tion. Then he may apply the knowledge so gained to making a new patte rn fo r h is m ental and physical unfoldment into a new im age of the One.

By right use of in tellect we d iscover the tru th that human personality is a vehicle, o r instrum ent, fo r the P rim ord ial Being. This P rim ordial Being is K ether the sea t of Yek- hidah, the U niversal Self. In K ether a re concentrated the lim itless possib ilities of the No-Thing.

When in te llect dem onstrates that the No-Thing is n ecessa rily om nipresent, then it follows that the U niversal Self in K ether m ust be the highest princip le in every human personality . In tellect shows also that w hatever powers we may at any tim e a ttribu te to the No-Thing a re powers always residen t in i t . Thus it follows that in the highest p rin ­cip le of human personality th e re is p resen t now a power m ore than adequate to effect such transfo rm ations in man’s m ake-up as those we have ju s t described .

Q abalists te ll us that the root of th is transfo rm ing activity is in Gedulah, o r Chesed. Note that on the T ree of Life, th is fourth Sephirah, d iam etrically opposite to Hod, may be thought of as the complem ent of Hod, ju s t as Geburah is the com plem ent of N etzach.

This leads to the idea that the power of the eighth Sephirah has to do with the fu lfil­ment o r fru ition of C hesed. We may consider th is from two points of view.

The f ir s t is that the powers man ex erc ise s to bring him self to com pletion a re gifts pf the Divine Beneficence. Hence we read in alchem ical books that no man may attain success in the Operation of the Sun and Moon unless he be favored by the g race of God.

The essence of m an 's in tellectual ability is the L ife-pow er's perfect m em ory of what it is in itse lf, and of what it fo resee s as the inevitable re su lt of what it knows itse lf to be. The last, because Chesed is the opposite and com plem ent of Binah, ju s t as Hod is the op­posite and com plem ent of C hesed. In Binah, the U niversal Mind contem plates what m ust follow from what it is in itse lf, and th is g rea t pa ttern of life -ex p ressio n is held in the perfect m em ory of Chesed.

Reflected into the field of human in te llect, the L ife-pow er's m em ory of the pattern fo r the perfect outcome is expressed in m an 's in tellectual aw areness of that pa ttern , and in his personal planning to partic ipa te in the G reat W ork. Up to a certa in point, m an 's aw areness seem s to him to be h is own, and in the early stages of the G reat W ork, the o p era to r may suppose him self to be an independent w orker. Once that point is reached and passed , the man rea lize s that the actual W orker is the One Self, and that the human personality is the subject of the operation .

The o ther consequence of man’s rea liza tion that the root of Hod is in Chesed has to do with the m otivation of h is effo rts to advance beyond the na tu ra l man into the new c re a ­tu re . The only adequate m otive is good-will, beneficence, lovingkindness. It finds ex­p ression in a d esire to be of se rv ice to our fellow human beings, in dedication of all that we a re , of all that we have, of all that we do, to prom oting the w elfare of hum anity.

T ry to understand that th is is stra igh t science. Unripened man is given to se lf-d e ­ception, and under its g lam or he m akes all so rts of fa lse p re tenses to him self and to

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o th e rs . Thus one of the m ost im portant details of h is in tellectual work m ust be an honest evaluation of h is m otives, based on h is knowledge that the only m otivation which will enable him to accom plish h is aim is genuine a ltru ism . Perhaps we might say that th is is not so much a m a tte r of being good as of being p ra c tica l. T here is no sen ti­m entality about i t . It is sim ply the only method that w orks.

The Divine Name D1X3S Elohim Tzabaoth , is assigned to Hod. Itm eans "C rea tiv e Powers of H o sts ." The f i r s t word in th is tw o-part name is that a s ­signed to the th ird Sephirah, ju s t as the f i r s t w ord in A1X3X Hiri1, Jehovah Tzabaoth, is the extended form of n ' , Jah, the name assigned to Chokmah. Jah and Jehovah exp ress the m asculine aspect of the Divine Being. Elohim is the Q abalis- tic designation fo r the fem inine. F o r N etzach, the seventh Sephirah, though it be c a ll­ed the Sphere of Venus, is nonetheless a m ale Sephirah; while Hod, the Sphere of M er­cury , has its place on the fem inine side of the T re e .

