by Marcus Katz
Say: “I now declare open this temple for the works of the Order of Everlasting Day.”
Practice the Middle Pillar exercise or similar working as appropriate.
You can then close the temple as follows: One knock (K).
Purify with water and consecrate with fire as before (“So therefore first ...”)
Make the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP).
Say: “I now declare closed this meeting of the temple of light.”
You may wish to build up the practice of turning a space into a magical temple through this opening ritual. It provides an important and fundamental structure to later ritual practice, particularly initiatory rituals. There are also essential elements of this practice that lay foundations for spiritual progress in later grades of the initiatory system.
The Rituals of the Sapphire Temple
The following rituals have been composed to demonstrate the application of kabbalistic methods in the production of magical ceremonies. Each ritual is based around the letters that compose the title of the sephiroth to which the ritual is allocated – so there are 10 rituals, one for each of the sephirah on the Tree of Life. I have then provided a Kingdom ritual, which binds all 10 rituals together, using the first letter of each of the names of the 10 sephiroth to provide the 10 points of the ritual.
In addition, the letters of the Hebrew names for the implements and furnishing of the ritual have been analysed to provide further expansion of their functions. Such analysis is useful to the magician using kabbalah, but each individual must develop their own basic ‘language’ from which these expansions can be derived. The rituals have been written in such a way that they can act as templates for more elaborate ceremonies, but contain within themselves a simple statement about the nature of each particular sephirah in its manifestation through the Hebrew letters.
The rites are modular in format, and can be pieced together as required in order to accomplish a variety of tasks. They are given here as designed to follow a particular project, providing focus and meaning through the ceremonies associated with it. Thus they could be used together when beginning a new relationship, or to discover and activate aspects associated with dissatisfaction over a job. Equally, they can be used purely as written to get a sense of the role of each of the sephiroth in any process taking place throughout the universe or within oneself. Note that in Hebrew, the words for altar, lamp, triangle, pentagram, and hexagram all commence with the letter Mem, symbolic through the image of The Hanged Man of initiation and the fastening to the ‘on-high’, which is a state of being rather than a place or plane. The words for the triangle and the hexagram (two triangles) both contain two occurrences of the letter Shin, which in itself is symbolic of fire, represented by a triangle.
We will commence with the Kether ritual, involving the altar and the lamp, and work our way to the ritual of Malkuth.
1. Kether: The Ritual of the Altar and the Lamp.
Altar; MZBTh; the altar is the foundation of initiation, the link to the on-high. Offerings are made and intuition received here. The magician arranges the four elements and makes manifest his magic.
Lamp; MNVRH; the light of on-high, transforming the dark, bringing grace and enlightenment. The light of the lamp is the window through which we see.
The lamp pertains to two of the sephiroth, and is used here to represent Kether. The lamp hanging above the altar is symbolic of Kether, as it illuminates all the work below. The lamp which is carried in the hand, or any other form of light thus carried, symbolises Netzach, in that it represents the light of love, which is brought by the magician, and only illuminates that to which it is directed. This is an important point of symbolism.
The purpose of this first ritual is to link your goals with your environment by recognising the inherent unity between Kether and Malkuth, symbolised by the lamp and altar respectively. Kether in this context symbolises whatever enlightenment you wish to attain, and Malkuth is your base of work. This ritual can hence be used to throw light on a particular facet of the environment, or some other problem that is facing you. The lamp must be suspended above the altar, but if this is not possible then a tall candleholder will suffice. The altar itself can be either the traditional double-cube altar or simply a tray upon which your implements are placed, or the top of a table. The ritual follows the influence of the letters that spell out Kether, being Kaph, Tau and Resh.
Point Kaph. Stand or kneel before the altar and hold your hands above it, palms open and facing up. Visualise the altar as the centre of the universe, about which everything turns, like the spokes of a wheel. Say: “My life is the life I choose to lead. I am the centre myself, and that of all about me.”
Point Tau. Now turn both hands over and place them on the altar, one over the other, both bent slightly inwards making an ‘X’ shape. Feel the altar beneath your hands and say: “My life is the place of the Great Work, and myself the altar on which the Work is done.”
Point Resh. Light the lamp above the altar and state: “Let the Eternal Light of which this is part be visible to me in all that I accomplish.”
The meditation for this ritual is to take your problematic situation, or question, and think about it. Then visualise the question in some symbolic form, such as a question mark, sigil or other object, and see it as hanging between the lamp and the altar. Then slowly visualise the light of the lamp becoming brighter, and the altar becoming larger and larger until one is lost in the other, and the visualised object is lost amidst them. Then slowly contract this vision to a singular point of light and hold it as long as possible. This will have the effect of simplifying and clarifying your work at regular intervals.
2. Chockmah: The Ritual of the Circle and Candle.
Circle; A’aGVL; the circle is the eye of the mind, containing the mystery to be worked. Within, all things are fixed and placed in equilibrium.
Candle; NR; the candle dies to release the light.
