| CHAPTER VII THE ANATOMY OF ILLUMINISM llluminism |
| Illuminism and Revolution |
Revolution means turning around. Every twenty-four hours the earth completes a revolution from
night to day and back again into night. Man is not so mathematically poised; he cannot calculate the
revolutions of his soul. When they occur they come as overwhelming shocks to his whole moral
system, and unless he is mentally balanced they are apt to lay him under so tyrannical an obsession
that his whole life is thrown out of the perpendicular.
In its psychic form, this problem of revolution is little understood, in spite of the fact that it
constitutes the foundation of social evolution and dissolution. When a revolution takes place humanity
does not slough its skin; in place its skin is ripped off from it, leaving an agonized body behind. In the
past the whole process of deliverance from what is called evil has been so ghastly that it demands our
closest attention. Here we will attempt to open its secret chambers.
Light in itself is an invisible vibration which is endowed with visibility by the eye, which in its
turn was created by light, that is by countless millions of vibrations playing upon the surface of the
living skin until from their irritation was created this most mysterious of all the animal organs of
sense. What, then, is mind? Mind, we hazard to answer, is the transmutation of light into thought, that
is of spirit into reason. Light is consequently the conductor between divinity and humanity, between
God and man. There is the divine thought; there is light; lastly there is human thought: such is the first
great psychic, or mystical, revolution.
As man is fashioned from out of inertia, the dust of the earth, and through the breath of life (that is
the essence of the divine dynamic) becomes a living soul, his mind (that is the “organ” of his
thoughts) is constantly attracted towards inertia. It is only when the God within him, the living soul, is
aroused, that he can break away from things earthly and soar closer to the Divine Thought which
created him. This breaking away from the inert towards the living is called an act of will – “Let there
be light!” but in its restricted human form. Obviously, then, it is a personal endeavour; that is to say, it
can only be accomplished by the individual, for though one individual can obtain guidance from
another, the toil and the labour is his and his only.
Now the key to the unlocking of the mystery of revolutions, human upheavals, is to be discovered
in this word “guidance”. If the guide points out the way, leaving it to the free will of the individual to
travel along it, then he is a true light unto the guided. But if instead he blindfolds the individual and
then forces him in a certain direction, in place of a guide he becomes a tyrant; for in actual fact he will
plunge the guided into darkness, a darkness which - though it may take upon itself the appearance of
light - is nothing more than a delusion, a dream, and a nightmare. For the individual to will that light
shall be is something quite different from being hypnotized into believing that light is and already
exists. Belief is of the dust of the earth, it is the static shadow of divine power; will is of the breath of
life, it is the dynamic force of that same essence. Thus it happens that true faith is belief crucified on
the cross of will, a transmutation of the material into the spiritual. For an individual to accomplish an
act of will is to attain to the supreme eucharist; but for an individual to obliterate the wills of others by
forcing his will, however spiritualized it may be, on to others is to take part in a black mass. That is to
obliterate light, and the higher the spirituality the deeper the darkness resulting.
We will attempt to explain this in simpler terms. If a bright light is brought into a lit room which is
crowded with people, it is probable that those nearest to it will blink, but that those at a distance will
be but little affected by it. Should, however, the room be in complete darkness, and should those
assembled have been in it for a long time, then, irrespective of the conditions of their eye-sight, the
probabilities are that all will be blinded and bewildered. Now, if instead of a light an exalted symbol
of divinity, a higher idea of God, be explained to a roomful of intelligent and educated people, the
influence of this idea is not likely to be great, because they all possess intelligent ideas regarding the
Divinity, and consequently these ideas counteract, or drown, the new idea. But if instead the room is
filled with uneducated and ignorant people, that is people who having thought little have never
developed the critical faculty, then according to the sympathies, antipathies, and emotions of the
audience will it accept or reject the idea, not calmly but with frenzy. The idea will in fact detonate a
moral explosion.
To turn from the explosive to the exploder, history proves again and again that the greatest
religious reformers have almost without exception appealed to the most ignorant and uncultured
classes of society. In our opinion these religious reformers never belonged to the higher grade of
Masters, because true wisdom reveals that it is madness to attempt to illumine the people in bulk; for,
though the masses can easily reflect the divine light, they can only do so in an unintelligent way, that
is in an anti-divine way, or diabolically. In their case, the intenser the light the profounder becomes
the shadow.
We also believe that innumerable attempts to illumine the masses are always being made by
Masters of the lower grades, these Masters in the aggregate representing the Satanic force of the
world. Further, we know beyond any shadow of doubt that, unless the masses are crude, animal,
uncultured, and ignorant, success in transmutation is either wanting or strictly limited. Individuals,
like single grains of gunpowder, may be ignited and burn away, but a mass of individuals will not and
cannot explode unless through a lack of intellectual freedom it has been tamped into a solid block of
powder. In this sense a void is not an emptiness, but a fullness of undifferentiated quality. This is the
meaning of the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis – “And the earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” What did the Spirit of God move upon? “The face
of the waters” - that is, an undifferentiated medium, a still and perfect mirror. This was the primal
“explosion” which started the revolution of existence. Therefore to detonate revolution there must
exist a negative organ and a positive idea; which means that the people must lack intellectual liberty
and an illumined Master must exist.
night to day and back again into night. Man is not so mathematically poised; he cannot calculate the
revolutions of his soul. When they occur they come as overwhelming shocks to his whole moral
system, and unless he is mentally balanced they are apt to lay him under so tyrannical an obsession
that his whole life is thrown out of the perpendicular.
In its psychic form, this problem of revolution is little understood, in spite of the fact that it
constitutes the foundation of social evolution and dissolution. When a revolution takes place humanity
does not slough its skin; in place its skin is ripped off from it, leaving an agonized body behind. In the
past the whole process of deliverance from what is called evil has been so ghastly that it demands our
closest attention. Here we will attempt to open its secret chambers.
Light in itself is an invisible vibration which is endowed with visibility by the eye, which in its
turn was created by light, that is by countless millions of vibrations playing upon the surface of the
living skin until from their irritation was created this most mysterious of all the animal organs of
sense. What, then, is mind? Mind, we hazard to answer, is the transmutation of light into thought, that
is of spirit into reason. Light is consequently the conductor between divinity and humanity, between
God and man. There is the divine thought; there is light; lastly there is human thought: such is the first
great psychic, or mystical, revolution.
As man is fashioned from out of inertia, the dust of the earth, and through the breath of life (that is
the essence of the divine dynamic) becomes a living soul, his mind (that is the “organ” of his
thoughts) is constantly attracted towards inertia. It is only when the God within him, the living soul, is
aroused, that he can break away from things earthly and soar closer to the Divine Thought which
created him. This breaking away from the inert towards the living is called an act of will – “Let there
be light!” but in its restricted human form. Obviously, then, it is a personal endeavour; that is to say, it
can only be accomplished by the individual, for though one individual can obtain guidance from
another, the toil and the labour is his and his only.
