The Middle Pillar

Always Wondering

I think I am ready to take up The Middle Pillar again, to supplement my mantra meditation and celebrate my new meditation room, (well, corner). I like the idea of more Qabalistic type of meditation. I've been wanting to go over the Sephiroth like I did the paths so I thought the middle ones would be a good place to start.

I am doing the classic MP, Regardie style, but The Lord's Prayer still puts me off some. I thought I would use The Cry Of The Hawk from The Book of Lies.

Hoor hath a secret fourfold name: it is Do What Thou Wilt.
Four Words: Naught-One-Many-All.
Thou-Child!
Thy Name is holy.
Thy Kingdom is come.
Thy Will is done.
Here is the Bread.
Here is the Blood.
Bring us through Temptation! Deliver us from Good and Evil!
That Mine as Thine be the Crown of the Kingdom, even now.
ABRAHADABRA
These ten words are four, the Name of the One.

My first question is which ten words?
Plus what do people make of Bring us through Temptation!?
Also is it correct to think of the Sephrioth as Chakras? Because then all ten don't fit.

AW

Richard

Always Wondering said:
.....
My first question is which ten words?.....

One of the meanings of "word" is "Something said; an utterance, remark, or comment. E.g. 'May I say a word about that?'" In this case it is the ten lines of the prayer before the closing line "ABRAHADABRA."

brightcrazystar

My advice is do not substitute. These do not do the same thing. The Cry of the Hawk is employed in The Mass of the Phoenix and is not a interchangeable mechanism with the Qabalistic Cross, though it is quite powerful in of itself. If you have to substitute:

You could take the Middle Pillar Variant of Liber V vel Reguli, or Liber XXV The Star Ruby. Either of those is a better substitute, albeit not working at the same exact location in the subtle body. These could be considered "Inner Order" varieties of these, working above the veil of Paroketh.

If you MUST substitute in English, I would advise the following:

Unity uttermost showed!
I adore the might of Thy breath,
Supreme and terrible God,
Who makest the gods and death
To tremble before Thee: --
I, I adore thee!

I would instead advise:

a ka dua
tuf ur biu
bi a'a chefu
dudu nur af an nuteru

Aeon418

Always Wondering said:
I am doing the classic MP, Regardie style, but The Lord's Prayer still puts me off some.

Whoa! Back up! Rewind! :laugh:

Lords Prayer??? What's that got to do with the Middle Pillar ritual? Are you working some sort of Christianized version or something?

Richard

Always Wondering said:
.....I am doing the classic MP, Regardie style, but The Lord's Prayer still puts me off some. .....

I have a couple of questions.

1. What does it mean to "do" the Middle Pillar?

2. What is so problematic about the Lord's Prayer? It supposedly was spoken by Jesus, who was a Jewish mystic, by no means a Christian. He was no more Christian than those who formulated the Kabbalah. (It would be years before Paul invented the religion which became known as Christianity, and if Jesus had been alive after the founding of the new religion, I seriously doubt if he would have applied for membership.)

Grigori

LRichard said:
2. What is so problematic about the Lord's Prayer? It supposedly was spoken by Jesus, who was a Jewish mystic, by no means a Christian.

Though I think the part that appears in the Qabalistic cross was added much later by Protestants and can't be claimed as original or Jewish, it is purely Christian.

AW maybe you would like Orpheus' thelema-fied substitution, based on Liber Al?

My god is above me
My god is below me
My god is to the right of me
My god is to the left of me
My god is within me
There is no god where I am

I don't mind the GD version, though I think of it as qabalistic "locations" rather than its translated similarity to the Christian prayer. But can understand the stumbling block.

Aeon418

Yes, there is a relationship between the QC and the Lords Prayer. But what does this have to do with the Middle Pillar ritual?

I can only guess that AW doesn't like the traditional form of the QC that is used at the conclusion of the MP rite. But what that has to do with the MP itself is a mystery to me. I guess we will have to wait until AW clears it up.

In the mean time, here is an example of a non-traditional MP and QC.
http://aleistercrowleyfoundation.net/tgd/neophyte/tmp.htm

Always Wondering

Sorry all, sometimes I don't use enough words.

LRichard, I thought would take up the actual excercise and learn more about the middle pillar at the same time.

Thanks BrightCrazyStar. I am a little ritual shy as it has stirred up some anxiety in the past and appreciate your cautions, that is exactly why I asked.

a ka dua
tuf ur biu
bi a'a chefu
dudu nur af an nuteru

What does this mean?

Which brings up a point. It does seem more meditative than ritual to me so I thought it would be a good re approach. But maybe not. That's why I am learning first this time.

LRichard said:
What is so problematic about the Lord's Prayer? It supposedly was spoken by Jesus, who was a Jewish mystic, by no means a Christian. He was no more Christian than those who formulated the Kabbalah. (It would be years before Paul invented the religion which became known as Christianity, and if Jesus had been alive after the founding of the new religion, I seriously doubt if he would have applied for membership.)

I agree with this in theory. My problem is that the prayer still brings up flood of memories and imagery from my Methodist upbringing. Plus a craving for candy that I was bribed, I mean rewarded with, for memorization.
:laugh:

Aeon418 said:
Whoa! Back up! Rewind!