The second p a rt of each of these two Divine Nam es is the sam e, and though its s u r ­face meaning is " a r m ie s ,” th e re is ye t another signification. F o r both Netzach and Hod a re Sephiroth having th e ir p laces in the fie ld of human personality . Consequently, the w ord Tzabaoth indicates the m ultiplicity and apparent subdivision of the D ivine Powers when they find expression in human life .

Both Jehovah and Elohim stand fo r aspects of the One Divine Pow er. They might be com pared to the positive and negative aspects of the e lec tric c u rre n t. But ju s t as the e lec tric ity from a single pow er-station may light a thousand lam ps, and yet be one, so do the two aspects of the One Being, Jehovah and E lohim , make them selves m anifest through "hosts" of p e rso n a lit ie s .

Thus, since Hod is indicated as being the expression of the Elohim, o r fem inine C reative Pow ers, descending from Binah, we should understand that personal in te llect is the expression and tem poral m anifestation of the e tern al c rea tiv e powers of the Di­vine Soul. It is through human in tellection that the c rea tiv e im pulse stream ing down the P illar of Severity from Binah is specialized , and is brought to b ear upon the actual problem s of m an 's daily ex istence.

When man rightly m easu res h im self, when he c o rrec tly applies the powers dw ell­ing in him to the transm uta tion of h is personality , th e re is wrought in him a p a ra lle l to the m acrocosm ic p ro cess described in the figurative language of the f ir s t chap ter of the Bible. When th is is com pleted, ignorance is extinguished, and suffering is elim inated from his experience of the un iv erse . This by no m eans dim inishes h is aw areness that o thers suffer, nor h is knowledge that so long as life ex p resses itse lf through levels be­low that of the "new c re a tu re ” he has become, it m ust be a life of so rrow .

Hence, when he is fully transfo rm ed , he becom es a "M aste r of C om passion .” Thenceforth he dedicates a ll h is powers to helping o thers to becom e like h im se lf. No illum inated man hides h is light under a bushel. He cannot. He le ts it shine as a bea­con to all the w orld. Thus it is that to the p resence of these L ig h t-b eare rs among us we owe th is A geless Wisdom of the Qabalah, o r the Reception. May we all be given capacity to light our lam ps at its flam e.

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GEMATRIA

n n, hode, usually w ritten Hod, the nam e of the eighth Sephirah, has been analyzed num erically in Lesson 30. T here is also a lis t of the G em atria of 15 in Lesson 14. To these de ta ils , which should give you plenty of m ate ria l fo r m editation, we may add the following:

1. The num ber 15 is the sum of the num bers from 0 to 5, that is , 15 is the theo- sophical extension of 5. Thus T in , as a num ber, denotes the fu ll expression of the pow ers sym bolized by 5.

On the T ree of Life, these pow ers a re those of the fifth Sephirah, G eburah. One has only to glance at the T ree to see that Hod is the reflection of G eburah. What is m ore, on the colored d iagram s, Hod is orange, the m ixture of re d and yellow , and th is suggests that in Hod the powers of Geburah (red) and of T iphareth (yellow) a re com ­bined. Think th is out, and you will see what it m eans. Apply the sam e line of rea so n ­ing to the co lo rs of Chesed (blue), T iphareth (yellow) and Netzach (green).