Now the key to the unlocking of the mystery of revolutions, human upheavals, is to be discovered
in this word “guidance”. If the guide points out the way, leaving it to the free will of the individual to
travel along it, then he is a true light unto the guided. But if instead he blindfolds the individual and
then forces him in a certain direction, in place of a guide he becomes a tyrant; for in actual fact he will
plunge the guided into darkness, a darkness which - though it may take upon itself the appearance of
light - is nothing more than a delusion, a dream, and a nightmare. For the individual to will that light
shall be is something quite different from being hypnotized into believing that light is and already
exists. Belief is of the dust of the earth, it is the static shadow of divine power; will is of the breath of
life, it is the dynamic force of that same essence. Thus it happens that true faith is belief crucified on
the cross of will, a transmutation of the material into the spiritual. For an individual to accomplish an
act of will is to attain to the supreme eucharist; but for an individual to obliterate the wills of others by
forcing his will, however spiritualized it may be, on to others is to take part in a black mass. That is to
obliterate light, and the higher the spirituality the deeper the darkness resulting.
We will attempt to explain this in simpler terms. If a bright light is brought into a lit room which is
crowded with people, it is probable that those nearest to it will blink, but that those at a distance will
be but little affected by it. Should, however, the room be in complete darkness, and should those
assembled have been in it for a long time, then, irrespective of the conditions of their eye-sight, the
probabilities are that all will be blinded and bewildered. Now, if instead of a light an exalted symbol
of divinity, a higher idea of God, be explained to a roomful of intelligent and educated people, the
influence of this idea is not likely to be great, because they all possess intelligent ideas regarding the
Divinity, and consequently these ideas counteract, or drown, the new idea. But if instead the room is
filled with uneducated and ignorant people, that is people who having thought little have never
developed the critical faculty, then according to the sympathies, antipathies, and emotions of the
audience will it accept or reject the idea, not calmly but with frenzy. The idea will in fact detonate a
moral explosion.
To turn from the explosive to the exploder, history proves again and again that the greatest
religious reformers have almost without exception appealed to the most ignorant and uncultured
classes of society. In our opinion these religious reformers never belonged to the higher grade of
Masters, because true wisdom reveals that it is madness to attempt to illumine the people in bulk; for,
though the masses can easily reflect the divine light, they can only do so in an unintelligent way, that
is in an anti-divine way, or diabolically. In their case, the intenser the light the profounder becomes
the shadow.
We also believe that innumerable attempts to illumine the masses are always being made by
Masters of the lower grades, these Masters in the aggregate representing the Satanic force of the
world. Further, we know beyond any shadow of doubt that, unless the masses are crude, animal,
uncultured, and ignorant, success in transmutation is either wanting or strictly limited. Individuals,
like single grains of gunpowder, may be ignited and burn away, but a mass of individuals will not and
cannot explode unless through a lack of intellectual freedom it has been tamped into a solid block of
powder. In this sense a void is not an emptiness, but a fullness of undifferentiated quality. This is the
meaning of the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis – “And the earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” What did the Spirit of God move upon? “The face
of the waters” - that is, an undifferentiated medium, a still and perfect mirror. This was the primal
“explosion” which started the revolution of existence. Therefore to detonate revolution there must
exist a negative organ and a positive idea; which means that the people must lack intellectual liberty
and an illumined Master must exist.
| The Fourth-Dimensional State |
From the illumined we will now turn to the illuminator, the man who illumines, and here we will
attempt to explain this part of the problem diagramatically.
In Diagram 5, AB represents time-space and CD the Divine Spirit which as it impinges
on AB creates existence, life, and consciousness. This consciousness grows by a balancing of
opposites, the spiritual and the material forces, and once this is realized by man he emerges, or
emanates, from his animal chrysalis.
attempt to explain this part of the problem diagramatically.
In Diagram 5, AB represents time-space and CD the Divine Spirit which as it impinges
on AB creates existence, life, and consciousness. This consciousness grows by a balancing of
opposites, the spiritual and the material forces, and once this is realized by man he emerges, or
emanates, from his animal chrysalis.
| Diagram 5: The Fourth Dimension |
Diagram 6 is a representation of the Qabalistic Tree of Life in dimensional form. A, D,
| Diagram 6: The Fourth Dimension shown Qabalistically |
G, and J represent the one-, two-, three-, and four-dimensional worlds. The first is cut off from the
second by the veil BC, which represents a mathematical point in extension, that is a line - a positive
and a negative pole. A dweller in A must penetrate this veil before he can understand what D is like.
The second is cut off from the third by the veil EF, which represents length and breadth in extension,
that is a plane surface or a line moving outwards from itself. To understand G an inhabitant of D must
penetrate EF. The third is cut off from the fourth by the veil HI, which represents length, breadth, and
thickness in extension, that is a cube - a plane moving outwards from itself To attain to J
consciousness, HI must be transcended.
The scientist, however, insists that there is no separation between G and J, which means that they
form a continuum. This may be true enough mathematically, but it is not true in everyday life, for
though we recognize time we cannot rationally explain it; it is a mystery, and as great a one as the
movement of a point or the movement of a line would be respectively to the dwellers in A and D. To
us of three-dimensional consciousness, height or thickness is not a movement, it is a quality of space,
something which can be fixed and in abstraction is fixed. Consequently, as time is movement or
duration to us, were we to attain to a four-dimensional consciousness it would also become a
dimension of space, that is a fixed quality of it, and all spaces lacking this dimension would
automatically become mathematical quantities or unsubstantial shadow worlds, pure mental pictures
with no real existence outside the mind. Though there may be, and are so mathematically, an infinite
number of dimensions beyond the fourth, it is of no consequence to consider them; for ultimately, in
order to exist, they must be included - as Bishop Berkeley so sublimely expressed it - in an Eternal
Mind or Spirit. Our immediate problem, therefore, is J, and not a”.
We will now turn to the upper portion of Diagram 6. The line HI we will suppose separates normal
consciousness from abnormal or supernormal consciousness, respectively represented by G and J. The
consciousness represented by G is drawn from the experience of the material world, threedimensional
space, and that of J is based on experience in the fourth-dimensional world.
The first characteristic of J is that it includes G, and the second that its relationship with G is
similar in essence to the relationship between G and D and D and A in Diagram 6. As we have already
pointed out, in J all knowledge of G is purely abstract, and so also is all knowledge of J in G; for just
as a two dimensional surface of G possesses no thickness and so possesses no tangible reality, so can
no part of G possess reality in J. Yet we know that G is real, and consequently from this we infer that
J also is real and that their unreality exists only in their relationship, that is in ourselves. This leads us
to a fact of some importance, namely, that the reality of J is quite inexplicable in terms of G, except
by the means of symbols. Thus, mathematically, it can be inferred that in a four-dimensional world a
hollow ball can be turned inside out without breaking its covering; yet it is quite impossible to explain
how this is done even if it were actually done before our eyes, because we cannot grasp the fourthdimensional
direction.
