Monday, August 04, 2008

Will Power (Cont.)

Remember the axiom, “As above so below:” like wise, as Atziluth is immediately proceeded by and holds direct influence over Briah, so is our physical world and life proceeded immediately and directly influenced by Yetzirah (or the astral plane). Seeing as we all have this aetheric or subtle body which is the vehicle of the above plane, and is submersed in the waters of the same, then through it we are all connected. For using this substance as a conduit for sending influence from one person to another is no more difficult than floating a toy boat to a person that is in the same swimming pool as you are.

In like manner this can be used for our good, and for the good of others. Each of the successive worlds or realms correspond to one of the four characters in the Tetragrammaton or YHWH, each letter in The Name also has a symbolic significance that is useful in the context which we are speaking.
(י) Yod, transliterated as the English Y signifies in Hebrew symbology a hand, or more expressly, God’s hand.
(ה) Heh, the letter H represents the form of a window or opening.
(ו) Vav, transliterated in this instance as the letter W symbolizes a nail.
(ה) The final Heh, another H, signifies once again, a window or opening.

What you have then is this: visualizing the thing which you desire intone the name or phonetic sound of the letter while seeing the same before your eyes; keeping in mind what the character represents, visualize the thing you are asking for ‘in the hand of God.’ Then follow with the proceeding charater, the Heh and this time see ‘God’s hand’ passing the thing into the next reality through the Heh or opening from His plane into the next, towards you. Next intone the Vav and see the item being ‘nailed’ or concretized, fixed into reality. Finally you arrive at the final Heh, your request is passing through the final opening or window, into physical reality, into your possession.

The complexity of Man created in the image of God and all its implications is expressed by the Kabbalists through the glyph:


The placement and position of the Vav (nail) should also be considered, as it symbolizes man’s procreative powers to bring life into existence.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Will Power

Man, being created in the image of God, has been bestowed with abilities similar though inferior to those of God. Namely the power of creation, not only in the obvious manner: being the ability to reproduce and fabricate, but also to imitate to some degree the creation of our personal world and circumstances. Not only through means of activity or inactivity, but also through understanding and utilizing the natural dynamics of the creative process set in place by the Divine Mind.

Though we have briefly outlined this in the past, there is need here for a short reiteration of what was previously set forth: According to Kabbalistic philosophy the creation of the manifested world took place successively. In other words the creation began as abstract “ideas” in the Genius or Creative Mind of God and then became progressively “concrete” through a series of evolutionary changes as they passed through the subsequent worlds.

The first of these is called Atziluth; it is the unknowable mind of God. It is the place where the Divine Concepts originate and are formless, existing as pure ideas, unmanifest, yet alive.

The second is known as Briah; it is here that the abstract ideas come into an Archetypal, comprehensive, though distorted form.

Thirdly is Yetzirah; it is the region of thoughts that enter into and proceed from human consciousness; it is what is called the Astral Plane.

Finally there is the world of Assiah; the fourth and final stage of manifestation. This is the world of perceived reality, made for our physical vehicle to interact with via the 5 senses, the manifested world in which we live.

Created things and entities proceed in a descending manner from Atziluth toward Assiah. This process can be illustrated thus: A man has a notion to design and build a house to his taste (Atziluth). He then verbalizes his ideas to a designer who begins to formulate a blueprint and make sure that the dimensions are fit for design (Briah). The blueprints are given to a General Contractor who then assembles the workers and materials, and begins constructing the frame and building the structure (Yetzirah). The home is now completed, made in accordance with the original and intended design of the owner (Assiah).

We have the ability to duplicate this to some degree, though the use of techniques and systems designed to heighten our awareness of these forces. It has been known for centuries to practitioners of magick that change must first be made to occur in Yetzirah or the astral plane before it can manifest itself here in our physical world.

Even our physical bodies have an (a)etheric double, and practitioners of Reiki say that they can ‘see’ disease in our (a)etheric or astral counterpart before it manifests itself or becomes detectable in our physical body; and that these diseases or negative energy usually manifests or shows themselves at the first to be black in color and tar-like in consistency. These are said to be seen upon the subtle body in the very region and location where the disease will eventually turn up.