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Chapter 11
THE SUBJECTIVE SEPHIROTH
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The first and most obvious division of the Tree is into the three Pillars, and this immediately reminds us of the three channels of Prana described by the yogis, Ida, Pingala, and Shushumna; and the two principles, the Yin and the Yang Chinese philosophy, and the Tao, or Way, which is the equilibrium between them. By the agreement of witnesses truth is established, and when we find three of the great metaphysical systems of the world in complete agreement we may conclude that we are dealing with established principles and should accept them as such.
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The Central Pillar should, in my opinion, be taken to represent consciousness, and the two side pillars as the positive and negative factors of manifestation. It is noteworthy that in the Yoga system consciousness is extended when Kundalini rises through the central channel of the Shushumna, and that the Western magical operation of Rising on the Planes takes place up the Central Pillar of the Tree; that is to say, the symbolism employed to induce this extension of consciousness does not take the Sephiroth in their numerical order, commencing with Malkuth, but goes from Malkuth to Yesod and Yesod to Tiphareth, by what is called the Path of the Arrow.
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- The two flanking pillars of Severity and Mercy can readily be seen as representing the positive and negative principles, and their respective Sephiroth as representing the modes of functioning of these forces upon the different levels.
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- The Pillar of Severity contains Binah, Geburah, and Hod, or Saturn, Mars, and Mercury. The Pillar of Mercy contains Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach, or the Zodiac, Jupiter, and Venus. Chokmah and Binah, in the symbolism of the Qabalah, are represented by male and female figures and are the supernal Father and Mother, or in more philosophical language, the positive and negative principles of the universe, the Yang and the Yin, of which maleness and femaleness are but specialised aspects.
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- Chesed (Jupiter) and Geburah (Mars) are both represented in Qabalistic symbolism as crowned figures, the former a lawgiver upon his throne, and the latter a warrior king in his chariot. These are the constructive and destructive principles respectively. It is interesting to note that Binah, the supernal Mother, is also Saturn, the solidifier, who connects through his sickle with Death with his scythe, and Time with his hour-glass. In Binah we find the root of Form. It is said of Malkuth in the Sepher Yetzirah that it sitteth upon the throne of Binah - matter has its root in Binah/Saturn/Death; form is the destroyer of force. With this passive destroyer goes also the active destroyer, and we find Mars Geburah immediately below it on the Pillar of Severity; thus is the force locked up in form set free by the destructive influence of Mars, the Siva aspect of the Godhead. Chokmah, the Zodiac, represents kinetic force; and Chesed, Jupiter, the benign king, represents organised force; and the two are synthesised in Tiphareth, the Christ-centre, the Redeemer and Equilibrator.
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- The next trinity, of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, represents the magical and astral side of things. Netzach (Venus) represents the higher aspects of the elemental forces, the Green Ray; and Hod (Mercury) represents the mind side of magic. The one is the mystic and the other the occult, and they synthesise in the elemental Yesod. This pair of Sephiroth should never be considered apart, any more than the upper pair of Geburah and Gedulah, which is another name for Chesed. This is indicated by the fact that the Qabalah attributes them respectively to the right and left arms and the left and right legs.
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- It will thus be seen that the three form Sephiroth are in the Pillar of Severity, and the three force-Sephiroth in the Pillar of Mercy, and between them, in the Pillar of Equilibrium, are set the different levels of consciousness. The Pillar of Severity, with Binah at its head, is the female principle, the Pingala of the Hindus and the Yin of the Chinese; the Pillar of Mercy, with Chokmah at its head, is the Ida of the Hindus and the Yang of the Chinese; and the Pillar of Equilibrium is Shushumna and Tao.