We will now suppose that X is an ordinary man whose consciousness is expressed in a series of
three-dimensional qualities, such as a3 + b3 + c3 + d3 . . . etc.; a representing knowledge, b sentiment,
c forcefulness, d sensuality, etc. By some means, which does not here concern us, one day X enters
state J (four-dimensional consciousness), whereupon these factors instantaneously become a4 + b4 + c4
+ d4 . . . etc. Whilst in state J these factors assume an infinite and absolute character, yet it must not be
overlooked that though X on entering J gains a full appreciation of J, his ability to interpret things is
limited to his G powers. His mental machinery is still of a G nature, and though all his G factors may
be reduced to abstract quantities, his J knowledge is tangible and real and not a mere question of
symbols. Whilst in state J he see that a4, etc., includes a3, etc., but is infinitely greater, so much so that
his G consciousness is entirely swallowed up. For just as a cube contains an infinite number of planes
the size of any one of its own sides, so does a4, etc., include an infinite number of a3's, etc. Whilst in
state J, a3 etc., sinks into illusion, a4, etc., becoming the sole reality, which cannot, however, be
explained to G individuals in any language they can understand.
The mystical eucharist at an end, X sinks back into state G, and though in this state his sole
instrument is his three-dimensional consciousness, the union he experienced was so overwhelming
that state J still remains the supreme reality to him. Should he have attained equilibrium in state G
before entering state J, he will realize that this is not the only reality; that “as above so beneath”, state
G is equally real; that they are in fact two realities, the one belonging to conscious existence and the
other to what may be called super-conscious existence; that there is a relationship between these two,
just as there is a relationship between the human embryo in the womb and the fully developed man;
and that to attempt to explain the super-conscious state to the purely conscious individual - that is to
an individual who has never experienced super-consciousness - is to turn wisdom upside down.
Such a man, the ordinary individual, we will call Y; then, if X attempts to explain his experiences
to Y, as all language deals with three-dimensional concepts, he can only do so by means of symbols,
symbols which in some vague way may explain the infinite in terms of the finite and the timeless in
terms of the timed.
Should X set out to explain them, to do so he must fall back on his G knowledge and education;
consequently his symbols will depend on the relationship between the brilliance he has experienced in
J and the balance of knowledge he has established in G - his normal life. The more ignorant he is and
the more unbalanced he is the cruder and more unbalanced will his symbols be. He can only build the
symbolic temple out of the bricks of his three-dimensional knowledge, and if his mind is of mud and
not of clay, then his symbols will be of mud and will never become bricks. The more ignorant he is -
that is the less illumined he is in the space world - the darker will be his symbols; consequently should
Y be equally ignorant and totally unacquainted with the J vision, and should X force his symbols upon
Y (for in spite of his ignorance his experience has endowed him with all the fervour of authority), he
will so obsess Y that in place of exalting him to the super-conscious state he will destroy his
conscious state and plunge him into a sub- or infra-conscious state. He will. plunge him into the
Qliphoth (hell), in which he sees Satan robed in the glory of God. Y will experience a vision of the
Devil, the essence of the unbalanced animal Nephesh, and he will be turned upside down. Such is the
diagnosis of a would-be white magician creating (unconsciously) a black-magical world.
It is important to enter still deeper into this spiritual devolution. We will suppose that X's
predominant characteristic is sentimentality (b), and that it has never been balanced; then the chances
are that his symbols will assume a strong b complexion and that in their general form they will
become b (a3 = a4). Y, we will suppose, becomes magnetized by X's magic; then he will accept the
general symbol b (a3 = a4) as Reality; but not having experienced what X means by a3 = a4, when he,
magnetized as he is, imposes this symbol on Z, he will not only adulterate it with his own leading
unbalanced characteristic, which we will suppose is forcefulness (represented by c), but will do so in a
lower degree, that is with lower magnetic power than the degree in which he received it. The general
symbol will then become b x c (a3 = a4) over 2. Thus the spiritual devolution will continue, and as it
rolls downwards it will accumulate more and more unbalanced forces, until it is lost in the nonsense
of such a monstrous Hydra-headed symbol as 100a x 500b x 1100c x 300d x 900e x 700f = (a3 = a4)
over 3600. And as from the very beginning a3 - a4 is an absurdity, eventually all spiritual force will
disappear, smothered by an accumulation of human desires which draw their strength from the
unbalanced primitive instincts and emotions. The symbol will then become an idol.
It will thus be seen that in the search after the Unknowable, God, Super-consciousness - call it
what we will - the J state of Diagram 6, the supreme difficulty is not to attain but to explain, and that
all explanations, except between beings of equal spiritual and mundane knowledge, must lead to the
propagation of a lie. The Qabalists are right: the name of God is unpronounceable, and to attempt to
pronounce it can only formulate the Devil at the expense of the Divinity. Diabolus est Deus Inversus -
this is the goal of all false symbols.
second by the veil BC, which represents a mathematical point in extension, that is a line - a positive
and a negative pole. A dweller in A must penetrate this veil before he can understand what D is like.
The second is cut off from the third by the veil EF, which represents length and breadth in extension,
that is a plane surface or a line moving outwards from itself. To understand G an inhabitant of D must
penetrate EF. The third is cut off from the fourth by the veil HI, which represents length, breadth, and
thickness in extension, that is a cube - a plane moving outwards from itself To attain to J
consciousness, HI must be transcended.
The scientist, however, insists that there is no separation between G and J, which means that they
form a continuum. This may be true enough mathematically, but it is not true in everyday life, for
though we recognize time we cannot rationally explain it; it is a mystery, and as great a one as the
movement of a point or the movement of a line would be respectively to the dwellers in A and D. To
us of three-dimensional consciousness, height or thickness is not a movement, it is a quality of space,
something which can be fixed and in abstraction is fixed. Consequently, as time is movement or
duration to us, were we to attain to a four-dimensional consciousness it would also become a
dimension of space, that is a fixed quality of it, and all spaces lacking this dimension would
automatically become mathematical quantities or unsubstantial shadow worlds, pure mental pictures
with no real existence outside the mind. Though there may be, and are so mathematically, an infinite
number of dimensions beyond the fourth, it is of no consequence to consider them; for ultimately, in
order to exist, they must be included - as Bishop Berkeley so sublimely expressed it - in an Eternal
Mind or Spirit. Our immediate problem, therefore, is J, and not a”.
We will now turn to the upper portion of Diagram 6. The line HI we will suppose separates normal
consciousness from abnormal or supernormal consciousness, respectively represented by G and J. The
consciousness represented by G is drawn from the experience of the material world, threedimensional
space, and that of J is based on experience in the fourth-dimensional world.