The second ritual builds the Sapphire Temple further by creating a circle within which the Work is performed. The altar is usually the centre of the circle, or can be placed in the East, which is where the Sun rises and hence is symbolic of the dawning of light. As the ritual is assigned to Chockmah, the actions are circular and involve the candle as a pillar of light. Again, the actions follow the pattern of energy indicated by the letters composing Chockmah.
Point Cheth. Draw a circle about your temple space in any manner that seems appealing, using either your hand to point, or a wand or stick. This represents the enclosure (Cheth) within which you will work.
Point Kaph. Light a candle on your altar and place it in the centre of the circle, if this is not the position of your altar already. Warm the palm of your hand by the candle flame, feeling the warmth enter your arm.
Point Mem. Take a small container of water – either a shell, cup or other small pot – and walk around the circle in a clockwise motion, sprinkling the water. Say: “I purify the Circle by Water, and cleanse it and myself of all that is unnecessary to my Work.”
Point Heh. Take the candle and walk around the circle once again, holding it up and saying: “I consecrate this Circle by Fire, focusing everything in it and myself to the Work I will do.”
Place the candle down again, raise your arms above your head and say, firmly: “BEHOLD!”
The meditation for the ritual of Chockmah is that of a spiral. Visualise yourself as the centre of a circle, and then visualise that circle spinning around you as a wheel. From that point, visualise the circle vibrating upwards and downwards, so that the path of any point on the circle will form a spiral. Imagine that this spiral is the same spiral as that which forms the shape of a great galaxy, and then bring your attention back to the microscopic realm by imagining the spiral as forming the curve of a spiral of DNA within your body, or the shape of a seashell. Attempt to view time, and your own personal history as a spiral event rather than a linear one. What light does this template throw on the events which have
taken place in your life?
3. Binah: The Ritual of the Temple and Triangle.
Temple; HIKL; the temple is existence itself, the window in which the Great Work is seen. The temple is our place of being and our place of study.
Triangle; MShLSh; in the triangle is both the water of purification and the fire of consecration. Their equilibrium gives energy to the Work.
Chalice; KVS; in the vault of the graal is the wine of inspiration which alone can truly support us.
In this ritual, which is of the third sephirah, Binah, we complete the building of the temple itself. This completes the triangle of actions in the three sephiroth above the Abyss. Whereas Chockmah gives us the energy (in a spiral form) for the Work, Binah provides the form through which it is manifest. We must recall that the temple itself is equally a symbol, and symbolises our whole life, and the environment we live in. We must not forget to live in one world, and not see our temple work as separate to our ‘normal’ or everyday world.
As with each of the rituals of the Sapphire Temple, this working can be performed in itself, or be preceded by the earlier rituals. The full set is intended to create a master ceremony which can be modified according to requirements whilst still retaining the key elements and sequence of kabbalistic ritual.
Point Beth. Take the chalice up from the altar and elevate it, saying: “Let this Temple be a working place of the elements, force and form in harmony.”
Pour water into the chalice, contemplating it as a symbol of Chockmah pouring energy into Binah. Beth is the archetype of containers, and can mean ‘temple’.
Point Yod. Take a seed and place it into the chalice. Say: “Let the seed of this Work I am to perform grow to fruition in peace and safety.” Yod is the letter attributed to The Hermit tarot card, and symbolises the guiding principle of light, to which Nature aspires, as a seed becomes a plant which turns to the light.
Point Nun. Light the candle in front of the chalice as symbolic of the Sun (see also the point above regarding the candle, NR). Say: “Let the gross be removed that the light may shine forth and fill this temple.”
Point Heh. Visualise a triangular window in the East, through which light shines, and fills the temple. Raise your hands and state: “Let the Spirit of Understanding fill this Temple I have built.”
The meditation of this ritual is that of the triangle, which is one of the symbols of Binah, having three sides. It is also the first of the solid shapes after the circle, and is symbolic of the first equilibrium of unities, being composed of both the monad (Kether) and the duad (Chockmah). In Pythagorean numerology, three is sacred to Saturn, ruler of time, which is the planet attributed to Binah. The meditation is simply to take any situation and attempt to resolve it into three principles, visualised as words on each side of the triangle. Thus, a relationship might be drawn onto the triangle as ‘time’, ‘love’ and ‘space’. This triangle is that which binds the situation, and can be used to see the most basic form of any event or process.
4. Chesed: The Ritual of the Square.
Square; RBVA’a; building the square of the elements provides a base of light from which to work our will, with inspiration and energy.
With the ritual of the square, we awaken the powers of the elements in their most archetypal form, as they begin to appear in the flux of energies sent forth from Chesed to be differentiated in Geburah and disseminated through Tiphareth into the four lower sephiroth. The letters of Chesed; Cheth, Samekh, Daleth, conceal the square in a number of ways. Firstly, Cheth itself has the value of 8, the double square, and in full the value of 418, the number of the Great Work accomplished, according to Crowley. This sums to 4 + 1 + 8 = 13 = 1 + 3 = 4. Daleth has the value of 4 also.
