The Anatomy of the Body of God
by Frater Achad
Originally published circa 1922-1925

Transcriber's notes:

This electronic edition is taken from the Samuel Weiser 
edition of 1973. The work is not copyrighted.

Due to the limitations of ASCII text, I have had to 
take some liberties with the original formatting of the 
book. Readers should be aware of this for the different 
sort of emphasis the changes sometimes puts on Achad's 
remarks.

Text shown in ALL CAPITALS here was shown with an 
initial capital and the remainder of the letters in 
small caps in the original. The remaining, somewhat 
idiosyncratic capitalization is as in the original.

Text shown _surrounded by underline characters_ here 
was in italics in the original. Where the original 
italics were clearly used to create a visual separation 
in the text rather than an emphasis, it is not 
indicated here.

Footnotes have been renumbered consecutively from the 
beginning to end of the work, and moved to the end of 
the book.

Transcriber's notes in the body of the text -- mostly 
notes on the insertion of diagrams -- are surrounded by 
[square brackets].

The referenced diagrams, in Compuserve GIF format, 
should be in a ZIP file named ANATFIGS.ZIP in the same 
file area as this document. These files may be viewed 
and printed with viewers available on Compuserve or 
free on many Bulletin Board Systems.

I hope you will enjoy this remarkable work of 
Cabalistic Geometry.
					Benjamin Rowe
					August, 1992



Preface

Although the title of this short essay may seem, 
to some who have not read its contents, to be both 
presumptuous and unwarrantable, it is hoped that these 
will reserve their judgment until they have given due 
attention and consideration to the study of such an 
important subject.

We are living in strange times. Civilization seems 
rapidly to be breaking up, while yet some inner urge is 
at work towards a better and more balanced construction 
in may departments of life.

One of the results of the Great War has been to 
turn the minds of many people from some of the narrower 
conceptions of life into wider channels. A spirit of 
enquiry has become apparent on the part of those who 
had previously been content to accept statements in 
regard to life's deeper issues on mere belief or 
hearsay. Many new Movements have arisen under the 
guidance of people who have obtained at least a partial 
glimpse of man's wider heritage, and there has been a 
corresponding falling away from what may be termed the 
orthodox or established order of things in the churches 
and elsewhere. Many countries have been making 
experiments of various kinds, most of which, however, 
being the outcome of "reform movements" of the 
narrowest sort, are quickly proving themselves to be 
unsatisfactory and inadequate. At present, amid all 
these indications, there seems to have been no complete 
solution in sight, and, so it might appear, very little 
comprehension, even on the part of those who are 
honestly doing their best under the circumstances, of 
the underlying principles involved. Those who should 
really be in a position to help, are unable to do so 
effectively for the same reason.

It may seem a far cry from the present world-
conditions of a social and political nature to the Holy 
Qabalah, but help sometimes comes from quite unexpected 
sources.

The Jews, and the Jewish problem, represent very 
important aspects of the difficulty and its solution. A 
great proportion of the wealth of the world is today in 
the hands of the Jews, yet as a nation they have no 
place. As the "chosen people" they were an important 
nation, but the rejection of the Teacher in who they 
expected to find their Messiah, is usually considered 
to have been the cause of their becoming wanderers upon 
the face of the Earth. Yet the word "Jew" is derived 
from IU, the Ever-Coming Son, the Horus of the earliest 
Egyptian traditions, whose influence is not confined to 
the Christian Era but extends to all Ages, and of Whom 
all truly typical God-Men, such as Jesus, have been, 
and are, the representatives upon earth.

But the Jews have neglected the study of their own 
"Chokmah Nestorah," or Secret Wisdom Tradition, as 
transmitted in the Holy Qabalah, thus losing sight of 
their True Will as a nation and their essential Purpose 
in the Great Creative Plan. It has remained for the 
Gentile to rediscover some of the deeper mysteries of 
this Ancient Wisdom, and these are found to be the same 
in essence as those of Catholicism, Freemasonry, 
Pythagorean Philosophy, Hermeticism, and so forth; in 
fact there has always been a Universal Tradition which 
when known has led the Nations to the height of 
civilization, and when lost has heralded their decline 
and downfall. 

The present world-crisis and breaking up of 
civilization is due to the necessity of a general 
"clean-up" preparatory to a wider and grander 
conception being presented to humanity than has been 
possible for many thousands of years. All thinking 
people realize that things are in a critical condition, 
and all should be prepared to grasp any reasonable 
opportunity of obtaining a solution which will be of 
permanent, rather than of temporary value.

Things cannot be put right without effort, and the 
question arises: "In what direction is effort most 
necessary?"

The solution lies with the individual; it is 
useless to talk of reforming others until we have 
reformed ourselves. It is equally useless to rely upon 
someone else to do for use what we are quite capable of 
doing and should do for ourselves. The soul of Man -- 
which is the plastic mediator between body and spirit -
- has become distorted; he must learn to rectify its 
structure before he can obtain a clear outlook and a 
proper point of view.

Man's teachers have been largely responsible for 
distorting his mental vision, and they must cease from 
restricting his natural actions and impeding his 
natural growth, which would be normally proportioned if 
the Holy Spirit within were allowed to expand in the 
proper manner. Man's natural tendency is towards health 
of body and soul under the action of Spirit. Most of 
the present systems have led him to believe otherwise 
from his earliest childhood, thus handicapping him from 
the start.

The child is, in one sense, the best example of 
the perfect man or woman, and if the child were allowed 
to develop Intelligence unhampered by false notions 
from outside, it would grow to be the true example of 
the God-Man or Man-God in the majority of cases. We 
have ruined our children before they have had a chance 
to come to maturity; our well-meaning, though ignorant, 
parents and childhood teachers have instilled into our 
subconscious minds most of the "complexes"  which in 
after life we can only eradicate by bitter toil and 
bloody sweat.

Yet I thank God for a good mother, whose simple 
faith, transmitted to me, has given me the quiet 
courage and perseverance to unravel some, at least, of 
those ignorantly transmitted "knots" and kinks. But, 
for all that, humanity has complexes which need to be 
unraveled and straightened out before much real work 
can be done.

First, then, let me make an appeal on behalf of 
the children, even if in this New Aeon they do not so 
much need my support since they are showing an 
independence of spirit which is simply astonishing to 
their parents and guardians who were born and brought 
up under the Old Dispensation. I make my appeal to 
these same parents, not to foolishly try to break the 
Will of the child, for it is God's Will therein, and 
the only indication of the right course of action. Once 
this True Will is distorted, and the lower personal 
will brought out of alignment with it, the city is, so 
to speak, divided against itself and cannot stand. It 
is the interior conflict between the "personal" and the 
"True" Will in each of us, that is the cause of all 
suffering and all wrong action. There is but one 
remedy, discover the True Will and then DO IT, and our 
course is one with Destiny and the Will of the Universe 
in our regard.

The age of "mothering" children is past. The women 
of today failing to do so in regard to their offspring, 
or having no offspring to "mother" are doing all they 
can to "mother" the nation, particularly in America. 
Such "reforms" as Prohibition are largely due to this 
mistaken zeal for the good of others. What the 
"Mothers" need most is to learn to mind their own 
business and to correct their own distorted vision. 
Repression can never take the place of RIGHT USE on any 
plane. The Righteous are those who use rightly what 
they have, for their own good and that of Humanity from 
which they can never really cut themselves off. Man 
cannot live, or die, to himself alone. The same is true 
of Nations.

All things come from One Substance, and are 
actuated by One Spirit. Rightly used, any aspect of 
that substance may be taken into the body and soul  of 
Man, and there transmuted into just the proper 
condition and proportions for the building up of his 
own particular being.

If, for instance, it were possible to eliminate 
the effects of wine from all the American people for 
two or three generations, they would go to the most 
terrible extremes and act as savages do whose systems 
have not been used to alcohol, as soon as the habit was 
revived, as it inevitably would be in the long run. As 
it is, insofar as their parents have been accustomed to 
the use of wine, they are comparatively immune while 
their normal appetites in this respect are not over-
stimulated by the attempt at repression. Many of the 
most normal people drink more under "prohibition" than 
they ever though of doing before. The best men and 
women are those of such varied experience on all planes 
that they are immune from every poison and every 
disease because they have found the proper proportion 
and balance of all that is called good and evil makes 
up the Perfect Man who is like unto his Father in 
Heaven, in Whom all things have their being.

Man must eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good 
and Evil before he comes to the Tree of Life in the 
Midst of the Garden. Only when he eats too much of one 
thing and not enough of another, does his body or soul 
become distorted. Every "Christ" and every Genius has 
been the friend of publicans and sinners, as well as of 
the "selected and exclusive." Idealism and Materialism 
must unite and go hand in hand if a new Civilization is 
to be build up. The Soul of Humanity is the connecting 
link. There is nothing to be ashamed of in our material 
bodies, but they would not be of much use without the 
Spirit and Will which give them Life and motion. On the 
other hand we should not be so cowardly and selfish as 
to desire to be re-absorbed into Spirit, as if the 
whole Creative Plan were a waste of time, and had 
better never have been started. No! Let us give thanks 
in our souls for both body and spirit, using both 
rightly and to the full extent of our power.

But how shall we learn the right proportions of 
each?

We must eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Life, and 
it will be found to nourish us perfectly and cause all 
the elements of our system to come to their proper 
proportion and fullness of stature. We must enter upon 
the heritage of Freedom that has been prepared for us 
in the Father's Kingdom upon Earth.

We have sacrificed the flower of Humanity, not 
alone in the Great War but in many, many ways, to our 
false gods. In the Name of the True and Living God, let 
us cease from bloody sacrifice, and start to build a 
"Living Temple, not made with hands, eternal in the 
Heavens" -- upon Earth.



Introduction

On April the fourteenth, nineteen hundred and 
twenty-three E.V., having just completed the ms. of my 
treatise on "The Egyptian Revival" or The Ever-Coming 
Son, in which my endeavor was to show that the 
"Restored Order" of the Paths of the Qabalistic Tree of 
Life was likely to be the correct one, since it 
indicated the Universal Tradition as symbolized by the 
Keys of Hermes, I was rewarded by the opening up of an 
amazing further possibility in regard to the Design of 
"The Tree of Life" itself.

It was between 8:30 and 9:30 P.M. on the above 
date, that the "Tree" began to GROW, and proved itself, 
to my mind, to be the veritable anatomy of Ra-Hoor-
Khuit, Ever-coming, between the two Infinites.

This fresh revelation left me strangely silent; it 
seemed almost too wonderful to be true, but it has 
since -- for I am writing this on April 17th -- shown 
even greater possibilities, the most extraordinary of 
which was only revealed to me this afternoon, after 
discussing the matter with W.R.

I do not intend to write of the discovery itself 
for the moment, but merely to prepare a brief essay on 
the Qabalah by means of further Light I have so 
recently received. This will serve as an introduction 
to the more complete explanation of the whole matter 
which, in order to be comprehensible to my readers, 
will require a number of diagrams showing the different 
stages of its development. To begin at the beginning. 
As stated in "Q.B.L.," the Qabalists postulated the AIN 
or NO-THING as the Zero from which, in a mysterious 
manner, the Universe arose. Next, they say, the AIN 
SUPH, or Limitless Space, became the Nature of the AIN, 
and this conception was followed by that of the AIN 
SUPH AUR or Limitless Light of Chaos.

It was not until this Limitless Light had 
concentrated Itself to a Center that the First Positive 
Idea arose, and this was called Kether and attributed 
to the Number One.

From this One there arose in succession the other 
Numerical Emanations or Sephiroth from Two to Ten, thus 
completing the decimal scale of Numbers. The Number 10 
is said to represent the return of the One to Zero, 
thus completing the Cycle of Manifestation.

These ideas may be found more fully described in 
"Q.B.L." and elsewhere, but I now desire to attempt a 
slightly different presentation, which will be 
developed in greater detail later on in this book.

The finite mind of man is unable to grasp the 
Infinite, except in a certain Mystical and Spiritual 
manner, but by the Light of the Spirit let us do our 
best to comprehend this great mystery of the Beginning.

Let us accept the term AIN as representing That of 
which Nothing is known, nor can be known, except 
through the positive manifestations which arise form 
It. When we attempt to imagine the AIN SUPH -- 
Limitless Space -- our minds tend to rush on and on, 
only to fall back before the Profundity of the Great 
Deep; yet we have to admit the possibility of Infinite 
extension in space. In my opinion this is due to the 
fact that we are only able to extend the 
_fine_material_substance_ of the mind to a certain 
limit, after reaching which there is NOTHING for Us 
unless we succeed in developing fresh Power to drive 
that limit further back and so to extend the actual 
substance of our being accordingly.

If Life is the Substance of Light, the Life itself 
is to be considered as the most subtle substance in our 
make-up, while it would follow that the more this 
substance is extended, the greater will be our 
Illumination, the further our range of vision, and the 
wider our Sphere of Consciousness. 

With these thoughts in mind let us attempt to 
obtain a more complete Understanding of the Primal 
Process, which is still "going on" Here and Now.

When the AIN SUPH AUR became _concentrated_ upon a 
Single Center, it _compressed_ the Light into the 
Substance of Light, which is Life. Or, in other words, 
the Concentrated Light became an inconceivably powerful 
Force or Energy in the center of Kether. This Pure 
Being, or Living Substance, owing to its reaction from 
the Invisible Center, tends to expand towards Infinity. 
This gives us the idea of the Substance of the Universe 
_ever_expanding_, ever occupying more and more of the 
Limitless Space of the AIN SUPH, while the Primal 
Centralizing Urge still continues to contract upon the 
Infinitely Small, or the AIN.

Kether is then the _junction_ of these Two 
Infinites, but particularly represents the 
_concentration_ of the Light to a Point on its way to 
the Infinitely Small, while Malkuth, the Tenth Sephira 
and Sphere of the Elements -- which the Qabalists say 
is one with Kether -- is the Substance which is 
_ever_expanding_ and, so to speak, gradually FILLING UP 
THE NOTHINGNESS of the AIN SUPH. So we may consider 
Kether as the Light and Malkuth as the Substance, while 
the complete Sphere is composed of LIVING SUBSTANCE. 
This represents the Macrocosmic Universe, but it is 
every BECOMING GREATER AND GREATER in extent, and 
driving back, so to speak, the Nothingness of Chaos.

Man, being made in the Image and Likeness of God 
and of the Universe, has the same infinite 
possibilities of growth in Consciousness, as the Force 
of the Spirit extends the substance of his mind to 
wider and wider fields of thought.

Yet the whole existing Universe is the result of 
the One Thought of God, and it progresses according to 
the Order of Pure Reason, as indicated in the Qabalah.

All the Sephiroth and Paths have their place 
according to this Order, _within_ the Sphere of the One 
Substance, and represent the manifold possibilities of 
the action of the Life Force upon that Substance and 
the different manifestations of that Substance under 
the Influence of the Life Force.

In other words, WITHOUT [i.e. outside] the 
manifested universe is the Infinite Body of Nuit; at 
the CENTER of All is the Infinitely Small and 
unextended Essence of Life, or Hadit. The Contraction 
of Nuit upon Hadit and the Expansion of Hadit into Nuit 
are constant forces. The Finite Universe, or Ra-Hoor-
Khuit, the Ever-Coming Son, is bounded by an EVER 
WIDENING CIRCUMFERENCE which is always exactly BETWEEN 
the Infinitely Great and the Infinitely Small.

Kether and Malkuth -- Spirit and Matter -- 
together represent this Universal Sphere, while 
Tiphereth, the Central Sphere of the Tree of Life, must 
always correspond to Ra-Hoor-Khuit within them; a 
Sphere HALF-WAY between the Center and the 
Circumference.

In Nature we may consider the finite 
representatives of these two Infinites to be the 
smallest known particle of matter as the Center, the 
widest expanse of the Star Universe as the 
circumference, and the Central Sun as their child.

In Man we find all these possibilities, both 
infinite and finite. The true Center of his being is 
Hadit whose representative is the tiny Spark of Pure 
Spiritual Light; the substance of his Mental Body is 
only limited by the Bounds of the Universe, and these 
ever recede towards Infinity. His physical body is, 
however, quite small, while his heart, which regulates 
the life of that body, is in a mystical sense capable 
of comprehending the "Light in Extension" of the Sun of 
his being, which is the soul. 

Thus Man is composed of body, soul, and spirit, 
and the soul is the mediator between the spiritual and 
material.

The Universe is composed of Malkuth and Kether, 
with Tiphereth as the Mediator between them, while, in 
a still greater sense we may consider Nuit and Hadit, 
the Two Infinites, with the Whole Living manifested 
Universe of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, as their Ever-Coming Son, 
the Crowned Child and Lord of the Aeon.



Chapter I

In the Name of the One, by the Grace of God 
Triune, and by the Favor and Appointing of the Ever-
Coming Son, I will now endeavor to expound that which 
has been revealed unto me.

First, let me state my conviction that this 
Universe is the Perfect Work of a Perfect Being, and 
that any apparent imperfections are due to the 
limitations of our finite consciousness, so that even 
these contribute to the larger Perfection of the Whole.

Secondly, I believe there is a Supreme and Perfect 
Order in all things, in spite of any apparent disorder 
which, again, is but the result of restrictions in man 
himself.

Thirdly, that the essence of Order consists in the 
perfect adjustment of parts in subservience to the ends 
of the Whole, so that that which is most complex is 
most perfect, but that this very complexity is due to 
the combination of a few Ultimate Ideas which go to 
make up the One Thought of the Supreme Being.

I am inclined to believe that the perfection of 
the existing Universe is Progressive, insofar as the 
Whole may be said to expand and become more and more 
complex and greater and greater in extent while still 
in accord with the One Order which prevails from its 
most minute atom to its inconceivably vast 
circumference. I incline to believe that the finite 
universe is not spherical, though tending ever to 
become so as its substance materializes. In other words 
that the Light precedes the Life which is its 
Substance, and the Life precedes the material which is 
its substance. Thus the rays of Light may spread out in 
the form of a Star, while the Ever-becoming Life and 
material substance tend to expand as a Sphere. The 
projecting rays, so to speak, drive back the primal 
chaos more easily than would a smooth sphere which 
expanded equally all over its surface. That such a 
conception implies at least a possibility, I shall 
presently endeavor to show.

There is another important point which should be 
mentioned. The Spiritual World of Ideas is in Perfect 
Order; the Material World of Substance is in Perfect 
Order; the Soul of the World, and of Man, which is the 
result of these, is capable of comprehending that Order 
perfectly.

But, again, the spirit of Man is perfect, his body 
is made in the Image and Likeness of God and of the 
Universe, but his soul, having within it the power of 
personal choice, or will, which alone enables him to 
progress in a free and intelligent manner, is at the 
same time liable to distortion if the personal will is 
ill-used or restricted. In that case the Eye of the 
soul sees things out of proportion and order, and this 
astigmatism must be corrected. Otherwise, man is under 
an illusion, self-created, which, however, in no way 
interferes with the Real Order of the Universe, but 
merely tends to confine him and to prevent him from 
enjoying his due heritage in all its fullness.

Thus the Great Work for Man consists in the 
adjustment of the soul, or Intellectual Sphere, so that 
it bears a perfect resemblance and correspondence to 
the Material and Natural Order of the Universe and at 
the same time exhibits its relation with the Supreme or 
Archetypal Order. This possibility of distortion in the 
soul has led him into the direst troubles, but unless 
that soul were thus plastic it could not expand and 
take on the complex Design of the Greater Universe. 
Man's work consists in building up his soul by means of 
his personal will and creative imagination, under the 
guidance and direction of the Will of the Universe, 
into the same Archetypal Pattern which is to be found 
in the One Thought of God.

