Keepers of the Currents
Among the luminous hierarchies of the Higher matrices of mind there exists one as necessary to human development as it is inaccessible to the human mind.
All magical traditions encounter such entities, Spirits that appear at certain periods of Transitions and guide those transitions. They were called by different names: Hierophants, Keepers of the Tradition, Guiding Spirits; the Judeo-Christian tradition included them, together with the benevolent ministering spirits, in the Angelic hierarchy and assigned them to the sphere of the Invisible, “virtual” Sephirah Da’at.
The very concept of Da’at (“Knowledge”) reflects the notion of the Guides. The hidden Sephirah — Da’at — lies in the middle of the Abyss, which stands between the Higher Sephiroth and the Sephiroth of Manifestation. Da’at is neither a continuation of any state or aspect above, nor a level of mind, but at once a gate and an obstacle between the realm of complete Union and the world of individual existence.
It embodies both the fullness of Knowledge and the Treasury of Wisdom. Usually, when describing the Sephiroth, Da’at is not mentioned and is spoken of only when referring to Tiferet; sometimes it is considered that Da’at is part of that Sephirah, or rather, a means of its connection to and separation from Keter. Da’at is also the mediator between Chokmah and Binah, the balance between feminine and masculine principles in the creation of new life.
It is Da’at that is associated with the knowledge that caused the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. This underlies the famous Kabbalistic postulate that the Devil’s head reaches only as high as the Sephirah Da’at. At the same time, according to Kabbalistic teaching, the Sephirah Da’at corresponds to the highest point that a person can attain. In other words, Da’at is the death of the self.
Since Da’at is a Potential Sephirah, its intelligences, the Guides, do not possess the characteristics typical of Sephirothic hierarchies. At the same time, they are a necessary component of the world Flow, because when passing through the Abyss, accompanied by the total disintegration of a system (for example, the personality), the system may succumb to the fear of losing its individuality and identify with some part of its disintegrating structure. That identification nullifies all efforts to cross the Chasm, and such a condition is characterized by the individual’s complete enclosure in their ego; it is considered irreversible and seen as the final spiritual death.
It is precisely for this reason that the Transition occurs with the participation of specific Powers — the Guides. From shamanic initiation to the highly organized initiatory mysteries of the Orders, every act of transition is accompanied by the mysterious appearance of these Hierophants. Although they appear as volitional entities, in reality, as beings of Potential, they do not have a personal nature as such, but are a conditionally personal manifestation of the Initiatory Flow itself, Merkavah.
The mysterious appearances of the hierophants at initiation ceremonies, their silent and, at first glance, detached presence, are the guarantee that the transition will occur. It is by no means certain it will succeed, however, for the Guides merely form the Gates; they do not push anyone through them (nor do they reach out a helping hand).
Da’at is the sole point on the Tree that opens access to the world of the Absolute, the Gate, preserved and formed by the Guides. These spirits are also a manifestation of the World Power of the Rift; however, unlike the Prohibiting and Opening aspects of the Rift, the Guides ensure the very moment of transition — the moment of being at the gates, when the previous stage has already been abandoned and the new one has not yet been reached. A specific feature of the Spirits of Da’at is that the conditions of initiation received in this sphere demand the total disintegration of the Word. In other words, in Da’at the Logos confronts its non-being, and the Word exists in awareness but is not yet uttered.
The Guides perform the same role as Keepers of the Lines of Magi. These spirits do not protect the bearers of a line; for the most part, they are generally indifferent whether the Line will continue to exist. Yet if a Line does exist, the Guides ensure its proper direction, the course of crossing the Gates of Power, since Da’at embodies the universal principle of the connection between mind and the knowable.
Da’at is a mobile Sephirah without a fixed place on the Tree; its conditional position between Keter/Tiferet and Chokmah/Binah is, rather, a matter of perceived role rather than actual location; therefore the Initiatory Spirits are concerned with any processes of transition. Whenever a Magus finds themselves in a state that is difficult on the Way, an “existential crisis”, he appeals to the Guides, and their appearance indicates the correct direction of movement. At the same time, their appearance signifies that it is time to leap. For Da’at is not merely a transition, it is a leap into the abyss, into the unknown, and the Spirits of Da’at are the only ones who see that leap in its entirety.
Could the Shvira Kilim signal that a jump into Da’at has occurred?
The terms of Kabbalah should not be translated into Russian. All of them denote either some spiritual partzuf or a part of it. Translation may contribute to the creation of some image of our world, which is strictly prohibited. One must not reduce the spiritual to the material.
“Well, if the return occurred after the transition and disembodiment of the personality, is this a normal phenomenon — does it happen like this in general, or is it a spiritual death, as indicated in your text?”
“What return are you talking about?”
On returning to the former life. There was absolute annihilation, and then a reassembly of the personality in its former shape, with the exception of the significance of certain things in life.
So, this “annihilation” was an illusion.
At one time, when I was fascinated by everything related to the Ancient Lovecraft, I read Kenneth Grant’s ‘Beyond the Abyss’. It feels like there is a clear demonization of this sefirah; some have even linked it to Klippot, others to the Tunnels of Set)) What do you think, does it have any relation to this? To me, it seems nonsense… The world of the absolute can be compared to Heaven, the goddess Nuit, the primal ocean of creation (or native background vibration) – that’s in the first approximation. In the limit, this is the principle of Spanda of the Original Vibration. It’s a very interesting topic related to predication, how the initial vibration transforms into word?
Not an article, but a Light!! Thank you.