ARC Magazine

ARC was a cyclostyled magazine published in 1973 by David Franklin, who was Margaret Bain’s partner at the time. The name of the publisher is given as “The Society of Synchronocists [sic]” with an address in Stockwell, London. I have the first three issues, and I don’t know if any more were published.

In Issue 1, the magazine is introduced as follows:

ARC is Qabalistically biased, but is most certainly interested in other systems, providing the approach is sane, practical and down-to-earth. We don’t claim to hold or reveal all the secrets of the Universe, but what we do hope, is to present a somewhat different viewpoint from that which has been seen up to now.

One of the aims of ARC is to give lesser known authors in the field the chance to speak up and air their opinions, in addition to the more well-known experts.

Considerable research has been and is still taking place in the many and varied branches of occultism, and we hope, by publishing the products of some of these researchers, to spur on others to do likewise, in order that the whole subject may be seen in an up-to-date and clearer light.

The contents of each issue are listed below:

Issue 1

Issue 2

Issue 3:

Notes on Selected Articles

Phoenician Letters (in Issues 2 and 3)

These articles are related to the book The Phoenician Letters, by Wilfred Davies and G. Zur, which was published six years later in 1979. The article in Issue 3 is a version of the first part of the second letter in the book, and the article in Issue 2 is related but not identical to the content of the published book.

Articles by ‘Querent’ (in Issues 1 and 3)

These articles, A New Astrology and Cabalistic Astrology, are reproduced on the website. It is most likely that they were written by Glyn Davies.

Article by Colin Couchman (in Issue 3)

This article, The Western Trisystem, is reproduced on the website. It addresses the need for a system of self-development which caters for intellect, feeling and action. The proposal is to combine Witchcraft, the Grail quest and Qabalah, and Colin begins by reformulating the tree of life. Colin Couchman worked in number of traditions such as Witchcraft, Gurdjieff/Ouspensky and Kabbalah.

Articles by Gareth Knight (Issues 2 and 3)

The article in Issue 3, entitled Mystical Qabalah or Hindu Qabalah? was written in the aftermath of the Hawkwood Conference of April 1973. This conference, featuring the Christian Priest, Mystic and student of Qabalah Anthony Duncan, is described in Chapter 10 of Gareth Knight’s esoteric autobiography, I called it Magic. According to the article, the conference was intended to be a kind of introduction to the Occult for open-minded Christians. There were a number of these present but they were outnumbered by those from the Occult ranks. It was on the whole a very open-minded affair, although it seems that Gareth Knight upset a few people by pointing out that in his view, most occult books on the Qabalah – including his own – were misleading in one or two basic ways. This led to a ‘darkening’ of the astral environs (which in his autobiography is described as a psychic attack).

Article by Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi (in Issue 1)

This article is a copy of Chapter XVI, titled ‘Time’ in his book Tree of Life (first published in 1972).

Articles by Kay Henwood (in Issues 2 and 3)

Kay Henwood wrote articles on Gypsy Magic and Romany Herbs. The following year, she wrote a book Secrets of the Gypsies. Kay was married to Richard Henwood, a member of SES who had been involved with Alan Bain’s Kabbalah Group in the late 1950s

Article by Donald Laycock (in Issue 3)

In his article How to Speak the Angelic Language, Donald Laycock outlines his theories about the correct pronunciation of the Enochian calls – the language of the angels first documented by John Dee and Edward Kelley, and later adopted into the Golden Dawn magical system. Dr Donald Laycock, was a linguist at the Australian National University, a world authority on the languages of Papua New Guinea. In 1979 he published a book on his work on the Enochian language: Complete Enochian Dictionary: Dictionary of the Angelic Language as Revealed to Dr.John Dee and Edward Kelley

 

 

 

The Beard Of Microprosopus Is The Field Of Freud

An article by Margaret Bain, published in Quest Magazine, Journal of the Magical Heritage of the West, published continuously four times a year since 1970.  Article republished from Quest No. 8, December 1971 with the permission of the editor.

 Quoting the Zohar:

“The tradition that the law is given forth unto the Israelites in black fire upon white fire. This is the Beard.”

“In those forms of fragrance, the beard begins to appear from the top of the ears and descends and ascends the place of fragrance.”

“The Beauty is arranged, divided into nine parts, but when the Most Holy Ancient One sends down rays into this heard, its parts are found to be twenty two.”

“When Jacob takes his blessing (Genesis 48.v 20) with the twenty two shall Jacob bless.”

There are thirteen confirmations of the Beard – nine together and four separately. This is because the four separately constitute functions which equate with Malkuth, Yesod, Hod and Netzach. Tiphareth is the point where the beard of Macroprosopus which sends the rays down, meets the Beard of Microprosopus into which the rays are sent.

The conformations given according to the Zohar are as follows :-

“The thirteen measurements of mercies of the Most Holy Ancient One:”

1) What God is like unto Thee? 2) Pardoning iniquity 3) Passing by transgression 4) Of the remnant of his heritage 5) Retaining not his anger forever 6) Because he delights in mercy 7) He will have compassion on us 8) Subdue our iniquities 9) Thou shalt cast all their iniquities into the depths of the sea	The nine springs which flow on the body
10) Thou wilt give truth unto Jacob 11) Mercy unto Abraham 12) Which Thou hast sworn unto our forefathers 13) From days of old	The four springs which flow together

That is how one man saw it, eight hundred years ago. But what has this to do with Freud? And in terms of our modern twentieth century society, what does it mean? (Incidentally, before anyone starts raising their hands to the skies in horror at the association of Freud with the revered ancient teachings of the Zohar, it might be a good idea to point out that Freud was brought up in a Hassidic community, and the Hassidim to this day wear upon their faces the outward symbol of the Beard.)

The Beard of Microprosopus exists in each one of us – inwardly – whether we like it or not – in the form of the sympathetic and the para-sympathetic nervous systems. Let us rework the teachings of the Zohar in modern terms:

a) All sensory data is received in the form of symbolic impressions.
b) All impressions are accepted or rejected.
c) From acceptance or rejection, actions arise.
d) All impressions strike a familiar note somewhere by which interest is aroused.
e) If interest is caught, it is taken to heart. This will alter whether further impressions are accepted or rejected.
f) All impressions striking a familiar chord have a name and quality assigned to them by the personality.
g) A tendency to initiate those labels will arise, altering yet again the acceptance or rejection or further impressions.
h) The personality tests, by reference to the inner nature, and controls the further reception of impressions.
i) The essential nature surveys the recognition of impressions, the actions arising from those impressions, and whether the personal response is truthful.

Those nine ‘conformations of the Beard of Microprosopus’ in modern terms, shows the interaction between one’s essential nature and the world around one. The four separately given conformations can be posited as follows:

1. Malkuth – Every man or woman is the possible father or mother of a multitude (Body)
2. Yesod – Every man or woman is the epitome of all men and all women.
3. Hod – Every man or woman is in communication with every other man or woman (Super Ego)
4. Netzach – Every man or woman perpetuates the image of man and woman.

I have limited myself to the Beard of Microprosopus in this article, because the introduction of the Beard of Macroprosopus would entail going into the nervous system of God. This may form the basis of a future article but the Hermetic saying, “As above – so below” must content us for the moment.   Perhaps the ‘so below’ will give us some appreciation of the ‘As above’.

