Occult Psychology
by Alta J. LaDage
Chapter
1
The Eternal Quest
Chapter
2
The Roots of the Qabalah
Chapter
3
The Teachings of the Qabalah
Chapter
4
The Universal Force
Chapter
5
The Collective Unconscious
Chapter
6
The Archetypes as Psychological Factors
Chapter
7
The Archetypes - The Gods on the Tree
Chapter
8
The Four Functions
Chapter
9
The Process of Individuation
CHAPTER III
THE TEACHINGS OF THE QABALAH
The history of the background of the
Qabalah is not the history of a race or people, but rather pertains to a
perpetuated system for obtaining direct religious experience. The Qabalah can be
approached as a theoretical study-the study of the energies and qualities of the
Universe and their interrelationships; or as a practical technique for
manipulating these aspects. The most important use of the Practical Qabalah is
for self-development leading to Individuation. The theoretical Qabalah consists
of a set of basic principles, combined with a diagram called the Otz Chum or
Tree of Life. One of the basic Qabalistic teachings is the concept of
"veils" or blinds on our knowledge, whereby each idea which we have is
but a symbol for a more abstract idea. Therefore the Qabalah does not admit to
any ultimate truth, but only to degrees of truth, each degree being but the
threshold of a deeper and more viable truth: "Veil after veil is
lifted and veil after veil is left behind." The Practical Qabalah
consists of the methods for deliberately removing these veils in an effort to
achieve what Dr. Jung would call a Transformation of Values. Such a dissolution
of veils is part of the art of Alchemy.
These veils are the root of the mystery of the Qabalah, for
it is an essential part of Qabalistic thought that every answer is only followed
by another question, that knowledge is infinite and never fully attainable. It
might be said that wisdom is the full realization of this idea and its
integration into daily life. The history of man, and of each person, is a
continuous sequence of seeking, then finding, and then being dissatisfied with
what is found-leading to a new seeking. Oh, if I could only get one more raise
in pay, then all my problems would be solved. But the raise comes, followed
inevitably by a new set of problems. It is no different in "serious"
endeavors, where physicists seek the ultimate atom of matter, only to find that
it has parts. How wonderful this is to them, to find the ultimate, until they
discover that the parts have parts, and as Jonathan Swift observed, A flea hath
smaller fleas that on him prey; And these have smaller still to bite-em; And so
proceed ad infinitum.
The wise student of the Qabalah is always prepared to find smaller fleas, so he is ever suspicious of absolutes and ultimate solutions, knowing that each truth only conceals a deeper truth. Eventually he comes to see even concrete objects as mere symbols of a more fundamental reality.
The second major teaching of the Qabalah pertains to the law
of correspondences, or of reflection. It is embodied in the famous Hermetic
saying, "As above, so below." In one sense this is interpreted to mean
that Man (the microcosm) is a replica of God or the Universe (the macrocosm).
The historical position of Astrology has taught for centuries that Man is ruled
by Heavenly Bodies and that their motions directly influence the activities of
Man. Jung took this one step further and postulated a synchronistic, rather than
a causal, relationship. That is, he stated that one could not logically maintain
that planets really influence men, but only that their activities correlate to
an amazing degree. It would be possible to postulate another force which is the
"ultimate" cause of both planetary motion and man’s deeds, but
Jung’s point was that the very concept of cause and effect by whatever means
is a primitive one as compared with the idea of a wholistic universe-a universe
that moves and functions as a single entity. So it is with Qabalism, and its
ideas of macrocosm and microcosm, which treat each as a reflection of the other
and therefore indissolubly linked together.
