For this discussion today I will talk about the Middle Pillar an exercise that I have found to be profoundly insightful. This practice was developed by Israel Regardie and expounded in his book, by that name.
Regardie was an initiate of the Golden Dawn, and a form of the exercise is prescribed by the order to its grade members. He merely took the exercise and refined it, making it easier to memorize and somewhat more concise as compared to its original form. The original is found in Regardie’s The Golden Dawn, an extensive volume that purports to relate all of the practices and teachings of the order. I highly recommend you pick up a copy.
A recording of Regardi’s own discussion on the Middle Pilar is available on YouTube here!
The point of the middle pillar is to vivify the light body and connect the soul with the higher aspects of reality. Distinctly Kaabalistic, it uses the Tree of Life to tie the human body to broader existence by employing the Hebrew names of the divine to attune the psyche to the universe.
To fully appreciate the exercises it is best to have some comprehension of the Kabbalah (as handed down by the Golden Dawn) and its fundamental concepts. So I will briefly overview western Esoteric Kabbalah, to help provide a context for the practice. Once accomplished, I will describe the three stages of the Middle Pillar exercises.
Kabbalah (according to me from 10,000 feet)
Kabbalah, sometimes also spelled Qubbalah (not helpful for my dyslexia) is a form of ancient Jewish mysticism that conceives of the universe as ten emanations, called Sephirath (Sephirah in the singular) and twenty-two paths linking them. They emanate from a singular point, representing pure potential, filtering down until we have physical manifestation as we see it today.
These ten Sephirah are collectively called the Atz Chim, עֵץ חַיִּים the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. As handed down by the Golden Dawn, this symbol is likely one of the most important images in occult conceptions of the universe and is a diagram of the very nature of reality. The symbol embodies every part of the universe in some sense or another, utilizing the ancient Platonic principle of occult sympathies or correspondences. The Kabbalah understands the interconnectedness of the universe using a series of ten shared common conceptions.
These correspondences are said to encompass every aspect of existence, providing an index system by which we can, ostensibly, categorize all aspects of reality. (For a thorough dictionary of these sympathies, pick up a copy of the book 777. I have provided an abbreviated list of Correspondences especially handy for ritual work here!) For example, the first Sephiroth Kether represents perfect union and pure potential. It is traditionally characterized by the number one, the color white, the precious stone diamond, the geometric form of the point, the cosmic object of the swirling center of the galaxy, the human body part of the crown of the head, the Chakra of Sahasrara, the four Aces of the Tarot, and so forth.
In the Tree of Life diagram the ten Sephiroth are broken into three columns called the three pillars. The rightmost pillar is called the pillar of mercy, the leftmost is called the pillar of severity and the central column is the pillar of equilibrium. As already mentioned, the diagram also corresponds to parts of the body, and the tree can be laid over the body to create an inner map of the outer universe. This is Adam Kadmon, the spiritual body or body of light, the macrocosm within the microcosm, the universe within the individual.
Being a Jewish mystical tradition adapted by the Golden Dawn, each of these points has associated names of god, arch angels, and angels in Hebrew. In the tradition the names of these beings can be used to activate each point, allowing the aspirant to come into contact with its energies, intelligences, and states of consciousness.
Finally, a word about Da’ath. Da’ath is a central point on the Tree of Life for the mystic. Not formally a Sephiroth, it is the point on the middle pillar that symbolizes the consciousness experienced just before we enter into trans-individualistic thought i.e. divine union, pan-consciousness. It is the gateway to the divine, which we discussed in our conversation on mediation.
The middle pillar exercise, uses the god names of the four Sephirah that comprise the central column of the diagram, beginning at the crown of the head in Kether and ending in the souls of the feet in Malkuth, the Sephirah of physical manifestation. Each point is visualized as a vivid sphere of light. Each sphere is illuminated as the energy from the highest point is drawn down, through the body, connecting with the four central Sephirah along the spine. This energy is then circulated around the body, creating a frame, and then spun into a protective energetic egg of light.