But how shall man discover this Design upon the 
Trestleboard of the Grand Architect? He may at least 
make an intelligent attempt to do so, as we shall 
endeavor to show.

Since perfect Order consists in a right relation, 
adjustment, and proportion of all the parts in 
subservience to the Idea of the Whole, we must first 
consider some of the necessary requirements of that 
Order.

The "Tree of Life" of the Qabalists has been 
called the "Minutum Mundum" or "Little Universe," and 
students of the Qabalah will have become aware that 
this system has great possibilities as a convenient 
means of classification in regard to every thing in the 
Universe, or idea in the mind of man. The Universe, for 
each one of us, consists of what we are able to 
comprehend of it. Some are content to feel themselves 
at one with a very limited part; others realize that if 
once they could obtain the true Design, all would 
become possible of comprehension in a spiritual manner. 
But this Design has been lost, or so it seemed.

In Book 4, Part III -- still in ms. -- we may 
read: "An excellent man of great intelligence, a 
learned Qabalist, once amazed FRATER PERDURABO by 
stating that the Tree of Life was the framework of the 
Universe. It was as if some one had serious maintained 
that a cat was a creature constructed by placing the 
letters C-A-T in that order. It is no wonder that 
Magick has excited the ridicule of the unintelligent, 
since even its educated students can be guilty of so 
gross a violation of the first principles of common 
sense."

I may state that I have not the slightest idea who 
this excellent man was, and that I have a good deal of 
respect for the opinions of Frater Perdurabo, but, at 
the risk of falling under the same stigma as this 
"unknown warrior" I shall break a lance with Frater 
Perdurabo on this point, before this treatise is 
completed.

Meanwhile, let me refer Students of the Holy 
Qabalah to the various designs of the Tree of Life 
which may be in their possession, or readily available.

Let us examine, for instance, those shown in 
Westcott's "Introduction to the Study of the Kabalah," 
Mather's translation of the "Kabbalah Unveiled," Pike's 
"Morals and Dogma," Inman's "Ancient Faiths," "The 
Equinox," Volume One, Number 2, page 243, Waite's 
"Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah," Ginsburg's 
treatise on the subject, the Frontispiece to Book 777, 
the oldest extant design in the British Museum, etc., 
and we shall notice one very striking thing: The all 
vary greatly in their _proportions_. Some, it will be 
seen, are long and thin, others short and squatty. 777 
alone gives a well proportioned Tree.

It would seem that this important aspect of 
proportion has received little or no attention in the 
past. But let me once again refer you to the ancient 
"Sepher Yetzirah" (as I did in regard to the 
arrangement of the Paths in "Q.B.L."); in it we are 
told to "Fix the Design in its Purity," to "Replace the 
Formative Power upon His Throne," or to "Restore the 
Device or Workmanship to its Place."

Was the author of that old treatise using mere 
idle words, or did he mean what he said? It is possible 
he did not know how to do this himself, since the mss. 
of the "Sepher Yetzirah" contains no diagrams of the 
"Tree of Life"; but, in any event, we may at least 
attempt to follow his lead and try, if possible, to 
discover more Light from a study of the 
_true_proportions_ of the Tree.

The formation of the "Tree of Life" is entirely 
geometrical, and as might be expected, we find the 
simplest elements of geometry as its basis: The Point, 
the Line, the Circle, the Triangle, and Right-angled 
figures.

The proper method of finding the correct centers 
of the Ten Sephiroth, and thus the points connected by 
the Paths, is as follows: Upon a vertical straight line 
of convenient length, describe with unchanged compasses 
four circles, the center of each being on the line, the 
point where the upper arc of the lowest circle cuts the 
line forming the center of the circle above, and so 
on.  Thus:

[insert Figure I here]

The center of the top circle gives the central 
Point of Kether, the intersections of the first and 
second circles form the centers of Chokmah and Binah, 
[the intersections of the second and third circles form 
the centers of Chesed and Geburah,] the center of the 
third circle is Tiphereth, the intersections of the 
third and fourth circles indicate Netzach and Hod, the 
center of the fourth circle is Yesod, and the lower 
point of its intersection with the vertical line is 
Malkuth.

This method produces a perfectly proportioned 
Figure of the Tree of Life, and the connecting Paths 
can all be made by joining the various points, thus:

[insert Figure II here]

In Freemasonry, Geometry is referred to as the 
"first and noblest of the Sciences" and as "the head of 
all learning." One of the simplest figures is produced 
by the intersection of two circles, thus forming what 
is known as the _Vesica_Piscis_.

The curious and marvelous properties of the 
_Vesica_Piscis_ and of the Rectangle formed on its 
length and breadth, have been subjects of profound 
speculation, and perhaps nowhere have they been better 
described than in the "Magister-Mathesios" by our 
learned Brother Sydney T. Klein. I am sure he will have 
no objection if I quote a few passages from his work, 
which has been one of the means of opening up before me 
such marvelous vistas.

After discussing the properties of the Masonic 
Square, obtained from the right angled triangle by 
means of mundane measures of 3, 4, and 5 units to each 
side, respectively, he points out that a wave of 
wonderful enthusiasm must have swept across the 
civilized world when they first discovered that the 
Geometrical way of creating a right angle as given in 
Euclid I, 11, was by means of an equilateral triangle, 
by joining the vertex with the center of the base. 
"This Equilateral Triangle" he writes, "was the 
earliest symbol, in connection with the Vesica Piscis, 
we know of the Divine Logos and, as the Bible declared 
that the Universe was created by the Logos (the Word) 
so the form of the Lodge which represents the Universe 
was naturally created by means of the Equilateral 
Triangle. A great mystery this must have appeared to 
those who, like the Hellenic philosophers, postulated 
that everything on earth has its counterpart in heaven, 
and who, in their religious mysticism, were always 
looking for signs of the transcendental in their 
temporal surroundings.

"But in what awe and reverence must they have held 
Geometry when they further found that the Equilateral 
Triangle was itself generated, as in the _first_ 
problem of Euclid, upon which the whole Science of 
Geometry was therefore based, by the intersection of 
two circles.

"This figure was not only looked upon as a symbol 
of the Three Divine _personae_, but that part of the 
figure which is bounded by the arcs of the two circles 
and which takes to itself one-third of each of the two 
generating circles (making its perifera exactly equal 
with that remaining to each of the two circles, all 
three therefore being _co-equal_), and in which the 
triangle is formed, was naturally held from earliest 
times as the most sacred Christian emblem, namely that 
of _regeneration_ or _new_birth_.  To how the 
extraordinary reverence and high value attached to this 
symbol, it is only necessary to remember that from the 
fourth century onwards all Seals of Colleges, Abbeys 
and other religious communities have been made 
invariably of this form and they continue to be made so 
to this day. It was also in allusion to this most 
ancient emblem that Tertullian and the other early 
Fathers speak of Christians as "Pisciculi." It was 
called the "Vesica Piscis" (Fish's bladder) and named 
such no doubt for the same reason as led the learned 
Rabbi Maimonides in the twelfth century, when dealing 
with a similar religious subject, to command his 
hearers: 'When you have discovered the meaning thereof, 
do not divulge it, because the people cannot 
philosophize or understand that to the infinite there 
is no such thing as sex.'

[insert Figure III here]

"The Vesica Piscis is intimately connected with 
the discovery by Augustus Caesar, as narrated by 
Baronius, of a prophecy in one of the Sybilline books 
foretelling 'a great event coming to pass in the birth 
of One who should prove to be the true "King of Kings," 
and that Augustus therefore dedicated an altar in his 
palace to the "unknown God." ' "

Brother Klein then goes on to show how the Vesica 
Piscis was the true foundation of Gothic Architecture, 
and that its influence accounts for the sudden change 
from the old Norman style, which was based on the 
properties of the square rather than the triangle.

[insert Figure IV here]

He the discloses some of the great wonders of the 
Vesica Piscis and points out: "The rectangle formed by 
the length and breadth of this mysterious figure in its 
simplest form has several extraordinary qualities; it 
may be cut into three equal parts, by straight lines 
parallel to its shorter sides:

[insert Figure V here]



and these parts will all be precisely and geometrically 
similar to each other and to the whole figure, 
strangely applicable to the Symbolism attached at that 
time to the Trinity in Unity, and this sub-division may 
be proceeded with indefinitely without making any 
change in the form; however often the operation is 
performed the parts remain identical with the original 
figure, having all its extraordinary properties, and 
_no_other_rectangle_ can have this curious property. It 
may also be cut into four equal parts by straight lines 
parallel to the two sides, and again each of these 
parts will be exactly similar to each other and to the 
whole, and the process may be continued indefinitely, 
the equilateral triangle appearing everywhere:



[insert Figure VI here]



Once more, if two of the tri-sub-divisions be taken, 
the form of these together is exactly similar 
geometrically to half the original figure, and the 
equilateral triangle again appears everywhere in both; 
as in figure V.



[insert Figure VII here]



In Figure VII I have carried the tri-sub-division to 
the sixth degree, and to help the eye I have marked 
with darker lines one of the tri-sub-divisions of each 
degree; it is only owing to the above unique similarity 
that the equilateral triangle is again formed on every 
part of the base line. Again the diagonal is exactly 
double the length of its shorter side, which 
characteristic is also _unique_ and greatly increases 
its use for plotting out designs, and this property, of 
course, holds good for all the rectangles formed by 
both species of sub-division, but perhaps its most 
mysterious property (though not of any practical use) 
to those who studied geometry, and to whom the figure 
was a Symbol of the Divine Trinity in Unity, was the 
fact that it actually put into their hands the means of 
trisecting the right angle. Now the three great 
problems of antiquity which engaged the attention of 
geometricians throughout the Middle Ages were 'the 
Duplication of a Cube', 'the squaring of the circle,' 
and lastly, 'the trisection of an angle,' even Euclid 
being unable to show how to do it, and yet it will be 
seen that the diagonal A-B of Figure IV and the 
diagonal A-E of the subsidiary figure, which is also 
the plumbline, actually trisect the angle D-A-C. It is 
true that it only shows how to trisect one kind of 
angle, but it was that particular angle which 
represented the Craft and was created by the 
equilateral triangle. All these unique properties place 
this figure far above that of a square for practical 
work, because even when the diagonal of a square is 
given it is impossible to find the exact length of any 
of its sides, or vice versa."

I have quoted Brother Sydney Klein thus fully in 
order to give him due credit for his detailed working 
on this most important matter, and also to supply the 
reader with a clear idea of the unique features of 
these symbols, as well as of their deep religious 
significance and the actual effect that their practical 
application produced on all the religious Architecture 
of the Gothic period. On this basis many of the most 
important Cathedrals and Churches were erected, and 
their Beauty is not to be denied. When we compare some 
of these beautiful Gothic structures with the Pyramid, 
for instance, we cannot but notice the difference; but 
after all the Pyramid is a truly Symbolic structure in 
every detail, while the Gothic Cathedrals only show 
part of the truth.

Imagine my overwhelming joy when I discovered that 
the ancient Qabalistic Tree of Life, with all its 
wonderful possibilities as a means of mental 
classification of every idea in the Universe -- 
Natural, Human, and Divine -- 
_was_in_its_entirety_based_upon_the_same_fundamental_pr
inciple_of_the_ _Vesica_Piscis_, and was therefore 
_not_a_fixed_design_ but capable of indefinite 
_progression_towards_the_Infinitely_Small_or_the_Infini
tely_Great_. For it can be so drawn that it appears 
with all its details and properties, repeating 
themselves indefinitely in every direction of Space to 
Infinity. 

Imagine what it means to a Qabalist who has 
arranged all the ideas in his mind, in duly Balanced 
and Equilibrated formation, to discover a way of 
perpetuating in thought all these Ideas, and to be able 
to realize that the "Tree of Life" upon which they are 
based is a LIVING TREE, with its Roots in the 
Infinitely Small and its Branches and Fruits extending 
to the furthest Limits of the Universe.

This is the nature of the discovery, or 
revelation, which came to me on April 14th, and it will 
form the subject of our further studies and researches.



Chapter II

Before discussing in detail the events which led 
up to this discovery, and the further application of it 
to the Tree of Life, it will be well if we spend a 
little time in considering the Nature of the Trinity, 
and its fundamental relation to all Systems of 
Religious and Philosophic thought.

Hermes the Thrice Greatest, like Solomon, is 
highly celebrated by antiquity for his wisdom and skill 
in the secret operations of nature, and for his 
_reputed_discovery_of_the_quintessential_perfectibility
_of_the_three_ _kingdoms_in_their_homogeneal_unity_; 
whence he is called the Thrice Great Hermes, having the 
_spiritual_intelligence_of_all_things_in_their_universa
l_law.

It is to be regretted that no one of the many 
books attributed to him, and which are named in detail 
by Clemens Alexandrinus, escaped the destroying hand of 
Diocletian.

But we have one truly authentic record in the 
famous Emerald Tablet, which contains the one sole 
dogma of Hermetic Philosophy: "That which is above is 
as that which is below, and that which is below is as 
that which is above, for performing the miracles of the 
One Things."

The Emerald Tablet, unique and authentic as it may 
be regarded, is all that remains to us from Egypt of 
her Sacred Art. A few riddles and fables, all more or 
less imperfect, that were preserved by the Greeks, and 
some inscrutable hieroglyphics, are still to be found 
quoted in certain alchemical records; but the originals 
are entirely lost.

There is little doubt that Ancient Egypt did at 
one time hold the true Key of the Mysteries. For what 
did Pythagoras, Thales, Democritus and Plato become 
immured there for several solitary years, but to be 
initiated in the wisdom and learning of those 
Egyptians? Yet Hermes himself is reported to have 
prophesied her fall, and the loss of her wisdom and 
learning; and this certainly was fulfilled. But, as I 
have endeavored to point out in my treatise, "The 
Egyptian Revival," there seems every reason to suppose 
that in this New Aeon, during this Aquarian Age, man 
will once more come into his own, and be directly 
informed by the true Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding 
in a way that has not been possible for many Ages. At 
least there seems every hope of the revival of the 
Universal Tradition of the Golden Age, despite the 
present world-crisis and the breaking up of the old 
civilization. But it is necessary that things should be 
destroyed in order that they may be renewed, as the 
Justified Osiris said in regard to His Body. So it is, 
perhaps, in regard to our pre-conceived ideas of the 
Body of the Universe, or of the Tree of Life, or some 
other pet theory; but so long as we receive something 
better in exchange for that with which we must part, 
what matter!

There is certainly no denying the importance of 
the "Three in One," as far as Hermes is concerned, for 
his very title of Thrice Greatest implies in what 
veneration such conceptions must have been held in his 
day.

In Alchemy we find three Principles -- Sulphur, 
Mercury, and Salt; and Three great Stages of the Work -
- Discovery of the Formation of the Stone of the Wise, 
its Multiplication, and its Projection. These later 
stages have been very little understood.

In the Qabalah (from the three-lettered root QBL, 
meaning "to receive") we find mention of the Sacred 
Three Lettered Name of God IHV, implying Father, 
Mother, and Son. We find three Mother Letters in the 
Hebrew Alphabet, Aleph, Mem, and Shin, and these are in 
turn attributed to the Three Elements, Air, Water, and 
Fire, which correspond to the Alchemical Principles, 
and in admixture form Earth, or The Stone. We also find 
in the Sepher Yetzirah, the oldest Qabalistic treatise, 
that the "One created the Universe by means of the 
Three Sepharim, Number, Writing, and Speech." These 
correspond to the Three Mother Letters and to the Three 
Paths of the Middle Pillar of the Tree, as I have shown 
in "Q.B.L."

The Hindus venerate the Three-lettered Word AUM as 
the most sacred Name of God; their Deity has Three 
Aspects as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; the Creator, 
Preserver, and Destroyer. They postulate Three 
principles, Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva, or Activity, 
Inertia, and Peace.

The Christians believe in Three Persons in One 
God; The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; in Three that 
bear witness in Heaven, and in Three that bear witness 
on Earth. That man is three-fold; Body, Soul, and 
Spirit. 

In fact the Importance of the Number Three, and of 
the Triangle, is a well nigh inexhaustible subject.

Many of these three-fold Ideas are summed up in a 
Fourth, representing the Materialized or Manifested 
aspect.

The Sides of the Pyramid are Triangular, but its 
Base is Square. The Word AUM is made continuous in 
sound by the addition of the nasal N, forming AUMN. The 
Hebrew IHV, becomes IHVH through the addition of the 
final He, or the Daughter. The Archetypal, Creative, 
and Formative Worlds become Manifest in Assiah, the 
Material World of the Qabalah. The tripartite Word INR, 
becomes INRI. The Trinity of Triads of the Tree of Life 
are summed up in the single Sphere of Malkuth, the 
Kingdom. Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt produce the Gold of 
the Alchemist. Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva act on 
Prakriti.

Three and Four together make Seven, another Sacred 
Number, as everyone knows.

Seven and three are Ten, and this is said to be 
the most Sacred and Complete of all, since it 
represents a return from One to the Primal Nothing of 
the Beginning. We find Ten Sephiroth on the Qabalistic 
Tree. The Four letters of the Sacred Name IHVH, when 
arranged in the form of a Triangle, make 10, thus:

[insert figure VIII here]

and this became the basis of the Tetractys of 
Pythagoras, a figure composed of Ten Unit forms or 
Yods,

[insert figure IX here]

But here we begin to approach the Central Mystery 
once more, for this Triangle, with its ten Dots, gives 
us the idea of the Division of the triangle into 
others, thus:

[insert figure X here]

and so we begin to get back to our Equilateral Triangle 
and Vesica as the Basis of the Tree of Life. But there 
is another interesting fact, viz.: -- than an 
Equilateral Triangle, so divided, having a base of, 
say, three inches, will contain nine triangles, the 
sides of which will each be one inch. Whereas a Square, 
whose side is three inches, will also contain exactly 
the same number of one inch squares, viz.: nine.

[insert figure XI here]

Again the numbers 1-9 may be so arranged in the nine 
squares, that they will add to 15 vertically, 
horizontally, and diagonally. This forms the basis for 
the construction of the Magick Squares of the Planets, 
etc.

But all these ideas are symbolized in the Tree of 
Life itself, which we will next examine in further 
detail.



Chapter III

The "Sepher Yetzirah," or Book of Formation, which 
is perhaps the oldest philosophical treatise as yet 
extent in the Hebrew language, opens as follows:

"In the two and thirty most occult and wonderful 
paths of wisdom, did IAH, the Lord of Hosts, engrave 
his name . . . He created this universe by the three 
Sepharim, Number Writing, and Speech.

"Ten are the numbers, as are the Sephiroth, and 
twenty-two the letters; these are the Foundation of all 
things. Of these letters, three are mothers, seven are 
double, and twelve are simple.

"The ten numbers formed from nothing, are the 
Decad; these are seen in the fingers of the hands, five 
on one, five on the other, and over them is the 
Covenant by voice spiritual, and the rite of 
Circumcision, corporeal (as of Abraham).

"Ten are the numbers of the ineffable Sephiroth, 
_ten_and_not_nine_, _ten_and_not_eleven_. Learn this 
wisdom, and be wise in the understanding of it; 
investigate these numbers, and draw _knowledge_ from 
them; fix the design in its purity, and pass from it to 
its Creator seated on his throne." (Dr. Westcott's 
translation.)

It is well to notice that the ancient Qabalists 
made a particular point of the fact that there are TEN 
Sephiroth, neither more nor less. If we examine the 
formation of the "Tree of Life" in the following Figure 
(XII), we shall understand why they were so careful to 
make this plain.