A knowledge of the basic principles of the Qabalah reveals
that the body of the Heavenly Man, the macrocosm, is epitomized in the body of
Man. The planets, as mundane chakras (centers) in the Solar System, have a tidal
action on the corresponding centers in Man. This concept fits well with the
Hindu Chakra system that recognizes that the seven tattvas (the cosmic tides)
not only form the levels of potential existence (the Lokas) of Man and of all
living beings, but that these tides rise and fall in Man and therefore have a
direct influence on him. The Greek god Hermes was a giver of increase, so his
art was devised to increase the effect of these tides in Man so that man could
have a greater share in the bounteous energies of the universe. Man invokes the
increase of these energies at his own risk, however, and that is why we should
enquire about the magical properties in the "foods of the gods" before
we eat them! Who, in Western science, understands why certain
consciousness-altering herbs produce "flashbacks"? How many modem
alchemists know that their "chemical combinations" have a catalytic
effect in the endocrine system? The concept of the law of correspondences
constitutes the true esotericism to the astute student of the Qabalah.
In a larger sense, the idea of the correspondences implies
that if a law is Universal, then it recurs again and again and applies to all
levels of existence. For example, if some psychological principles are
universal, then they should apply to nations as well as to persons. We could
view each nation as one person with his own virtues and vices, his hopes and
fears and aspirations and neurotic eccentricities. We ought then to be able to
evaluate the interactions of nations, and to plot their destinies. But we could
do this only if we were careful in our analysis, and only if such a psychology
was really applicable to different worlds of existence. If it is not
applicable, then it still may be a valid psychology within a local environment.
But the Qabalist is particularly interested in those principles which are
universally valid. A modern nursery rhyme tells us, with more truth than was
probably intended, that "Once upon a time the world was round, and you
could go round-and- round-and-round on it, and everywhere was somewhere."
If the world is one entity, made up of connected parts, then what is happening
between nations today may indicate that the world is having a nervous breakdown.
We are all in this one world together so we cannot, avoid influencing each
other, for good or ill. The Hindu would say that we are just instruments for
world karma. "Karma must come, but woe unto those through whom it must
come." We may hope to be instruments for the good karma of the world,
however, and toward that end we may diligently apply ourselves, by not passing
judgement on effects that are not causal in this plane. Man’s situation on
Earth, for good or ill, cannot be blamed on Man, anymore than we can blame him
for earthquakes, tidal waves, or other "acts of God." If we can blame
him for anything, we may blame him for being stupid enough to have to live in
the wake of the gods. When two totally unrelated situations con. e together
meaningfully in time and space, that is Synchronicity, it is not causality. So
if the situation is what we call "good" then no one can be given
credit for it, anymore than anyone can be blamed for it if it is not
"good." Man is not evolved yet on this planet to where he can make
conscious decisions about his destiny. This does not give us leave to act
irresponsibly, but we should be cautious about blaming specific persons for
collective events. Wars (and truces) are not caused by presidents, dictators, or
mad assassins. Such people are usually the agents of collective
desires-conscious or unconscious.
The Otz Chum gives a picture of some of these principles
which are also found in Jung’s work. A glance at the glyph reveals that it has
ten spheres, or sephiroth, connected by paths. The sephiroth represent ten basic
qualities in the manifested universe. The connecting paths attempt to show that
these basic qualities, while apparently separate, are united as in a network
like the organs in the human body. The organs are semi-autonomous, but a change
in any one causes all the others to adjust to maintain the balance of the total
organism. The organism is only as strong as its weakest organ. There is,
therefore, no such thing as lopsided development. Every principle must be
brought into balance with every other principle, as we go along. If this is not
attended to, nature will redress the balance for us. Nature does not, however,
take the human situation into account, so if we leave the balance up to nature,
"She" has some surprises in store for us. The qualities of the
sephiroth are:
- Kether (Crown) pure Existence.
- Chokmah (Wisdom) the principle of Force.
- Binah (Understanding) the principle of Form.
- Chesed (Mercy) the Principle of Growth, or Anabolism.
- Geburah (Strength) the principle of Destruction, or Catabolism.
- Tiphareth (Beauty) Agape, or the principle of Mediation. (Without this principle being functional, none of the other principles can be synthesized.)
- Netzach (Victory) the principle of Aesthetics.
- Hod (Glory) the principle of Concentration (ratiocination).
- Yesod (Foundation) the principle of Generation or Formation. (The secret of regeneration lies in generation, so without the functional aspect of this principle, there can be no increase of energy.)
