The great problem in practical workings is to bring things through to the
Sphere of Malkuth and to do this effectively we must bridge between Malkuth
and Yesod. Yesod is represented by the nines in the tarot, great strength,
material happiness, despair and cruelty and material gain. Yesod is called
the Pure Intelligence because it purifies the emanations before they enter
into Malkuth. It's virtue is Independence and it's vice is idleness.
Yesod is described as the ether, the astral plane, the akasha, the
sephiroth where you find "formless substance", and it's this formless
substance that can be molded by the mind to become manifest in the physical
world, Malkuth. Yesod is represented by the Moon as Malkuth is the Earth. The
corresponding relationship can be seen on the Tree of Life where Yesod is
directly above Malkuth on the middle pillar of equilibrium.
I would like to add here that it's beneficial to review our high school
or college physics lessons to understand not only the workings of Malkuth,
but the workings of Yesod, by knowing how nature works, by understanding the
laws of physics. The universal law of correspondence, "as above, so below"
certainly describes the similarities in the relationship between these two.
As anyone who has experimented with astral travel, our astral bodies are a
reflection of our physical bodies and behave very much like our physical
bodies, and our habits and reactions in our wakened state are what prompts
our astral bodies into action on the astral planes.
A very important aspect of performing magick is learning to use the
energy forces of the Moon and it's cycles, and here the physical force of
gravity is paramount. For example the gravitational force of a full Moon is
much stonger when the Earth is positioned between the Sun and the Moon. All
etheric activities are at their most active. Then, when the Moon is at the
new or dark position, being on the same side as the sun in relation to the
earth, and the etheric activities are at their lowest. Fortune says "practical occult work is best let alone during the dark moon by all but
experienced workers because the life giving forces are relatively weak and
the unbalanced forces relatively strong; the result, in inexperienced hands
may result in chaos".
Here is another food for thought theory. The two most abundant elements
in the Earth's crust are silicon and oxygen. The covalent bond between these
two creates clear quartz. The two most abundant elements in the Moon's crust
are the same, silicon and oxygen. Now silicon is the best conductor of energy
in the mineral kingdom, so here is an immediate energy connection between the
Earth and Moon, and if we set our quartz crystals in the light of the Moon
they become energized by this light. Light is the result of electron and
protons of an atom emitting photons. Light is the vibrations of photon
particles traveling through space. Electrons and protons also absorb photons.
Now energy can't be created or distroyed, only transformed into other forms
of energy, and by the emission and absorption of photons, energy can be
transferred and transformed. An reason for placing quartz crystals in Moon
light may be that an exchange of photons takes place with in the atoms of the
quartz stone. Another physical law of matter is that the more dense a
substance is, the higher it's vibrations are, because subatomic particles
orbit much faster in dense matter in order to keep their bonds stronger. So
with quartz being a very dense substance with a high vibratory rate already,
and by it's elemental composition so related to lunar composition, becomes
very susceptible to and amplified by Lunar vibrations. Once the crystal is
"charged" we can then direct that energy towards other areas such as healing
or other metaphysical goals, and hence is offered as an example of bringing
the energies of Yesod into physical manifestations of Malkuth.
The cycles or the rhythms of the Moon correspond to the rhythms of life,
and when we deal with the lunar rhythms, we are dealing with the etheric and
not the physical conditions, and the magnetism of physical living creatures
waxes and wanes with this etheric motion. Fortune writes " It will be seen
from the above that Yesod-Luna is ever in a state of flux and reflux, because
the amount of sunlight received and reflected waxes and wanes in a twenty
eight day cycle. Malkuth-Earth is in a state of flux and reflux in a twenty
four hour cycle. Likewise Malkuth-Earth has a three hundred and sixty five
day cycle, of which the phases are marked by the Equinoxes and the Solstices.
It is the interacting set of these tides which is all-important to the
practical occultist, because so much of her/his work depends upon them."
It is cautioned, however, not to get stuck working magick in the sphere
of Yesod, since it is considered the Sphere of Illusion. That the keys that
unlock the doors of Yesod and enable us to command are to be found in Hod,
the Sphere of Magic, and that will be covered in the next essay on
understanding and working with the Qaballah.