The first characteristic of J is that it includes G, and the second that its relationship with G is
similar in essence to the relationship between G and D and D and A in Diagram 6. As we have already
pointed out, in J all knowledge of G is purely abstract, and so also is all knowledge of J in G; for just
as a two dimensional surface of G possesses no thickness and so possesses no tangible reality, so can
no part of G possess reality in J. Yet we know that G is real, and consequently from this we infer that
J also is real and that their unreality exists only in their relationship, that is in ourselves. This leads us
to a fact of some importance, namely, that the reality of J is quite inexplicable in terms of G, except
by the means of symbols. Thus, mathematically, it can be inferred that in a four-dimensional world a
hollow ball can be turned inside out without breaking its covering; yet it is quite impossible to explain
how this is done even if it were actually done before our eyes, because we cannot grasp the fourthdimensional
direction.
We will now suppose that X is an ordinary man whose consciousness is expressed in a series of
three-dimensional qualities, such as a3 + b3 + c3 + d3 . . . etc.; a representing knowledge, b sentiment,
c forcefulness, d sensuality, etc. By some means, which does not here concern us, one day X enters
state J (four-dimensional consciousness), whereupon these factors instantaneously become a4 + b4 + c4
+ d4 . . . etc. Whilst in state J these factors assume an infinite and absolute character, yet it must not be
overlooked that though X on entering J gains a full appreciation of J, his ability to interpret things is
limited to his G powers. His mental machinery is still of a G nature, and though all his G factors may
be reduced to abstract quantities, his J knowledge is tangible and real and not a mere question of
symbols. Whilst in state J he see that a4, etc., includes a3, etc., but is infinitely greater, so much so that
his G consciousness is entirely swallowed up. For just as a cube contains an infinite number of planes
the size of any one of its own sides, so does a4, etc., include an infinite number of a3's, etc. Whilst in
state J, a3 etc., sinks into illusion, a4, etc., becoming the sole reality, which cannot, however, be
explained to G individuals in any language they can understand.
The mystical eucharist at an end, X sinks back into state G, and though in this state his sole
instrument is his three-dimensional consciousness, the union he experienced was so overwhelming
that state J still remains the supreme reality to him. Should he have attained equilibrium in state G
before entering state J, he will realize that this is not the only reality; that “as above so beneath”, state
G is equally real; that they are in fact two realities, the one belonging to conscious existence and the
other to what may be called super-conscious existence; that there is a relationship between these two,
just as there is a relationship between the human embryo in the womb and the fully developed man;
and that to attempt to explain the super-conscious state to the purely conscious individual - that is to
an individual who has never experienced super-consciousness - is to turn wisdom upside down.
Such a man, the ordinary individual, we will call Y; then, if X attempts to explain his experiences
to Y, as all language deals with three-dimensional concepts, he can only do so by means of symbols,
symbols which in some vague way may explain the infinite in terms of the finite and the timeless in
terms of the timed.
Should X set out to explain them, to do so he must fall back on his G knowledge and education;
consequently his symbols will depend on the relationship between the brilliance he has experienced in
J and the balance of knowledge he has established in G - his normal life. The more ignorant he is and
the more unbalanced he is the cruder and more unbalanced will his symbols be. He can only build the
symbolic temple out of the bricks of his three-dimensional knowledge, and if his mind is of mud and
not of clay, then his symbols will be of mud and will never become bricks. The more ignorant he is -
that is the less illumined he is in the space world - the darker will be his symbols; consequently should
Y be equally ignorant and totally unacquainted with the J vision, and should X force his symbols upon
Y (for in spite of his ignorance his experience has endowed him with all the fervour of authority), he
will so obsess Y that in place of exalting him to the super-conscious state he will destroy his
conscious state and plunge him into a sub- or infra-conscious state. He will. plunge him into the
Qliphoth (hell), in which he sees Satan robed in the glory of God. Y will experience a vision of the
Devil, the essence of the unbalanced animal Nephesh, and he will be turned upside down. Such is the
diagnosis of a would-be white magician creating (unconsciously) a black-magical world.
It is important to enter still deeper into this spiritual devolution. We will suppose that X's
predominant characteristic is sentimentality (b), and that it has never been balanced; then the chances
are that his symbols will assume a strong b complexion and that in their general form they will
become b (a3 = a4). Y, we will suppose, becomes magnetized by X's magic; then he will accept the
general symbol b (a3 = a4) as Reality; but not having experienced what X means by a3 = a4, when he,
magnetized as he is, imposes this symbol on Z, he will not only adulterate it with his own leading
unbalanced characteristic, which we will suppose is forcefulness (represented by c), but will do so in a
lower degree, that is with lower magnetic power than the degree in which he received it. The general
symbol will then become b x c (a3 = a4) over 2. Thus the spiritual devolution will continue, and as it
rolls downwards it will accumulate more and more unbalanced forces, until it is lost in the nonsense
of such a monstrous Hydra-headed symbol as 100a x 500b x 1100c x 300d x 900e x 700f = (a3 = a4)
over 3600. And as from the very beginning a3 - a4 is an absurdity, eventually all spiritual force will
disappear, smothered by an accumulation of human desires which draw their strength from the
unbalanced primitive instincts and emotions. The symbol will then become an idol.
It will thus be seen that in the search after the Unknowable, God, Super-consciousness - call it
what we will - the J state of Diagram 6, the supreme difficulty is not to attain but to explain, and that
all explanations, except between beings of equal spiritual and mundane knowledge, must lead to the
propagation of a lie. The Qabalists are right: the name of God is unpronounceable, and to attempt to
pronounce it can only formulate the Devil at the expense of the Divinity. Diabolus est Deus Inversus -
this is the goal of all false symbols.
| The Great Omission |
Having now examined the source of mystic power, which in itself is neither good nor evil, because
it is beyond good and evil, but which possessing stupendous energy can accentuate good and evil by
potentizing them, we will enquire into the conception of religions and will attempt to ascertain
whether, in spite of their astonishing differences, they do not possess some common denominator.
To look for this common factor we must examine the lives of the Masters of religion and not the
doctrines of their followers because these doctrines and the activities springing from them consist of a
mass of lies and unbalanced movements. Also we must clear our minds of all the worldly sciences -
ethics, aesthetics, philosophy, etc. We must jettison the symbolic language of the Masters, and, having
swept clean our minds of the dogmas, rituals, and canons of the Churches, we must diligently search
for that secret process whereby a helot can be transformed into a hierophant, not magically but
spiritually. This indeed is the one and hidden problem of divine alchemy.
We will first examine three Masters known to all - Buddha, Christ, and Mahomet. What is there
common in their lives? The first was born a prince; the second was the son of a carpenter - or the son
of God if the orthodox object to so humble a parentage; the third was a camel-driver. As different as
their origins and worldly occupations were their intellects and characters, and again as different were
the religions which they founded. Yet we find one thing in common in the lives of these three men, a
blank, a state which we will call “The Great Omission”. There is a period in the lives of each of these
Masters concerning which nothing is known; for a time each one of them vanished from the world,
from public life, and fructified his soul. For several years Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree, the Tree
of Wisdom, meditating on the sorrows of mankind, and there he was transfused with so stupendous a
magnetic power that even today his followers number one hundred and fifty millions. Christ, brought
up in poverty, from the age of twelve to thirty disappeared from the world, and during this long period
no single mention is made of him. Then through baptism and prayer
the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove [symbol of Binah] upon
him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Today his nominal and actual followers still number six hundred and eighty millions. Mahomet, at
the age of thirty-five, retired into a cave and was visited by the angel Gabriel, the Messenger of God;
he emerged an illumined adept. His followers conquered half the known world of their day,
established a wonderful civilization, and still number two hundred and ten millions.