At each intonement, you may choose to gesture the point on the body or not. Each name can be vibrated (intoned) two or even three times, as the practitioner sees fit. The exercise in its entirety as prescribed by Regardie has three parts, the first is probably the most common and arguably the core practice, while the last two are finalizing stages or optional additional practices.
Begin standing, visualize a bright ball or disk of light directly above the head, just touching the crown, about the size of a dinner plate. Vibrate:
אהיה “Ehieh” the god name in Kether, the sphere of perfect union and divine consciousness.
As you intone the name, see the light vivify and expand. Then, visualizing the energy descending from the crown of your head through your body to your throat at the Ajna Chakra, vibrate:
יהוה אלהים “YHVH Elohim” the god name in Binah. This sephirah completes the upper triad.*
Here the light brightens to about the size of a fist. Visualize the light descending from this point to the heart or chest, at the Anahata Chakra. Vibrate:
יהוה אלוה ודעת “YHVH Elohah Vda’ath” the god name in Tiphereth, the sphere of highest self-consciousness, the Holy Guardian Angel, Christ Consciousness.
The light swells to your shoulders, it glows and pulsates. The light now descending to the point of the loins or gentiles at the Muladahara Chakra and brightens as you intone:
שדי אל הי “Shadi Al-hi” the god name in Yesod, the sphere of the astral and intuition.
Finally, the light descends to the feet, where it connects with the earth grounding the practitioner. Vibrate:
אדני הארץ “Adoni HaAretz” the god name in Makuth, the sphere of physical manifestation.**
For the next section, dubbed The Egg of Light, move the light up along the right-hand side of the body as you inhale, drawing the energy up and around you until it connects with the point just above the head. Then exhale and draw the energy down the left side until it comes to the point where the soles of the feet make contact with the ground. Do this as many times as you see fit. Then when ready, draw the energy up from the feet again but this time around the back of the body, connecting with the point above the head, and exhaling, draw it down the front of the body connecting with the ground below the feet. Repeat the same number of times. Finally, draw the light from the feet around the body in swirling coils, ever upward, like mummy wrappings fully enclosing the practitioner in a safe warm egg of light.
There is one final optional portion prescribed by Regardie, to obtain a deeper understanding of the Sephiroth. Once the initial Middle pillar ritual has been performed, the practitioner can visualize the name of the Sephiroth before them in Hebrew. Here, the name is vibrated, twice or thrice, and then, in an all-absorbing manner, the aspirant breathes the name into themselves. Once inhaled hold the image in the vivified heart center of Tiphareth, and intone the name again, twice or thrice. Once ready, the practitioner should vigorously thrust the arms forward, starting at the temples and ending directly out in front of their face. Additionally, take a single step with the left foot forward, exhaling all the breath while intoning the name of the Sephirah of focus. This posture is called the Sign of the Enterer and is an important posture in Western Esoteric practice. To learn more about this and other signs check out the talk on Magical Routine and my talk on ritual (still to come).
I hope that you were able to learn a little more about the Kabbalah and the Middle Pillar. If you would like to learn more about Western Esoteric Kabbalah I recommend Dion Fortune’s Mystical Kabbalah as a good place to start.
I am sure that was all clear as mud, but remember, from the mud grows the lotus flower!
Until next time friends and family.
Frater Hiliel
Sun in Scorpio 27 degrees, Moon in Cancer 8 degrees.
* The god name יהוה אלהים here used is that of the third sephirah Binah, while the point being activated is Da’ath. The use of Binah creates the complete upper triad or top three Sephiroth of the Tree of Life also called the Supernal Triad. Things above this point cease to exist in the normal three dimensional senses and time becomes transient. I think of these as being the three dimensions of space whose constant movement is time.
** It is interesting to note that the divine name, associated with Malkuth, the Sephiroth of physical manifestation, given by Regardie in The Middle Pillar is אדני הארץ Adoni HaAretz (My lord of the earth) and aligned with that given by the Golden Dawn in his book by that name. However, it is different from that given in 777 which is אדני מלך Adoni Malek (My lord king).
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