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but then I noticed in the distance a tiny figure of a woman, like a miniature--she seemed to be
naked, but as she drew near, I saw a scarf floating round her. She had a crown of stars on her
head and in her hands were two wands. She came towards us very quickly, and I gazed
fascinatedly at a string of pearls reaching from her neck to her knees--and gazing, found that we
had passed through the circle of her pearls, and she had disappeared!"
The student of the Qabalah who has only a passing acquaintance with Tarot symbolism, will
recognize here the twenty-first Atu of "The World," the path attributed to Saturn, linking the
physical to the astral worlds. He will probably be very surprised to learn that the symbols on
these cards represent dynamic and exceedingly vital realities. But I must pass on to a brief
description of the entrance to Yesod.
"Now the sky is clear and full of stars... The Moon, a great yellow harvest moon, rises slowly
up the sky to a full arch . . . and we saw the moonbeams shining on the high purple walls of a
city. We did not delay to look about, but marched quickly to the centre of the city, to an open
space, in the midst of which was a round temple like a ball of silver. It was approached by nine
steps, and rested on a silver platform. It had four doors. Before each was a large angel with
silver wings... Inside, we were in a very airy place. Light breezes lifted our clothes and our
hair--the interior was very white and clear silvery--no colours. Suspended in the centre was a
great globe, like the moon itself.... While we looked we saw that the globe was not suspended
in the air; it rested on immense cupped hands. We followed the arms up and saw, far up near
the roof, deep dark eyes looking down, dark like the night sky. And a voice said . . ."
Little point would be gained to continue with the rest of the quotation. This passage is given
here solely that the reader may refer to the description of the astral plane in the textbooks, and
then to the recurrence in this vision of the major symbols, and the dynamic form of
dramatization. Let the student take good notice of the presence of the correct numbers, colours,
planetary attributions, and above all the hint as to how much valuable knowledge may be
acquired. Note the four doors to the Temple--representing the four major elements of fire,
water, air and earth. For this astral world is also referred to the Ether (of which the element Air
is a surrogate), the fifth element, quintessentialising the lower elements, the Temple to which
the other elements are but doors. Suspended in the centre of the temple was a globe, symbolic
possibly of the element Air itself which, in the Hindu Tattwa system, is represented by a blue
sphere. Before each of the doors stands an angel. These are the four Kerubic Angels, the
vice-regents of the four cardinal quarters and elements ruling over a particular elemental world
under the dominance of one of the letters of the Tetragrammaton. Possibly they are
representations of the interior psychic delimitation of the soul's spatial area, so to speak, the
absence of which would indicate an unhealthy diffusion or de-centralization of consciousness.
Also the four cardinal points of space would be represented by these four angelic
figures--concretizations, too, of the double play of the moral opposites. East is opposite to
west, and north oposite to south, whilst each of these quarters has attributed to it some
particular moral quality or psychic function. The sense of being in an airy place with light
breezes bears out the formal attribution of air--a curious confirmation of the duality of meaning
implied in pneuma, wind and spirit, a duality which occurs not only in the Greek, but in
Hebrew, Arabic, and a host of primitive languages.
Individual after individual has been trained independently to visit this and other Sephiros.
While each vision is somewhat different in its detail and form to that here quoted, nevertheless
there is a startling unanimity so far as concerns the essential symbolic features. This constitues
definite scientific proof of the surpreme reality of the world of Magic, and demonstrates the
possibility of personal experiment and research. Scientific research is possible in this world of
astral or Unconscious realities, because they are effective things, that is, objective influences
that work and influence mankind. This sphere is the deposit of the world experience of all
times, and it is therefore an image of the world that has been forming for aeons, an image in
which certain features, the so-called dominants, have been elaborated through the course of
time. These dominants are the ruling powers, the gods and archangels and angels--that is
representations of dominating laws and principles functioning in the cosmos. And since it is a
world functioning in the brain structure and sympathetic nervous system of every individual it is
a world which is open to every one who wishes to overcome the fear which centuries of
mal-education have projected upon it, and discover for himself anew the reality of its dynamic
urges and influences.
With but little ingenuity, specific tests may be undertaken with the object of testing the
relationship between geometrical symbols, the vision obtained therefrom by means of the body
of light technique, and the correspondences of these figures recorded in the proper books. It has
been written that various elements--Fire, Water, Spirit, Air and Earth---are attributed to the five
points of the Pentagram. Depending entirely on the direction in which the lines are traced, so
will the figure invoke or banish the beings pertaining to that element. For example, if the
student traces the invoking Pentagram of Fire in each of the four cardinal quarters, and then
employs the sensitive sight of the Body of Light which previously he has cultivated, he will see
appear almost immediately the fire elementals or Salamanders, the personalized fiery
constituents of his own psyche. The tracing of the banishing fire pentagram will see them
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