Pathworking is a magical practice of visualization which uses the Qabalistic Tree of Life. It induce changes in consciousness, increase magical potency and widen understanding. In older times, the practice of pathworking was called “scrying in the spirit”— the projection of the light body or mind-self into a series of situations, landscapes and events, experienced not merely visually, as a film on a screen, but as a participant with full sensory perception.
Pathworking was a major part of the curriculum of magical societies like the Golden Dawn, in which one person would narrate a journey, leading a group through a mental landscape. These journeys are understood to be more than mere fantasies; they are actual travels in the astral realm which produce real changes in the physical world. Members of an experienced group will attest to the high degree of similarity of the visions of all participants as they venture into the lands of consciousness, and they may even “bump into” one another on that plane!
The Tree of Life
Firstly, the Tree of Life is a mandala, meaning it is symbol which comprehensively represents the fundamental nature of reality. Like many mandalas, it is a tool for opening up deeper understanding of both self and the Universe.
The Tree consists of ten Sephiroth connected by twenty-two paths. We might think of the Sephiroth as the primary influences, essences or qualities of life, like the tones of a scale. Each sphere has certain colors, musical tones, scents, planets, plants, Hebrew letters and qualities of mind, body and spirit.
The paths between the spheres are doors, keys or leylines; these links traverse the countryside of the mind and can open up rich resources of ideas abilities and skills that lie just beneath the surface of normal consciousness. Through visualization, the participant makes a pilgrimage through the mind by “walking” the paths between two spheres; these paths present unique challenges and opportunities which catalyze consciousness expansion. These visualizations are meditations which take the practitioner through different dimensions of consciousness, correlating to the Sephiroth that he walks between.
Sephiroth
The beginner Qabalist spends an extended period building up a web of associations with each Sephirah so that ultimately the introduction of a certain color or incense will automatically conjure the entire essence of its Sephirah. This creates a magical “shorthand,” which we can use in the pathworking meditations. As the visualization leads the participant through landscapes of certain textures, colors, sounds, smells and symbols, the subconscious mind will immediately register the Sephirothic influence, awakening that force within the individual. The sensory triggers call forth from the depths of the mind illuminations and powers which belong to a higher level of being not ordinarily accessed in waking consciousness.
The world of paths on the tree of life is that of the creative astral. It is a fluid world where things can and do dissolve as soon as you take your mind off them, which can be a drawback for those without a strong mind trained in concentration. If you lose grasp of the mental image, you may find yourself in something resembling a grey mist until you find your way back. This provides a glimpse into the astral level as it really is: an amorphous mass waiting to receive the imprint of a thought-form.
Others are using these very same levels which you are working upon. Therefore you may well pick up the feelings, ideas and light bodies of other people. There are many beings which reside on the astral plane, but none of these can hurt you if you leave them alone.
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The Power of Visualization
This kind of immersive visualization technique is extremely powerful, and many people are already using it without realizing it. Every day we use the creative imagination to prepare ourselves for both pleasant and unpleasant encounters. We endure our surgery or dental exam many times before we arrive at the doctor’s office, and we rehearse our answers to questions posed on a first date or at a job interview ahead of time. We also console, excite and uplift ourselves by reliving events that were exciting or pleasurable, like a first kiss, a wedding, an achievement or conversation with loved ones.
It is obvious from the tremendous emotional changes that visualization produces that this is a powerful mechanism, yet most of us make use of it only accidentally or unconsciously. Very few are aware that they can put this daydreaming to use programming the mind for success, connection, wealth, beauty, productivity or any other desired aim.
The Key
The key to accomplishing this programming is the ability to conjure emotional intensity and sustain focus within it, for emotion is the gas which fuels the machine of the creative imagination. Occult methods like pathworking prove highly useful to this end, for the practitioner acquires a psycho-spiritual lexicon with which he can handle the energetic forces which shape creation.
Fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons, virtual reality and to some extent even television programming can be understood as having analogous effects to pathworking, as they engage the imagination, hone the visualization faculty, and keep participants emotionally and mentally fixated upon a single point of focus. For this reason, we must be very careful what we focus on, as the act of emotional and imaginative engagement is itself creative. It is because of this that in the past occult schools have kept the knowledge and practice of pathworkings a closely guarded secret. To conclude, only those who had an ability to cope with the temptations of the inner levels of illusion are in its use.
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