Qabalists will recognise, from this short exposition, the values of ancient teachings in our modern world of clinical up-to-date psychology. The Zohar provides a prolific source of raw material for personal research and original work, for anyone interested enough to search for it there. And the ancient teachings contained therein cut across the boundaries of nation, colour and creed. The voices speak to us still, across the centuries, if we have ears to hear, and we can hear them in the relative tongue of our own culture and heritage.

Let there be an end to insularity. No one is the guardian of the only way. Let us instead be still and listen.

 

Isis On The Tree Of Life

An article by Margaret Bain, published in Quest Magazine, Journal of the Magical Heritage of the West, published continuously four times a year since 1970.  Article republished from Quest No. 5, March 1971 with the permission of the editor. 

Isis is probably the most comprehensive representation of the Archetypal Feminine as Goddess, and the highest practical form of deity known. She is appropriate thus regarded, as representative of the three Supernals. As Kether, she is Love, as ‘Hokma, Wisdom, and as Binah, Understanding.

She gives rise out of self-union (‘Hokma-Binah) to the Son-Lover-Spouse (Tiphareth) who dies and is risen for her sake.

Tiphareth has two aspects, which are represented as Osiris and Set. All below Tiphareth is the Risen Osiris. (The dis-membered Osiris is Malkuth as world of the Qliphoth, and the missing Phallus of Osiris is in Yesod.) The aspect which is the top half of Tiphareth is Set, who forever tries to destroy Osiris, but Isis, with Wisdom and Understanding knows that both are necessary principles for the continued existence of the world. (Symbolised as the lower four sephiroth – Hathor – a lower form of Isis – being analogous to Venus, and Thoth and Anubis to Mercury or Hermes. In Yesod is found a male deity, the god Shu, and in Malkuth, Isis recurs as the bride who sits upon the throne of Binah.)

Isis as Malkuth mates with the Phallus of Osiris (Yesod) and Horus is born. Horus may be attributed to the path which reconcile Hod and Netzach. The true Phallus of Osiris cannot be found, for it is contained within Isis as ‘Hokma, and so Isis fashions one herself to beget Horus, who is perpetually at war with Set, to avenge Osiris, but when able to destroy Set, Isis intervenes and spares him, for as Nephthys, she is the wife of Set.

Some of the oldest representations of the ancient Moon Goddess, (Isis is the Egyptian form) show her as the Moon Tree, and triune, in the form of three pillars. An ancient Phoenician Stela shows them with the Middle pillar taller than the side pillars, and the whole surmounted by a crescent moon pointing downwards. Later, the crescent was reversed, and came to represent the horns, particularly in Isis as Hathor. The dark aspect of the Moon was always feared for its evil magical qualities and for that reason is not found represented.

In the Tree of Life, Kether, the highest expression of deity, from which all the sephiroth are emanated, is the Creator of Life. As is Isis in her aspect of self-born Great Mother, capable of producing children without any external agency, unless such an agent is required, when she gives birth to a son who becomes her lover. The pillar of Mercy corresponds with the first quarter of the Moon, representing growth and fertility. The middle pillar is clearly the full Moon, and the last quarter can only be the pillar of Severity, when the principle of evil – Set – works destruction on the light, by biting pieces away every night, until the moon is swallowed up by death, the underworld, where Isis is Persephone, represented by implication as the new Moon. This annihilation must take place before she can be born again. Thus, Isis is the Goddess of Birth and Death, corresponding to Binah, who is dark and sterile and bright and fertile simultaneously.

Thus it may he seen that God in the highest is neither male or female, but resembles the female, in that from God, life is born, uncreated, and to God must always return as the son who is sacrificed upon the tree is returned to Isis.

 

The Place Of Ethics, Morality And Responsibility In Occultism

An article by Margaret Bain, published in Quest Magazine, Journal of the Magical Heritage of the West, published continuously four times a year since 1970.  Article republished from Quest No. 4, December 1970 with the permission of the editor.

It was with some trepidation that I set out to write this article because the title contains 3 highly emotive words – “Ethics, Morality and Responsibility”. Such is the trend of Society today that these words conjure up a picture of Victorian repression and stern condemnation and we cringe as we hear them, and turn away, muttering about ‘fuddie-duddies’, and listen no more.

However, listen we must, if we are to take Occultism seriously and develop in such a way that we are of some use to our fellow men and ourselves. It is given to very few to receive ‘Direction’ from on high and so interpret this that we do not adulterate its pristine purity, with our own wishes, thereby justifying any action we may take. It is no use pleading that we act under “Natural Law” and therefore cannot cause harm and suffering to others. And those of us who are capable of acting under direction, without a code of conduct stand out purely because their humility and lack of selfishness makes them incapable of bringing on to other people anything they would not wish to bear themselves.

For the rest of us the principle must be “Do as you would be done by” or “Do nothing unto others that you would not wish them to do to you”. For if we do, we invoke the karmic “Be done by as you did”. I was once told that Karma is described by the sentence: “If you throw an egg at a wall you will have a nasty yellow mess” and this is very true. Unfortunately, many of us continue to throw eggs at our walls, kidding ourselves that the eggs are good for the wall, or that they are not eggs anyway, or that we like walls covered with nasty yellow messes! In fact some of us are so good at kidding ourselves that we blandly deny the existence of either the egg or the wall! Which is fine, until we get our noses rubbed into the nasty yellow mess, by which time it is too late to do anything other than regret the egg throwing. Either we must put up with the mess in the realisation that we have brought it upon ourselves, or do our best to clean it up, resolving to learn the nature of eggs and walls without hurling the one at the other. Thus we see the Man-made Law is, though imperfect, a reflection of the Natural Law, and by living in such a way that we bring no harm to other people, we are more truly fulfilling our function of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. So much for Ethics and Morality.

The question of Responsibility, although tied up with the foregoing needs a little looking at in depth, because it is here that so many of us founder. The same person who defined Karma in terms of eggs and walls also taught me that one has only one responsibility, and that is to one’s self.

Once again, this in the ultimate ideal situation is true. However, like so many such truths it can be misinterpreted in such a way as to justify any course of action, thereby possibly even bringing about the reverse of the ultimate ideal. If Occultism is not to degenerate into an excuse for any wild chaotic hypocritical abuse of our Divine nature, it is obvious that this sole responsibility we have – to our Selves, must incorporate an integrity which will not allow us to deviate from the duties attendant on the Work we have undertaken.

It is of no use for an Occultist, supposing that he is genuinely seeking Truth and Understanding in order to serve his fellow men and contribute towards the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth to turn his back upon such duties simply because something is more attractive to him at the time. For instance, a teacher or group leader by virtue of his function, bears the responsibility for the results of his teaching on those whom he teaches, whether he likes it or not. In the same way, a married man bears the responsibility of his wife and family, even though he may prefer someone else later. In the former case, no one asked him to teach or set up a group. He may have felt the call to do so but once having answered the call he has tacitly taken on the attendant responsibility of seeing it through and not shrugging off any effects his teaching may have on the group by disclaiming responsibility. In the latter case, again, no one forced him to marry, the days of shot-gun weddings are over, and it is up to him, once having taken on the responsibilities of marriage, of wife and family, to see it through even though he may meet someone else later whom he prefers to his wife. The two situations are in close parallel. Let me make it clear that this pre-supposes a highly developed, or at any rate, a sincere of the Way to Truth and Understanding. The man in the street, uninterested in the Kingdom of Heaven, occultism or anything deeper than the gratification of his wishes, is unlikely to concern himself with these considerations, and may very well be happier without them. The Occultist on the other hand, by virtue of his dedication must take them into consideration, since cupidity and interference with the peace and happiness of others is incompatible with even the most elementary forms of spiritual progress.

