Rituals in life and on the Tree of Life - Symbolism and The Tree of Life

Qabalah: Discover Powerful Tools to Explore Practical Magic and the Tree of Life (Hay House Basics) - David Wells 2017

Rituals in life and on the Tree of Life
Symbolism and The Tree of Life

Ritual helps us transcend the physical and move into the realms of the meta-physical, that which is of a higher vibration.

Rituals are many and varied in magical practice. Some are simple and some extremely elaborate, but all have a purpose, an intention. Perhaps the most important thing is, what are you doing the ritual for?

’Because you’ve been told to’ is never the answer. You may be shown a ritual or asked to take part in one, but unless you know what you’re committing to, fully committing to, and why, please don’t do it. Even if the person asking is yourself, your personality-self pushing buttons, you must ask why you want to do the ritual and what will it bring to you.

A ritual is a commitment, it’s a definite statement put out into the astral worlds and beyond, and it will have your energy on it, so make no mistake, you are accountable for what you’re doing. If you think it’s just a bit of fun, you should definitely walk away. Ritual can be used for many things, but for a laugh is not one of them.

In this book you’re going to do some meditations on the Sephiroth on a journey up the Tree of Life. You will get to know more about each Sephira in turn through visualizations and pathworkings and understand more about its energy and how it can influence your life.

Daily rituals

There are daily rituals I would recommend to help you on this journey:

· Take a Tarot or oracle card every day, learn about it and see how it predicts or affects your day. Record it in your journal.

· Before going to bed and when you get up in the morning, remind yourself of five things you’re grateful for.

· Light a candle in the evening when you get in from work. See it as a way of cutting off from your working day and allowing yourself to rest.

· Take a salt bath at least once a week. Fill it with Epsom salts, relax and detox. It’s as good for the soul as it is for the body.

· Every night before going to sleep, release any negative talk, self- or otherwise. Release it with love.

· Breathe. Sounds easy enough, but I mean consciously feel your breath moving in and out. Count it, deepen it and go to 100 breaths if you can. I use a 4-2-4-2 method of breathing, that’s breathe in for the count of four, hold for two, out for four, hold for two and repeat.

· When you see or hear something that synchronizes with your study, make a note of it. Words are magical, remember that!

· On a full Moon, make a note of where the Moon is, in which astrological sign, and release something from your life you no longer need that’s appropriate to the influence of the sign. This is another way of bringing astrology into your life. Make an extra effort when the Moon is in your Sun sign or Moon sign. Record how you feel on the full and new Moon.

· Perform the Qabalistic Cross ritual (see below) in the morning and at night for protection against energy loss and wandering into astral or Earthly areas you really shouldn’t!

· The four great archangels also provide protection and energy and bring peace of mind to your meditations and pathworkings. We will look at those in a moment.

· A special mention for meditation: if you can meditate daily, that alone will transform you, and coupled with the growing energy of your Tree of Life journey? Wow!

The Qabalistic Cross

You will be working with the Qabalistic Cross to help protect your energy and empower your visualizations from here on in.

Exercise: The Qabalistic Cross

Begin the ritual facing East.

· Touch your forehead and vibrate (say with a load of oomph, a bit like when you hum): ’Ateh [A-Tay]’.

· Point towards your feet and vibrate ’Malkuth’.

· Touch your right shoulder and vibrate ’Ve-Geburah [Vay Ge-boo-ra]’.

· Touch your left shoulder and vibrate ’Ve-Gedulah [Vay Ge-doo-la]’.

· Place your hands together over your heart and vibrate ’Le-Olahm [Lay Oo-lam], Amen’.

This is simply ’As above, so below, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, amen’, but it pre-dates Christianity by many thousands of years. It’s the vibration of it that makes the difference, so really give it some oomph!

Working with ritual within the Sephiroth

Preparation tips

You need to prepare both yourself and the space you will be working in. Here are some tips:

· Check a Moon calendar and don’t do any pathworkings three days prior to a new Moon. This phase is called the dark Moon and is not conducive to this sort of work.

· Eat about an hour or two beforehand, so you’re not starving or bloated.

· Switch off all your phones.

· Find a comfortable spot to sit in. Don’t lie down, as you might fall asleep!

· Let everyone know you can’t be disturbed.

· Draw a Tarot card before you enter into the meditation.

· Light a candle with the intention of focusing on a particular Sephira or having a particular experience.

· Take a moment to breathe — nice and deep, in for a count of four, hold it for two, out for four seconds, hold it for two — a few times, each time relaxing more and more.

· Have no expectations. Approach each visualization like a child on an adventure.

To prepare yourself, try this very simple meditation to balance your chakras — your energy system. It’s a great thing to do before working with any Sephira, as it helps you relax. In fact it’s probably a good idea anytime!

Exercise: Chakra workout

This visualization is all about pushing energy around, helping it move, because movement is in itself a balancer. Think of it like riding a bike — the only way to keep moving forward is to maintain your balance.

Prepare to meditate.

· Close your eyes and visualize a white light around you. Make it as pure as you can.

· Now see a sphere of light above your head. Make it about the size of an apple and brilliant white.

· Next turn up the light even more. Make it blue white, sparkling and alive with energy. It’s a representation of your higher self.

· Now imagine a lotus flower on your crown. Let the petals open up. Let them open wider.

· Next see a rosebud on your third eye, between your eyebrows in the centre of your forehead. Let it slowly open.

· Now see one on your throat and do the same.

· Now on your heart.