[insert figure XII here]

One might at first be inclined to suppose that 
there should be another Sephira in the center of the 
upper hexagon, and this is, as a matter of fact, the 
location assigned to the Sphere of DAATH, or Knowledge, 
as the child of Chokmah and Binah. But it is not to be 
shown in the plan of the Tree for it represents a 
Higher Dimensional Knowledge, which should be drawn 
from the whole Tree, as it is written, "Draw knowledge 
from the." Should such a sphere be shown in the design, 
it would also necessitate extra "Paths" leading 
thereto, but we are clearly told that the Paths of 
Wisdom are thirty-two in all, that is to say, the Ten 
Numerical Emanations and their connecting links formed 
by the Twenty-two letters.

Likewise we notice that there are no paths from 2 
to 5 and from 3 to 4 or from 1 to 4 and 1 to 5. Had 
there been, we should see the symbol of the upright 
Pentagram, which is the Star of unconquered Will in the 
Microcosm, united with the Sign of the Hexagram of the 
Macrocosm. But this unification represents the Great 
Work which must be accomplished by man, and it is part 
of the Universal Plan that he should discover their 
equivalence for himself in order that he may become a 
conscious co-operator in the Divine Scheme of Creation. 
Therefor we find an "Abyss," and no direct link between 
Binah and Chesed.

[insert figure XIII here]

Again, one might be tempted to suppose that there 
should be three averse equilateral triangles, 2-6-3, 4-
9-5, and 7-10-8. But should 4-9 and 5-9 be connected by 
paths, a figure of the evil and averse Pentagram with 
its two points uppermost, would appear upon the tree; 
thus:

[insert figure XIV here]

We must do nothing, then which will in any way 
interfere with the arrangement as it stands, for it is 
a veritable Work of Wisdom.

Let us again examine the arrangement and 
juxtaposition of the Paths as shown in figure XII. It 
will be noticed that the Hexagon bounded by 1-2-4-6-5-
3, is perfect in form; all its sides are equal. That 
the Triangles 2-3-6 and 7-8-10 are perfectly 
equilateral. That the triangles 1-2-3, 2-4-6, 3-5-6, 4-
5-6, 7-6-8, 7-9-8, and 8-9-10 are all equal and have an 
angle of 120 degrees or exactly one-third of a circle. 
That the small triangles 4-6-7 and 5-6-8 are both 
equilateral. That the paths connecting 6-7-9-8 produce 
a diamond which is in the proportion of a perfect 
Vesica.

It should further be noticed that the two 
rectangles, 3-2-4-5 and 5-4-7-8 are each exactly based 
on the proportion of the Vesica, so that they partake 
of all the properties shown in figure V, as explained 
in detail by Brother Klein.

If the breadth of the Tree be taken as the Length 
of One Vesica, the height from the center of Malkuth to 
the center of Kether is exactly the Width of Four such 
Vesicae.

The Path from Kether to Tiphereth is exactly equal 
to the combined lengths of the two paths of the Middle 
Pillar between Tiphereth and Malkuth. Further study on 
the part of the Student will disclose many other 
proportions.

The learned but anonymous author of "The Canon," 
published by Elkin Mathews in 1897, makes several 
important statements in regard to the Vesica Piscis and 
its relation to the Mysteries of the Qabalah, 
Architecture, etc. He writes: "It is known, both to 
freemasons and architects, that the mystical figure 
called the Vesica Piscis, so popular in the Middle 
Ages, and generally placed as the first proposition of 
Euclid, was a symbol applied by the masons in planning 
their temples. Albert Durer, Serlio, and other 
architectural writers depict the Vesica in their works, 
but presumably because of an unspeakable mystery 
attached to it, these authors make no reference to it. 
Thomas Kerrich, a freemason and principal librarian of 
the University of Cambridge, read a paper upon this 
mystical figure before the Society of Antiquaries on 
January 20, 1820. He illustrated his remarks with many 
diagrams illustrating its use by the ancient masons, 
and piously concludes by saying: 'I would by no means 
indulge in conjectures as to the reference these 
figures might possibly have to the most sacred 
mysteries of religion.' Dr. Oliver ("Discrep." p. 109), 
speaking of the Vesica says: 'This mysterious figure 
Vesica Piscis possessed an unbounded influence on the 
details of sacred architecture; and 
_it_constituted_the_ _great_ 
_and_enduring_secret_of_our_ancient_brethren. The plans 
of religious buildings were determined by its use; and 
the proportions of length and height were dependent on 
it alone.' Mr. Clarkson (Introductory Essay to 
Billings' "Temple Church") considered that the 
elementary letters of the primitive language were 
derived from the same mystical symbol. He says that it 
was known to Plato and 'his masters in the Egyptian 
colleges' and was to the old builders 'an archetype of 
ideal beauty.' The Vesica was also regarded as a 
baneful object under the name of 'Evil Eye,' and the 
charm most generally employed to avert the dread 
effects of its fascination was the Phallus ((J. 
Millinger's "Archeologia," XIX). In Heraldry, the 
Vesica was used as the feminine shield. It was 
interchangeable with the Fusill, or Mascule, and was 
also figured as a lozenge or rhombus. In the East the 
Vesica was used as a symbol of the womb, and was joined 
to the cross by the Egyptians forming the handle of the 
Crux Ansata.

"Geometrically, the Vesica is constructed from two 
intersecting circles, so that it may be taken as having 
a double significance. Edward Clarkson says it 'means 
astronomically at the present day a starry conjunction; 
and by a very intelligent transfer of typical ideas a 
divine marriage,' or the two-fold essence of life, 
which the ancients supposed to be male and female. To 
every Christian the Vesica is familiar from its 
constant use in early art, for not only was it an 
attribute of the Virgin, and the feminine aspect of the 
Savior as symbolized by the _wound_ in his side, but it 
commonly surrounds the figure of Christ, as His Throne 
when seated in Glory. As a hieroglyphic the combination 
of Christ with the Vesica is analogous to the Crux 
Ansata of the Egyptians."

[insert figure XV here]

A little further on in his book the author of "The 
Canon" also makes the following remarks: 
"Geometrically, the diagram containing the ten steps of 
the Cabala is shown by Kircher and other authorities in 
the form ascribed by Freemasons to what they call the 
'Double Cube,' that is to say, an irregular hexagon, 
which will exactly enclose a Vesica. Consequently its 
length and breadth are of the proportion of 26 to 15. 
It is said that the ten cabalistic steps, in their 
entirety, symbolize the aspect of the Deity expressed 
by the four mystic letters IHVH, whose numerical value 
is 26. This number was said by the Jews to comprise the 
most sacred mysteries of the Law. No explanation, 
however, has ever been given showing how the number 26 
afforded a key to all the science of the Israelites. It 
is now suggested that the Vesica, whose proportion is 
in the ration of 26 to 15, was the symbol of the hidden 
rule or canon, by which the synthesis of nature was 
reduced to a comprehensible figure, capable of 
demonstrating to initiates the truth and knowledge 
which constituted the sacred wisdom of antiquity."

The last sentence is of much interest in the light 
of our present researches. I had not noticed this 
reference when first writing this book, but it is not 
alone a confirmation of our general ideas, but leads to 
others of importance.

Brother Klein gives the true proportion of the 
Vesica Piscis as that of 8 to 13.85, but probably the 
nearest in whole numbers is that above given by the 
author of The Canon, viz.: 15 to 26. (I think the exact 
proportion is 15.01 to 26.)  Now these numbers 26 and 
15 are of great Qabalistic value. 26, as stated by the 
author of the "Canon," is the numeration of IHVH, and 
this, as shown in "Q.B.L." and elsewhere, is the 
"Formula" upon which the whole System is based. 15 is 
the numeration of IH or "Jah," the venerable Name of 
God, attributed in the "Sepher Yetzirah" to the Creator 
Who devised the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom which we are 
discussing.

The author of the "Canon" makes a valuable 
suggestion when he remarks that the length and breadth 
of the Tree of Life are as 26 to 15, although his 
statement is not actually correct. Qabalistically, 
however, we may notice a very interesting thing. The 
Total numeration of the Sephiroth of the Middle Pillar, 
or the length of the Tree, is 1 + 6 + 9 + 10 = 26, 
while the two Sephiroth forming the bases of the side 
pillars, and indicating the breadth of the Tree are 
Netzach = 7 and Hod = 8, thus 7 + 8 = 15.

Now although the Vesica Piscis is the hidden rule 
or canon upon which the figure is built, the true 
proportion of the Tree is much more wonderful than if 
its length and breadth were in the proportion of a 
simple Vesica. As explained before, the true proportion 
is that of the _width_ of four Vesicae in height to the 
_length_ of one Vesica in width. This suggests the 
"Four Worlds" of the Qabalah. But since the rectangle 
bounding a Vesica may be divided into three equal parts 
by lines parallel to the shorter sides, and the 
divisions thus formed are found each to have the same 
proportions as the original figure, we shall also find 
that three out of the four parts of the height of the 
Tree of Life will represent the exact length of a 
Vesica the breadth of which is equal to the breadth of 
the Tree from center to center of the Sephiroth forming 
the side pillars. To make this plainer: if we take the 
reciprocal path from Chesed to Geburah as equivalent to 
26 (it being the length of one of the four vesicae and 
at the same time the width of the Tree) and construct 
thereon another Vesica we shall find that its highest 
and lowest points will be in the centers of Kether and 
Yesod. Thus the first Nine Sephiroth are in exact 
proportion of the Vesica and Malkuth remains as a 
pendant. The height of this Vesica will now be 45 and 
its width 26. We have examined the number 26 as to its 
mystical value, but 45 is found to be the mystic number 
of Yesod, which represents the generative organs. In 
addition to this we find that the sum of the numbers of 
the Sephiroth 1-9 is 45, and this is the numeration of 
ADM the Hebrew ADAM. Further if we notice the Vesica 
thus formed, it will be found to have its apex in 
Kether while the left hand curve cuts through the 
center of Geburah and the right hand curve through that 
of Chesed, both these terminating in Yesod. Therefore 
these lines unite 1 + 4 + 5 + 9 = 19. Now 19 is the 
numeration of ChVH, or Chavvah, which is the Hebrew 
word for EVE.  Thus we find ADAM and EVE united; with 
IHVH in the midst of their union.

[insert figure XVI here]

The fact that we find these first Nine Sephiroth 
forming a perfect Vesica and producing such symbolism 
is indeed significant, and this coupled with the fact 
that we find the circle of Malkuth below this Vesica, 
and that Malkuth has been referred to the World of 
Shells or Excrement (Gross Matter) and has been called 
The Un-Redeemed Daughter, is indeed a startling piece 
of natural symbolism.

But so far we have a Vesica and a Sphere pendant, 
and our Tree of Life is not fully represented in terms 
of Vesicae.

[insert figure XVII here]

The real mystery lies in the fact that just as in the 
first proposition of Euclid, the Vesica is formed by 
the _intersection_of_two_circles_, so the true 
proportion of this figure is found to be that of the 
_intersection_of_two_Vesicae_. In which case the 
Upright line of the Middle Pillar represents the 
Father, the Horizontal line which runs through 
Tiphereth represents the Son, the Upper Vesica the 
Mother, and the lower one the Daughter. Thus we have 
the complete representation of IHVH in graphic form, 
and the exact proportions of the Tree of Life are 
shown.

The foregoing properties, alone, make this Figure 
of the Tree of Life quite unique, but when we add its 
regular Qabalistic Correspondences as a symbolic 
universal basis of all Ideas, and a proper means of 
their classification in perfect Order, we are almost 
overwhelmed at the sublimity of the conception. But we 
have hardly begun to consider its possibilities in 
other directions. We have not as yet discussed the 
proper proportion of the Sephirotic Circles to the 
length of the Paths, but this matter will be taken up 
in detail later on. Meanwhile let us notice that the 
connecting Paths are _lines_, and the Sephiroth 
_Circles_ (or Spheres). The Line and the Circle make up 
the Number 10, and also represent the letter IO 
equivalent to the root of the God-name of Jove, who is 
identical with the Hebrew Jehovah.

[Transcriber's note: The proportion of the 
Sephirotic Spheres is not again dealt with until almost 
the end of the book. But several of the discoveries in 
the following chapters do not work correctly except 
when the proper proportions are used. The correct 
radius of a Sephirotic Sphere is one-fourth the radius 
of the original generating circles. The correct width 
of the Paths is one-half the radius of the Sephiroth, 
or one-eighth the radius of the generating circles.]

Let us consider some of the statements of the 
Sepher Yetzirah in greater detail.

Firstly we find the words "In two and thirty most 
occult and wonderful paths of wisdom, did IAH, the Lord 
of Hosts, engrave his name." Let us consider the words 
_two_ and _thirty_. Two is the numeration of the letter 
Beth, which is attributed to Mercury or Wisdom, and to 
the Magician or Occultists who controls the elemental 
forces. Thirty is "Lamed" or "Ox-Goad" or sharp pointed 
"engraver." It is also the letter of Libra or of 
Justice and Balance, so here in one letter we get the 
idea of the Scales with the tongue of the balance (or 
ox-goad) between them. The letters BL in Hebrew form 
the word meaning "Lord," while LB means "Mind" or 
"Heart." The Mind is the receptacle of Wisdom and the 
Heart of Live and Will. The number 32 is the numeration 
of AHIH the Divine Name of Kether, and IHVH the 
Ineffable Name ruling the other Nine Sephiroth, 
coalesced, in the Great Name AHIHVH which embraces the 
whole Ten in One. The Name IAH is in Hebrew Yod-He or 
IH and this is called the Monogram of the Eternal. The 
letters are the first two of IHVH and represent the 
Father and Mother conjoined and concealing the Son (A, 
the Microcosm or Star of Unconquered Will) within them. 
Yod is the letter of Fire, He of Water, and the 
concealed Aleph is Air. These are the natures of the 
three Sepharim, Number, Writing, and Speech, by which 
Jah is said to have created the Universe. Number is 
Fire (the writing of the Starts), Writing flows like 
Water, and Air is the basis of Speech.

But these are all mysteriously connected 
symbolically with the Perfect Number 10, of which 0 is 
the Naught of the Unmanifest, and 1 the First Positive 
Idea. The Mouth from which issues the Fire of the 
Spirit in the form of Breath, and also the Water, is 
when closed, a horizontal line, When open it is a 
Circle; thus, 10.

The Pen whereby Ideas are transmitted in the form 
of Writing, has been referred to in the Scriptures and 
"The Pen of a Man" and this is dipped in a vessel which 
represents both a line and a circle, for purposes of 
reproduction and transmission of form and substance. 
Thus we have the idea "IH" once more. Speech cometh 
from the Opening and Closing of the Mouth, thus by the 
combined ideas of 1 and 0 or 10. In the Tarot the 
Letter Aleph (1) is that of Air, and also of The Fool, 
which is marked Zero, or 0. Aleph is the Ox; Lamed, as 
mentioned above, is the Ox-goad, together they are AL, 
the most sacred Name of the One God, and LA which means 
"Not" or Zero which is 0. AL is numerically 31, 
suggesting the Three Sepharim in One and 3 + 1 = 4; and 
the sum of the numbers from 1 - 4 = 10.

"Ten are the numbers, as are the Sephiroth, and 
twenty-two the letters, these are the Foundation of all 
things." Twenty is the numeration of the basic simple 
Hebrew Letter or IOD, spelt in full. Beth (2) is the 
House or Womb. Yod is equivalent to the spermatozoon in 
one sense. Twenty is also the numeration of the Hebrew 
Letter Kaph which means the palm of the hand in the act 
of grasping. Yod also means the Hand. So we have the 
chief instrument of action, the hand, in the act of 
opening and closing, representing expansion and 
contraction. 22 is the numeration of the word IChD 
which means Unity.

"Of these letters, three are mothers, seven are 
double, and twelve are simple." We have mentioned the 
three Mother Letters under the form of the Three 
Sepharim. These represent the Three Elements, which 
combined, form Earth. The Seven Double letters are 
assigned to the Seven Planetary Intelligences, the 
Forces which govern Nature; and the Twelve Simple 
letters are attributed to the Signs of the Zodiac, or 
Circle of Life, which represents the great Star 
Universe. Thus in the twenty-two letters we have the 
basis of all Universal Ideas. The One Substance with 
its three Elementary divisions combining in material 
form; the Planets and Solar System, the Star Universe, 
all permeated with the One Life which is the Subtle 
Substance of Light Itself.

The Three Mother Letters are equivalent to the 
Three Primary Colors, which break up into the Seven 
Colors of the Rainbow, and may be further divided into 
Twelve. So the Paths of the Tree represent all the 
Colors between Light and Darkness, and, of course, a 
host of other ideas as may be found in "Q.B.L." and 
Book 777.

The Book of Hermes, or Thoth, called the Tarot, 
contains Twenty-two symbolic Designs, which have been 
attributed to these Paths, and thus we may read in them 
the ancient Tradition by means of this Universal 
Alphabet of Symbols, as shown in my treatise "The 
Egyptian Revival."

"The ten numbers formed from nothing, are the 
Decad; these are seen in the fingers of the hands, five 
on one, five on the other, and over them is the 
Covenant by voice spiritual, and the rite of 
Circumcision, corporeal (as of Abraham)."

The Ten Sephiroth were said to have come from the 
AIN or Nothing; we have made some explanation of this 
in the Introduction. Reference is again made to the 
"hands" (which connect the idea of the Paths with that 
of the Sephiroth, as shown above). The hands represent 
the pairs of opposites, or balanced ideas, but these 
must always be united to find the point of equilibrium. 
They also represent two Pentagrams, or the Divine and 
Human Wills. When united in the strong grip of the 
Lion, these two five-fold stars meet in fellowship and 
harmony, as 10.

The peculiar statements about the Covenant by 
voice spiritual, and the rite of Circumcision, 
corporeal, are worthy of study. The Ideas are those of 
the great opposites, Spirit and Matter, which are ever 
United in the Sun of the Soul. But again the "voice" 
requires the opening of the "mouth" thus changing the 
horizontal line into a circle. The rite of circumcision 
has the effect of cutting away the "circle" of the 
foreskin, and disclosing the "vertical line" upon the 
head of the male organ. The organ itself represents a 
line, either vertical or horizontal, and this "rite" 
was for the purpose of making this organ safe from 
possible impurity, when connected with the "Circle." 
This act again is symbolic of the descent (or ascent) 
of Spirit into Matter, or the Harmonious union of Fire 
and Water, producing Air, which is in turn the 
representative of the "Soul" or Mediator.

With all this truly wonderful symbolism attached 
to the number 10, it is hardly surprising, if for no 
other reason, that the next verse of the Sepher 
Yetzirah makes it so clear that the Sephiroth are Ten, 
and not nine or eleven.

But this verse also tells us that after 
investigating these numbers, we must "fix the design in 
its purity," so it is time we returned to our 
discussion of that subject.



Chapter IV

We should remember that just as the Soul is the 
link between Body and Spirit, so is the Sun between 
Earth and Heaven, and the Great Central Sun between the 
Two Infinites. This Link between the Opposites is an 
all-important one, but it may be equally a Devil or 
Redeemer, according to the Influence it has upon us. I 
have showed this more fully elsewhere, and shall refer 
to it again.

Now we found the "Paths" symbolized a set of 
Universal Ideas, including all Colors. Likewise we 
shall find that the Ten Sephiroth have a corresponding 
symbolism.

Malkuth, the 10th Sephira, is the Sphere of the 
Elements (corresponding to the Mother Letters); the 
next Seven above Malkuth are attributed to the Solar 
System (or Planets, the Double Letters); Chokmah, the 
next higher, is the Sphere of the Zodiac or Fixed 
Stars; and Kether is the Pure Light and the Source of 
All as the Primum Mobile or First Motion. So we see 
that in a certain sense the Ten Sephiroth are equal to 
the Twenty-two Paths, and in order to Fix the Design in 
its Purity, we must be able to arrange these Diverse 
Sets of Ideas so that they blend together perfectly. 
That at first may seem like an impossibility; in fact 
for several hundred years the Qabalists have adopted an 
arrangement which entirely failed to produce this 
perfect Harmony and Order. 