- Malkuth (Kingdom) the principle of Consolidation, Concretion.
The patterns formed by the sephiroth have meanings in
themselves which amplify the meanings of the spheres. The spheres are arranged
in three columns, or pillars, called the Pillar of Severity (left), the Pillar
of Mercy (right), and the Pillar of Mildness (the Middle Pillar). The Pillar of
Mercy represents the Force aspect of Nature, and the Pillar of Severity
represents the Form aspect. The spheres are also arranged into three triangles
or triads, with the tenth Sephiroth, Malkuth, standing alone. These four groups
represent the four worlds of manifestation, or four levels of existence, and are
called from top to bottom, Atziluth (the archetypal world), Briah (the creative
world), Yetzirah (the formative world), and Assiah (the material world). These
correspond to four phases of manifestation. For example, the process of creating
a house involves 1) the creative urge or intent, 2) the overall concept or idea
of what is to be built, 3) the detailed plans and drawings, and 4) the house
itself. We tend to think only of the end result (the actual house) as being
real, but the Qabalist would view all four as different aspects of the
"thing" whose manifestation in Assiah is the house. To the Qabalist,
the plans and drawings are every bit as real as the bricks and lumber; they are
just a different aspect or view of the same entity. This is another formulation
of the idea of correspondences, and we see that on the Tree the triads are
replicated in the different worlds, each triad being a reflection in a
"lower" world of the triad above it. The glyph is somewhat misleading
in showing the worlds and the spheres in an up down format; it is preferable to
think of them as different dimensions, but that is difficult to portray on
a flat chart. The Teachings of the Qabalah.
When we view the Tree as a picture of the microcosm (Man) then there are two other patterns which are useful. First, the triads are separated by three boundaries, called respectively, the Great Abyss, the veil Paroketh, and the First Crossing. (Each term was invented during a different stage in Qabalistic growth.) These represent three major crises in Man’s psychological growth. Also, the Tree can be viewed as having seven levels, which correspond with the seven chakras of the Hindu system. All of these patterns will be referred to later. But let us first examine the dynamics of the formation of the Tree.
The cosmology of the Qabalah avers that creation occurs as
God’s breath, the Ruach Elohim, flows into the spheres one at a time from top
down, and is withdrawn back out of the spheres at the end of manifestation.
God’s inbreathing and outbreathing is thus the great cycle of life into and
out of manifestation. (For the whole cosmos, an outbreathing would be the cycle
of manifestation that the Hindus call "Manvantra," and which is called
"The Day of God" in Western terminology. An inbreathing would be that
period of world-rest referred to by the Hindus as "Pralaya" and as
"The Night of God" by Western students.) The Otz Chum thus shows us
the processes of the emanation of the life breath or force from its one
undivided source, and its subsequent tangential course. It thereby typifies the
emanative or involutionary direction of life in its outward flow at the
beginning of a creative period and its return or evolutionary direction. The
student of the Qabalah sees evolution not as Darwin describes it, but as a
development of life out of form, after having used form as a mold for the
discipline or training thereof. So, as individual man in the course of psychic
development (either in Jung’s system or the Qabalistic system) takes a path of
withdrawal and return, so does all of humanity eventually leave and "return
to the father’s house" in the great cycles of evolution. Therefore the
terminal paths of the Tree also show us the unfolding of Cosmic Realization in
human consciousness as a whole, of a solar system, a universe, etc., and how
this is achieved, finally returning back into the one source carrying acquired
gains with it. Since this is a universal process, it also applies to our example
of the house, which emanates from the unmanifest as intention and idea, then
plan, then house. After fulfilling its "purpose" it returns to the
unmanifest first by yielding up its form-it deteriorates or is bulldozed away.
For a while people remember its image, but eventually even memory fades, and the
"house" returns to the unmanifest. To the Qabalist, this process is
part of the natural cycle of growth and decay, which takes place as the Ruach
Elohim- God’s breath-breathes in and out of all things. It is said that the
ancient Mayans built great temples, used them, and then abandoned them and built
news ones. They believed that a building was a living thing that lived and died,
so it was only natural to stop using it when its "spirit" had died.
