The Negative or so-called false Sephirot is Da'ath which is, as we have noted, coterminous with the Abyss. The Abyss is the gulf between the individual mind and Cosmic Consciousness, between manifestation and non-manifestation, or between life and death. The plane that the magician must cross on his own, without any assistance whatever.(1)

In Nightside of Eden Grant explains: The eleventh power-zone, Daäth, is attributed to Uranus and is the Abode of the Black Brothers, when viewed from the sphere of Malkuth (Earth). The Black Brothers are represented phenomenally by those who view the universe as an objective reality. The Scientists are their prototypes. Daäth being the Gate of the Abyss is the point both of ingress into noumenon and of egress into phenomena: in other words it is the gateway of the manifestation of non-manifestation.

This description provides us with the first point in our analysis. Grant sees the Abyss as not merely the barrier between the universe and the Pleroma or Supernal universe, it is also the means by which force or power transitions from one to the other. Note also that Grant here makes a vital distinction, one which shall prove to be a part of the foundation upon which we will build our temple. Grant notes that the false Sephirot Da'ath (which is usually said to be knowledge in the phenomenal sense) is the region of the Black Brothers but only when viewed from the sphere of Malkuth (Earth) (my emphasis). That is to say, the understanding of the Black Brothers, or for that matter any transcendental force or being, cannot be viewed without accounting for perspective. This, naturally seems obvious, and yet so much of the criticism of Grant from the “orthodox” Thelemites falls victim to this trap. To argue for or against the ideas that Grant presents in his book, ideas which I find most useful in interpreting my own experiences, reveals nothing but the understanding and initiation (or lack thereof) of the person who makes those arguments.

We have briefly touched on the concept of the Tree of Life when discussing the path of initiation that leads to the brink of Da'ath in regard to the necessity of the initiate having fulfilled the task of an Adeptus Minor which is identified with the sephirot Tipharet, the Sun. The subject of the tree of life is entirely too large to explain here except in relation to the path of Initiation that is mapped to it but, fortunately, it is a subject about which a great deal has been written and much of the source material is available on the Web. In any case, we find that the Sephirot, entered into one by one, is the path the aspirant takes or follows until he reaches Da'ath. One of the insights that Grant has built upon is the concept of the qliphotic or negative side of the tree. This refers to the idea that the day or light side of the Tree must have a corresponding dark (or night) side, at least below Da'ath, since the phenomenal universe is by nature dualistic. Grant gives a basic description of this concept:
Each sephira of the Tree of Life has its corresponding qliphoth which is the reflection of the energy which it represents, and these averse sephiroth form what is known as the Tree of Death. Only the well-armed Initiate, the Adept, in fact, can use these power-zones with impunity.
- Nightside of Eden, op Cit.

Before applying this concept, it may be useful to consider the concept of the path previously mentioned. In Magick, Crowley discusses the grades from 1=10 to 10=1, which is the highest level of initiation known to man at this time. The portion that deals with the grades were are concerned with tells us:
(In the grade of 8=3, t)he essential Attainment is the perfect annihilation of that personality which limits and oppresses his true self. The Magister Templi is pre-eminently the Master of Mysticism, that is, His Understanding is entirely free from internal contradiction or external obscurity; His word is to comprehend the existing Universe in accordance with His own Mind. He is the Master of the Law of Sorrow (Dukkha). To attain the grade of Magus he must accomplish Three Tasks; the renunciation of His enjoyment of the Infinite so that he may formulate Himself as the Finite; the acquisition of the practical secrets alike of initiating and governing His proposed new Universe and the identification of himself with the impersonal idea of Love. Any neophyte of the Order… possesses the right to claim the Grade of Master of the Temple by taking the Oath of the Grade. It is hardly necessary to observe that to do so is the most sublime and awful responsibility which it is possible to assume, and an unworthy person who does so incurs the most terrific penalties by his presumption.
7. "The Order of the R. C." The Grade of the Babe of the Abyss is not a Grade in the proper sense, being rather a passage between the two Orders. Its characteristics are wholly negative, as it is attained by the resolve of the Adeptus Exemptus to surrender all that he has and is for ever. It is an annihilation of all the bonds that compose the self or constitute the Cosmos, a resolution of all complexities into their elements, and these thereby cease to manifest, since things are only knowable in respect of their relation to, and reaction on, other things.
8. The Grade of Adeptus Exemptus confers authority to govern the two lower Orders of R. C. and G. D. The Adept must prepare and publish a thesis setting forth His knowledge of the Universe, and his proposals for its welfare and progress. He will thus be known as the leader of a school of thought.