How I was led to discover such an arrangement, has 
been fully shown in "Q.B.L." written last year, and its 
further proof is given in "The Egyptian Revival" to 
which I may refer those interested. The following 
figure is the completed results of those 
investigations:

[insert Figure XIX here -- Frater Achad's Tree of 
Life.]

It will be seen that the Paths of the Middle 
Pillar are made by the Three Mother Letters, which by 
shape form the Caduceus of Mercury, and these 
descending from Kether through the Sun and Moon 
(Tiphereth and Yesod) produce the Sphere of the 
Elements, or Malkuth. All the Planetary Letters except 
Kaph, which is attributed to Jupiter, the Father of the 
Gods, IO, will be seen to connect their Paths with the 
corresponding Planetary Sephiroth. The Twelve Letters 
attributed to the Signs of the Zodiac will each be 
found united with the Sephira of its Ruling Planet, 
even in cases such as Gemini and Virgo which are both 
ruled by Mercury; Libra and Taurus both ruled by Venus; 
etc. The one apparent exception (on account of the fact 
that all four paths leading to Chesed are properly 
occupied) is the case of Jupiter. But Jupiter, being 
the direct representative of Kether, and also by Tarot 
"The Wheel of Life," which exactly symbolizes the 
Primum Mobile, could not possibly be better placed in 
any case.

The fact that this Reformation of the Paths 
produces a wealth of fresh Symbolism and actually 
discloses the long lost Universal Tradition (as shown 
in "The Egyptian Revival") is alone sufficient 
justification for changing the arrangement, even though 
it may upset the ideas of certain people who have based 
the Rituals of their Secret Orders upon the old plan. 
But the Book of the Law, Liber Legis, clearly states: 
"Abrogate are all Rituals, all words and Signs; Ra-
Hoor-Khuit hath taken His seat in the East at the 
Equinox of the Gods." (1904 E.V.)

But this becomes even more essential when we 
recognize the necessity of Harmonizing the Paths with 
the Sephiroth as explained above, and "Success is thy 
proof," since this change has led to such marvelous 
fresh developments as will be seen before this book is 
concluded. We may remark, to Qabalists, that this 
represents the true reconciliation of the "Snake" and 
the "Sword," thus removing both the "tempter" and the 
"avenger" from the Gate of Eden; to which we should now 
be able to return in safety, to our great joy and 
comfort.

To return once more to the "discovery" of April 
14th, and the events which led up to it. I had been 
considering the Sun and all that It means to Humanity; 
how it is indeed the Golden Key to the Soul of the 
World, for this One Symbol contains in itself all 
"Trinities" of Symbolism. To the Soul of Mankind it has 
meant in the past all that is "good," all that is 
"evil," and all that is Divine and above these, 
according to the view taken by Man himself. The Sun is 
the True Son but the False Father. He is the Father of 
this Planet, but the Son of the Star Universe by its 
invisible Father. Those who worship the Sun (or Son) 
but fail to pass ON to the concealed father, fall into 
"Sin" which is Restriction. Those who obtain "Solar 
Dhyana" and go no further, become fanatics, however 
wonderful their illumination may seem. Thus the Sun is 
at once an Angel of Light, the Devil, and the Redeemer. 
For the Son spake truly when He said "No man cometh 
unto the Father but by me," but the worship and 
Deification of the Son in place of the Father has 
proved fatal enough to those who misunderstood.

With these, and many similar thoughts in mind, I 
was contemplating the "Tree of Life" when I thought of 
the idea of temporarily removing the supports and 
reciprocal paths, and leaving the Sun connected with 
the Sephiroth by means of direct rays, thus:

[insert figure XX here]

I then noticed a very interesting fact; that if, 
as it were, on the pivot of the Sun, the other 
Sephiroth were revolved and united, the result would be 
as follows: Kether would swing round and exactly cover 
Malkuth. Chokmah and Binah (Wisdom and Understanding) 
would unite and swing down so that their Circumference 
exactly half covered Malkuth and Kether, forming a 
Vesica as in the first problem of Euclid. Chesed, 
Geburah, Netzach and Hod would all swing down and cover 
Yesod, so that the whole figure would fold up thus:

[insert figure XXI here]

This suggested to my mind, the idea of One Cell; 
first in the process of Division, and then Divided 
except for a ray of Influence between the two. In other 
Words the Supreme Light one with Matter, dividing 
through Wisdom and Understanding, and becoming the Moon 
(Yesod) and the Sun (Tiphereth). Or, The Sun and Moon 
uniting and producing other symbolic ideas -- who can 
say?

Then, seeing the Vesica thus formed, I was led to 
consider its relation to the "Tree" in general, and 
seeing all folded up between Tiphereth and Malkuth, I 
especially noticed the Paths from Netzach to Yesod, and 
from Hod to Yesod, and saw that if these were produced 
to that they crossed each other as far as the lower 
part of the Circumference of Yesod, they would become 
the Generating Paths of another small "Tree" which 
would exactly extend from the Center of Yesod (as its 
Kether) to the lowest point of the Circumference of 
Malkuth (as its Malkuth), thus bringing the Yesod of 
the "Little Tree" exactly in the center of Malkuth in 
the Larger one, and Tiphereth of the Small one exactly 
on the upper line of the circumference of the larger 
Malkuth.

It must be remarked that Yesod is said to be the 
representative of the Generative Organs, when the 
"Tree" is considered in regard to its correspondence to 
man, and that Netzach and Hod represent the twin 
Spheres connected therewith. Thus the discovery that 
these produced a "New Tree" was startling enough, till 
I began to realize that this process would go on 
indefinitely, the "Trees" giving birth to smaller and 
smaller ones toward the Infinitely Small or, 
conversely, expanding into greater and greater ones 
without Limit towards the Infinitely Great. Thus the 
Tree was the veritable Representative of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, 
Lord of the Aeon, the Ever Coming Son of the Two 
Infinites.

Therewith I gave Praise unto Ra-Hoor-Khuit, and 
became Silent as Harpocrates, the twin of Horus which 
is hidden within Him. 

And I did well to be silent, for there was much 
more to be discovered (though I could not conceive it 
at the time). So I put aside the sketch of my first 
rough working, having signed and dated it, and left the 
matter alone for a while.

Herewith I include a drawing made from this first 
sketch, as a record of the discovery.

[insert figure XXII here]



Chapter V

We may now begin to understand what was meant by 
the next few words of the "Sepher Yetzirah" which 
states: "These Ten Numbers, beyond the universal One, 
have the boundless realms, boundless origin and end. . 
. ."

But we may turn aside for a moment, at this point, 
and consider the old system of the Qabalah, as 
perpetuated and expounded by the best commentators of 
the past.

Mention is made of the "Four Worlds" of the 
Qabalah. These are called Atziluth, the Archetypal 
World; Briah, the Creative World; Yetzirah, the 
Formative World; and Assiah, the Material World. These 
have been attributed to the Four Letters of the 
Ineffable Name IHVH. Sometimes these worlds have been 
allotted to the "Tree of Life" as follows: Atziluth and 
Yod (the Father) to Chokmah; Briah and He (the Mother) 
to Binah; Yetzirah and Vau (the Son) to Tiphereth as 
the King ruling over Chesed, Geburah, Netzach, Hod, and 
Yesod (thus embracing six Sephiroth); and finally 
Assiah, as the Daughter or second He, to Malkuth. In 
this plan "Kether" seems to have no place. Again, 
sometimes the whole "Tree" is considered as if it were 
represented on Four Planes, one above the other, or 
interpenetrating each other. In this case we get 40 
Sephiroth, Ten for each World; and for purposes of 
classification each Sephira was considered to contain 
another complete tree, so as to make in all 400, with a 
correspondingly great number of paths. This plan seems 
to have been little used for practical purposes; it is, 
of course, very complicated and difficult to conceive 
on Four Planes at the same time.

The only other attempt, that I am aware of, was to 
place the Diagram of one Tree above the other, so that 
the Kether of the Lowest touched the Malkuth of the 
next, and so on with the other two higher Worlds. Such 
an arrangement is shown in Mathers "Kaballah Unveiled," 
where the influences from the Archetypal World are 
shown descending, by means of arrows running along the 
Paths of the Flaming Sword (but, be it noted, there is 
no connecting path from Binah to Chesed on the Tree), 
and then through the Creative and Formative Worlds to 
Assiah, where the current ended in Malkuth of the 
Lowest Tree.

But no one seems to have shown a LIVING TREE with 
Its Roots in the Infinitely Small and its Branches 
spreading out to the Infinitely Great. Yet it is called 
the TREE OF LIFE. It would seem, in the past, it has 
been little better than the Tree of Knowledge of Good 
and Evil.

One can only account for Attainment by the Old 
System, as by the Grace of God. The "Paths" wrongly 
arranged (but the Sephiroth -- corresponding to Grades 
-- fortunately in perfect Order) were confusing rather 
than illuminating; the method of progress leading to 
the Horrors of "The Abyss" between Chesed and Binah. 
However, that makes little difference if my surmise is 
correct (as explained in "The Egyptian Revival") that 
during this Aeon, Wisdom and Understanding are directly 
projected upon the Children of Earth, and the Abyss 
definitely Bridged. 

But to return to the further development of this 
wonderful Plan. On Monday, April 16, I had occasion to 
visit a friend and Brother, who is a cunning craftsman 
and designer. He is a man of much intelligence, but not 
a deep Student of the Qabalah, his interest in this 
matter having dated from a cursory reading of "The 
Essence of the Practical Qabalah" followed by some 
study of "Q.B.L." a few weeks ago. I was impressed to 
ask his opinion of the New Plan, and found that he 
grasped its possibilities at once. We discussed it for 
some time and made a temporary sketch similar to the 
one I first drew (Fig. XXI). He offered to make me a 
careful drawing showing several progressions.

The following day I called upon him again, when we 
made some further experiments together, and discussed 
the proper proportion of the Diameters of the Sephiroth 
in their relation to the Paths. It was noticed that the 
Paths from Chesed to Tiphereth, and from Geburah to 
Tiphereth, would generate a similar "Tree" between 
Tiphereth and Yesod in addition to the one between 
Yesod and Malkuth. Then he was illuminated by the Idea 
that an intermediate "Tree" extending from the Center 
of Tiphereth to the Center of Malkuth should be formed, 
and another one half the size, between the Center of 
Yesod and the Center of Malkuth. This Idea produced 
startling results. The Second Tree was exactly Half the 
Height of the First, and the Third, Half that of the 
Second (perfect octaves).  The Size of the Sephiroth 
should progress accordingly, and be based upon the 
original generating Circles of the whole Tree. It was 
then found that the Kether of the Second was in the 
Center of the Tiphereth of the First, and its Tiphereth 
in the Yesod of the First, while its Malkuth was in the 
First Malkuth.

The Third "Tree" had its Kether in the Yesod of 
the First, and the Tiphereth of the Second; while its 
Malkuth was again in the Center of the Malkuth of Both. 
In other words, the CENTER of MALKUTH represented the 
INFINITELY SMALL, and the Triple Trees went on 
Increasing in Size by octaves to Infinity, while 
MALKUTH continued to EXPAND about its OWN CENTER.

The accompanying Plate will show this marvelous 
Plan in great clearness of detail.

At this point we must clearly realize that since 
the Plan of the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom is ever 
increasing in orderly progression towards the 
Infinitely Great, or Nuit, and at the same time 
contracting in the same proportions towards the 
Infinitely Small, or Hadit, the Concealed Father of 
All, it is no longer proper for us to talk of the 
Influence as ascending or descending. But, since the 
extremely minute is more quickly lost to view, and on 
account of the inconvenience and difficulty of making a 
drawing of a very small size, we must start from a 
Central Point in Malkuth, and discuss the subject as if 
the "Tree" were increasing in size from that Point.

Thus, for convenience, we shall now call the 
smallest visible Tree in our Design, the First, the 
next larger, the Second, and so on for the necessary 
number of progressions.

The Central Dot in Malkuth of the First Tree 
represents Hadit. This should be considered as an 
unextended Point of Light or Pure Essence of Being, the 
true complement of the Infinitely Great and unknown 
Body of Nuit which is beyond our utmost conception of 
the expansion of the Greatest Tree we can imagine.

The small Circle around this "Point" is Malkuth of 
the First Tree, and the Tree itself may, for 
convenience, be considered as _growing_up_out_of_ 
Malkuth_, just like any other tree in proper soil. The 
True Kether is concealed within this as the Essence of 
Life and Form is within the Seed. When we reach the 
"Manifested Kether" of the First Tree it will be very 
much like the _most_ perfect_fruit containing within it 
the "seed" of further progression.

We have been accustomed to consider the "Tree of 
Life" as _descending_ from_Kether_, but now that we 
realize that the "Tree" grows to Infinity, we cannot 
conceive of a starting point at the Top, so as to work 
downwards. We must start from the Center and work 
outwards and upwards.

It will not be possible for me to give all the 
details of this marvelous plan, but I may point out a 
few interesting features, leaving the Student to add 
the results of his own researches, as time goes on.

I am of course adopting the "Reformulated Plan of 
the Paths" but some may prefer to arrange them 
otherwise; it makes no difference to the general 
geometrical design. 

The Correspondences of Attributions of the First 
Tree will therefore remain exactly the same as 
previously given. Each aspirant will have to fulfill 
the necessary requirements of mastering the "Ideas" 
connected therewith, as before. He will have to Attain, 
as formerly, before the Fuller Consciousness comes to 
him; but there are additional "clues" to his progress 
which are most valuable.

For instance: If he commences his Journey by the 
Path of Aleph, the Pure Fool, leading from Malkuth to 
Yesod, when he has traveled _half-way_ up this Path, he 
will obtain an additional influx of Power from the 
corresponding Path on the _Second_Tree. He will have 
reached the circumference of the _Second_ Malkuth_. On 
arrival in Yesod, he will have contacted the 
circumference of _Malkuth_of_the_Third_Tree_.

Let us consider his progress up the Central Pillar 
first; supposing it to be possible for him thus to 
travel in perfect equilibrium from the start.

On the Path of Mem or "The Hanged Man," which is 
attributed to "Water," he will receive the additional 
Power of the "Air" from the Path of Aleph in the 
_Second_Tree_, till he reaches the First Tiphereth. 
That is to say, for instance, he will find a greater 
use for Pranayama; and so on. But before he enters 
Tiphereth he will already be receiving the benefit of 
the Influence of the Yesod of the _Second_Tree_, which 
he will have contacted after crossing the Reciprocal 
Path of "The Hierophant" or Taurus. All the way from 
the First Yesod to "The Abyss" he will be receiving the 
still higher power of Aleph of the _Third_Tree_.

As he beings his ascent from the First Tiphereth 
he will do so by the Path of "Shin" or "The Great 
Judgment." This is the Way of the Triple Spirit and of 
Fire, but thereon he will also feel the influence of 
"The Hanged Man" from the _Second_Tree_, as well as 
from "The Fool" of the _Third_.

On crossing the "Path of Death" he will leave 
behind him the influence of _Yesod_ of the 
_Second_Tree_, but half-way across the Abyss he will 
contact the Influence of the "Hierophant" of the 
_Second_, and at the same moment enter the sphere of 
_Yesod_of_the_Third_Tree_.

Next, he will cross the Path of the "Star" or 
Aquarius, on the primary Tree, contacting immediately 
the _Tiphereth_ of Tree Number Two, through the aura of 
which he passes on to the _First_Kether_Attainment.

During this journey up the Central Pillar, his 
original Malkuth will have doubled in diameter on the 
Path of Aleph, doubled again when he reached Yesod, 
again on reaching Tiphereth, and once more on his 
attainment to Kether, which then Crowns his Work.

Thus the First Kether Attainment is representative 
of the Fifth Visible Progression of the Sphere of 
Malkuth, after which the Aspirant begins to contact the 
Sixth progression of the Whole Tree, and from that 
point in his Career, every further progression of 
Malkuth will touch the center of a Higher Kether, to 
Infinity. But as the Sixth visible Progression of 
Malkuth contacts the Second visible Kether; the 
Seventh, the Third; and so on, there will always seem 
to be Four untraveled Trees between. It may be that 
these represent the "Four Worlds" of the Qabalah, and 
that he must in reality always progress in the Four 
Worlds simultaneously. 

It will be noticed that the Path of Beth, or 
Wisdom, leading from the first Malkuth to Hod, the 
Sphere of Mercury, contains, essentially, all the 
Powers of Mercury or "The Magician" to Infinity in that 
direction; since this Path leads to larger and larger 
"Hods" in regular sequence. 

Similarly, the Path of Daleth or Love, "The 
Empress," or Venus, leading to Netzach, continues to 
Infinity in that direction also. So we find all Love 
and Wisdom concentrated in the center of Malkuth. Since 
all the "Three Mothers," Aleph, Mem, and Shin, 
interblend on the Middle Pillar, these Powers are also 
fully concentrated in the Center of Malkuth, and 
conversely, proceed from It.

In regard to the other Paths and Sephiroth of the 
First Tree -- and this applies equally to All the Trees 
-- we may point out that Netzach and Hod will always be 
found in the exact Centers of the Paths of Venus and 
Mercury on the next larger Tree.

Chesed and Geburah are always exactly in the 
Centers of the Paths of Cancer, "The Chariot," and 
Luna, "The High Priestess," of the next larger Tree.

Chokmah and Binah will always have their Centers 
in Leo, the path of "Strength," and Gemini, or "The 
Lovers," of the next progressed Tree.

Kether always appears in the Center of the _next_ 
Tiphereth, and of the _following_ Yesod, to infinity. 
In other words, the Light is always within the Life of 
the Sun, and the Sun within the Body of the Moon.

The Reciprocal Path of "The Hierophant" will 
always have an influence horizontally across the Abyss 
of the next Tree below. The path of the "Hanged Man" 
will always leave Him suspended from the Reciprocal 
path of "The Star" or Aquarius of the "next" tree, 
while he is seen below Tiphereth on his own Tree. This 
is exactly where he is mystically _supposed_to_be_ 
according to the old system of the paths, although he 
was otherwise _assigned_.

It is a matter of almost unending interest to 
trace out these various combinations, but there are 
even more important considerations ahead of us. We must 
leave the Student to work things out in his own way, 
and pass on to wider fields of study.



Chapter VI

During the afternoon of April 17th, after 
obtaining a glimpse of the foregoing possibilities 
while discussing the details of this Plan, a still 
wider conception dawned upon me.

Since the Center of Malkuth has become the Point 
from which All proceeds, why should the Tree grow only 
in one Direction?

What we have been calling the "lower" part of the 
Tree is in the form of an Equilateral Triangle, and the 
Progression of the Trees only increases the size of 
this indefinitely. Surely there must be Six such Trees, 
forming a Star, and so filling every direction of two-
dimensional space.

This seemed to throw light on some little 
understood passages of the "Sepher Yetzirah," which I 
shall now further quote. It will be remembered that the 
last words we studied in that connection were: "These 
Ten Numbers, beyond the universal One, have the 
boundless realms, boundless origin and end," but the 
verse goes on: "an abyss of good and one of evil, 
boundless height and depth, East and West, North and 
South, and the one only God and King, faithful for ever 
seated on his throne, shall rule over all, for ever and 
ever."

This is striking evidence that our Plan is that 
which was intended to be conveyed by the Author of this 
mysterious treatise. I may now quote the remaining 
verses in the First Chapter, since these make the 
matter still clearer.

"These ten Sephiroth which are ineffable, whose 
appearance is like scintillating flames, have no end, 
but are infinite. The word of God is in them as they 
burst forth, and as the return; they obey the divine 
command, rushing along as a whirlwind, and returning to 
prostrate themselves at his throne."

