The Tree of Life : A Study in Magic - Global Grey
The Tree of Life : A Study in Magic - Global Grey
The Tree of Life : A Study in Magic - Global Grey
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88 THE TREE OF LIFE<br />
upon them with the eye <strong>of</strong> equanimity. <strong>The</strong> whole subject should<br />
be carefully studied, and if half as much care and attention is given<br />
by the reader to the study <strong>of</strong> the Gods as the average man devotes<br />
to his daily newspaper, a great deal <strong>of</strong> useful knowledge <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>ound<br />
importance <strong>in</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> will be ga<strong>in</strong>ed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> evolution and development <strong>of</strong> the Cosmos, spiritual and<br />
physical, were first recorded by philosophers <strong>in</strong> geometrical changes<br />
<strong>of</strong> form. Every esoteric cosmogony used a circle, a po<strong>in</strong>t, a triangle<br />
and a cube and so on. <strong>The</strong>se later were <strong>in</strong>corporated <strong>in</strong>to a simple<br />
geometrical form such as is called <strong>in</strong> the Qabalah " <strong>The</strong> <strong>Tree</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Life</strong>." To each cosmic development a number was applied, and<br />
exist<strong>in</strong>g as the specific mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the number or the particular<br />
phase <strong>of</strong> evolution was the activity <strong>of</strong> a God or a hierarchy <strong>of</strong> Gods.<br />
Thus <strong>in</strong> the Qabalah we have ten primary emanations. To each <strong>of</strong><br />
these is a number assigned, and <strong>in</strong> each number therefore is implied<br />
a God. <strong>The</strong>re are ten series <strong>of</strong> hierarchies <strong>of</strong> cosmic forces, spiritual,<br />
dynamic and <strong>in</strong>telligent, whose concerted operations result <strong>in</strong> the<br />
formation <strong>of</strong> the physical universe. <strong>The</strong> tradition <strong>of</strong> the <strong>The</strong>urgists<br />
classifies them <strong>in</strong> a descend<strong>in</strong>g scale <strong>of</strong> purity and spirituality, from<br />
the Gods to Archangels, Intelligences and Spirits.<br />
S<strong>in</strong>ce, <strong>in</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> the object is to achieve <strong>in</strong> one way or another a<br />
close and abid<strong>in</strong>g spiritual union with these cosmic deities who are<br />
the underly<strong>in</strong>g realities and the sources <strong>of</strong> sustenance and vitality,<br />
it is advisable to give a brief description <strong>of</strong> them as understood by<br />
the Egyptians. <strong>The</strong> table below will classify them accord<strong>in</strong>g to<br />
their hierarchies and graduated scale, and the <strong>in</strong>terpretation will be<br />
assisted if the reader remembers the statements made concern<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the Sephiros <strong>in</strong> a previous chapter.<br />
Of each one <strong>of</strong> these Gods, I shall present a short description<br />
based on Egyptological texts, leav<strong>in</strong>g the reader to <strong>in</strong>terpret as he<br />
will. <strong>The</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> the archangels, <strong>in</strong>telligences and spirits named<br />
on the table below will be revealed by the attributes <strong>of</strong> the rul<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Deity.<br />
Correspond<strong>in</strong>g to the cosmic development represented among<br />
the Qabalists by Keser, the Crown, Ptah is the Egyptian deity the<br />
mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> whose name is the Opener. For the Egyptologists<br />
this seems to have been a stumbl<strong>in</strong>g block <strong>in</strong> their classifications,<br />
for <strong>in</strong> the event that he is assumed to be associated with the open<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>of</strong> the day by the Sun, s<strong>in</strong>gularly enough he never forms one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
important groups <strong>of</strong> the Sun gods <strong>in</strong> the hieratic texts. In the Book