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The Qabalah, from Dogma to Hermeticism
Qabalah is often shown as a grid which may be utilized to help you understand the world. The Tree of Life diagram offers a standard of ethics and morality that helps you to find signposts and guidelines as you travel through your life in this great world. Even though it is valuable, you will soon discover that Qabalah is not the only answer to the questions of life. The religious dogma that is such a fundamental part of the Qabalah is absent from the High Magick practices of Theurgy. The ritual and inner practices of Theurgy emphasize the personal quest for the Creator of the Universe and foster the will to establish and maintain a close and personal relationship with the Divine.
The initial step in the quest for a relationship with the Creator is to make contact with the emanations of the Divine that our initiated ancestors called ‘the Divinities’. When you use the Hebrew, Greek and Egyptian words of power as strictly equivalent, you will be able to establish this contact without the dogmatic influences that have become associated with the Qabalah. When you start using the Greek and Egyptian words of Powers (instead considering the Hebrew words as an obligation), you will be able to immediately feel an enormous difference in the powers you will be able to invoke and use. You will realize that you are able to immediately draw close to your Divine origins. This is the Theurgic Ogdoadic Tradition.
The past Grand Masters of our Order published a very complete and powerful presentation of High Magick which was essentially focused on the Hebrew approach. It would be invaluable for you to read (and learn from) the Aurum Solis books by Denning & Phillips, (especially “The Magical Philosophy”) so you can see how essential these teachings are. These books have been hard to find until recently; fortunately, they will be reprinted. We will soon present their most important aspects on the website, in order to help you to understand the principles they teach. These books contain very deep esoteric teachings. While it is sometimes difficult to understand the differences between the teachings of the Ogdoadic Tradition and some other magical traditions (such as the Golden Dawn) these books will help you to see and understand that difference. In fact, there are enormous differences between these traditions. As you will also see in my forthcoming books from Llewellyn Publications, the differences in the teachings of our Order are frequently revolutionary.
It is interesting to note that the Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and Egyptian formulations of the rituals are connected to quite different energies. The effects are not exactly the same when you change from Hebrew to Greek pronunciations. Each unique language is connected to that culture’s history, and (usually) to a specific period of time. Moreover, the Divine Powers that each language evokes are not precisely equivalent.
To illustrate this issue, I will use an example: Each tradition creates an egregore which exists on the invisible planes. When you use words of power, and/or the names of specific Divinities, you are connected to a specific divine power, -but a link will be also created between you and the egregore associated with that power. For example, when you use words of power from the Hebrew Qabalah, you are also connected to the egregore of the ancient and contemporary Jewish Qabalists, their history, memories, texts, etc... If you use the Greek sacred words, you will be connected to the egregore of the Hermetic Masters of the Golden Chain, their practices, the Divine Powers they prayed to, etc…
The brilliant presentation provided by Denning and Phillips in their books (from Llewellyn publications) revealed this inner aspect and emphasized the necessity for learning about these traditions in depth, in order to be able to make meaningful progress in the understanding and the use of the tools of the Ogdoadic and Hermetic Tradition. In the “Magical Philosophy” you will discover a rare presentation of the correspondences between the Hebrew, Greek, and Neoplatonic sacred words. The book entitled “Planetary Magick” went even further into this presentation of the Hermetic system. Denning and Phillips provided the reader with a rare opportunity to have access to a deep and potent understanding of these aspects of the Hermetic system.
However, as I said above, the egregores that are associated with the different languages that might be used in Hermetic rituals are not precisely equivalent.
Moreover, certain egregores are more connected to specific historical periods in the country where they originated. To clarify this, let me offer another example.
During the period of the formation and birth of the United States, Benjamin Franklin believed that the best symbol for the country would be the wild Turkey. It would be hard for Americans today to imagine any other symbol than the Eagle. The use of the Eagle as the primary symbol of American liberty is clearly radically different from the pictures evoked by the wild turkey. Periods of historical time create cultural egregores of their own, and symbols connected with those periods must be understood in order to be used properly in ritual practices. Thus, the Hermetic egregores we have been discussing have to be understood in the context of their language, the egregore they were associated with, and the time period they developed in.
Keep in mind that the Eagle was the main symbol of Zeus! Do you think that there might be a difference between the character and the egregore of a nation that has a menorah as its primary symbol (like the state of Israel), and the United States, which has the screaming eagle (symbol of Zeus)? The answer must be an emphatic “YES”!
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Hebrew language aspect of the Qabalah was in primary use. At the same time, the initiates of the Hermetic and Ogdoadic Tradition in those generations prepared the consciousness of the Hermetic Adepts to continue advancing the Hermetic Tradition. They learned to associate themselves with egregores that were closer to the original egregores. It is easy to understand why. It is clear today that the egregore connected to the monotheistic traditions is very often used by religious extremists. This unbalanced contribution deeply affects the egregore (and those who attempt to utilize it in ritual practices). Even if the practitioners are not aware of this problem, their use of these vibrations, visualizations, etc. will yield a far different result than contact with a purer egregore that is closer to the original intent. The radicals who contribute to the monotheistic egregore also have a deleterious effect on the invisible bodies of its practitioners, resulting in imbalance. It is not possible to maintain a healthy balance, and to associate yourself with the high and luminous influences you might have hoped for, if you connect yourself to the wrong egregore. Of course people who are not psychic might have difficulties feeling and seeing those imbalances and deleterious effects, but the damaging effects on society are clear. The crises we see in our everyday world is ample demonstration of that.
By contrast, the Hermetic tradition shows us the path of tolerance. Hermeticism does not permit the superiority of any one religion or tradition over another. Extremism is absent. Even more than this, a society (such as the USA) which explicitly displays symbols which are both Hermetic and pagan, demonstrates this principle of tolerance and balance very well. (See the forthcoming book “Secrets and Practices of the Freemasons – Sacred Mysteries, rituals, and Symbols revealed” by Jean-Louis de Biasi, Llewellyn publications, September 2010). Because America embraces the principles of liberty, freedom of religion, and the right of equality of every human being, the use of these potent egregores will be all the more powerful and effective. When you begin these practices, you will feel this effect very quickly, after only a few weeks of practice.
Still, we must be careful. I don’t want to say that the teaching and practices of the Hebrew Qabalah should be banished. Our Masters used this Hebrew grid. It is an important step in learning and apprenticeship. That is why the First Hall (1st degree) of Aurum Solis is focused on this system. Just remember that the Hebrew Qabalah is used as a grid and only as a grid. [A grid is something we overlay on a mystery or code to help us reveal its secrets. Editor]. The grid itself is in no way an absolute Truth. In fact, as you can see in the books of the “Magical Philosophy,” the Hebrew Qabalah is used according to Hermetic principles. Remember this fact as you progress in your studies and advance along the Hermetic path. It will make your transitions among these systems easier and put the process in perspective.
On our Website you will find this presentation of the Hermetic Qabalah. We have broken it into sections that are designed to teach the most important principles of our Order. Moreover, these writings were penned by some of the greatest authorities of the Order. They will help you to understand why it is possible to represent the Qabalistic Tree in various ways. They will also help you to understand the difference between the more frequently used Tree, and the Hermetic Qabalistic Tree used in our Order. We will talk about this more in the next part of our presentation.
 Jean-Louis DE BIASI
Grand Master of Aurum Solis.
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