MAGICAL STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS:

SECRETS OF PATHWORKING

by Osborne Phillips

MODULE 1.2

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Copyright © 2002 by Leon Barcynski

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 MSC MODULE 1

Unit 2

PATHWORKING

The Semitalia and the plan of spiritual progress

The Pathworkings, the guided meditations, presented here comprise the 32 nd

to the 24th Paths of the Tree of Life, a sequence known in the Order Aurum

Solis as the Semitalia, that is to say, “of the footpaths”.

In them, you are led from one great astral scene to another, where

nothing lacks in light, form or colour that would add to the holographic validity

of the formulated, interior universe.

The plan of spiritual progress employed follows the pattern of The

Composite Tree, a special formulation of the Tree of Life whose sole use is to

indicate the “Way of Return”. In this plan, Kether, Chokmah and Binah, the

supernal trine of Sephiroth, are experienced in the World of Atziluth, the

dimension of spirit; Chesed, Geburah and Tiphareth, the second trine of

Sephiroth, are experienced in the World of Briah, the mental realm; Netzach,

Hod and Yesod, the third trine of Sephiroth, are experienced in the World of

Yetzirah, the astral plane; and Malkuth is experienced in the World of Assiah,

the material universe.

In Pathworking, your consciousness ascends from Malkuth (a level to

which, in practice, it is never naturally confined) by the 32 nd Path to the

Sephirah Yesod: and at the same time it passes through the gate of that

Sephirah into the World of Yetzirah, which comprises the whole wide range of

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the astral, including its lower level which is sometimes termed the “etheric”

world. In terms of your own nature, the World of Yetzirah includes everything

from those sensory perceptions which enmesh with their physical causes and

effects, through the instincts and emotions up to and including your highest

emotional feelings no matter what their spiritual or aesthetic causations.

Having entered the World of Yetzirah through the gate of Yesod, you

can now move into the two other “states of consciousness” which are

comprised in the astral trine: Hod, approached by the 31 st Path from Malkuth

and by the 30th Path from Yesod; and Netzach, approached by the 29 th Path

from Malkuth, by the 28th Path from Yesod and by the 27th Path from Hod.

The astral awareness into which you enter in Yesod is developed into a

mode of knowing and doing in Hod, and into a mode of feeling and being in

Netzach (to state the matter in very general terms). The undifferentiated astral

perception, the “dream mind” of Yesod, is adaptable to some purposes which

are particular to that Sephirah, purposes for which the modes of

consciousness of Hod or of Netzach would not take its place: but the modes

of consciousness of all three of these Sephiroth, which in the Composite Tree

belong to the World of Yetzirah, are essential to your functioning in the

fullness of your nature. Their assimilation is thus necessary before you can

progress further.

Every Sphere that you enter represents an alteration of

consciousness. A Netzach state of mind is quite different from a Yesod or a

Hod state of mind. But into all of these you can, and do, enter within the Astral

World of Yetzirah. Entry into the Sphere of Tiphareth, however, requires not

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only an altered state of consciousness but also an altered level of

consciousness.

Certainly it is possible to enter into the Tiphareth of Yetzirah, the Sun

Sphere of the purely astral level: but this as a life experience tends to be for

some people unbalanced, simply because the solar influence is so potent and

intoxicating that a higher level of consciousness is required to control it.

In entering Tiphareth, as an initiatory experience, you need to pass the

portal of the World of Briah.

Tiphareth is the gate of the World of Briah. From the astral world, the

World of Yetzirah – the world of imagination, of the use of sensory data and of

deductive reasoning – you now cross the threshold of the great World of

Briah: the world of “Mind” in its truest sense.

The rational mind, the Ruach, properly belongs to the World of Briah.

However, in its “uninitiated” state – that is, before the consciousness has

passed through the gate of Tiphareth – the rational mind can function only as

the organizer of Yetziratic materials since these alone are accessible to it.

These materials include personal experience, which comprises sense data

and an awareness of your impulses and emotions: also what you learn from

others whether you classify that learning as scientific, historical, magical,

metaphysical or any other. Upon all these materials – personal experience

and acquired knowledge – the rational mind can work with great elaboration

and subtlety: but it cannot, without the true Briatic consciousness, go beyond

those limits.

In Briah the Ruach becomes accustomed to another kind of activity: not

only reasoning about a matter, but having direct intuitive contact with that

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matter in its reality. This is through the working of the Intuitive Mind, of which

the rational mind is the destined vehicle. It is this contact that brings the

Ruach to its rightful development and which also brings the whole personality

into the proportions of its true nature: human nature in its plenitude, no matter

how far above the norms of human nature as generally conceived of.