Bearing in mind that whatever the state of our evolution we are all human and liable to error, how may the new comer to Occultism who wishes to join a group assure himself that the one he chooses is one which will guide him safely on his soul’s development? There is only one answer, he must use his own judgement. In order to fulfil his own responsibility to himself he must asses the effect that the work of the group has on the lives of it’s leader and members and ask himself “Is this the kind of life I want?” If the lives of the members of the group are chaotic and disruptive then he can see that his own life may become the same, since presumably both group and leader live according to their teaching. I have met group loaders who would violently disagree with this and loftily quote “Judge not that ye be not judged”, but if one is willing not to be judged then one must refrain from judging. Though in certain circumstances I will dare anyone’s judgement to exercise my own when the state of my soul is at stake. Certainly gullibility is no virtue. If the newcomer feels that he is not yet in a position to judge he may either decide to wait until he is in such a position or join the group reserving judgement until ho has learned more about them. In the latter case he is well advised to test everything presented to him as teaching. If the teaching is true it will stand up under fire. Truth holds true in whatever guise it appears. If the teacher says that all esoteric cabbages are blue, to nod safely and repeat the statement will turn him into a yes-man rather than an occultist. Find an esoteric cabbage and see if they are blue. If they turn out as yellow bring it back that the group may learn from it.

Given the dedication and desire for Truth, and keeping one’s feet firmly on the ground one may safely tread the path back to God in good company, secure in the knowledge that one’s responsibilities are met and that one’s loyalty and trust in the integrity of one’s group and its leader will not be betrayed.

 

A Journey Up a Tree

An article by Margaret Bain, published in Quest Magazine, Journal of the Magical Heritage of the West, published continuously four times a year since 1970. Article republished from Quest No. 3, September 1970 with the permission of the editor.

“Who am I?  What is this me?  A voice, a motion, an appearance?  Some embodied visualised idea in the Eternal Mind? Alas, poor cogitator, this takes us but a little way. Sure enough, I am; and lately was not.  But whence?  How?  Where to?”

The above immortal words of Carlyle have been echoed by seekers after truth and understanding throughout the ages. Countless systems have attempted an answer, with varying success. But if we start with the premise that our concept of Divinity is above, and we are below, we may follow the seeker on his journey up the tree of Life.

Originally, he is living entirely in the World of Appearances, governed by action/reaction. Here, he is sure that whatever the fault, it is not his. He cannot find his place, and therefore must reform the world. The cry, “Why has this happened to me?” and the equally familiar “What have I done to deserve this?” resound woefully and long. He is unable to consciously accept the responsibility for his words and deeds, and so he blames the weather, his wife, the neighbours, the boss, each in turn for his misfortunes.

The more he bewails his life, the more it’s problems devolve squarely upon him. The justice he receives, being that of Natural Law, is fairer and more exacting than anything man-made, and so he learns Life’s Lessons, each harder than the last, until he recognises what is being shown. He sees that he cannot remake the world, but he can sort himself out preparatory to finding his place and function in life.

He has entered the world equipped with all he needs for his development.    His task is to discover, develop, integrate and use his attributes.

Feeling he is being drawn further, he adorns himself with this new-found knowledge, and parades about, hinting darkly that he has cracked the secrets of the Universe, and waiting for it all to happen. It does – but not as expected.    Life steps in, and he is forced to look inwards, and suddenly finds himself blundering about the World of Instincts, where, discovering the power of imagination, which he glamourises as “Revelations from on High” and faithfully draws, records, and recounts them to whoever will listen. Or writes detailed descriptions of them with the air of being mysteriously set apart to receive classified information about the cosmos in general and humanity in particular. He is happy enough but cannot rest, having touched the Instinctive part of his nature.

One of the strongest instincts being Survival, it is this which prods him on,    for it concerns not only bodily survival, but that of identity and soul.

He takes the first step towards the World of Intellect, and here meets the Life Force. This, a vitalizing dynamic force permeates his surroundings and courses through every aspect of his being. He experiences expectation and the wonder of living – perhaps a feeling of “walking on air”. Exhilarating though this is, however, he needs to be sure that his feet stay on the ground. This force is not everything. It would not do to go back to the beginning, carried by the Life Force finding expression through action/reaction. Gradually he sees that everything alive has a vibrating, pulsing, ever changing yet changeless pattern, energized by Life Force. This re-charges his energies and makes him eager to penetrate further, enthusiastic to learn more. He enters the World of Intellect.

This is the place of thoughts, information, logic, cataloguing and analysis.    He may be fascinated by Intellectual capabilities which may imprison him and possibly delay development by substituting logic for understanding and academic learning for spiritual truth, making his environment sterile, and himself complacent.

Strangely, this very self-satisfaction is likely to provide the spur, for who,   from the height of Intellect, can resist an occasional glance behind? Logic will suggest that it is his duty to place his greater experience and wisdom at the service of others less fortunate. This he does and finds he can command respect. He has progressed considerably and knows it. In exercising intellect,    he has learned to discourse, and further, to be heard. Although a little pontifical, he feels this is justified, for thus far the way has been hard, and according to his light, he is able to help others being able to see clearly,    some of his own conditions; he thus acquires the stability for further development, whilst still appreciating the value of greater understanding applied materially.

He starts the next stage when the power inherent in the World of Feeling clamours for attention, and he finds this path rocky and uphill. This is very different from the orderly ‘Thou shalts’ and ‘Thou shalt nots’ of the World of Intellect. He is reluctant to undertake it, for half way across the path becomes alarming and he swings between Intellect and Feeling like a pendulum of a crazy clock. He has to decide whether to go forward or back and each appears equally difficult.

Eventually he becomes aware of the voice, calling him from deep within. He takes the plunge and the chaotic conditions give way to the warm summery conditions to the World of Feelings.

Having escaped the World of Intellect, our traveller now relaxes in the gentle glow of feelings, discovers new delights in the attraction of the opposite sex, and enjoys appreciating his environment intuitively. He tends to use his feelings as a canopy against reality and see the world through rose coloured spectacles. To begin with this is necessary, for it takes a while to assimilate the experience of feeling-based events. He has experienced such things before but now does so consciously, and takes the consequent responsibility,  which change in attitude accompanies conscious development. After relaxation, boredom creeps in.

He realises he is ‘all dressed up and nowhere to go’. He looks for activity and finds that he may now help others again. When he did this from Intellect, he was only able to do this intellectually – classifying analysing facts, pigeon-holing the Universe from them. Doing the same from Feelings is less straightforward, except when lending a sympathetic ear, aided by the watchful use of Intuition. He tends to classify people, feeling how they fit into the pattern of life, although the pitfall here is the temptation to compare them with himself in too critical a light. He gains satisfaction again by putting experience and understanding to good use. He finds he is accorded authority, for all travelling towards Truth recognise the value of greater experience than their own.

Our traveller soon realises that he has still much further to go. He has experienced the Worlds of Instincts, Intellect and Feeling, separately and related to daily life. His task now is to weld the three together into a whole Personality and set forward alone to establish his true being for which it will become a tool. Solitude is necessary, for to find his true Self, he must withdraw from instruction and establish a foundation in his life through which it may find expression. The next is a most important stage: Having explored the nature of personality, the opportunity arises to transcend personality and establish the centre of consciousness in his true Self. To become ‘Self Conscious’.

