THE
11TH CONTINUUM
SERVING THE GREATER REALITY
ENGLISH QABALLA
SITE
A=1 L=2 W=3 H=4 S=5 D=6 O=7 Z=8 K=9 V=10
G=11 R=12 C=13 N=14 Y=15 J=16 U=17 F=18 Q=19 B=20 M=21 X=22 I=23 T=24 E=25 P=26
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THE
11TH CONTINUUM |
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********** DISCOVERING THE ENGLISH QABALLA
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DISCOVERING THE ENGLISH QABALLA (Q.E.L.N.S)
In February 1976 I embarked on a magical retirement. This was prescribed by my communication with Kenneth Grant as being the prerequisite for membership of the O.T.O. The magickal retirement was due to last 9 months, the principle being to follow aspects of magickal work for this period and keep a Record. I informed Kenneth Grant that I would start at the new moon in February and end in November, and he wrote back with his approval. My magickal experience up to that point had led me to establish a relationship with my HGA. Twenty-odd years earlier I had set out on the journey of finding out for myself what was the truth. I was brought up as a Christian and trained as an analytical chemist and had become convinced that to believe in a God who'd created the universe and populated it with inferior beings to watch them live and suffer and die for all eternity, was a corny state of affairs. The acute awareness of the inevitability of my own death had persuaded me of the necessity to find out for myself what lay beyond this veil of terror, for how else could I even begin to live? Unbeknown to myself I had become a Gnostic, with the desire to know the truth for myself. I had made a comprehensive study of astrology, and in the early 1960's I started on magic. I worked the Greater Key of Solomon and then the Goetia, which led me to the kaballah and other esoteric systems; under a favourable Venus Neptune aspect I learned to invoke spirits to visible appearance and had all sorts of fun. I studied Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic kaballah, and in the end I settled on the Hebrew Qabalah and its Tree of Life as it seemed complete, logical, and workable, and I accordingly set to work to understand it. My quest was for the Truth. So I made a study of all the forms of Mysticism to find out which seemed to have a complete method of meditation that would provide an answer to the Question. After some study of the systems in Hinduism I decided that they were unsuitable to my western materialistic mind. Around 1965 I went to work on Yoga, principally pranayama and hatha yoga. In a couple of years I got quite proficient. I decided to apply the methods of yoga to the investigation of Hebrew Qabalah. I continued this until around 1970. During this period I included the methods of Franz Bardon and the concentration techniques of Mouni Sadhu in my armoury of study. In 1970 I decided I was ready for the Abramelin system. I worked this for the prescribed 9 months and acquired the knowledge and conversation of my Holy Guardian Angel and got very scorched in the process! "As a process of integration qaballistic meditation is by far the best method for people of the West". This is a statement we meet again and again in occult publications, but what are the results to be expected from such work? I intend to relate my own experiences of fifteen years study of Qabalah from a Thelemic point of view. I will keep the technical side of the method to a minimum and concentrate on the psychological effects of prolonged working with the Tree of Life. The authorities I used were Dione Fortune's "Mystical Qabalah" for theory and Israel Regardie's "Middle Pillar" for practical instruction. I read and re-read these two works, lived ate and breathed them, until they were imprinted upon my psyche. "The Middle Pillar", for those who are not familiar with the book, is a series of practical instructions whch are an expansion of the Z Papers of the Order of The Golden Dawn. It is recommended that one keeps a Diary of all the work done and any results noticed. This is a requirement of all initiatory magical work. It allows one to earth the magical experiences and inhibits them from running around in one's mind afterwards. This earthing is important as it stops one drifting between the planes and becoming ineffectual on all of them. It is also fascinating to look back and see how one has changed as the magical work proceeds. One begins by balancing one's psyche by the daily practice of the "Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram". The method is in "The Middle Pillar" and in many other occult books. The effect of continued practice of the pentagram is to integrate and balance the mind emotionally and intellectually. Without this preliminary work, exposing the mind to the power of the middle pillar could be dangerous and cause unbalancing obsessions. The ground plan of Qabalah is the Tree of Life. This has been described severally as, a map of the soul, of the universe and of the self. From the magician's point of view it is a map of experience that tells him where he is at any given point and is invaluable as an aid to stop him going completely mad as the mystical-magical process begins