One of my magical "pet peeves" is the replacement in some traditions of YHVH Eloah va-Da'ath with IAO for the Tiphareth sphere of the Middle Pillar Ritual. There are multiple reasons for this:
1) Laziness. People seem to think that the Hebrew form is too long, and thus vibrating it is more difficult. I've used it for years without any difficulty. Just spend slightly less time with each syllable and you'll be fine.
2) Many people seem to dislike that the Hebrew name is similar to that used for the Da'ath sphere: YHVH ELOHIM, and some others actually think that, because the word Da'ath is mentioned here, it should instead be used for Da'ath. This comes from a complete lack of understanding of the Tree of Life and the God-Names attributed to the Sephiroth. YHVH Eloah va-Da'ath is the God-Name of Tiphareth. Full stop.
3) IAO is Gnostic, and is more Greek than Hebrew (although it isn't really any language at all). Using four Hebrew names and one Greek/Barbarous name is inconsistency to the extreme. It imbalances things, puts them off-kilter, and in a ritual designed specifically around the notion of balance, this is completely contradictory.
So why in God's Name (pun intended) do many people still opt for IAO instead of the original Hebrew?
1) Laziness. People seem to think that the Hebrew form is too long, and thus vibrating it is more difficult. I've used it for years without any difficulty. Just spend slightly less time with each syllable and you'll be fine.
2) Many people seem to dislike that the Hebrew name is similar to that used for the Da'ath sphere: YHVH ELOHIM, and some others actually think that, because the word Da'ath is mentioned here, it should instead be used for Da'ath. This comes from a complete lack of understanding of the Tree of Life and the God-Names attributed to the Sephiroth. YHVH Eloah va-Da'ath is the God-Name of Tiphareth. Full stop.
3) IAO is Gnostic, and is more Greek than Hebrew (although it isn't really any language at all). Using four Hebrew names and one Greek/Barbarous name is inconsistency to the extreme. It imbalances things, puts them off-kilter, and in a ritual designed specifically around the notion of balance, this is completely contradictory.
So why in God's Name (pun intended) do many people still opt for IAO instead of the original Hebrew?
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18 comments:
I'm glad that you brought this up. I'm one of the strange Americans that is trying to get involved in a proper temple / group.
In the meantime, I figure that not belonging to a temple should not stop me from doing daily work. I am basing a lot of my practice on Lyam Thomas Christopher's "Kabbalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation".
Within that book, he uses IAO on the Middle Pillar, which has been disturbing to me. It was the first time I came across that, and no explanation was given. I just went with the traditional formula, as the IAO version brought about this nagging feeling in the back of my mind.
Any idea on the origins?
I started out using IAO for Tiphareth myself. Regardie gives that as an acceptable alternative in "Art of True Healing." He said he tested it thoroughly and found that it worked just as well as the Hebrew name. So that's where it originated, I imagine.
I've since switched to the longer name, because it seemed the right thing to do. It's also the "Regardie official" name in his book "The Middle Pillar." But I don't have anything against IAO.
Incidentally, does it take a long time to feel the energies of the MP in practice? Is it vital to be thoroughly physically relaxed for this to occur? Sorry for the tangent question, but it's been on my mind lately. I get the best results when I perform MP while I'm out walking!
Ave Michael,
I got Lyam's book recently and while flicking through it I noticed this again (I've seen it many times before), and it reminded me of how much this alteration irks me.
Jason mentions the potential origin below, but I'm honestly not sure. Some of the more scholarly readers of my blog might be able to point out its origins.
Another "pet peeve" I have with Lyam's work is the idea that reading the initiation ceremonies qualifies as having experienced them. I've only skimmed it so far, but he seems to suggest this, and doesn't tell students to actually practice the ceremony, even if in a modified form (akin to the Cicero SI ones). Sufficed to say, you miss a lot when you don't have a temple, but you miss even more if you do decide to opt with SI and don't even use an SI ceremony.
Thanks for the comment :)
LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.
Ave Jason,
Thanks for pointing out the potential origin.