This seems fairly understandable in the Light of 
the Two Infinites with the manifested Universe, Ever-
becoming, between Them.

"These ten Sephiroth which are, moreover, 
ineffable, have their end even as their beginning, 
conjoined, even as is a flame to a burning coal: for 
our God is superlative in his unity, and does not 
permit any second one. And who canst thou place before 
the only one?"

In other words, Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, are a 
Perfect Three in One.

"And as to this Decad of the Sephiroth, restrain 
thy lips from comment, and thy mind from thought of 
them, and if thy heart fail thee, return to thy place; 
therefore is it written 'The living creatures ran and 
returned,' and on this wise was the covenant made with 
us."

This means that since the "Tree" is everywhere the 
same in every part of space, once its general 
attributions are fixed in the mind, it is not well to 
confuse ourselves by too much attempt at progressed 
expansion of the idea. Rather we should return and 
contemplate the Center from which All proceeds, thus 
obtaining the Pure Essence Here and Now.

"These are the ten emanations of number. One is 
the Spirit of the Living God, blessed and more than 
blessed be the name of the Living God of the Ages. The 
Holy Spirit is his Voice, his Spirit, and his Word."

This is very similar to the instruction in Liber 
Legis: "Be thou Hadit my secret center, my heart and my 
tongue," but CCXX is a new Covenant, and goes much 
further than the old one recorded in the Sepher 
Yetzirah.

"Second, from the Spirit be made Air and formed 
for speech, twenty-two letters, three of which are 
mothers, A, M, Sh; seven are double, B, G, D, K, P, R, 
Th; and twelve are single, E, V, Z, Ch, T, I, L, N, S, 
O, Tz, Q; but the spirit is first among these. Third, 
PRIMITIVE WATER HE ALSO FORMED AND DESIGNED FROM HIS 
SPIRIT,  and from the void and formless made earth even 
as a rampart, or the standing wall, and VARIED ITS 
SURFACE AS THE CROSSING OF BEAMS. Fourth, from the 
Water, He designed Fire, and from it formed to himself 
a throne of honor, with the Auphanim, Seraphim, Holy 
Animals, and ministering Angels, and with these he 
formed his dwelling, as it is written in the text 'Who 
makest his angels spirits and his ministers a flaming 
fire.' (Psalm 104, v. 4)"

Note the reference to the design made from 
Primitive Water by the Spirit, and also about the 
"crossed beams" or Paths of the Tree. His thrones of 
Honor, are the Manifested Kethers. Holy animals refer 
to the Zodiac, etc.

"He selected three letters from the simple ones, 
and sealed them as forming his great Name IHV and he 
sealed the universe in SIX DIRECTIONS.

"Five. He looked above, and sealed the height, 
with IHV.

"Six. He looked below and sealed the deep with 
IVH.

"Seven. He looked forward, and sealed the East, 
with HIV.

"Eight. He looked backward, and sealed the West, 
with VHI.

"Nine. He looked to the right, and sealed the 
South, with VIH.

"Ten. He looked to the left, and sealed the North, 
with HVI.

"These are the ten ineffable existences, the 
Spirit of the Living God, Air, Water, Fire, Height and 
Depth, East and West, North and South."

So ends the first Chapter of this mysterious 
treatise, and there is little doubt that our Six-fold 
Star is the solution of the problem which has puzzled 
to Qabalists for so many Centuries. With its Center it 
forms the Heptad.

Let us now examine the Design of this wonderful 
new Star, as drawn in such minute detail. (See Plate 
B.)

A glorious vista opens before us -- Infinite Space 
in the Form of a _Pure_ Snow_Flake_. What could be a 
better way of "Fixing the Design in its Purity"? What 
more likely, since all things are said to have 
proceeded from the Primal Water under the action of 
Spirit, than that the Substance should Crystallize in 
_exactly_the_same_way_ that any drop of water, or any 
crystal, is found to take form under the direction of 
the lines of polar force which always form six 
radiating lines or axes in every rain drop which 
becomes a snow-flake?

Surely this is a pure enough conception of the 
beginning of all things and the infinite progression of 
this manifested universe. Scientifically it can hardly 
be denied. 

Thus the Pure Essence of the Soul of Man may also 
crystallize and become a Center of the Great Star. This 
may take place at any point in space and at any moment 
in time, for the Center of the Infinite is Everywhere 
and the Circumference Nowhere.

What a vista of Attainment opens up before every 
human being, for we have been told in Liber Legis: 
"Every man and every woman is a star." Also "Every 
number is infinite; there is no difference."

But let us consider a few more details of this 
Divine Plan. What changes have really occurred owing to 
our Multiplication of the Stone of the Wise?

Netzach and Hod and the Paths of Venus and Mercury 
-- which before were seen to progress directly to 
infinity -- have now _become_forever_united_. There is 
no difference; _Love_is_ever_under_Will_.

Again, these Combined Paths are exactly equal to 
the Paths of Aleph, Mem, and Shin which formed the 
equilibrated Middle Pillar, for the Father and Mother 
together equal the Child. _Every_Path_ radiating from 
the Center is now Equilibrated or Balanced.

The combined Sphere of Netzach-Hod or Venus-
Mercury is always to be found exactly between the 
Spheres of Binah and Chokmah of the Two Trees of the 
Scale below. Also the combined Paths of Venus-Mercury 
always lie exactly between the Spheres of Chesed and 
Geburah, or Mercy and Severity of the "Tree" below, and 
so on to Infinity.

All else remains the same, but there is no longer 
any possibility of unbalanced progress.

But we must not forget the instructions in Liber 
Legis, which is of the utmost importance. "The Khabs is 
in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs. Worship then the 
Khabs and behold my light shed over you!" We must 
Worship the Central Point which is concealed in Malkuth 
and in the Center of our Being; then only will the True 
Light of Infinity be shed upon us. If we fail in this, 
seeking in the outer, our minds fall back, failing to 
grasp that which is beyond our finite vision. "The 
Living Creatures run and return" and having returned, 
the Illusions of Space and Time are exchanged for the 
Everpresent Here and Now. The Introduction to this 
treatise should now be more clearly understandable to 
the average reader. We can see how the Light or Fruit 
of Light, the Six Kethers, are always First in Advance 
towards the Infinite without. Next follows the progress 
of the Life or Soul of Nature and of Man, then follows 
the regular progression of the Sphere of Malkuth in 
ever-widening Circles as "Matter" eats up "Form" and 
the "Form" comprehends the Efficient Cause, which is 
itself the manifestation of the Invisible Final Cause.

But Malkuth is also Nuit, for "Matter" or 
"Substance" is continuous, so it is equally true to say 
that she contracts upon Hadit the Invisible Center, or 
that He Expands towards Her Infinite Girth. Ra-Hoor-
Khuit, with His twin Hoor-Pa-Kraat hidden within Him, 
may be called Heru-Ra-Ha as the Crowned Child, the 
whole Manifest Universe in Time and Space, which is the 
Star 418.

This, too, is the Great Hexagram of the Macrocosm, 
but what of the Pentagram, the Microcosm, MAN?

Another great Mystery lies before us, needing only 
to be Brought to Light, as will be shown in the next 
Chapter.



Chapter VII

We have seen in the last Chapter how our original 
conception of "The Tree of Life" may be multiplied and 
crystallized into a Macrocosmic Snow Flake, or Six-fold 
Star. Let us now return to our first simple form of the 
"Tree" and examine it more carefully with a view to 
further discoveries.

We have been accustomed to look upon this as 
representing a flat two-dimensional surface, but we 
were not necessarily correct in our supposition.

In reality we have been looking at the front 
surface of a _Triangular_ _Crystal_Prism_,  and what we 
saw was not all in one plane. The "sides" of the Tree 
are but two angles of an equilateral solid; the third 
angle, at the back, is invisible, being completely 
hidden by the Paths of the Central Pillar.

This Central Pillar is not level with the front 
surface, but is the _Core_ of the prism. Kether is the 
Apex of a pyramid whose base is equilateral. Malkuth is 
at the lower point of a descending pyramid, all four 
sides of which are equilateral, thus forming a 
Tetrahedron.

Tiphereth and Yesod are both embedded in the 
solid, and the Paths of the "Three Mothers" are 
_interior_ channels.

Looking at the "Tree" in the ordinary manner, we 
should have to realize that only the Three Reciprocal 
Paths, and the Four Paths forming the Side Pillars, are 
actually on the level surface before us. There are, 
however, three Reciprocal Paths of each kind, viz.: 
nine in all, for there are two others, in each case, 
which retreat and meet at the third angle of the prism. 
There is another pair of vertical Paths, similar to 
those at the sides, but concealed at the back of the 
solid.

Instead of there being only two Paths from Kether 
to Chokmah and Binah, there are _three_, one sloping 
away to the concealed angle at the back. The triangular 
surface we see is not vertical, but _slopes_back_ 
towards Kether.

[insert figure XXIII here]

The Paths from Chokmah and Binah to Tiphereth also 
slope inward to the central core of the prism, and 
there is a third Path from the angle at the back.

The four visible Paths from Chesed, Geburah, 
Netzach, and Hod to Tiphereth are likewise sloping 
within the solid and there are in addition two 
invisible Paths at the back.

The Paths from Netzach and Hod to Yesod also 
incline inward, since Yesod is at the core of the Tree. 
Again there is another similar Path concealed, which 
slopes down from the angle at the back. 

The surface of the Triangle formed by the Paths 
connecting Netzach, Hod, and Malkuth, is not vertical, 
but falls away towards the back, and there are two 
similar surfaces connected with the concealed Sphere of 
Netzach-Hod behind the solid figure. 

This at first may seem confusing, but it can be 
more clearly explained by means of diagrams and plates. 

Let us imagine that we have ascended above the 
Tree and are looking directly down upon Kether. From 
this position we should perceive a triangular figure as 
shown in the diagram:

[insert figure XXIV here]

The nearest point to us will be Kether and the 
other three Spheres at a lower level. The three 
triangular surfaces slope away from Kether to the 
Spheres at the angles.

But what are these Three Spheres and Six Paths, 
upon which we have been looking? Our conception of the 
Tree must undergo a remarkable change. The three 
bounding Paths are all equally that of Tzaddi, 
Aquarius, or "The Star." The Three Spheres are each 
equally both Chokmah and Binah. The Three Paths 
connecting with Kether are each equally Jupiter and 
Saturn, or Kaph and Tau, or "The Wheel" and "The 
Universe." In other words, THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY 
PAIRS OF OPPOSITES, and there never were in reality. 
Each idea is only true insofar as it contains its own 
opposite. So the Sphere we called Chokmah always 
concealed it Binah, and Binah its Chokmah, and so on. 
While we thought the Tree represented a flat surface we 
could not realize how these apparently opposite Spheres 
could in reality be one and the same, but now that we 
have discovered the Third Angle of the Prism, they are 
at once unified without difficulty.

Also the former Reciprocal Paths have now become 
the Boundaries of the Solid Figure, and represent a 
sectional plane through it. The natures of the opposite 
Paths are also unified, and they convey the Single 
Influence of Kether to the Dual Spheres they connect 
therewith.

Let us now include Tiphereth in our conception, 
and at the same time imagine that we are looking at the 
solid from the front, but that it has been twisted 
round slightly, so as to make the concealed angle 
clearer.

We now see how the Paths of Resh and Ayin or "The 
Sun" and "The Devil," are _triple_, yet _one_. These 
conflicting ideas have disappeared in a harmonious 
combination. The Path of Shin, the Holy Spirit, at the 
core of the Figure uniting Kether and Tiphereth, 
remains single.

What were the Pillars of Mercy and Severity, are 
now no longer opposed to one another, for there are 
Three Bounding Pillars, as well as the Central One.

There are Three Chesed-Geburahs, and Three 
Netzach-Hods. The Paths of Samek and Pe, or 
"Temperance" and "The Tower," are now united, as are 
those of Lamed and Yod, or "Justice" and "The Hermit."

If we were next to take a section through the 
"Tree" at the line formed by the Path of Nun, or 
"Death," and remove the upper portion, while 
_looking_down_ upon the remainder we should see:

[insert figure xxvi here]

The bounding lines, nearest to us, would be the 
Three Paths of Nun with the Three Spheres of Chesed-
Geburah at the angles. Tiphereth would be somewhat 
lower down, and the Three Paths of He-Qoph, or Aries-
Pisces, would slope towards it. The small triangle near 
the center would be the lower part of the three paths 
of the Resh-Ayin triad. 

If we cut through the prism at the Path of Vau, or 
"The Hierophant" while still _looking_down_ at the 
remainder, we should see:

[insert figure xxvii here]

Yesod in the Center, somewhat below the bounding lines 
and Spheres of the triple paths of Vau and the three 
Netzach-Hods. In this instance there would be no small 
triad in the center, since there are not paths 
equivalent to those mentioned in regard to the upper 
section.

But if from this position we looked _up_ at the 
section above, we should see:

[insert figure xxviii here]

The same Spheres and Paths bounding the figure, but 
Tiphereth would appear in the center, connected by the 
triple paths of Teth-Zayin, or "The Lion-Lovers," 
corresponding to Leo-Gemini. 

Finally, should we look up at the whole Tree from 
below Malkuth, we should perceive:

[insert figure XXIX here]

Malkuth in the Center, nearest to us, with the Triple 
Path, or Plane, of the "Hierophant" some distance 
above. These would be connected by the triple Paths of 
Beth-Daleth, Mercury-Venus, or "The Magician-Empress."

Thus, in every instance, would the "pairs of 
opposites" be truly mated and resolved into a unified 
triplicity, in three dimensions. 

The accompanying Plate shows the whole "Prismatic 
Tree" with its 13 Spheres and 36 Paths, quite clearly. 
The whole number is 49, which again returns to Unity as 
13. 49 also represents the square of seven, and the 
Hebrew Word for "Solve'" (See plate "C" and study 
carefully.)

We may now consider approximately what would be 
the impression received by one who took an "Astral 
Journey" up through the Central Core of this Triple 
Tree.

Starting from Malkuth by the Path of Aleph, or The 
Fool, the astral form would travel vertically upwards, 
with a consciousness of being surrounded by the 
combined influences of Mercury-Venus perfectly blended, 
while the surrounding "space" would take the form of an 
ever-increasing triangle, till Yesod was reached. At 
this juncture he would feel the concentrated essence of 
the forces from the Paths of Cancer-Luna ("The Chariot-
High Priestess" or Pure Balanced Aspiration) while yet 
his consciousness continued to expand till he reached 
the full limits of the equilateral triangle bounded by 
the paths of "The Hierophant." From Yesod onward to 
this point he would partake of the Mystery of the 
"Hanged Man" (Primitive Water) till the Influence of 
the Hierophantic Plane began to initiate him into its 
deeper Meanings. As he continued by this Path of Mem 
his field of consciousness would remain extended to its 
limits, held there by the Forces of Yod-Lamed or "The 
Hermit and Justice," while, at the same time, there 
would be a contraction due to the influence of the 
Triple Paths of Zayin-Teth which would concentrate his 
Soul in Tiphereth. 

Rising above Tiphereth his Soul would expand to 
the limits of his field of consciousness by means of 
the Paths of He-Qoph (or Aries-Pisces), while he would 
also have contacted the Influence of the Holy Spirit in 
the Central Path of Shin. This would expand within the 
Soul, under the influence of the triple Paths of Ayin-
Resh (or Capricorn-Sol). Passing through the Plane of 
"Death" or Scorpio, he would ascend till his Spiritual 
Consciousness expanded to the limits of his Soul 
Consciousness, which would have been affected, 
meanwhile, by the Paths of Pe-Samek or Mars-Sagittarius 
("The Tower - Temperance") and presently he would reach 
the Plane of "The Star" (Tzaddi or Aquarius) where his 
Soular and Spiritual Fields of Consciousness would be 
equally extended, while the Spirit would steadily Flame 
in the Core of his Being.

Then, after contacting the Triple Influence of 
Chokmah-Binah, his whole Field of Consciousness, on all 
Planes, would gradually contract along the Paths of 
Kaph-Tau upon Kether, upon reaching which, he would 
suddenly find Himself once more in Malkuth, which is 
the Body of Nuit, concentrated upon the Inner Light of 
the Khabs, the only veil of Hadit, the Flame in every 
Heart of Man and in the Core of every Star.

He would then arise as a truly Enlightened Being, 
clothed in a body of Flesh, ready to go forth and do 
his pleasure among the living. As it is written in the 
Ritual of Mercury: "I travel upon high, I tread upon 
the Firmament of Nu, I raise a flashing-flame with the 
Lightning of Mine Eye; ever rushing on in the Splendor 
of the daily Glorified Ra; giving my life to the 
dwellers of Earth."

Truly will he have learned the meaning of 49, 
which is Solve'.



Chapter VIII

Having briefly discussed the "Tree of Life" in its 
Prismatic form, we should now pass on to a 
consideration of its "Multiplication" and "Projection"; 
for we have indeed found it to be "The Stone of the 
Wise."

This Crystal Stone is capable of indefinite 
increase or decrease, very much in the same manner as 
was found possible in regard to the flat two-
dimensional figure.

The Center of Malkuth will once more be our 
starting point, and now we shall find the smallest Tree 
will be within the next larger one, and so on. (See 
Plate D.)

The Central Core of this Prismatic Tree will 
always consist of Malkuth, Yesod, Tiphereth, and 
Kether, united by the Three Channels of Aleph, Mem, and 
Shin. These will be found to combine and recombine as 
the "Tree" progresses in size. The Kether of the 
smallest Tree will always be embedded in the Tiphereth 
of the next larger, and these two again in Yesod of the 
next. The triplication of the Tree makes little 
difference to these Sephiroth and Paths, but we shall 
find it affects some of the others.

The Three Netzach-Hods of the smallest Tree will 
appear as spheres in the center of the Three Venus-
Mercury Paths of the next larger, and so on, 
indefinitely. 

The Three Chesed-Geburahs of the smallest Tree 
will form similar spheres in the centers of the Triple 
Channels of Cancer-Luna of the next Tree.

The Three Chokmah-Binahs will likewise be found in 
the centers of the Three Channels of Leo-Gemini, and so 
on. These last named spheres will always be half way 
embedded in the surface of the Sphere of Yesod of the 
next larger Prismatic Tree.

The Student should trace out these correspondences 
for himself, making a careful study of the accompanying 
Plate D, while endeavoring to form a complete mental 
picture of these Prismatic Trees.

We are now prepared to take another step in the 
development of this marvelous Plan, but first let us 
return for a moment to the contemplation of the design 
of our "Crystalline Snow-Flake" as shown in Plate B.

In dealing with the two-dimensional aspect of the 
Work, we found upon combining SIX of the flat "Trees" 
we obtained a Hexagonal Figure of Sixfold-Star. This 
symbolism is that of the Macrocosm. What will be the 
result of our combining a number of the solid Prismatic 
Trees?

Upon experiment we find in this instance that they 
do not combine in six-fold arrangement as before, but 
that FIVE such Prisms taken together form a perfect 
Pentagon, the center of which is Malkuth and the 
bounding lines all representing the Paths of Taurus or 
"The Hierophant." The lines connecting the Spheres at 
the five angles, which are all Netzach-Hods, will each 
be Paths of Venus-Mercury.

Of course, looking at the solid figure from this 
angle, Malkuth is nearer to us than the Netzach-Hod 
Spheres, for the latter are connected by the retreating 
Paths of Venus-Mercury. In addition to this Pentagon we 
should also see something of the remainder of the five 
solid Trees, in perspective, as they spread out behind 
or away from us.