to cause stresses in his psyche. The Middle Pillar instructs one to perform a simple 6 - 3 - 6 - 3 breathing exercise while relaxing and visualizing the spheres on the middle pillar starting with Kether above the head. The results experienced by the breathing exercises are very interesting as the amount of time given to them is increased. One lies relaxed feet together concentrating on getting the rhythm right and keeping it that way. Quite suddenly one is aware of a gentle rippling sensation that according to Regardie should play around the abdomen but in my experience covered the whole of my body. This is followed by a feeling that one is a source of enormous power, or gigantic storage battery of energy. This happens quite suddenly and is apt to disorientate one somewhat causing the heart to beat faster and thus destroying the concentration. However with repeated experiments one "gets used" to this sudden influx of power and learns to relax through it. With continued effort one reaches a stage where one is so relaxed that if one were required to move suddenly it would be found impossible to move at all! This point is followed by a feeling of falling away and deeper relaxation. I felt somewhat afraid at this point as I felt I was losing control of things so I decided to stop at that point of relaxation and begin to work upon the middle pillar of the Tree of Life. I visualized gently the Sphere of Light above my head and went through the attributes of Kether - all very gentle. After about four attempts I found I could se it in my mind's eye and I vibrated the God-name Ehieh powerfully. I found that the name vibrated through my whole body causing every nerve to tingle - a very pleasant sensation. Then suddenly, as if a light of immense brilliance had been turned on, there it was, a brilliant white Sun above my head - it was really there! a white sun radiating love light and wisdom into my mind. It was really there, it was more real than I was. It took me several experiments to become accustomed to this power. I found that as the centre above my head lit up, the Malkuth centre between the ankles lit up by reflex. The experience was delightful it was pure ecstasy. At this point my eagerness was such that I suffered from "The Lust of Result" and it was many months before I could awaken the centre again. During this period one has just got to slog on with the exercise not wanting anything from it - just do it. Eventually the light above the head came back and I drew it down to the Daath centre at the nape of the neck. It is very difficult to describe these experiences in terms that can be understood by one who has not undertaken the work. Upon hitting the Daath Centre the Yesod Sphere exploded in sympathy. My attention was drawn to this centre, the effects were most interesting. There was a feeling at the base of my spine of great relaxation - of falling - then suddenly of immense pulsating power, like a snake uncoiling and with its uncoiling tremendous pulsating energy, like orgasm. The experience was pure delight and far superseded any other pleasure I had ever experienced in my life. With repeated experiments I learned not to "grab at" the pleasure experienced but to ignore it and get on with the work. As I got used to handling the power generated by these exercises I began to examine the symbols associated with the centres while performing the meditation. During normal consciousness the symbols on the Tree of Life appear dead and unconnected but during the hyperconscious states of meditation the symbols become living entities. One is aware of Malkuth as oneself. The enormous power generated makes one negative to it and the attitude taken up automatically is a feminine experience. One literally changes sex and takes on a feminine Goddess form so that the energy flows through the Malkuth personality unimpeded. This is not a contrived experience but a natural reaction to the power invoked. One becomes negative to receive the divine bridegroom of Tiphareth. I found that when the divine bridegroom of Tiphareth descended to Yesod and the bride ascended and united with the divine male it caused every other male and female deity to unite on the whole Tree of Life causing a state of orgasmic bliss that cannot be compared with anything in mundane experience. During the whole of this period my mundane consciousness and personality were undergoing great changes caused by this massive influx of power. It is said that it is important to keep the two states separate and now I learned why! When one is practising as intensely as I was during this period if one so much as thinks of the centres they awaken and this can be very inconvenient in ordinary life. Although during the meditations I experienced the great bliss of transcendental vision my mundane personality was under unbelievable stresses. I had invoked the powers of the universe which are damn near perfect into a system - myself - which was far from perfect. I was full of conditioning and ideas that simply were not true. The whole of my mind's complexes were turned upside down. I went mad but managed to appear sane to the rest of the world. The stress my mind was under defies