Thus we see the territory we are mapping, the 7=4 grade of Exempt Adept, the crossing of the Abyss and the re-birth of the Magician as a Babe of the abyss and finally as a Master of the temple or 8=3. Note that Crowley states the “annihilation of the personality”, i.e., the ego, is the primary task of the initiate. As stated previously, the ego-self, or personality, is considered unreal since it is a phenomenon deriving from the individuated consciousness of a human being and will, as the body, cease to exist at death. Crowley also touches on the Oath of the Abyss, whereby the initiate swears:
I (name) a member of the Body of God, hereby bind myself on behalf of the whole Universe, even as we are now physically bound unto the cross of suffering:
that I will lead a pure life, as a devoted servant of the Order:
that I will understand all things:
that I will love all things:
that I will perform all things and endure all things:
that I will continue in the Knowledge and Conversation of My Holy Guardian Angel.
that I will work without attachment:
that I will work in truth:
that I will rely only upon myself:
that I will interpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with my soul.
And if I fail herein, may my pyramid be profaned, and the Eye be closed upon me!

Crowley informs us that
3. Should one rashly dare the passage, and take the
irrevocable Oath of the Abyss, he might be lost therein
through Aeons of incalculable agony; he might even be
thrown back upon Chesed, with the terrible Karma of failure
added to his original imperfection.
4. It is even said that in certain circumstances it is
possible to fall altogether from the Tree of Life and
to attain the Towers of the Black Brothers. But We hold
that this is not possible for any adept who has truly
attained his grade, or even for any man who has really
sought to help humanity even for a single second, and
that although his aspiration have been impure through
vanity or any similar imperfections.
5. Let then the Adept who finds the result of these
meditations unsatisfactory refuse the Oath of the Abyss,
--Liber Thisharb (my emphasis)(2)

Again we find the insistence that the adept that has attained his grade, in spite of the dangers cannot fail, at least not utterly. The issue being, as before, whether or not it is possible to obtain a false initiation. Recalling that the Exempt Adept has obtained Knowledge and Conversation with his angel in a previous grade (that is, prior to exempt adept) it must be that the Adept did rightly complete that grade or else he could not have reached Exempt Adept. The only other possibility is that the Adept has obtained a series of false initiations, which is, on its face, unlikely since, as we are told, initiation creates it’s own inertia. That is, while it is certainly possible for a person to be deluded about what initiation is (simply look at some of the nonsense spouted in the so-called New Age movement), we are here considering whether or not an aspirant that comprehends the path can falsely claim multiple initiations**. It may be possible for a person to delude themselves into thinking they have attained but it cannot be that he should be able to deceive the guardians of the Spheres, whose existence is, after all, to prevent any passage to those that are unworthy. This is not a question of claims, but a question success or failure. If the aspirant takes the Oath of the Abyss, he is drawn into the Abyss. Must it not be that he shall also, if swearing to the oaths of the earlier grades, be drawn into the sphere of that Grade? The answer must be in the affirmative, though the failure of the Abyss can be catastrophic in a way that the earlier grades are not, the false Adept (liar or deluded) will be ejected from the Sphere of whatever grade he has sworn the oaths to, unworthily. Therefore, it must be that the Exempt Adept has obtained to his grade, else he would be cast back to Tipharet. One must climb a ladder one rung at a time.