Point Cheth. Draw a double square about the temple. The corners of the first square are the quarters, commencing in the East, then South, West and North. The corners of the second square are the cross-quarters, commencing in the South-East, then South-West, North-West, and North-East. This makes another form of enclosure (Cheth) about the temple.
Point Samekh. Take a staff or stick to each point of the double square in turn, commencing with the East. Say: “Within this Temple, the Powers of the (quarter or cross-quarter name) are awakened!”
Point Daleth. Take the staff to each of the quarters in turn, saying as appropriate:
East: “I open the Portal of the East and awaken the energy of Air.”
South: “I open the Portal of the South and awaken the energy of Fire.”
West: “I open the Portal of the West and awaken the energy of Water.”
North: “I open the Portal of the North and awaken the energy of Earth.”
The meditation for the ritual is one used in many opening rituals, which involves facing each quarter in turn and meditating on the properties of the element associated with that quarter. Thus for East, one visualises the Air, and attempts to awaken within oneself the positive qualities of Air, being lightness, swiftness, clarity and so forth. Most systems, including kabbalah, also use personifications for the powers of the quarters, such as Michael for the South, or djinn in the Wiccan system. However, in the Sapphire Temple sequence, it is best to begin with the abstract principle of the element, and then build up suitable personifications at a later stage. This avoids some of the dangers involved with working with personified energy when first beginning ritual work, the worst of which is attributing personal qualities to these archetypal forms.
5. Geburah: The Ritual of the Incense and the Pentagram.
Pentagram; MChMSh; the pentagram initiates a separation and forges the link to on-high. It initiates the energy of the Work.
Incense; QTRTh; the incense pervades, appealing to our deepest senses. The smoke coils and twists like a snake, and from the point of light, burning, we are surrounded by manifestation.
With Geburah, we begin to impose constraints on the energies awoken in the Chesed ritual. Geburah is the sephirah of discrimination and discernment, being the defining aspect of form. As the pentagram is the symbol of Geburah, having five points, it is appropriate that the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is here introduced, being the most common form of preliminary temple ritual in ritual magic. However, as this ritual is of primary importance in most magical work, I here offer a kabbalistic commentary on its nature, and have provided the full ritual elsewhere in this book.
Point Gimel. Light incense. Pause and meditate briefly on the nature of sacrifice, where one substance changes its form entirely, hence dying, only to allow another form of itself to rise, like incense.
Points Beth, Vau and Resh. These points together form the basis of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, which is now performed. The Hebrew word, Beth Vau Resh, BVR, means ‘to be empty, uncultivated’, and hence indicates the nature of the temple after a successful banishing. The tarot cards which relate to these letters are The Magician, The Hierophant and The Sun, which show that the banishing is performed according to Will in order to reveal and work with the mysteries of Light. The letters themselves demonstrate that the banishing aims to ‘fix’ (Vau) the ‘temple’ (Beth) in one’s ‘head’ (Resh) or awareness.
Point Heh. Raise hands after the banishing and say: “BEHOLD!”
6. Tiphareth: The Ritual of the Pillars and the Rose.
Pillar; A’aMVD; between the pillars the eye of the mind is awakened to the on-high. The sacred things are shown and the portal is opened.
Rose; VRD; the rose recalls love, light and unity to those who look upon it.
Hexagram; MShShH; the hexagram symbolises two triangles of energy (Shin and Shin), one of an ascending nature, providing the symbols of Fire and Air (Heh, air hole), and the other of a descending nature, providing the symbols of Water (Mem) and Earth (the synthesis of the four letters).
For the Tiphareth ritual, we reach a critical junction in the sequence, and hence the working seeks to provide the full equilibrium of the temple, and fasten it to the kabbalistic Tree as strongly as possible. This
is done by a series of visualisations which map the Tree and the pillars to the temple, which is a technique favoured by the Golden Dawn Society. The two pillars of the temple are often called Boaz and Jachin in Freemasonry and derived groups, without other explanation than their Biblical origin or that Boaz is Zoab, ‘fortify’ backwards, and Jachin is Nikaj, ‘prepared’, backwards. Boaz is translated as BA’aZ, ‘in strength’, and Jachin as YHKN, ‘he that strengthens, or will establish’, hence ‘in strength shall this my house be established’. I have used an alternative rendering which reads ‘I have entered in’ for Boaz, and ‘seeking Mercy’ for Jachin.
The ritual is analysed as the Geburah ritual, and the central point could be replaced or added to by the performance of the Rose Cross Ritual of the Golden Dawn, or a banishing hexagram ritual. A rose should be placed on the altar for the duration of this ceremony.
Point Tau. Move to the left of the temple, standing in the North, facing the Eastern wall, and state firmly: “I have entered in.”
Visualise standing in the sephirah of Hod, which can be as complex or simple as you like. The simplest form would be to visualise an orange circle beneath your feet. Now visualise the Pillar of Severity stretching out in front of you to Geburah, which is outside of the temple, and beyond that to Binah, which can only dimly be seen. When you are ready, turn to face the West and touch your right shoulder with your right hand, saying: “Geburah.”
This activates the Pillar of Severity and identifies it with your right side and the actions of your right hand.