He finds it hard, for the gateway to Self is narrow and involves sacrifice.    This word means ‘transmutation’ or change. He must change his attitude to his most dearly held ideas, ideals and illusions. There are some teachers who insist that the popular concept of sacrifice meaning ‘loss’ or ‘going without’ is meaningless, and give the impression that the transmutation can happen without. This is not true. In order to transfer consciousness from Personality to Self, our traveller must relinquish everything he has put in the place of Self.     Unless he can consciously accept the necessity of losing cherished ideas,    ideals – even possessions or people in some cases, the gateway closes and no change takes place. He may not he called upon to lose them, but he must be prepared to do so. Passing through the veil which shrouds the light of Self is akin to being born and our traveller must undergo, consciously, the trauma of re-birth. ‘Habits die hard’ and this is fully demonstrated here. Personality does not easily relinquish any part, so he finds he may travel the path round Instincts, Intellect and Feelings many times, discovering and integrating parts previously overlooked.

Many travellers remain in this state for a long time. Some are happy to do so,   without ambition to go further, being satisfied with a firm foundation and a rounded, integrated personality which brings true independence. They have achieved more than average. They do not allow themselves to be buffeted by circumstance. They are masters of their own personalities.

The next stop requires devotion and courage, for the ties which bind consciousness to personality must be let go, and the traveller prepared to find Self as helpless as a new-born baby. He must re-orient his attitudes, desires and ambitions on the basis of Self-Consciousness taking Self on trust.

Given courage and devotion, he does this, for Self is no stranger. It has been finding expression through personality all along, but un-consciously, being identified with its various aspects. The relationship which he now finds with personality is that which the lion tamer finds with the lion. He rules the beast with love, the lion is a willing and obedient servant. Everything is clearer and in detail. Never again will he be able to kid himself. He may ignore what he sees but he can never ignore that he has seen it.

Many systems end with the finding of Self – the Kingdom of Heaven Within –   but our traveller takes the journey two steps forward. He must now learn to be self, investigating and integrating the parts of Self, and then comes ‘Self Realisation’ in the way that one realises assets and uses them. Before he continues, he must pause and consolidate his position to establish his whereabouts by reference to what has gone before. He looks back to Intellect and sees that discovering Self from there would have appeared upside down.   Having accepted losing cherished ideas, he appreciates that he has gained.    Intellectual power can be pure force, used consciously without identification.  He sees previous incompleteness and observes thought as inner events, interlacing with the outer events in his environment. He can exercise choice, since he now has the necessary clear, watchful intellect.

He looks back at feelings and realises he sensed the coming change which aroused a wandering amongst unconscious aspects which most people would rather ignore. It appears to be ‘Walking in the Valley of the Shadow of Death’.    He sees that losing illusions was death of a kind. The person he was has gone. He can never identify with feelings again. The gain is great for if he were to do so now, it would be death to his new born Self Consciousness and that loss would be tragic. He can overcome fear of death, which release is an essential for exercising choice. Now he knows he is immortal and eternal. No-one can have something for nothing, and our traveller sees his suffering as part of the price for the knowledge that he is immortal.

He now explores the realm of Self and approaches the World of Desires.    Spiritualists say death changes no one and he finds that ‘Self Consciousness’, although it changes much of what he has, does not change his basic nature, either. It only shows clearly what he is, for good or evil.

The biggest problem he faces now is Pride – the vice of Self. It is natural to be proud of his achievement. He sees himself as eternal with Truth his birthright. This image is true, but incomplete, unless he applies this heritage to its intended purpose – the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. For this he must meet Macrocosmic Laws which he does in the World of Desires. This is terrifying, for Pride tempts him to identify from Self, and claim it as his own. He says ‘my desires’, whereas these belong to all. Instincts, intellect and Feelings likewise belong to all, but they act by reflection. As long as our Traveller cannot discriminate here, this world chains him. As long as desires engulf him, he has cause to fear. Psychologists say that the commonest way of overcoming fear is rationalization. This does not work here. He must learn to handle these desires safely.

He must employ Intellect to a higher degree and let the forces flow without being swept away into uncontrollable situations. Although he can control outward reaction, he must attend, inwardly, for this conflict affects the soul and he meets both temptation to show off and situations where he must choose, whilst seeming to have no choice. These throw him back upon himself very hard but he can cope with them, however diabolical things seem. Now he looks, necessarily, for that in him which transcends Self, and that is Spirit.

If he persists in identifying, he will be knocked even harder until the truth is accepted. It is only pride – identifications – which must go. He remains ‘Self conscious’. If he cannot or will not relinquish identification, he is flung down the path from Desire to Intellect, with all his Self power, but totally unbalanced, for though formidable intellectually, there is no equivalent power in feelings and instincts. He must re-traverse the triangle, redistributing the power of Self throughout the personality before re-climbing. Avoidance of this pitfall allows him to approach the World of Origins or Mind aspect of Nature. He may ‘Let his Light Shine’ and allow it to work within him, illuminating this world. Supernal influence shines through him in this light and intimations of his Spiritual nature strengthen. He learns by doing and begins to receive higher spiritual forces and transmit them to others.

The World of Origins is basic and archetypal. Herein lie the roots of the elements and all physical form. Our traveller must come to terms with natural law. Like Desires, this world will tolerate no identification with Cosmic Force, nor anyone attempting to claim it. Nature Power is great but subtle, and the unfortunate who shows Pride here will be ejected gently so that he hardly knows it. He will float down the path towards Feelings, lulled into a false sense of security, by claiming he has conquered Nature. This fall is devastating for again Cosmic Power is brought down and must be re-distributed. This lesson – to move with Natural Forces without losing conscious control –   can be terrible. If he avoids the danger, there is one more path to an integrated and fully realised Self. Here he meets his judgement on himself. All loose ends are tied. All remaining problems are solved. Any buried identifications are relinquished. Here he can walk through the ‘Valley of the Shadow of Death’ without fear, and come out at the other end whole and complete. Here the Self-foundation is built to step towards spirit. Our traveller’s task is done – his journey over. He can meet his God. Pride is vanquished – ‘The meek inherit the earth’. Now he stands in direct contact with Supernal Power, and can channel it.

When he finally crosses the Abyss, he will be in another life – another journey – and his kingdom then, that of another world.

Note: I wish to express my gratitude to my husband, Alan Bain, with whom I was working at the time of writing the original article on which this is based, and without whom neither could have been written, although we differ on certain fundamental points described here.

 

Ernest Page Obituary

An obituary of Ernest Page, who died on 30^th June, 1966.
Thought to be from a North London newspaper.

HIS HOMELESS FRIENDS AT
FUNERAL OF ASTROLOGER

Several homeless friends were at the funeral of astrologer and poet, Mr Ernest Britten Page, a member of a well known Hornsey family, who died at the end of June.

Clipping courtesy    Stan Green

After the funeral they were invited for tea by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. Page, at their home in Clifton Road, Crouch End.

Mr. Page, who was a striking figure with long white hair and beard, had been homeless since 1956, when he felt that living between four walls had become too much of a burden.

Also at the funeral service, in Nodes’ Chapel, Crouch End, and Golders Green Crematorium, which was conducted by Mr Page’s brother, the Rev. Arthur Page, of St John’s Roman Catholic Church, Islington, were Preb. D. W. C. Mossman, vicar, and the Rev. H. Lacy, curate of Christ Church, Crouch End, where Mr. Page’s parents are prominent members, and the Rev. D. Black, minister of Ferme Park Baptist Church. His sister, Miss Ruth Page, who went from Ferme Park Church to be a missionary in the Congo, returned from there on leave two days before the funeral, and was present with his other sister, Mary.

