Part 75 (2/2)

And these kings died, says the _Commentary_, because the condition of equilibrium did not yet exist, nor was Adam Kadmon formed male and female. They were not in contact with what was alive: nor had any root in Adam Kadmon; nor was Wisdom which outflowed from Him, their root, nor did they connect with it. For all these were pure mercies and most simple Love; but those were rigorous judgments. Whence face looked not toward face; nor the Father toward the Mother, because from her proceeded judgments. Nor Macroprosopos toward Microprosopos. And Regnum, the last numeration, was empty and inane. It has nothing of itself; and, as it were, was nothing, receiving nothing from them. Its need was, to receive Love from the Male; for it is mere rigor and judgment; and the Love and Rigor must temper each other, to produce creation, and its mult.i.tudes above and below. For it was made to be inhabited; and when rigorous judgments rule in it, it is inane because its processes cannot be carried on.

Wherefore the Balance must needs be inst.i.tuted, that there might be a root above, so that judgments might be restored and tempered, and live and not again die. And Seven Conformations descend; and all things become in equilibrium, and the needle of the Balance is the root above.

In the world Yezirah, says the _Pneumatica Kabalistica_, [Hebrew: ?]

denotes Kether; [Hebrew: ??], Hakemah and Binah; and [Hebrew: ???], Gedulah, Geburah, and Tephareth; and thus Vau is Beauty and Harmony. The _Man_ is Hakemah; the _Eagle_, Binah; the _Lion_, Gedulah; and the _Ox_, Geburah. And the mysterious circle is thus formed by the Sohar and all the Kabalists: Michael and the face of the Lion are on the South, and the right hand, with the letter [Hebrew: ?], Yod, and Water; Gabriel and the face of the Ox, on the North, and left hand, with the first [Hebrew: ?] of the Tetragrammaton and Fire; Uriel and the face of the Eagle, on the East and forward, with [?] and Air; and Raphael and the face of the Man, on the West, and backward with the last [Hebrew: ?], and Earth. In the same order, the four letters represent the four worlds.

Rabbi Schimeon Ben Jochai says that the four animals of the Mysterious Chariot, whose wheels are Netsach and Hod, are Gedulah, whose face is the Lion's; Geburah, with that of the Ox; Tephareth, with that of the Eagle; and Malakoth, with that of the Man.

The Seven lower Sephiroth, says the _aesch Mezareph_, will represent Seven Metals; Gedulah and Geburah, Silver and Gold; Tephareth, Iron; Netsach and Hod, Tin and Copper; Yesod, Lead; and Malakoth will be the metallic Woman and Morn of the Sages, the field wherein are to be sowed the Seeds of the Secret Minerals, to wit, the Water of Gold; but in these such mysteries are concealed as no tongue can utter.

The word [Hebrew: ???], Amas, is composed of the initials of the three Hebrew words that signify Air, Water, and Fire; by which, say the Kabalists, are denoted Benignity, Judicial Rigor, and Mercy or Compa.s.sion mediating between them.

Malakoth, says the _Apparatus_, is called _Haikal_, Temple or Palace, because it is the Palace of the Degree Tephareth, which is concealed and contained in it, and Haikal denotes the place in which all things are contained.

For the better understanding of the Kabalah, remember that Kether, or the Crown, is treated of as a person, composed of the ten Numerations, and as such termed Arik Anpin, or Macroprosopos:

That Hakemah is a person, and termed _Abba_, or _Father_:

That Binah is a person, and termed _Mother, Imma_:

That Tephareth, including all the Nurnerations from Khased or Gedulah to Yesod, is a person, called Seir Anpin, or Microprosopos. These Numerations are six in number, and are represented by the interlaced triangle, or the Seal of Solomon.

And Malakoth is a person, and called the wife of Microprosopos. Vau represents the Beauty or Harmony, consisting of the six parts which const.i.tute Seir Anpin.

The wife, Malakoth, is said to be _behind_ the husband, Seir, and to have no other cognition of him. And this is thus explained: That every cognizable object is to be known in two ways: _a priori_, which is when it is known by means of its cause, or of itself; or, _a posteriori_ when it is known by its effects. The most nearly perfect mode of cognition is, when the intellect knows the thing itself, in itself, and through itself. But if it knows the thing by its similitude or idea, or species separate from it, or by its effects and operations, the cognition is much feebler and more imperfect. And it is thus only that Regnum, the wife of Seir, knows her husband, until face is turned to face, when they unite, and she has the more nearly perfect knowledge. For then the Deity, as limited and manifested in Seir and the Universe are one.

Vau is Tephareth, considered as the Unity in which are the six members, of which itself is one. Tephareth, Beauty, is the column which supports the world, symbolized by the column of the junior Warden in the Blue Lodges. The world was first created by judgment: and as it could not so subsist, Mercy was conjoined with Judgment, and the Divine Mercies sustain the Universe.

G.o.d, says the _Idra Suta_, formed all things in the form of male and female, since otherwise the continuance of things was impossible. The All-embracing Wisdom, issuing and s.h.i.+ning from the Most Holy Ancient, s.h.i.+nes not otherwise than as male and female. Wisdom as the Father, Intelligence the Mother, are in equilibrium as male and female, and they are conjoined, and one s.h.i.+nes in the other. Then they generate, and are expanded in the Truth. Then the two are the Perfection of all things, when they are coupled; and when the Son is in them, the summary of all things is in one.

These things are intrusted only to the Holy Superiors, who have entered and gone out and known the ways of the Most Holy G.o.d, so as not to err in them, to the right hand or to the left. For these things are hidden; and the lofty Holinesses s.h.i.+ne in them, as light flows from the splendor of a lamp.

These things are committed only to those who have entered and not withdrawn; for he who has not done so had better never have been born.

All things are comprehended in the letters Vau and He; and all are one system; and these are the letters, [Hebrew: ?????], Tabunah, Intelligence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: of letter 'X']

XXIX.

GRAND SCOTTISH KNIGHT OF ST. ANDREW.

A miraculous tradition, something like that connected with the _labarum_ of Constantine, hallows the Ancient Cross of St. Andrew. Hungus, who in the ninth century reigned over the Picts in Scotland, is said to have seen in a vision, on the night before a battle, the Apostle Saint Andrew, who promised him the victory; and for an a.s.sured token thereof, he told him that there should appear over the Pictish host, in the air, such a fas.h.i.+oned cross as he had suffered upon. Hungus, awakened, looking up at the sky, saw the promised cross, as did all of both armies; and Hungus and the Picts, after rendering thanks to the Apostle for their victory, and making their offerings with humble devotion, vowed that from thenceforth, as well they as their posterity, in time of war, would wear a cross of St. Andrew for their badge and cognizance.

John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, says that this cross appeared to Achaius, King of the Scots, and Hungus, King of the Picts, the night before the battle was fought betwixt them and Athelstane, King of England, as they were on their knees at prayer.

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