2 . In the Hebrew alphabet, 5 is rep resen ted by “ i Heh, which is the f i r s t le t­te r of T in . Thus we may think of Hod also as being the extension of the powers rep resen ted by the E m peror, the T aro t symbol fo r the le tte r Heh. T hese pow ers, like those active in Geburah, a re M artian , and on the T re e the path of Heh is red , like that of G eburah. F u rth e rm o re , th is path conducts the life fo rce (Chaiah) from Chokmah to T iphare th . Again,the path which links the sixth Sephirah to Hod, and c a r r ie s the power of T iphareth into Hod, is a path which, though its color is b lue-v io let, is connected with M ars through the sign C aprico rn , in which the influence of M ars is exalted .

3. The nam e T in itse lf may be read "Heh and D aleth ,” because the le tte r 1 at the cen te r of H H is , in Hebrew, the equivalent of "an d ." This rem inds us that the in tellectual activity at work in Hod is a com bination of reason and im agination, ty p i­fied in T aro t by the E m peror and the E m p ress .

Besides th is , the E m press is Venus, whose sphere is the seventh Sephirah, and the power p ic tu red by the E m pero r is that of M ars. On the T ree , M ars corresponds to the path of Peh (D ), which c a r r ie s the Venusian influence from the seventh Sephirah to the eighth.

W hatever we d esire is som ething different from what is now in actual ex istence. Thus the power of Netzach leads inevitably to the d isin tegration of existing fo rm s, which is the M artian activity corresponding to the path of Peh, illu s tra te d in T aro t by Key 16.

When our d e s ire s a re sufficiently c le a r , they take form in our determ ination to rid ourse lves of delusion, and in our asp iration to pass from the re s tr ic te d sphere of the "na tu ra l man" into the freedom of the "new c re a tu re ." The p ro cess whereby th is de­s ire is rea lized is , in its e a r lie r s tages, one of d is in teg ra tion . It begins with a flash of insp ira tion which overthrow s our erroneous notions. It reduces our world to a c h a o s . It hu rls us from our tow ers of iso lation, and inverts all our fo rm er notions of ou rse lves, and of the na tu re of our environm ent, and our re la tion to it .

Then com es the re in teg ra tion , which begins with the in tellectual p ro cesses of the

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eighth path. What th is is we may lea rn from T aro t, and the le tte rs of 1111 provide a c lue. n is the E m peror, Key 4. 1 is the H ierophant, Key 5. 1 is the Em ­p re ss , Key 3 . Add the num bers of these th ree K eys. T h e ir sum is 12, the num ber of the Hanged Man, and, su re ly , the Hanged Man is T a ro t’s rep resen ta tion of the "new c re a ­tu re ." On th is account, E lphas Levi says Key 12 re p re sen ts " the adept, bound by h is engagem ents."

We have given th is extended exam ple of the way a Q abalist would analyze T in by m eans of num bers, co lors and T aro t, in o rd e r to show that what seem to be alm ost m echanical p ro cesses do rea lly lead to the d isc lo su re of aspects of tru th which m eet every te s t of reaso n .

shalom , the name applied to the eighth Sephirah as a Path of Wisdom, is used as an adjective in the sense m entioned in page 1 of th is le sso n . As a p ro p er noun, the sam e w ord is the p lace-nam e Salem, as when G enesis 14:18 m entions M elchizedek, King of Salem . In the W estern T rad ition , much occult instruction is connected with th is . This instruction is one of the clues to the meaning of the Masonic legend concerning Hi­ram Abiff, and the acute student w ill not fa il to note here that the whole m ystery of Ma­sonry has to do with geom etry (a science invented, say the ancient glyphs, by H erm es o r M ercury), and with the application of geom etry to the a r t of building. The tem ple "not made with hands, e tern al in the heavens," is the house of the Divine S p irit. It is the perfected , com pleted personality of m an.

The num eral value of Efrff is 370. This num ber com bines 70, the value of the le tte r Ayin, rep resen ted in T aro t by Key 15, with 300, the value of the le tte r Shin, c o r ­responding to Key 20, Judgement (that is , Com pletion). Note that on the T ree of Life the path of Ayin c a r r ie s the power of T iphareth down to Hod, and that the path of Shin c a r r ie s the power of Hod down to Malkuth, the fie ld of physical em bodim ent.