Mr Page was born 52 years ago in Hillfield Avenue, Hornsey. He attended St Mary’s Church of England School, Hornsey, and Tollington School, Muswell Hill.

LAY PREACHER

He was a member for several years of Ferme Park Baptist Church and became, in his late teens, a lay preacher at Campsbourne Mission, Hornsey.

During the 1930s he took an active interest in politics, and was a speaker and demonstrator.

He was a life-long pacifist, and during the war was a conscientious objector, working as a hospital orderly at the Star and Garter Home for Disabled Soldiers at Richmond, where he made many friends.

At this time, while he was living on Highgate West Hill, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church at Farm Street Jesuit Church, Westminster.

This was the period when he wrote most of his poetry – some of which was published in a volume, 14 poems – and gave weekly poetry readings.

CAROLS, TOO

He had also written and set to music several Christmas carols.

In 1956, with what his family regard as typical suddenness, he walked out of church during Mass. He never, however, abandoned his faith, and his brother said of him at the funeral service, ‘I preach the gospel – but Ernest practises it.’

Despite the efforts of family and friends, he felt it was a burden to live between four walls, and for the last ten years of his life was homeless, though returning regularly to stay with his parents in Crouch End.

His interest in astrology began in 1956, and he became a well known figure in the British Museum, where he studied in the day. In the evenings he received his clients in restaurants in the West End. He shunned publicity for his work, but in this summer’s edition of the “Musical Express” gave predictions for the future of several pop stars.

He took a great interest in the homeless or those in trouble, and spent all his money helping them and visiting men and boys in prisons and Borstals all over the country.

He died in Hyde Park, sitting on a bench writing a letter.

The Extended Tree

The Extended Tree: modern forms of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and their origins
Cherry Gilchrist

An article by Cherry Gilchrist about a modern development of the
Tree of Life and its formulation by three Kabbalists:
Glyn Davies, Alan Bain, and Warren Kenton
(otherwise known as Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi).

The Tree of Life is a cosmic map used by Kabbalists to represent the flow of creation from first principles to physical manifestation. ‘Flow’ is a useful word because Kabbalah never is and never was entirely fixed as a system. Kabbalists, certainly in the last five hundred years, have experimented with different forms of the Tree, with variation in layout, the number of paths and how they are placed between the sefiroth. The version that we know best today is probably more fixed than it has been for centuries, but even so changes may sometimes be made, to try and represent different aspects of Kabbalistic teaching.

The Tree of Life

This has been the case with devising a glyph for the Tree of Life which can represent the four different levels, or ‘worlds’ of Creation. Each sefira on the Tree is said to contain all four worlds, and by the same token, there can be a Tree for each world. But if there is a Tree of Assiah, the material world, a Tree of Yetzirah, the imaginative principle, of Briah which is fiery and creative, and Aziluth which is the purest and most etheric form – then how might these be shown in an integrated form? Would it be possible to ‘extend’ the existing Tree somehow? Such questions played in the minds of Kabbalists, who are on the whole nosey people, and curious about how everything works. Could it be made to work better? Speculation is part of the game; the search for the Extended Tree was on.

This is where we can switch to a very particular account of how a modern form of the Extended Tree took shape, with its roots in a 1950s Kabbalah group, and formulated in different ways by three Kabbalists: Glyn Davies, Alan Bain, and Warren Kenton (otherwise known as Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi). The source was a circle of people who used to gather in Soho in the 1950s and 60s to study Kabbalah, who were known simply as ‘The Group’. I will return to them later. I will also just add here that I am writing this based on my own research first-hand observations, plus similar research by colleagues. But although I’m making this as historically accurate as possible, it will to some extent be influenced by the line that Glyn Davies founded, which is the path that I took, rather than that of Alan Bain or Warren Kenton. These three lines are indeed intertwined, and share certain values and a similar type of knowledge, but they do not share exactly the same outlook.

Glyn Davies’ group and the Extended Tree

In the early 1970s, Glyn Davies was casting around for a satisfactory way to draw up an extended Tree of Life, a Jacob’s ladder that could represent the interaction of the four worlds. At that time, my former husband Chris Gilchrist and I were members of Glyn’s Kabbalah group, which met on Monday evenings in the front room of his flat in Maida Vale. Chris and I had been introduced to Kabbalah in 1970 at meetings of the Society of the Common Life, in our final year as students at Cambridge University. We moved to London that summer and were eager to take our study of the Tree further. Glyn was originally from Wales, and had served in the RAF; during his service he learned about the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, and baffled the authorities by putting up a drawing of it above his bunk bed! He successfully argued the case for keeping it there on religious grounds, as that was the only kind of poster allowed. His teacher was said to come from a Kabbalistic line that came over to the United Kingdom from the Low Countries just after World War I. This line was also said to have a connection with the medieval movement of the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life, hence the use of the term ‘Common Life’ in groups and public talks.

In 1972, in our informal sessions in Glyn’s kitchen, following the close of the formal Monday night group, we discussed the Four Worlds and how they might fit together in a diagrammatic form. There seemed to be no satisfactory model around for this.  Chris Gilchrist then took a look at Frater Achad’s  book, The Anatomy of the Body of God, which showed various colourful arrangements of multiple sets of The Tree of Life. Chris showed the book to Glyn, and said that in his view Achad’s diagrams didn’t work, but something along similar lines could. This was the spark needed; shortly afterwards, Glyn came up with the Extended Tree as we now know it. In this Tree, the Kether of the lower Tree becomes the Tiferet of the next higher one, and there are nine Sefirot down the right and left pillars, and ten (plus the ‘invisible’ sefira of Daat) down the centre.

The Extended Tree proved to be a very useful model for our ‘Common Life’ Kabbalah groups of the 1970s and early 80s. There was plenty of scope for working out what this new set of interconnections might mean, including equating it with the mystical and philosophical study of the ‘Octave’[i].

The Extended Tree showing the trees in each of the four worlds.
(The three smaller spheres at the top are specific to Alan Bain’s system).

Warren Kenton’s Development of the Extended Tree

However, back in 1972, at the time of the discovery, Glyn Davies showed the Extended Tree to Warren Kenton. Glyn and Warren were old companions on the esoteric path, and Warren had recently started his own Kabbalah group, which was to develop into a full teaching school over the decades. In fact, it was Glyn Davies who had introduced him to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and its attributions; Glyn is described as his Instructor in Warren’s autobiography. (All Warren Kenton’s books on Kabbalah are published under his Jewish name of Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi). Warren decided to take on the Extended Tree, and published it in his 1974 book Adam and the Kabbalistic Tree, where he named it ‘Jacob’s Ladder’. The symbol of ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, stretching between heaven and earth, was an apt one for the kind of spiritual ladder that the Extended Tree represented and, as we shall see, Warren was not the only person to use it. Very probably too, the notion of a ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ kind of Tree might have been debated in the early Soho groups. As far as the Extended Tree diagram went, Glyn himself was not so sure that it should be published. This was not because of any individual claim he might have made to it, but more because he sensed that he had perhaps re-discovered an old, hidden tradition of Kabbalah. At around the same time that Warren’s book came out, Jill Purce published a diagram of the Extended Tree in her book The Mystic Spiral, also printed in 1974. This again originated from her contact with Glyn, and was never properly authorised for inclusion. However, by then the Extended Tree was out in the world, and Warren Kenton has made use of it as an excellent teaching tool and source of wisdom ever since. Warren, aka Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi, makes acknowledgement of this in his autobiography:

‘Jacob’s ladder [the extended tree] was rediscovered by my Instructor and another member of our circle. The latter brought him the reproduction of a modern painting of kabbalistic trees, set inside one another. The idea that within each sefirah there is a little Tree and within that another and so on until there were ten, is well known, but not in terms of a Ladder. The painting had several Trees telescoped inside one another, but in no obvious order. My colleagues then saw that if this image could be pulled out, like a telescope, it might make more sense. They redrew the model in terms of the four worlds and suddenly Jacob’s Ladder was there with the Great Tree on the central column. When the Kabbalah group was shown this scheme, we were stunned. It explained many of the obscure texts in kabbalistic literature where a ‘Ladder of Ascent’ is mentioned.