imagination. I continued the work remorselessly. I wanted to know the truth and nothing else mattered. During the crisis period in meditation I had come to a point again and again but was afraid to cross. Those who know this state will recognise it for what it is - The Abyss. I had reached the Tiphareth centre. I had lain in the harmony of eternity and drunk the dew of immortality and by God now I was paying for it by mental torture. Again and again in meditation I reached the edge of the abyss and again and again I drew back in terror, my consciousness on the edge of annihilation. It felt as if were I to go over the edge I would be destroyed forever. Each time I returned to normal consciousness I hated myself for my weakness and vowed countless times that next time I would let it happen, I would go and die, and each time my vow was broken my humiliation was insufferable. Finally I decided that it did not really matter anyway because sooner or later I was going to die so why not now as in a few years time. I prepared myself by the pentagram and hexagram and took up the breathing after an hour and a half of meditation gradually taking myself through Godname after Godname. I reached the edge of the abyss. I was filled with terror again, the kind of terror that one can never get used to. I backed away from the edge again and again but I was determined that this was the time and I would not return empty handed. I looked into the inexpressible horror, called out the name of my Angel and let go. I was thrown, literally thrown, across the planes. I was suddenly beyond time and space, the past and future were one. I knew all my past lives and all future lives, my brain felt as if it was burning up, such was the quantum blast of ecstasy that filled it. In that moment I was eternity and knew all things. This was the final truth that I had been searching for all my life. Tears poured down my face, tears of relief, tears of joy - of love. There was a purpose to existence, man was supreme and in that moment I could see it all. How much time I existed across the Abyss I do not know. I was catapulted back as fast as I had entered it. I was aware that if I had remained a moment longer my brain would have burned up. It was strange but I could actually smell a strong scent of burning in my physical nostrils. I returned with an awareness of my destiny, of my past and future, and was confident that in that mindblasting experience I had seen the Absolute Truth. After this experience it became much easier to integrate my psyche. Half the rubbish had been burned out by the experience. I felt childlike. I felt I had to relearn everything, I knew that everything I had been taught by parents, environment, even experience was rubbish because it was all orientated from one lifetime's point of view, but I lived forever and I knew it. I started the TTS in 1974 to investigate the possibilities of initiation and ritual magic within the structure of a group. It was on completion of this quest that I contacted Kenneth Grant and then began the retirement. The occult fraternity was a lot more open and communicative in those days and it seemed sensible to offer my services to the OTO. I was a little at a loss as to what to do for my period of work, nothing seemed challenging, so I enquired of my Angel what I should do during the 9 months, and the answer was to 'keep silent'. I thought that was a bit thin so I embarked on Hatha and Pranayama Yoga using the Hebrew Qabalah as my principle meditation. I used the Bornless Ritual which I performed 3 times a day culminating in 2 hours meditation, each day. I had done all this before, and found it all ridiculously easy, so I asked my Angel for a challenge and it came back with 'keep silent', so I did. Towards the end of the retirement I decided I might as well have a look at Liber Al Vel Legis and investigate the possibility of a coherent system concealed within the text. One evening I was experimenting with A=1, B=2, (which I found useless) and the 76th verse of the second chapter. I was with three other members of the T.T.S., and I asked them to calculate the value of the sequence of letters and numbers using A=1 B=2 and so on. The answer we all came up with, independently and incorrectly and on four different calculators, was 286. I realised that 286 was 11x26 and 13x22. I knew the Hebrew system was related to 13 and had 22 letters. English had 26 letters; could the number 11 indeed be the key, as suggested by the text? Was it possible that by moving the alphabet by 11 I could create another arrangement that made sense? I knew that I should not change the first letter because AL said "change not so much as the style of a letter" which meant to me don't change the value of A. I counted every eleventh letter of the standard English alphabet and as a result I came up with the ALWHSDOZKVGRCNYJUFQBMXITEP alphabet, which I christened the English Qaballa. I used that spelling of qaballa because it was not in use in any other context, and there was nobody around at the time to contradict me. I did this without any help from anyone. At the end of my retirement I was told by the O.T.O. to contact Mike Magee in London and