Varieties of Light
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Here is a long-time personal theory I'd like to toss out and see where people take it.
I suggest that Qabalah postulates 22 varieties of Light of which only a few are distinctly given in the Hebrew language. These 22 varieties come from taking the letters AV (Aleph Vav) and adding, in turn, each of the 22 Hebrew letters to produce 22 words. The appended letter determines the "flavor" of Light.
The letters AV themselves spell a word av which has the value seven and means "desire, appetite, choice." In other words, it is an extremely pure statement of the idea of 7 = Netzach. This word gives a strong idea what the underlying nature of Light is - it is the same root substance that we call "desire."
We are usually given three distinct variations of this. The main one is AVR - Or - the genial word for "light" per se. Within the proposed theory, the Resh specifies that this is specifically sunlight. Since this has been adopted as the general word for Light, it tells us that the root idea of L.V.X. is seen as solar.
The next kind of Light we are told about is AVB. Crowley describes this as
"the special 'fire' of black magic," and regards is as a likely root of Obeah. It has a value of 9 and often is related to Yesod for this reason. He further describes it as "The astral light; an illusory thing of witchcraft" and "witchcraft, the false moon of the sorceress." Reading between the lines, revisiting the underlying symbols, etc., I suggest that AVB is simply that mode of Light which expresses through the letter Beth - that is, The Magician - and is "Light as applied to manifesting magick" consistent with the idea of 9 = Yesod as well. (The word AVB literally means to set [as the Sun] or that which comes by night.)The third kind of Light we are usually told about is AVD = 11. Crowley respected this variety most, especially because it totals to 11 and because he saw it as the most viral and vital specialized form of Light. In his words: The Magical Light. “The magic force itself.” Firebrand, volcanic fire: the special ‘fire’ or ‘light’ of the Sacred Magic of Light, Life, and Love. “Aud is almost = the Kundalini force (‘Odic’ force). This illustrates well the difference between the sluggish, viscous 9, and the keen, ecstatic 11.” Acknowledge the vitality etc. in all of this, I interpret it differently: I suggest that AVD is, fundamentally, that variety of Light which expresses through Daleth. It is purely Light expressed through the vibration of Love and the Luminous Consciousness. All the 11 symbolism has to be taken into consideration to round out the picture - “The general number of magick, or energy tending to change,” the XIth Atu Lust, all the 5 & 6 union forms, the particular number of Nuit, and all the rest. (The word AVD literally means - primarily - to be strong or robust.)
Beyond these three, there are a few other words in Hebrew that continue this pattern. One of my favorite is AVTh. This word is usually translated "tokens," i.e., some physical manifestation or sign or mark. I suggest that this is simply the root-idea of Light manifest through the frequency attributed to Tav: Materialized Light.
There is a Hebrew root AVH, avah. It is another "desire" themed word. A variant means "to cry out, to howl." Another varient means "to mark, designate, describe." But the word in casual language is pronounced avvah and means "desire, lust." By sound it is nearly identical to ABH, avah, one of the words meaning "love." How (we pose ourselves as a meditation exercise) is this really "Light manifest through the frequency of Heh, Aquarius, The Star." (Add the idea of 12.)
AVL, ohl, is a root with ideas such as strength and power, whence preeminence, whence belly (for those well-fed who have "preeminent" bellies!
), but primarily comes into the common language meaning "royalty." How does this show "Light manifest through the frequency of Lamed, Libra, Adjustment"? (Add the idea of 37.)Then there is AVN, "ohn," which means vanity, thus falsehood and wickedness, but also "living at ease," ease or ability in general, misfortune or adverse cicumstances (coming from one's vanity or vacuity) - but then also strength and power, whence the name Ohn applied to the Sun! The question is: Are all of these early linguistic stumblings to articulate (in cultural context) "Light manifest through the frequency of Nun, Scorpio, Death"? (Add the ideas of 57.)
A pretty clear one: AVTz, ootz, means "to urge, to press, to hasten." There is a clear foundation here for "Light manifest through the frequency of Tzaddi, Aries, The Emperor." (Add ideas of 97.)
And that doesn't touch yet on these variants which never made their way into the Hebrew languagte:
AVA = 8
AVG = 10
AVV = 13
AVZ = 14
AVCh = 15
AVT = 16
AVI = 17 (appears only as a grammatical form of AV)
AVK = 27
AVM = 47 (well, we know that one! Light as Silence!)
AVS = 67
AVO = 77
AVP = 87
AVQ = 107
AVSh = 307Wanna play?
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@Jim Eshelman said
"AVL, ohl, is a root with ideas such as strength and power, whence preeminence, whence belly (for those well-fed who have "preeminent" bellies!
), but primarily comes into the common language meaning "royalty." How does this show "Light manifest through the frequency of Lamed, Libra, Adjustment"? (Add the idea of 37.)Wanna play?"
Sure, I'll play. 37 = Yechidah = Kether = Crown. A fairly good example of 'royalty'. Also, in the LQS 37 = Draco, the dragon, suggesting Nuit or that glory which is above the visible crown and, really, that which makes the crown a CROWN.
Dan
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(I hope people still get pointed to old threads when a new response like this one appears...)
The first thing that Jim's 22 varieties of light made me think of was the following quote from Colin Low's Notes on Kabbalah. At one point, he calls the 10 sephiroth:
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"... ten primeval emanations of God, ten focii through
which the energy of a hidden, absolute and unknown Godhead
(En Soph) propagated throughout the creation, like white
light passing through a prism."
"(By the way, for those who haven't read Colin Low's Notes, I heartily recommend them as a highly insightful way to come to grips with the sephiroth, paths, qlippoth, 4 worlds, etc.; see: www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/nok )
Anyway, Jim talks about AVR, AVB, and AVD. It's probably worthwhile to quote the Golden Dawn 3=8 lecture on these three varieties of "fire:"
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The solid Triangular Pyramid is an appropriate hieroglyph of Fire. It is formed of 4 triangles, 3 visible and one concealed, which yet use the synthesis of the rest. The 3 visible triangles represent Fire Solar, Volcanic and Astral, while the 4th represents the Latent Heat. The three words AUD, AUB, AUR refer to the three conditions of Heat, Aud, active; Aub, passive; Aur, equilibrated; whilst Asch is the Name of Fire. The 31st Path of the Sepher Yetzirah which answereth unto the Letter Shin, is called the Perpetual Intelligence, and it is so called because it regulateth the Motions of the Sun and Moon in their proper order, each in an Orbit convenient for it. It is therefore the reflection of the Sphere of Fire, and the Path connecting the material Universe as depicted in Malkuth, with the Pillar of Severity on the side of Geburah, through the Sephira Hod.
"I wonder if Jim's AVSh can be related to the classical Aesch Mezareph, inferred as Asch above??
Finally, concerning AVM (light as silence), there might be more "there" in the western tradition than meets the eye. In the 14th degree of Scottish Rite (AASR) Masonry, there is a tradition that suggests a deep link between the Ineffable Word which was lost at the death of Hiram Abiff and the names of his three murderers. At the risk of ruining anything for people who want to go through these (or related) ceremonies, let me only display a "tableau" of Hebrew letters from Charles T. McClenachan's Book of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry:
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IHV - BAL - A IHV - BAL - V IHV - BAL - VM AVM"
I'll keep thinking about the other ones...
Steve
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