The Great Work, as symbolized in the Word of the 
Aeon, ABRAHADABRA, has always consisted in finding the 
equivalence between the Microcosm and the Macrocosm, or 
the formula 5 = 6. Here we find a higher aspect of the 
Work, for this solid Figure is built up on purely 
Microcosmic Lines of Five Solids to a section. But we 
have now discovered a "Rose"  capable of extension in 
Five Directions to Infinity, and containing within 
itself all the Correspondences, with powers of 
indefinite multiplication.

Such a figure is not capable of filling the whole 
of Space, but when we take FOUR such sections and 
combine them, we are able to make the Complete Three 
Dimensional Solid, which will extend in every direction 
as the Trees Progress in Size, thus completely filling 
all known space. Such a figure is composed of Twenty of 
our original Prismatic Trees, and 20 is the numeration 
of IVD, the basic letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, and 
the First Letter of the Ineffable Name. It is also the 
Numeration of the Letter Kaph, which corresponds to 
"The Wheel of Life" and the Father IU-Pater.

When these are so combined, the central Point of 
Malkuth is completely embedded in the Center of the 
Figure (unless it be built of actual Crystals, in which 
case we should be able to get a glimpse of it).

The accompanying plate showing the "Projection" of 
the Stone, will make the matter clear to the Student, 
and open up a wonderful vista to his mind.

We have now a figure capable of progression in 
twenty directions. The true Kether is concealed within 
the Malkuth at the Center, and this expands spherically 
as the size of the solid increases.

We have 20 Projecting Kethers representing the 
Forerunners of Light, followed by 60 Chokmah-Binahs and 
60 Chesed-Geburahs. Then follow 20 Tiphereths concealed 
in the cores of the Prisms and representing the 
Substance of the Light which is the Soul or Life. We 
are able to perceive only 12 Netzach-Hods, for these 
have now united into groups of five dual spheres in 
one. Within the cores of the prisms, next follow 20 
Yesods, while a single Malkuth is at the Central Point 
of All.

We have, therefore, One Hundred and Ninety-Three 
Spheres in all, connected with the un-progressed 
figure, and this number reduces to Thirteen, which is 
Unity. 193, it may be remarked, is also a prime number.

There are 60 Paths equivalent to Iu-Pater-Saturn; 
60 which correspond to Aquarius; 60 to Sagittarius-
Mars; 60 to Scorpio; and 60 to Virgo-Libra.

But there are only 30 representing Taurus or "The 
Hierophant" since these have now combined in pairs.

Thus we have 330 Visible Paths.

There are	20 Invisible Paths of Air.

		20 Invisible Paths of Water.

		20 Invisible Paths of Fire or Spirit.

		60 Invisible Paths of Sol-Capricorn.

		60 Invisible Paths of Leo-Gemini.

		60 Invisible Paths of Cancer-Luna.

But only 12 Invisible Paths of Venus-Mercury.

Thus we have 252 Invisible Paths in all. The Paths 
of the Tree were always attributed to The Serpent; it 
is strange that these invisible Paths should be 252, 
which is the numeration of the Hebrew word MAVRH, 
meaning "The Serpent's Den."

The Total number of Paths in the complete figure 
is thus 330 plus 252 which is 582. 330, the number of 
visible Paths is equivalent to the Hebrew word MTzR 
meaning: Boundary, Terminus, or Crosspath. 582 reduces 
to 15, the numeration of IH that Father and Mother of 
the Ineffable Name, or if further reduced we get 6, 
which is equivalent to V, the Son. IHV, it will be 
remembered, represent the three simple letters which, 
according to the Sepher Yetzirah, were chosen by God as 
His Name in the Six Directions.

The total number of Sephiroth and Paths is 193 
plus 582 = 775. This reduces to 10, and therefore to 
Unity.

But the Points of the 20 Kethers are so arranged 
as to form when connected, TWELVE perfectly regular 
Pentagons. Thus the whole structure indicates a perfect 
DODECAHEDRON   and, when enclosed in the circumscribing 
SPHERE, touches it a eighty points. The whole solid may 
be considered as capable of expansion by means of the 
progression of the unit "Trees" as explained before. 
Likewise, it is possible to imagine the reduction or 
contraction of the whole figure upon the Infinitely 
Small. (See Plate E.)

We have therefore discovered in the "Tree of 
Life," properly Multiplied and Projected according to 
the Art of the Wise, what may well be looked upon as 
the Anatomy of the Body of God, or the natural 
structure of Matter under the Influence of the 
Concealed Spirit. Thus the "Unknown Warrior" who made 
some such assertion in the presence of Frater 
Perdurabo, and earned such scant praise, may have been 
inspired to a degree he, himself, little realized. 

The following quotation from "The Two Creation 
Stories" by James S. Forrester-Brown throws valuable 
light upon the conception of the Tree of Life as the 
Anatomy of the Body of God.

"When the Divine Will is born in the heart of a 
human soul, true free-will begins, for will is only 
free when in accord with the Great Will. Knowledge 
follows, and life becomes full of meaning and 
purposeful activity. The drama of the formal life (the 
tree of knowledge) develops in terms of the Higher Will 
(the tree of life), so that daily happenings appear to 
lift the veil from universal truths, illuminating the 
life. When the tree of knowledge and tree of life, 
reason and intuition, the personal and the universal, 
are harmoniously united in the individualized soul, the 
daily life becomes the moving image and expression of 
the living Soul of the universe.

"We may think of the tree of life as the arteries 
of the Great Cosmic Body. Through these arteries, as 
along channels, the cosmic Life pulses forth with every 
heart beat of the Great Person. This is a very deep 
mystery. Until this Life is caught up by each 
individualized soul and returns through himself to the 
Great Cosmic Person, flowing back along the veins of 
the Great Body, there is no possibility of the power 
within the separated soul affecting the Great Person. 
Moreover, unless a counter-current is set up, the Life 
flows past the soul, and this does not truly live. The 
individualized soul requires to fashion capillaries 
throughout his nature and keep them in use, to allow of 
the return flow through them into the cosmic veins. 
That this shall be established he must, greatly daring, 
yet with awe and humility, seek to know the nature of 
God and of man and the relation between them. When he 
is able to see himself as he actually is, he realizes 
with a sense of abasement the imperfections and 
impurities of his complex personality, and the 
immediate necessity to turn from death unto Life. This 
does no imply a purely temporary repentance, but a 
Great Act of turning back, which cleanses the entire 
life of the soul and establishes organized relations 
with the Cosmic Person, making it possible for the 
"Christ" consciousness to be born "from Above" within 
the soul.

"The tree of knowledge is then seen as the veins 
of the Great Body along which flow back the counter-
currents carrying the fruitage of the time-order, and 
thus the tree of life, with its arteries along which 
cosmic life is "timelessly" propelled from the Great 
Heart, is complemented. The two trees 'in the midst of 
the garden' become united within the Cosmic Heart and 
Body, the 'Eden' of the Great Person, and the 'Christ' 
consciousness is complete.

"The tree of life may also be thought of as the 
tree of universal life growing round and encompassing 
the individual soul. When that tree is truly one with 
the tree of phenomenal self, the tree of knowledge, 
then the abstract and the concrete, the ideal and the 
actual are one, and their fruits are the living powers. 
From this universal-personal tree spring all the 
virtues, and on it they blossom and ripen. They are the 
fruits of temporal experience, containing the seeds of 
eternal Life, and, as such, correspond to the disciples 
of one's own 'Christ within' at the final Consummation.

"In the Apocryphal literature, Michael, Archangel 
of the Sun, is set over the tree which, at the time of 
the great judgment (note the position of "The Judgment" 
as Shin on the Tree. Achad.), is given over to the 
righteous, who obtain Life from its fruit. This is the 
tree of universal life, now one with the personal tree 
in the region of material existence."



Chapter IX

Let us now make a brief resume of our work, so as 
to keep in mind a clear conception of the various 
stages through which it has passed; but in order to 
show the progress that has been made in the solution of 
the Mysteries of the Holy Qabalah, we may look back a 
few years in order to see more clearly the results of 
the influence of the New Aeon and the rapid strides 
which have been made since its incoming in the year 
1904 E.V.

In the year 1886, which happens to be that of the 
birth of the present writer, Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, Hon. 
Magus of the Soc. Ros. in Ang., translated the ancient 
treatise known as the "Sepher Yetzirah" into English, 
and read the results of his pioneer work before the 
Hermetic Society in London. In 1887 his work was 
published in a limited edition of 100 copies by Robert 
H. Fryar of Bath, England.

Commenting upon Verses 9-10-11 of Chapter I, which 
have been quoted in full in Chapter VI of the present 
treatise and which described how IHV looked above and 
sealed its height, below and sealed its depth, etc., 
Dr. Westcott gives the following diagrams together with 
the words, "Note the description of the Decad. First a 
tetrad is formed, then a hexad." And that was all the 
explanation which seemed necessary, or was forthcoming, 
at the time. Not in any spirit of criticism, but, as 
stated above, in order to show the real progress which 
has been made, we should compare the simple diagram of 
the "hexad" with Plate B of the present work, and we 
can hardly fail to notice signs of genuine advance in 
Qabalistic thought during the last 37 years.

[insert figure XXXIII here]

But the ancient Sepher Yetzirah itself, although 
giving a possible indication of this six-fold 
development as being present in the mind of the writer, 
or compiler, in the distant past, contains little that 
could be construed as an indication of the further 
development of the Idea in three-dimensional form as 
suggested by the present author. There is a verse in 
Chapter II which reads: "These twenty-two letters, the 
foundations, He arranged as on a sphere, with two 
hundred and thirty-one modes of entrance. If the sphere 
be rotated forwards, good is implied, if in a 
retrograde manner, evil is intended," but it is 
doubtful if this can be thought to indicate the 
formation of the Dodecahedron and its infinite 
progression or expansion. Rather we are inclined to 
think we have taken a step not previously written of, 
or contemplated in any of the old treatises on the 
subject.

In May of last year (1922 E.V.), as the result of 
a series of Initiations of a very direct nature, dating 
particularly from June 21st, 1916, and developing on 
different Planes, December 21st, 1917, September to 
October, 1918, April 1921, etc., the present writer 
obtained a clue to a new intellectual conception of the 
Qabalistic Plan. It seemed that although the 10 
Sephiroth were in proper order and arrangement, the 
"Paths" could be changed to great advantage, and this 
resulted in the publication of "Q.B.L." or The Bride's 
Reception, which was an attempt to show clearly the old 
methods, and contained the new ideas in the form of an 
Appendix.

Meanwhile, in April of this year, he was led to 
discover a much more harmonious explanation of the Keys 
of the Tarot when they were arranged on the Tree 
according to the Revised Order of the Paths. The 
results of this investigation have been recorded in 
"The Egyptian Revival," to which I must refer the 
reader. I may say that this book seems an indication of 
the revival of the lost Universal Tradition of the 
Golden Age and explains the nature of the present 
Egyptian Revival in a reasonable manner.

This work led on to the discoveries recorded in 
the present treatise, which may be briefly summed up as 
follows:

The Tree of Life in its regular and simple form 
has been taken as the basis of our work, but the 
revised order of the Paths adopted, as the one which 
seems most reasonable. 

It became apparent that the due proportions of the 
parts of the Tree had not previously been taken into 
serious consideration as of vital importance to the 
study of the matter. Examples of the designs of "Trees" 
in well known works on the subject, show great 
variation in this respect. 

We discovered that the basis of the Tree was the 
Equilateral Triangle, the Vesica Piscis and the 
rectangle formed on its length and breadth. These were 
shown to have marvelous properties which have been 
sufficient to interest and impress some of the most 
learned and wise men of past history, and upon which 
the style of Gothic Architecture is wholly based. But 
the fact that the Qabalistic "Tree of Life" in its 
entirety partook of these same marvelous properties, 
came to use as a new revelation.

We found that the "Tree" was not fixed, but 
capable of indefinite expansion or contraction, so that 
it truly lived, and that all our "Ideas" and 
"Correspondences" based thereon, were similarly capable 
of indefinite progress, thus enabling the mind of man 
to expand or contract at will, without interfering with 
its balanced and equilibrated arrangement once the Plan 
of the Tree had become firmly rooted therein.

We then discovered that, as indicated in the 
"Sepher Yetzirah," this plan could be multiplied when 
arranged as an ever-increasing Hexagon, based upon the 
progression of SIX TREES reflected in the Height, 
Depth, North, South, East, and West. This we found to 
be the design of the naturally crystallized snowflake, 
and it gave us the means of filling all two-dimensional 
Space.

We further discovered that the Original Tree might 
be considered as a Prismatic Solid in Three Dimensions 
and that FIVE such prisms formed a perfect pentagonal 
figure when united. In other words the means of 
changing the Hexagram into the Pentagram is through a 
transition from 2 to 3 dimensions, as can be simply 
shown if we take a piece of paper, cut into a perfect 
Hexagon, or Hexagram, and then make another cut from 
one point to the center, as in the following diagram.

[insert figure xxxiv here]

We shall find that this piece of paper will fold 
into a perfect Pentagon or Pentagram if we slide one 
half of the divided point "A" under the figure till it 
coincides with "B," thus raising the center of the 
figure into the third dimension.

Four of these blocks of Five Trees were found to 
form a solid capable of progression in all directions 
so as to fill every dimension of known space, and the 
nature of the whole figure was found to be that of a 
perfect Dodecahedron  or Twelve-fold figure, each side 
of which is a perfect Pentagon. Perhaps this represents 
the Tree in the Midst of the Garden  having Twelve 
manner of Fruits. Each of the surfaces being 
Pentagonal, represents a Microcosm or Type of Man and 
may be attributed to one of the Twelve Signs of the 
Zodiac, Twelve Tribes, Apostles, Knights of the Round 
Table, etc.

At the Center of All is Malkuth, so that this is 
indeed the "Closed Palace of the Bride," the secrets of 
which were promised as a reward to those who succeeded 
in interpreting the Mysteries of the New Aeon.

This Prismatic and Crystalline conception of the 
"Tree" is perhaps the reward mentioned in Liber Legis 
of those who have passed the "Third Ordeal." Chapter 
III states:

"63. The fool readeth this Book of the Law and its 
comment: and he understandeth it not.

"64. Let him come through the first ordeal, and it 
will be to him as silver.

"65. Through the second, gold.

"66. Through the third, stones of precious water.

"67. Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of the 
infinite fire.

"68. Yet to all it shall seem beautiful. Its 
enemies who say not so, are mere liars.

"69. There is success."

But what of the ultimate sparks of the intimate 
fire? Who knows! There may be yet some further 
revelation before all is accomplished. But to my mind 
this refers to the Mystery of Hadit, the Concealed 
Center, the Lost Father, Who is the Core of every Star, 
and the Flame that burn in every heart of man. For, 
since the Universe is the Child of the Two Infinites, 
every point in space is equally the Center of the 
Whole, and the Spirit of God is in each of us, as an 
ultimate spark of the intimate fire.

But, in any case, we have progressed, and we have 
discovered a strange new interpretation of the 
prophetic words of "Liber A'Ash," which states:

"This chain reaches from Eternity to Eternity, 
ever in triangles -- is not my symbol a triangle? -- 
ever in circles --  is not the symbol of the Beloved a 
circle? Therein is all progress base illusion, for 
every circle is alike and every triangle alike!

"But the progress is progress, and progress is 
rapture, constant, dazzling showers of light, waves of 
dew, flames of the hair of the Great Goddess, flowers 
of the roses that are about her neck, Amen!"



Chapter X

After this brief resume we may once again turn our 
thoughts to the main results of our researches as 
summed up on the Dodecahedron within the perfect 
Sphere.

It would almost seem that our original Qabalistic 
conceptions have led us out of the realm of thought 
usually linked with the Hebrew Qabalah into an 
atmosphere of Intelligibles which is associated with 
the philosophy of the Masters in ancient Greece. Or, we 
may say, as our conceptions have expanded towards the 
Universal, we have contacted another set of teachings, 
thus uniting Hebrew and Greek thought.

Plato informs us in his _Republic_: "Geometry 
rightly treated is the knowledge of the Eternal," and 
he is reported by Plutarch to have said that "God is 
always geometrizing." Nor was the conception of the 
Universe in the form of the Dodecahedron unknown to 
Plato, for in his _Timaeus_ this idea is clearly 
indicated.

But just how this solid figure was built up so as 
to symbolize the Universe in all its details, if known 
to the ancients, was not revealed. Let us see, however, 
what hints are to be found in the writings of other 
authorities. 

Proclus, in his Introduction to Books II and III 
of Plato's _Republic_, says: "But the former (Vulcan) 
artificially fabricated the whole sensible order, and 
filling it with physical reasons and powers. He also 
fashioned _twenty_tripods_ about the heavens, that he 
may adorn them with the most perfect of the many sided 
figures and fabricates various and many-formed 
sublunary species." To which Thomas Taylor, the great 
Cambridge Platonist, adds, "Viz.: the dodecahedron, 
which is bounded by twelve equal and equilateral 
pentagons, and consists of twenty solid angles, of 
which the tripods of Vulcan are images; for every angle 
of the dodecahedron is formed from the junction of 
three lines."

There are several references to the dodecahedron 
in Madam Blavatsky's _Secret_Doctrine_, among which the 
following is of special interest. "The most distinct 
and the one prevailing idea, found in all ancient 
teaching, with reference to Cosmic Evolution and the 
first 'creation' of our Globe with all its products, 
organic and inorganic -- strange word for an Occultist 
to use! -- is that the whole Kosmos has sprung from the 
Divine Thought. This Thought impregnates Matter, which 
is co-eternal with the One Reality; and all that lives 
and breathes evolves from the Emanations of the One 
Immutable Parabrahman-Mulaprakriti, the Eternal One-
Root. The former of these, in its aspect of the Central 
Point turned inward, so to say, into regions quite 
inaccessible to human intellect is Absolute 
Abstraction; whereas, in its aspect as Mulaprakriti the 
Eternal Root of All, it gives one at least some hazy 
comprehension of the Mystery of Being.

"Therefore, it was taught in the inner temples 
that the visible Universe of Spirit and Matter is but 
the Concrete Image of the Ideal Abstraction; it was 
built on the Model of the First Divine Idea. Thus, our 
Universe existed from eternity in a latent state. The 
Soul animating this purely Spiritual Universe is the 
Central Sun, the highest Deity Itself. It was not the 
One who built the concrete form of the idea, but the 
First Begotten; and, as it was constructed on the 
geometrical figure of the dodecahedron the First 
Begotten 'was pleased to employ 12,000 years in its 
creation.' "

It would seem, from the above, that the "Model of 
the First Divine Idea" may have been very much in 
harmony with the ideal Formative Principle we have been 
studying.

This conception of the Universe as a Dodecahedron 
appears if not to have originated with Plato, to have 
first been mentioned by him in his writings. All the 
references I have so far discovered in connection with 
the idea, can be traced back to this source. Mr. Harley 
Burr Alexander, of the University of Nebraska, makes 
some interesting remarks in this connection (Nature and 
Human Nature, P. 378). " 'We must conceive,' says 
Plato, 'of three natures: first, that which is in 
process of generation, and this would be the world of 
nature as we experience it; second, that in which the 
generation takes place, and this is the recipient or 
matrix of nature; and third, that of which the 
generated world is an image, and this is the cosmic 
reason or form. We may liken the receiving principle to 
a mother, and the source or spring to a father, and the 
intermediate nature to a child,' he says, and we think 
immediately of the mythopoetic union of Earth and 
Heaven and the Life of Nature which is its offspring. 
But for Plato this is a mere trope; he does not rest 
without being scientifically explicit. 'There are three 
kinds of being: that which is uncreated and 
indestructible, changeless, eternal, imperceptible to 
any sense, open only to the contemplation of the 
intelligence, and this is the principle of the Father, 
the ideal or formal essence of the world; again, that 
which is sensible and created and always in motion, the 
Child, the world of change and life; and finally, there 
is a third nature, the Mother, which, like the Father, 
is eternal and admits not of destruction, which 
provides a home for all created things, and is 
apprehended 'without the help of sense, by a kind of 
spurious reason, and is indeed hardly real.' This 
nature is space, and we beholding as in a dream, say of 
all existence that it must of necessity be in some 
place and occupy a space, but that what is neither in 
heaven nor in earth has no existence.