‘I took this ‘Extended Tree’ and used it as the basis for the Adam book…My job was to put the scheme together in a coherent way.’[ii]

According to the Kabbalah Society, Warren Kenton has since associated his teaching with the ‘Toledo line’ of Kabbalah, which flourished in the 14^th and 15^th centuries in Spain, and considers that he is an inheritor of that tradition. [iii] He has also since put in a great deal of work to develop the newly-discovered, or rediscovered Extended Tree (depending upon your perspective) into a practical form for the current era. Whether or not this Tree has an affinity with the Toledo tradition, I am not qualified to say.

So this accounts for two streams of work on the Extended Tree in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. The differences between the two usages of the system are probably slight, and it was formulated at a time when Glyn and Warren met regularly, exchanged many ideas, and helped each other with the correspondences that were attributed to the Tree. I recall the time when various scientific principles were chosen, with the two men hammering out the options in discussion. But what of the third Kabbalist in this equation, the Rev. Alan Bain, as he was known?

Alan Bain and the Extended Tree

For that, we must rewind to 1956, a time when Bohemian Soho was at its zenith. Coffee bars ruled the scene, and aspiring artists, musicians and writers, along with homeless runaways, mingled there on a daily basis. Many were just setting out on their journey, and they were true seekers, trying to pick their way through bomb-damaged London both literally and figuratively, as they endeavoured to make sense of the new post-war world. Here Alan Bain started meet-ups for those who were interested in spiritual matters, and the Kabbalah in particular. Informal discussions in cafes were the entry point to private groups which individuals who were serious about discovering a path to knowledge could join on a regular basis.

Alan Bain came into ‘the Work’ after a career at sea that ended in shipwreck, and a formative experience[iv] that established a connection with the spiritual planes. He studied in the British Museum Reading Room, taught Kabbalah, and later became ordained in the Independent Catholic Church. Glyn Davies too began attending Alan Bain’s new group, but was already knowledgeable; he took a place on the sidelines. Perhaps he introduced Alan to Kabbalah – but it is more likely that we shall never know the exact details of who learned what, when and where. The main point is that this was the start of a long, intermittent collaboration between two Kabbalists with, ultimately, rather different forms of teaching. And the main result in relation to the current context is that Alan Bain eventually devised his own form of the Extended Tree, which he too, like Warren Kenton, called Jacob’s Ladder.

It is in its diagrammatic shape almost identical with the versions used by Glyn Davies and Warren Kenton. However, Alan Bain chose to include the ‘three veils of Negative Existence’ as they are known (Ain, Ain Soph, and Ain Soph Aur), as spheres at the top of the Tree. This gives a total of 32 spheres in the extended tree, which Alan equated to the 32 paths of wisdom mentioned in the Sepher Yetzirah.[v] The whole of this teaching is written-up in Alan’s book The Keys to the Kabbalah, which may date from as early as 1970, although the introduction to the first printed edition states that it was completed in 1977. Does this show a relationship to the Extended Tree which Glyn first drew out in 1972? I believe that it does. For one thing, the two diagrams are very similar in form; it would be remarkable if two men who knew each other and worked together managed to draw up almost exactly the same version of the Extended Tree. Added to this, the timing fits, since Alan Bain was living back in London from approximately 1970 to 1972 after moving down to the West Country in the 1960s. Although by this time the two no longer worked in groups together, Alan visited Glyn to share his current thoughts and likewise Glyn was able to show him what he was working on. There was still a degree of collaboration present, and the two stayed in touch for many years afterwards. (Both are now deceased.)

Since publishing the original version of this article, however, information has come to light which suggests that Alan Bain was using his Jacob’s ladder diagram as early as 1967/68. This might indicate that the concept of the extended tree did originate earlier with Alan Bain, or, more likely, with the original Kabbalah group in the 1950s and 60s.

Conclusion

The argument is, then, that these three very different teachers of Kabbalah – Glyn Davies, Warren Kenton and Alan Bain – all derived their versions of the Extended Tree from the same initial impulse, instigated by the early Kabbalistic group in London’s Soho. At present, there is uncertainty as to whether Glyn Davies or Alan Bain was the first to produce a workable version, and whether these came about independently or through collaboration. There are several of us who can vouch for the emergence of the Extended Tree as used by Davies around 1972 and adopted shortly afterwards by Kenton. This was definitely a new formulation at the time, not copied from elsewhere. On the other hand, there is evidence that Alan Bain’s Jacob’s Ladder was probably around a few years earlier, in diagrammatic form at least. Perhaps these two Kabbalists had worked together in the early Soho Group on the idea of a ‘Ladder’, and independently, the seeds sown had come to fruition for both. At any rate, all three men here have acknowledged their connection to a far more ancient tradition of Kabbalah. And those who can connect with this particular ‘stream’ may find that ideas that emerge are not ‘personal’ in the normal sense. It may be possible to find an idea floating down that stream, which is ripe for re-visioning in our own time. Being the recipient of such an idea does not rule out real work though; the person or group usually needs to make long and persistent effort to formulate it, test it out, and make it accessible to others. Each of these three men has done that in their own individual way.

The mind of mankind encompasses the centuries, and true thinking and teaching lays down some kind of wisdom that those who come later may be able to access. Perhaps the arrival of the Extended Tree was indeed ‘a whisper from the School of Knowledge’, as the Zohar says.

It was (God’s) will…that mind should be placed in the midst as a prize that human souls may win…He filled a great basin with mind and sent it down to earth; and he appointed a herald, and bade him make a proclamation to the hearts of men: “Hearken, each human heart; dip yourself in this basin, if you can, recognizing for what purpose you have been made, and believing that you shall ascend to Him who sent the basin down.” Now those who gave heed to the proclamation, and dipped themselves in the bath of mind, these men got a share of gnosis; they received mind and so became complete men.[vi]

© Cherry Gilchrist 2017

Cherry Gilchrist is an author of books on mythology, alchemy and the Hermetic tradition, including Tarot Triumphs (Red Wheel Weiser 2016) and Divination. She wrote The Tree of Life Oracle with Gila Zur, and her forthcoming book Circle of Nine on feminine archetypes will be published in 2018. See http://www.cherrygilchrist.co.uk

---

Notes

[i] As often studied in Gurdjieffian and Ouspensky groups. More on the Octave and the Tree of Life is to be found at https://singinghead.wordpress.com/2017/03/01/the-octave-and-the-tree-of-life/

[ii] The Path of a Kabbalist – Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi, (Tree of Life Publishing, 2009) pps. 139-140

[iii] http://www.kabbalahsociety.org/wp/articles/an-introduction-to-kabbalistic-astrology/

[iv] Alan Bain describes this formative experience in an article at http://theos-world.com/tw199610.html#122027900

[v] Alan Bain’s system is outlined at https://esoterichistory.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/alan-bains-thirty-two-paths-of-wisdom/

[vi] Hermetica: 151, translated by Sir Walter Scott

Alan Bain’s Thirty Two Paths of Wisdom

In the Kabbalah, the Thirty Two Paths of Wisdom are usually understood to be the ten sephiroth and the 22 paths between them on the Tree of Life diagram. However, there are different interpretations, and this article outlines the scheme developed by Alan Bain in his book The Keys to Kabbalah.