It is likely that the point Crowley makes regarding the Oath is responsible for this confusion:
Any neophyte of the Order … possesses the right to claim the Grade of Master of the Temple by taking the Oath of the Grade
It is, no doubt, possible to fail in the crossing and the magician would then fall prey to the destroying void of the Abyss. Nevertheless, the Exempt Adept, having the counsel of his Angel should be immune to this error. Even if not, the fact is, the failure of the Crossing ought to lead to the ejection from the Abyss. If the Adept could remain in the Abyss by his will (or more properly, to postpone his dissolution in the Sea of Binah, thus making it possible for him to integrate the phenomenal universe, he would be a different creature altogether from the Black Brothers we have been considering).

The consequences of the Oath and the subsequent passage into (if not through) the Abyss are described:
… To attain the Grade of Magister Templi, he must perform two tasks; the emancipation from thought by putting each idea against its opposite, and refusing to prefer either; and the consecration of {236} himself as a pure vehicle for the influence of the order to which he aspires. He must then decide upon the critical adventure of our Order; the absolute abandonment of himself and his attainments. He cannot remain indefinitely an Exempt Adept; he is pushed onward by the irresistible momentum that he has generated. Should he fail, by will or weakness, to make his self annihilation absolute, he is none the less thrust forth into the Abyss; but instead of being received and reconstructed in the Third Order, as a Babe in the womb of our Lady BABALON, under the Night of Pan, to grow up to be Himself wholly and truly as He was not previously, he remains in the Abyss, secreting his elements round his Ego as if isolated from the Universe, and becomes what is called a "Black Brother". Such a being is gradually disintegrated from lack of nourishment and the slow but certain action of the attraction of the rest of the Universe, despite efforts to insulate and protect himself, and to aggrandize himself by predatory practices. He may indeed prosper for a while, but in the end he must perish, especially when with a new Aeon a new word is proclaimed which he cannot and will not hear.(3)
First, note that Crowley here states that the Ordeal of the Abyss is not optional; an Exempt Adept will be drawn into it in spite of his wish not to. Now Crowley makes a curious statement regarding the consequence of failure;
(the magician who fails) remains in the Abyss, secreting his elements round his Ego as if isolated from the Universe, and becomes what is called a "Black Brother".

This, it should be noted, is yet another definition of a Black Brother. There are at least three that we have thus far encountered
1. The magician has refused to sacrifice himself and anchored himself to the lower universe by blood sacrifice
2. The magician that falls from the tree on being ejected from the Abyss
3. The magician is trapped in the abyss.

If the Black Brothers are situated in Da'ath, then we may ask, where does the one who has been ejected from the Abyss and falls from the tree end up. That is to say, if the towers of the Black Brothers are locate in the Abyss, how does he
fall altogether from the Tree of Life and to attain the Towers of the Black Brothers ?(4)
After all, the magician has just been expelled from the Abyss and the fallen from the Tree of Life so clearly, he cannot re-enter the Abyss. Further we may ask the same regarding those who refuse the Ordeal entirely. By definition, the Adepts become Black Brothers because the will not enter the Abyss. Therefore, as we have defined the fallen as those that are within the phenomenal universe and have worked to retain their ego-self at the expense of their True Self. Neither are these Adepts in the Abyss but they need never have entered. In fact, as Crowley himself doubts the possibility of a failed crossing resulting in the attainment of “towers of the Black Brothers” it might be said that the true Black Brother is one who has NOT entered the Abyss but is an Adept that has sought to hold back from the Abyss by means of the most vile sorceries .(5)

It is the final possibility that resolves the issue. Here we find that the magician has remained in the Abyss (or seems to) as the consequence of his failure to perfectly annihilate his ego-self prior to his entry in to Abyss. Basically, then we have two definitions that are contradictory. Recall what Grant said concerning Da'ath:
Daäth being the Gate of the Abyss is the point both of ingress into noumenon and of egress into phenomena: in other words it is the gateway of the manifestation of non-manifestation.