"This mothering space which is hardly real, yet is 
the cause of the determinism of nature, Plato 
identifies as the material element of being. As pure 
matter, it is purely indeterminate, but it is receptive 
of all determinations. The four elements, earth, air, 
fire and water, are formed from it, for 'the mother 
substance becomes earth and air, insofar as she 
receives the impressions of them.' Plato's conception 
of the formation of these elements from the original 
substance was as purely mathematical as are our modern 
physical notions. 'God fashioned them by form and 
number,' he says: and the forms which he assigned were 
the forms of the regular solids. Thus the form of the 
fiery element is the pyramid, of air, the octahedron; 
of water, the icosahedron; of earth, the cube. The 
fifth solid, the _Dodecahedron_, is the form of the 
universe as a whole, or perhaps one might say the 
_scaffold upon which the spherical universe is 
constructed_. Further, these elements are themselves 
compounded of simpler mathematical forms, the pyramid, 
octahedron and icosahedron of equilateral, the cube of 
isosceles triangles; so that if we regard the elements 
as molecules, we may view the triangles as atoms of the 
material substrate.

"Doubtless it was this geometrical account of 
matter which gave rise to the saying ascribed to Plato 
that 'God always geometrizes' -- for God, says Plutarch 
in his commentary on the saying, made the world in no 
other way than by setting terms to infinite and chaotic 
matter."

There seems to have been many attempts to find a 
solution to this problem raised by Plato; and 
apparently as many failures. For instance, the author 
of "The Canon" remarks; "Nearly all the old 
philosophers devised an harmonic theory with respect to 
the universe, and the practice continued till the old 
mode of philosophizing died out.

"Kepler, in order to demonstrate the Platonic 
doctrine, that the universe was formed of the five 
regular solids, proposed the following rule. 'The earth 
is a circle, the measurer of all. Round it describe a 
dodecahedron; the circle inclosing this will be Mars. 
Round Mars describe a tetrahedron; the sphere inclosing 
this will be Jupiter. Describe a cube round Jupiter; 
the sphere containing this will be Saturn. Now inscribe 
in the earth an icosahedron; the circle inscribed in it 
will be Venus. Inscribe an octahedron in Venus; the 
circle inscribed in it will be Mercury.' ("Mysterium 
Cosmographicum," 1596).

"This rule cannot be taken seriously as a real 
statement of the proportions of the cosmos, for it 
bears no resemblance to the ratios published by 
Copernicus in the beginning of the sixteenth century. 
Yet Kepler was very proud of his formula, and said he 
valued it more than the Electorate of Saxony. It was 
also approved by those two eminent authorities, Tycho 
and Galileo, who evidently understood it. Kepler 
himself never gives the least hint of how his precious 
rule is to be interpreted."

The author of "The Canon" then submits a proposed 
plan of finding universal measurements symbolically 
concealed in the above rule, but in order to do this he 
assumes that the figures need not be taken as solids 
but as so many regular plane polygons. But this seems 
to me quite a departure from the problem. Also Plato 
connected these solids with the Elements rather than 
with the Planets.

But I think our complex solid will be found to 
contain those mentioned by Plato, although such a 
thought did not enter my mind until quite lately. 

It should be remembered that the Qabalists 
attribute the four elements to Malkuth, which is often 
called the Sphere of the Elements. Now Malkuth has 
remained a perfect Sphere in our plan and in fact 
represents the Material Substance of the Universe. But 
the Qabalists have in particular attributed to Malkuth 
the Element of Earth, while to the next three 
Sephiroth, Yesod, Hod, and Netzach, have been assigned 
Air, Water, and Fire.

Earth, as Matter, has always been symbolized by 
the Cube, or the Cube within the Sphere, and we may 
well consider this Cube to be concealed in the Sphere 
of Malkuth. The lower section of the Prismatic Tree, 
that representing the four lower Sephiroth of the 
Elements, is in the form of a perfect tetrahedron, that 
is to say, a solid bounded by four plane triangular 
faces, each of which is equilateral. And again we find 
this same solid with a central core of Fire -- the Path 
of Shin -- comprising the combinations of Chokmah, 
Binah, and Tiphereth. Plato particularly attributes 
this form to Fire.

That portion of our Complete Complex Solid, 
representing the Elemental Sephiroth; viz., up to the 
Planes of "The Hierophant" which are penetrated by the 
Central Paths of Mem, or Water, is composed of twenty 
of the above solids so conjoined as to produce a 
perfect icosahedron, viz.: -- a solid bounded by twenty 
equilateral triangles. This is particularly attributed 
to Water in the Platonic scheme.

When the progression is made to include Tiphereth, 
the twenty equilateral planes become points, or tripods 
which mark out the Dodecahedron, while the Second 
Progression of the Tree exactly encloses this. The 
points of the twenty Kethers indicate a similar but 
larger solid.

Thus we have disposed of four of the five regular 
solids.

The last, or octahedron, presents some difficulty. 
This is a solid bounded by eight equal and equilateral 
plane surfaces, and six summits or vertices. I have so 
far been unable to discover that such a solid exists 
within our complex solid while deriving its surfaces 
and angles from regular sections of the Tree.

But what a first sight appears a difficulty may 
possibly become a clue when we consider that this form 
is attributed to the Elements of Air. Fire, Water, and 
Earth are all perceptible to our sense of sight -- not 
so Air. I do not want this to appear as an evasion of 
the issue, for in any case there are interesting 
indications of this missing form in the Tree of Life as 
originally outlined.

It will be found that four small equilateral 
triangles are shown on the Tree uniting the Six 
Sephiroth which are attributed to Vau in the Four-
lettered Name, and Vau is the letter of Air. These four 
triangles are arranged thus: 

[insert figure xxxvi here]

It will be found that if a plane surface be folded 
on the lines where these triangles join, and if the 
points represented by Chesed and Geburah be drawn 
together, it forms exactly one-half of an Octahedron. 
And it may further be noted that, leaving out from the 
figure of the whole Tree that portion which represents 
our tetrahedron, plus Kether, the remainder has the 
following form:

[insert figure XXXVII here]

This, it will be observed, represents the portion 
just described which makes up the half-octahedron, 
together with just enough additional surface material 
to form four other equilateral triangles required for 
the completion of the figure. But, without severing the 
fragments, we cannot take a sheet of paper and fold it 
into the desired shape, as was the case when making the 
solid prismatic Tree itself.

But even in the latter case a very interesting 
thing will be noticed -- the summit of the Supernal 
Triad disappears. For, whether we take Three Trees 
connected at the side thus:

[insert figure XXXVIII here]

or Three Trees radiating from Kether thus:

[insert figure XXXIX here]

we find, upon experiment in folding, that although 
the lower triangle fits together perfectly, when we 
bend the paper back along the lines of the Path of 
Aquarius we get a flat top with Kether on a level with 
Chokmah and Binah. Therefore, although for the sake of 
retaining the appearance of the original two-
dimensional figure, we must build up a Summit to 
represent Kether; we do so, as it were, with apologies 
to the Supreme One which must ever remain unmanifest to 
our lower senses. In other words the Summit of the 
Supernals cannot be conceived as a "solid," or even as 
partaking of "form" in the realm of ideas. This, rather 
than detracting from our plan, leads us to a most 
important truth, viz.: that in our researches we must 
never for a moment forget the Superessential excellence 
of the ONE and the GOOD. For, as Simplicius beautifully 
observes, "It is requisite that he who ascends to the 
principle of things, should investigate whether it is 
possible there can be anything better than the supposed 
principle; and if something more excellent is found, 
the same inquiry should again be made respecting that, 
till we arrive at the highest conception, than which we 
have no longer any more venerable. Nor should we stop 
in our ascent till we find this to be the case. For 
there is no occasion to fear that our progression will 
be through an unsubstantial void, by conceiving 
something about the first principles which is greater 
than and surpasses their nature. For it is not possible 
for our conceptions to take such a mighty leap as to 
equal, and much less to pass beyond the dignity of the 
first principle of things." He adds: "This, therefore, 
is one and the best extension (of the soul) to (the 
highest) God, and is as much as possible 
irreprehensible; viz., to know firmly, that by 
ascribing to him the most venerable excellencies we can 
conceive, and the most holy and primary names and 
things, we ascribe nothing to him which is suitable to 
his dignity. It is sufficient, however, to procure our 
pardon (for the attempt) that we can attribute to him 
nothing superior."

And in respect of our pardon we may devoutly hope 
that Simplicius was right.



Chapter 11

Plato said in regard to the Elements of the 
Universe: "God fashioned them by form and number." We 
have had something to say about Form but have touched 
very little upon Number. It will be well for use to 
make a few observations in the light of the Forms we 
have reconstructed. 

I shall have little to say in regard to the 
Numbers attributed to the ordinary Qabalistic Plan of 
the Sephiroth, these having been dealt with in "Q.B.L." 
and elsewhere. It is merely necessary to recapitulate 
as follows:

The simple two-dimensional figure consists of 10 
Sephiroth; 10 being the sum of the numbers from 1 to 4. 
This importance of this lies in the Fourfold Nature of 
the Ineffable Name which is the Formula of the whole 
System. There are 22 (2 + 2 = 4) connecting links or 
Paths. These consist of 3 + 7 + 12, and correspond to 
the Elements, Planets, and Signs of the Zodiac. In all 
we have 32, called, in relation to this System, the 32 
Paths of Wisdom, representing the whole figure. One of 
the special virtues of this number is that it 
represents the coalescence of Macroprosopus and 
Microprosopus in the Divine Name AHIHVH, and thus shows 
the connection between Kether -- The Highest Crown -- 
and the Nine lower Sephiroth, which emanated from it.

When we allow this simple figure to expand in one 
direction, as previously explained, we find, since 
Malkuth remains One and the same throughout, that the 
Second Tree contains 19 Sephiroth, which is a prime 
number, reduces by addition to 10. Likewise the Third 
Tree consists of 28 Sephiroth, a Perfect Number which 
again reduces to the original 10 and therefore to 1 or 
Unity. The Fourth Tree contains 37 Sephiroth, another 
prime number reducing to 10. The Fifth gives 46 which 
reduces to 10, while the Sixth represents 55 which not 
only does this but is the Sum of the Numbers from 1 to 
10. And since the number of the Sephiroth will be 
increased by 9 at every progression, their total, at 
each step, will always reduce to 10 by addition.

The 22 Paths of the first figure will increase by 
20's to 42, 62, and so on, since two of these -- Beth 
and Daleth -- retain their own nature indefinitely.

Thus the progressions of the whole Tree will be 
from the original 32 to 61 and so on; 29 being added 
each time. 

We may now consider the outstanding features of 
the figure when shown expanding in Six directions as 
the Snowflake. Since Netzach and Hod now combine we 
have in all 49 Sephiroth in the unprogressed figure. 
This, it may be remarked, is a distinctly Venusian 
Number (that of the Intelligence of Venus) and the 
Square of Seven. It reduces to 13, the number of Unity 
and Love. The number of Paths in this figure is 126 (a 
number attributed to two important Names of God) and 
this, added to 49, gives 175 as the total number of 
Sephiroth and Paths. This, it may be remarked, is the 
Number of the Spirit of Venus. It represents the sum of 
the numbers from 1 to 49 divided by 7, and it again 
reduces to 13 by addition.

When we consider the progressions of this Sixfold 
Figure we find the Sephiroth increase by 48 each time, 
Malkuth remaining single. This is of interest because 
48 is the numeration of KVKB, the Sphere of Mercury, 
and we find the particular feature of this Sixfold plan 
is that the Spheres of Venus and Mercury are forever 
united. I have always considered this word Kokab to be 
in some way connected with the words Khu and Khabs; Khu 
being the Magickal entity of man, and Khabs meaning a 
Star. Considering this arrangement is as a Sixfold Star 
and the uniting of the Paths and Spheres of Venus and 
Mercury as Love under Will, this will be interesting to 
Students of the New Aeon.

The number of Sephiroth in the Second progression 
is therefore 49 + 48 = 97. This is another prime number 
and that of the Archangel of Netzach. It has many other 
correspondences, one of which is "An architect." The 
next progression gives us 145 which, according to the 
old arrangement, corresponds to the 13 Paths of the 
Beard of Microprosopus. But the Fourth progression 
produces 193, another prime number of particular 
importance since it is the Number of Sephiroth in the 
unprogressed but complete three-dimensional solid which 
forms the Dodecahedron. 193 also reduces to 13, which, 
it may be remarked, is the number of Sephiroth in the 
single prismatic solid.

The 126 Paths of the sixfold plan progress by 
adding 120 each time (since the Paths of Venus and 
Mercury are combined) and this is a very important 
Number to the Rosicrucian, and on account of its 
representing the God ON. Other interesting numbers can 
be traced out by the Student who possesses a copy of 
the Sepher Sephiroth. The whole figure progresses by 
the addition of 168 (the additional 48 Sephiroth and 
120 Paths) and this is a very important number, being 
that of the Parentes Superni.

We may now engage in a brief consideration of the 
Solid Figure. The first simple form contains 13 
Sephiroth, which number gives it the Seal of Unity. 
This solid also contains 13 parts which produces the 
angles representing the Paths. Thus it represents 26, 
the Number of the Ineffable Name.

When this solid is extended in 20 directions (20 
is the full numeration of IVD, the first letter of the 
Name spelled in full) 193 Sephiroth are produced. These 
added to the 260 (13 X 20) parts give 453, a number 
reducing to 12 which is the number of pentagonal faces 
on the 20-pointed dodecahedron. But, which is perhaps 
of greater interest, this number 453 is that of NPSh 
ChIH, the Animal Soul in its fullness; i.e., including 
the Creative Entity or Chiah. The importance of this 
will be plain when we remember that the total number of 
Sephiroth and Paths in the Whole Solid is -- as has 
been shown in Chapter VII -- 775 and this, added to the 
260 parts or sectional solids, gives 1035, which is the 
sum of the numbers from 1 to 45. Now 45 being the 
numeration of ADM (Adam) indicates that we have once 
more shown the Qabalistic ADAM in all his Spiritual and 
Animal fullness and that he once again contains the sum 
of all his parts.

Also the 20 points and 12 faces of the 
dodecahedron equal 32, the original number of the Paths 
of Wisdom.

One other point seems worthy of notice in this 
connection. The _Sepher_Yetzirah_ makes a very strong 
feature of  TEN Sephiroth (ten and not nine, ten and 
not eleven), and it may be assumed that we have 
departed entirely from this fundamental conception. 

But it is also true that the ancient Qabalists 
considered the Three Veils of the Negative -- AIN, AIN 
SUPH, AIN SUPH AUR -- as depending back from Kether; 
thus, although these are _unmanifest_, the whole scheme 
was based on 13. It may be further remarked that there 
are Seven Sephiroth below the Supernal Triad and the 
Three unmanifest Ideas above, so that we have, as it 
were, 7 + 3 = 10, 10 + 3 = 13; the 10 standing midway 
between the 7 and the 13. 

Now it has been pointed out that the progressions 
of the single Tree are made by the addition of nines, 
so that each number produced reduces to 10 when we add 
the digits. In this case, then, the essence of the 
original basis remains. Nor is this basis lost when we 
consider the Sixfold two-dimensional figure, the Single 
Prismatic solid, and the Twenty-fold solid and their 
progressions, although it is more deeply concealed in 
these instances.

All these start from a basis of 13. The Single 
solid has 13 Sephiroth and increases by the addition of 
12 at each progression. Thus the series is 13,  25,  
37,  49, 61, 73, 85, etc. If we reduce these by 
addition (leaving the first as it stands) we obtain 13, 
7, 10, 13, 7, 10, 13, etc. Now this is the series we 
noticed above in regard to the original Tree -- the 10 
Sephiroth with three Veils above the Supernal Triad and 
7 Spheres below it. And this series recurs with every 
three progressions, so that since 7 + 10 + 13 = 30, the 
average is still, in essence, 10 throughout.

And when we consider the Sixfold Plan we start 
with 49 which reduces to 13, and progress by adding 48. 
Now 48 being 4 times 12 we find we are running in a 
series which coincides at certain definite points with 
the previous one, and the same peculiar rule is noticed 
in regard to our reductions of digits. Thus, 49, 97, 
145, 193, 241, 289, 337, etc., etc., reduce to 13, 7, 
10, 13, 7, 10, 13, etc. as before.

The same is true of the complete solid. We begin 
with 193 which reduces to 13, and progress by adding 
192; which in this case is 4 times 48. Therefor we find 
the same underlying law if we consider 193, 385, 577, 
769, 961, 1153, 1345, etc., with the exception of the 
one instance of 769, which reduces to 22 (the number of 
paths) on its way to its final reduction to 4 without 
first forming 13 as in all the other cases.

And we of course find that every fourth 
progression of one series coincides with the number 
produced by one of the others. Thus the fourth 
progression of the Prism gives us 49 which is the basic 
number of the Star. The fourth progression of the Star 
gives us 193, the basic number of the complete solid, 
and so on. In fact every progression of the Star will 
give a number which is that of some progression of the 
Simple Solid, and _every_ progression of the Complex 
Solid a number equal to some progression of both the 
Star and the Simple Solid, and the numbers common to 
all will always reduce to 13 (or 4).

A word now in regard to the proportion of the 
various parts of our figures. We found in constructing 
the first simple plan of the Sephiroth and Paths that 
the proportion of the Diameter of the Sephiroth to the 
Width of the Paths was very important, especially in 
regard to the Progressions.

I noticed recently that in his footnotes to the 
new edition of Eliphas Levi's Transcendental Magic, Mr. 
A. E. Waite makes the following remarks, evidently with 
the intention of discrediting Levi: "In the Tree of 
Life KETHER, the Supreme Crown, abides above CHOKMAH 
and BINAH, forming with these the Supernal Triad, below 
which are CHESED and GEBURAH. It must be said further 
that the Tree comprises three triangles, beneath which 
is MALKUTH. There is _no_circle_, as Levi suggests, 
except in the accidental sense that the names and 
titles of each Sephira are inscribed within this 
figure."

Without some idea of a Circle or Sphere, if only 
to represent the Absolute or the Universe, one can 
hardly conceive of any Qabalistic Scheme at all; and 
that all the Qabalists have merely used the Sephiroth 
as convenient receptacles for names and inscriptions 
while giving to the Paths any semblance of reality, 
seems to me rather puerile.

However, since the very Points representing the 
Centers of the Sephiroth in any properly proportioned 
"Tree" are produced by the original generating circles, 
we may leave aside Mr. Waite's remarks and consider the 
matter as if the Sephiroth were _Circles_ and the Paths 
_Lines_.

In the construction of the Tree we commence with 4 
generating circles. These may be of any desired size, 
but by their means we obtain the Centers of the Ten 
Sephiroth.

The logical diameter of each Sephiroth will be 
found to be one-fourth of that of the generating 
circles. This makes the length of the short Paths -- 
such as Aleph -- exactly equal to the diameter of each 
Sephiroth.

Next, in order to discover the logical width of 
the Paths we should examine the structure of the Tree 
where the five Paths from above unite in Tiphereth and 
the three proceed from below that sphere. It will be 
noticed that the natural division of the circle will be 
into 12, as this will make all the Paths the same width 
and leave a space equal to the width of one path 
between the lower ones. Thus the width of each Path 
should be one-half the radius of the Sephira. (The 
greatest possible width without the Paths conflicting 
with one another above Tiphereth.)