· When you’ve done that, let the light fall down through your legs and out through the soles of your feet.

· Let it move across your shoulders and out through the palms of your hands.

· Now the light is flowing in from your crown and out through your feet and palms. You’re a being of light.

· Let that light balance you out, pushing away any grey bits. See them go and be replaced with balanced and vibrant energy.

· When you’re ready, return the energy to your heart area. See it glow golden.

· See your beauty, feel your beauty, feel your balance.

· Let that golden light vibrate.

· Now push it up through your throat.

· Into your third eye.

· Through your crown.

· And back into the ball above your head.

· Now push that ball into the sky. Let it reconnect you to the universe.

· Now visualize all those rosebuds and the lotus flower returning to their natural resting place. They will feel recharged and clearer and will help you to feel the same.

Write down how you felt before and afterwards.

Setting up an altar

To make the most of your pathworkings, why not set up an altar? You can do this at any time — in fact I would encourage it! It will give you a focal point to work with and you can place items of relevance on it. For example, for Malkuth you might place fresh fruit, ivy leaves, flowers, symbols of the Earth and its beauty, and perhaps some herbs. In the chapters that follow, I have given suggestions for each Sephira, using what are called the correspondences.

When you’re working on a Sephira, you might also like to set up your altar with its symbols, colours or whatever else comes to mind during the weeks or months you’re working with its energy.

You can have seasonal altars too, for Midsummer, Samhain and Yule for example, full Moons, new Moons… The list is endless. Get creative, for in creativity your spirit thrives.

· Always have a central candle, which also acts as the candle for East, and a candle in each of the other quarters. That simply means one in the South, West and North to represent, respectively, Fire, Water and Earth. Your altar candle represents Air. More on those elements in a moment.

· To start a ritual, light them in a clockwise fashion, and when you have finished working, let them burn out safely. You don’t have to leave them where they are, you can put them all on a tray. It’s putting them out that’s to be avoided if you can, but if you do have to put them out, do it in an anti-clockwise direction.

· Put an icon or symbol on your altar that speaks to you of the work you’re doing, something like an Earth goddess or perhaps something that resonates with you in the description of each of the Sephiroth that follows.

· Burn incense that’s relevant to the Sephira you’re working on (see the correspondences in the following chapters).

Further preparation

What else do you need to do?

· When you do a pathworking, make an appointment, sit down and ask for the spiritual worlds to assist you at x o’clock and always, always be ready to start at that time. Ring a bell, as the sound of a bell can be heard in the astral worlds. Remember, it’s a request for them to assist.

· Set up at least half an hour before to give time for the energy to build. Keep it going, once the candles are lit and the incense is burning, with music that’s appropriate to the task in hand.

· Have a shower and put on clean, fresh clothing. If you can have something you wear only when pathworking then so much the better. Make it a plain colour at this point — white, or grey perhaps?

· Do the Qabalistic Cross then ask for the power of the four great archangels to stand in protection over you.

The archangels

These beings are real; respect must be given to them. Know what they look like, know what magical weapons they carry and see them carrying them:

· Raphael will be in yellow in front of you, carrying a sword, hilt up, or a fan for Air.

· Michael will be on your right, in reds, carrying a flaming wand for Fire.

· Gabriel will be behind you in blue, carrying a cup, a goblet, for Water.

· Uriel will be to your left, either in black or in the russet, brown and ochre colours of Earth, carrying a disk for Earth.

If it helps, see them in their respective colours as columns of light.

Exercise: Archangel protection ritual

· Taking a deep breath, raise and extend your arms up and out to your sides as if you were making a cross.

· Visualize four tall, robed and hooded figures surrounding you, each in a different direction.

· Say:

Before me RAPHAEL, behind me GABRIEL, to my

right hand MICHAEL, to my left hand URIEL. Around

me burn the pentagrams and behind me shines

the six-rayed star of pure white brilliance.

All of this will increase the energy to help you get a better experience and more clarity during your meditation. You’ll see how it all fits together when you work with the Sephiroth in the following chapters.

There are other levels that you can take this to, but they are best left for another time. There’s a very big difference between a visualization and a pathworking or Tree of Life meditation, and a very big difference between the ones in this book and more advanced pathworkings. You are at the beginning of your journey; don’t run until you can walk, or you might stumble.

Releasing the energy

After your meditation, what then?

· When you have finished working, bow to the central altar and give thanks to each archangel in turn as you move anti-clockwise around the room, then make a final bow to the altar and leave.

· Collect yourself, maybe make some notes and then, when you are ready to break down the room completely, release the energy by walking around the room three times widdershins (anti-clockwise).

· See that energy move up into the universe to be used for positivity in the world.

Grounding your energy

It’s essential to return to Earth properly and completely after any form of ritual, and in order to do that you must ground yourself. That simply means bringing your energy back and earthing it, but how?

· Make sure you eat and drink something.

· Do something mundane, like wash the dishes, do the ironing or go for a walk, and if it’s appropriate, get your shoes off and walk on the Earth.

· Go for a swim or walk in the wind and rain.

· Gardening is a great way to ground yourself, and so too is having sex, but perhaps not whilst you’re gardening!

· I know some people who’ve read some of my other books think it’s funny when I say, ’Kettle on, biscuits out,’ after each meditation, but it’s such a useful practice. I won’t be saying it after every meditation here, but you know I’ll be thinking it.

· There are various crystals which will help with grounding too, but personally, I avoid anything magical and concentrate on anything with chocolate in it.