We find the key to the solution of the problem in the concept of Da'ath. If those who refuse the Sacrifice of the Ordeal are Black Brothers, and this is a proper interpretation, then it follows that the Adept who remains (or appear to, from Malkuth) in the Abyss are not Black Brothers. We see that there is a confusion of two different phenomena. It is Grant’s insight that the Abyss is also a gate that proves the point. The Adept of the Great White Brotherhood renounces the universe and subsequently destroys it based upon his understanding that the phenomenal universe is a product of his mind and contains no discernable reality(6) within it. The Black Brother likewise destroys the Universe and enters into the Abyss but instead of entering the Brotherhood of the Supernal realm, refuses to abandon the universe and those in it. While his universe is destroyed, he becomes the fulcrum between the Plenum and every other being in the lower realm. He does not recreate his own universe, he assimilates the universe of every single star in the phenomenal universe. He therefore becomes a cosmic power.

To reiterate, Grant says that the Adepts of the Left-hand path when viewed from the sphere of Malkuth (Earth) appears to be trapped within the Abyss but now we understand that this in not case. The point Grant makes allows us to construct our thesis; the Adept of the Left-hand path, upon crossing the Abyss successfully enters back into Da'ath and travels through the now active gate to the reverse side of the Tree of Life. Thus the confusion about where the Adept goes for, he can be seen entering the Abyss but is not ejected back into the lower universe and a new star does not ignite in the firmament. From the point of view of those on the Day side of the Tree, the Adept disappears. He does not however, remain in the Abyss though from the lower sephirot, he seems to do just that.

The final point of this discussion likewise comes from Magick in Theory and Practice, in this case, Crowley’s definition of the purpose of magick.
There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God.
Two points regarding this statement are worth considering. The first is Crowley’s identification of the Great Work of magick as equivalent to the goals of the mystic, i.e. dissolution in or union with, the transpersonal Godhead or attainment of nirvana. This reveals Crowley’s view of the universe which is, in spite of all his posing as the Beast of Revelation etc., the same as any “mystical” path like yoga or Zen meditation. This begs the question, however, of whether or not this is the only way of initiation. It is also worth considering the Buddhist doctrine of the bodhisattva :
An enlightened being who, out of compassion, forgoes Nirvana in order to save others. (American Heritage Dictionary)

While it hardly needs mentioning, I am certainly not saying that the Adept of the Left–hand path is the same as the Bodhisattva. The point is that there is found in other systems the possibility of, when achieving transcendence, foregoing the complete dissolution into the Ain-Soph or Nirvana for some purpose. By will, it is possible to stand at the nexus of existence. The goals or purpose of an Adept that chooses the Left-hand path, of course, will always be at issue with those who strive for the attainment of union. The dedication to leading others out of the cycles of rebirth is seen as sacrificial and therefore morally acceptable. For the those on the Left-hand path, the goals would no doubt be considered “evil”, for as we have seen, Da'ath is knowledge and there is no question where mystics stand in regard to knowledge of the phenomenal universe.