The Qabalist understands how this principle applies to all things-to the cosmos,
to Man, to buildings, and to organizations and ideas as well.
Dichotomy is in this sense a universal process, representing the outward and inward flow of the cycle of evolution. Meditation on this composite glyph of the Otz Chum reveals that the dichotomic principle produces the involutionary or emanative force, and the evolutionary or return current, which conjoin and intermingle their energies in the world of manifestation; the two working together in polarity as the two opposites of any triangle (triad) and their harmonizing function in the third or central sephirah of a given triad. We have seen how energy travels down through the worlds and back again. At a more detailed level it can be seen that it passes through each sphere in turn, causing that quality to manifest itself. Within any one triad, this shows that the force manifests as thesis, as antithesis (in its opposite), and as synthesis (in the central sphere of the triad).
Each sphere has a name which represents an abstract quality,
such as Justice or Beauty. In non-Judaic cultures, such abstractions were
personified as gods, so we could as well view the spheres as "gods"
and speak of "Zeus" or "Aphrodite." Thus when the Qabalist
says that the Ruach is expressing itself through Geburah, the ancient Roman
might have said that "Mars is ruling the world," and the modem
psychologist might say that the world is being over whelmed by aggressive
impulses-the same thought expressed in three different languages. This view of
the spheres as gods who express the will of the one God, gives the Qabalah that
curious mixture of polytheism and monotheism that makes it unique in
philosophical systems.
Thus is the Tree of Life employed by the Qabalists as
the symbol of the distribution, and then the uniting of the living forces of
creative power represented by the gods (forces in nature) who are the agents of
God’s energy and the distributors of Life to the universe and to Man. As
"Nature is but God’s nature," we see that what we call the forces of
nature are but subsidiary powers of one life that we call God. The forces of
nature are specialized aspects of the one universal life, so there are not
"many gods" on the Tree, but for the purposes of dealing with these
forces we must act as though the one life force took the form of many gods. In
fact, in Man’s mind it does. As Dr. Jung points out, Man is a psychological
being, so as long as man thinks this way it works this way for him.
The four worlds-the planes and the sub-planes of the four
worlds-are not stacked one on top of another like a layer cake. One dimension is
separated from another by rate of frequency. As far as consciousness is
concerned the highest up is the deepest in, but we may use an image to get in
touch with a given force (a rate of frequency) that we call a god. There is in
fact no other way to do it. If we want to produce a conscious effect on a given
world of the Qabalah, or if we wish to get into touch, for magical purposes,
with a frequency state (separate it out from homogeneous Godhead), we must act
and think as though there is an aggregate of gods. If we meditate on energy, on
the life force alone, the energy will use us. We have to "channel
build" if we wish to use energy by the application of the mind to the
desired results, because energy not given a form seeks a natural channel to flow
into and through. We may meditate on the energy in a given chakra (center), but
if we wish to do anything with that energy besides direct it to a
"higher" center, we must mentally give that energy a form. We must
start by using imagination, which will automatically slip over into "active
imagination" to use Jung’s term. This is why the god forms are the real
secrets of the Western Lodges, and also of the meditative method of Tantra Yoga.
In the Western Occult Lodges development of the psyche is achieved by meditating
upon projection of the etheric double and the use of imagination to induce a
repercussion of the forces thus evoked against the centers in the psyche. I can
only say with Dion Fortune that I cannot say exactly how this works. We only
know that if we do certain things, we get certain results. The results should be
enough, without haggling over exact knowledge. We live most of our life on
intermittent acts of faith, but when it comes to the practice of an esoteric
principle we insist on an exact blueprint of the process. But, due to the nature
of the beast, the practical application of occult science is like taking castor
oil; it will work whether we believe in it or not. This is, of course, why we
must exercise the faculty of discrimination when we are fraternizing with the
gods. An overdose can kill us!