Is this Omission, this negative period, a coincidence in these three lives? The answer is “no”, and
this answer is conclusively proved by examining the lives of the lesser Masters. Moses disappeared
into the land of Midian, met there seven daughters of the priest of that country, lived with Jethro 8
their father, tended his flocks, led them to the “back side of the desert and came to the mountain of
God”. “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush.” 9
Then he conversed with God, who revealed Himself to be the secret Jehovah; and on his return to
Egypt such was his power that not only did he to all intents and purposes found the Jewish religion,
but he succeeded in turning Egyptian society upside down. St. Paul journeying to Damascus saw a
vision of Jesus Christ, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and retired into the desert of Arabia, and on his
return he began to undermine the power of Rome and more than any other man founded Christianity.
Simon ben Yohaï, the traditional composer of the Zohar, retired with his son to a cave and as legend
affirms “sat in the sand up to their necks” for twelve or thirteen years “studying the Law”. 10 Also
Ramon Lulle, the Qabalist,
In preparing himself for revelation and for the union with God . . . sought the loneliest places and the most
arduous ways. He withdrew far from the multitude, where there was nothing to distract him. At the foot of
Mount Randa he constructed a little hut in which he received his pupils and taught them. But when he desired
communion with God, he climbed to the summit of the mountain.
We will next turn to a modern example, that of Baha u llah, the follower of the Bab. In 1844 the
Bab, a young man of twenty-five and the son of a wool merchant, first proclaimed his message in
Shiraz. Seven years later he was put to death at Tabriz and his followers were persecuted for heresy.
Baha u llah, a wealthy young Persian of Teheran, became a follower of his, and in the
neighbourhood of Baghdad spent eleven years during two of which he hid himself so completely in
solitude in the mountains that “his own followers did not know his retreat”. On his return his fame
soon spread and no attempt to stamp out Babism succeeded.
In Persia itself the persecution that raged intermittently up to the beginning of the present century has been
all in vain. The religion grows and grows, silent and unobtrustive like a plant in the dark.
Nor are these mysterious retirements, concerning which the Masters tell us so little, solely
connected with religious manifestations for they are to be found in the lives of many of the
philosophers. Pythagoras exacted silence and abstinence amongst his disciples for five years; Lao-Tze
retired from the world and was inspired of Taoism; Plato enjoined meditation on his pupils; and
Bishop Berkeley was wont to retire into solitude at stated periods. Once, writing to a friend, he said
I propose to set out for Dublin . . . but of this you must not give the least intimation to anyone. Speak not,
therefore, one syllable of it to any mortal whatsoever. . . . I would have the house with necessary furniture taken
by the month . . . for I propose staying not beyond that time and yet perhaps I may. . . . I would above all things
have a proper place in a retired situation, where I may have access to fields and sweet air.
Nor does the Great Omission halt here. Abramelin the Magie, a medieval Jewish magician, enjoins
retirement. In his book The Sacred Magic we are informed:
I resolved to absent myself suddenly, and go away into the Hercynian Forests, and there remain during the
time necessary for this operation, and lead a solitary life.
The Mad Mullah of Sudan fame sat in a cave under the Nile and repeated to himself the two-andseventy
names of Allah until Allah appeared to him. The Qabalist Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk, born in
1708, did much the same; an admirer, Sussman Shesnowzi, writes
On one occasion he abode in seclusion in his house for six weeks without meat and drink. When at the
conclusion of this period ten persons were summoned to enter, they found him seated on a sort of throne, his
head covered with a golden turban, a golden chain round his neck with a pendant silver star on which sacred
names were inscribed. Verily this man stands alone in his generation by reason of his knowledge of holy
mysteries.
So also did Weishaupt, the supposed founder of the Illuminati, spend five years in meditation
(1771-76) and then established his formidable sect. Even Napoleon said:
If I appear to be always ready to reply to everything, it is because, before undertaking anything, I have
meditated for a long time - I have foreseen what might happen. It is not a spirit which suddenly reveals to me
what I have to say or do in the circumstances unexpected by others - it is reflection, meditation.
Also he said: “I command or I am silent - a profound magical saying.
it is beyond good and evil, but which possessing stupendous energy can accentuate good and evil by
potentizing them, we will enquire into the conception of religions and will attempt to ascertain
whether, in spite of their astonishing differences, they do not possess some common denominator.
To look for this common factor we must examine the lives of the Masters of religion and not the
doctrines of their followers because these doctrines and the activities springing from them consist of a
mass of lies and unbalanced movements. Also we must clear our minds of all the worldly sciences -
ethics, aesthetics, philosophy, etc. We must jettison the symbolic language of the Masters, and, having
swept clean our minds of the dogmas, rituals, and canons of the Churches, we must diligently search
for that secret process whereby a helot can be transformed into a hierophant, not magically but
spiritually. This indeed is the one and hidden problem of divine alchemy.
We will first examine three Masters known to all - Buddha, Christ, and Mahomet. What is there
common in their lives? The first was born a prince; the second was the son of a carpenter - or the son
of God if the orthodox object to so humble a parentage; the third was a camel-driver. As different as
their origins and worldly occupations were their intellects and characters, and again as different were
the religions which they founded. Yet we find one thing in common in the lives of these three men, a
blank, a state which we will call “The Great Omission”. There is a period in the lives of each of these
Masters concerning which nothing is known; for a time each one of them vanished from the world,
from public life, and fructified his soul. For several years Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree, the Tree
of Wisdom, meditating on the sorrows of mankind, and there he was transfused with so stupendous a
magnetic power that even today his followers number one hundred and fifty millions. Christ, brought
up in poverty, from the age of twelve to thirty disappeared from the world, and during this long period
no single mention is made of him. Then through baptism and prayer
the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove [symbol of Binah] upon
him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Today his nominal and actual followers still number six hundred and eighty millions. Mahomet, at
the age of thirty-five, retired into a cave and was visited by the angel Gabriel, the Messenger of God;
he emerged an illumined adept. His followers conquered half the known world of their day,
established a wonderful civilization, and still number two hundred and ten millions.
Is this Omission, this negative period, a coincidence in these three lives? The answer is “no”, and
this answer is conclusively proved by examining the lives of the lesser Masters. Moses disappeared
into the land of Midian, met there seven daughters of the priest of that country, lived with Jethro 8
their father, tended his flocks, led them to the “back side of the desert and came to the mountain of
God”. “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush.” 9
Then he conversed with God, who revealed Himself to be the secret Jehovah; and on his return to
Egypt such was his power that not only did he to all intents and purposes found the Jewish religion,
but he succeeded in turning Egyptian society upside down. St. Paul journeying to Damascus saw a
vision of Jesus Christ, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and retired into the desert of Arabia, and on his
return he began to undermine the power of Rome and more than any other man founded Christianity.
