Cicero - Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition_Part 01

The Zelator Grade
151
The Three Mother Letters
N ~ tt'
Aleph,Mem, Shin
The Seven Double Letters
~~'~~'r1
Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaph, Peh, Resh, Tau
The Twelve Simple Letters
M , , n tQ ~ ~ ~ C ~ ~ l'
Heh, Vav, Zayin, Cheth, Teth, Yod, LAmed, Nun, Samekh, Ayin, Tzaddi, Qoph
The Four Worlds and the Ten Heavens
The Four Worlds
Qabalistic theory describes the universe as being separated into four distinct
"Worlds." With the creation of the Sephiroth by the Path of the Flaming Sword, the
Four Worlds came into being, each evolving from the one before it, becoming more
substantial as they reached manifestation into physical form. Each of these worlds
envelops its predecessor like the layers of an onion, the highest spiritual world atthe
center is progressively veiled from the lowest world that forms the outer layer.
In addition to this, each Qabalistic "World" is symbolized by one of the
Hebrew letters of the Tetragrammaton, which once again reinforces the concept of
the fourfold model of the universe. The Four Worlds of the Qabalah are:
Atziluth: The Divine or Archetypal World (DlamAtziluth)
Briah: The Archangelic or Creative World (Dlam ha-Briah)
Yetzirah: The Angelic or Formative World (Dlam ha-Yetzirah)
Assiah: The Material World or World of Action (Dlamha-Assiah)
ATZILUTH (l"'''~~M) is the first and highest of the Four Worlds and is
attributed to Yod, the first letter of Tetragrammaton. It is the World of pure deity
and the domain of Primordial Fire. This world gave birth to the other three
worlds, in a descending scale of Light. Some traditions assign it to the three Sephiroth
of Kether, Chokmah, and Binah, while others ascribe to it only the sphere of
Kether. (See the diagram.) For the purposes of this book, we will define Atziluth
as containing only the first Sephirah. The so-called Secret Name of the World of
Atziluth is Aub, which refers to "density, thicket, darkness and cloud."
BRIAH (nM~'~) is the second World, the World of Creation. The second letter
of Tetragrammaton, Heh,is ascribed to this World, marking it as the domain of
Primordial Water. The Element of Water represents the fluid, inventive Mind, thus
Briah is described as the World of Pure Intellect. It is known as the abode of the
Archangels. Although some traditions assign the spheres of Chesed, Geburah, and