These energies, typed as gods on the Tree, are the formative
powers of Nature and they start out as one undifferentiated current, at their
source. When they reach the periphery of creation (as in the dichotomic
principle of the sacred Ash Tree), they turn back to finally merge into the one
source from which they emanated. So the One emanates from Kether, while the
other rises up from Malkuth. Their correlated function carries life through each
of its great cycles. Thus we see that heavenly bodies and earthly affairs are
rooted in one source, and that Pralaya follows Manvantra cyclically throughout
the fullness of time.
It is vital for the student to understand that by following
the rules of Yoga (East or West) that he is brought under direct influence with
these fields of force in the Macrocosm. Once he begins to develop and expand his
own energy system, then this system is going to react with far more power to the
Cosmic Tides, the ebb and flow of energy within the cosmos. His physical,
etheric, and emotional bodies will become "like bursting wine skins"
if he is not prepared to handle the ever increasing ebb and flow of the energies
of these tides as they rise and fall in his own aura when the planetary bodies
transit his natal aspects. Such aspects do indeed represent a "time
pattern" of the cyclic flow of energy. Just as we know that apple trees
blossom on a given date each spring, which they do with amazing accuracy every
year, so we should know that certain reactions will occur within ourselves in
concert with these same tides. All things soever in the manifested universe
swell within the bosom of The Great Mother, the Sea of Life. Her tides are the
burden of power. This is why the truly great adepts are at the same time tough,
compassionate, and cautious. The Qabalah (the written Qabalah) is an excellent
method for helping us to anticipate the results which are brought through its
practical application to the development of the psyche.
In the East these tides are called the Tattvas, or Tattwas.
Relevant to matter, the Tattvas link the five elemental impulses in which
originated the five states of matter- ether, air, fire, water and earth-with the
basic impulses of the five physical senses: the sensations of hearing, touch,
sight, taste and smell. Because Alchemy deals directly with matter (mater, the
Great Mother) the five elements are directly affected by the tides (tattvas),
and because of this The Teachings of the Qabalah correspondence, the senses are
enhanced, disturbed, or thrown off balance by the practice of Yoga or Alchemy.
So we see that Man does reflect the universe in his own
sphere or world. As an image of the Macrocosm he is a universe in his own right,
and is a fourfold being. To summarize, (1) he has, as the Qabalah tells us, a
spiritual nature not only like unto the Logos but an intrinsic part thereof, as
contained in the Divine Spark which is the nuclear atom (raw material) from
whence arises his spiritual consciousness. (2) He has an abstract mind and the
intuitional faculty accruing to the Higher or essential Self as functions of the
intellectual consciousness of the individuality. (3) He has an Astral
consciousness or psyche appearing substantive (the creations of his own desires
and longings). (4) He has a physical body consisting of the subtle electric
substance of the etheric plane and the particles of course matter (physical
elements) coalesced thereon, or built into the framework of the etheric body.
The main purpose of this book is to try to explore the common ground of understanding underlying the Qabalah and the psychology of C. G. Jung. We have seen already that there are many correlations between the two systems. And I have heard it said on a number of occasions that Dr. Jung drew heavily from the Qabalah as well as from Eastern Yoga systems and especially from Theosophy. Dr. Jung himself mentions, with some amusement, this latter allegation. I am personally of the opinion that he arrived at his early conclusions independently and only later drew on these systems by way of elucidation. In some of Dr. Jung’s early works we see the prejudice he held at that time against Spiritualism, and even to Eastern disciplines for Western Man. In his autobiography he rectified some of his earlier misgivings, hinting at the fact that due to misjudgment by his contemporaries he had been at pains to deliberately avoid stating his personal views of these matters. Today we see a great number of books coming onto the market, even written by some of the students of the Jungian persuasion, pointing to the fact that Dr. Jung must have been aware that his Collective Unconscious correlated with the Astral world as the term is used in occultism. There is a great deal of criticism from these sources today, stating that the term itself (Collective Unconscious) is too misleading in respect to what is meant by the contents of this Collective source of inspiration. Be that as it may, I respect Dr. Jung’s reasons for the use of this term. As it was he suffered a great deal from the judgment (or rather mis-judgment) of his contemporaries who said he had become mystical in his later years. To that accusation I can heartily say, would that every man could become mystical!