Simon ben Yohaï, the traditional composer of the Zohar, retired with his son to a cave and as legend
affirms “sat in the sand up to their necks” for twelve or thirteen years “studying the Law”. 10 Also
Ramon Lulle, the Qabalist,
In preparing himself for revelation and for the union with God . . . sought the loneliest places and the most
arduous ways. He withdrew far from the multitude, where there was nothing to distract him. At the foot of
Mount Randa he constructed a little hut in which he received his pupils and taught them. But when he desired
communion with God, he climbed to the summit of the mountain.
We will next turn to a modern example, that of Baha u llah, the follower of the Bab. In 1844 the
Bab, a young man of twenty-five and the son of a wool merchant, first proclaimed his message in
Shiraz. Seven years later he was put to death at Tabriz and his followers were persecuted for heresy.
Baha u llah, a wealthy young Persian of Teheran, became a follower of his, and in the
neighbourhood of Baghdad spent eleven years during two of which he hid himself so completely in
solitude in the mountains that “his own followers did not know his retreat”. On his return his fame
soon spread and no attempt to stamp out Babism succeeded.
In Persia itself the persecution that raged intermittently up to the beginning of the present century has been
all in vain. The religion grows and grows, silent and unobtrustive like a plant in the dark.
Nor are these mysterious retirements, concerning which the Masters tell us so little, solely
connected with religious manifestations for they are to be found in the lives of many of the
philosophers. Pythagoras exacted silence and abstinence amongst his disciples for five years; Lao-Tze
retired from the world and was inspired of Taoism; Plato enjoined meditation on his pupils; and
Bishop Berkeley was wont to retire into solitude at stated periods. Once, writing to a friend, he said
I propose to set out for Dublin . . . but of this you must not give the least intimation to anyone. Speak not,
therefore, one syllable of it to any mortal whatsoever. . . . I would have the house with necessary furniture taken
by the month . . . for I propose staying not beyond that time and yet perhaps I may. . . . I would above all things
have a proper place in a retired situation, where I may have access to fields and sweet air.
Nor does the Great Omission halt here. Abramelin the Magie, a medieval Jewish magician, enjoins
retirement. In his book The Sacred Magic we are informed:
I resolved to absent myself suddenly, and go away into the Hercynian Forests, and there remain during the
time necessary for this operation, and lead a solitary life.
The Mad Mullah of Sudan fame sat in a cave under the Nile and repeated to himself the two-andseventy
names of Allah until Allah appeared to him. The Qabalist Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk, born in
1708, did much the same; an admirer, Sussman Shesnowzi, writes
On one occasion he abode in seclusion in his house for six weeks without meat and drink. When at the
conclusion of this period ten persons were summoned to enter, they found him seated on a sort of throne, his
head covered with a golden turban, a golden chain round his neck with a pendant silver star on which sacred
names were inscribed. Verily this man stands alone in his generation by reason of his knowledge of holy
mysteries.
So also did Weishaupt, the supposed founder of the Illuminati, spend five years in meditation
(1771-76) and then established his formidable sect. Even Napoleon said:
If I appear to be always ready to reply to everything, it is because, before undertaking anything, I have
meditated for a long time - I have foreseen what might happen. It is not a spirit which suddenly reveals to me
what I have to say or do in the circumstances unexpected by others - it is reflection, meditation.
Also he said: “I command or I am silent - a profound magical saying.
| The Mystic Way |
From the above very brief excursion into the Zohar says: “Truly, wisdom is not acquired by a man
save when he sits and rests, as it says of Moses that he ‘sat on the mountain forty days’.” The
conclusion is, and this quotation supports it, that normally it is passivity and not activity of mind
which unlocks the doors of the mysteries, retirement from the world being the key-hole of the door.
Whilst in the passive state, when all mental activities are stilled and the brain itself becomes a spotless
mirror, a vision is seen or a voice is heard, and in the twinkling of an eye the whole of man's being is
changed and his outlook upon life altered. Modern medical science generally rejects the reality of
these visions and classes them under various forms of madness. This explains nothing except that
these visions are abnormal.
What is Madness, what are Nerves [cries Carlyle] ? Ever, as before, does Madness remain a mysteriousterrific,
altogether infernal boiling up of the Nether Chaotic Deep, through this fair-painted Vision of Creation,
which swims thereon, which we name the Real. Was Luther's Picture of the Devil less a Reality, whether it were
formed within the bodily eye, or without it?
In every the wisest Soul lies a whole world of internal Madness, an authentic Demon-Empire; out of
which, indeed, his World of Wisdom has been creatively built together, and now rests there, as on its
dark foundations does a habitable flowery Earth-rind.
Both are right, Carlyle in that madness is a mystery, and the doctors in that mystery is often
madness to the sane.
The key of passivity has three flanges, namely equilibrium of body, of soul, and of mind. As the
Qabalist Isaac Myer says
To arrive at a true knowledge of the simple substances, man must throw off the bond of matter, and by
meditation transport himself into the intelligible world, and so seek to identify his essence with that of the higher
substances; when in that condition, man does not recognize anything of the world of the senses. In that
condition, man will find the evident bodies, in comparison with the intelligible substances, extremely
insignificant, and see that the corporeal world is borne by the intelligible world, as if it were a ship on the sea, or
a bird in the air.
In this state what we have called three-dimensional consciousness is rendered comatose, and with
it a world which is both a reality and an illusion, a tangible thing and a mere reflection. Thus, freed
from things earthly, the soul of man expands from what Qabalistically is a negative existence towards
a positive existence. Metaphorically speaking, first the soul becomes boundless, because the
restrictions are removed; then, as the sides of the elemental pyramid dissolve into illusion, does it
become the boundless light, and symbolized as the Microcosmic Shin it beholds the Macrocosmic
Shin, whereupon God (the Four-dimensional World) is seen face to face, and the hexagram, the
symbol of the Great Work, is formulated.
There are many ways of turning this magical key, and not infrequently it is broken in the turning
and with it the mind of man snaps into madness. In the West the Key is often turned by piling symbol
upon symbol until three-dimensional thought, so to say, is topped and the spirit is freed. In the East
this process is usually reversed, and symbol is taken from symbol until the last vanishes and the spirit
is left as the one reality. In the West this science is called Ceremonial Magic; in the East, Yoga. Both
these methods of approach, though opposite, are effective; the one is like travelling round a circular
road from left to right, and the other from right to left. Yet the first is extraordinarily dangerous. For
example, take a fly-wheel: if the object is to stop its motion, either the energy of the engine should be
decreased until the wheel ceases to revolve, or its energy increased until through centrifugal force the
wheel “explodes”. Though this sudden shock will stop the wheel, in all probability it will wreck the
engine.
