These meditations on the Sefiroth are intended
to be taken in a logical sequence.
If you have not already done so,
please begin with Malkut.
Hod: Prepare yourself in the usual way.
Place yourself in the Temple of Yesod, that you visited on your last meditation. If you wish, you may start from your own special place and proceed via Malkut and the path of the World, or you may enter the Temple of Yesod directly.
The Temple, you will recall, is located underneath the tower of the central keep of the Castle of Yesod, which is the castle of your fundamental inner self, where you keep yourself safe and protected from the daily trials of the physical world. Here, below the tower, is a beautiful, brightly lit cavern, lined with crystals of pure amethyst.
Sit quietly for a moment and contemplate. All worldly needs drop away; all tiredness, all hunger, is gone. Feel good in your body; rejoice in the foundation of your body, be relaxed and at peace.
In front of you, three points of light appear. These grow larger, until you can see them clearly as three doorways.
Ahead and to your right is a violet door, lit by the tiny points of brilliant stars. A beautiful woman stands here, pouring water into a starlit pool.
Directly ahead of you is a bright blue door. You see an angelic figure, carefully pouring water from one jar to another, while an archer stands near, ready to fire his golden arrow clear over the rainbow in the sky.
While, ahead and to your left is a doorway of golden, glowing yellow. A bright sun shines above it; sunflowers grow around. A young boy plays with a horse.
Approach the yellow door. The boy greets you cheerily; the horse gently nuzzles your hand. Maybe you have some sugar for him?
Go through the yellow door. You are on a path, between low stone walls, with brilliantly coloured flowers on either side. The sun shines down brightly from the clear blue sky above, The boy with the horse goes on ahead of you, looking back from time to time to beckon you onwards.
At last, quite suddenly, the boy and his horse disappear, and you come to the end of the path. You step forward into an open space before a great building. The light is very slightly darker here than on the path, a slightly more orange shade of yellow.
You recognise the building before you as a University, one of the World's great Universities, where you have come to work and learn.
You cross over the threshold into the vast entrance hall of the University, where you are met by a winged figure, dressed in fiery red. This is Michael, the guardian of Hod. Do you have the token with you, the token that you obtained in Yesod? Give it to him, and receive another in return. He will now let you pass deeper into the heart of the University.
As you pass through another door, a cool, gentle breeze blows across your face, bringing with it a waft of Amber incense. You find yourself in a courtyard. Like all the sefirot, Hod contains within itself a complete Tree of Life, and you are now in the Yesod of Hod. Here are the student rooms, the refectories, and all the other mundane, material services without which the University could not function.
Look into one of the rooms. This will be your room. What is it like? What does it contain? Do you like it as a room, or are there some things you might wish to change about it?
Go to the refectory. Is it quiet? Busy? What sort of food do they serve? Are there any particular sights or smells that strike you?
Return to the courtyard. Ahead and to your left is another large building. Go inside and take a look. This is the University's library, the repository of all the academic knowledge and wisdom that the University has been entrusted with, to pass on to its students, from generation to generation. Many students are here, quietly and industriously studying. Examine some of the books. Are there any you particularly feel drawn to read? Mark them down, so that you can refer to them when you return here on another occasion.
Leave the library and cross to a building on the opposite side of the courtyard. Here is a great art studio. Beautiful paintings and sculptures are everywhere, students are busy creating new works. What would you create here? What skills would you need to learn to achieve your creation?
Leave the studio and pass through yet another door in the courtyard. You are in a block of lecture rooms, the very heart of the University, where instruction and debate take place, the essence of the University at work. What is being taught here? What is being debated?
Now, on your left, is an examination room. Students pore over their papers. Do not disturb them. One day, you will come here yourself to take your examination.
Opposite the examination room is the entrance to a small chapel. It is quiet at the moment, no-one is in there. But before you enter the chapel, walk a little further onwards. Between two tall pillars, beautifully carved out of orange calcite, you find another door, but it is locked. A sign reads "Postgraduate students only." You turn away, and go back to the chapel.
You enter the small, round chapel through the door on its western side. Ahead of you is a bright red stained glass window. Its image is the Tower of Babel: monument to the ambition of mankind, but also to mankind's overreaching itself when it fails to recognise its own limitations. The Tower of Babel fell because of a confusion of languages: because those who tried to build it failed to properly develop their faculties of communication.
On the left hand wall of the chapel is a blue stained glass window. A man is suspended upside down over a pool of water. However, he does not appear distressed. He is sacrificing himself, but his sacrifice is for his dream of a brighter future, which he looks forward to with satisfaction.
Meanwhile, to your right and slightly in front of you is a vivid red window, depicting raging, all-devouring flames.
Immediately below the window is an entrance to a tiny cave, just large enough to crouch inside. Have you the courage to enter the cave now? If you have not, you must return the way that you came; but remember that, one day, you must take this journey; and today may be that day. Remember, too, that at any time you feel yourself threatened or in danger, you can, if necessary, quickly return to your physical body, which will be safely waiting for you, where you left it.
But now step boldly into the tiny cave; it closes up around you and a large stone comes down to seal the entrance.
It becomes very hot; the walls of the cave are glowing red. The heat is intense, but there is no pain. There is still no pain as the flesh of your body begins to char and fall away from you. It seems as though you will be burnt to nothing, but what is being destroyed is merely the gross, unrefined part of your being; the essential, inner, spiritual core remains as a glowing body of light.
And now the heat and the light fade, and all that remains of your consciousness is a tiny bright spark, afloat and alone in an infinite dark universe.
The cave returns; it is blood red now, pleasantly warm and soft to the touch. Your body has been returned to you, but renewed and cleansed of all its negative elements.
The cave opens and you step out into the cavern of Malkut. Sandalphon is here. He offers you an invigorating and refreshing drink, and something to eat.
From here, return to your own special place, by way of the now familiar spiral staircase.
Pause here for a few moments; then, at last, return to objective reality, in the place and the time where you started your meditation. Put your consciousness in the centre of your head, just behind your eyes; and when you are ready, open your eyes
Take a few hours, or a few days, to absorb the significance of this meditation. Then proceed with Netzakh.