The Veil of Qesheth
by
Frater Zephyros
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
DE VIRTUTE CHIRURGICA
Know that the Cult of the Slave Gods is a Device of those Black Brothers. All that stagnateth is thereof, and thence cometh not Stability, but Putrefaction. Endure not thou the static Standards either in Thought or in Action Resist not even the Change that is the Rottenness of Choronzon, but rather speed it, so that the elements may combine by Love under Will. Since the Black Brothers and their Cults set themselves against Change, do thou break them asunder. Yea, though of bad come worse, continue in that Way; for it is as if thou didst open an Abscess, the first Effect being noisome exceedingly, but the last Cleanness. Heed not then, whoso crieth Anarchy, and Immorality, and Heresy against thee, and feareth to destroy Abuse lest worse Things come of it. For the Will of the Universe in its Wholeness is to Truth, and thou dost well to purge it from its Constiveness. For it is written that there is no bond that can unite the Divided by Love, so that only those Complexes which are in Truth Simplicities, being built Cell by Cell unto an Unity by Virtue of Love under Will, are worthy to endure in their Progression. Liber Aleph Cap. 105
Qesheth is a composite word that starts with the letter Qoph, attributed to the Moon Atu of the Holy Tarot. The Moon in and of itself is a gateway, clearly depicted on the card itself; but it's a gateway to the Qliphoth. Note that this word also starts with the letter Qoph. And the word Qliphoth enumerates to 620, which reduces to 8, while Qoph itself enumerates to 186, which reduces to 15 and as the 15th Atu, represents the path that leads from Tiphareth to Hod.
"Nothing is a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the Jews call it; I call it eight, eighty, four hundred & eighteen." AL I.46
There are three veils on the Tree-of-Life, three chasms to annihilation or to Nothing (non-existence) as the entire nature of our work is grouped in triads. Crosses and circles may be the symbols of Our Order, but triads are among its marks of distinction. Yet so many are obsessed with the goal and they seem to have forgotten the path itself. Certainly the lofty success of piercing the Veil of Paroketh or crossing the Abyss heaps many blue ribbons and congratulations. And even before Qesheth is the Nadir of experience that arouses the Aspiration. But there’s much to be said for this often overlooked milestone in the development of a Magickal career.
Qesheth, like Paroketh, is named by using the Hebrew letters that are placed in that part of the tree. In this particular case, we have Qoph, Shin and Tau. These three letters total 800, which reduces to 80 (Peh, translated as Mouth/Chasm and is the place where the Aspirant is positioned to traverse the Veil of Paroketh) and 8 by Gematria. Notice that only the left side of the Tree is used in drawing the letters for this name. And in actuality, it’s the ascent from Yesod (Grade of Zelator) to Hod (Grade of Practicus) the eighth Sephira, on the left pillar of the Tree that is the mark of its successful traversal.
Having attained Yesod, the Zelator being trained in the reception of impressions from the Neophyte period, receives the full onrush of the Sun from Tiphareth. The consciousness of the Zelator is entirely Lunar in its ‘full’ phase, and with all the connotations that go with that. Among these impressions are many that present real information and many that are quite illusory. The mix overall is quite illusory and the separation of the real from the unreal is the work of the weapon of that Grade.
Even to others, this will seem as a schizophrenia and one may even attract and acquire an entourage of the socially maladroit as the aura of the Aspirant is at this point, encountering the Ordeal of Choronzon. This is the setup for the traversal of the Abyss. The ego becomes hyper-inflated at this point in that its presence begins to loom large. Enemies and rogues are forced out of the shadows as the solar part of the consciousness is burning so brightly.
Ultimately, this whole construct begins to fall in on itself. The Aspirant begins to see all the reactionary impulses that are part of his or her psychic structure and they are allowed to be quashed in the light of this overwhelming solar force. The dynamic of zeal that at first brought a pompous brashness, slowly brings about a confident quiet. And this ‘lesser’-Abyss is a milestone of attainment as the Aspirant becomes initiated into the Astral Triad. As a natural process, this should develop for all who reach the Grade.
There is evidence to say that this is also a point of failure. One could dwell here, conceivably for quite some time. It is a veil with its own unique contribution to the journey of Initiation; especially as it is the veil that connects Yesod to Da’ath. One could easily slip into the chaotic nature of the Qliphotic side of the Tree and become fully enamored of its glamour. The force of one’s Aspiration as in the calling of Pan’s flute are the markers that will keep the Aspirant on course.
As
discussed in my article:
A Zelator’s Aphorisms, unlike the egoity of
the Neophyte, the Zelator begins to fashion a more perfected ego.
It’s where one’s zeal will come from; it’s the finding of one’s
own voice, which is the beginning of the Asar Un Nefer process.
The Zelator in Yesod, now has an unobstructed view of Tiphareth; with
perhaps, the exception that the Veil of Qesheth still looms.
This is confronted in period of chaos that is a part of a natural
unfurling of one's Initiatory path, and that is the watery nature of the veil;
leaving a rainbow after the storm.
It
may seem as it one's internal world is swallowing up one's external world.
Rather, one is beginning to nurture their union on the plane of the Ruach.
Note that the Rainbow represents Nuit and is even in the shape that she
is posited in the Stele of Revealing.