Three Paths lead into Tiphareth, the 26 th, the 24th and the 25th (taken in

that order): but only by the 25 th Path, through the gate of Tiphareth on the

Central Column of the Tree of Life, can you gain your first awareness of the

Briatic level of consciousness.

The 26th Path is next travelled, therefore, but initially this does not

resolve in Tiphareth and you are led back to the Sphere of Malkuth.

Then the 24th Path is travelled; but, likewise, this does not initially

resolve in Tiphareth, and you are led back, but this time to the Sphere of

Yesod.

Now you adventure the 25 th Path. Here, you are lifted in vision beyond

the self: and without striving you follow where your high destiny leads you.

You entrust ourselves to that which is above human reason; and by that

confidence and that trust, by that forgetfulness of self which comes of

absorption in something greater, you rise to that change in your level of

consciousness which is entry into the Sphere of Tiphareth in Briah.

The fullness of this new level of consciousness will not come all

at once; but from the beginning, the quality of your perception will be

enhanced and your delight in life magnified, and you will experience an

entire certainty in looking within for Light.

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 Having followed the 25th Path and made entry of the Sun Sphere, the

26th and 24th Paths are worked again: but now there is, for each of them, a

true resolution in Tiphareth.

This completes the cycle of the Semitalia.

Pathworking programmes

When the Pathworkings are accomplished in series, that is, in

sequence from the 32nd Path to the 24th Path, the order of the Paths is 32, 31,

30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 24, 25.

Upon the first working of the Paths in series, the 26 th and 24th Paths

should be travelled according to the texts given in Module 5, Units 1 and 2,

their initial workings. The 25th Path is then undertaken; and following this the

26th and 24th Paths are again travelled, according to the texts given in Module

7, Units 1 and 2, their normal workings.

On subsequent occasions of Pathworking in sequence, the order of

Paths 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 24 and 25 is observed, but the 26 th and 24th

Paths are now conducted from the outset according to the texts of Module 7,

Units 1 and 2, their normal workings, and the series concludes with the 25 th

Path.

The adventuring of the Paths in sequence is an experience that will

deepen in significance with every repetition. There are many aspects of the

Paths that should be explored, and many that will bring themselves to your

notice.

Not only in planned meditation, but also in dream, matters related to

one or another Path will come to you; and -- since dreaming is not switched

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off when you awaken – in waking life as well as in sleep, to the continued

enrichment of both.

Every Path of the Tree of Life, which has once been achieved

successfully in its proper sequence, can thereafter be travelled again

whenever the wish or the need may arise. Thus continued working of the

Paths, after initially travelling them in ascending sequence, need not involve

strict ascent on the Tree of Life: Pathworkings may be selected according to

preference and magical need. The principles involved here are set forth in

Module 8, Unit 1, “Magical Powers”; and related rituals, to be used when

Pathworkings are thus employed, are provided in Module 8, Unit 2, “Rituals of

the Spheres”.

A choice of Names

In the texts, where invocation is to be made of a deific force, at the

opening of a Pathworking or during one of the “Rituals of the Spheres”, two

forms of divine name are always given: (1) the Aurum Solis divine name,

followed by (2) the Hebrew divine name. You can thus choose whether to

follow the Aurum Solis tradition, or whether to follow the traditions of the

Hebrew Qabalah.

Some practical directions

In the room chosen for Pathworking, a small altar or table, draped in

black, should be placed at the centre.

A single white lamp, or a candle, should be placed upon the altar.

Upon the altar, too, should be placed a symbol chosen to represent

your aspiration: a Sphinx, a Star, the Sun, a Cross, or whatever else is

meaningful to you. Or the candle or lamp may be found sufficient.

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 If you are following Aurum Solis tradition, the Mystical Tessera should

be placed upon the altar. This is a solar talisman that serves as a focal point

for Inner Plane forces. In form it is a small wooden tablet, upon which are

depicted two interlaced squares, one red, one white, forming an eight-pointed

Star.

Chairs should be placed for the participants of the Pathworking, in a

circle, or an arc, about the altar; and a reading desk should be placed for the

use of the director of the working, who remains standing throughout. A small

side table should also be positioned near to the director, with a bell or gavel

for sounding the battery.

The wearing of a simple hooded robe is recommended for these

workings. To put on a special garment regularly for an activity carries your

sense of the high worth of that activity right through all levels of your being. It

also helps to remind you that you are one of the great number of explorers of

the inner worlds who, whether in groups or singly, sit down and cut out

distractions for a span of time while they gather spiritual strength, perception

and illumination.

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