Among w ords corresponding to the num ber 370 are:

"JTIj derek olahm , the way ev erlasting (Psalm 139:24). F in a l “\reckoned h e re as 20.

“Ipy* a q a r , to pluck up, to roo t out; to be s te rile ; a stum p, the trunk of a tre e (Daniel 4:15). The suggestion of th is p a rticu la r entry has a d irec t bearing on the fu tile, w orth less activity of in te llect when it has nothing to work on except the rep o rts of the physical sen se s . Without illum ination from above, in te llect is life le ss .

tzaraph , to refine, to m elt together, to connect, to combine; also to try , to exam ine. All these meanings a re connected with the deeper alchem ical significance of the eighth path.

£np, qarah , to rend, to te a r . T his w ord is re la ted to the analytical power of in te llect, the power which can te a r things a p a rt. In the Hebrew alphabet, the sam e power is rep resen ted by Zain , the sword, and in T aro t by Key 6. M isused, it leads to evil r e ­su lts . Thus the v e rb JTIp m eans also "to s lander, to re v ile ." F o r the fa lse judg­m ents of in te llect a re sep ara tiv e . They slander man to h im self, and make him pro ject h is own bad estim ate , his own inaccurate se lf-m easu rem en t, on all his fellow s.

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O ikos, house (1 P eter 2:5). T his is the G reek equivalent fo r Beth, thename of the le tte r corresponding to M ercury, whose influence is at w ork in the eighth Sephirah.

Annuit Coeptis: Novus Ordo Seclorum . T hese a re the two Latin m o tto e s on th e r e ­v e rse of the G reat Seal of the United States of A m erica . T h e ir English tran sla tio n is:He hath p rospered ou r undertakings: a new o rd e r of the ages (o r, a new o rd e r of the aeons).

The oikos, o r house, which is the symbol of the New O rd er on the G reat Seal, is p ic tu red as a piece of Egyptian m asonry , an unfinished pyram id, of th ir teen c o u rs e s .

In R osicrucian sym bolism , the house is the Vault of the Adepts, o r b u ria l-p lace of the Founder of the O rd er, B rother C . R . C. In the FAMA FRATERNITATIS we find a descrip tion of th is Vault which had seven sid es , each m easuring 5 fee t by 8 fe e t. Thus the whole vault had 21 boundary lines whose to ta l length was 126 fe e t. 126 is the num ber of Novus O rdo, a New O rd er. The num ber of the w ord Seclorum is 94. T h is, added to * I126, m akes 220, the value in Hebrew of the le tte rs Kaph, Resh, Kaph, rep resen ted by the G erm an le tte rs C . R. C . Thus Novus Ordo Seclorum sum s up the whole R osicrucian m ystery , and is equivalent to the m ystical in itia ls of the trad itiona l Founder of the O rder.

The R osicrucian Vault and the pyram id on the G reat Seal a re re la ted em blem s.Both w ere devised under the influence of the Inner School of the W estern T rad itio n . It is to the ass is tan ce of that School, working actively through the M asonic F ra te rn ity in the eighteenth century , that we owe the estab lishm ent of the governm ent of the United S ta tes .

I am the FACE w hich sh ineth e v e r ,And b efo re w hich the d ark n ess h a steth aw ay.

I am the W hite B r illia n c e Of the Head w hich i s not a H ead.

I am the p ro fu se G iver of a ll abundance.

Y et though I am the g r e a te s t of the g rea t,I am a lso the s m a lle s t of the sm a ll.

I am the depth as w e ll a s the heigh t,The without a s w e ll a s that w hich i s w ith in ,

F or in m e are a l l o p p o sites united.

1 am the G lory of the E tern a l S ou rce ,And I am the Foundation of the K ingdom of the

A g e le s s R esu lt.

(F rom the BOOK OF TOKENS, by D r. P au l F o s te r C ase)