The whole controversy reminds me of Plato’s Republic. It
has been said that in his Republic Plato made his greatest contribution to
political thought, but at the end he must have lost his mind because to his
Republic he added an after thought entitled The Vision of Er. This is a treatise
on reincarnation, and our political pundits cannot reconcile Plato’s rational
views on politics with what they consider an unsound theory. Dr. Jung’s
interest with Alchemy, Eastern Yoga and Western occultism, has had somewhat the
same effect on our modern psychologists! We do find in Dr.Jung’s book Modern
Man in Search of a Soul that he was well acquainted with the theories of
Theosophy, but what he had to say about this in this book, should have laid to
rest all of the ghosts in the minds of his accusers. However that may be,
Theosophy itself must only laugh at such petty quarreling. Madame Blavatsky
brought us a live coal from the fires of Eastern Philosophy to light the dead
embers of our hidden truths. We owe her eternal gratitude, whether or not we
agree with all her premises. As Dion Fortune makes very clear, Theosophy is a
propaganda school. It was HPB’s purpose and service to spread the doctrine of
the East in the West, and from the new look on the face of the spiritual culture
of the West today, we may say that she did a very good job of it. Before her
time the West was so steeped in the bias of Christian doctrine that we all
believed that Hinduism was a "heathen" religion. The people in the
West of 1873, when Blavatsky first came to New York, had not even heard the word
`reincarnation,’ and as Man cannot think beyond the dead level of language,
they could not abstract beyond the idea of either a heaven or a hell after
death, according to one’s just desserts. Yes, we have a great deal for which
to be grateful to Madame Blavatsky and her Theosophical Order. If we consider
only the very least that she accomplished, she prompted people to become
intrigued by the mystery teachings, and thereby saved many of the rare volumes
of our Western Tradition from extinction.
It can be shown that esoteric philosophy has evolved
uninterruptedly in the West, though under terrible social constraints. Yet the
trials of persecution starting in the third century and continuing to the
present day (I have a friend who went to trial in 1959 in Philadelphia for
witchcraft!), had so crippled the esoteric orders, driving them underground and
forcing them to modify their public doctrines, that they were badly in need of
help when Blavatsky came. The Qabalah seems to have survived best, in that it
was last to be .discarded, and also because it had some supporters within
Orthodox Judaism itself. However, Judaism has not always been kind to its
Qabalists either, considering them as freaks the way the Church treats its most
powerful mystics. Both relegate such visionaries to hidden places and try not to
publicize their strange ideas (which might be quite heretical) and yet they are
afraid to throw them out bodily for fear that they might, just maybe, be saints.
Saint Francis of Assisi was one such "saint" who, during his life time
was an embarrassment to the Church, but who since his death has become one of
its greatest assets.
So Qabalism is enjoying some relative freedom of expression
today. How long this will last is anyone’s guess. The Shadow of another Third
Century stands heavy before us, as history proves that it must. It is not only
inevitable, but part of the cycle of things. The Qabalah itself would have us
think so. If nothing else, the Qabalah helps us to appreciate these great tides,
to be joyous and energetic if we find ourselves living in the Summer of Man’s
expression, and to be quiet and patient when the Winter of a Dark Age descends.
Of course we all would prefer to live in a time and place where wisdom is
revered, as it was in Hellenistic Greece and in Tibet. As the Tibetan blessing
says, "May you be reborn in a land where the dharma is taught." Tibet
was our last stronghold of the spirit, which did not prove out to be strong
enough to stand against the might of material power. Guns and butter do rule the
modern world. Today the pendulum of Life hangs taut in Geburah, ready to swing
slowly back to the cohesiveness of Chesed in the Pillar of Mercy, or to go off
the hook into total chaos. To praise mankind if it does not go off the hook, or
to blame it if it does, would be tantamount to praising or blaming a baby for
familial circumstances. The Qabalistic concept of veils which conceal the truth,
teaches us to always look behind the appearance, and even behind the appearance
of the appearance for the real reasons for such events.