Kabbalah-of-the-Golden-Dawn-Pat-Zalewski - D Ank Unlimited

42 The Kabbalah ofthe Golden Dawn
The return taketh with a reversal of this process, and
save to persons whose Nephesch and physical body are
exceptionally strong and healthy, the whole operation of
shying and rraveling in the Spirit Vision is of course
fariguing.
Also there is another mode of Astral projection
which can be used by the more advanced Adept. This
consisteth in forming a sphere from his own Sphere of
Sensation, casting his reflection therein, and then projecting
this whole sphere to the desired place, as in the
previous method. But this is nor easy to be done by any
but the practiced Adept.
This method of Astral projection was practiced only after the postulant
had reached the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn and was experienced
enough both to use and understand the various symbols, and to use
it as a system of checks and balances against negative influences during the
Astral trip. The Merkabah relates to both ascent and descent, which can
be explained Kabbalistically as traveling up and down the Tree of Life.
SEPHER YETZlRAH OR
BOOK OF FORMATION
The next Kabbalistic book of major proportion was the Sepher Yetzirah,
or Book of Formation. The exact date of its origin is usually thought to
be somewhere between the 3rd and 2nd century A.D. One legend asserts
that the Prophet Abraham was the instigator of the theory of the book,
which he received in a vision. Some Kabbalistic authorities have
ascribed authorship of this volume to Rabbi Abba ben Joseph, who was
also said to have authored a text on the mysteries of the "Holy Alphabet."
It is also interesting at this point to note that the Sepher Yetzirah
was mentioned in the two Talmuds and may have formed a type of bridge
between standard Rabbinical views and that of the Kabbalists. Phineas
Mordell, in his 1914 edition of the Sepher Yetzirah, considers that it was
written in two parts; the first being the original and the second being
added around the 6th century. He disputes the claim of authorship to
Rabbi Abba and relates the true author as being Joseph ben Uziel, giving
some very convincing arguments in favor of the latter. Adolphe