Plato, we believe, was right when he said that
The root-matter of this great knowledge is not to be found in books; we must seek it in ourselves by means
of deep meditation, discovering the sacred fire in its proper source. . . This is why I have written nothing
concerning these revelations and shall never even speak about them. Whosoever shall undertake to popularize
them will find the attempt futile, for, except in the case of a very small number of men who have been endowed
with understanding from God to discern these heavenly truths within themselves, it will render them
contemptible to some, while filling others with vain and rash self-confidence, as if they were depositaries of
marvels which they do not understand all the same.
On the Tablet of Cebes may be read these words:
There is only one real road to be desired, and this is wisdom; there is but one evil to fear, and it is madness.
In these few words are summed up the rewards and the penalties of the Mystic Way. To attain to
the Light, the ineffable LVX, is the act of a Magus; to expend this power is the act of a Magician. If
held erect, as held by Buddha, so that the uninitiated can see only its reflection, then Magic is White.
To hold it downwards so that the light burns among them, then Magic is Black. The first attitude is
symbolized by the trident of Neptune, the ruler of the unstable waters; the second by the threepronged
fork of the medieval Devil, by which souls are cast into hell. The united trident and fork are
symbolized in the double Shin, and also in the hexagram or Seal of Solomon or of David.
Like moths the uninitiated circle round these blinding lights and, becoming drunken on their
brilliance, are scorched in their fire. As on the physical plane a man can become intoxicated on wine,
and on the sensuous on love, and on the intellectual on knowledge, so also in the super-sensuous
world can he become drunken on the energy of the spirit. Woe to him who so drinks, for in place of
seeing he will become blind. Reeling through the world he will use his trident like a pitchfork, turning
humanity upside down. Such a man, as Éliphas Lévi warns us, “is a walking scourge and a living
fatality; he may slay or violate; he is an unchained fool”.
save when he sits and rests, as it says of Moses that he ‘sat on the mountain forty days’.” The
conclusion is, and this quotation supports it, that normally it is passivity and not activity of mind
which unlocks the doors of the mysteries, retirement from the world being the key-hole of the door.
Whilst in the passive state, when all mental activities are stilled and the brain itself becomes a spotless
mirror, a vision is seen or a voice is heard, and in the twinkling of an eye the whole of man's being is
changed and his outlook upon life altered. Modern medical science generally rejects the reality of
these visions and classes them under various forms of madness. This explains nothing except that
these visions are abnormal.
What is Madness, what are Nerves [cries Carlyle] ? Ever, as before, does Madness remain a mysteriousterrific,
altogether infernal boiling up of the Nether Chaotic Deep, through this fair-painted Vision of Creation,
which swims thereon, which we name the Real. Was Luther's Picture of the Devil less a Reality, whether it were
formed within the bodily eye, or without it?
In every the wisest Soul lies a whole world of internal Madness, an authentic Demon-Empire; out of
which, indeed, his World of Wisdom has been creatively built together, and now rests there, as on its
dark foundations does a habitable flowery Earth-rind.
Both are right, Carlyle in that madness is a mystery, and the doctors in that mystery is often
madness to the sane.
The key of passivity has three flanges, namely equilibrium of body, of soul, and of mind. As the
Qabalist Isaac Myer says
To arrive at a true knowledge of the simple substances, man must throw off the bond of matter, and by
meditation transport himself into the intelligible world, and so seek to identify his essence with that of the higher
substances; when in that condition, man does not recognize anything of the world of the senses. In that
condition, man will find the evident bodies, in comparison with the intelligible substances, extremely
insignificant, and see that the corporeal world is borne by the intelligible world, as if it were a ship on the sea, or
a bird in the air.
In this state what we have called three-dimensional consciousness is rendered comatose, and with
it a world which is both a reality and an illusion, a tangible thing and a mere reflection. Thus, freed
from things earthly, the soul of man expands from what Qabalistically is a negative existence towards
a positive existence. Metaphorically speaking, first the soul becomes boundless, because the
restrictions are removed; then, as the sides of the elemental pyramid dissolve into illusion, does it
become the boundless light, and symbolized as the Microcosmic Shin it beholds the Macrocosmic
Shin, whereupon God (the Four-dimensional World) is seen face to face, and the hexagram, the
symbol of the Great Work, is formulated.
There are many ways of turning this magical key, and not infrequently it is broken in the turning
and with it the mind of man snaps into madness. In the West the Key is often turned by piling symbol
upon symbol until three-dimensional thought, so to say, is topped and the spirit is freed. In the East
this process is usually reversed, and symbol is taken from symbol until the last vanishes and the spirit
is left as the one reality. In the West this science is called Ceremonial Magic; in the East, Yoga. Both
these methods of approach, though opposite, are effective; the one is like travelling round a circular
road from left to right, and the other from right to left. Yet the first is extraordinarily dangerous. For
example, take a fly-wheel: if the object is to stop its motion, either the energy of the engine should be
decreased until the wheel ceases to revolve, or its energy increased until through centrifugal force the
wheel “explodes”. Though this sudden shock will stop the wheel, in all probability it will wreck the
engine.
Plato, we believe, was right when he said that
The root-matter of this great knowledge is not to be found in books; we must seek it in ourselves by means
of deep meditation, discovering the sacred fire in its proper source. . . This is why I have written nothing
concerning these revelations and shall never even speak about them. Whosoever shall undertake to popularize
them will find the attempt futile, for, except in the case of a very small number of men who have been endowed
with understanding from God to discern these heavenly truths within themselves, it will render them
contemptible to some, while filling others with vain and rash self-confidence, as if they were depositaries of
marvels which they do not understand all the same.
On the Tablet of Cebes may be read these words:
There is only one real road to be desired, and this is wisdom; there is but one evil to fear, and it is madness.
In these few words are summed up the rewards and the penalties of the Mystic Way. To attain to
the Light, the ineffable LVX, is the act of a Magus; to expend this power is the act of a Magician. If
held erect, as held by Buddha, so that the uninitiated can see only its reflection, then Magic is White.
To hold it downwards so that the light burns among them, then Magic is Black. The first attitude is
symbolized by the trident of Neptune, the ruler of the unstable waters; the second by the threepronged
fork of the medieval Devil, by which souls are cast into hell. The united trident and fork are
symbolized in the double Shin, and also in the hexagram or Seal of Solomon or of David.
Like moths the uninitiated circle round these blinding lights and, becoming drunken on their
brilliance, are scorched in their fire. As on the physical plane a man can become intoxicated on wine,
and on the sensuous on love, and on the intellectual on knowledge, so also in the super-sensuous
world can he become drunken on the energy of the spirit. Woe to him who so drinks, for in place of
seeing he will become blind. Reeling through the world he will use his trident like a pitchfork, turning
humanity upside down. Such a man, as Éliphas Lévi warns us, “is a walking scourge and a living
fatality; he may slay or violate; he is an unchained fool”.