The thing is, it may "work" (although they do very different things, as we see from the IAO/INRI Formula). To me it's just Qabalistically "incorrect", as I've shown in my original post. IAO just doesn't belong in that ritual.
How long it takes to feel the energies of the MPR depends on many things. If you've previously been working with the LBRP for 6+ months, for example, it should take less time to feel than if you were starting fresh. This is because you're becoming more sensitive to the astral energies. Likewise, if you have any previous experience with energy work (Qi-Gong, etc), you may feel the movement of energy more quickly.
I usually perform the Fourfold Breath before the MPR, as well as during it. This is particularly effective in calming me. I do use the MPR every so often when I'm on the bus/tram/train/etc. but I can't recall every doing it walking. It seems like the energy might be disrupted more easily if it were to be done while walking.
I recommend, even if you find the walking version successful, to perform it sitting or standing. The benefits of the MPR are much more than just raising and circulating energy. The ability to manipulate the aura is vital for more advanced work, including astral projection.
LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.
Hi Dean,
Regarding Lyam's method of grade advancement, I'd say that you are correct. He asks the student to analyze the ceremony and to make an outline of it, but never requires any sort of demonstration.
I believe that he holds to the notion that one may self-initiate by the Watchtower Ritual and some interesting uses of the MPR.
I also have a copy of the Cicero's SI book, and have been using those ceremonies in addition to Lyam's recommended program.
I am hesitant to admit that I am not sure that I have really gotten the results out of SI that I was hoping for. It leaves so much room for self-doubt and self-delusion. I have gotten some minor results from the LBRP and MP, though, so at least that is something.
Thanks for the reply, and thanks for all of the quality writing.
Ave Michael,
Regardie was of the opinion that you could become an Adept via practising the Opening by Watchtower and MPR a few thousand times, so that's more than likely where Lyam gets his views from. While ultimately it is the work, the personal practice of ritual, meditation, study, etc., that matters, this totally misses the point of the initiation ceremonies.
Indeed, how do you put the Z-formula to use if you haven't done the Neophyte ceremony, for example? The Z-documents make up a fair portion of Adeptus Minor work, and it's all based around studying and putting to practical use what you've learned via doing the initiation ceremonies. It's just not the same reading about them. You can read about drowning, but it's not the same as experiencing it (to give but one extreme example).
I believe using the Cicero book with Lyam's gives you "the best of both worlds", as it were, although some of the information is probably contradictory. The Cicero one is a lot more "traditional", however, with expanded knowledge lectures, etc. And, of course, the SI ceremonies.
If you're new to the LBRP and MPR, then it will be a while before you'll get the major effects from the SI rituals. The prescribed outline for the Hermetic Sanctuary of Ma'at is a three to four month Probationer period before you even do the Neophyte SI ceremony. You need to build up at least some basic skills for the ceremonies to do anything.
I usually advise 6 months of practicing the LBRP daily before you can say whether or not it's having an effect. Then say 3 months after this for the MPR. If you're new to them, don't worry too much about the effects right now. Just do the Work and the "reward" will come when it's supposed to.
LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.
Avete Fratres et Sorores,
Here's the passage that Jason mentioned from "The Art of True Healing" by Regardie:
"Here vibrate the name Jehova Eloah ve-Daas, pronounced as Yuh-hoh-voh Eh-loh ve-Dah-ahs. Take care that the intonation vibrates well within the formulated white sphere. If this is done, at once a radiation of warmth will be felt to emanate from the centre, gently stimulating all the parts and organs about it. Some students have complained that the above divine name is unduly long and difficult to pronounce. After some experimentation, I have substituted
the Gnostic name IAO for the Hebrew word. Both are attributed, qabalistically, to the Sephirah of Tiphareth on the Tree of Life, and so are equally valid. I have found it to be every bit as effective as the Hebrew name, and in my own practice of this meditation I have permanently substituted the one for the other."
As you can see, the main impetus seems to be point 1 that I made: laziness. People think it's too long and hard to pronounce.
