Color Scales?
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93 Everyone,
My question is this, what is the significance of the color scales such as the king and queen scales ect? Do these colors hold a certain level of importance? Say if things of the colors of the king scale in the sphere of Jupiter where more prominent than those of the queen scale?
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93,
@phoinix93 said
"93 Everyone,
My question is this, what is the significance of the color scales such as the king and queen scales ect? Do these colors hold a certain level of importance? Say if things of the colors of the king scale in the sphere of Jupiter where more prominent than those of the queen scale?"
The color scales, King, Queen, Prince, Princess, represent the Four Qabalistic "Worlds" of Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah, and Assiah, respectively. Simply put, these Worlds describe the progression of Creation, from the most ineffable (Atziluth) to the most physical, manifest realities (Assiah). Most of us probably don't think of the Color Scales in terms of "importance", one over the other. It's more about selecting the scale that corresponds to our intended magical purpose.
You can find out more about color scales in "The Golden Dawn", and many other books that discuss the basics of Qabalah and the Tree of Life.
93 93/93
David
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93,
@phoinix93 said
" But when rising on the plains should all the colors be of the same scale if you have a definite destination? would it be possible to get diferent scales of the same sphere? or am i doing something wrong?"
Which specific technique are you using, and what is your goal?
93 93/93
David
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the practice from Liber O section VI:
- The previous experiment has little value, and leads to few results of importance. But it is susceptible of a development which merges into a form of Dharana --- concentration --- and as such may lead to the very highest ends. The principal use of the practice in the last chapter is to familiarise the student with every kind of obstacle and every kind of delusion, so that he may be perfect master of every idea that may arise in his brain, to dismiss it, to transmute it, to cause it instantly to obey his will.
"2. Let him then begin exactly as before; but with the most intense solemnity and determination.
"3. Let him be very careful to cause his imaginary body to rise in a line exactly perpendicular to the earth's tangent at the point where his physical body is situated (or, to put it more simply, straight upwards).
"4. Instead of stopping, let him continue to rise until fatigue almost overcomes him. If he should find that he has stopped without willing to do so, and that figures appear, let him at all costs rise above them. Yea, though his very life tremble on his lips, let him force his way upward and onward!
"5. Let him continue in this so long as the breath of life is in him. Whatever threatens, whatever allures, though it were Typhon and all his hosts loosed from the pit and leagued against him, though it were from the very Throne of God himself that a voice issues bidding him stay and be content, let him struggle on, ever on.
"6. At last there must come a moment when his whole being is swallowed up in fatigue, overwhelmed by its own inertia. Let him sink (when no longer can he strive, though his tongue be bitten through with the effort and the blood gush from his nostrils) into the blackness of unconsciousness; and then on coming to himself, let him write down soberly and accurately a record of all that hath occurred: yea, a record of all that hath occurred."
My goal is to get a good grasp of plains and to be able to "go" to any given plain at any given moment.
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93,
Here's an example of a situation in which knowledge of the color scales might come in handy. Say you've decided to do some astral scrying, and you want to explore the sephira Hod. Using whatever technique you prefer, you arrive at a landscape ablaze with orange hues. Since you know that orange is the the color of Hod in the Queen scale, you have one bit of evidence that you may be on the right track.
Another example: You're designing a ritual to invoke the energies of one of the Sephiroth. By using the four color scales in conjunction with corresponding Aztiluthic, Briatic, Yetziratic and Assiatic names, you can more effectively (with practice) move the energy down through the 4 Worlds.
There are probably thousands of other techniques I could list where the color scale are useful. I just wanted to give you a couple common ones.
And a general tip: I'd suggest that for now, you let go of ideas about what you "should" find in your astral exploration, and just experiment a bit, taking good notes!
Some Tarot meditations might be another good way to begin to attune yourself to the various colors and their attributions.93 93/93
David
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93 David and thank you, your examples really put things in perspective. It kinda just clicked, the use of the scales I mean. For some reason I was hung up on only using them to legitimize a specific plain. why I got so hung up on that, I'm not real sure. Maybe I'm being overly sceptical of the astral realms.
"And a general tip: I'd suggest that for now, you let go of ideas about what you "should" find in your astral exploration, and just experiment a bit, taking good notes! Some Tarot meditations might be another good way to begin to attune yourself to the various colors and their attributions"
Good advice though. I was planing to start a series of Tarot meditations as soon as I could accuire a deck. Thanks again for your input on this.
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It’s In The Basics
COLOR IS THE KEY: A REAL LADDER OF LIGHTS
by Frater YodBlack Pearl Vol. I, No. 7. Copyright College of Thelema, all rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of the College of Thelema.]
Sometimes the simplest things are the most amazing.
Color is one of the most powerful tools we have for altering consciousness at will, whether for magical or mystical purposes. In fact, the magical application of color was one of the most distinguishing features of the Second Order teachings of the old Golden Dawn (almost everything in the first Order being black and white – like in The Wizard of Oz!). We use four different scales of color, corresponding to the Four Worlds of the Qabalah (see table at right [not reproduced here]). From highest to lowest, these may be called the Scales of the King, Queen, Prince, and Princess.
I want to teach you a simple technique called “Ladders,” which uses these four color scales to attune your consciousness to one part of the Tree of Life. The trick is to meditatively immerse yourself in a living, dynamic expression of the densest of these scales – the Princess Scale – and then, by use of imagination, transition up the scales to the top, one step at a time, feeling the shift as you go. This use of color is capable of evoking a strong feeling response. It may be used for its own sake, or as a preliminary to, or portion of, magick ritual.
Take, for example, the Path of Tav, corresponding to Saturn. This Path is a general gateway to astral realms, so it’s a good place to start.
Prepare yourself for meditation as you normally would: Relaxation, a comfortable and balanced posture, rhythmic breathing, quieting your mind and emotions, etc. You may want to “warm up” by spending five minutes or so meditatively looking at the corresponding Tarot trump, in this case Atu XXI, The Universe. When ready, begin the Ladders method itself.
The color scales for Tav are: Black, rayed blue; blue-black; black; and indigo. Start by seeing yourself totally surrounded in black, but with blue laser-like rays, emanating from a common source central to your field of vision. They form a tunnel. You are eventually motivated to see and feel yourself float through the tunnel, forward, to the convergence point. Let this happen. Your speed seems to pick up, the energy rises, maybe a background sound rises in pitch until . . . suddenly you have a feeling of breaking through into another domain – a realm of stark, intense blue-black light.
At each step, pause and notice your own thoughts and, especially, feelings. After a time in this blue-black space, let your imagination find some device by which to migrate to the next level. Since the Prince Scale colors are blendings of the King and Queen Scales colors, you can often see the Queen Scale color emerging more pronouncedly from the Prince color – in this case, black gleaming through the blue-black, until it replaces it. Then, perhaps, the King color “dawns” on the Queen color and replaces it. There’s not just one way to do it – again, use your imagination!
At the top – amidst the King Scale color – you may want to vibrate the Holy Names associated with the Sephirah or Path, to attune yourself more powerfully to the principle; and then return.
If the color chart says “specks” in the Princess Scale, see these as living points of light, like fireflies of the proper color. For example, Binah in the Princess Scale is gray, flecked pink. See this as a lighter-than-medium gray with pink firefly-like points moving and swarming around until they formulate a recognizable pattern. Feel the vibration of their buzzing energy. Let them move into a spiral that, tunnel-like, again leads you to your “breakthrough” point for moving up the scales.
Try it! Really get into the feeling of rising upward through the scales. Soon you will find you have an easy way to align your consciousness with any part of the Tree of Life.