Nuit is ‘Not-I’ or the outer world.
And one's inner zeal needs to manifest there, as the outer world must be
taken internally, producing the chaos, as is the nature of the outer
world. This
period may be marked by feelings of losing control over one's self and
one's life. It may even manifest with a loss of control that could find
one as if tossed to the wind.
Beyond the veil, the goal is to get that much closer to the Sun and be standing on the intersection of Sameck and Peh as a Dominus Liminis. This position has been prepared for by the Aspirant, even since the first Star Ruby at the beginning of one's Magickal career. Having at this point, balanced the psyche by employing the four Elemental Weapons; all that would be left would be to light the Magick Lamp and invoke one's Holy Guardian Angel.
"I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death." AL II.6
Now, if the Angel is the heart of the individual, the Angel is the center of one’s being, where dwells Hadit as its inmost center. The red gleam in Hadit's eyes would then be the red circle (dot) in the middle of Nuit's Star, of which star is Hadit as shown in the following complementary verses:
"My number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. The Five Pointed Star, with a Circle in the Middle, & the circle is Red. My colour is black to the blind, but the blue & gold are seen of the seeing. Also I have a secret glory for them that love me." AL I.60
"Blue am I and gold in the light of my bride: but the red gleam is in my eyes; & my spangles are purple & green." AL II.50
Notice
also, the Blue and Gold in both verses; that “blue & gold” that is
“seen of the seeing” is Hadit, who is “Blue” (interestingly enough, the
color that the Hindu deities are depicted in) consistently, yet shows up as
“gold in the light of my bride;” gold, the color of the Sun and Tiphareth
(center of the Tree-of-Life and the sixth Sephira; 6 being the only perfect
number on the Tree) when united with Nuit (manifest as Ra-Hoor-Khuit).
Also note the verse numbers, 60 and 50 along with the following verse:
"I
am Nuit, and my word is six and fifty."
AL I.24
Would
not word be the Logos...Hadit united with Nuit, the golden Ra-Hoor-Khuit?
There's a leap from 6 to 60, but both sets of numbers qabalistically gives us
11. Thinking more about the union
of Nuit and Hadit and their resultant "Word," we can also consider
some of Crowley’s teachings as related to us through Kenneth Grant, who
writes:
"Only through intimate communion with his Angel can man learn the Word of his Will, and having learnt it, proceed to fulfill it, for once a man has entered into full communion with his Angel, no power on earth can turn him from the performance of his Will."
-and-
"Crowley insists that it is impossible to do one's will until the Name has been communicated. This is the meaning of the old texts that declare God and his Name to be One. The Name is the secret self of each man and woman. The aspiration required to establish contact with the True Self, the Angel, must be so utterly one-pointed--as in Crowley's case--that no mundane considerations whatsoever can stand in the way of its attainment."
Crowley
notes in MITP that the one thing all the great sages have in common is genius,
though their doctrines differ widely. But I say that another thing they
have in common is the fact that they stood up and said: "Look at me,
I have something to say and this is what it is..." The Gnostic Jesus said: "That which you have
within yourself will save you, if you bring it forth from yourself. If
that which you have within you is not brought forth, it will destroy you."
This
Word especially in light of the teachings of AL, is our inmost heart. And we must learn how to create the flow to bring it forth.
This starts for the Probationer with the flinging forth of Pentagrams in the
Star Ruby and the recitation of holy books.
But
it is original Gnosis that proves contact with the inner planes, new Gnosis
brought forth philanthropically out of love for humanity and in adoration of
Nuit that even gives us the idea of the presence of the Secret Chiefs.
This begins with a certain level of prophecy that belongs to the plane that
connects Hod with Netzach; the Tower Atu, Peh, the Hebrew letter that translates
as 'mouth' and the organ of speech.
Public
speaking shows brilliantly, the burning of one’s lamp that will ultimately
induct the current to bring forth your Word, your Logos. This begins even
in the heart of your creativity. It is that naked reception of sunlight
that will precipitate that attack of Choronzic forces that will enable you to
rend the Veil of Queseth. From
there, onto the plane of prophecy, which itself requires a skeptical approach to
objectivity and balance. For more
on this, see: Pretenders to Prophecy.
But the Veil is a "false veil" as we learn in the sixth point of the Task of the Philosophus: "...but beware, for that it is but the false veil of the moon that hangs beneath the sun." What does Crowley mean by this? Certainly, the connection with Da'ath, the "false crown", gives us a clue. And if we note that the Zelator is told that he or she is making a first departure from the Middle Pillar, at some point during the Zelator's career, this false veil is pierced and yet it is but the bow (extended when the arrow is drawn to comprehend the whole of the Ruach) and not the arrow that will pierce Paroketh. Even one is still wrapped up in the veil as a Philosophus.
Ultimately, a lamp is lit by the Dominus Liminus and the arrow is shot from Yesod to provide the momentum for the Angel as the Exempt Adept approaches the Abyss. The Initiate of this Grade is told to humble him or herself exceeding, being the opposite of that sun-drenched egoity that is the zeal of the Zelator. It's as if one is set up to be cut down. Note, one can not abandon what one has never attained.
Love is the law, love under will.