IAO may be related to Tiphareth (via the Osirian formula), but it's not the God-Name, and does not have the subtlety that the Hebrew name does.
So it looks like Regardie may be the origin of this.
LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.
Dean - thank you very much for your replies, as they have been most helpful. I have been practicing the LBRP for nearly a year, and have just recently been doing the MPR on a regular basis. I am sure it will just take more time for that to begin to show results.
If you don't mind me hijacking this discussion, I would like to ask a simple (well, sort of) question regarding the LBRP. I have very few knowledgeable people around me to discuss these issues.
Since the pentagram is often used to represent the microcosm, I have to assume that it is doing something far more interesting than just 'cleansing the room'.
In my experience, it seems to be cleansing or balancing *me*. I have often walked into my space after a very difficult day and had a heavy heart or even anger, performed the LBRP with care, and noticed that all of those extreme feelings or thoughts were no more. They may manifest again after I have left my space, but for that time they are gone.
I have not seen the four Archangels, and barely ever sense the energy of the pentagrams, but these seem like fair results to me even without the visual fireworks.
Is that a fair assessment of some of the benefits or deeper meanings of the LBRP?
The LBRP has many benefits, and banishing is only one of them. As you've noted, it could be seen to banish the Lower Self, invoke the Higher, and generally balance everything out. It can be used to banish negativity in any form, including emotions (try it a few times if you awake from a nightmare, for example). It definitely has a martial aspect (five points relating to the fifth Sephirah, Geburah, Severity & Mars), but it also affirms the dominance of Spirit over Matter (and thus your Higher Self over your Lower Self), and the LBRP implants the Pentagram into your aura, where it will begin to subtly alter things.
And that's merely scratching the surface of the ritual!
LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.
Well thank you for that - you've left me with quite a bit to ponder.
Hi there,
thanks for all these great ideas and comments. Some of my own :)
The IAO mistake seems to originate from Israel Regardie. The confusion also lies in fact that IAO is used to invoke and direct the Divine White Brilliance, which is directed at the end of the practices which Regardie (quite crudely) compressed into the MP exercise.
I think it is important to remember that the Middle Pillar Exercise is not a GD/RR et AC practice. The various practices that work with the Tree are mentioned in some of the GD docs Regardie reproduces, but they are never fully spelt. Regardie affirms that the MP is a GD exercise as it is based on GD principles. This is true in some sense, but the full exercises are much more suited to full Auric Manipulation leading to transformation.
Dean, I agree with all your great advice and comments on the LRP and MP. What i would say however Michael, is that the Archangels are not seen, their images are consciously built. You do not wait for them to appear, but consciously build up their astral forms.
If i may humbly suggest, the LRP commentary on our website (www.westernmysteries.com) is really good and answers lots of these questions.
Thanks,
Peregrin :)
Hey guys. Thanks for buying the 'Kabbalah, Magic..." book.
The idea of 'not experiencing the Golden Dawn initiation rituals' is that they impart important information, but they never really did enough to initiate the student--that is, to cause a permanent transformation. This is evident in the behavior of many of the Golden Dawn adepti. The rituals were powerful enought to stir things up but not thorough enough. What's missing was daily perseverence. Progress takes years of personal dedication and unfailing devotion--which I can see in at least one of these posts. :)
The 'Kabbalah, Magic...' book provices a Hermetic curriculum, with Kabbalah as a central framework. Naturally, the book is going to have names used by Hermetists and Hermeticists of the Hellenistic and Renaissance times. 'IAO' was thought by some to be the 'true' pronunciation of YHVH. Debatable, of course.
I recommend using IAO as a powerful transformational name, one which plugs into the Osiris/Jesus myth so important to Golden Dawn work. However, I do assing the use of the YHVH-Eloah-V-Da'ath version in the Middle Pillar work in Philosophus. To me the Hebrew word serves as a potent connector to the Atziluthic Tiphareth, while IAO works upon our more cthonic predicament--that of our imagination, trapped in the Earth, or materialistic condidtioning...keeping us stuck in one way of seeing and doing.