take my record down for his approval. This I did. Mike Magee couldn't see the point of an English Qaballa, so I gave up the O.T.O. I discovered the English Qaballa at 9:12 pm on the 26th November 1976. I presented the new arrangement to the other members of the T.T.S. after I'd proved to my own satisfaction that it worked. I also sent it to Israel Regardie who asked a few interesting questions. I discussed it with W.G. Gray (Bill) who at the time was working on his own Qabalah from an entirely different direction. We decided not to jog each other's elbows. Bill remained a friend and Brother until his death. Brother Thoth, Brother Pan, and Brother Hersechel were the earliest English Qaballists and were instrumental in the task of calculation necessary to produce the first fully enumerated copies of Liber Al. Brother Thoth and I worked extensively on the methods of E.Q. applied to Liber Al and the other Class A material. Later, Brother Daedalus wrote the first computer programs for calculation and analysis of these texts according to the English Qaballa, as well as extensive occult astrology programs. All the methods of English Qaballa were first discovered and practised by myself except for the 'counting well' method which was found by Brother Thoth. I realised that the E.Q. alphabet could be found on a unicursal 26-pointed star with the ABC sequence. In 1979 I took over the editorship of The New Equinox/The British Journal of Magick from Ray Sherwin and established Kaaba Publications to make available to the public the essential details of the new Thelemic system. I produced five issues of the magazine between 1980 and 1981 covering various aspects of E.Q. and Liber AL in a series of essays, which were attributed by me to the people for whom I wrote them. Copies of the magazine went all over the world and I subsequently entered into correspondence with Jake Stratton Kent, whom I initiated, and with William Webb of QBLH. Certain members of this group found that there are several mathematically calculable letter sequences and William Webb added the initials N.A. signifying New Aeon to distinguish the ALW sequence from the rest; and yet others called it EQ11. Later all sorts of different spellings and names popped up: Star6, Cycle 11, English Gematria, Hermetic Qabala, the list goes on. However, the Oxford English Dictionary approved my spelling of Qaballa for use with special reference to this system. The work then continued with an expanding organisation, the O.A.A., of which I was the Grand Master. The membership of this group were the most experienced ritualists in the UK at the time, having performed a variety of witchcraft and Thelemic astrological and seasonal rituals over a number of years, and the cycle known as the Rites of Eleusis, as well as sundry initiation ceremonies. The primary work now was the testing of initiatory theory in accordance with continuing researches into Liber AL and the English Qaballa, and the exploration and refinement of a comprehensive system of Stellar Magick. Over the next decade a coherent system was revealed which resulted in modified versions of philosophical, magical, astrological, and sociological concepts. To facilitate the investigation of the practical aspects of this scheme a network of occultists tested the various magical models, and found that they worked. These various elements came together to form the three grades of the Continuum, the only occult fraternity that at that time was sanctioned by Her Majesty's government to use Stonehenge. After 11 years my work with the O.A.A. was completed, and then the group was dissolved following a Rosy Cross ritual at Stonehenge. I took photos of the ritual; and so there is no photo of myself. Jake Stratton-Kent became O.H.O of the O.A.A. and took over the format of Kaaba's magazine, which reappeared as "The Equinox - The British Journal Of Thelema", published by Kiblah. I continued the research of the new system with the Grand Elect of the Continuum in seclusion. The work was carried out according to the Hermetic rule "To Dare, To Know, To Will, and to Keep Silent" the most important of which is Silence. In this period I concentrated primarily on verse 76 of the second chapter and the dynamics of the Tree and Root system. Some of these findings appeared in the preface to a special limited hardback edition of Liber Al, published by Kaaba in 1995. From 1995 until 2005 I began and underwent the most terrible and challenging ordeal of my life, the Ordeal X. This is what has made me the shambling wreck I am today. The ordeal entails being rejected and betrayed by one's friends and family, seeing one's most loved child die; it is to have one's life's work spat upon, to see one's fellow occultists insult and denigrate one, to lose one's good name and reputation and everything else, and to suffer the greatest pain known to man and suffer it long and hard. During the latter part of the period one has a priestess by one's side, a lady who loves God, and with the love of God loves and cares for the ordeal sufferer.
Jim Lees 2008 Credentials of J. Lees to do the Work 22/08/39 11:35 am England
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