We should remember that just as the Soul is the link between Body and Spirit, so is the Sun between Earth and Heaven, and the Great Central Sun between the Two Infinites. This Link between the Opposites is an all-important one, but it may be equally a Devil or Redeemer, according to the Influence it has upon us. I have showed this more fully elsewhere, and shall refer to it again.
Now we found the "Paths" symbolized a set of Universal Ideas, including all Colors. Likewise we shall find that the Ten Sephiroth have a corresponding symbolism.
Malkuth, the 10th Sephira, is the Sphere of the Elements (corresponding to the Mother Letters); the next Seven above Malkuth are attributed to the Solar System (or Planets, the Double Letters); Chokmah, the next higher, is the Sphere of the Zodiac or Fixed Stars; and Kether is the Pure Light and the Source of All as the Primum Mobile or First Motion. So we see that in a certain sense the Ten Sephiroth are equal to the Twenty-two Paths, and in order to Fix the Design in its Purity, we must be able to arrange these Diverse Sets of Ideas so that they blend together perfectly. That at first may seem like an impossibility; in fact for several hundred years the Qabalists have adopted an arrangement which entirely failed to produce this perfect Harmony and Order.
How I was led to discover such an arrangement, has been fully shown in "Q.B.L." written last year, and its further proof is given in "The Egyptian Revival" to which I may refer those interested. The following figure is the completed results of those investigations:
It will be seen that the Paths of the Middle Pillar are made by the Three Mother Letters, which by shape form the Caduceus of Mercury, and these descending from Kether through the Sun and Moon (Tiphereth and Yesod) produce the Sphere of the Elements, or Malkuth. All the Planetary Letters except Kaph, which is attributed to Jupiter, the Father of the Gods, IO, will be seen to connect their Paths with the corresponding Planetary Sephiroth. The Twelve Letters attributed to the Signs of the Zodiac will each be found united with the Sephira of its Ruling Planet, even in cases such as Gemini and Virgo which are both ruled by Mercury; Libra and Taurus both ruled by Venus; etc. The one apparent exception (on account of the fact that all four paths leading to Chesed are properly occupied) is the case of Jupiter. But Jupiter, being the direct representative of Kether, and also by Tarot "The Wheel of Life," which exactly symbolizes the Primum Mobile, could not possibly be better placed in any case.
The fact that this Reformation of the Paths produces a wealth of fresh Symbolism and actually discloses the long lost Universal Tradition (as shown in "The Egyptian Revival") is alone sufficient justification for changing the arrangement, even though it may upset the ideas of certain people who have based the Rituals of their Secret Orders upon the old plan.
But the Book of the Law, Liber Legis, clearly states:
"Abrogate are all Rituals, all words and Signs; Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken His seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods." (1904 E.V.)
But this becomes even more essential when we recognize the necessity of Harmonizing the Paths with the Sephiroth as explained above, and "Success is thy proof," since this change has led to such marvelous fresh developments as will be seen before this book is concluded. We may remark, to Qabalists, that this represents the true reconciliation of the "Snake" and the "Sword," thus removing both the "tempter" and the "avenger" from the Gate of Eden; to which we should now be able to return in safety, to our great joy and comfort.
To return once more to the "discovery" of April 14th, and the events which led up to it. I had been considering the Sun and all that It means to Humanity; how it is indeed the Golden Key to the Soul of the World, for this One Symbol contains in itself all "Trinities" of Symbolism. To the Soul of Mankind it has meant in the past all that is "good," all that is "evil," and all that is Divine and above these, according to the view taken by Man himself. The Sun is the True Son but the False Father. He is the Father of this Planet, but the Son of the Star Universe by its invisible Father. Those who worship the Sun (or Son) but fail to pass ON to the concealed father, fall into "Sin" which is Restriction. Those who obtain "Solar Dhyana" and go no further, become fanatics, however wonderful their illumination may seem. Thus the Sun is at once an Angel of Light, the Devil, and the Redeemer. For the Son spake truly when He said "No man cometh unto the Father but by me," but the worship and Deification of the Son in place of the Father has proved fatal enough to those who misunderstood.
With these, and many similar thoughts in mind, I was contemplating the "Tree of Life" when I thought of the idea of temporarily removing the supports and reciprocal paths, and leaving the Sun connected with the Sephiroth by means of direct rays, thus:
I then noticed a very interesting fact; that if, as it were, on the pivot of the Sun, the other Sephiroth were revolved and united, the result would be as follows: Kether would swing round and exactly cover Malkuth. Chokmah and Binah (Wisdom and Understanding) would unite and swing down so that their Circumference exactly half covered Malkuth and Kether, forming a Vesica as in the first problem of Euclid. Chesed, Geburah, Netzach and Hod would all swing down and cover Yesod, so that the whole figure would fold up thus:
This suggested to my mind, the idea of One Cell; first in the process of Division, and then Divided except for a ray of Influence between the two. In other Words the Supreme Light one with Matter, dividing through Wisdom and Understanding, and becoming the Moon (Yesod) and the Sun (Tiphereth). Or, The Sun and Moon uniting and producing other symbolic ideas-who can say?
Then, seeing the Vesica thus formed, I was led to consider its relation to the "Tree" in general, and seeing all folded up between Tiphereth and Malkuth, I especially noticed the Paths from Netzach to Yesod, and from Hod to Yesod, and saw that if these were produced to that they crossed each other as far as the lower part of the Circumference of Yesod, they would become the Generating Paths of another small "Tree" which would exactly extend from the Center of Yesod (as its Kether) to the lowest point of the Circumference of Malkuth (as its Malkuth), thus bringing the Yesod of the "Little Tree" exactly in the center of Malkuth in the Larger one, and Tiphereth of the Small one exactly on the upper line of the circumference of the larger Malkuth.
It must be remarked that Yesod is said to be the representative of the Generative Organs, when the "Tree" is considered in regard to its correspondence to man, and that Netzach and Hod represent the twin Spheres connected therewith. Thus the discovery that these produced a "New Tree" was startling enough, till I began to realize that this process would go on indefinitely, the "Trees" giving birth to smaller and smaller ones toward the Infinitely Small or, conversely, expanding into greater and greater ones without Limit towards the Infinitely Great. Thus the Tree was the veritable Representative of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Lord of the Aeon, the Ever Coming Son of the Two Infinites.
Therewith I gave Praise unto Ra-Hoor-Khuit, and became Silent as Harpocrates, the twin of Horus which is hidden within Him.
And I did well to be silent, for there was much more to be discovered (though I could not conceive it at the time). So I put aside the sketch of my first rough working, having signed and dated it, and left the matter alone for a while.
Herewith I include a drawing made from this first sketch, as a record of the discovery.