Right. Here's the thing.

I read and write all these words, but never speak them or hear them spoke. My pronunciation is not strong to begin with, so I listen to what audio I can to get the holly names correct. I have an old audio of Regardie doing the Middle Pillar so that's how I learned it. He does not use the Qabalistic cross, but rather the Lord's Prayer towards the end.

I don't have a problem with the Qabalistic Cross. The Thelmic Order of the Golden Dawn's version seems quite different, more ritual. I can't find the link to the audio, it was from the old ritual magic forum that I guess isn't up anymore. That's kind of a shame. It had audios of the LBRP and the Sephiroth and a wonderful QC instruction with great detail. Regardie's recording of the MP goes on for a least twenty minutes and there is a lot circulating. Down the left of the spine and up the right, then down the back and up the front all while four-fold breathing, more meditative. So this, I think, is the confusion.

I guess I will study all the versions, and the Sephiroth before I do much.

Grigori said:
AW maybe you would like Orpheus' thelema-fied substitution, based on Liber Al?

Thank-you Grigori, I do like this.

LRichard said:
One of the meanings of "word" is "Something said; an utterance, remark, or comment. E.g. 'May I say a word about that?'" In this case it is the ten lines of the prayer before the closing line "ABRAHADABRA."

I did notice there were ten sentences, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

AW

Aeon418

Always Wondering said:
What does this mean?

It's from the Stele of Revealing.
http://hermetic.com/dionysos/akadua.htm

Always Wondering said:
My problem is that the prayer still brings up flood of memories and imagery from my Methodist upbringing.

Then drop it. It's an inessential add on that may work for some people but not others. Substituting the Q.C. in it's place is perfectly fine.

Always Wondering said:
I read and write all these words, but never speak them or hear them spoke. My pronunciation is not strong to begin with,

As Lon would say, "Don't worry about it. You're a Chicken Qabalist." :laugh:

Try reading chapter 5 of that book.

If you're struggling with a particular name, just post it and we will try to give a phonetic pronunciation.

Always Wondering said:
Regardie's recording of the MP goes on for a least twenty minutes and there is a lot circulating. Down the left of the spine and up the right, then down the back and up the front all while four-fold breathing, more meditative. So this, I think, is the confusion.

The circulations are an add on that Regardie developed from his training in Reichian breath work. Not everyone uses them. Some people teach a completely different circulation technique. And some people drop the circulations altogether. Don't confuse the circulations with the Middle Pillar ritual itself.

A fairly standard order of operation might be:

1. The Middle Pillar exercise. The formualtion of all five spheres, from the Crown to the feet.

2. Circulation of the light.

3. The Qabalistic Cross.

Point 2 is optional. It can be ommited altogether. Or different circulation exercises can be "plugged in".

Always Wondering said:
I guess I will study all the versions, and the Sephiroth before I do much.

Why? The Middle Pillar is a practical ritual. You don't need to know much theory before getting your feet wet.

Aeon418

Here's a bare bones Middle Pillar exercise complete with Chicken Qabalah style suggested pronunciations of the divine names. If anyone objects to my pronunciations, bite me!

1. Visualize a sphere of white light above your head. Breath in deeply while concentrating on the sphere. Vibrate Eheieh. (ehh-hee-yeh) Try to stretch the vibration out as long as possible. Repeat another 3 times. And don't forget to inhale deeply after each vibration.

2. Exhale while visualizing a beam of light travelling down from the first sphere. This beam travels down to your throat area where it forms another sphere of white light. (You can add different colours later if you wish.) Inhale deeply while concentrating on the sphere. Vibrate YHVH Elohim. (Yohd Hay Varv Hay Ell-ohh-heem. You can also pronouce IHVH like Yeh-ho-vah or Yay-ho-wah. Experiment.

) Inhale deeply and repeat the vibration 3 more times.

3. Exhale while visualizing a beam of light travelling down to the middle of your chest, where it forms another sphere of white light. Inhale deeply while concentrating on the sphere. Then vibrate IHVH Eloah va-Daath. (IHVH Ell-oh-ahh veh Da'aat) Inhale deeply and repeat the vibration 3 more times.

4. Exhale while visualizing a beam of light travelling down to the level of your groin, where it forms another sphere of white light. Inhale deeply while concentrating on the sphere. Vibtrate Shaddai el Chai (Sha-dye ell Kye) Inhale deeply and repeat the vibtration 3 more times.

5. Exhale while visualizing a beam of light travelling down to your feet, where it forms a sphere of white light. Inhale deeply while concentrating on the sphere. Vibrate Adonai ha-Aretz. (Arr-doh-nye ha-Arr-ret-zah.) Inhale deeply and repeat the vibration 3 more times.

6. Perform the Qabalistic Cross.

Any kind of circulation of the light technique can, if desired, be slotted in between points 5 and 6.

The Middle Pillar

Always Wondering

Richard

brightcrazystar

Aeon418

Richard

Grigori

Aeon418

Always Wondering

Aeon418

Aeon418