Cicero - Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition_Part 01

The Zelator Grade 195
The Altar of Incense in the Tabernacle
was overlaid with gold. Ours is black to symbolize
our work which is to separate the Philosophic
Gold from the BlackDragon of Matter.
The Flaming Sword or Lightning Flash is
formed by the natural order of the Sephiroth on
the Tree of Life. It is the descending current of
divine energy, and it resembles a flash of Lightning.
The right-hand Kerub standing by the
white pillar is Metatron, while the left-hand
Kerub is Sandalphon, standing by the black pillar.The
Kerubim are the guardians of the Garden
ofEden(~S:e~~~:P:a~~~nt of a Babylonian
;±==' ..=s~
text refers to the Sacred Grove of Anu, which __ __
corresponds to the Tree of Life. The Sacred
Grove was guarded by a sword turning to all
four points of the compass. Several other
The Altar of Incense
Babylonian legends allude to a sacred tree,
grove or forest of the gods, which was often represented in ancient art as a tree
attended by two winged Kerubim, one on each side of the sacred tree.)
The Sephiroth may be described as energy centers of God-eonsciousness,
while the paths connecting them are conduits or energy channels. Together the
Sephiroth and the Twenty-two Paths form the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom as
described in the Sepher Yetzirah or Bookof Formation.
The Qabalah teaches that all manifestation is based upon the principle of
polarity. The twopillars on either side of the altar represent the two great contending
forcesof the universe:
ThePillar ofMercy in the South: Its characteristics are: white, active, positive,
masculine, force. It is a pillar of Light and Fire which is associated with the
BiblicalAdam and with Metatron who in this instance is the right-hand Kerub of
the Tree of Life.
ThePillar ofSeverity in the North: Its characteristics are: black, passive, negative,
feminine, form. It is a pillar of cloud which is associated with the BiblicalEve
and with Sandalphon who in this case is
the left-hand Kerub of the Treeof Life.
The Fylfot Cross is the Admission
Badge to 1=10 grade of Zelator. It is also
called the Hermetic Cross, the Hammer of
Thor, the Gammadion and the Swastika. It
is formed of seventeen squares out of a
square of twenty-five lesser squares.
These seventeen represent the Sun, the
four Elements, and the twelve Signs of
the Zodiac.
TheSacred Grove of theGods