The Thirty Two Paths

The Sepher Yetzirah, one of the primary texts of the Kabbalah, opens with a reference to “Thirty two miraculous paths of Wisdom” which by implication are the ten sephiroth and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, although there is no direct reference in the rest of the text.

There is however an appendix found on some manuscripts of the Sepher Yetzirah, which explicitly describes the thirty two paths as a series of different types of ‘intelligences’ – for example, the Tenth Path is called the Resplendent Intelligence. This appendix is later than the Sepher Yetzirah itself [1].

The Extended Tree

The extended tree (also called Jacob’s ladder) is an interlocking form of the Tree of Life where trees in the four worlds are shown as overlapping, so that for example the tree in the world of formation, Yetzirah, has its base in the sephira Tiphereth in the material world of Assiah. The extended tree was first publicly presented in Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi’s books published in the early 1970s.

Showing how the tree in each of the four worlds overlap to make the extended tree.

Alan Bain’s Arrangement of the Thirty Two Paths

Alan links the first three paths of wisdom to the veils of negative existence: Ain, Ain Soph and Ain Soph Aur. The remaining 29 paths are linked to the sephiroth on the extended tree in the order of the descending lightning flash, as illustrated in the diagram below:

Example

To take an example: the 16^th path, which is described as “The Triumphant and Eternal Intelligence. The delight of glory. The paradise of pleasure prepared for the just,” corresponds to the sephira which is at once:

Malkuth of Atziluth (the base of the divine world)

Tiphareth of Briah (the heart of the creative world), and

Kether of Yetzirah (the crown of the world of formation).

The full list is given below [3].

Greater Sephiroth

In addition to this arrangement of the 32 paths, Alan also treated the sephiroth on the central pillar as centres of ‘greater sephiroth’. These are shown as circles on the extended tree diagram above. So for example, the 16^th path is at the centre of the greater sephira of Geburah, which also incorporates paths 13, 14, 15, 17 18 and 19.

The full list of greater sephiroth is given below [2].

---

Notes:

[1] The Thirty Two Paths of Wisdom probably dates from the Gaonic period (7th-10th centuries), later than the Sepher Yetzirah itself (which is perhaps 200 C.E.). In the Western tradition, it seems to originate as an appendix to a Hebrew version of the Sepher Yetzirah by Joannes Stephanus Rittangelius in 1642. William  Wynn Wescott’s translation is here: http://hermetic.com/texts/yetzirah.html, but Alan Bain used A E Waite’s translation given in his book The Holy Kabbalah.

[2] The full list of the Greater Sephiroth is as follows:

Path	Greater Sephira
4	Kether
7	‘Hokma
10	Binah
13	‘Hesed
16	Geburah
19	Tiphareth
22	Netzatch
25	Hod
28	Yesod
31	Malkuth

[3] The full list of the 32 paths is as follows:

Path	Intelligence	Location
1	Admirable Intelligence	Ain
2	Illuminating Intelligence	Ain Soph
3	Sanctifying Intelligence	Ain Soph Aur
4	Arresting or Receiving Intelligence	Kether in Atziluth
5	Radical Intelligence	‘Hokma in Atziluth
6	Mediating Intelligence	Binah in Atziluth
7	Hidden Intelligence	Daath in Atziluth
8	Perfect and Absolute Intelligence	‘Hesed in Atziluth
9	Purified Intelligence	Geburah in Atziluth
10	Resplendent Intelligence	Tiphareth in Atziluth, Kether in Briah
11	Fiery Intelligence	Netzach in Atziluth, ‘Hokma in Briah
12	Intelligence  of Light	Hod in Atziluth, Binah in Briah
13	Inductive Intelligence	Yesod in Atziluth, Daath in Briah
14	Instituting Intelligence	‘Hesed in Briah
15	Constituting Intelligence	Geburah in Briah
16	Triumphant and Eternal Intelligence	Malkuth in Atziluth,  Tiphareth in Briah, Kether in Yetzirah
17	Disposing Intelligence	Netzach in Briah, ‘Hokma in Yetzirah
18	Intelligence of the House of Influence	Hod in Briah, Binah in Yetzirah
19	Secret Intelligence	Yesod in Briah, Daath Yetzirah
20	Intelligence of Will	‘Hesed in Yetzirah
21	Rewarding Intelligence	Geburah in Yetzirah
22	Faithful Intelligence	Malkuth in Briah, Tiphareth in Yetzirah, Kether in Assiah
23	Stable Intelligence	Netzatch in Yetzirah, ‘Hokma in Assiah
24	Imaginative Intelligence	Hod in Yetzirah, Geburah in Assiah
25	Intelligence  of Temptation or Trial	Yesod in Yetzirah, Daath in Assiah
26	Renewing Intelligence	‘Hesed in Assiah
27	Natural Intelligence	Geburah in Assiah
28	Active Intelligence	Malkuth in Yetzirah, Tiphareth in Assiah
29	Corporeal Intelligence	Netzach in Assiah
30	Collective Intelligence	Hod in Assiah
31	Perpetual Intelligence	Yesod in Assiah
32	Assisting Intelligence	Malkuth in Assiah

The Society of the Hidden Life

This is a memoir of work in Tony Potter’s group, written by the painter John Pearce.

THE TEACHINGS OF TONY POTTER
by John Pearce

THE WORK –

I first met Tony in 1964 or 65. Group meetings were held at his flat in Claremont Road, Highgate. The Group was called ’The Society of the Hidden Life’, and dedicated to ‘The Work’. The weekly lessons were read from a text called ’The Society Course’, which introduced the ‘stop’ exercise and self-observation in terms of four principles: Reflex, Instinct, Thinking and Feeling, and the ‘Paths’ which linked them. A fifth principle, ’Harmony’ was mentioned as an integrating centre acting on a higher level.

Portrait of Tony Potter by John Pearce https://johnnpearceartist.com/

One was given a specific exercise to be practised ‘during the week’. Each of the principles and paths had positive and negative characteristics, and progress was made by stopping, identifying the principles at work in a given situation and discriminating between positive and negative action.

When working on the paths we kept notes of exercises and observations, which were duly handed to Tony. After each lesson the class repaired to the saloon bar of The Red Lion and Sun in Highgate Village, where the group mingled socially and theory was put into practice, with the benefit of Tony’s proximity and influence. At weekends The Group, en-mass, arrived at a local party, clutching large (2litre?) cans of Charington’s, and the undercover work of stops continued, presumably to the incalculable benefit of humankind.

After 12 lessons the text of the Society Course was put aside in favour of an ad-libbed sequence of lessons, in which Tony unfolded the Cabalistic background to The Work, and the ‘principles’ were seen to correspond to sephiroth on the Tree of Life. The notion of ‘going through the veil’ in the central sephira of Tiphareth, (corresponding to ‘Harmony’ in the society course) was introduced as being a critical point in one’s awakening. It was death and rebirth and loss of ego – or rather a reconstruction of the relation between ego and Self.