ILLUMINISM may be defined as “the universal science of light”, not only in the spiritual meaning of
the words but in their every meaning; for even in its physical nature light is a complete mystery. God
is light; out of light is the world created, and out of this formal change appears life, the activity of
light whilst death is its shadow or darkness. Between these two stands love, which is light in its
human and creative form.
In the Zohar we read
There is a heavenly David, as well as an earthly one. When God wants to show clemency to the world, He
looks at this David, and His Visage becomes illuminated.
Here David represents what we have called the fourth dimension; for
whatever is on earth has its counterpart on high, there being no object, however small, in this world but what
is subordinate to its counterpart above which has charge of it; and so whenever the thing below bestirs itself,
there is a simultaneous stimulation of its counterpart above, as the two realms form on interconnected whole
[that is one continuum].
This world of light is full of symbols, which if we could read them aright would lead us to Reality,
which is union with God. There is nothing either created or thought, says Juan de la Cruz, that can
offer to the understanding a means suitable for this union; because the understanding is the obstacle
which this union has to surmount. Or as the Zohar says:
With his ordinary understanding, man cannot understand the revelation of mysteries. All that I am about to
reveal to you can be revealed only to the Masters, who know how to keep the balance because they have been
initiated.
The physical aspect of illuminism is a definite brilliance of the skin and eyes. We read “Moses
wist not the skin of his face shone”; this is not a mere figure of speech. The moral aspect is an
irresistible attraction, and the intellectual an overwhelming sense of authority which defies
contradiction. Though to the Jews the Messiah represented the Light of the World and his coming
meant the conquest of the world, a quite different interpretation was frequently adopted. It was
founded upon Jacob's wrestling with Tetragrammaton and it reads as follows:
And he said: Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said: I will not let thee go except thou bless me. R.
Judah discoursed on this verse: Who is she that looketh forth as the dawn, fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
terrible as an army with banners? [S.S. vi, 10.] “This verse”, he said, “refers to Israel, at the time when the Holy
One, blessed be He, will raise them up and bring them out of captivity. At that time He will first open for them a
tiny aperture of light, then another somewhat larger, and so on until He will throw open for them the supernal
gates which face on the four quarters of the world. And, indeed, this process is followed by God in all that He
does for Israel and the righteous among them. For we know that when a man has been long shut up in darkness
it is necessary, on bringing him into the light, first to make for him an opening as small as the eye of a needle
[the path of Daleth on the Tree of Life] and then one a little larger, and so on gradually until he can endure the
full light. It is the same with Israel, as we read: 'By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until
thou be increased, etc.’ [Ex. xxiii, 30.] So, too, a sick man who is recovering cannot be given a full diet all at
once, but only gradually. But with Esau it was not so. His light came at a bound, but it will gradually be
withdrawn from him until Israel will come into their own and destroy him completely from this world and from
the world to come. Because he plunged inot the light all at once, therefore he will be utterly and completely
exterminated. Israel’s light, on the other hand, will come little by little, until they will become strong. God will
illumine them for ever.”
In short, the Chosen People are the light of the world, a light which at present is mixed with
darkness (the Gentiles or children of Esau). This darkness will vanish little by little; first Israel will
“look forth as the dawn”, next she will “become fair as the moon”, then “as clear as the sun”, and
lastly “terrible as an army with banners”. Such is the reformulation of YHVH. When this is
accomplished, not a Gentile will be left to pollute the earth; for Israel will have become its Messianic
Shin which will untie the tongue of God, and on the utterance of His name will the entire universe
vanish into absolute light. Such is the inner meaning of illuminism to the Qabalist.
the words but in their every meaning; for even in its physical nature light is a complete mystery. God
is light; out of light is the world created, and out of this formal change appears life, the activity of
light whilst death is its shadow or darkness. Between these two stands love, which is light in its
human and creative form.
In the Zohar we read
There is a heavenly David, as well as an earthly one. When God wants to show clemency to the world, He
looks at this David, and His Visage becomes illuminated.
Here David represents what we have called the fourth dimension; for
whatever is on earth has its counterpart on high, there being no object, however small, in this world but what
is subordinate to its counterpart above which has charge of it; and so whenever the thing below bestirs itself,
there is a simultaneous stimulation of its counterpart above, as the two realms form on interconnected whole
[that is one continuum].
This world of light is full of symbols, which if we could read them aright would lead us to Reality,
which is union with God. There is nothing either created or thought, says Juan de la Cruz, that can
offer to the understanding a means suitable for this union; because the understanding is the obstacle
which this union has to surmount. Or as the Zohar says:
With his ordinary understanding, man cannot understand the revelation of mysteries. All that I am about to
reveal to you can be revealed only to the Masters, who know how to keep the balance because they have been
initiated.
The physical aspect of illuminism is a definite brilliance of the skin and eyes. We read “Moses
wist not the skin of his face shone”; this is not a mere figure of speech. The moral aspect is an
irresistible attraction, and the intellectual an overwhelming sense of authority which defies
contradiction. Though to the Jews the Messiah represented the Light of the World and his coming
meant the conquest of the world, a quite different interpretation was frequently adopted. It was
founded upon Jacob's wrestling with Tetragrammaton and it reads as follows:
And he said: Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said: I will not let thee go except thou bless me. R.
Judah discoursed on this verse: Who is she that looketh forth as the dawn, fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
terrible as an army with banners? [S.S. vi, 10.] “This verse”, he said, “refers to Israel, at the time when the Holy
One, blessed be He, will raise them up and bring them out of captivity. At that time He will first open for them a
tiny aperture of light, then another somewhat larger, and so on until He will throw open for them the supernal
gates which face on the four quarters of the world. And, indeed, this process is followed by God in all that He
does for Israel and the righteous among them. For we know that when a man has been long shut up in darkness
it is necessary, on bringing him into the light, first to make for him an opening as small as the eye of a needle
[the path of Daleth on the Tree of Life] and then one a little larger, and so on gradually until he can endure the
full light. It is the same with Israel, as we read: 'By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until
thou be increased, etc.’ [Ex. xxiii, 30.] So, too, a sick man who is recovering cannot be given a full diet all at
once, but only gradually. But with Esau it was not so. His light came at a bound, but it will gradually be
withdrawn from him until Israel will come into their own and destroy him completely from this world and from
the world to come. Because he plunged inot the light all at once, therefore he will be utterly and completely
exterminated. Israel’s light, on the other hand, will come little by little, until they will become strong. God will
illumine them for ever.”
In short, the Chosen People are the light of the world, a light which at present is mixed with
darkness (the Gentiles or children of Esau). This darkness will vanish little by little; first Israel will
“look forth as the dawn”, next she will “become fair as the moon”, then “as clear as the sun”, and
lastly “terrible as an army with banners”. Such is the reformulation of YHVH. When this is
accomplished, not a Gentile will be left to pollute the earth; for Israel will have become its Messianic
Shin which will untie the tongue of God, and on the utterance of His name will the entire universe
vanish into absolute light. Such is the inner meaning of illuminism to the Qabalist.
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The Secret Wisdom Of The Qabalah: Chapter 7