There is but one consideration left in regards to the left-hand path and that is, of course, the question we have just touched on. It is often said that the Left-hand path is a steep and dangerous climb. And yet, one wonders why this should be. Grant again provides us with a possible answer:
"The unenlightened are incapable of controlling their sense when swamped by the sudden access of power that freedom bestows. This is patent in mundane situations involving money, fame, authority, etc. How much more devastating is the result in cases of unbalanced spiritual illumination will be appreciated by those who have successfully performed even the simplest magical exercise. Success inflates the ego, the ego seizes more than it can properly assimilate, and the resulting implosion is correspondingly catastrophic."
To what end is this region explored, and what Adept, having aspired to the Height would choose, at the moment of triumph, to again reach down
… to the dark world,
Beneath which lies a faithless depth,
And Hades dark all over, squallid, delighting in images, unintelligible,
Precipitous, creaggy, a depth;
Always rolling, always espousing an opacous, idle breathless body,
And the light hating world, and the winding currents,
By which many things are swallowed up.? (7)
If, by raising up to the gate of Da'ath the magician destroys all of his ego (and it must be else the Adept will be ravaged by Choronzon and ejected from the Abyss) then, upon his arrival at the shore of the supernal Realm, he may choose to renounce (for a period, it cannot be forever) the union with the Higher world and instead reintegrate his ego as the complex of both sides of the tree. Thus, as he walks the path upward, the universe is likewise upraised. The key to this Arcanum is this; if the Magician brings into himself the fullness of both sides of the tree, the integrated ego is perfectly balanced in the constant annihilation of positive and negative forces. Therefore we may say that the magician has been successful in maintaining his emptiness even as he has crossed the Great Outer Abyss.

Da'ath is Knowledge and Knowledge is that which obtains from experience. If, as Nuit says, For I am divided for love`s sake, for the chance of union. (Liber Al, I-29) then we may also see the division of the primal unity as the chance for experience. Da'ath, it should be noted, is of a dual nature, Da'ath Elyon, the higher Knowledge and Da'ath tachton, the lower or mundane Knowledge. Who shall say what is and is not of the higher realms? Therefore, though the Left-hand way it is of course a path of trials and dangers, is it any less than the path of the Right hand? Those who fear will always find reason to reject new ways of thinking if only because they threaten accepted and therefore comforting beliefs. We who would walk the Darker roads must understand, as only the Master of the Temple can, that Truth is brighter than day and deeper than the night, and no matter the cost, is the only prize worth having.

The Left-hand path is dangerous precisely because it works. But no mistake, it is not the practice that is condemns so many of those who have trod it, for we have already touched on Crowley’s distinction between mere Black magicians and Brothers of the Left-hand. It is the pitfall of easy success and the inflation, not destruction, of the ego. The cases of Frater Achad and Frater 210, however, should be sufficient to show that this danger is not one merely of the higher grades, but of an aspirant at any point.(8) Even so, with this warning, we may now consider the Nightside of the Tree and the Mysteries of the Dragon. First, however, we will seek to complete our understanding of the Holy Guardian Angel in the light of what we have discovered.

** I am taking the position that one cannot, accidentally or through misunderstanding, wander into the Abyss.

1. Encyclopedia of Occultism
2. LIBER HB:Taw-Yod-Shin-Aleph-Resh-Bet vel THISHARB
3. Ibid.
4. Magick - A glimpse of the structure and system of the Great White Brotherhood
5. This is, in any case, Crowley’s interpretation of Orthodox Christian Soteriology which believes that Christ was a blood sacrifice to the Father, and that only blood could gain the remission of sin.
6. There has been much cause for misunderstanding regarding this concept, particularly what it means to say the universe is inreal. The sense in which this is true is the product of Time. Anything that is bound in time will eventually be destroyed. Therefore, if the definition of real means that which cannot be destroyed then the entire universe below the Abyss is unreal in that sense.
7. -Chaldean Oracles
8. Frater Achad, Charles Stansfield Jones, one of Crowley’s pupils, aciehved a remarkable amount, according to Crowley, only o throw it away by rashly swearing the Oath of the Abyss and then failing to achieve the Crossing. He was not, it should be noted, considered to have been swallowed by the Abyss but was ejected back unto the lower tree.
9. Frater 210 was of course, Jack Parsons who has achieved a good measure of notoriety in later days, amongst occultists and, interestingly, the critics of Scientology. Parson’s story is both interesting and complex and is discussed in much more detail in The Morning of the Magicians, Chapter.