Similarities were drawn between other teachings, particularly those of Carl Gustav Jung and The Work. Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, ’Subud’, and even Scientology, were more likely to be mentioned in the Pub than in the context of class meetings, but some members of the group had experience of them or read about them. Potter rather discouraged reading, beyond certain recommendations – these included Dion Fortune’s ‘Mystical Qabalah’, and Jung – in favour of first-hand experience.

Western civilisation was portrayed as stuck in the principle of thinking, and needed to balance it with feeling. The path between these two principles (Hod and Netzach) was called the Path of Mars and symbolised by the Tarot card The Tower. No civilisation had managed to traverse this path, and few individuals did so, and it would take great honesty, courage and unselfishness, but Tony seemed optimistic that it could and would be achieved, given the insights of Jung and others.

Crossing the Path of Mars, balancing the left and right, female and male pillars of the tree was significant in all conflicts, and also in relations between man and woman, and was an essential step on the way to Tiphareth, or Harmony, beyond the veil.

The Work now continued in terms of the Tree. The paths and sephiroth were explored in waking dream exercises which had to be meticulously written down. Apart from its value as a record to be read by Tony, this was also a safety device in bringing the attention down to earth. ‘Earthing’ was always considered important.

As time went on the Hebrew alphabet, numerology, gematria & notaricon, colour schemes, musical sounds, astrology and the Tarot were introduced and related to the tree consistently with the Golden Dawn system, and some of us equipped ourselves with copies of Aleister Crowley’s 777 and read books by Israel Regardie et al.

TOWARDS TIPHARETH –

Stopping and looking meant awareness of thinking, the ability to suspend and even dispense with thinking, and to see reality in terms of a truer, non-rationalised order. Explanations, reasons, identifying and naming, were all the work of the ego. (I wonder, looking back, whether there was actually very much real understanding of ‘feeling’ although the negative aspects, such as self-pity, were recognised and rightly forbidden.)

The very first essential step on the road to Tiphareth, was the individual becoming as independent and economically self-sufficient as possible, and that meant leaving home and mother, and was part of being ‘earthed’. One’s material life was said to be an indication of progress in the work, and Potter respected competence. What happened to you was held to be a reflection of yourself: ‘Attitude attracts environment’. But, while it encouraged one to take responsibility, this attitude sometimes led to people being unfairly judged in the light of their illnesses and misfortunes. Potter himself once spectacularly fell down a flight of stairs at a party. When criticised for this, he replied that there had been a malignant energy present in the atmosphere which his fall had ’earthed’.

Tony once described magic as the ability to operate with and to control subjective states. An example might be the ability to deliberately not think about something, or to think of a cat without thinking of the word ‘cat’. To take the first step in one’s psyche away from mechanical inertia was virtually impossible on one’s own, for the simple reason that to desire movement was avarice, and thus the vice of the first path, the path of Saturn. One needed esoteric help which could only come by way of an adept acting from Binah – a ‘Master of the Temple’ in Golden Dawn language, able to operate objectively in terms of the neophyte’s subjective experience.

That is explained, technically, by the fact that the paths refer to subjective experience while the principles, or sephiroth are objective, and that the principles above the veil are reflected in the paths below, and vice-versa. This is borne out in the Golden Dawn astrological attributions, so that Binah and the 32nd (1st) path are both signified by Saturn. Thus with help from the silence and stillness of Binah, the first step on the path could be taken with the purest of motives, or none at all, and it possibly explains why the ‘stop’ is really the be-all-and-end-all of The Work.

‘Ascending the tree’ was implicitly growth in consciousness, but the critical, and dangerous, point in Tiphareth is the ‘flipping’ of object and subject, conscious and unconscious, and experience of a state where ‘you are everything, everything is you’.

The Work has been of great value and influenced me. Paradoxically I remember Tony as somewhat conservative and conventional as well as rare and extraordinary. His effect has been incalculable.

John Pearce December 2015

Note: There is more information about Tony Potter and the Society of the Hidden Life on John Pearce’s website at https://johnnpearceartist.com/art-and-realityart-and-reality/.

 

Stop Exercise

This article was originally published as the Exercise of the Month in the first issue of the Pentacle Journal, published in June 1985, edited by Tony Potter. It describes his approach to the ‘Stop’ exercise.

If we take even a cursory look at present-day society, it is clear that there is a restlessness, a turbulence which is not entirely due to the fact that, as it ever was, “the other man’s grass is greener”. Nor is this restlessness the sign of productive activity which it is often mistakenly taken to be.

It can be noticed, for example, that a large proportion of society responds to changes in their environment purely reflexively. Simply look around on a bus or a train and notice the number of people who are fidgeting, scratching, making unnecessary movements and generally behaving in a way which can only lead one to suppose that they are not in any way aware of what they are doing.

This much is fairly easy to notice in others; it is, however, nothing like so simple to spot in ourselves. For this reason, the next time you are in an environment which includes a large number of people, take note of this reflex movement and, at the same time and more importantly, notice your own posture and movements. What are your feet doing? Are you unconsciously tapping a toe or biting your nails? Are you scratching when you do not itch? Is your mind focused on the immediate moment or are you attempting to relive a past event which cannot be changed?

If you notice yourself doing any of these things, just try to envisage how much energy, and hence how much of your life, is being wasted on activity which is totally unproductive, and then STOP. It is precisely this unproductive effort which is symptomatic of the reflex state we see around us. Another such symptom is that of movement in a circle. Everyone is familiar with the way in which the mind, when occupied with a specific, worrying problem, moves round and round, being drawn to the same conclusions (often even more worrying than the problem) without any constructive end point being reached. Most people are also familiar with the organic symptoms which run in parallel with this state. The same physical actions are repeated over and over again (e.g., nail-biting, toe-tapping) which can, and sometimes do, lead to a purely pathological condition such as a nervous breakdown, loss of hair, nervous rashes, etc.

As mentioned, the way in which to avoid this unnecessary and unproductive loss of energy is to STOP at every available opportunity. By this is not meant a frantic screeching to a halt, but a gentle, controlled flow to a standstill. This is obviously easier to achieve, at first, when the body is relaxed. The mind can then be allowed to empty. Unfortunately, it is in these circumstances that the least advantage is gained. The greatest effect is achieved when one STOPs in the midst of an otherwise turbulent situation. This STOP only needs to be momentary. If it is done correctly, the depth of the effect is quite unexpected and, the first time it is experienced, somewhat startling. Indeed, it has been written:-

If, in the midst of troubled time, we stand aside,
And wait until the seeming storm subside,
We stand, though unawares, upon a hallowed ground,
For we have found,
Eternity.

This may sound a little melodramatic, but it is in fact, an explicit description of a properly executed STOP. It has the effect of removing one completely from the limitations of time and space and enabling one to observe the environment as a completely objective phenomenon. At the same time, since the superficial (and largely superfluous) activity of the conscious mind has been brought to a standstill, some of the activity of the uppermost levels of the unconscious mind is allowed to come into consciousness. Since the “language” of the unconscious is almost entirely symbolic, rather than explicitly concrete, the result can be very similar to a “vision”.

The effect of this process is therefore twofold. Since the constraints of time are removed, not only do one’s observations become objective, but a sense of perspective is established which cannot exist in normal circumstances. Secondly, since successive layers of the unconscious are brought to light every time a STOP is carried out, the process constitutes a highly successful method for the development of self-awareness.

As mentioned, the process is not one of applying the brakes frantically, but is very much a matter of allowing oneself gently to come to a halt, bearing in mind the fact that an unruffled, open mind is the natural state for the human psyche and that the hectic chasing of one unproductive thought after another is a pathological state which we have allowed to become our normal condition.