While I don't recommend changing the curriculum or choosing only the parts of it you like, I do think it would be fine to substitute the more Hebrew Godname for IAO...
More power to you guys. Any questions, just email: lyamthomas@earthlink.net
--Lyam Thomas Christopher :)
Ave Lyam,
Thank you for the comment. I've only flicked through your book so far, but I always liked your material on the old website, so couldn't resist ordering it. I'll need to delve into it more deeply sometime soon.
If we had to choose between experiencing the initiation ceremony and doing all the daily work, then the latter gets my vote, by far. The ceremony is supposed to begin the process - you need to continue it on a daily basis yourself. However, we don't have to make that choice, so I don't see why students can't actually do the initiation ceremony, even in SI format, and d all the daily work (which is what is supposed to occur in Temple, as well as in the Cicero SI instructions). I just can't consider that the person has actually initiated into that grade if they only read the ceremony (I've read lots of ceremonies, even from Orders I never want to be initiated into). Now, I understand that study is required, not just pure reading, but this makes it all very intellectual stuff. It's like reading about the LBRP without experiencing it for yourself. Experience is key (and is the difference between intellectual knowledge and Gnosis).
I think you've suggested the Neophyte read one of the Z-documents, etc., which I also disagree with, but I'm a bit more of a "traditionalist", as it were ;)
I like your insight on IAO in relation to the imagination trapped in earth. I still would not use it in the MPR, but there are plenty of other places to use this name and formula, which is vital to Golden Dawn tradition.
Again, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you continue to do so! :)
LVX,
Dean.
"Another "pet peeve" I have with Lyam's work is the idea that reading the initiation ceremonies qualifies as having experienced them."
You've found a popular peeve of my own there.
But, when we discuss initiation we need to focus on quality.
My 1ยบ was as shoddy an affair as one might hope to find; words read haltingly from pieces of paper, lines fluffed, lights on and thoroughly amateurish. I will not shame the temple by naming them, but they should know better.
The value of initiation goes beyond being set-up for the next exam, it should motivate and spur the apprentice onwards and upwards. Sadly all my initiation did was remind me that the order needs to recruit some people with a bit of theatrical experience.
Just look at the number of writers, poets and actors involved in the original GD, such drama, that sense of theatre is required for ANY ritual and you just can't get that 'oomph' from reading, solo-visualisation or the temple that initiated me.
Very excellent points, Anonymous (would you mind sharing your name, btw?).
The theatricality element is something I've been meaning to blog about for some time, and your post has inspired me to do so all the sooner.
The thing is, I'd rather have a ritual read from paper where the odd line was messed up (to be corrected soon after) than a dead rote recitation with no "oomph!". I'd rather the effort go into the performance than into recalling lines from memory (the latter being an ideal, but somewhat impractical, particularly for new officers, and may also result in cock-ups if lines are forgotten and there is nothing there to prompt them).
It's unfortunate that there are temples out there that lack the "oomph!" factor, and I, for one, am glad I'm not a member of such. Sometimes it just takes the tiniest bit of effort to "enflame thyself with prayer" and give a truly different experience to an initiation ceremony, to both the candidate, the officers, and all members present.
I'll blog about this in more detail soon.
LVX,
Dean.
Apologies for appearing and disappearing
However I did a seach for middle pillar heart intonation to seek the english translation.
I wish to use the intention towards a friend.
If G-d wills...
its is not all that strange my friend,and if i miss spell please exscuse me just trying to help.now my friend lets analyze the symbolism and confer it with another ritual called the brh,iao isis,opophis,osiris all are symbolically related to death and reberth,and u may see this sybolism if u look at the hebrew words inri in conjunction with the tarot cards for there attribution.now L..V..X.. add gemetrically adds up to 65 in your qabalistic encyclapedia=adonai wich is the ain soph that holy limitless light of god wich u call down in hope that one day u will all so be reborn.and remember tiphereth is the symbol of the sun wich is reborn also and witch every thing revoles around remember every human being is his/her on shining star.hope thats helps u guys
Gematria
I = IHVH
A = ALVH
O = VDAaTh
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