"
Da'ath," the
Hebrew word for "
knowledge" and the
dreadful "
False Sephira" upon the
Qabalistic Tree of Life, poised as the apparently endless gulf separating the ideal reality of the
Supernal Triad from the manifested lower
Sephiroth ruled by the Fourth. The number of Da'ath is eleven because it is the "one beyond the ten." Much has been written about this dimension, often referred to as the Abyss, particularly the Abyss of
Reason. "The
Abyss of
Hallucinations hath
Law and Reason, but in
Truth there is no bond between the toys of the
Gods," wrote
Frater Perdurabo in his blasphemous "
Book of Lies." Another favorite comment of mine on the matter of the existence of the "False Sephira" comes from the rather famous Benjamin Rowe, a modern Enochian magician. I will paraphrase: He writes that the idea that there is actually an existent eleventh sephira between the crown of the tree and the center is one of the most damnable deceptions ever perpetrated upon humanity, as the very appearance of Da'ath itself only arises due to the reflection of
Tiphareth (the central sphere) in the gulf around the Supernals. Of course,
Kenneth Grant, once the Outer Head of the
Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis, would probably beg to differ, as he seems to regard the Abyss as an actual essential gateway into the parallel universe of the
Qlippoth, a realm of the broken remnants of primal reality.
Of course, much of the reason the Abyss often becomes such an obsession for magicians is that many seek to cross it. This is the famed and dreaded "
Ordeal of the Abyss." If one is successful in this task, one's entire personality is annhilated, and one becomes "no-one," and thus,transfers consciousness into
Binah, the "lowest" of the Supernal spheres, and is called a dweller in the
City of the Pyramids. If one fails, one ostensibly becomes lost in the Abyss, and destined to either wall oneself up in a solipsistic prison and eventually be devoured by the
Demon of the Abyss, or just give in and be driven completely
insane immediately. Obviously not an Ordeal for the timid or the unprepared.
Now,a writing on one of the more arcane aspects of western qabalistic initatory magick which, for reasons various and bizarre, is finding its way to this peculiar installation of the net, would not be complete without an entirely rash and irresponsible concluding section, which will undoubtedly be taken either far too seriously, or not nearly serious enough, by the average and random reader. Thus I present a few simple suggestions by which someone (even someone relatively untrained)can gain a slight taste (or horrifying glimpse) into the Abyss. Just remember,
when you look into the abyss, the abyss looks also into you.
~ the mantra which is said to open the gate of the Abyss is "
Zazas Zazas Nasatanada Zazas." Be sure to pronounce it correctly.
~ The name of the Demon of the Abyss is
Choronzon, which enumerates to
333 in Hebrew.
Aleister Crowley invoked it into himself in the desert, attened only by his very untrained disciple
Victor Neuberg. Apparently the demon of the Abyss has no unitary consciousness whatsoever and is "merely" a "
mirror," but it manifests as a confused polity of infinite contradictory impulses. A word of advice to the rash: the only technique which is said to bring the Demon to heel is perfect
silence.
~ And then of course, there is the famous Oath of the Abyss, which is said to immediately release all of one's built-up momentum for an Abyssal crossing (another note to the rash: it does not generate the momentum!). The words of the Oath are deceptively simple,but open the door to literally unimaginable insanity: "
It is my Will to accept every event as a direct message from God to my Soul."
~ A final note, for the interested or
curious: The Abyss is sometimes referred to as the
Desert of Set.