When it comes to the progression of the Trees we 
shall then find that the third will produce Sephiroth 
equal in diameter to the original generating circles, 
while the width of the Paths of the third progression 
will be exactly that of the diameter of the Sephiroth 
of the first Tree.

A glance at the Colored Plate will show how 
exactly all the details fit in if this plan is adopted; 
even in the case of the four-fold division of Malkuth 
the progressed Paths exactly coincide with the 
diagonals. (See Plate A.)

It should be remembered, however, that all our 
measurements are made from _center_ to _center_ of the 
Sephiroth.

As a further check on the correctness of the size 
of the Sephiroth we find that a Vesica constructed upon 
the Path from the center of Chesed to that of Geburah, 
having a length from Kether to Yesod, will exactly 
touch the _circumferences_ of Chokmah, Binah, Netzach, 
and Hod.

Our final summary will deal with the proportions 
of the whole figure as based on those of the Vesica 
Piscis. We have shown the importance of 15 to 26 (the 
proportions of the Vesica) in relation to the sacred 
Names IH and IHVH. The Student may consider for himself 
such further proportions in this series as 30 to 52, 60 
to 104, 120 to 208, 240 to 416. The last of these is of 
peculiar interest for 240 is NTzNIM, Prima Germina, and 
416 is HRHVR, meaning Thought or Meditation. Again the 
next proportion, 480 to 932, is important. 480 is 
LILITh and 932 is OTz HDOTh TVB VRO, The Tree of 
Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is surely a valuable 
correspondence worthy of study.

But there is another set of proportions in 
connection with the Vesica, viz.: 30 to 52. 30 is the 
Letter of Libra -- Balance; 52 is the numeration of ABA 
VAMA (Father and Mother), AIMA (The Supernal Mother -- 
fertilized), and of BN (The Son: Assiah's "Secret 
Nature"). The correspondence between these and Balance 
is an interesting one.

Further we may use 52 to 90, for 90 is SVD HVVG, 
The Mystery of Sex. This, as applied to ABA VAMA, AIMA, 
or BN leads to ideas suitable for the highest 
"meditation" about which we should be "very silent." 
(Strangely enough, as I wrote this I noticed another 
correspondence, for ZMH, Meditation, adds to 52, and 
DOMM, Very Silent, adds to 90. I shall therefore take 
this as a hint and pass on.)

The next proportion 90 to 156 is of even deeper 
significance for here we find the relation between "The 
Mystery of Sex" (90) and BABALON (156) The Victorious 
Queen. (See XXX Aethyrs: Liber CDXVIII).

And the very next progression 156 to 260 gives us 
a relation between BABALON (156) and I.N.R.I. (270). 
Enough has been said to indicate to the Adept that a 
study of these proportions is well worth while.

But, so far we have been dealing with the actual 
proportions of the Vesica, and we have not mentioned 
those of the complete Tree of Life itself. Those of the 
Vesica being as 26 to 45 we see the proportions of the 
Tree must be 26 to 60, or, since we can divide by 2, we 
may put them at 13 to 30. Here we enter upon the 
consideration of our basic number 13 (Unity and Love) 
in right relation with "Balance." For "Equilibrium is 
the Basis of the Work."

We again obtain an interesting series of 
proportions, 13 to 30, 26 to 60, 52 to 120, 104 to 240, 
208 to 480, 416 to 960, etc., but these will again be 
left to the consideration of the Student for we have 
yet to deal with a greater Mystery.

If 13 to 30 is the exact width and height of the 
two-dimensional figure of the Tree of Life, what will 
be the proportions that will give us the correct angle 
of the Supernal Triad in order to change this to a 
Solid? The present angle is 120 degrees, the interior 
angle of the Hexagon; what proportion will give us the 
interior angle of the Solid Pentagon by which Kether, 
Chokmah, and Binah take their places each touching the 
circumscribing SPHERE?

This final revelation, only made to us on May 
30th, 1925, yet necessary to the completion of our 
treatise, has come as the Seal of the Supreme upon our 
Work. It is not possible to enter into the proper 
consideration of the importance of this discovery in 
relation to the Magical lifework of the Author and to 
the Mysteries of the New Aeon.  For the present, 
therefore, we simply state this proportion to be as 
THIRTEEN is to THIRTY-ONE.

13 to 31 gives the exact angle of 108 degrees 
necessary to the building up of our solid, the 
additional part being used to raise the Point of Kether 
to the Pinnacle of the Solid.

But let us examine the progressions of this 
proportion as before. We obtain: 13 to 31, 26 to 62, 52 
to 124, 104 to 248 and 208 to 496. This last, be it 
noted, is the _Fifth_ progression.

Now let us remember that the _Fifth_ Progression 
of Malkuth as an expanding Sphere is the one which 
First embraces the Kether of the First Tree (and the 
Dodecahedron formed by the Tiphereths of the Second 
Tree). How many Sephiroth shall we find in the Complete 
Solid at the Fifth Progression? 193 + 192 + 192 + 192 + 
192 = 961. Therefore when the Sephiroth have increased 
to 961 in the Solid, _Malkuth_ will have expanded to 
the First Kether. 961 _happens_ to be 31 X 31, or the 
Square of 31, and it reduces to 13. 

But what of our _Proportion_ of 208 to 496, the 
_Fifth_ progression of the proportions of 13 to 31? Not 
only is 208, the _width_ of our Tree, equal to the 
_length_ of a Pure Vesica whose breadth is 120 (our 
original Kether angle), but our other proportion 496 is 
a _Perfect_ Number, the _Sum of the Numbers from One to 
Thirty-One_, and the _Numeration_ of MLKVTh -- Malkuth.

AL, it must be remembered, is the Highest Kether 
Name of God -- 31 -- which being read in reverse is LA, 
Not, and thus forms the true formula of the transition 
from the unmanifest to the manifest. 

Let us never forget that the True Kether -- Hadit 
-- is forever concealed in the Center of Malkuth, and 
that of this it has been written in Liber AL vel Legis: 
I am NOT (La = 31) extended (1 + 2 + 3 . . . 31 = 496) 
and Khabs (a Star) is the Name of my House.

In concluding this section we may remark that the 
76th progression of the Single Solid, and the 19th 
progression of the Star, show 913 Sephiroth, 913 is 
BRAShITh, Berashith, "In the Beginning" -- the First 
Word of Genesis. The 80th progression of the Single 
Solid, the 20th of the Star, and the 5th of the 
Complete Solid, all give 961 (13 x 31), and in case you 
should forget this, all you have to do is to stand in 
The Kingdom, Malkuth (496), and LOOK UP. You will then 
see Yesod (9) and above that Tiphereth (6) and -- by 
the Grace of God -- Kether (1). So mote it be.

Chapter XII

Our intention was not that this should be a long 
treatise, but rather to give the gist of our 
discoveries to the world, thus allowing the 
inexhaustible treasures of this System to be minded and 
used by any who desire to grasp the opportunity. 

But this work would not be complete unless we had 
a few words to say upon the possibilities of using this 
Plan as a basis upon which to build a new and more 
glorious Temple than has been conceived in the past, by 
the mind of Man.

My first appeal is therefore made to all 
Architects, and it is made in the Name of the Great 
Architect of the Universe, the Designs of Whose 
Trestle-Board, we cannot but feel, have been 
transmitted to us in such a marvelous manner.

The author feels that this represents the 
revelation of the "Formative Plane" of the Holy 
Qabalah, which contains the Influence of the 
"Archetypal" and "Creative" Worlds, and through which 
the Material Universe came into manifestation. 

The discoveries in regard to the marvelous 
properties of the "Vesica Piscis" and the "Trinity in 
Unity" so much influenced the minds of Men in the 
Middle Ages, that a vast number of beautiful Gothic 
Cathedrals were planned and built with every detail 
lovingly worked out so as to symbolize the highest 
religious truths then open to the minds of men, in a 
material form. These Gothic structures are certainly 
admitted to be the most beautiful in design, but to 
some extent the secret of their proportions has been 
lost. The Spirit behind such buildings has been 
overlooked, and modern Architects have not had the same 
urge and impulse towards planning such perfect work.

But even in Gothic Churches, the symbolism of the 
Ground Plans was comparatively narrow in conception, 
and pricipally based on the Christian ideas of the 
Cross, although of course the Cross has a wonderful 
Natural symbolism which is far older than what we term 
Christianity.

But never before, perhaps, in the History of 
Mankind, has it been so necessary that a Universal 
Temple be built; never before, perhaps, have the plans 
been available.

When we realize that the "Tree of Life" not only 
partakes of all the properties of the "Vesica Piscis" 
but in addition to symbolizing the Mysteries of the 
Trinity, is capable of forming a Symbolic Basis for 
every Idea in the Universe, Natural, Human, and Divine 
(as a slight study of the Qabalistic System will prove 
to any intelligent person); what a wonderful Ground 
Plan does it make for a Universal Temple, when we 
consider the possibilities of its indefinite 
Multiplication as a Sixfold Star, its Prismatic 
Proportions, etc. This should be sufficient to fire the 
minds of the World's Greatest Architects with 
enthusiasm to work out Designs for the First Great 
Temple built directly upon the Nature Formative Plans 
of the Grand Architect of the Universe. In such a 
Temple all Nations and Peoples might well meet to give 
praise to the One Whose Absolute Wisdom and Supreme 
Intelligence has built this Universe, and made it 
possible for created Man to comprehend its hidden 
Designs and to become a conscious co-operator in the 
Divine Plan.

My next appeal is to those in temporal charge of 
the Spiritual welfare of Mankind; the Heads of the 
various Religions of the World, those who claim to hold 
the Divine Authority for the instruction of Humanity 
and have charge of the welfare of the souls. 

A Universal Teaching is needed, based upon simple 
and intelligible lines. A teaching that at once 
conforms with true Science and with the Universal 
experience of Humanity. Hitherto, the Great Teachers 
and founders of Religions have come to certain nations, 
or countries, and have taught a suitable doctrine for 
the particular climate and people to which their 
Mission led them. No public universal teaching has 
hitherto been possible on account of the lack of proper 
means of communication. Today we have the means of 
flashing the truth to every part of the globe in a few 
minutes. There is no longer any reason why a Universal 
Teaching should not be obtained and given to all 
humanity. Such an ideal condition cannot be brought 
about while there is contention and schism and 
conflicting basic ideas within the Churches themselves. 
I do not say that all humanity should be taught exactly 
alike, but I do say that there is but One Truth, and 
that One Truth is back of every exterior organization, 
however differently it may be interpreted.

Symbolically, at least, our present plan proves 
itself to be the basis of the Catholic Mysteries; it is 
undoubtedly the basis of the lost Jewish Tradition, 
which itself came from Egypt. It is the basis of 
Pythagorean Philosophy, of  Geometry; it is the basis 
of the Rosicrucian Mysteries, as well as of Masonry, 
and will prove itself to be the Key to the Mysteries of 
the Secret Schools.

There is no reason why a Temple build on such 
perfect symbolism should not be equally sacred to 
Jewish, Catholic, Masonic, and other Religious and 
Philosophical divisions of Humanity, wherein each could 
behold the Mysteries of their Tradition and realize 
that they are of the same Divine Origin. 
Scientifically, since every drop of water naturally 
crystallizes in this way, and Crystals are build up on 
similar lines, even the Materialist must recognize the 
Work of the Creator, as symbolized in such a structure.

My next appeal is to those in whose charge is the 
Civil destiny of the Nations. How can any peace of a 
lasting nature be brought about unless some Universal 
Plan is adopted in which every Nation will be seen to 
have its definite function, and have a well defined 
destiny? An understanding of the fundamental working 
principles of the Universe, and of the Working Plans of 
the Great Architect, is essential to a clear vision of 
what is needed to overcome the present difficulties 
with which mankind is confronted on every side. Things 
must be looked at from the point of view of the Whole, 
rather than that of the Part, if a proper Order and 
Arrangement is to be brought about. Man has been given 
free-will, which includes the possibility of making 
mistakes. Man is responsible for the welfare of this 
Planet, and those in authority have the responsibility 
on their shoulders of making this Earth a Heaven or 
Hell for their brothers and sisters. Those in such 
positions cannot shirk this responsibility, and they 
cannot expect to be long in power if they wilfully 
neglect to train themselves to hold their office 
rightly and for the good of those in their charge.

Let them remember that the essence of Order 
consists in the perfect adjustment of all the parts in 
subservience to the Whole; and that, conversely, it is 
fatal folly to try to make the Whole conform to the 
design of some distorted part.

Civilization has been a failure, with all its 
apparent improvements and facilities, through failure 
to understand this general principle. It is absolutely 
essential that each part should discover its true 
function in relation to every other part, and to the 
Whole, and then fulfillits destiny without making any 
attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the 
other parts of the Great Machine.

Equilibrium is the basis of the work. Every 
apparent pair of opposites can be reconciled in a third 
idea from which they both spring, and which contains 
the essence of both. 

My next appeal is to all Thinking people. Many of 
you are slaves to your own thought. You are limited by 
your own narrow conceptions, which must always be 
narrow compared to the Infinite. Most of you know a lot 
of things that are not so in reality. To you I make 
this appeal. Clean out your minds, learn to control 
thought. Arrange you ideas in proper balanced order, 
and make your viewpoint one of equilibrium. Base your 
mental structure on the "Tree of Life" and since every 
idea placed thereon is capable of infinite progress, 
your minds will expand to the comprehension of all that 
is within Time and Space, for the Spirit of God in Man 
is capable of extending the Substance of every Mind 
which does not exert all its efforts to narrow the 
limits of consciousness to conform to a few personal 
prejudices and petty ideas. Why accept less than is 
your due; restriction is the only sin.

Lastly, I greet the Crowned Children of the New 
Aeon, those who, having sworn to overcome all things, 
shall obtain the reward promised to everyone that 
overcometh. And I say unto you, as One did of old: "In 
my Father's House are many Mansions, and if it were not 
so I would have told you." But also I add: There is a 
place prepared for every one of you, Here and Now. 
There is a place for everything, when all things shall 
be put in place. Take up your places in the Kingdom of 
the Ever-Coming Son, fulfill yourselves, in the 
fulfillment of the Will of God within you, and show 
those who are still in darkness without, that there is 
room for all who are prepared to keep their place, and 
cease from trying to usurp that of others. For:

Love is the law, love under will,

and through Love alone may ye come to the 
knowledge of the One Substance, capable of Infinite 
Multiplication and Projection, whereby ye become actual 
communicants in the Body of God. 

In the Name of the One, by the Grace of God 
Triune, and by the Favor of the Ever-Coming Son,

AUMN




 	This method was pointed out to me some years ago by Frater Nubem Eripiam, who 
claimed to have just discovered it. The method of construction as given in Liber 777, although 
producing a correctly proportioned Tree, does not show the generating circles, and is not nearly 
so simple in use.
 	The neatest formula indicating the exact proportions of the Vesica is as One is to the 
Square Root of Three. This also is very symbolic for it shows the Unity in its relation to a certain 
aspect of the Trinity, while since the numbers represented are 1 and 3, it is strongly suggestive 
of 13 = AChD = Unity.
	The above is actually more accurate mathematically than 15:26, for  the proportion 1 to 
the square root of 3 = 1.732, while 15:26  = 1.733. But there is always likely to be some slight 
difference between mathematical accuracy and a general Magical formula, as witness the word 
ALHIM which suggests Pi as 3.1415 whereas 3.1416 is more correct. I hardly know of a 
magickal formula in fractions unless it be 6/50 = 0.12, for which see Liber Legis and Comment.
 	"Architecture is frozen music" is the saying of Frederich Schlegel. And if this saying is 
anywhere significant surely it is so in relation to the polyphonic music and Gothic architecture. 
In each there is the progressive playing of part against part, the building up of member against 
member, each structure completed only to point to a still incomplete superstructure, joining in 
the endless aspirational upward sweep of the whole. Arch rests upon arch, flying butress upon 
butress, pinnacle rises above pinnacle, -- everywhere there is a balance not quite attained, a 
symmetry not quite perfected, -- and by and by we realize that no Gothic church can ever be 
completed; its beauty is its eternal promise, its endless upward flight. Is not this the very image 
of a contrapuntal music, and of its supreme expression in the fugue?" -- Hartley Burr Alexander, 
Nature and Human Nature.
 	Since writing the above, a new literal translation of the Sepher Yetzirah, by Mr. Knut 
Stenring, has appeared. I quote a part of his rendering of the above verse, since it includes a 
reference of great importance to the theory in hand: "Three -- Water from Air: He wrote and 
formed therein twenty-two letters, from the formless and void -- mire and clay; He designed 
them as a platband, He hewed them as a wall, He covered them as a building, He poured snow 
over them and it became earth, even as it is written: 'He saith to the snow: Be thou the earth' 
(Job xxxvii, 6)."
	This reference to snow is quite startling in light of what follows in the present treatise.
 	Chaos or Matter is potentially a prism which refracts the great Light-Source, splitting 
up the Supernal Light into stars, or the Supreme Consciousness into Ideas. As matter or 
substance becomes organized and develops mind, its power as a prism grows. As we clarify our 
minds they become as living, organic prisms which act with increasing precision and detail. The 
more definite and authentic our ideas, the more accurate and mathematical, the more will they 
focus Light from the Supreme, till 'sleeping stars' slip on their livery of light. The more exact the 
form, the closer the correspondence between the Son (or Form, Prism, Expression, Becoming) 
and the Father (or Light, Life, Live, Understanding). -- J.S. Forrester-Brown, "The Two Creation 
Stories."
 	Here, of course, the "Mystic Rose" is referred to, but since writing the above an 
interesting passage from Dr. Oken's work "Abriss der Naturphilosophye" Gottingen 1805, has 
been brought to my attention. He writes, page 65, " -- on the whole all plants are only 
metamorphoses of the Syngenesis. Here is united, what in others is only blossoming 
disconnectedly. The importance of the number five, so unchangeably sacred to plants, will yet 
have to find its solution in the Mathesis; without any doubt it lies hidden under the 
Dodecahedron consisting of Pentagrams, as the crystallized sphere." This startling confirmation 
of what followed upon my own researches. Achad.
 	See the preceding footnote.
	Another confirmation comes from Dr. Karl von Eckharshausen, Aufschlusse zur Magie, 
Munich 1791, Vol. 4., Page 333. "As God contains All in the Spiritual, so does the Materia 
Prima, as typus, contain all in the Corporeal. The little parts of the Material are pyramidical, 
triangular, tetera, dodecahedra -- always the image of the intellectual."
 	Another reference from The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II. Page 39, may be of interest here. 
After mentioning the form of the Tree of Life, given in the Sacred Mysteries of the Mayas and 
Quiches, Madame Blavatsky continues: "This represents the same idea as the Sphirothal Tree, 
ten in all, yet when separated from the upper triad, leaving seven. These are the celestial fruit, 
the ten or one, ten born of two invisible male and female seeds, making up 12, or the 
Dodecahedron of the Universe." This indicates that Madame Blavatsky has an idea that the 
Dodecahedron had some connection with the Qabalah, but evidently no comprehension of the 
solid prismatic sections, necessary for the building of this most perfect many-sided figure. She 
also remarks, Vol. II, Page 485, "The Dodecahedron lies concealed in the perfect cube," say the 
Kabalists. I wish she had said which Kabalists; but the cube was always taken as the true symbol 
of Matter and this obscure reference seems to indicate that if one understood matter, he would 
discover its structure to be that of the Dodecahedron. Achad.
 	Our multiplied and progressed "Tree" may well be considered as the "Garden of Eden," 
but perfected in man's conception since all the "trees" are reflections of the One Tree of Life, the 
IDEA of which is concealed in the midst of the Garden.

 	These matters will be dealt with in "The Alpha and Omega of Initiation" to be 
published later.

