By the time the Candidate reaches the Philosophus Ceremony, the Temple contains a great many diagrams. To the inattentive eye these diagrams, or ‘Tablets’, might appear haphazard. But to the diligent student, they should invite closer inquiry.
In fact every Tablet used in our ceremonial is a key; the Altar diagrams contain the central dogma of the system; the Kameas that lie quietly in the Outer Grades later become instruments of operative work. These, and all the other Tablets will not open themselves.
The Soul requires a framework on which to build, and that framework must be assembled through effort. It can be constructed through deliberate engagement with these Tablets.
The Yetziraic Symbolic Alphabet in the 4=7 is one such example. It appears at first as an esoteric tabulation of Hebrew letters, elemental emblems, planetary forces, and zodiacal signs. A few illustrative combinations are offered, but the real work is left unstated. Many glance at it, and move on never giving it another thought. In doing so they miss its entire purpose.
Like the other Tablets used, it is an instruction: “Come, work with me.”
A starting point may be found in something familiar: take the four Archangels of the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram — Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Auriel.
Rather than accepting these Names as just names, the Philosophus is expected to ask:
• What letters form these Names?
• What elemental, zodiacal, and planetary forces are implied by the letters used?
And by natural extension:
• Which Tarot Trumps arise from the same letters?
• What pattern emerges from the totality?
Take Auriel.
Tracing the Name through the Yetziraic Symbolic Alphabet yields the symbolic chain thus:
Air — Taurus — Sol — Virgo — Air — Libra.
The same sequence, traced through the Tarot, gives the Name in another way:
Fool — Hierophant — Sun — Hermit — Fool — Justice.
A single Archangel’s Name becomes a thread passing through Element, Sign, Planet, and Trump. The diagram does not interpret this for you. It presents the correspondences and waits for you to move among them.
The Philosophus must contemplate such a chain of correspondences and ask:
• What does this suggest about the nature of Auriel?
• What does this pattern reveal about his office?
• What is implied by the Fool appearing twice?
• What is indicated by the order of the Trumps?
If an inner meaning begins to stir, then the diagram is doing its work, and so are you.
The point is not that one “correct” reading lies hidden in the Tablet. The point is that the student learns to move consciously through the symbolic alphabet itself: from letter to sign, to Tarot, and from there back to the living presence invoked in ritual.
When this effort is applied to a single Name, the Tablet begins to open. When applied persistently, it ceases to be a diagram of attributions and becomes a map of Yetzirah.
To work with the Yetziraic Symbolic Alphabet in this way is to move from passive looking to active engagement — from simply reciting an Archangel’s Name from paper and memory to beginning to know the Archangel as a living force.
Note that not every Tablet will speak to you at the same time. Years may even pass before their attention is demanded. For this reason even very senior members will revisit earlier Ceremonies searching for further keys.
Kasmillos
